Semicrossed Products of Operator Algebras by Semigroups

We examine the semicrossed products of a semigroup action by $*$-endomorphisms on a C*-algebra, or more generally of an action on an arbitrary operator algebra by completely contractive endomorphisms. The choice of allowable representations affects the corresponding universal algebra. We seek quite general conditions which will allow us to show that the C*-envelope of the semicrossed product is (a full corner of) a crossed product of an auxiliary C*-algebra by a group action. Our analysis concerns a case-by-case dilation theory on covariant pairs. In the process we determine the C*-envelope for various semicrossed products of (possibly nonselfadjoint) operator algebras by spanning cones and lattice-ordered abelian semigroups. In particular, we show that the C*-envelope of the semicrossed product of C*-dynamical systems by doubly commuting representations of $\mathbb{Z}^n_+$ (by generally non-injective endomorphisms) is the full corner of a C*-crossed product. In consequence we connect the ideal structure of C*-covers to properties of the actions. In particular, when the system is classical, we show that the C*-envelope is simple if and only if the action is injective and minimal. The dilation methods that we use may be applied to non-abelian semigroups. We identify the C*-envelope for actions of the free semigroup $\mathbb{F}_+^n$ by automorphisms in a concrete way, and for injective systems in a more abstract manner. We also deal with C*-dynamical systems over Ore semigroups when the appropriate covariance relation is considered.Comment: 100 pages; comments and references update

Medical-Legal Partnerships to Support Continuity of Care for Immigrants Impacted by HIV: Lessons Learned from California.

The United States (US) has experienced a surge of anti-immigrant policies and rhetoric, raising concerns about the influence on health outcomes for immigrants living in the US. We conducted qualitative interviews (n = 20) with health care and social service providers, attorneys, and legal/policy experts in California to understand how agencies were maintaining access to HIV care and prevention for immigrant clients. We conducted a thematic analysis to describe the role of medical-legal partnerships (MLPs) and document best practices. Informants reported high demand for legal services. Referrals were facilitated by case managers, medical providers, and pre-existing relationships between clinics and legal agencies. Informants identified a need for additional funding and further guidance on screening for and supporting patients with legal needs. MLPs have the capacity to create sustainable, efficient, comprehensive structural changes that minimize barriers to HIV prevention and treatment and improve health outcomes among immigrant populations

Neutrino energy transport in weak decoupling and big bang nucleosynthesis

We calculate the evolution of the early universe through the epochs of weak decoupling, weak freeze-out and big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) by simultaneously coupling a full strong, electromagnetic, and weak nuclear reaction network with a multi-energy group Boltzmann neutrino energy transport scheme. The modular structure of our code provides the ability to dissect the relative contributions of each process responsible for evolving the dynamics of the early universe in the absence of neutrino flavor oscillations. Such an approach allows a detailed accounting of the evolution of the $\nu_e$, $\bar\nu_e$, $\nu_\mu$, $\bar\nu_\mu$, $\nu_\tau$, $\bar\nu_\tau$ energy distribution functions alongside and self-consistently with the nuclear reactions and entropy/heat generation and flow between the neutrino and photon/electron/positron/baryon plasma components. This calculation reveals nonlinear feedback in the time evolution of neutrino distribution functions and plasma thermodynamic conditions (e.g., electron-positron pair densities), with implications for: the phasing between scale factor and plasma temperature; the neutron-to-proton ratio; light-element abundance histories; and the cosmological parameter \neff. We find that our approach of following the time development of neutrino spectral distortions and concomitant entropy production and extraction from the plasma results in changes in the computed value of the BBN deuterium yield. For example, for particular implementations of quantum corrections in plasma thermodynamics, our calculations show a $0.4\%$ increase in deuterium. These changes are potentially significant in the context of anticipated improvements in observational and nuclear physics uncertainties.Comment: 37 pages, 12 Figures, 6 Table

Report on Design and Construction of the Axial Flow Pump Test Facility

In studies concerned with the application of pumps to underwater jet propulsion, it has been pointed out that cavitation may be avoided or suppressed by enclosing the pump (or propeller) in a suitably shaped shroud. The advantages of avoiding cavitation are clear; namely, the elimination of much noise, damage and vibration in addition to increasing the allowable speed. However, a general discussion of the various flow processes which lead to cavitation is not yet possible. For propellers, cavitation is observed in helical trailing vortices and also on the blade surface proper, but for other types of propulsion systems, notably pump jets, neither is the location known nor the cause completely understood. Roughly speaking, cavitation will occur when local pressures reach the vapor pressure of the flowing liquid, however, the magnitude and location of these local underpressures depend upon the complete history of the flow as it passes through the machine. Consequently, minimum pressures may occur in the free stream in some cases, or upon the blade surface itself in others. Thus, in order to study cavitation phenomena, it is first necessary to investigate the detailed behavior of the flow. Apart from cavitation and noise, there are also other problems of considerable importance in rotating axial flow machinery. Among the most prominent of these is the behavior of the fluid in the boundary layer near the rotor and stator blade tips, and the off design performance in the region of stalled flow. These questions are of great concern in the design and application of axial flow compressors and, as long as compressibility effects are negligible, they may be investigated just as well in water as in air. Moreover, inasmuch as the kinematic viscosity of air to that of water is thirteen to one {at atmospheric conditions), machines can be made to operate in water at the same Reynolds numbers as in air at much reduced speeds, sizes, power consumptions and blade stresses, and as a result of these facts the installation and operational costs are also lower than for the comparative air machine. The cost of the blading of a compressor is a major portion of the total cost of the machine and, therefore, the high expense of installing different blade designs for research purposes prohibits extensive investigation. In 1951 the Hydrodynamics Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology developed a method of making inexpensive precision lead-alloy blades for axial flow pump test impellers. As a result of this work, interest was expressed by personnel of the Naval Ordnance Test Station and staff members of the Institute in the application of such blade-making techniques for air compressor and underwater propulsion research. It was estimated that blades could be made for about one-eighth of the cost per blade row of those in a research compressor currently operating at the Institute. This attractive estimate lead to the consideration of an axial flow compressor run in water as a pump at relatively low speeds so that research on cavitating and noncavitating flow could be done without prohibitive expense. Under this contract, NOrd 9612, an axial flow pump with its enclosed circuit was constructed and preliminary tests on a single stage of blading were run by the first week of November, 1952. It is the purpose of this report to describe the installation and show its usefulness for research

Presupernova collapse models with improved weak-interaction rates

Improved values for stellar weak interaction rates have been recently calculated based upon a large shell model diagonalization. Using these new rates (for both beta decay and electron capture), we have examined the presupernova evolution of massive stars in the range 15-40 Msun. Comparing our new models with a standard set of presupernova models by Woosley and Weaver, we find significantly larger values for the electron-to-baryon ratio Ye at the onset of collapse and iron core masses reduced by approximately 0.1 Msun. The inclusion of beta-decay accounts for roughly half of the revisions, while the other half is a consequence of the improved nuclear physics. These changes will have important consequences for nucleosynthesis and the supernova explosion mechanism.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

An Experimental Study of Axial Flow Pump Cavitation

A qualitative study of the effects of cavitation on the performance of an axial flow pump was n1ade. Photographic evidence shows that cavitation need not occur first on the blade surface but could occur in the free stream. This phenomenon is ascribed to a flow through the tip clearance space. Cavitation similarity was found to be determined by the cavitation number K, Thoma's σ, or the suction specific speed S for the conditions of these tests

Comment on "Elasticity Model of a Supercoiled DNA Molecule"

We perform simulations to numerically study the writhe distribution of a stiff polymer. We compare with analytic results of Bouchiat and Mezard (PRL 80 1556- (1998); cond-mat/9706050).Comment: 1 page, 1 figure revtex

Capacity of a bosonic memory channel with Gauss-Markov noise

We address the classical capacity of a quantum bosonic memory channel with additive noise, subject to an input energy constraint. The memory is modeled by correlated noise emerging from a Gauss-Markov process. Under reasonable assumptions, we show that the optimal modulation results from a "quantum water-filling" solution above a certain input energy threshold, similar to the optimal modulation for parallel classical Gaussian channels. We also derive analytically the optimal multimode input state above this threshold, which enables us to compute the capacity of this memory channel in the limit of an infinite number of modes. The method can also be applied to a more general noise environment which is constructed by a stationary Gauss process. The extension of our results to the case of broadband bosonic channels with colored Gaussian noise should also be straightforward.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures, final corrections mad

Gaussian capacity of the quantum bosonic channel with additive correlated Gaussian noise

We present an algorithm for calculation of the Gaussian classical capacity of a quantum bosonic memory channel with additive Gaussian noise. The algorithm, restricted to Gaussian input states, is applicable to all channels with noise correlations obeying certain conditions and works in the full input energy domain, beyond previous treatments of this problem. As an illustration, we study the optimal input states and capacity of a quantum memory channel with Gauss-Markov noise [J. Sch\"afer, Phys. Rev. A 80, 062313 (2009)]. We evaluate the enhancement of the transmission rate when using these optimal entangled input states by comparison with a product coherent-state encoding and find out that such a simple coherent-state encoding achieves not less than 90% of the capacity.Comment: 12+6 pages, 9 figures. Errors corrected, figures were made clearer, appendix improved and extende