Hyperon ordering in neutron star matter

We explore the possible formation of ordered phases in neutron star matter. In the framework of a quantum hadrodynamics model where neutrons, protons and Lambda hyperons interact via the exchange of mesons, we compare the energy of the usually assumed uniform, liquid phase, to that of a configuration in which di-lambda pairs immersed in an uniform nucleon fluid are localized on the nodes of a regular lattice. The confining potential is calculated self-consistently as resulting from the combined action of the nucleon fluid and the other hyperons, under the condition of beta equilibrium. We are able to obtain stable ordered phases for some reasonable sets of values of the model parameters. This could have important consequences on the structure and cooling of neutron stars.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures. To appear in the proceedings of the 4th Catania Relativistic Ion Studies: Exotic Clustering (CRIS 2002), Catania, Italy, 10-14 Jun 200

Quantum control of the motional states of trapped ions through fast switching of trapping potentials

We propose a new scheme for supplying voltages to the electrodes of microfabricated ion traps, enabling access to a regime in which changes to the trapping potential are made on timescales much shorter than the period of the secular oscillation frequencies of the trapped ions. This opens up possibilities for speeding up the transport of ions in segmented ion traps and also provides access to control of multiple ions in a string faster than the Coulomb interaction between them. We perform a theoretical study of ion transport using these methods in a surface-electrode trap, characterizing the precision required for a number of important control parameters. We also consider the possibilities and limitations for generating motional state squeezing using these techniques, which could be used as a basis for investigations of Gaussian-state entanglement.Comment: Accepted by New Journal of Physic

Ehrenfest dynamics is purity non-preserving: a necessary ingredient for decoherence

We discuss the evolution of purity in mixed quantum/classical approaches to electronic nonadiabatic dynamics in the context of the Ehrenfest model. As it is impossible to exactly determine initial conditions for a realistic system, we choose to work in the statistical Ehrenfest formalism that we introduced in Ref. 1. From it, we develop a new framework to determine exactly the change in the purity of the quantum subsystem along the evolution of a statistical Ehrenfest system. In a simple case, we verify how and to which extent Ehrenfest statistical dynamics makes a system with more than one classical trajectory and an initial quantum pure state become a quantum mixed one. We prove this numerically showing how the evolution of purity depends on time, on the dimension of the quantum state space $D$, and on the number of classical trajectories $N$ of the initial distribution. The results in this work open new perspectives for studying decoherence with Ehrenfest dynamics.Comment: Revtex 4-1, 14 pages, 2 figures. Final published versio

Hyperonic crystallization in hadronic matter

Published in Hadrons, Nuclei and Applications, World Scientific, Singapore, Proc.of the Conference Bologna2000. Structure of the Nucleus at the Dawn of the Century, G. Bonsignori, M. Bruno, A. Ventura, D. Vretenar Editors, pag. 319.Comment: 4 pages, 2figure