526 research outputs found
Predicting decoherence in discrete models
The general aim of this paper is to supply a method to decide whether a
discrete system decoheres or not, and under what conditions decoherence occurs,
with no need of appealing to computer simulations to obtain the time evolution
of the reduced state. In particular, a lemma is presented as the core of the
method.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure
Explaining the unobserved: why quantum mechanics is not only about information
A remarkable theorem by Clifton, Bub and Halvorson (2003)(CBH) characterizes
quantum theory in terms of information--theoretic principles. According to Bub
(2004, 2005) the philosophical significance of the theorem is that quantum
theory should be regarded as a ``principle'' theory about (quantum) information
rather than a ``constructive'' theory about the dynamics of quantum systems.
Here we criticize Bub's principle approach arguing that if the mathematical
formalism of quantum mechanics remains intact then there is no escape route
from solving the measurement problem by constructive theories. We further
propose a (Wigner--type) thought experiment that we argue demonstrates that
quantum mechanics on the information--theoretic approach is incomplete.Comment: 34 Page
Glimmers of a pre-geometric perspective
Space-time measurements and gravitational experiments are made by using
objects, matter fields or particles and their mutual relationships. As a
consequence, any operationally meaningful assertion about space-time is in fact
an assertion about the degrees of freedom of the matter (\emph{i.e} non
gravitational) fields; those, say for definiteness, of the Standard Model of
particle physics. As for any quantum theory, the dynamics of the matter fields
can be described in terms of a unitary evolution of a state vector in a Hilbert
space. By writing the Hilbert space as a generic tensor product of "subsystems"
we analyse the evolution of a state vector on an information theoretical basis
and attempt to recover the usual space-time relations from the information
exchanges between these subsystems. We consider generic interacting second
quantized models with a finite number of fermionic degrees of freedom and
characterize on physical grounds the tensor product structure associated with
the class of "localized systems" and therefore with "position". We find that in
the case of free theories no space-time relation is operationally definable. On
the contrary, by applying the same procedure to the simple interacting model of
a one-dimensional Heisenberg spin chain we recover the tensor product structure
usually associated with "position". Finally, we discuss the possible role of
gravity in this framework.Comment: 30 page
Decoherence of entangled kaons and its connection to entanglement measures
We study the time evolution of the entangled kaon system by considering the
Liouville - von Neumann equation with an additional term which allows for
decoherence. We choose as generators of decoherence the projectors to the
2-particle eigenstates of the Hamiltonian. Then we compare this model with the
data of the CPLEAR experiment and find in this way an upper bound on the
strength of the decoherence. We also relate to an effective
decoherence parameter considered previously in literature. Finally we
discuss our model in the light of different measures of entanglement, i.e. the
von Neumann entropy , the entanglement of formation and the concurrence
, and we relate the decoherence parameter to the loss of
entanglement: .Comment: comments and references added, 18 pages, 1 figur
Aspects of hairy black holes in spontaneously-broken Einstein-Yang-Mills systems: Stability analysis and Entropy considerations
We analyze (3+1)-dimensional black-hole space-times in spontaneously broken
Yang-Mills gauge theories that have been recently presented as candidates for
an evasion of the scalar-no-hair theorem. Although we show that in principle
the conditions for the no-hair theorem do not apply to this case, however we
prove that the `spirit' of the theorem is not violated, in the sense that there
exist instabilities, in both the sphaleron and gravitational sectors. The
instability analysis of the sphaleron sector, which was expected to be unstable
for topological reasons, is performed by means of a variational method. As
shown, there exist modes in this sector that are unstable against linear
perturbations. Instabilities exist also in the gravitational sector. A method
for counting the gravitational unstable modes, which utilizes a
catastrophe-theoretic approach is presented. The r\^ole of the catastrophe
functional is played by the mass functional of the black hole. The Higgs vacuum
expectation value (v.e.v.) is used as a control parameter, having a critical
value beyond which instabilities are turned on. The (stable) Schwarzschild
solution is then understood from this point of view. The catastrophe-theory
appproach facilitates enormously a universal stability study of non-Abelian
black holes, which goes beyond linearized perturbations. Some elementary
entropy considerations are also presented...Comment: Latex file, 50 pages, 2 figures (included as PS files at the end:
plot1.ps, plot2.ps
Cosmology, Particle Physics and Superfluid 3He
Many direct parallels connect superfluid 3He with the field theories
describing the physical vacuum, gauge fields and elementary fermions.
Superfluid He exhibits a variety of topological defects which can be
detected with single-defect sensitivity. Modern scenarios of defect-mediated
baryogenesis can be simulated by the interaction of the 3He vortices and domain
walls with fermionic quasiparticles. Formation of defects in a
symmetry-breaking phase transition in the early Universe, which could be
responsible for large-scale structure formation and for microwave-background
anisotropy, also may be modelled in the laboratory. This is supported by the
recent observation of vortex formation in neutron-irradiated 3He-B where the
"primordial fireball" is formed in an exothermic nuclear reaction.Comment: Invited talk at LT-21 Conference, 20 pages, 3 figures available at
request, compressed ps file of the camera-ready format with 3 figures is at
ftp://boojum.hut.fi/pub/publications/lowtemp/LTL-96006.ps.g
Entanglement, Bell Inequalities and Decoherence in Particle Physics
We demonstrate the relevance of entanglement, Bell inequalities and
decoherence in particle physics. In particular, we study in detail the features
of the ``strange'' system as an example of entangled
meson--antimeson systems. The analogies and differences to entangled spin--1/2
or photon systems are worked, the effects of a unitary time evolution of the
meson system is demonstrated explicitly. After an introduction we present
several types of Bell inequalities and show a remarkable connection to CP
violation. We investigate the stability of entangled quantum systems pursuing
the question how possible decoherence might arise due to the interaction of the
system with its ``environment''. The decoherence is strikingly connected to the
entanglement loss of common entanglement measures. Finally, some outlook of the
field is presented.Comment: Lectures given at Quantum Coherence in Matter: from Quarks to Solids,
42. Internationale Universit\"atswochen f\"ur Theoretische Physik,
Schladming, Austria, Feb. 28 -- March 6, 2004, submitted to Lecture Notes in
Physics, Springer Verlag, 45 page
Model for Particle Masses, Flavor Mixing, and CP Violation Based on Spontaneously Broken Discrete Chiral Symmetry as the Origin of Families
We construct extensions of the standard model based on the hypothesis that
the Higgs bosons also exhibit a family structure, and that the flavor weak
eigenstates in the three families are distinguished by a discrete chiral
symmetry that is spontaneously broken by the Higgs sector. We study in detail
at the tree level models with three Higgs doublets, and with six Higgs doublets
comprising two weakly coupled sets of three. In a leading approximation of
cyclic permutation symmetry the three Higgs model gives a ``democratic''
mass matrix of rank one, while the six Higgs model gives either a rank one mass
matrix, or in the case when it spontaneously violates CP, a rank two mass
matrix corresponding to nonzero second family masses. In both models, the CKM
matrix is exactly unity in leading approximation. Allowing small explicit
violations of cyclic permutation symmetry generates small first family masses
in the six Higgs model, and first and second family masses in the three Higgs
model, and gives a non-trivial CKM matrix in which the mixings of the first and
second family quarks are naturally larger than mixings involving the third
family. Complete numerical fits are given for both models, flavor changing
neutral current constraints are discussed in detail, and the issues of
unification of couplings and neutrino masses are addressed. On a technical
level, our analysis uses the theory of circulant and retrocirculant matrices,
the relevant parts of which are reviewed.Comment: Revtex, 59 pages including four tables at en
Diagnostic accuracy of the primary care screener for affective disorder (PC-SAD) in primary care
Background:
Depression goes often unrecognised and untreated in non-psychiatric medical settings. Screening has recently gained acceptance as a first step towards improving depression recognition and management. The Primary Care Screener for Affective Disorders (PC-SAD) is a self-administered questionnaire to screen for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and Dysthymic Disorder (Dys) which has a sophisticated scoring algorithm that confers several advantages. This study tested its performance against a ‘gold standard’ diagnostic interview in primary care.
Methods:
A total of 416 adults attending 13 urban general internal medicine primary care practices completed the PC-SAD. Of 409 who returned a valid PC-SAD, all those scoring positive (N=151) and a random sample (N=106) of those scoring negative were selected for a 3-month telephone follow-up assessment including the administration of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV-TR Axis I Disorders (SCID-I) by a psychiatrist who was masked to PC-SAD results.
Results:
Most selected patients (N=212) took part in the follow-up assessment. After adjustment for partial verification bias the sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value for MDD were 90%, 83%, 51%, and 98%. For Dys, the corresponding figures were 78%, 79%, 8%, and 88%.
Conclusions:
While some study limitations suggest caution in interpreting our results, this study corroborated the diagnostic validity of the PC-SAD, although the low PPV may limit its usefulness with regard to Dys. Given its good psychometric properties and the short average administration time, the PC-SAD might be the screening instrument of choice in settings where the technology for computer automated scoring is available
Measurement of (anti)deuteron and (anti)proton production in DIS at HERA
The first observation of (anti)deuterons in deep inelastic scattering at HERA
has been made with the ZEUS detector at a centre-of-mass energy of 300--318 GeV
using an integrated luminosity of 120 pb-1. The measurement was performed in
the central rapidity region for transverse momentum per unit of mass in the
range 0.3<p_T/M<0.7. The particle rates have been extracted and interpreted in
terms of the coalescence model. The (anti)deuteron production yield is smaller
than the (anti)proton yield by approximately three orders of magnitude,
consistent with the world measurements.Comment: 26 pages, 9 figures, 5 tables, submitted to Nucl. Phys.
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