Deformation Quantizations of the Poisson Algebra of Laurent Polynomials

It is well known that the Moyal bracket gives a unique deformation quantization of the canonical phase space R2n up to equivalence. In his presentation of an interesting deformation quantization of the Poisson algebra of Laurent polynomials, Ovsienko discusses the equivalences of deformation quantizations of these algebras. We show that under suitable conditions, deformation quantizations of this algebra are equivalent. Though Ovsienko showed that there exists a deformation quantization of the Poisson algebra of Laurent polynomials which is not equivalent to the Moyal product, this is not correct. We show this equivalence by two methods: a direct construction of the intertwiner via the star exponential and a more standard approach using Hochschild 2-cocycles.     

The median procedure in cluster analysis and social choice theory

Classical approachs for fitting and aggregation problems, specially in cluster analysis, social choice theory and paired comparisons methods, consist in the minimization of a remoteness function between relational data and a relational model. The notion of median, with its algebraic, metric, geometrical and statistical aspects, allow a unified treatment of many of base problems. Properties of median procedures are organized according to four directions: stabilities and axiomatic characterizations; Arrow-like properties; combinatorial properties; effective computational possibilities. Finally, interesting mathematical problems, related to the notion of median are surveyed.     

Geometric Analysis and Symbol Calculus: Fourier Transform Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Wavelets

Due to its unequalled advantages, the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) modality has truly revolutionized the diagnosis and evaluation of pathology. Because many morphological anatomic details that may not be visualized by other high tech imaging methods can now be readily shown by diagnostic MRI, it has already become the standard modality by which all other clinical imaging techniques are measured. The unique quantum physical basis of the MRI modality combined with the imaging capabilities of current computer technology has made this imaging modality a target of interdisciplinary interest for clinicians, physicists, biologists, engineers, and mathematicians. Due to the fact that MRI scanners perform corticomorphic processing, this modality is by far more complex than all the other high tech clinical imaging techniques. The purpose of this paper is to outline a phase coherent wavelet approach to Fourier transform MRI. It is based on distributional harmonic analysis on the Heisenberg nilpotent Lie group G and the associated symplectically invariant symbol calculus of pseudodifferential operators. The contour and contrast resolution of MRI scans which is controlled by symplectic filter bank processing gives the noninvasive MRI modality superiority over X-ray computed tomography (CT) in soft tissue differentiation.     

WKB method for the Dirac equation with a scalar-vector coupling

We outline a recursive method for obtaining WKB expansions of solutions of the Dirac equation in an external centrally symmetric field with a scalar-vector Lorentz structure of the interaction potentials. We obtain semiclassical formulas for radial functions in the classically allowed and forbidden regions and find conditions for matching them in passing through the turning points. We generalize the Bohr-Sommerfeld quantization rule to the relativistic case where a spin-1/2 particle interacts simultaneously with a scalar and an electrostatic external field. We obtain a general expression in the semiclassical approximation for the width of quasistationary levels, which was earlier known only for barrier-type electrostatic potentials (the Gamow formula). We show that the obtained quantization rule exactly produces the energy spectrum for Coulomb- and oscillatory-type potentials. We use an example of the funnel potential to demonstrate that the proposed version of the WKB method not only extends the possibilities for studying the spectrum of energies and wave functions analytically but also ensures an appropriate accuracy of calculations even for states with n_r 1.Translated from Teoreticheskaya i Matematicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 143, No. 1, pp. 83–111, April, 2005.     

About Nonassociativity in Mathematics and Physics

A short review about nonassociative algebraic systems (mainly nonassociative algebras) and their physical applications is presented. We begin with some motivations, then we give a brief historical overview about the formation and development of the concept of hypercomplex number system and about some earlier applications. The main directions discussed are the octonionic, Lie-admissible, and quasigroup approaches. Also, some problems investigated in Tartu, the octonionic approach, Moufang–Mal'tsev symmetry, and associator quantization are discussed. This review does not pretend to be complete as the accent is placed on ideas and not on the techniques, also the references are quite sporadic (there are many authors and results mentioned in the text without references).     

On the uniqueness of overcomplete dictionaries, and a practical way to retrieve them

A full-rank under-determined linear system of equations Ax = b has in general infinitely many possible solutions. In recent years there is a growing interest in the sparsest solution of this equation—the one with the fewest non-zero entries, measured by ∥x∥₀. Such solutions find applications in signal and image processing, where the topic is typically referred to as “sparse representation”. Considering the columns of A as atoms of a dictionary, it is assumed that a given signal b is a linear composition of few such atoms. Recent work established that if the desired solution x is sparse enough, uniqueness of such a result is guaranteed. Also, pursuit algorithms, approximation solvers for the above problem, are guaranteed to succeed in finding this solution.Armed with these recent results, the problem can be reversed, and formed as an implied matrix factorization problem: Given a set of vectors {b_i}, known to emerge from such sparse constructions, Ax_i = b_i, with sufficiently sparse representations x_i, we seek the matrix A. In this paper we present both theoretical and algorithmic studies of this problem. We establish the uniqueness of the dictionary A, depending on the quantity and nature of the set {b_i}, and the sparsity of {x_i}. We also describe a recently developed algorithm, the K-SVD, that practically find the matrix A, in a manner similar to the K-Means algorithm. Finally, we demonstrate this algorithm on several stylized applications in image processing.     

Hawking radiation and black hole spectroscopy in Hořava–Lifshitz gravity

Hawking radiation from the black hole in Ho?ava–Lifshitz gravity is discussed by a reformulation of the tunneling method given in Banerjee and Majhi (2009) [17]. Using a density matrix technique the radiation spectrum is derived which is identical to that of a perfect black body. The temperature obtained here is proportional to the surface gravity of the black hole as occurs in usual Einstein gravity. The entropy is also derived by using the first law of black hole thermodynamics. Finally, the spectrum of entropy/area is obtained. The latter result is also discussed from the viewpoint of quasi-normal modes. Both methods lead to an equispaced entropy spectrum, although the value of the spacing is not the same. On the other hand, since the entropy is not proportional to the horizon area of the black hole, the area spectrum is not equidistant, a finding which also holds for the Einstein–Gauss–Bonnet theory.     

Discreteness of space from GUP II: Relativistic wave equations

Various theories of Quantum Gravity predict modifications of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle near the Planck scale to a so-called Generalized Uncertainty Principle (GUP). In some recent papers, we showed that the GUP gives rise to corrections to the Schrödinger equation, which in turn affect all quantum mechanical Hamiltonians. In particular, by applying it to a particle in a one-dimensional box, we showed that the box length must be quantized in terms of a fundamental length (which could be the Planck length), which we interpreted as a signal of fundamental discreteness of space itself. In this Letter, we extend the above results to a relativistic particle in a rectangular as well as a spherical box, by solving the GUP-corrected Klein–Gordon and Dirac equations, and for the latter, to two and three dimensions. We again arrive at quantization of box length, area and volume and an indication of the fundamentally grainy nature of space. We discuss possible implications.     

A Lefschetz fixed point formula for symplectomorphisms

Consider a compact Kähler manifold endowed with a prequantum bundle. Following the geometric quantization scheme, the associated quantum spaces are the spaces of holomorphic sections of the tensor powers of the prequantum bundle. In this paper we construct an asymptotic representation of the prequantum bundle automorphism group in these quantum spaces. We estimate the characters of these representations under some transversality assumption. The formula obtained generalizes in some sense the Lefschetz fixed point formula for the automorphisms of the prequantum bundle preserving its holomorphic structure. Our results will be applied in two forthcoming papers to the quantum representation of the mapping class group.