13,950 research outputs found
On the Inelastic Collapse of a Ball Bouncing on a Randomly Vibrating Platform
We study analytically the dynamics of a ball bouncing inelastically on a
randomly vibrating platform, as a simple toy model of inelastic collapse. Of
principal interest are the distributions of the number of flights n_f till the
collapse and the total time \tau_c elapsed before the collapse. In the strictly
elastic case, both distributions have power law tails characterised by
exponents which are universal, i.e., independent of the details of the platform
noise distribution. In the inelastic case, both distributions have exponential
tails: P(n_f) ~ exp[-\theta_1 n_f] and P(\tau_c) ~ exp[-\theta_2 \tau_c]. The
decay exponents \theta_1 and \theta_2 depend continuously on the coefficient of
restitution and are nonuniversal; however as one approches the elastic limit,
they vanish in a universal manner that we compute exactly. An explicit
expression for \theta_1 is provided for a particular case of the platform noise
distribution.Comment: 32 page
Analysis and study of hospital communication via social media from the patient perspective
Currently, the online interaction between citizens and hospitals is poor, as
users believe that there are shortcomings that could be improved. This study
analyzes patients’ opinions of the online communication strategies of hospitals in
Spain. Therefore, a mixed-method is proposed. Firstly, a qualitative analysis through
a focus-group was carried out, so around twenty representatives of national,
regional and local patients’ associations were brought together. Secondly, the
research is supplemented with a content assessment of the Twitter activity of the
most influential hospitals in Spain. The results reveal that the general public
appreciate hospitals’ communication potential through social media, although they
are generally unaware of how it works. The group says that, apart from the lack of
interaction, they find it hard to understand certain messages, and some publications
give a biased picture. In order to improve communication, patients and
relatives are demanding that their perspective be taken into consideration in the
messages issued to enhance the quality of life and well-being of society
Constraining and Dark Energy with Gamma-Ray Bursts
An relationship with a small
scatter for current -ray burst (GRB) data was recently reported, where
is the beaming-corrected -ray energy and
is the peak energy in the local observer frame. By considering this
relationship for a sample of 12 GRBs with known redshift, peak energy, and
break time of afterglow light curves, we constrain the mass density of the
universe and the nature of dark energy. We find that the mass density
(at the confident level) for a flat
universe with a cosmological constant, and the parameter of an assumed
static dark-energy equation of state ().
Our results are consistent with those from type Ia supernovae. A larger sample
established by the upcoming {\em Swift} satellite is expected to provide
further constraints.Comment: 8 pages including 4 figures, to appear in ApJ Letters, typos
correcte
Self-contained Kondo effect in single molecules
Kondo coupling of f and conduction electrons is a common feature of
f-electron intermetallics. Similar effects should occur in carbon ring
systems(metallocenes). Evidence for Kondo coupling in Ce(C8H8)2 (cerocene) and
the ytterbocene Cp*2Yb(bipy) is reported from magnetic susceptibility and
L_III-edge x-ray absorption spectroscopy. These well-defined systems provide a
new way to study the Kondo effect on the nanoscale, should generate insight
into the Anderson Lattice problem, and indicate the importance of this
often-ignored contribution to bonding in organometallics.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures (eps
Mott scattering of polarized electrons in a strong laser field
We present analytical and numerical results of the relativistic calculation
of the transition matrix element and differential cross section for
Mott scattering of initially polarized Dirac particles (electrons) in the
presence of strong laser field with linear polarization. We use exact
Dirac-Volkov wave functions to describe the dressed electrons and the collision
process is treated in the first Born approximation. The influence of the laser
field on the degree of polarization of the scattered electron is reported.Comment: 12 pages, 11 figures, Revte
Survival of a Diffusing Particle in a Transverse Shear Flow: A First-Passage Problem with Continuously Varying Persistence Exponent
We consider a particle diffusing in the y-direction, dy/dt=\eta(t), subject
to a transverse shear flow in the x-direction, dx/dt=f(y), where x \ge 0 and
x=0 is an absorbing boundary. We treat the class of models defined by f(y) =
\pm v_{\pm}(\pm y)^\alpha where the upper (lower) sign refers to y>0 (y<0). We
show that the particle survives with probability Q(t) \sim t^{-\theta} with
\theta = 1/4, independent of \alpha, if v_{+}=v_{-}. If v_{+} \ne v_{-},
however, we show that \theta depends on both \alpha and the ratio v_{+}/v_{-},
and we determine this dependence.Comment: 4 page
Construction of transferable spherically-averaged electron potentials
A new scheme for constructing approximate effective electron potentials
within density-functional theory is proposed. The scheme consists of
calculating the effective potential for a series of reference systems, and then
using these potentials to construct the potential of a general system. To make
contact to the reference system the neutral-sphere radius of each atom is used.
The scheme can simplify calculations with partial wave methods in the
atomic-sphere or muffin-tin approximation, since potential parameters can be
precalculated and then for a general system obtained through simple
interpolation formulas. We have applied the scheme to construct electron
potentials of phonons, surfaces, and different crystal structures of silicon
and aluminum atoms, and found excellent agreement with the self-consistent
effective potential. By using an approximate total electron density obtained
from a superposition of atom-based densities, the energy zero of the
corresponding effective potential can be found and the energy shifts in the
mean potential between inequivalent atoms can therefore be directly estimated.
This approach is shown to work well for surfaces and phonons of silicon.Comment: 8 pages (3 uuencoded Postscript figures appended), LaTeX,
CAMP-090594-
Orientation-Dependent Transparency of Metallic Interfaces
As devices are reduced in size, interfaces start to dominate electrical
transport making it essential to be able to describe reliably how they transmit
and reflect electrons. For a number of nearly perfectly lattice-matched
materials, we calculate from first-principles the dependence of the interface
transparency on the crystal orientation. Quite remarkably, the largest
anisotropy is predicted for interfaces between the prototype free-electron
materials silver and aluminium for which a massive factor of two difference
between (111) and (001) interfaces is found
Three-loop HTL gluon thermodynamics at intermediate coupling
We calculate the thermodynamic functions of pure-glue QCD to three-loop order
using the hard-thermal-loop perturbation theory (HTLpt) reorganization of
finite temperature quantum field theory. We show that at three-loop order
hard-thermal-loop perturbation theory is compatible with lattice results for
the pressure, energy density, and entropy down to temperatures .
Our results suggest that HTLpt provides a systematic framework that can used to
calculate static and dynamic quantities for temperatures relevant at LHC.Comment: 24 pages, 13 figs. 2nd version: improved discussion and fixing typos.
Published in JHE
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