464 research outputs found
Star-unitary transformations. From dynamics to irreversibility and stochastic behavior
We consider a simple model of a classical harmonic oscillator coupled to a
field. In standard approaches Langevin-type equations for {\it bare} particles
are derived from Hamiltonian dynamics. These equations contain memory terms and
are time-reversal invariant. In contrast the phenomenological Langevin
equations have no memory terms (they are Markovian equations) and give a time
evolution split in two branches (semigroups), each of which breaks time
symmetry. A standard approach to bridge dynamics with phenomenology is to
consider the Markovian approximation of the former. In this paper we present a
formulation in terms of {\it dressed} particles, which gives exact Markovian
equations. We formulate dressed particles for Poincar\'e nonintegrable systems,
through an invertible transformation operator \Lam introduced by Prigogine
and collaborators. \Lam is obtained by an extension of the canonical
(unitary) transformation operator that eliminates interactions for
integrable systems. Our extension is based on the removal of divergences due to
Poincar\'e resonances, which breaks time-symmetry. The unitarity of is
extended to ``star-unitarity'' for \Lam. We show that \Lam-transformed
variables have the same time evolution as stochastic variables obeying Langevin
equations, and that \Lam-transformed distribution functions satisfy exact
Fokker-Planck equations. The effects of Gaussian white noise are obtained by
the non-distributive property of \Lam with respect to products of dynamical
variables. Therefore our method leads to a direct link between dynamics of
Poincar\'e nonintegrable systems, probability and stochasticity.Comment: 24 pages, no figures. Made more connections with other work.
Clarified ideas on irreversibilit
Long-Time Behavior of Macroscopic Quantum Systems: Commentary Accompanying the English Translation of John von Neumann's 1929 Article on the Quantum Ergodic Theorem
The renewed interest in the foundations of quantum statistical mechanics in
recent years has led us to study John von Neumann's 1929 article on the quantum
ergodic theorem. We have found this almost forgotten article, which until now
has been available only in German, to be a treasure chest, and to be much
misunderstood. In it, von Neumann studied the long-time behavior of macroscopic
quantum systems. While one of the two theorems announced in his title, the one
he calls the "quantum H-theorem", is actually a much weaker statement than
Boltzmann's classical H-theorem, the other theorem, which he calls the "quantum
ergodic theorem", is a beautiful and very non-trivial result. It expresses a
fact we call "normal typicality" and can be summarized as follows: For a
"typical" finite family of commuting macroscopic observables, every initial
wave function from a micro-canonical energy shell so evolves that for
most times in the long run, the joint probability distribution of these
observables obtained from is close to their micro-canonical
distribution.Comment: 34 pages LaTeX, no figures; v2: minor improvements and additions. The
English translation of von Neumann's article is available as arXiv:1003.213
Does the Charm Flow at RHIC?
Recent PHENIX Au+Au -> e- + X data from open charm decay are shown to be
consistent with two extreme opposite dynamical scenarios of ultra-relativistic
nuclear reactions. Perturbative QCD without final state interactions was
previously shown to be consistent with the data. However, we show that the data
are also consistent with zero mean free path hydrodynamics characterized by a
common transverse flow velocity field. The surprising coincidence of both D and
B hydrodynamic flow spectra with pQCD up to p_T ~ 3 and 5 GeV, respectively,
suggests that heavy quarks may be produced essentially at rest in the rapidly
expanding gluon plasma. Possible implications and further tests of collective
heavy quark dynamics are discussed.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Phys. Lett.
Soft two-meson-exchange nucleon-nucleon potentials. I. Planar and crossed-box diagrams
Pion-meson-exchange nucleon-nucleon potentials are derived for two nucleons
in the intermediate states. The mesons we include are (i) pseudoscalar mesons:
; (ii) vector mesons: ; (iii) scalar
mesons: ; and (iv) the
contribution from the Pomeron. Strong dynamical pair suppression is assumed,
and at the nucleon-nucleon-meson vertices Gaussian form factors are
incorporated into the relativistic two-body framework using a dispersion
representation for the pion- and meson-exchange amplitudes. The Fourier
transformations are performed using factorization techniques for the energy
denominators. The potentials are first calculated in the adiabatic
approximation to all planar and crossed three-dimensional momentum-space
-meson diagrams. Next, we calculate the corrections.Comment: 28 pages RevTeX, 8 postscript figures; revised version as to appear
in Phys. Rev.
Statistical Theory of Spin Relaxation and Diffusion in Solids
A comprehensive theoretical description is given for the spin relaxation and
diffusion in solids. The formulation is made in a general
statistical-mechanical way. The method of the nonequilibrium statistical
operator (NSO) developed by D. N. Zubarev is employed to analyze a relaxation
dynamics of a spin subsystem. Perturbation of this subsystem in solids may
produce a nonequilibrium state which is then relaxed to an equilibrium state
due to the interaction between the particles or with a thermal bath (lattice).
The generalized kinetic equations were derived previously for a system weakly
coupled to a thermal bath to elucidate the nature of transport and relaxation
processes. In this paper, these results are used to describe the relaxation and
diffusion of nuclear spins in solids. The aim is to formulate a successive and
coherent microscopic description of the nuclear magnetic relaxation and
diffusion in solids. The nuclear spin-lattice relaxation is considered and the
Gorter relation is derived. As an example, a theory of spin diffusion of the
nuclear magnetic moment in dilute alloys (like Cu-Mn) is developed. It is shown
that due to the dipolar interaction between host nuclear spins and impurity
spins, a nonuniform distribution in the host nuclear spin system will occur and
consequently the macroscopic relaxation time will be strongly determined by the
spin diffusion. The explicit expressions for the relaxation time in certain
physically relevant cases are given.Comment: 41 pages, 119 Refs. Corrected typos, added reference
Formation of dense partonic matter in relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions at RHIC: Experimental evaluation by the PHENIX collaboration
Extensive experimental data from high-energy nucleus-nucleus collisions were
recorded using the PHENIX detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider
(RHIC). The comprehensive set of measurements from the first three years of
RHIC operation includes charged particle multiplicities, transverse energy,
yield ratios and spectra of identified hadrons in a wide range of transverse
momenta (p_T), elliptic flow, two-particle correlations, non-statistical
fluctuations, and suppression of particle production at high p_T. The results
are examined with an emphasis on implications for the formation of a new state
of dense matter. We find that the state of matter created at RHIC cannot be
described in terms of ordinary color neutral hadrons.Comment: 510 authors, 127 pages text, 56 figures, 1 tables, LaTeX. Submitted
to Nuclear Physics A as a regular article; v3 has minor changes in response
to referee comments. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in figures
for this and previous PHENIX publications are (or will be) publicly available
at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/papers.htm
Search for a W' boson decaying to a bottom quark and a top quark in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV
Results are presented from a search for a W' boson using a dataset
corresponding to 5.0 inverse femtobarns of integrated luminosity collected
during 2011 by the CMS experiment at the LHC in pp collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV.
The W' boson is modeled as a heavy W boson, but different scenarios for the
couplings to fermions are considered, involving both left-handed and
right-handed chiral projections of the fermions, as well as an arbitrary
mixture of the two. The search is performed in the decay channel W' to t b,
leading to a final state signature with a single lepton (e, mu), missing
transverse energy, and jets, at least one of which is tagged as a b-jet. A W'
boson that couples to fermions with the same coupling constant as the W, but to
the right-handed rather than left-handed chiral projections, is excluded for
masses below 1.85 TeV at the 95% confidence level. For the first time using LHC
data, constraints on the W' gauge coupling for a set of left- and right-handed
coupling combinations have been placed. These results represent a significant
improvement over previously published limits.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters B. Replaced with version publishe
Search for the standard model Higgs boson decaying into two photons in pp collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV
A search for a Higgs boson decaying into two photons is described. The
analysis is performed using a dataset recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC
from pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, which corresponds to an
integrated luminosity of 4.8 inverse femtobarns. Limits are set on the cross
section of the standard model Higgs boson decaying to two photons. The expected
exclusion limit at 95% confidence level is between 1.4 and 2.4 times the
standard model cross section in the mass range between 110 and 150 GeV. The
analysis of the data excludes, at 95% confidence level, the standard model
Higgs boson decaying into two photons in the mass range 128 to 132 GeV. The
largest excess of events above the expected standard model background is
observed for a Higgs boson mass hypothesis of 124 GeV with a local significance
of 3.1 sigma. The global significance of observing an excess with a local
significance greater than 3.1 sigma anywhere in the search range 110-150 GeV is
estimated to be 1.8 sigma. More data are required to ascertain the origin of
this excess.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters
Measurement of the Lambda(b) cross section and the anti-Lambda(b) to Lambda(b) ratio with Lambda(b) to J/Psi Lambda decays in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV
The Lambda(b) differential production cross section and the cross section
ratio anti-Lambda(b)/Lambda(b) are measured as functions of transverse momentum
pt(Lambda(b)) and rapidity abs(y(Lambda(b))) in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7
TeV using data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. The measurements are
based on Lambda(b) decays reconstructed in the exclusive final state J/Psi
Lambda, with the subsequent decays J/Psi to an opposite-sign muon pair and
Lambda to proton pion, using a data sample corresponding to an integrated
luminosity of 1.9 inverse femtobarns. The product of the cross section times
the branching ratio for Lambda(b) to J/Psi Lambda versus pt(Lambda(b)) falls
faster than that of b mesons. The measured value of the cross section times the
branching ratio for pt(Lambda(b)) > 10 GeV and abs(y(Lambda(b))) < 2.0 is 1.06
+/- 0.06 +/- 0.12 nb, and the integrated cross section ratio for
anti-Lambda(b)/Lambda(b) is 1.02 +/- 0.07 +/- 0.09, where the uncertainties are
statistical and systematic, respectively.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters
Search for new physics in events with opposite-sign leptons, jets, and missing transverse energy in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV
A search is presented for physics beyond the standard model (BSM) in final
states with a pair of opposite-sign isolated leptons accompanied by jets and
missing transverse energy. The search uses LHC data recorded at a
center-of-mass energy sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the CMS detector, corresponding to
an integrated luminosity of approximately 5 inverse femtobarns. Two
complementary search strategies are employed. The first probes models with a
specific dilepton production mechanism that leads to a characteristic kinematic
edge in the dilepton mass distribution. The second strategy probes models of
dilepton production with heavy, colored objects that decay to final states
including invisible particles, leading to very large hadronic activity and
missing transverse energy. No evidence for an event yield in excess of the
standard model expectations is found. Upper limits on the BSM contributions to
the signal regions are deduced from the results, which are used to exclude a
region of the parameter space of the constrained minimal supersymmetric
extension of the standard model. Additional information related to detector
efficiencies and response is provided to allow testing specific models of BSM
physics not considered in this paper.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO
- âŚ