5,426 research outputs found
The Galaxy Cluster Luminosity-Temperature Relationship and Iron Abundances - A Measure of Formation History ?
Both the X-ray luminosity-temperature (L-T) relationship and the iron
abundance distribution of galaxy clusters show intrinsic dispersion. Using a
large set of galaxy clusters with measured iron abundances we find a
correlation between abundance and the relative deviation of a cluster from the
mean L-T relationship. We argue that these observations can be explained by
taking into account the range of cluster formation epochs expected within a
hierarchical universe. The known relationship of cooling flow mass deposition
rate to luminosity and temperature is also consistent with this explanation.
From the observed cluster population we estimate that the oldest clusters
formed at z>~2. We propose that the iron abundance of a galaxy cluster can
provide a parameterization of its age and dynamical history.Comment: 13 pages Latex, 2 figures, postscript. Accepted for publication in
ApJ Letter
The Interaction of Quantum Gravity with Matter
The interaction of (linearized) gravitation with matter is studied in the
causal approach up to the second order of perturbation theory. We consider the
generic case and prove that gravitation is universal in the sense that the
existence of the interaction with gravitation does not put new constraints on
the Lagrangian for lower spin fields. We use the formalism of quantum off-shell
fields which makes our computation more straightforward and simpler.Comment: 25 page
Analytical Results for Random Band Matrices with Preferential Basis
Using the supersymmetry method we analytically calculate the local density of
states, the localiztion length, the generalized inverse participation ratios,
and the distribution function of eigenvector components for the superposition
of a random band matrix with a strongly fluctuating diagonal matrix. In this
way we extend previously known results for ordinary band matrices to the class
of random band matrices with preferential basis. Our analytical results are in
good agreement with (but more general than) recent numerical findings by
Jacquod and Shepelyansky.Comment: 8 pages RevTex and 1 Figure, both uuencode
Theory of thermal spin-charge coupling in electronic systems
The interplay between spin transport and thermoelectricity offers several
novel ways of generating, manipulating, and detecting nonequilibrium spin in a
wide range of materials. Here we formulate a phenomenological model in the
spirit of the standard model of electrical spin injection to describe the
electronic mechanism coupling charge, spin, and heat transport and employ the
model to analyze several different geometries containing ferromagnetic (F) and
nonmagnetic (N) regions: F, F/N, and F/N/F junctions which are subject to
thermal gradients. We present analytical formulas for the spin accumulation and
spin current profiles in those junctions that are valid for both tunnel and
transparent (as well as intermediate) contacts. For F/N junctions we calculate
the thermal spin injection efficiency and the spin accumulation induced
nonequilibrium thermopower. We find conditions for countering thermal spin
effects in the N region with electrical spin injection. This compensating
effect should be particularly useful for distinguishing electronic from other
mechanisms of spin injection by thermal gradients. For F/N/F junctions we
analyze the differences in the nonequilibrium thermopower (and chemical
potentials) for parallel and antiparallel orientations of the F magnetizations,
as evidence and a quantitative measure of the spin accumulation in N.
Furthermore, we study the Peltier and spin Peltier effects in F/N and F/N/F
junctions and present analytical formulas for the heat evolution at the
interfaces of isothermal junctions.Comment: to be published in PRB (in press), 19 pages, 19 figure
Exploring Large-scale Structure with Billions of Galaxies
We consider cosmological applications of galaxy number density correlations
to be inferred from future deep and wide multi-band optical surveys. We mostly
focus on very large scales as a probe of possible features in the primordial
power spectrum. We find the proposed survey of the Large Synoptic Survey
Telescope may be competitive with future all-sky CMB experiments over a broad
range of scales. On very large scales the inferred power spectrum is robust to
photometric redshift errors, and, given a sufficient number density of
galaxies, to angular variations in dust extinction and photometric calibration
errors. We also consider other applications, such as constraining dark energy
with the two CMB-calibrated standard rulers in the matter power spectrum, and
controlling the effect of photometric redshift errors to facilitate the
interpretation of cosmic shear data. We find that deep photometric surveys over
wide area can provide constraints that are competitive with spectroscopic
surveys in small volumes.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, ApJ accepted, references added, expanded
discussion in Sec. 3.
Optical lattice quantum simulator for QED in strong external fields: spontaneous pair creation and the Sauter-Schwinger effect
Spontaneous creation of electron-positron pairs out of the vacuum due to a
strong electric field is a spectacular manifestation of the relativistic
energy-momentum relation for the Dirac fermions. This fundamental prediction of
Quantum Electrodynamics (QED) has not yet been confirmed experimentally as the
generation of a sufficiently strong electric field extending over a large
enough space-time volume still presents a challenge. Surprisingly, distant
areas of physics may help us to circumvent this difficulty. In condensed matter
and solid state physics (areas commonly considered as low energy physics), one
usually deals with quasi-particles instead of real electrons and positrons.
Since their mass gap can often be freely tuned, it is much easier to create
these light quasi-particles by an analogue of the Sauter-Schwinger effect. This
motivates our proposal of a quantum simulator in which excitations of
ultra-cold atoms moving in a bichromatic optical lattice represent particles
and antiparticles (holes) satisfying a discretized version of the Dirac
equation together with fermionic anti-commutation relations. Using the language
of second quantization, we are able to construct an analogue of the spontaneous
pair creation which can be realized in an (almost) table-top experiment.Comment: 21 pages, 10 figure
Massive Vector Mesons and Gauge Theory
We show that the requirements of renormalizability and physical consistency
imposed on perturbative interactions of massive vector mesons fix the theory
essentially uniquely. In particular physical consistency demands the presence
of at least one additional physical degree of freedom which was not part of the
originally required physical particle content. In its simplest realization
(probably the only one) these are scalar fields as envisaged by Higgs but in
the present formulation without the ``symmetry-breaking Higgs condensate''. The
final result agrees precisely with the usual quantization of a classical gauge
theory by means of the Higgs mechanism. Our method proves an old conjecture of
Cornwall, Levin and Tiktopoulos stating that the renormalization and
consistency requirements of spin=1 particles lead to the gauge theory structure
(i.e. a kind of inverse of 't Hooft's famous renormalizability proof in
quantized gauge theories) which was based on the on-shell unitarity of the
-matrix. We also speculate on a possible future ghostfree formulation which
avoids ''field coordinates'' altogether and is expected to reconcile the
on-shell S-matrix point of view with the off-shell field theory structure.Comment: 53 pages, version to appear in J. Phys.
Systems analysis of bioenergetics and growth of the extreme halophile Halobacterium salinarum
Halobacterium salinarum is a bioenergetically flexible, halophilic microorganism that can generate energy by respiration, photosynthesis, and the fermentation of arginine. In a previous study, using a genome-scale metabolic model, we have shown that the archaeon unexpectedly degrades essential amino acids under aerobic conditions, a behavior that can lead to the termination of growth earlier than necessary. Here, we further integratively investigate energy generation, nutrient utilization, and biomass production using an extended methodology that accounts for dynamically changing transport patterns, including those that arise from interactions among the supplied metabolites. Moreover, we widen the scope of our analysis to include phototrophic conditions to explore the interplay between different bioenergetic modes. Surprisingly, we found that cells also degrade essential amino acids even during phototropy, when energy should already be abundant. We also found that under both conditions considerable amounts of nutrients that were taken up were neither incorporated into the biomass nor used as respiratory substrates, implying the considerable production and accumulation of several metabolites in the medium. Some of these are likely the products of forms of overflow metabolism. In addition, our results also show that arginine fermentation, contrary to what is typically assumed, occurs simultaneously with respiration and photosynthesis and can contribute energy in levels that are comparable to the primary bioenergetic modes, if not more. These findings portray a picture that the organism takes an approach toward growth that favors the here and now, even at the cost of longer-term concerns. We believe that the seemingly "greedy" behavior exhibited actually consists of adaptations by the organism to its natural environments, where nutrients are not only irregularly available but may altogether be absent for extended periods that may span several years. Such a setting probably predisposed the cells to grow as much as possible when the conditions become favorable
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