On the failure of subadditivity of the Wigner-Yanase entropy

It was recently shown by Hansen that the Wigner-Yanase entropy is, for general states of quantum systems, not subadditive with respect to decomposition into two subsystems, although this property is known to hold for pure states. We investigate the question whether the weaker property of subadditivity for pure states with respect to decomposition into more than two subsystems holds. This property would have interesting applications in quantum chemistry. We show, however, that it does not hold in general, and provide a counterexample.Comment: LaTeX2e, 4 page

Metric adjusted skew information

We extend the concept of Wigner-Yanase-Dyson skew information to something we call ``metric adjusted skew information'' (of a state with respect to a conserved observable). This ``skew information'' is intended to be a non-negative quantity bounded by the variance (of an observable in a state) that vanishes for observables commuting with the state. We show that the skew information is a convex function on the manifold of states. It also satisfies other requirements, proposed by Wigner and Yanase, for an effective measure-of-information content of a state relative to a conserved observable. We establish a connection between the geometrical formulation of quantum statistics as proposed by Chentsov and Morozova and measures of quantum information as introduced by Wigner and Yanase and extended in this article. We show that the set of normalized Morozova-Chentsov functions describing the possible quantum statistics is a Bauer simplex and determine its extreme points. We determine a particularly simple skew information, the ``lambda-skew information,'' parametrized by a lambda in (0,1], and show that the convex cone this family generates coincides with the set of all metric adjusted skew informations. Key words: Skew information, convexity, monotone metric, Morozova-Chentsov function, lambda-skew information.Comment: Edited the abstract and the introductio

A proof of the Kramers degeneracy of transmission eigenvalues from antisymmetry of the scattering matrix

In time reversal symmetric systems with half integral spins (or more concretely, systems with an antiunitary symmetry that squares to -1 and commutes with the Hamiltonian) the transmission eigenvalues of the scattering matrix come in pairs. We present a proof of this fact that is valid both for even and odd number of modes and relies solely on the antisymmetry of the scattering matrix imposed by time reversal symmetry.Comment: 2 page

A model for the condensation of a dusty plasma

A model for the condensation of a dusty plasma is constructed by considering the spherical shielding layers surrounding a dust grain test particle. The collisionless region less than a collision mean free path from the test particle is shown to separate into three concentric layers, each having distinct physics. The method of matched asymptotic expansions is invoked at the interfaces between these layers and provides equations which determine the radii of the interfaces. Despite being much smaller than the Wigner-Seitz radius, the dust Debye length is found to be physically significant because it gives the scale length of a precipitous cut-off of the shielded electrostatic potential at the interface between the second and third layers. Condensation is predicted to occur when the ratio of this cut-off radius to the Wigner-Seitz radius exceeds unity and this prediction is shown to be in good agreement with experiments.Comment: 29 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, to appear in Physics of Plasmas. Manuscript revised on May 1, 2004 to take into account accuracy of Mie scattering dust grain diameter measurement method used in Hayashi/Tachibana experiment. Model now compared to Hayashi/Tachibana experiment using measured rather than fitted dust grain diameter and using higher estimate for Te/Ti (two new references added; revisions made to two paragraphs in Sec. VII, to bottom plot of Fig. 3, and to right-most column of Table 1

Proof of the Ergodic Theorem and the H-Theorem in Quantum Mechanics

It is shown how to resolve the apparent contradiction between the macroscopic approach of phase space and the validity of the uncertainty relations. The main notions of statistical mechanics are re-interpreted in a quantum-mechanical way, the ergodic theorem and the H-theorem are formulated and proven (without "assumptions of disorder"), followed by a discussion of the physical meaning of the mathematical conditions characterizing their domain of validity.Comment: English translation by Roderich Tumulka of J. von Neumann: Beweis des Ergodensatzes und des H-Theorems. 41 pages LaTeX, no figures; v2: typos corrected. See also the accompanying commentary by S. Goldstein, J. L. Lebowitz, R. Tumulka, N. Zanghi, arXiv:1003.212

What is tested when experiments test that quantum dynamics is linear

Experiments that look for nonlinear quantum dynamics test the fundamental premise of physics that one of two separate systems can influence the physical behavior of the other only if there is a force between them, an interaction that involves momentum and energy. The premise is tested because it is the assumption of a proof that quantum dynamics must be linear. Here variations of a familiar example are used to show how results of nonlinear dynamics in one system can depend on correlations with the other. Effects of one system on the other, influence without interaction between separate systems, not previously considered possible, would be expected with nonlinear quantum dynamics. Whether it is possible or not is subject to experimental tests together with the linearity of quantum dynamics. Concluding comments and questions consider directions our thinking might take in response to this surprising unprecedented situation.Comment: 14 pages, Title changed, sentences adde

A Bargmann-Wightman-Wigner Type Quantum Field Theory

This version corrects an inportant typographical error in Eq. 17. COMMENTS, FOR THE RECORD: A referees reoprt from Phys. Rev. Lett. read in part ``The first named author has appreciated my exceptionally long report. He has read and well assimilated the literature I suggested. Congratulations! This very new version of the manuscript has now three authors and carries a very well chosen title. Indeed Bargmann, Wightman and Wigner had studied, this subject forty years ago, in an unpublished book (several chapters were distributed as preprints). The authors explain well the scope of their paper. They have made a thorough construction of a field theory of a non usual Wigner type; that is completely new and all references are relevant. {\it This paper should be published.}" Despite the fact that no other report was received, the editors of Phys. Rev. Lett. rejected this paper. D.V.A.Comment: 13 pages, RevTex, LA-UR-92-3726-RE

Comments on the PLA article 'UCN anomalous losses and the UCN capture cross section on material defects' [Phys. Lett. A 335 (2005) 327]

We comment on the paper `UCN anomalous losses and the UCN capture cross section on material defects' by A. Serebrov et al., Phys. Lett. A 335 (2005) 327 - 336. Data presented do not originate from these authors alone but were taken in collaboration with several other authors and institutes not mentioned.Comment: 4 page

Continuous Spin Representations from Group Contraction

We consider how the continuous spin representation (CSR) of the Poincare group in four dimensions can be generated by dimensional reduction. The analysis uses the front-form little group in five dimensions, which must yield the Euclidean group E(2), the little group of the CSR. We consider two cases, one is the single spin massless representation of the Poincare group in five dimensions, the other is the infinite component Majorana equation, which describes an infinite tower of massive states in five dimensions. In the first case, the double singular limit j,R go to infinity, with j/R fixed, where R is the Kaluza-Klein radius of the fifth dimension, and j is the spin of the particle in five dimensions, yields the CSR in four dimensions. It amounts to the Inonu-Wigner contraction, with the inverse K-K radius as contraction parameter. In the second case, the CSR appears only by taking a triple singular limit, where an internal coordinate of the Majorana theory goes to infinity, while leaving its ratio to the KK radius fixed.Comment: 22 pages; some typos correcte

Back Reaction and Semiclassical Approximation of cosmological models coupled to matter

Bianchi -I, -III, and FRW type models minimally coupled to a massive spatially homogeneous scalar field (i.e. a particle) are studied in the framework of semiclassical quantum gravity. In a first step we discuss the solutions of the corresponding equation for a Schr\"odinger particle propagating on a classical background. The back reaction of the Schr\"odinger particle on the classical metric is calculated by means of the Wigner function and by means of the expectation value of the energy-momentum-tensor of the field as a source. Both methods in general lead to different results.Comment: 4 pages, Latex, to appear in: Proceedings of the Second Meeting on constrained Dynamics and Quantum Gravity (Santa Margherita Ligure 1996