2,662 research outputs found
Case Study: \u3cem\u3eWebster v. Susquehanna Pole Line Company of Harford County\u3c/em\u3e (1910)
At the turn of the 20th century, the State of Maryland witnessed an increase in the demand for hydroelectricity. Several public utility companies raced to construct a hydroelectric facility on the Susquehanna River, by which they could distribute electricity to Baltimore, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, and Wilmington. This case study examines the use of eminent domain by one such company, the Susquehanna Pole Line Company of Harford County, for the purpose of erecting a continuous transmission line, originating at McCallâs Ferry Dam, the first hydroelectric facility built on the Susquehanna River. This project was subsequently challenged by Harford County residents, whose property the company sought to condemn
Partial Transmutation of Singularities in Optical Instruments
Some interesting optical instruments such as the Eaton lens and the Invisible
Sphere require singularities of the refractive index for their implementation.
We show how to transmute those singularities into harmless topological defects
in anisotropic media without the need for anomalous material properties
On the AdS Higher Spin / O(N) Vector Model Correspondence: degeneracy of the holographic image
We explore the conjectured duality between the critical O(N) vector model and
minimal bosonic massless higher spin (HS) theory in AdS. In the boundary free
theory, the conformal partial wave expansion (CPWE) of the four-point function
of the scalar singlet bilinear is reorganized to make it explicitly
crossing-symmetric and closed in the singlet sector, dual to the bulk HS gauge
fields. We are able to analytically establish the factorized form of the fusion
coefficients as well as the two-point function coefficient of the HS currents.
We insist in directly computing the free correlators from bulk graphs with the
unconventional branch. The three-point function of the scalar bilinear turns
out to be an "extremal" one at d=3. The four-leg bulk exchange graph can be
precisely related to the CPWs of the boundary dual scalar and its shadow. The
flow in the IR by Legendre transforming at leading 1/N, following the pattern
of double-trace deformations, and the assumption of degeneracy of the hologram
lead to the CPWE of the scalar four-point function at IR. Here we confirm some
previous results, obtained from more involved computations of skeleton graphs,
as well as extend some of them from d=3 to generic dimension 2<d<4.Comment: 22 pages, 5 figure
Fermat's principle of least time in the presence of uniformly moving boundaries and media
The refraction of a light ray by a homogeneous, isotropic and non-dispersive
transparent material half-space in uniform rectilinear motion is investigated
theoretically. The approach is an amalgamation of the original Fermat's
principle and the fact that an isotropic optical medium at rest becomes
optically anisotropic in a frame where the medium is moving at a constant
velocity. Two cases of motion are considered: a) the material half-space is
moving parallel to the interface; b) the material half-space is moving
perpendicular to the interface. In each case, a detailed analysis of the
obtained refraction formula is provided, and in the latter case, an intriguing
backward refraction of light is noticed and thoroughly discussed. The results
confirm the validity of Fermat's principle when the optical media and the
boundaries between them are moving at relativistic speeds.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, RevTeX 4, comments welcome; V2: revised, Fig. 7
added; V3: several typos corrected, accepted for publication in European
Journal of Physics (online at: http://stacks.iop.org/EJP/28/933
The group approach to AdS space propagators: A fast algorithm
In this letter we show how the method of [4] for the calculation of two-point
functions in d+1-dimensional AdS space can be simplified. This results in an
algorithm for the evaluation of the two-point functions as linear combinations
of Legendre functions of the second kind. This algorithm can be easily
implemented on a computer. For the sake of illustration, we displayed the
results for the case of symmetric traceless tensor fields with rank up to l=4.Comment: 14 pages, comment adde
Maximal Accuracy and Minimal Disturbance in the Arthurs-Kelly Simultaneous Measurement Process
The accuracy of the Arthurs-Kelly model of a simultaneous measurement of
position and momentum is analysed using concepts developed by Braginsky and
Khalili in the context of measurements of a single quantum observable. A
distinction is made between the errors of retrodiction and prediction. It is
shown that the distribution of measured values coincides with the initial state
Husimi function when the retrodictive accuracy is maximised, and that it is
related to the final state anti-Husimi function (the P representation of
quantum optics) when the predictive accuracy is maximised. The disturbance of
the system by the measurement is also discussed. A class of minimally
disturbing measurements is characterised. It is shown that the distribution of
measured values then coincides with one of the smoothed Wigner functions
described by Cartwright.Comment: 12 pages, 0 figures. AMS-Latex. Earlier version replaced with final
published versio
Optimal cloning of mixed Gaussian states
We construct the optimal 1 to 2 cloning transformation for the family of
displaced thermal equilibrium states of a harmonic oscillator, with a fixed and
known temperature. The transformation is Gaussian and it is optimal with
respect to the figure of merit based on the joint output state and norm
distance. The proof of the result is based on the equivalence between the
optimal cloning problem and that of optimal amplification of Gaussian states
which is then reduced to an optimization problem for diagonal states of a
quantum oscillator. A key concept in finding the optimum is that of stochastic
ordering which plays a similar role in the purely classical problem of Gaussian
cloning. The result is then extended to the case of n to m cloning of mixed
Gaussian states.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure; proof of general form of covariant amplifiers
adde
Comment on "Quantum Friction - Fact or Fiction?"
If quantum friction existed [J.B. Pendry, New J. Phys. 12, 033028 (2010)] an
unlimited amount of useful energy could be extracted from the quantum vacuum
and Lifshitz theory would fail. Both are unlikely to be true.Comment: Comment on J.B. Pendry, New J. Phys. 12, 033028 (2010
Theory of a Slow-Light Catastrophe
In diffraction catastrophes such as the rainbow the wave nature of light
resolves ray singularities and draws delicate interference patterns. In quantum
catastrophes such as the black hole the quantum nature of light resolves wave
singularities and creates characteristic quantum effects related to Hawking
radiation. The paper describes the theory behind a recent proposal [U.
Leonhardt, arXiv:physics/0111058, Nature (in press)] to generate a quantum
catastrophe of slow light.Comment: Physical Review A (in press
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