5,671 research outputs found
Storage Ring Probes of Dark Matter and Dark Energy
We show that proton storage ring experiments designed to search for proton
electric dipole moments can also be used to look for the nearly dc spin
precession induced by dark energy and ultra-light dark matter. These
experiments are sensitive to both axion-like and vector fields. Current
technology permits probes of these phenomena up to three orders of magnitude
beyond astrophysical limits. The relativistic boost of the protons in these
rings allows this scheme to have sensitivities comparable to atomic
co-magnetometer experiments that can also probe similar phenomena. These
complementary approaches can be used to extract the micro-physics of a signal,
allowing us to distinguish between pseudo-scalar, magnetic and electric dipole
moment interactions.Comment: 19 pages, 7 figure
Langevin equations with multiplicative noise: resolution of time discretization ambiguities for equilibrium systems
A Langevin equation with multiplicative noise is an equation schematically of
the form dq/dt = -F(q) + e(q) xi, where e(q) xi is Gaussian white noise whose
amplitude e(q) depends on q itself. Such equations are ambiguous, and depend on
the details of one's convention for discretizing time when solving them. I show
that these ambiguities are uniquely resolved if the system has a known
equilibrium distribution exp[-V(q)/T] and if, at some more fundamental level,
the physics of the system is reversible. I also discuss a simple example where
this happens, which is the small frequency limit of Newton's equation d^2q/dt^2
+ e^2(q) dq/dt = - grad V(q) + e^{-1}(q) xi with noise and a q-dependent
damping term. The resolution does not correspond to simply interpreting naive
continuum equations in a standard convention, such as Stratanovich or Ito. [One
application of Langevin equations with multiplicative noise is to certain
effective theories for hot, non-Abelian plasmas.]Comment: 15 pages, 2 figures [further corrections to Appendix A
PTF11kx: A Type Ia Supernova with Hydrogen Emission Persisting After 3.5 Years
The optical transient PTF11kx exhibited both the characteristic spectral
features of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) and the signature of ejecta interacting
with circumstellar material (CSM) containing hydrogen, indicating the presence
of a nondegenerate companion. We present an optical spectrum at days
after peak from Keck Observatory, in which the broad component of H
emission persists with a similar profile as in early-time observations. We also
present IRAC detections obtained and days after peak,
and an upper limit from ultraviolet imaging at days. We interpret
our late-time observations in context with published results - and reinterpret
the early-time observations - in order to constrain the CSM's physical
parameters and compare to theoretical predictions for recurrent nova systems.
We find that the CSM's radial extent may be several times the distance between
the star and the CSM's inner edge, and that the CSM column density may be two
orders of magnitude lower than previous estimates. We show that the H
luminosity decline is similar to other SNe with CSM interaction, and
demonstrate how our infrared photometry is evidence for newly formed,
collisionally heated dust. We create a model for PTF11kx's late-time CSM
interaction and find that X-ray reprocessing by photoionization and
recombination cannot reproduce the observed H luminosity, suggesting
that the X-rays are thermalized and that H radiates from collisional
excitation. Finally, we discuss the implications of our results regarding the
progenitor scenario and the geometric properties of the CSM for the PTF11kx
system.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures, 3 tables; submitted to Ap
Hybrid phase-space simulation method for interacting Bose fields
We introduce an approximate phase-space technique to simulate the quantum
dynamics of interacting bosons. With the future goal of treating Bose-Einstein
condensate systems, the method is designed for systems with a natural
separation into highly occupied (condensed) modes and lightly occupied modes.
The method self-consistently uses the Wigner representation to treat highly
occupied modes and the positive-P representation for lightly occupied modes. In
this method, truncation of higher-derivative terms from the Fokker-Planck
equation is usually necessary. However, at least in the cases investigated
here, the resulting systematic error, over a finite time, vanishes in the limit
of large Wigner occupation numbers. We tested the method on a system of two
interacting anharmonic oscillators, with high and low occupations,
respectively. The Hybrid method successfully predicted atomic quadratures to a
useful simulation time 60 times longer than that of the positive-P method. The
truncated Wigner method also performed well in this test. For the prediction of
the correlation in a quantum nondemolition measurement scheme, for this same
system, the Hybrid method gave excellent agreement with the exact result, while
the truncated Wigner method showed a large systematic error.Comment: 13 pages; 6 figures; references added; figures correcte
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