Probable solar flare doses encountered on an interplanetary mission as calculated by the MCFLARE code

The computer program, MCFLARE, uses Monte Carlo methods to simulate solar flare occurrences during an interplanetary space voyage. The total biological dose inside a shielded crew compartment due to the flares encountered during the voyage is determined. The computer program evaluates the doses obtained on a large number of trips having identical trajectories. From these results, a dose D sub p having a probability p of not being exceeded during the voyage can be determined as a function of p for any shield material configuration. To illustrate the use of the code, a trip to Mars and return is calculated, and estimated doses behind several thicknesses of aluminum shield and water shield are presented

EPR Paradox,Locality and Completeness of Quantum Theory

The quantum theory (QT) and new stochastic approaches have no deterministic prediction for a single measurement or for a single time -series of events observed for a trapped ion, electron or any other individual physical system. The predictions of QT being of probabilistic character apply to the statistical distribution of the results obtained in various experiments. The probability distribution is not an attribute of a dice but it is a characteristic of a whole random experiment : '' rolling a dice''. and statistical long range correlations between two random variables X and Y are not a proof of any causal relation between these variable. Moreover any probabilistic model used to describe a random experiment is consistent only with a specific protocol telling how the random experiment has to be performed.In this sense the quantum theory is a statistical and contextual theory of phenomena. In this paper we discuss these important topics in some detail. Besides we discuss in historical perspective various prerequisites used in the proofs of Bell and CHSH inequalities concluding that the violation of these inequalities in spin polarization correlation experiments is neither a proof of the completeness of QT nor of its nonlocality. The question whether QT is predictably complete is still open and it should be answered by a careful and unconventional analysis of the experimental data. It is sufficient to analyze more in detail the existing experimental data by using various non-parametric purity tests and other specific statistical tools invented to study the fine structure of the time-series. The correct understanding of statistical and contextual character of QT has far reaching consequences for the quantum information and quantum computing.Comment: 16 pages, 59 references,the contribution to the conference QTRF-4 held in Vaxjo, Sweden, 11-16 june 2007. To be published in the Proceeding

From Copenhagen to neo-Copenhagen interpretation

Positive and negative features of the Copenhagen interpretation are discussed. As positive features can be mentioned its pragmatism and its awareness of the crucial role of measurement. However, the main part of the contribution is devoted to the negative features, to wit, its pragmatism (once again), its confounding of preparation and measurement, its classical account of measurement, its completeness claims, the ambiguity of its notion of correspondence, its confused notion of complementarity. It is demonstrated how confusions and paradoxes stemming from the negative features of the Copenhagen interpretation can be dealt with in an amended interpretation, to be referred to as `neo-Copenhagen interpretation', in which the role of the measuring instrument is taken seriously by recognizing the quantum mechanical character of its interaction with the microscopic object. The ensuing necessity of extending the notion of a quantum mechanical observable from the Hermitian operator of the standard formalism to the positive operator-valued measure of a generalized formalism is demonstrated to yield a sound mathematical basis for a transition from the Copenhagen contextualistic-realist interpretation to the neo-Copenhagen empiricist one. Applications to the uncertainty relations and to the Bell inequalities are briefly discussed.Comment: To be published in the Proceedings of the Conference: Quantum Theory - 4, Reconsideration of Foundations, V\"axj\"o, June 11-16, 200

A Curious Geometrical Fact About Entanglement

I sketch how the set of pure quantum states forms a phase space, and then point out a curiousity concerning maximally entangled pure states: they form a minimal Lagrangian submanifold of the set of all pure states. I suggest that this curiousity should have an interesting physical interpretation.Comment: Talk at the Vaxjo conference on Quantum Theory: Reconsideration of Foundations -

Classical mechanics as nonlinear quantum mechanics

All measurable predictions of classical mechanics can be reproduced from a quantum-like interpretation of a nonlinear Schrodinger equation. The key observation leading to classical physics is the fact that a wave function that satisfies a linear equation is real and positive, rather than complex. This has profound implications on the role of the Bohmian classical-like interpretation of linear quantum mechanics, as well as on the possibilities to find a consistent interpretation of arbitrary nonlinear generalizations of quantum mechanics.Comment: 7 pages, invited talk given at conference Quantum Theory: Reconsideration of Foundations 4, Vaxjo, Sweden, June 11-16, 200

Nonlinear Dynamical Equation for Irreversible, Steepest-Entropy-Ascent Relaxation to Stable Equilibrium

We discuss the structure and main features of the nonlinear evolution equation proposed by this author as the fundamental dynamical law within the framework of Quantum Thermodynamics. The nonlinear equation generates a dynamical group providing a unique deterministic description of irreversible, conservative relaxation towards equilibrium from any non-equilibrium state, and satisfies a very restrictive stability requirement equivalent to Hatsopoulos-Keenan statement of the second law of thermodynamics. Here, we emphasize its mathematical structure and its applicability also within other contexts, such as Classical and Quantum Statistical Mechanics, and Information Theory.Comment: Proceedings of the Conference "Quantum Theory: Reconsideration of Foundations - 4", Vaxjo, Sweden, June 11-16, 200

The norm-1-property of a quantum observable

A normalized positive operator measure $X\mapsto E(X)$ has the norm-1-property if \no{E(X)}=1 whenever $E(X)\ne O$. This property reflects the fact that the measurement outcome probabilities for the values of such observables can be made arbitrary close to one with suitable state preparations. Some general implications of the norm-1-property are investigated. As case studies, localization observables, phase observables, and phase space observables are considered.Comment: 14 page

Acquisition of Information is Achieved by the Measurement Process in Classical and Quantum Physics

No consensus seems to exist as to what constitutes a measurement which is still considered somewhat mysterious in many respects in quantum mechanics. At successive stages mathematical theory of measure, metrology and measurement theory tried to systematize this field but significant questions remain open about the nature of measurement, about the characterization of the observer, about the reliability of measurement processes etc. The present paper attempts to talk about these questions through the information science. We start from the idea, rather common and intuitive, that the measurement process basically acquires information. Next we expand this idea through four formal definitions and infer some corollaries regarding the measurement process from those definitions. Relativity emerges as the basic property of measurement from the present logical framework and this rather surprising result collides with the feeling of physicists who take measurement as a myth. In the closing this paper shows how the measurement relativity wholly consists with some effects calculated in QM and in Einstein's theory.Comment: Prepared for : Quantum Theory: Reconsideration of Foundations - 4 (QTFR-4), Vaxjo, Sweden, 6-11 June 2007. To be published by the American Institute of Physics in the AIP Conference Proceedings series. Talk presented by Paolo Rocch

Levelling aeromagnetic survey data without the need for tie-lines

A new methodology that levels airborne magnetic data without orthogonal tie-lines is presented in this study. The technique utilizes the low-wavenumber content of the flight-line data to construct a smooth representation of the regional field at a scale appropriate to the line lengths of the survey. Levelling errors are then calculated between the raw flight-line data and the derived regional field through a least squares approach. Minimizing the magnitude of the error, with a first-degree error function, results in significant improvements to the unlevelled data. The technique is tested and demonstrated using three recent airborne surveys