261 research outputs found
Incommensuration Effects and Dynamics in Vortex Chains
We examine the motion of one-dimensional (1D) vortex matter embedded in a 2D
vortex system with weak pinning using numerical simulations. We confirm the
conjecture of Matsuda et al. [Science 294, 2136 (2001)] that the onset of the
temperature induced motion of the chain is due to an incommensuration effect of
the chain with the periodic potential created by the bulk vortices. In
addition, under an applied driving force we find a two stage depinning
transition, where the initial depinning of the vortex chain occurs through
soliton like pulses. When an ac drive is added to the dc drive, we observe
phase locking of the moving vortex chain.Comment: 4 pages, 4 postscript figure
Results of the First Coincident Observations by Two Laser-Interferometric Gravitational Wave Detectors
We report an upper bound on the strain amplitude of gravitational wave bursts
in a waveband from around 800Hz to 1.25kHz. In an effective coincident
observing period of 62 hours, the prototype laser interferometric gravitational
wave detectors of the University of Glasgow and Max Planck Institute for
Quantum Optics, have set a limit of 4.9E-16, averaging over wave polarizations
and incident directions. This is roughly a factor of 2 worse than the
theoretical best limit that the detectors could have set, the excess being due
to unmodelled non-Gaussian noise. The experiment has demonstrated the viability
of the kind of observations planned for the large-scale interferometers that
should be on-line in a few years time.Comment: 11 pages, 2 postscript figure
Astrophysics from data analysis of spherical gravitational wave detectors
The direct detection of gravitational waves will provide valuable
astrophysical information about many celestial objects. Also, it will be an
important test to general relativity and other theories of gravitation. The
gravitational wave detector SCHENBERG has recently undergone its first test
run. It is expected to have its first scientific run soon. In this work the
data analysis system of this spherical, resonant mass detector is tested
through the simulation of the detection of gravitational waves generated during
the inspiralling phase of a binary system. It is shown from the simulated data
that it is not necessary to have all six transducers operational in order to
determine the source's direction and the wave's amplitudes.Comment: 8 pages and 3 figure
Black holes as mirrors: quantum information in random subsystems
We study information retrieval from evaporating black holes, assuming that
the internal dynamics of a black hole is unitary and rapidly mixing, and
assuming that the retriever has unlimited control over the emitted Hawking
radiation. If the evaporation of the black hole has already proceeded past the
"half-way" point, where half of the initial entropy has been radiated away,
then additional quantum information deposited in the black hole is revealed in
the Hawking radiation very rapidly. Information deposited prior to the half-way
point remains concealed until the half-way point, and then emerges quickly.
These conclusions hold because typical local quantum circuits are efficient
encoders for quantum error-correcting codes that nearly achieve the capacity of
the quantum erasure channel. Our estimate of a black hole's information
retention time, based on speculative dynamical assumptions, is just barely
compatible with the black hole complementarity hypothesis.Comment: 18 pages, 2 figures. (v2): discussion of decoding complexity
clarifie
On the Precision of a Length Measurement
We show that quantum mechanics and general relativity imply the existence of
a minimal length. To be more precise, we show that no operational device
subject to quantum mechanics, general relativity and causality could exclude
the discreteness of spacetime on lengths shorter than the Planck length. We
then consider the fundamental limit coming from quantum mechanics, general
relativity and causality on the precision of the measurement of a length.Comment: 5 pages, to appear in the proceedings of the 2006 International
School of Subnuclear Physics in Erice and in ''Young Scientists'' online-only
supplement of the European Physical Journal C-Direct (Springer
A geometrical estimation of saturation of partonic densities
We propose a new criterium for saturation of the density of partons both in
nucleons and nuclei. It is applicable to any multiple scattering model which
would be used to compute the number of strings exchanged in and
collisions. The criterium is based on percolation of strings, and the onset of
percolation is estimated from expectations coming from the study of heavy ion
collisions at high energies. We interpret this onset as an indication of
saturation of the density of partons in the wave function of the hadron. In
order to produce quantitative results, a particular model fitted to describe
present HERA data and generalized to the nuclear case is used. Nevertheless,
with the number of scatterings controlled by the relation between inclusive and
diffractive processes, conclusions are weakly model-dependent as long as
different models are tuned to describe the experimental data. This constitutes
a new approach, based on the eikonal description of soft hadronic collisions,
and different from others which employ either perturbative QCD ideas or
semiclassical methods. It offers an alternative picture for saturation in the
small region.Comment: LaTeX, 15 pages, 2 eps figures included using epsfig; final version,
abstract and discussions enlarged, references added and updated, results
unchanged; more references adde
Minimum black hole mass from colliding Gaussian packets
We study the formation of a black hole in the collision of two Gaussian
packets. Rather than following their dynamical evolution in details, we assume
a horizon forms when the mass function for the two packets becomes larger than
half the flat areal radius, as it would occur in a spherically symmetric
geometry. This simple approximation allows us to determine the existence of a
minimum black hole mass solely related to the width of the packets. We then
comment on the possible physical implications, both in classical and quantum
physics, and models with extra spatial dimensions.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure
Killing spectroscopy of closed timelike curves
We analyse the existence of closed timelike curves in spacetimes which
possess an isometry. In particular we check which discrete quotients of such
spaces lead to closed timelike curves. As a by-product of our analysis, we
prove that the notion of existence or non-existence of closed timelike curves
is a T-duality invariant notion, whenever the direction along which we apply
such transformations is everywhere spacelike. Our formalism is
straightforwardly applied to supersymmetric theories. We provide some new
examples in the context of D-branes and generalized pp-waves.Comment: 1+35 pages, no figures; v2, new references added. Final version to
appear in JHE
Detector Description and Performance for the First Coincidence Observations between LIGO and GEO
For 17 days in August and September 2002, the LIGO and GEO interferometer
gravitational wave detectors were operated in coincidence to produce their
first data for scientific analysis. Although the detectors were still far from
their design sensitivity levels, the data can be used to place better upper
limits on the flux of gravitational waves incident on the earth than previous
direct measurements. This paper describes the instruments and the data in some
detail, as a companion to analysis papers based on the first data.Comment: 41 pages, 9 figures 17 Sept 03: author list amended, minor editorial
change
Search for Gravitational Waves from Primordial Black Hole Binary Coalescences in the Galactic Halo
We use data from the second science run of the LIGO gravitational-wave
detectors to search for the gravitational waves from primordial black hole
(PBH) binary coalescence with component masses in the range 0.2--.
The analysis requires a signal to be found in the data from both LIGO
observatories, according to a set of coincidence criteria. No inspiral signals
were found. Assuming a spherical halo with core radius 5 kpc extending to 50
kpc containing non-spinning black holes with masses in the range 0.2--, we place an observational upper limit on the rate of PBH coalescence
of 63 per year per Milky Way halo (MWH) with 90% confidence.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, to be submitted to Phys. Rev.
- âŠ