Automatic sample rotator for metallographic polishing

Simple, inexpensive device can be attached to most metallographic sample polishing tables. It provides a suitable surface finish for microscopic examination or photography of surface details of the samples

To Boldly Go: Guiding Your Patrons To the Best of Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature

Learn about the best resources to provide expert reader’s advisory services for patrons who read speculative fiction. The presentation will cover reference materials, internet resources, and free sources of the latest in speculative fiction available online

Two-loop corrections to the decay rate of parapositronium

Order $\alpha^2$ corrections to the decay rate of parapositronium are calculated. A QED scattering calculation of the amplitude for electron-positron annihilation into two photons at threshold is combined with the technique of effective field theory to determine an NRQED Hamiltonian, which is then used in a bound state calculation to determine the decay rate. Our result for the two-loop correction is $5.1243(33)$ in units of $(\alpha/\pi)^2$ times the lowest order rate. This is consistent with but more precise than the result $5.1(3)$ of a previous calculation.Comment: 26 pages, 7 figure

Radiocarbon dating of deep-sea corals

Deep-sea corals are a promising new archive of paleoclimate. Coupled radiocarbon and U-series dates allow ^(14)C to be used as a tracer of ocean circulation rate in the same manner as it is used in the modern ocean. Diagnetic alteration of coral skeletons on the seafloor requires a thorough cleaning of contaminating phases of carbon. In addition, 10% of the coral must be chemically leached prior to dissolution to remove adsorbed modern CO_2. A survey of modern samples from the full Δ^(14)C gradient in the deep ocean demonstrates that the coralline CaCO_3 records the radiocarbon value of the dissolved inorganic carbon

The Single Photon Annihilation Contributions to the Positronium Hyperfine Splitting to Order meα6m_e\alpha^6

The single photon annihilation contributions for the positronium ground state hyperfine splitting are calculated analytically to order $m_e\alpha^6$ using NRQED. Based on intuitive physical arguments the same result can also be determined by a trivial calculation using results from existing literature. Our result completes the hyperfine splitting calculation to order $m_e\alpha^6$. We compare the theoretical prediction with the most recent experimental measurement.Comment: 8 pages, latex, two eps figures include

SU(2) Skyrme Vortices

A regular method for constructing vortex-like solutions with cylindrical symmetry to the equations of the SU(2) Skyrme chiral model is proposed. A numerical estimate for the length density of mass is given

Electrodynamic Limit in a Model for Charged Solitons

We consider a model of topological solitons where charged particles have finite mass and the electric charge is quantised already at the classical level. In the electrodynamic limit, which physically corresponds to electrodynamics of solitons of zero size, the Lagrangian of this model has two degrees of freedom only and reduces to the Lagrangian of the Maxwell field in dual representation. We derive the equations of motion and discuss their relations with Maxwell's equations. It is shown that Coulomb and Lorentz forces are a consequence of topology. Further, we relate the U(1) gauge invariance of electrodynamics to the geometry of the soliton field, give a general relation for the derivation of the soliton field from the field strength tensor in electrodynamics and use this relation to express homogeneous electric fields in terms of the soliton field.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, Introduction and Section II (Model Lagrangian) rewritten, new chapters concerning electrodynamic limit and discussion of causality inserte

Stability and Representation Dependence of the Quantum Skyrmion

A constructive realization of Skyrme's conjecture that an effective pion mass ``may arise as a self consistent quantal effect'' based on an ab initio quantum treatment of the Skyrme model is presented. In this quantum mechanical Skyrme model the spectrum of states with $I=J$, which appears in the collective quantization, terminates without any infinite tower of unphysical states. The termination point depends on the model parameters and the dimension of the SU(2) representation. Representations, in which the nucleon and $\Delta_{33}$ resonance are the only stable states, exist. The model is developed for both irreducible and reducible representations of general dimension. States with spin larger than 1/2 are shown to be deformed. The representation dependence of the baryon observables is illustrated numerically.Comment: 19 pages, Late

Lagrangian formulation for noncommutative nonlinear systems

In this work we use the well known formalism developed by Faddeev and Jackiw to introduce noncommutativity within two nonlinear systems, the SU(2) Skyrme and O(3) nonlinear sigma models. The final result is the Lagrangian formulations for the noncommutative versions of both models. The possibility of obtaining different noncommutative versions for these nonlinear systems is demonstrated.Comment: 8 pages. Revex 4.