Nonequilibrium statistical mechanics in the general theory of relativity I. A general formalism

This is the first in a series of papers, the overall objective of which is the formulation of a new covariant approach to nonequilibrium statistical mechanics in classical general relativity. The object here is the development of a tractable theory for self-gravitating systems. It is argued that the “state” of an N-particle system may be characterized by an N-particle distribution function, defined in an 8N-dimensional phase space, which satisfies a collection of N conservation equations. by mapping the true physics onto a fictitious “background” spacetime, which may be chosen to satisfy some “average” field equations, one then obtains a useful covariant notion of “evolution” in response to a fluctuating “gravitational force.” For many cases of practical interest, one may suppose (i) that these fluctuating forces satisfy linear field equations and (ii) that they may be modeled by a direct interaction. In this case, one can use a relativistic projection operator formalism to derive exact closed equations for the evolution of such objects as an appropriately defined reduced one-particle distribution function. By capturing, in a natural way, the notion of a dilute gas, or impulse, approximation, one is then led to a comparatively simple equation for the one-particle distribution. If, furthermore, one treats the effects of the fluctuating forces as “localized” in space and time, one obtains a tractable kinetic equation which reduces, in the newtonian limit, to the standard Landau equation.     

Quantum Dynamics with Mean Field Interactions: a New Approach

We propose a new approach for the study of the time evolution of a factorized N-particle bosonic wave function with respect to a mean-field dynamics with a bounded interaction potential. The new technique, which is based on the control of the growth of the correlations among the particles, leads to quantitative bounds on the difference between the many-particle Schrödinger dynamics and the one-particle nonlinear Hartree dynamics. In particular the one-particle density matrix associated with the solution to the N-particle Schrödinger equation is shown to converge to the projection onto the one-dimensional subspace spanned by the solution to the Hartree equation with a speed of convergence of order 1/N for all fixed times.     

Quantum Entanglement in Relativistic Three-Particle Systems

The relativistic three-particle systems are studied within the framework of Relativistic Schrödinger Theory (RST), with emphasis on the determination of the energy functional for the stationary bound states. The phenomenon of entanglement shows up here in form of the exchange energy which is a significant part of the relativistic field energy. The electromagnetic interactions become unified with the exchange interactions into a relativistic U(N) gauge theory, which has the Hartree–Fock equations as its non-relativistic limit. This yields a general framework for treating entangled states of relativistic many-particle systems, e.g., the N-electron atoms.     

Relation between Bethe-Salpeter and Schrödinger wave functions for many-particel systems

The connection is made between a many-time approach to S-matrix elements and energy eigenvalues, which naturally arises from a field theoretical point of view, and the single time Schrödinger- and Breit-like formalism often used in detailed calculations for many-particle systems, such as many-electron atoms. Specifically, the many-particle Bethe-Salpeter equation is expressed in terms of the corresponding Schrödinger equation for the non-relativistic case in which the Bethe-Salpeter kernel consists of only two-particle local static interactions. Also, the one-photon transition matrix element for this case in the Bethe-Salpeter formalism is shown to be equivalent to the corresponding well-known Schrödinger result. The treatment developed is well suited to systematic relativistic generalization.     

Supersymmetric quantum mechanics

We give a general construction for supersymmetric Hamiltonians in quantum mechanics. We find that N-extended supersymmetry imposes very strong constraints, and for N > 4 the Hamiltonian is integrable. We give a variety of examples, for one-particle and for many-particle systems, in different numbers of dimensions.     

Exact local in time evolution equations for macroobservables

By introducing an evolution equation for the generalized Gibbs state σ(t), the N-particle distribution function is expressed as a linear functional of σ(t). Exact equations local in time for the time evolution of macroobservables are obtained. The kinetic coefficients appear as the fixed point of a conveniently defined microscopic expression which may be considered as a natural extension of the Kubo formula.     

Polarization properties of fluctuations of the field created by randomly located dipoles

The vector properties of the strength of a field created by an ensemble of N parallel dipoles located, on average, uniformly are considered. For N → ∞, the problem is reduced to the Poisson problem. The direction of the dipoles specifies the symmetry axis of fluctuations. The moments of probability distributions for the Cartesian components of the strength are calculated. The anisotropy of the fluctuations is approximately 15–20%. Under conditions that are of interest for spectroscopic applications, the N-particle probability distribution contains a weak broad negative background, the shape of which replicates the one-particle distribution. The analogy between the problem considered and the theory of spectral line broadening in the impact approximation, in particular, the Dicke narrowing of the Doppler profile, is analyzed. Conditions of applicability of the theory developed are discussed.     

Relativistic classical mechanics and canonical formalism

The analysis of interacting relativistic many-particle systems provides a theoretical basis for further work in many diverse fields of physics. After a discussion of the nonrelativisticN-particle systems we describe two approaches for obtaining the canonical equations of the corresponding relativistic forms. A further aspect of our approach is the consideration of the constants of the motion.     

Relativistic quantum field theory with fractional spin and statistics

We construct a relativistic quantum field theory in 2 + 1 dimensions whose Fock states provide a multivalued representation of the Poincaré group. We add a topological term to the action of a scalar field theory and we show that this endows the path integral of the theory with an operator-valued cocycle which modifies the transformation properties of physical states. We demonstrate that one-particle states carry (in general) fractional spin. We determine the spin of many-particle states and we prove a generalized spin-statistics relation. We propose an equation of motion for on-shell states which generalizes naturally the Dirac equation.     

Threshold singularities of theS-matrix and convergence of Haag-Ruelle approximations

We establish a one-to-one correspondence between the continuity properties of theS-matrix at the 2-particle threshold and the rate of convergence of the Haag-Ruelle approximations ψ(t) for asymptotic 2-particle states ψ with smooth wavefunctions. It turns out that the norm distance ∥ψ?ψ(t)∥ approaches 0 liktt ^?5/4 if theS-matrix has the normal threshold singularities and liket ^?3/4 in the exceptional case where the threshold has “absorbed” a bound state. These connections are valid both in relativistic quantum field theory and in non-relativistic models with short range interaction.     

Collapse of systems of relativistic particles

We prove in a very simple way that if a system of N non-relativistic particles interacting by Coulomb or gravitational forces has a (negative) binding energy increasing faster than N, the corresponding system necessarily collapses for N big enough if particles are given relativistic kinetic energy. At the same time our method allows to improve considerably a recently obtained sufficient condition on coupling constants for the collapse of ordinary matter.     

Relativistic effects in the 3N continuum and the A y puzzle

The three-nucleon (3N) Faddeev equation is solved in a Poincaré-invariant model of the three-nucleon system. Two-body interactions are generated so that when they are added to the two-nucleon invariant mass operator (rest energy) the two-nucleon S-matrix is identical to the non-relativistic S-matrix with a CD Bonn interaction. Cluster properties of the three-nucleon S-matrix determine how these two-nucleon interactions are embedded in the three-nucleon mass operator. Differences in the predictions of the relativistic and corresponding non-relativistic models for elastic and breakup processes are investigated. Of special interest are the lowering of the A _y maximum in elastic nucleon-deuteron (Nd) scattering below ≈25?MeV caused by the Wigner spin rotations and the significant changes of the breakup cross sections in certain regions of the phase space.     

Relativistic electron-phonon interaction

On the basis of a new relativistic one-particle equation it is possible to reformulate the problem of the relativistic electron-phonon interaction in terms of “oscillating rigid muffin-tins” such that it can be expressed as in the non-relativistic case. The improvement over the non-relativistic approximation is shown for lanthanum and tungsten.     

Reversibility and irreversibility from an initial value formulation

From a time evolution equation for the single particle distribution function derived from the N-particle distribution function (A. Muriel, M. Dresden, Physica D 101 (1997) 297), an exact solution for the 3D Navier–Stokes equation – an old problem – has been found (A. Muriel, Results Phys. 1 (2011) 2). In this Letter, a second exact conclusion from the above-mentioned work is presented. We analyze the time symmetry properties of a formal, exact solution for the single-particle distribution function contracted from the many-body Liouville equation. This analysis must be done because group theoretic results on time reversal symmetry of the full Liouville equation (E.C.G. Sudarshan, N. Mukunda, Classical Mechanics: A Modern Perspective, Wiley, 1974). no longer applies automatically to the single particle distribution function contracted from the formal solution of the N-body Liouville equation. We find the following result: if the initial momentum distribution is even in the momentum, the single particle distribution is reversible. If there is any asymmetry in the initial momentum distribution, no matter how small, the system is irreversible.     

Fundamental Physics

A survey is given of the elegant physics of N-particle systems, both classical and quantal, non-relativistic (NR) and relativistic, non-gravitational (SR) and gravitational (GR). Chapter 1 deals exclusively with NR systems; the correspondence between classical and quantal systems is highlighted and summarized in two tables of Sec. 1.3. Chapter 2 generalizes Chapter 1 to the relativistic regime, including Maxwell’s theory of electromagnetism. Chapter 3 follows Einstein in allowing gravity to curve the spacetime arena; its Sec. 3.2 is devoted to the yet missing theory of elementary particles, which should determine their properties and interactions. If completed, it would replace QFT; promising is the ‘metron’ approach.     

Statistical properties of random environment of 1<Emphasis Type="Italic">D</Emphasis> quantum <Emphasis Type="Italic">N</Emphasis>-particles system in external field

The investigation of 1D quantum N-particle system (PS) with relaxation in the random environment under the influence of external field is conducted within the framework of the stochastic differential equation of the Langevin—Schrödinger (L—Sch) type. Using L—Sch equation, the 2D second-order nonstationary partial differential equation is found, which describes the quantum distribution in the environment, depending on the energy of nonperturbed 1D quantum N-PS and on the external field parameters. It is shown that the average value of the interaction potential between 1D disordered quantum N-PS and the external field, has the ultraviolet divergence. This problem is solved by the renormalization of the equation for the function of quantum distribution. It is shown that it has a sense of dimensional renormalization which is characteristic for the quantum field theory. Critical properties of the environment are investigated in detail. The possibility of the first-order phase transition in the environment distribution depending on amplitude of an external field is been shown.     

A Numerical Investigation of the Pinning Phenomenon in Quasi-Periodic Frenkel Kontrova Model Under an External Force

We derive the relativistic Vlasov equation from quantum Hartree dynamics for fermions with relativistic dispersion in the mean-field scaling, which is naturally linked with an effective semiclassic limit. Similar results in the non-relativistic setting have been recently obtained in Benedikter et al. (Arch Rat Mech Anal 221(1): 273–334, 2016). The new challenge that we have to face here, in the relativistic setting, consists in controlling the difference between the quantum kinetic energy and the relativistic transport term appearing in the Vlasov equation.     

Magnetic interactions in strongly correlated systems: Spin and orbital contributions

We present a technique to map an electronic model with local interactions (a generalized multi-orbital Hubbard model) onto an effective model of interacting classical spins, by requiring that the thermodynamic potentials associated to spin rotations in the two systems are equivalent up to second order in the rotation angles, when the electronic system is in a symmetry-broken phase. This allows to determine the parameters of relativistic and non-relativistic magnetic interactions in the effective spin model in terms of equilibrium Green’s functions of the electronic model. The Hamiltonian of the electronic system includes, in addition to the non-relativistic part, relativistic single-particle terms such as the Zeeman coupling to an external magnetic field, spin–orbit coupling, and arbitrary magnetic anisotropies; the orbital degrees of freedom of the electrons are explicitly taken into account. We determine the complete relativistic exchange tensors, accounting for anisotropic exchange, Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interactions, as well as additional non-diagonal symmetric terms (which may include dipole–dipole interaction). The expressions of all these magnetic interactions are determined in a unified framework, including previously disregarded features such as the vertices of two-particle Green’s functions and non-local self-energies. We do not assume any smallness in spin–orbit coupling, so our treatment is in this sense exact. Finally, we show how to distinguish and address separately the spin, orbital and spin–orbital contributions to magnetism, providing expressions that can be computed within a tight-binding Dynamical Mean Field Theory.     

Comment on symmetry properties of the linear Enskog kinetic operators

The one-particle average consistent with the structure of the revised Enskog theory is introduced. Symmetry properties of the linear kinetic operators reflecting those of theN-particle pseudo-Liouville operators are derived, implying a recently proved symmetry of kinetic expressions for equilibrium time correlation functions.