Showing papers by "Jürg Fröhlich published in 2015"

Magnetohydrodynamics of Chiral Relativistic Fluids

Abstract: We study the dynamics of a plasma of charged relativistic fermions at very high temperature T >> m, where m is the fermion mass, coupled to the electromagnetic field. In particular, we derive a magnetohydrodynamical description of the evolution of such a plasma. We show that, compared to conventional magnetohydronamics (MHD) for a plasma of nonrelativistic particles, the hydrodynamical description of the relativistic plasma involves new degrees of freedom described by a pseudoscalar field originating in a local asymmetry in the densities of left-handed and right-handed fermions. This field can be interpreted as an effective axion field. Taking into account the chiral anomaly we present dynamical equations for the evolution of this field, as well as of other fields appearing in the MHD description of the plasma. Due to its nonlinear coupling to helical magnetic fields, the axion field significantly affects the dynamics of a magnetized plasma and can give rise to a novel type of inverse cascade.

Quantum Probability Theory and the Foundations of Quantum Mechanics

Abstract: By and large, people are better at coining expressions than at filling them with interesting, concrete contents. Thus, it may not be very surprising that there are many professional probabilists who may have heard the expression but do not appear to be aware of the need to develop “quantum probability theory” into a thriving, rich, useful field featured at meetings and conferences on probability theory. Although our aim, in this essay, is not to contribute new results on quantum probability theory, we hope to be able to let the reader feel the enormous potential and richness of this field. What we intend to do, in the following, is to contribute some novel points of view to the “foundations of quantum mechanics”, using mathematical tools from “quantum probability theory” (such as the theory of operator algebras).

Some Properties of Correlations of Quantum Lattice Systems in Thermal Equilibrium

Abstract: Simple proofs of uniqueness of the thermodynamic limit of KMS states and of the decay of equilibrium correlations are presented for a large class of quantum lattice systems at high temperatures. New quantum correlation inequalities for general Heisenberg models are described. Finally, a simplified derivation of a general result on power-law decay of correlations in 2D quantum lattice systems with continuous symmetries is given, extending results of McBryan and Spencer for the 2D classical XY model.

Quantum Electrodynamics of Atomic Resonances

Abstract: A simple model of an atom interacting with the quantized electromagnetic field is studied. The atom has a finite mass m, finitely many excited states and an electric dipole moment, \({\vec{d}_0 = -\lambda_{0} \vec{d}}\), where \({\| d^{i}\| = 1, i = 1, 2, 3,}\) and \({\lambda_0}\) is proportional to the elementary electric charge. The interaction of the atom with the radiation field is described with the help of the Ritz Hamiltonian, \({-\vec{d}_0 \cdot \vec{E}}\), where \({\vec{E}}\) is the electric field, cut off at large frequencies. A mathematical study of the Lamb shift, the decay channels and the life times of the excited states of the atom is presented. It is rigorously proven that these quantities are analytic functions of the momentum \({\vec{p}}\) of the atom and of the coupling constant \({\lambda_0}\), provided \({\vert\vec{p} \vert < mc}\) and \({\vert \Im \vec{p} \vert}\) and \({\vert \lambda_{0} \vert}\) are sufficiently small. The proof relies on a somewhat novel inductive construction involving a sequence of ‘smooth Feshbach–Schur maps’ applied to a complex dilatation of the original Hamiltonian, which yields an algorithm for the calculation of resonance energies that converges super-exponentially fast.

The message of quantum science : attempts towards a synthesis

Abstract: Theory of the Decoherence Effect in Finite and Infinite Open Quantum Systems Using the Algebraic Approach.- Quantum Systems and Resolvent Algebras.- What the Philosophical Interpretation of Quantum Theory Can Accomplish.- On the suffciency of the wavefunction.- The role of the probability current for time measurements.- Quantum Field Theory on Curved Spacetime and the Standard Cosmological Model.- Quantum Probability Theory and the Foundations of Quantum Mechanics.- Can relativity be considered complete ? From Newtonian nonlocality to quantum nonlocality and beyond.- Faces of Quantum Physics.- Computation through Neuronal Oscillations.- Local properties, Growth and Transport of Entanglement.- Unavoidable decoherence in matter wave interferometry.- Classical-like trajectories of a quantum particle in a cloud chamber.- Quantum Mechanics of Time.- Localization and Entanglement in Relativistic Quantum Physics.

Indirect retrieval of information and the emergence of facts in quantum mechanics

Abstract: Long sequences of successive direct (projective) measurements or observations of a few "uninteresting" physical quantities of a quantum system may reveal indirect, but precise and unambiguous information on the values of some very "interesting" observables of the system. In this paper, the mathematics underlying this claim is developed; i.e., we attempt to contribute to a mathematical theory of indirect and, in particular, non-demolition measurements in quantum mechanics. Our attempt leads us to make novel uses of classical notions and results of probability theory, such as the "algebra of functions measurable at infinity", the Central Limit Theorem, results concerning relative entropy and its role in the theory of large deviations, etc.