61 research outputs found
The QCD string and the generalised wave equation
The equation for QCD string proposed earlier is reviewed. This equation
appears when we examine the gonihedric string model and the corresponding
transfer matrix. Arguing that string equation should have a generalized Dirac
form we found the corresponding infinite-dimensional gamma matrices as a
symmetric solution of the Majorana commutation relations. The generalized gamma
matrices are anticommuting and guarantee unitarity of the theory at all orders
of . In the second quantized form the equation does not have unwanted
ghost states in Fock space. In the absence of Casimir mass terms the spectrum
reminds hydrogen exitations. On every mass level there are different
charged particles with spin running from up to , and the
degeneracy is equal to . This is in contrast with the
exponential degeneracy in superstring theory.Comment: 11 pages LaTeX, uses lamuphys.sty and bibnorm.sty,; Based on talks
given at the 6th Hellenic School and Workshop on Elementary Particle Physics,
Corfu, Greece, September 19-26, 1998 and at the International Workshop
"ISMP", Tbilisi, Georgia, September 12-18, 199
On the geometry of quantum indistinguishability
An algebraic approach to the study of quantum mechanics on configuration
spaces with a finite fundamental group is presented. It uses, in an essential
way, the Gelfand-Naimark and Serre-Swan equivalences and thus allows one to
represent geometric properties of such systems in algebraic terms. As an
application, the problem of quantum indistinguishability is reformulated in the
light of the proposed approach. Previous attempts aiming at a proof of the
spin-statistics theorem in non-relativistic quantum mechanics are explicitly
recast in the global language inherent to the presented techniques. This leads
to a critical discussion of single-valuedness of wave functions for systems of
indistinguishable particles. Potential applications of the methods presented in
this paper to problems related to quantization, geometric phases and phase
transitions in spin systems are proposed.Comment: 24 page
Teleparallel origin of the Fierz picture for spin-2 particle
A new approach to the description of spin-2 particle in flat and curved
spacetime is developed on the basis of the teleparallel gravity theory. We show
that such an approach is in fact a true and natural framework for the Fierz
representation proposed recently by Novello and Neves. More specifically, we
demonstrate how the teleparallel theory fixes uniquely the structure of the
Fierz tensor, discover the transparent origin of the gauge symmetry of the spin
2 model, and derive the linearized Einstein operator from the fundamental
identity of the teleparallel gravity. In order to cope with the consistency
problem on the curved spacetime, similarly to the usual Riemannian approach,
one needs to include the non-minimal (torsion dependent) coupling terms.Comment: 5 pages, Revtex4, no figures. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
Spin - or, actually: Spin and Quantum Statistics
The history of the discovery of electron spin and the Pauli principle and the
mathematics of spin and quantum statistics are reviewed. Pauli's theory of the
spinning electron and some of its many applications in mathematics and physics
are considered in more detail. The role of the fact that the tree-level
gyromagnetic factor of the electron has the value g = 2 in an analysis of
stability (and instability) of matter in arbitrary external magnetic fields is
highlighted. Radiative corrections and precision measurements of g are
reviewed. The general connection between spin and statistics, the CPT theorem
and the theory of braid statistics are described.Comment: 50 pages, no figures, seminar on "spin
A New Approach to Spin and Statistics
We give an algebraic proof of the spin-statistics connection for the
parabosonic and parafermionic quantum topological charges of a theory of local
observables with a modular PCT-symmetry. The argument avoids the use of the
spinor calculus and also works in 1+2 dimensions. It is expected to be a
progress towards a general spin-statistics theorem including also
(1+2)-dimensional theories with braid group statistics.Comment: LATEX, 15 pages, no figure
An Algebraic Spin and Statistics Theorem
A spin-statistics theorem and a PCT theorem are obtained in the context of
the superselection sectors in Quantum Field Theory on a 4-dimensional
space-time. Our main assumption is the requirement that the modular groups of
the von Neumann algebras of local observables associated with wedge regions act
geometrically as pure Lorentz transformations. Such a property, satisfied by
the local algebras generated by Wightman fields because of the
Bisognano-Wichmann theorem, is regarded as a natural primitive assumption.Comment: 15 pages, plain TeX, an error in the statement of a theorem has been
corrected, to appear in Commun. Math. Phy
On the spin-statistics connection in curved spacetimes
The connection between spin and statistics is examined in the context of
locally covariant quantum field theory. A generalization is proposed in which
locally covariant theories are defined as functors from a category of framed
spacetimes to a category of -algebras. This allows for a more operational
description of theories with spin, and for the derivation of a more general
version of the spin-statistics connection in curved spacetimes than previously
available. The proof involves a "rigidity argument" that is also applied in the
standard setting of locally covariant quantum field theory to show how
properties such as Einstein causality can be transferred from Minkowski
spacetime to general curved spacetimes.Comment: 17pp. Contribution to the proceedings of the conference "Quantum
Mathematical Physics" (Regensburg, October 2014
Long-Time Behavior of Macroscopic Quantum Systems: Commentary Accompanying the English Translation of John von Neumann's 1929 Article on the Quantum Ergodic Theorem
The renewed interest in the foundations of quantum statistical mechanics in
recent years has led us to study John von Neumann's 1929 article on the quantum
ergodic theorem. We have found this almost forgotten article, which until now
has been available only in German, to be a treasure chest, and to be much
misunderstood. In it, von Neumann studied the long-time behavior of macroscopic
quantum systems. While one of the two theorems announced in his title, the one
he calls the "quantum H-theorem", is actually a much weaker statement than
Boltzmann's classical H-theorem, the other theorem, which he calls the "quantum
ergodic theorem", is a beautiful and very non-trivial result. It expresses a
fact we call "normal typicality" and can be summarized as follows: For a
"typical" finite family of commuting macroscopic observables, every initial
wave function from a micro-canonical energy shell so evolves that for
most times in the long run, the joint probability distribution of these
observables obtained from is close to their micro-canonical
distribution.Comment: 34 pages LaTeX, no figures; v2: minor improvements and additions. The
English translation of von Neumann's article is available as arXiv:1003.213
Relativistic wave equations for interacting massive particles with arbitrary half-intreger spins
New formulation of relativistic wave equations (RWE) for massive particles
with arbitrary half-integer spins s interacting with external electromagnetic
fields are proposed. They are based on wave functions which are irreducible
tensors of rank n=s-\frac12$) antisymmetric w.r.t. n pairs of indices,
whose components are bispinors. The form of RWE is straightforward and free of
inconsistencies associated with the other approaches to equations describing
interacting higher spin particles
Quantum Particles as Conceptual Entities: A Possible Explanatory Framework for Quantum Theory
We put forward a possible new interpretation and explanatory framework for
quantum theory. The basic hypothesis underlying this new framework is that
quantum particles are conceptual entities. More concretely, we propose that
quantum particles interact with ordinary matter, nuclei, atoms, molecules,
macroscopic material entities, measuring apparatuses, ..., in a similar way to
how human concepts interact with memory structures, human minds or artificial
memories. We analyze the most characteristic aspects of quantum theory, i.e.
entanglement and non-locality, interference and superposition, identity and
individuality in the light of this new interpretation, and we put forward a
specific explanation and understanding of these aspects. The basic hypothesis
of our framework gives rise in a natural way to a Heisenberg uncertainty
principle which introduces an understanding of the general situation of 'the
one and the many' in quantum physics. A specific view on macro and micro
different from the common one follows from the basic hypothesis and leads to an
analysis of Schrodinger's Cat paradox and the measurement problem different
from the existing ones. We reflect about the influence of this new quantum
interpretation and explanatory framework on the global nature and evolutionary
aspects of the world and human worldviews, and point out potential explanations
for specific situations, such as the generation problem in particle physics,
the confinement of quarks and the existence of dark matter.Comment: 45 pages, 10 figure
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