Majorana spin-flip transitions in a magnetic trap

Atoms confined in a magnetic trap can escape by making spin-flip Majorana transitions due to a breakdown of the adiabatic approximation. Several papers have studied this process for atoms with spin $F = 1/2$ or $F= 1$. The present paper calculates the escape rate for atoms with spin $F > 1$. This problem has new features because the perturbation $\Delta T$ which allows atoms to escape satisfies a selection rule $\Delta F_z = 0, \pm 1, \pm 2$ and multi-step processes contribute in leading order. When the adiabatic approximation is satisfied the leading order terms can be summed to yield a simple expression for the escape rate.Comment: 16page

Die uitdaging van die natuurwetenskap in ons tyd

Gedurende die eerste 50 jaar van hierdie eeu het die natuurwetenskappe meer bereik as gedurende al die eeue van die menslike bestaan. Die mens se gemiddelde lewensverwagting is met 20 jaar opgestoot en hy het tot sy beskikking gekry elke denkbare meganiese en elektroniese fasiliteit vir sy gemak en gerief en hy beskik oor kommunikasiemiddels wat aan die begin van hierdie eeu as onmoontlik beskou is. Dit is byna ’n versoeking om te wil byvoeg dat die afgelope 20 jaar se natuurwetenskaplike ontwikkeling en vordering dié van die voorafgaande 50 jaar in die skadu stel. Die afgelope twee jaar alleen het twee hoogtepunte in hierdie natuurwetenskaplike prestasiewedloop gelewer wat alle ander op die agtergrond geskuif het — ek verwys hier na die eerste geslaagde oorplanting van ’n menslike hart en die eerste suksesvolle maanvlug. Voeg ons hierby die vooruitsig om eersdaags mense op die maan te land, kernkrag vir die ekonomiese opwekking van elektrisiteit en die grootskaalse ontsouting van seewater, weervoorspellings van weke vooruit, reusestraiers (1,000 passasierklas) teen klanksnelheid, laserstrale wat 100-miljoen telefoonoproepe en 10-miljoen televisiekanale gelyktydig kan dra, en u sal saamstem dat ons ’n soort natuurwetenskaplike rewolusie belewe. As dit onmoontlik geword het vir enige natuurwetenskap­ like om tred te hou met die vakliteratuur en al die ontwikkelings op sy eie vakgebied en dit vir hom buite die kwessie is om by benadering kennis te dra van die snelle vordering op al die verwante vakterreine — hoe moeilik moet dit nie vir diegene buite hierdie vakgebiede wees om te verstaan wat die natuur­wetenskaplike wil en waarheen hy op pad is nie? Begryplikerwys word dit vir hierdie twee groepe al hoe moeiliker om mekaar se taal te verstaan

Mediated tunable coupling of flux qubits

It is sketched how a monostable rf- or dc-SQUID can mediate an inductive coupling between two adjacent flux qubits. The nontrivial dependence of the SQUID's susceptibility on external flux makes it possible to continuously tune the induced coupling from antiferromagnetic (AF) to ferromagnetic (FM). In particular, for suitable parameters, the induced FM coupling can be sufficiently large to overcome any possible direct AF inductive coupling between the qubits. The main features follow from a classical analysis of the multi-qubit potential. A fully quantum treatment yields similar results, but with a modified expression for the SQUID susceptibility. Since the latter is exact, it can also be used to evaluate the susceptibility--or, equivalently, energy-level curvature--of an isolated rf-SQUID for larger shielding and at degenerate flux bias, i.e., a (bistable) qubit. The result is compared to the standard two-level (pseudospin) treatment of the anticrossing, and the ensuing conclusions are verified numerically.Comment: REVTeX 4, 16 pp., 4 EPS figures. N.B.: "Alec" is my first, and "Maassen van den Brink" my family name. v2: major expansion and rewriting, new title and co-author; to appear in New Journal of Physics special issue (R. Fazio, ed.

Interface-induced d-wave pairing

We discuss a scenario for interface-induced superconductivity involving pairing by dipolar excitations proximate to a two-dimensional electron system controlled by a transverse electric field. If the interface consists of transition metal oxide materials, the repulsive on-site Coulomb interaction is typically strong and a superconducting state is formed via exchange of non-local dipolar excitations in the d-wave channel. Perspectives to enhance the superconducting transition temperature are discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Odd-even mass differences from self-consistent mean-field theory

We survey odd-even nuclear binding energy staggering using density functional theory with several treatments of the pairing interaction including the BCS, Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov, and the Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov with the Lipkin-Nogami approximation. We calculate the second difference of binding energies and compare with 443 measured neutron energy differences in isotope chains and 418 measured proton energy differences in isotone chains. The particle-hole part of the energy functional is taken as the SLy4 Skyrme parametrization and the pairing part of the functional is based on a contact interaction with possible density dependence. An important feature of the data, reproduced by the theory, is the sharp gap quenching at magic numbers. With the strength of the interaction as a free parameter, the theory can reproduce the data to an rms accuracy of about 0.25 MeV. This is slightly better than a single-parameter phenomenological description but slightly poorer than the usual two-parameter phenomenological form C/A^alpha . The following conclusions can be made about the performance of common parametrization of the pairing interaction: (i) there is a weak preference for a surface-peaked neutron-neutron pairing, which might be attributable to many-body effects; (ii) a larger strength is required in the proton pairing channel than in the neutron pairing channel; (iii) pairing strengths adjusted to the well-known spherical isotope chains are too weak to give a good overall fit to the mass differences.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figure

BRST Algebra Quantum Double and Quantization of the Proper Time Cotangent Bundle

The quantum double for the quantized BRST superalgebra is studied. The corresponding R-matrix is explicitly constucted. The Hopf algebras of the double form an analytical variety with coordinates described by the canonical deformation parameters. This provides the possibility to construct the nontrivial quantization of the proper time supergroup cotangent bundle. The group-like classical limit for this quantization corresponds to the generic super Lie bialgebra of the double.Comment: 11 pages, LaTe

Basal secretion of lysozyme from human airways in vitro.

The aim of this study was to examine the basal release of lysozyme from isolated human lung tissues. Measurements of lysozyme in the fluids derived from lung preparations were performed using a rate-of-lysis assay subsequent to acidification of the biological samples. Lysozyme released from bronchial preparations into fluids was greater than that observed for parenchymal tissues. The lysozyme quantities detected in bronchial fluids were not modified by removal of the surface epithelium. Furthermore, the quantities of lysozyme in bronchial fluids was correlated with the size of the bronchial preparations. These results suggest that the lysozyme was principally secreted by the human bronchi (submucosal layer) rather than by parenchyma tissues and that a greater release was observed in the proximal airways

Generalization of a result of Matsuo and Cherednik to the Calogero-Sutherland- Moser integrable models with exchange terms

A few years ago, Matsuo and Cherednik proved that from some solutions of the Knizhnik-Zamolodchikov (KZ) equations, which first appeared in conformal field theory, one can obtain wave functions for the Calogero integrable system. In the present communication, it is shown that from some solutions of generalized KZ equations, one can construct wave functions, characterized by any given permutational symmetry, for some Calogero-Sutherland-Moser integrable models with exchange terms. Such models include the spin generalizations of the original Calogero and Sutherland ones, as well as that with $\delta$-function interaction.Comment: Latex, 7 pages, Communication at the 4th Colloquium "Quantum Groups and Integrable Systems", Prague (June 1995

Dust as a Standard of Space and Time in Canonical Quantum Gravity

The coupling of the metric to an incoherent dust introduces into spacetime a privileged dynamical reference frame and time foliation. The comoving coordinates of the dust particles and the proper time along the dust worldlines become canonical coordinates in the phase space of the system. The Hamiltonian constraint can be resolved with respect to the momentum that is canonically conjugate to the dust time. Imposition of the resolved constraint as an operator restriction on the quantum states yields a functional Schr\"{o}dinger equation. The ensuing Hamiltonian density has an extraordinary feature: it depends only on the geometric variables, not on the dust coordinates or time. This has three important consequences. First, the functional Schr\"{o}dinger equation can be solved by separating the dust time from the geometric variables. Second, the Hamiltonian densities strongly commute and therefore can be simultaneously defined by spectral analysis. Third, the standard constraint system of vacuum gravity is cast into a form in which it generates a true Lie algebra. The particles of dust introduce into space a privileged system of coordinates that allows the supermomentum constraint to be solved explicitly. The Schr\"{o}dinger equation yields a conserved inner product that can be written in terms of either the instantaneous state functionals or the solutions of constraints. Examples of gravitational observables are given, though neither the intrinsic metric nor the extrinsic curvature are observables. Disregarding factor--ordering difficulties, the introduction of dust provides a satisfactory phenomenological approach to the problem of time in canonical quantum gravity.Comment: 56 pages (REVTEX file + 3 postscipt figure files

Generalized Elitzur's Theorem and Dimensional Reduction

We extend Elitzur's theorem to systems with symmetries intermediate between global and local. In general, our theorem formalizes the idea of {\it dimensional reduction}. We apply the results of this generalization to many systems that are of current interest. These include liquid crystalline phases of Quantum Hall systems, orbital systems, geometrically frustrated spin lattices, Bose metals, and models of superconducting arrays.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figur