76 research outputs found
Asymptotics of relative heat traces and determinants on open surfaces of finite area
The goal of this paper is to prove that on surfaces with asymptotically cusp
ends the relative determinant of pairs of Laplace operators is well defined. We
consider a surface with cusps (M,g) and a metric h on the surface that is a
conformal transformation of the initial metric g. We prove the existence of the
relative determinant of the pair under suitable
conditions on the conformal factor. The core of the paper is the proof of the
existence of an asymptotic expansion of the relative heat trace for small
times. We find the decay of the conformal factor at infinity for which this
asymptotic expansion exists and the relative determinant is defined. Following
the paper by B. Osgood, R. Phillips and P. Sarnak about extremal of
determinants on compact surfaces, we prove Polyakov's formula for the relative
determinant and discuss the extremal problem inside a conformal class. We
discuss necessary conditions for the existence of a maximizer.Comment: This is the final version of the article before it gets published. 51
page
The geodesic rule for higher codimensional global defects
We generalize the geodesic rule to the case of formation of higher
codimensional global defects. Relying on energetic arguments, we argue that,
for such defects, the geometric structures of interest are the totally geodesic
submanifolds. On the other hand, stochastic arguments lead to a diffusion
equation approach, from which the geodesic rule is deduced. It turns out that
the most appropriate geometric structure that one should consider is the convex
hull of the values of the order parameter on the causal volumes whose collision
gives rise to the defect. We explain why these two approaches lead to similar
results when calculating the density of global defects by using a theorem of
Cheeger and Gromoll. We present a computation of the probability of formation
of strings/vortices in the case of a system, such as nematic liquid crystals,
whose vacuum is .Comment: 17 pages, no figures. To be published in Mod. Phys. Lett.
Black hole pairs and supergravity domain walls
We examine the pair creation of black holes in the presence of supergravity
domain walls with broken and unbroken supersymmetry. We show that black holes
will be nucleated in the presence of non- extreme, repulsive walls which break
the supersymmetry, but that as one allows the parameter measuring deviation
from extremality to approach zero the rate of creation will be suppressed. In
particular, we show that the probability for creation of black holes in the
presence of an extreme domain wall is identically zero, even though an extreme
vacuum domain wall still has repulsive gravitational energy. This is consistent
with the fact that the supersymmetric, extreme domain wall configurations are
BPS states and should be stable against quantum corrections. We discuss how
these walls arise in string theory, and speculate about what string theory
might tell us about such objects.Comment: 21 pages LaTeX, special style files (psfrag.sty, efsf_psfrag.sty,
a4local.sty, epsf.tex), minor revisions and amended reference
On the Mixing of Diffusing Particles
We study how the order of N independent random walks in one dimension evolves
with time. Our focus is statistical properties of the inversion number m,
defined as the number of pairs that are out of sort with respect to the initial
configuration. In the steady-state, the distribution of the inversion number is
Gaussian with the average ~N^2/4 and the standard deviation sigma N^{3/2}/6.
The survival probability, S_m(t), which measures the likelihood that the
inversion number remains below m until time t, decays algebraically in the
long-time limit, S_m t^{-beta_m}. Interestingly, there is a spectrum of
N(N-1)/2 distinct exponents beta_m(N). We also find that the kinetics of
first-passage in a circular cone provides a good approximation for these
exponents. When N is large, the first-passage exponents are a universal
function of a single scaling variable, beta_m(N)--> beta(z) with
z=(m-)/sigma. In the cone approximation, the scaling function is a root of a
transcendental equation involving the parabolic cylinder equation, D_{2
beta}(-z)=0, and surprisingly, numerical simulations show this prediction to be
exact.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, 2 table
Stationary Metrics and Optical Zermelo-Randers-Finsler Geometry
We consider a triality between the Zermelo navigation problem, the geodesic
flow on a Finslerian geometry of Randers type, and spacetimes in one dimension
higher admitting a timelike conformal Killing vector field. From the latter
viewpoint, the data of the Zermelo problem are encoded in a (conformally)
Painleve-Gullstrand form of the spacetime metric, whereas the data of the
Randers problem are encoded in a stationary generalisation of the usual optical
metric. We discuss how the spacetime viewpoint gives a simple and physical
perspective on various issues, including how Finsler geometries with constant
flag curvature always map to conformally flat spacetimes and that the Finsler
condition maps to either a causality condition or it breaks down at an
ergo-surface in the spacetime picture. The gauge equivalence in this network of
relations is considered as well as the connection to analogue models and the
viewpoint of magnetic flows. We provide a variety of examples.Comment: 37 pages, 6 figure
A priori probability that a qubit-qutrit pair is separable
We extend to arbitrarily coupled pairs of qubits (two-state quantum systems)
and qutrits (three-state quantum systems) our earlier study (quant-ph/0207181),
which was concerned with the simplest instance of entangled quantum systems,
pairs of qubits. As in that analysis -- again on the basis of numerical
(quasi-Monte Carlo) integration results, but now in a still higher-dimensional
space (35-d vs. 15-d) -- we examine a conjecture that the Bures/SD (statistical
distinguishability) probability that arbitrarily paired qubits and qutrits are
separable (unentangled) has a simple exact value, u/(v Pi^3)= >.00124706, where
u = 2^20 3^3 5 7 and v = 19 23 29 31 37 41 43 (the product of consecutive
primes). This is considerably less than the conjectured value of the Bures/SD
probability, 8/(11 Pi^2) = 0736881, in the qubit-qubit case. Both of these
conjectures, in turn, rely upon ones to the effect that the SD volumes of
separable states assume certain remarkable forms, involving "primorial"
numbers. We also estimate the SD area of the boundary of separable qubit-qutrit
states, and provide preliminary calculations of the Bures/SD probability of
separability in the general qubit-qubit-qubit and qutrit-qutrit cases.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables, LaTeX, we utilize recent exact
computations of Sommers and Zyczkowski (quant-ph/0304041) of "the Bures
volume of mixed quantum states" to refine our conjecture
A natural Finsler--Laplace operator
We give a new definition of a Laplace operator for Finsler metric as an
average with regard to an angle measure of the second directional derivatives.
This definition uses a dynamical approach due to Foulon that does not require
the use of connections nor local coordinates. We show using 1-parameter
families of Katok--Ziller metrics that this Finsler--Laplace operator admits
explicit representations and computations of spectral data.Comment: 25 pages, v2: minor modifications, changed the introductio
On the Hausdorff volume in sub-Riemannian geometry
For a regular sub-Riemannian manifold we study the Radon-Nikodym derivative
of the spherical Hausdorff measure with respect to a smooth volume. We prove
that this is the volume of the unit ball in the nilpotent approximation and it
is always a continuous function. We then prove that up to dimension 4 it is
smooth, while starting from dimension 5, in corank 1 case, it is C^3 (and C^4
on every smooth curve) but in general not C^5. These results answer to a
question addressed by Montgomery about the relation between two intrinsic
volumes that can be defined in a sub-Riemannian manifold, namely the Popp and
the Hausdorff volume. If the nilpotent approximation depends on the point (that
may happen starting from dimension 5), then they are not proportional, in
general.Comment: Accepted on Calculus and Variations and PD
Quantum Properties of Topological Black Holes
We examine quantum properties of topological black holes which are
asymptotically anti--de Sitter. First, massless scalar fields and Weyl spinors
which propagate in the background of an anti--de Sitter black hole are
considered in an exactly soluble two--dimensional toy model. The Boulware--,
Unruh--, and Hartle--Hawking vacua are defined. The latter results to coincide
with the Unruh vacuum due to the boundary conditions necessary in
asymptotically adS spacetimes. We show that the Hartle--Hawking vacuum
represents a thermal equilibrium state with the temperature found in the
Euclidean formulation. The renormalized stress tensor for this quantum state is
well--defined everywhere, for any genus and for all solutions which do not have
an inner Cauchy horizon, whereas in this last case it diverges on the inner
horizon. The four--dimensional case is finally considered, the equilibrium
states are discussed and a luminosity formula for the black hole of any genus
is obtained. Since spacelike infinity in anti--de Sitter space acts like a
mirror, it is pointed out how this would imply information loss in
gravitational collapse. The black hole's mass spectrum according to
Bekenstein's view is discussed and compared to that provided by string theory.Comment: 31 pages, one additional figure, enlarged discussion of the higher
genus case, comment on the mass and new references adde
Point-Contact Conductances at the Quantum Hall Transition
On the basis of the Chalker-Coddington network model, a numerical and
analytical study is made of the statistics of point-contact conductances for
systems in the integer quantum Hall regime. In the Hall plateau region the
point-contact conductances reflect strong localization of the electrons, while
near the plateau transition they exhibit strong mesoscopic fluctuations. By
mapping the network model on a supersymmetric vertex model with GL(2|2)
symmetry, and postulating a two-point correlator in keeping with the rules of
conformal field theory, we derive an explicit expression for the distribution
of conductances at criticality. There is only one free parameter, the power law
exponent of the typical conductance. Its value is computed numerically to be
X_t = 0.640 +/- 0.009. The predicted conductance distribution agrees well with
the numerical data. For large distances between the two contacts, the
distribution can be described by a multifractal spectrum solely determined by
X_t. Our results demonstrate that multifractality can show up in appropriate
transport experiments.Comment: 18 pages, 15 figures included, revised versio
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