4,394 research outputs found
Opposite Thermodynamic Arrows of Time
A model in which two weakly coupled systems maintain opposite running
thermodynamic arrows of time is exhibited. Each experiences its own retarded
electromagnetic interaction and can be seen by the other. The possibility of
opposite-arrow systems at stellar distances is explored and a relation to dark
matter suggested.Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev. Let
Berry phase from a quantum Zeno effect
We exhibit a specific implementation of the creation of geometrical phase
through the state-space evolution generated by the dynamic quantum Zeno effect.
That is, a system is guided through a closed loop in Hilbert space by means a
sequence of closely spaced projections leading to a phase difference with
respect to the original state. Our goal is the proposal of a specific
experimental setup in which this phase could be created and observed. To this
end we study the case of neutron spin, examine the practical aspects of
realizing the "projections," and estimate the difference between the idealized
projections and the experimental implementation.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figure
Stability of quantum breathers
Using two methods we show that a quantized discrete breather in a 1-D lattice
is stable. One method uses path integrals and compares correlations for a
(linear) local mode with those of the quantum breather. The other takes a local
mode as the zeroth order system relative to which numerical, cutoff-insensitive
diagonalization of the Hamiltonian is performed.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Patents and Public Health: The Problems with Using Patent Law Proposals to Combat Antibiotic Resistance
J-factors of short DNA molecules
The propensity of short DNA sequences to convert to the circular form is
studied by a mesoscopic Hamiltonian method which incorporates both the bending
of the molecule axis and the intrinsic twist of the DNA strands. The base pair
fluctuations with respect to the helix diameter are treated as path
trajectories in the imaginary time path integral formalism. The partition
function for the sub-ensemble of closed molecules is computed by imposing chain
ends boundary conditions both on the radial fluctuations and on the angular
degrees of freedom. The cyclization probability, the J-factor, proves to be
highly sensitive to the stacking potential, mostly to its nonlinear parameters.
We find that the J-factor generally decreases by reducing the sequence length (
N ) and, more significantly, below N = 100 base pairs. However, even for very
small molecules, the J-factors remain sizeable in line with recent experimental
indications. Large bending angles between adjacent base pairs and anharmonic
stacking appear as the causes of the helix flexibility at short length scales.Comment: The Journal of Chemical Physics - May 2016 ; 9 page
The eclipsing X-ray pulsar X-7 in M33
Using our extensive ROSAT X-ray observations of M33, we confirm a 3.45 day
eclipse period for the Einstein source X-7 (Larson & Schulman, 1997) and
discover evidence for a 0.31-s pulse period. The orbital period, pulse period
and observed X-ray luminosity are remarkably similar to SMC X-1. We therefore
suggest M33 X-7 is a neutron star high mass X-ray binary with a 15-40 Msol O/B
companion and a binary separation of 25-33 Rsol if the companion is almost
filling its Roche lobe.Comment: accepted for publication in MNRA
Discrete-time quantum walks: continuous limit and symmetries
The continuous limit of one dimensional discrete-time quantum walks with
time- and space-dependent coefficients is investigated. A given quantum walk
does not generally admit a continuous limit but some families (1-jets) of
quantum walks do. All families (1-jets) admitting a continuous limit are
identified. The continuous limit is described by a Dirac-like equation or,
alternately, a couple of Klein-Gordon equations. Variational principles leading
to these equations are also discussed, together with local invariance
properties
Roughening transition, surface tension and equilibrium droplet shapes in a two-dimensional Ising system
The exact surface tension for all angles and temperatures is given for the two-dimensional square Ising system with anisotropic nearest-neighbour interactions. Using this in the Wulff construction, droplet shapes are computed and illustrated. Letting temperature approach zero allows explicit study of the roughening transition in this model. Results are compared with those of the solid-on-solid approximation
Location- and observation time-dependent quantum-tunneling
We investigate quantum tunneling in a translation invariant chain of
particles. The particles interact harmonically with their nearest neighbors,
except for one bond, which is anharmonic. It is described by a symmetric double
well potential. In the first step, we show how the anharmonic coordinate can be
separated from the normal modes. This yields a Lagrangian which has been used
to study quantum dissipation. Elimination of the normal modes leads to a
nonlocal action of Caldeira-Leggett type. If the anharmonic bond defect is in
the bulk, one arrives at Ohmic damping, i.e. there is a transition of a
delocalized bond state to a localized one if the elastic constant exceeds a
critical value . The latter depends on the masses of the bond defect.
Superohmic damping occurs if the bond defect is in the site at a finite
distance from one of the chain ends. If the observation time is smaller
than a characteristic time , depending on the location M of the
defect, the behavior is similar to the bulk situation. However, for tunneling is never suppressed.Comment: 17 pages, 2 figure
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