Bulletin of the American Physical Society
APS April Meeting 2013
Volume 58, Number 4
Saturday–Tuesday, April 13–16, 2013; Denver, Colorado
Session Y15: Quantum Mechanics and Electrodynamics |
Hide Abstracts |
Sponsoring Units: GPMFC Chair: Brian Sawyer, National Institute of Standards and Technology Room: Plaza Court 4 |
Tuesday, April 16, 2013 1:30PM - 1:42PM |
Y15.00001: Macroscopic Quantum Mechanics in a Classical Spacetime Huan Yang We apply the many-particle Schr\"{o}dinger-Newton equation, which describes the co-evolution of an many-particle {\it quantum} wave function and a {\it classical} space-time geometry, to macroscopic mechanical objects. By averaging over motions of the objects' internal degrees of freedom, we obtain an effective Schr\"{o}dinger-Newton equation for their centers of mass, which are degrees of freedom that can be monitored and manipulated at the quantum mechanical levels by state-of-the-art optoemchanics experiments. For a single macroscopic object moving quantum mechanically within a harmonic potential well, we find that its quantum uncertainty evolves in a different frequency from its classical eigenfrequency --- with a difference that depends on the internal structure of the object, and can be observable using current technology. For several objects, the Schr\"odinger-Newton equation predicts semiclassical motions just like Newtonian physics, yet it is not allowed that quantum uncertainty to be transferred from one object to another through semiclassical gravity. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, April 16, 2013 1:42PM - 1:54PM |
Y15.00002: Exploring the foundations of quantum mechanics using Monte Carlo simulations of the Freedman-Clauser experimental test of Bell's Inequality Stephen Foulkes Monte Carlo simulations of the Freedman-Clauser experiment are used to test the Copenhagen interpretation and a local realistic interpretation of Quantum Mechanics. The simulated results are compared to the actual results of the experiment which confirmed the quantum mechanical calculation for nine different relative angles between the two polarization analyzers. For each simulation $5\times10^7$ total simulated photon pairs were generated at each relative angle. The Copenhagen interpretation model closely followed the general shape of the theoretical calculation but differed from the calculated values by 2.5\% to 3.3\% for angles less than or equal to $\pi/8$ and differed by 15.0\% to 52.5\% for angles greater than or equal to $3\pi/8$. The local realistic interpretation model did not replicate the experimental results but was generally within 1\% of a classical calculation for all analyzer angles. An alternative, ``fuzzy polarization'' interpretation wherein the photon polarization is not assumed to have a fixed value, yielded values within 1\% of the quantum mechanical calculation. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, April 16, 2013 1:54PM - 2:06PM |
Y15.00003: Teichmuller Space Resolution of the EPR Paradox Friedwardt Winterberg The mystery of Newton's action-at-a-distance law of gravity was resolved by Einstein with Riemann's non-Euclidean geometry, which permitted the explanation of the departure from Newton's law for the motion of Mercury. It is here proposed that the similarly mysterious non-local EPR-type quantum correlations may be explained by a Teichmuller space geometry below the Planck length, for which an experiment for its verification is proposed. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, April 16, 2013 2:06PM - 2:18PM |
Y15.00004: Calendar effects in quantum mechanics in view of interactive holography Simon Berkovich Quantum mechanics in terms of interactive holography appears as `normal' science [1]. With the holography quantum behavior is determined by the interplay of material formations and their conjugate images. To begin with, this effortlessly elucidates the nonlocality in quantum entanglements. Then, it has been shown that Schr\"{o}dinger's dynamics for a single particle arises from Bi-Fragmental random walks of the particle itself and its holographic image. For many particles this picture blurs with fragments merging as bosons or fermions. In biomolecules, swapping of particles and their holographic placeholders leads to self-replication of the living matter. Because of broad interpretations of quantum formalism direct experiments attributing it to holography may not be very compelling. The holographic mechanism better reveals as an absolute frame of reference. A number of physical and biological events exhibit annual variations when Earth orbital position changes with respect to the universal holographic mechanism. The well established calendar variations of heart attacks can be regarded as a positive outcome of a generalization of the Michelson experiment, where holography is interferometry and ailing hearts are detectors of pathologically replicated proteins. Also, there have been already observed calendar changes in radioactive decay rates. The same could be expected for various fine quantum experiences, like, e.g., Josephson tunneling. In other words, Quantum Mechanics (February)~$\ne $~Quantum Mechanics (August). [1] S. Berkovich, ``A comprehensive explanation of quantum mechanics,'' www.cs.gwu.edu/research/technical-report/170 . [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, April 16, 2013 2:18PM - 2:30PM |
Y15.00005: Can Real Forces Be Induced by Interference of Quantum Wavefunctions? Ido Kaminer, Jonathan Nemirovsky, Mikael Rechtsman, Rivka Bekenstein, Mordechai Segev In 1958, a revolutionary paper by Aharonov and Bohm predicted a phase difference between two parts of an electron wavefunction even when being confined to a regime with no EM field. The Aharonov-Bohm effect was groundbreaking: proving that the EM vector potential is a real physical quantity, affecting the outcome of experiments not only through the EM fields extracted from it. But is the EM potential a real necessity for an Aharonov-Bohm-type effect? Can it exist in a potential-free system such as \textbf{free-space}? Here, we find self-accelerating wavepackets that are solutions of the free Dirac equation, for massive/massless fermions/bosons. These accelerating Dirac particles mimic the dynamics of a free-charge moving under a ``virtual'' EM field, even though no field is acting and there is no charge: the entire dynamics is a direct result of the initial conditions. We show that such particles display an \textbf{effective Aharonov-Bohm} effect caused by exactly the same ``virtual'' potential that also ``causes'' the acceleration. Altogether, along the trajectory, there is no way to distinguish between a real force and the self-induced force - it is real by all measurable quantities. This proves that one can create all effects induced by EM fields by only controlling the initial conditions of a wave pattern, while the dynamics is in free-space. These phenomena can be observed in various settings: e.g., optical waves in honeycomb photonic lattices or in hyperbolic metamaterials, and matter waves in honeycomb interference structures. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, April 16, 2013 2:30PM - 2:42PM |
Y15.00006: Spectroscopy and Thermometry of Drumhead Modes in a Mesoscopic 2D Coulomb Crystal of $^9$Be$^+$ Brian Sawyer, Joseph Britton, Carson Teale, Adam Keith, Joseph Wang, James Freericks, John Bollinger We demonstrate spectroscopy and thermometry of individual motional modes in a mesoscopic 2D ion array using entanglement between ion valence electron spins and collective motion. Our system is a $\sim $400 $\mu $m-diameter planar crystal of several hundred $^{9}$Be$^{+}$ ions exhibiting complex drumhead modes in the confining potential of a Penning trap. Exploiting precise control over the $^{9}$Be$^{+}$ valence electron spins, we apply a homogeneous spin-dependent optical dipole force to excite arbitrary transverse modes with wavelengths ranging from the array diameter to the interparticle spacing of $\sim $20 $\mu $m. In addition to temperature measurements, this spin-motion entanglement induced by the spin-dependent optical dipole force allows for extremely sensitive detection of external forces ($\sim$100 yN) acting on the ion crystal. Characterization of mode frequencies and temperatures is critical for quantum simulation experiments that make use of the ion spins. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, April 16, 2013 2:42PM - 2:54PM |
Y15.00007: QED, Nuclear Size, and the Cosmos: Applications of High Precision Atomic Spectroscopy John Gillaspy I will survey some recent results from the Atomic Spectroscopy Group at NIST, focusing on topics that are most relevant to this Meeting, including evidence for a discrepancy between experiment and calculation based on three-body quantum electrodynamics (QED) [PRL, 109, 153001 (2012)], testing a method for determining nuclear sizes at the sub-attometer scale [PRL, 107, 023001 (2011)], and determining x-ray line ratios for astrophysical plasma diagnostics [ApJ, 728, 132 (2011)]. A common theme underlying these studies is to establish a basis for understanding discrepancies between prior results from various groups. This work was done in collaboration with S. Brewer, N. Brickhouse, R. Brown, C. Chantler, G.-X. Chen, A. Henins, L. Hudson, J. Kimpton, M. Kinnane, J. Laming, T. Lin, K. Makonyi, A. Payne, J. Pomeroy, J. Porto, C. Sansonetti, E. Silver, C. Simien, L. Smale, E. Takacs, J. Tan, L. Tedesco, and S. Wu. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, April 16, 2013 2:54PM - 3:06PM |
Y15.00008: QED vacuum fluctuations as a function of magnetic moment Johann Rafelski, Lance Labun Precision QED experiments (muon $g-2$ and muonic protium Lamb shift) suggest closer examination of QED in the case $g>2$. We evaluate the non-perturbative one-loop effective potential in a quasi-constant external electromagnetic field as a function of the magnetic moment. For $|g|>2$, the lowest magnetic Landau levels become unstable, which is treated by recognizing periodicity of the Landau spectrum as a function of $g$. This instability leads to a cusp in the effective potential at the periodic points $g=2,-2,6,-6...$ Where the cusp is present, the beta function and light-light scattering coefficients differ from their perturbative values. We extract the nonperturbative form of the beta function as a function of $g$ and show that QED displays asymptotic freedom for a specific range of $g$. [Preview Abstract] |
Follow Us |
Engage
Become an APS Member |
My APS
Renew Membership |
Information for |
About APSThe American Physical Society (APS) is a non-profit membership organization working to advance the knowledge of physics. |
© 2025 American Physical Society
| All rights reserved | Terms of Use
| Contact Us
Headquarters
1 Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740-3844
(301) 209-3200
Editorial Office
100 Motor Pkwy, Suite 110, Hauppauge, NY 11788
(631) 591-4000
Office of Public Affairs
529 14th St NW, Suite 1050, Washington, D.C. 20045-2001
(202) 662-8700