Quantum Mechanics of Non-Hamiltonian and Dissipative Systems is self-contained and can be used by students without a previous course in modern mathematics and physics. The book describes the modern structure of the theory, and covers the fundamental results of last 15 years. The book has been recommended by Russian Ministry of Education as the textbook for graduate students and has been used for graduate student lectures from 1998 to 2006.
Requires no preliminary knowledge of graduate and advanced mathematics
Discusses the fundamental results of last 15 years in this theory
Suitable for courses for undergraduate students as well as graduate students and specialists in physics mathematics and other sciences

This PhD thesis is dedicated to a subfield of elementary particle physics called "Flavour Physics". The Standard Model of Particle Physics (SM) has been confirmed by thousands of experimental measurements with a high precision. But the SM leaves important questions open, like what is the nature of dark matter or what is the origin of the matter-antimatter asymmetry in the Universe. By comparing high precision Standard Model calculations with extremely precise measurements, one can find the first glimpses of the physics beyond the SM - currently we see the first hints of a potential breakdown of the SM in flavour observables. This can then be compared with purely theoretical considerations about new physics models, known as model building. Both precision calculations and model building are extremely specialised fields and this outstanding thesis contributes significantly to both topics within the field of Flavour Physics and sheds new light on the observed anomalies.

The first of its kind to explore the Nobel Prize experience

"Dad, some guy is calling from Sweden." It was 2:30am on October 13th, 1998, the youngest son in the Laughlin house had answered the phone. His dad had just become a recipient of the Nobel Prize in physics.

Frantic and funny events of the next two months are chronicled as the Laughlin's academic household morphs into a madcap staging area for the family and thirty guests who will be in attendance during Nobel week. From tickets to Stockholm to clothing measurements, Nobel lecture preparations, attach assistance and a quick trip to the White House for a formal reception with President and Mrs. Clinton, readers will laugh out loud while gasping in awe.

The glorious Nobel ceremony and elaborate banquet is held each winter with a viewing audience of tens of millions. An intimate dinner with King Gustaf in his royal palace follows the Nobel evening in which Anita Laughlin finds herself the King's dinner partner for what becomes an evening of hilarious surprises, and yes, reindeer.

This book is laced with cartoons drawn by Bob Laughlin that evoke collective feelings of surprise and bewilderment as he and his wife ascend the steep learning curve of Swedish protocol together.

This book is a sequel to Lectures on Selected Topics in Mathematical Physics: Introduction to Lie Theory with Applications. This volume is devoted mostly to Lie groups. Lie algebras and generating functions, both for standard special functions and for solution of certain types of physical problems. It is an informal treatment of these topics intended for physics graduate students or others with a physics background wanting a brief and informal introduction to the subjects addressed in a style and vocabulary not completely unfamiliar.

While there are many good books in particle physics, very seldom if ever a non-specialist comprehensive description of Quantum Field Theory has appeared. The intention of this short book is to offer a guided tour of that innermost topic of Theoretical Physics, in plain words and avoiding the mathematical apparatus, but still describing its various facets up to the research frontier, with the aim to give a glimpse of what the human mind has been capable of imagining for dealing with the behavior of Nature at the most fundamental level.

Combinatorial Kalman filters are a standard tool today for pattern recognition and charged particle reconstruction in high energy physics. In this thesis the implementation of the track finding software for the Belle II experiment and first studies on early Belle II data are presented. The track finding algorithm exploits novel concepts such as multivariate track quality estimates to form charged trajectory hypotheses combining information from the Belle II central drift chamber with the inner vertex sub-detectors. The eventual track candidates show an improvement in resolution on the parameters describing their spatial and momentum properties by up to a factor of seven over the former legacy implementation. The second part of the thesis documents a novel way to determine the collision event null time T0 and the implementation of optimisation steps in the online reconstruction code, which proved crucial in overcoming the high level trigger limitations.

This book presents theoretical methods and experimental results on the study of multipartite quantum correlations in spin-squeezed Bose-Einstein condensates. Nonclassical correlations in many-body system s are particularly interesting for both fundamental research and practical applications. For their investigation, ultracold atomic ensembles offer an ideal platform, due to their high controllability and long coherence times. In particular, we introduce criteria for detecting and characterizing multipartite entanglement, Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen steering, and Bell correlations. Moreover, we present the experimental observation of such correlations in systems of about 600 atoms.

Despite the success of general relativity in explaining classical gravitational phenomena, several problems at the interface between gravitation and high energy physics still remain open. The purpose of this thesis is to explore quantum gravity and its phenomenological consequences for dark matter, gravitational waves and inflation. A new formalism to classify gravitational theories based on their degrees of freedom is introduced and, in light of this classification, it is argued that dark matter is no different from modified gravity. Gravitational waves are shown to be damped due to quantum degrees of freedom. The consequences for gravitational wave events are also discussed. The non-minimal coupling of the Higgs boson to gravity is studied in connection with Starobinsky inflation and its implications for the vacuum instability problem is analyzed.

Classical Mechanics teaches readers how to solve physics problems; in other words, how to put math and physics together to obtain a numerical or algebraic result and then interpret these results physically. These skills are important and will be needed in more advanced science and engineering courses. However, more important than developing problem-solving skills and physical-interpretation skills, the main purpose of this multi-volume series is to survey the basic concepts of classical mechanics and to provide the reader with a solid understanding of the foundational content knowledge of classical mechanics. Classical Mechanics: Conservation laws and rotational motion covers the conservation of energy and the conservation of momentum, which are crucial concepts in any physics course. It also introduces the concepts of center-of-mass and rotational motion.

This book revisits many of the problems encountered in introductory quantum mechanics, focusing on computer implementations for finding and visualizing analytical and numerical solutions. It subsequently uses these implementations as building blocks to solve more complex problems, such as coherent laser-driven dynamics in the Rubidium hyperfine structure or the Rashba interaction of an electron moving in 2D. The simulations are highlighted using the programming language Mathematica. No prior knowledge of Mathematica is needed; alternatives, such as Matlab, Python, or Maple, can also be used.

A deeper understanding of neutrinos, with the goal to reveal their nature and exact role within particle physics, is at the frontier of current research. This book reviews the field in a concise fashion and highlights the most pressing issues and areas of strongest topical interest. It provides a clear, self-contained, and logical treatment of the fundamental physics aspects, appropriate for graduate students. Starting with the relevant basics of the SM, neutrinos are introduced, and the quantum mechanical effect of oscillations is explained in detail. A strong focus is then set on the phenomenon of lepton number violation, especially in 0nbb decay, as the crucial probe to understand the nature of neutrinos. The role of neutrinos in astrophysics, expected to be of increasing importance for future research, is then described. Finally, models to explain the neutrino properties are outlined. The central theme of the book is the nature of neutrino masses and the above topics will revolve around this issue.

In a comprehensive treatment of Statistical Mechanics from thermodynamics through the renormalization group, this book serves as the core text for a full-year graduate course in statistical mechanics at either the Masters or Ph.D. level. Each chapter contains numerous exercises, and several chapters treat special topics which can be used as the basis for student projects. The concept of scaling is introduced early and used extensively throughout the text. At the heart of the book is an extensive treatment of mean field theory, from the simplest decoupling approach, through the density matrix formalism, to self-consistent classical and quantum field theory as well as exact solutions on the Cayley tree. Proceeding beyond mean field theory, the book discusses exact mappings involving Potts models, percolation, self-avoiding walks and quenched randomness, connecting various athermal and thermal models. Computational methods such as series expansions and Monte Carlo simulations are discussed, along with exact solutions to the 1D quantum and 2D classical Ising models. The renormalization group formalism is developed, starting from real-space RG and proceeding through a detailed treatment of Wilson's epsilon expansion. Finally the subject of Kosterlitz-Thouless systems is introduced from a historical perspective and then treated by methods due to Anderson, Kosterlitz, Thouless and Young. Altogether, this comprehensive, up-to-date, and engaging text offers an ideal package for advanced undergraduate or graduate courses or for use in self study.

This book reports new findings in the fields of nonlinear optics, quantum optics and optical microscopy. It presents the first experimental device able to transform an input Gaussian beam into a non-diffracting Bessel-like beam. The modulation mechanism, i.e. electro-optic effect, allows the device to be fast, miniaturizable and integrable into solid state arrays. Also presented is an extensive study of the superposition of Bessel beams and their propagation in turbid media, with the aim of realizing field that is both localized and non-diffracting. These findings have been implemented in a light-sheet microscope to improve the optical sectioning. From a more theoretical point of view this work also tackles the problem of whether and how a single particle is able to entangle two distant systems. The results obtained introduce fundamental limitations on the use of linear optics for quantum technology. Other chapters are dedicated to a number of experiments carried out on disordered ferroelectrics including negative intrinsic mass dynamics, ferroelectric supercrystals, rogue wave dynamics driven by enhanced disorder and first evidence of spatial optical turbulence.

Atomic Physics provides a concise treatment of atomic physics and a basis to prepare for work in other disciplines that are underpinned by atomic physics, such as chemistry, biology and several aspects of engineering science. The focus is mainly on atomic structure since this is what is primarily responsible for the physical properties of atoms. After a brief introduction to some basic concepts, the perturbation theory approach follows the hierarchy of interactions starting with the largest. The other interactions of spin, and angular momentum of the outermost electrons with each other, the nucleus and external magnetic fields are treated in order of descending strength. A spectroscopic perspective is generally taken by relating the observations of atomic radiation emitted or absorbed to the internal energy levels involved. X-ray spectra are then discussed in relation to the energy levels of the innermost electrons. Finally, a brief description is given of some modern, laser-based, spectroscopic methods for the high-resolution study of the details of atomic structure.

This book studies the dynamics of fundamental collective excitations in quantum materials, focusing on the use of state-of-the-art ultrafast broadband optical spectroscopy. Collective behaviour in solids lies at the origin of several cooperative phenomena that can lead to profound transformations, instabilities and phase transitions. Revealing the dynamics of collective excitations is a topic of pivotal importance in contemporary condensed matter physics, as it provides information on the strength and spatial distribution of interactions and correlation. The experimental framework explored in this book relies on setting a material out-of-equilibrium by an ultrashort laser pulse and monitoring the photo-induced changes in its optical properties over a broad spectral region in the visible or deep-ultraviolet. Collective excitations (e.g. plasmons, excitons, phonons...) emerge either in the frequency domain as spectral features across the probed range, or in the time domain as coherent modes triggered by the pump pulse. Mapping the temporal evolution of these collective excitations provides access to the hierarchy of low-energy phenomena occurring in the solid during its path towards thermodynamic equilibrium. This methodology is used to investigate a number of strongly interacting and correlated materials with an increasing degree of internal complexity beyond conventional band theory.