Testing CPT symmetry in ortho-positronium decays with positronium annihilation tomography

Charged lepton system symmetry under combined charge, parity, and time-reversal transformation (CPT) remains scarcely tested. Despite stringent quantum-electrodynamic limits, discrepancies in predictions for the electron–positron bound state (positronium atom) motivate further investigation, including fundamental symmetry tests. While CPT noninvariance effects could be manifested in non-vanishing angular correlations between final-state photons and spin of annihilating positronium, measurements were previously limited by knowledge of the latter. Here, we demonstrate tomographic reconstruction techniques applied to three-photon annihilations of ortho-positronium atoms to estimate their spin polarisation without magnetic field or polarised positronium source. We use a plastic-scintillator-based positron-emission-tomography scanner to record ortho-positronium (o-Ps) annihilations with single-event estimation of o-Ps spin and determine the complete spectrum of an angular correlation operator sensitive to CPT-violating effects. We find no violation at the precision level of 10−4, with an over threefold improvement on the previous measurement.

On the Kinetic Energy Driven Superconductivity in the Two-Dimensional Hubbard Model

We investigate the role of kinetic energy for the stability of superconducting state in the two-dimensional Hubbard model on the basis of an optimization variational Monte Carlo method. The wave function is optimized by multiplying by correlation operators of site off-diagonal type. This wave function is written in an exponential-type form given as ψλ=exp(−λK)ψG for the Gutzwiller wave function ψG and a kinetic operator K. The kinetic correlation operator exp(−λK) plays an important role in the emergence of superconductivity in large-U region of the two-dimensional Hubbard model, where U is the on-site Coulomb repulsive interaction. We show that the superconducting condensation energy mainly originates from the kinetic energy in the strongly correlated region. This may indicate a possibility of high-temperature superconductivity due to the kinetic energy effect in correlated electron systems.

Parametric models analysed with linear maps

Parametric entities appear in many contexts, be it in optimisation, control, modelling of random quantities, or uncertainty quantification. These are all fields where reduced order models (ROMs) have a place to alleviate the computational burden. Assuming that the parametric entity takes values in a linear space, we show how is is associated to a linear map or operator. This provides a general point of view on how to consider and analyse different representations of such entities. Analysis of the associated linear map in turn connects such representations with reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces and affine-/linear-representations in terms of tensor products. A generalised correlation operator is defined through the associated linear map, and its spectral analysis helps to shed light on the approximation properties of ROMs. This point of view thus unifies many such representations under a functional analytic roof, leading to a deeper understanding and making them available for appropriate analysis.

On the feasibility of selective spatial correlation to accelerate convergence of PIV image analysis based on confidence statistics

This paper presents a method which allows for a reduced portion of a particle image velocimetry (PIV) image to be analysed, without introducing numerical artefacts near the edges of the reduced region. Based on confidence intervals of statistics of interest, such a region can be determined automatically depending on user-imposed confidence requirements, allowing for already satisfactorily converged regions of the field of view to be neglected in further analysis, offering significant computational benefits. Temporal fluctuations of the flow are unavoidable even for very steady flows, and the magnitude of such fluctuations will naturally vary over the domain. Moreover, the non-linear modulation effects of the cross-correlation operator exacerbate the perceived temporal fluctuations in regions of strong spatial displacement gradients. It follows, therefore, that steady, uniform, flow regions will require fewer contributing images than their less steady, spatially fluctuating, counterparts within the same field of view, and hence the further analysis of image pairs may be solely driven by small, isolated, non-converged regions. In this paper, a methodology is presented which allows these non-converged regions to be identified and subsequently analysed in isolation from the rest of the image, while ensuring that such localised analysis is not adversely affected by the reduced analysis region, i.e. does not introduce boundary effects, thus accelerating the analysis procedure considerably. Via experimental analysis, it is shown that under typical conditions a 44% reduction in the required number of correlations for an ensemble solution is achieved, compared to conventional image processing routines while maintaining a specified level of confidence over the domain. Graphic abstract

Observation and explanation of spurious seismic signals emerging in teleseismic noise correlations

Deep body waves have been reconstructed from seismic noise correlations in recent studies. The authors note their great potential for deep-Earth imaging. In addition to the expected physical seismic phases, some spurious arrivals having no correspondence in earthquake seismograms are observed from the noise correlations. The origins of the noise-derived body waves have not been well understood. Traditionally, the reconstruction of seismic phases from inter-receiver noise correlations is attributed to the interference between waves from noise sources in the stationary-phase regions. The interfering waves emanating from a stationary-phase location have a common ray path from the source to the first receiver. The correlation operator cancels the common path and extracts a signal corresponding to the inter-receiver ray path. In this study, with seismic noise records from two networks at teleseismic distance, we show that noise-derived spurious seismic signals without correspondence in real seismograms can arise from the interference between waves without a common ray path or common slowness. These noise-derived signals cannot be explained by traditional stationary-phase arguments. Numerical experiments reproduce the observed spurious signals. These signals still emerge for uniformly distributed noise sources, and thus are not caused by localized sources. We interpret the presence of the spurious signals with a less restrictive condition of quasi-stationary phase: providing the time delays between interfering waves from spatially distributed noise sources are close enough, the stack of correlation functions over the distributed sources can still be constructive as an effect of finite frequencies, and thereby noise-derived signals emerge from the source averaging.

Nuclear response using correlated realistic interactions: first-order random phase approximation and beyond

A correlated realistic interaction derived within the Unitary Correlation Operator Method (UCOM) based on the Argonne V18 nucleon-nucleon potential is used in calculations of nuclear response for closed-shell nuclei. Giant resonances are examined in the framework of the random-phase approximation (RPA). The effects of explicit ground-state correla- tions and of higher than first-order configurations are discussed.

Towards ab initio structure and response calculations across the nuclear chart

Starting from the Argonne V18 nucleon-nucleon interaction and using the Unitary Correlation Operator Method, a correlated interaction vucOM has been constructed, which is suitable for calculations within restricted Hilbert spaces. In this work we employ the vucOM in Hartree-Fock, perturbation-theory and RPA calculations. First results are reported on the ground-state properties of various closed-shell nuclei, as well as some excited states. Our results provide valuable information on the properties of the VUCOM and guidance to further optimization. The above scheme offers the prospect of ab initio calculations in nuclei throughout the nuclear chart. It can be used in conjunction with other realistic NN interactions as well, both local and non-local. Various many-body methods can be employed, such as Second RPA, QRPA, Shell Model, etc.

The properties of neutron star in the framework of relativistic Hartree–Fock model with unitary correlation operator method

The properties of neutron star are studied in the framework of relativistic Hartree–Fock (RHF) model with realistic nucleon–nucleon (NN) interactions, i.e., Bonn potentials. The strong repulsion of NN interaction at short range is properly removed by the unitary correlation operator method (UCOM). Meanwhile, the tensor correlation is neglected due to the very rich neutron environment in neutron star, where the total isospin of two nucleons can be approximately regarded as [Formula: see text]. The equations of state of neutron star matter are calculated in [Formula: see text] equilibrium and charge neutrality conditions. The properties of neutron star, such as mass, radius and tidal deformability, are obtained by solving the Tolman–Oppenheimer–Volkoff equation and tidal equation. The maximum masses of neutron from Bonn A, B, C potentials are around [Formula: see text]. The radius are [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]km at [Formula: see text], respectively. The corresponding tidal deformabilities are [Formula: see text]. All of these properties are satisfied with the recent observables from the astronomical and gravitational wave devices and are consistent with the results from the relativistic Brueckner–Hartree–Fock model.