Geometry of the Parameter Space of a Quantum System: Classical Point of View

The local geometry of the parameter space of a quantum system is described by the quantum metric tensor and the Berry curvature, which are two fundamental objects that play a crucial role in understanding geometrical aspects of condensed matter physics. Classical integrable systems are considered and a new approach is reported to obtain the classical analogs of the quantum metric tensor and the Berry curvature. An advantage of this approach is that it can be applied to a wide variety of classical systems corresponding to quantum systems with bosonic and fermionic degrees of freedom. The approach used arises from the semiclassical approximation of the Berry curvature and the quantum metric tensor in the Lagrangian formalism. This semiclassical approximation is exploited to establish, for the first time, the relation between the quantum metric tensor and its classical counterpart. The approach described is illustrated and validated by applying it to five systems: the generalized harmonic oscillator, the symmetric and linearly coupled harmonic oscillators, the singular Euclidean oscillator, and a spin-half particle in a magnetic field. Finally, some potential applications of this approach and possible generalizations that can be of interest in the field of condensed matter physics are mentioned.     

Stress Tensor Fluctuations and Passive Quantum Gravity

The quantum fluctuations of the stress tensor of a quantum field are discussed, as are the resulting space-time metric fluctuations. Passive quantum gravity is an approximation in which gravity is not directly quantized, but fluctuations of the space-time geometry are driven by stress tensor fluctuations. We discuss a decomposition of the stress tensor correlation function into three parts, and consider the physical implications of each part. The operational significance of metric fluctuations and the possible limits of validity of semiclassical gravity are discussed.     

Renormalizable 4D Quantum Gravity as a Perturbed Theory from CFT

We study the renormalizable quantum gravity formulated as a perturbed theory from conformal field theory (CFT) on the basis of conformal gravity in four dimensions. The conformal mode in the metric field is managed non-perturbatively without introducing its own coupling constant so that conformal symmetry becomes exact quantum mechanically as a part of diffeomorphism invariance. The traceless tensor mode is handled in the perturbation with a dimensionless coupling constant indicating asymptotic freedom, which measures a degree of deviation from CFT. Higher order renormalization is carried out using dimensional regularization, in which the Wess-Zumino integrability condition is applied to reduce indefiniteness existing in higher-derivative actions. The effective action of quantum gravity improved by renormalization group is obtained. We then make clear that conformal anomalies are indispensable quantities to preserve diffeomorphism invariance. Anomalous scaling dimensions of the cosmological constant and the Planck mass are calculated. The effective cosmological constant is obtained in the large number limit of matter fields.     

Quantum conformal fluctuations and stationary states

Conformal fluctuations serve as a powerful tool to study the nature of quantum gravity. They lead, in a natural fashion, to the concept of stationary states for the quantum geometry. We attempt to incorporate the effect of conformal fluctuations into the background metric and matter. A modified set of equations, including the effect of conformal fluctuations, is presented and the solutions are discussed. It is shown that matter-free vacuum is unstable to conformal fluctuations. A scenario for creation of matter is indicated.     

Stability of Semiclassical Gravity Solutions with Respect to Quantum Metric Fluctuations

We discuss the stability of semiclassical gravity solutions with respect to small quantum corrections by considering the quantum fluctuations of the metric perturbations around the semiclassical solution. We call the attention to the role played by the symmetrized 2-point quantum correlation function for the metric perturbations, which can be naturally decomposed into two separate contributions: intrinsic and induced fluctuations. We show that traditional criteria on the stability of semiclassical gravity are incomplete because these criteria based on the linearized semiclassical Einstein equation can only provide information on the expectation value and the intrinsic fluctuations of the metric perturbations. By contrast, the framework of stochastic semiclassical gravity provides a more complete and accurate criterion because it contains information on the induced fluctuations as well. The Einstein–Langevin equation therein contains a stochastic source characterized by the noise kernel (the symmetrized 2-point quantum correlation function of the stress tensor operator) and yields stochastic correlation functions for the metric perturbations which agree, to leading order in the large N limit, with the quantum correlation functions of the theory of gravity interacting with N matter fields. These points are illustrated with the example of Minkowski space-time as a solution to the semiclassical Einstein equation, which is found to be stable under both intrinsic and induced fluctuations.     

Majorana's stellar representation for the quantum geometric tensor of symmetric states

Majorana's stellar representation provides an intuitive picture in which quantum states in high-dimensional Hilbert space can be observed using the trajectory of Majorana stars. We consider the Majorana's stellar representation of the quantum geometric tensor for a spin state up to spin-3/2. The real and imaginary parts of the quantum geometric tensor, corresponding to the quantum metric tensor and Berry curvature, are therefore obtained in terms of the Majorana stars. Moreover, we work out the expressions of quantum geometric tensor for arbitrary spin in some important cases. Our results will benefit the comprehension of the quantum geometric tensor and provide interesting relations between the quantum geometric tensor and Majorana's stars.     

Quantum speed limit for mixed states in a unitary system

Since the evolution of a mixed state in a unitary system is equivalent to the joint evolution of the eigenvectors contained in it, we could use the tool of instantaneous angular velocity for pure states to study the quantum speed limit (QSL) of a mixed state. We derive a lower bound for the evolution time of a mixed state to a target state in a unitary system, which automatically reduces to the quantum speed limit induced by the Fubini-Study metric for pure states. The computation of the QSL of a degenerate mixed state is more complicated than that of a non-degenerate mixed state, where we have to make a singular value decomposition (SVD) on the inner product between the two eigenvector matrices of the initial and target states. By combing these results, a lower bound for the evolution time of a general mixed state is presented. In order to compare the tightness among the lower bound proposed here and lower bounds reported in the references, two examples in a single-qubit system and in a single-qutrit system are studied analytically and numerically, respectively. All conclusions derived in this work are independent of the eigenvalues of the mixed state, which is in accord with the evolution properties of a quantum unitary system.     

Quantum effects in a homogeneous dust cloud collapse

The status of a classical space-time singularity, when quantum effects are taken into account, has remained a matter of intense interest ever since the epochmaking paper of DeWitt [1] on quantum gravity. We examine here the evolution of quantum fluctuations in the vicinity of the singularity arising out of the classical collapse of a homogeneous dust cloud. As opposed to the pathintegral method used to quantize the conformal degree of freedom (see, e.g., [3] or [4]), we use here the traditional operator approach to the quantum theory which is much more direct and appealing while achieving an additional generalization that the wave function of the system is assumed to have a completely general form. It is shown that the quantum uncertainty diverges in the limit of approach to the classically singular epoch and that nonsingular, nonclassical states can occur with finite probability.     

Quantum cosmology and stationary states

A model for quantum gravity, in which the conformal part of the metric is quantized using the path integral formalism, is presented. Einstein's equations can be suitably modified to take into account the effects of quantum conformal fluctuations. A closed Friedman model can be described in terms of well-defined stationary states. The “ground state” sets a lower bound (at Planck length) to the scale factor preventing the collapse. A possible explanation for matter creation and quantum nature of matter is suggested.     

Tensor Products of Quantum Structures and Their Applications in Quantum Measurements

Tensor products of quantum logics and effect algebras with some known problems are reviewed. It is noticed that although tensor products of effect algebras having at least one state exist, in the category of complex Hilbert space effect algebras similar problems as with tensor products of projection lattices occur. Nevertheless, if one of the two coupled physical systems is classical, tensor product exists and can be considered as a Boolean power. Some applications of tensor products (in the form of Boolean powers) to quantum measurements are reviewed.     

LETTER: Quantum Singularity of Quasiregular Spacetimes

Some of the mildest singularities in classical general relativity are shown to be singular quantum mechanically as well. A class of the mild, topological singularities known as quasiregular singularities remains singular when probed by quantum wave packets. These static spacetimes possessing dislocations and disclinations are quantum-mechanically singular since the spatial portion of the wave operator is not essentially self-adjoint and thus the evolution of a test quantum wave packet is not uniquely determined by the initial wave function.     

Quantum Hamilton--Jacobi Approach to Two Dimensional Singular Oscillator

We obtain the solutions of two-dimensional singular oscillator which is known as the quantum Calogero-Sutherland model both in cartesian and parabolic coordinates within the framework of quantum Hamilton Jacobi formalism. Solvability conditions and eigenfunctions are obtained by using the singularity structures of quantum momentum functions under some conditions. New potentials are generated by using the first two states of singular oscillator for parabolic coordinates.     

A Kinetic Theory Approach to Quantum Gravity

We describe a kinetic theory approach to quantum gravity by which we mean a theory of the microscopic structure of space-time, not a theory obtained by quantizing general relativity. A figurative conception of this program is like building a ladder with two knotty poles: quantum matter field on the right and space-time on the left. Each rung connecting the corresponding knots represents a distinct level of structure. The lowest rung is hydrodynamics and general relativity; the next rung is semiclassical gravity, with the expectation value of quantum fields acting as source in the semiclassical Einstein equation. We recall how ideas from the statistical mechanics of interacting quantum fields helped us identify the existence of noise in the matter field and its effect on metric fluctuations, leading to the establishment of the third rung: stochastic gravity, described by the Einstein–Langevin equation. Our pathway from stochastic to quantum gravity is via the correlation hierarchy of noise and induced metric fluctuations. Three essential tasks beckon: (1) deduce the correlations of metric fluctuations from correlation noise in the matter field; (2) reconstituting quantum coherence—this is the reverse of decoherence—from these correlation functions; and (3) use the Boltzmann–Langevin equations to identify distinct collective variables depicting recognizable metastable structures in the kinetic and hydrodynamic regimes of quantum matter fields and how they demand of their corresponding space-time counterparts. This will give us a hierarchy of generalized stochastic equations—call them the Boltzmann–Einstein hierarchy of quantum gravity—for each level of space-time structure, from the the macroscopic (general relativity) through the mesoscopic (stochastic gravity) to the microscopic (quantum gravity).     

Quantum Dialogue by Using Non-Symmetric Quantum Channel

A protocol for quantum dialogue is proposed to exchange directly the communicator＇s secret messages by using a three-dimensional Bell state and a two-dimensional Bell state as quantum channel with quantum superdence coding, local collective unitary operations, and entanglement swapping. In this protocol, during the process of trans- mission of particles, the transmitted particles do not carry any secret messages and are transmitted only one time. The protocol has higher source capacity than protocols using symmetric two-dimensional states. The security is ensured by the unitary operations randomly performed on all checking groups before the particle sequence is transmitted and the application of entanglement swapping.     

Third-Order Nonlinear Optical Susceptibility of Special Asymmetric Quantum Wells

A detailed procedure for the calculation of the third-harmonic-generation susceptibility tensor is given in special asymmetric quantum wells, and an analytic formula for the third-harmonic-generation susceptibility is obtained by the compact density matrix approach and the iterative procedure. Finally, the numerical results are presented for typical GaAs/AlGaAs asymmetric quantum wells. The calculated results show that the origin of the large thirdharmonic-generation susceptibility is due to the increase in asymmetry of the quantum well.     

Unified fields in pentadimensional theory

The theory of Jordan-Thiry is investigated by using a five-dimensional Riemannian manifold V₅ which admits a one-parameter group of isometries. The set of trajectories is supposed to represent the space-time of Relativity.The use of the induced metric in the quotient space leads to essential difficulties. It is necessary to consider a conformal metric and to modify the energy tensor in order to obtain the classical results of relativistic celestial mechanics. Moreover, the conformal metric brings out the evident interpretation of the fifteenth potential like a massless scalar field.A mass term referring to the scalar field is introduced; then the gravitational, electromagnetic, and mesonic scalar fields are unified through the metric of V₅. Several results make the new theory very coherent; in particular, the exact relativistic equations of motion are obtained asymptotically when the matter density vanishes.Exact solutions are searched. The classical Schwarzschild solution and neighbouring solutions are valid in the interior of the matter. Special non-static solutions are also obtained; some of these may be interpreted locally as describing the “collapse” of neutron stars; others ones, analogous to Robertson's metric, can be used to build a cosmology of the unified field.     

Quantum fluctuations and nonavoidance of the singularity in Bianchi type I cosmology

An effective metric is defined and used for analyzing the quantum fluctuations in a classical geometry. Earlier work showing that quantum (conformal) fluctuations avoid the classical singularity in the case of spherically symmetric collapse is briefly reviewed. It is shown that this result doesnot extend to anisotropic Bianchi type I cosmology. Here the dispersion in the fluctuations increases too slowly to quench the classical singularity. The singularity persists in the space-time described by the effective metric.     

Essay: Quantum Field Theory Is Not Merely Quantum Mechanics Applied to Low Energy Effective Degrees of Freedom

It is commonly assumed that quantum field theory arises by applying ordinary quantum mechanics to the low energy effective degrees of freedom of a more fundamental theory defined at ultra-high-energy/short-wavelength scales. We shall argue here that, even for free quantum fields, there are holistic aspects of quantum field theory that cannot be properly understood in this manner. Specifically, the subtractions needed to define nonlinear polynomial functions of a free quantum field in curved spacetime are quite simple and natural from the quantum field theoretic point of view, but are at best extremely ad hoc and unnatural if viewed as independent renormalizations of individual modes of the field. We illustrate this point by contrasting the analysis of the Casimir effect, the renormalization of the stress-energy tensor in time-dependent spacetimes, and anomalies from the point of quantum field theory and from the point of view of quantum mechanics applied to the independent low energy modes of the field. Some implications for the cosmological constant problem are discussed.     

The verification of Killing tensor components for metrics in general relativity using the computer algebra system SHEEP

We report on a program, written in the computer algebra system SHEEP, for verifying the components of Killing tensors and conformal Killing tensors. We give some examples, including the components of the Killing tensor admitted by the Kerr metric. We also note that the explicit form of all conformal Killing tensors for a subclass of the Petrov typeD solutions is known.