A Geometrical Derivation of a Family of Quantum Speed Limit Results

We derive a family of quantum speed limit results in time independent systems with pure states and a finite dimensional state space, by using a geometric method based on right invariant action functionals on SU(N). The method relates speed limits for implementing quantum gates to bounds on orthogonality times. We reproduce the known result of the Margolus-Levitin theorem, and a known generalisation of the Margolis-Levitin theorem, as special cases of our method, which produces a rich family of other similar speed limit formulas corresponding to positive homogeneous functions on su(n). We discuss the general relationship between speed limits for controlling a quantum state and a system's time evolution operator.Comment: 12 page

A Framework for Generalising the Newton Method and Other Iterative Methods from Euclidean Space to Manifolds

The Newton iteration is a popular method for minimising a cost function on Euclidean space. Various generalisations to cost functions defined on manifolds appear in the literature. In each case, the convergence rate of the generalised Newton iteration needed establishing from first principles. The present paper presents a framework for generalising iterative methods from Euclidean space to manifolds that ensures local convergence rates are preserved. It applies to any (memoryless) iterative method computing a coordinate independent property of a function (such as a zero or a local minimum). All possible Newton methods on manifolds are believed to come under this framework. Changes of coordinates, and not any Riemannian structure, are shown to play a natural role in lifting the Newton method to a manifold. The framework also gives new insight into the design of Newton methods in general.Comment: 36 page

Cusps on cosmic superstrings with junctions

The existence of cusps on non-periodic strings ending on D-branes is demonstrated and the conditions, for which such cusps are generic, are derived. The dynamics of F-, D-string and FD-string junctions are investigated. It is shown that pairs of FD-string junctions, such as would form after intercommutations of F- and D-strings, generically contain cusps. This new feature of cosmic superstrings opens up the possibility of extra channels of energy loss from a string network. The phenomenology of cusps on such cosmic superstring networks is compared to that of cusps formed on networks of their field theory analogues, the standard cosmic strings.Comment: 22 pages, 5 figure

Unstable manifolds and Schroedinger dynamics of Ginzburg-Landau vortices

The time evolution of several interacting Ginzburg-Landau vortices according to an equation of Schroedinger type is approximated by motion on a finite-dimensional manifold. That manifold is defined as an unstable manifold of an auxiliary dynamical system, namely the gradient flow of the Ginzburg-Landau energy functional. For two vortices the relevant unstable manifold is constructed numerically and the induced dynamics is computed. The resulting model provides a complete picture of the vortex motion for arbitrary vortex separation, including well-separated and nearly coincident vortices.Comment: 23 pages amslatex, 5 eps figures, minor typos correcte

Nonlinear model identification and spectral submanifolds for multi-degree-of-freedom mechanical vibrations

In a nonlinear oscillatory system, spectral submanifolds (SSMs) are the smoothest invariant manifolds tangent to linear modal subspaces of an equilibrium. Amplitude-frequency plots of the dynamics on SSMs provide the classic backbone curves sought in experimental nonlinear model identification. We develop here a methodology to compute analytically both the shape of SSMs and their corresponding backbone curves from a data-assimilating model fitted to experimental vibration signals. Using examples of both synthetic and real experimental data, we demonstrate that this approach reproduces backbone curves with high accuracy.Comment: 32 pages, 4 figure

Relativistic Constraints for a Naturalistic Metaphysics of Time

The traditional metaphysical debate between static and dynamic views in the philosophy of time is examined in light of considerations concerning the nature of time in physical theory. Adapting the formalism of Rovelli (1995, 2004), I set out a precise framework in which to characterise the formal structure of time that we find in physical theory. This framework is used to provide a new perspective on the relationship between the metaphysics of time and the special theory of relativity by emphasising the dual representations of time that we find in special relativity. I extend this analysis to the general theory of relativity with a view to prescribing the constraints that must be heeded for a metaphysical theory of time to remain within the bounds of a naturalistic metaphysics

Quantum Spectral Curve for the eta-deformed AdS_5xS^5 superstring

The spectral problem for the ${\rm AdS}_5\times {\rm S}^5$ superstring and its dual planar maximally supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory can be efficiently solved through a set of functional equations known as the quantum spectral curve. We discuss how the same concepts apply to the $\eta$-deformed ${\rm AdS}_5\times {\rm S}^5$ superstring, an integrable deformation of the ${\rm AdS}_5\times {\rm S}^5$ superstring with quantum group symmetry. This model can be viewed as a trigonometric version of the ${\rm AdS}_5\times {\rm S}^5$ superstring, like the relation between the XXZ and XXX spin chains, or the sausage and the ${\rm S}^2$ sigma models for instance. We derive the quantum spectral curve for the $\eta$-deformed string by reformulating the corresponding ground-state thermodynamic Bethe ansatz equations as an analytic $Y$ system, and map this to an analytic $T$ system which upon suitable gauge fixing leads to a $\mathbf{P} \mu$ system -- the quantum spectral curve. We then discuss constraints on the asymptotics of this system to single out particular excited states. At the spectral level the $\eta$-deformed string and its quantum spectral curve interpolate between the ${\rm AdS}_5\times {\rm S}^5$ superstring and a superstring on "mirror" ${\rm AdS}_5\times {\rm S}^5$, reflecting a more general relationship between the spectral and thermodynamic data of the $\eta$-deformed string. In particular, the spectral problem of the mirror ${\rm AdS}_5\times {\rm S}^5$ string, and the thermodynamics of the undeformed ${\rm AdS}_5\times {\rm S}^5$ string, are described by a second rational limit of our trigonometric quantum spectral curve, distinct from the regular undeformed limit.Comment: 32+37 pages; 6 figures. v2: added reference