Nuclear and Particle Physics applications of the Bohm Picture of Quantum Mechanics

Approximation methods for calculating individual particle/ field motions in spacetime at the quantum level of accuracy (a key feature of the Bohm Picture of Quantum Mechanics (BP)), are studied. Modern textbook presentations of Quantum Theory are used throughout, but only to provide the necessary, already existing, tested formalisms and calculational techniques. New coherent insights, reinterpretations of old solutions and results, and new (in principle testable) quantitative and qualitative predictions, can be obtained on the basis of the BP that complete the standard type of postdictions and predictions.Comment: 41 page

Confluence of resonant laser excitation and bi-directional quantum dot nuclear spin polarization

Resonant laser scattering along with photon correlation measurements have established the atom-like character of quantum dots. Here, we present measurements which challenge this identification for a wide range of experimental parameters: the absorption lineshapes that we measure at magnetic fields exceeding 1 Tesla indicate that the nuclear spins polarize by an amount that ensures locking of the quantum dot resonances to the incident laser frequency. In contrast to earlier experiments, this nuclear spin polarization is bi-directional, allowing the electron+nuclear spin system to track the changes in laser frequency dynamically on both sides of the quantum dot resonance. Our measurements reveal that the confluence of the laser excitation and nuclear spin polarization suppresses the fluctuations in the resonant absorption signal. A master equation analysis shows narrowing of the nuclear Overhauser field variance, pointing to potential applications in quantum information processing

Using a personal response system for promoting student interaction

We first describe the introduction of an electronic feedback system in a large lecture class in Engineering Mathematics designed to promote greater student interaction. We then look at the experience of using the system where it was primarily used to support the consolidation of key concepts in tutorials in Computer Science. We discuss the issue of how the introduction of such methods turned out to be as much a learning experience for the academics involved as for the students and consider the potential of these systems

Applications of SHEEP in general relativity

This paper reviews some of the key applications of the computer algebra system SHEEP in General Relativity

Combining Cauchy and characteristic codes III: the interface problem in axial symmetry

This paper is part of a long term program to develop combined Cauchy and characteristic codes as investigative tools in numerical relativity. In this, the third stage of the program, attention is devoted to axisymmetric systems possessing two spatial degrees of freedom. The method relies on being able to pass information backwards and forwards across an interface exterior to any central source present. Formulas are obtained which show how it is possible to relate the canonical forms of the interior Cauchy and exterior characteristic metric functions, and their derivatives, on the interface