Bounds on collapse models from cold-atom experiments

The spontaneous localization mechanism of collapse models induces a Brownian motion in all physical systems. This effect is very weak, but experimental progress in creating ultracold atomic systems can be used to detect it. In this paper, we considered a recent experiment [1], where an atomic ensemble was cooled down to picokelvins. Any Brownian motion induces an extra increase of the position variance of the gas. We study this effect by solving the dynamical equations for the Continuous Spontaneous Localizations (CSL) model, as well as for its non-Markovian and dissipative extensions. The resulting bounds, with a 95% of confidence level, are beaten only by measurements of spontaneous X-ray emission and by experiments with cantilever (in the latter case, only for rC > 10^(-7) m, where rC is one of the two collapse parameters of the CSL model). We show that, contrary to the bounds given by X-ray measurements, non-Markovian effects do not change the bounds, for any reasonable choice of a frequency cutoff in the spectrum of the collapse noise. Therefore the bounds here considered are more robust. We also show that dissipative effects are unimportant for a large spectrum of temperatures of the noise, while for low temperatures the excluded region in the parameter space is the more reduced, the lower the temperature.Comment: 16 pages, 14 figure

Heating effects and localization mechanism in cold Bose gases

Collapse models solve the measurement problem by adding non-linear and stochastic terms to the usual Schroedinger dynamics. The resulting dynamics localizes in position macroscopic systems, while preserves quantum mechanical predictions for microscopic systems. Two of the main consequences of this resulting dynamics are: the loss of any initial spatial coherence, with a decoherence rate which increases with the dimensions of the system (amplification mechanism); and a heating effect induced on the system that, for long times, leads either to a divergent or to a convergent value of the energy, depending on the particular collapse model considered. An interesting class of system to experimentally test collapse models are cold atomic gases. Besides their very low temperatures (T = 10^(-11) - 10^(-7)K), cold atomic gases show mesoscopic quantum properties, i.e. involving a number of atoms of order of N = 10^(3)\u2013 10^(11). These are all necessary ingredients to experimentally test collapse models. In this thesis, we use cold bosonic atomic gas to test one of the most studied and complete among collapse models, i.e. CSL, and also its non-Markovian and dissipative extensions. In particular, in this thesis we put bounds on CSL free-parameters by studying the diffusion effect induced by collapse noise on a free expanding gas, and we compare the theoretical results with experimental data known in literature. The bounds we put are among the strongest ever found non only for CSL model, but especially for its non-Markovian extension. In this thesis we also specialize the CSL dynamics in Bose-Josephson junctions, and we focus on the localization mechanism induced by the noise on initially entangled states. In particular, we focus on decoherence induced by CSL on typical entangled states as atomic coherent states and NOON states. We find that in the latter ones, CSL effects become significant when the NOON state is composed by a number of atoms of 10^(4) or greater. Moreover, we compare CSL decoherence with environmental decoherence induced by typical realistic sources, as an external thermal cloud, imperfections in the trapping laser, and three body effects. We then find which conditions experiments must fulfill in order to test CSL in a Bose-Josephson junction in conditions neve

Evidence for widespread Remagnetizations in South America, case study of the Itararé Group rocks of Brazil

Paleomagnetism of South American Jurassic/Cretaceous rocks has been troubled by elongated distributions of poles which has led to contrasting interpretations. Moreover, many discordant paleomagnetic poles from the Carboniferous to the Triassic have also been recognized and systematically explained by a variety of processes, but this portion of the South American apparent polar wonder path (APWP) still remains problematic. We have conducted a paleomagnetic study of the sedimentary Permo-Carboniferous Itararé Group rocks and three intruding mafic sills of likely Cretaceous age within the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The site-mean VGP distributions obtained from the sedimentary rocks define elongations that include the VGPs of the mafic intrusions. We interpret these distributions as remagnetization paths toward the directions characteristic of the sills. Careful analysis of the paleomagnetic data of the Itararé sedimentary rocks enables isolation of a primary VGP distribution that is consistent with the reference Carboniferous pole position. The paleomagnetic directions of the sills are partially overprinted by the present time averaged and current Earth’s magnetic field. Combined rock- and paleomagnetic data suggest that interacting SD grains carry a very recent magnetic overprint that is visco-chemical in origin and cannot be fully erased. The dominant distribution of PSD-MD grains carries the high-temperature component, which is either a primary magnetization coincidentally close to the time averaged dipole field direction, or a secondary thermo-viscous magnetization. Extending our study to other Carboniferous to Triassic South American paleomagnetic records reveals that the majority of these data are elongated, similarly to the Itararé Group rocks. Regardless of the age of the rocks, the elongations systematically intersect at the location of the Late Cretaceous reference pole, and at a long- recognized problematic location (“X”) observed in certain Jurassic and Cretaceous rock formations. We interpret the elongated VGP distributions to reflect remagnetizations from the primary VGP positions toward Jurassic-Cretaceous and “X” pole locations, which occurred as a result of the widespread magmatic events associated with the opening of the South Atlantic. The extent of the remagnetizations is formation-specific and other rock-formations should be carefully re-evaluated

The effect of speleothem surface slope on the remanent magnetic inclination

Speleothems are of interest for high-resolution reconstruction of the Earth's magnetic field. However, little is known about the influence of speleothem morphologies on their natural remanent magnetization (NRM) record. Here we report on a high-resolution paleomagnetic study of a dome-shaped speleothem of middle Holocene age from southern Portugal, with special attention to the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) and anisotropy of anhysteretic remanent magnetization (AARM). To assess the potential influence of the slope of the speleothem surface on the recorded remanent magnetization, we compare magnetic directions and AMS and AARM fabrics from subhorizontal to gradually subvertical calcite growth layers collected in a transversal cross section of the speleothem. A linear correlation is observed between magnetic inclinations, calcite laminae slope, and AARM k1 inclination. The AMS fabric is mostly controlled by calcite crystals, with direction of the minimum axes (k3) perpendicular to laminae growth. Magnetic inclinations recorded in inclined and vertical calcite growth layers are underestimated when compared to a global paleosecular variation (PSV) model. After extrapolating magnetic inclinations to the horizontal, the corrected data better fit the PSV model but are still lower than the predicted magnetic inclinations, suggesting that inclination shallowing affects the entire speleothem. We suggest that speleothem morphology exerts a critical role on the magnetic inclination recording, which is controlled by the Earth's magnetic field but also influenced by particle rolling along the sloping surfaces. These observations open new avenues for reconstructing high-resolution paleomagnetic secular variation records from speleothems and provide new insights into their NRM acquisition mechanisms.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Evidence for Widespread Remagnetizations in South America, Case Study of the Itararé Group Rocks From the State of São Paulo, Brazil

Paleomagnetism of South American Jurassic/Cretaceous rocks has been troubled by elongated distributions of poles which has led to contrasting interpretations. Moreover, many discordant paleomagnetic poles from the Carboniferous to the Triassic have also been recognized and systematically explained by a variety of processes, but this portion of the South American apparent polar wonder path (APWP) still remains problematic. To this end, we have conducted a paleomagnetic study of the sedimentary Permo-Carboniferous Itararé Group rocks and three intruding mafic sills of likely Cretaceous age within the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The site-mean VGP distributions obtained from the sedimentary rocks define elongations that include the VGPs of the mafic intrusions. We interpret these distributions as remagnetization paths toward the directions characteristic of the sills. Furthermore, we show that the remanence directions of the sills are partially overprinted by the present time-averaged and current Earth's magnetic field. Our interpretations are supported by extensive rock-magnetic data that provides a viable mechanism for the secondary magnetizations. The current study focuses on the paleomagnetism and rock-magnetism of the mafic intrusions and how they affected the paleomagnetic recording of the sedimentary rocks, however, careful analysis of the paleomagnetic data of the Itararé sedimentary rocks enables isolation of a primary VGP distribution that is consistent with the reference Carboniferous pole position. Extending our study to other Carboniferous to Triassic South American paleomagnetic records reveals that the majority of these data are elongated, similarly to the Itararé Group rocks. Regardless of the age of the rocks, the elongations systematically intersect at the location of the Late Cretaceous reference pole, and at a long- recognized “problematic” location observed in some Jurassic and Cretaceous rock formations. Based on multiple lines of evidence, we interpret the elongations to reflect remagnetizations from the primary VGP positions toward Jurassic-Cretaceous pole locations that occurred as a result of the widespread magmatic events associated with the opening of the South Atlantic. We suggest that the extent of the remagnetizations is formation-specific, and that other rock-formations should be carefully re-evaluated

Decrypting magnetic fabrics (AMS, AARM, AIRM) through the analysis of mineral shape fabrics and distribution anisotropy

The fieldwork was supported by the DIPS project (grant no. 240467) and the MIMES project (grant no. 244155) funded by the Norwegian Research Council awarded to O.G. O.P.'s position was funded from Y-TEC.Anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) and anisotropy of magnetic remanence (AARM and AIRM) are efficient and versatile techniques to indirectly determine rock fabrics. Yet, deciphering the source of a magnetic fabric remains a crucial and challenging step, notably in the presence of ferrimagnetic phases. Here we use X-ray micro-computed tomography to directly compare mineral shape-preferred orientation and spatial distribution fabrics to AMS, AARM and AIRM fabrics from five hypabyssal trachyandesite samples. Magnetite grains in the trachyandesite are euhedral with a mean aspect ratio of 1.44 (0.24 s.d., long/short axis), and > 50% of the magnetite grains occur in clusters, and they are therefore prone to interact magnetically. Amphibole grains are prolate with magnetite in breakdown rims. We identified three components of the petrofabric that influence the AMS of the analyzed samples: the magnetite and the amphibole shape fabrics and the magnetite spatial distribution. Depending on their relative strength, orientation and shape, these three components interfere either constructively or destructively to produce the AMS fabric. If the three components are coaxial, the result is a relatively strongly anisotropic AMS fabric (P’ = 1.079). If shape fabrics and/or magnetite distribution are non-coaxial, the resulting AMS is weakly anisotropic (P’ = 1.012). This study thus reports quantitative petrofabric data that show the effect of magnetite distribution anisotropy on magnetic fabrics in igneous rocks, which has so far only been predicted by experimental and theoretical models. Our results have first-order implications for the interpretation of petrofabrics using magnetic methods.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Roberto Longhi-Cesare Brandi

Il saggio confronta in parallelo la cultura di due tra i massimi storici d’arte del Novecento, la loro cultura, il lessico che da esoterico si fa col passare degli anni sempre più aderente alla materia trattata. La scrittura, nata per pochi lettori adepti e pertanto ostica fino al limite dell’ostilità, finisce per dipanarsi con ampiezza in modo da investire un bacino d’utenza ampio, pur senza perdere in rigore

Un disegno di Johann Heinrich Fuseli

Il saggio nasce dalla lettura di un catalogo d’asta nel quale il disegno di Fuseli viene genericamente ed elusivamente descritto. Al mio occhio esercitato è apparso subito evidente che si trattava di un momento delle Fenicie di Euripide, nel quale Edipo e la figlia Antigone si raccolgono sui cadaveri di Eteocle e Polinice e su Giocasta suicida. Il saggio mette in evidenza la profonda cultura classica del pittore e la sua capacità di sintetizzare icasticamente un dramma impugnando con sicurezza la materia letteraria, di per sé diffusa ed analitica