288 research outputs found
Matching Weak Coupling and Quasiclassical Expansions For Dual QES Problems
Certain quasi-exactly solvable systems exhibit an energy reflection property
that relates the energy levels of a potential or of a pair of potentials. We
investigate two sister potentials and show the existence of this energy
reflection relationship between the two potentials. We establish a relationship
between the lowest energy edge in the first potential using the weak coupling
expansion and the highest energy level in the sister potential using a WKB
approximation carried out to higher order.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures; typos correcte
Fine Structure of Dark Energy and New Physics
Following our recent work on the cosmological constant problem, in this
letter we make a specific proposal regarding the fine structure (i.e., the
spectrum) of dark energy. The proposal is motivated by a deep analogy between
the blackbody radiation problem, which led to the development of quantum
theory, and the cosmological constant problem, which we have recently argued
calls for a conceptual extension of the quantum theory. We argue that the fine
structure of dark energy is governed by a Wien distribution, indicating its
dual quantum and classical nature. We discuss a few observational consequences
of such a picture of dark energy.Comment: 14 pages, LaTeX, typos fixed, comments, references, and footnotes
added, Sec. 4 revise
Probing Near-Horizon Fluctuations with Black Hole Binary Mergers
The strong version of the nonviolent nonlocality proposal of Giddings
predicts "strong but soft" quantum metric fluctuations near black hole horizons
in an attempt to resolve the information paradox. To study observable
signatures of this proposal, we numerically solve Einstein's equations modified
by these fluctuations and analyze the gravitational wave signal from the
inspiral and merger of two black holes. In a model of evolution for such
fluctuations, we show that they lead to significant deviations in the observed
waveform, even when the black holes are still well separated, and could
potentially be observed by aLIGO.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures; v2: published versio
Nanoscale molding of bulk metallic glass
Geometrically complex, high aspect ratio microstructures and limited aspect ratio nanostructures have been successfully fabricated in supercooled Bulk Metallic Glass (BMG) substrates by molding against patterned Silicon and Silicon dioxide substrates. However, demand exists for similar metallic substrates with high aspect ratio, nanoscale features. Van Der Waals based interfacial energies between the supercooled liquid BMG and the Silicon cavity may represent a substantial obstacle to the direct scaling of the molding process to the nanoscale. In an effort to investigate these effects, experiments were conducted using molds of various compositions: Silicon, SiO2 and SiO2 coated with Gold. The Gold coating failed to impact molding performance due to the thin layer deposited. However, drastically superior results were obtained by using a Silicon mold possibly because of the variation in interfacial interaction between the BMG and the mold material. In order to analyze the process, two theoretical models were developed. One model predicts the achievable aspect ratio of the molded features and was found to be in qualitative agreement with experimental results. The other model analyzes the BMG in the molding process as a squeezed viscous film. Finally, a value for the surface tension of Viterloy-1b within it\u27s supercooled liquid state was deduced from experimental data
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