19,178 research outputs found
Efficient Simulation of Quantum State Reduction
The energy-based stochastic extension of the Schrodinger equation is a rather
special nonlinear stochastic differential equation on Hilbert space, involving
a single free parameter, that has been shown to be very useful for modelling
the phenomenon of quantum state reduction. Here we construct a general closed
form solution to this equation, for any given initial condition, in terms of a
random variable representing the terminal value of the energy and an
independent Brownian motion. The solution is essentially algebraic in
character, involving no integration, and is thus suitable as a basis for
efficient simulation studies of state reduction in complex systems.Comment: 4 pages, No Figur
Measurement of photons via conversion pairs in \sqrt{s_{NN}} = 200 GeV Au+Au collisions with the PHENIX experiment at RHIC
Thermal photons can provide information on the temperature of the new state
of matter created at RHIC. In the p_T region of 1--3 GeV/c thermal photons are
expected to be the dominant direct photon source. Therefore, a possible excess
compared to a pure decay photon signal due to a thermal photon contribution
should be seen in the double ratio
(\gamma/\gamma(\pi^{0}))_{Measured}/(\gamma/\gamma(\pi^{0}))_{Simulated}, if
sufficient accuracy can be reached. We present a method to reconstruct direct
photons by measuring e^{+}e^{-}--pairs from external photon conversions.Comment: 4 pages, 7 figures. To appear in the proceedings of Hot Quarks 2006:
Workshop for Young Scientists on the Physics of Ultrarelativistic
Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions, Villasimius, Italy, 15-20 May 200
No Eigenvalue in Finite Quantum Electrodynamics
We re-examine Quantum Electrodynamics (QED) with massless electron as a
finite quantum field theory as advocated by Gell-Mann-Low, Baker-Johnson,
Adler, Jackiw and others. We analyze the Dyson-Schwinger equation satisfied by
the massless electron in finite QED and conclude that the theory admits no
nontrivial eigenvalue for the fine structure constant.Comment: 13 pages, Late
Schwinger Algebra for Quaternionic Quantum Mechanics
It is shown that the measurement algebra of Schwinger, a characterization of
the properties of Pauli measurements of the first and second kinds, forming the
foundation of his formulation of quantum mechanics over the complex field, has
a quaternionic generalization. In this quaternionic measurement algebra some of
the notions of quaternionic quantum mechanics are clarified. The conditions
imposed on the form of the corresponding quantum field theory are studied, and
the quantum fields are constructed. It is shown that the resulting quantum
fields coincide with the fermion or boson annihilation-creation operators
obtained by Razon and Horwitz in the limit in which the number of particles in
physical states .Comment: 20 pages, Plain Te
Collapse models with non-white noises
We set up a general formalism for models of spontaneous wave function
collapse with dynamics represented by a stochastic differential equation driven
by general Gaussian noises, not necessarily white in time. In particular, we
show that the non-Schrodinger terms of the equation induce the collapse of the
wave function to one of the common eigenstates of the collapsing operators, and
that the collapse occurs with the correct quantum probabilities. We also
develop a perturbation expansion of the solution of the equation with respect
to the parameter which sets the strength of the collapse process; such an
approximation allows one to compute the leading order terms for the deviations
of the predictions of collapse models with respect to those of standard quantum
mechanics. This analysis shows that to leading order, the ``imaginary'' noise
trick can be used for non-white Gaussian noise.Comment: Latex, 20 pages;references added and minor revisions; published as J.
Phys. A: Math. Theor. {\bf 40} (2007) 15083-1509
Breaking quantum linearity: constraints from human perception and cosmological implications
Resolving the tension between quantum superpositions and the uniqueness of
the classical world is a major open problem. One possibility, which is
extensively explored both theoretically and experimentally, is that quantum
linearity breaks above a given scale. Theoretically, this possibility is
predicted by collapse models. They provide quantitative information on where
violations of the superposition principle become manifest. Here we show that
the lower bound on the collapse parameter lambda, coming from the analysis of
the human visual process, is ~ 7 +/- 2 orders of magnitude stronger than the
original bound, in agreement with more recent analysis. This implies that the
collapse becomes effective with systems containing ~ 10^4 - 10^5 nucleons, and
thus falls within the range of testability with present-day technology. We also
compare the spectrum of the collapsing field with those of known cosmological
fields, showing that a typical cosmological random field can yield an efficient
wave function collapse.Comment: 13 pages, LaTeX, 3 figure
On the polar decomposition of right linear operators in quaternionic Hilbert spaces
In this article we prove the existence of the polar decomposition for densely
defined closed right linear operators in quaternionic Hilbert spaces: If is
a densely defined closed right linear operator in a quaternionic Hilbert space
, then there exists a partial isometry such that . In
fact is unique if . In particular, if is separable
and is a partial isometry with , then we prove that
if and only if either or .Comment: 17 page
Comment about pion electro-production and the axial form factors
The claim by Haberzettl (Phys.Rev.Lett.85 (2000) 3576) that the axial form
factor of the nucleon cannot be accessed through threshold pion
electroproduction is unfounded
Collapse models with non-white noises II: particle-density coupled noises
We continue the analysis of models of spontaneous wave function collapse with
stochastic dynamics driven by non-white Gaussian noise. We specialize to a
model in which a classical "noise" field, with specified autocorrelator, is
coupled to a local nonrelativistic particle density. We derive general results
in this model for the rates of density matrix diagonalization and of state
vector reduction, and show that (in the absence of decoherence) both processes
are governed by essentially the same rate parameters. As an alternative route
to our reduction results, we also derive the Fokker-Planck equations that
correspond to the initial stochastic Schr\"odinger equation. For specific
models of the noise autocorrelator, including ones motivated by the structure
of thermal Green's functions, we discuss the qualitative and qantitative
dependence on model parameters, with particular emphasis on possible
cosmological sources of the noise field.Comment: Latex, 43 pages; versions 2&3 have minor editorial revision
Representations of U(1,q) and Constructive Quaternion Tensor Products
The representation theory of the group U(1,q) is discussed in detail because
of its possible application in a quaternion version of the Salam-Weinberg
theory.
As a consequence, from purely group theoretical arguments we demonstrate that
the eigenvalues must be right-eigenvalues and that the only consistent scalar
products are the complex ones. We also define an explicit quaternion tensor
product which leads to a set of additional group representations for integer
``spin''.Comment: 28 pages, Latex, Dipartimento di Fisica, Universita di Lecce
INFN-Sezione di Lecc
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