This thesis explores ultracold quantum gases of bosonic and fermionic atoms in optical lattices. The highly controllable experimental setting discussed in this work, has opened the door to new insights into static and dynamical properties of ultracold quantum matter. One of the highlights reported here is the development and application of a novel time-resolved spectroscopy technique for quantum many-body systems. By following the dynamical evolution of a many-body system after a quantum quench, the author shows how the important energy scales of the underlying Hamiltonian can be measured with high precision. This achievement, its application, and many other exciting results make this thesis of interest to a broad audience ranging from quantum optics to condensed matter physics. A lucid style of writing accompanied by a series of excellent figures make the work accessible to readers outside the rapidly growing research field of ultracold atoms.

The present volume has its origins in a pair of informal workshops held at the Free University of Brussels, in June of 1998 and May of 1999, named "Current Research 1 in Operational Quantum Logic." These brought together mathematicians and physicists working in operational quantum logic and related areas, as well as a number of interested philosophers of science, for a rare opportunity to discuss recent developments in this field. After some discussion, it was decided that, rather than producing a volume of conference proceedings, we would try to organize the conferees to produce a set of comprehensive survey papers, which would not only report on recent developments in quantum logic, but also provide a tutorial overview of the subject suitable for an interested non-specialist audience. The resulting volume provides an overview of the concepts and methods used in current research in quantum logic, viewed both as a branch of mathemati cal physics and as an area of pure mathematics. The first half of the book is concerned with the algebraic side of the subject, and in particular the theory of orthomodular lattices and posets, effect algebras, etc. In the second half of the book, special attention is given to categorical methods and to connections with theoretical computer science. At the 1999 workshop, we were fortunate to hear three excellent lectures by David J. Foulis, represented here by two contributions. Dave's work, spanning 40 years, has helped to define, and continues to reshape, the field of quantum logic."

This book explains the usage and application of Molecular Quantum Dynamics, the methodology where both the electrons and the nuclei in a molecule are treated with quantum mechanical calculations. This volume of Lecture Notes in Chemistry addresses graduate students and postdocs in the field of theoretical chemistry, as well as postgraduate students, researchers and teachers from neighboring fields, such as quantum physics, biochemistry, biophysics, or anyone else who is interested in this rising method in theoretical chemistry, and who wants to gain experience in the opportunities it can offer. It can also be useful for teachers interested in illustrative examples of time-dependent quantum mechanics as animations of realistic wave packets have been designed to assist in visualization. Assuming a basic knowledge about quantum mechanics, the authors link their explanations to recent experimental investigations where Molecular Quantum Dynamics proved successful and necessary for the understanding of the experimental results. Examples including reactive scattering, photochemistry, tunneling, femto- and attosecond chemistry and spectroscopy, cold chemistry or crossed-beam experiments illustrate the power of the method. The book restricts complicated formalism to the necessary and in a self-contained and clearly explained way, offering the reader an introduction to, and instructions for, practical exercises. Continuative explanation and math are optionally supplemented for the interested reader. The reader learns how to apply example simulations with the MCTDH program package (Multi Configuration Time Dependent Hartree calculations). Readers can thus obtain the tools to run their own simulations and apply them to their problems. Selected scripts and program code from the examples are made available as supplementary material. This book bridges the gap between the existing textbooks on fundamental theoretical chemistry and research monographs focusing on sophisticated applications. It is a must-read for everyone who wants to gain a sound understanding of Molecular Quantum Dynamics simulations and to obtain basic experience in running their own simulations.

Many, perhaps most textbooks of quantum mechanics present a Copenhagen, single system angle; fewer present the subject matter as an instrument for treating ensembles, but the two methods have been silently coexisting since the mid-Thirties. This lingering dichotomy of purpose for a major physical discipline has much shrouded further insights into the foundations of quantum theory. Quantum Reprogramming resolves this long-standing dichotomy by examining the mutual relation between single systems and ensembles, assigning each its own tools for treating the subject at hand: i.e., Schrodinger-Dirac methods for ensembles versus period integrals for single systems. A unified treatment of integer and fractional quantum Hall effects and a finite description of the electron's anomalies are mentioned as measures of justification for the chosen procedure of resolving an old-time dichotomy. The methods of presentation are, in part, elementary, with repetitive references needed to delineate differences with respect to standard methods. The parts on period integrals are developed with a perspective on elementary methods in physics, thus leading up to some standard results of de Rham theory and algebraic topology. Audience: Students of physics, mathematics, philosophers as well as outsiders with a general interest in the conceptual development of physics will find useful reading in these pages, which will stimulate further inquiry and study. "

An understanding of quantum mechanics is vital to all students of physics, chemistry and electrical engineering, but requires a lot of mathematical concepts, the details of which are given with great clarity in this book. Various concepts have been derived from first principles, so it can also be used for self-study. The chapters on the JWKB approximation, time-independent perturbation theory and effects of magnetic field stand out for their clarity and easy-to-understand mathematics. Two complete chapters on the linear harmonic oscillator provide a very detailed discussion of one of the most fundamental problems in quantum mechanics. Operator algebra is used to show the ease with which one can calculate the harmonic oscillator wave functions and study the evolution of the coherent state. Similarly, three chapters on angular momentum give a detailed account of this important problem. Perhaps the most attractive feature of the book is the excellent balance between theory and applications and the large number of applications in such diverse areas as astrophysics, nuclear physics, atomic and molecular spectroscopy, solid-state physics, and quantum well structures.

This thesis presents two analyses of semileptonic b sl+l decays using Flavour Changing Neutral Currents (FCNCs) to test for the presence of new physics and lepton flavour universality, and the equality of couplings for different leptons, which on the basis of experimental evidence is assumed to hold in the Standard Model, free from uncertainties as a result of knowledge of the hadronic matrix elements. It also includes the angular analysis of Lambda_b->Lambda mumu decay and the RK* measurement, both of which are first measurements, not yet performed by any other experiment.

Advanced spectroscopic techniques allow the probing of very small systems and very fast phenomena, conditions that can be considered "extreme" at the present status of our experimentation and knowledge. Quantum dots, nanocrystals and single molecules are examples of the former and events on the femtosecond scale examples of the latter. The purpose of this book is to examine the realm of phenomena of such extreme type and the techniques that permit their investigations.

Each author has developed a coherent section of the program

starting at a somewhat fundamental level and ultimately reaching the frontier of knowledge in the field in a systematic and didactic fashion. The formal lectures are complemented by additional seminars.

This book addresses several aspects of the integrable structure of the AdS/CFT correspondence. In particular it presents computations made on both sides of the AdS/CFT correspondence, at weak and at strong coupling. On the string theory side of the correspondence, the book focuses on the evaluation of the energy spectrum of closed string solutions moving in some deformed backgrounds that preserve integrability. On the gauge theory side, it explores various formal problems arising in the computation of two and three-point functions by means of the Algebraic Bethe Ansatz and the Quantum Inverse Scattering method. The book features numerous results on integrability in the context of the AdS/CFT correspondence. Self-contained and pedagogical, it includes general discussions and detailed presentations on the use of integrable systems techniques and their applications.

Kinetic Theory: Classical, Quantum, and Relativistic Descriptions goes beyond the scope of other works in the field with its thorough treatment of applications in a wide variety of disciplines. Its clear exposition and emphasis on concrete examples will make it not only an excellent graduate text but also a valuable resource for researchers in such disciplines as aerospace, mechanical, and chemical engineering; astrophysics, solid state and laser physics and devices, plasma physics, and controlled and thermonuclear fusion. Among the topics covered are: - The Liouville equation and analyses of the Liouville equation, including two independent derivations - The Boltzmann equation and Boltzmann's H-theorem - Analysis of the linearized collision operator - Fluid dynamics and irreversibility - Assorted kinetic equations with applications to plasmas and neutral fluids - Elements of quantum kinetic theory, including the Green's-function formalism and the Wigner-Moyal equation - Relativistic kinetic theory and Lorentz invariants - Kinetic properties of metals and amorphous media - Monte-Carlo analysis in kinetic theory - Kinetic study of shock waves This third revised edition features a new section on constants of motion and symmetry and a new appendix on the Lorentz-Legendre expansion. Each chapter concludes with a variety of problems, many of which provide self-contained descriptions of related topics; lists of such "topical problems" are included in the Table of Contents. Numerous appendices supply vector formulas and tensor notation, properties of special functions, physical constants, references, and a historical time chart.

It may tum out that, like certain other phenomena studied by sociologists, bouts of interest in the foundations of quantum mechanics tend to come in 60-year cycles. It is hardly surprising that in the first decade or so of the subject the conceptual puzzles generated by this strange new way of looking at the world should have generated profound interest, not just among professional physicists themselves but also among philosophers and informed laymen; but this intense interest was followed by a fallow period in the forties and fifties when the physics establishment by and large took the view that the only puzzles left were the product either of incompetent application of the formalism or of bad philosophy, and only a few brave individualists like the late David Bohm dared to suggest that maybe there really was something there after all to worry about. As Bell and Nauenberg, surveying the scene in 1966, put it: "The typical physicist feels that [these questions 1 have long ago been answered, and that he will fully understand how if ever he can spare twenty minutes to think about it. " But gradually, through the sixties and seventies, curiosity did revive, and the last ten years or so have seen a level of interest in foundational questions, and an involvement in them by some of the leading figures of contemporary physics, which is probably unparalleled since the earliest days.

This book tackles quantum gravity via the so-called background field method and its effective action functional. The author presents an explicitly covariant and effective technique to calculate the de Witt coefficients and to analyze the Schwinger-de Wit asymptotic expansion of the effective action. He also investigates the ultraviolet behaviour of higher-derivative quantum gravity.The book addresses theoretical physicists, graduate students as well as researchers, but should also be of interest to physicists working in mathematical or elementary particle physics.

Solitary wave physics plays a significant role from modern optical physics to optical communication, optical switching and optical storage. This book gives an updated overview of optical solitons, as a reference and guide for advanced students and scientists working in the field.

Each of this book's 32 essays discusses a chosen topic, at a level that is generally within that of a four-year degree course in Physics. The essays supplement (indeed sometimes correct) treatments usually given, or supplies reasoning that tends to fall through the cracks. The author uses his life long experience of tutorial teaching at Oxford to know what topics often need such discussion, for clarification, or for avoidance of common confusions. The book contains accounts of even-standard topics, accounts that offer an unusual emphasis, or a fresh insight, or more than customary rigour, or a cross-link to apparently unrelated material. The student (and their teachers) who really wants to understand physics will find this book indispensable. Often the outcome of tutorial discussion has been an understanding that lies a little to the side of what is presented in standard texts. Such understanding is presented here in the essays. The topics covered are diverse and have something useful to say across most areas of a physics degree.

Beautifully illustrated and engagingly written, Twelve Lectures in Quantum Mechanics presents theoretical physics with a breathtaking array of examples and anecdotes. Basdevant's style is clear and stimulating, in the manner of a brisk classroom lecture that students can follow with ease and enjoyment. Here is a sample of the book's style, from the opening of Chapter 1: If one were to ask a passer-by to quote a great formula of physics, chances are that the answer would be E = mc2. In fact, of the three watershed years for physics toward the beginning of the 20th century - 1905: the Special Relativity of Einstein, Lorentz and Poincare; 1915: the General Relativity of Einstein, with its extraordinary reflections on gravitation, space and time; and 1925: the development of Quantum Mechanics; it is surely the last which has the most profound implications for the development of science and technology. There is no way around it: all physics is quantum, from elementary particles, to stellar physics and the Big Bang, not to mention semiconductors and solar cells. and Chair of the Department of Physics at the Ecole Polytechnique, and Director of Research for the CNRS. Specializing in the theoretical physics of elementary particles, quantum field theory and astrophysics, Prof. Basdevant works in the Leprince-Ringuet Laboratory at the Ecole Polytechnique.

At the outset of the research leading to this book I held a position somewhere close to 'the standard Copenhagen interpretation' of QM. I was strongly attracted to, in particular, the philosophy of Niels Bohr. However, being aware of some of the problematic sides and ambiguities of his views and of new developments which have taken place in QM after his time, the main challenge would be to develop a more up to date version version of his approach and express it in a philosophically unobjectionable way. Traces of this original attitude can still be found in views I hold nowadays. For instance, I think that I now know a satisfactory and correct way of dealing with features like 'complementarity', and I still see this as a relevant subject. In many other respects, however, there have been major changes in my position. In fact, during certain stages of my research my views simply started moving and kept on doing so at an irritating pace and for uncomfortably long periods of time. I learned, for example that at least some of the classical ideas about theory structure are much better than I had realized, and cannot just be pushed aside for anything even as impressive as empirical success.

Exploring various transport-simulation methods and applications for properties of nanometer-scale systems, this account illustrates how quantum mechanics have become an increasingly important field of scientific research. Beginning with a short review of quantum transport, followed by various calculation methods for nanosystems based on scattering approaches, non-equilibrium Green's function, master equation, and time-dependent wave-packet diffusion, this report broaches all aspects of nanosystems, from the fundamental to more advanced topics. With numerous examples that describe quantum transport calculations, this is an essential resource for promoting an easier understanding for graduate students and researchers of the field.

4. 2 Variance of Quantum Matrix Elements. 125 4. 3 Berry's Trick and the Hyperbolic Case 126 4. 4 Nonhyperbolic Case . . . . . . . 128 4. 5 Random Matrix Theory . . . . . 128 4. 6 Baker's Map and Other Systems 129 4. 7 Appendix: Baker's Map . . . . . 129 5 Error Terms 133 5. 1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 5. 2 The Riemann Zeta Function in Periodic Orbit Theory 135 5. 3 Form Factor for Primes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 5. 4 Error Terms in Periodic Orbit Theory: Co-compact Case. 138 5. 5 Binary Quadratic Forms as a Model . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 6 Co-Finite Model for Quantum Chaology 141 6. 1 Introduction. . . . . . . . 141 6. 2 Co-finite Models . . . . . 141 6. 3 Geodesic Triangle Spaces 144 6. 4 L-Functions. . . . . . . . 145 6. 5 Zelditch's Prime Geodesic Theorem. 146 6. 6 Zelditch's Pseudo Differential Operators 147 6. 7 Weyl's Law Generalized 148 6. 8 Equidistribution Theory . . . . . . . . . 150 7 Landau Levels and L-Functions 153 7. 1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 7. 2 Landau Model: Mechanics on the Plane and Sphere. 153 7. 3 Landau Model: Mechanics on the Half-Plane 155 7. 4 Selberg's Spectral Theorem . . . . . . . . . . . 157 7. 5 Pseudo Billiards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 7. 6 Landau Levels on a Compact Riemann Surface 159 7. 7 Automorphic Forms . . . . . 160 7. 8 Maass-Selberg Trace Formula 162 7. 9 Degeneracy by Selberg. . . . 163 7. 10 Hecke Operators . . . . . . . 163 7. 11 Selberg Trace Formula for Hecke Operators 167 7. 12 Eigenvalue Statistics on X . . . . 169 7. 13 Mesoscopic Devices. . . . . . . . 170 7. 14 Hall Conductance on Leaky Tori 170 7.

This thesis reports on the final measurement of the flavor-mixing phase in decays of strange-bottom mesons (B_s) into J/psi and phi mesons performed in high-energy proton-antiproton collisions recorded by the Collider Experiment at Fermilab. Interference occurs between direct decays and decays following virtual particle-antiparticle transitions (B_s-antiB_s). The phase difference between transition amplitudes ("mixing phase") is observable and extremely sensitive to contributions from non-standard-model particles or interactions that may be very hard to detect otherwise - a fact that makes the precise measurement of the B_s mixing phase one of the most important goals of particle physics. The results presented include a precise determination of the mixing phase and a suite of other important supplementary results. All measurements are among the most precise available from a single experiment and provide significantly improved constraints on the phenomenology of new particles and interactions.

This volume presents a selection of 434 letters from and to the Dutch physicist and Nobel Prize winner Hendrik Antoon Lorentz (1853-1928), covering the period from 1883 until a few months before his death in February 1928. The sheer size of the available correspondence (approximately 6000 letters from and to Lorentz) preclude a full publication. The letters included in this volume have been selected according to various criteria, the most important of which is scientific importance. A second criterion has been the availability of letters both from and to Lorentz, so that the reader can follow the exchange between Lorentz and his correspondent. Within such correspondences a few unimportant items, dealing with routine administrative or organizational matters, have been omitted. An exception to the scientific criterion is the exchange of letters between Lorentz and Albert Einstein, Max Planck, Woldemar Voigt, and Wilhelm Wien during World War I: these letters have been included because they shed important light on the disruption of the scientific relations during the war and on the political views of these correspondents as well as of Lorentz. similar reasons the letters exchanged with Einstein and Planck on post-war political issues have been included. Biographical sketch Hendrik Antoon Lorentz was born on July 18, 1853 in the Dutch town of Arnhem. He was the son of a relatively well-to-do owner of a nursery.

Practical quantum computing still seems more than a decade away, and researchers have not even identified what the best physical implementation of a quantum bit will be. There is a real need in the scientific literature for a dialogue on the topic of lessons learned and looming roadblocks. This reprint from Quantum Information Processing is dedicated to the experimental aspects of quantum computing and includes articles that 1) highlight the lessons learned over the last 10 years, and 2) outline the challenges over the next 10 years. The special issue includes a series of invited articles that discuss the most promising physical implementations of quantum computing. The invited articles were to draw grand conclusions about the past and speculate about the future, not just report results from the present.

As the growing number of conference proceedings, preprints, periodicals and popular journal articles are being joined by various electronic forms of dissemination of research, the series Progress in Low Temperature Physics assumes a particular responsibility in providing excellent reviews, guiding the reading of the literature and providing direction for future research possibilities. In this most recent volume, the main theme is research on superfluid and adsorbed phases of helium.

In five chapters the following topics are dealt with. Chapter one is a review of one of the essential characteristics of superfluid 4He, the Landau critical velocity. Chapter two reviews the amazing properties of coherent spin dynamics in superfluid 3He. The next chapter examines a unique situation with a number of thermodynamic transitions between superfluid states and discusses the current experimental and theoretical situation. Properties of phases of 3He adsorbed on graphite are discussed in the following chapter, and in a complementary final chapter a review is presented on the properties of multilayer 3He-4He mixture films.

This volume reviews recent developments in conformal quantum field theory in D-dimensions, and focuses on two main aims. Firstly, the promising trend is followed toward constructing an exact solution for a certain class of models. Work on the conformal Ward identities in a D-dimensional space in the late '70s suggests a parallel with the null-vectors which determine the minimal models in the two-dimensional field theory. Recent research has also indicated the possible existence of an infinite parameter algebra analogous to the Virasoro algebra in spaces of higher dimensions D>=3. Each of these models contains parameters similar to the central charge of the two-dimensional theory, due to special fields which occur in the commutator of the components of the energy-momentum tensor. As a first step, a special formalism is suggested which allows finding an exact solution of these models for any space dimension. Then it is shown that in each model closed differential equations can be obtained for higher correlators, as well as the algebraic equations for scale dimensions of fields, and dimensionless parameters similar to the central charge. Secondly, this work aims to give a survey of some special aspects of conformal quantum field theory in D-dimensional space. Included are the survey of conformal methods of approximate calculation of critical indices in a three-dimensional space, an analysis and solution of a renormalised system of Schwinger-Dyson equations, a derivation of partial wave expansions, among other topics. Special attention is given to the development of the apparatus of quantum conform theory of gauge fields. Audience: This book will be of interest to graduate students andresearchers whose work involves quantum field theory.

Quantum and chaos, key concepts in contemporary science, are incompatible by nature. This volume presents an investigation into quantum transport in mesoscopic or nanoscale systems which are classically chaotic and shows the success and failure of quantal, semiclassical, and random matrix theories in dealing with questions emerging from the mesoscopic cosmos. These traditional theories are critically analysed, and this leads to a new direction. To reconcile quantum with chaos and to restore genuine temporal chaos in quantum systems, a time-discrete variant of quantum dynamics is proposed. Audience: This book will be of interest to graduate students and researchers in physics, chemistry and mathematics, whose work involves fundamental questions of quantum mechanics in chaotic systems.

This book is unique in covering phenomena in photon- matter interactions in a unified way over a range of many orders in energy. The quantum field theoretic approach to the fully relativistic theory of quantum electrodynamics (QED) is presented together with the non- relativistic theory in both confined and unconfined geometries. The predictions of QED have been verified to a greater accuracy than any other physical theory. Moreover QED is a paradigm for other gauge theories and is presented in such a way that the generalisation to other gauge theories is natural. Gauge and Poincare symmetry properties and the non-existence of a photon wave function are thoroughly discussed. Starting from the Dirac equation the non-relativistic interaction of the electron with the electromagnetic field is derived as an effective Hamiltonian of multipole expansions. Much of quantum optics is based on the lowest order dipole approximation. From this point on the treatment of fully relativistic QED and quantum optics is done in parallel. Applications of perturbation theory such as Compton and Moller scattering and the theory photdetection are given. After the impressive successes of QED, the limitation of the theory and the necessity of electroweak theory and quantumchromodynamics are discussed. The remaining chapters are devoted to quantum optics inside cavaties. Various approaches to open systems such as master equations are discussed within the context of active systems (e.g. the laser) and passive systems. Semi- classical approximarions are shown to imply a rich non- linear dynamics including chaos for certain parameter regimes. The effect of fluctuations on such non-linear dynamics is also studied. The final chapter is devoted to highly non- classical states of the light field such as photon number, squeezed and two photon entangled states. The latter are studied for the important system of parametric down conversion and the localisation properties of photons are characterised in terms of asympotic tails in photodetection probabilities as a function of time delay. The range of the book has wider benefits. Workers in quantum optics will gain a deeper understanding of the foundations of their subject and field theorists will see concrete examples of open systems, which are beginning to impinge on fundamental theories.

"Medical scientists use the word `iatrogenic' to refer to disabilities that are the consequence of medical treatment. We believe that some such word might be coined to refer to philosophical difficulties for which philosophers themselves are responsible" Sir Peter Medawar Arguing that quantum theory as it stands is perhaps the most comprehensive, well-verified, and successful theory in the history of science, the author clears away the impression that it is an incomplete, philosophically flawed, and self-contradictory theory. In simple terms accessible to anyone with a little prior knowledge of science, Wallace examines the numerous "paradoxes" and "difficulties" claimed for quantum mechanics, and shows that they are due to excesses of interpretation that have been imposed on the theory.