An Analog Model for Quantum Lightcone Fluctuations in Nonlinear Optics

We propose an analog model for quantum gravity effects using nonlinear dielectrics. Fluctuations of the spacetime lightcone are expected in quantum gravity, leading to variations in the flight times of pulses. This effect can also arise in a nonlinear material. We propose a model in which fluctuations of a background electric field, such as that produced by a squeezed photon state, can cause fluctuations in the effective lightcone for probe pulses. This leads to a variation in flight times analogous to that in quantum gravity. We make some numerical estimates which suggest that the effect might be large enough to be observable.Comment: 15 pages, no figure

Formation, Survival, and Detectability of Planets Beyond 100 AU

Direct imaging searches have begun to detect planetary and brown dwarf companions and to place constraints on the presence of giant planets at large separations from their host star. This work helps to motivate such planet searches by predicting a population of young giant planets that could be detectable by direct imaging campaigns. Both the classical core accretion and the gravitational instability model for planet formation are hard-pressed to form long-period planets in situ. Here, we show that dynamical instabilities among planetary systems that originally formed multiple giant planets much closer to the host star could produce a population of giant planets at large (~100 AU - 100000 AU) separations. We estimate the limits within which these planets may survive, quantify the efficiency of gravitational scattering into both stable and unstable wide orbits, and demonstrate that population analyses must take into account the age of the system. We predict that planet scattering creates a population of detectable giant planets on wide orbits that decreases in number on timescales of ~10 Myr. We demonstrate that several members of such populations should be detectable with current technology, quantify the prospects for future instruments, and suggest how they could place interesting constraints on planet formation models.Comment: 13 pages (emulateapj format), 10 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

Ab initio Molecular Dynamical Investigation of the Finite Temperature Behavior of the Tetrahedral Au19_{19} and Au20_{20} Clusters

Density functional molecular dynamics simulations have been carried out to understand the finite temperature behavior of Au$_{19}$ and Au$_{20}$ clusters. Au$_{20}$ has been reported to be a unique molecule having tetrahedral geometry, a large HOMO-LUMO energy gap and an atomic packing similar to that of the bulk gold (J. Li et al., Science, {\bf 299} 864, 2003). Our results show that the geometry of Au$_{19}$ is exactly identical to that of Au$_{20}$ with one missing corner atom (called as vacancy). Surprisingly, our calculated heat capacities for this nearly identical pair of gold cluster exhibit dramatic differences. Au$_{20}$ undergoes a clear and distinct solid like to liquid like transition with a sharp peak in the heat capacity curve around 770 K. On the other hand, Au$_{19}$ has a broad and flat heat capacity curve with continuous melting transition. This continuous melting transition turns out to be a consequence of a process involving series of atomic rearrangements along the surface to fill in the missing corner atom. This results in a restricted diffusive motion of atoms along the surface of Au$_{19}$ between 650 K to 900 K during which the shape of the ground state geometry is retained. In contrast, the tetrahedral structure of Au$_{20}$ is destroyed around 800 K, and the cluster is clearly in a liquid like state above 1000 K. Thus, this work clearly demonstrates that (i) the gold clusters exhibit size sensitive variations in the heat capacity curves and (ii) the broad and continuous melting transition in a cluster, a feature which has so far been attributed to the disorder or absence of symmetry in the system, can also be a consequence of a defect (absence of a cap atom) in the structure.Comment: 7 figure

Chaotic Dynamics of a Free Particle Interacting Linearly with a Harmonic Oscillator

We study the closed Hamiltonian dynamics of a free particle moving on a ring, over one section of which it interacts linearly with a single harmonic oscillator. On the basis of numerical and analytical evidence, we conjecture that at small positive energies the phase space of our model is completely chaotic except for a single region of complete integrability with a smooth sharp boundary showing no KAM-type structures of any kind. This results in the cleanest mixed phase space structure possible, in which motions in the integrable region and in the chaotic region are clearly separated and independent of one another. For certain system parameters, this mixed phase space structure can be tuned to make either of the two components disappear, leaving a completely integrable or completely chaotic phase space. For other values of the system parameters, additional structures appear, such as KAM-like elliptic islands, and one parameter families of parabolic periodic orbits embedded in the chaotic sea. The latter are analogous to bouncing ball orbits seen in the stadium billiard. The analytical part of our study proceeds from a geometric description of the dynamics, and shows it to be equivalent to a linked twist map on the union of two intersecting disks.Comment: 17 pages, 11 figures Typos corrected to display section label

Charge Effects on Gravitational Wave Detectors

We show that the mean-square displacement of a charged oscillator due to the zero point oscillations of the radiation field is unique in the sense that it is very sensitive to the value of the bare mass of the charge. Thus, a controlled experiment using gravitational wave detectors could lead to a determination of the electron bare mass and shed some light on quantum electrodynamic theory. We also speculate that the irregular signals of non-gravitational origin often observed in gravitational wave bar detectors could be caused by stray charges and that such charges could also adversely affect LIGO and other such detector

On Spin-driven inflation from fields in General Relativity and COBE data

Obukhov spin-driven inflation in General Relativity is extended to include inflaton fields.A de Sitter phase solution is obtained and new slow-rolling conditions for the spin potential are obtained.The spin potential reduces to Obukhov result at the present epoch of the Universe where the spin density is low with comparison to the Early Universe spin densities.A relation betwenn the spin density energy and the temperature fluctuation can be obtained which allow us to determine the spin density energy in terms of the COBE data for temperature fluctuations.Comment: Latex file 8K

Maxwell symmetries and some applications

The Maxwell algebra is the result of enlarging the Poincar\'{e} algebra by six additional tensorial Abelian generators that make the fourmomenta non-commutative. We present a local gauge theory based on the Maxwell algebra with vierbein, spin connection and six additional geometric Abelian gauge fields. We apply this geometric framework to the construction of Maxwell gravity, which is described by the Einstein action plus a generalized cosmological term. We mention a Friedman-Robertson-Walker cosmological approximation to the Maxwell gravity field equations, with two scalar fields obtained from the additional gauge fields. Finally, we outline further developments of the Maxwell symmetries framework.Comment: 8pages. Presented at the XV-th International Conf. on 'Symmetry Methods in Physics' (Dubna, July 2011) and at the '3rd Galileo-Xu Guangqi meeting' (Beijing, October 2011), to appear in IJMP