String Theory Modifies Quantum Mechanics

We argue that the light particles in string theory obey an effective quantum mechanics modified by the inclusion of a quantum-gravitational friction term, induced by unavoidable couplings to unobserved massive string states in the space-time foam. This term is related to the $W$-symmetries that couple light particles to massive solitonic string states in black hole backgrounds, and has a formal similarity to simple models of environmental quantum friction. It increases apparent entropy, and may induce the wave functions of macroscopic systems to collapse.Comment: 18 pages, CERN-6595/9

Complete positivity and correlated neutral kaons

In relation with experiments on correlated kaons at phi-factories, it is shown that the request of complete positivity is necessary in any physically consistent description of neutral kaons as open quantum systems.Comment: LaTeX, 9 page

The spin content of the proton in quenched QCD

We present preliminary results on the proton spin structure function at zero momentum, in the quenched approximation. Our calculation makes use of a nonperturbative means of determining the multiplicative renormalization of the topological charge density.Comment: REVTEX, 6 pages, 1 PS figure attached. Pisa preprint IFUP-TH-14/9

The effect of Mg location on Co-Mg-Ru/γ-Al2O3 Fischer–Tropsch catalysts

© 2016 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.The effectiveness of Mg as a promoter of Co-Ru/γ-Al2O3 Fischer-Tropsch catalysts depends on how and when the Mg is added. When the Mg is impregnated into the support before the Co and Ru addition, some Mg is incorporated into the support in the form of MgxAl2O3+x if the material is calcined at 550°C or 800°C after the impregnation, while the remainder is present as amorphous MgO/MgCO3 phases. After subsequent Co-Ru impregnation MgxCo3-xO4 is formed which decomposes on reduction, leading to Co(0) particles intimately mixed with Mg, as shown by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The process of impregnating Co into an Mg-modified support results in dissolution of the amorphous Mg, and it is this Mg which is then incorporated into MgxCo3-xO4. Acid washing or higher temperature calcination after Mg impregnation can remove most of this amorphous Mg, resulting in lower values of x in MgxCo3-xO4. Catalytic testing of these materials reveals that Mg incorporation into the Co oxide phase is severely detrimental to the site-Time yield, while Mg incorporation into the support may provide some enhancement of activity at high temperature

Two-loop relation between the bare lattice coupling and the MSbar coupling in pure SU(N) gauge theories

We report the result of a computation of the relation between the renormalized coupling in the MSbar scheme of dimensional regularization and the bare coupling in the standard lattice formulation of the SU(N) Yang-Mills theory to two-loop order of perturbation theory and discuss some of its implications.Comment: 10 pages, postscript fil

Topological charge density renormalization in the presence of dynamical fermions

We study the renormalization group behaviour of the topological charge density in full QCD on the lattice. We propose a way of extracting the necessary renormalization functions from Monte Carlo simulations.Comment: 8 pages, Revte

On Hurst exponent estimation under heavy-tailed distributions

In this paper, we show how the sampling properties of the Hurst exponent methods of estimation change with the presence of heavy tails. We run extensive Monte Carlo simulations to find out how rescaled range analysis (R/S), multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis (MF-DFA), detrending moving average (DMA) and generalized Hurst exponent approach (GHE) estimate Hurst exponent on independent series with different heavy tails. For this purpose, we generate independent random series from stable distribution with stability exponent {\alpha} changing from 1.1 (heaviest tails) to 2 (Gaussian normal distribution) and we estimate the Hurst exponent using the different methods. R/S and GHE prove to be robust to heavy tails in the underlying process. GHE provides the lowest variance and bias in comparison to the other methods regardless the presence of heavy tails in data and sample size. Utilizing this result, we apply a novel approach of the intraday time-dependent Hurst exponent and we estimate the Hurst exponent on high frequency data for each trading day separately. We obtain Hurst exponents for S&P500 index for the period beginning with year 1983 and ending by November 2009 and we discuss the surprising result which uncovers how the market's behavior changed over this long period

Principle of Balance and the Sea Content of the Proton

In this study, the proton is taken as an ensemble of quark-gluon Fock states. Using the principle of balance that every Fock state should be balanced with all of the nearby Fock states (denoted as the balance model), instead of the principle of detailed balance that any two nearby Fock states should be balanced with each other (denoted as the detailed balance model), the probabilities of finding every Fock state of the proton are obtained. The balance model can be taken as a revised version of the detailed balance model, which can give an excellent description of the light flavor sea asymmetry (i.e., $\bar{u}\not= \bar{d}$) without any parameter. In case of $g\Leftrightarrow gg$ sub-processes not considered, the balance model and the detailed balance model give the same results. In case of $g\Leftrightarrow gg$ sub-processes considered, there is about 10 percent difference between the results of these models. We also calculate the strange content of the proton using the balance model under the equal probability assumption.Comment: 32 latex pages, 4 ps figures, to appear in PR

On the Evaporation of Black Holes in String Theory

We show that, in string theory, the quantum evaporation and decay of black holes in two-dimensional target space is related to imaginary parts in higher-genus string amplitudes. These arise from the regularisation of modular infinities due to the sum over world-sheet configurations, that are known to express the instabilities of massive string states in general, and are not thermal in character. The absence of such imaginary parts in the matrix model limit confirms that the latter constitutes the final stage of the evaporation process, at least in perturbation theory. Our arguments appear to be quite generic, related only to the summation over world-sheet surfaces, and hence should also apply to higher-dimensional target spaces.Comment: 17 page

Pseudoscalar Meson Decay Constants and Couplings, the Witten-Veneziano Formula beyond large N_c, and the Topological Susceptibility

The QCD formulae for the radiative decays \eta,\eta'\to\c\c, and the corresponding Dashen--Gell-Mann--Oakes--Renner relations, differ from conventional PCAC results due to the gluonic $U(1)_A$ axial anomaly. This introduces a critical dependence on the gluon topological susceptibility. In this paper, we revisit our earlier theoretical analysis of radiative pseudoscalar decays and the DGMOR relations and extract explicit experimental values for the decay constants. This is our main result. The flavour singlet DGMOR relation is the generalisation of the Witten-Veneziano formula beyond large $N_c$, so we are able to give a quantitative assessment of the realisation of the $1/N_c$ expansion in the $U(1)_A$ sector of QCD. Applications to other aspects of $\eta'$ physics, including the relation with the first moment sum rule for the polarised photon structure function g_1^\c, are highlighted. The $U(1)_A$ Goldberger-Treiman relation is extended to accommodate SU(3) flavour breaking and the implications of a more precise measurement of the $\eta$ and $\eta'$-nucleon couplings are discussed. A comparison with the existing literature on pseudoscalar meson decay constants using large-$N_c$ chiral Lagrangians is also made.Comment: 27 pages, 4 figure