Gravity and the quantum: Are they reconcilable?

General relativity and quantum mechanics are not consistent with each other. This conflict stems from the very fundamental principles on which these theories are grounded. General relativity, on one hand, is based on the equivalence principle, whose strong version establishes the local equivalence between gravitation and inertia. Quantum mechanics, on the other hand, is fundamentally based on the uncertainty principle, which is essentially nonlocal. This difference precludes the existence of a quantum version of the strong equivalence principle, and consequently of a quantum version of general relativity. Furthermore, there are compelling experimental evidences that a quantum object in the presence of a gravitational field violates the weak equivalence principle. Now it so happens that, in addition to general relativity, gravitation has an alternative, though equivalent, description, given by teleparallel gravity, a gauge theory for the translation group. In this theory torsion, instead of curvature, is assumed to represent the gravitational field. These two descriptions lead to the same classical results, but are conceptually different. In general relativity, curvature geometrizes the interaction while torsion, in teleparallel gravity, acts as a force, similar to the Lorentz force of electrodynamics. Because of this peculiar property, teleparallel gravity describes the gravitational interaction without requiring any of the equivalence principle versions. The replacement of general relativity by teleparallel gravity may, in consequence, lead to a conceptual reconciliation of gravitation with quantum mechanics. © 2006 American Institute of Physics.

Electromagnetic gauge field interpolation between the instant form and the front form of the Hamiltonian dynamics

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Private and Public Dental Care in the City of Sao Paulo in the First Decade of the XXI Century

Two concomitant movements occur in the first decade of the XXI century within the private and public dental services in Brazil: the entrance of oral health on the agenda of political priorities of the federal government and the vigorous growth of additional dental care. We analyzed the occurrence of these phenomena in the city of Sao Paulo, by seeking information in official documents and electronic databases in the Municipality of Sao Paulo, the Ministry of Health and National Health Agency (ANS), and also in scientific literature. During the studied period - January 2000 to December 2009 - and with basis on indicators such as coverage of First Consultation Program and Dental coverage Population Potential, percentages were found that characterize low public assistance and a situation far short of the constitutional principle of universal access to dental care. The growing number of beneficiaries of additional services through exclusively dental coverage insurance plans and other types of private insurance plans in the same period was significant, accounting for a major expansion of population coverage in this mode of care. It was found that, compared to the overall national framework, the city of Sao Paulo offers poor access to public dental care, with reduced supply of services to adults and aged people. Furthermore, considering the limitations of market additional services to provide dental care to all Brazilians, it reinforces the need for continuity and expansion of Brasil Sorridente, which is the programmatic expression of the National Oral Health Politics.

Responsiveness summary : United States Army Corps of Engineers : Waukegan Harbor, Lake County, Illinois : Section 401 water quality certification for dredging of the Waukegan Harbor approach channel and advanced maintenance area.

The approved project allows the Corps to dredge the Waukegan Harbor approach channel and advanced maintenance area. The area to be dredged lies immediately east of the north breakwater. It is approximately a rectangle 650 feet north and south and 1,400 feet east and west. The advanced maintenance area is a band along the north side of the channel. The approved project is for a 10-year certification, under which the Corps may remove 22,000 to 75,000 cubic yards of sediment per dredging event. The dredging depth is 22 feet and the amount to be dredged is about one foot of sediment. As a condition of the certification, disposal of the dredged sediment in Lake Michigan or the waters of the state cannot occur until the conditions of the certification are met. These conditions, which have been placed on the certification by Illinois EPA, ensure that the project meets state water quality standards and is consistent with the determinations of the Illinois Attorney General's Task Force on asbestos contamination at Illinois Beach State Park.

[Report of the Committee.

The committee reporte that "the admission of Louisiana into the Union is a violation of the constitution."

A piaci normák sérülése, üzleti döntések és a vállalati hatékonyság (Violation of market norms, business decisions and firms’ efficiency)

Az üzleti vállalkozások környezetére vonatkozó előfeltevések és ezek érvényesülése keretet szab az üzleti döntésekhez és hat a teljesítményre. A cikkben (a feltételezett, illetve elvárt) piaci normák sérülésének hatékonysági következményeit vizsgálja a szerző. Kiindulásként értelmezi a vállalati hatékonyság fogalmát és külső befolyásoló tényezőit. Ezt követően rendszerezi a nem normasértő üzleti döntéshozók lehetséges válaszait a piaci szereplők (versenytársak, üzleti partnerek) normasértéseire, kitérve arra is, hogy ez milyen hatást gyakorol a hatékonyságra. _______ The decisions and the performance of business corporations are not independent of their environment. The assumed norms provide a framework for the business decisions and the existing norms affect the firms’ performance. The article focuses on the efficiency consequences of the violation of the market norms. It presents the concept of corporate efficiency and its influencing factors. Then the decision makers’ possible answers to the violation of norms are investigated and the efficiency consequences are analyzed.

Free-fall in a uniform gravitational field in noncommutative quantum mechanics

We study the free-fall of a quantum particle in the context of noncommutative quantum mechanics (NCQM). Assuming noncommutativity of the canonical type between the coordinates of a two-dimensional configuration space, we consider a neutral particle trapped in a gravitational well and exactly solve the energy eigenvalue problem. By resorting to experimental data from the GRANIT experiment, in which the first energy levels of freely falling quantum ultracold neutrons were determined, we impose an upper-bound on the noncommutativity parameter. We also investigate the time of flight of a quantum particle moving in a uniform gravitational field in NCQM. This is related to the weak equivalence principle. As we consider stationary, energy eigenstates, i.e., delocalized states, the time of flight must be measured by a quantum clock, suitably coupled to the particle. By considering the clock as a small perturbation, we solve the (stationary) scattering problem associated and show that the time of flight is equal to the classical result, when the measurement is made far from the turning point. This result is interpreted as an extension of the equivalence principle to the realm of NCQM. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3466812]

Gravitation: global formulation and quantum effects

A non-integrable phase-factor global approach to gravitation is developed by using the similarity of teleparallel gravity to electromagnetism. The phase shifts of both the COW and the gravitational Aharonov-Bohm effects are obtained. It is then shown, by considering a simple slit experiment, that in the classical limit the global approach yields the same result as the gravitational Lorentz force equation of teleparallel gravity. It represents, therefore, the quantum mechanical version of the classical description provided by the gravitational Lorentz force equation. As teleparallel gravity can be formulated independently of the equivalence principle, it will consequently require no generalization of this principle at the quantum level.

Relação entre impacto de um treinamento gerencial no trabalho, desejabilidade social, suporte a transferência e características dos respondentes

Dissertação (mestrado)—Universidade de Brasília, Faculdade de Economia, Administração e Contabilidade, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Administração, 2016.

The Suttees' cry to Britain : containing extracts from essays published in India and parliamentary papers on the burning of Hindoo widows : showing that the rite is not an integral part of the religion of the Hindoos, but a horrid custom, opposed to the Institutes of Menu, and a violation of every principle of justice and humanity /

Mode of access: Internet.

Violation of Kohler's rule by the magnetoresistance of a quasi-two-dimensional organic metal

The interlayer magnetoresistance of the quasi-two-dimensional metal alpha-(BEDT-TTF)(2)KHg(SCN)(4) is considered. In the temperature range from 0.5 to 10 K and for fields up to 10 T the magnetoresistance has a stronger temperature dependence than the zero-field resistance. Consequently Kohler's rule is not obeyed for any range of temperatures or fields. This means that the magnetoresistance cannot be described in terms of semiclassical transport on a single Fermi surface with a single scattering time. Possible explanations for the violations of Kohler's rule are considered, both within the framework of semiclassical transport theory and involving incoherent interlayer transport. The issues considered are similar to those raised by the magnetotransport of the cuprate superconductors. [S0163-1829(98)13219-8].

Quantum mechanics versus equivalence principle

We consider the scattering of a photon by a weak gravitational field, treated as an external field, up to second order of the perturbation expansion. The resulting cross section is energy dependent which indicates a violation of Galileo's equivalence principle (universality of free fall) and, consequently, of the classical equivalence principle. The deflection angle theta for a photon passing by the sun is evaluated afterward and the likelihood of detecting Delta theta/theta(E) theta-theta(E)/theta(E) (where theta(E) is the value predicted by Einstein's geometrical theory for the light bending) in the foreseeable future, is discussed.

Testing the Weak Equivalence Principle with an antimatter beam at CERN

The goal of the AEgIS experiment is to measure the gravitational acceleration of antihydrogen – the simplest atom consisting entirely of antimatter – with the ultimate precision of 1%. We plan to verify the Weak Equivalence Principle (WEP), one of the fundamental laws of nature, with an antimatter beam. The experiment consists of a positron accumulator, an antiproton trap and a Stark accelerator in a solenoidal magnetic field to form and accelerate a pulsed beam of antihydrogen atoms towards a free-fall detector. The antihydrogen beam passes through a moir ́e deflectometer to measure the vertical displacement due to the gravitational force. A position and time sensitive hybrid detector registers the annihilation points of the antihydrogen atoms and their time-of-flight. The detection principle has been successfully tested with antiprotons and a miniature moir ́e deflectometer coupled to a nuclear emulsion detector.