3,332 research outputs found
An Equivalent Hermitian Hamiltonian for the non-Hermitian -x^4 Potential
The potential -x^4, which is unbounded below on the real line, can give rise
to a well-posed bound state problem when x is taken on a contour in the
lower-half complex plane. It is then PT-symmetric rather than Hermitian.
Nonetheless it has been shown numerically to have a real spectrum, and a proof
of reality, involving the correspondence between ordinary differential
equations and integral systems, was subsequently constructed for the general
class of potentials -(ix)^N. For PT-symmetric but non-Hermitian Hamiltonians
the natural PT metric is not positive definite, but a dynamically-defined
positive-definite metric can be defined, depending on an operator Q. Further,
with the help of this operator an equivalent Hermitian Hamiltonian h can be
constructed. This programme has been carried out exactly for a few soluble
models, and the first few terms of a perturbative expansion have been found for
the potential m^2x^2+igx^3. However, until now, the -x^4 potential has proved
intractable. In the present paper we give explicit, closed-form expressions for
Q and h, which are made possible by a particular parametrization of the contour
in the complex plane on which the problem is defined. This constitutes an
explicit proof of the reality of the spectrum. The resulting equivalent
Hamiltonian has a potential with a positive quartic term together with a linear
term.Comment: New reference [10] added and discussed. Minor typographical
correction
On the Path-Integral Derivation of the Anomaly for the Hermitian Equivalent of the Complex -Symmetric Quartic Hamiltonian
It can be shown using operator techniques that the non-Hermitian
-symmetric quantum mechanical Hamiltonian with a "wrong-sign" quartic
potential is equivalent to a Hermitian Hamiltonian with a positive
quartic potential together with a linear term. A naive derivation of the same
result in the path-integral approach misses this linear term. In a recent paper
by Bender et al. it was pointed out that this term was in the nature of a
parity anomaly and a more careful, discretized treatment of the path integral
appeared to reproduce it successfully. However, on re-examination of this
derivation we find that a yet more careful treatment is necessary, keeping
terms that were ignored in that paper. An alternative, much simpler derivation
is given using the additional potential that has been shown to appear whenever
a change of variables to curvilinear coordinates is made in a functional
integral.Comment: LaTeX, 12 pages, no figure
Quiste gaseoso intrarraquídeo lumbar con síndrome radicular asociado: aportación de cuatro casos
Los autores aportan cuatro casos de síndrome radicular secundarios a una compresión
radicular por quiste gaseosos intrarraquídeo extradural. El método de diagnóstico ha
sido exploración con TAC y con RM. La presencia de gas intrarraquídeo es discutido en la bibliografía revisada.The authors describe four cases of secondary radicular syndrome due to radicular
compression by a gas-containing cyst in the extradural space. The diagnosis was made by
CT-Scan and MR imaging. The pathogenesis of the presence of epidural gas is discussed in the literature reviewed
Ca impurity in small mixed He-He clusters
The structure of small mixed helium clusters doped with one calcium atom has
been determined within the diffusion Monte Carlo framework. The results show
that the calcium atom sits at the He-He interface. This is in agreement
with previous studies, both experimental and theoretical, performed for large
clusters. A comparison between the results obtained for the largest cluster we
have considered for each isotope shows a clear tendency of the Ca atom to
reside in a deep dimple at the surface of the cluster for He clusters, and
to become fully solvated for He clusters. We have calculated the absorption
spectrum of Ca around the transition and have found that
it is blue-shifted from that of the free-atom transition by an amount that
depends on the size and composition of the cluster.Comment: 24 pages, 11 figures. Accepted on Journal of Chemical Physic
Desorption Dynamics of Heavy Alkali Metal Atoms (Rb, Cs) off the Surface of Helium Nanodroplets
We present a combined ion imaging and density functional theory study of the
dynamics of the desorption process of rubidium and cesium atoms off the surface
of helium nanodroplets upon excitation of the perturbed and states,
respectively. Both experimental and theoretical results are well represented by
the pseudodiatomic model for effective masses of the helium droplet in the
desorption reaction of m_eff/m_He~10 (Rb) and 13 (Cs). Deviations from this
model are found for Rb excited to the 6p state. Photoelectron spectra indicate
that the dopant-droplet interaction induces relaxation into low-lying
electronic states of the desorbed atoms in the course of the ejection process.Comment: in press, J. Phys. Chem. A (2014
HST Studies of the WLM Galaxy. I. The Age and Metallicity of the Globular Cluster
We have obtained V and I images of the lone globular cluster that belongs to
the dwarf Local Group irregular galaxy known as WLM. The color-magnitude
diagram of the cluster shows that it is a normal old globular cluster with a
well-defined giant branch reaching to M_V=-2.5, a horizontal branch at
M_V=+0.5, and a sub-giant branch extending to our photometry limit of M_V=+2.0.
A best fit to theoretical isochrones indicates that this cluster has a
metallicity of [Fe/H]=-1.52\pm0.08 and an age of 14.8\pm0.6 Gyr, thus
indicating that it is similar to normal old halo globulars in our Galaxy. From
the fit we also find that the distance modulus of the cluster is 24.73\pm0.07
and the extinction is A_V=0.07\pm0.06, both values that agree within the errors
with data obtained for the galaxy itself by others. We conclude that this
normal massive cluster was able to form during the formation of WLM, despite
the parent galaxy's very small intrinsic mass and size.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, 1 tabl
Effects of exoplanetary gravity on human locomotor ability
At some point in the future, if mankind hopes to settle planets outside the
Solar System, it will be crucial to determine the range of planetary conditions
under which human beings could survive and function. In this article, we apply
physical considerations to future exoplanetary biology to determine the
limitations which gravity imposes on several systems governing the human body.
Initially, we examine the ultimate limits at which the human skeleton breaks
and muscles become unable to lift the body from the ground. We also produce a
new model for the energetic expenditure of walking, by modelling the leg as an
inverted pendulum. Both approaches conclude that, with rigorous training,
humans could perform normal locomotion at gravity no higher than 4
.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, to be published in The Physics Teache
Variable stars in the Fornax dSph Galaxy. II. Pulsating stars below the horizontal branch
We have carried out an intensive survey of the northern region of the Fornax
dwarf spheroidal galaxy with the aim of detecting the galaxy's short--period
pulsating stars (P<0.25 days). Observations collected over three consecutive
nights with the Wide Field Imager of the 2.2m MPI telescope at ESO allowed us
to detect 85 high-amplitude (0.20-1.00 mag in B-light) variable stars with
periods in the range from 0.046 to 0.126 days, similar to SX Phoenicis stars in
Galactic metal-poor stellar populations. The plots of the observed periods vs.
the B and V magnitudes show a dispersion largely exceeding the observational
errors. To disentangle the matter, we separated the first-overtone from the
fundamental-mode pulsators and tentatively identified a group of subluminous
variables, about 0.35 mag fainter than the others. Their nature as either
metal-poor intermediate-age stars or stars formed by the merging of close
binary systems is discussed. The rich sample of the Fornax variables also led
us to reconstruct the Period-Luminosity relation for short-period pulsating
stars. An excellent linear fit, M(V)=-1.83(+/-0.08)-3.65(+/-0.07) log P(fund),
was obtained using 153 Delta Scuti and SX Phoenicis stars in a number of
different stellar systems.Comment: 11 pages plus 1 on-line figure and 1 on-line table; accepted for
publication in ApJ. Part of this work has been the subject of the Laurea
thesis of LDA. His supervisor and our colleague, Prof. Laura E. Pasinetti,
suddendly passed away on September 13, 2006. Several astronomers have been
trained under her tutelage and we gratefully honor her memor
The Case Against Cosmology
It is argued that some of the recent claims for cosmology are grossly
overblown. Cosmology rests on a very small database: it suffers from many
fundamental difficulties as a science (if it is a science at all) whilst
observations of distant phenomena are difficult to make and harder to
interpret. It is suggested that cosmological inferences should be tentatively
made and sceptically received.Comment: 9 pages, no figure
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