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C. Anastopoulos

Publications and source records attributed to C. Anastopoulos.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2025

LEP3: A High-Luminosity e+e- Higgs and ElectroweakFactory in the LHC Tunnel

As stated in the 2019 European Strategy for Particle Physics (ESPP), it is of the utmost importance that the HL-LHC upgrade of the accelerator and the experiments be successfully completed in a timely manner. All necessary efforts should be devoted to achieving this goal. We also recall two of the principal recommendations of the 2019 ESPP for future accelerator initiatives, namely that 1) An electron-positron Higgs factory is the highest priority for the next collider (Rec. c). 2) Europe, together with its international partners, should investigate the technical and financial feasibility of a future hadron collider at CERN with a centre-of-mass energy of at least 100 TeV and with an electron-positron Higgs and electroweak factory as a possible first stage (Rec. e). A major objective in particle physics is always to operate an accelerator that allows a leap of an order of magnitude in the constituent centre-of-mass energy with respect to the previous one. We support FCC-ee and FCC-hh as the preferred option for CERN future, as it addresses both of the above recommendations. The guidance for the 2025 ESPP requests, in addition to the preferred option, the inclusion of ``prioritised alternatives to be pursued if the chosen preferred option turns out not to be feasible or competitive''. Proposed alternatives to the preferred FCC option include linear, muon colliders and LHeC accelerators. In response to this request we propose reusing the existing LHC tunnel for an electron-positron collider, called LEP3, as a back-up alternative if the FCC cannot proceed. LEP3 leverages much of the R\&D conducted for FCC-ee, offers high-precision studies of Z, W, and Higgs bosons below the tt threshold, and offers potential physics performance comparable or superior to other fallback options at a lower cost while supporting continued R\&D towards a next-generation energy frontier machine.

physics.acc-ph↗
arXiv2018

Comment on "A Spin Entanglement Witness for Quantum Gravity" and on "Gravitationally Induced Entanglement between Two Massive Particles is Sufficient Evidence of Quantum Effects in Gravity"

This is a comment on articles Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 240401 (2017) [arXiv:1707.06050] and Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 240402 (2017) [arXiv:1707.06036]. We argue that gravity-induced entanglement by Newtonian forces is agnostic to the quantum or classical nature of the gravitational true degrees of freedom.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2014

Problems with the Newton-Schrödinger Equations

We examine the origin of the Newton-Schrödinger equations (NSEs) that play an important role in alternative quantum theories (AQT), macroscopic quantum mechanics and gravity-induced decoherence. We show that NSEs for individual particles do not follow from general relativity (GR) plus quantum field theory (QFT). Contrary to what is commonly assumed, the NSEs are not the weak-field (WF), non-relativistic (NR) limit of the semi-classical Einstein equation (SCE) (this nomenclature is preferred over the `M\/oller-Rosenfeld equation') based on GR+QFT. The wave-function in the NSEs makes sense only as that for a mean field describing a system of $N$ particles as $N \rightarrow \infty$, not that of a single or finite many particles. From GR+QFT the gravitational self-interaction leads to mass renormalization, not to a non-linear term in the evolution equations of some AQTs. The WF-NR limit of the gravitational interaction in GR+QFT involves no dynamics. To see the contrast, we give a derivation of the equation (i) governing the many-body wave function from GR+QFT and (ii) for the non-relativistic limit of quantum electrodynamics (QED). They have the same structure, being linear, and very different from NSEs. Adding to this our earlier consideration that for gravitational decoherence the master equations based on GR+QFT lead to decoherence in the energy basis and not in the position basis, despite some AQTs desiring it for the `collapse of the wave function', we conclude that the origins and consequences of NSEs are very different, and should be clearly demarcated from those of the SCE equation, the only legitimate representative of semiclassical gravity, based on GR+QFT.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2014

Newton-Schrödinger Equations are not derivable from General Relativity + Quantum Field Theory

In this note we show that Newton-Schrödinger Equations (NSEs) [arXiv:1210.0457 and references therein] do not follow from general relativity (GR) and quantum field theory (QFT) by way of two considerations: 1) Taking the nonrelativistic limit of the semiclassical Einstein equation, the central equation of relativistic semiclassical gravity, a fully covariant theory based on GR+QFT with self-consistent backreaction of quantum matter on the spacetime dynamics; 2) Working out a model [see C. Anastopoulos and B. L. Hu, Class. Quant. Grav. 30, 165007 (2013), arXiv:1305.5231] with a matter scalar field interacting with weak gravity, in procedures analogous to the derivation of the nonrelativistic limit of quantum electrodynamics. We conclude that the coupling of classical gravity with quantum matter can only be via mean fields, there are no $N$-particle NSEs and theories based on Newton-Schrödinger equations assume unknown physics.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2014

The thermodynamics of self-gravitating systems in equilibrium is holographic

We show that, when we study the coexistence of general relativity with thermodynamics, some physical properties that are usually thought of as holographic and lying in the domain of quantum gravity can actually be accessed even at the classical level. In particular, we demonstrate that the thermodynamics of gravitating systems in equilibrium is fully specified by variables defined on the system's boundary, namely, the boundary's geometry and extrinsic curvature. Hence, information is non-trivially incorporated in boundary variables because of the structure (the symmetries) of the classical gravity theory, without any input from quantum theory (such as black hole entropy).

gr-qc↗
arXiv2013

A Master Equation for Gravitational Decoherence: Probing the Textures of Spacetime

We give a first principles derivation of a master equation for the evolution of a quantum matter field in a linearly perturbed Minkowski spacetime, based solely on quantum field theory and general relativity. We make no additional assumptions nor introduce extra ingredients, as is often done in alternative quantum theories. When the quantum matter field is projected to a one-particle state, the master equation for a non-relativistic quantum particle in a weak gravitational field predicts decoherence in the energy basis, in contrast to most existing theories of gravitational decoherence. We point out the gauge nature of time and space reparameterizations in matter-gravity couplings, and warn that `intrinsic' decoherence or alternative quantum theories invoking stochastic dynamics arising from temporal or spatial fluctuations violate this fundamental symmetry of classical general relativity. Interestingly we find that the decoherence rate depends on extra parameters other than the Planck scale, an important feature of gravitational decoherence. This is similar to the dependence of the decoherence rate of a quantum Brownian particle to the temperature and spectral density of the environment it interacts with. The corresponding features when gravity acts as an environment in decohering quantum objects are what we call the `textures' of spacetime. We point out the marked difference between the case when gravity is represented as a background spacetime versus the case when gravity acts like a thermodynamic bath to quantum particles. This points to the possibility of using gravitational decoherence measurements to discern whether gravity is intrinsically elemental or emergent.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2010

Generalized uncertainty relations and entanglement dynamics in quantum Brownian motion models

We study entanglement dynamics in quantum Brownian motion (QBM) models. Our main tool is the Wigner function propagator. Time evolution in the Wigner picture is physically intuitive and it leads to a simple derivation of a master equation for any number of system harmonic oscillators and spectral density of the environment. It also provides generalized uncertainty relations, valid for any initial state that allow a characterization of the environment in terms of the modifications it causes to the system's dynamics. In particular, the uncertainty relations are very informative about the entanglement dynamics of Gaussian states, and to a lesser extent for other families of states. For concreteness, we apply these techniques to a bipartite QBM model, describing the processes of entanglement creation, disentanglement and decoherence at all temperatures and timescales.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2010

The quantum measurement approach to particle oscillations

The LSND and MiniBoone seeming anomalies in neutrino oscillations are usually attributed to physics beyond the Standard model. It is, however, possible that they may be an artefact of the theoretical treatment of particle oscillations that ignores fine points of quantum measurement theory relevant to the experiments. In this paper, we construct a rigorous measurement-theoretic framework for the description of particle oscillations, employing no assumptions extrinsic to quantum theory. The formalism leads to a non-standard oscillation formula; at low energy it predicts an `anomalous' oscillation wavelength, while at high energy it differs from the standard expression by a factor of 2. The key novelties in the formalism are the treatment of a particle's time of arrival at the detector as a genuine quantum observable, the theoretical precision in the definition of quantum probabilities, and the detailed modeling of the measurement process. The article also contains an extensive critical review of existing theoretical treatments of particle oscillations, identifying key problems and showing that these are overcome by the proposed formalism.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2009

Non-Markovian Entanglement Dynamics of Two Qubits Interacting with a Common Electromagnetic Field

We study the non-equilibrium dynamics of a pair of qubits made of two-level atoms separated in space with distance $r$ and interacting with one common electromagnetic field but not directly with each other. Our calculation makes a weak coupling assumption but no Born or Markov approximation. We write the evolution equations of the reduced density matrix of the two-qubit system after integrating out the electromagnetic field modes. We study two classes of states in detail: Class A is a one parameter family of states which are the superposition of the highest energy and lowest energy states, and Class B states which are the linear combinations of the symmetric and the antisymmetric Bell states. Our results for an initial Bell state are similar to those obtained before for the same model derived under the Born-Markov approximation. However, in the Class A states the behavior is qualitatively different: under the non-Markovian evolution we do not see sudden death of quantum entanglement and subsequent revivals, except when the qubits are sufficiently far apart. We provide explanations for such differences of behavior both between these two classes of states and between the predictions from the Markov and non-Markovian dynamics. We also study the decoherence of this two-qubit system.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2009

Expected Performance of the ATLAS Experiment - Detector, Trigger and Physics

A detailed study is presented of the expected performance of the ATLAS detector. The reconstruction of tracks, leptons, photons, missing energy and jets is investigated, together with the performance of b-tagging and the trigger. The physics potential for a variety of interesting physics processes, within the Standard Model and beyond, is examined. The study comprises a series of notes based on simulations of the detector and physics processes, with particular emphasis given to the data expected from the first years of operation of the LHC at CERN.

hep-ex↗
arXiv2009

Quantum measurement theory for particle oscillations

A fundamental principle of quantum theory, clearly manifested in the two-slit experiment, is that for any alternatives that cannot be distinguished by measurement physical predictions are obtained by summation of their amplitudes. In particle oscillation experiments, a particle's time of detection is not directly measured, consequently, the detection probability should involve the summation over amplitudes corresponding to different detection times. However, in contrast to the principle above, standard treatments involve summation over probabilities rather than amplitudes; this implicitly assumes the existence of a decohering mechanism. In this work, we construct the detection probabilities for particle oscillations by summation over amplitudes, corresponding to different detection times. The resulting wavelength of particle oscillations differs from the standard expression by a factor of two. Moreover, we predict a dependence of the oscillation wavelength on the threshold of the decay process used for detection.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2008

Intrinsic and Fundamental Decoherence: Issues and Problems

We investigate the meaning of gravity-induced decoherence in quantum theory, known as `intrinsic' or `fundamental' decoherence in the literature. We explore a range of issues relevant to this problem, including the meaning of modified uncertainty relations, the interpretations of the Planck scale, the distinction between quantum and stochastic fluctuations and the role of the time variable in quantum mechanics. We examine the specific physical assumptions that enter into different approaches to the subject. In particular, we critique two representative approaches that identify time fluctuations as the origin of intrinsic or fundamental decoherence: one that models the fluctuations by stochastic process and one that purports to derive decoherence from the quantum fluctuations of real clocks.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2007

Decoherence in Quantum Gravity: Issues and Critiques

An increasing number of papers have appeared in recent years on decoherence in quantum gravity at the Planck energy. We discuss the meaning of decoherence in quantum gravity starting from the common notion that quantum gravity is a theory for the microscopic structures of spacetime, and invoking some generic features of quantum decoherence from the open systems viewpoint. We dwell on a range of issues bearing on this process including the relation between statistical and quantum, noise from effective field theory, the meaning of stochasticity, the origin of non-unitarity and the nature of nonlocality in this and related contexts. To expound these issues we critique on two representative theories: One claims that decoherence in quantum gravity scale leads to the violation of CPT symmetry at sub-Planckian energy which is used to explain today's particle phenomenology. The other uses this process in place with the Brownian motion model to prove that spacetime foam behaves like a thermal bath.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2007

Quantum Entanglement under Non-Markovian Dynamics of Two Qubits Interacting with a common Electromagnetic Field

We study the non-equilibrium dynamics of a pair of qubits made of two-level atoms separated in space with distance r and interacting with one common electromagnetic field but not directly with each other. Our calculation makes a weak coupling assumption, but no Born or Markov approximation. We derived a non-Markovian master equation for the evolution of the reduced density matrix of the two-qubit system after integrating out the electromagnetic field modes. It contains a Markovian part with a Lindblad type operator and a nonMarkovian contribution, the physics of which is the main focus of this study. We use the concurrence function as a measure of quantum entanglement between the two qubits. Two classes of states are studied in detail: Class A is a one parameter family of states which are the superposition of the highest energy and Class B states are linear combinations of the symmetric and the antisymmetric Bell states. We obtain similar behavior for the Bell states as in earlier results derived by using the Born-Markov approximation. However, in the Class A states the behavior is qualitatively different: under the non-Markovian evolution we do not see sudden death of quantum entanglement and subsequent revivals, except when the qubits are sufficiently far apart. We provide explanations for such differences of behavior both between these two classes of states and between the predictions from the Markov and non-Markovian dynamics. We also study the decoherence of this two-qubit system and find that the decoherence rate in the case of one qubit initially in an excited state does not change significantly with the qubits separation whereas it does for the case when one qubit is initially in the ground state.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2006

Quantum probabilities for time-extended measurements

We study the probability assignment for the outcomes of time-extended measurements. We construct the class-operator that incorporates the information about a generic time-smeared quantity. These class-operators are employed for the construction of Positive-Operator-Valued-Measures for the time-averaged quantities. The scheme highlights the distinction between velocity and momentum in quantum theory. Propositions about velocity and momentum are represented by different class-operators, hence they define different probability measures. We provide some examples, we study the classical limit and we construct probabilities for generalized time-extended phase space variables.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2004

Non-Markovian qubit dynamics in a thermal field bath: Relaxation, decoherence and entanglement

We study the non-Markovian dynamics of a qubit made up of a two-level atom interacting with an electromagnetic field (EMF) initially at finite temperature. Unlike most earlier studies where the bath is assumed to be fixed, we study the coherent evolution of the combined qubit-EMF system, thus allowing for the back-action from the bath on the qubit and the qubit on the bath in a self-consistent manner. In this way we can see the development of quantum correlations and entanglement between the system and its environment, and how that affects the decoherence and relaxation of the system. We find non-exponential decay for both the diagonal and non-diagonal matrix elements of the qubit's reduced density matrix in the pointer basis. From the diagonal elements we see the qubit relaxes to thermal equilibrium with the bath. From the non-diagonal elements, we see the decoherence rate beginning at the usually predicted thermal rate, but changing to the zero temperature decoherence rate as the qubit and bath become entangled. These two rates are comparable, as was shown before in the zero temperature case [C. Anastopoulos and B. L. Hu, Phys. Rev. A {\bf 62} (2000) 033821]. On the entanglement of a qubit with the EMF under this type of resonant coupling we calculated, for the qubit reduced density matrix, the fidelity and the von Neumann entropy, which is a measure of the purity of the density matrix. The present more accurate non-Markovian calculations predict lower loss of fidelity and purity as compared with the Markovian results. Generally speaking, with the inclusion of quantum correlations between the qubit and its environment, the non-Markovian processes tend to slow down the drive of the system to equilibrium, prolonging the decoherence and better preserving the fidelity and purity of the system.

quant-ph↗
arXiv1999

Quantum Fields in Nonstatic background: A Histories Perspective

For a quantum field living on a non - static spacetime no instantaneous Hamiltonian is definable, for this generically necessitates a choice of inequivalent representation of the canonical commutation relations at each instant of time. This fact suggests a description in terms of time - dependent Hilbert spaces, a concept that fits naturally in a (consistent) histories framework. Our primary tool for the construction of the quantum theory in a continuous -time histories format is the recently developed formalism based on the notion of the history group . This we employ to study a model system involving a 1+1 scalar field in a cavity with moving boundaries. The instantaneous (smeared) Hamiltonian and a decoherence functional are then rigorously defined so that finite values for the time - averaged particle creation rate are obtainable through the study of energy histories. We also construct the Schwinger - Keldysh closed- time - path generating functional as a ``Fourier transform'' of the decoherence functional and evaluate the corresponding n - point functions.

gr-qc↗