Thomas rotation and the parametrization of the Lorentz transformation group

Two successive pure Lorentz transformations are equivalent to a pure Lorentz transformation preceded by a 3×3 space rotation, called a Thomas rotation. When applied to the gyration of the rotation axis of a spinning mass, Thomas rotation gives rise to the well-knownThomas precession. A 3×3 parametric, unimodular, orthogonal matrix that represents the Thomas rotation is presented and studied. This matrix representation enables the Lorentz transformation group to be parametrized by two physical observables: the (3-dimensional) relative velocity and orientation between inertial frames. The resulting parametrization of the Lorentz group, in turn, enables the composition of successive Lorentz transformations to be given by parameter composition. This composition is continuously deformed into a corresponding, well-known Galilean transformation composition by letting the speed of light approach infinity. Finally, as an application the Lorentz transformation with given orientation parameter is uniquely expressed in terms of an initial and a final time-like 4-vector.     

Axiomatic approach to the nonassociative group of relativistic velocities

The bizarre and counterintuitive noncommutativity and nonassociativity of the relativistic composition of noncollinear velocities is attributed to the presence of the Thomas rotation. The Thomas rotation, in turn, gives rise to anonassociative group structure for the set of relativistically admissible velocities. This nonstandard group structure has been observed in other contexts and, hence, merits axiomatization.     

On the relation of Thomas rotation and angular velocity of reference frames

In the extensive literature dealing with the relativistic phenomenon of Thomas rotation several methods have been developed for calculating the Thomas rotation angle of a gyroscope along a circular world line. One of the most appealing concepts, introduced in Rindler and Perlick (Gen Rel Grav 22:1067, 1990), is to consider a rotating reference frame co-moving with the gyroscope, and relate the precession of the gyroscope to the angular velocity of the reference frame. A recent paper (Herrera and di Prisco in Found Phys Lett 15:373, 2002), however, applies this principle to three different co-moving rotating reference frames and arrives at three different Thomas rotation angles. The reason for this apparent paradox is that the principle of Rindler and Perlick (Gen Rel Grav 22:1067, 1990) is used for a situation to which it does not apply. In this paper we rigorously examine the theoretical background and limitations of applicability of the principle of Rindler and Perlick (Gen Rel Grav 22:1067, 1990). Along the way we also establish some general properties of rotating reference frames, which may be of independent interest.     

On the relativistic velocity composition paradox and the Thomas rotation

The non-commutativity and the non-associativity of the composition law of the non-colinear velocities lead to an apparent paradox, which in turn is solved by the Thomas rotation. A 3×3 parametric, unimodular and orthogonal matrix elaborated by Ungar is able to determine the Thomas rotation. However, the algebra involved in the derivation of the Thomas rotation matrix is overwhelming. The aim of this paper is to present a direct derivation of the Thomas angle as the angle between the composite vectors of the non-colinear velocities, thus obtaining a simplicity with which the rotation can be expressed. This allows the formulation of an alternative to the statement related to the necessity of the Thomas rotation of the Cartesian axes by the statement implying the necessity of the rotation of the direct (inverse) relativistic composite velocity to coincide with the inverse (direct) relativistic composite velocity.     

Semi-Classical Derivation of the Spin-Orbit Coupling for the Dirac Particle in an Accelerated Frame

We give a semi-classical derivation for the spin-orbit coupling in the non-relativistic Hamiltonian of the Dirac particle in an accelerated frame, in direct analogy with that for the Thomas term in the case of the electromagnetic interaction.     

Photorefractive Multi-Beam Induced Phase Conjugation

We demonstrate the simultaneous phase conjugation of multiple beams incident on the a face of a photorefractive barium titanate crystal. The input beam power, angle and position were set so that no phase conjugation occurs unless a switchable incoherent inducing beam is present on the — c face of the crystal. The use of the inducing technique with two mutually pumped phase conjugations for four input beams, or one self-pumped and one mutually pumped phase conjugation for three input beams can be performed in a crystal. Unlike the setup of conventional phase conjugation, which requires more precise arrangements, the novel setup of the multi-beam induced phase conjugation is relatively relaxed. The mechanism responsible for our discovery is qualitatively explained, and possible applications are mentioned.     

Vectorial Form of the Successive Lorentz Transformations. Application: Thomas Rotation

A complete treatment of the Thomas rotation involves algebraic manipulations of overwhelming complexity. In this paper, we show that a choice of convenient vectorial forms for the relativistic addition law of velocities and the successive Lorentz transformations allows us to obtain straightforwardly the Thomas rotation angle by three new methods: (a) direct computation as the angle between the composite vectors of the non-collinear velocities, (b) vectorial approach, and (c) matrix approach. The new expression of the Thomas rotation angle permits us to simply obtain the Thomas precession. Original diagrams are given for the first time.     

Thomas Rotation and Thomas Precession

Exact and simple calculation of Thomas rotation and Thomas precessions along a circular world line is presented in an absolute (coordinate-free) formulation of special relativity. A straightforward derivation of the Fermi–Walker equation is also given. Besides the simplicity of calculations the absolute treatment of spacetime allows us to make a clear conceptual distinction between the phenomena of Thomas rotation and Thomas precession.Supported by Hungarian research fund OTKA-T048489.Supported by Hungarian research funds OTKA-T047276, F049457, T049301.     

Determination of the liquid crystals phase transition temperatures using optical rotation effect

Using optical rotation effect, a sensitive, simple optical analytical system is developed for determining the phase transition temperatures of liquid crystals (LCs). When a monochromatic polarized light passes through LCs sample and analyzer, the light intensity changes with temperature. Especially, during the phase transition process, the intensity varies greatly due to optical rotation effect. The variation of light intensity versus variation of temperature curve shows the phase transition temperatures of LCs clearly. The phase transition temperatures of three cholesteric liquid crystals (ChLCs) and a nematic liquid crystals (NLCs) were detected by this method, and compared with those of the differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and polarized light microscope (PLM) methods.     

Boron nitride phase diagram. State of the art

Abstract

From recent experimental data on BN thermodynamic propeties, the equilibrium phase diagram for boron nitride has been plotted, which differs from the generally accepted Bundy-Wentorfs one. At atmospheric pressure cubic boron niride has been shown to be a thermodynamically stable modification up to temperatures of 1600 K, which drastically changes the established notions of BN polymorphism, based on assumed analogy of phase diagrams for carbon and boron nitride. These studies have shown that according to the proposed equilibrium phase diagram the threshold pressure of cBN crystallization can be reduced from 4 down to 2 GPa with the supercritical fluids present, which opens new fields for developing methods for cBN low-pressure synthesis.     

Theory and simulation of coupled grain boundary migration and grain rotation in low angle grain boundaries

Abstract

Microstructure evolution due to coupled grain boundary migration and grain rotation in low angle grain boundaries is studied through a combination of molecular dynamics and phase field modeling. We have performed two dimensional molecular dynamics simulations on a bicrystal with a circular grain embedded in a larger grain. Both size and orientation of the embedded grain are observed to evolve with time. The shrinking embedded grain is observed to have two regimes: constant dislocation density on the grain boundary followed by constant rate of increase in dislocation density. Based on these observations from the molecular dynamics simulations, a theoretical formulation of the kinetics of coupled grain rotation is developed. The grain rotation rate is derived for the two regimes of constant dislocation density and constant rate of change of dislocation density on the grain boundary during evolution. The theoretical calculation of the grain rotation rate shows strong dependence on the grain size and compares very well with the molecular dynamics simulations. A multi-order parameter based phase field model with coupled grain rotation is developed using the theoretical formulation to model polycrystalline microstructure evolution.     

Charge density waves and bond order waves in a quarter filled extended Hubbard ladder

We investigate the phase diagram of a quarter filled Hubbard ladder with nearest-neighbor Coulomb repulsion using bosonization and renormalization group approach. Focusing on the strong-repulsion regime, we discuss the effect of an interchain exchange interaction J and interchain repulsion V on the possible ground states of the system and charge order configurations. Since the spin excitations always possess a gap, we find competing bond-order wave and charge density wave phases as possible ground states of the ladder model. We discuss the elementary excitations in these various phases and point an analogy between the excitations on some of these phases and those of a Kondo-Heisenberg insulator. We also study the order of the quantum phase transitions between the different ground states of the system. We obtain second order transitions in the Ising or SU(2)₂ universality class or first order transitions. We map the complete phase diagram in the J –V plane by integrating perturbative renormalization-group equations. Finally, we discuss the effect of doping away from half-filling and the effect of an applied magnetic field.     

Quantum qualitative dynamics

We describe our work on qualitative methods for visualizing the quantum eigenstates of systems with nonlinear classical dynamics. For two-degree-of-freedom systems, our approach is based on the use of generalized coherent states, and allows systems with nonoscillator kinematics to be investigated. The general approach is illustrated with two examples involving vibration-rotation interaction in polyatomic molecules. We apply the coherent states of the Lie groupH ₄SU(2) to define quantum surfaces of section for a model involving centrifugal coupling of a harmonic bend with molecular rotation, andSU(2)SU(2) coherent states to study two harmonic normal modes coupled to overall molecular rotation through coriolis interaction. In both systems, quantum states are visualized on the rotational surface of section and compared with the corresponding classical phase space structure. Striking classical-quantum correspondence is observed. We then describe recent results on the quantum states of (N 3)-dimensional systems of coupled nonlinear oscillators, which reveal a quantum delocalization that is reminiscent of classical Arnold diffusion.     

Extended Phase Space in the Framework of Holography

We consider a holographic extended phase space in the presence of Reissner-Nordstrom-Anti-de Sitter(RNAdS) and Born-Infeld-Anti-de Sitter(BI-AdS) black holes in the bulk. In this extended phase space the cosmological constant is investigated as pressure and volume is defined as the codimension one-time slice in the bulk geometry enclosed by the minimal area appearing in the computation of the holographic entanglement entropy. These thermodynamics quantities can serve as probes of the underlying phase transition dictated by black hole thermodynamics, but do not describe different structures. We find that the isocharges on the pressure-volume plane exhibit a Van der Waals-like structure, for RN-AdS black holes in the background. For BI-AdS black holes, we observe the analogy with a Van der Waals liquid-gas system for βQ 1/2 and Reentrant phase transition for βQ 1/2 in the holographic extended phase space. The same holographic thermodynamic behavior is observed when we use the fidelity susceptibility as the volume and the cosmological constant as the pressure for RN-AdS black hole in the background.     

Geometric Phase Based Circular Array for Multimode Vortex Beam Generation

A geometric phase model for electromagnetic radiating elements is proposed. By rotation of the radiating element, a frequency‐independent geometric phase occurs for circularly polarized components of radiation field along every direction in far field. In addition, the geometric phase is equal to the rotation angle for a circularly polarized source, which enables phase modulation ranging from 0 to 2π. In contrast, the Pancharatnam–Berry phase for circular polarization conversion components brought by optical element rotation is twice the rotation angle and is applicable only for the scattering waves propagating along the rotation axis. As a proof of principle, an antenna array is designed and fabricated in microwave regime to verify the phase modulation approach. Both the calculated and measured results verify that three different orbital angular momentum modes are generated simultaneously at 8.5 GHz and 11.5 GHz.     

Neutrino oscillation interference phase in Kerr space--time

The mass neutrino interference phases along the null trajectory and the geodesic line in Kerr space--time are studied on the plane θ=π/2. Because of the rotation object in Kerr space--time, a particle travelling along the radial geodesic must have a dragging effect produced by the angular momentum of the central object. We give the correction of the phase due to the rotation of the space--time. We find that the type-I interference phase along the geodesic remains the double of that along the null on the condition that the rotating quantity parameter a² is preserved and the higher order terms are negligible (e.g. a⁴). In addition, we calculate the proper oscillation length in Kerr space--time. All of our results can return to those in Schwarzschild space--time as the rotating parameter a approaches zero.     

Manipulating Spin-Dependent Wavefronts of Vortex Beams via Plasmonic Metasurfaces

Conventional metasurfaces based on geometric phase are constrained to spin-locked phase profile, resulting in mirrored functionalities for different spins. A single flat device that enables independent manipulation of wavefronts in two orthogonal circularly polarized channels is of paramount importance in wireless and optical communications. In this work, by tuning the dimension and rotation angle of H-shaped meta-atoms to synthesize propagating phase and geometric phase, spin-dependent plasmonic metasurfaces are presented to manipulate circularly polarized waves in the visible band. To verify the capability of spin-dependent wavefront manipulation, three metasurfaces are implemented. The first metasurface generates vortex beams with orbital angular momentum (OAM) l = 1 under left-handed circularly polarized (LCP) incidence and l = 2 under right-handed circularly polarized (RCP) incidence. By introducing convolution operation, the second metasurface is capable of producing vortex beams with different OAMs and different directions for two spins. The third metasurface produces dual-beam and quad-beam with different OAMs for different circular polarizations. This scheme can provide a new pathway in ultracompact nanophotonic devices and systems.     

Pancharatnam geometric phase originating from successive partial projections

The spin of a polarized neutron beam subjected to a partial projection in another direction, traces a geodesic arc in the 2-sphere ray space. We delineate the geometric phase resulting from two successive partial projections on a general quantal state and derive the direction and strength of the third partial projection that would close the geodesic triangle. The constraint for the three successive partial projections to be identically equivalent to a net spin rotation regardless of the initial state, is derived.      

Bose–Einstein condensates in concentrically coupled annular traps with spin–orbit coupling and rotation

We investigate Bose–Einstein condensates in concentrically coupled annular traps with spin–orbit coupling and rotation. The ground state wave functions are computed by minimizing the Gross–Pitaevskii energy functional, and the combined effects of system?s parameters, especially the spin–orbit coupling and rotating, are investigated. The results show that for a finite fixed spin–orbit coupling, with increasing the angular frequency of rotation, the system is always in phase coexistence. Moreover, phase transitions between different ground state phases can be induced not only by spin–orbit coupling, but also rotation, which resembles very much the one where the s-wave interactions are varied.