806 research outputs found
A constant of quantum motion in two dimensions in crossed magnetic and electric fields
We consider the quantum dynamics of a single particle in the plane under the
influence of a constant perpendicular magnetic and a crossed electric potential
field. For a class of smooth and small potentials we construct a non-trivial
invariant of motion. Do to so we proof that the Hamiltonian is unitarily
equivalent to an effective Hamiltonian which commutes with the observable of
kinetic energy.Comment: 18 pages, 2 figures; the title was changed and several typos
corrected; to appear in J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. 43 (2010
Perception of Radiation Exposure and Risk Among Patients, Medical Students, and Referring Physicians at a Tertiary Care Community Hospital
AbstractBackgroundIt is important for physicians to be aware of the radiation doses as well as the risks associated with diagnostic imaging procedures that they are ordering.MethodsA survey was administered to patients, medical students, and referring physicians from a number of specialties to determine background knowledge regarding radiation exposure and risk associated with commonly ordered medical imaging tests.ResultsA total of 127 patients, 32 referring physicians, and 30 medical students completed the survey. The majority of patients (92%) were not informed of the radiation risks associated with tests that they were scheduled to receive and had false perceptions about the use of radiation and its associated risks. Physicians and medical students had misconceptions about the use of ionizing radiation in a number of radiologic examinations; for example, 25% and 43% of physicians and medical students, respectively, were unaware that interventional procedures used ionizing radiation, and 28% of physicians were unaware that mammography used ionizing radiation. Computed tomographies and barium studies were thought to be associated with the least ionizing radiation among physicians.ConclusionThere is a need for educating the public, medical students, and referring physicians about radiation exposure and associated risk so that (1) patients receiving multiple medical imaging tests are aware of the radiation that they are receiving and (2) physicians and future physicians will make informed decisions when ordering such tests to limit the amount of radiation that patients receive and to promote informed consent among patients
New method for the time calibration of an interferometric radio antenna array
Digital radio antenna arrays, like LOPES (LOFAR PrototypE Station), detect
high-energy cosmic rays via the radio emission from atmospheric extensive air
showers. LOPES is an array of dipole antennas placed within and triggered by
the KASCADE-Grande experiment on site of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology,
Germany. The antennas are digitally combined to build a radio interferometer by
forming a beam into the air shower arrival direction which allows measurements
even at low signal-to-noise ratios in individual antennas. This technique
requires a precise time calibration. A combination of several calibration steps
is used to achieve the necessary timing accuracy of about 1 ns. The group
delays of the setup are measured, the frequency dependence of these delays
(dispersion) is corrected in the subsequent data analysis, and variations of
the delays with time are monitored. We use a transmitting reference antenna, a
beacon, which continuously emits sine waves at known frequencies. Variations of
the relative delays between the antennas can be detected and corrected for at
each recorded event by measuring the phases at the beacon frequencies.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures, 1 table, pre-print of article published in
Nuclear Inst. and Methods in Physics Research, A, available at:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6TJM-4Y9CF4B-4/2/37bfcb899a0f387d9875a5a0729593a
Forecasting the behaviour of complex landslides with a spatially distributed hydrological model
International audienceThe relationships between rainfall, hydrology and landslide movement are often difficult to establish. In this context, ground-water flow analyses and dynamic modelling can help to clarify these complex relations, simulate the landslide hydrological behaviour in real or hypothetical situations, and help to forecast future scenarios based on environmental change. The primary objective of this study is to investigate the possibility of including more temporal and spatial information in landslide hydrology forecasting, by using a physically based spatially distributed model. Results of the hydrological and geomorphological investigation of the Super-Sauze earthflow, one of the persistently active landslide occurring in clay-rich material of the French Alps, are presented. Field surveys, continuous monitoring and interpretation of the data have shown that, in such material, the groundwater level fluctuates on a seasonal time scale, with a strong influence of the unsaturated zone. Therefore a coupled unsaturated/saturated model, incorporating Darcian saturated flow, fissure flow and meltwater flow is needed to adequately represent the landslide hydrology. The conceptual model is implemented in a 2.5-D spatially distributed hydrological model. The model is calibrated and validated on a multi-parameters database acquired on the site since 1997. The complex time-dependent and three-dimensional groundwater regime is well described, in both the short- and long-term. The hydrological model is used to forecast the future hydrological behaviour of the earthflow in response to potential environmental changes
Varietal effects on methane intensity of paddy fields under different irrigation management
Alternate wetting and drying irrigation (AWD) has been shown to decrease water use and trace gas emissions from paddy fields. Whereas genotypic water use shows little variation, it has been shown that rice varieties differ in the magnitude of their methane emissions. Management and variety-related emission factors have been proposed for modelling the impact of paddy production on climate change; however, the magnitude of a potential reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by changing varieties has not yet been fully assessed. AWD has been shown to affect genotypic yields and high-yielding varieties suffer the greatest loss when grown under AWD. The highest yielding varieties may not have the highest methane emissions; thus, a potential yield loss could be compensated by a larger reduction in methane emissions. However, AWD can only be implemented under full control of irrigation water, leaving the rainy seasons with little scope to reduce methane emissions from paddy fields. Employing low-emitting varieties during the rainy season may be an option to reduce methane emissions but may compromise farmers’ income if such varieties perform less well than the current standard. Methane emissions and rice yields were determined in field trials over two consecutive winter/spring seasons with continuously flooded and AWD irrigation treatments for 20 lowland rice varieties in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam. Based on the results, this paper investigates the magnitude of methane savings through varietal choice for both AWD and continuous flooding in relation to genotypic yields and explores potential options for compensating farmers’ mitigation efforts
Random Time-Dependent Quantum Walks
We consider the discrete time unitary dynamics given by a quantum walk on the
lattice performed by a quantum particle with internal degree of freedom,
called coin state, according to the following iterated rule: a unitary update
of the coin state takes place, followed by a shift on the lattice, conditioned
on the coin state of the particle. We study the large time behavior of the
quantum mechanical probability distribution of the position observable in
when the sequence of unitary updates is given by an i.i.d. sequence of
random matrices. When averaged over the randomness, this distribution is shown
to display a drift proportional to the time and its centered counterpart is
shown to display a diffusive behavior with a diffusion matrix we compute. A
moderate deviation principle is also proven to hold for the averaged
distribution and the limit of the suitably rescaled corresponding
characteristic function is shown to satisfy a diffusion equation. A
generalization to unitary updates distributed according to a Markov process is
also provided. An example of i.i.d. random updates for which the analysis of
the distribution can be performed without averaging is worked out. The
distribution also displays a deterministic drift proportional to time and its
centered counterpart gives rise to a random diffusion matrix whose law we
compute. A large deviation principle is shown to hold for this example. We
finally show that, in general, the expectation of the random diffusion matrix
equals the diffusion matrix of the averaged distribution.Comment: Typos and minor errors corrected. To appear In Communications in
Mathematical Physic
Correlated Markov Quantum Walks
We consider the discrete time unitary dynamics given by a quantum walk on
performed by a particle with internal degree of freedom, called coin
state, according to the following iterated rule: a unitary update of the coin
state takes place, followed by a shift on the lattice, conditioned on the coin
state of the particle. We study the large time behavior of the quantum
mechanical probability distribution of the position observable in for
random updates of the coin states of the following form. The random sequences
of unitary updates are given by a site dependent function of a Markov chain in
time, with the following properties: on each site, they share the same
stationnary Markovian distribution and, for each fixed time, they form a
deterministic periodic pattern on the lattice.
We prove a Feynman-Kac formula to express the characteristic function of the
averaged distribution over the randomness at time in terms of the nth power
of an operator . By analyzing the spectrum of , we show that this
distribution posesses a drift proportional to the time and its centered
counterpart displays a diffusive behavior with a diffusion matrix we compute.
Moderate and large deviations principles are also proven to hold for the
averaged distribution and the limit of the suitably rescaled corresponding
characteristic function is shown to satisfy a diffusion equation.
An example of random updates for which the analysis of the distribution can
be performed without averaging is worked out. The random distribution displays
a deterministic drift proportional to time and its centered counterpart gives
rise to a random diffusion matrix whose law we compute. We complete the picture
by presenting an uncorrelated example.Comment: 37 pages. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with
arXiv:1010.400
The application of numerical debris flow modelling for the generation of physical vulnerability curves
For a quantitative assessment of debris flow risk, it is essential to consider not only the hazardous process itself but also to perform an analysis of its consequences. This should include the estimation of the expected monetary losses as the product of the hazard with a given magnitude and the vulnerability of the elements exposed. A quantifiable integrated approach of both hazard and vulnerability is becoming a required practice in risk reduction management. This study aims at developing physical vulnerability curves for debris flows through the use of a dynamic run-out model. Dynamic run-out models for debris flows are able to calculate physical outputs (extension, depths, velocities, impact pressures) and to determine the zones where the elements at risk could suffer an impact. These results can then be applied to consequence analyses and risk calculations. On 13 July 2008, after more than two days of intense rainfall, several debris and mud flows were released in the central part of the Valtellina Valley (Lombardy Region, Northern Italy). One of the largest debris flows events occurred in a village called Selvetta. The debris flow event was reconstructed after extensive field work and interviews with local inhabitants and civil protection teams. The Selvetta event was modelled with the FLO-2D program, an Eulerian formulation with a finite differences numerical scheme that requires the specification of an input hydrograph. The internal stresses are isotropic and the basal shear stresses are calculated using a quadratic model. The behaviour and run-out of the flow was reconstructed. The significance of calculated values of the flow depth, velocity, and pressure were investigated in terms of the resulting damage to the affected buildings. The physical damage was quantified for each affected structure within the context of physical vulnerability, which was calculated as the ratio between the monetary loss and the reconstruction value. Three different empirical vulnerability curves were obtained, which are functions of debris flow depth, impact pressure, and kinematic viscosity, respectively. A quantitative approach to estimate the vulnerability of an exposed element to a debris flow which can be independent of the temporal occurrence of the hazard event is presented
Localization Properties of the Chalker-Coddington Model
The Chalker Coddington quantum network percolation model is numerically
pertinent to the understanding of the delocalization transition of the quantum
Hall effect. We study the model restricted to a cylinder of perimeter 2M. We
prove firstly that the Lyapunov exponents are simple and in particular that the
localization length is finite; secondly that this implies spectral
localization. Thirdly we prove a Thouless formula and compute the mean Lyapunov
exponent which is independent of M.Comment: 29 pages, 1 figure. New section added in which simplicity of the
Lyapunov spectrum and finiteness of the localization length are proven. To
appear in Annales Henri Poincar
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