The implications of noninertial motion on covariant quantum spin

It is shown that the Pauli-Lubanski spin vector defined in terms of curvilinear co-ordinates does not satisfy Lorentz invariance for spin-1/2 particles in noninertial motion along a curved trajectory. The possibility of detecting this violation in muon decay experiments is explored, where the noninertial contribution to the decay rate becomes large for muon beams with large momenta and trajectories with radius of curvature approaching the muon's Compton wavelength scale. A new spacelike spin vector is derived from the Pauli-Lubanski vector that satisfies Lorentz invariance for both inertial and noninertial motion. In addition, this spin vector suggests a generalization for the classification of spin-1/2 particles, and has interesting properties that are applicable for both massive and massless particles.Comment: REVTeX file; 7 pages; 2 figures; slightly revised with new abstract; accepted for publication in Classical and Quantum Gravit

Functional Evolution of Free Quantum Fields

We consider the problem of evolving a quantum field between any two (in general, curved) Cauchy surfaces. Classically, this dynamical evolution is represented by a canonical transformation on the phase space for the field theory. We show that this canonical transformation cannot, in general, be unitarily implemented on the Fock space for free quantum fields on flat spacetimes of dimension greater than 2. We do this by considering time evolution of a free Klein-Gordon field on a flat spacetime (with toroidal Cauchy surfaces) starting from a flat initial surface and ending on a generic final surface. The associated Bogolubov transformation is computed; it does not correspond to a unitary transformation on the Fock space. This means that functional evolution of the quantum state as originally envisioned by Tomonaga, Schwinger, and Dirac is not a viable concept. Nevertheless, we demonstrate that functional evolution of the quantum state can be satisfactorily described using the formalism of algebraic quantum field theory. We discuss possible implications of our results for canonical quantum gravity.Comment: 21 pages, RevTeX, minor improvements in exposition, to appear in Classical and Quantum Gravit

Carrier capture processes in strain-induced InxGa1-xAs/GaAs quantum dot structures

We investigate carrier capture processes in strain-induced quantum dot structures. The quantum dots consist of a near-surface InGaAs/GaAs quantum well in which a lateral confining potential is generated by the strain from InP stressor islands grown on the sample surface. Using photoluminescence spectroscopy, we show that the rate of carrier capture into the quantum dots increases dramatically when the energetic depth of the confinement potential is reduced by enlarging the quantum well/surface separation D. While carriers in the quantum well region between the quantum dots are found to experience D-dependent nonradiative surface recombination, this process seems to be negligible for carriers in the quantum dots, presumably due to the protecting InP islands.Peer reviewe

The Energy Density in the Casimir Effect

We compute the expectations of the squares of the electric and magnetic fields in the vacuum region outside a half-space filled with a uniform dispersive dielectric. We find a positive energy density of the electromagnetic field which diverges at the interface despite the inclusion of dispersion in the calculation. We also investigate the mean squared fields and the energy density in the vacuum region between two parallel half-spaces. Of particular interest is the sign of the energy density. We find that the energy density is described by two terms: a negative position independent (Casimir) term, and a positive position dependent term with a minimum value at the center of the vacuum region. We argue that in some cases, including physically realizable ones, the negative term can dominate in a given region between the two half-spaces, so the overall energy density can be negative in this region.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figures; 3 references and some new material in Sect. 4.4 adde

Two dimensional Sen connections and quasi-local energy-momentum

The recently constructed two dimensional Sen connection is applied in the problem of quasi-local energy-momentum in general relativity. First it is shown that, because of one of the two 2 dimensional Sen--Witten identities, Penrose's quasi-local charge integral can be expressed as a Nester--Witten integral.Then, to find the appropriate spinor propagation laws to the Nester--Witten integral, all the possible first order linear differential operators that can be constructed only from the irreducible chiral parts of the Sen operator alone are determined and examined. It is only the holomorphy or anti-holomorphy operator that can define acceptable propagation laws. The 2 dimensional Sen connection thus naturally defines a quasi-local energy-momentum, which is precisely that of Dougan and Mason. Then provided the dominant energy condition holds and the 2-sphere S is convex we show that the next statements are equivalent: i. the quasi-local mass (energy-momentum) associated with S is zero; ii.the Cauchy development $D(\Sigma)$ is a pp-wave geometry with pure radiation ($D(\Sigma)$ is flat), where $\Sigma$ is a spacelike hypersurface whose boundary is S; iii. there exist a Sen--constant spinor field (two spinor fields) on S. Thus the pp-wave Cauchy developments can be characterized by the geometry of a two rather than a three dimensional submanifold.Comment: 20 pages, Plain Tex, I

Quasi-Local Gravitational Energy

A dynamically preferred quasi-local definition of gravitational energy is given in terms of the Hamiltonian of a `2+2' formulation of general relativity. The energy is well-defined for any compact orientable spatial 2-surface, and depends on the fundamental forms only. The energy is zero for any surface in flat spacetime, and reduces to the Hawking mass in the absence of shear and twist. For asymptotically flat spacetimes, the energy tends to the Bondi mass at null infinity and the \ADM mass at spatial infinity, taking the limit along a foliation parametrised by area radius. The energy is calculated for the Schwarzschild, Reissner-Nordstr\"om and Robertson-Walker solutions, and for plane waves and colliding plane waves. Energy inequalities are discussed, and for static black holes the irreducible mass is obtained on the horizon. Criteria for an adequate definition of quasi-local energy are discussed.Comment: 16 page

Evolutionary relationships among barley and <i>Arabidopsis</i> core circadian clock and clock-associated genes

The circadian clock regulates a multitude of plant developmental and metabolic processes. In crop species, it contributes significantly to plant performance and productivity and to the adaptation and geographical range over which crops can be grown. To understand the clock in barley and how it relates to the components in the Arabidopsis thaliana clock, we have performed a systematic analysis of core circadian clock and clock-associated genes in barley, Arabidopsis and another eight species including tomato, potato, a range of monocotyledonous species and the moss, Physcomitrella patens. We have identified orthologues and paralogues of Arabidopsis genes which are conserved in all species, monocot/dicot differences, species-specific differences and variation in gene copy number (e.g. gene duplications among the various species). We propose that the common ancestor of barley and Arabidopsis had two-thirds of the key clock components identified in Arabidopsis prior to the separation of the monocot/dicot groups. After this separation, multiple independent gene duplication events took place in both monocot and dicot ancestors. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00239-015-9665-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Quantum Dynamics of the Polarized Gowdy Model

The polarized Gowdy ${\bf T}^3$ vacuum spacetimes are characterized, modulo gauge, by a ``point particle'' degree of freedom and a function $\phi$ that satisfies a linear field equation and a non-linear constraint. The quantum Gowdy model has been defined by using a representation for $\phi$ on a Fock space $\cal F$. Using this quantum model, it has recently been shown that the dynamical evolution determined by the linear field equation for $\phi$ is not unitarily implemented on $\cal F$. In this paper: (1) We derive the classical and quantum model using the ``covariant phase space'' formalism. (2) We show that time evolution is not unitarily implemented even on the physical Hilbert space of states ${\cal H} \subset {\cal F}$ defined by the quantum constraint. (3) We show that the spatially smeared canonical coordinates and momenta as well as the time-dependent Hamiltonian for $\phi$ are well-defined, self-adjoint operators for all time, admitting the usual probability interpretation despite the lack of unitary dynamics.Comment: 24 pages, some typos correcte