728 research outputs found
Constrains on non-Newtonian gravity from the experiment on neutron quantum states in the Earth's gravitational field
An upper limit to non-Newtonian attracive forces is obtained from the
measurement of quantum states of neutrons in the Earth's gravitational field.
This limit improves the existing constrains in the nanometer range
Chiral Lagrangians
An overview of the field of Chiral Lagrangians is given. This includes Chiral
Perturbation Theory and resummations to extend it to higher energies,
applications to the muon anomalous magnetic moment,
and others.Comment: Invited talk at the XX International Symposium on Lepton and Photon
Interactions at High Energies 23rd-28th July 2001, Rome Italy, 15 pages, uses
ws-p10x7.cls Changes: 2 references added, numbers in g-2 hadronic changed
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Vortex dynamics in layered superconductors with correlated defects: influence of interlayer coupling
We report a detailed study of the vortex dynamics and vortex phase diagrams
of two amorphous Ta_0.3Ge_0.7/Ge multilayered films with intrinsic coplanar
defects, but different interlayer coupling. A pinned Bose-glass phase in the
more weakly coupled sample exists only below a cross-over field H* in striking
contrast to the strongly coupled film. Above H* the flux lines are thought to
break up into pancake vortices and the cross-over field is significantly
increased when the field is aligned along the extended defects. The two films
show different vortex creep excitations in the Bose-glass phase.Comment: zip file: 1 RevTex, 5 figures (png
Mirror matter admixtures in K_L \to \gamma\gamma
Based on possible albeit tiny, admixtures of mirror matter in ordinary mesons
we study the K_L \to \gamma\gamma transition. We find that this process can be
described with a small SU(3) symmetry breaking of only 3%. We also determine
the eta-eta' mixing angle and the pseudoscalar decay constants. The results for
these parameters are consistent with some obtained in the literature. They
favor two recent determinations; one based on two analytical constraints, and
another one based on next-to-leading order power corrections
Quantum Gravity Phenomenology without Lorentz Invariance Violation: a detailed proposal
We describe a scheme for the exploration of quantum gravity phenomenology
focussing on effects that could be thought as arising from a fundamental
granularity of space-time. In contrast with the simplest assumptions, such
granularity is assumed to respect Lorentz Invariance but is otherwise left
unspecified. The proposal is fully observer covariant, it involves non-trivial
couplings of curvature to matter fields and leads to a well defined
phenomenology. We present the effective Hamiltonian which could be used to
analyze concrete experimental situations, some of which are briefly described,
and we shortly discuss the degree to which the present proposal is in line with
the fundamental ideas behind the equivalence principle.Comment: LaTeX, 24 pages. To be published in Classical and Quantum Gravit
GRANIT project: a trap for gravitational quantum states of UCN
Previous studies of gravitationally bound states of ultracold neutrons showed
the quantization of energy levels, and confirmed quantum mechanical predictions
for the average size of the two lowest energy states wave functions.
Improvements in position-like measurements can increase the accuracy by an
order of magnitude only. We therefore develop another approach, consisting in
accurate measurements of the energy levels. The GRANIT experiment is devoted to
the study of resonant transitions between quantum states induced by an
oscillating perturbation.
According to Heisenberg's uncertainty relations, the accuracy of measurement
of the energy levels is limited by the time available to perform the
transitions. Thus, trapping quantum states will be necessary, and each source
of losses has to be controlled in order to maximize the lifetime of the states.
We discuss the general principles of transitions between quantum states, and
consider the main systematical losses of neutrons in a trap.Comment: presented in ISINN 15 seminar, Dubn
Study of the neutron quantum states in the gravity field
We have studied neutron quantum states in the potential well formed by the
earth's gravitational field and a horizontal mirror. The estimated
characteristic sizes of the neutron wave functions in the two lowest quantum
states correspond to expectations with an experimental accuracy. A
position-sensitive neutron detector with an extra-high spatial resolution of ~2
microns was developed and tested for this particular experiment, to be used to
measure the spatial density distribution in a standing neutron wave above a
mirror for a set of some of the lowest quantum states. The present experiment
can be used to set an upper limit for an additional short-range fundamental
force. We studied methodological uncertainties as well as the feasibility of
improving further the accuracy of this experiment
Banana Xanthomonas wilt: a review of the disease, management strategies and future research directions
Banana production in Eastern Africa is threatened by the presence of a new devastating bacterial disease caused by Xanthomonas vasicola pv. musacearum (formerly Xanthomonas campestris pv. musacearum). The disease has been identified in Uganda, Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Tanzania. Disease symptoms include wilting and yellowing of leaves, excretion of a yellowish bacterial ooze, premature ripening of the bunch, rotting of fruit and internal yellow discolorationof the vascular bundles. Plants are infected either by insects through the inflorescence or by soil-borne bacterial inoculum through the lower parts of the plant. Short- and long-distance transmission of thedisease mainly occurs via contaminated tools and insects, though other organisms such as birds may also be involved. Although no banana cultivar with resistance to the disease has been identified as yet,it appears that certain cultivars have mechanisms to âescapeâ the disease. Management and control of the disease involve methods that reduce the inoculumâs density and spread of the pathogen. Removalof the male bud (de-budding) has proven to be very effective in preventing the disease incidence since the male bud appears to be the primary infection site. The economic impact of banana Xanthomonaswilt is not fully understood but its impact on food security in the region is very significant. While germplasm screening for the disease is ongoing, efforts to genetically engineer resistance in somebanana cultivars are also making good progress. This paper presents a review of the disease and management strategies that have been successful in curtailing its spread
alpha-nucleus potentials for the neutron-deficient p nuclei
alpha-nucleus potentials are one important ingredient for the understanding
of the nucleosynthesis of heavy neutron-deficient p nuclei in the astrophysical
gamma-process where these p nuclei are produced by a series of (gamma,n),
(gamma,p), and (gamma,alpha) reactions. I present an improved alpha-nucleus
potential at the astrophysically relevant sub-Coulomb energies which is derived
from the analysis of alpha decay data and from a previously established
systematic behavior of double-folding potentials.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
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