Generalized Holographic Dark Energy Model

In this paper, the model of holographic Chaplygin gas has been extended to two general cases: first is the case of modified variable Chaplygin gas and secondly of the viscous generalized Chaplygin gas. The dynamics of the model are expressed by the use of scalar fields and the scalar potentials.Comment: 12 pages, to appear in Eur. Phys. J.

Interacting new agegraphic viscous dark energy with varying GG

We consider the new agegraphic model of dark energy with a varying gravitational constant, $G$, in a non-flat universe. We obtain the equation of state and the deceleration parameters for both interacting and noninteracting new agegraphic dark energy. We also present the equation of motion determining the evolution behavior of the dark energy density with a time variable gravitational constant. Finally, we generalize our study to the case of viscous new agegraphic dark energy in the presence of an interaction term between both dark components.Comment: 12 pages, accepted for publication in IJTP (2010

Black Holes in Bulk Viscous Cosmology

We investigate the effects of the accretion of phantom energy with non-zero bulk viscosity onto a Schwarzschild black hole and show that black holes accreting viscous phantom energy will lose mass rapidly compared to the non-viscous case. When matter is incorporated along with the phantom energy, the black holes meet with the same fate as bulk viscous forces dominate matter accretion. If the phantom energy has large bulk viscosity, then the mass of the black hole will reduce faster than in the small viscosity case.Comment: 20 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Int. J. Theor. Phy

Characterization of optical properties and surface roughness profiles: The Casimir force between real materials

The Lifshitz theory provides a method to calculate the Casimir force between two flat plates if the frequency dependent dielectric function of the plates is known. In reality any plate is rough and its optical properties are known only to some degree. For high precision experiments the plates must be carefully characterized otherwise the experimental result cannot be compared with the theory or with other experiments. In this chapter we explain why optical properties of interacting materials are important for the Casimir force, how they can be measured, and how one can calculate the force using these properties. The surface roughness can be characterized, for example, with the atomic force microscope images. We introduce the main characteristics of a rough surface that can be extracted from these images, and explain how one can use them to calculate the roughness correction to the force. At small separations this correction becomes large as our experiments show. Finally we discuss the distance upon contact separating two rough surfaces, and explain the importance of this parameter for determination of the absolute separation between bodies.}Comment: 33 pages, 14 figures, to appear in Springer Lecture Notes in Physics, Volume on Casimir Physics, edited by Diego Dalvit, Peter Milonni, David Roberts, and Felipe da Ros

The Psychological Science Accelerator’s COVID-19 rapid-response dataset

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Psychological Science Accelerator coordinated three large-scale psychological studies to examine the effects of loss-gain framing, cognitive reappraisals, and autonomy framing manipulations on behavioral intentions and affective measures. The data collected (April to October 2020) included specific measures for each experimental study, a general questionnaire examining health prevention behaviors and COVID-19 experience, geographical and cultural context characterization, and demographic information for each participant. Each participant started the study with the same general questions and then was randomized to complete either one longer experiment or two shorter experiments. Data were provided by 73,223 participants with varying completion rates. Participants completed the survey from 111 geopolitical regions in 44 unique languages/dialects. The anonymized dataset described here is provided in both raw and processed formats to facilitate re-use and further analyses. The dataset offers secondary analytic opportunities to explore coping, framing, and self-determination across a diverse, global sample obtained at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which can be merged with other time-sampled or geographic data

The Psychological Science Accelerator’s COVID-19 rapid-response dataset

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Psychological Science Accelerator coordinated three large-scale psychological studies to examine the effects of loss-gain framing, cognitive reappraisals, and autonomy framing manipulations on behavioral intentions and affective measures. The data collected (April to October 2020) included specific measures for each experimental study, a general questionnaire examining health prevention behaviors and COVID-19 experience, geographical and cultural context characterization, and demographic information for each participant. Each participant started the study with the same general questions and then was randomized to complete either one longer experiment or two shorter experiments. Data were provided by 73,223 participants with varying completion rates. Participants completed the survey from 111 geopolitical regions in 44 unique languages/dialects. The anonymized dataset described here is provided in both raw and processed formats to facilitate re-use and further analyses. The dataset offers secondary analytic opportunities to explore coping, framing, and self-determination across a diverse, global sample obtained at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which can be merged with other time-sampled or geographic data