35 research outputs found
Dark matter as a cancer hazard
We comment on the paper "Dark Matter collisions with the Human Body" by K.
Freese and C. Savage (Phys. Lett. B 717, 25 (2012) [arXiv:1204.1339]) and
describe a dark matter model for which the results of the previous paper do not
quite apply. Within this mirror dark matter model, potentially hazardous
objects, mirror micrometeorites, can exist and may lead to diseases triggered
by multiple mutations, such as cancer, though with very low probability.Comment: 7 pages, revtex4, some text and references added, version to be
published in Physics Letters
Evading Quantum Mechanics \'{a} la Sudarshan: quantum-mechanics-free subsystem as a realization of Koopman-von Neumann mechanics
Tsang and Caves suggested the idea of a quantum-mechanics-free subsystem in
2012. We contend that Sudarshan's viewpoint on Koopman-von Neumann mechanics is
realized in the quantum-mechanics-free subsystem. Since quantum-mechanics-free
subsystems are being experimentally realized, Koopman-von Neumann mechanics is
essentially transformed into an engineering science.Comment: 5 pages, no figure
Two-photon decay of P-wave positronium: a tutorial
A detailed exposition of two-photon decays of P-wave positronium is given to
fill an existing gap in the pedagogical literature. Annihilation decay rates of
P-wave positronium are negligible compared to the rates of radiative electric
dipole transitions to the ground state. This circumstance makes such decays
experimentally inaccessible. However the situation is different for quarkonium
and the experimental and theoretical research of two-photon and two-gluon
decays of P-wave quarkonia is a still flourishing field.Comment: 12 pages, 1 figure, to be published in Can. J. Phy
Majorana transformation of the Thomas-Fermi equation demystified
The Majorana transformation makes it possible to reduce the Thomas-Fermi
equation to a first-order differential equation. This reduction is possible due
to the special scaling property of the Thomas-Fermi equation under homology
transformations. Such reductions are well known in the context of stellar
astrophysics, where the use of homology-invariant variables has long proved
useful. We use homology-invariant variables in the context of the Thomas-Fermi
equation to demystify the origin of the otherwise mysterious Majorana
transformation.Comment: 10 pages, no figure