No Arabic abstract
The definition of the Hamiltonian operator H for a general wave equa-tion in a general spacetime is discussed. We recall that H depends on the coordinate system merely through the corresponding reference frame. When the wave equation involves a gauge choice and the gauge change is time-dependent, H as an operator depends on the gauge choice. This dependence extends to the energy operator E, which is the Hermitian part of H. We distinguish between this ambiguity issue of E and the one that occurs due to a mere change of the represen-tation (e.g. transforming the Dirac wave function from the Dirac representation to a Foldy-Wouthuysen representation). We also assert that the energy operator ought to be well defined in a given ref-erence frame at a given time, e.g. by comparing the situation for this operator with the main features of the energy for a classical Hamilto-nian particle.
We investigate the quantum mechanical wave equations for free particles of spin 0,1/2,1 in the background of an arbitrary static gravitational field in order to explicitly determine if the phase of the wavefunction is $S/hbar = int p_{mu} dx^{mu} / hbar$, as is often quoted in the literature. We work in isotropic coordinates where the wave equations have a simple managable form and do not make a weak gravitational field approximation. We interpret these wave equations in terms of a quantum mechanical particle moving in medium with a spatially varying effective index of refraction. Due to the first order spatial derivative structure of the Dirac equation in curved spacetime, only the spin 1/2 particle has textit{exactly} the quantum mechanical phase as indicated above. The second order spatial derivative structure of the spin 0 and spin 1 wave equations yield the above phase only to lowest order in $hbar$. We develop a WKB approximation for the solution of the spin 0 and spin 1 wave equations and explore amplitude and phase corrections beyond the lowest order in $hbar$. For the spin 1/2 particle we calculate the phase appropriate for neutrino flavor oscillations.
The Averaged Null Energy Condition (ANEC) states that the integral along a complete null geodesic of the projection of the stress-energy tensor onto the tangent vector to the geodesic cannot be negative. ANEC can be used to rule out spacetimes with exotic phenomena, such as closed timelike curves, superluminal travel and wormholes. We prove that ANEC is obeyed by a minimally-coupled, free quantum scalar field on any achronal null geodesic (not two points can be connected with a timelike curve) surrounded by a tubular neighborhood whose curvature is produced by a classical source. To prove ANEC we use a null-projected quantum inequality, which provides constraints on how negative the weighted average of the renormalized stress-energy tensor of a quantum field can be. Starting with a general result of Fewster and Smith, we first derive a timelike projected quantum inequality for a minimally-coupled scalar field on flat spacetime with a background potential. Using that result we proceed to find the bound of a quantum inequality on a geodesic in a spacetime with small curvature, working to first order in the Ricci tensor and its derivatives. The last step is to derive a bound for the null-projected quantum inequality on a general timelike path. Finally we use that result to prove achronal ANEC in spacetimes with small curvature.
A photon with a modulated wavefront can produce a quantum communication channel in a larger Hilbert space. For example, higher dimensional quantum key distribution (HD-QKD) can encode information in the transverse linear momentum (LM) or orbital angular momentum (OAM) modes of a photon. This is markedly different than using the intrinsic polarization of a photon. HD-QKD has advantages for free space QKD since it can increase the communication channel~Os tolerance to bit error rate (BER) while maintaining or increasing the channels bandwidth. We describe an efficient numerical simulation of the propagation photon with an arbitrary complex wavefront in a material with an isotropic but inhomogeneous index of refraction. We simulate the waveform propagation of an optical vortex in a volume holographic element in the paraxial approximation using an operator splitting method. We use this code to analyze an OAM volume-holographic sorter. Furthermore, there are analogue models of the evolution of a wavefront in the curved spacetime environs of the Earth that can be constructed using an optical medium with a given index of refraction. This can lead to a work-bench realization of a satellite HD-QKD system.
In this work we explore some aspects of two holographic models for dark energy within the interacting scenario for the dark sector with the inclusion of spatial curvature. A statistical analysis for each holographic model is performed together with their corresponding extensions given by the consideration of massive neutrinos. The first holographic approach considers the usual formula proposed by Li for the dark energy density with a constant parameter $c$ and for the second model we have a function $c(z)$ instead a constant parameter, this latter model is inspired in the apparent horizon. By considering the best fit values of the cosmological parameters we show that the interaction term for each holographic model, $Q$, keeps positive along the cosmic evolution and exhibits a future singularity for a finite value of the redshift, this is inherited from the Hubble parameter. The temperatures for the components of the dark sector are computed and have a growing behavior in both models. The cosmic evolution in this context it is not adiabatic and the second law it is fulfilled only under certain well-established conditions for the temperatures of the cosmic components and the interacting $Q$-term.
The current race in quantum communication -- endeavouring to establish a global quantum network -- must account for special and general relativistic effects. The well-studied general relativistic effects include Shapiro time-delay, gravitational lensing, and frame dragging which all are due to how a mass distribution alters geodesics. Here, we report how the curvature of spacetime geometry affects the propagation of information carriers along an arbitrary geodesic. An explicit expression for the distortion onto the carrier wavefunction in terms of the Riemann curvature is obtained. Furthermore, we investigate this distortion for anti-de Sitter and Schwarzschild geometries. For instance, the spacetime curvature causes a 0.10~radian phase-shift for communication between Earth and the International Space Station on a monochromatic laser beam and quadrupole astigmatism can cause a 12.2 % cross-talk between structured modes traversing through the solar system. Our finding shows that this gravitational distortion is significant, and it needs to be either pre- or post-corrected at the sender or receiver to retrieve the information.