439 research outputs found
Comment on 'Self-dressing and radiation reaction in classical electrodynamics'
Using the canonical formalism, Compagno and Persico [J. Phys. A: Math. Gen.
35 (2002) 3629--45] have calculated the 'radiation-reaction' force on a uniform
spherical charge moving rigidly, slowly and slightly from its position at the
time when the transverse electric field is assumed to vanish. This force is
shown to result in the same time-averaged self-force as that which has been
obtained by different means for the test charge of a Bohr--Rosenfeld
field-measurement procedure and which Compagno and Persico claimed to be
incorrect.Comment: REVTeX, 4 pages; this version has some cosmetic changes to agree
fully with the published version. Reply to this Comment is in G. Compagno and
F. Persico, J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 35, 8965 (2002); response to the Reply is
in physics/021005
Comment on "Limits of the measurability of the local quantum electromagnetic-field amplitude"
It is argued that the findings of a recent reanalysis by Compagno and Persico
[Phys. Rev. A 57, 1595 (1998)] of the Bohr--Rosenfeld procedure for the
measurement of a single space-time-averaged component of the electromagnetic
field are incorrect when the field measurement time is shorter than that
required for light to traverse the measurement's test body. To this end, the
time-averaged "self-force" on the test body, assumed for simplicity to be of a
spherical shape, is evaluated in terms of a one-dimensional quadrature for the
general trajectory allowed for the test body by Compagno and Persico, and in
closed form for the limiting steplike trajectory used by Bohr and Rosenfeld.Comment: 5 pages, REVTe
Atomic states in optical traps near a planar surface
In this work we discuss the atomic states in a vertical optical lattice in
proximity of a surface. We study the modifications to the ordinary
Wannier-Stark states in presence of a surface and we characterize the energy
shifts produced by the Casimir-Polder interaction between atom and mirror. In
this context, we introduce an effective model describing the finite size of the
atom in order to regularize the energy corrections. In addition, the
modifications to the energy levels due to a hypothetical non-Newtonian
gravitational potential as well as their experimental observability are
investigated.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figure
Vacuum local and global electromagnetic self-energies for a point-like and an extended field source
We consider the electric and magnetic energy densities (or equivalently field
fluctuations) in the space around a point-like field source in its ground
state, after having subtracted the spatially uniform zero-point energy terms,
and discuss the problem of their singular behavior at the source's position. We
show that the assumption of a point-like source leads, for a simple Hamiltonian
model of the interaction of the source with the electromagnetic radiation
field, to a divergence of the renormalized electric and magnetic energy density
at the position of the source. We analyze in detail the mathematical structure
of such singularity in terms of a delta function and its derivatives. We also
show that an appropriate consideration of these singular terms solves an
apparent inconsistency between the total field energy and the space integral of
its density. Thus the finite field energy stored in these singular terms gives
an important contribution to the self-energy of the source. We then consider
the case of an extended source, smeared out over a finite volume and described
by an appropriate form factor. We show that in this case all divergences in
local quantities such as the electric and the magnetic energy density, as well
as any inconsistency between global and space-integrated local self-energies,
disappear.Comment: 8 pages. The final publication is available at link.springer.co
New data on the systematics and interrelationships of sawfishes (Elasmobranchii, Batoidea, Pristiformes)
New characters based on the arrangement and morphology of dermal denticles
show that sawfishes can be divided into two distinctive groups. The first
group, comprising the knifetooth sawfish Anoxypristis cuspidata, is
characterized by tricuspid denticles variably located on both dorsal and
ventral parts of the body. The second group is represented by species of the
genus Pristis, showing an uniform and homogenous dermal covering of
monocuspidate denticles on both dorsal and ventral sides of the body and within
the buccopharyngeal cavity. Pristis is further divided into two subgroups: the
first comprises species with denticles lacking any keels and furrows (the
smalltooth sawfish Pristis pectinata, the green sawfish Pristis zijsron and the
dwarf sawfish Pristis clavata); the second comprises species with denticles
presenting keels and furrows well differentiated on their anterior part (the
common sawfish Pristis pristis, the largetooth sawfish Pristis perotteti and
the greattooth sawfish Pristis microdon). This investigation of the dermal
covering provides results which agree with studies that separate the same two
species groups of Pristis on the basis of other morphological data
Why, when, and how did yeast evolve alcoholic fermentation?
The origin of modern fruits brought to microbial communities an abundant source of rich food based on simple sugars. Yeasts, especially Saccharomyces cerevisiae, usually become the predominant group in these niches. One of the most prominent and unique features and likely a winning trait of these yeasts is their ability to rapidly convert sugars to ethanol at both anaerobic and aerobic conditions. Why, when, and how did yeasts remodel their carbon metabolism to be able to accumulate ethanol under aerobic conditions and at the expense of decreasing biomass production? We hereby review the recent data on the carbon metabolism in Saccharomycetaceae species and attempt to reconstruct the ancient environment, which could promote the evolution of alcoholic fermentation. We speculate that the first step toward the so-called fermentative lifestyle was the exploration of anaerobic niches resulting in an increased metabolic capacity to degrade sugar to ethanol. The strengthened glycolytic flow had in parallel a beneficial effect on the microbial competition outcome and later evolved as a "new" tool promoting the yeast competition ability under aerobic conditions. The basic aerobic alcoholic fermentation ability was subsequently "upgraded" in several lineages by evolving additional regulatory steps, such as glucose repression in the S. cerevisiae clade, to achieve a more precise metabolic control
Casimir-Polder interaction between an atom and a small magnetodielectric sphere
On the basis of macroscopic quantum electrodynamics and point-scattering
techniques, we derive a closed expression for the Casimir-Polder force between
a ground-state atom and a small magnetodielectric sphere in an arbitrary
environment. In order to allow for the presence of both bodies and media,
local-field corrections are taken into account. Our results are compared with
the known van der Waals force between two ground-state atoms. To continuously
interpolate between the two extreme cases of a single atom and a macroscopic
sphere, we also derive the force between an atom and a sphere of variable
radius that is embedded in an Onsager local-field cavity. Numerical examples
illustrate the theory.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, minor addition
Accelerated Detector - Quantum Field Correlations: From Vacuum Fluctuations to Radiation Flux
In this paper we analyze the interaction of a uniformly accelerated detector
with a quantum field in (3+1)D spacetime, aiming at the issue of how kinematics
can render vacuum fluctuations the appearance of thermal radiance in the
detector (Unruh effect) and how they engender flux of radiation for observers
afar. Two basic questions are addressed in this study: a) How are vacuum
fluctuations related to the emitted radiation? b) Is there emitted radiation
with energy flux in the Unruh effect? We adopt a method which places the
detector and the field on an equal footing and derive the two-point correlation
functions of the detector and of the field separately with full account of
their interplay. From the exact solutions, we are able to study the complete
process from the initial transient to the final steady state, keeping track of
all activities they engage in and the physical effects manifested. We derive a
quantum radiation formula for a Minkowski observer. We find that there does
exist a positive radiated power of quantum nature emitted by the detector, with
a hint of certain features of the Unruh effect. We further verify that the
total energy of the dressed detector and a part of the radiated energy from the
detector is conserved. However, this part of the radiation ceases in steady
state. So the hint of the Unruh effect in radiated power is actually not
directly from the energy flux that the detector experiences in Unruh effect.
Since all the relevant quantum and statistical information about the detector
(atom) and the field can be obtained from the results presented here, they are
expected to be useful, when appropriately generalized, for addressing issues of
quantum information processing in atomic and optical systems, such as quantum
decoherence, entanglement and teleportation.Comment: 24 pages, 11 figures, new results and comments added in Secs.VI and
VII, with other corresponding change
Star-unitary transformations. From dynamics to irreversibility and stochastic behavior
We consider a simple model of a classical harmonic oscillator coupled to a
field. In standard approaches Langevin-type equations for {\it bare} particles
are derived from Hamiltonian dynamics. These equations contain memory terms and
are time-reversal invariant. In contrast the phenomenological Langevin
equations have no memory terms (they are Markovian equations) and give a time
evolution split in two branches (semigroups), each of which breaks time
symmetry. A standard approach to bridge dynamics with phenomenology is to
consider the Markovian approximation of the former. In this paper we present a
formulation in terms of {\it dressed} particles, which gives exact Markovian
equations. We formulate dressed particles for Poincar\'e nonintegrable systems,
through an invertible transformation operator \Lam introduced by Prigogine
and collaborators. \Lam is obtained by an extension of the canonical
(unitary) transformation operator that eliminates interactions for
integrable systems. Our extension is based on the removal of divergences due to
Poincar\'e resonances, which breaks time-symmetry. The unitarity of is
extended to ``star-unitarity'' for \Lam. We show that \Lam-transformed
variables have the same time evolution as stochastic variables obeying Langevin
equations, and that \Lam-transformed distribution functions satisfy exact
Fokker-Planck equations. The effects of Gaussian white noise are obtained by
the non-distributive property of \Lam with respect to products of dynamical
variables. Therefore our method leads to a direct link between dynamics of
Poincar\'e nonintegrable systems, probability and stochasticity.Comment: 24 pages, no figures. Made more connections with other work.
Clarified ideas on irreversibilit
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