Relativistic symmetry suppresses quark spin-orbit splitting

Experimental data indicate small spin-orbit splittings in hadrons. For heavy-light mesons we identify a relativistic symmetry that suppresses these splittings. We suggest an experimental test in electron-positron annihilation. Furthermore, we argue that the dynamics necessary for this symmetry are possible in QCD.     

The breaking of cochlear scaling symmetry in human newborns and adults

Scaling symmetry appears to be a fundamental property of the cochlea as evidenced by invariant distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) phase above ～1-1.5 kHz when using frequency-scaled stimuli. Below this frequency demarcation, phase steepens. Cochlear scaling and its breaking have been described in the adult cochlea but have not been studied in newborns. It is not clear whether immaturities in cochlear mechanics exist at birth in the human neonate. In this study, DPOAE phase was recorded with a swept-tone protocol in three, octave-wide segments from 0.5 to 4 kHz. The lowest-frequency octave was targeted with increased signal averaging to enhance signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and focus on the apical half of the newborn cochlea where breaks from scaling have been observed. The results show: (1) the ear canal DPOAE phase was dominated by the distortion-source component in the low frequencies; thus, the reflection component cannot explain the steeper slope of phase; (2) DPOAE phase-frequency functions from adults and infants showed an unambiguous discontinuity around 1.4 and 1 kHz when described using two- and three-segment fits, respectively, and (3) newborns had a significantly steeper slope of phase in the low-frequency portion of the function which may suggest residual immaturities in the apical half of the newborn cochlea.     

A note on the Peccei-Quinn symmetry

A modified Peccei-Quinn symmetry proposed by Georgi, which is more suitable for studying the axions, is worked out and the relevant strong CP problem is briefly discussed.     

Spontaneous symmetry breaking of Slavnov symmetry A restriction on the gauge condition

It is shown that the condition of vanishing vacuum expectation value of the gauge operator, using a gauge-fixing term quadratic in this operator, does not necessarily follow from the Slavnov identity, due to a possible spontaneous breakdown of the Slavnov symmetry. For a consistent renormalization such a condition may have to be imposed order by order in perturbation theory, depending on the choice of the gauge. This restriction on non-singular gauges is particularly relevant for the discussion of the spontaneously broken realizations of the gauge symmetry.     

Dielectric catastrophe at the Mott transition

We study the Mott transition as a function of interaction strength in the half-filled Hubbard chain with next-nearest-neighbor hopping t' by calculating the response to an external electric field using the density matrix renormalization group. The electric susceptibility chi diverges when approaching the critical point from the insulating side. We show that the correlation length xi characterizing this transition is directly proportional to fluctuations of the polarization and that chi approximately xi2. The critical behavior shows that the transition is infinite order for all t', whether or not a spin gap is present, and that hyperscaling holds.     

A symmetry of the string background field equations

We investigate the effect of duality transformations on the geometries of a subclass of two-dimensional non-linear sigma-models. We identify the torsion which appears on dualizing such a model, initially without Wess-Zumino-Witten term, as the field strength of the gauge connection appearing in a Kałuza-Klein interpretation of the initial geometry. We show that duality preserves quantum conformal invariance at order [α′]⁰, where α′ is the string tension parameter, provided the change induced in the geometry by duality is accompanied by a shift in the dilaton field. We interpret these combined transformations as a symmetry of the order [α′]⁰ string background field equations.     

A measure of the symmetry of random walks

We derive the probability density for a simple measure of the asymmetry of a one-dimensional random walk, namely the ratio of the minimum of the two maximum displacements in the positive and negative directions, to the maximum. We show that in the diffusion limit the asymmetry is independent of time. These results are shown to apply to random walks in which individual steps have a stable law distribution as well as to multidimensional random walks.     

A human nonlinear cochlear filterbank.

Some published cochlear filterbanks are nonlinear but are fitted to animal basilar membrane (BM) responses. Others, like the gammatone, are based on human psychophysical data, but are linear. In this article, a human nonlinear filterbank is constructed by adapting a computational model of animal BM physiology to simulate human BM nonlinearity as measured by psychophysical pulsation-threshold experiments. The approach is based on a dual-resonance nonlinear type of filter whose basic structure was modeled using animal observations. In modeling the pulsation threshold data, the main assumption is that pulsation threshold occurs when the signal and the masker produce comparable excitation, that is the same filter output, at the place of the BM best tuned to the signal frequency. The filter is fitted at a discrete number of best frequencies (BFs) for which psychophysical data are available for a single listener and for an average response of six listeners. The filterbank is then created by linear regression of the resulting parameters to intermediate BFs. The strengths and limitations of the resulting filterbank are discussed. Its suitability for simulating hearing-impaired cochlear responses is also discussed.     

A cochlear model for acoustic emissions

Variability in cochlear emission properties among different species, particularly humans and small mammals, and within individuals in the same species, is modeled by a cochlear nonlinear transmission line. The difference between humans and animals is largely explained by a lower cochlear input impedance in human ears than in cats, gerbils, or chinchillas. Inconstancy in emission properties among individual human or animal subjects is related to structural variability among ears, which can be the result of a nonuniform connection between the outer hair cells cilia and the tectorial membrane. These structural differences are modeled by a nonuniform cochlear partition resistance along the cochlear length. The model predicts that an ear which has a uniform cochlear partition resistance and an adequate cochlear input impedance will emit acoustic distortion products (ADP), but not spontaneous acoustic emission (SAE), nor click-evoked emission (CE). Only a nonuniform cochlea emits SAE and CE in addition to enhanced ADPs. The model predictions agree quantitatively with cochlear emission data from humans and animals.     

Optimizing diffraction catastrophe evaluation

A theoretical analysis is proposed, aimed at investigating the character of those power series expansions recently considered for the evaluation of several types of diffraction catastrophes. A hyperlinear convergence is found to be the signature for such expansions, so that the results of the numerical experiments recently carried out find a meaningful interpretation in terms of the accelerating action operated by the Weniger transformation. As an important by-product of our analysis, simple criteria, aimed at numerically optimizing the diffraction catastrophe evaluations, are provided through analytical expressions.     

三能级激光器的突变行为

本文描写了有注入外场和可饱和吸收体的三能级单模激光器于阈值附近的行为.定量的计算表明:激光电场方程的非线性,特别是由于外场的注入,使得激光定态具有标准尖点突变流形.最后讨论了尖点突变流形的物理意义,给出了产生光学双稳态的条件.     

A model of intrinsic symmetry breaking

Different from the symmetry breaking associated with a phase transition, which occurs when the controlling parameter is manipulated across a critical point, the symmetry breaking presented in this Letter does not need parameter manipulation. Instead, the system itself suddenly undergoes symmetry breaking at a certain time during its evolution, which is intrinsic symmetry breaking. Through a polymer model, it is revealed that the origin of the intrinsic symmetry breaking is nonlinearity, which produces instability at the instance when the evolution crosses an inflexion point, where this instability breaks the original symmetry.     

A short introduction to quantum symmetry

In quantum theory, symmetries more general than groups are possible. We give a general definition of a quantum symmetry, such that symmetry operations act on the Hilbert space of physical states and notions of unitarity, invariance and covariance are defined. Within this frame, weak quasi quantum groups are described as a natural generalization of group algebras. Consistency with locality distinguishes them from more general quantum symmetries. To find the new kinds of symmetry one should investigate low dimensional quantum systems such as two-dimensional layers.     

Polarization catastrophe in the polaronic Wigner crystal

We consider a three dimensional Wigner crystal of electrons lying in a host ionic dielectric. Owing to their interaction with the lattice polarization, each localized electron forms a polaron. We study the collective excitations of such a polaronic Wigner crystal at zero temperature, taking into account the quantum fluctuations of the polarization within the Feynman harmonic approximation. We show that, contrary to the ordinary electron crystal, the system undergoes a polarization catastrophe when the density is increased. An optical signature of this instability is derived, whose trend agrees with the experiments carried out in Nd-based cuprates. Received 4 July 2002 Published online 17 September 2002     

Compact gauge fields and the infrared catastrophe

It is shown that infrared phenomena in the gauge theories are guided by certain classical solutions of the Yang-Mills equations. The existence of such solutions can lead to a finite correlation length which stops infrared catastrophe. In the present paper we deal only with theories with a compact but abelian gauge group. In this case the problems of correlation length and charge confinement are completely solved.     

A note on gauge symmetry breaking

We show that the breaking of Abelian gauge symmetry implies the existence of dipole singularities in the correlation functions of the (Abelian) Higgs model. We also show that the noninvariance of the Wightman functions does not preclude the implementability of the global gauge symmetry. An explicit example of gauge symmetry breaking (Ferrari's model) is discussed.     

A symmetry property in the theory of optical activity

Two different theories of optically active materials are compared. It is shown by a simple example, namely reflection of light from an isotropic optically active material, that both treatments lead to contradictory results if a certain symmetry property between material parameters is applied. Thus an experimental decision between the two treatments should be possible.     

A parametric study of cochlear input impedance

In this paper various aspects of the cat cochlear input impedance Zc (omega) are implemented using a transmission line model having perilymph viscosity and a varying cross-sectional scalae area. These model results are then compared to the experimental results of Lynch et al. [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 72, 108-130 (1982)]. From the model, the following observations are made about the cochlear input impedance: (a) Scalae area variations significantly alter the model Zc (omega); (b) the use of anatomically measured area improves the fits to the experimental data; (c) improved agreement between model and experimental phase is obtained when perilymph viscosity and tapering are included in the cochlear model for frequencies below approximately 150 Hz; (d) when model scalae tapering and perilymph viscosity are chosen to match physiological conditions, the effect of the helicotrema impedance on Zc (omega) is insignificant; and (e) the cochlear map, which is defined as the position of the basilar membrane peak displacement as a function of stimulus frequency, can have an important effect on Zc (omega) for frequencies below 500 Hz. A nonphysiological cochlear map can give rise to cochlear standing waves, which result in oscillations in Zc (omega). Scalae tapering and perilymph viscosity contribute significantly to the damping of these standing waves. These observations should dispel the previous notion that Zc (omega) is determined solely by parameters of the cochlea close to the stapes, and the notion that Zc (omega) is dominated by the helicotrema at low frequencies.