Some Remarks on Producing Hopf Algebras

We report some observations concerning two well-known approaches to construction of quantum groups. Thus, starting from a bialgebra of inhomogeneous type and imposing quadratic, cubic or quartic commutation relations on a subset of its generators we come, in each case, to a q-deformed universal enveloping algebra of a certain simple Lie algebra. An interesting correlation between the order of initial commutation relations and the Cartan matrix of the resulting algebra is observed. Another example demonstrates that the bialgebra structure of sl_q(2) can be completely determined by requiring the q-oscillator algebra to be its covariant comodule, in analogy with Manin's approach to define SL_q(2) as a symmetry algebra of the bosonic and fermionic quantum planes.Comment: 6 pages, LATEX, no figures, Contribution to the Proceedings of the 4th Colloquium "Quantum Groups and Integrable Systems" (Prague, June 1995

Braided Matrix Structure of the Sklyanin Algebra and of the Quantum Lorentz Group

Braided groups and braided matrices are novel algebraic structures living in braided or quasitensor categories. As such they are a generalization of super-groups and super-matrices to the case of braid statistics. Here we construct braided group versions of the standard quantum groups $U_q(g)$. They have the same FRT generators $l^\pm$ but a matrix braided-coproduct \und\Delta L=L\und\tens L where $L=l^+Sl^-$, and are self-dual. As an application, the degenerate Sklyanin algebra is shown to be isomorphic to the braided matrices $BM_q(2)$; it is a braided-commutative bialgebra in a braided category. As a second application, we show that the quantum double D(\usl) (also known as the `quantum Lorentz group') is the semidirect product as an algebra of two copies of \usl, and also a semidirect product as a coalgebra if we use braid statistics. We find various results of this type for the doubles of general quantum groups and their semi-classical limits as doubles of the Lie algebras of Poisson Lie groups.Comment: 45 pages. Revised (= much expanded introduction

Coadditive differential complexes on quantum groups and quantum spaces

A regular way to define an additive coproduct (or ``coaddition'') on the q-deformed differential complexes is proposed for quantum groups and quantum spaces related to the Hecke-type R-matrices. Several examples of braided coadditive differential bialgebras (Hopf algebras) are presented.Comment: 9 page

Quantum Deformations of Space-Time Symmetries with Mass-Like Deformation Parameter

The difficulties with the measurability of classical space-time distances are considered. We outline the framework of quantum deformations of D=4 space-time symmetries with dimensionfull deformation parameter, and present some recent results.Comment: 4 pages, LaTeX, uses file stwol.sty, to be published in the Proceedings of XXXII International Rochester Conference in High Energy Physics (Warsaw, 24.07-31.07 1996

Force-induced rupture of a DNA duplex

The rupture of double-stranded DNA under stress is a key process in biophysics and nanotechnology. In this article we consider the shear-induced rupture of short DNA duplexes, a system that has been given new importance by recently designed force sensors and nanotechnological devices. We argue that rupture must be understood as an activated process, where the duplex state is metastable and the strands will separate in a finite time that depends on the duplex length and the force applied. Thus, the critical shearing force required to rupture a duplex within a given experiment depends strongly on the time scale of observation. We use simple models of DNA to demonstrate that this approach naturally captures the experimentally observed dependence of the critical force on duplex length for a given observation time. In particular, the critical force is zero for the shortest duplexes, before rising sharply and then plateauing in the long length limit. The prevailing approach, based on identifying when the presence of each additional base pair within the duplex is thermodynamically unfavorable rather than allowing for metastability, does not predict a time-scale-dependent critical force and does not naturally incorporate a critical force of zero for the shortest duplexes. Additionally, motivated by a recently proposed force sensor, we investigate application of stress to a duplex in a mixed mode that interpolates between shearing and unzipping. As with pure shearing, the critical force depends on the time scale of observation; at a fixed time scale and duplex length, the critical force exhibits a sigmoidal dependence on the fraction of the duplex that is subject to shearing.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure

Deformed Minkowski spaces: clasification and properties

Using general but simple covariance arguments, we classify the `quantum' Minkowski spaces for dimensionless deformation parameters. This requires a previous analysis of the associated Lorentz groups, which reproduces a previous classification by Woronowicz and Zakrzewski. As a consequence of the unified analysis presented, we give the commutation properties, the deformed (and central) length element and the metric tensor for the different spacetime algebras.Comment: Some comments/misprints have been added/corrected, to appear in Journal of Physics A (1996

Statistics and UV-IR Mixing with Twisted Poincare Invariance

We elaborate on the role of quantum statistics in twisted Poincare invariant theories. It is shown that, in order to have twisted Poincare group as the symmetry of a quantum theory, statistics must be twisted. It is also confirmed that the removal of UV-IR mixing (in the absence of gauge fields) in such theories is a natural consequence.Comment: 13 pages, LaTeX; typos correcte

Reflection equations and q-Minkowski space algebras

We express the defining relations of the $q$-deformed Minkowski space algebra as well as that of the corresponding derivatives and differentials in the form of reflection equations. This formulation encompasses the covariance properties with respect the quantum Lorentz group action in a straightforward way.Comment: 10 page

Induced Representations of Quantum Kinematical Algebras and Quantum Mechanics

Unitary representations of kinematical symmetry groups of quantum systems are fundamental in quantum theory. We propose in this paper its generalization to quantum kinematical groups. Using the method, proposed by us in a recent paper (olmo01), to induce representations of quantum bicrossproduct algebras we construct the representations of the family of standard quantum inhomogeneous algebras $U_\lambda(iso_{\omega}(2))$. This family contains the quantum Euclidean, Galilei and Poincar\'e algebras, all of them in (1+1) dimensions. As byproducts we obtain the actions of these quantum algebras on regular co-spaces that are an algebraic generalization of the homogeneous spaces and $q$--Casimir equations which play the role of $q$--Schr\"odinger equations.Comment: LaTeX 2e, 20 page

Quantum Groups and Noncommutative Geometry

Quantum groups emerged in the latter quarter of the 20th century as, on the one hand, a deep and natural generalisation of symmetry groups for certain integrable systems, and on the other as part of a generalisation of geometry itself powerful enough to make sense in the quantum domain. Just as the last century saw the birth of classical geometry, so the present century sees at its end the birth of this quantum or noncommutative geometry, both as an elegant mathematical reality and in the form of the first theoretical predictions for Planck-scale physics via ongoing astronomical measurements. Noncommutativity of spacetime, in particular, amounts to a postulated new force or physical effect called cogravity.Comment: 72 pages, many figures; intended for wider theoretical physics community (special millenium volume of JMP