3,650 research outputs found
Decoherent Histories Quantum Mechanics with One 'Real' Fine-Grained History
Decoherent histories quantum theory is reformulated with the assumption that
there is one "real" fine-grained history, specified in a preferred complete set
of sum-over-histories variables. This real history is described by embedding it
in an ensemble of comparable imagined fine-grained histories, not unlike the
familiar ensemble of statistical mechanics. These histories are assigned
extended probabilities, which can sometimes be negative or greater than one. As
we will show, this construction implies that the real history is not completely
accessible to experimental or other observational discovery. However,
sufficiently and appropriately coarse-grained sets of alternative histories
have standard probabilities providing information about the real fine-grained
history that can be compared with observation. We recover the probabilities of
decoherent histories quantum mechanics for sets of histories that are recorded
and therefore decohere. Quantum mechanics can be viewed as a classical
stochastic theory of histories with extended probabilities and a well-defined
notion of reality common to all decoherent sets of alternative coarse-grained
histories.Comment: 11 pages, one figure, expanded discussion and acknowledgment
Quasiclassical Equations of Motion for Nonlinear Brownian Systems
Following the formalism of Gell-Mann and Hartle, phenomenological equations
of motion are derived from the decoherence functional formalism of quantum
mechanics, using a path-integral description. This is done explicitly for the
case of a system interacting with a ``bath'' of harmonic oscillators whose
individual motions are neglected. The results are compared to the equations
derived from the purely classical theory. The case of linear interactions is
treated exactly, and nonlinear interactions are compared using classical and
quantum perturbation theory.Comment: 24 pages, CALT-68-1848 (RevTeX 2.0 macros
Fermion Mass Hierarchy in Lifshitz Type Gauge Theory
We study the origin of fermion mass hierarchy and flavor mixing in a Lifshitz
type extension of the standard model including an extra scalar field. We show
that the hierarchical structure can originate from renormalizable interactions.
In contrast to the Froggatt-Nielsen mechanism, the higher the dimension of
associated operators, the heavier the fermion masses. Tiny masses for
left-handed neutrinos are obtained without introducing right-handed neutrinos.Comment: 13 pages; clarifications of some point
Safety and Effectiveness of Struvite from Black Water and Urine as a Phosphorus Fertilizer
To ensure food supply, phosphorus must be recycled, for which an appealing method is using struvite fertilizer from human excreta. One struvite from black water and another from urine were assessed for safety under Dutch regulations, and for effectiveness as P fertilizer in a maize field experiment and a literature review. Both struvites contained 12% P, 12% Mg, 6% N, and 0.5-1.5% of several micronutrients. Struvites did not exceed Dutch regulations for heavy metals or pathogens, and based on literature, organic toxins should be far below regulatory limits. In this study and 18 others, struvite appears to have similar effectiveness to soluble fertilizer. Early in the season, 200 kg P2O5 ha-1 of black water struvite and soluble phosphorus improved maize performance (
Alternative Large Nc Schemes and Chiral Dynamics
We compare the dependences on the number of colors of the leading pion pion
scattering amplitudes using the single index quark field and two index quark
fields. These are seen to have different relationships to the scattering
amplitudes suggested by chiral dynamics which can explain the long puzzling
pion pion s wave scattering up to about 1 GeV. This may be interesting for
getting a better understanding of the large Nc approach as well as for
application to recently proposed technicolor models.Comment: RevTex, two-columns, 6 page
Naturally Degenerate Neutrinos
The solar neutrino problem, atmospheric neutrino problem, and the existence
of hot dark matter can all be economically accounted for using only the three
known neutrinos if these neutrinos all have nearly degenerate masses of a few
eV. We show how to generate this pattern of neutrino masses in a natural way
within a `see-saw' framework.Comment: 10 pages, plain TeX, McGill-94/07, NEIP-94-003 (This is the version
which is to appear in the journal. We have cleaned up typos, added
references, and slightly expanded our treatment of radiative corrections.
Experimental tests for the Babu-Zee two-loop model of Majorana neutrino masses
The smallness of the observed neutrino masses might have a radiative origin.
Here we revisit a specific two-loop model of neutrino mass, independently
proposed by Babu and Zee. We point out that current constraints from neutrino
data can be used to derive strict lower limits on the branching ratio of
flavour changing charged lepton decays, such as .
Non-observation of Br() at the level of would rule
out singly charged scalar masses smaller than 590 GeV (5.04 TeV) in case of
normal (inverse) neutrino mass hierarchy. Conversely, decay branching ratios of
the non-standard scalars of the model can be fixed by the measured neutrino
angles (and mass scale). Thus, if the scalars of the model are light enough to
be produced at the LHC or ILC, measuring their decay properties would serve as
a direct test of the model as the origin of neutrino masses.Comment: 14 pages, 16 figure
Covariance and Time Regained in Canonical General Relativity
Canonical vacuum gravity is expressed in generally-covariant form in order
that spacetime diffeomorphisms be represented within its equal-time phase
space. In accordance with the principle of general covariance, the time mapping
{\T}: {\yman} \to {\rman} and the space mapping {\X}: {\yman} \to {\xman}
that define the Dirac-ADM foliation are incorporated into the framework of the
Hilbert variational principle. The resulting canonical action encompasses all
individual Dirac-ADM actions, corresponding to different choices of foliating
vacuum spacetimes by spacelike hypersurfaces. In this framework, spacetime
observables, namely, dynamical variables that are invariant under spacetime
diffeomorphisms, are not necessarily invariant under the deformations of the
mappings \T and \X, nor are they constants of the motion. Dirac observables
form only a subset of spacetime observables that are invariant under the
transformations of \T and \X and do not evolve in time. The conventional
interpretation of the canonical theory, due to Bergmann and Dirac, can be
recovered only by postulating that the transformations of the reference system
({\T},{\X}) have no measurable consequences. If this postulate is not deemed
necessary, covariant canonical gravity admits no classical problem of time.Comment: 41 pages, no figure
Mesons and tachyons with confinement and chiral restoration, and NA60
In this paper the spectrum of quark-antiquark systems, including light mesons
and tachyons, is studied in the true vacuum and in the chiral invariant vacuum.
The mass gap equation for the vacua and the Salpeter-RPA equation for the
mesons are solved for a simple chiral invariant and confining quark model. At
T=0 and in the true vacuum, the scalar and pseudoscalar, or the vector and
axial vector are not degenerate, and in the chiral limit, the pseudoscalar
groundstates are Goldstone bosons. At T=0 the chiral invariant vacuum is an
unstable vacuum, decaying through an infinite number of scalar and pseudoscalar
tachyons. Nevertheless the axialvector and vector remain mesons, with real
masses. To illustrate the chiral restoration, an arbitrary path between the two
vacua is also studied. Different families of light-light and heavy-light
mesons, sensitive to chiral restoration, are also studied. At higher
temperatures the potential must be suppressed, and the chiral symmetry can be
restored without tachyons, but then all mesons have small real masses.
Implications for heavy-ion collisions, in particular for the recent vector
meson spectra measured by the NA60 collaboration, are discussed.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, 3 table
Comparison of the extended linear sigma model and chiral perturbation theory
The pion-nucleon scattering amplitudes are calculated in tree approximation
with the use of the extended linear sigma model (ELSM) as well as heavy baryon
chiral perturbation theory (HBPT), and the non-relativistic forms of the
ELSM results are compared with those of HBPT. We find that the amplitudes
obtained in ELSM do not agree with those derived from the more fundamental
effective approach, HBPT.Comment: 7 page
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