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Ralph Willox

Publications and source records attributed to Ralph Willox.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
arXiv2018

Bouncing oil droplets, de Broglie's quantum thermostat and convergence to equilibrium

Recently, the properties of bouncing oil droplets, also known as "walkers", have attracted much attention because they are thought to offer a gateway to a better understanding of quantum behaviour. They constitute indeed a macroscopic realization of wave-particle duality, in the sense that their trajectories are guided by a self-generated surrounding wave. The aim of this paper is to develop a phenomenological theory for the behavior of walkers in terms of de Broglie-Bohm and Nelson dynamics. We study in particular how modifications of the de Broglie pilot-wave theory, à la Nelson, affect the process of relaxation to quantum equilibrium, and prove an H-theorem for the relaxation to quantum equilibrium under Nelson dynamics. We compare the onset of equilibrium in the Nelson and de Broglie-Bohm approaches and we also propose some simple experiments by which one can test the applicability of our theory to the context of bouncing oil droplets.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2018

Detecting discrete integrability: the singularity approach

We describe the various types of singularities that can arise for second order rational mappings and we discuss the historical and present-day, practical, role the singularity confinement property plays as an integrability detector. In particular, we show how singularity analysis can be used to calculate explicitly the dynamical degree for such mappings.

math-ph↗
arXiv2018

Singularity patterns and dynamical degrees

We explain on a selection of mappings how the method introduced by Halburd and our simplified variant thereof, the so-called express method, can be used to calculate the dynamical degree of second-order rational mappings from nothing more than their singularity structure.

math-ph↗
arXiv2017

Linearization of the box-ball system: an elementary approach

Kuniba, Okado, Takagi and Yamada have found that the time-evolution of the Takahashi-Satsuma box-ball system can be linearized by considering rigged configurations associated with states of the box-ball system. We introduce a simple way to understand the rigged configuration of $\mathfrak{sl}_2$-type, and give an elementary proof of the linearization property. Our approach can be applied to a box-ball system with finite carrier, which is related to a discrete modified KdV equation, and also to the combinatorial $R$-matrix of $A_1^{(1)}$-type. We also discuss combinatorial statistics and related fermionic formulas associated with the states of the box-ball systems. A fermionic-type formula we obtain for the finite carrier case seems to be new.

nlin.SI↗
arXiv2017

Calculating the algebraic entropy of mappings with unconfined singularities

We present a method for calculating the dynamical degree of a mapping with unconfined singularities. It is based on a method introduced by Halburd for the computation of the growth of the iterates of a rational mapping with confined singularities. In particular, we show through several examples how simple calculations, based on the singularity patterns of the mapping, allow one to obtain the exact value of the dynamical degree for nonintegrable mappings that do not possess the singularity confinement property. We also study linearisable mappings with unconfined singularities to show that in this case our method indeed yields zero algebraic entropy.

math-ph↗
arXiv2017

Integrable mappings and the notion of anticonfinement

We examine the notion of anticonfinement and the role it has to play in the singularity analysis of discrete systems. A singularity is said to be anticonfined if singular values continue to arise indefinitely for the forward and backward iterations of a mapping, with only a finite number of iterates taking regular values in between. We show through several concrete examples that the behaviour of some anticonfined singularities is strongly related to the integrability properties of the discrete mappings in which they arise, and we explain how to use this information to decide on the integrability or non-integrability of the mapping.

math-ph↗
arXiv2017

A systematic method for constructing discrete Painlevé equations in the degeneration cascade of the E$_8$ group

We present a systematic and quite elementary method for constructing discrete Painlevé equations in the degeneration cascade for E$_8^{(1)}$. Starting from the invariant for the autonomous limit of the E$_8^{(1)}$ equation one wishes to study, the method relies on choosing simple homographies that will cast this invariant into certain judiciously chosen canonical forms. These new invariants lead to mappings the deautonomisations of which allow us to build up the entire degeneration cascade of the original mapping. We explain the method on three examples, two symmetric mappings and an asymmetric one, and we discuss the link between our results and the known geometric structure of these mappings.

math-ph↗
arXiv2017

Multiplicative equations related to the affine Weyl group E$_8$

We derive integrable equations starting from autonomous mappings with a general form inspired by the multiplicative systems associated to the affine Weyl group E$_8^{(1)}$. Five such systems are obtained, three of which turn out to be linearisable and the remaining two are integrable in terms of elliptic functions. In the case of the linearisable mappings we derive nonautonomous forms which contain a free function of the dependent variable and we present the linearisation in each case. The two remaining systems are deautonomised to new discrete Painlevé equations. We show that these equations are in fact special forms of much richer systems associated to the affine Weyl groups E$_7^{(1)}$ and E$_8^{(1)}$ respectively.

math-ph↗
arXiv2017

de Broglie's double solution program: 90 years later

Since de Broglie's pilot wave theory was revived by David Bohm in the 1950's, the overwhelming majority of researchers involved in the field have focused on what is nowadays called de Broglie-Bohm dynamics and de Broglie's original double solution program was gradually forgotten. As a result, several of the key concepts in the theory are still rather vague and ill-understood. In the light of the progress achieved over the course of the 90 years that have passed since de Broglie's presentation of his ideas at the Solvay conference of 1927, we reconsider in the present paper the status of the double solution program. More than a somewhat dusty archaeological piece of history of science, we believe it should be considered as a legitimate attempt to reconcile quantum theory with realism.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2016

Calculating algebraic entropies: an express method

We describe a method for investigating the integrable character of a given three-point mapping, provided that the mapping has confined singularities. Our method, dubbed "express", is inspired by a novel approach recently proposed by R.G. Halburd. While the latter aims at computing the exact degree growth of a given mapping based on the structure of its singularities, we content ourselves with obtaining an answer as to whether a given system is integrable or not. We present several examples illustrating our method as well as its limitations. We also compare the present method to the full-deautonomisation approach we recently introduced.

math-ph↗
arXiv2016

Crucial tests of macrorealist and semi-classical gravity models with freely falling mesoscopic nanospheres

Recently, several proposals have been made to test the quantum superposition principle in the mesoscopic regime. Most of these tests consist of a careful measurement of the loss of interference due to decoherence. Here we consider, instead, the spread in position of a freely falling nanosphere. We study in depth the dependence of this spread on self-gravity in the presence of decoherence (exotic and non-exotic). We show that the influence of self-gravity is robust in the presence of weak decoherence, and quantify this robustness by introducing a new parameter, the critical decoherence, aimed at estimating the critical value above which self-gravity is overwhelmed by decoherence. We also emphasise the crucial role played by the spread of the initial wave packet for the sensitivity of free-fall experiments to decoherence.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2016

Full-deautonomisation of a lattice equation

In this letter we report on the unexpected possibility of applying the full-deautonomisation approach we recently proposed for predicting the algebraic entropy of second-order birational mappings, to discrete lattice equations. Moreover, we show, on two examples, that the full-deautonomisation technique can in fact also be successfully applied to reductions of these lattice equations to mappings with orders higher than 2. In particular, we apply this technique to a recently discovered lattice equation that has confined singularities while being nonintegrable, and we show that our approach accurately predicts this nonintegrable character. Finally, we demonstrate how our method can even be used to predict the algebraic entropy for some nonconfining higher order mappings.

math-ph↗
arXiv2015

Singularity confinement and full-deautonomisation: a discrete integrability criterion

We present a new approach to singularity confinement which makes it an efficient and reliable discrete integrability detector. Our method is based on the full-deautonomisation procedure, which consists in analysing non-autonomous extensions of a given discrete system obtained by adding terms that are initially absent, but whose presence does not alter the singularity pattern. A justification for this approach is given through an algebro-geometric analysis. We also introduce the notions of early and late confinement. While the former is a confinement that may exist already for the autonomous system, the latter corresponds to a singularity pattern longer than that of the autonomous case. Late confinement will be shown to play an important role in the singularity analysis of systems with non-trivial gauge freedom, for which the existence of an undetected gauge in conjunction with a sketchy analysis, might lead to erroneous conclusions as to their integrability. An algebro-geometric analysis of the role of late confinement in this context is also offered. This novel type of singularity confinement analysis will be shown to allow for the exact calculation of the algebraic entropy of a given mapping.

math-ph↗
arXiv2014

The redemption of singularity confinement

We present a novel way to apply the singularity confinement property as a discrete integrability criterion. We shall use what we call a full deautonomisation approach, which consists in treating the free parameters in the mapping as functions of the independent variable, applied to a mapping complemented with terms that are absent in the original mapping but which do not change the singularity structure. We shall show, on a host of examples including the well-known mapping of Hietarinta-Viallet, that our approach offers a way to compute the algebraic entropy for these mappings exactly, thereby allowing one to distinguish between the integrable and non-integrable cases even when both have confined singularities.

nlin.SI↗
arXiv2014

Deautonomisation by singularity confinement: an algebro-geometric justification

The `deautonomisation' of an integrable mapping of the plane consists in treating the free parameters in the mapping as functions of the independent variable, the precise expressions of which are to be determined with the help of a suitable criterion for integrability. Standard practice is to use the singularity confinement criterion and to require that singularities be confined at the very first opportunity. An algebro-geometrical analysis will show that confinement at a later stage invariably leads to a nonintegrable deautonomized system, thus justifying the standard singularity confinement approach. In particular, it will be shown on some selected examples of discrete Painleve equations, how their regularisation through blow-up yields exactly the same conditions on the parameters in the mapping as the singularity confinement criterion. Moreover, for all these examples, it will be shown that the conditions on the parameters are in fact equivalent to a linear transformation on part of the Picard group, obtained from the blow-up.

nlin.SI↗
arXiv2014

Can quantum systems succumb to their own (gravitational) attraction?

The gravitational interaction is generally considered to be too weak to be easily submitted to systematic experimental investigation in the quantum, microscopic, domain. In this paper we attempt to remedy this situation by considering the gravitational influence exerted by a crystalline nanosphere of mesoscopic size on itself, in the semi-classical, mean field, regime. We study in depth the self-localisation process induced by the corresponding non-linear potential of (gravitational) self-interaction. In particular, we characterize the stability of the associated self-collapsed ground state and estimate the magnitude of the corrections that are due to the internal structure of the object (this includes size-effects and corrections due to the discrete, atomic, structure of the sphere). Finally, we derive an approximated, gaussian, dynamics which mimics several essential features of the self-gravitating dynamics and, based on numerical results derived from this model, we propose a concrete experimental setting which we believe might, in the foreseeable future, reveal the existence of gravitational self-interaction effects.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2014

Discretisations of constrained KP hierarchies

We present a discrete analogue of the so-called symmetry reduced or `constrained' KP hierarchy. As a result we obtain integrable discretisations, in both space and time, of some well-known continuous integrable systems such as the nonlinear Schroedinger equation, the Broer-Kaup equation and the Yajima-Oikawa system, together with their Lax pairs. It will be shown that these discretisations also give rise to a discrete description of the entire hierarchy of associated integrable systems. The discretisations of the Broer-Kaup equation and of the Yajima-Oikawa system are thought to be new.

nlin.SI↗