The Quantum Mechanical Arrows of Time

The familiar textbook quantum mechanics of laboratory measurements incorporates a quantum mechanical arrow of time --- the direction in time in which state vector reduction operates. This arrow is usually assumed to coincide with the direction of the thermodynamic arrow of the quasiclassical realm of everyday experience. But in the more general context of cosmology we seek an explanation of all observed arrows, and the relations between them, in terms of the conditions that specify our particular universe. This paper investigates quantum mechanical and thermodynamic arrows in a time-neutral formulation of quantum mechanics for a number of model cosmologies in fixed background spacetimes. We find that a general universe may not have well defined arrows of either kind. When arrows are emergent they need not point in the same direction over the whole of spacetime. Rather they may be local, pointing in different directions in different spacetime regions. Local arrows can therefore be consistent with global time symmetry.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, revtex4, typos correcte

Photon Statistics; Nonlinear Spectroscopy of Single Quantum Systems

A unified description of multitime correlation functions, nonlinear response functions, and quantum measurements is developed using a common generating function which allows a direct comparison of their information content. A general formal expression for photon counting statistics from single quantum objects is derived in terms of Liouville space correlation functions of the material system by making a single assumption that spontaneous emission is described by a master equation

Quantum circuits for spin and flavor degrees of freedom of quarks forming nucleons

We discuss the quantum-circuit realization of the state of a nucleon in the scope of simple symmetry groups. Explicit algorithms are presented for the preparation of the state of a neutron or a proton as resulting from the composition of their quark constituents. We estimate the computational resources required for such a simulation and design a photonic network for its implementation. Moreover, we highlight that current work on three-body interactions in lattices of interacting qubits, combined with the measurement-based paradigm for quantum information processing, may also be suitable for the implementation of these nucleonic spin states.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, RevTeX4; Accepted for publication in Quantum Information Processin

Quantum Interference: From Kaons to Neutrinos (with Quantum Beats in between)

Using the vehicle of resolving an apparent paradox, a discussion of quantum interference is presented. The understanding of a number of different physical phenomena can be unified, in this context. These range from the neutral kaon system to massive neutrinos, not to mention quantum beats, Rydberg wave packets, and neutron gravity.Comment: 12 pages, LaTeX, 3 figure

An Approach towards a Constituent Quark Model on the Light Cone

We use the vacuum expectation value of a Wegner-Wilson loop representing a fast moving quark-antiquark pair to derive the light cone Hamiltonian for a $q\bar q$ meson. We solve the corresponding Schr\"odinger equation for various trial wave functions. The result shows how confinement determines the meson mass and wave function for valence quarks on the light cone. We also parametrize the effect of the spin-dependent splitting for a light meson and charmonium. The correct chiral-symmetry breaking pattern for the pion mass is obtained due to the self-energy of the quark.Comment: 17 pages and 5 figure

Tri-meson-mixing of π\pi-η\eta-η′\eta' and ρ\rho-ω\omega-ϕ\phi in the light-cone quark model

The radiative transition form factors of the pseudoscalar mesons {$\pi$, $\eta$, $\eta'$} and the vector mesons {$\rho$, $\omega$, $\phi$} are restudied with $\pi$-$\eta$-$\eta'$ and $\rho$-$\omega$-$\phi$ in tri-meson-mixing pattern, which is described by tri-mixing matrices in the light-cone constituent quark model. The experimental transition decay widths are better reproduced with tri-meson-mixing than previous results in a two-mixing-angle scenario of only two-meson $\eta$-$\eta'$ mixing and $\omega$-$\phi$ mixing.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, final version to appear in EPJ

Nonequilibrium pion dynamics near the critical point in a constituent quark model

We study static and dynamical critical phenomena of chiral symmetry breaking in a two-flavor Nambu--Jona-Lasinio constituent quark model. We obtain the low-energy effective action for scalar and pseudoscalar degrees of freedom to lowest order in quark loops and to quadratic order in the meson fluctuations around the mean field. The \emph{static} limit of critical phenomena is shown to be described by a Ginzburg-Landau effective action including \emph{spatial} gradients. Hence \emph{static} critical phenomena is described by the universality class of the O(4) Heisenberg ferromagnet. \emph{Dynamical} critical phenomena is studied by obtaining the equations of motion for pion fluctuations. We find that for $T<T_c$ the are stable long-wavelength pion excitations with dispersion relation $\omega_{\pi}(k)=k$ described by isolated pion poles. The residue of the pion pole vanishes near $T_c$ as $Z \propto 1/|\ln(1-T/T_c)|$ and long-wavelength fluctuations are damped out by Landau damping on a time scale $t_\mathrm{rel}(k)\propto 1/k$, reflecting \emph{critical slowing down} of pion fluctuations near the critical point. At the critical point, the pion propagator features mass shell logarithmic divergences which we conjecture to be the harbinger of a (large) dynamical anomalous dimension. We find that while the \emph{classical spinodal} line coincides with that of the Ginzburg-Landau theory, the growth rate of long-wavelength spinodal fluctuations has a richer wavelength dependence as a consequence of Landau damping. We argue that Landau damping prevents a \emph{local} low energy effective action in terms of a derivative expansion in real time.Comment: 22 pages 5 figures. to appear in Nucl. Phys.

More is the Same; Phase Transitions and Mean Field Theories

This paper looks at the early theory of phase transitions. It considers a group of related concepts derived from condensed matter and statistical physics. The key technical ideas here go under the names of "singularity", "order parameter", "mean field theory", and "variational method". In a less technical vein, the question here is how can matter, ordinary matter, support a diversity of forms. We see this diversity each time we observe ice in contact with liquid water or see water vapor, "steam", come up from a pot of heated water. Different phases can be qualitatively different in that walking on ice is well within human capacity, but walking on liquid water is proverbially forbidden to ordinary humans. These differences have been apparent to humankind for millennia, but only brought within the domain of scientific understanding since the 1880s. A phase transition is a change from one behavior to another. A first order phase transition involves a discontinuous jump in a some statistical variable of the system. The discontinuous property is called the order parameter. Each phase transitions has its own order parameter that range over a tremendous variety of physical properties. These properties include the density of a liquid gas transition, the magnetization in a ferromagnet, the size of a connected cluster in a percolation transition, and a condensate wave function in a superfluid or superconductor. A continuous transition occurs when that jump approaches zero. This note is about statistical mechanics and the development of mean field theory as a basis for a partial understanding of this phenomenon.Comment: 25 pages, 6 figure

Non-Perturbative QCD Treatment of High-Energy Hadron-Hadron Scattering

Total cross-sections and logarithmic slopes of the elastic scattering cross-sections for different hadronic processes are calculated in the framework of the model of the stochastic vacuum. The relevant parameters of this model, a correlation length and the gluon condensate, are determined from scattering data, and found to be in very good agreement with values coming from completely different sources of information. A parameter-free relation is given between total cross-sections and slope parameters, which is shown to be remarkably valid up to the highest energies for which data exist.Comment: 60 pages, Heidelberg preprin