Rozprawy doktorskie na temat „Quantum mechanics”

This Master  thesis considers certain aspects of Supersymmetric Quantum Mechanics in the context of Path integral approach. First we state all the basic mathematical structure involved, and carry out some basic Gaussian integrals for both commutative and non-commutative variables. Later in the thesis these simple results obtained are generalized to study the Supersymmetric sigma models on flat and curved space. And we will recover the beautiful relationship between the supersymmetric sigma  model and the geometry of the  target manifold in the form of topological invariants of the manifold, for the models on curved space.

Cytochrome P450 (P450) enzymes are found in all kingdoms of life, catalysing a wide range of biosynthetic and metabolic processes. They are, in fact, of particular interest in a variety of applications such as the design of agents for the inhibition of a particular P450 to combat pathogens or the engineering of enzymes to produce a particular activity. Bacterial P450BM3 is of particular interest as it is a self-sufficient multi-domain protein with high reaction rates and a primary structure and function similar to mammalian isoforms. It is an attractive enzyme to study due to its potential for engineering catalysts with fast reaction rates which selectively produce molecules of high value.In order to study this enzyme in detail and characterise intermediate species and reactions, the first step was to design a general hybrid quantum mechanical /molecular mechanics (QM/MM) computational method for their investigation. Two QM/MM approaches were developed and tested against existing experimental and theoretical data and were then applied to subsequent investigations.The dissociation of water from the water-bound resting state was scrutinised to determine the nature of the spin conversion that occurs during this transformation. A displacement of merely 0.5 Å from the starting state was found to trigger spin crossing, with no requirement for the presence of a substrate or large conformational changes in the enzyme.A detailed investigation of the sulfoxidation reaction was undertaken to establish the nature of the oxidant species. Both reactions involving Compound 0 (Cpd0) and Compound I (CpdI) confirmed a concerted pathway proceeding via a single-state reactivity mechanism. As the reaction involving Cpd0 was found to be unrealistically high, the reaction proceeds preferentially via the quartet state of CpdI. This QM/MM study revealed that the preferred spin-state and the transition state structure for sulfoxidation are influenced by the protein environment. P450cam and P450BM3 were found to have CpdI species with different Fe-S distances and spin density distributions, and the latter having a larger reaction barrier for sulfoxidation.A novel P450 species, the doubly-reduced pentacoordinated system, was characterised using gas-phase and QM/MM methods. It was discovered to have a heme radical coupled to two unpaired electrons on the iron centre, making it the only P450 species to have similar characteristics to CpdI. Calculated spectroscopic parameters may assist experimentalists in the identification of the elusive CpdI.

Thesis (Doctor of Philosophy)--Case Western Reserve University, 2010
Department of Physics Title from PDF (viewed on 2010-05-25) Includes abstract Includes bibliographical references and appendices Available online via the OhioLINK ETD Center

La tesi contiene un'introduzione alla Meccanica Quantistica Supersimmetrica e alle sue possibili applicazioni nella risoluzione di problemi tipici della Meccanica Quantistica. Dopo una breve discussione sulle origini della Meccanica Quantistica Supersimmetrica, vengono introdotte le superalgebre di Lie, che costituiscono l'apparato matematico necessario per lo sviluppo di questo argomento. Viene poi implementato e studiato il modello con N=2 cariche di supersimmetria in 0+1 dimensioni, affrontando anche il concetto di rottura spontanea di supersimmetria e l'indice di Witten. In seguito, vengono discusse alcune applicazioni di questo modello, ovvero la catena di Hamiltoniane, i potenziali invarianti in forma e la costruzione di una famiglia di potenziali isospettrali. La tesi si conclude con esempi espliciti di tali applicazioni, in cui i metodi della Meccanica Quantistica Supersimmetrica vengono usati per risolvere alcuni problemi unidimensionali.

In this work, Schrö
dinger and Dirac equations will be examined in geometries that confine the particles to hypersurfaces. For this purpose, two methods will be considered. The first method is the thin layer method which relies on explicit use of geometrical relations and the squeezing of a certain coordinate of space (or spacetime). The second is Dirac&rsquo
s quantization procedure involving the modification of canonical quantization making use of the geometrical constraints. For the Dirac equation, only the first method will be considered. Lastly, the results of the two methods will be compared and some notes on the differences between the results will be included.

This master’s thesis investigates the relationship between supersymmetry and integrability in quantum mechanics. This is done by finding a suitable way to systematically add more supersymmetry to the system. Adding more super- symmetry will give constraints on the potential which will lead to an integrable system. A possible way to explore the integrability of supersymmetric quantum mechanics was introduced in a paper by Crombrugghe and Rittenberg in 1983, their method has been used as well as another approach based on expanding a N = 1 system by introducing complex structures. N = 3 or more supersymmetry is shown to give an integrable system.

In this thesis we are investigating a different formalism of non-relativistic quantum mechanics called the path integral formalism. It is a generalization of the classical least action principle. The introduction to this subject begins with the construction of the path integral in terms of the idea of probability amplitudes whose absolute square gives the probability of finding a system in a particular state. Then we show that if the Lagrangian is a quadratic form one needs only to calculate the classical action besides from a time-dependent normalization constant to find the explicit expression of the path integral. We look in to the subject of two kinds of slit-experiments: The square slit, the single- and the double-Gaussian slit. Also, the propagator for constrained paths is calculated and applied to the Aharonov-Bohm effect, which shows that the vector potential defined in classical electrodynamics have a physical meaning in quantum mechanics. It is also shown that the path integral formulation is equivalent to the Schrödinger description of quantum mechanics, by deriving the Schrödinger equation from the path integral. Further applications of the path integral are discussed.
I detta fördjupningsarbete undersöker vi en annan formalism av icke-relativistisk kvantmekanik kallad banintegral formalismen. Det är en generalisering av den klassiska verkansprincipen. Introduktionen till detta ämne börjar med konstruktionen av banintegralen i termer av sannolikhetsamplituder vars absolutbelopp i kvadrat ger sannolikheten av att finna ett system i ett särskilt tillstånd. Sedan visar vi att om Lagrangianen är av kvadratisk form så krävs endast en beräkning av den klassiska verkan förutom en tidsberoende normaliseringskonstant för att finna ett uttryck för banintegralen. Vi ser på två olika typer av spaltproblem: Den kantinga spalten, enkel- och dubbel Gaussisk spalt. Vi beräknar dessutom propagatorn för banor med restriktioner och applicerar detta på Aharonov-Bohm effekten, som visar att den klassiska vektorpotentialen som definierad i klassisk elektrodynamik har en fysikalisk mening i kvantmekaniken. Vi visar också ekvivalensen av banintegralformalismen med Schrödingerekvationen genom att härleda Schrödingerekvationen från banintegralen. Andra applikationer av banintegralen diskuteras.

Topological solitons - are of broad interest in physics. They are objects with localised energy and stability ensured by their topological properties. It is possible to create them during phase transitions which break some sym- metry in a frustrated system. They are ubiquitous in condensed matter, ranging from monopole excitations in spin ices to vortices in superconduc- tors. In such situations, their behaviour has been extensively studied. Less well understood and yet equally interesting are the symmetry-breaking phase transitions that could produce topological defects is the early universe. Grand unified theories generically admit the creation of cosmic strings and monopoles, amongst other objects. There is no reason to expect that the behaviour of such objects should be classical or, indeed, supersymmetric, so to fully understand the behaviour of these theories it is necessary to study the quantum properties of the associated topological defects. Unfortunately, the standard analytical tools for studying quantum field theory - including perturbation theory - do not work so well when applied to topological defects. Motivated by this realisation, this thesis presents numerical techniques for the study of topological solitons in quantum field theory. Calculations are carried out nonperturbatively within the framework of lattice Monte Carlo simulations. Methods are demonstrated which use correlation functions to study the mass, interaction form factors, dispersion relations and excitations of quantum topological solitons. Results are compared to exact expressions obtained from integrability, and to previous work using less sophisticated numerical techniques. The techniques developed are applied to the prototypical kink soliton and to the 't Hooft-Polyakov monopole.

Although time measurements are routinely performed in laboratories, their theoretical description is still an open problem. Similarly, also the validity and the status of the energy-time uncertainty relation is unsettled. In the first part of this work the necessity of positive operator valued measures (POVM) as descriptions of every quantum experiment is reviewed, as well as the suggestive role played by the probability current in time measurements. Furthermore, it is shown that no POVM exists, which approximately agrees with the probability current on a very natural set of wave functions; nevertheless, the choice of the set is crucial, and on more restrictive sets the probability current does provide a good arrival time prediction. Some ideas to experimentally detect quantum effects in time measurements are discussed. In the second part of the work the energy-time uncertainty relation is considered, in particular for a model of alpha decay for which the variance of the energy can be calculated explicitly, and the variance of time can be estimated. This estimate is tight for systems with long lifetimes, in which case the uncertainty relation is shown to be satisfied. Also the linewidth-lifetime relation is shown to hold, but contrary to the common expectation, it is found that the two relations behave independently, and therefore it is not possible to interpret one as a consequence of the other. To perform the mentioned analysis quantitative scattering estimates are necessary. To this end, bounds of the form $\|\1_Re^{-iHt}\psi\|_2^2 \leq C t^{-3}$ have been derived, where $\psi$ denotes the initial state, $H$ the Hamiltonian, $R$ a positive constant, and $C$ is explicitly known. As intermediate step, bounds on the derivatives of the $S$-matrix in the form $\|\1_K S^{(n)}\|_\infty \leq C_{n,K} $ have been established, with $n=1,2,3$, and the constants $C_{n,K}$ explicitly known.
Obwohl Zeitmessungen tagtäglich in vielen Laboren durchgeführt werden, ist ihre theoretische Beschreibung noch unklar. Gleichermaßen sind Gültigkeit und Bedeutung der Energie-Zeit-Unschärfe ungeklärt. Der erste Teil dieser Arbeit diskutiert die Notwendigkeit von positive operator valued measures (POVM) zur Beschreibung von allen Quantenexperimenten, sowie die bedeutende Rolle des Wahrscheinlichkeitsstroms in Zeitmessungen. Außerdem, wird gezeigt, dass kein POVM existiert, der den Wahrscheinlichkeitsstrom jeder Wellenfunktion in einer natürlichen Menge annähert. Die Wahl dieser Menge ist aber entscheidend, und auf beschränkten Mengen ist der Wahrscheinlichkeitsstrom eine gute Vorhersage für Zeitmessungen. Einige Ideen sind diskutiert, wie man Zeitexperimente durchführen kann, um Quanteneffekten zu detektieren. Der zweite Teil dieser Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Energie-Zeit-Unschärfe, insbesondere für ein Modell von Alpha-Zerfall, wobei man die Energievarianz explizit berechnen kann, und die Zeitvarianz abschätzt. Diese Abschätzung ist für Systeme mit langen Lebensdauern gut, und in diesem Fall wird gezeigt, dass die Energie-Zeit-Unschärfe gilt. Ebenso wird gezeigt, dass die linewidth-lifetime relation gilt. Im allgemein wird angenommen, dass diese zwei Relationen dieselben sind. Im Gegensatz dazu, wird in der Dissertation aber gezeigt, dass sie sich unabhängig voneinander verhalten. Für diese Resultate, braucht man quantitative Streuabschätzungen. Zu diesem Zweck werden Schranken in der Form $\|\1_Re^{-iHt}\psi\|_2^2 \leq C t^{-3}$ in der Dissertation gezeigt, wo $\psi$ der Anfangszustand ist, $H$ der Hamiltonoperator, $R$ eine positive Konstante, und $C$ explizit bekannt ist. Als Zwischenschritt werden Schranken für die Ableitungen der $S$-Matrix in der Form $\|\1_K S^{(n)}\|_\infty \leq C_{n,K} $ bewiesen, wobei $n=1,2,3$, und die Konstanten $C_{n,K}$ explizit bekannt sind.

This thesis is a contribution to the debate on the implications of quantum information theory for the foundational problems of quantum mechanics. In Part I an attempt is made to shed some light on the nature of information and quantum information theory. It is emphasized that the everyday notion of information is to be firmly distinguished from the technical notions arising in information theory; however it is maintained that in both settings ‘information’ functions as an abstract noun, hence does not refer to a particular or substance. The popular claim ‘Information is Physical’ is assessed and it is argued that this proposition faces a destructive dilemma. Accordingly, the slogan may not be understood as an ontological claim, but at best, as a methodological one. A novel argument is provided against Dretske’s (1981) attempt to base a semantic notion of information on ideas from information theory. The function of various measures of information content for quantum systems is explored and the applicability of the Shannon information in the quantum context maintained against the challenge of Brukner and Zeilinger (2001). The phenomenon of quantum teleportation is then explored as a case study serving to emphasize the value of recognising the logical status of ‘information’ as an abstract noun: it is argued that the conceptual puzzles often associated with this phenomenon result from the familiar error of hypostatizing an abstract noun. The approach of Deutsch and Hayden (2000) to the questions of locality and information flow in entangled quantum systems is assessed. It is suggested that the approach suffers from an equivocation between a conservative and an ontological reading; and the differing implications of each is examined. Some results are presented on the characterization of entanglement in the Deutsch-Hayden formalism. Part I closes with a discussion of some philosophical aspects of quantum computation. In particular, it is argued against Deutsch that the Church-Turing hypothesis is not underwritten by a physical principle, the Turing Principle. Some general morals are drawn concerning the nature of quantum information theory. In Part II, attention turns to the question of the implications of quantum information theory for our understanding of the meaning of the quantum formalism. Following some preliminary remarks, two particular information-theoretic approaches to the foundations of quantum mechanics are assessed in detail. It is argued that Zeilinger’s (1999) Foundational Principle is unsuccessful as a foundational principle for quantum mechanics. The information-theoretic characterization theorem of Clifton, Bub and Halvorson (2003) is assessed more favourably, but the generality of the approach is questioned and it is argued that the implications of the theorem for the traditional foundational problems in quantum mechanics remains obscure.

Quantum mechanics is basically a mathematical recipe on how to construct physical models. Historically its origin and main domain of application has been in the microscopic regime, although it strictly seen constitutes a general mathematical framework not limited to this regime. Since it is a statistical theory, the meaning and role of probabilities in it need to be defined and understood in order to gain an understanding of the predictions and validity of quantum mechanics. The interpretational problems of quantum mechanics are also connected with the interpretation of the concept of probability. In this thesis the use of probability theory as extended logic, in particular in the way it was presented by E. T. Jaynes, will be central. With this interpretation of probabilities they become a subjective notion, always dependent on one's state of knowledge or the context in which they are assigned, which has consequences on how things are to be viewed, understood and tackled in quantum mechanics. For instance, the statistical operator or density operator, is usually defined in terms of probabilities and therefore also needs to be updated when the probabilities are updated by acquisition of additional data. Furthermore, it is a context dependent notion, meaning, e.g., that two observers will in general assign different statistical operators to the same phenomenon, which is demonstrated in the papers of the thesis. It is also presented an alternative and conceptually clear approach to the problematic notion of "probabilities of probabilities", which is related to such things as probability distributions on statistical operators. In connection to this, we consider concrete numerical applications of Bayesian quantum state assignment methods to a three-level quantum system, where prior knowledge and various kinds of measurement data are encoded into a statistical operator, which can then be used for deriving probabilities of other measurements. The thesis also offers examples of an alternative quantum state assignment technique, using maximum entropy methods, which in some cases are compared with the Bayesian quantum state assignment methods. Finally, the interesting and important problem whether the statistical operator, or more generally quantum mechanics, gives a complete description of "objective physical reality" is considered. A related concern is here the possibility of finding a "local hidden-variable theory" underlying the quantum mechanical description. There have been attempts to prove that such a theory cannot be constructed, where the most well-known impossibility proof claiming to show this was given by J. S. Bell. In connection to this, the thesis presents an idea for an interpretation or alternative approach to quantum mechanics based on the concept of space-time.
QC 20100810

In this thesis we use the language of sheaf theory in an attempt to develop a deeper understanding of some of the fundamental differences - such as entanglement, contextuality and non-locality - which separate quantum from classical physics. We first present, based on the work of Abramsky and Brandenburger [2], how sheaves, defined over certain posets of physically meaningful contexts, give a natural setting for capturing and analysing important quantum mechanical phenomena, such as quantum non-locality and contextuality. We also describe how this setting naturally leads to a three level hierarchy of quantum contextuality: weak contextuality, logical non-locality and strong contextuality. One of the original contributions of this thesis is to use these insights in order to classify a particular class of multipartite entangled states, which we have named balanced states with functional dependencies. Almost all of these states turn out to be at least logically non-local, and a number of them even turn out to be strongly contextual. We then further extend this result by showing that in fact all n-qubit entangled states, with the exception of tensor products of single-qubit and bipartite maximally-entangled states, are logically non-local. Moreover, our proof is constructive: given any n-qubit state, we present an algorithm which produces n + 2 local observables witnessing its logical non-locality. In the second half of the thesis we use the same basic principle of sheaves defined over physically meaningful contexts, in order to present an elegant mathematical language, known under the name of the Topos Approach [62], in which many quan- tum mechanical concepts, such as states, observables, and propositions about these, can be expressed. This presentation is followed by another original contribution in which we show that the language of the Topos Approach is as least as expressive, in logical terms, as traditional quantum logic. Finally, starting from a topos-theoretic perspective, we develop the construction of contextual entropy in order to give a unified treatment of classical and quantum notions of information theoretic entropy.

I give a high level overview of the state of particle physics in the introduction, accessible without any background in the field. I discuss improvements of theoretical and statistical methods used for collider physics. These include telescoping jets, a statistical method which was claimed to allow jet searches to increase their sensitivity by considering several interpretations of each event. We find that indeed multiple interpretations extend the power of searches, for both simple counting experiments and powerful multivariate fitting experiments, at least for h->bb at the LHC. Then I propose a method for automation of background calculations using SCET by appropriating the technology of Monte Carlo generators such as MadGraph. In the third chapter I change gears and discuss the future of the universe. It has long been known that our pocket of the standard model is unstable; there is a lower-energy configuration in a remote part of the configuration space, to which our universe will, eventually, decay. While the timescales involved are on the order of 10^400 years (depending on how exactly one counts) and thus of no immediate worry, I discuss the shortcomings of the standard methods and propose a more physically motivated derivation for the decay rate. I then make various observations about the structure of decays in quantum field theory.
Physics

Recently, the possibility of investigating single molecule, or single spin observables, as well as the necessity of a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying quantum dynamics in order to obtain nanoscale devices and nanostructered materials suitable for quantum computing tasks, have revived the interest in foundational aspects of quantum statistical mechanics. This thesis aims to give a contribution to this field by re-considering the statistical characterization of a quantum system at the light of some paradigmatic changes in our understanding of quantum theory which have taken place in the last two decades. In particular the impressive development of quantum information theory has changed the perceptions of quantum entanglement: for a long time it has been considered a somewhat paradoxical property of the matter at the atomic scale, but now it is regarded as an essential and ubiquitous phenomenon whose consequences are affecting the very macroscopic world that we experience. Still the decoherence program has brought out the importance of considering a quantum system together with its environment in order to clarify some key aspects of quantum dynamics. Thus, we start from the idea that quantum correlations are ubiquitous and somewhat uncontrollable in systems with many degrees of freedom which are typically considered in statistical mechanics. As a consequence we assume the standpoint that quantum statistical mechanics has not to be based on the underlying idea of a collection of many, independent quantum systems but rather it has to emerge at the level of a global wavefunction (pure state) which describes the system as well as its environment as a whole. In order to investigate the consequences of these assumptions we study the equilibrium distribution of an isolated quantum system. This is defined, in analogy with the ergodic foundations of classical statistical mechanics, on the basis of the time evolution of the quantum state. Then, we study the emergence of thermodynamic properties in a quantum system by studying the probability distribution of some function of interests, as the entropy and the equilibrium state of a subsystem, on Ensembles of Pure States. Such a probability distribution is derived from the geometry of the Hilbert space, and the theoretical tools suitable for its characterization are developed. On the one hand we perform a numerical sampling of the ensemble distributions by employing Monte Carlo techniques, on the other hand simpler analytical approximation of the geometrical distributions are derived by means of a maximum entropy principle. Model systems composed of an ensemble of spins are chosen to illustrate the salient features which emerge from the developed theoretical framework: the main point is that the Ensemble Distributions of “thermodynamic observables” (entropy or equilibrium state of a subsystem) are sharply peaked around a typical value. From the analysis it emerges that each of the overwhelming majority of the wavefunctions which has appreciable weight in the considered ensemble, is characterized by the same value of the “macroscopic” functions. This is a striking evidence of the “typicality” of these properties. In the essence, our impossibility to know the state of the system in detail does not matter, just for the remarkable fact that almost all quantum states behave essentially in the same way. By virtue of this typicality the study of the behaviour of the typical values of the thermodynamic function become meaningful. Notably, under certain conditions, one recovers the results of standard statistical mechanics, that is, the equilibrium average of the state of a subsystem can be cast in the Boltzmann canonical form at the temperature given by the usual thermodynamical relation . In the second part of the thesis we consider the dynamical aspects of the equilibrium state of a subsystem interacting with its environment. The fluctuations around the equilibrium average critically depends on the entanglement between the system and the environment and on the form of the interaction Hamiltonian. The connection between the dynamics of the fluctuations of an observable at the equilibrium and the relaxation toward the equilibrium from a “non typical” initial value is also investigated with the aid of simple model systems. The study presented in this thesis was partly motivated by a critical analysis of the statistical methods available for the theoretical modelling of magnetic resonance experiments. One of these, the Stochastic Liouville Equation, has been employed in a work completed during the first year of my Ph.D. program in order to interpret some feature of a two dimensional electron spin resonance experiment, [Fresch B., Frezzato D., Moro G. J., Kothe G., Freed J. H.; J. Phys. Chem. B., 110, 24238, (2006)].
Nuove tecnologie hanno reso possibile lo studio spettroscopico di proprietà di singola molecola e di singolo spin, inoltre, gli avanzamenti nel campo delle nanotecnologie, mettono costantemente alla prova la nostra comprensione dei meccanismi che governano la dinamica a livello quantistico. Questi recenti sviluppi stanno rinnovando l’interesse intorno a questioni fondamentali non pienamente comprese e risolte; una di queste questioni riguarda i fondamenti della meccanica statistica quantistica. Lo scopo della presente tesi è quello di dare un contributo in questo affascinante campo, alla luce degli importanti cambiamenti avvenuti negli ultimi vent’ anni nella nostra comprensione della meccanica quantistica. In particolare gli studi condotti nell’ambito della teoria dell’informazione hanno profondamente modificato la nostra percezione dell’ entanglement quantistico. Questo è stato per lungo tempo considerato una proprietà quasi paradossale della materia su scala atomica mentre oggi è ritenuto un fenomeno essenziale e onnipresente importante per comprendere l’emergere del mondo macroscopico così come lo conosciamo. Inoltre, la formulazione e lo sviluppo del cosiddetto “decoherence program” ha introdotto un nuovo paradigma nella descrizione dell’evoluzione temporale dei sistemi quantistici riconoscendo il ruolo fondamentale dell’interazione con l’ambiente nel determinare aspetti essenziali della dinamica. Assumendo una prospettiva in linea con questi progressi, in questa tesi si parte dall’idea che la correlazione quantistica, l’entanglement, non possa essere ignorata nel derivare una descrizione statistica coerente dei sistemi complessi tradizionalmente considerati in meccanica statistica. La logica conseguenza di questo punto di vista è che la meccanica statistica quantistica non possa essere basata sull’idea dell’esistenza di insiemi di sistemi quantistici fra loro indipendenti, ma al contrario debba emergere dalla descrizione in termini di una singola funzione d’onda (stato puro) che descrive il sistema nella sua globalità, i.e. il sottosistema di interesse insieme con il suo ambiente (“environment”). Allo scopo di costruire tale descrizione, in questa tesi si considera in primo luogo la distribuzione di probabilità che descrive lo stato di equilibrio di un sistema quantistico isolato. Essa è definita, in analogia con la teoria ergodica classica, sulla base dell’evoluzione temporale del sistema. Per studiare l’emergere delle proprietà termodinamiche si introducono poi distribuzioni di probabilità su insiemi di stati puri (“Ensemble Distributions”). Tali distribuzioni sono derivate sulla base della geometria dello spazio di Hilbert che descrive il sistema nella sua interezza. Inoltre si sono sviluppati gli strumenti teorici che permettono la caratterizzazione di tali distribuzioni di probabilità: essi consistono da un lato nell’implementazione di metodi numerici di tipo Monte Carlo che permettono il campionamento statistico diretto delle distribuzioni, d’altro canto sono state sviluppate approssimazioni analitiche delle distribuzioni sulla base del principio di massima entropia. I risultati fondamentali che emergono dal quadro teorico sviluppato sono illustrati mediante lo studio della statistica in sistemi di spin: il messaggio fondamentale è che le funzioni termodinamiche, come l’entropia del sistema globale e lo stato di equilibrio di un sottosistema, sono caratterizzate da distribuzioni sull’ ensemble che risultano molto concentrate intorno ad un valore tipico. Dall’analisi condotta si deduce quindi che ognuno dei singoli stati puri considerati nell’insieme è caratterizzato dallo stesso valore delle funzioni termodinamiche studiate. Questa è una chiara evidenza della proprietà di tipicalità, (“typicality”), di queste funzioni. L’essenza di questo risultato è che la nostra incapacità di conoscere i dettagli dello stato quantistico del sistema non è così importante dal momento che la grande maggioranza dei possibili stati che appartengono all’insieme considerato sono caratterizzati dallo stesso valore delle proprietà termodinamiche alle quali siamo interessati. In virtù di tale proprietà risulta sensato studiare gli andamenti dei valori tipici delle proprietà termodinamiche. Sotto certe condizioni si ritrovano i risultati della meccanica statistica standard: in particolare lo stato di equilibrio di un sottosistema risulta essere in media lo stato canonico di Boltzmann alla temperatura definita dall’usuale relazione termodinamica . Nella seconda parte della tesi, invece, si illustra la dinamica associata allo stato di equilibrio di un sistema in interazione con il suo ambiente. Le caratteristiche delle fluttuazioni intorno ai valori medi di equilibrio dipendono sia dall’entanglement tra il sistema e l’ambiente che dal tipo di interazione considerato. Per finire si considera la connessione fra la dinamica delle fluttuazioni all’equilibrio e i processi di rilassamento da uno stato iniziale di non equilibrio. Il lavoro presentato in questa tesi è stato in parte motivato da un analisi critica dei metodi stocastici utilizzati nella modellizzazione teorica delle spettroscopie magnetiche. Durante il primo anno di dottorato tali metodologie sono state impiegate per l’interpretazione di alcune osservabili in esperimenti di risonanza magnetica elettronica bidimensionale. [Fresch B., Frezzato D., Moro G. J., Kothe G., Freed J. H.; J. Phys. Chem. B., 110, 24238, (2006)].

Esta tesis versa sobre el punto de vista desde la Teoría de Galois Diferencial hacia la mecánica cuántica supersimétrica. El objeto principal considerado aquí es la ecuación deSchrödinger estacionaria no relativista, especialmente los casos integrables en el sentido de la teoría de Picard-Vessiot theory y las principales herramientas algorítmicas utilizadas aquí son el algoritmo de Kovacic y el método de la algebrización para obtener ecuaciones diferenciales lineales con coeficientes racionales. Analizamos las transformaciones de Darboux, la iteración de Crum y la mecánica cuántica supersimétrica con sus versiones algebrizadas desde un acercamiento Galoisiano. Aplicando el método de la algebrización y el algoritmo de Kovacic obtenemos el estado base, las funciones propias, los valores propios los grupos de Galois diferenciales y los anillos propios de algunas ecuaciones de Schrödinger con potenciales tales como exactamente resoluble y potenciales de forma invariante. Finalmente, introducimos una metodología para buscar potenciales exactamente resolubles. Para construir otros potenciales, aplicamos el método de la algebrización en forma inversa, desde ecuaciones diferenciales que tengan polinomios ortogonales y funciones especiales como soluciones

A problem of non-relativistic quantum mechanics solved using regularization and renormalization techniques is presented in this thesis. After a general introduction of these techniques, they are applied to a problem in classical electromagnetism and to the bound state of a single quantum particle subjected to a two-dimensional delta-function potential, that is divergent if computed naively solving directly the Schroedinger equation or using the theory of propagators. The regularization techniques used are the cutoff regularization and the dimensional one and they both leads to the same outcome. An effective field theory approach, in which the potential is regularized through the real space scheme, is also presented. After regularization has been performed, the potential is renormalized re-defining the coupling constant. The running of the renormalized coupling constant is also found, i.e. the renormalization group equation.

In this thesis we improve and extend an algebraic technique pioneered by M. Gaudin. The technique is based on an infinite dimensional Lie algebra and a related family of mutually commuting Hamiltonians. In order to find energy eigenvalues of such Hamiltonians one has to solve the equations of Bethe ansatz. However, in most cases analytical solutions are not available. In this study we examine a special case for which analytical solutions of Bethe ansatz equations are not needed. Instead, some special properties of these equations are utilized to evaluate the energy eigenvalues. We use this method to find exact expressions for the energy eigenvalues of a class of interacting boson models. In addition to that, we also introduce a q-deformation of the algebra of Gaudin. This deformation leads us to another family of mutually commuting Hamiltonians which we diagonalize using algebraic Bethe ansatz technique. The motivation for this deformation comes from a relationship between Gaudin algebra and a spin extension of the integrable model of F. Calogero. Observing this relation, we then consider a well known periodic version of Calogero'
s model which is due to B. Sutherland. The search for a Gaudin-like algebraic structure which is in a similar relationship with the spin extension of Sutherland'
s model naturally leads to the above mentioned q-deformation of Gaudin algebra. The deformation parameter q and the periodicity d of the Sutherland model are related by the formula q=i{pi}/d.

In this thesis, entanglement under fully relativistic settings are discussed. The thesis starts with a brief review of the relativistic quantum mechanics. In order to describe the effects of Lorentz transformations on the entangled states, quantum mechanics and special relativity are merged by construction of the unitary irreducible representations of Poincaré
group on the infinite dimensional Hilbert space of state vectors. In this framework, the issue of finding the unitary irreducible representations of Poincaré
group is reduced to that of the little group. Wigner rotation for the massive particles plays a crucial role due to its effect on the spin polarization directions. Furthermore, the physical requirements for constructing the correct relativistic spin operator is also studied. Then, the entanglement and Bell type inequalities are reviewed. The special attention has been devoted to two historical papers, by EPR in 1935 and by J.S. Bell in 1964. The main part of the thesis is based on the Lorentz transformation of the Bell states and the Bell inequalities on these transformed states. It is shown that entanglement is a Lorentz invariant quantity. That is, no inertial observer can see the entangled state as a separable one. However, it was shown that the Bell inequality may be satisfied for the Wigner angle dependent transformed entangled states. Since the Wigner rotation changes the spin polarization direction with the increased velocity, initial dichotomous operators can satisfy the Bell inequality for those states. By choosing the dichotomous operators taking into consideration the Wigner angle, it is always possible to show that Bell type inequalities can be violated for the transformed entangled states.

Categorical quantum mechanics is a way of formalising the structural features of quantum theory using category theory. It uses compound systems as the primitive notion, which is formalised by using symmetric monoidal categories. This leads to an elegant formalism for describing quantum protocols such as quantum teleportation. In particular, categorical quantum mechanics provides a graphical calculus that exposes the information flow of such protocols in an intuitive way. However, the graphical calculus also reveals surprising features of these protocols; for example, in the quantum teleportation protocol, information appears to flow `backwards-in-time'. This leads to question of how causal structure can be described within categorical quantum mechanics, and how this might lead to insight regarding the structural compatibility between quantum theory and relativity. This thesis is concerned with the project of formalising causal structure in categorical quantum mechanics. We begin by studying an abstract view of Bell-type experiments, as described by `no-signalling boxes', and we show that under time-reversal no-signalling boxes generically become signalling. This conflicts with the underlying symmetry of relativistic causal structure. This leads us to consider the framework of categorical quantum mechanics from the perspective of relativistic causal structure. We derive the properties that a symmetric monoidal category must satisfy in order to describe systems in such a background causal structure. We use these properties to define a new type of category, and this provides a formal framework for describing protocols in spacetime. We explore this new structure, showing how it leads to an understanding of the counter-intuitive information flow of protocols in categorical quantum mechanics. We then find that the formal properties of our new structure are naturally related to axioms for reconstructing quantum theory, and we show how a reconstruction scheme based on purification can be formalised using the structures of categorical quantum mechanics. Finally, we discuss the philosophical aspects of using category theory to describe fundamental physics. We consider a recent argument that category-theoretic formulations of physics, such as categorical quantum mechanics, can be used to support a variant of structural realism. We argue against this claim. The work of this thesis suggests instead that the philosophy of categorical quantum mechanics is subtler than either operationalism or realism.

This thesis uses Melson's stochastic mechanics to obtain some new expressions for Poisson-Léy excursion measures for a variety of physically interesting quantum mechanical systems. The main results of this thesis are contained in Chap. (II)-(IV) where we deal exclusively with one-dimensional time-homogeneous diffusion processes. In Chap. (I) we provide the necessary preliminaries for the study of Nelson diffusion processes. Chap. (II) introduces some results of Truman and Williams necessary for our analysis in the following chapter for one-dimensional time-homogeneous diffusions with inaccessible boundaries, namely quantum mechanical expressions for the transition density, the distribution of first hitting times and the Poisson-Léy excursion measures. For the latter we have been able to derive the first few terms of a corresponding asymptotic series introduced by Truman and Truman and Williams. By considering the above we determine explicit excursion measures for the spherical square well ground-state and the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process. In Chap. (III) we determine the spectrum and where applicable the distribution of first hitting times and excursion measures for the ground-state Nelson diffusion process for some potentials which fall into the general classical categories described by Titchmarsh. By considering a potential which falls outside the description of the classical categories, we see that this gives rise to some interesting spectral properties. In Chap. (IV) we treat diffusions on (0,∞) with an accessible boundary at the origin 0. Following Mandl's analysis, for a sticky-type boundary at 0, we show that the invariant measure obtained in Chap. (II) contains an atom at the origin. Using the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process as well as the Wrong-signed Bessel process as examples, we determine explicit expressions for the transition densities, where we have given a complete description of the corresponding inverse Laplace transforms.

The central aim of this thesis is to present a new kind of realism that is driven not from the traditional realism/anti-realism debate but from the practice of physicists. The usual debate focuses on discussions about the truth of theories and how they relate with nature, while the real practices of the scientists are forgotten. The position I shall defend is called "phenomenological realism". The realist doctrine was recently undermined by the argument from pessimistic meta-induction, also known as the argument from scientific revolutions. I argue that phenomenological realism is a new kind of scientific realism that can overcome the problem generated by the pessimistic meta-induction, and which reflects scientific practice. The realist has tried to overcome the pessimistic meta-induction by suggesting various types of theory dichotomy. I claim that the different types of dichotomy normally presented by realists do not overcome the problem, for these dichotomies cut through theory vertically. I argue for a different kind of dichotomy, one that cuts horizontally, between high-level and low-level theoretical representations. I claim that theoretical forms in physics have two distinct types depending on the way they are built. These are theoretical models that are built depending on a top-down approach and phenomenological models that are built depending on a bottom-up approach. I argue that for the most part only phenomenological models are the vehicles of accurate representation. I present two case studies. The first case study is from superconductivity, where I contrast the BCS model of superconductivity with the phenomenological model of Landau and Ginzburg. The other case study is a fresh look at the Bohr-Einstein debate.

An explanation for quantum mechanics is given in terms of a classical theory (general relativity) for the first time. Specifically, it is shown that certain structures in classical general relativity can give rise to the non-classical logic normally associated with quantum mechanics. An artificial classical model of quantum logic is constructed to show how the Hilbert space structure of quantum mechanics is a natural way to describe a measurement-dependent stochastic process. A 4-geon model of an elementary particle is proposed which is asymptotically flat, particle-like and has a non-trivial causal structure. The usual Cauchy data are no longer sufficient to determine a unique evolution; the measurement apparatus itself can impose further non-redundant boundary conditions. When measurements of an object provide additional non-redundant boundary conditions, the associated propositions would fail to satisfy the distributive law of classical physics. Using the 4-geon model, an orthomodular lattice of propositions, characteristic of quantum mechanics, is formally constructed within the framework of classical general relativity. The model described provides a classical gravitational basis for quantum mechanics, obviating the need for quantum gravity. The equations of quantum mechanics are unmodified, but quantum behaviour is not universal; classical particles and waves could exist and there is no graviton.

PT-symmetric quantum mechanics is an alternative to the usual hermitian quantum mechanics. We will start this thesis by taking an overview of the subject, seeing some of the elementary consequences of this different approach. The main part of the work will be an depth study of a specific Hamiltonian(diagram) This is a generalisation of the well understood harmonic oscillator with angular momentum. By making this generalisation we break the hermiticity of the problem. This leads to some intriguing results. We will be particularly interested in the merging of eigenvalues for M <1.We study the problem using a number of techniques. First the Hamiltonian is studied at the classical level and the behaviour of a particle moving in the corresponding potential is studied. Having seen the consequences at the classical level we return to the quantum case. The Hamiltonian is first solved perturbativly. This method is shown to be valid for PT-symmetric quantum mechanics. It is shown that asymptotic limits of the matrix do not capture the full behaviour of the energy levels. We then move on to study the problem considering techniques arising from the ODE/IM correspondence. Using this approach we are able to give an analytic description of the phenomena and explain the merging of eigenvalues.

This thesis is concerned with the study, classically and quantum mechanically, of the square billiard with particular attention to chaos in both cases. Classically, we show that the rotating square billiard has two regular limits with a mixture of order and chaos between, depending on an energy parameter, E. This parameter ranges from -2w(^2) to oo, where w is the angular rotation, corresponding to the two integrable limits. The rotating square billiard has simple enough geometry to permit us to elucidate that the mechanism for chaos with rotation or curved trajectories is not flyaway, as previously suggested, but rather the accumulation of angular dispersion from a rotating line. Furthermore, we find periodic cycles which have asymmetric trajectories, below the value of E at which phase space becomes disjointed. These trajectories exhibit both left and right hand curvatures due to the fine balance between Centrifugal and Coriolis forces. Quantum mechanically, we compare the spectral analysis results for the square billiard with three different theoretical distribution functions. A new feature in the study is the correspondence we find, by utilising the Berry-Robnik parameter q, between classical E and a quantum rotation parameter w. The parameter q gives the ratio of chaotic quantum phase volume which we can link to the ratio of chaotic phase volume found classically for varying values of E. We find good correspondence, in particular, the different values of q as w is varied reflect the births and subsequent destructions of the different periodic cycles. We also study wave packet dynamics, necessitating the adaptation of a one dimensional unitary integration method to the two dimensional square billiard. In concluding we suggest how this work may be used, with the aid of the chaotic phase volumes calculated, in future directions for research work.

Options are financial derivatives on an underlying security. The Schrodinger and Heisenberg approach to the quantum mechanics together with the Dirac matrix approaches are applied to derive the Black-Scholes formula and the quantum Cox- Rubinstein formula. The quantum mechanics approach to option pricing is based on the interpretation of the option price as the Schrodinger wave function of a certain quantum mechanics model determined by Hamiltonian H. We apply this approach to continuous time market models generated by Levy processes. In the discrete time formulization, we construct both self-adjoint and non selfadjoint quantum market. Moreover, we apply the discrete time formulization and analyse the quantum version of the Cox-Ross-Rubinstein Binomial Model. We find the limit of the N-period bond market, which convergences to planar Brownian motion and then we made an application to option pricing in planar Brownian motion compared with Levy models by Fourier techniques and Monte Carlo method. Furthermore, we analyse the quantum conditional option price and compare for the conditional option pricing in the quantum formulization. Additionally, we establish the limit of the spectral measures proving the convergence to the geometric Brownian motion model. Finally, we found Binomial Model formula and Path integral formulization gave are close to the Black-Scholes formula.

We review equivariant localization and through the Feynman formalism of quantum mechanics motivate its role as a tool for calculating partition functions. We also consider a specific supersymmetric theory of one boson and two fermions and conclude that by applying localization to its partition function we may arrive at a known result that has previously been derived using different approaches. This paper follows a similar article by Levent Akant.