Classical limit of the quantum Zeno effect

The evolution of a quantum system subjected to infinitely many measurements in a finite time interval is confined in a proper subspace of the Hilbert space. This phenomenon is called "quantum Zeno effect": a particle under intensive observation does not evolve. This effect is at variance with the classical evolution, which obviously is not affected by any observations. By a semiclassical analysis we will show that the quantum Zeno effect vanishes at all orders, when the Planck constant tends to zero, and thus it is a purely quantum phenomenon without classical analog, at the same level of tunneling.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figure

Justification of the coupled-mode approximation for a nonlinear elliptic problem with a periodic potential

Coupled-mode systems are used in physical literature to simplify the nonlinear Maxwell and Gross-Pitaevskii equations with a small periodic potential and to approximate localized solutions called gap solitons by analytical expressions involving hyperbolic functions. We justify the use of the one-dimensional stationary coupled-mode system for a relevant elliptic problem by employing the method of Lyapunov--Schmidt reductions in Fourier space. In particular, existence of periodic/anti-periodic and decaying solutions is proved and the error terms are controlled in suitable norms. The use of multi-dimensional stationary coupled-mode systems is justified for analysis of bifurcations of periodic/anti-periodic solutions in a small multi-dimensional periodic potential.Comment: 18 pages, no figure

Fractal Weyl law for quantum fractal eigenstates

The properties of the resonant Gamow states are studied numerically in the semiclassical limit for the quantum Chirikov standard map with absorption. It is shown that the number of such states is described by the fractal Weyl law and their Husimi distributions closely follow the strange repeller set formed by classical orbits nonescaping in future times. For large matrices the distribution of escape rates converges to a fixed shape profile characterized by a spectral gap related to the classical escape rate.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figs, minor modifications, research at http://www.quantware.ups-tlse.fr

Quantum ergodicity for Pauli Hamiltonians with spin 1/2

Quantum ergodicity, which expresses the semiclassical convergence of almost all expectation values of observables in eigenstates of the quantum Hamiltonian to the corresponding classical microcanonical average, is proven for non-relativistic quantum particles with spin 1/2. It is shown that quantum ergodicity holds, if a suitable combination of the classical translational dynamics and the spin dynamics along the trajectories of the translational motion is ergodic.Comment: 20 pages, no figure

Zitterbewegung and semiclassical observables for the Dirac equation

In a semiclassical context we investigate the Zitterbewegung of relativistic particles with spin 1/2 moving in external fields. It is shown that the analogue of Zitterbewegung for general observables can be removed to arbitrary order in \hbar by projecting to dynamically almost invariant subspaces of the quantum mechanical Hilbert space which are associated with particles and anti-particles. This not only allows to identify observables with a semiclassical meaning, but also to recover combined classical dynamics for the translational and spin degrees of freedom. Finally, we discuss properties of eigenspinors of a Dirac-Hamiltonian when these are projected to the almost invariant subspaces, including the phenomenon of quantum ergodicity

Semiclassical measures and the Schroedinger flow on Riemannian manifolds

In this article we study limits of Wigner distributions (the so-called semiclassical measures) corresponding to sequences of solutions to the semiclassical Schroedinger equation at times scales $\alpha_{h}$ tending to infinity as the semiclassical parameter $h$ tends to zero (when $\alpha _{h}=1/h$ this is equivalent to consider solutions to the non-semiclassical Schreodinger equation). Some general results are presented, among which a weak version of Egorov's theorem that holds in this setting. A complete characterization is given for the Euclidean space and Zoll manifolds (that is, manifolds with periodic geodesic flow) via averaging formulae relating the semiclassical measures corresponding to the evolution to those of the initial states. The case of the flat torus is also addressed; it is shown that non-classical behavior may occur when energy concentrates on resonant frequencies. Moreover, we present an example showing that the semiclassical measures associated to a sequence of states no longer determines those of their evolutions. Finally, some results concerning the equation with a potential are presented.Comment: 18 pages; Theorems 1,2 extendend to deal with arbitrary time-scales; references adde

Delocalization of slowly damped eigenmodes on Anosov manifolds

We look at the properties of high frequency eigenmodes for the damped wave equation on a compact manifold with an Anosov geodesic flow. We study eigenmodes with spectral parameters which are asymptotically close enough to the real axis. We prove that such modes cannot be completely localized on subsets satisfying a condition of negative topological pressure. As an application, one can deduce the existence of a "strip" of logarithmic size without eigenvalues below the real axis under this dynamical assumption on the set of undamped trajectories.Comment: 28 pages; compared with version 1, minor modifications, add two reference

Semi- and Non-relativistic Limit of the Dirac Dynamics with External Fields

We show how to approximate Dirac dynamics for electronic initial states by semi- and non-relativistic dynamics. To leading order, these are generated by the semi- and non-relativistic Pauli hamiltonian where the kinetic energy is related to $\sqrt{m^2 + \xi^2}$ and $\xi^2 / 2m$, respectively. Higher-order corrections can in principle be computed to any order in the small parameter v/c which is the ratio of typical speeds to the speed of light. Our results imply the dynamics for electronic and positronic states decouple to any order in v/c << 1. To decide whether to get semi- or non-relativistic effective dynamics, one needs to choose a scaling for the kinetic momentum operator. Then the effective dynamics are derived using space-adiabatic perturbation theory by Panati et. al with the novel input of a magnetic pseudodifferential calculus adapted to either the semi- or non-relativistic scaling.Comment: 42 page

Resolvent estimates for normally hyperbolic trapped sets

We give pole free strips and estimates for resolvents of semiclassical operators which, on the level of the classical flow, have normally hyperbolic smooth trapped sets of codimension two in phase space. Such trapped sets are structurally stable and our motivation comes partly from considering the wave equation for Kerr black holes and their perturbations, whose trapped sets have precisely this structure. We give applications including local smoothing effects with epsilon derivative loss for the Schr\"odinger propagator as well as local energy decay results for the wave equation.Comment: Further changes to erratum correcting small problems with Section 3.5 and Lemma 4.1; this now also corrects hypotheses, explicitly requiring trapped set to be symplectic. Erratum follows references in this versio

De Novo Mutations in SLC1A2 and CACNA1A Are Important Causes of Epileptic Encephalopathies

Epileptic encephalopathies (EEs) are the most clinically important group of severe early-onset epilepsies. Next-generation sequencing has highlighted the crucial contribution of de novo mutations to the genetic architecture of EEs as well as to their underlying genetic heterogeneity. Our previous whole-exome sequencing study of 264 parent-child trios revealed more than 290 candidate genes in which only a single individual had a de novo variant. We sought to identify additional pathogenic variants in a subset (n = 27) of these genes via targeted sequencing in an unsolved cohort of 531 individuals with a diverse range of EEs. We report 17 individuals with pathogenic variants in seven of the 27 genes, defining a genetic etiology in 3.2% of this unsolved cohort. Our results provide definitive evidence that de novo mutations in SLC1A2 and CACNA1A cause specific EEs and expand the compendium of clinically relevant genotypes for GABRB3. We also identified EEs caused by genetic variants in ALG13, DNM1, and GNAO1 and report a mutation in IQSEC2. Notably, recurrent mutations accounted for 7/17 of the pathogenic variants identified. As a result of high-depth coverage, parental mosaicism was identified in two out of 14 cases tested with mutant allelic fractions of 5%–6% in the unaffected parents, carrying significant reproductive counseling implications. These results confirm that dysregulation in diverse cellular neuronal pathways causes EEs, and they will inform the diagnosis and management of individuals with these devastating disorders