Semiclassical Approximations for Hamiltonians with Operator-Valued Symbols

We consider the semiclassical limit of quantum systems with a Hamiltonian given by the Weyl quantization of an operator valued symbol. Systems composed of slow and fast degrees of freedom are of this form. Typically a small dimensionless parameter ${\varepsilon \ll 1}$ controls the separation of time scales and the limit ${\varepsilon\to 0}$ corresponds to an adiabatic limit, in which the slow and fast degrees of freedom decouple. At the same time ${\varepsilon\to 0}$ is the semiclassical limit for the slow degrees of freedom. In this paper we show that the ${\varepsilon}$ -dependent classical flow for the slow degrees of freedom first discovered by Littlejohn and Flynn (Phys Rev A (3) 44(8):5239–5256, 1991), coming from an ${\varepsilon}$ -dependent classical Hamilton function and an ${\varepsilon}$ -dependent symplectic form, has a concrete mathematical and physical meaning: Based on this flow we prove a formula for equilibrium expectations, an Egorov theorem and transport of Wigner functions, thereby approximating properties of the quantum system up to errors of order ${\varepsilon^2}$ . In the context of Bloch electrons formal use of this classical system has triggered considerable progress in solid state physics (Xiao et al. in Rev Mod Phys 82(3):1959–2007, 2010). Hence we discuss in some detail the application of the general results to the Hofstadter model, which describes a two-dimensional gas of non-interacting electrons in a constant magnetic field in the tight-binding approximation.     

Extreme \alpha -clustering in the 18O nucleus

The structure of the ¹⁸O nucleus at excitation energies above the $ \alpha$ decay threshold was studied using ¹⁴C + $ \alpha$ resonance elastic scattering. A number of states with large $ \alpha$ reduced widths have been observed, indicating that the $ \alpha$ -cluster degree of freedom plays an important role in this N $ \ne$ Z nucleus. A 0⁺ state with an $ \alpha$ reduced width exceeding the single-particle limit was identified at an excitation energy of 9.9±0.3 MeV. We discuss evidence that states of this kind are common in light nuclei and give possible explanations of this feature.     

Counter-rotational effects on stability of 2+1-dimensional thin-shell wormholes

The Zipoy–Voorhees–Weyl (ZVW) spacetime characterized by mass ( \(M\) ) and oblateness ( \(\delta \) ) is proposed in the construction of viable thin-shell wormholes (TSWs). A departure from spherical/cylindrical symmetry yields a positive total energy in spite of the fact that the local energy density may take negative values. We show that oblateness of the bumpy sources/black holes can be incorporated as a new degree of freedom that may play a role in the resolution of the exotic matter problem in TSWs. A small velocity perturbation reveals, however, that the resulting TSW is unstable.     

Observational constraint on the interacting dark energy models including the Sandage–Loeb test

Two types of interacting dark energy models are investigated using the type Ia supernova (SNIa), observational $H(z)$ data (OHD), cosmic microwave background shift parameter, and the secular Sandage–Loeb (SL) test. In the investigation, we have used two sets of parameter priors including WMAP-9 and Planck 2013. They have shown some interesting differences. We find that the inclusion of SL test can obviously provide a more stringent constraint on the parameters in both models. For the constant coupling model, the interaction term has been improved to be only a half of the original scale on corresponding errors. Comparing with only SNIa and OHD, we find that the inclusion of the SL test almost reduces the best-fit interaction to zero, which indicates that the higher-redshift observation including the SL test is necessary to track the evolution of the interaction. For the varying coupling model, data with the inclusion of the SL test show that the parameter $\xi $ at $1\sigma $ C.L. in Planck priors is $\xi >3$ , where the constant $\xi $ is characteristic for the severity of the coincidence problem. This indicates that the coincidence problem will be less severe. We then reconstruct the interaction $\delta (z)$ , and we find that the best-fit interaction is also negative, similar to the constant coupling model. However, for a high redshift, the interaction generally vanishes at infinity. We also find that the phantom-like dark energy with $w_X<-1$ is favored over the $\varLambda $ CDM model.     

Entanglement of Bipartite Quantum Systems Driven by Repeated Interactions

We consider a non-interacting bipartite quantum system $\mathcal H_S^A\otimes \mathcal H_S^B$ undergoing repeated quantum interactions with an environment modeled by a chain of independent quantum systems interacting one after the other with the bipartite system. The interactions are made so that the pieces of environment interact first with $\mathcal H_S^A$ and then with $\mathcal H_S^B$ . Even though the bipartite systems are not interacting, the interactions with the environment create an entanglement. We show that, in the limit of short interaction times, the environment creates an effective interaction Hamiltonian between the two systems. This interaction Hamiltonian is explicitly computed and we show that it keeps track of the order of the successive interactions with $\mathcal H_S^A$ and $\mathcal H_S^B$ . Particular physical models are studied, where the evolution of the entanglement can be explicitly computed. We also show the property of return of equilibrium and thermalization for a family of examples.     

Bootstrap Percolation in Power-Law Random Graphs

A bootstrap percolation process on a graph $G$ is an “infection” process which evolves in rounds. Initially, there is a subset of infected nodes and in each subsequent round each uninfected node which has at least $r$ infected neighbours becomes infected and remains so forever. The parameter $r\ge 2$ is fixed. Such processes have been used as models for the spread of ideas or trends within a network of individuals. We analyse this process in the case where the underlying graph is an inhomogeneous random graph, which exhibits a power-law degree distribution, and initially there are $a(n)$ randomly infected nodes. The main focus of this paper is the number of vertices that will have been infected by the end of the process. The main result of this work is that if the degree sequence of the random graph follows a power law with exponent $\beta $ , where $2 < \beta < 3$ , then a sublinear number of initially infected vertices is enough to spread the infection over a linear fraction of the nodes of the random graph, with high probability. More specifically, we determine explicitly a critical function $a_c(n)$ such that $a_c(n) = o(n)$ with the following property. Assuming that $n$ is the number of vertices of the underlying random graph, if $a(n) \ll a_c(n)$ , then the process does not evolve at all, with high probability as $n$ grows, whereas if $a(n)\gg a_c(n)$ , then there is a constant $\varepsilon > 0$ such that, with high probability, the final set of infected vertices has size at least $\varepsilon n$ . This behaviour is in sharp contrast with the case where the underlying graph is a $G(n, p)$ random graph with $p=d/n$ . It follows from an observation of Balogh and Bollobás that in this case if the number of initially infected vertices is sublinear, then there is lack of evolution of the process. It turns out that when the maximum degree is $o(n^{1/(\beta - 1)})$ , then $a_c(n)$ depends also on $r$ . But when the maximum degree is $\Theta (n^{1/(\beta - 1)})$ , then $a_c (n) = n^{\beta - 2 \over \beta - 1}$ .     

Can smooth LTB models mimicking the cosmological constant for the luminosity distance also satisfy the age constraint?

The central smoothness of the functions defining a LTB solution plays a crucial role in their ability to mimic the effects of the cosmological constant. Even if non-smoothness is not physically inconsistent with the theory of general relativity, smoothness is still an important geometrical property characterizing the solution of the Einstein’s equations. So far attention has been focused on $C^{1}$ models while in this paper we approach it in a more general way, investigating the implications of higher order central smoothness conditions for LTB models reproducing the luminosity distance of a $\Lambda CDM$ Universe. Our analysis is based on a low red-shift expansion, and extends previous investigations by including also the constraint coming from the age of the Universe and re-expressing the equations for the solution of the inversion problem in a manifestly dimensionless form which makes evident the freedom to accommodate any value of $H_0$ as well. Higher order smoothness conditions strongly limit the number of possible solutions respect to the first order condition. Neither a $C^{1}$ or a $C^{i}$ LTB model can both satisfy the age constraint and mimic the cosmological constant for the luminosity distance. This implies that it is not necessary to include any additional observable to distinguish mathematically the theoretical predictions of a smooth LTB model from a $\Lambda CDM$ . One difference is in the case in which the age constraint is not included and the bang function is zero, in which there is a unique solution for $C^1$ models but no solution for the $C^{i}$ case. Another difference is in the case in which the age constraint is not included and the bang function is not zero, in which the solution is undetermined for both $C^1$ and $C^{i}$ models, but the latter ones have much less residual parametric freedom. Our results imply that any LTB model able to fit luminosity distance data and satisfy the age constraint is either not mimicking exactly the $\Lambda CDM$ red-shift space theoretical predictions or it is not smooth.     

The flavour of natural SUSY

We study the screening effect for the multiparton interactions (MPI) for proton–deuteron collisions in the kinematics where one parton belonging to the deuteron has small \(x_1\) , so the leading twist shadowing is present, while the second parton ( \(x_2\) ) is involved in the interaction in the kinematics where shadowing effects are small. We find that the ratio of the shadowing and the impulse approximation terms is approximately a factor of 2 larger for MPI than for the single parton distributions. We also calculate the double parton antishadowing (DPA) contribution to the cross section due to the independent interactions of the partons of the projectile proton with two nucleons of the deuteron and find that shadowing leads to a strong reduction of the DPA effect. For example, for the resolution scale \(Q_1^2 \sim 4\)   \(\text{ GeV }^2\) of the interaction with parton \(x_1\) we find that shadowing reduces the DPA effect by \(\sim \) 30 %. It is argued that in the discussed kinematics the contribution of the interference diagrams, which correspond to the interchange of partons between the proton and neutron, constitutes only a small correction to the shadowing contributions.     

Phase Transitions in Layered Systems

We consider the Ising model on \(\mathbb Z\times \mathbb Z\) where on each horizontal line \(\{(x,i), x\in \mathbb Z\}\) , called “layer”, the interaction is given by a ferromagnetic Kac potential with coupling strength \(J_{ \gamma }(x,y)={ \gamma }J({ \gamma }(x-y))\) , where \(J(\cdot )\) is smooth and has compact support; we then add a nearest neighbor ferromagnetic vertical interaction of strength \({ \gamma }^{A}\) , where \(A\ge 2\) is fixed, and prove that for any \(\beta \) larger than the mean field critical value there is a phase transition for all \({ \gamma }\) small enough.     

Decay of Correlations in 1D Lattice Systems of Continuous Spins and Long-Range Interaction

We consider a one-dimensional lattice system of unbounded and continuous spins. The Hamiltonian consists of a perturbed strictly-convex single-site potential and a product term with longe-range interaction. We show that if the interactions have an algebraic decay of order \(2+\alpha \) , \(\alpha >0\) , then the correlations also decay algebraically of order \(2+ \tilde{\alpha }\) for some \(\alpha > \tilde{\alpha }> 0\) . For the argument we generalize a method due to Zegarlinski from finite-range to infinite-range interaction to get a preliminary decay of correlations, which is improved to the correct order by a recursive scheme based on Lebowitz inequalities. Because the decay of correlations yields the uniqueness of the Gibbs measure, the main result of this article yields that the one-phase region of a continuous spin system is at least as large as for the Ising model. This shows that there is no-phase transition in one-dimensional systems of unbounded and continuous spins as long as the interaction decays algebraically of order \(2+\alpha \) , \(\alpha >0\) .     

Geometric Discord of Non-X-Structured State under Decoherence Channels

We investigate the level surfaces of geometric discord under some typical kinds of decoherence channels for a class of two-qubit states with the Bloch vectors \(\overset {\rightharpoonup }{r}\) and \(\overset {\rightharpoonup }{s}\) in z and x direction respectively. The surfaces of geometric discord are composed of three interaction ”cylinders” along three orthogonal directions of \(\overset {\rightharpoonup }{c}_{1}\) , \(\overset {\rightharpoonup }{c}_{2}\) and \(\overset {\rightharpoonup }{c}_{3}\) . We study the different images corresponding to different values of geometric discord, the Bloch vectors as well as p. In the phase damping channel, the geometric discord keeps constant over a period of time, furthermore the geometric discord and the quantum discord have the same sudden change point for Non-X-structured state.     

Static Magnetic Susceptibility of the Systems with Anisotropic Kondo Interaction

We theoretically investigated the static magnetic susceptibility in the heavy fermion compounds YbRh \(_2\) Si \(_2\) and YbIr \(_2\) Si \(_2\) . The molecular field approximation together with the renormalization of the Kondo interaction by the high-energy conduction electron excitations results in the Curie–Weiss law and Van Vleck susceptibility with temperature-dependent Curie and Weiss parameters.     

Lagrangian Curves on Spectral Curves of Monopoles

We study Lagrangian points on smooth holomorphic curves in ${\rm T}{\mathbb P}^1$ equipped with a natural neutral Kähler structure, and prove that they must form real curves. By virtue of the identification of ${\rm T}{\mathbb P}^1$ with the space ${\mathbb L}({\mathbb E}^3)$ of oriented affine lines in Euclidean 3-space ${\mathbb E}^3$ , these Lagrangian curves give rise to ruled surfaces in ${\mathbb E}^3$ , which we prove have zero Gauss curvature. Each ruled surface is shown to be the tangent lines to a curve in ${\mathbb E}^3$ , called the edge of regression of the ruled surface. We give an alternative characterization of these curves as the points in ${\mathbb E}^3$ where the number of oriented lines in the complex curve Σ that pass through the point is less than the degree of Σ. We then apply these results to the spectral curves of certain monopoles and construct the ruled surfaces and edges of regression generated by the Lagrangian curves.     

Continuous and Discrete Painlevé Equations Arising from the Gap Probability Distribution of the Finite n Gaussian Unitary Ensembles

In this paper we study the gap probability problem in the Gaussian unitary ensembles of \(n\) by \(n\) matrices : The probability that the interval \(J := (-a,a)\) is free of eigenvalues. In the works of Tracy and Widom, Adler and Van Moerbeke, and Forrester and Witte on this subject, it has been shown that two Painlevé type differential equations arise in this context. The first is the Jimbo–Miwa–Okomoto \(\sigma \) -form and the second is a particular Painlevé IV. Using the ladder operator technique of orthogonal polynomials we derive three quantities associated with the gap probability, denoted as \(\sigma _n(a)\) , \(R_n(a)\) and \(r_n(a)\) . We show that each one satisfies a second order Painlevé type differential equation as well as a discrete Painlevé type equation. In particular, in addition to providing an elementary derivation of the aforementioned \(\sigma \) -form and Painlevé IV we are able to show that the quantity \(r_n(a)\) satisfies a particular case of Chazy’s second degree second order differential equation. For the discrete equations we show that the quantity \(r_n(a)\) satisfies a particular form of the modified discrete Painlevé II equation obtained by Grammaticos and Ramani in the context of Backlund transformations. We also derive second order second degree difference equations for the quantities \(R_n(a)\) and \(\sigma _n(a)\) .     

A study of a possible unified potential model

The various properties of quarkonium systems have been studies in the framework of a recently proposed potential model, which combines the asymptotic freedom at the largeQ ₂ and the multigluon effect at the lowerQ ₂ regions with the confinement at the large distance. Good agreements with experiments are found, including \(c\bar c\) and \(b\bar b\) energy levels, leptonic decay widths, and in particular the fine and hyperfine splittings. We also analyze the Lorentz structure of the confinement potential with reference to the charmonium and bottomium fine and hyperfine splittings. Our analyses conclude that almost pure scalar confinement is favored. The properties of \(t\bar t\) spectroscopies are studied over a wide range of \(M_{t\bar t}\) values (from 80 GeV to 200 GeV).     

An interacting dark energy model in a non-flat universe

In this paper, an interacting dark energy model in a non-flat universe is studied, with taking interaction form $C=\alpha H\rho _{de}$ C = α H ρ d e . And in this study a property for the mysterious dark energy is aforehand assumed, i.e. its equation of state $w_{\Lambda }=-1$ w Λ = - 1 . After several derivations, a power-law form of dark energy density is obtained $\rho _{\Lambda } \propto a^{-\alpha }$ ρ Λ ∝ a - α , here $a$ a is the cosmic scale factor, $\alpha $ α is a constant parameter introducing to describe the interaction strength and the evolution of dark energy. By comparing with the current cosmic observations, the combined constraints on the parameter $\alpha $ α is investigated in a non-flat universe. For the used data they include: the Union2 data of type Ia supernova, the Hubble data at different redshifts including several new published datapoints, the baryon acoustic oscillation data, the cosmic microwave background data, and the observational data from cluster X-ray gas mass fraction. The constraint results on model parameters are $\Omega _{K}=0.0024\,(\pm 0.0053)^{+0.0052+0.0105}_{-0.0052-0.0103}, \alpha =-0.030\,(\pm 0.042)^{+0.041+0.079}_{-0.042-0.085}$ Ω K = 0.0024 ( ± 0.0053 ) - 0.0052 - 0.0103 + 0.0052 + 0.0105 , α = - 0.030 ( ± 0.042 ) - 0.042 - 0.085 + 0.041 + 0.079 and $\Omega _{0m}=0.282\,(\pm 0.011)^{+0.011+0.023}_{-0.011-0.022}$ Ω 0 m = 0.282 ( ± 0.011 ) - 0.011 - 0.022 + 0.011 + 0.023 . According to the constraint results, it is shown that small constraint values of $\alpha $ α indicate that the strength of interaction is weak, and at $1\sigma $ 1 σ confidence level the non-interacting cosmological constant model can not be excluded.     

On the Mass Concentration for Bose–Einstein Condensates with Attractive Interactions

We consider two-dimensional Bose–Einstein condensates with attractive interaction, described by the Gross–Pitaevskii functional. Minimizers of this functional exist only if the interaction strength a satisfies ${a < a^* = \|Q\|_2^2}$ , where Q is the unique positive radial solution of ${\Delta u - u + u^3 = 0}$ in ${\mathbb{R}^2}$ . We present a detailed analysis of the behavior of minimizers as a approaches a*, where all the mass concentrates at a global minimum of the trapping potential.     

Level-Rank Duality via Tensor Categories

We give a new way to derive branching rules for the conformal embedding $$(\hat{\mathfrak{sl}}_n)_m\oplus(\hat{\mathfrak{sl}}_m)_n\subset(\hat{\mathfrak{sl}}_{nm})_1. $$ In addition, we show that the category ${\mathcal{C}(\hat{\mathfrak{sl}}_n)_m^0}$ of degree zero integrable highest weight ${(\hat{\mathfrak{sl}}_n)_m}$ -representations is braided equivalent to ${\mathcal{C}(\hat{\mathfrak{sl}}_m)_n^0}$ with the reversed braiding.