Quantum consistency of the superstring

Using arguments based on BRST cohomology, the pure spinor formalism for the superstring in an AdS 5×S 5 background is proven to be BRST invariant and conformally invariant at the quantum level to all orders in perturbation theory. Cohomology arguments are also used to prove the existence of an infinite set of non-local BRST-invariant charges at the quantum level. © SISSA 2005.

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.

Quantum propagator for some classes of three-dimensional three-body systems

In this work we solve exactly a class of three-body propagators for the most general quadratic interactions in the coordinates, for arbitrary masses and couplings. This is done both for the constant as the time-dependent couplings and masses, by using the Feynman path integral formalism. Finally, the energy spectrum and the eigenfunctions are recovered from the propagators. © 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Is the equivalence principle doomed forever to Dante's Inferno on account of quantum mechanics?

It is commonly assumed that the equivalence principle can coexist without conflict with quantum mechanics. We shall argue here that, contrary to popular belief, this principle does not hold in quantum mechanics. We illustrate this point by computing the second-order correction for the scattering of a massive scalar boson by a weak gravitational field, treated as an external field. The resulting cross-section turns out to be mass-dependent. A way out of this dilemma would be, perhaps, to consider gravitation without the equivalence principle. At first sight, this seems to be a too much drastic attitude toward general relativity. Fortunately, the teleparallel version of general relativity - a description of the gravitational interaction by a force similar to the Lorentz force of electromagnetism and that, of course, dispenses with the equivalence principle - is equivalent to general relativity, thus providing a consistent theory for gravitation in the absence of the aforementioned principle. © World Scientific Publishing Company.

De Sitter relativity and quantum physics

In the presence of a cosmological constant, interpreted as a purely geometric entity, absence of matter is represented by a de Sitter spacetime. As a consequence, ordinary Poincaré special relativity is no longer valid and must be replaced by a de Sitter special relativity. By considering the kinematics of a spinless particle in a de Sitter spacetime, we study the geodesics of this spacetime, the ensuing definitions of canonical momenta, and explore possible implications for quantum mechanics. © 2007 American Institute of Physics.

Effect of the Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-splitting terms on the electron g factor in semiconductor quantum wells under applied magnetic fields

We use the Ogg-McCombe Hamiltonian together with the Dresselhaus and Rashba spin-splitting terms to find the g factor of conduction electrons in GaAs-(Ga,Al)As semiconductor quantum wells (QWS) (either symmetric or asymmetric) under a magnetic field applied along the growth direction. The combined effects of non-parabolicity, anisotropy and spin-splitting terms are taken into account. Theoretical results are given as functions of the QW width and compared with available experimental data and previous theoretical works. © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Conflict between the classical equivalence principle and quantum mechanics

As far as external gravitational fields described by Newton's theory are concerned, theory shows that there is an unavoidable conflict between the universality of free fall (Galileo's equivalence principle) and quantum mechanics - a result confirmed by experiment. Is this conflict due perhaps to the use of Newton's gravity, instead of general relativity, in the analysis of the external gravitational field? The response is negative. To show this we compute the low corrections to the cross-section for the scattering of different quantum particles by an external gravitational field, treated as an external field, in the framework of Einstein's linearized gravity. To first order the cross-sections are spin-dependent; if the calculations are pushed to the next order they become dependent upon energy as well. Therefore, the Galileo's equivalence and, consequently, the classical equivalence principle, is violated in both cases. We address these issues here.

Thermoelectric effects in quantum dots

We report a numerical renormalization-group study of the thermoelectric effect in the single-electron transistor (SET) and side-coupled geometries. As expected, the computed thermal conductance and thermopower curves show signatures of the Kondo effect and of Fano interference. The thermopower curves are also affected by particle-hole asymmetry. © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Excitons in undoped AlGaAs/GaAs wide parabolic quantum wells

In this work the electronic structure of undoped AlGaAs/GaAs wide parabolic quantum wells (PQWs) with different well widths (1000 and 3000 ) were investigated by means of photoluminescence (PL) measurements. Due to the particular potential shape, the sample structure confines photocreated carriers with almost three-dimensional characteristics. Our data show that depending on the well width thickness it is possible to observe very narrow structures in the PL spectra, which were ascribed to emissions associated to the recombination of confined 1s-excitons of the parabolic potential wells. From our measurements, the exciton binding energies (of a few meV) were estimated. Besides the exciton emission, we have also observed PL emissions associated to electrons in the excited subbands of the PQWs. © 2010 IOP Publishing Ltd.

Quantum entanglement and information: The effect of entropy revisited

In non-extensive statistical mechanics [14], it is a nonsense statement to say that the entropy of a system is extensive (or not), without mentioning a law of composition of its elements. In this theory quantum correlations might be perceived through quantum information process. This article, that is an extension of recent work [4], is a comparative study between the entropies of Von Neumann and of Tsallis, with some implementations of the effect of entropy in quantum entanglement, important as a process for transmission of quantum information. We consider two factorized (Fock number) states, which interact through a beam splitter bilinear Hamiltonian with two entries. This comparison showed us that the entropies of Tsallis and Von Neumann behave differently depending on the reflectance of the beam splitter. © 2011 Academic Publications.

Quantum mechanical study of YTiO3 to the investigation of piezoelectricity

In previous articles we reported through theoretical studies the piezoelectric effect in BaTiO3, SmTiO3, and YFeO3. In this paper, we used the Douglas-Kroll-Hess (DKH) second-order scalar relativistic method to investigate the piezoelectricity in YTiO3. In the calculations we used the [6s4p] and [10s5p4d] Gaussian basis sets for the O (3P) and Ti (5S) atoms, respectively, from the literature in combination with the (30s21p16d)/[15s9p6d] basis set for the Y ( 3D) atom, obtained by generator coordinate Hartree-Fock (GCHF) method, and they had their quality evaluated using calculations of total energy and orbital energies (HOMO and HOMO-1) of the 2TiO+1 and 1YO+1 fragments. The dipole moment, the total energy, and the total atomic charges in YTiO3 in C s space group were calculated. When we analyze those properties we verify that it is reasonable to believe that YTiO3 does not present piezoelectric properties. Copyright © 2011 Raimundo Dirceu de Paula Ferreira et al.

User manual for the QUANTUM system: a system to exercise a step by step control over the receipt and key entry of survey questionnaires using a microcomputer, version 1.00

Manual del sistema QUANTUM desarrollado para controlar la recepción y entrega de cuestionarios de una encuesta, por microcomputador, usando dBASE III.

An analog model for quantum lightcone fluctuations in nonlinear optics

We propose an analog model for quantum gravity effects using nonlinear dielectrics. Fluctuations of the spacetime lightcone are expected in quantum gravity, leading to variations in the flight times of pulses. This effect can also arise in a nonlinear material. We propose a model in which fluctuations of a background electric field, such as that produced by a squeezed photon state, can cause fluctuations in the effective lightcone for probe pulses. This leads to a variation in flight times analogous to that in quantum gravity. We make some numerical estimates which suggest that the effect might be large enough to be observable. © 2012 Elsevier Inc.

Dimensionality effects in the local density of states of ferromagnetic hosts probed via STM: Spin-polarized quantum beats and spin filtering

We theoretically investigate the local density of states (LDOS) probed by an STM tip of ferromagnetic metals hosting a single adatom and a subsurface impurity. We model the system via the two-impurity Anderson Hamiltonian. By using the equation of motion with the relevant Green's functions, we derive analytical expressions for the LDOS of two host types: a surface and a quantum wire. The LDOS reveals Friedel-like oscillations and Fano interference as a function of the STM tip position. These oscillations strongly depend on the host dimension. Interestingly, we find that the spin-dependent Fermi wave numbers of the hosts give rise to spin-polarized quantum beats in the LDOS. Although the LDOS for the metallic surface shows a damped beating pattern, it exhibits the opposite behavior in the quantum wire. Due to this absence of damping, the wire operates as a spatially resolved spin filter with a high efficiency. © 2013 American Physical Society.

Multipartite quantum correlations in open quantum systems

In this paper, we present a measure of quantum correlation for a multipartite system, defined as the sum of the correlations for all possible partitions. Our measure can be defined for quantum discord (QD), geometric quantum discord or even for entanglement of formation (EOF). For tripartite pure states, we show that the multipartite measures for the QD and the EOF are equivalent, which allows direct comparison of the distribution and the robustness of these correlations in open quantum systems. We study dissipative dynamics for two distinct families of entanglement: a W state and a GHZ state. We show that, for the W state, the QD is more robust than the entanglement, while for the GHZ state, this is not true. It turns out that the initial genuine multipartite entanglement present in the GHZ state makes the EOF more robust than the QD. © IOP Publishing and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft.