skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


This content will become publicly available on January 1, 2026

Title: Particle approximations of Wigner distributions for n arbitrary observables
A class of signed joint probability measures for n arbitrary quantum observables is derived and studied based on quasicharacteristic functions with symmetrized operator orderings of Margenau-Hill type. It is shown that the Wigner distribution associated with these observables can be rigorously approximated by such measures. These measures are given by affine combinations of Dirac delta distributions supported over the finite spectral range of the quantum observables and give the correct probability marginals when coarse-grained along any principal axis. We specialize to bivariate quasiprobability distributions for the spin measurements of spin- 1 / 2 particles and derive their closed-form expressions. As a side result, we point out a connection between the convergence of these particle approximations and the Mehler-Heine theorem. Finally, we interpret the supports of these quasiprobability distributions in terms of repeated thought experiments. Published by the American Physical Society2025  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2347357
PAR ID:
10600772
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ;
Publisher / Repository:
American Physical Society
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Physical Review Research
Volume:
7
Issue:
1
ISSN:
2643-1564
Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
Quasi-probability distributions, Wigner distributions
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. Energy correlators that describe energy-weighted distances between two or three particles in a hadronic jet are measured using an event sample of s = 13 TeV proton-proton collisions collected by the CMS experiment and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.3 fb 1 . The measured distributions are consistent with the trends in the simulation that reveal two key features of the strong interaction: confinement and asymptotic freedom. By comparing the ratio of the measured three- and two-particle energy correlator distributions with theoretical calculations that resum collinear emissions at approximate next-to-next-to-leading-logarithmic accuracy matched to a next-to-leading-order calculation, the strong coupling is determined at the Z boson mass: α S ( m Z ) = 0.122 9 0.0050 + 0.0040 , the most precise α S ( m Z ) value obtained using jet substructure observables. © 2024 CERN, for the CMS Collaboration2024CERN 
    more » « less
  2. We present results for the τ 1 and τ 1 a 1-jettiness global event shape distributions, for deep inelastic scattering (DIS), at the N 3 LL + O ( α s 2 ) level of accuracy. These event-shape distributions quantify and characterize the pattern of final state radiation in electron-nucleus collisions. They can be used as a probe of nuclear structure functions, as nuclear medium effects in jet production, and for a precision extraction of the QCD strong coupling. The results presented here, along with the corresponding numerical codes, can be used for analyses with HERA data, in Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) simulation studies, and for eventual comparison with real EIC data. Published by the American Physical Society2024 
    more » « less
  3. We measure the branching fraction and C P -violating flavor-dependent rate asymmetry of B 0 π 0 π 0 decays reconstructed using the Belle II detector in an electron-positron collision sample containing 387 × 10 6 ϒ ( 4 S ) mesons. Using an optimized event selection, we find 125 ± 20 signal decays in a fit to background-discriminating and flavor-sensitive distributions. The resulting branching fraction is ( 1.25 ± 0.23 ) × 10 6 and the C P -violating asymmetry is 0.03 ± 0.30 . Published by the American Physical Society2025 
    more » « less
  4. R -parity can be extended to a continuous global U ( 1 ) R symmetry. We investigate whether an anomalous U ( 1 ) R can be identified as the Peccei-Quinn symmetry suitable for solving the strong C P problem within supersymmetric extensions of the Standard Model. In this case, U ( 1 ) R is broken at some intermediate scale and the quantum chromodynamics axion is the R -axion. Moreover, the R -symmetry can potentially be gauged via the Green-Schwarz mechanism within completions to supergravity, in order to evade the axion quality problem. Obstacles to realizing this scenario are highlighted and phenomenologically viable approaches are identified. Published by the American Physical Society2025 
    more » « less
  5. Measurements of the polarization observables Σ , P , T , O x , O z for the reaction γ p K S 0 Σ + using a linearly polarized photon beam of energy 1.1 to 2.1 GeV are reported. The measured data provide information on a channel that has not been studied extensively, but is required for a full coupled-channel analysis in the nucleon resonance region. Observables have been simultaneously extracted using likelihood sampling with a Markov-Chain Monte Carlo process. Angular distributions in bins of photon energy E γ are produced for each polarization observable. T , O x , and O z are first time measurements of these observables in this reaction. The extraction of Σ extends the energy range beyond a previous measurement. The measurement of P , the recoil polarization, is consistent with previous measurements. The measured data are shown to be significant enough to affect the estimation of the nucleon resonance parameters when fitted within a coupled-channels model. Published by the American Physical Society2025 
    more » « less