Quantum Decoherence with Holography

Quantum decoherence is the loss of a system's purity due to its interaction with the surrounding environment. Via the AdS/CFT correspondence, we study how a system decoheres when its environment is a strongly-coupled theory. In the Feynman-Vernon formalism, we compute the influence functional holographically by relating it to the generating function of Schwinger-Keldysh propagators and thereby obtain the dynamics of the system's density matrix. We present two exactly solvable examples: (1) a straight string in a BTZ black hole and (2) a scalar probe in AdS$_5$. We prepare an initial state that mimics Schr\"odinger's cat and identify different stages of its decoherence process using the time-scaling behaviors of R\'enyi entropy. We also relate decoherence to local quantum quenches, and by comparing the time evolution behaviors of the Wigner function and R\'enyi entropy we demonstrate that the relaxation of local quantum excitations leads to the collapse of its wave-function.Comment: 55 pages, 13 figures; v2 47 pages & 13 figs, minor revision to match published versio

Convenient Tail Bounds for Sums of Random Tensors

This work prepares new probability bounds for sums of random, inde-pendent, Hermitian tensors. These probability bounds characterize large-deviation behavior of the extreme eigenvalue of the sums of random tensors. We extend Laplace transform method and Lieb’s concavity theorem from matrices to tensors, and apply these tools to generalize the classical bounds associated with the names Chernoff, Ben-nett, and Bernstein from the scalar to the tensor setting. Tail bounds for the norm of a sum of random rectangular tensors are also derived from corollaries of random Hermitian tensors cases. The proof mechanism can also be applied to tensor-valued martingales and tensor-based Azuma, Hoeffding and McDiarmid inequalities are es-tablished

THE EFFECT OF PRICE PRESENTATION, SALES RESTRICTIONS, AND SOCIAL NETWORKS ON CONSUMER EWOM ACTIVITIES: TWO-PHASE VALIDATION

Word-of-mouth (WOM) is recognized as an effective communication channel among consumers. The Internet provides consumers with richer sales information and more online associates than do brick-and-mortar stores but makes complex the assessment of the shaping of electronic WOM (eWOM) intention and return on eWOM. Thus, we will conduct two experiments to examine the shaping of eWOM intention and return on eWOM. The first experiment explore the eWOM broadcasting from the perspective of eWOM senders in a laboratory setting, and the second experiment will validate the eWOM model from the perspective of both message senders and receivers. The first experiment will allow us to control for variables that are difficult to control in the field and examine the mechanisms behind eWOM intention. The preliminary validation of the research model will increase its explanatory power in the field and allow us examine the value of eWOM associated with eWOM intention

MOTIVATION FOR USING THE SOCIAL COMMERCE WEBSITE IN THE SHARING ECONOMY: A TWO-FACTOR THEORY PERSPECTIVE

The influence and power of the sharing economy are beginning to change our lifestyles and consumption patterns. Among the sharing firms operating in the sharing economy, Airbnb is not only a well-known example of a successful O2O (online to offline) giant but also positions itself as a social commerce website. This study intends to remove the mask of Airbnb from the perspectives of website decomposing because it is important to understand how social commerce is incorporated into the websites of e-commerce retailers to support their online business models. Drawing on the two-factor theory, we focus on the following two research questions: (1) Which website features are hygiene factors and which are motivation factors? (2) How are the hygiene and motivation factors that affect a consumer’s motivation for using the Airbnb website distributed across the stages of the consumer decision-making process? To answer these questions, this study will be conducted by a survey methodology to collect the data

Reduce Uncertainty of Online Potential Mates: Employing Signalling Theory

The online dating environment is full of uncertainties, and thus online daters use various searchable and experiential cues to determine whether online potential partners are in line with their expectations. Uncertainties caused by information asymmetry between dating parties are likely to influence their predicted outcome value judgment. To reduce the uncertainty of online mating, we propose a research model based on signalling theory to examine how two evaluative approach (the trait-evaluation and live-interaction approach) influence the level of online mate uncertainty and the predicted outcome value judgment of online daters. In addition, we also examine the moderating effect of perceived physical attractiveness on the relationship between online mates’ levels of uncertainty and the perceived outcome value judgment. The contributions of two evaluative approach on online dating are also discussed in this study