Entanglement Induced Phase Transitions

Starting from the canonical ensemble over the space of pure quantum states, we obtain an integral representation for the partition function. This is used to calculate the magnetisation of a system of N spin-1/2 particles. The results suggest the existence of a new type of first order phase transition that occurs at zero temperature in the absence of spin-spin interactions. The transition arises as a consequence of quantum entanglement. The effects of internal interactions are analysed and the behaviour of the magnetic susceptibility for a small number of interacting spins is determined.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Must a Hamiltonian be Hermitian?

A consistent physical theory of quantum mechanics can be built on a complex Hamiltonian that is not Hermitian but instead satisfies the physical condition of space-time reflection symmetry (PT symmetry). Thus, there are infinitely many new Hamiltonians that one can construct that might explain experimental data. One would think that a quantum theory based on a non-Hermitian Hamiltonian violates unitarity. However, if PT symmetry is not broken, it is possible to use a previously unnoticed physical symmetry of the Hamiltonian to construct an inner product whose associated norm is positive definite. This construction is general and works for any PT-symmetric Hamiltonian. The dynamics is governed by unitary time evolution. This formulation does not conflict with the requirements of conventional quantum mechanics. There are many possible observable and experimental consequences of extending quantum mechanics into the complex domain, both in particle physics and in solid state physics.Comment: Revised version to appear in American Journal of Physic

Deformations of Oka manifolds

We investigate the behaviour of the Oka property with respect to deformations of compact complex manifolds. We show that in a family of compact complex manifolds, the set of Oka fibres corresponds to a G-delta subset of the base. We give a necessary and sufficient condition for the limit fibre of a sequence of Oka fibres to be Oka in terms of a new uniform Oka property. We show that if the fibres are tori, then the projection is an Oka map. Finally, we consider holomorphic submersions with noncompact fibres