The Cosmological Constant Problem and Re-interpretation of Time

We abandon the interpretation that time is a global parameter in quantum mechanics, replace it by a quantum dynamical variable playing the role of time. This operational re-interpretation of time provides a solution to the cosmological constant problem. The expectation value of the zero-point energy under the new time variable vanishes. The fluctuation of the vacuum energy as the leading contribution to the gravitational effect gives a correct order to the observed "dark energy". The "dark energy" as a mirage is always seen comparable with the matter energy density by an observer using the internal clock time. Conceptual consequences of the re-interpretation of time are also discussed.Comment: 9 pages, no figure; v3: improved discussion on remote simultaneity; v4: improved discussion on coincidence problem, reproduced Einstein theory of gravity from quantum reference frame, typos corrected, updated to the final version published in Nuclear Physics

Dark Energy from Quantum Uncertainty of Distant Clock

The observed cosmic acceleration was attributed to an exotic dark energy in the framework of classical general relativity. The dark energy behaves very similar with vacuum energy in quantum mechanics. However, once the quantum effects are seriously taken into account, it predicts a completely wrong result and leads to a severe fine-tuning. To solve the problem, the exact meaning of time in quantum mechanics is reexamined. We abandon the standard interpretation of time in quantum mechanics that time is just a global parameter, replace it by a quantum dynamical variable playing the role of physical clock. We find that synchronization of two spatially separated clocks can not be precisely realized at quantum level. There is an intrinsic quantum uncertainty of distant clock time, which implies an apparent vacuum energy fluctuation and gives an observed dark energy density $\rho_{de}=\frac{6}{\pi}L_{P}^{-2}L_{H}^{-2}$ at tree level approximation, where $L_{P}$ and $L_{H}$ are the Planck and Hubble scale cutoffs. The fraction of the dark energy is given by $\Omega_{de}=\frac{2}{\pi}$, which does not evolve with the internal clock time. The "dark energy" as a quantum cosmic variance is always seen comparable with the matter energy density by an observer using the internal clock time. The corrected distance-redshift relation of cosmic observations due to the distant clock effect are also discussed, which again gives a redshift independent fraction $\Omega_{de}=\frac{2}{\pi}$. The theory is consistent with current cosmic observations.Comment: 7 pages, no figure; v2:added discussion on distance-redshift relation; v3:improved discussion on distance-redshift relation, an independent calculation to the redshift variance over redshift squared is given, dark energy fraction agrees with 2/pi; v4:typos corrected, updated to the final version published in Journal of High Energy Physics, Volume 2015, Issue

Radiation force on relativistic jets in active galactic nuclei

Radiative deceleration of relativistic jets in active galactic nuclei as the result of inverse Compton scattering of soft photons from accretion discs is discussed. The Klein-Nishina (KN) cross section is used in the calculation of the radiation force due to inverse Compton scattering. Our result shows that deceleration due to scattering in the KN regime is important only for jets starting with a bulk Lorentz factor larger than 1000. When the bulk Lorentz factor satisfies this condition, particles scattering in the Thomson regime contribute positively to the radiation force (acceleration), but those particles scattering in the KN regime are dominant and the overall effect is deceleration. In the KN limit, the drag due to Compton scattering, though less severe than in the Thomson limit, strongly constrains the bulk Lorentz factor. Most of the power from the deceleration goes into radiation and hence the ability of the jet to transport significant power (in particle kinetic energy) out of the subparsec region is severely limited. The deceleration efficiency decreases significantly if the jet contains protons and the proton to electron number density ratio satisfies the condition $n_p/n_{e0}>2\gamma_{\rm min}/\mu_p$ where $\gamma_{\rm min}$ is the minimum Lorentz factor of relativistic electrons (or positrons) in the jet frame and $\mu_p$ is the proton to electron mass ratio.Comment: 10 pages including 8 figures; accepted for publication in MNRA

Critical Relaxation and Critical Exponents

Dynamic relaxation of the XY model and fully frustrated XY model quenched from an initial ordered state to the critical temperature or below is investigated with Monte Carlo methods. Universal power law scaling behaviour is observed. The dynamic critical exponent $z$ and the static exponent $\eta$ are extracted from the time-dependent Binder cumulant and magnetization. The results are competitive to those measured with traditional methods