Quantum Gravity at the Planck Length

I describe our understanding of physics near the Planck length, in particular the great progress in the last four years in string theory. These are lectures presented at the 1998 SLAC Summer Institute.Comment: 33 pages, LaTeX, 11 epsf figure

Photo-excited zero-resistance states in the GaAs/AlGaAs system

The microwave-excited high mobility two-dimensional electron system exhibits, at liquid helium temperatures, vanishing resistance in the vicinity of $B = [4/(4j+1)] B_{f}$, where $B_{f} = 2\pi\textit{f}m^{*}/e$, m$^{*}$ is an effective mass, e is the charge, and \textit{f} is the microwave frequency. Here, we summarize some experimental results.Comment: 7 color figures, 5 page

Fast and robust two-qubit gates for scalable ion trap quantum computing

We propose a new concept for a two-qubit gate operating on a pair of trapped ions based on laser coherent control techniques. The gate is insensitive to the temperature of the ions, works also outside the Lamb-Dicke regime, requires no individual addressing by lasers, and can be orders of magnitude faster than the trap period

Kinetic Antiferromagnetism in the Triangular Lattice

We show that the motion of a single hole in the infinite $U$ Hubbard model with frustrated hopping leads to weak metallic antiferromagnetism of kinetic origin. An intimate relationship is demonstrated between the simplest versions of this problem in 1 and 2 dimensions, and two of the most subtle many body problems, namely the Heisenberg Bethe ring in 1-d and the 2-dimensional triangular lattice Heisenberg antiferromagnet.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures, 5 supplementary figures; Figures fixe

The lattice Schwarzian KdV equation and its symmetries

In this paper we present a set of results on the symmetries of the lattice Schwarzian Korteweg-de Vries (lSKdV) equation. We construct the Lie point symmetries and, using its associated spectral problem, an infinite sequence of generalized symmetries and master symmetries. We finally show that we can use master symmetries of the lSKdV equation to construct non-autonomous non-integrable generalized symmetries.Comment: 11 pages, no figures. Submitted to Jour. Phys. A, Special Issue SIDE VI

Time reversal symmetry breaking superconductivity

We study time reversal symmetry breaking superconductivity with $\Delta_k = \Delta_{x^2-y^2} (k) +e^{i\theta} \Delta_{\alpha}$ ($\alpha = s$ or $d_{xy}$) symmetries. It is shown that the behavior of such superconductors could be {\em qualitatively} different depending on the minor components ($\alpha$) and its phase at lower temperatures. It is argued that such {\em qualitatively different} behaviors in thermal as well as in angular dependencies could be a {\em source} of consequences in transport and Josephson physics. Orthorhombicity is found to be a strong mechanism for mixed phase (in case of $\alpha = s$). We show that due to electron correlation the order parameter is more like a pure $d_{x^2-y^2}$ symmetry near optimum doping.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures (attached), to be published in Physical Review

Tunnel junctions of unconventional superconductors

The phenomenology of Josephson tunnel junctions between unconventional superconductors is developed further. In contrast to s-wave superconductors, for d-wave superconductors the direction dependence of the tunnel matrix elements that describe the barrier is relevant. We find the full I-V characteristics and comment on the thermodynamical properties of these junctions. They depend sensitively on the relative orientation of the superconductors. The I-V characteristics differ from the normal s-wave RSJ-like behavior.Comment: 4 pages, revtex, 4 (encapsulated postscript) figures (figures replaced

Heating in current carrying molecular junctions

A framework for estimating heating and expected temperature rise in current carrying molecular junctions is described. Our approach is based on applying the Redfield approximation to a tight binding model for the molecular bridge supplemented by coupling to a phonon bath. This model, used previously to study thermal relaxation effects on electron transfer and conduction in molecular junctions, is extended and used to evaluate the fraction of available energy, i.e. of the potential drop, that is released as heat on the molecular bridge. Classical heat conduction theory is then applied to estimate the expected temperature rise. For a reasonable choice of molecular parameters and for junctions carrying currents in the nA range, we find the temperature rise to be a modest few degrees. It is argued, however, that using classical theory to describe heat transport away from the junction may underestimate the heating effect.Comment: 29 pages, 16 figures. J. Chem. Phys., in pres

Continuous Symmetries of Difference Equations

Lie group theory was originally created more than 100 years ago as a tool for solving ordinary and partial differential equations. In this article we review the results of a much more recent program: the use of Lie groups to study difference equations. We show that the mismatch between continuous symmetries and discrete equations can be resolved in at least two manners. One is to use generalized symmetries acting on solutions of difference equations, but leaving the lattice invariant. The other is to restrict to point symmetries, but to allow them to also transform the lattice.Comment: Review articl

Static cylindrical symmetry and conformal flatness

We present the whole set of equations with regularity and matching conditions required for the description of physically meaningful static cylindrically symmmetric distributions of matter, smoothly matched to Levi-Civita vacuum spacetime. It is shown that the conformally flat solution with equal principal stresses represents an incompressible fluid. It is also proved that any conformally flat cylindrically symmetric static source cannot be matched through Darmois conditions to the Levi-Civita spacetime. Further evidence is given that when the Newtonian mass per unit length reaches 1/2 the spacetime has plane symmetry.Comment: 13 pages, Late