Does quantum mechanics tell an atomistic spacetime?

The canonical answer to the question posed is "Yes." -- tacitly assuming that quantum theory and the concept of spacetime are to be unified by `quantizing' a theory of gravitation. Yet, instead, one may ponder: Could quantum mechanics arise as a coarse-grained reflection of the atomistic nature of spacetime? -- We speculate that this may indeed be the case. We recall the similarity between evolution of classical and quantum mechanical ensembles, according to Liouville and von Neumann equation, respectively. The classical and quantum mechanical equations are indistinguishable for objects which are free or subject to spatially constant but possibly time dependent, or harmonic forces, if represented appropriately. This result suggests a way to incorporate anharmonic interactions, including fluctuations which are tentatively related to the underlying discreteness of spacetime. Being linear and local at the quantum mechanical level, the model offers a decoherence and natural localization mechanism. However, the relation to primordial deterministic degrees of freedom is nonlocal.Comment: Based on invited talks at Fourth International Workshop DICE2008, held at Castello Pasquini / Castiglioncello, Italy, 22-26 September 2008 and at DISCRETE'08 - Symposium on Prospects in the Physics of Discrete Symmetries, held at IFIC, Valencia, Spain, 11-16 December 2008 - to appear in respective volumes of Journal of Physics: Conference Serie

Introduction to light cone field theory and high energy scattering

In this set of four lectures, we provide an elementary introduction to light cone field theory and some of its applications in high energy scattering.Comment: 28 pages, LaTeX, invited lectures at Cape Town summer school in theoretical physic

Brane-induced Skyrmion on S^3: baryonic matter in holographic QCD

We study baryonic matter in holographic QCD with D4/D8/\bar{D8} multi-D brane system in type IIA superstring theory. The baryon is described as the "brane-induced Skyrmion", which is a topologically non-trivial chiral soliton in the four-dimensional meson effective action induced by holographic QCD. We employ the "truncated-resonance model" approach for the baryon analysis, including pion and \rho meson fields below the ultraviolet cutoff scale M_KK \sim 1GeV, to keep the holographic duality with QCD. We describe the baryonic matter in large N_c as single brane-induced Skyrmion on the three-dimensional closed manifold S^3 with finite radius R. The interactions between baryons are simulated by the curvature of the closed manifold S^3, and the decrease of the size of S^3 represents the increase of the total baryon-number density in the medium in this modeling. We investigate the energy density, the field configuration, the mass and the root-mean-square radius of single baryon on S^3 as the function of its radius R. We find a new picture of "pion dominance" near the critical density in the baryonic matter, where all the (axial) vector meson fields disappear and only the pion field survive. We also find the "swelling" phenomena of the baryons as the precursor of the deconfinement, and propose the mechanism of the swelling in general context of QCD. The properties of the deconfinement and the chiral symmetry restoration in the baryonic matter are examined by taking the proper order parameters. We also compare our truncated-resonance model with another "instanton" description of the baryon in holographic QCD, considering the role of cutoff scale M_KK.Comment: 25 pages, 12 figure

Time-dependent quantum scattering in 2+1 dimensional gravity

The propagation of a localized wave packet in the conical space-time created by a pointlike massive source in 2+1 dimensional gravity is analyzed. The scattering amplitude is determined and shown to be finite along the classical scattering directions due to interference between the scattered and the transmitted wave functions. The analogy with diffraction theory is emphasized.Comment: 15 pages in LaTeX with 3 PostScript figure

Body Fixed Frame, Rigid Gauge Rotations and Large N Random Fields in QCD

The "body fixed frame" with respect to local gauge transformations is introduced. Rigid gauge "rotations" in QCD and their \Sch equation are studied for static and dynamic quarks. Possible choices of the rigid gauge field configuration corresponding to a nonvanishing static colormagnetic field in the "body fixed" frame are discussed. A gauge invariant variational equation is derived in this frame. For large number N of colors the rigid gauge field configuration is regarded as random with maximally random probability distribution under constraints on macroscopic--like quantities. For the uniform magnetic field the joint probability distribution of the field components is determined by maximizing the appropriate entropy under the area law constraint for the Wilson loop. In the quark sector the gauge invariance requires the rigid gauge field configuration to appear not only as a background but also as inducing an instantaneous quark-quark interaction. Both are random in the large N limit.Comment: 29 pages LATEX, Weizmann Institute preprint WIS-93/40/Apr -P

Color confinement and dual superconductivity in unquenched QCD

We report on evidence from lattice simulations that confinement is produced by dual superconductivity of the vacuum in full QCD as in quenched QCD. Preliminary information is obtained on the order of the deconfining phase transition.Comment: 4 pages, to appear in the Proceedings of Quark Matter 02 - The XVI International Conference on Ultrarelativistic Nucleus-Nucleus Collision

Exact propagators on the lattice with applications to diffractive effects

The propagator of the discrete Schr\"odinger equation is computed and its properties are revealed through a Feynman path summation in discrete space. Initial data problems such as diffraction in discrete space and continuous time are studied analytically by the application of the new propagator. In the second part of this paper, the analogy between time propagation and 2D scattering by 1D obstacles is explored. New results are given in the context of diffraction by edges within a periodic medium. A connection with tight-binding arrays and photonic crystals is indicated.Comment: Final version with two appendices. Published in J. Phys. A: Math. Theo

p-Branes from Generalized Yang-Mills Theory

We consider the reduced, quenched version of a generalized Yang-Mills action in 4k-dimensional spacetime. This is a new kind of matrix theory which is mapped through the Weyl-Wigner-Moyal correspondence into a field theory over a non-commutative phase space. We show that the ``classical'' limit of this field theory is encoded into the effective action of an open, (4k-1)-dimensional, bulk brane enclosed by a dynamical, Chern-Simons type, (4k-2)-dimensional, boundary brane. The bulk action is a pure volume term, while the boundary action carries all the dynamical degrees of freedom.Comment: 8 pages, LaTeX 2e, no figure

Thermally activated energy and critical magnetic fields of SmFeAsO0.9_{0.9}F0.1_{0.1}

Thermally activated flux flow and vortex glass transition of recently discovered SmFeAsO$_{0.9}$F$_{0.1}$ superconductor are studied in magnetic fields up to 9.0 T. The thermally activated energy is analyzed in two analytic methods, of which one is conventional and generally used, while the other is closer to the theoretical description. The thermally activated energy values determined from both methods are discussed and compared. In addition, several critical magnetic fields determined from resistivity measurements are presented and discussed.Comment: Accepted by Superconductor Science and Technolog. 5 page, 4 figure

Standstill Electric Charge Generates Magnetostatic Field Under Born-Infeld Electrodynamics

The Abelian Born-Infeld classical non-linear electrodynamic has been used to investigate the electric and magnetostatic fields generated by a point-like electrical charge at rest in an inertial frame. The results show a rich internal structure for the charge. Analytical solutions have also been found. Such findings have been interpreted in terms of vacuum polarization and magnetic-like charges produced by the very high strengths of the electric field considered. Apparently non-linearity is to be accounted for the emergence of an anomalous magnetostatic field suggesting a possible connection to that created by a magnetic dipole composed of two mognetic charges with opposite signals. Consistently in situations where the Born-Infeld field strength parameter is free to become infinite, Maxwell`s regime takes over, the magnetic sector vanishes and the electric field assumes a Coulomb behavior with no trace of a magnetic component. The connection to other monopole solutions, like Dirac`s, t' Hooft`s or Poliakov`s types, are also discussed. Finally some speculative remarks are presented in an attempt to explain such fields.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures. In this version is update a permanent address of the author L.P.G. De Assis and information on submission publication. Submetted to International Journal of Theoretical Physic