scholarly journals Testing the Orientability of Time

Author(s):  
Mark Hadley

A number of experimental tests of time orientability are described as well as clear experimental signatures from non time orientability (time reversal). Some tests are well known, while others are based on more recent theoretical work. Surprisingly, the results all suggest that time is not orientable at a microscopic level; even definitive tests are positive. At a microscopic level the direction of time can reverse and a consistent forward time direction cannot be defined. That is the conclusion supported by a range of well-known experiments. The conflict between quantum theory and local realism; electrodynamics with electric charges; and spin half transformation properties of fermions; can all be interpreted as evidence of time reversal. While particle-antiparticle annihilation provides a definitive test. It offers both a new view of space-time and an novel interpretation of quantum theory with the potential to unify classical and quantum theories.

1996 ◽  
Vol 10 (08) ◽  
pp. 863-955 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. TARAPHDER ◽  
RAHUL PANDIT ◽  
H. R. KRISHNAMURTHY ◽  
T. V. RAMAKRISHNAN

We review the remarkable properties, including superconductivity, charge-density-wave ordering and metal–insulator transitions, of lead- and potassium-doped barium bismuthate. We will discuss some of the early theoretical studies of these systems. Our recent theoretical work, on the negative-U, extended-Hubbard model for these systems, will also be described. Both the large- and intermediate-U regimes of this model were examined, using mean-field and random-phase approximations, particularly with a view to fitting various experimental properties of these bismuthates. On the basis of our studies, we point out possibilities for exotic physics in these systems. We also emphasize the different consequences of electronic and phonon-mediated mechanisms for the negative U. We show that, for an electronic mechanism, the semiconducting phases of these bismuthates must be unique, with their transport properties dominated by charge±2eCooperon bound states. This can explain the observed difference between the optical and transport gaps. We propose other experimental tests for this novel mechanism of charge transport and comment on the effects of disorder.


2016 ◽  
pp. 4039-4042
Author(s):  
Viliam Malcher

The interpretation problems of quantum theory are considered. In the formalism of quantum theory the possible states of a system are described by a state vector. The state vector, which will be represented as |ψ> in Dirac notation, is the most general form of the quantum mechanical description. The central problem of the interpretation of quantum theory is to explain the physical significance of the |ψ>. In this paper we have shown that one of the best way to make of interpretation of wave function is to take the wave function as an operator.


1990 ◽  
Vol 55 (12) ◽  
pp. 2889-2897
Author(s):  
Jaroslav Holoubek

Recent theoretical work has shown that the complete set of polarized elastic light-scattering studies should yield information about scatterer structure that has so far hardly been utilized. We present here calculations of angular dependences of light-scattering matrix elements for spheres near the Rayleigh and Rayleigh-Gans-Debye limits. The significance of single matrix elements is documented on examples that show how different matrix elements respond to changes in particle parameters. It appears that in the small-particle limit (Rg/λ < 0.1) we do not loose much information by ignoring "large particle" observables.


1992 ◽  
Vol 128 ◽  
pp. 56-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Arons

AbstractI survey recent theoretical work on the structure of the magnetospheres of rotation-powered pulsars, within the observational constraints set by their observed spindown, their ability to power synchrotron nebulae and their ability to produce beamed collective radio emission, while putting only a small fraction of their energy into incoherent X- and gamma radiation. I find no single theory has yet given a consistent description of the magnetosphere, but I conclude that models based on a dense outflow of pairs from the polar caps, permeated by a lower density flow of heavy ions, are the most promising avenue for future research.


2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pankaj Mehta ◽  
Alex H Lang ◽  
David J Schwab

A central goal of synthetic biology is to design sophisticated synthetic cellular circuits that can perform complex computations and information processing tasks in response to specific inputs. The tremendous advances in our ability to understand and manipulate cellular information processing networks raises several fundamental physics questions: How do the molecular components of cellu- lar circuits exploit energy consumption to improve information processing? Can one utilize ideas from thermodynamics to improve the design of synthetic cellular circuits and modules? Here, we summarize recent theoretical work addressing these questions. Energy consumption in cellular cir- cuits serves five basic purposes: (1) increasing specificity, (2) manipulating dynamics, (3) reducing variability, (4) amplifying signal, and (5) erasing memory. We demonstrate these ideas using several simple examples and discuss the implications of these theoretical ideas for the emerging field of synthetic biology. We conclude by discussing how it may be possible to overcome these limitations using “post-translational” synthetic biology that exploits reversible protein modification.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reuben Rideaux ◽  
Nuno Goncalves ◽  
Andrew E Welchman

ABSTRACTThe offset between images projected onto the left and right retinae (binocular disparity) provides a powerful cue to the three-dimensional structure of the environment. It was previously shown that depth judgements are better when images comprise both light and dark features, rather than only dark or only light elements. Since Harris and Parker (1995) discovered the “mixed-polarity benefit”, there has been limited evidence supporting their hypothesis that the benefit is due to separate bright and dark channels. Goncalves and Welchman (2017) observed that single- and mixed-polarity stereograms evoke different levels of positive and negative activity in a deep neural network trained on natural images to make depth judgements, which also showed the mixed-polarity benefit. Motivated by this discovery, here we seek to test the potential for changes in the balance of excitation and inhibition that are produced by viewing these stimuli. In particular, we use magnetic resonance spectroscopy to measure Glx and GABA concentration in the early visual cortex of adult humans while viewing single- and mixed-polarity random-dot stereograms (RDS). We find that observers’ Glx concentration is significantly higher while GABA concentration is significantly lower when viewing mixed-polarity RDS than when viewing single-polarity RDS. These results indicate that excitation and inhibition facilitate processing of single- and mixed-polarity stereograms in the early visual cortex to different extents, consistent with recent theoretical work (Goncalves & Welchman, 2017).


2018 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 407
Author(s):  
Jacqueline Isamar Muro-Ríos ◽  
R. Espinosa-Luna

Inspired in a recent theoretical work for the determination of the Mueller matrix, using as incidence a single classically entangled polarization state (F. Töppel et al., New J. Phys. 16 (2014) 073019), an experimental setup is proposed and tested.  The open space and two wave plate retarders are used as the transparent, nondepolarizing samples under study. Results show some experimental improvements are necessary in order to implement accurately the theoretical proposal in which this work is based.


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