A Lorentz-Violating Alternative to Higgs Mechanism?

We consider a four-dimensional field-theory model with two massless fermions, coupled to an Abelian vector field without flavour mixing, and to another Abelian vector field with flavour mixing. Both Abelian vectors have a Lorentz-violating kinetic term, introducing a Lorentz-violation mass scale $M$, from which fermions and the flavour-mixing vector get their dynamical masses, whereas the vector coupled without flavour mixing remains massless. When the two coupling constants have similar values in order of magnitude, a mass hierarchy pattern emerges, in which one fermion is very light compared to the other, whilst the vector mass is larger than the mass of the heavy fermion. The work presented here may be considered as a Lorentz-symmetry-Violating alternative to the Higgs mechanism, in the sense that no scalar particle (fundamental or composite) is necessary for the generation of the vector-meson mass. However, the model is not realistic given that, as a result of Lorentz Violation, the maximal (light-cone) speed seen by the fermions is smaller than that of the massless gauge boson (which equals the speed of light in vacuo) by an amount which is unacceptably large to be compatible with the current tests of Lorentz Invariance, unless the gauge couplings assume unnaturally small values. Possible ways out of this phenomenological drawback are briefly discussed, postponing a detailed construction of more realistic models for future work.Comment: 16 pages revtex, three eps figures incorporate

Sequential measurement of conjugate variables as an alternative quantum state tomography

It is shown how it is possible to reconstruct the initial state of a one-dimensional system by measuring sequentially two conjugate variables. The procedure relies on the quasi-characteristic function, the Fourier-transform of the Wigner quasi-probability. The proper characteristic function obtained by Fourier-transforming the experimentally accessible joint probability of observing "position" then "momentum" (or vice versa) can be expressed as a product of the quasi-characteristic function of the two detectors and that, unknown, of the quantum system. This allows state reconstruction through the sequence: data collection, Fourier-transform, algebraic operation, inverse Fourier-transform. The strength of the measurement should be intermediate for the procedure to work.Comment: v2, 5 pages, no figures, substantial improvements in the presentation, thanks to an anonymous referee. v3, close to published versio

Comparative evaluation of agricultural publications and other farming news media

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1958 P3

Vacuum polarization induced by a uniformly accelerated charge

We consider a point charge fixed in the Rindler coordinates which describe a uniformly accelerated frame. We determine an integral expression of the induced charge density due to the vacuum polarization at the first order in the fine structure constant. In the case where the acceleration is weak, we give explicitly the induced electrostatic potential.Comment: 13 pages, latex, no figures, to appear in Int. J. Theor. Phys

Double-valuedness of the electron wave function and rotational zero-point motion of electrons in rings

I propose that the phase of an electron's wave function changes by $\pi$ when the electron goes around a loop maintaining phase coherence. Equivalently, that the minimum orbital angular momentum of an electron in a ring is $\hbar/2$ rather than zero as generally assumed, hence that the electron in a ring has azimuthal zero point motion. This proposal provides a physical explanation for the origin of electronic `quantum pressure', it implies that a spin current exists in the ground state of aromatic ring molecules, and it suggests an explanation for the ubiquitousness of persistent currents observed in mesoscopic rings

Casimir repulsion in moving media

Casimir-Lifshitz interaction emerging from relative movement of layers in stratified dielectric media (e.g., non-uniformly moving fluids) is considered. It is shown that such movement may result in a repulsive Casimir-Lifshitz force exerted on the layers, with the simplest possible structure consisting of three adjacent layers of the same dielectric medium, where the middle one is stationary and the other two are sliding along a direction parallel to the interfaces of the layers.Comment: 22 pages, 10 figure

Interference in Bohmian Mechanics with Complex Action

In recent years, intensive effort has gone into developing numerical tools for exact quantum mechanical calculations that are based on Bohmian mechanics. As part of this effort we have recently developed as alternative formulation of Bohmian mechanics in which the quantum action, S, is taken to be complex [JCP {125}, 231103 (2006)]. In the alternative formulation there is a significant reduction in the magnitude of the quantum force as compared with the conventional Bohmian formulation, at the price of propagating complex trajectories. In this paper we show that Bohmian mechanics with complex action is able to overcome the main computational limitation of conventional Bohmian methods -- the propagation of wavefunctions once nodes set in. In the vicinity of nodes, the quantum force in conventional Bohmian formulations exhibits rapid oscillations that pose severe difficulties for existing numerical schemes. We show that within complex Bohmian mechanics, multiple complex initial conditions can lead to the same real final position, allowing for the description of nodes as a sum of the contribution from two or more crossing trajectories. The idea is illustrated on the reflection amplitude from a one-dimensional Eckart barrier. We believe that trajectory crossing, although in contradiction to the conventional Bohmian trajectory interpretation, provides an important new tool for dealing with the nodal problem in Bohmian methods

Self-induced decoherence approach: Strong limitations on its validity in a simple spin bath model and on its general physical relevance

The "self-induced decoherence" (SID) approach suggests that (1) the expectation value of any observable becomes diagonal in the eigenstates of the total Hamiltonian for systems endowed with a continuous energy spectrum, and (2), that this process can be interpreted as decoherence. We evaluate the first claim in the context of a simple spin bath model. We find that even for large environments, corresponding to an approximately continuous energy spectrum, diagonalization of the expectation value of random observables does in general not occur. We explain this result and conjecture that SID is likely to fail also in other systems composed of discrete subsystems. Regarding the second claim, we emphasize that SID does not describe a physically meaningful decoherence process for individual measurements, but only involves destructive interference that occurs collectively within an ensemble of presupposed "values" of measurements. This leads us to question the relevance of SID for treating observed decoherence effects.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures. Final published versio