Electric dipole response of 208Pb from proton inelastic scattering: constraints on neutron skin thickness and symmetry energy

The electric dipole (E1) response of 208Pb has been precisely determined by measuring Coulomb excitation induced by proton scattering at very forward angles. The electric dipole polarizability, defined as inverse energy-weighted sum rule of the E1 strength, has been extracted as 20.1+-0.6 fm^3. The data can be used to constrain the neutron skin thickness of 208Pb to 0.168(+-0.009)_expt(+-0.013)_theo(+-0.021)_est fm, where the subscript "expt" refers to the experimental uncertainty, "theor" to the theoretical confidence band and "est" to the uncertainty associated with the estimation of the symmetry energy at the saturation density. In addition, a constraint band has been extracted in the plane of the symmetry energy (J) and its slope parameter (L) at the saturation density.Comment: 6 pages, 8 figures, revised manuscript submitted to special volume of Eur. Phys. J. A on symmetry energ

Optimal Covariant Measurement of Momentum on a Half Line in Quantum Mechanics

We cannot perform the projective measurement of a momentum on a half line since it is not an observable. Nevertheless, we would like to obtain some physical information of the momentum on a half line. We define an optimality for measurement as minimizing the variance between an inferred outcome of the measured system before a measuring process and a measurement outcome of the probe system after the measuring process, restricting our attention to the covariant measurement studied by Holevo. Extending the domain of the momentum operator on a half line by introducing a two dimensional Hilbert space to be tensored, we make it self-adjoint and explicitly construct a model Hamiltonian for the measured and probe systems. By taking the partial trace over the newly introduced Hilbert space, the optimal covariant positive operator valued measure (POVM) of a momentum on a half line is reproduced. We physically describe the measuring process to optimally evaluate the momentum of a particle on a half line.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figure

All-order evaluation of weak measurements: --- The cases of an operator A{\bf A} which satisfies the property A2=1{\bf A}^{2}=1 ---

Some exact formulae of the expectation values and probability densities in a weak measurement for an operator ${\bf A}$ which satisfies the property ${\bf A}^{2}=1$ are derived. These formulae include all-order effects of the unitary evolution due to the von-Neumann interaction. These are valid not only in the weak measurement regime but also in the strong measurement regime and tell us the connection between these two regime. Using these formulae, arguments of the optimization of the signal amplification and the signal to noise ratio are developed in two typical experimental setups.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figures (v1); Fig.3 and some typos are corrected (v2); Comments and references are added and some typos are corrected (v3

Discrete Self-Similarity in Type-II Strong Explosions

We present new solutions to the strong explosion problem in a non-power law density profile. The unperturbed self-similar solutions discovered by Waxman & Shvarts describe strong Newtonian shocks propagating into a cold gas with a density profile falling off as $r^{-\omega}$, where $\omega>3$ (Type-II solutions). The perturbations we consider are spherically symmetric and log-periodic with respect to the radius. While the unperturbed solutions are continuously self-similar, the log-periodicity of the density perturbations leads to a discrete self-similarity of the perturbations, i.e. the solution repeats itself up to a scaling at discrete time intervals. We discuss these solutions and verify them against numerical integrations of the time dependent hydrodynamic equations. Finally we show that this method can be generalized to treat any small, spherically symmetric density perturbation by employing Fourier decomposition

How to detect level crossings without looking at the spectrum

We remind the reader that it is possible to tell if two or more eigenvalues of a matrix are equal, without calculating the eigenvalues. We then use this property to detect (avoided) crossings in the spectra of quantum Hamiltonians representable by matrices. This approach provides a pedagogical introduction to (avoided) crossings, is capable of handling realistic Hamiltonians analytically, and offers a way to visualize crossings which is sometimes superior to that provided by the spectrum. We illustrate the method using the Breit-Rabi Hamiltonian to describe the hyperfine-Zeeman structure of the ground state hydrogen atom in a uniform magnetic field.Comment: Accepted for publication in the American Journal of Physic

Probing of the Kondo peak by the impurity charge measurement

We consider the real-time dynamics of the Kondo system after the local probe of the charge state of the magnetic impurity. Using the exactly solvable infinite-degeneracy Anderson model we find explicitly the evolution of the impurity charge after the measurement.Comment: 4 pages, 1 eps figure, revte

Evolutional Entanglement in Nonequilibrium Processes

Entanglement in nonequilibrium systems is considered. A general definition for entanglement measure is introduced, which can be applied for characterizing the level of entanglement produced by arbitrary operators. Applying this definition to reduced density matrices makes it possible to measure the entanglement in nonequilibrium as well as in equilibrium statistical systems. An example of a multimode Bose-Einstein condensate is discussed.Comment: 10 pages, Late

Direct measurement of general quantum states using weak measurement

Recent work [J.S. Lundeen et al. Nature, 474, 188 (2011)] directly measured the wavefunction by weakly measuring a variable followed by a normal (i.e. `strong') measurement of the complementary variable. We generalize this method to mixed states by considering the weak measurement of various products of these observables, thereby providing the density matrix an operational definition in terms of a procedure for its direct measurement. The method only requires measurements in two bases and can be performed `in situ', determining the quantum state without destroying it.Comment: This is a later and very different version of arXiv:1110.0727v3 [quant-ph]. New content: a method to directly measure each element of the density matrix, specific Hamiltonians to weakly measure the product of non-commuting observables, and references to recent related wor

Statistical mechanics of scale-free networks at a critical point: Complexity without irreversibility?

Based on a rigorous extension of classical statistical mechanics to networks, we study a specific microscopic network Hamiltonian. The form of this Hamiltonian is derived from the assumption that individual nodes increase/decrease their utility by linking to nodes with a higher/lower degree than their own. We interpret utility as an equivalent to energy in physical systems and discuss the temperature dependence of the emerging networks. We observe the existence of a critical temperature $T_c$ where total energy (utility) and network-architecture undergo radical changes. Along this topological transition we obtain scale-free networks with complex hierarchical topology. In contrast to models for scale-free networks introduced so far, the scale-free nature emerges within equilibrium, with a clearly defined microcanonical ensemble and the principle of detailed balance strictly fulfilled. This provides clear evidence that 'complex' networks may arise without irreversibility. The results presented here should find a wide variety of applications in socio-economic statistical systems.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Entanglement Measure for Composite Systems

A general description of entanglement is suggested as an action realized by an arbitrary operator over given disentangled states. The related entanglement measure is defined. Because of its generality, this definition can be employed for any physical systems, pure or mixed, equilibrium or nonequilibrium, and characterized by any type of operators, whether these are statistical operators, field operators, spin operators, or anything else. Entanglement of any number of parts from their total ensemble forming a multiparticle composite system can be determined. Interplay between entanglement and ordering, occurring under phase transitions, is analysed by invoking the concept of operator order indices.Comment: 6 pages, Revte