Weekly Papers on Quantum Foundations (11)

Authors: John R. Klauder

Traditional quantum field theory can lead to enormous zero-point energy, which markedly disagrees with experiment. Unfortunately, this situation is built into conventional canonical quantization procedures. For identical classical theories, an alternative quantization procedure, called affine field quantization, leads to the desirable feature of having a vanishing zero-point energy. This procedure has been applied to renormalizable and nonrenormalizable covariant scalar fields, fermion fields, as well as general relativity. Simpler models are offered as an introduction to affine field quantization.

Authors: A. FabbriN. Pavloff

We study the two-body momentum correlation signal in a quasi one dimensional Bose-Einstein condensate in the presence of a sonic horizon. We identify the relevant correlation lines in momentum space and compute the intensity of the corresponding signal. We consider a set of different experimental procedures and identify the specific issues of each measuring process. We show that some inter-channel correlations, in particular the Hawking quantum-partner one, are particularly well adapted for witnessing quantum non-separability, being resilient to the effects of temperature and/or quantum quenches.

Authors: Tejinder P. Singh

We have recently proposed a new action principle for combining Einstein equations and the Dirac equation for a point mass. We used a length scale $L_{CS}$, dubbed the Compton-Schwarzschild length, to which the Compton wavelength and Schwarzschild radius are small mass and large mass approximations, respectively. Here we write down the field equations which follow from this action. We argue that the large mass limit yields Einstein equations, provided we assume wave function collapse and localisation for large masses. The small mass limit yields the Dirac equation. We explain why the Kerr-Newman black hole has the same gyromagnetic ratio as the Dirac electron, both being twice the classical value. The small mass limit also provides compelling reasons for introducing torsion, which is sourced by the spin density of the Dirac field. There is thus a symmetry between torsion and gravity: torsion couples to quantum objects through Planck’s constant $\hbar$ (but not $G$) and is important in the microscopic limit. Whereas gravity couples to classical matter, as usual, through Newton’s gravitational constant $G$ (but not $\hbar$), and is important in the macroscopic limit. We construct the Einstein-Cartan-Dirac equations which include the length $L_{CS}$. We find a potentially significant change in the coupling constant of the torsion driven cubic non-linear self-interaction term in the Dirac-Hehl-Datta equation. We speculate on the possibility that gravity is not a fundamental interaction, but emerges as a consequence of wave function collapse, and that the gravitational constant maybe expressible in terms of Planck’s constant and the parameters of dynamical collapse models.

Authors: Steven B. Giddings

This paper elaborates on an intrinsically quantum approach to gravity, which begins with a general framework for quantum mechanics and then seeks to identify additional mathematical structure on Hilbert space that is responsible for gravity and other phenomena. A key principle in this approach is that of correspondence: this structure should reproduce spacetime, general relativity, and quantum field theory in a limit of weak gravitational fields. A central question is that of “Einstein separability,” and asks how to define mutually independent subsystems, e.g. through localization. Familiar definitions involving tensor products or operator subalgebras do not clearly accomplish this in gravity, as is seen in the correspondence limit. Instead, gravitational behavior, particularly gauge-invariance, suggests a network of Hilbert subspaces related via inclusion maps. Any such localization structure is also expected to place strong constraints on evolution, which are also supplemented by the constraint of unitarity.

Feintzeig, Benjamin H. (2017) The classical limit of a state on the Weyl algebra. [Preprint]
New research reveals a possible mechanism allowing “black stars” and “gravastars” to exist– Read more on ScientificAmerican.com

      

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Hicks, Michael (2018) What Everyone Should Say About Symmetries (And Why Humeans Get to Say It). [Preprint]
Tȃrziu, Gabriel (2018) Can we have mathematical understanding of physical phenomena? THEORIA. An International Journal for Theory, History and Foundations of Science, 33 (1). pp. 91-109. ISSN 2171-679X
Friebe, Cord (2018) Metaphysics of laws and ontology of time. THEORIA. An International Journal for Theory, History and Foundations of Science, 33 (1). pp. 77-89. ISSN 2171-679X
Kryukov, Alexey (2018) On observation of position in quantum theory. [Preprint]
Two relativists present their distinctive views on the universe, its evolution and the impact of quantum theory– Read more on ScientificAmerican.com

      

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Author(s): John Sous and Edward Grant

We argue that the quenched ultracold plasma presents an experimental platform for studying the quantum many-body physics of disordered systems in the long-time and finite energy-density limits. We consider an experiment that quenches a plasma of nitric oxide to an ultracold system of Rydberg molecul…
[Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 110601] Published Wed Mar 14, 2018

Abstract

There are quantum solutions for computational problems that make use of interference at some stage in the algorithm. These stages can be mapped into the physical setting of a single particle travelling through a many-armed interferometer. There has been recent foundational interest in theories beyond quantum theory. Here, we present a generalized formulation of computation in the context of a many-armed interferometer, and explore how theories can differ from quantum theory and still perform distributed calculations in this set-up. We shall see that quaternionic quantum theory proves a suitable candidate, whereas box-world does not. We also find that a classical hidden variable model first presented by Spekkens (Phys Rev A 75(3): 32100, 2007) can also be used for this type of computation due to the epistemic restriction placed on the hidden variable.

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