184 research outputs found
Time of Arrival from Bohmian Flow
We develop a new conception for the quantum mechanical arrival time
distribution from the perspective of Bohmian mechanics. A detection probability
for detectors sensitive to quite arbitrary spacetime domains is formulated.
Basic positivity and monotonicity properties are established. We show that our
detection probability improves and generalises earlier proposals by Leavens and
McKinnon. The difference between the two notions is illustrated through
application to a free wave packet.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures, to appear in Journ. Phys. A; representation of
ref. 5 improved (thanks to Rick Leavens
Reducing the Probability of False Positive Research Findings by Pre-Publication Validation - Experience with a Large Multiple Sclerosis Database
*Objective*
We have assessed the utility of a pre-publication validation policy in reducing the probability of publishing false positive research findings. 
*Study design and setting*
The large database of the Sylvia Lawry Centre for Multiple Sclerosis Research was split in two parts: one for hypothesis generation and a validation part for confirmation of selected results. We present case studies from 5 finalized projects that have used the validation policy and results from a simulation study.
*Results*
In one project, the "relapse and disability" project as described in section II (example 3), findings could not be confirmed in the validation part of the database. The simulation study showed that the percentage of false positive findings can exceed 20% depending on variable selection. 
*Conclusion*
We conclude that the validation policy has prevented the publication of at least one research finding that could not be validated in an independent data set (and probably would have been a "true" false-positive finding) over the past three years, and has led to improved data analysis, statistical programming, and selection of hypotheses. The advantages outweigh the lost statistical power inherent in the process
The Normal Fetal Heart Rate Study: Analysis Plan
Recording of fetal heart rate via CTG monitoring has been routinely performed as an important part of antenatal and subpartum care for several decades. The current guidelines of the FIGO (ref1) recommend a normal range of the fetal heart rate from 110 to 150 bpm. However, there is no agreement in the medical community whether this is the correct range (ref2). We aim to address this question by computerized analysis (ref 3) of a high quality database (HQDb, ref 4) of about one billion electronically registered fetal heart rate measurements from about 10,000 pregnancies in three medical centres over seven years. In the present paper, we lay out a detailed analysis plan for this evidence-based project in the vein of the validation policy of the Sylvia Lawry Centre for Multiple Sclerosis Research (ref 5) with a split of the database into an exploratory part and a part reserved for validation. We will perform the analysis and the validation after publication of this plan in order to reduce the probability of publishing false positive research findings (ref 6-7)
Times of arrival: Bohm beats Kijowski
We prove that the Bohmian arrival time of the 1D Schroedinger evolution
violates the quadratic form structure on which Kijowski's axiomatic treatment
of arrival times is based. Within Kijowski's framework, for a free right moving
wave packet, the various notions of arrival time (at a fixed point x on the
real line) all yield the same average arrival time. We derive an inequality
relating the average Bohmian arrival time to the one of Kijowksi. We prove that
the average Bohmian arrival time is less than Kijowski's one if and only if the
wave packet leads to position probability backflow through x. Otherwise the two
average arrival times coincide.Comment: 9 page
Bohmian transmission and reflection dwell times without trajectory sampling
Within the framework of Bohmian mechanics dwell times find a straightforward
formulation. The computation of associated probabilities and distributions
however needs the explicit knowledge of a relevant sample of trajectories and
therefore implies formidable numerical effort. Here a trajectory free
formulation for the average transmission and reflection dwell times within
static spatial intervals [a,b] is given for one-dimensional scattering
problems. This formulation reduces the computation time to less than 5% of the
computation time by means of trajectory sampling.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures; v2: published version, significantly revised and
shortened (former sections 2 and 3 omitted, appendix A added, simplified
mathematics
Bohmian arrival time without trajectories
The computation of detection probabilities and arrival time distributions
within Bohmian mechanics in general needs the explicit knowledge of a relevant
sample of trajectories. Here it is shown how for one-dimensional systems and
rigid inertial detectors these quantities can be computed without calculating
any trajectories. An expression in terms of the wave function and its spatial
derivative, both restricted to the boundary of the detector's spacetime volume,
is derived for the general case, where the probability current at the
detector's boundary may vary its sign.Comment: 20 pages, 12 figures; v2: reference added, extended introduction,
published versio
Locality and Causality in Hidden Variables Models of Quantum Theory
Motivated by Popescu's example of hidden nonlocality, we elaborate on the
conjecture that quantum states that are intuitively nonlocal, i.e., entangled,
do not admit a local causal hidden variables model. We exhibit quantum states
which either (i) are nontrivial counterexamples to this conjecture or (ii)
possess a new kind of more deeply hidden irreducible nonlocality. Moreover, we
propose a nonlocality complexity classification scheme suggested by the latter
possibility. Furthermore, we show that Werner's (and similar) hidden variables
models can be extended to an important class of generalized observables.
Finally a result of Fine on the equivalence of stochastic and deterministic
hidden variables is generalized to causal models.Comment: revised version, 21 pages, submitted to Physical Review
Analysis of High Dimensional Data from Intensive Care Medicine
As high dimensional data occur as a rule rather than an exception in critical care today, it is of utmost importance to improve acquisition, storage, modelling, and analysis of medical data, which appears feasable only with the help of bedside computers. The use of clinical information systems offers new perspectives of data recording and also causes a new challenge for statistical methodology. A graphical approach for analysing patterns in statistical time series from online monitoring systems in intensive care is proposed here as an example of a simple univariate method, which contains the possibility of a multivariate extension and which can be combined with procedures for dimension reduction
A quantitative theory-versus-experiment comparison for the intense laser dissociation of H2+
A detailed theory-versus-experiment comparison is worked out for H
intense laser dissociation, based on angularly resolved photodissociation
spectra recently recorded in H.Figger's group. As opposite to other
experimental setups, it is an electric discharge (and not an optical
excitation) that prepares the molecular ion, with the advantage for the
theoretical approach, to neglect without lost of accuracy, the otherwise
important ionization-dissociation competition. Abel transformation relates the
dissociation probability starting from a single ro-vibrational state, to the
probability of observing a hydrogen atom at a given pixel of the detector
plate. Some statistics on initial ro-vibrational distributions, together with a
spatial averaging over laser focus area, lead to photofragments kinetic
spectra, with well separated peaks attributed to single vibrational levels. An
excellent theory-versus-experiment agreement is reached not only for the
kinetic spectra, but also for the angular distributions of fragments
originating from two different vibrational levels resulting into more or less
alignment. Some characteristic features can be interpreted in terms of basic
mechanisms such as bond softening or vibrational trapping.Comment: submitted to PRA on 21.05.200
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