6,080 research outputs found
Trace formulas for stochastic evolution operators: Smooth conjugation method
The trace formula for the evolution operator associated with nonlinear
stochastic flows with weak additive noise is cast in the path integral
formalism. We integrate over the neighborhood of a given saddlepoint exactly by
means of a smooth conjugacy, a locally analytic nonlinear change of field
variables. The perturbative corrections are transfered to the corresponding
Jacobian, which we expand in terms of the conjugating function, rather than the
action used in defining the path integral. The new perturbative expansion which
follows by a recursive evaluation of derivatives appears more compact than the
standard Feynman diagram perturbation theory. The result is a stochastic analog
of the Gutzwiller trace formula with the ``hbar'' corrections computed an order
higher than what has so far been attainable in stochastic and
quantum-mechanical applications.Comment: 16 pages, 1 figure, New techniques and results for a problem we
considered in chao-dyn/980703
Recent progress in Hamiltonian light-front QCD
Hamiltonian light-front quantum field theory constitutes a framework for the
non-perturbative solution of invariant masses and correlated parton amplitudes
of self-bound systems. By choosing light-front gauge and adopting a basis
function representation, we obtain a large, sparse, Hamiltonian matrix for mass
eigenstates of gauge theories that is solvable by adapting the ab initio
no-core methods of nuclear many-body theory. Full covariance is recovered in
the continuum limit, the infinite matrix limit. We outline our approach and
discuss the computational challenges.Comment: Invited paper at Light Cone 2008, Mulhouse, Franc
Quantum communication using a bounded-size quantum reference frame
Typical quantum communication schemes are such that to achieve perfect
decoding the receiver must share a reference frame with the sender. Indeed, if
the receiver only possesses a bounded-size quantum token of the sender's
reference frame, then the decoding is imperfect, and we can describe this
effect as a noisy quantum channel. We seek here to characterize the performance
of such schemes, or equivalently, to determine the effective decoherence
induced by having a bounded-size reference frame. We assume that the token is
prepared in a special state that has particularly nice group-theoretic
properties and that is near-optimal for transmitting information about the
sender's frame. We present a decoding operation, which can be proven to be
near-optimal in this case, and we demonstrate that there are two distinct ways
of implementing it (corresponding to two distinct Kraus decompositions). In
one, the receiver measures the orientation of the reference frame token and
reorients the system appropriately. In the other, the receiver extracts the
encoded information from the virtual subsystems that describe the relational
degrees of freedom of the system and token. Finally, we provide explicit
characterizations of these decoding schemes when the system is a single qubit
and for three standard kinds of reference frame: a phase reference, a Cartesian
frame (representing an orthogonal triad of spatial directions), and a reference
direction (representing a single spatial direction).Comment: 17 pages, 1 figure, comments welcome; v2 published versio
Excited OH+, H2O+, and H3O+ in NGC 4418 and Arp 220
We report on Herschel/PACS observations of absorption lines of OH+, H2O+ and
H3O+ in NGC 4418 and Arp 220. Excited lines of OH+ and H2O+ with E_lower of at
least 285 and \sim200 K, respectively, are detected in both sources, indicating
radiative pumping and location in the high radiation density environment of the
nuclear regions. Abundance ratios OH+/H2O+ of 1-2.5 are estimated in the nuclei
of both sources. The inferred OH+ column and abundance relative to H nuclei are
(0.5-1)x10^{16} cm-2 and \sim2x10^{-8}, respectively. Additionally, in Arp 220,
an extended low excitation component around the nuclear region is found to have
OH+/H2O+\sim5-10. H3O+ is detected in both sources with
N(H3O+)\sim(0.5-2)x10^{16} cm-2, and in Arp 220 the pure inversion, metastable
lines indicate a high rotational temperature of ~500 K, indicative of formation
pumping and/or hot gas. Simple chemical models favor an ionization sequence
dominated by H+ - O+ - OH+ - H2O+ - H3O+, and we also argue that the H+
production is most likely dominated by X-ray/cosmic ray ionization. The full
set of observations and models leads us to propose that the molecular ions
arise in a relatively low density (\gtrsim10^4 cm-3) interclump medium, in
which case the ionization rate per H nucleus (including secondary ionizations)
is zeta>10^{-13} s-1, a lower limit that is severalx10^2 times the highest rate
estimates for Galactic regions. In Arp 220, our lower limit for zeta is
compatible with estimates for the cosmic ray energy density inferred previously
from the supernova rate and synchrotron radio emission, and also with the
expected ionization rate produced by X-rays. In NGC 4418, we argue that X-ray
ionization due to an AGN is responsible for the molecular ion production.Comment: 24 pages, 13 figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy &
Astrophysic
A Close Look at Star Formation around Active Galactic Nuclei
We analyse star formation in the nuclei of 9 Seyfert galaxies at spatial
resolutions down to 0.085arcsec, corresponding to length scales of less than
10pc in some objects. Our data were taken mostly with the near infrared
adaptive optics integral field spectrograph SINFONI. The stellar light profiles
typically have size scales of a few tens of parsecs. In two cases there is
unambiguous kinematic evidence for stellar disks on these scales. In the
nuclear regions there appear to have been recent - but no longer active -
starbursts in the last 10-300Myr. The stellar luminosity is less than a few
percent of the AGN in the central 10pc, whereas on kiloparsec scales the
luminosities are comparable. The surface stellar luminosity density follows a
similar trend in all the objects, increasing steadily at smaller radii up to
10^{13}L_sun/kpc^2 in the central few parsecs, where the mass surface density
exceeds 10^4M_sun/pc^2. The intense starbursts were probably Eddington limited
and hence inevitably short-lived, implying that the starbursts occur in
multiple short bursts. The data hint at a delay of 50--100Myr between the onset
of star formation and subsequent fuelling of the black hole. We discuss whether
this may be a consequence of the role that stellar ejecta could play in
fuelling the black hole. While a significant mass is ejected by OB winds and
supernovae, their high velocity means that very little of it can be accreted.
On the other hand winds from AGB stars ultimately dominate the total mass loss,
and they can also be accreted very efficiently because of their slow speeds.Comment: 51 pages, including 27 figures; accepted by ApJ (paper reorganised,
but results & conclusions the same
Remark on charge conjugation in the non relativistic limit
We study the non relativistic limit of the charge conjugation operation in the context of the Dirac equation coupled to an electromagnetic field.
The limit is well defined and, as in the relativistic case, ,
(parity) and (time reversal) are the generators of a matrix group
isomorphic to a semidirect sum of the dihedral group of eight elements and
. The existence of the limit is supported by an argument based in quantum
field theory. Also, and most important, the limit exists in the context of
galilean relativity. Finally, if one complexifies the Lorentz group and
therefore the galilean spacetime , then the explicit form of the matrix
for allows to interpret it, in this context, as the complex
conjugation of the spatial coordinates: . This result is
natural in a fiber bundle description.Comment: 8 page
Spitzer Quasar and ULIRG evolution study (QUEST): I. The origin of the far infrared continuum of QSOs
This paper addresses the origin of the far-infrared (FIR) continuum of QSOs,
based on the Quasar and ULIRG Evolution Study (QUEST) of nearby QSOs and ULIRGs
using observations with the Spitzer Space Telescope. For 27 Palomar-Green QSOs
at z <~ 0.3, we derive luminosities of diagnostic lines ([NeII]12.8um,
[NeV]14.3um, [OIV]25.9um) and emission features (PAH7.7um emission which is
related to star formation), as well as continuum luminosities over a range of
mid- to far-infrared wavelengths between 6 and 60um. We detect star-formation
related PAH emission in 11/26 QSOs and fine-structure line emission in all of
them, often in multiple lines. The detection of PAHs in the average spectrum of
sources which lack individual PAH detections provides further evidence for the
widespread presence of PAHs in QSOs. Similar PAH/FIR and [NeII]/FIR ratios are
found in QSOs and in starburst-dominated ULIRGs and lower luminosity
starbursts. We conclude that the typical QSO in our sample has at least 30% but
likely most of the far-infrared luminosity (~ 10^(10...12)Lsun) arising from
star formation, with a tendency for larger star formation contribution at the
largest FIR luminosities. In the QSO sample, we find correlations between most
of the quantities studied including combinations of AGN tracers and starburst
tracers. The common scaling of AGN and starburst luminosities (and fluxes) is
evidence for a starburst-AGN connection in luminous AGN. Strong correlations of
far-infrared continuum and starburst related quantities (PAH, low excitation
[NeII]) offer additional support for the starburst origin of far-infrared
emission.Comment: 39 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
Quantum walks with infinite hitting times
Hitting times are the average time it takes a walk to reach a given final
vertex from a given starting vertex. The hitting time for a classical random
walk on a connected graph will always be finite. We show that, by contrast,
quantum walks can have infinite hitting times for some initial states. We seek
criteria to determine if a given walk on a graph will have infinite hitting
times, and find a sufficient condition, which for discrete time quantum walks
is that the degeneracy of the evolution operator be greater than the degree of
the graph. The set of initial states which give an infinite hitting time form a
subspace. The phenomenon of infinite hitting times is in general a consequence
of the symmetry of the graph and its automorphism group. Using the irreducible
representations of the automorphism group, we derive conditions such that
quantum walks defined on this graph must have infinite hitting times for some
initial states. In the case of the discrete walk, if this condition is
satisfied the walk will have infinite hitting times for any choice of a coin
operator, and we give a class of graphs with infinite hitting times for any
choice of coin. Hitting times are not very well-defined for continuous time
quantum walks, but we show that the idea of infinite hitting-time walks
naturally extends to the continuous time case as well.Comment: 28 pages, 3 figures in EPS forma
A Bogomol`nyi equation for intersecting domain walls
We argue that the Wess-Zumino model with quartic superpotential admits static
solutions in which three domain walls intersect at a junction. We derive an
energy bound for such junctions and show that configurations saturating it
preserve 1/4 supersymmetry.Comment: 4 pages revtex. No figures. Revised version to appear in Physical
Review Letters includes discussion of the supersymmetry algebr
The constitutive tensor of linear elasticity: its decompositions, Cauchy relations, null Lagrangians, and wave propagation
In linear anisotropic elasticity, the elastic properties of a medium are
described by the fourth rank elasticity tensor C. The decomposition of C into a
partially symmetric tensor M and a partially antisymmetric tensors N is often
used in the literature. An alternative, less well-known decomposition, into the
completely symmetric part S of C plus the reminder A, turns out to be
irreducible under the 3-dimensional general linear group. We show that the
SA-decomposition is unique, irreducible, and preserves the symmetries of the
elasticity tensor. The MN-decomposition fails to have these desirable
properties and is such inferior from a physical point of view. Various
applications of the SA-decomposition are discussed: the Cauchy relations
(vanishing of A), the non-existence of elastic null Lagrangians, the
decomposition of the elastic energy and of the acoustic wave propagation. The
acoustic or Christoffel tensor is split in a Cauchy and a non-Cauchy part. The
Cauchy part governs the longitudinal wave propagation. We provide explicit
examples of the effectiveness of the SA-decomposition. A complete class of
anisotropic media is proposed that allows pure polarizations in arbitrary
directions, similarly as in an isotropic medium.Comment: 1 figur
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