On the concepts of radial and angular kinetic energies

We consider a general central-field system in D dimensions and show that the division of the kinetic energy into radial and angular parts proceeds differently in the wavefunction picture and the Weyl-Wigner phase-space picture. Thus, the radial and angular kinetic energies are different quantities in the two pictures, containing different physical information, but the relation between them is well defined. We discuss this relation and illustrate its nature by examples referring to a free particle and to a ground-state hydrogen atom.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures, accepted by Phys. Rev.

The Heine-Stieltjes correspondence and the polynomial approach to the standard pairing problem

A new approach for solving the Bethe ansatz (Gaudin-Richardson) equations of the standard pairing problem is established based on the Heine-Stieltjes correspondence. For $k$ pairs of valence nucleons on $n$ different single-particle levels, it is found that solutions of the Bethe ansatz equations can be obtained from one (k+1)x(k+1) and one (n-1)x(k+1) matrices, which are associated with the extended Heine-Stieltjes and Van Vleck polynomials, respectively. Since the coefficients in these polynomials are free from divergence with variations in contrast to the original Bethe ansatz equations, the approach thus provides with a new efficient and systematic way to solve the problem, which, by extension, can also be used to solve a large class of Gaudin-type quantum many-body problems and to establish a new efficient angular momentum projection method for multi-particle systems.Comment: ReVTeX, 4 pages, no figur

Renormalization of the Inverse Square Potential

The quantum-mechanical D-dimensional inverse square potential is analyzed using field-theoretic renormalization techniques. A solution is presented for both the bound-state and scattering sectors of the theory using cutoff and dimensional regularization. In the renormalized version of the theory, there is a strong-coupling regime where quantum-mechanical breaking of scale symmetry takes place through dimensional transmutation, with the creation of a single bound state and of an energy-dependent s-wave scattering matrix element.Comment: 5 page

Quantum mechanics in multiply connected spaces

This paper analyses quantum mechanics in multiply connected spaces. It is shown that the multiple connectedness of the configuration space of a physical system can determine the quantum nature of physical observables, such as the angular momentum. In particular, quantum mechanics in compactified Kaluza-Klein spaces is examined. These compactified spaces give rise to an additional angular momentum which can adopt half-integer values and, therefore, may be identified with the intrinsic spin of a quantum particle.Comment: Latex 15 page

Fokker-Planck description of the transfer matrix limiting distribution in the scattering approach to quantum transport

The scattering approach to quantum transport through a disordered quasi-one-dimensional conductor in the insulating regime is discussed in terms of its transfer matrix \bbox{T}. A model of $N$ one-dimensional wires which are coupled by random hopping matrix elements is compared with the transfer matrix model of Mello and Tomsovic. We derive and discuss the complete Fokker-Planck equation which describes the evolution of the probability distribution of \bbox{TT}^{\dagger} with system length in the insulating regime. It is demonstrated that the eigenvalues of \ln\bbox{TT}^{\dagger} have a multivariate Gaussian limiting probability distribution. The parameters of the distribution are expressed in terms of averages over the stationary distribution of the eigenvectors of \bbox{TT}^{\dagger}. We compare the general form of the limiting distribution with results of random matrix theory and the Dorokhov-Mello-Pereyra-Kumar equation.Comment: 25 pages, revtex, no figure

Symmetries of some hypergeometric series: Implications for 3j- and 6j-coefficients

The occurrence of generalized hypergeometric series as factors, in the Wigner-Clebsch-Gordan (3j) and Racah (6j) coefficients is well known. The recently discovered S/sub 5/ symmetry of the Saalscheutzian /sub 4/F/sub 3/ series may be used to extend the symmetries of the 6j-coefficients to the much larger group generated by S/sub 5/ and the group of Regge symmetries. (A similar extension may be carried out for the 3j-coefficients). The required extension of the domain of definition of the 6j-coefficients and the properties of its symmetry group is developed here. 7 refs