4,505 research outputs found
QCD in One Dimension at Nonzero Chemical Potential
Using an integration formula recently derived by Conrey, Farmer and
Zirnbauer, we calculate the expectation value of the phase factor of the
fermion determinant for the staggered lattice QCD action in one dimension. We
show that the chemical potential can be absorbed into the quark masses; the
theory is in the same chiral symmetry class as QCD in three dimensions at zero
chemical potential. In the limit of a large number of colors and fixed number
of lattice points, chiral symmetry is broken spontaneously, and our results are
in agreement with expressions based on a chiral Lagrangian. In this limit, the
eigenvalues of the Dirac operator are correlated according to random matrix
theory for QCD in three dimensions. The discontinuity of the chiral condensate
is due to an alternative to the Banks-Casher formula recently discovered for
QCD in four dimensions at nonzero chemical potential. The effect of temperature
on the average phase factor is discussed in a schematic random matrix model.Comment: Latex, 23 pages and 5 figures; Added two references and corrected
several typo
How Phase Transitions induce classical behaviour
We continue the analysis of the onset of classical behaviour in a scalar
field after a continuous phase transition, in which the system-field, the long
wavelength order parameter of the model, interacts with an environment, of its
own short-wavelength modes and other fields, neutral and charged, with which it
is expected to interact. We compute the decoherence time for the system-field
modes from the master equation and directly from the decoherence functional
(with identical results). In simple circumstances the order parameter field is
classical by the time the transition is complete.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure: To be published in the International Journal of
Theoretical Physics (2005) as part of the Proceedings of the "Peyresq Physics
9" meeting (2004) on "Micro and Macro structures of spacetime",ed. E.
Verdague
Functional approach to quantum friction: effective action and dissipative force
We study the Casimir friction due to the relative, uniform, lateral motion of
two parallel semitransparent mirrors coupled to a vacuum real scalar field,
. We follow a functional approach, whereby nonlocal terms in the action
for , concentrated on the mirrors' locii, appear after functional
integration of the microscopic degrees of freedom. This action for ,
which incorporates the relevant properties of the mirrors, is then used as the
starting point for two complementary evaluations: Firstly, we calculate the {
in-out} effective action for the system, which develops an imaginary part,
hence a non-vanishing probability for the decay (because of friction) of the
initial vacuum state. Secondly, we evaluate another observable: the vacuum
expectation value of the frictional force, using the { in-in} or Closed Time
Path formalism. Explicit results are presented for zero-width mirrors and
half-spaces, in a model where the microscopic degrees of freedom at the mirrors
are a set of identical quantum harmonic oscillators, linearly coupled to $\phi
Casimir energy between media-separated cylinders: the scalar case
We derive exact expressions for the Casimir scalar interaction energy between
media-separated eccentric dielectric cylinders and for the media-separated
cylinder-plane geometry using a mode-summation approach. Similarly to the
electromagnetic Casimir-Lifshitz interaction energy between fluid-separated
planar plates, the force between cylinders is attractive or repulsive depending
on the relative values of the permittivities of the three intervening media.Comment: New figure and discussion about the integration contour in the
complex plan
Creation of unstable particles and decoherence in semiclassical cosmology
We consider a simple cosmological model in order to show the importance of
unstable particle creation for the validity of the semiclassical approximation.
Using the mathematical structure of rigged Hilbert spaces we show that particle
creation is the seed of decoherence which enables the quantum to classical
transition.Comment: latex file; 18 pages. Some changes have been added. To appear in Gen.
Rel. and Gra
Influence functional in two dimensional dilaton gravity
We evaluate the influence functional for two dimensional models of dilaton
gravity. This functional is exactly computed when the conformal invariance is
preserved, and it can be written as the difference between the Liouville
actions on each closed-time-path branch plus a boundary term. From the
influence action we derive the covariant form of the semiclassical field
equations. We also study the quantum to classical transition in cosmological
backgrounds. In the conformal case we show that the semiclassical approximation
is not valid because there is no imaginary part in the influence action.
Finally we show that the inclusion of the dilaton loop in the influence
functional breaks conformal invariance and ensures the validity of the
semiclassical approximation.Comment: 25 pages, RevTex, no figures. Minor changes has been added. To appear
in Physical Review
Land use in the Paraiba Valley through remotely sensed data
A methodology for land use survey was developed and land use modification rates were determined using LANDSAT imagery of the Paraiba Valley (state of Sao Paulo). Both visual and automatic interpretation methods were employed to analyze seven land use classes: urban area, industrial area, bare soil, cultivated area, pastureland, reforestation and natural vegetation. By means of visual interpretation, little spectral differences are observed among those classes. The automatic classification of LANDSAT MSS data using maximum likelihood algorithm shows a 39% average error of omission and a 3.4% error of inclusion for the seven classes. The complexity of land uses in the study area, the large spectral variations of analyzed classes, and the low resolution of LANDSAT data influenced the classification results
How chemical pressure affects the fundamental properties of rare-earth pnictides: an ARPES view
Angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy, supplemented by theoretical
calculations has been applied to study the electronic structure of
heavy-fermion material CeFePO, a homologue to the Fe-based high-temperature
superconductors, and CeFeAs_0.7P_0.3O, where the applied chemical pressure
results in a ferromagnetic order of the 4f moments. A comparative analysis
reveals characteristic differences in the Fe-derived band structure for these
materials, implying a rather different hybridization of valence electrons to
the localized 4f orbitals. In particular, our results suggest that the
ferromagnetism of Ce moments in CeFeAs_0.7P_0.3O is mediated mainly by Fe
3d_xz/yz orbitals, while the Kondo screening in CeFePO is instead due to a
strong interaction of Fe 3d_3z^2-r^2 orbitals.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. B (Rapid
On the accuracy of the PFA: analogies between Casimir and electrostatic forces
We present an overview of the validity of the Proximity Force Approximation
(PFA) in the calculation of Casimir forces between perfect conductors for
different geometries, with particular emphasis for the configuration of a
cylinder in front of a plane. In all cases we compare the exact numerical
results with those of PFA, and with asymptotic expansions that include the next
to leading order corrections. We also discuss the similarities and differences
between the results for Casimir and electrostatic forces.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures, Proceedings of the meeting "60 years of Casimir
effect", Brasilia, 200
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