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36 records · Page 2

Slightly anharmonic systems in quantum optics

We consider an arbitrary atomic system (n-level atom or many such atoms) interacting with a strong resonant quantum field. The approximate evolution operator for a quantum field case can be produced from the atomic evolution operator in an external classical field by a 'quantization prescription', passing the operator arguments to Wigner D-functions. Many important phenomena arising from the quantum nature of the field can be described by such a way.

Klimov, Andrey B.↗

Correlated Light and Schroedinger Cats

The Schrodinger cat male and female states are discussed. The Wigner and Q-functions of generalized correlated light are given. Linear transformator of photon statistics is reviewed.

Manko, V. I.↗

Numerical phase space optics methods and applications to the analysis of fiber coupling efficiency in atmospheric turbulence

A fundamental requirement of free-space optical communication is the ability to efficiently couple atmospherically distorted light from a telescope to a detector. A numerical method is presented for modeling fiber-based receiver performance in atmospheric conditions based on phase space optics which does not rely on Monte Carlo methods. This method is employed to analyze the waveguide insertion loss and optimal coupling geometry in atmospheric conditions for step-index fibers, graded-index fibers, and photonic lanterns with and without tilt compensation and central obscurations in the telescope.

free-space optical communication↗

Numerical phase space optics methods and applications to the analysis of fiber coupling efficiency in atmospheric turbulence

A fundamental requirement of free-space optical communication is the ability to efficiently couple atmospherically distorted light from a telescope to a detector. A numerical method is presented for modeling fiber-based receiver performance in atmospheric conditions based on phase space optics which does not rely on Monte Carlo methods. This method is employed to analyze the waveguide insertion loss and optimal coupling geometry in atmospheric conditions for step-index fibers, graded-index fibers, and photonic lanterns with and without tilt compensation and central obscurations in the telescope.

free-space optical communication↗

Photodetachment cross sections of negative ions - The range of validity of the Wigner threshold law

The threshold behavior of the photodetachment cross section of negative ions as a function of photon frequency is usually described by the Wigner law. This paper reports the results of a model calculation using the zero-core-contribution (ZCC) approximation. Theoretical expressions for the leading correction to the Wigner law are developed, giving the range of validity of the Wigner law and the expected accuracy. The results are relevant to extraction of electron affinities from experimental photodetachment data.

Farley, John W.↗

The Total Gaussian Class of Quasiprobabilities and its Relation to Squeezed-State Excitations

The class of quasiprobabilities obtainable from the Wigner quasiprobability by convolutions with the general class of Gaussian functions is investigated. It can be described by a three-dimensional, in general, complex vector parameter with the property of additivity when composing convolutions. The diagonal representation of this class of quasiprobabilities is connected with a generalization of the displaced Fock states in direction of squeezing. The subclass with real vector parameter is considered more in detail. It is related to the most important kinds of boson operator ordering. The properties of a specific set of discrete excitations of squeezed coherent states are given.

Wuensche, Alfred↗

Analytic computation of energy derivatives - Relationships among partial derivatives of a variationally determined function

Formulas are presented relating Taylor series expansion coefficients of three functions of several variables, the energy of the trial wave function (W), the energy computed using the optimized variational wave function (E), and the response function (lambda), under certain conditions. Partial derivatives of lambda are obtained through solution of a recursive system of linear equations, and solution through order n yields derivatives of E through order 2n + 1, extending Puley's application of Wigner's 2n + 1 rule to partial derivatives in couple perturbation theory. An examination of numerical accuracy shows that the usual two-term second derivative formula is less stable than an alternative four-term formula, and that previous claims that energy derivatives are stationary properties of the wave function are fallacious. The results have application to quantum theoretical methods for the computation of derivative properties such as infrared frequencies and intensities.

King, H. F.↗

Use of the Wigner representation in scattering problems

The basic equations of quantum scattering were translated into the Wigner representation, putting quantum mechanics in the form of a stochastic process in phase space, with real valued probability distributions and source functions. The interpretative picture associated with this representation is developed and stressed and results used in applications published elsewhere are derived. The form of the integral equation for scattering as well as its multiple scattering expansion in this representation are derived. Quantum corrections to classical propagators are briefly discussed. The basic approximation used in the Monte-Carlo method is derived in a fashion which allows for future refinement and which includes bound state production. Finally, as a simple illustration of some of the formalism, scattering is treated by a bound two body problem. Simple expressions for single and double scattering contributions to total and differential cross-sections as well as for all necessary shadow corrections are obtained.

Bemler, E. A.↗

Evolution of wave function in a dissipative system

For a dissipative system with Ohmic friction, we obtain a simple and exact solution for the wave function of the system plus the bath. It is described by the direct product in two independent Hilbert space. One of them is described by an effective Hamiltonian, the other represents the effect of the bath, i.e., the Brownian motion, thus clarifying the structure of the wave function of the system whose energy is dissipated by its interaction with the bath. No path integral technology is needed in this treatment. The derivation of the Weisskopf-Wigner line width theory follows easily.

Yu, Li-Hua↗

Precision calculation of the lowest 1S resonance in e-H scattering

The position and width of the lowest resonance in electron-hydrogen scattering have been calculated using a Hylleraas correlation function with up to 95 terms in the optical potential formalism. The results should be useful as calibration points for experimental electron scattering purposes. A formula relating the conventional (Breit-Wigner) width with the Feschbach formalism is derived.

Ho, Y. K.↗

Ground state energy of electrons in a static point-ion lattice

The ground state energy of a neutral collection of protons and electrons was investigated under the assumption that in the ground state configuration, static protons occupy the sites of a rigid Bravais lattice. The Wigner-Seitz method was used in conjunction with three postulated potentials: bare Coulomb, Thomas-Fermi screening, and screening by a uniform bare background charge. Within these approximations, the exact band-minimum energy and wave functions are derived. For each of the three potentials, the approximate minimum ground state energy per proton (relative to isolated electrons and protons) is, respectively, -1.078 Ry, -1.038 Ry, and -1.052 Ry. These three minima all fall at a density of about 0.60 gm/cu cm, which is thus an approximate lower bound on the density of metallic hydrogen at its transition pressure.

Styer, D. F.↗

Heavy fermion behavior explained by bosons

Conventional heavy fermion (HF) theories require existence of massive fermions. We show that heavy fermion phenomena can also be simply explained by existence of bosons with moderate mass but temperature dependent concentration below the formation temperature T(sub B), which in turn is close to room temperature. The bosons B(++) are proposed to be in chemical equilibrium with a system of holes h(+): B(++) = h(+) + h(+). This equilibrium is governed by a boson breaking function f(T), which determines the decreasing boson density and the increasing fermion density with increasing temperature. Since HF-compounds are hybridized from minimum two elements, we assume in addition existence of another fermion component h(sub s)(+) with temperature independent density. This spectator component is thought to be the main agent in binding the bosons in analogy with electronic or muonic molecules. Using a linear boson breaking function we can explain temperature dependence of the giant linear specific heat coefficient gamma(T) coming essentially from bosons. The maxima in resistivity, Hall coefficient, and susceptibility are explained by boson localization effects due to the Wigner crystallization. The antiferromagnetic transitions in turn are explained by similar localization of the pairing fermion system when their density n(sub h)(T(sub FL)) becomes lower than n(sub WC), the critical density of Wigner crystallization. The model applies irrespective whether a compound is superconducting or not. The same model explains the occurrence of low temperature antiferromagnetism also in high-T(sub c) superconductors. The double transition in UPt3 is proposed to be due to the transition of the pairing fermion liquid from spin polarized to unpolarized state.

Kallio, A.↗

Stochastic solution to quantum dynamics

The quantum Liouville equation in the Wigner representation is solved numerically by using Monte Carlo methods. For incremental time steps, the propagation is implemented as a classical evolution in phase space modified by a quantum correction. The correction, which is a momentum jump function, is simulated in the quasi-classical approximation via a stochastic process. The technique, which is developed and validated in two- and three- dimensional momentum space, extends an earlier one-dimensional work. Also, by developing a new algorithm, the application to bound state motion in an anharmonic quartic potential shows better agreement with exact solutions in two-dimensional phase space.

John, Sarah↗

Boson localization and universality in YBa2Cu(3-x)M(x)O(7-delta)

We consider a two component mixture of charged fermions on neutralizing background with all sign combinations and arbitrarily small mass ratios. In the two impurity limit for the heavier component we show that the pair forms a bound state for all charge combinations. In the lowest order approximation we derive a closed form expression Veff(r) for the binding potential which has short-range repulsion followed by attraction. In the classical limit, when the mass of embedded particles is large m2 much greater than m, we can calculate from Veff(r) also the cohesive energy E and the bond length R of a metallic crystal such as lithium. The lowest order result is R = 3.1 A, E = -0.9 eV, not entirely different from the experimental result for lithium metal. The same interaction for two holes on a parabolic band with m2 greater than m gives the quantum mechanical bound state which one may interpret as a boson or local pair in the case of high-Te and heavy fermion superconductors. We also show that for compounds of the type YBa2Cu(3 - x)M(x)O(7 - delta) one can understand most of the experimental results for the superconducting and normal states with a single temperature dependent boson breaking function f(T) for each impurity content x governing the decay of bosons into pairing fermions. In the normal state f(T) turns out to be a linear, universal function, independent of the impurity content I and the oxygen content delta. We predict with universality a depression in Tc(x) with slight down bending in agreement with experiment. As a natural consequence of the model the bosons become localized slightly above Tc due to the Wigner crystallization, enhanced with lattice local field minima. The holes remain delocalized with a linearly increasing concentration in the normal state, thus explaining the rising Hall density. The boson localization temperature T(sub BL) shows up as a minimum in the Hall density R(sub ab)(exp -1). We also give explanation for very recently observed scaling of temperature dependent Hall effect in La(2 - x)Sr(x)CuO4.

Kallio, A.↗

Ginzburg-Landau theory for the solid-liquid interface of bcc elements. II - Application to the classical one-component plasma, the Wigner crystal, and He-4

The previously developed Ginzburg-Landau theory for calculating the crystal-melt interfacial tension of bcc elements to treat the classical one-component plasma (OCP), the charged fermion system, and the Bose crystal. For the OCP, a direct application of the theory of Shih et al. (1987) yields for the surface tension 0.0012(Z-squared e-squared/a-cubed), where Ze is the ionic charge and a is the radius of the ionic sphere. Bose crystal-melt interface is treated by a quantum extension of the classical density-functional theory, using the Feynman formalism to estimate the relevant correlation functions. The theory is applied to the metastable He-4 solid-superfluid interface at T = 0, with a resulting surface tension of 0.085 erg/sq cm, in reasonable agreement with the value extrapolated from the measured surface tension of the bcc solid in the range 1.46-1.76 K. These results suggest that the density-functional approach is a satisfactory mean-field theory for estimating the equilibrium properties of liquid-solid interfaces, given knowledge of the uniform phases.

Zeng, X. C.↗

Probing the antiferromagnetic long-range order with Glauber spin states

It is well known that the ground state of low-dimensional antiferromagnets deviates from Neel states due to strong quantum fluctuations. Even in the presence of long-range order, those fluctuations produce a substantial reduction of the magnetic moment from its saturation value. Numerical simulations in anisotropic antiferromagnetic chains suggest that quantum fluctuations over Neel order appear in the form of localized reversal of pairs of neighboring spins. In this paper, we propose a coherent state representation for the ground state to describe the above situation. In the one-dimensional case, our wave function corresponds to a two-mode Glauber state, when the Neel state is used as a reference, while the boson fields are associated to coherent flip of spin pairs. The coherence manifests itself through the antiferromagnetic long-range order that survives the action of quantum fluctuations. The present representation is different from the standard zero-point spin wave state, and is asymptotically exact in the limit of strong anisotropy. The fermionic version of the theory, obtained through the Jordan-Wigner transformation, is also investigated.

Cabrera, Guillermo G.↗

Postural tachycardia syndrome: time frequency mapping

Orthostatic tachycardia is common but its specificity remains uncertain. Our preliminary work suggested that using autonomic function testing in conjunction with time-frequency mapping (TFM), it might be possible to characterize a subset of the postural tachycardia syndrome (POTS), that is due to a restricted autonomic neuropathy. We describe 20 patients (17 women and 3 men, aged 14-43 years) with florid POTS and 20 controls (14 women and 6 men, aged 20-41 years). Autonomic failure was quantified by its distribution (cardiovagal, adrenergic and sudomotor) and severity, a symptom profile was generated, and spectral indices, based on modified Wigner distribution during rest and head-up tilt (80 degrees) were evaluated. During tilt-up POTS patients differed from controls by an excessive heart rate (> 130 bpm) (P < 0.001), and higher diastolic pressure (P < 0.01). During rest, cardiovagal oscillations (at respiratory frequencies [RF]) and slow rhythms at nonrespiratory frequencies (NONRF) (from 0.01 to 0.07 Hz) in R-R intervals (RRI) (P < 0.01) were reduced. Both RF and NONRF rhythms in RRI were further blunted with tilt-up (P < 0.001). Slow adrenergic vasomotor rhythms in blood pressure (BP) (approximately 0.07 Hz) surged with tilt-up and returned to normal levels afterwards. The index of sympatho-vagal balance (NONRF-Systolic BP (SBP)/RF-RRI) was dramatically increased in POTS (P < 0.001). Distal postganglionic sudomotor failure was observed, and impairment of the BP responses to the Valsalva maneuver (phase II) suggested peripheral adrenergic dysfunction. Persistent orthostatic dizziness, tiredness, gastrointestinal symptoms and palpitations were common in POTS patients. It is possible to identify a subset of POTS patients who have a length-dependent autonomic neuropathy, affecting the peripheral adrenergic and cardiovagal fibers, with relative preservation of cardiac adrenergic fibers.

NASA Discipline Number 14-10↗