494 research outputs found
Vlasov simulation in multiple spatial dimensions
A long-standing challenge encountered in modeling plasma dynamics is
achieving practical Vlasov equation simulation in multiple spatial dimensions
over large length and time scales. While direct multi-dimension Vlasov
simulation methods using adaptive mesh methods [J. W. Banks et al., Physics of
Plasmas 18, no. 5 (2011): 052102; B. I. Cohen et al., November 10, 2010,
http://meetings.aps.org/link/BAPS.2010.DPP.NP9.142] have recently shown
promising results, in this paper we present an alternative, the Vlasov Multi
Dimensional (VMD) model, that is specifically designed to take advantage of
solution properties in regimes when plasma waves are confined to a narrow cone,
as may be the case for stimulated Raman scatter in large optic f# laser beams.
Perpendicular grid spacing large compared to a Debye length is then possible
without instability, enabling an order 10 decrease in required computational
resources compared to standard particle in cell (PIC) methods in 2D, with
another reduction of that order in 3D. Further advantage compared to PIC
methods accrues in regimes where particle noise is an issue. VMD and PIC
results in a 2D model of localized Langmuir waves are in qualitative agreement
Spacecraft observations and analytic theory of crescent-shaped electron distributions in asymmetric magnetic reconnection
Supported by a kinetic simulation, we derive an exclusion energy parameter
providing a lower kinetic energy bound for an electron to cross
from one inflow region to the other during magnetic reconnection. As by a
Maxwell Demon, only high energy electrons are permitted to cross the inner
reconnection region, setting the electron distribution function observed along
the low density side separatrix during asymmetric reconnection. The analytic
model accounts for the two distinct flavors of crescent-shaped electron
distributions observed by spacecraft in a thin boundary layer along the low
density separatrix.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure
A Spin-Statistics Theorem for Certain Topological Geons
We review the mechanism in quantum gravity whereby topological geons,
particles made from non-trivial spatial topology, are endowed with nontrivial
spin and statistics. In a theory without topology change there is no
obstruction to ``anomalous'' spin-statistics pairings for geons. However, in a
sum-over-histories formulation including topology change, we show that
non-chiral abelian geons do satisfy a spin-statistics correlation if they are
described by a wave function which is given by a functional integral over
metrics on a particular four-manifold. This manifold describes a topology
changing process which creates a pair of geons from .Comment: 21 pages, Plain TeX with harvmac, 3 figures included via eps
Large Fluctuations in the Horizon Area and what they can tell us about Entropy and Quantum Gravity
We evoke situations where large fluctuations in the entropy are induced, our
main example being a spacetime containing a potential black hole whose
formation depends on the outcome of a quantum mechanical event. We argue that
the teleological character of the event horizon implies that the consequent
entropy fluctuations must be taken seriously in any interpretation of the
quantal formalism. We then indicate how the entropy can be well defined despite
the teleological character of the horizon, and we argue that this is possible
only in the context of a spacetime or ``histories'' formulation of quantum
gravity, as opposed to a canonical one, concluding that only a spacetime
formulation has the potential to compute --- from first principles and in the
general case --- the entropy of a black hole. From the entropy fluctuations in
a related example, we also derive a condition governing the form taken by the
entropy, when it is expressed as a function of the quantal density-operator.Comment: 35 pages, plain Tex, needs mathmacros.tex and msmacros.te
Causal Set Dynamics: A Toy Model
We construct a quantum measure on the power set of non-cyclic oriented graphs
of N points, drawing inspiration from 1-dimensional directed percolation.
Quantum interference patterns lead to properties which do not appear to have
any analogue in classical percolation. Most notably, instead of the single
phase transition of classical percolation, the quantum model displays two
distinct crossover points. Between these two points, spacetime questions such
as "does the network percolate" have no definite or probabilistic answer.Comment: 28 pages incl. 5 figure
Instantons and unitarity in quantum cosmology with fixed four-volume
We find a number of complex solutions of the Einstein equations in the
so-called unimodular version of general relativity, and we interpret them as
saddle points yielding estimates of a gravitational path integral over a space
of almost everywhere Lorentzian metrics on a spacetime manifold with topology
of the "no-boundary" type. In this setting, the compatibility of the
no-boundary initial condition with the definability of the quantum measure
reduces reduces to the normalizability and unitary evolution of the no-boundary
wave function \psi. We consider the spacetime topologies R^4 and RP^4 # R^4
within a Taub minisuperspace model with spatial topology S^3, and the spacetime
topology R^2 x T^2 within a Bianchi type I minisuperspace model with spatial
topology T^3. In each case there exists exactly one complex saddle point (or
combination of saddle points) that yields a wave function compatible with
normalizability and unitary evolution. The existence of such saddle points
tends to bear out the suggestion that the unimodular theory is less divergent
than traditional Einstein gravity. In the Bianchi type I case, the
distinguished complex solution is approximately real and Lorentzian at late
times, and appears to describe an explosive expansion from zero size at T=0.
(In the Taub cases, in contrast, the only complex solution with nearly
Lorentzian late-time behavior yields a wave function that is normalizable but
evolves nonunitarily, with the total probability increasing exponentially in
the unimodular "time" in a manner that suggests a continuous creation of new
universes at zero volume.) The issue of the stability of these results upon the
inclusion of more degrees of freedom is raised.Comment: 32 pages, REVTeX v3.1 with amsfonts. (v2: minor typos etc corrected.
Complex actions in two-dimensional topology change
We investigate topology change in (1+1) dimensions by analyzing the
scalar-curvature action at the points of metric-degeneration
that (with minor exceptions) any nontrivial Lorentzian cobordism necessarily
possesses. In two dimensions any cobordism can be built up as a combination of
only two elementary types, the ``yarmulke'' and the ``trousers.'' For each of
these elementary cobordisms, we consider a family of Morse-theory inspired
Lorentzian metrics that vanish smoothly at a single point, resulting in a
conical-type singularity there. In the yarmulke case, the distinguished point
is analogous to a cosmological initial (or final) singularity, with the
spacetime as a whole being obtained from one causal region of Misner space by
adjoining a single point. In the trousers case, the distinguished point is a
``crotch singularity'' that signals a change in the spacetime topology (this
being also the fundamental vertex of string theory, if one makes that
interpretation). We regularize the metrics by adding a small imaginary part
whose sign is fixed to be positive by the condition that it lead to a
convergent scalar field path integral on the regularized spacetime. As the
regulator is removed, the scalar density approaches a
delta-function whose strength is complex: for the yarmulke family the strength
is , where is the rapidity parameter of the associated
Misner space; for the trousers family it is simply . This implies that
in the path integral over spacetime metrics for Einstein gravity in three or
more spacetime dimensions, topology change via a crotch singularity is
exponentially suppressed, whereas appearance or disappearance of a universe via
a yarmulke singularity is exponentially enhanced.Comment: 34 pages, REVTeX v3.0. (Presentational reorganization; core results
unchanged.
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