5,270 research outputs found
Quantum Non-Gravity and Stellar Collapse
Observational indications combined with analyses of analogue and emergent
gravity in condensed matter systems support the possibility that there might be
two distinct energy scales related to quantum gravity: the scale that sets the
onset of quantum gravitational effects (related to the Planck scale) and
the much higher scale signalling the breaking of Lorentz symmetry. We
suggest a natural interpretation for these two scales: is the energy
scale below which a special relativistic spacetime emerges, is the scale
below which this spacetime geometry becomes curved. This implies that the first
`quantum' gravitational effect around could simply be that gravity is
progressively switched off, leaving an effective Minkowski quantum field theory
up to much higher energies of the order of . This scenario may have
important consequences for gravitational collapse, inasmuch as it opens up new
possibilities for the final state of stellar collapse other than an evaporating
black hole.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures. v2: Partially restructured; potentially
observable consequence added. Several clarifications + 3 new references. To
appear in Found. of Phy
Detection of SiO emission from a massive dense cold core
We report the detection of the SiO (J = 2 - 1) transition from the massive
cold dense core G333.125-0.562. The core remains undetected at wavelengths
shorter than 70 micron and has compact 1.2 mm dust continuum. The SiO emission
is localised to the core. The observations are part of a continuing
multi-molecular line survey of the giant molecular cloud G333. Other detected
molecules in the core include 13CO, C18O, CS, HCO+, HCN, HNC, CH3OH, N2H+, SO,
HC3N, NH3, and some of their isotopes. In addition, from NH3 (1,1) and (2,2)
inversion lines, we obtain a temperature of 13 K. From fitting to the spectral
energy distribution we obtain a colour temperature of 18 K and a gas mass of 2
x 10^3 solar mass. We have also detected a 22 GHz water maser in the core,
together with methanol maser emission, suggesting the core will host massive
star formation. We hypothesise that the SiO emission arises from shocks
associated with an outflow in the cold core.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, to be published in MNRA
Quasi-normal mode analysis in BEC acoustic black holes
We perform a quasi-normal mode analysis of black hole configurations in
Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC). In this analysis we use the full Bogoliubov
dispersion relation, not just the hydrodynamic or geometric approximation. We
restrict our attention to one-dimensional flows in BEC with step-like
discontinuities. For this case we show that in the hydrodynamic approximation
quasi-normal modes do not exist. The full dispersion relation, however, allows
the existence of quasi-normal modes. Remarkably, the spectrum of these modes is
not discrete but continuous.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure
Classical and quantum behavior of dynamical systems defined by functions of solvable Hamiltonians
We discuss the classical and quantum mechanical evolution of systems
described by a Hamiltonian that is a function of a solvable one, both
classically and quantum mechanically. The case in which the solvable
Hamiltonian corresponds to the harmonic oscillator is emphasized. We show that,
in spite of the similarities at the classical level, the quantum evolution is
very different. In particular, this difference is important in constructing
coherent states, which is impossible in most cases. The class of Hamiltonians
we consider is interesting due to its pedagogical value and its applicability
to some open research problems in quantum optics and quantum gravity.Comment: Accepted for publication in American Journal of Physic
Updatable Blockchains
Software updates for blockchain systems become a real challenge when they impact the underlying consensus mechanism.
The activation of such changes might jeopardize the integrity of the blockchain by resulting in chain splits. Moreover, the software update process should be handed over to the community and this means that the blockchain should support updates without relying on a trusted party.
In this paper, we introduce the notion of updatable blockchains and show how to construct blockchains that satisfy this definition. Informally, an updatable blockchain is a secure blockchain and in addition it allows to update its protocol preserving the history of the chain.
In this work, we focus only on the processes that allow securely switching from one blockchain protocol to another assuming that the blockchain protocols are correct. That is, we do not aim at providing a mechanism that allows reaching consensus on what is the code of the new blockchain protocol. We just assume that such a mechanism exists (like the one proposed in NDSS 2019 by Zhang et. al), and show how to securely go from the old protocol to the new one.
The contribution of this paper can be summarized as follows. We provide the first formal definition of updatable ledgers and propose the description of two compilers. These compilers take a blockchain and turn it into an updatable blockchain.
The first compiler requires the structure of the current and the updated blockchain to be very similar (only the structure of the blocks can be different) but it allows for an update process more simple, efficient.
The second compiler that we propose is very generic (i.e., makes few assumptions on the similarities between the structure of the current blockchain and the update blockchain). The drawback of this compiler is that it requires the new blockchain to be resilient against a specific adversarial behaviour and requires all the honest parties to be online during the update process.
However, we show how to get rid of the latest requirement (the honest parties being online during the update) in the case of proof-of-work and proof-of-stake ledgers
Probing Quantized Einstein-Rosen Waves with Massless Scalar Matter
The purpose of this paper is to discuss in detail the use of scalar matter
coupled to linearly polarized Einstein-Rosen waves as a probe to study quantum
gravity in the restricted setting provided by this symmetry reduction of
general relativity. We will obtain the relevant Hamiltonian and quantize it
with the techniques already used for the purely gravitational case. Finally we
will discuss the use of particle-like modes of the quantized fields to
operationally explore some of the features of quantum gravity within this
framework. Specifically we will study two-point functions, the Newton-Wigner
propagator, and radial wave functions for one-particle states.Comment: Accepted for publication in Physical Review
Submillimeter H2O masers in water-fountain nebulae
We report the first detection of submillimeter water maser emission toward
water-fountain nebulae, which are post-AGB stars that exhibit high-velocity
water masers. Using APEX we found emission in the ortho-H2O (10_29-9_36)
transition at 321.226 GHz toward three sources: IRAS 15445-5449, IRAS
18043-2116 and IRAS 18286-0959. Similarly to the 22 GHz masers, the
submillimeter water masers are expanding with a velocity larger than that of
the OH masers, suggesting that these masers also originate in fast bipolar
outflows. In IRAS 18043-2116 and IRAS 18286-0959, which figure among the
sources with the fastest water masers, the velocity range of the 321 GHz masers
coincides with that of the 22 GHz masers, indicating that they likely coexist.
Towards IRAS 15445-5449 the submillimeter masers appear in a different velocity
range, indicating that they are tracing different regions. The intensity of the
submillimeter masers is comparable to that of the 22 GHz masers, implying that
the kinetic temperature of the region where the masers originate should be Tk >
1000 K. We propose that the passage of two shocks through the same gas can
create the conditions necessary to explain the presence of strong high-velocity
321 GHz masers coexisting with the 22 GHz masers in the same region.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure. Accepted for publication in A&A Letter
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