Probing the Quantum Vacuum PDF Download

Author: Holger Martin Gies
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 264

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Author: Walter Dittrich
Publisher:
ISBN: 9783662147078
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Author: Walter Dittrich
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 354045585X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
This book is devoted to an investigation of the vacuum of quantum elec trodynamics (QED), relying on the perturbative effective action approach. If the vacuum is probed with external perturbations, the response of the system can be analyzed after averaging over the high energy degrees of freedom. This results in an effective description of the properties of the vacuum, which are comparable to the properties of a classical medium. We concentrate primarily on the physics of slowly varying fields or soft photons by integrating out the high energy degrees of freedom, i.e. the elec trons, employing Schwinger's proper time method. We derive a new represen tation of the one loop photon polarization tensor, coupling to all orders to an arbitrary constant electromagnetic field, fully maintaining the dependence on the complete set of invariants. On the basis of effective Lagrangians, we derive the light cone condition for low frequency photons propagating in strong fields. Our formalism can be extended to various external perturbations, such as temperature and Casimir situations. We give a proof of the "unified formula" for low energy phenom ena that describes the refractive indices of various perturbed quantum vacua. In the high energy domain, we observe similarities between a vacuum with a superstrong magnetic field and a magnetized plasma. The question of mea surability of the various effects is addressed; a violation of causality is not found.

Author: Frieder Lindel
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Abstract: Vacuum fluctuations of the electromagnetic field associated with the ground state exist as a consequence of Heisenberg's uncertainty principle. These fluctuating fields manifest themselves indirectly through their influence on matter where they may be regarded as responsible for important processes in nature, e.g. spontaneous emission, the Lamb shift, Casimir and Casimir-Polder forces. More recently, an alternative route to observing the quantum vacuum has been developed in electro-optic sampling experiments: they are based on the output statistics of ultrashort laser pulses sent through nonlinear crystals whose optical properties are influenced by the vacuum fluctuations. In this thesis, we develop a theoretical framework based on macroscopic quantum electro- dynamics for describing the propagation of quantised electric fields through a nonlinear crystal allowing for general environments. We apply this framework to the setup of electro-optic sampling, finding a description of the experiments which extends previous theoretical results beyond the paraxial approximation and by allowing for general ab- sorptive and dispersive environments via the classical Green's tensor. We show that the predictions of our theory for electro-optic sampling experiments in bulk media are in good agreement with the experimental data, recovering previous theoretical findings in certain limits, and how these experiments can be used to individually measure longitudinal or transverse fluctuating fields. We argue that by modifying the experimental setup, one can observe different characteristics of the environment-assisted quantum vacuum such as changes induced by metallic plates and cavities or surface resonances of these objects. This makes it possible to experimentally test the theoretical predictions for the medium-assisted ground state of quantum electrodynamics and thereby forging the missing link between geometry-induced vacuum effects such as e.g. the Casimir effect and electro-optic sampling of the vacuum

Author: Luciano Boi
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 1421402475
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 233

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A vacuum, classically understood, contains nothing. The quantum vacuum, on the other hand, is a seething cauldron of nothingness: particle pairs going in and out of existence continuously and rapidly while exerting influence over an enormous range of scales. Acclaimed mathematical physicist and natural philosopher Luciano Boi expounds the quantum vacuum, exploring the meaning of nothingness and its relationship with physical reality. Boi first provides a deep analysis of the interaction between geometry and physics at the quantum level. He next describes the relationship between the microscopic and macroscopic structures of the world. In so doing, Boi sheds light on the very nature of the universe, stressing in an original and profound way the relationship between quantum geometry and the internal symmetries underlying the behavior of matter and the interactions of forces. Beyond the physics and mathematics of the quantum vacuum, Boi offers a profoundly philosophical interpretation of the concept. Plato and Aristotle did not believe a vacuum was possible. How could nothing be something, they asked? Boi traces the evolution of the quantum vacuum from an abstract concept in ancient Greece to its fundamental role in quantum field theory and string theory in modern times. The quantum vacuum is a complex entity, one essential to understanding some of the most intriguing issues in twentieth-century physics, including cosmic singularity, dark matter and energy, and the existence of the Higgs boson particle. Boi explains with simple clarity the relevant theories and fundamental concepts of the quantum vacuum. Theoretical, mathematical, and particle physicists, as well as researchers and students of the history and philosophy of physics, will find The Quantum Vacuum to be a stimulating and engaging primer on the topic.

Author: Peter W. Milonni
Publisher: Academic Press
ISBN: 0080571492
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 522

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In modern physics, the classical vacuum of tranquil nothingness has been replaced by a quantum vacuum with fluctuations of measurable consequence. In The Quantum Vacuum, Peter Milonni describes the concept of the vacuum in quantum physics with an emphasis on quantum electrodynamics. He elucidates in depth and detail the role of the vacuum electromagnetic field in spontaneous emission, the Lamb shift, van der Waals, and Casimir forces, and a variety of other phenomena, some of which are of technological as well as purely scientific importance. This informative text also provides an introduction based on fundamental vacuum processes to the ideas of relativistic quantum electrodynamics and quantum field theory, including renormalization and Feynman diagrams. Experimental as well as theoreticalaspects of the quantum vacuum are described, and in most cases details of mathematical derivations are included. Chapter 1 of The Quantum Vacuum - published in advance in The American Journal of Physics (1991)-was later selected by readers as one of the Most Memorable papers ever published in the 60-year history of the journal. This chapter provides anexcellent beginning of the book, introducing a wealth of information of historical interest, the results of which are carefully woven into subsequent chapters to form a coherent whole. Does not assume that the reader has taken advanced graduate courses, making the text accessible to beginning graduate students Emphasizes the basic physical ideas rather than the formal, mathematical aspects of the subject Provides a careful and thorough treatment of Casimir and van der Waals forces at a level of detail not found in any other book on this topic Clearly presents mathematical derivations

Author: Diederik Aerts
Publisher: World Scientific
ISBN: 9814489409
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 400

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During the last decade, scientists working in quantum theory have been engaging in promising new fields such as quantum computation and quantum information processing, and have also been reflecting on the possibilities of nonlinear behavior on the quantum level. These are challenging undertakings because (1) they will result in new solutions to important technical and practical problems that were unsolvable by the classical approaches (for example, quantum computers can calculate problems that are intractable if one uses classical computers); and (2) they open up new 'hard' problems of a fundamental nature that touch the foundation of quantum theory itself (for example, the contradiction between locality and nonlinearity and the interpretation of quantum computing as a universal process). In this book, one can distinguish two main streams of research to approach the just-mentioned problem field: (1) a theoretical structural part, which concentrates on the elaboration of a nonlinear quantum mechanics and the fundamentals of quantum computation; and (2) a theoretical experimental part, which focuses on the theoretical aspects of applications that arise from new technology and novel research perspectives such as quantum optics and quantum cryptography. Particular attention is also paid to the measurement problem, the classical limit and alternative interpretations (such as the hidden measurement approach). Contents:Probing the Structure of Quantum Mechanics (D Aerts et al.)The Linearity of Quantum Mechanics at Stake: The Description of Separated Quantum Entities (D Aerts & F Valckenborgh)Linearity and Compound Physical Systems: The Case of Two Separated Spin 1/2 Entities (D Aerts & F Valckenborgh)Being and Change: Foundations of a Realistic Operational Formalism (D Aerts)The Classical Limit of the Lattice-Theoretical Orthocomplementation in the Framework of the Hidden-Measurement Approach (T Durt & B D'Hooghe)State Property Systems and Closure Spaces: Extracting the Classical en Non-Classical Parts (D Aerts & D Deses)Hidden Measurements from Contextual Axiomatics (S Aerts)High Energy Approaches to Low Energy Phenomena in Astrophysics (S M Austin)Memory Effects in Atomic Interferometry: A Negative Result (T Durt et al.)Reality and Probability: Introducing a New Type of Probability Calculus (D Aerts)Quantum Computation: Towards the Construction of a ‘Between Quantum and Classical Computer’ (D Aerts & B D'Hooghe)Buckley-Siler Connectives for Quantum Logics of Fuzzy Sets (J Pykacz & B D'Hooghe)Some Notes on Aerts' Interpretation of the EPR-Paradox and the Violation of Bell-Inequalities (W Christiaens)Quantum Cryptographic Encryption in Three Complementary Bases Through a Mach-Zehnder Set Up (T Durt & B Nagler)Quantum Cryptography Without Quantum Uncertainties (T Durt)How to Construct Darboux-Invariant Equations of von Neumann Type (J L Cie(li(ski)Darboux-Integrable Equations with Non-Abelian Nonlinearities (N V Ustinov & M Czachor)Dressing Chain Equations Associated with Difference Soliton Systems (S Leble)Covariance Approach to the Free Photon Field (M Kuna & J Naudts) Readership: Graduate students, researchers and academics in quantum physics. Keywords:Quantum Mechanics;Quantum Computation;Quantum Information Processing

Author: Stefan Schramm
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319441655
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 389

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This volume presents the state-of-the-art in selected topics across modern nuclear physics, covering fields of central importance to research and illustrating their connection to many different areas of physics. It describes recent progress in the study of superheavy and exotic nuclei, which is pushing our knowledge to ever heavier elements and neutron-richer isotopes. Extending nuclear physics to systems that are many times denser than even the core of an atomic nucleus, one enters the realm of the physics of neutron stars and possibly quark stars, a topic that is intensively investigated with many ground-based and outer-space research missions as well as numerous theoretical works. By colliding two nuclei at very high ultra-relativistic energies one can create a fireball of extremely hot matter, reminiscent of the universe very shortly after the big bang, leading to a phase of melted hadrons and free quarks and gluons, the so-called quark-gluon plasma. These studies tie up with effects of crucial importance in other fields. During the collision of heavy ions, electric fields of extreme strength are produced, potentially destabilizing the vacuum of the atomic physics system, subsequently leading to the decay of the vacuum state and the emission of positrons. In neutron stars the ultra-dense matter might support extremely high magnetic fields, far beyond anything that can be produced in the laboratory, significantly affecting the stellar properties. At very high densities general relativity predicts the stellar collapse to a black hole. However, a number of current theoretical activities, modifying Einstein’s theory, point to possible alternative scenarios, where this collapse might be avoided. These and related topics are addressed in this book in a series of highly readable chapters. In addition, the book includes fundamental analyses of the practicalities involved in transiting to an electricity supply mainly based on renewable energies, investigating this scenario less from an engineering and more from a physics point of view. While the topics comprise a large scope of activities, the contributions also show an extensive overlap in the methodology and in the analytical and numerical tools involved in tackling these diverse research fields that are the forefront of modern science.

Author: Shifman Misha
Publisher: World Scientific
ISBN: 9814482048
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 2388

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This volume is a collection of dedicated reviews covering all aspects of theoretical high energy physics and some aspects of solid state physics. Some of the papers are broad reviews of topics that span the entire field while others are surveys of authors' personal achievements. This is the most comprehensive review collection reflecting state of the art at the end of 2004. An important and unique aspect is a special effort the authors have invested in making the presentation pedagogical.

Author: Kiyoshi Ueda
Publisher: MDPI
ISBN: 3038428795
Category : Electronic books
Languages : en
Pages : 457

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This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue "X-Ray Free-Electron Laser" that was published in Applied Sciences