447 research outputs found
Classical and quantum mechanics of a particle on a rotating loop
The toy model of a particle on a vertical rotating circle in the presence of
uniform gravitational/ magnetic fields is explored in detail. After an analysis
of the classical mechanics of the problem we then discuss the quantum mechanics
from both exact and semi--classical standpoints. Exact solutions of the
Schrodinger equation are obtained in some cases by diverse methods. Instantons,
bounces are constructed and semi-classical, leading order tunneling
amplitudes/decay rates are written down. We also investigate qualitatively the
nature of small oscillations about the kink/bounce solutions. Finally, the
connections of these toy examples with field theoretic and statistical
mechanical models of relevance are pointed out.Comment: 30 pages, RevTex, 7 figure
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