Selfduality of non-linear electrodynamics with derivative corrections

In this paper we investigate how electromagnetic duality survives derivative corrections to classical non-linear electrodynamics. In particular, we establish that electromagnetic selfduality is satisfied to all orders in $\alpha'$ for the four-point function sector of the four dimensional open string effective action.Comment: 8 page

Self-Interacting Electromagnetic Fields and a Classical Discussion on the Stability of the Electric Charge

The present work proposes a discussion on the self-energy of charged particles in the framework of nonlinear electrodynamics. We seek magnet- ically stable solutions generated by purely electric charges whose electric and magnetic fields are computed as solutions to the Born-Infeld equa- tions. The approach yields rich internal structures that can be described in terms of the physical fields with explicit analytic solutions. This suggests that the anomalous field probably originates from a magnetic excitation in the vacuum due to the presence of the very intense electric field. In addition, the magnetic contribution has been found to exert a negative pressure on the charge. This, in turn, balances the electric repulsion, in such a way that the self-interaction of the field appears as a simple and natural classical mechanism that is able to account for the stability of the electron charge.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figur

Internal structures of electrons and photons: the concept of extended particles revisited

The theoretical foundations of quantum mechanics and de Broglie--Bohm mechanics are analyzed and it is shown that both theories employ a formal approach to microphysics. By using a realistic approach it can be established that the internal structures of extended particles comply with a wave-equation. Including external potentials yields the Schrodinger equation, which, in this context, is arbitrary due to internal energy components. The statistical interpretation of wave functions in quantum theory as well as Heisenberg's uncertainty relations are shown to be an expression of this, fundamental, arbitrariness. Electrons and photons can be described by an identical formalism, providing formulations equivalent to the Maxwell equations. Electrostatic interactions justify the initial assumption of electron-wave stability: the stability of electron waves can be referred to vanishing intrinsic fields of interaction. The theory finally points out some fundamental difficulties for a fully covariant formulation of quantum electrodynamics, which seem to be related to the existing infinity problems in this field.Comment: 14 pages (RevTeX one column) and 1 figure (eps). For a full list of available papers see http://info.tuwien.ac.at/cms/wh

Misleading signposts along the de Broglie-Bohm road to quantum mechanics

Eighty years after de Broglie's, and a little more than half a century after Bohm's seminal papers, the de Broglie--Bohm theory (a.k.a. Bohmian mechanics), which is presumably the simplest theory which explains the orthodox quantum mechanics formalism, has reached an exemplary state of conceptual clarity and mathematical integrity. No other theory of quantum mechanics comes even close. Yet anyone curious enough to walk this road to quantum mechanics is soon being confused by many misleading signposts that have been put up, and not just by its detractors, but unfortunately enough also by some of its proponents. This paper outlines a road map to help navigate ones way.Comment: Dedicated to Jeffrey Bub on occasion of his 65th birthday. Accepted for publication in Foundations of Physics. A "slip of pen" in the bibliography has been corrected -- thanks go to Oliver Passon for catching it

Wave and Particle Limit for Multiple Barrier Tunneling

The particle approach to one-dimensional potential scattering is applied to non relativistic tunnelling between two, three and four identical barriers. We demonstrate as expected that the infinite sum of particle contributions yield the plane wave results. In particular, the existence of resonance/transparency for twin tunnelling in the wave limit is immediately obvious. The known resonances for three and four barriers are also derived. The transition from the wave limit to the particle limit is exhibit numerically.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figure

Bogomol'nyi Bounds and the Supersymmetric Born-Infeld Theory

We study N=2 supersymmetric Born-Infeld-Higgs theory in 3 dimensions and derive Bogomol'nyi relations in its bosonic sector. A peculiar coupling between the Higgs and the gauge field (with dynamics determined by the Born-Infeld action) is forced by supersymmetry. The resulting equations coincide with those arising in the Maxwell-Higgs model. Concerning Bogomol'nyi bounds for the vortex energy, they are derived from the N=2 supersymmetry algebra.Comment: 24 pages, Latex fil

Epsilons Near Zero limits in the Mie scattering theory

The classical Mie theory - electromagnetic radiation scattering by the homogeneous spherical particles - is considered in the epsilon near zero limits separately for the materials of the particles and the surrounding medium. The maxima of a scattered transverse electrical (TE) field for the surrounding medium materials with the epsilon near zero limits are revealed. The effective multipole polarizabilities of the corresponding scattering particles are investigated. The possibility to achieve magnetic dipole resonance and accordingly to construct metamaterials with negative refractive index for the aggregates spherical particles in surrounding medium with the epsilon near zero limits is considered.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure

Polaron action for multimode dispersive phonon systems

Path-integral approach to the tight-binding polaron is extended to multiple optical phonon modes of arbitrary dispersion and polarization. The non-linear lattice effects are neglected. Only one electron band is considered. The electron-phonon interaction is of the density-displacement type, but can be of arbitrary spatial range and shape. Feynman's analytical integration of ion trajectories is performed by transforming the electron-ion forces to the basis in which the phonon dynamical matrix is diagonal. The resulting polaron action is derived for the periodic and shifted boundary conditions in imaginary time. The former can be used for calculating polaron thermodynamics while the latter for the polaron mass and spectrum. The developed formalism is the analytical basis for numerical analysis of such models by path-integral Monte Carlo methods.Comment: 9 page

Efficient data processing and quantum phenomena: Single-particle systems

We study the relation between the acquisition and analysis of data and quantum theory using a probabilistic and deterministic model for photon polarizers. We introduce criteria for efficient processing of data and then use these criteria to demonstrate that efficient processing of the data contained in single events is equivalent to the observation that Malus' law holds. A strictly deterministic process that also yields Malus' law is analyzed in detail. We present a performance analysis of the probabilistic and deterministic model of the photon polarizer. The latter is an adaptive dynamical system that has primitive learning capabilities. This additional feature has recently been shown to be sufficient to perform event-by-event simulations of interference phenomena, without using concepts of wave mechanics. We illustrate this by presenting results for a system of two chained Mach-Zehnder interferometers, suggesting that systems that perform efficient data processing and have learning capability are able to exhibit behavior that is usually attributed to quantum systems only.Comment: http://www.compphys.net/dl