833 research outputs found

    External effects in the utilisation of renewable energy

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    Equation of state and phonon frequency calculations of diamond at high pressures

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    The pressure-volume relationship and the zone-center optical phonon frequency of cubic diamond at pressures up to 600 GPa have been calculated based on Density Functional Theory within the Local Density Approximation and the Generalized Gradient Approximation. Three different approaches, viz. a pseudopotential method applied in the basis of plane waves, an all-electron method relying on Augmented Plane Waves plus Local Orbitals, and an intermediate approach implemented in the basis of Projector Augmented Waves have been used. All these methods and approximations yield consistent results for the pressure derivative of the bulk modulus and the volume dependence of the mode Grueneisen parameter of diamond. The results are at variance with recent precise measurements up to 140 GPa. Possible implications for the experimental pressure determination based on the ruby luminescence method are discussed.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure

    The interpretation of non-Markovian stochastic Schr\"odinger equations as a hidden-variable theory

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    Do diffusive non-Markovian stochastic Schr\"odinger equations (SSEs) for open quantum systems have a physical interpretation? In a recent paper [Phys. Rev. A 66, 012108 (2002)] we investigated this question using the orthodox interpretation of quantum mechanics. We found that the solution of a non-Markovian SSE represents the state the system would be in at that time if a measurement was performed on the environment at that time, and yielded a particular result. However, the linking of solutions at different times to make a trajectory is, we concluded, a fiction. In this paper we investigate this question using the modal (hidden variable) interpretation of quantum mechanics. We find that the noise function z(t)z(t) appearing in the non-Markovian SSE can be interpreted as a hidden variable for the environment. That is, some chosen property (beable) of the environment has a definite value z(t)z(t) even in the absence of measurement on the environment. The non-Markovian SSE gives the evolution of the state of the system ``conditioned'' on this environment hidden variable. We present the theory for diffusive non-Markovian SSEs that have as their Markovian limit SSEs corresponding to homodyne and heterodyne detection, as well as one which has no Markovian limit.Comment: 9 page
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