New higher-order transition in causal dynamical triangulations

We reinvestigate the recently discovered bifurcation phase transition in Causal Dynamical Triangulations (CDT) and provide further evidence that it is a higher order transition. We also investigate the impact of introducing matter in the form of massless scalar fields to CDT. We discuss the impact of scalar fields on the measured spatial volumes and fluctuation profiles in addition to analysing how the scalar fields influence the position of the bifurcation transition.Comment: 15 pages, 11 figures. Conforms with version accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Simulation of some quantum gates, with decoherence

Methods and results for numerical simulations of one and two interacting rf-Squid systems suitable for adiabatic quantum gates are presented. These are based on high accuracy numerical solutions to the static and time dependent Schroedinger equation for the full Squid Hamiltonian in one and two variables. Among the points examined in the static analysis is the range of validity of the effective two-state or ``spin 1/2'' picture. A range of parameters is determined where the picture holds to good accuracy as the energy levels undergo gate manipulations. Some general points are presented concerning the relations between device parameters and ``good'' quantum mechanical state spaces. The time dependent simulations allow the examination of suitable conditions for adiabatic behavior, and permits the introduction of a random noise to simulate the effects of decoherence. A formula is derived and tested relating the random noise to the decoherence rate. Sensitivity to device and operating parameters for the logical gates NOT and CNOT are examined, with particular attention to values of the tunnel parameter beta slightly above one. It appears that with values of beta close to one, a quantum CNOT gate is possible even with rather short decoherence times. Many of the methods and results will apply to coupled double-potential well systems in general.Comment: 26 pages, 15 figures, Some clarification added on decoherence treatment, many small errors corrected, symbols on some figures enlarged, refs added. No change in conten

Planckian Birth of the Quantum de Sitter Universe

We show that the quantum universe emerging from a nonperturbative, Lorentzian sum-over-geometries can be described with high accuracy by a four-dimensional de Sitter spacetime. By a scaling analysis involving Newton's constant, we establish that the linear size of the quantum universes under study is in between 17 and 28 Planck lengths. Somewhat surprisingly, the measured quantum fluctuations around the de Sitter universe in this regime are to good approximation still describable semiclassically. The numerical evidence presented comes from a regularization of quantum gravity in terms of causal dynamical triangulations.Comment: Article unchanged. Line added in acknowledgmen

Toward Realistic Intersecting D-Brane Models

We provide a pedagogical introduction to a recently studied class of phenomenologically interesting string models, known as Intersecting D-Brane Models. The gauge fields of the Standard-Model are localized on D-branes wrapping certain compact cycles on an underlying geometry, whose intersections can give rise to chiral fermions. We address the basic issues and also provide an overview of the recent activity in this field. This article is intended to serve non-experts with explanations of the fundamental aspects, and also to provide some orientation for both experts and non-experts in this active field of string phenomenology.Comment: 85 pages, 8 figures, Latex, Bibtex, v2: refs added, typos correcte

The Cleo Rich Detector

We describe the design, construction and performance of a Ring Imaging Cherenkov Detector (RICH) constructed to identify charged particles in the CLEO experiment. Cherenkov radiation occurs in LiF crystals, both planar and ones with a novel ``sawtooth''-shaped exit surface. Photons in the wavelength interval 135--165 nm are detected using multi-wire chambers filled with a mixture of methane gas and triethylamine vapor. Excellent pion/kaon separation is demonstrated.Comment: 75 pages, 57 figures, (updated July 26, 2005 to reflect reviewers comments), to be published in NIM

Coupling of hard dimers to dynamical lattices via random tensors

We study hard dimers on dynamical lattices in arbitrary dimensions using a random tensor model. The set of lattices corresponds to triangulations of the d-sphere and is selected by the large N limit. For small enough dimer activities, the critical behavior of the continuum limit is the one of pure random lattices. We find a negative critical activity where the universality class is changed as dimers become critical, in a very similar way hard dimers exhibit a Yang-Lee singularity on planar dynamical graphs. Critical exponents are calculated exactly. An alternative description as a system of `color-sensitive hard-core dimers' on random branched polymers is provided.Comment: 12 page

On the top eigenvalue of heavy-tailed random matrices

We study the statistics of the largest eigenvalue lambda_max of N x N random matrices with unit variance, but power-law distributed entries, P(M_{ij})~ |M_{ij}|^{-1-mu}. When mu > 4, lambda_max converges to 2 with Tracy-Widom fluctuations of order N^{-2/3}. When mu < 4, lambda_max is of order N^{2/mu-1/2} and is governed by Fr\'echet statistics. The marginal case mu=4 provides a new class of limiting distribution that we compute explicitely. We extend these results to sample covariance matrices, and show that extreme events may cause the largest eigenvalue to significantly exceed the Marcenko-Pastur edge. Connections with Directed Polymers are briefly discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Potential effects of optical solar sail degredation on trajectory design

The optical properties of the thin metalized polymer films that are projected for solar sails are assumed to be affected by the erosive effects of the space environment. Their degradation behavior in the real space environment, however, is to a considerable degree indefinite, because initial ground test results are controversial and relevant inspace tests have not been made so far. The standard optical solar sail models that are currently used for trajectory design do not take optical degradation into account, hence its potential effects on trajectory design have not been investigated so far. Nevertheless, optical degradation is important for high-fidelity solar sail mission design, because it decreases both the magnitude of the solar radiation pressure force acting on the sail and also the sail control authority. Therefore, we propose a simple parametric optical solar sail degradation model that describes the variation of the sail film's optical coefficients with time, depending on the sail film's environmental history, i.e., the radiation dose. The primary intention of our model is not to describe the exact behavior of specific film-coating combinations in the real space environment, but to provide a more general parametric framework for describing the general optical degradation behavior of solar sails. Using our model, the effects of different optical degradation behaviors on trajectory design are investigated for various exemplary missions