NITheP Bursary Workshop 2012 22nd of November to 23rd of November 2012

Title: Soliton in the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio Model - Garreth Gibson Abstract: The NJL model is introduced to describe dynamical chiral symmetry breaking. Out of this quark theory a meson theory is built that describes the emergent Goldstone bosons, the pi mesons. The model is constructed numerically within a self-consistent procedure. The known pion properties are used as the parameters within the model. The established theory is a static localised soliton solution. The soliton carries unit baryon number making it suited to describe nucleons. The resultant soliton is a functional of the meson fields but also has a quark representation. This quark representation can be used to study deep inelastic scattering and to make predictions for the nucleon structure functions. _______________________________________________________________________________________ Title: The hadronic contribution to the QED running coupling and the Higgs mass - Sebastian Bodenstein Abstract: There is currently larger than 1 sigma discrepancy between the mass of a possible Higgs mass of around (1260.6) GeV as measured by CMS, and the Standard Model fit to precision electroweak data which obtains around (9030) GeV for the Higgs mass. This current discrepancy motivates an effort to increase the precision of the fitted Higgs mass. The two major sources of uncertainty in the value of the fitted Higgs mass are the top quark mass and the hadronic contribution to the QED running coupling. A recent paper that reduces the uncertainty in the hadronic contribution to the QED running coupling by around 20% will be presented, and its impact on the fitted Higgs mass discussed. _______________________________________________________________________________________ Title: Simulating Black-Hole Radiation Warren Carlson Abstract: The principle object of study in Quantum Mechanics is the Hydrogen atom, where it was found that angular momentum played a significant role in the analysis of electron orbits. In working toward a theory of Quantum Gravity, black-holes play the roles of the 'atoms' of the theory and angular momentum is a significant contributor to the coupling of black-holes to quantum fields. By studying the effects of angular momentum in the coupling of quantum fields to black-hole space-times we gain an understanding of the way by which black-holes emit radiation. It is by studying black-hole radiation that we hope to better understand the thermodynamics of black-holes. _______________________________________________________________________________________

Title: Giant Graviton Oscillators - Matthias Dessein Abstract: We study the action of the dilatation operator on the CFT dual operators of excited giant gravitons, namely restricted Schur polynomials labeled by Young diagrams with p long columns or p long rows. A new version of Schur-Weyl duality provides a powerful approach to the computation and manipulation of the symmetric group operators appearing in the restricted Schur polynomials. Using this new technology, we are able to evaluate the action of the one loop dilatation operator. The result has a direct and natural connection to the Gauss Law constraint for branes with a compact world volume. We find considerable evidence that the dilatation operator reduces to a decoupled set of harmonic oscillators. _______________________________________________________________________________________ Title: Two-Loop corrections in the Kroll-Lee Zumino Theory Mawande Lushozi Abstract: The Kroll-Lee-Zumino quantum field theory is known to be renormalizable, in spite of involving a massive (neutral) vector meson (the rho-meson) interacting with pions. This theory provides the platform to calculate corrections to Vector Meson Dominance (VMD). In other words, VMD is the leading order approximation to the KLZ theory. Recent work [1]-[2] has shown that the one-loop corrections to VMD in the KLZ theory lead to an electromagnetic, as well as a scalar pion form factor in excellent agreement with data. Since the KLZ theory is renormalizable, these predictions are fully parameter-free (the masses as well as the pion-rho coupling are known from experiment). The non-Abelian extension of KLZ will provide the needed bridge between chiral perturbation theory and QCD. The next step in this programme is to compute the two-loop vacuum polarization, and its associated two-loop Feynman diagrams. This information will be used to re-determine the pion form factors. It will also be used in a determination of the hadronic contribution to the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon. _______________________________________________________________________________________ Title: Non-Abelian Generalization of the Kroll-Lee-Zumino (KLZ) Model Preshin Moodley Abstract: The Kroll-Lee-Zumino (KLZ) model is an abelian Quantum Field Theory which describes the interaction of charged pions and a neutral rho meson. The KLZ model is a renormalizable theory even though there is an explicit breaking of the gauge symmetry due to the presence of a mass term for the vector channel. The model has been used to predict scattering lengths of pion-pion scattering. My project has been to provide a generalization of the KLZ model by increasing the particle content of the theory to a triplet of pions and a triplet of rhos, this leads naturally to a Yang-Mills type quantum field theory. I shall present some of the calculations in the non-abelian generalization of the scattering lengths at the tree and 1-loop order. _______________________________________________________________________________________

Title: Turbulent Convection in Stars Sashin Moonsamy Abstract: We discuss the origins of Mixing Length Theory (MLT) in the work of Boussinesq on eddy viscosity, and of Prandtl who implemented Boussinesq's suggestions by exploiting an analogy with transport mechanisms in the kinetic theory of gases. This enables us to identify MLT as a closure model for the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations. We discuss the shortcomings of this method of closure and propose alternatives which may useful in astrophysical modelling. _______________________________________________________________________________________ Title: Vacuum polarisation energy of two interacting meson fields with a mass gap Martin Capraro Abstract: The vacuum polarisation energy (VPE) of a model in QFT is an indication of the energy contribution stemming from interaction with a background potential. We will discuss how methods from scattering theory can be used to regularise the integrals occuring in these calculations, allowing us to calculate the complete non-perturbative energy contributions of O (hbar) to field configurations with spherical symmetry. I will also present my progress so far in extending the method to two interacting fields with a mass gap, and motivate why such effects are of interest. _______________________________________________________________________________________ Title: Relaxation timescales and decay of correlations in a long-range interacting quantum simulator Mauritz van den Worm Abstract: We study the time evolution of correlation functions in long-range interacting quantum Ising models. For a class of initial conditions, exact analytic results are obtained in arbitrary lattice dimension, both for ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic coupling, and hence also in the presence of geometric frustration. Investigating the decay of correlations, we find that the relaxation is not exponential as in the short-range case, but Gaussian in time. Moreover, the behavior depends crucially on the type of long-range interactions: Provided the long-range character of the interactions is sufficiently strong, pronounced prethermalization plateaus are observed and relaxation time scales are widely separated. Specializing to a triangular lattice in two spatial dimensions, we propose to utilize these results for benchmarking of a recently developed ion-trap based quantum simulator. _______________________________________________________________________________________

Title: Decoherence-Assisted Transport in Quantum Networks Adriana Marais Abstract: The dynamics of a quantum network under the influence of decoherence are studied. The model under investigation consists of a homogenous fully connected quantum network in contact with environmental spins. Analytic expressions for the transfer probabilities are obtained. It is shown that decoherent interaction with the environment assists energy transfer in the quantum network.This model of decoherence-assisted energy transfer is applied to energy transfer in the Fenna- Matthews-Olson complex. _______________________________________________________________________________________ Title: Studies in QCD at Finite Temperatures Using QCD Sum Rules Yingwen Zhang Abstract: QCD Sum Rules is one of the most successful quantum field theory frameworks to extract hadronic information from QCD analytically. This technique is based on the Operator Product Expansion (OPE) and Cauchy's Theorem. OPE separates the short and long distance interactions where the former are calculated using perturbative theory, the latter are parameterized in terms of the quark and gluon vacuum condensates. By using Cauchy's theorem in the complex energy plane, the results from QCD calculations can be matched to the hadronic channel, this is known as 'quark-hadron duality'. My Project involves using QCD Sum Rules to determine the behaviour of hadronic parameters of heavy-heavy and light-light quark mesons at finite temperature. Our results show that near the deconfinement temperature , the heavy-heavy quark mesons shows signs of surviving beyond whereas the light-light quark mesons disappears at .

_______________________________________________________________________________________ Title: Quantum Dynamics of Driven Oscillators Sashwin Sewran Abstract: Driven oscillators have been proposed as a cause of cooling effects and inhomogeneous temperature distributions, in condensed matter systems. In turn, the latter phenomenon has been proposed as a possible explanation for the recent experimental assessment of the importance of quantum coherence, in photosynthetic systems. With such motivations, we studied numerically a model comprising two quantum harmonic oscillators, with a time dependent coupling between them. The representation of the system in phase space, by means of the Wigner formalism, allowed us to investigate the difference between purely classical evolution and the relative importance of quantum corrections with respect to the cooling effect.The method and the preliminary results of this study will be discussed. _______________________________________________________________________________________

Title: Quantum dynamics in a thermal bath with very few degrees of freedom Nkosinathi Dlamini Abstract: In the Hamiltonian approach to the dynamics of quantum systems in the canonical ensemble, one places the system of interest in contact with a bath with a large number of degrees of freedom. In principle, the evolution of the entire system can be calculated before the coordinates of the bath are integrated out. However, due to the large number of degrees of freedom of the bath, this is computationally very demanding or nearly impossible most of the times. However, when the bath is classical in nature, one can use nonHamiltonian equations of motion and adopt a low-dimensional bath to simulate a canonical ensemble probability distribution. Such a technique is well-established in computer simulations. However, the ergodic motion of the classical bath can usually be obtained only by means of many fictitious thermostats, as in the case of the Nos-Hoover chains. Here it will be shown how a single thermostat, called Nos-Hoover Power thermo-stat, can achieve ergodicity at the price of a slightly stiffer evolution, which can nevertheless be efficiently integrated by measure-preserving algorithms. Moreover, the approach will be extended to a quantum-classical framework and illustrated by the simulation of the damping of a tunneling spin coupled to a thermalized harmonic mode. _______________________________________________________________________________________ Title: Granular Flow Modelling of an Annular Shear Cell Sherry Bremner Abstract: The seminal application of the kinetic theory of gases to the problem of granular flow is credited to Bagnold, (1954) who constructed the shear and normal stresses for the regimes of viscous and inertially dominated flow; showing them to be linearly related and quadratically dependent on shear rate. In this limit of simple shear single-phase flow exhibiting uniform granular temperature, the rate of energy dissipation is shear dominated. For inelastically dominated collisions in the dense flow regime, the granular temperature also depends on the shear rate and restitution coefficient with consequences to the shear and normal stress formulation. Of significance to this work is the energy dissipation rate in dense annular shear cells which is expanded to include the - hitherto ignored - normal pressure. Starting with the mechanical energy balance we construct a first order model of the energy dissipation rate and indirectly introduce the viscous dissipation heating by expanding the isothermal formulation via the pressure contribution to account for the degradation of the mechanical energy. The key ingredients of the model solidicity and shear rate are constituted from time-averaged kinematics of a representative tracer within the ergodic assumption using a Lagrangian tracking technique: Positron Emission Particle Tracking (PEPT). Recent experimental data derived from PEPT within a simple shear cell are presented within the context of energy dissipation rates. _______________________________________________________________________________________

Title: Analysis of W-boson in p-p and Pb-Pb collisions at LHC energies: effect of alignment Pieter du Toit Abstract: The ALICE detector at the CERN-LHC is dedicated to studying the quark-gluon plasma (QGP), which is expected to be formed at extreme energy densities in heavy-ion collisions. The Muon Spectrometer covers the forward rapidity region (-4 < < -2.5) and detects muons decaying from heavy-quarkonia states (e.g. J/) and W-boson which are hard, penetrating probes. They are essential tools for studying the initial conditions of the interaction and determining medium induced effects. Because of an increase in luminosity for LHC since 2011 it is now possible to study the high-pT region in ALICE. Data analyses of W-boson in the single muon decay channel in p-p (Pb-Pb) collisions at 7TeV (2.76TeV) are performed. The effect of the alignment of the Muon Spectrometer on the data is also considered. _______________________________________________________________________________________ Title: Dissipative Preparation of Entanglement in Cavity QED Ryan Sweke Abstract: A path towards the experimental realization of a quantum computer has become one of the main focus areas of current Quantum Information research. Central to the realization of this goal is the need to develop the capability of creating and manipulating large scale entanglement between effective physical qubits. One of the primary obstacles in this regard is the interaction of a system with its environment, resulting in dissipation and decoherence, effects which have hitherto been viewed as completely destructive. However, a recent paradigm shift in the approach towards the physical realization of a quantum computer has been introduced by the theoretical prediction that dissipation can in fact be utilized for the creation of complex entangled states and to perform universal quantum computation. Cavity QED setups in particular have provided an excellent physical system for the realization of dissipative state engineering, where it is possible to create a variety of long lived entangled states, purely utilizing dissipation as a driving mechanism. _______________________________________________________________________________________ Title: The Raman scattering tensors in magnetic crystals Prime Niyongabo Abstract: The symmetry of a magnetic crystal can be described by one of the black and white Shubnikov point groups containing both unitary and antiunitary elements. The general considerations of Wigner are used to show how one may obtain the irreducible corepresentations of a non-unitary group from the irreducible representations of its unitary subgroup. The method is given for obtaining the Kronecker products of corepresentations of magnetic groups, and an example is presented in which the unitary subgroup is the point group C6. Finally we present the Raman scattering tensor as a symmetry adapted for any one of the irreducible corepresentations of a non unitary group in any magnetically ordered crystals. _______________________________________________________________________________________

Title: Thermodynamics of 3D non-commutative fermion gases Rikus Groenewald Abstract: By assuming "fuzzy-sphere" commutation relations for the coordinate operators in quantum mechanics, one finds interesting changes to the bound-state energy spectrum in the case of the 3-dimensional spherical well. Further investigation is done on the thermodynamics of a fermion gas in this system without any additional interaction terms, where we hope to find surprising results such as an incompressibilty limit and non-extensive behaviour of entropy which was found in the 2-dimensional case [1]. The entropy of dense non-commutative fermion gases, J N Kriel and F G Scholtz 2012 J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. 45 095301 ______________________________________________________________________________________ Title: Algorithms for Simulation of Nonadiabatic Dynamics of Quantum-Classical Systems - Daniel Uken Abstract: Nonadiabatic quantum dynamics takes place when coupled coordinates are free to exchange energy during their time evolution. This happens al-most ubiquitously in condensed matter physics. Unfortunately, computational power limitations make it impractical to attempt a full quantum simulation of the dynamics of even simple models of condensed matter systems. However, since one is generally only interested in the exact dynamics of a small part of the total system, the system of study can often be modelled by a bath of classical-like harmonic oscillators interacting with the subsystem, which is modelled by quantum spins. Even in this case, it can be difficult to implement nonadiabatic effects without incurring a growing statistical error at longer simulation times. A discussion of two different propagators will be presented, as well as a method to reduce the problem of statistical error at long times. _______________________________________________________________________________________ Title: Tikhonov Theorem and Singularly Perturbed Problems - Eddy Kimba Phongi Abstract: We use singularly perturbed technique to represent a two timescale problem, described by a system of ordinary differential equation; and, we introduce Tikhonov Theorem to show the asymptotic behaviour of its solutions as the perturbation approaches zero. _______________________________________________________________________________________ Title: The application of Jost functions in scattering Theory, particularly in two-body problems with long-range potential Paul Vaandrager Abstract: Jost functions are introduced, and the application to scattering theory is explored: how these functions are related to bound and resonant states, and how the Scattering matrix, S, can be derived from them. The two- body problem with long-range potential is then tackled, and the analytical interim-results obtained to date are revealed. The way forward in considering the problem is also shortly discussed.

Title: Light flavor symmetry breaking for heavy baryons Jacobus Blanckenberg (Authors: J. P. Blanckenberg and H. Weigel) Abstract: We are interested in the soliton description of baryons with a single heavy quark (charm or bottom). In this approach such baryons emerge as composites of a soliton of mesons built from light quarks (up, down, strange) and a meson field that is bound to the soliton and contains a heavy quark. The soliton must then be quantized as a diquark because the fermionic character arises from binding to the heavy meson field. We are particularly interested in baryons that contain strange flavors; in the quark model that corresponds to, say, up-strange-bottom. Thus the flavor symmetry breaking among the light quarks must be incorporated when constructing diquark states. Here we present computations of the diquark eigen-energies and eigen-functions that incorporates all orders of the light flavor symmetry breaking. We also compare these results to a leading order treatment of flavor symmetry breaking. The computation of the heavy meson contribution to the binding energy is also outlined. This is a first step towards a comprehensive description of heavy baryons in a soliton model. _______________________________________________________________________________________ Title: Theoretical and Experimental Investigation of Electric-field-gradient-induced Birefringence in Fluids - Siyabonga Sibusiso Ntombela Abstract: The theoretical description of the Buckingham effect or electric-field-gradientinduced birefringence (EFGIB), in fluids has been carefully worked through. Extraction of the molecular electric quadrupole moment from measured EFGIB data is possible. The quadrupole moment is a fundamental molecular property which, for non-dipolar molecules, is the leading electric moment describing the molecular charge distribution and its interaction with external nonuniform electric fields. It is thus important in describing the thermodynamic, structural and spectral properties of molecules. An apparatus has been assembled to directly measure EFGIB in fluids over a range of temperature, which is essential since the observed EFGIB arises from a temperature-independent term(due to distortion of the electronic structure by the applied field gradient) as well as from a temperature-dependent term (due to the orientational effect of the electric field gradient on the molecular quadrupole moments). The apparatus has been carefully designed to allow for measurement of phase differences down to the nanoradian level. Measured data for CO2 and O2 are presented, and compared with ab ini t io computed values. A molecular-tensor theory of EFGIB to account for the effects of intermolecular interactions in dense gases is also being developed. _______________________________________________________________________________________