California Institute of Technology

About: California Institute of Technology is a education organization based out in Pasadena, California, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Galaxy & Population. The organization has 57649 authors who have published 146691 publications receiving 8620287 citations. The organization is also known as: Caltech & Cal Tech.

The Einstein Telescope: a third-generation gravitational wave observatory

Abstract: Advanced gravitational wave interferometers, currently under realization, will soon permit the detection of gravitational waves from astronomical sources. To open the era of precision gravitational wave astronomy, a further substantial improvement in sensitivity is required. The future space-based Laser Interferometer Space Antenna and the third-generation ground-based observatory Einstein Telescope (ET) promise to achieve the required sensitivity improvements in frequency ranges. The vastly improved sensitivity of the third generation of gravitational wave observatories could permit detailed measurements of the sources' physical parameters and could complement, in a multi-messenger approach, the observation of signals emitted by cosmological sources obtained through other kinds of telescopes. This paper describes the progress of the ET project which is currently in its design study phase.

Theory of the Fermi Interaction

Abstract: The representation of Fermi particles by two-component Pauli spinors satisfying a second order differential equation and the suggestion that in β decay these spinors act without gradient couplings leads to an essentially unique weak four-fermion coupling. It is equivalent to equal amounts of vector and axial vector coupling with two-component neutrinos and conservation of leptons. (The relative sign is not determined theoretically.) It is taken to be "universal"; the lifetime of the μ agrees to within the experimental errors of 2%. The vector part of the coupling is, by analogy with electric charge, assumed to be not renormalized by virtual mesons. This requires, for example, that pions are also "charged" in the sense that there is a direct interaction in which, say, a π0 goes to π- and an electron goes to a neutrino. The weak decays of strange particles will result qualitatively if the universality is extended to include a coupling involving a Λ or Σ fermion. Parity is then not conserved even for those decays like K→2π or 3π which involve no neutrinos. The theory is at variance with the measured angular correlation of electron and neutrino in He6, and with the fact that fewer than 10^-4 pion decay into electron and neutrino.

Holonomy, the Quantum Adiabatic Theorem, and Berry's Phase

Abstract: It is shown that the "geometrical phase factor" recently found by Berry in his study of the quantum adiabatic theorem is precisely the holonomy in a Hermitian line bundle since the adiabatic theorem naturally defines a connection in such a bundle. This not only takes the mystery out of Berry's phase factor and provides calculational simple formulas, but makes a connection between Berry's work and that of Thouless et al. This connection allows the author to use Berry's ideas to interpret the integers of Thouless et al. in terms of eigenvalue degeneracies.