A perturbative approach to Dirac observables and their space-time algebra

We introduce a general approximation scheme in order to calculate gauge invariant observables in the canonical formulation of general relativity. Using this scheme we will show how the observables and the dynamics of field theories on a fixed background or equivalently the observables of the linearized theory can be understood as an approximation to the observables in full general relativity. Gauge invariant corrections can be calculated up to an arbitrary high order and we will explicitly calculate the first non--trivial correction. Furthermore we will make a first investigation into the Poisson algebra between observables corresponding to fields at different space--time points and consider the locality properties of the observables.Comment: 23 page

Formation and Size-Dependence of Vortex Shells in Mesoscopic Superconducting Niobium Disks

Recent experiments [I.V. Grigorieva et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 077005 (2006)] on visualization of vortices using the Bitter decoration technique revealed vortex shells in mesoscopic superconducting Nb disks containing up to L=40 vortices. Some of the found configurations did not agree with those predicted theoretically. We show here that this discrepancy can be traced back to the larger disks with radii R ~ 1 to 2.5\mu m, i.e., R ~ 50-100\xi(0) used in the experiment, while in previous theoretical studies vortex states with vorticity L < 40 were analyzed for smaller disks with R ~ 5-20\xi(0). The present analysis is done for thin disks (mesoscopic regime) and for thick (macroscopic) disks where the London screening is taken into account. We found that the radius of the superconducting disk has a pronounced influence on the vortex configuration in contrast to, e.g., the case of parabolic confined charged particles. The missing vortex configurations and the region of their stability are found, which are in agreement with those observed in the experiment.Comment: 12 pages, 1 table, 12 figure

Magnetoresistance of a 2-dimensional electron gas in a random magnetic field

We report magnetoresistance measurements on a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) made from a high mobility GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure, where the externally applied magnetic field was expelled from regions of the semiconductor by means of superconducting lead grains randomly distributed on the surface of the sample. A theoretical explanation in excellent agreement with the experiment is given within the framework of the semiclassical Boltzmann equation.Comment: REVTEX 3.0, 11 pages, 3 Postscript figures appended. The manuscript can also be obtained from our World Wide Web server: http://roemer.fys.ku.dk/randmag.ht

A Comparative Study of Laplacians and Schroedinger-Lichnerowicz-Weitzenboeck Identities in Riemannian and Antisymplectic Geometry

We introduce an antisymplectic Dirac operator and antisymplectic gamma matrices. We explore similarities between, on one hand, the Schroedinger-Lichnerowicz formula for spinor bundles in Riemannian spin geometry, which contains a zeroth-order term proportional to the Levi-Civita scalar curvature, and, on the other hand, the nilpotent, Grassmann-odd, second-order \Delta operator in antisymplectic geometry, which in general has a zeroth-order term proportional to the odd scalar curvature of an arbitrary antisymplectic and torsionfree connection that is compatible with the measure density. Finally, we discuss the close relationship with the two-loop scalar curvature term in the quantum Hamiltonian for a particle in a curved Riemannian space.Comment: 55 pages, LaTeX. v2: Subsection 3.10 expanded. v3: Reference added. v4: Published versio

Kerr-Schild spacetimes with (A)dS background

General properties of Kerr-Schild spacetimes with (A)dS background in arbitrary dimension are studied. It is shown that the geodetic Kerr-Schild vector k is a multiple WAND of the spacetime. Einstein Kerr-Schild spacetimes with non-expanding k are shown to be of Weyl type N, while the expanding spacetimes are of type II or D. It is shown that this class of spacetimes obeys the optical constraint. This allows us to solve Sachs equation, determine r-dependence of boost weight zero components of the Weyl tensor and discuss curvature singularities.Comment: 17 pages, minor change

String loop corrections to the universal hypermultiplet

We study loop corrections to the universal dilaton supermultiplet for type IIA strings compactified on Calabi-Yau threefolds. We show that the corresponding quaternionic kinetic terms receive non-trivial one-loop contributions proportional to the Euler number of the Calabi-Yau manifold, while the higher-loop corrections can be absorbed by field redefinitions. The corrected metric is no longer Kahler. Our analysis implies in particular that the Calabi-Yau volume is renormalized by loop effects which are present even in higher orders, while there are also one-loop corrections to the Bianchi identities for the NS and RR field strengths.Comment: 30 pages, harvmac, 1 figure. v2: minor typos corrected. Version to appear in Classical and Quantum Gravit

Off center D−D^- centers in a quantum well in the presence of a perpendicular magnetic field: angular momentum transition and magnetic evaporation

We investigate the effect of the position of the donor in the quantum well on the energy spectrum and the oscillator strength of the D- system in the presence of a perpendicular magnetic field. As a function of the magnetic field we find that when the D- centers are placed sufficiently off-center they undergo singlet-triplet transitions which are similar to those found in many-electron parabolic quantum dots. The main difference is that the number of such transitions depends on the position of the donor and only a finite number of such singlet-triplet transitions are found as function of the strength of the magnetic field. For sufficiently large magnetic fields the two electron system becomes unbound. For the near center D- system no singlet-triplet and no unbinding of the D- is found with increasing magnetic field. A magnetic field vs. donor position phase diagram is presented that depends on the width of the quantum well.Comment: 16 pages, 17 figures. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Localized Wavefunctions and Magnetic Band Structure for Lateral Semiconductor Superlattices

In this paper we present calculations on the electronic band structure of a two-dimensional lateral superlattice subject to a perpendicular magnetic field by employing a projection operator technique based on the ray-group of magnetotranslation operators. We construct a new basis of appropriately symmetrized Bloch-like wavefunctions as linear combination of well-localized magnetic-Wannier functions. The magnetic field was consistently included in the Wannier functions defined in terms of free-electron eigenfunctions in the presence of external magnetic field in the symmetric gauge. Using the above basis, we calculate the magnetic energy spectrum of electrons in a lateral superlattice with bi-directional weak electrostatic modulation. Both a square lattice and a triangular one are considered as special cases. Our approach based on group theory handles the cases of integer and rational magnetic fluxes in a uniform way and the provided basis could be convenient for further both analytic and numerical calculations.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figures. accepted to Int. J. Mod. Phys. B (April 2006

Magnetic field dependence of the energy of negatively charged excitons in semiconductor quantum wells

A variational calculation of the spin-singlet and spin-triplet state of a negatively charged exciton (trion) confined to a single quantum well and in the presence of a perpendicular magnetic field is presented. We calculated the probability density and the pair correlation function of the singlet and triplet trion states. The dependence of the energy levels and of the binding energy on the well width and on the magnetic field strength was investigated. We compared our results with the available experimental data on GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells and find that in the low magnetic field region (B<18 T) the observed transition are those of the singlet and the dark triplet trion (with angular momentum $L_z=-1$), while for high magnetic fields (B>25 T) the dark trion becomes optically inactive and possibly a transition to a bright triplet trion (angular momentum $L_z=0$) state is observed.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figures submitted to Phys. Rev.

Exciton and negative trion dissociation by an external electric field in vertically coupled quantum dots

We study the Stark effect for an exciton confined in a pair of vertically coupled quantum dots. A single-band approximation for the hole and a parabolic lateral confinement potential are adopted which allows for the separation of the lateral center-of-mass motion and consequently for an exact numerical solution of the Schr\"odinger equation. We show that for intermediate tunnel coupling the external electric field leads to the dissociation of the exciton via an avoided crossing of bright and dark exciton energy levels which results in an atypical form of the Stark shift. The electric-field-induced dissociation of the negative trion is studied using the approximation of frozen lateral degrees of freedom. It is shown that in a symmetric system of coupled dots the trion is more stable against dissociation than the exciton. For an asymmetric system of coupled dots the trion dissociation is accompanied by a positive curvature of the recombination energy line as a function of the electric field.Comment: PRB - in prin