Quantum-classical crossover in electrodynamics

A classical field theory is proposed for the electric current and the electromagnetic field interpolating between microscopic and macroscopic domains. It represents a generalization of the density functional for the dynamics of the current and the electromagnetic field in the quantum side of the crossover and reproduces standard classical electrodynamics on the other side. The effective action derived in the closed time path formalism and the equations of motion follow from the variational principle. The polarization of the Dirac-see can be taken into account in the quadratic approximation of the action by the introduction of the deplacement field strengths as in conventional classical electrodynamics. Decoherence appears naturally as a simple one-loop effect in this formalism. It is argued that the radiation time arrow is generated from the quantum boundary conditions in time by decoherence at the quantum-classical crossover and the Abraham-Lorentz force arises from the accelerating charge or from other charges in the macroscopic or the microscopic side, respectively. The functional form of quantum renormalization group, the generalization of the renormalization group method for the density matrix, is proposed to follow the scale dependence through the quantum-classical crossover in a systematical manner.Comment: new references added, few sign errors fixed, to appear in Physical Review

Stochastic Gravity

Gravity is treated as a stochastic phenomenon based on fluctuations of the metric tensor of general relativity. By using a (3+1) slicing of spacetime, a Langevin equation for the dynamical conjugate momentum and a Fokker-Planck equation for its probability distribution are derived. The Raychaudhuri equation for a congruence of timelike or null geodesics leads to a stochastic differential equation for the expansion parameter $\theta$ in terms of the proper time $s$. For sufficiently strong metric fluctuations, it is shown that caustic singularities in spacetime can be avoided for converging geodesics. The formalism is applied to the gravitational collapse of a star and the Friedmann-Robertson-Walker cosmological model. It is found that owing to the stochastic behavior of the geometry, the singularity in gravitational collapse and the big-bang have a zero probability of occurring. Moreover, as a star collapses the probability of a distant observer seeing an infinite red shift at the Schwarzschild radius of the star is zero. Therefore, there is a vanishing probability of a Schwarzschild black hole event horizon forming during gravitational collapse.Comment: Revised version. Eq. (108) has been modified. Additional comments have been added to text. Revtex 39 page

Gyroscope precession in cylindrically symmetric spacetimes

We present calculations of gyroscope precession in spacetimes described by Levi-Civita and Lewis metrics, under different circumstances. By doing so we are able to establish a link between the parameters of the metrics and observable quantities, providing thereby a physical interpretation for those parameters, without specifying the source of the field.Comment: 13 pages, Latex. To appear in Class.Q.Gra

A relativistic action-at-a-distance description of gravitational interactions?

It is shown that certain aspects of gravitation may be described using a relativistic action-at-a-distance formulation. The equations of motion of the model presented are invariant under Lorentz transformations and agree with the equations of Einstein's theory of General Relativity, at the first Post-Newtonian approximation, for any number of interacting point masses

ADM canonical formalism for gravitating spinning objects

In general relativity, systems of spinning classical particles are implemented into the canonical formalism of Arnowitt, Deser, and Misner [1]. The implementation is made with the aid of a symmetric stress-energy tensor and not a 4-dimensional covariant action functional. The formalism is valid to terms linear in the single spin variables and up to and including the next-to-leading order approximation in the gravitational spin-interaction part. The field-source terms for the spinning particles occurring in the Hamiltonian are obtained from their expressions in Minkowski space with canonical variables through 3-dimensional covariant generalizations as well as from a suitable shift of projections of the curved spacetime stress-energy tensor originally given within covariant spin supplementary conditions. The applied coordinate conditions are the generalized isotropic ones introduced by Arnowitt, Deser, and Misner. As applications, the Hamiltonian of two spinning compact bodies with next-to-leading order gravitational spin-orbit coupling, recently obtained by Damour, Jaranowski, and Schaefer [2], is rederived and the derivation of the next-to-leading order gravitational spin(1)-spin(2) Hamiltonian, shown for the first time in [3], is presented.Comment: REVTeX4, 18 pages. v1: published version. v2: corrected misprints in (8.4) and (9.3), updated reference

Stochastic thermodynamics of holonomic systems

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Stimulated emission of phonons in a ruby fiber

Avalanches of resonant phonons generated by stimulated emission within the optically excited Ē(2E) doublet are observed in a 400-μm thick fiber of single-crystalline ruby. In comparison with bulk ruby, the avalanches develop fully in a shorter time because the phonons are confined to the active medium by reflection from the fiber boundaries. Position-independent rate equations adequately describe the dynamics