643 research outputs found
Quantum Phase Fluctuations Responsible for Pseudogap
The effect of ordering field phase fluctuations on the normal and
superconducting properties of a simple 2D model with a local four-fermion
attraction is studied. Neglecting the coupling between the spin and charge
degrees of freedom an analytical expression has been obtained for the fermion
spectral function as a single integral over a simple function. From this we
show that, as the temperature increases through the 2D critical temperature and
a nontrivial damping for a phase correlator develops, quantum fluctuations fill
the gap in the quasiparticle spectrum. Simultaneously the quasiparticle peaks
broaden significantly above the critical temperature, resembling the observed
pseudogap behavior in high-T_c superconductors.Comment: 5 pages, ReVTeX, 1 EPS figure; final version to appear in Physica
An improved cleaning system to reduce microbial contamination of poultry transport crates in the United Kingdom
© 2020 The Society for Applied Microbiology Aim: Following previous research on improving the cleaning of crates used to transport broiler chickens from the farm to the abattoir, a demonstration project was undertaken to investigate improvements in crate washing on a commercial scale. Methods and Results: The soak tank of a conventional crate washing system was replaced with a high-performance washer fitted with high-volume, high-pressure nozzles. The wash water could be heated, and a greatly improved filtration system ensured that the nozzles did not lose performance or become blocked. Visual cleanliness scores and microbial counts were determined for naturally contaminated crates which had been randomly assigned to different cleaning protocols. Conclusions: When a combination of mechanical energy, heat and chemicals (i.e. detergent and disinfectant) was used, the results showed significant improvements to crate cleaning. Reductions of up to 3·6 and 3·8 log10 CFU per crate base were achieved for Campylobacter and Enterobacteriaceae, respectively, along with a marked improvement in visual cleanliness. Significance and Impact of the Study: Broiler transport crates may become heavily contaminated with faeces and this may contribute to the spread of disease between farms. The results of this trial may be of use in reducing the spread of zoonotic pathogens in the poultry meat supply chain
CLES, Code Liegeois d'Evolution Stellaire
Cles is an evolution code recently developed to produce stellar models
meeting the specific requirements of studies in asteroseismology. It offers the
users a lot of choices in the input physics they want in their models and its
versatility allows them to tailor the code to their needs and implement easily
new features. We describe the features implemented in the current version of
the code and the techniques used to solve the equations of stellar structure
and evolution. A brief account is given of the use of the program and of a
solar calibration realized with it.Comment: Comments: 8 pages, Astrophys. Space Sci. CoRoT-ESTA Volume, in the
pres
The role of caretakers in disease dynamics
One of the key challenges in modeling the dynamics of contagion phenomena is
to understand how the structure of social interactions shapes the time course
of a disease. Complex network theory has provided significant advances in this
context. However, awareness of an epidemic in a population typically yields
behavioral changes that correspond to changes in the network structure on which
the disease evolves. This feedback mechanism has not been investigated in
depth. For example, one would intuitively expect susceptible individuals to
avoid other infecteds. However, doctors treating patients or parents tending
sick children may also increase the amount of contact made with an infecteds,
in an effort to speed up recovery but also exposing themselves to higher risks
of infection. We study the role of these caretaker links in an adaptive network
models where individuals react to a disease by increasing or decreasing the
amount of contact they make with infected individuals. We find that pure
avoidance, with only few caretaker links, is the best strategy for curtailing
an SIS disease in networks that possess a large topological variability. In
more homogeneous networks, disease prevalence is decreased for low
concentrations of caretakers whereas a high prevalence emerges if caretaker
concentration passes a well defined critical value.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figure
Bounds on the tau and muon neutrino vector and axial vector charge radius
A Majorana neutrino is characterized by just one flavor diagonal
electromagnetic form factor: the anapole moment, that in the static limit
corresponds to the axial vector charge radius . Experimental information
on this quantity is scarce, especially in the case of the tau neutrino. We
present a comprehensive analysis of the available data on the single photon
production process off Z-resonance, and we
discuss the constraints that these measurements can set on for the tau
neutrino. We also derive limits for the Dirac case, when the presence of a
vector charge radius is allowed. Finally, we comment on additional
experimental data on scattering from the NuTeV, E734, CCFR and
CHARM-II collaborations, and estimate the limits implied for and
for the muon neutrino.Comment: 20 pages, 2 eps figures. CCFR data included in the analysis.
Conclusion unchange
Relativistic instant-form approach to the structure of two-body composite systems
A new approach to the electroweak properties of two-particle composite
systems is developed. The approach is based on the use of the instant form of
relativistic Hamiltonian dynamics. The main novel feature of this approach is
the new method of construction of the matrix element of the electroweak current
operator. The electroweak current matrix element satisfies the relativistic
covariance conditions and in the case of the electromagnetic current also the
conservation law automatically. The properties of the system as well as the
approximations are formulated in terms of form factors. The approach makes it
possible to formulate relativistic impulse approximation in such a way that the
Lorentz-covariance of the current is ensured. In the electromagnetic case the
current conservation law is ensured, too. The results of the calculations are
unambiguous: they do not depend on the choice of the coordinate frame and on
the choice of "good" components of the current as it takes place in the
standard form of light--front dynamics. Our approach gives good results for the
pion electromagnetic form factor in the whole range of momentum transfers
available for experiments at present time, as well as for lepton decay constant
of pion.Comment: 26 pages, Revtex, 5 figure
Long Range Magnetic Order and the Darwin Lagrangian
We simulate a finite system of confined electrons with inclusion of the
Darwin magnetic interaction in two- and three-dimensions. The lowest energy
states are located using the steepest descent quenching adapted for velocity
dependent potentials. Below a critical density the ground state is a static
Wigner lattice. For supercritical density the ground state has a non-zero
kinetic energy. The critical density decreases with for exponential
confinement but not for harmonic confinement. The lowest energy state also
depends on the confinement and dimension: an antiferromagnetic cluster forms
for harmonic confinement in two dimensions.Comment: 5 figure
Vertical Structure of the Outer Accretion Disk in Persistent Low-Mass X-Ray Binaries
We have investigated the influence of X-ray irradiation on the vertical
structure of the outer accretion disk in low-mass X-ray binaries by performing
a self-consistent calculation of the vertical structure and X-ray radiation
transfer in the disk. Penetrating deep into the disk, the field of scattered
X-ray photons with energy \,keV exerts a significant influence on
the vertical structure of the accretion disk at a distance
\,cm from the neutron star. At a distance \,cm,
where the total surface density in the disk reaches
\,g\,cm, X-ray heating affects all layers of an
optically thick disk. The X-ray heating effect is enhanced significantly in the
presence of an extended atmospheric layer with a temperature
\,K above the accretion disk. We have derived
simple analytic formulas for the disk heating by scattered X-ray photons using
an approximate solution of the transfer equation by the Sobolev method. This
approximation has a \,% accuracy in the range of X-ray photon
energies \,keV.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figures, published in Astronomy Letter
Topological Defects, Orientational Order, and Depinning of the Electron Solid in a Random Potential
We report on the results of molecular dynamics simulation (MD) studies of the
classical two-dimensional electron crystal in the presence disorder. Our study
is motivated by recent experiments on this system in modulation doped
semiconductor systems in very strong magnetic fields, where the magnetic length
is much smaller than the average interelectron spacing , as well as by
recent studies of electrons on the surface of helium. We investigate the low
temperature state of this system using a simulated annealing method. We find
that the low temperature state of the system always has isolated dislocations,
even at the weakest disorder levels investigated. We also find evidence for a
transition from a hexatic glass to an isotropic glass as the disorder is
increased. The former is characterized by quasi-long range orientational order,
and the absence of disclination defects in the low temperature state, and the
latter by short range orientational order and the presence of these defects.
The threshold electric field is also studied as a function of the disorder
strength, and is shown to have a characteristic signature of the transition.
Finally, the qualitative behavior of the electron flow in the depinned state is
shown to change continuously from an elastic flow to a channel-like, plastic
flow as the disorder strength is increased.Comment: 31 pages, RevTex 3.0, 15 figures upon request, accepted for
publication in Phys. Rev. B., HAF94MD
Effect of delivery method on the efficacy of Salmonella vaccination in chickens
To investigate whether the efficacy of live vaccines is influenced by the mode of vaccine delivery, a widely-used UK live commercial Salmonella Enteritidis vaccine was delivered to pullet chicks either by spray, in drinking water, or in combination with a bivalent vaccine containing inactivated Salmonella Enteritidis and Salmonella Typhimurium. The birds were subsequently challenged with 102 or 108 colony-forming units (cfu) of Salmonella Enteritidis through drinking water at either six or 20 weeks of age. Ten days after the challenge, the birds were euthanased and their caecal contents cultured for Salmonella. All of the vaccinated groups contained fewer Salmonella Enteritidis-positive birds than the unvaccinated groups. The ‘spray-vaccinated’ group contained significantly fewer Salmonella Enteritidis-positive birds than the ‘water-vaccinated’ group after challenge with 108 cfu at 20 weeks. However, there was little or no difference at the other challenge time points between the groups that received vaccine through different modes of delivery
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