Quantum Physics Commons^™

Exomol Line List – Xxi. Nitric Oxide (No), Andy Wong, Sergei N. Yurchenko, Peter Bernath, Holger S.P. Müller, Stephanie Mcconkey, Jonathan Tennyson

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Line lists for the X ²Pi electronic ground state for the parent isotopologue of nitric oxide (¹⁴N¹⁶O) and five other major isotopologues (¹⁴N¹⁷O, ¹⁴N¹⁸O, ¹⁵N¹⁶O, ¹⁵N¹⁷O and ¹⁵N¹⁸O) are presented. The line lists are constructed using empirical energy levels (and line positions) and high-level ab initio intensities. The energy levels were obtained using a combination of two approaches, from an effective Hamiltonian and from solving the rovibronic Schrödinger equation variationally. The effective Hamiltonian model was obtained through a fit …

Note: Improved Line Strengths Of Rovibrational And Rotational Transitions Within The X3Σ⁻ Ground State Of Nh, James S.A. Brooke, Peter F. Bernath, Colin M. Western

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Recently, a line list including positions and transition strengths was published for the NH X³Σ⁻ rovibrational and rotational transitions. The calculation of the transition strengths requires a conversion of transition matrix elements from Hund’s case (b) to (a). The method of this conversion has recently been improved during other work on the OH X²Π rovibrational transitions, by removing an approximation that was present previously. The adjusted method has been applied to the NH line list, resulting in more accurate transition strengths. An updated line list is presented that contains all possible transitions with v′ and …

Environmental Testing Of Lasers For Jpl's Cold Atom Laboratory, Carey L. Baxter

STAR Program Research Presentations

NASA’s Cold Atom Lab (CAL) is a multi-user facility designed to study ultra-cold quantum gases in the microgravity environment of the International Space Station (ISS). One of the main goals of CAL is to explore the unknown territory of extremely low temperatures—possibly as low as the picokelvin range!—where new and fascinating quantum phenomena can be observed. At such temperatures matter stops behaving as particles and instead becomes macroscopic matter waves. CAL will be remotely controlled to perform a multitude of experiments and is scheduled to launch in 2016. In order to anticipate problems that might occur during and post-launch, including …

Dipole Bound Excited States Of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Containing Nitrogen And Their Relation To The Interstellar Medium, Mallory L. Theis

Honors College Theses

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are the most abundant type of molecule present in the interstellar medium (ISM). It has been hypothesized that nitrogen replacement within a ring is likely for PAHs present in the ISM. Additionally, electrons, protons, and hydrogen atoms are readily added to or removed from PAHs creating a truly diverse set of chemistries in various interstellar regions. The presence of a nitrogen within a PAH (called a PANH herein) that is additionally dehydrogenated leads to a neutral radical with a large dipole moment. It has recently been shown through the use of high-level quantum chemical computations for …

Solar Energy Conversion And Control Using Organic Photovoltaic Cells, Kurt Wade Woods

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells are advanced, newly emerging technologies that are lightweight, mechanically flexible devices with highthroughput processes from low cost material in a variety of colors. Rathnayake et al. of Western Kentucky University have developed a nanostructure-based OPV cell. Presented in this thesis is a model and simulation of a generalized PV powered system that can predict the performance of solar arrays in various environmental conditions. The simulation has been carried out in Matlab/Simulink, and upon entering the cell’s parameters, it provides key electrical characteristics such as the cell’s I-V curve and efficiency information. The total system that is …

The Fine-Tuning Of Nomic Behavior In Multiverse Scenarios, Max Lewis Edward Andrews

Masters Theses

The multiverse hypothesis (the view that there is not just one world or universe in existence, bur rather that there are many) is the leading alternative to the competing fine-tuning hypothesis (the laws of physics and constants are fine-tuned for the existence of life). The multiverse dispels many aspects of the fine-tuning argument by suggesting that there are different initial conditions in each universe, varying constants of physics, and the laws of nature lose their known arbitrary values; thus, making the previous single-universe argument from fine- tuning incredibly weak. The position that will be advocated will be that a form …

Superfluidity In Neutron Stars, Samuel J. Witte

Undergraduate Theses—Unrestricted

Nucleon pairing is studied with specific considerations directed toward the possible influence on neutron star cooling. We present an in-depth analysis of BCS theory using realistic nuclear potentials and consider the impact short-range correlations can have on the gap. Gap calculations are incorporated into neutron star cooling simulations and the significance of the 3P2 −3F2 channel in various hadronic cooling models is closely examined. An analysis of the 1S0 gap in neutron matter suggests short-range correlations can drastically alter the magnitude, density range, and temperature dependence of the gap. While the newly constructed 1S0 gap does not significantly alter the …

Quantum Man, Julian Voss-Andreae

The Transdisciplinary STEAM+ Journal

According to quantum physics, the world is fundamentally quite different than it seems. Drawing inspiration from the underlying nature of reality, former quantum physicist Julian Voss-Andreae created an image of a walking human as a quantum object. Made up of parallel sheets of steel, the sculpture is a metaphor for the counter-intuitive world of quantum physics. Symbolizing the dual nature of matter with the appearance of classical reality on the surface and cloudy quantum behavior underneath, the sculpture seems to consist of solid steel when seen from the front, but dissolves into almost nothing when seen from the side.

Semiclassical Partition Functions For Gravity With Cosmic Strings, Christopher L. Duston

Physics Faculty Publications

In this paper we describe an approach to construct semiclassical partition functions in gravity which are complete in the sense that they contain a complete description of the differentiable structures of the underlying 4-manifold. In addition, we find our construction naturally includes cosmic strings. We prove that the mass density of these strings uniquely specifies the topology of the leaves of a dimension 2 foliation, and conjecture that spacetime topology emerges as a result of the symmetry breaking of the fundamental fields. We discuss some possible applications of the partition functions in the fields of both quantum gravity and topological …

Effective Field Theory Approach To Gravitationally Induced Decoherence, M. P. Blencowe

Dartmouth Scholarship

Adopting the viewpoint that the standard perturbative quantization of general relativity provides an effective description of quantum gravity that is valid at ordinary energies, we show that gravity as an environment induces the rapid decoherence of stationary matter superposition states when the energy differences in the superposition exceed the Planck energy scale.

Light Vs. Quantum Gravity, Irving Martinez^*

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Spring 2012

No abstract provided.

Non-Equilibrium Landauer Transport Model For Hawking Radiation From A Black Hole, P. D. Nation, M. P. Blencowe, Franco Nori

Dartmouth Scholarship

We propose that the Hawking radiation energy and entropy flow rates from a black hole can be viewed as a one-dimensional (1D), non-equilibrium Landauer transport process. Support for this viewpoint comes from previous calculations invoking conformal symmetry in the near-horizon region, which give radiation rates that are identical to those of a single 1D quantum channel connected to a thermal reservoir at the Hawking temperature. The Landauer approach shows in a direct way the particle statistics independence of the energy and entropy fluxes of a black hole radiating into vacuum, as well as one near thermal equilibrium with its environment. …

Topspin Networks In Loop Quantum Gravity, Christopher L. Duston

Physics Faculty Publications

We discuss the extension of loop quantum gravity to topspin networks, a proposal which allows topological information to be encoded in spin networks. We will show that this requires minimal changes to the phase space, C*-algebra and Hilbert space of cylindrical functions. We will also discuss the area and Hamiltonian operators, and show how they depend on the topology. This extends the idea of 'background independence' in loop quantum gravity to include topology as well as geometry. It is hoped this work will confirm the usefulness of the topspin network formalism and open up several new avenues for research into …

Everything Is Entangled, Roman V. Buniy, Stephen D. H. Hsu

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

We show that big bang cosmology implies a high degree of entanglement of particles in the universe. In fact, a typical particle is entangled with many particles far outside our horizon. However, the entanglement is spread nearly uniformly so that two randomly chosen particles are unlikely to be directly entangled with each other - the reduced density matrix describing any pair is likely to be separable.

Superluminal Neutrinos At Opera Confront Pion Decay Kinematics, Ramanath Cowsick, Shmuel Nussinov, Utpal Sarkar

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Violation of Lorentz invariance (VLI) has been suggested as an explanation of the superluminal velocities of muon neutrinos reported by OPERA. In this Letter, we show that the amount of VLI required to explain this result poses severe difficulties with the kinematics of the pion decay, extending its lifetime and reducing the momentum carried away by the neutrinos. We show that the OPERA experiment limits alpha = (upsilon(v) - c)/c < 4 x 10(-6). We then take recourse to cosmic-ray data on the spectrum of muons and neutrinos generated in Earth's atmosphere to provide a stronger bound on VLI: (upsilon - c)/c < 10(-12).

The Trilinear Hamiltonian: A Zero-Dimensional Model Of Hawking Radiation From A Quantized Source, Paul D. Nation, Miles P. Blencowe

Dartmouth Scholarship

We investigate a quantum parametric amplifier with dynamical pump mode, viewed as a zero-dimensional model of Hawking radiation from an evaporating black hole. We derive the conditions under which the spectrum of particles generated from vacuum fluctuations deviates from the thermal spectrum predicted for the conventional parametric amplifier. We find that significant deviations arise when the pump mode (black hole) has emitted nearly half of its initial energy into the signal (Hawking radiation) and idler (in-falling particle) modes. As a model of black hole dynamics, this finding lends support to the view that late-time Hawking radiation contains information about the …

Exotic Smoothness In Four Dimensions And Euclidean Quantum Gravity, Christopher L. Duston

Physics Faculty Publications

In this paper we calculate the effect of the inclusion of exotic smooth structures on typical observables in Euclidean quantum gravity. We do this in the semiclassical regime for several gravitational free-field actions and find that the results are similar, independent of the particular action that is chosen. These are the first results of their kind in dimension four, which we extend to include one-loop contributions as well. We find these topological features can have physically significant results without the need for additional exotic physics.

Lower Limit To The Scale Of An Effective Quantum Theory Of Gravitation, R. R. Caldwell, Daniel Grin

Dartmouth Scholarship

An effective quantum theory of gravitation in which gravity weakens at energies higher than ∼10−3  eV is one way to accommodate the apparent smallness of the cosmological constant. Such a theory predicts departures from the Newtonian inverse-square force law on distances below ∼0.05  mm. However, it is shown that this modification also leads to changes in the long-range behavior of gravity and is inconsistent with observed gravitational lenses.

Casimir Forces And Non-Newtonian Gravitation, Roberto Onofrio

Dartmouth Scholarship

The search for non-relativistic deviations from Newtonian gravitation can lead to new phenomena signalling the unification of gravity with the other fundamental interactions. Various recent theoretical frameworks indicate a possible window for non-Newtonian forces with gravitational coupling strength in the micrometre range. The major expected background in the same range is attributable to the Casimir force or variants of it if dielectric materials, rather than conducting ones, are considered. Here we review the measurements of the Casimir force performed so far in the micrometre range and how they determine constraints on non-Newtonian gravitation, also discussing the dominant sources of false …

Global Analysis Of Data On The Proton Structure Function G₁ And The Extraction Of Its Moments, M. Osipenko, S. Simula, W. Melnitchouk, P. Bosted, V. Burkert, E. Christy, K. Griffioen, C. Keppel, S. Kuhn, G. Ricco

Physics Faculty Publications

Inspired by recent measurements with the CLAS detector at Jefferson Lab, we perform a self-consistent analysis of world data on the proton structure function g₁ in the range 0.17 < Q² < 30 (GeV/c)². We compute for the first time low-order moments of g, and study their evolution from small to large values of Q². The analysis includes the latest data on both the unpolarized inclusive cross sections and the ratio R = σ _L/σ_T from Jefferson Lab, as well as a new model for the transverse asymmetry A₂ in the resonance region. The contributions of …

Higher Twist Analysis Of The Proton G₁ Structure Function, M. Osipenko, W. Melnitchouk, S. Simula, P. Bosted, V. Burkert, M. E. Christy, K. Griffioen, C. Keppel, S. E. Kuhn

Physics Faculty Publications

We perform a global analysis of all available spin-dependent proton structure function data, covering a large range of Q², 1 ⩽ Q² ⩽ 30 GeV², and calculate the lowest moment of the g₁ structure function as a function of Q². From the Q² dependence of the lowest moment we extract matrix elements of twist-4 operators, and determine the color electric and magnetic polarizabilities of the proton to be X_E= 0.026 ± 0.015(stat) ± ^0.021_0.024 (sys) and X_B= -0.013 ∓ 0.007(stat) ∓ ^0.010 _0.012(sys), respectively.

The Quantum And The Cosmos, Edward (Rocky) W. Kolb, Joseph D. Lykken

IMSA Great Minds Program ®

Fermilab physicists, Dr. Rocky Kolb and Dr. Joe Lykken team up to explain the connection of the physics of the very small to the physics of the cosmos and their discovery of a fundamental contradiction regarding how these mysteries have led to the development of new ideas: string theory, inflation, extra dimensions and Wimpzillas, as well as Higgs boson, and other mysteries that cosmologists care about, like dark energy.

Dr. Rocky Kolb is the founding head of the NASA/Fermilab Astrophysics Group at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. He is also a Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics at The University of Chicago. …

Measurement Of Beam-Spin Asymmetries For Π⁺ Electroproduction Above The Baryon Resonance Region, K. V. Dharmawardane, G. E. Dodge, C. E. Hyde-Wright, S. E. Kuhn, L. M. Qin, F. Sabatié, L. B. Weinstein, J. Yun, Et Al., Clas Collaboration

Physics Faculty Publications

We report the first evidence for a nonzero beam-spin azimuthal asymmetry in the electroproduction of positive pions in the deep-inelastic kinematic region. Data for the reaction e^→pe'π⁺X have been obtained using a polarized electron beam of 4.3 GeV with the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. The amplitude of the sin ᵠ modulation increases with the momentum of the pion relative to the virtual photon, z. In the range z = 0.5-0.8 the average amplitude is 0.038 ± 0.005 ± 0.003 for a missing mass M_x > 1.1 GeV and 0.037 …

Exclusive Electroproduction Of ᵠ Mesons At 4.2 Gev, M. Bektasoglu, L. Ciciani, G. E. Dodge, T. A. Forest, C. E. Hyde-Wright, S. E. Kuhn, L. M. Qin, F. Sabatié, L. B. Weinstein, Et Al., The Clas Collaboration

Physics Faculty Publications

We studied the exclusive reaction ep → e' p' ᵠ using the ᵠ →K⁺K^- decay mode. The data were collected using a 4.2 GeV incident electron beam and the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer (CLAS) at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. Our experiment covers the range in Q² from 0.7 to 2.2 GeV²and W from 2.0 to 2.6 GeV. Taken together with all previous data, we find a consistent picture of ᵠ production on the proton. Our measurement shows the expected decrease of the t slope with the vector-meson formation time c Δ t …

Effective Field Theory For The Small-X Evolution, I. Balitsky

Physics Faculty Publications

The small-x behavior of structure functions in the saturation region is determined by the non-linear generalization of the BFKL equation. I suggest the effective field theory for the small-x evolution which solves formally this equation. The result is the 2+1 functional integral for the structure functions at small x.

Corrected Article: Exclusive Electroproduction Of ᵠ Mesons At 4.2 Gev [Physical. Rev. C 63, 065205, (2001)], M. Bektasoglu, L. Ciciani, G. E. Dodge, T. A. Forest, C. E. Hyde-Wright, S. E. Kuhn, L. M. Qin, F. Sabatié, L. B. Weinstein, Et Al., The Clas Collaboration

Physics Faculty Publications

We studied the exclusive reaction ep → e' p' ᵠ using the ᵠ →K⁺K^- decay mode. The data were collected using a 4.2 GeV incident electron beam and the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer (CLAS) at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. Our experiment covers the range in Q² from 0.7 to 2.2 GeV²and W from 2.0 to 2.6 GeV. Taken together with all previous data, we find a consistent picture of ᵠ production on the proton. Our measurement shows the expected decrease of the t slope with the vector-meson formation time c Δ t …

A First Principles Warm Inflation Model That Solves The Cosmological Horizon And Flatness Problems, Arjun Berera, Marcelo Gleiser, Rudnei O. Ramos

Dartmouth Scholarship

A quantum field theory warm inflation model is presented that solves the horizon and flatness problems. The model obtains, from the elementary dynamics of particle physics, cosmological scale factor trajectories that begin in a radiation dominated regime, enter an inflationary regime, and then smoothly exit back into a radiation dominated regime, with non-negligible radiation throughout the evolution.

Strong Dissipative Behavior In Quantum Field Theory, Arjun Berera, Marcelo Gleiser, Rudnei O. Ramos

Dartmouth Scholarship

We study the conditions under which an overdamped regime can be attained in the dynamic evolution of a quantum field configuration. Using a real-time formulation of finite temperature field theory, we compute the effective evolution equation of a scalar field configuration, quadratically interacting with a given set of other scalar fields. We then show that, in the overdamped regime, the dissipative kernel in the field equation of motion is closely related to the shear viscosity coefficient, as computed in scalar field theory at finite temperature. The effective dynamics is equivalent to a time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau description of the approach to equilibrium …

Evidence For Virtual Compton Scattering From Proton, J.F.J. Van Den Brand, R. Ent, P. L. Anthony, R. G. Arnold, J. Arrington, E. J. Beise, J. E. Belz, P. E. Bosted, H. J. Bulten, M. S. Chapman, K. P. Coulter, F. S. Dietrich, M. Epstein, B. W. Filippone, H. Gao, R. A. Gearhart, D. F. Geesaman, J.-O. Hansen, R. J. Holt, H. E. Jackson, C. E. Jones, C. E. Keppel, E. R. Kinney, S. Kuhn, K. Lee, W. Lorenzon, A. Lung, N.C.R. Makins, D.J. Margaziotis, R.D. Mckeown, R.G. Milner, B. Mueller, J. Napolitano, J. Nelson, T. G. O'Neill, V. Pavavassiliou, G. G. Petratos, D. H. Potterveld, S. E. Rock, M. Spengos, Z. M. Szalata, L. H. Tao, K Van Bibber, D. A. Wasson, J.L. White, B. Zeidman

Physics Faculty Publications

In virtual Compton scattering an electron is scattered off a nucleon such that the nucleon emits a photon. We show that these events can be selected experimentally, and present the first evidence for virtual Compton scattering from the proton in data obtained at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. The angular and energy dependence of the data is well described by a calculation that includes the coherent sum of electron and proton radiation.

Exclusive Electron Scattering From Deuterium At High Momentum Transfer, H. J. Bulten, P. L. Anthony, R. G. Arnold, J. Arrington, E. J. Beise, E. Belz, K. Van Bibber, P. E. Bosted, J.F.J. Van Den Brand, M. S. Chapman, K. P. Coulter, F. S. Dietrich, R. Ent, M. Epstein, B. W. Filippone, H. Gao, R.A. Gearhart, D. F. Geesaman, J.-O. Hansen, R. J. Holt, H. E. Jackson, C. E. Jones, C. E. Keppel, E. Kinney, S. E. Kuhn, K. Lee, W. Lorenzon, A. Lung, N.C.R. Makins, D. J. Margaziotis, R.D. Mckeown, R. G. Milner, B. Mueller, J. Napolitano, J. Nelson, T.G. O'Neill, V. Papavassiliou, G. G. Petratos, D. H. Potterveld, S. E. Rock, M. Spengos, Z. M. Szalata, L. H. Tao, J. L. White, B. Zeidman

Physics Faculty Publications

Cross sections are presented for the reaction ²H(e,e′p)n for momentum transfers in the range 1.2 ≤Q²≤ 6.8 (GeV/c)2 and for missing momenta from 0 to 250 MeV/c. The longitudinal-transverse interference structure function has been separated at Q²=1.2(GeV/c)². The observables are compared to calculations performed in nonrelativistic and relativistic frameworks. The data are best described by a fully relativistic calculation.