Tests of Basic Quantum Mechanics in Oscillation Experiments

According to standard quantum theory, the time evolution operator of a quantum system is independent of the state of the system. One can, however, consider systems in which this is not the case: the evolution operator may depend on the density operator itself. The presence of such modifications of quantum theory can be tested in long baseline oscillation experiments.Comment: 8 pages, LaTeX; no macros neede

Network synchronization: Optimal and Pessimal Scale-Free Topologies

By employing a recently introduced optimization algorithm we explicitely design optimally synchronizable (unweighted) networks for any given scale-free degree distribution. We explore how the optimization process affects degree-degree correlations and observe a generic tendency towards disassortativity. Still, we show that there is not a one-to-one correspondence between synchronizability and disassortativity. On the other hand, we study the nature of optimally un-synchronizable networks, that is, networks whose topology minimizes the range of stability of the synchronous state. The resulting ``pessimal networks'' turn out to have a highly assortative string-like structure. We also derive a rigorous lower bound for the Laplacian eigenvalue ratio controlling synchronizability, which helps understanding the impact of degree correlations on network synchronizability.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figs, submitted to J. Phys. A (proceedings of Complex Networks 2007

The Chagos Islands cases: the empire strikes back

Good governance requires the accommodation of multiple interests in the cause of decision making. However, undue regard for particular sectional interests can take their toll upon public faith in government administration. Historically, broad conceptions of the good of the commonwealth were employed to outweigh the interests of groups that resisted colonisation. In the decision making of the British Empire, the standard approach for justifying the marginalisation of the interests of colonised groups was that they were uncivilised and that particular hardships were the price to be paid for bringing to them the imperial dividend of industrial society. It is widely assumed that with the dismantling of the British Empire, such impulses and their accompanying jurisprudence became a thing of the past. Even as decolonisation proceeded apace after the Second World War, however, the United Kingdom maintained control of strategically important islands with a view towards sustaining its global role. In an infamous example from this twilight period of empire, in the 1960s imperial interests were used to justify the expulsion of the Chagos islanders from the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT). Into the twenty-first century, this forced elision of the UK’s interests with the imperial “common good” continues to take centre stage in courtroom battles over the islanders’ rights, being cited before domestic and international tribunals in order to maintain the Chagossians’ exclusion from their homeland. This article considers the new jurisprudence of imperialism which has emerged in a string of decisions which have continued to marginalise the Chagossians’ interests

Langevin dynamics of the Lebowitz-Percus model

We revisit the hard-spheres lattice gas model in the spherical approximation proposed by Lebowitz and Percus (J. L. Lebowitz, J. K. Percus, Phys. Rev.{\ 144} (1966) 251). Although no disorder is present in the model, we find that the short-range dynamical restrictions in the model induce glassy behavior. We examine the off-equilibrium Langevin dynamics of this model and study the relaxation of the density as well as the correlation, response and overlap two-time functions. We find that the relaxation proceeds in two steps as well as absence of anomaly in the response function. By studying the violation of the fluctuation-dissipation ratio we conclude that the glassy scenario of this model corresponds to the dynamics of domain growth in phase ordering kinetics.Comment: 21 pages, RevTeX, 14 PS figure

Are solar neutrino oscillations robust?

The robustness of the large mixing angle (LMA) oscillation (OSC) interpretation of the solar neutrino data is considered in a more general framework where non-standard neutrino interactions (NSI) are present. Such interactions may be regarded as a generic feature of models of neutrino mass. The 766.3 ton-yr data sample of the KamLAND collaboration are included in the analysis, paying attention to the background from the reaction ^13C(\alpha,n) ^16O. Similarly, the latest solar neutrino fluxes from the SNO collaboration are included. In addition to the solution which holds in the absence of NSI (LMA-I) there is a 'dark-side' solution (LMA-D) with sin^2 theta_Sol = 0.70, essentially degenerate with the former, and another light-side solution (LMA-0) allowed only at 97% CL. More precise KamLAND reactor measurements will not resolve the ambiguity in the determination of the solar neutrino mixing angle theta_Sol, as they are expected to constrain mainly Delta m^2. We comment on the complementary role of atmospheric, laboratory (e.g. CHARM) and future solar neutrino experiments in lifting the degeneracy between the LMA-I and LMA-D solutions. In particular, we show how the LMA-D solution induced by the simplest NSI between neutrinos and down-type-quarks-only is in conflict with the combination of current atmospheric data and data of the CHARM experiment. We also mention that establishing the issue of robustness of the oscillation picture in the most general case will require further experiments, such as those involving low energy solar neutrinos.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures; Final version to appear in JHE

Quantum Revivals in a Periodically Driven Gravitational Cavity

Quantum revivals are investigated for the dynamics of an atom in a driven gravitational cavity. It is demonstrated that the external driving field influences the revival time significantly. Analytical expressions are presented which are based on second order perturbation theory and semiclassical secular theory. These analytical results explain the dependence of the revival time on the characteristic parameters of the problem quantitatively in a simple way. They are in excellent agreement with numerical results

Noether symmetries for two-dimensional charged particle motion

We find the Noether point symmetries for non-relativistic two-dimensional charged particle motion. These symmetries are composed of a quasi-invariance transformation, a time-dependent rotation and a time-dependent spatial translation. The associated electromagnetic field satisfy a system of first-order linear partial differential equations. This system is solved exactly, yielding three classes of electromagnetic fields compatible with Noether point symmetries. The corresponding Noether invariants are derived and interpreted

Nonsingular and accelerated expanding universe from effective Yang-Mills theory

The energy-momentum tensor coming from one-parameter effective Yang- Mills theory is here used to describe the matter-energy content of the homogeneous and isotropic Friedmann cosmology in its early stages. The behavior of all solutions is examined. Particularly, it is shown that only solutions corresponding to an open model allow the universe to evolve into an accelerated expansion. This result appears as a possible mechanism for an inflationary phase produced by a vector field. Further, depending on the value of some parameters characterizing the system, the resulting models are classified as singular or nonsingular.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures, some discussions were simplified and new remarks were introduce

Ultra-High Energy Neutrino Fluxes: New Constraints and Implications

We apply new upper limits on neutrino fluxes and the diffuse extragalactic component of the GeV gamma-ray flux to various scenarios for ultra high energy cosmic rays and neutrinos. As a result we find that extra-galactic top-down sources can not contribute significantly to the observed flux of highest energy cosmic rays. The Z-burst mechanism where ultra-high energy neutrinos produce cosmic rays via interactions with relic neutrinos is practically ruled out if cosmological limits on neutrino mass and clustering apply.Comment: 10 revtex pages, 9 postscript figure

Isometric Embedding of BPS Branes in Flat Spaces with Two Times

We show how non-near horizon p-brane theories can be obtained from two embedding constraints in a flat higher dimensional space with 2 time directions. In particular this includes the construction of D3 branes from a flat 12-dimensional action, and M2 and M5 branes from 13 dimensions. The worldvolume actions are determined by constant forms in the higher dimension, reduced to the usual expressions by Lagrange multipliers. The formulation affords insight in the global aspects of the spacetime geometries and makes contact with recent work on two-time physics.Comment: 29 pages, 10 figures, Latex using epsf.sty and here.sty; v2: reference added and some small correction