Scattering from isospectral quantum graphs

Quantum graphs can be extended to scattering systems when they are connected by leads to infinity. It is shown that for certain extensions, the scattering matrices of isospectral graphs are conjugate to each other and their poles distributions are therefore identical. The scattering matrices are studied using a recently developed isospectral theory. At the same time, the scattering approach offers a new insight on the mentioned isospectral construction

Effective Field Theories

Three lectures on effective field theory given at the Seventh Summer School in Nuclear Physics, Seattle June 19-30 1995.Comment: 40 pages uuencoded with figures; requires macros harvmac, epsf.te

Direct computation of scattering matrices for general quantum graphs

We present a direct and simple method for the computation of the total scattering matrix of an arbitrary finite noncompact connected quantum graph given its metric structure and local scattering data at each vertex. The method is inspired by the formalism of Reflection-Transmission algebras and quantum field theory on graphs though the results hold independently of this formalism. It yields a simple and direct algebraic derivation of the formula for the total scattering and has a number of advantages compared to existing recursive methods. The case of loops (or tadpoles) is easily incorporated in our method. This provides an extension of recent similar results obtained in a completely different way in the context of abstract graph theory. It also allows us to discuss briefly the inverse scattering problem in the presence of loops using an explicit example to show that the solution is not unique in general. On top of being conceptually very easy, the computational advantage of the method is illustrated on two examples of "three-dimensional" graphs (tetrahedron and cube) for which other methods are rather heavy or even impractical.Comment: 20 pages, 4 figure

Weak localization of disordered quasiparticles in the mixed superconducting state

Starting from a random matrix model, we construct the low-energy effective field theory for the noninteracting gas of quasiparticles of a disordered superconductor in the mixed state. The theory is a nonlinear sigma model, with the order parameter field being a supermatrix whose form is determined solely on symmetry grounds. The weak localization correction to the field-axis thermal conductivity is computed for a dilute array of s-wave vortices near the lower critical field H_c1. We propose that weak localization effects, cut off at low temperatures by the Zeeman splitting, are responsible for the field dependence of the thermal conductivity seen in recent high-T_c experiments by Aubin et al.Comment: RevTex, 8 pages, 1 eps figure, typos correcte