170 research outputs found
Intracycle and Intercycle Interferences in Above-Threshold Ionization: the Time Grating
Within a semiclassical description of above-threshold ionization (ATI) we
identify the interplay between intracycle and intercycle interferences. The
former is imprinted as a modulation envelope on the discrete multiphoton peaks
formed by the latter. This allows to unravel the complex interference pattern
observed for the full solution of the time-dependent Schr\"odinger equation
(TDSE) in terms of diffraction at a grating in the time domain. These
modulations can be clearly seen in the dependence of the ATI spectra on the
laser wavelength. Shifts in energy modulation result from the effect of the
long Coulomb tail of the atomic potential.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures in preprint forma
First-light LBT nulling interferometric observations: warm exozodiacal dust resolved within a few AU of eta Corvi
We report on the first nulling interferometric observations with the Large
Binocular Telescope Interferometer (LBTI), resolving the N' band (9.81 - 12.41
um) emission around the nearby main-sequence star eta Crv (F2V, 1-2 Gyr). The
measured source null depth amounts to 4.40% +/- 0.35% over a field-of-view of
140 mas in radius (~2.6\,AU at the distance of eta Corvi) and shows no
significant variation over 35{\deg} of sky rotation. This relatively low null
is unexpected given the total disk to star flux ratio measured by Spitzer/IRS
(~23% across the N' band), suggesting that a significant fraction of the dust
lies within the central nulled response of the LBTI (79 mas or 1.4 AU).
Modeling of the warm disk shows that it cannot resemble a scaled version of the
Solar zodiacal cloud, unless it is almost perpendicular to the outer disk
imaged by Herschel. It is more likely that the inner and outer disks are
coplanar and the warm dust is located at a distance of 0.5-1.0 AU,
significantly closer than previously predicted by models of the IRS spectrum
(~3 AU). The predicted disk sizes can be reconciled if the warm disk is not
centrosymmetric, or if the dust particles are dominated by very small grains.
Both possibilities hint that a recent collision has produced much of the dust.
Finally, we discuss the implications for the presence of dust at the distance
where the insolation is the same as Earth's (2.3 AU).Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
Time-dependent density-functional theory approach to nonlinear particle-solid interactions in comparison with scattering theory
An explicit expression for the quadratic density-response function of a
many-electron system is obtained in the framework of the time-dependent
density-functional theory, in terms of the linear and quadratic
density-response functions of noninteracting Kohn-Sham electrons and functional
derivatives of the time-dependent exchange-correlation potential. This is used
to evaluate the quadratic stopping power of a homogeneous electron gas for slow
ions, which is demonstrated to be equivalent to that obtained up to second
order in the ion charge in the framework of a fully nonlinear scattering
approach. Numerical calculations are reported, thereby exploring the range of
validity of quadratic-response theory.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures. To appear in Journal of Physics: Condensed
Matte
The use of chest ultrasonography in suspected cases of COVID-19 in the emergency department
Aim: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus-specific reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) represents the diagnostic gold standard. We explored the value of chest ultrasonography to predict positivity to SARS-CoV-2 on RT-PCR in suspected COVID-19 cases. Patients & methods: Consecutive patients with suspect COVID-19 were included if they had fever and/or history of cough and/or dyspnea. Lung ultrasound score (LUSS) was computed according to published methods. Results: A total of 76 patients were included. A 3-variable model based on aspartate transaminase (AST) > upper limit of normal, LUSS >12 and body temperature >37.5°C yielded an overall accuracy of 91%. Conclusion: A simple LUSS-based model may represent a powerful tool for initial assessment in suspected cases of COVID-19. The gold standard for diagnosis of COVID-19 is RT-PCR. During a pandemic emergency, it may be useful to identify suspect symptomatic patients who may safely be observed without undergoing testing for COVID-19. In this work, a simple model based on the findings of lung ultrasound, AST levels and fever showed an overall accuracy of 91% to predict the results of RT-PCR
The HOSTS Survey for Exozodiacal Dust: Preliminary results and future prospects
[abridged] The presence of large amounts of dust in the habitable zones of
nearby stars is a significant obstacle for future exo-Earth imaging missions.
We executed an N band nulling interferometric survey to determine the typical
amount of such exozodiacal dust around a sample of nearby main sequence stars.
The majority of our data have been analyzed and we present here an update of
our ongoing work. We find seven new N band excesses in addition to the high
confidence confirmation of three that were previously known. We find the first
detections around Sun-like stars and around stars without previously known
circumstellar dust. Our overall detection rate is 23%. The inferred occurrence
rate is comparable for early type and Sun-like stars, but decreases from 71%
[+11%/-20%] for stars with previously detected mid- to far-infrared excess to
11% [+9%/-4%] for stars without such excess, confirming earlier results at high
confidence. For completed observations on individual stars, our sensitivity is
five to ten times better than previous results. Assuming a lognormal luminosity
function of the dust, we find upper limits on the median dust level around all
stars without previously known mid to far infrared excess of 11.5 zodis at 95%
confidence level. The corresponding upper limit for Sun-like stars is 16 zodis.
An LBTI vetted target list of Sun-like stars for exo-Earth imaging would have a
corresponding limit of 7.5 zodis. We provide important new insights into the
occurrence rate and typical levels of habitable zone dust around main sequence
stars. Exploiting the full range of capabilities of the LBTI provides a
critical opportunity for the detailed characterization of a sample of
exozodiacal dust disks to understand the origin, distribution, and properties
of the dust.Comment: To appear in SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation 2018
proceedings. Some typos fixed, one reference adde
Satellite university campuses and economic development in peripheral regions
Satellite university campuses – whereby established universities decentralise part of their activities, often to areas previously lacking a university – contribute to the diversification of university systems. While satellite campuses, due to their small scale and limited resources, might perform some activities less efficiently than their larger parent universities, we argue that they are uniquely placed to serve the needs of their localities. Based on the case of a satellite campus in North-West Italy, we show that: (i) the campus’ main contribution lies in widening access to higher education to residents who would not attend university in the absence of local provision; (ii) the campus contributes to local development also through research and business and community engagement, and by stimulating local demand for knowledge-intensive services; (iii) research and engagement are more effective for local development where local firms possess relevant absorptive capacity and where there is a favourable institutional framework
Vacuum decay in quantum field theory
We study the contribution to vacuum decay in field theory due to the
interaction between the long and short-wavelength modes of the field. The field
model considered consists of a scalar field of mass with a cubic term in
the potential. The dynamics of the long-wavelength modes becomes diffusive in
this interaction. The diffusive behaviour is described by the reduced Wigner
function that characterizes the state of the long-wavelength modes. This
function is obtained from the whole Wigner function by integration of the
degrees of freedom of the short-wavelength modes. The dynamical equation for
the reduced Wigner function becomes a kind of Fokker-Planck equation which is
solved with suitable boundary conditions enforcing an initial metastable vacuum
state trapped in the potential well. As a result a finite activation rate is
found, even at zero temperature, for the formation of true vacuum bubbles of
size . This effect makes a substantial contribution to the total decay
rate.Comment: 27 pages, RevTeX, 1 figure (uses epsf.sty
Vacuum decay in quantum field theory
We study the contribution to vacuum decay in field theory due to the
interaction between the long and short-wavelength modes of the field. The field
model considered consists of a scalar field of mass with a cubic term in
the potential. The dynamics of the long-wavelength modes becomes diffusive in
this interaction. The diffusive behaviour is described by the reduced Wigner
function that characterizes the state of the long-wavelength modes. This
function is obtained from the whole Wigner function by integration of the
degrees of freedom of the short-wavelength modes. The dynamical equation for
the reduced Wigner function becomes a kind of Fokker-Planck equation which is
solved with suitable boundary conditions enforcing an initial metastable vacuum
state trapped in the potential well. As a result a finite activation rate is
found, even at zero temperature, for the formation of true vacuum bubbles of
size . This effect makes a substantial contribution to the total decay
rate.Comment: 27 pages, RevTeX, 1 figure (uses epsf.sty
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