Aggregation of chemotactic organisms in a differential flow

We study the effect of advection on the aggregation and pattern formation in chemotactic systems described by Keller-Segel type models. The evolution of small perturbations is studied analytically in the linear regime complemented by numerical simulations. We show that a uniform differential flow can significantly alter the spatial structure and dynamics of the chemotactic system. The flow leads to the formation of anisotropic aggregates that move following the direction of the flow, even when the chemotactic organisms are not directly advected by the flow. Sufficiently strong advection can stop the aggregation and coarsening process that is then restricted to the direction perpendicular to the flow

Rydberg Wave Packets are Squeezed States

We point out that Rydberg wave packets (and similar ``coherent" molecular packets) are, in general, squeezed states, rather than the more elementary coherent states. This observation allows a more intuitive understanding of their properties; e.g., their revivals.Comment: 7 pages of text plus one figure available in the literature, LA-UR 93-2804, to be published in Quantum Optics, LaTe

Elastic scattering losses in the four-wave mixing of Bose Einstein Condensates

We introduce a classical stochastic field method that accounts for the quantum fluctuations responsible for spontaneous initiation of various atom optics processes. We assume a delta-correlated Gaussian noise in all initially empty modes of atomic field. Its strength is determined by comparison with the analytical results for two colliding condensates in the low loss limit. Our method is applied to the atomic four wave mixing experiment performed at MIT [Vogels {\it et. al.}, Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 89}, 020401, (2002)], for the first time reproducing experimental data

Coherent states for the hydrogen atom

We construct a system of coherent states for the hydrogen atom that is expressed in terms of elementary functions. Unlike to the previous attempts in this direction, this system possesses the properties equivalent to the most of those for the harmonic oscillator, with modifications due to the character of the problem.Comment: 6 pages, LATEX, using ioplppt.sty and iopfts.sty. v.2: some misprints are corrected. To appear in J.Phys.

The Epsilon Calculus and Herbrand Complexity

Hilbert's epsilon-calculus is based on an extension of the language of predicate logic by a term-forming operator $\epsilon_{x}$. Two fundamental results about the epsilon-calculus, the first and second epsilon theorem, play a role similar to that which the cut-elimination theorem plays in sequent calculus. In particular, Herbrand's Theorem is a consequence of the epsilon theorems. The paper investigates the epsilon theorems and the complexity of the elimination procedure underlying their proof, as well as the length of Herbrand disjunctions of existential theorems obtained by this elimination procedure.Comment: 23 p

Hydrogen atom in phase space: The Wigner representation

We have found an effective method of calculating the Wigner function, being a quantum analogue of joint probability distribution of position and momentum, for bound states of nonrelativistic hydrogen atom. The formal similarity between the eigenfunctions of nonrelativistic hydrogen atom in the momentum representation and Klein-Gordon propagators has allowed the calculation of the Wigner function for an arbitrary bound state of the hydrogen atom. These Wigner functions for some low lying states are depicted and discussed.Comment: 8 pages (including figures

Elliptical Squeezed States and Rydberg Wave Packets

We present a theoretical construction for closest-to-classical wave packets localized in both angular and radial coordinates and moving on a keplerian orbit. The method produces a family of elliptical squeezed states for the planar Coulomb problem that minimize appropriate uncertainty relations in radial and angular coordinates. The time evolution of these states is studied for orbits with different semimajor axes and eccentricities. The elliptical squeezed states may be useful for a description of the motion of Rydberg wave packets excited by short-pulsed lasers in the presence of external fields, which experiments are attempting to produce. We outline an extension of the method to include certain effects of quantum defects appearing in the alkali-metal atoms used in experiments.Comment: published in Phys. Rev. A, vol. 52, p. 2234, Sept. 199

Memory Effects in Spontaneous Emission Processes

We consider a quantum-mechanical analysis of spontaneous emission in terms of an effective two-level system with a vacuum decay rate $\Gamma_0$ and transition angular frequency $\omega_A$. Our analysis is in principle exact, even though presented as a numerical solution of the time-evolution including memory effects. The results so obtained are confronted with previous discussions in the literature. In terms of the {\it dimensionless} lifetime $\tau = t\Gamma_0$ of spontaneous emission, we obtain deviations from exponential decay of the form ${\cal O} (1/\tau)$ for the decay amplitude as well as the previously obtained asymptotic behaviors of the form ${\cal O} (1/\tau^2)$ or ${\cal O} (1/\tau \ln^2\tau)$ for $\tau \gg 1$. The actual asymptotic behavior depends on the adopted regularization procedure as well as on the physical parameters at hand. We show that for any reasonable range of $\tau$ and for a sufficiently large value of the required angular frequency cut-off $\omega_c$ of the electro-magnetic fluctuations, i.e. $\omega_c \gg \omega_A$, one obtains either a ${\cal O} (1/\tau)$ or a ${\cal O} (1/\tau^2)$ dependence. In the presence of physical boundaries, which can change the decay rate with many orders of magnitude, the conclusions remains the same after a suitable rescaling of parameters.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures and 46 reference

Keplerian Squeezed States and Rydberg Wave Packets

We construct minimum-uncertainty solutions of the three-dimensional Schr\"odinger equation with a Coulomb potential. These wave packets are localized in radial and angular coordinates and are squeezed states in three dimensions. They move on elliptical keplerian trajectories and are appropriate for the description of the corresponding Rydberg wave packets, the production of which is the focus of current experimental effort. We extend our analysis to incorporate the effects of quantum defects in alkali-metal atoms, which are used in experiments.Comment: accepted for publication in Physical Review

Radial Squeezed States and Rydberg Wave Packets

We outline an analytical framework for the treatment of radial Rydberg wave packets produced by short laser pulses in the absence of external electric and magnetic fields. Wave packets of this type are localized in the radial coordinates and have p-state angular distributions. We argue that they can be described by a particular analytical class of squeezed states, called radial squeezed states. For hydrogenic Rydberg atoms, we discuss the time evolution of the corresponding hydrogenic radial squeezed states. They are found to undergo decoherence and collapse, followed by fractional and full revivals. We also present their uncertainty product and uncertainty ratio as functions of time. Our results show that hydrogenic radial squeezed states provide a suitable analytical description of hydrogenic Rydberg atoms excited by short-pulsed laser fields.Comment: published in Physical Review