Antineutrino science in KamLAND

The primary goal of KamLAND is a search for the oscillation of \({\bar{\nu }}_\mathrm{e}\) ’s emitted from distant power reactors. The long baseline, typically 180 km, enables KamLAND to address the oscillation solution of the “solar neutrino problem” with \({\bar{\nu }}_{e} \) ’s under laboratory conditions. KamLAND found fewer reactor \({\bar{\nu }}_{e} \) events than expected from standard assumptions about \(\overline{\nu }_e\) propagation at more than 9 \(\sigma \) confidence level (C.L.). The observed energy spectrum disagrees with the expected spectral shape at more than 5 \(\sigma \) C.L., and prefers the distortion from neutrino oscillation effects. A three-flavor oscillation analysis of the data from KamLAND and KamLAND + solar neutrino experiments with CPT invariance, yields \(\Delta m_{21}^2 \) = [ \(7.54_{-0.18}^{+0.19} \times \) 10 \(^{-5}\) eV \(^{2}\) , \(7.53_{-0.18}^{+0.19} \times \) 10 \(^{-5}\) eV \(^{2}\) ], tan \(^{2}\theta _{12}\) = [ \(0.481_{-0.080}^{+0.092} \) , \(0.437_{-0.026}^{+0.029} \) ], and sin \(^{2}\theta _{13}\) = [ \(0.010_{-0.034}^{+0.033} \) , \(0.023_{-0.015}^{+0.015} \) ]. All solutions to the solar neutrino problem except for the large mixing angle region are excluded. KamLAND also demonstrated almost two cycles of the periodic feature expected from neutrino oscillation effects. KamLAND performed the first experimental study of antineutrinos from the Earth’s interior so-called geoneutrinos (geo \({\bar{\nu }}_{e} \) ’s), and succeeded in detecting geo \({\bar{\nu }}_{e} \) ’s produced by the decays of \(^{238}\) U and \(^{232}\) Th within the Earth. Assuming a chondritic Th/U mass ratio, we obtain \(116_{-27}^{+28} {\bar{\nu }}_{e}\) events from \(^{238}\) U and \(^{232}\) Th, corresponding a geo \({\bar{\nu }}_{e}\) flux of \(3.4_{-0.8}^{+0.8}\times \) 10 \(^{6}\) cm \(^{-2}\)  s \(^{-1}\) at the KamLAND location. We evaluate various bulk silicate Earth composition models using the observed geo \({\bar{\nu }}_{e} \) rate.     

How to Add a Boundary Condition

Given a conformal QFT local net of von Neumann algebras ${\mathcal {B}_2}$ on the two-dimensional Minkowski spacetime with irreducible subnet ${\mathcal {A} \otimes \mathcal {A}}$ , where ${\mathcal {A}}$ is a completely rational net on the left/right light-ray, we show how to consistently add a boundary to ${\mathcal {B}_2}$ : we provide a procedure to construct a Boundary CFT net ${\mathcal {B}}$ of von Neumann algebras on the half-plane x >  0, associated with ${\mathcal {A}}$ , and locally isomorphic to ${\mathcal {B}_2}$ . All such locally isomorphic Boundary CFT nets arise in this way. There are only finitely many locally isomorphic Boundary CFT nets and we get them all together. In essence, we show how to directly redefine the C* representation of the restriction of ${\mathcal {B}_2}$ to the half-plane by means of subfactors and local conformal nets of von Neumann algebras on S ¹.     

Haag Duality and the Distal Split Property for Cones in the Toric Code

We prove that Haag duality holds for cones in the toric code model. That is, for a cone ??, the algebra ${\mathcal{R}_{\Lambda}}$ of observables localized in ?? and the algebra ${\mathcal{R}_{\Lambda^c}}$ of observables localized in the complement ?? ^c generate each other??s commutant as von Neumann algebras. Moreover, we show that the distal split property holds: if ${\Lambda_1 \subset \Lambda_2}$ are two cones whose boundaries are well separated, there is a Type I factor ${\mathcal{N}}$ such that ${\mathcal{R}_{\Lambda_1} \subset \mathcal{N} \subset \mathcal{R}_{\Lambda_2}}$ . We demonstrate this by explicitly constructing ${\mathcal{N}}$ .     

Optimal N-Point Configurations on the Sphere: “Magic” Numbers and Smale’s 7th Problem

This paper inquires into the concavity of the map \(N\mapsto v_s(N)\) from the integers \(N\ge 2\) into the minimal average standardized Riesz pair-energies \(v_s(N)\) of \(N\) -point configurations on the sphere \(\mathbb {S}^2\) for various \(s\in \mathbb {R}\) . The standardized Riesz pair-energy of a pair of points on \(\mathbb {S}^2\) a chordal distance \(r\) apart is \(V_s(r)= s^{-1}\left( r^{-s}-1 \right) \) , \(s \ne 0\) , which becomes \(V_0(r) = \ln \frac{1}{r}\) in the limit \(s\rightarrow 0\) . Averaging it over the \(\left( \begin{array}{c} N\\ 2\end{array}\right) \) distinct pairs in a configuration and minimizing over all possible \(N\) -point configurations defines \(v_s(N)\) . It is known that \(N\mapsto v_s(N)\) is strictly increasing for each \(s\in \mathbb {R}\) , and for \(s<2\) also bounded above, thus “overall concave.” It is (easily) proved that \(N\mapsto v_{-2}^{}(N)\) is even locally strictly concave, and that so is the map \(2n\mapsto v_s(2n)\) for \(s<-2\) . By analyzing computer-experimental data of putatively minimal average Riesz pair-energies \(v_s^x(N)\) for \(s\in \{-1,0,1,2,3\}\) and \(N\in \{2,\ldots ,200\}\) , it is found that the map \(N\mapsto {v}_{-1}^x(N)\) is locally strictly concave, while \(N\mapsto {v}_s^x(N)\) is not always locally strictly concave for \(s\in \{0,1,2,3\}\) : concavity defects occur whenever \(N\in {\mathcal {C}}^{x}_+(s)\) (an \(s\) -specific empirical set of integers). It is found that the empirical map \(s\mapsto {\mathcal {C}}^{x}_+(s),\ s\in \{-2,-1,0,1,2,3\}\) , is set-theoretically increasing; moreover, the percentage of odd numbers in \({\mathcal {C}}^{x}_+(s),\ s\in \{0,1,2,3\}\) is found to increase with \(s\) . The integers in \({\mathcal {C}}^{x}_+(0)\) are few and far between, forming a curious sequence of numbers, reminiscent of the “magic numbers” in nuclear physics. It is conjectured that these new “magic numbers” are associated with optimally symmetric optimal-log-energy \(N\) -point configurations on \(\mathbb {S}^2\) . A list of interesting open problems is extracted from the empirical findings, and some rigorous first steps toward their solutions are presented. It is emphasized how concavity can assist in the solution to Smale’s \(7\) th Problem, which asks for an efficient algorithm to find near-optimal \(N\) -point configurations on \(\mathbb {S}^2\) and higher-dimensional spheres.     

Joint System Quantum Descriptions Arising from Local Quantumness

We study the entropy flux in the stationary state of a finite one-dimensional sample ${\mathcal{S}}$ connected at its left and right ends to two infinitely extended reservoirs ${\mathcal{R}_{l/r}}$ at distinct (inverse) temperatures ${\beta_{l/r}}$ and chemical potentials ${\mu_{l/r}}$ . The sample is a free lattice Fermi gas confined to a box [0, L] with energy operator ${h_{\mathcal{S}, L}= - \Delta + v}$ . The Landauer-Büttiker formula expresses the steady state entropy flux in the coupled system ${\mathcal{R}_l + \mathcal{S} + \mathcal{R}_r}$ in terms of scattering data. We study the behaviour of this steady state entropy flux in the limit ${L \to \infty}$ and relate persistence of transport to norm bounds on the transfer matrices of the limiting half-line Schrödinger operator ${h_\mathcal{S}}$ .     

Functional Properties of Hörmander’s Space of Distributions Having a Specified Wavefront Set

The space \({\mathcal{D}_\Gamma^\prime}\) of distributions having their wavefront sets in a closed cone \({\Gamma}\) has become important in physics because of its role in the formulation of quantum field theory in curved spacetime. In this paper, the topological and bornological properties of \({\mathcal{D}_\Gamma^\prime}\) and its dual \({\mathcal{E}_\Lambda^\prime}\) are investigated. It is found that \({\mathcal{D}_\Gamma^\prime}\) is a nuclear, semi-reflexive and semi-Montel complete normal space of distributions. Its strong dual \({\mathcal{E}_\Lambda^\prime}\) is a nuclear, barrelled and (ultra)bornological normal space of distributions which, however, is not even sequentially complete. Concrete rules are given to determine whether a distribution belongs to \({\mathcal{D}_\Gamma^\prime}\) , whether a sequence converges in \({\mathcal{D}_\Gamma^\prime}\) and whether a set of distributions is bounded in \({\mathcal{D}_\Gamma^\prime}\) .     

Finite W-Superalgebras and Truncated Super Yangians

Let ${Y_{m|n}^{\ell}}$ be the super Yangian of general linear Lie superalgebra for ${\mathfrak{gl}_{m|n}}$ . Let ${e \in \mathfrak{gl}_{m\ell|n\ell}}$ be a “rectangular” nilpotent element and ${\mathcal{W}_e}$ be the finite W-superalgebra associated to e. We show that ${Y_{m|n}^{\ell}}$ is isomorphic to ${\mathcal{W}_e}$ .     

Some Properties of Generalized Quantum Operations

Let $\mathcal{B}(\mathcal{H})$ be the set of all bounded linear operators on the separable Hilbert space  $\mathcal{H}$ . A (generalized) quantum operation is a bounded linear operator defined on  $\mathcal{B}(\mathcal{H})$ , which has the form $\varPhi_{\mathcal{A}}(X)=\sum_{i=1}^{\infty}A_{i}XA_{i}^{*}$ , where $A_{i}\in\mathcal{B}(\mathcal{H})$ (i=1,2,…) satisfy $\sum_{i=1}^{\infty}A_{i}A_{i}^{*}\leq \nobreak I$ in the strong operator topology. In this paper, we establish the relationship between the (generalized) quantum operation $\varPhi_{\mathcal{A}}$ and its dual $\varPhi_{\mathcal {A}}^{\dag}$ with respect to the set of fixed points and the noiseless subspace. In particular, we also partially characterize the extreme points of the set of all (generalized) quantum operations and give some equivalent conditions for the correctable quantum channel.     

Optimal Paths for Symmetric Actions in the Unitary Group

Given a positive and unitarily invariant Lagrangian ${\mathcal{L}}$ defined in the algebra of matrices, and a fixed time interval ${[0,t_0]\subset\mathbb R}$ , we study the action defined in the Lie group of ${n\times n}$ unitary matrices ${\mathcal{U}(n)}$ by $$\mathcal{S}(\alpha)=\int_0^{t_0} \mathcal{L}(\dot\alpha(t))\,dt, $$ where ${\alpha:[0,t_0]\to\mathcal{U}(n)}$ is a rectifiable curve. We prove that the one-parameter subgroups of ${\mathcal{U}(n)}$ are the optimal paths, provided the spectrum of the exponent is bounded by π. Moreover, if ${\mathcal{L}}$ is strictly convex, we prove that one-parameter subgroups are the unique optimal curves joining given endpoints. Finally, we also study the connection of these results with unitarily invariant metrics in ${\mathcal{U}(n)}$ as well as angular metrics in the Grassmann manifold.     

Self-Dual Noncommutative {\phi^4} -Theory in Four Dimensions is a Non-Perturbatively Solvable and Non-Trivial Quantum Field Theory

We study quartic matrix models with partition function \({\mathcal{Z}[E, J] = \int dM}\) exp(trace \({(JM - EM^{2} - \frac{\lambda}{4} M^4)}\) ). The integral is over the space of Hermitean \({\mathcal{N} \times \mathcal{N}}\) -matrices, the external matrix E encodes the dynamics, \({\lambda > 0}\) is a scalar coupling constant and the matrix J is used to generate correlation functions. For E not a multiple of the identity matrix, we prove a universal algebraic recursion formula which gives all higher correlation functions in terms of the 2-point function and the distinct eigenvalues of E. The 2-point function itself satisfies a closed non-linear equation which must be solved case by case for given E. These results imply that if the 2-point function of a quartic matrix model is renormalisable by mass and wavefunction renormalisation, then the entire model is renormalisable and has vanishing β-function. As the main application we prove that Euclidean \({\phi^4}\) -quantum field theory on four-dimensional Moyal space with harmonic propagation, taken at its self-duality point and in the infinite volume limit, is exactly solvable and non-trivial. This model is a quartic matrix model, where E has for \({\mathcal{N} \to \infty}\) the same spectrum as the Laplace operator in four dimensions. Using the theory of singular integral equations of Carleman type we compute (for \({\mathcal{N} \to \infty}\) and after renormalisation of \({E, \lambda}\) ) the free energy density (1/volume) log \({(\mathcal{Z}[E, J]/\mathcal{Z}[E, 0])}\) exactly in terms of the solution of a non-linear integral equation. Existence of a solution is proved via the Schauder fixed point theorem. The derivation of the non-linear integral equation relies on an assumption which in subsequent work is verified for coupling constants \({\lambda \leq 0}\) .     

Smooth Crossed Products of Rieffel’s Deformations

Assume ${\mathcal{A}}$ is a Fréchet algebra equipped with a smooth isometric action of a vector group V, and consider Rieffel’s deformation ${\mathcal{A}_J}$ of ${\mathcal{A}}$ . We construct an explicit isomorphism between the smooth crossed products ${V\ltimes\mathcal{A}_J}$ and ${V\ltimes\mathcal{A}}$ . When combined with the Elliott–Natsume–Nest isomorphism, this immediately implies that the periodic cyclic cohomology is invariant under deformation. Specializing to the case of smooth subalgebras of C^*-algebras, we also get a simple proof of equivalence of Rieffel’s and Kasprzak’s approaches to deformation.     

The Weil Algebra of a Hopf Algebra I: A Noncommutative Framework

We generalize the notion, introduced by Henri Cartan, of an operation of a Lie algebra ${\mathfrak{g}}$ in a graded differential algebra Ω. We define the notion of an operation of a Hopf algebra ${\mathcal{H}}$ in a graded differential algebra Ω which is referred to as a ${\mathcal{H}}$ -operation. We then generalize for such an operation the notion of algebraic connection. Finally we discuss the corresponding noncommutative version of the Weil algebra: The Weil algebra ${W(\mathcal{H})}$ of the Hopf algebra ${\mathcal{H}}$ is the universal initial object of the category of ${\mathcal{H}}$ -operations with connections.     

Maximal Distance Travelled by N Vicious Walkers Till Their Survival

We consider N Brownian particles moving on a line starting from initial positions \(\mathbf{{u}}\equiv \{u_1,u_2,\ldots u_N\}\) such that \(0 . Their motion gets stopped at time \(t_s\) when either two of them collide or when the particle closest to the origin hits the origin for the first time. For \(N=2\) , we study the probability distribution function \(p_1(m|\mathbf{{u}})\) and \(p_2(m|\mathbf{{u}})\) of the maximal distance travelled by the \(1^{\text {st}}\) and \(2^{\text {nd}}\) walker till \(t_s\) . For general N particles with identical diffusion constants \(D\) , we show that the probability distribution \(p_N(m|\mathbf{u})\) of the global maximum \(m_N\) , has a power law tail \(p_i(m|\mathbf{{u}}) \sim {N^2B_N\mathcal {F}_{N}(\mathbf{u})}/{m^{\nu _N}}\) with exponent \(\nu _N =N^2+1\) . We obtain explicit expressions of the function \(\mathcal {F}_{N}(\mathbf{u})\) and of the N dependent amplitude \(B_N\) which we also analyze for large N using techniques from random matrix theory. We verify our analytical results through direct numerical simulations.     

Stability of Black Holes and Black Branes

We establish a new criterion for the dynamical stability of black holes in D ≥ 4 spacetime dimensions in general relativity with respect to axisymmetric perturbations: Dynamical stability is equivalent to the positivity of the canonical energy, ${\mathcal{E}}$ , on a subspace, ${\mathcal{T}}$ , of linearized solutions that have vanishing linearized ADM mass, momentum, and angular momentum at infinity and satisfy certain gauge conditions at the horizon. This is shown by proving that—apart from pure gauge perturbations and perturbations towards other stationary black holes— ${\mathcal{E}}$ is nondegenerate on ${\mathcal{T}}$ and that, for axisymmetric perturbations, ${\mathcal{E}}$ has positive flux properties at both infinity and the horizon. We further show that ${\mathcal{E}}$ is related to the second order variations of mass, angular momentum, and horizon area by ${\mathcal{E} = \delta^2 M -\sum_A \Omega_A \delta^2 J_A - \frac{\kappa}{8\pi}\delta^2 A}$ , thereby establishing a close connection between dynamical stability and thermodynamic stability. Thermodynamic instability of a family of black holes need not imply dynamical instability because the perturbations towards other members of the family will not, in general, have vanishing linearized ADM mass and/or angular momentum. However, we prove that for any black brane corresponding to a thermodynamically unstable black hole, sufficiently long wavelength perturbations can be found with ${\mathcal{E} < 0}$ and vanishing linearized ADM quantities. Thus, all black branes corresponding to thermodynmically unstable black holes are dynamically unstable, as conjectured by Gubser and Mitra. We also prove that positivity of ${\mathcal{E}}$ on ${\mathcal{T}}$ is equivalent to the satisfaction of a “ local Penrose inequality,” thus showing that satisfaction of this local Penrose inequality is necessary and sufficient for dynamical stability. Although we restrict our considerations in this paper to vacuum general relativity, most of the results of this paper are derived using general Lagrangian and Hamiltonian methods and therefore can be straightforwardly generalized to allow for the presence of matter fields and/or to the case of an arbitrary diffeomorphism covariant gravitational action.     

Equivariant GW Theory of Stacky Curves

We extend Okounkov and Pandharipande’s work on the equivariant Gromov–Witten theory of ${\mathbb{P}^1}$ to a class of stacky curves ${\mathcal{X}}$ . Our main result uses virtual localization and the orbifold ELSV formula to express the tau function ${\tau_\mathcal{X}}$ as a vacuum expectation on a Fock space. As corollaries, we prove the decomposition conjecture for these ${\mathcal{X}}$ , and prove that ${\tau_\mathcal{X}}$ satisfies a version of the 2-Toda hierarchy. Coupled with degeneration techniques, the result should lead to treatment of general orbifold curves.     

The Lie–Rinehart Universal Poisson Algebra of Classical and Quantum Mechanics

The Lie–Rinehart algebra of a (connected) manifold ${\mathcal {M}}$ , defined by the Lie structure of the vector fields, their action and their module structure over ${C^\infty({\mathcal {M}})}$ , is a common, diffeomorphism invariant, algebra for both classical and quantum mechanics. Its (noncommutative) Poisson universal enveloping algebra ${\Lambda_{R}({\mathcal {M}})}$ , with the Lie–Rinehart product identified with the symmetric product, contains a central variable (a central sequence for non-compact ${{\mathcal {M}}}$ ) ${Z}$ which relates the commutators to the Lie products. Classical and quantum mechanics are its only factorial realizations, corresponding to Z  =  i z, z  =  0 and ${z = \hbar}$ , respectively; canonical quantization uniquely follows from such a general geometrical structure. For ${z =\hbar \neq 0}$ , the regular factorial Hilbert space representations of ${\Lambda_{R}({\mathcal{M}})}$ describe quantum mechanics on ${{\mathcal {M}}}$ . For z  =  0, if Diff( ${{\mathcal {M}}}$ ) is unitarily implemented, they are unitarily equivalent, up to multiplicity, to the representation defined by classical mechanics on ${{\mathcal {M}}}$ .     

The Taylor Expansion at Past Time-like Infinity

We construct initial data for the conformal vacuum field equations on a cone ${{\mathcal{N}}_p}$ with vertex p so that for the prospective vacuum solution, the point p will represent past time-like infinity i ^?, the set ${{\mathcal{N}}_p {\setminus}\{p\}}$ will represent past null infinity ${{\mathcal{J}}^-}$ , and the freely prescribed (suitably smooth) data will acquire the meaning of the incoming radiation field. It is shown that: (i) On some coordinate neighbourhood of p there exist smooth fields which satisfy at the point p the conformal vacuum field equations at all orders and induce the given data at all orders. The Taylor coefficients of these fields at p are uniquely determined by the free data. (ii) On the cone ${{\mathcal{N}}_p}$ there exists a unique set of fields which induce the given free data and satisfy the transport equations and the inner constraints induced on ${{\mathcal{N}}_p}$ by the conformal field equations. These fields are smooth at p in the sense that they coincide there at all orders with the fields which are obtained by restricting to ${{\mathcal{N}}_p}$ the functions considered in (i) and they are smooth on the smooth three-manifold ${{\mathcal{N}}_p {\setminus}\{p\}}$ in the standard sense.     

An Algebraic Construction of Boundary Quantum Field Theory

We build up local, time translation covariant Boundary Quantum Field Theory nets of von Neumann algebras ${\mathcal A_V}$ on the Minkowski half-plane M ₊ starting with a local conformal net ${\mathcal A}$ of von Neumann algebras on ${\mathbb R}$ and an element V of a unitary semigroup ${\mathcal E(\mathcal A)}$ associated with ${\mathcal A}$ . The case V?=?1 reduces to the net ${\mathcal A_+}$ considered by Rehren and one of the authors; if the vacuum character of ${\mathcal A}$ is summable, ${\mathcal A_V}$ is locally isomorphic to ${\mathcal A_+}$ . We discuss the structure of the semigroup ${\mathcal E(\mathcal A)}$ . By using a one-particle version of Borchers theorem and standard subspace analysis, we provide an abstract analog of the Beurling-Lax theorem that allows us to describe, in particular, all unitaries on the one-particle Hilbert space whose second quantization promotion belongs to ${\mathcal E(\mathcal A^{(0)})}$ with ${\mathcal A^{(0)}}$ the U(1)-current net. Each such unitary is attached to a scattering function or, more generally, to a symmetric inner function. We then obtain families of models via any Buchholz-Mack-Todorov extension of ${\mathcal A^{(0)}}$ . A further family of models comes from the Ising model.     

Difference Operators of Sklyanin and van Diejen Type

The Sklyanin algebra ${\mathcal{S}_{\eta}}$ has a well-known family of infinite-dimensional representations ${\mathcal{D}(\mu), {\mu}\,{\in}\,\mathbb{C}^{\ast}}$ , in terms of difference operators with shift η acting on even meromorphic functions. We show that for generic η the coefficients of these operators have solely simple poles, with linear residue relations depending on their locations. More generally, we obtain explicit necessary and sufficient conditions on a difference operator for it to belong to ${\mathcal{D}(\mu)}$ . By definition, the even part of ${\mathcal{D}(\mu)}$ is generated by twofold products of the Sklyanin generators. We prove that any sum of the latter products yields a difference operator of van Diejen type. We also obtain kernel identities for the Sklyanin generators. They give rise to order-reversing involutive automorphisms of ${\mathcal{D}(\mu)}$ , and are shown to entail previously known kernel identities for the van Diejen operators. Moreover, for special μ they yield novel finite-dimensional representations of ${\mathcal{S}_{\eta}}$ .     

Reunion Probabilities of N One-Dimensional Random Walkers with Mixed Boundary Conditions

In this work we extend the results of the reunion probability of \(N\) one-dimensional random walkers to include mixed boundary conditions between their trajectories. The level of the mixture is controlled by a parameter \(c\) , which can be varied from \(c=0\) (independent walkers) to \(c\rightarrow \infty \) (vicious walkers). The expressions are derived by using Quantum Mechanics formalism (QMf) which allows us to map this problem into a Lieb-Liniger gas (LLg) of \(N\) one-dimensional particles. We use Bethe ansatz and Gaudin’s conjecture to obtain the normalized wave-functions and use this information to construct the propagator. As it is well-known, depending on the boundary conditions imposed at the endpoints of a line segment, the statistics of the maximum heights of the reunited trajectories have some connections with different ensembles in Random Matrix Theory. Here we seek to extend those results and consider four models: absorbing, periodic, reflecting, and mixed. In all four cases, the probability that the maximum height is less or equal than \(L\) takes the form \(F_N(L)=A_N\sum _{\varvec{k}\in \Omega _{\text {B}}} \mathrm{e}^{-\sum _{j=1}^Nk_j^2}\mathcal {V}_N(\varvec{k})\) , where \(A_N\) is a normalization constant, \(\mathcal {V}_N(\varvec{k})\) contains a deformed and weighted Vandermonde determinant, and \(\Omega _{\text {B}}\) is the solution set of quasi-momenta \(\varvec{k}\) obeying the Bethe equations for that particular boundary condition.