Quantum mechanics on Hilbert manifolds: The principle of functional relativity

Quantum mechanics is formulated as a geometric theory on a Hilbert manifold. Images of charts on the manifold are allowed to belong to arbitrary Hilbert spaces of functions including spaces of generalized functions. Tensor equations in this setting, also called functional tensor equations, describe families of functional equations on various Hilbert spaces of functions. The principle of functional relativity is introduced which states that quantum theory is indeed a functional tensor theory, i.e., it can be described by functional tensor equations. The main equations of quantum theory are shown to be compatible with the principle of functional relativity. By accepting the principle as a hypothesis, we then analyze the origin of physical dimensions, provide a geometric interpretation of Planck's constant, and find a simple interpretation of the two-slit experiment and the process of measurement.Comment: 45 pages, 9 figures, see arXiv:0704.3225v1 for mathematical considerations and http://www.uwc.edu/dept/math/faculty/kryukov/ for related paper

On the motion of macroscopic bodies in quantum theory

Quantum observables can be identified with vector fields on the sphere of normalized states. The resulting vector representation is used in the paper to undertake a simultaneous treatment of macroscopic and microscopic bodies in quantum mechanics. Components of the velocity and acceleration of state under Schr\"odinger evolution are given for a clear physical interpretation. Solutions to Schr\"odinger and Newton equations are shown to be related beyond the Ehrenfest results on the motion of averages. A formula relating the normal probability distribution and the Born rule is found

On the measurement problem for a two-level quantum system

A geometric approach to quantum mechanics with unitary evolution and non-unitary collapse processes is developed. In this approach the Schrodinger evolution of a quantum system is a geodesic motion on the space of states of the system furnished with an appropriate Riemannian metric. The measuring device is modeled by a perturbation of the metric. The process of measurement is identified with a geodesic motion of state of the system in the perturbed metric. Under the assumption of random fluctuations of the perturbed metric, the Born rule for probabilities of collapse is derived. The approach is applied to a two-level quantum system to obtain a simple geometric interpretation of quantum commutators, the uncertainty principle and Planck's constant. In light of this, a lucid analysis of the double-slit experiment with collapse and an experiment on a pair of entangled particles is presented.Comment: for related papers, see http://www.uwc.edu/dept/math/faculty/kryukov

Hypermutable Non-Synonymous Sites Are under Stronger Negative Selection

Mutation rate varies greatly between nucleotide sites of the human genome and depends both on the global genomic location and the local sequence context of a site. In particular, CpG context elevates the mutation rate by an order of magnitude. Mutations also vary widely in their effect on the molecular function, phenotype, and fitness. Independence of the probability of occurrence of a new mutation's effect has been a fundamental premise in genetics. However, highly mutable contexts may be preserved by negative selection at important sites but destroyed by mutation at sites under no selection. Thus, there may be a positive correlation between the rate of mutations at a nucleotide site and the magnitude of their effect on fitness. We studied the impact of CpG context on the rate of human–chimpanzee divergence and on intrahuman nucleotide diversity at non-synonymous coding sites. We compared nucleotides that occupy identical positions within codons of identical amino acids and only differ by being within versus outside CpG context. Nucleotides within CpG context are under a stronger negative selection, as revealed by their lower, proportionally to the mutation rate, rate of evolution and nucleotide diversity. In particular, the probability of fixation of a non-synonymous transition at a CpG site is two times lower than at a CpG site. Thus, sites with different mutation rates are not necessarily selectively equivalent. This suggests that the mutation rate may complement sequence conservation as a characteristic predictive of functional importance of nucleotide sites