28,959 research outputs found
Decoherence at zero temperature
Most discussions of decoherence in the literature consider the
high-temperature regime but it is also known that, in the presence of
dissipation, decoherence can occur even at zero temperature. Whereas most
previous investigations all assumed initial decoupling of the quantum system
and bath, we consider that the system and environment are entangled at all
times. Here, we discuss decoherence for a free particle in an initial
Schr\"{o}dinger cat state. Memory effects are incorporated by use of the single
relaxation time model (since the oft-used Ohmic model does not give physically
correct results)
Making the most of clade selection
Clade selection is unpopular with philosophers who otherwise accept multilevel selection theory. Clades cannot reproduce, and reproduction is widely thought necessary for evolution by natural selection, especially of complex adaptations. Using microbial evolutionary processes as heuristics, I argue contrariwise, that (1) clade growth (proliferation of contained species) substitutes for clade reproduction in the evolution of complex adaptation, (2) clade-level properties favoring persistence â species richness, dispersal, divergence, and possibly intraclade cooperation â are not collapsible into species-level traits, (3) such properties can be maintained by selection on clades, and (4) clade selection extends the explanatory power of the theory of evolution
Note on the derivative of the hyperbolic cotangent
In a letter to Nature (Ford G W and O'Connell R F 1996 Nature 380 113) we
presented a formula for the derivative of the hyperbolic cotangent that differs
from the standard one in the literature by an additional term proportional to
the Dirac delta function. Since our letter was necessarily brief, shortly after
its appearance we prepared a more extensive unpublished note giving a detailed
explanation of our argument. Since this note has been referenced in a recent
article (Estrada R and Fulling S A 2002 J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 35 3079) we
think it appropriate that it now appear in print. We have made no alteration to
the original note
The POPOP4 library and codes for preparing secondary gamma-ray production cross sections
The POPOP4 code for converting secondary gamma ray yield data to multigroup secondary gamma ray production cross sections and the POPOP4 library of secondary gamma ray yield data are described. Recent results of the testing of uranium and iron data sets from the POPOP4 library are given. The data sets were tested by comparing calculated secondary gamma ray pulse height spectra measured at the ORNL TSR-II reactor
Control of equilibrium pressure-temperature conditions in cryogenic storage
Metered vent controls the pressure within a liquid hydrogen tank. Vent size is chosen to permit a gas flow which corresponds to the boil-off rate necessary to maintain the desired bulk temperature of the cryogen
Disentanglement and Decoherence without dissipation at non-zero temperatures
Decoherence is well understood, in contrast to disentanglement. According to
common lore, irreversible coupling to a dissipative environment is the
mechanism for loss of entanglement. Here, we show that, on the contrary,
disentanglement can in fact occur at large enough temperatures even for
vanishingly small dissipation (as we have shown previously for decoherence).
However, whereas the effect of on decoherence increases exponentially with
time, the effect of on disentanglement is constant for all times,
reflecting a fundamental difference between the two phenomena. Also, the
possibility of disentanglement at a particular increases with decreasing
initial entanglement.Comment: 3 page
Does the Third Law of Thermodynamics hold in the Quantum Regime?
The first in a long series of papers by John T. Lewis,
G. W. Ford and the present author, considered the problem of the most general
coupling of a quantum particle to a linear passive heat bath, in the course of
which they derived an exact formula for the free energy of an oscillator
coupled to a heat bath in thermal equilibrium at temperature T. This formula,
and its later extension to three dimensions to incorporate a magnetic field,
has proved to be invaluable in analyzing problems in quantum thermodynamics.
Here, we address the question raised in our title viz. Nernst's third law of
thermodynamics
Lorentz Transformation of Blackbody Radiation
We present a simple calculation of the Lorentz transformation of the spectral
distribution of blackbody radiation at temperature T. Here we emphasize that T
is the temperature in the blackbody rest frame and does not change. We thus
avoid the confused and confusing question of how temperature transforms. We
show by explicit calculation that at zero temperature the spectral distribution
is invariant. At finite temperature we find the well known result familiar in
discussions of the the 2.7! K cosmic radiation.Comment: 6 page
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