The quantum N-body problem with a minimal length

The quantum $N$-body problem is studied in the context of nonrelativistic quantum mechanics with a one-dimensional deformed Heisenberg algebra of the form $[\hat x,\hat p]=i(1+\beta \hat p^2)$, leading to the existence of a minimal observable length $\sqrt\beta$. For a generic pairwise interaction potential, analytical formulas are obtained that allow to estimate the ground-state energy of the $N$-body system by finding the ground-state energy of a corresponding two-body problem. It is first shown that, in the harmonic oscillator case, the $\beta$-dependent term grows faster with $N$ than the $\beta$-independent one. Then, it is argued that such a behavior should be observed also with generic potentials and for $D$-dimensional systems. In consequence, quantum $N$-body bound states might be interesting places to look at nontrivial manifestations of a minimal length since, the more particles are present, the more the system deviates from standard quantum mechanical predictions.Comment: To appear in PR

On the isometric embedding problem for length metric spaces

We prove that every proper $n$-dimensional length metric space admits an "approximate isometric embedding" into Lorentzian space $\mathbb{R}^{3n+6,1}$. By an "approximate isometric embedding" we mean an embedding which preserves the energy functional on a prescribed set of geodesics connecting a dense set of points.Comment: 40 pages, 10 figure

The Isomorphism Problem for Computable Abelian p-Groups of Bounded Length

Theories of classification distinguish classes with some good structure theorem from those for which none is possible. Some classes (dense linear orders, for instance) are non-classifiable in general, but are classifiable when we consider only countable members. This paper explores such a notion for classes of computable structures by working out a sequence of examples. We follow recent work by Goncharov and Knight in using the degree of the isomorphism problem for a class to distinguish classifiable classes from non-classifiable. In this paper, we calculate the degree of the isomorphism problem for Abelian $p$-groups of bounded Ulm length. The result is a sequence of classes whose isomorphism problems are cofinal in the hyperarithmetical hierarchy. In the process, new back-and-forth relations on such groups are calculated.Comment: 15 page

The few-body problem for trapped bosons with large scattering length

We calculate energy levels of two and three bosons trapped in a harmonic oscillator potential with oscillator length $a_{\mathrm osc}$. The atoms are assumed to interact through a short-range potential with a scattering length $a$, and the short-distance behavior of the three-body wave function is characterized by a parameter $\theta$. For large positive $a/a_{\mathrm osc}$, the energies of states which, in the absence of the trap, correspond to three free atoms approach values independent of $a$ and $\theta$. For other states the $\theta$ dependence of the energy is strong, but the energy is independent of $a$ for $|a/a_{\mathrm osc}|\gg1$.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Stable marriage with ties and bounded length preference lists

We consider variants of the classical stable marriage problem in which preference lists may contain ties, and may be of bounded length. Such restrictions arise naturally in practical applications, such as centralised matching schemes that assign graduating medical students to their first hospital posts. In such a setting, weak stability is the most common solution concept, and it is known that weakly stable matchings can have different sizes. This motivates the problem of finding a maximum cardinality weakly stable matching, which is known to be NP-hard in general. We show that this problem is solvable in polynomial time if each man's list is of length at most 2 (even for women's lists that are of unbounded length). However if each man's list is of length at most 3, we show that the problem becomes NP-hard (even if each women's list is of length at most 3) and not approximable within some δ>1 (even if each woman's list is of length at most 4)

Line-distortion, Bandwidth and Path-length of a graph

We investigate the minimum line-distortion and the minimum bandwidth problems on unweighted graphs and their relations with the minimum length of a Robertson-Seymour's path-decomposition. The length of a path-decomposition of a graph is the largest diameter of a bag in the decomposition. The path-length of a graph is the minimum length over all its path-decompositions. In particular, we show: - if a graph $G$ can be embedded into the line with distortion $k$, then $G$ admits a Robertson-Seymour's path-decomposition with bags of diameter at most $k$ in $G$; - for every class of graphs with path-length bounded by a constant, there exist an efficient constant-factor approximation algorithm for the minimum line-distortion problem and an efficient constant-factor approximation algorithm for the minimum bandwidth problem; - there is an efficient 2-approximation algorithm for computing the path-length of an arbitrary graph; - AT-free graphs and some intersection families of graphs have path-length at most 2; - for AT-free graphs, there exist a linear time 8-approximation algorithm for the minimum line-distortion problem and a linear time 4-approximation algorithm for the minimum bandwidth problem