Quantum theory as a description of robust experiments: Derivation of the Pauli equation

It is shown that the Pauli equation and the concept of spin naturally emerge from logical inference applied to experiments on a charged particle under the conditions that (i) space is homogeneous (ii) the observed events are logically independent, and (iii) the observed frequency distributions are robust with respect to small changes in the conditions under which the experiment is carried out. The derivation does not take recourse to concepts of quantum theory and is based on the same principles which have already been shown to lead to e.g. the Schrödinger equation and the probability distributions of pairs of particles in the singlet or triplet state. Application to Stern–Gerlach experiments with chargeless, magnetic particles, provides additional support for the thesis that quantum theory follows from logical inference applied to a well-defined class of experiments.     

道路交通的流体物理模型与粒子仿真方法

针对受多种因素影响的复杂道路交通系统问题,基于颗粒动力学理论,结合传统的Lighthill-WhithamRichards物理模型,建立道路交通系统的流体物理模型,采用无网格粒子与网格相结合的方法进行数值仿真,并应用于典型道路交通问题的求解.在新模型中,将车辆比拟为硬颗粒,车辆的跟车比拟为颗粒间的碰撞相互作用,已知道路情况对驾驶员操作车辆的影响比拟为流-粒两相系统中的外部流体驱动力作用,不同车道间车辆的影响比拟为颗粒间的黏性作用,从而在颗粒动力学理论的基础上,推导建立了道路交通系统拟流体模型;引入光滑离散颗粒流体动力学(SDPH)对车辆系统模型进行离散,建立"SDPH车辆"与真实车辆之间的一一对应关系,再结合有限体积方法,对道路交通构建的双流体模型进行求解,建立求解交通流体物理模型的新型仿真方法.最后,采用所建立的模型和方法对车辆汇入以及机非混合对交通系统的影响过程进行了数值仿真,所得结果与实测值符合较好,表明新的模型和方法有效性好、可靠性高,为道路交通问题的解决提供了一条全新的途径.     

微小颗粒的光散射数值模拟

简单介绍了以经典Mie理论为基础的光散射测量技术在颗粒直径和颗粒浓度测量中广泛的应用。分别以Mie理论和离散偶极子近似理论(DDA)为基础, 用数值计算方法分析了球型颗粒的光散射特性，给出了微小颗粒对平行入射光散射的强度函数和散射偏振度的数值计算方法。得到了强度函数和偏振度随相关物理参量变化的三维图，为微小颗粒散射研究提供了一种三维视图。计算结果表明：当尺度参量x＜4时，2种方法所得结果差异不大；随尺度参量增大，2种方法所得结果出现较大差异。与经典Mie理论相比，由于离散偶极子近似理论可以解决各种形状的颗粒散射问题，其应用前景更广泛。     

Orbital and epicyclic motion of charged test particles around non-rotating Einstein-Æther black holes

The study of charged test particle dynamics in the combined black hole gravitational field and magnetic field around it could provide important theoretical insight into astrophysical processes around such compact object. We have explored the orbital and epicyclic motion of charged test particles in the background of non-rotating Einstein-Æther black holes in the presence of external uniform magnetic field. We numerically integrate the equations of motion and analyze the trajectories of the charged test particles. We examined the stability of circular orbits using effective potential technique and study the characteristics of innermost stable circular orbits. We analyze the key features of quasi-harmonic oscillations of charged test particles nearby the stable circular orbits in an equatorial plane of the black hole, and investigate the radial profiles of the frequencies of latitudinal as well as radial harmonic oscillations in dependence on the strength of magnetic field, mass of the black hole and dimensionless coupling constants of the theory. We demonstrate that the magnetic field and dimensionless parameters of the theory have strong influence on charged particle motion around Einstein-Æther black holes.     

Quantum field theory analysis of polarizations correlations,entanglement and Bell's inequality: explicit processes

This paper provides explicit and detailed quantum field theory (QFT) computations of polarizations correlations of emerging particles in several processes in QED, Electroweak Theory, and even in particle productions from strings, and hence are based on dynamical theries. The novel properties observed in the computations of such polarizations correlations, as predicted by QFT, is that they depend on the speed of the colliding particles, and, in some cases, even on coupling parameters ratios as well as on mass ratios of the underlying theory. These investigations clearly show that arguments based simply on combining spins to generate probabilities of such polarization correlations are not reliable. The novel properties obtained, with details of derivations provided here, hopefully would call for experiments on polarizations correlations which would monitor speeds of colliding particles, and, would, in turn, lead to new tests of the fundamental interactions of QFT such as of QED and of the Electroweak Theory.     

Estimation of particle size distributions obtained by gas phase processes

Nanoparticles intended for high value added applications often require special size distributions. Based on model calculations, this article compares the particle size distributions obtained with conventional and plasma processes. The model is based on an estimation of the probability for collisions; either for neutral or equally charged particles, whereas the growth of the particles is calculated using a model derived from Markov chains. The results of these calculations confirm the empirical knowledge that, under the special conditions of particles carrying electric charges of equal sign, plasma processes deliver products with the narrowest particle size distribution. Synthesis of extremely small particles with conventional processes leads to a significant residue of unreacted precursor. This finding is important in cases of expensive educts. The results of these model calculations are in perfect agreement with experimental findings.     

A categorical framework for quantum theory

Underlying any physical theory is a layer of conceptual frames. They connect the mathematical structures used in theoretical models with the phenomena, but they also constitute our fundamental assumptions about reality. Many of the discrepancies between quantum physics and classical physics (including Maxwell's electrodynamics and relativity) can be traced back to these categorical foundations. We argue that classical physics corresponds to the factual aspects of reality and requires a categorical framework which consists of four interdependent components: boolean logic, the linear‐sequential notion of time, the principle of sufficient reason, and the dichotomy between observer and observed. None of these can be dropped without affecting the others. However, quantum theory also addresses the “status nascendi” of facts, i.e., their coming into being. Therefore, quantum physics requires a different conceptual framework which will be elaborated in this article. It is shown that many of its components are already present in the standard formalisms of quantum physics, but in most cases they are highlighted not so much from a conceptual perspective but more from their mathematical structures. The categorical frame underlying quantum physics includes a profoundly different notion of time which encompasses a crucial role for the present. The article introduces the concept of a categorical apparatus (a framework of interdependent categories), explores the appropriate apparatus for classical and quantum theory, and elaborates in particular on the category of non‐sequential time and an extended present which seems to be relevant for a quantum theory of (space)‐time.     

Quantum vacuum noise in physics and cosmology

The concept of the vacuum in quantum field theory is a subtle one. Vacuum states have a rich and complex set of properties that produce distinctive, though usually exceedingly small, physical effects. Quantum vacuum noise is familiar in optical and electronic devices, but in this paper I wish to consider extending the discussion to systems in which gravitation, or large accelerations, are important. This leads to the prediction of vacuum friction: The quantum vacuum can act in a manner reminiscent of a viscous fluid. One result is that rapidly changing gravitational fields can create particles from the vacuum, and in turn the backreaction on the gravitational dynamics operates like a damping force. I consider such effects in early universe cosmology and the theory of quantum black holes, including the possibility that the large-scale structure of the universe might be produced by quantum vacuum noise in an early inflationary phase. I also discuss the curious phenomenon that an observer who accelerates through a quantum vacuum perceives a bath of thermal radiation closely analogous to Hawking radiation from black holes, even though an inertial observer registers no particles. The effects predicted raise very deep and unresolved issues about the nature of quantum particles, the role of the observer, and the relationship between the quantum vacuum and the concepts of information and entropy. (c) 2001 American Institute of Physics.     

大气中球形粒子的散射特性研究

从Mie理论出发，得到了不同尺度的球形粒子对激光的散射图像及粒子的消光效率曲线。从得到的散射图像可以看出，随着粒子尺度的逐渐增大，散射光强越来越集中到前向散射方向，并且散射光强集中的角度越来越窄。从消光效率曲线可以看出，随着粒子尺度的增加，消光效率因子变化趋于平缓，并逐渐趋向于常数2。最后分析了散射光的偏振度对粒子尺度和散射角的变化关系。从散射光的偏振度随粒子尺度变化图可以看出，粒子散射光的偏振度随粒子尺度的增大而增加，且变化比较明显，而散射光偏振度大小的峰值逐渐趋向于前向方向，随着粒子尺度的增大，散射光偏振度趋于减小。     

Speed of particles and a relativity of locality in κ-Minkowski quantum spacetime

The last decade of research on κ-Minkowski noncommutative spacetime has been strongly characterized by a controversy concerning the speed of propagation of massless particles. Most arguments suggested that this speed should depend on the momentum of the particle strongly enough to be of interest for some ongoing experimental studies. But the only explicit derivations of worldlines in κ-Minkowski predicted no momentum dependence for the speed of massless particles. We return to this controversy equipped with the recent understanding that in some quantum spacetimes coincidences of events assessed by an observer who is distant from the events can be artifactual. We therefore set up our investigation in such a way that we never rely on the assessment of coincidences of events by distant observers. This allows us to verify explicitly that in κ-Minkowski simultaneously-emitted massless particles of different momentum are detected at different times, and establish a linear dependence of the detection times on momentum.     

The collisional Penrose process

Shortly after the discovery of the Kerr metric in 1963, it was realized that a region existed outside of the black hole’s event horizon where no time-like observer could remain stationary. In 1969, Roger Penrose showed that particles within this ergosphere region could possess negative energy, as measured by an observer at infinity. When captured by the horizon, these negative energy particles essentially extract mass and angular momentum from the black hole. While the decay of a single particle within the ergosphere is not a particularly efficient means of energy extraction, the collision of multiple particles can reach arbitrarily high center-of-mass energy in the limit of extremal black hole spin. The resulting particles can escape with high efficiency, potentially serving as a probe of high-energy particle physics as well as general relativity. In this paper, we briefly review the history of the field and highlight a specific astrophysical application of the collisional Penrose process: the potential to enhance annihilation of dark matter particles in the vicinity of a supermassive black hole.     

To What Extent is Gluon Confinement an Empirical Fact?

Experimental verifications of confinement in hadron physics have established the absence of charges with a fraction of the electron’s charge by studying the energy deposited in ionization tracks at high energies, and performing Millikan experiments with charged droplets at rest. These experiments test only the absence of particles with fractional charge in the asymptotic spectrum, and thus “Quark” Confinement. However what theory suggests is that Color is confined, that is, all asymptotic particles are color singlets. Since QCD is a non-Abelian theory, the gluon force carriers (indirectly revealed in hadron jets) are colored. We empirically examine what can be said about gluon confinement based on the lack of detection of appropriate events, aiming at an upper bound for high-energy free-gluon production.     

Observer theories based on stueckelberg quations of motion

Stueckelberg dynamics is regarded as providing a basis for the construction of observer centered theories of particle motions. The approach involves the use of a generalized Jacobi principle to replace the four-dimensional dynamical theory of Stueckelberg by a four-dimensional geometrical theory, and then a three-dimensional dynamics is constructed from this. The causal difficulties encountered by Stueckelberg for curves which reverse direction in time appear to be absent in the present scheme.Our purpose has been to make more concrete, in a simple context, some of the ideas involved in the (conventional) causal framework recently constructed by us to deal with causal difficulties associated with hyperlight phenomena. Some insight is gained into the possible roles to be played by tachyons in a particle theory and interesting results are found involving classical Lagrangian and canonical formalisms for lightlike particles.     

Establishment of the Riemannian structure of space-time by classical means

Efforts at providing a physical-axiomatic foundation of the space-time structure of the general theory of relativity have led, when based on simple empirical facts about freely falling particles and light signals, in a satisfying manner only to a Weyl space-time. By adding postulates based on quantum theory, however, the usual pseudo-Riemannian space-time can be reached. We present a newclassical postulate which provides the same results. It is based upon the notion of the radar distance between freely falling particles and demands the approximate equality of the growth of the radar distance for particle pairs of equal, small initial velocities. We show that given this, a property results, as found in earlier work by the author, that distinguishes between Weyl and Lorentz space-times. The property refers to a special metric and decides whether its metric connection has the given free-fall worldlines as geodesics or not. It consists in the vanishing of the mixed spatiotemporal componentsg _i4 of this metric in suitable coordinates along the worldline of the freely falling observer, as the rest system of which the coordinates are constructed.     

Methodology for studying particle–particle triboelectrification in granular materials

A critical challenge for experimental studies of triboelectric charging is to generate reproducible and unambiguous data that can be linked to theoretical concepts. We have developed a methodology to investigate the triboelectric charging of granular materials due solely to particle–particle interactions (i.e. no particle–wall interactions). The methodology is based on a particle flow apparatus that generates a fountain-like flow in which the particles contact only other particles, but no equipment surfaces. Non-contact methods of measuring charge and separating particles by charge are employed so that probe-particle charging does not occur.     

Quantum Discreteness is an Illusion

I review arguments demonstrating how the concept of “particle” numbers arises in the form of equidistant energy eigenvalues of coupled harmonic oscillators representing free fields. Their quantum numbers (numbers of nodes of the wave functions) can be interpreted as occupation numbers for objects with a formal mass (defined by the field equation) and spatial wave number (“momentum”) characterizing classical field modes. A superposition of different oscillator eigenstates, all consisting of n modes having one node, while all others have none, defines a non-degenerate “n-particle wave function”. Other discrete properties and phenomena (such as particle positions and “events”) can be understood by means of the fast but continuous process of decoherence: the irreversible dislocalization of superpositions. Any wave-particle dualism thus becomes obsolete. The observation of individual outcomes of this decoherence process in measurements requires either a subsequent collapse of the wave function or a “branching observer” in accordance with the Schrödinger equation—both possibilities applying clearly after the decoherence process. Any probability interpretation of the wave function in terms of local elements of reality, such as particles or other classical concepts, would open a Pandora’s box of paradoxes, as is illustrated by various misnomers that have become popular in quantum theory.     

Dilatonic effects near naked singularities

Static spherically symmetric solutions of 4d Brans–Dicke theory include a set of naked singularity solutions. Dilatonic effects near the naked singularities result in either a shielding or an antishielding effect from intruding massive test particles. One result is that for a portion of the solution parameter space, no communication between the singularity and a distant observer is possible via massive particle exchanges. Kaluza–Klein gravity is considered as a special case.