On universal decoherence under gravity: a perspective through the Equivalence Principle

In Nature Phys. 11, 668 (2015) (Ref. [1]), a composite particle prepared in a pure initial quantum state and propagated in a uniform gravitational field is shown to undergo a decoherence process at a rate determined by the gravitational acceleration. By assuming Einstein's Equivalence Principle to be valid, we demonstrate, first in a Lorentz frame with accelerating detectors, and then directly in the Lab frame with uniform gravity, that the dephasing between the different internal states arise not from gravity but rather from differences in their rest mass, and the mass dependence of the de Broglie wave's dispersion relation. We provide an alternative view to the situation considered by Ref. [1], where we propose that gravity plays a kinematic role in the loss of fringe visibility by giving the detector a transverse velocity relative to the particle beam; visibility can be easily recovered by giving the screen an appropriate uniform velocity. We finally propose that dephasing due to gravity may in fact take place for certain modifications to the gravitational potential where the Equivalence Principle is violated.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

QND measurements for future gravitational-wave detectors

Second-generation interferometric gravitational-wave detectors will be operating at the Standard Quantum Limit, a sensitivity limitation set by the trade off between measurement accuracy and quantum back action, which is governed by the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. We review several schemes that allows the quantum noise of interferometers to surpass the Standard Quantum Limit significantly over a broad frequency band. Such schemes may be an important component of the design of third-generation detectors.Comment: 22 pages, 6 figures, 1 table; In version 2, more tutorial information on quantum noise in GW interferometer and several new items into Reference list were adde

Vector meson photoproduction studied in its radiative decay channel

We provide an analysis of vector meson photoproduction in the channel of the vector meson decaying into a pseudoscalar meson plus a photon, i.e. $V\to P\gamma$. It is shown that non-trivial kinematic correlations arise from the measurement of the $P\gamma$ angular distributions in the overall c.m. system in comparison with those in the vector-meson-rest frame. In terms of the vector meson density matrix elements, the implication of such kinematic correlations in the measurement of polarization observables is discussed. For the $\omega$ meson production, due to its relatively large branching ratios for $\omega\to\pi^0\gamma$, additional events from this channel may enrich the information about the reaction mechanism and improve the statistics of the recent measurement of polarized beam asymmetries by the GRAAL Collaboration. For $\phi\to \eta\gamma$, $\rho\to \pi\gamma$, and $K^*\to K\gamma$, we expect that additional information about the spin structure of the vector meson production vertex can be derived.Comment: Revtex, 14 pages, 2 eps figures; Version accepted by PR

Suppression of core polarization in halo nuclei

We present a microscopic study of halo nuclei, starting from the Paris and Bonn potentials and employing a two-frequency shell model approach. It is found that the core-polarization effect is dramatically suppressed in such nuclei. Consequently the effective interaction for halo nucleons is almost entirely given by the bare G-matrix alone, which presently can be evaluated with a high degree of accuracy. The experimental pairing energies between the two halo neutrons in $^6$He and $^{11}$Li nuclei are satisfactorily reproduced by our calculation. It is suggested that the fundamental nucleon-nucleon interaction can be probed in a clearer and more direct way in halo nuclei than in ordinary nuclei.Comment: 11 pages, RevTex, 2 postscript figures; major revisions, matches version to appear in Phys. Rev. Letter

Quantum Measurement Theory in Gravitational-Wave Detectors

The fast progress in improving the sensitivity of the gravitational-wave (GW) detectors, we all have witnessed in the recent years, has propelled the scientific community to the point, when quantum behaviour of such immense measurement devices as kilometer-long interferometers starts to matter. The time, when their sensitivity will be mainly limited by the quantum noise of light is round the corner, and finding the ways to reduce it will become a necessity. Therefore, the primary goal we pursued in this review was to familiarize a broad spectrum of readers with the theory of quantum measurements in the very form it finds application in the area of gravitational-wave detection. We focus on how quantum noise arises in gravitational-wave interferometers and what limitations it imposes on the achievable sensitivity. We start from the very basic concepts and gradually advance to the general linear quantum measurement theory and its application to the calculation of quantum noise in the contemporary and planned interferometric detectors of gravitational radiation of the first and second generation. Special attention is paid to the concept of Standard Quantum Limit and the methods of its surmounting.Comment: 147 pages, 46 figures, 1 table. Published in Living Reviews in Relativit

Halo Excitation of 6^6He in Inelastic and Charge-Exchange Reactions

Four-body distorted wave theory appropriate for nucleon-nucleus reactions leading to 3-body continuum excitations of two-neutron Borromean halo nuclei is developed. The peculiarities of the halo bound state and 3-body continuum are fully taken into account by using the method of hyperspherical harmonics. The procedure is applied for A=6 test-bench nuclei; thus we report detailed studies of inclusive cross sections for inelastic $^6$He(p,p')$^6$He$^*$ and charge-exchange $^6$Li(n,p)$^6$He$^*$ reactions at nucleon energy 50 MeV. The theoretical low-energy spectra exhibit two resonance-like structures. The first (narrow) is the excitation of the well-known $2^+$ three-body resonance. The second (broad) bump is a composition of overlapping soft modes of multipolarities $1^-, 2^+, 1^+, 0^+$ whose relative weights depend on transferred momentum and reaction type. Inelastic scattering is the most selective tool for studying the soft dipole excitation mode.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev. C., 11 figures using eps

Optical model potentials involving loosely bound p-shell nuclei around 10 MeV/A

We present the results of a search for optical model potentials for use in the description of elastic scattering and transfer reactions involving stable and radioactive p-shell nuclei. This was done in connection with our program to use transfer reactions to obtain data for nuclear astrophysics, in particular for the determination of the astrophysical S_17 factor for 7Be(p,\gamma)8B using two (7Be,8B) proton transfer reactions. Elastic scattering was measured using 7Li, 10B, 13C and 14N projectiles on 9Be and 13C targets at or about E/A=10 MeV/nucleon. Woods-Saxon type optical model potentials were extracted and are compared with potentials obtained from a microscopic double folding model. We use these results to find optical model potentials for unstable nuclei with emphasis on the reliability of the description they provide for peripheral proton transfer reactions. We discuss the uncertainty introduced by the procedure in the prediction of the DWBA cross sections for the (7Be,8B) reactions used in extracting the astrophysical factor S_17(0).Comment: 16 pages, LaTEX file, 9 figures (PostScript files

Probing the 6He halo structure with elastic and inelastic proton scattering

Proton elastic scattering and inelastic scattering to the first excited state of 6He have been measured over a wide angular range using a 40.9A MeV 6He beam. The data have been analyzed with a fully microscopic model of proton-nucleus scattering using 6He wave functions generated from large space shell model calculations. The inelastic scattering data show a remarkable sensitivity to the halo structure of 6He.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures. RevTeX. Replaced figure 3 with updated figur