Physics, Volume 1, Issue 3 (December 2019) – 8 articles

In this paper, we dwell on three issues: (1) revisit the relation between vacuum fluctuations and radiation reaction in atom-field interactions, an old issue that began in the 1970s and settled in the 1990s with its resolution recorded in monographs; (2) the fluctuation–dissipation relation (FDR) of the system, pointing out the differences between the conventional form in linear response theory (LRT) assuming ultra-weak coupling between the system and the bath, and the FDR in an equilibrated final state, relaxed from the nonequilibrium evolution of an open quantum system; (3) quantum radiation from an atom interacting with a quantum field: We begin with vacuum fluctuations in the field acting on the internal degrees of freedom (idf) of an atom, adding to its dynamics a stochastic component which engenders quantum radiation whose backreaction causes quantum dissipation in the idf of the atom. We show explicitly how different terms representing these processes appear in the equations of motion. Then, using the example of a stationary atom, we show how the absence of radiation in this simple cases is a result of complex cancellations, at a far away observation point, of the interference between emitted radiation from the atom and the local fluctuations in the free field. In so doing we point out in Issue 1 that the entity which enters into the duality relation with vacuum fluctuations is not radiation reaction, which can exist as a classical entity, but quantum dissipation. Finally, regarding issue 2, we point out for systems with many atoms, the co-existence of a set of correlation-propagation relations (CPRs) describing how the correlations between the atoms are related to the propagation of their (retarded non-Markovian) mutual influence manifesting in the quantum field. The CPR is absolutely crucial in keeping the balance of energy flows between the constituents of the system, and between the system and its environment. Without the consideration of this additional relation in tether with the FDR, dynamical self-consistency cannot be sustained. A combination of these two sets of relations forms a generalized matrix FDR relation that captures the physical essence of the interaction between an atom and a quantum field at arbitrary coupling strength. Full article

Here we introduce the latest version of the GAMESH model, capable to consistently account for the formation and evolution of compact binary systems along the cosmic assembly of a Milky Way (MW)-like galaxy, centered on a local group volume resolving a large population of dwarf satellites. After describing the galaxy assembly process and how the formation of binary systems is accounted for, we summarize some recent findings on the properties and evolution of low-metallicity dwarf galaxies hosting the birth/coalescence of stellar/compact binaries generating GW150914-like signals. Finally, we focus on the mass and orbital properties of the above compact binary candidates assessing their impact on the resulting coalescence times and on selecting suitable galaxy hosts. Full article

When a quantum field is in contact with a thermal bath, the vacuum state of the field may be generalized to a thermal vacuum state, which takes into account the thermal noise. In thermo field dynamics, this is realized by doubling the dimensionality of the Fock space of the system. Interestingly, the representation of thermal noise by means of an augmented space is also found in a distinctly different approach based on the Wigner transform of both the field operators and density matrix, which we pursue here. Specifically, the thermal noise is introduced by augmenting the classical-like Wigner phase space by means of Nosé–Hoover chain thermostats, which can be readily simulated on a computer. In this paper, we illustrate how this may be achieved and discuss how non-equilibrium quantum thermal distributions of the field modes can be numerically simulated. Full article

Radio-frequency (RF) charged particle traps, such as the Paul trap or higher order RF multipole traps, may be used to trap quasi-neutral plasma. The presence of positive and negative plasma species mitigates the ejection of particles that occurs due to space charge repulsion. For symmetric species, such as a pair plasma, the trapped particle distribution is essentially equal for both species. For plasma with species of disparate charge-to-mass ratio, the RF parameters are chosen to directly trap the lighter species, leading to loss of the heavier species until sufficient net space charge develops to prevent further loss. Two-dimensional (2D) electrostatic particle-in-cell simulations are performed of cases with mass ratio m₊/m₋ = 10, and also with ion–electron plasma. Multipole cases including order N = 2 (quadrupole) and higher order N = 8 (hexadecapole) are considered. The light ion-heavy ion N = 8 case exhibits particles losses less than 5% over 2500 RF periods, but the N = 8 ion–electron case exhibits a higher loss rate, likely due to non-adiabaticity of electron trajectories at the boundary, but still with low total electron loss current on the order of 10 μA. The N = 2 ion-electron case is adiabatic and stable, but is subject to a smaller trapping volume and greater initial perturbation of the bulk plasma by the trapping field. Full article

We present an open-source kinematic fitting routine designed for low-energy nuclear physics applications. Although kinematic fitting is commonly used in high-energy particle physics, it is rarely used in low-energy nuclear physics, despite its effectiveness. A FORTRAN and ROOT C++ version of the FUNKI_FIT kinematic fitting code have been developed and published open access. The FUNKI_FIT code is universal in the sense that the constraint equations can be easily modified to suit different experimental set-ups and reactions. Two case studies for the use of this code, utilising experimental and Monte–Carlo data, are presented: (1) charged-particle spectroscopy using silicon-strip detectors; (2) charged-particle spectroscopy using active target detectors. The kinematic fitting routine provides an improvement in resolution in both cases, demonstrating, for the first time, the applicability of kinematic fitting across a range of nuclear physics applications. The ROOT macro has been developed in order to easily apply this technique in standard data analysis routines used by the nuclear physics community. Full article

We propose a method for the estimation of the spectral response of a photodetector, using only the variation of the temperature of a black body source without the need of an expensive monochromator or a circular filter. The proposed method is suitable especially for infrared detectors in which the cut-off wavelength and the responsivity vs. wavelength is not exactly known. The method provides a rough estimation of the spectral response solving a Fredholm integral equation of the first kind. The precision of this technique depends on the temperatures at which the detector output is measured. Some examples are given for illustration. Full article

The canonical formulation of general relativity (GR) is based on decomposition space–time manifold M into $R\times \Sigma$ , where $R$ represents the time, and $\Sigma$ is the three-dimensional space-like surface. This decomposition has to preserve the invariance of GR, invariance under general coordinates, and local Lorentz transformations. These symmetries are associated with conserved currents that are coupled to gravity. These symmetries are studied on a three dimensional space-like hypersurface $\Sigma$ embedded in a four-dimensional space–time manifold. This implies continuous symmetries and conserved currents by Noether’s theorem on that surface. We construct a three-form $E_i\wedge D{A}^i$ (D represents covariant exterior derivative) in the phase space $(E_i^a,A_a^i)$ on the surface $\Sigma$ , and derive an equation of continuity on that surface, and search for canonical relations and a Lagrangian that correspond to the same equation of continuity according to the canonical field theory. We find that ${\Sigma }_i^{0a}$ is a conjugate momentum of $A_a^i$ and ${\Sigma }_i^{ab}{F}_{ab}^i$ is its energy density. We show that there is conserved spin current that couples to $A^i$ , and show that we have to include the term $F_{\mu \nu i}{F}^{\mu \nu i}$ in GR. Lagrangian, where $F^i=D{A}^i$ , and $A^i$ is complex $SO\left(3\right)$ connection. The term $F_{\mu \nu i}{F}^{\mu \nu i}$ includes one variable, $A^i$ , similar to Yang–Mills gauge theory. Finally we couple the connection $A^i$ to a left-handed spinor field $\psi$ , and find the corresponding beta function. Full article

We consider a finite-size spherical bubble with a nonequilibrium value of the q-field, where the bubble is immersed in an infinite vacuum with the constant equilibrium value $q_0$ for the q-field (this $q_0$ has already cancelled an initial cosmological constant). Numerical results are presented for the time evolution of such a q-bubble with gravity turned off and with gravity turned on. For small enough bubbles and a q-field energy scale sufficiently below the gravitational energy scale $E_{\mathrm{Planck}}$ , the vacuum energy of the q-bubble is found to disperse completely. For large enough bubbles and a finite value of $E_{\mathrm{Planck}}$ , the vacuum energy of the q-bubble disperses only partially and there occurs gravitational collapse near the bubble center. Full article