Quantum-field-theoretical approach to phase-space techniques: Symmetric Wick theorem and multitime Wigner representation

In this work we present the formal background used to develop the methods used in earlier works to extend the truncated Wigner representation of quantum and atom optics in order to address multi-time problems. The truncated Wigner representation has proven to be of great practical use, especially in the numerical study of the quantum dynamics of Bose condensed gases. In these cases, it allows for the simulation of effects which are missed entirely by other approximations, such as the Gross-Pitaevskii equation, but does not suffer from the severe instabilities of more exact methods. The numerical treatment of interacting many-body quantum systems is an extremely difficult task, and the ability to extend the truncated Wigner beyond single-time situations adds another powerful technique to the available toolbox. This article gives the formal mathematics behind the development of our "time-Wigner ordering" which allows for the calculation of the multi-time averages which are required for such quantities as the Glauber correlation functions which are applicable to bosonic fields.Comment: Submitted to PR

Building a Sample of Distant Clusters of Galaxies

Candidate clusters of galaxies drawn from the sample identified from the moderately deep I-band data of the ESO Imaging Survey (EIS), have been used for follow-up optical/infrared imaging and spectroscopic observations. The observations were conducted to assess the nature of these candidates over a large range of redshifts. Currently, 163 EIS candidates have (V-I) colors, 15 have (I-K) and 65 cluster fields have been observed spectroscopically. From a preliminary analysis of these data, we find that > 65% of the candidates studied show strong evidence of being real physical associations, over the redshift range 0.2<z<1.1. The evidence in some cases comes directly from spectroscopic measurements, in others indirectly from the detection of overdensities of objects with either the same color or the same photometric redshift, or from a combination of color and spectroscopic information. Preliminary results also suggest that the redshift derived from the matched-filter algorithm is a reasonable measure of the cluster's redshift, possibly overestimating it by Delta z ~0.1, at least for systems at z<0.7. Overdensities of red objects have been detected in over 100 candidates, 38 of which with estimated redshifts >0.6, and six candidates in the interval 0.45<z<0.81 have either been identified directly from measured redshifts or have been confirmed by the measurement of at least one redshift for galaxies located along a red-sequence typical of cluster early-type galaxies. Lastly, five candidates among those already observed in the infrared have (I-Ks) colors consistent with them being in the redshift interval 0.8<z<1.1. The sample of "confirmed" clusters, already the largest of its kind in the southern hemisphere, will be further enlarged by ongoing observations.Comment: To appear in "Large Scale Structure in the X-ray Universe", ed. M. Plionis and I. Georgantopoulos (Paris: Editions Frontieres), in pres

Multiquark Hadrons

A number of candidate multiquark hadrons, i.e., particle resonances with substructures that are more complex than the quark-antiquark mesons and three-quark baryons that are prescribed in the textbooks, have recently been observed. In this talk I present: some recent preliminary BESIII results on the near-threshold behavior of sigma(e+e- --> Lambda Lambda-bar) that may or may not be related to multiquark mesons in the light- and strange-quark sectors; results from Belle and LHCb on the electrically charged, charmoniumlike Z(4430)^+ --> pi^+ psi ' resonance that necessarily has a four-quark substructure; and the recent LHCb discovery of the P_c(4380) and P_c(4450) hidden-charm resonances seen as a complex structure in the J/psi p invariant mass distribution for Lambda_b --> K^-J/psi p decays and necessarily have a five-quark substructure and are, therefore, prominent candidates for pentaquark baryons.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, summary of a talk presented at the 12th Conference on Hypernuclear and Strange Particle Physics (HYP2015), September 7-12, 2015 Sendai, JAPAN. To appear in the JPS Conference proceeding

Occupation number and fluctuations in the finite-temperature Bose-Hubbard model

We study the occupation numbers and number fluctuations of ultra-cold atoms in deep optical lattices for finite temperatures within the Bose-Hubbard model. Simple analytical expressions for the mean occupation number and number fluctuations are obtained in the weak-hopping regime using an interpolation between results from different perturbation approaches in the Mott-insulator and superfluid phases. These analytical results are compared to exact one dimensional numerical calculations using a finite temperature variant of the Density-Matrix Renormalisation Group (DMRG) method and found to have a high degree of accuracy. We also find very good agreement in the crossover ``thermal'' region. With the present approach the magnitude of number fluctuations under realistic experimental conditions can be estimated and the properties of the finite temperature phase diagram can be studied.Comment: 4 pages, 1 eps figure, submitted to PR

Quantum-field-theoretical techniques for stochastic representation of quantum problems

We describe quantum-field-theoretical (QFT) techniques for mapping quantum problems onto c-number stochastic problems. This approach yields results which are identical to phase-space techniques [C.W. Gardiner, {\em Quantum Noise} (1991)] when the latter result in a Fokker-Planck equation for a corresponding pseudo-probability distribution. If phase-space techniques do not result in a Fokker-Planck equation and hence fail to produce a stochastic representation, the QFT techniques nevertheless yield stochastic difference equations in discretised time

Asymmetric Gaussian steering: when Alice and Bob disagree

Asymmetric steering is an effect whereby an inseparable bipartite system can be found to be described by either quantum mechanics or local hidden variable theories depending on which one of Alice or Bob makes the required measurements. We show that, even with an inseparable bipartite system, situations can arise where Gaussian measurements on one half are not sufficient to answer the fundamental question of which theory gives an adequate description and the whole system must be considered. This phenomenon is possible because of an asymmetry in the definition of the original Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox and in this article we show theoretically that it may be demonstrated, at least in the case where Alice and Bob can only make Gaussian measurements, using the intracavity nonlinear coupler.Comment: 5 Pages, 4 Figure

Phase-space analysis of bosonic spontaneous emission

We present phase-space techniques for the modelling of spontaneous emission in two-level bosonic atoms. The positive-P representation is shown to give a full and complete description and can be further developed to give exact treatments of the interaction of degenerate bosons with the electromagnetic field in a given experimental situation. The Wigner representation, even when truncated at second order, is shown to need a doubling of the phase-space to allow for a positive-definite diffusion matrix in the appropriate Fokker-Planck equation and still fails to agree with the full quantum results of the positive-P representation. We show that quantum statistics and correlations between the ground and excited states affect the dynamics of the emission process, so that it is in general non-exponential.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figure

Transient excitation and data processing techniques employing the fast fourier transform for aeroelastic testing

The development of testing techniques useful in airplane ground resonance testing, wind tunnel aeroelastic model testing, and airplane flight flutter testing is presented. Included is the consideration of impulsive excitation, steady-state sinusoidal excitation, and random and pseudorandom excitation. Reasons for the selection of fast sine sweeps for transient excitation are given. The use of the fast fourier transform dynamic analyzer (HP-5451B) is presented, together with a curve fitting data process in the Laplace domain to experimentally evaluate values of generalized mass, model frequencies, dampings, and mode shapes. The effects of poor signal to noise ratios due to turbulence creating data variance are discussed. Data manipulation techniques used to overcome variance problems are also included. The experience is described that was gained by using these techniques since the early stages of the SST program. Data measured during 747 flight flutter tests, and SST, YC-14, and 727 empennage flutter model tests are included

Observation of Heteronuclear Feshbach Resonances in a Bose-Fermi Mixture

Three magnetic-field induced heteronuclear Feshbach resonances were identified in collisions between bosonic 87Rb and fermionic 40K atoms in their absolute ground states. Strong inelastic loss from an optically trapped mixture was observed at the resonance positions of 492, 512, and 543 +/- 2 G. The magnetic-field locations of these resonances place a tight constraint on the triplet and singlet cross-species scattering lengths, yielding -281 +/- 15 Bohr and -54 +/- 12 Bohr, respectively. The width of the loss feature at 543 G is 3.7 +/- 1.5 G wide; this broad Feshbach resonance should enable experimental control of the interspecies interactions.Comment: revtex4 + 5 EPS figure