Modelling highway-traffic headway distributions using superstatistics

We study traffic clearance distributions (i.e., the instantaneous gap between successive vehicles) and time headway distributions by applying Beck and Cohen's superstatistics. We model the transition from free phase to congested phase with the increase of vehicle density as a transition from the Poisson statistics to that of the random matrix theory. We derive an analytic expression for the spacing distributions that interpolates from the Poisson distribution and Wigner's surmise and apply it to the distributions of the nett distance and time gaps among the succeeding cars at different densities of traffic flow. The obtained distribution fits the experimental results for single-vehicle data of the Dutch freeway A9 and the German freeway A5.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figure

A Universal Interacting Crossover Regime in Two-Dimensional Quantum Dots

Interacting electrons in quantum dots with large Thouless number $g$ in the three classical random matrix symmetry classes are well-understood. When a specific type of spin-orbit coupling known to be dominant in two dimensional semiconductor quantum dots is introduced, we show that a new interacting quantum critical crossover energy scale emerges and low-energy quasiparticles generically have a decay width proportional to their energy. The low-energy physics of this system is an example of a universal interacting crossover regime.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur

Weak Measurements with Arbitrary Pointer States

The exact conditions on valid pointer states for weak measurements are derived. It is demonstrated that weak measurements can be performed with any pointer state with vanishing probability current density. This condition is found both for weak measurements of noncommuting observables and for $c$-number observables. In addition, the interaction between pointer and object must be sufficiently weak. There is no restriction on the purity of the pointer state. For example, a thermal pointer state is fully valid.Comment: 4 page

Does dynamics reflect topology in directed networks?

We present and analyze a topologically induced transition from ordered, synchronized to disordered dynamics in directed networks of oscillators. The analysis reveals where in the space of networks this transition occurs and its underlying mechanisms. If disordered, the dynamics of the units is precisely determined by the topology of the network and thus characteristic for it. We develop a method to predict the disordered dynamics from topology. The results suggest a new route towards understanding how the precise dynamics of the units of a directed network may encode information about its topology.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, Europhysics Letters, accepte

Chaotic quantum dots with strongly correlated electrons

Quantum dots pose a problem where one must confront three obstacles: randomness, interactions and finite size. Yet it is this confluence that allows one to make some theoretical advances by invoking three theoretical tools: Random Matrix theory (RMT), the Renormalization Group (RG) and the 1/N expansion. Here the reader is introduced to these techniques and shown how they may be combined to answer a set of questions pertaining to quantum dotsComment: latex file 16 pages 8 figures, to appear in Reviews of Modern Physic

Phenomenological model for symmetry breaking in chaotic system

We assume that the energy spectrum of a chaotic system undergoing symmetry breaking transitions can be represented as a superposition of independent level sequences, one increasing on the expense of the others. The relation between the fractional level densities of the sequences and the symmetry breaking interaction is deduced by comparing the asymptotic expression of the level-number variance with the corresponding expression obtained using the perturbation theory. This relation is supported by a comparison with previous numerical calculations. The predictions of the model for the nearest-neighbor-spacing distribution and the spectral rigidity are in agreement with the results of an acoustic resonance experiment.Comment: accepted for publication in Physical Review

Superstatistical random-matrix-theory approach to transition intensities in mixed systems

We study the fluctuation properties of transition intensities applying a recently proposed generalization of the random matrix theory, which is based on Beck and Cohen's superstatistics. We obtain an analytic expression for the distribution of the reduced transition probabilities that applies to systems undergoing a transition out of chaos. The obtained distribution fits the results of a previous nuclear shell model calculations for some electromagnetic transitions that deviate from the Porter-Thomas distribution. It agrees with the experimental reduced transition probabilities for the 26A nucleus better than the commonly used chi-squared distribution.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figure

Gap probabilities in non-Hermitian random matrix theory

We compute the gap probability that a circle of radius r around the origin contains exactly k complex eigenvalues. Four different ensembles of random matrices are considered: the Ginibre ensembles and their chiral complex counterparts, with both complex (beta=2) or quaternion real (beta=4) matrix elements. For general non-Gaussian weights we give a Fredholm determinant or Pfaffian representation respectively, depending on the non-Hermiticity parameter. At maximal non-Hermiticity, that is for rotationally invariant weights, the product of Fredholm eigenvalues for beta=4 follows from beta=2 by skipping every second factor, in contrast to the known relation for Hermitian ensembles. On additionally choosing Gaussian weights we give new explicit expressions for the Fredholm eigenvalues in the chiral case, in terms of Bessel-K and incomplete Bessel-I functions. This compares to known results for the Ginibre ensembles in terms of incomplete exponentials. Furthermore we present an asymptotic expansion of the logarithm of the gap probability for large argument r at large N in all four ensembles, up to including the third order linear term. We can provide strict upper and lower bounds and present numerical evidence for its conjectured values, depending on the number of exact zero eigenvalues in the chiral ensembles. For the Ginibre ensemble at beta=2 exact results were previously derived by Forrester

Painlev\'e V and time dependent Jacobi polynomials

In this paper we study the simplest deformation on a sequence of orthogonal polynomials, namely, replacing the original (or reference) weight $w_0(x)$ defined on an interval by $w_0(x)e^{-tx}.$ It is a well-known fact that under such a deformation the recurrence coefficients denoted as $\alpha_n$ and $\beta_n$ evolve in $t$ according to the Toda equations, giving rise to the time dependent orthogonal polynomials, using Sogo's terminology. The resulting "time-dependent" Jacobi polynomials satisfy a linear second order ode. We will show that the coefficients of this ode are intimately related to a particular Painlev\'e V. In addition, we show that the coefficient of $z^{n-1}$ of the monic orthogonal polynomials associated with the "time-dependent" Jacobi weight, satisfies, up to a translation in $t,$ the Jimbo-Miwa $\sigma$-form of the same $P_{V};$ while a recurrence coefficient $\alpha_n(t),$ is up to a translation in $t$ and a linear fractional transformation $P_{V}(\alpha^2/2,-\beta^2/2, 2n+1+\alpha+\beta,-1/2).$ These results are found from combining a pair of non-linear difference equations and a pair of Toda equations. This will in turn allow us to show that a certain Fredholm determinant related to a class of Toeplitz plus Hankel operators has a connection to a Painlev\'e equation

Matrix models and QCD with chemical potential

The Random Matrix Model approach to Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) with non-vanishing chemical potential is reviewed. The general concept using global symmetries is introduced, as well as its relation to field theory, the so-called epsilon regime of chiral Perturbation Theory (echPT). Two types of Matrix Model results are distinguished: phenomenological applications leading to phase diagrams, and an exact limit of the QCD Dirac operator spectrum matching with echPT. All known analytic results for the spectrum of complex and symplectic Matrix Models with chemical potential are summarised for the symmetry classes of ordinary and adjoint QCD, respectively. These include correlation functions of Dirac operator eigenvalues in the complex plane for real chemical potential, and in the real plane for imaginary isospin chemical potential. Comparisons of these predictions to recent Lattice simulations are also discussed