Two-Dimensional Conformal Models of Space-Time and Their Compactification

We study geometry of two-dimensional models of conformal space-time based on the group of Moebius transformation. The natural geometric invariants, called cycles, are used to linearise Moebius action. Conformal completion of the space-time is achieved through an addition of a zero-radius cycle at infinity. We pay an attention to the natural condition of non-reversibility of time arrow in order to get a correct compactification in the hyperbolic case.Comment: 8 pages,AMS-LaTeX, 18 PS figures; v2--small corrections; v3--add two coments on notations and multidimensional generalisation

Superselection Structure of Massive Quantum Field Theories in 1+1 Dimensions

We show that a large class of massive quantum field theories in 1+1 dimensions, characterized by Haag duality and the split property for wedges, does not admit locally generated superselection sectors in the sense of Doplicher, Haag and Roberts. Thereby the extension of DHR theory to 1+1 dimensions due to Fredenhagen, Rehren and Schroer is vacuous for such theories. Even charged representations which are localizable only in wedge regions are ruled out. Furthermore, Haag duality holds in all locally normal representations. These results are applied to the theory of soliton sectors. Furthermore, the extension of localized representations of a non-Haag dual net to the dual net is reconsidered. It must be emphasized that these statements do not apply to massless theories since they do not satisfy the above split property. In particular, it is known that positive energy representations of conformally invariant theories are DHR representations.Comment: latex2e, 21 pages. Final version, to appear in Rev. Math. Phys. Some improvements of the presentation, but no essential change

Testing the Hubble Law with the IRAS 1.2 Jy Redshift Survey

We test and reject the claim of Segal et al. (1993) that the correlation of redshifts and flux densities in a complete sample of IRAS galaxies favors a quadratic redshift-distance relation over the linear Hubble law. This is done, in effect, by treating the entire galaxy luminosity function as derived from the 60 micron 1.2 Jy IRAS redshift survey of Fisher et al. (1995) as a distance indicator; equivalently, we compare the flux density distribution of galaxies as a function of redshift with predictions under different redshift-distance cosmologies, under the assumption of a universal luminosity function. This method does not assume a uniform distribution of galaxies in space. We find that this test has rather weak discriminatory power, as argued by Petrosian (1993), and the differences between models are not as stark as one might expect a priori. Even so, we find that the Hubble law is indeed more strongly supported by the analysis than is the quadratic redshift-distance relation. We identify a bias in the the Segal et al. determination of the luminosity function, which could lead one to mistakenly favor the quadratic redshift-distance law. We also present several complementary analyses of the density field of the sample; the galaxy density field is found to be close to homogeneous on large scales if the Hubble law is assumed, while this is not the case with the quadratic redshift-distance relation.Comment: 27 pages Latex (w/figures), ApJ, in press. Uses AAS macros, postscript also available at http://www.astro.princeton.edu/~library/preprints/pop682.ps.g

A Unified Treatment of the Characters of SU(2) and SU(1,1)

The character problems of SU(2) and SU(1,1) are reexamined from the standpoint of a physicist by employing the Hilbert space method which is shown to yield a completely unified treatment for SU(2) and the discrete series of representations of SU(1,1). For both the groups the problem is reduced to the evaluation of an integral which is invariant under rotation for SU(2) and Lorentz transformation for SU(1,1). The integrals are accordingly evaluated by applying a rotation to a unit position vector in SU(2) and a Lorentz transformation to a unit SO(2,1) vector which is time-like for the elliptic elements and space-like for the hyperbolic elements in SU(1,1). The details of the procedure for the principal series of representations of SU(1,1) differ substantially from those of the discrete series.Comment: 31 pages, RevTeX, typos corrected. To be published in Journal of Mathematical Physic

A Linearization Beam-Hardening Correction Method for X-Ray Computed Tomographic Imaging of Structural Ceramics

Computed tomographic (CT) imaging with both monochromatic and polychromatic x-ray sources can be a powerful NDE method for characterization (e. g., measurement of density gradients) as well as flaw detection (e. g., detection of cracks, voids, inclusions) in ceramics. However, the use of polychromatic x-ray sources can cause image artifacts and overall image degradation through beam hardening (BH) effects [1]. Beam hardening occurs because (i) x-ray attenuation in a given material is energy dependent and (ii) data collection in CT systems is not energy selective. Without an appropriate correction, the BH effect prevents the establishment of an absolute scale for density measurement. Thus, quantitative density comparisons between samples of the same material but of different geometrical shape becomes unreliable [2]

QED in external fields from the spin representation

Systematic use of the infinite-dimensional spin representation simplifies and rigorizes several questions in Quantum Field Theory. This representation permutes ``Gaussian'' elements in the fermion Fock space, and is necessarily projective: we compute its cocycle at the group level, and obtain Schwinger terms and anomalies from infinitesimal versions of this cocycle. Quantization, in this framework, depends on the choice of the ``right'' complex structure on the space of solutions of the Dirac equation. We show how the spin representation allows one to compute exactly the S-matrix for fermions in an external field; the cocycle yields a causality condition needed to determine the phase.Comment: 32 pages, Plain TeX, UCR-FM-01-9

On localization and position operators in Moebius-covariant theories

Some years ago it was shown that, in some cases, a notion of locality can arise from the group of symmetry enjoyed by the theory, thus in an intrinsic way. In particular, when Moebius covariance is present, it is possible to associate some particular transformations to the Tomita Takesaki modular operator and conjugation of a specific interval of an abstract circle. In this context we propose a way to define an operator representing the coordinate conjugated with the modular transformations. Remarkably this coordinate turns out to be compatible with the abstract notion of locality. Finally a concrete example concerning a quantum particle on a line is also given.Comment: 19 pages, UTM 705, version to appear in RM

Segal-Bargmann-Fock modules of monogenic functions

In this paper we introduce the classical Segal-Bargmann transform starting from the basis of Hermite polynomials and extend it to Clifford algebra-valued functions. Then we apply the results to monogenic functions and prove that the Segal-Bargmann kernel corresponds to the kernel of the Fourier-Borel transform for monogenic functionals. This kernel is also the reproducing kernel for the monogenic Bargmann module.Comment: 11 page

Large-scale structure and the redshift-distance relation

In efforts to demonstrate the linear Hubble law v = Hr from galaxy observations, the underlying simplicity is often obscured by complexities arising from magnitude-limited data. In this paper we point out a simple but previously unremarked fact: that the shapes and orientations of structures in redshift space contain in themselves independent information about the cosmological redshift-distance relation. The orientations of voids in the CfA slice support the Hubble law, giving a redshift-distance power index p = 0.83 +/- 0.36 (void data from Slezak, de Lapparent, & Bijoui 1993) or p = 0.99 +/- 0.38 (void data from Malik & Subramanian 1997).Comment: 11 pages (AASTeX), 4 figures, to appear in the Astrophysical Journal Letter