The LHMC Algorithm for Free Field Theory: Reexamining Overrelaxation

We analyze the autocorrelations for the LHMC algorithm in the context of free field theory. In this case this is just Adler's overrelaxation algorithm. We consider the algorithm with even/odd, lexicographic, and random updates, and show that its efficiency depends crucially on this ordering of sites when optimized for a given class of operators. In particular, we show that, contrary to previous expectations, it is possible to eliminate critical slowing down (z[int]=0) for a class of interesting observables, including the magnetic susceptibility: this can be done with lexicographic updates but is not possible with even/odd (z[int]=1) or random (z[int]=2) updates. We are considering the dynamical critical exponent z[int] for integrated autocorrelations rather than for the exponential autocorrelation time; this is reasonable because it is the integrated autocorrelation which determines the cost of a Monte Carlo computation.Comment: LaTeX, 33 pages, 3 postscript figure

Extending political participation in China: new opportunities for citizens in the policy process

Authoritarian political systems are portrayed as offering few opportunities for citizens to participate in politics – particularly in the policy process. This paper’s contribution is to set out new mechanisms that enable Authoritarian political systems are portrayed as offering few opportunities for citizens to participate in politics – particularly in the policy process. This paper’s contribution is to set out new mechanisms that enable Chinese citizens to evaluate government performance, contribute to decision-making, shape policy agendas and feed back on implementation. Based on fieldwork in the city of Hangzhou, we argue that the local party-state orchestrates citizen participation in the policy process, but members of the public nevertheless do have influence. Political participation is widening in China, but it is still controlled. It is not yet clearly part of a process of democratization, but it does establish the principle of citizen rights to oversee the government

No cosmological domain wall problem for weakly coupled fields

After inflation occurs, a weakly coupled scalar field will in general not be in thermal equilibrium but have a distribution of values determined by the inflationary Hubble parameter. If such a field subsequently undergoes discrete symmetry breaking, then the different degenerate vacua may not be equally populated so the domain walls which form will be `biased' and the wall network will subsequently collapse. Thus the cosmological domain wall problem may be solved for sufficiently weakly coupled fields in a post-inflationary universe. We quantify the criteria for determining whether this does happen, using a Higgs-like potential with a spontaneously broken $Z_2$ symmetry.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures (Revtex), clarifying Comments added in Introduction; to appear in Phys. Rev

Multicanonical Multigrid Monte Carlo

To further improve the performance of Monte Carlo simulations of first-order phase transitions we propose to combine the multicanonical approach with multigrid techniques. We report tests of this proposition for the $d$-dimensional $\Phi^4$ field theory in two different situations. First, we study quantum tunneling for $d = 1$ in the continuum limit, and second, we investigate first-order phase transitions for $d = 2$ in the infinite volume limit. Compared with standard multicanonical simulations we obtain improvement factors of several resp. of about one order of magnitude.Comment: 12 pages LaTex, 1 PS figure appended. FU-Berlin preprint FUB-HEP 9/9

Characterization of the QUartz Photon Intensifying Detector (QUPID) for Noble Liquid Detectors

Dark Matter and Double Beta Decay experiments require extremely low radioactivity within the detector materials. For this purpose, the University of California, Los Angeles and Hamamatsu Photonics have developed the QUartz Photon Intensifying Detector (QUPID), an ultra-low background photodetector based on the Hybrid Avalanche Photo Diode (HAPD) and entirely made of ultraclean synthetic fused silica. In this work we present the basic concept of the QUPID and the testing measurements on QUPIDs from the first production line. Screening of radioactivity at the Gator facility in the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso has shown that the QUPIDs safely fulfill the low radioactive contamination requirements for the next generation zero background experiments set by Monte Carlo simulations. The quantum efficiency of the QUPID at room temperature is > 30% at the xenon scintillation wavelength. At low temperatures, the QUPID shows a leakage current less than 1 nA and a global gain of 10^5. In these conditions, the photocathode and the anode show > 95% linearity up to 1 uA for the cathode and 3 mA for the anode. The photocathode and collection efficiency are uniform to 80% over the entire surface. In parallel with single photon counting capabilities, the QUPIDs have a good timing response: 1.8 +/- 0.1 ns rise time, 2.5 +/- 0.2 ns fall time, 4.20 +/- 0.05 ns pulse width, and 160 +/- 30 ps transit time spread. The QUPIDs have also been tested in a liquid xenon environment, and scintillation light from 57Co and 210Po radioactive sources were observed.Comment: 15 pages, 22 figure

Systematic and intuitive approach for separation of variables in the Dirac equation for a class of noncentral electromagnetic potentials

We consider the three-dimensional Dirac equation in spherical coordinates with coupling to static electromagnetic potential. The space components of the potential have angular (non-central) dependence such that the Dirac equation is separable in all coordinates. We obtain exact solutions for the case where the potential satisfies the Lorentz gauge fixing condition and its time component is the Coulomb potential. The relativistic energy spectrum and corresponding spinor wavefunctions are obtained. The Aharonov-Bohm and magnetic monopole potentials are included in these solutions. The conventional relativistic units, $\hbar$ = c = 1, are used.Comment: This is a modified version of the manuscript hep-th/0501004 rewritten in the conventional relativistic units, $\hbar$ = c = 1. Consequently, most of the equations and all results that were previously written in the atomic units $\hbar$ = m =1, are now reformulated in the new unit

On the formation of a Hawking-radiation photosphere around microscopic black holes

We show that once a black hole surpasses some critical temperature $T_{crit}$, the emitted Hawking radiation interacts with itself and forms a nearly thermal photosphere. Using QED, we show that the dominant interactions are bremsstrahlung and electron-photon pair production, and we estimate $T_{crit} \sim m_{e}/\alpha^{5/2}$, which when calculated more precisely is found to be $T_{crit} \approx$45 GeV. The formation of the photosphere is purely a particle physics effect, and not a general relativistic effect, since the the photosphere forms roughly $\alpha^{-4}$ Schwarzschild radii away from the black hole. The temperature $T$ of the photosphere decreases with distance from the black hole, and the outer surface is determined by the constraint $T\sim m_{e}$ (for the QED case), since this is the point at which electrons and positrons annihilate, and the remaining photons free stream to infinity. Observational consequences are discussed, and it is found that, although the QED photosphere will not affect the Page-Hawking limits on primordial black holes, which is most important for 100MeV black holes, the inclusion of QCD interactions may significantly effect this limit, since for QCD we estimate $T_{crit}\sim \Lambda_{QCD}$. The photosphere greatly reduces possibility of observing individual black holes with temperatures greater than $T_{crit}$, since the high energy particles emitted from the black hole are processed through the photosphere to a lower energy, where the gamma ray background is much higher. The temperature of the plasma in the photosphere can be extremely high, and this offers interesting possibilities for processes such as symmetry restoration.Comment: Latex, 16 pages, 3 postscript figures, submitted to PRD. Also available at http://fnas08.fnal.gov

Temporal fluctuations of waves in weakly nonlinear disordered media

We consider the multiple scattering of a scalar wave in a disordered medium with a weak nonlinearity of Kerr type. The perturbation theory, developed to calculate the temporal autocorrelation function of scattered wave, fails at short correlation times. A self-consistent calculation shows that for nonlinearities exceeding a certain threshold value, the multiple-scattering speckle pattern becomes unstable and exhibits spontaneous fluctuations even in the absence of scatterer motion. The instability is due to a distributed feedback in the system "coherent wave + nonlinear disordered medium". The feedback is provided by the multiple scattering. The development of instability is independent of the sign of nonlinearity.Comment: RevTeX, 15 pages (including 5 figures), accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Atmospheric Heating and Wind Acceleration: Results for Cool Evolved Stars based on Proposed Processes

A chromosphere is a universal attribute of stars of spectral type later than ~F5. Evolved (K and M) giants and supergiants (including the zeta Aurigae binaries) show extended and highly turbulent chromospheres, which develop into slow massive winds. The associated continuous mass loss has a significant impact on stellar evolution, and thence on the chemical evolution of galaxies. Yet despite the fundamental importance of those winds in astrophysics, the question of their origin(s) remains unsolved. What sources heat a chromosphere? What is the role of the chromosphere in the formation of stellar winds? This chapter provides a review of the observational requirements and theoretical approaches for modeling chromospheric heating and the acceleration of winds in single cool, evolved stars and in eclipsing binary stars, including physical models that have recently been proposed. It describes the successes that have been achieved so far by invoking acoustic and MHD waves to provide a physical description of plasma heating and wind acceleration, and discusses the challenges that still remain.Comment: 46 pages, 9 figures, 1 table; modified and unedited manuscript; accepted version to appear in: Giants of Eclipse, eds. E. Griffin and T. Ake (Berlin: Springer

Dirac and Klein-Gordon equations with equal scalar and vector potentials

We study the three-dimensional Dirac and Klein-Gordon equations with scalar and vector potentials of equal magnitudes as an attempt to give a proper physical interpretation of this class of problems which has recently been accumulating interest. We consider a large class of these problems in which the potentials are noncentral (angular-dependent) such that the equations separate completely in spherical coordinates. The relativistic energy spectra are obtained and shown to differ from those of well-known problems that have the same nonrelativistic limit. Consequently, such problems should not be misinterpreted as the relativistic extension of the given potentials despite the fact that the nonrelativistic limit is the same. The Coulomb, Oscillator and Hartmann potentials are considered. This shows that although the nonrelativistic limit is well-defined and unique, the relativistic extension is not. Additionally, we investigate the Klein-Gordon equation with uneven mix of potentials leading to the correct relativistic extension. We consider the case of spherically symmetric exponential-type potentials resulting in the s-wave Klein-Gordon-Morse problem.Comment: 12 page