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

Teaching and Training Surgery to the Next Generation of Surgeons

Training residents to become the next generation of surgeons involves very significant challenges not faced by educators of a generation ago. These challenges involve residency training, mentor availability, and teaching operative procedures