Entropy Preservation Under Markov Coding

Using the notion of topological entropy for non-compact sets we prove that for a C ¹⁺ -map with a finite Markov partition the corresponding coding map preserves topological entropy of subsets. We also provide an example of a piecewise linear conformal repeller with a Markov coding decreasing topological entropy. These results are generalized to the notions of u-dimensions.     

On the Swendsen-Wang dynamics. II. Critical droplets and homogeneous nucleation at low temperature for the two-dimensional Ising model

We consider the Swendsen-Wang dynamics for the two-dimensional Ising model at low temperature in the presence of a small negative magnetic fieldh and with plus boundary conditions at the boundary of an arbitrarily large square. We analyze in detail the tunneling from the metastable phase to the stable one. In particular, we obtain an upper bound on the tunneling timet by explicitly constructing paths in the space of spin configurations that drive the system from the metastable phase to the stable one. In our analysis the transition takes place through the formation of droplets of the right phase inside the wrong one with side greater than a certain critical valuel _c . The values of the tunneling time and ofl _c coincide with those found for a single-spin-flip dynamics in finite volume by Jordao-Neves and Schonmann.     

Conventional nuclear physics solution of the solar neutrino problem

A basic and inherently simple alternative explanation of the solar neutrino problem is proposed based upon conventional nuclear physics. Our results for the tunneling factor, astrophysicalS-factor, and our resolution are compared with rather speculative solutions commonly attempted by accepting the customary ingredients of the standard solar model. We present a more realistic solution of nuclear Coulomb barrier tunneling together with a more precise parametric representation of the astrophysical functionS. We determineS from high-energy (>100 keV)⁷Be(p, )⁸B experimental cross-section data using the new tunneling factor. This leads to a low-energy fusion cross section that is lower than previous estimates by 26–36%, decreasing the anticipated neutrino flux close to experimentally detected values. This may resolve the missing solar neutrino flux problem.     

The temperature dependence of rotational tunneling

In the last few years tunneling transitions have been observed for the highly symmetric groups CH₄, CD₄, NH ₄ ⁺ , and CH₃ rotating in various environments. Typically the tunneling lines shift to lower energies with increasing temperatures. In this paper the shift of the tunneling energy is calculated in a microscopic approach to the problem. The coupling of the rotating groups to the lattice modes is studied in two stages. First the rotating group is coupled to a single oscillator, then to the modes of a Debye crystal. The first calculation leads to a set of discrete tunneling lines with an energy that diminishes as the oscillator is excited into higher levels. The second approach yields a single tunneling line shifted down-wards with increasing phonon population. The shift is proportional toT ⁴. The calculation explains the energy shift of the tunneling lines with reasonable values for the coupling parameters. In some cases also a broadening has been observed which does not follow from our calculations.     

On “hyperboloidal” Cauchy data for vacuum einstein equations and obstructions to smoothness of Scri

The relationship between the geometric properties of hyperboloidal Cauchy data for vacuum Einstein equations at the conformal boundary of the initial data surface and between the space-time geometry is analyzed in detail. We prove that a necessary condition for existence of a smooth or a polyhomogeneous Scri (i.e., a Scri around which the metric is expandable in terms ofr ^–j log ⁱ r rather than in terms ofr ^–j ) is the vanishing of the shear of the conformal boundary of the initial data surface. We derive the boundary constraints which have to be satisfied by an initial data set for compatibility with Friedrich's conformal framework. We show that a sufficient condition for existence of a smooth Scri (not necessarily complete) is the vanishing of the shear of the conformal boundary of the initial data surface and smoothness up to boundary of the conformally rescaled initial data. We also show that the occurrence of some log terms in an asymptotic expansion at the conformal boundary of solutions of the constraint equations is related to the non-vanishing of the Weyl tensor at the conformal boundary.Supported in part by KBN grant #2 1047 91 01     

Flow Polynomials and Their Asymptotic Limits for Lattice Strip Graphs

We present exact calculations of flow polynomials F(G,q) for lattice strips of various fixed widths L _y 4 and arbitrarily great lengths L _x , with several different boundary conditions. Square, honeycomb, and triangular lattice strips are considered. We introduce the notion of flows per face fl in the infinite-length limit. We study the zeros of F(G,q) in the complex q plane and determine exactly the asymptotic accumulation sets of these zeros in the infinite-length limit for the various families of strips. The function fl is nonanalytic on this locus. The loci are found to be noncompact for many strip graphs with periodic (or twisted periodic) longitudinal boundary conditions, and compact for strips with free longitudinal boundary conditions. We also find the interesting feature that, aside from the trivial case L _y =1, the maximal point, q _cf , where crosses the real axis, is universal on cyclic and Möbius strips of the square lattice for all widths for which we have calculated it and is equal to the asymptotic value q _cf =3 for the infinite square lattice.     

Determinants of dirac boundary value problems over odd-dimensional manifolds

We present a canonical construction of the determinant of an elliptic selfadjoint boundary value problem for the Dirac operatorD over an odd-dimensional manifold. For 1-dimensional manifolds we prove that this coincides with the -function determinant. This is based on a result that elliptic self-adjoint boundary conditions forD are parameterized by a preferred class of unitary isomorphisms between the spaces of boundary chiral spinor fields. With respect to a decompositionS ¹=X ⁰X ¹, we explain how the determinant of a Dirac-type operator overS ¹ is related to the determinants of the corresponding boundary value problems overX ⁰ andX ¹.     

Theory of electron escape from the surface of liquid helium

We have studied the properties of an electron bubble close to the surface of liquid³ He, by using a Density Functional approach. We find that up to an electron-surface distanced ₀ 23 Åthe bubble is stable, while at smaller distances it becomes unstable and bursts. A potential energy barrier /K _B 38°K for the thermal emission of electrons is obtained from our results, in agreement with experiments. Even when the electron-surface distance is larger thand ₀, however, tunneling through the surface layer dominates the electron escape probability. Large deviations of the electron potential energy from its ideal value are found close to the surface. These deviations have a profound effect on the calculated decay rates of the tunneling curent, which are much smaller than those obtained previously and in semi-quantitative agreement with experiments.     

Full Field Algebras

We introduce a notion of full field algebra which is essentially an algebraic formulation of the notion of genus-zero full conformal field theory. For any vertex operator algebras V ^L and V ^R , is naturally a full field algebra and we introduce a notion of full field algebra over . We study the structure of full field algebras over using modules and intertwining operators for V ^L and V ^R . For a simple vertex operator algebra V satisfying certain natural finiteness and reductivity conditions needed for the Verlinde conjecture to hold, we construct a bilinear form on the space of intertwining operators for V and prove the nondegeneracy and other basic properties of this form. The proof of the nondegenracy of the bilinear form depends not only on the theory of intertwining operator algebras but also on the modular invariance for intertwining operator algebras through the use of the results obtained in the proof of the Verlinde conjecture by the first author. Using this nondegenerate bilinear form, we construct a full field algebra over and an invariant bilinear form on this algebra.     

The laplacian in regions with many small obstacles: Fluctuations around the limit operator

We consider the Laplacian _m in ³ (or in a bounded region of ³) with Dirichlet boundary conditions on the surfaces of some identical (small) neighborhoods ofm randomly distributed points, in the limit whenm goes to infinity and their linear size decreases as 1/m. We give here a stronger form of the result showing the convergence of the above operator to – C(x), whereC(x) is the limit density of electrostatic capacity of the obstacles. In particular results on the rate of convergence and on the fluctuations of _m around the limit operator are given.     

On the layering transition of an SOS surface interacting with a wall. I. Equilibrium results

We consider the model of a 2D surface above a fixed wall and attracted toward it by means of a positive magnetic fieldh in the solid-on-solid (SOS) approximation when the inverse temperature is very large and the external fieldh is exponentially small in . We improve considerably previous results by Dinaburg and Mazel on the competition between the external field and the entropic repulsion with the wall, leading, in this case, to the phenomenon of layering phase transitions. In particular, we show, using the Pirogov-Sinai scheme as given by Zahradník, that there exists a unique critical valueh _k ^* () in the interval (1/4e ^–4k , 4e ^–4k ) such that, for allh(h _k+1 ^* ,h _k ^* ) and large enough, there exists a unique infinite-volume Gibbs state. The typical configurations are small perturbation of the ground state represented by a surface at heightk+1 above the wall. Moreover, for the same choice of the thermodynamic parameters, the influence of the boundary conditions of the Gibbs measure in a finite cube decays exponentially fast with the distance from the boundary. Whenh=h _k ^* () we prove instead the convergence of the cluster expansion for bothk andk+1 boundary conditions. This fact signals the presence of a phase transition. In the second paper of this series we will consider a Glauber dynamics for the above model and we will study the rate of approach to equilibrium in a large finite cube with arbitrary boundary conditions as a function of the external fieldh. Using the results proven in this paper, we will show that there is a dramatic slowing down in the approach to equilibrium when the magnetic field takes one of the critical values and the boundary conditions are free (absent).     

Low temperature acoustic properties in YBa2Cu3O7−δ

Temperature dependencies of acoustic lossesQ ^–1 and of relative sound velocity change v/v in YBa₂Cu₃O_7– up to 60 K are calculated by the tunneling model theory. The tunneling systems are related to the off-centered positions of the apical oxygen atoms O(A) and are described through the pseudo-Jahn-Teller effect. Tunneling systems' parameters are distributed in narrow range of values and are in correspondence with the experimentally observed infrared phonon spectra and thermal ellipsoids of O(A). Respective relaxation times are calculated by the adapted reaction rate method. The calculatedQ ^–1(T) and v(T)/v dependencies are in good agreement with the experimental data, which is an additional support to the conclusion about the existence of tunneling systems in YBa₂Cu₃O_7– due to the pseudo Jahn-Teller effect.     

Quantum Ergodicity of Boundary Values of Eigenfunctions

Suppose that ⁿ is a bounded, piecewise smooth domain. We prove that the boundary values (Cauchy data) of eigenfunctions of the Laplacian on with various boundary conditions are quantum ergodic if the classical billiard map on the ball bundle B^*() is ergodic. Our proof is based on the classical observation that the boundary values of an interior eigenfunction , =² is an eigenfunction of an operator F_h on the boundary of with h=^–1. In the case of the Neumann boundary condition, F_h is the boundary integral operator induced by the double layer potential. We show that F_h is a semiclassical Fourier integral operator quantizing the billiard map plus a small remainder; the quantum dynamics defined by F_h can be exploited on the boundary much as the quantum dynamics generated by the wave group were exploited in the interior of domains with corners and ergodic billiards in the work of Zelditch-Zworski (1996). Novelties include the facts that F_h is not unitary and (consequently) the boundary values are equidistributed by measures which are not invariant under and which depend on the boundary conditions. Ergodicity of boundary values of eigenfunctions on domains with ergodic billiards was conjectured by S. Ozawa (1993), and was almost simultaneously proved by Gerard-Leichtnam (1993) in the case of convex C^1,1 domains (with continuous tangent planes) and with Dirichlet boundary conditions. Our methods seem to be quite different. Motivation to study piecewise smooth domains comes from the fact that almost all known ergodic domains are of this form.The first author was partially supported by an Australian Research Council Fellowship.The second author was partially supported by NSF grant #DMS-0071358 and DMS-0302518.     

Reliability Polynomials and Their Asymptotic Limits for Families of Graphs

We present exact calculations of reliability polynomials R(G,p) for lattice strips G of fixed widths L _y 4 and arbitrarily great length L _x with various boundary conditions. We introduce the notion of a reliability per vertex, r({G},p)=lim_|V|R(G,p)^1/|V| where |V| denotes the number of vertices in G and {G} denotes the formal limit lim_|V|G. We calculate this exactly for various families of graphs. We also study the zeros of R(G,p) in the complex p plane and determine exactly the asymptotic accumulation set of these zeros , across which r({G}) is nonanalytic.     

Energy gaps and phonon structures in tunneling spectra of Bi2Sr2Ca1Cu2O8+x and Bi2Sr2Ca2Cu3O10+y superconductors

Polycrystalline Bi-2212 or Bi-2223 systems and single crystals of the Bi-2212 system were investigated at several temperatures by means of the break-junction and point-contact tunneling techniques, respectively. In the case of Bi-2223 we obtained an averaged gap value 2=65±4 meV. The Bi-2212 system yields 2= 45±5 meV in the case of polycrystalline samples and 2=47±5 meV in the case of single crystals. Hence there result BCS-ratios 2/k _B T _c of 7.3, 6.8 and 6.5, respectively. A dc-Josephson-type supercurrent could be observed in polycrystalline Bi-2212 samples in addition to the usual gap structure. The point-contact tunneling spectra of Bi-2212 single crystals exhibit structures in the second derivative d² I/d V ² which we interpret as inelastic tunneling processes due to electron-phonon scattering most likely in the barrier region. The phonon energies deduced from these structures are in accordance with data obtained from inelastic neutron scattering and Raman spectroscopy. Good agreement is obtained with a lattice dynamical calculation of the partial phonon densities of states of individual atoms in the unit cell.     

Cauchy boundary andb-incompleteness of space-time

It is shown that if a space-time (M, g) is time-orientable and its Levi-Civita connection [in the bundle of orthonormal frames over (M, g)] is reducible to anO(3) structure, one can naturally select a nonvanishing timelike vector field and a Riemann metricg ⁺ onM. The Cauchy boundary of the Riemann space (M, g ⁺) consists of endpoints ofb-incomplete curves in (M, g); we call it theCauchy singular boundary. We use the space-time of a cosmic string with a conic singularity to test our method. The Cauchy singular boundary of this space-time is explicitly constructed. It turns out to consist of what should be expected.     

Potential surfaces for time-like geodesics in the Curzon metric

In this paper we deduce the general pattern of the potential surfaces for time-like geodesics in the Curzon metric. We find that for fairly small energies and orbital angular momenta, the time-like geodesics group into two sets; the geodesics of one set tend to thez-axis asR=(r²+z²)^1/2 0,R=0 being a directional singularity, the others tend to ther-axis. At low energies these two sets are detached but they merge together as the energy increases. Stable circular motion is confined to thez = 0-plane and an energy threshold for stationary motion exists and is equal (per unit of rest-mass energy) to 0.945, a value almost indistinguishable from that in the Schwarzschild space-time.     

Boundary terms for massless fermionic fields

Local supersymmetry leads to boundary conditions for fermionic fields in one-loop quantum cosmology involving the Euclidean normal _e n _A/A to the boundary and a pair of independent spinor fields ^A and . This paper studies the corresponding classical properties, i.e., the classical boundary-value problem and boundary terms in the variational problem. If is set to zero on a 3-sphere bounding flat Euclidean 4-space, the modes of the massless spin–1/2 field multiplying harmonics having positive eigenvalues for the intrinsic 3-dimensional Dirac operator onS ³ should vanish onS ³. Remarkably, this coincides with the property of the classical boundary-value problem when spectral boundary conditions are imposed onS ³ in the massless case. Moreover, the boundary term in the action functional is proportional to the integral on the boundary of ^A _e n _AA ^A .     

Charmed meson rescattering in the reaction $$ \bar pd \uparrow \bar DDN $$

We examine the possibility to extract information about the DN and interactions from the reaction. We utilize the notion that the open-charm mesons are first produced in the annihilation of the antiproton on one nucleon in the deuteron and subsequently rescatter on the other (the spectator) nucleon. The latter process is then exploited for investigating the DN and interactions. We study different methods for isolating the contributions from the D ⁰ p and D ⁻ p rescattering terms.     

Methyl rotation in acetamide: the transition from quantum mechanical tunneling to classical reorientation studied by inelastic neutron scattering

Quasielastic and inelastic incoherent neutron scattering has been used to study in detail the transition from quantum mechanical tunneling motion to classical reorientation of the methyl groups in rhombohedral acetamide CH₃CONH₂. The temperature dependence of the low temperature quasielastic and inelastic scattering due toE ^a E ^b and AE transitions of the tunneling methyl groups has been investigated with eV resolution and — together with the higher temperature quasielastic scattering-compared with theoretical predictions. Microscopic theories are capable to describe most of the experimental observations at low temperatures. A heuristic theoretical approach accounts well for the high temperature results.