Stationary states and fluctuations

The phase space distributions of a number of stationary states: equilibrium, near equilibrium and far from equilibrium and the equations describing the fluctuations around these states are discussed.     

The collapse of quantum states: A new interpretation

The collapse of quantum states is analyzed in terms of a breakdown into two generic phases: Phase I, in which the field of potentialities that the quantum state represents undergoes a discontinuous and unpredictable change into one of the base states which corresponds to the measurement performed, and phase II, in which a transition from the level of potentialities to the level of actualities takes place. Phase I is discussed in relation to a comment about collapse, made by Dirac in conversation with the author, Nature makes a choice. An analysis of phase II leads to the suggestion that it occurs only through and as an act of experience. This postulate is shown to elucidate basic questions regarding the interpretation of quantum mechanics, such as the elusive demarcation line between the classical and quantum domains, and the controversy of the ontological vs. epistemological interpretation of quantum mechanics.This work was supported in part by the Colgate Research Council.     

Stationary states of the nonlinear Dirac equation: A variational approach

In this paper we prove the existence of stationary solutions of some nonlinear Dirac equations. We do it by using a general variational technique. This enables us to consider nonlinearities which are not necessarily compatible with symmetry reductions.     

Atomic collapse and quasi-Rydberg states in graphene

Charge impurities in graphene can host an infinite family of Rydberg-like resonance states of massless Dirac particles. These states, appearing for supercritical charge, are described by Bohr-Sommerfeld quantization of collapsing classical trajectories that descend on point charge, in analogy to the hydrogenic Rydberg states relation with planetary orbits. Strong tunnel coupling of these states to the Dirac continuum leads to resonance features in scattering on the impurities that manifest themselves in transport properties and in the local density of states.     

Stationary states and hydrodynamics of FHP cellular automata

The large scale behavior of FHP-type cellular automata is investigated in the presence of some additional random effects. It is shown that every translationinvariant stationary state of the modified model is a superposition of product measures. By means of the entropy argument of Yau and of Olla, Varadhan, and Yau, the macroscopic (Euler-type) equations governing the hydrodynamic behavior of FHP automata are also derived.Dedicated to Oliver Penrose on the occasion of his 65th birthday.     

Stationary states and energy cascades in inelastic gases

We find a general class of nontrivial stationary states in inelastic gases where, due to dissipation, energy is transferred from large velocity scales to small velocity scales. These steady states exist for arbitrary collision rules and arbitrary dimension. Their signature is a stationary velocity distribution f(v) with an algebraic high-energy tail, f(v) approximately v(-sigma). The exponent sigma is obtained analytically and it varies continuously with the spatial dimension, the homogeneity index characterizing the collision rate, and the restitution coefficient. We observe these stationary states in numerical simulations in which energy is injected into the system by infrequently boosting particles to high velocities. We propose that these states may be realized experimentally in driven granular systems.     

Stationary nonequilibrium states in boundary-driven Hamiltonian systems: Shear flow

We investigate stationary nonequilibrium states of systems of particles moving according to Hamiltonian dynamics with specified potentials. The systems are driven away from equilibrium by Maxwell-demon reflection rules at the walls. These deterministic rules conserve energy but not phase space volume, and the resulting global dynamics may or may not be time reversible (or even invertible). Using rules designed to simulate moving walls, we can obtain a stationary shear flow. Assuming that for macroscopic systems this flow satisfies the Navier-Stokes equations, we compare the hydrodynamic entropy production with the average rate of phase-space volume compression. We find that they are equalwhen the velocity distribution of particles incident on the walls is a local Maxwellian. An argument for a general equality of this kind, based on the assumption of local thermodynamic equilibrium, is given. Molecular dynamic simulations of hard disks in a channel produce a steady shear flow with the predicted behavior.     

Stationary non-equilibrium states of infinite harmonic systems

We investigate the existence, properties and approach to stationary non-equilibrium states of infinite harmonic crystals. For classical systems these stationary states are, like the Gibbs states, Gaussian measures on the phase space of the infinite system (analogues results are true for quantum systems). Their ergodic properties are the same as those of the equilibrium states: e.g. for ordered periodic crystals they are Bernoulli. Unlike the equilibrium states however they are not stable towards perturbations in the potential.We are particularly concerned here with states in which there is a non-vanishing steady heat flux passing through every point of the infinite system. Such superheat-conducting states are of course only possible in systems in which Fourier's law does not hold: the perfect harmonic crystal being an example of such a system. For a one dimensional system, we find such states (explicitely) as limits, whent, of time evolved initial states _i in which the left and right parts of the infinite crystal are in equilibrium at different temperatures, _L ^–L _R ^–1 , and the middle part is in an arbitrary state. We also investigate the limit of these stationary (t) states as the coupling strength between the system and the reservoirs goes to zero. In this limit we obtain a product state, where the reservoirs are in equilibrium at temperatures _L ^–1 and _R ^–1 and the system is in the unique stationary state of the reduced dynamics in the weak coupling limit.On leave of absence from the Fachbereich Physik der Universität München. Work supported by a Max Kade Foundation FellowshipResearch supported in part by NSF Grant MPS75-20638     

Stationary states in a quantum gravity model

A model theory for quantized gravity is discussed where only selected degrees of freedom are quantized. The concept of stationary states is introduced. It is shown that the Planck length arises as a lower bound to the space-time length scale in a natural way.     

Ultraslow phonon-assisted collapse of tubular image states

We predict ultraslow collapse of “tubular image states” (TIS) on material surfaces. TIS are bound Rydberg-like electronic states formed at large distances (∼30 nm) from the surfaces of suspended circularly-symmetric nanowires, such as metallic C nanotubes. The states are formed in potential wells, resulting from a combination of the TIS-electron attraction to image charges in the nanotube and its centrifugal repulsion, caused by spinning around the tube. We demonstrate that TIS can collapse on the tube surface by passing their angular momentum l to circularly polarized flexural phonons excited in the tube. Our analysis shows that for highly detached TIS with l ? 6 the relaxation lifetimes are of the order of 10 ns-1 μs, while for l < 6 these lifetimes are reduced by several orders of magnitude.     

Stationary soliton states in couplers with saturable nonlinearity

We find the possible stationary states for nonlinear couplers formed from materials that have saturable nonlinearities. We also determine the effect of saturation on the asymmetric state bifurcation point and the energy required for switching.     

Stationary states of crystal growth in three dimensions

A new Markov process describing crystal growth in three dimensions is introduced. States of the process are configurations of the crystal surface, which has a terrace-edge-kink structure. The states are continuous along edges but discrete across edges, in accordance with the very different rates for the two types of captures of particles. Stationary distributions, describing steady crystal growth, are found in general. To our knowledge, these are the first examples of stationary distributions for layered crystal growth in three dimensions. The steady growth rate and other quantities are obtained explicitly for two interacting edges. For many interacting edges, growth behavior is determined (a) in various asymptotic regimes including thermodynamic limits, (b) via simulations, and (c) using series (cluster) expansions in the slope of the surface, the first three coefficients being computed. The theoretical growth rates show a marked dependence on surface dimensions. This may contribute to the size dependence and dispersion in the observed growth rate of small crystals.     

Stationary states of a nonsimply connected ferromagnetic sample

It is shown that a nonsimply connected ferromagnetic sample can exist in stable states with an inhomogeneous distribution of magnetization. Their structure and stability are studied, along with the possibility of generating excited states by means of external magnetic fields.     

Stationary states of a rotating Bose-Einstein condensate: routes to vortex nucleation

Using a focused laser beam we stir a 87Rb Bose-Einstein condensate confined in a magnetic trap. We observe that the steady states of the condensate correspond to an elliptic cloud, stationary in the rotating frame. These steady states depend nonlinearly on the stirring parameters (amplitude and frequency), and various solutions can be reached experimentally depending on the path followed in this parameter space. These states can be dynamically unstable and we observe that such instabilities lead to vortex nucleation in the condensate.     

Stationary squeezed states in the generalized two-mode two-boson model

The conditions have been found for the stationary evolution of the dispersion of the quadrature components of bosonic fields in the generalized two-mode model with two-boson interaction.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 2, pp. 3–6, February, 1996.     

Stationary bound states of Dirac particles in collapsar fields

It is the first time stationary bound states of elementary spin 1/2 particles that do not decay with time are obtained for a Schwarzschild gravitational field using a self-conjugate Hamiltonian with a flat scalar product in a wide range of gravitational coupling constant. In order to obtain a discrete energy spectrum, we introduce a boundary condition such that the current density of Dirac particles near the “event horizon” is zero.     

Nonlinear and nonlocal dynamics of spatially extended systems: Stationary states, bifurcations and stability

Spatially extended systems with nonlocal dynamics (e.g. ferromagnetic resonance or current instability) of the type

with uε ⁿ will be studied near the soft-mode instability (wave number k_c ≠ 0) of a stationary and uniform state. An amplitude equation is derived within the framework of a multiple-scale perturbation theory. A particular example of this class of nonlocal dynamics is also treated numerically. As the main result we find that in contrast to the well-known supercritical bifurcation into a stable periodic state, the uniform state can bifurcate supercritically into a stationary state of an amplitude-modulated fast oscillation in space.     

Stationary spectroscopy of biotissues in vivo: Fluorescent studies of some pathological states

The stationary spectra of autofluorescence, along with the reflection coefficient at the wavelength of excitation, are measured in vivo for some stomach tissues in the case of different pathological states (dysplasia, superficial gastritis, and cancer) using a nitrogen laser as the source of excitation (λ_rad=337.1 nm). The fluorescence spectra obtained are decomposed into Gaussian-Lorentzian components. It is found that, in development of dysplasia and tumor processes, at least seven groups of fluorophores can be distinguished that form the entire emission spectrum. The ratio between the fluorescence intensities of flavins and NAD(P)H is determined and the degree of respiratory activity of cells estimated for the states considered. The quantum yields of fluorescence of the biotissues under investigation are estimated.