328 research outputs found
Neutron matter with a model interaction
An infinite system of neutrons interacting by a model pair potential is
considered. We investigate a case when this potential is sufficiently strong
attractive, so that its scattering length tends to infinity. It appeared, that
if the structure of the potential is simple enough, including no finite
parameters, reliable evidences can be presented that such a system is
completely unstable at any finite density. The incompressibility as a function
of the density is negative, reaching zero value when the density tends to zero.
If the potential contains a sufficiently strong repulsive core then the system
possesses an equilibrium density. The main features of a theory describing such
systems are considered.Comment: 8 pages, LaTeX. In press, Eur. Phys. J.
Taming the Runaway Problem of Inflationary Landscapes
A wide variety of vacua, and their cosmological realization, may provide an
explanation for the apparently anthropic choices of some parameters of particle
physics and cosmology. If the probability on various parameters is weighted by
volume, a flat potential for slow-roll inflation is also naturally understood,
since the flatter the potential the larger the volume of the sub-universe.
However, such inflationary landscapes have a serious problem, predicting an
environment that makes it exponentially hard for observers to exist and giving
an exponentially small probability for a moderate universe like ours. A general
solution to this problem is proposed, and is illustrated in the context of
inflaton decay and leptogenesis, leading to an upper bound on the reheating
temperature in our sub-universe. In a particular scenario of chaotic inflation
and non-thermal leptogenesis, predictions can be made for the size of CP
violating phases, the rate of neutrinoless double beta decay and, in the case
of theories with gauge-mediated weak scale supersymmetry, for the fundamental
scale of supersymmetry breaking.Comment: 31 pages, including 3 figure
Phenomenology and Cosmology of an Electroweak Pseudo-Dilaton and Electroweak Baryons
In many strongly-interacting models of electroweak symmetry breaking the
lowest-lying observable particle is a pseudo-Goldstone boson of approximate
scale symmetry, the pseudo-dilaton. Its interactions with Standard Model
particles can be described using a low-energy effective nonlinear chiral
Lagrangian supplemented by terms that restore approximate scale symmetry,
yielding couplings of the pseudo-dilaton that differ from those of a Standard
Model Higgs boson by fixed factors. We review the experimental constraints on
such a pseudo-dilaton in light of new data from the LHC and elsewhere. The
effective nonlinear chiral Lagrangian has Skyrmion solutions that may be
identified with the `electroweak baryons' of the underlying
strongly-interacting theory, whose nature may be revealed by the properties of
the Skyrmions. We discuss the finite-temperature electroweak phase transition
in the low-energy effective theory, finding that the possibility of a
first-order electroweak phase transition is resurrected. We discuss the
evolution of the Universe during this transition and derive an
order-of-magnitude lower limit on the abundance of electroweak baryons in the
absence of a cosmological asymmetry, which suggests that such an asymmetry
would be necessary if the electroweak baryons are to provide the cosmological
density of dark matter. We revisit estimates of the corresponding
spin-independent dark matter scattering cross section, with a view to direct
detection experiments.Comment: 34 pages, 4 figures, additional references adde
New features of quantum discord uncovered by q-entropies
The notion of quantum discord introduced by Ollivier and Zurek [Phys. Rev.
Lett 88, 017901 (2001)] (see also Henderson and Vedral [J. Phys. A 34, 6899
(2001)]) has attracted increasing attention, in recent years, as an entropic
quantifier of non-classical features pertaining to the correlations exhibited
by bipartite quantum systems. Here we generalize the notion so as to encompass
power-law q-entropies (that reduce to the standard Shannon entropy in the limit
) and study the concomitant consequences. The ensuing, new
discord-like measures we advance describe aspects of non-classicality that are
different from those associated with the standard quantum discord. A particular
manifestation of this difference concerns a feature related to order. Let
stand for the standard, Shannon-based discord measure and for the one. If two quantum states , are such that , this
order-relation does not remain invariant under a change from to .Comment: 11 pages, 8 figure
Decoherence, the measurement problem, and interpretations of quantum mechanics
Environment-induced decoherence and superselection have been a subject of
intensive research over the past two decades, yet their implications for the
foundational problems of quantum mechanics, most notably the quantum
measurement problem, have remained a matter of great controversy. This paper is
intended to clarify key features of the decoherence program, including its more
recent results, and to investigate their application and consequences in the
context of the main interpretive approaches of quantum mechanics.Comment: 41 pages. Final published versio
Problem of Time in Quantum Gravity
The Problem of Time occurs because the `time' of GR and of ordinary Quantum
Theory are mutually incompatible notions. This is problematic in trying to
replace these two branches of physics with a single framework in situations in
which the conditions of both apply, e.g. in black holes or in the very early
universe. Emphasis in this Review is on the Problem of Time being multi-faceted
and on the nature of each of the eight principal facets. Namely, the Frozen
Formalism Problem, Configurational Relationalism Problem (formerly Sandwich
Problem), Foliation Dependence Problem, Constraint Closure Problem (formerly
Functional Evolution Problem), Multiple Choice Problem, Global Problem of Time,
Problem of Beables (alias Problem of Observables) and Spacetime
Reconstruction/Replacement Problem. Strategizing in this Review is not just
centred about the Frozen Formalism Problem facet, but rather about each of the
eight facets. Particular emphasis is placed upon A) relationalism as an
underpinning of the facets and as a selector of particular strategies
(especially a modification of Barbour relationalism, though also with some
consideration of Rovelli relationalism). B) Classifying approaches by the full
ordering in which they embrace constrain, quantize, find time/history and find
observables, rather than only by partial orderings such as "Dirac-quantize". C)
Foliation (in)dependence and Spacetime Reconstruction for a wide range of
physical theories, strategizing centred about the Problem of Beables, the
Patching Approach to the Global Problem of Time, and the role of the
question-types considered in physics. D) The Halliwell- and
Gambini-Porto-Pullin-type combined Strategies in the context of semiclassical
quantum cosmology.Comment: Invited Review: 26 pages including 2 Figures. This v2 has a number of
minor improvements and correction
Tritium Beta Decay, Neutrino Mass Matrices and Interactions Beyond the Standard Model
The interference of charge-changing interactions, weaker than the V-A
Standard Model (SM) interaction and having a different Lorentz structure, with
that SM interaction, can, in principle, produce effects near the end point of
the Tritium beta decay spectrum which are of a different character from those
produced by the purely kinematic effect of neutrino mass expected in the
simplest extension of the SM. We show that the existence of more than one mass
eigenstate can lead to interference effects at the end point that are stronger
than those occurring over the entire spectrum. We discuss these effects both
for the special case of Dirac neutrinos and the more general case of Majorana
neutrinos and show that, for the present precision of the experiments, one
formula should suffice to express the interference effects in all cases.
Implications for "sterile" neutrinos are noted.Comment: 32 pages, LaTeX, 6 figures, PostScript; full discussion and changes
in notation from Phys. Lett. B440 (1998) 89, nucl-th/9807057; submitted to
Phys. Rev.
Ion Neutral Mass Spectrometer Measurements from Titan
Introduction: The Ion Neutral Mass Spectrometer (INMS) aboard the Cassini orbiter has obtained the first in situ composition measurements of the neutral densities of molecular nitrogen, methane, argon, and a host of stable carbon-nitrile compounds in its first flyby of Titan. The bulk composition and thermal structure of the moon s upper atmosphere do not appear to be changed since the Voyager flyby in 1979. However, the more sensitive techniques provided by modern in-situ mass spectrometry also give evidence for large-spatial-scale large-amplitude atmospheric waves in the upper atmosphere and for a plethora of stable carbon-nitrile compounds above 1174 km. Furthermore, they allow the first direct measurements of isotopes of nitrogen, carbon, and argon, which provide interesting clues about the evolution of the atmosphere. The atmosphere was first accreted as ammonia and ammonia ices from the Saturn sub-nebula. Subsequent photochemistry likely converted the atmosphere into molecular nitrogen. The early atmosphere was 1.5 to 5 times more substantial and was lost via escape over the intervening 4.5 billion years due to the reduced gravity associated with the relatively small mass of Titan. Carbon in the form of methane has continued to outgas over time from the interior with much of it being deposited in the form of complex hydrocarbons on the surface and some of it also being lost to space
Classical limit in terms of symbolic dynamics for the quantum baker's map
We derive a simple closed form for the matrix elements of the quantum baker's
map that shows that the map is an approximate shift in a symbolic
representation based on discrete phase space. We use this result to give a
formal proof that the quantum baker's map approaches a classical Bernoulli
shift in the limit of a small effective Plank's constant.Comment: 12 pages, LaTex, typos correcte
The Amplitude in an External Homogeneous Electromagnetic Field
Neutrino-photon interactions in the presence of an external homogeneous
constant electromagnetic field are studied. The amplitude is
calculated in an electromagnetic field of the general type, when the two field
invariants are nonzero.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figur
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