928 research outputs found
Emergence and destruction of macroscopic wave functions
The concept of the macroscopic wave function is a key for understanding
macroscopic quantum phenomena. The existence of this object reflects a certain
order, as is present in a Bose-Einstein condensate when a single-particle
orbital is occupied by a macroscopic number of bosons. We extend these ideas to
situations in which a condensate is acted on by an explicitly time-dependent
force. While one might assume that such a force would necessarily degrade any
pre-existing order, we demonstrate that macroscopic wave functions can persist
even under strong forcing. Our definition of the time-dependent order parameter
is based on a comparison of the evolution of -particle states on the one
hand, and of states with particles on the other. Our simulations
predict the possibility of an almost instantaneous dynamical destruction of a
macroscopic wave function under currently accessible experimental conditions.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure
Does A Loss of Social Credibility Impact Robot Safety?
This position paper discusses the safety-related functions performed by assistive robots and explores the relationship between trust and effective safety risk mitigation. We identify a measure of the robot’s social effectiveness, termed social credibility, and present a discussion of how social credibility may be gained and lost. This paper’s contribution is the identification of a link between social credibility and safety-related performance. Accordingly, we draw on analyses of existing systems to demonstrate how an assistive robot’s safety-critical functionality can be impaired by a loss of social credibility. In addition, we present a discussion of some of the consequences of prioritising either safety-related functionality or social engagement. We propose the identification of a mixed-criticality scheduling algorithm in order to maximise both safety-related performance and social engagement
Maxwell's Demon at work: Two types of Bose condensate fluctuations in power-law traps
After discussing the key idea underlying the Maxwell's Demon ensemble, we
employ this idea for calculating fluctuations of ideal Bose gas condensates in
traps with power-law single-particle energy spectra. Two essentially different
cases have to be distinguished. If the heat capacity remains continuous at the
condensation point in the large-N-limit, the fluctuations of the number of
condensate particles vanish linearly with temperature, independent of the trap
characteristics. If the heat capacity becomes discontinuous, the fluctuations
vanish algebraically with temperature, with an exponent determined by the trap.
Our results are based on an integral representation that yields the solution to
both the canonical and the microcanonical fluctuation problem in a singularly
transparent manner.Comment: 10 pages LaTeX and 3 eps-figures, published versio
Classical and Quantum Dynamics of a Periodically Driven Particle in a Triangular Well
We investigate the correspondence between classical and quantum mechanics for
periodically time dependent Hamiltonian systems, using the example of a
periodically forced particle in a one-dimensional triangular well potential. In
particular, we consider quantum mechanical Floquet states associated with
resonances in the classical phase space. When the classical motion exhibits
{\it sub}harmonic resonances, the corresponding Floquet states maintain the
driving field's periodicity through dynamical tunneling. This principle applies
both to Floquet states associated with classical invariant vortex tubes
surrounding stable, elliptic periodic orbits and to Floquet states that are
associated with unstable, hyperbolic periodic orbits. The triangular well model
also poses a yet unsolved mathematical problem, related to perturbation theory
for systems with a dense pure point spectrum. The present approximate
analytical and numerical results indicate that quantum tunneling between
different resonance zones is of crucial importance for the question whether the
driven triangular well has a dense point or an absolutely continuous
quasienergy spectrum, or whether there is a transition from the one to the
other.Comment: revtex, 36 pages, 18 figures (available upon request), to appear in
Annals of Physic
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