No Arabic abstract
Methods based on the use of Greens functions or the Jost functions and the Fock-Krylov method are apparently very different approaches to understand the time evolution of unstable states. We show that the two former methods are equivalent up to some constants and as an outcome find an analytic expression for the energy density of states in the Fock-Krylov amplitude in terms of the coefficients introduced in the Greens functions and the Jost functions methods. This model-independent density is further used to obtain an analytical expression for the survival amplitude and study its behaviour at large times. Using these expressions, we investigate the origin of the oscillatory behaviour of the decay law in the region of the transition from the exponential to the non-exponential at large times. With the objective to understand the failure of nuclear and particle physics experiments in observing the non-exponential decay law predicted by quantum mechanics for large times, we derive analytical formulae for the critical transition time, $t_c$, from the exponential to the inverse power law behaviour at large times. Evaluating $tau_c = Gamma t_c$ for some particle resonances and narrow nuclear states which have been tested experimentally to verify the exponential decay law, we conclude that the large time power law in particle and nuclear decay is hard to find experimentally.
Results presented in a recent paper Which is the Quantum Decay Law of Relativistic particles?, arXiv: 1412.3346v2 [quant--ph]], are analyzed. We show that approximations used therein to derive the main final formula for the survival probability of finding a moving unstable particle to be undecayed at time $t$ force this particle to almost stop moving, that is that, in fact, the derived formula is approximately valid only for $gamma cong 1$, where $gamma = 1/sqrt{1-beta^{2}}$ and $beta = v/c$, or in other words, for the velocity $v simeq 0$.
In a previous work [Andrade textit{et al.}, Phys. Rep. textbf{647}, 1 (2016)], it was shown that the exact Greens function (GF) for an arbitrarily large (although finite) quantum graph is given as a sum over scattering paths, where local quantum effects are taken into account through the reflection and transmission scattering amplitudes. To deal with general graphs, two simplifying procedures were developed: regrouping of paths into families of paths and the separation of a large graph into subgraphs. However, for less symmetrical graphs with complicated topologies as, for instance, random graphs, it can become cumbersome to choose the subgraphs and the families of paths. In this work, an even more general procedure to construct the energy domain GF for a quantum graph based on its adjacency matrix is presented. This new construction allows us to obtain the secular determinant, unraveling a unitary equivalence between the scattering Schrodinger approach and the Greens function approach. It also enables us to write a trace formula based on the Greens function approach. The present construction has the advantage that it can be applied directly for any graph, going from regular to random topologies.
Results of theoretical studies of the quantum unstable systems caused that there are rather widespread belief that a universal feature od the quantum decay process is the presence of three time regimes of the decay process: the early time (initial) leading to the Quantum Zeno (or Anti Zeno) Effects, exponential (or canonical) described by the decay law of the exponential form, and late time characterized by the decay law having inverse--power law form. Based on the fundamental principles of the quantum theory we give the proof that there is no time interval in which the survival probability (decay law) could be a decreasing function of time of the purely exponential form but even at the exponential regime the decay curve is oscillatory modulated with a smaller or a large amplitude of oscillations depending on parameters of the model considered.
The Fock-Krylov formalism for the calculation of survival probabilities of unstable states is revisited paying particular attention to the mathematical constraints on the density of states, the Fourier transform of which gives the survival amplitude. We show that it is not possible to construct a density of states corresponding to a purely exponential survival amplitude. he survival probability $P(t)$ and the autocorrelation function of the density of states are shown to form a pair of cosine Fourier transforms. This result is a particular case of the Wiener Khinchin theorem and forces $P(t)$ to be an even function of time which in turn forces the density of states to contain a form factor which vanishes at large energies. Subtle features of the transition regions from the non-exponential to the exponential at small times and the exponential to the power law decay at large times are discussed by expressing $P(t)$ as a function of the number of oscillations, $n$, performed by it. The transition at short times is shown to occur when the survival probability has completed one oscillation. The number of oscillations depend on the properties of the resonant state and a complete description of the evolution of the unstable state is provided by determining the limits on the number of oscillations in each region.
We explore a possibility of measuring deviation from the exponential decay law in pure quantum systems. The power law behavior at late times of decay time profile is predicted in quantum mechanics, and has been experimentally attempted to detect, but with failures except a claim in an open system. It is found that electron tunneling from resonance state confined in man-made atoms, quantum dots, has a good chance of detecting the deviation and testing theoretical predictions. How initial unstable state is prepared influences greatly the time profile of decay law, and this can be used to set the onset time of the power law at earlier times. Comparison with similar process of nuclear alpha decay to discover the deviation is discussed, to explain why there exists a difficulty in this case.