9,532 research outputs found
Quantum magnetic flux lines, BPS vortex zero modes, and one-loop string tension shifts
Spectral heat kernel/zeta function regularization procedures are employed in
this paper to control the divergences arising from vacuum fluctuations of
Bogomolnyi-Prasad-Sommerfield vortices in the Abelian Higgs model. Zero modes
of vortex fluctuations are the source of difficulties appearing when the
standard Gilkey-de Witt expansion is performed. A modified GdW expansion is
developed to diminish the impact of the infrared divergences due to the vortex
zero modes. With this new technique at our disposal we compute the one-loop
vortex mass shift in the planar AHM and the quantum corrections to the string
tension of the magnetic flux tubes living in three dimensions. In both cases it
is observed that weak repulsive forces surge between these classically non
interacting topological defects caused by vacuum quantum fluctuations.Comment: 25 pages, 2 figure
EPR before EPR: a 1930 Einstein-Bohr thought experiment revisited
In 1930 Einstein argued against consistency of the time-energy uncertainty
relation by discussing a thought experiment involving a measurement of mass of
the box which emitted a photon. Bohr seemingly triumphed over Einstein by
arguing that the Einstein's own general theory of relativity saves the
consistency of quantum mechanics. We revisit this thought experiment from a
modern point of view at a level suitable for undergraduate readership and find
that neither Einstein nor Bohr was right. Instead, this thought experiment
should be thought of as an early example of a system demonstrating nonlocal
"EPR" quantum correlations, five years before the famous
Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paper.Comment: 11 pages, revised, accepted for publication in Eur. J. Phy
Two-Dimensional Supersymmetric Quantum Mechanics: Two Fixed Centers of Force
The problem of building supersymmetry in the quantum mechanics of two
Coulombian centers of force is analyzed. It is shown that there are essentially
two ways of proceeding. The spectral problems of the SUSY (scalar) Hamiltonians
are quite similar and become tantamount to solving entangled families of Razavy
and Whittaker-Hill equations in the first approach. When the two centers have
the same strength, the Whittaker-Hill equations reduce to Mathieu equations. In
the second approach, the spectral problems are much more difficult to solve but
one can still find the zero-energy ground states.Comment: This is a contribution to the Proc. of the Seventh International
Conference ''Symmetry in Nonlinear Mathematical Physics'' (June 24-30, 2007,
Kyiv, Ukraine), published in SIGMA (Symmetry, Integrability and Geometry:
Methods and Applications) at http://www.emis.de/journals/SIGMA
One-loop mass shift formula for kinks and self-dual vortices
A formula is derived that allows us to compute one-loop mass shifts for kinks
and self-dual Abrikosov-Nielsen-Olesen vortices. The procedure is based in
canonical quantization and heat kernel/zeta function regularization methods.Comment: LaTex file, 8 pages, 1 figure . Based on a talk given by J. M. G. at
the 7th Workshop on Quantum Field Theory under the Influence of External
Conditions (QFEXT05), Barcelona, Spain. Minor corrections. Version to appear
in Journal of Physics
Quantum corrections to the mass of self-dual vortices
The mass shift induced by one-loop quantum fluctuations on self-dual ANO
vortices is computed using heat kernel/generalized zeta function regularization
methods.Comment: 4 pages RevTex, version to appear in Physical Review
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