614 research outputs found
Analytical results for the confinement mechanism in QCD_3
We present analytical methods for investigating the interaction of two heavy
quarks in QCD_3 using the effective action approach. Our findings result in
explicit expressions for the static potentials in QCD_3 for long and short
distances. With regard to confinement, our conclusion reflects many features
found in the more realistic world of QCD_4.Comment: 24 pages, uses REVTe
Quantum effective actions from nonperturbative worldline dynamics
We demonstrate the feasibility of a nonperturbative analysis of quantum field
theory in the worldline formalism with the help of an efficient numerical
algorithm. In particular, we compute the effective action for a
super-renormalizable field theory with cubic scalar interaction in four
dimensions in quenched approximation (small- expansion) to all orders in
the coupling. We observe that nonperturbative effects exert a strong influence
on the infrared behavior, rendering the massless limit well defined in contrast
to the perturbative expectation. Our numerical method is based on a direct use
of probability distributions for worldline ensembles, preserves all Euclidean
spacetime symmetries, and thus represents a new nonperturbative tool for an
investigation of continuum quantum field theory.Comment: 33 pages, 10 figure
Absence of Fragmentation in Two-Dimensional Bose-Einstein Condensation
We investigate the possibility that the BEC-like phenomena recently detected
on two-dimensional finite trapped systems consist of fragmented condensates. We
derive and diagonalize the one-body density matrix of a two-dimensional
isotropically trapped Bose gas at finite temperature. For the ideal gas, the
procedure reproduces the exact harmonic-oscillator eigenfunctions and the Bose
distribution. We use a new collocation-minimization method to study the
interacting gas in the Hartree-Fock approximation and obtain a ground-state
wavefunction and condensate fraction consistent with those obtained by other
methods. The populations of the next few eigenstates increase at the expense of
the ground state but continue to be negligible; this supports the conclusion
that two-dimensional BEC is into a single state.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figur
Light Cone Condition for a Thermalized QED Vacuum
Within the QED effective action approach, we study the propagation of
low-frequency light at finite temperature. Starting from a general effective
Lagrangian for slowly varying fields whose structure is solely dictated by
Lorentz covariance and gauge invariance, we derive the light cone condition for
light propagating in a thermalized QED vacuum. As an application, we calculate
the velocity shifts, i.e., refractive indices of the vacuum, induced by
thermalized fermions to one loop. We investigate various temperature domains
and also include a background magnetic field. While low-temperature effects to
one loop are exponentially damped by the electron mass, there exists a maximum
velocity shift of in the
intermediate-temperature domain .Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, REVTeX, typos corrected, final version to appear
in Phys. Rev.
Ice Age Epochs and the Sun's Path Through the Galaxy
We present a calculation of the Sun's motion through the Milky Way Galaxy
over the last 500 million years. The integration is based upon estimates of the
Sun's current position and speed from measurements with Hipparcos and upon a
realistic model for the Galactic gravitational potential. We estimate the times
of the Sun's past spiral arm crossings for a range in assumed values of the
spiral pattern angular speed. We find that for a difference between the mean
solar and pattern speed of Omega_Sun - Omega_p = 11.9 +/- 0.7 km/s/kpc the Sun
has traversed four spiral arms at times that appear to correspond well with
long duration cold periods on Earth. This supports the idea that extended
exposure to the higher cosmic ray flux associated with spiral arms can lead to
increased cloud cover and long ice age epochs on Earth.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
Exact flow equation for bound states
We develop a formalism to describe the formation of bound states in quantum
field theory using an exact renormalization group flow equation. As a concrete
example we investigate a nonrelativistic field theory with instantaneous
interaction where the flow equations can be solved exactly. However, the
formalism is more general and can be applied to relativistic field theories, as
well. We also discuss expansion schemes that can be used to find approximate
solutions of the flow equations including the essential momentum dependence.Comment: 22 pages, references added, published versio
Strong laser fields as a probe for fundamental physics
Upcoming high-intensity laser systems will be able to probe the
quantum-induced nonlinear regime of electrodynamics. So far unobserved QED
phenomena such as the discovery of a nonlinear response of the quantum vacuum
to macroscopic electromagnetic fields can become accessible. In addition, such
laser systems provide for a flexible tool for investigating fundamental
physics. Primary goals consist in verifying so far unobserved QED phenomena.
Moreover, strong-field experiments can search for new light but weakly
interacting degrees of freedom and are thus complementary to accelerator-driven
experiments. I review recent developments in this field, focusing on photon
experiments in strong electromagnetic fields. The interaction of
particle-physics candidates with photons and external fields can be
parameterized by low-energy effective actions and typically predict
characteristic optical signatures. I perform first estimates of the accessible
new-physics parameter space of high-intensity laser facilities such as POLARIS
and ELI.Comment: 7 pages, Key Lecture at the ELI Workshop and School on "Fundamental
Physics with Ultra-High Fields", 9 September - 2 October 2008 at Frauenworth
Monastery, German
The zero-dimensional O(N) vector model as a benchmark for perturbation theory, the large-N expansion and the functional renormalization group
We consider the zero-dimensional O(N) vector model as a simple example to
calculate n-point correlation functions using perturbation theory, the large-N
expansion, and the functional renormalization group (FRG). Comparing our
findings with exact results, we show that perturbation theory breaks down for
moderate interactions for all N, as one should expect. While the
interaction-induced shift of the free energy and the self-energy are well
described by the large-N expansion even for small N, this is not the case for
higher-order correlation functions. However, using the FRG in its one-particle
irreducible formalism, we see that very few running couplings suffice to get
accurate results for arbitrary N in the strong coupling regime, outperforming
the large-N expansion for small N. We further remark on how the derivative
expansion, a well-known approximation strategy for the FRG, reduces to an exact
method for the zero-dimensional O(N) vector model.Comment: 13 pages, 13 figure
Coherence properties of the two-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensate
We present a detailed finite-temperature Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov (HFB)
treatment of the two-dimensional trapped Bose gas. We highlight the numerical
methods required to obtain solutions to the HFB equations within the Popov
approximation, the derivation of which we outline. This method has previously
been applied successfully to the three-dimensional case and we focus on the
unique features of the system which are due to its reduced dimensionality.
These can be found in the spectrum of low-lying excitations and in the
coherence properties. We calculate the Bragg response and the coherence length
within the condensate in analogy with experiments performed in the
quasi-one-dimensional regime [Richard et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 010405
(2003)] and compare to results calculated for the one-dimensional case. We then
make predictions for the experimental observation of the quasicondensate phase
via Bragg spectroscopy in the quasi-two-dimensional regime.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figure
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