Point-form quantum field theory

We examine canonical quantization of relativistic field theories on the forward hyperboloid, a Lorentz-invariant surface of the form x_μx^μ = τ². This choice of quantization surface implies that all components of the 4-momentum operator are affected by interactions (if present), whereas rotation and boost generators remain interaction free—a feature characteristic of Dirac’s “point-form” of relativistic dynamics. Unlike previous attempts to quantize fields on space-time hyperboloids, we keep the usual plane-wave expansion of the field operators and consider evolution of the system generated by the 4-momentum operator. We verify that the Fock-space representations of the Poincaré generators for free scalar and spin-1/2 fields look the same as for equal-time quantization. Scattering is formulated for interacting fields in a covariant interaction picture and it is shown that the familiar perturbative expansion of the S-operator is recovered by our approach. An appendix analyzes special distributions, integrals over the forward hyperboloid, that are used repeatedly in the paper.     

1/N-Expansion for the Dicke model and the decoherence program

An analysis of the Dicke model, N two-level atoms interacting with a single radiation mode, is done using the Holstein-Primakoff transformation. The main aim of the paper is to show that, changing the quantization axis with respect to the common usage, it is possible to prove a general result either for N or the coupling constant going to infinity for the exact solution of the model. This completes the analysis, known in the current literature, with respect to the same model in the limit of N and volume going to infinity, keeping the density constant. For the latter the proper axis of quantization is given by the Hamiltonian of the two-level atoms and for the former the proper axis of quantization is defined by the interaction. The relevance of this result relies on the observation that a general measurement apparatus acts using electromagnetic interaction and so, one can state that the thermodynamic limit is enough to grant the appearance of classical effects. Indeed, recent experimental results give first evidence that superposition states disappear interacting with an electromagnetic field having a large number of photons.     

Spin-polarized transport in adiabatic quantum point contact with strong Rashba spin-orbit interaction

We first report 0.5(2e²/h) conductance quantization in adiabatic quantum point contacts (QPCs) fabricated at high In-content InGaAs/InAlAs single heterojunctions under no magnetic field. This quantization seems difficult to understand, since the spin one-dimensional (1D) subbands in the QPCs are generally degenerated when B=0. However, this observation is reproducible in various QPC samples with different dimensions but not likely so definite as the conductance quantization in usual QPCs. It is noted that this particular heterojunction 2DEG is found to have high electron mobility of <5×10⁵ cm²/Vs as well as very large Rashba spin-orbit (SO) coupling constant of <35×10⁻¹² eVm. So that, the QPCs realized here can be regarded as a kind of Tomonaga-Luttinger wire with an enhanced Rashba interaction. In such a case, a mode coupling between the Rashba splitting 1D subbands gives rise to a spin-polarized transport in each ±k direction. This theory could be the one plausible candidate to explain the 0.5(2e²/h) conductance quantization observed here in the adiabatic QPC. This finding would be developed to novel spin-filters or spin-directional coupler devices based on nonmagnetic semiconductors.     

Arrival time in quantum field theory

Via the proper-time eigenstates (event states) instead of the proper-mass eigenstates (particle states), free-motion time-of-arrival theory for massive spin-1/2 particles is developed at the level of quantum field theory. The approach is based on a position-momentum dual formalism. Within the framework of field quantization, the total time-of-arrival is the sum of the single event-of-arrival contributions, and contains zero-point quantum fluctuations because the clocks under consideration follow the laws of quantum mechanics.     

Influence of magnetic quantization on the Einstein relation in non-linear optical, optoelectronic and related materials: Simplified theory, relative comparison and suggestion for experimental determination

In this paper, we have investigated the Einstein relation for the diffusivity-to-mobility ratio (DMR) under magnetic quantization in non-linear optical materials on the basis of a newly formulated electron dispersion law by considering the crystal field constant, the anisotropies of the momentum-matrix element and the spin-orbit splitting constant, respectively, within the frame work of k·p formalism. The corresponding result for the three-band model of Kane (the conduction electrons of III-V, ternary and quaternary compounds obey this model) forms a special case of our generalized analysis. The DMR under magnetic quantization has also been investigated for II-VI (on the basis of Hopfield model), bismuth (using the models of McClure and Choi, Cohen, Lax and parabolic ellipsoidal, respectively), and stressed materials (on the basis of model of Seiler et al.) by formulating the respective electron statistics under magnetic quantization incorporating the respective energy band constants. It has been found, taking n-CdGeAs₂, n-Hg_1−xCd_xTe, p-CdS, and stressed n-InSb as examples of the aforementioned compounds, that the DMR exhibits oscillatory dependence with the inverse quantizing magnetic field due to Subhnikov de Haas (SdH) effect with different numerical values. The DMR also increases with increasing carrier degeneracy and the nature of oscillations are totally dependent on their respective band structures in various cases. The classical expression of the DMR has been obtained as a special case from the results of all the materials as considered here under certain limiting conditions, and this compatibility is the indirect test of our generalized formalism. In addition, we have suggested an experimental method of determining the DMR for degenerate materials under magnetic quantization having arbitrary dispersion laws. The three applications of our results in the presence of magneto-transport have further been suggested.     

Semiclassical and quantum motions on the non-commutative plane

We study the canonical and the coherent state quantizations of a particle moving in a magnetic field on the non-commutative plane. Using a θ-modified action, we perform the canonical quantization and analyze the gauge dependence of the theory. We compare coherent states quantizations obtained through Malkin-Man'ko states and circular squeezed states. The relation between these states and the “classical” trajectories is investigated, and we present numerical explorations of some semiclassical quantities.     

Adjoint QCD1 + 1 in light-cone gauge, quantized at equal time

SU (2) gauge theory coupled to massless fermions in the adjoint representation is quantized in light-cone gauge by imposing the equal-time canonical algebra. The theory is defined on a space-time cylinder with “twisted” boundary conditions, periodic for one color component (the diagonal 3-component) and antiperiodic for the other two. The focus of the study is on the non-trivial vacuum structure and the fermion condensate. It is shown that the indefinite-metric quantization of free gauge bosons is not compatible with the residual gauge symmetry of the interacting theory. A suitable quantization of the unphysical modes of the gauge field is necessary in order to guarantee the consistency of the subsidiary condition and allow the quantum representation of the residual gauge symmetry of the classical Lagrangian: the 3-color component of the gauge field must be quantized in a space with an indefinite metric while the other two components require a positive-definite metric. The contribution of the latter to the free Hamiltonian becomes highly pathological in this representation, but a larger portion of the interacting Hamiltonian can be diagonalized, thus allowing perturbative calculations to be performed. The vacuum is evaluated through second order in perturbation theory and this result is used for an approximate determination of the fermion condensate.     

Axially symmetric multi-baryon solutions and their quantization in the chiral quark soliton model

We study axially symmetric solutions with B=2-5 in the chiral quark soliton model. In the background of axially symmetric chiral fields, the quark eigenstates and profile functions of the chiral fields are computed self-consistently. The resultant quark bound spectrum are doubly degenerate due to the symmetry of the chiral field. Upon quantization, various observable spectra of the chiral solitons are obtained. Taking account of the Finkelstein-Rubinstein constraints, we show that the quantum numbers of our solitons coincide with the physical observations for B=2 and 4 while B=3 and 5 do not.     

Quantum hall conductivity in a Landau type model with a realistic geometry II

We use a mathematical framework that we introduced in a previous paper to study geometrical and quantum mechanical aspects of a Hall system with finite size and general boundary conditions. Geometrical structures control possibly the integral or fractional quantization of the Hall conductivity depending on the value of NB/2π (N is the number of charge carriers and B is the magnetic field). When NB/2π is irrational, we show that monovaluated wave functions can be constructed only on the graph of a free group with two generators. When NB/2π is rational, the relevant space becomes a punctured Riemann surface. We finally discuss our results from a phenomenological viewpoint.     

Light-like noncommutativity,light-front quantization and new light on UV/IR mixing

We revisit the problem of quantizing field theories on noncommutative Moyal space–time with light-like   noncommutativity. To tackle the issues arising from noncommuting and hence nonlocal time, we argue that for this case light-front quantization procedure should be employed. In this appropriate quantization scheme we perform the non-planar loop analysis for the light-like noncommutative field theories. One of the important and peculiar features of light-front quantization is that the UV cutoff of the light-cone Hamiltonian manifests itself as an IR cutoff for the light-cone momentum, p⁺$p^{+}$. Due to this feature, the naive results of covariant quantization for the light-like case allude to the absence of the UV/IR mixing in the light-front quantization. However, by a careful analysis of non-planar loop integrals we show that this is not the case and the UV/IR mixing persists. In addition, we argue in favour of the perturbative unitarity of light-like noncommutative field theories in the light-front quantization scheme.     

Quantum kinks on the null plane

We consider the quantization of a 1+1 dimensional field theory with kink solutions on a null plane. We present a field expansion which diagonalizes the operatorM ²=2P ⁺ P ^? including first order quantum corrections, reobtaining thereby the well known result for the kink mass. The quantization scheme treats classical solutions of different rapidity on an equal footing and the translation mode cancels completely, at least in the order considered here.     

Spectrum of Schrödinger field in a noncommutative magnetic monopole

The energy spectrum of a nonrelativistic particle on a noncommutative sphere in the presence of a magnetic monopole field is calculated. The system is treated in the field theory language, in which the one-particle sector of a charged Schrödinger field coupled to a noncommutative U(1) gauge field is identified. It is shown that the Hamiltonian is essentially the angular momentum squared of the particle, but with a nontrivial scaling factor appearing, in agreement with the first-quantized canonical treatment of the problem. Monopole quantization is recovered and identified as the quantization of a commutative Seiberg–Witten mapped monopole field.     

BRST quantization in the Siegel gauge

From a formal generalization to N copies of the free open string field theory BRST-quantized in the Siegel gauge we reproduce the BRST quantization of the free closed bosonic string field theory and obtain the one of massless higher spin field theories.     

Dirac quantization of open p-brane

We give the scheme of Dirac quantization of open p-brane in the D-brane background. Treating the mixed boundary conditions as primary constraints, we get a set of secondary constraints, then the constraints conditions are shown to be equivalent to orbifold conditions imposed on normal p-brane modes.     

Magnetic-field-driven quantum critical behavior in graphite and bismuth

We study magnetotransport properties of graphite and rhombohedral bismuth samples and found that in both materials applied magnetic field induces the metal-insulator- (MIT) and reentrant insulator-metal-type (IMT) transformations. The corresponding transition boundaries plotted on the magnetic field-temperature (B − T) plane nearly coincide for these semimetals and can be best described by power laws T ∼ (B − B_c)^κ, where B_c is a critical field at T = 0 and κ = 0.45 ± 0.05. We show that insulator-metal-insulator (I-M-I) transformations take place in the Landau level quantization regime and illustrate how the IMT in quasi-3D graphite transforms into a cascade of I-M-I transitions, related to the quantum Hall effect in quasi-2D graphite samples. We discuss the possible coupling of superconducting and excitonic correlations with the observed phenomena, as well as signatures of quantum phase transitions associated with the M-I and I-M transformations.     

Landau quantization of a two-dimensional electron with the nonparabolic dispersion law, pseudospin components and chirality terms

The Landau quantization of a two-dimensional electron in a perpendicular magnetic field on the basis of a Hamiltonian with two pseudospin components is considered. The diagonal elements of the Hamiltonian have non-parabolic but circular symmetric dispersion laws, whereas the off diagonal elements contain the chirality terms of different degrees. The solution of the matrix form Schrödinger equation was found following the method proposed by Rashba in his theory of spin-orbit coupling, taking into account different degrees of chirality and deviations on the parabolic dispersion law. The Landau quantization Hamiltonians were obtained by substituting the canonical momentum operators by the kinetic momentum operators. Two concrete examples were discussed. One of them concerns the Mexican hatlike dispersion law in the biased bilayer graphene with second order chirality, when the Landau quantization levels except two are characterized by two quantum numbers (n−2) and n for n≥2, corresponding to different pseudospin projections. They differ by 2 as the degree of chirality is. There are two energy levels E^±(n−2,n) with the same numbers (n−2) and n. The lower energy levels E⁻(n−2,n) have a linear decreasing behavior with dependence on the magnetic field strength H with different slopes and minima for different values of n≥2. At the intersection point H_th, two energy levels E⁻(1,3) and E⁻(0,2) have the same energy forming two degenerate LLLs. Touching the minima at different values of H, the energy branches gradually transform in the increasing quadratic dependences proportional to (2n+1)²H². The similar results were obtained in the case of cosine-type dispersion law in the frame of one-band model.     

Giant quantum oscillations of the skin layer in semimetals

We study theoretically the effect of electron energy quantization in a magnetic field on the penetration of radio waves into a semimetal in a geometry in which a constant magnetic field H is directed along the trigonal axis of a crystal. In this geometry, strong magnetic Landau damping in semimetals prevents wave propagation and is responsible for the skin effect. It is shown that quantization of the transverse energy of electrons considerably influences the effectiveness of collisionless absorption of the wave. As a result, the magnetic Landau damping and the skin depth experience giant oscillations upon a change in magnetic field H.     

Two-boson truncation of Pauli-Villars-regulated Yukawa theory

We apply light-front quantization, Pauli-Villars regularization, and numerical techniques to the nonperturbative solution of the dressed-fermion problem in Yukawa theory in 3 + 1 dimensions. The solution is developed as a Fock-state expansion truncated to include at most one fermion and two bosons. The basis includes a negative-metric heavy boson and a negative-metric heavy fermion to provide the necessary cancellations of ultraviolet divergences. The integral equations for the Fock-state wave functions are solved by reducing them to effective one-boson-one-fermion equations for eigenstates with J_z = 1/2. The equations are converted to a matrix equation with a specially tuned quadrature scheme, and the lowest mass state is obtained by diagonalization. Various properties of the dressed-fermion state are then computed from the nonperturbative light-front wave functions. This work is a major step in our development of Pauli-Villars regularization for the nonperturbative solution of four-dimensional field theories and represents a significant advance in the numerical accuracy of such solutions.