34,357 research outputs found
Simulation of alpha dose for predicting radiolytic species at the surface of spent nuclear fuel pellets
In many countries, spent nuclear fuel is considered as a waste form to be disposed of in underground disposal. Under deep host rock conditions, a reducing environment prevails. In the case of water contact, long-term radionuclide release from the fuel depends on dissolution processes of the UO matrix. The dissolution rate of irradiated UO is controlled by oxidizing processes facilitated by dissolved species formed by alpharadiolysis of water in contact with spent nuclear fuel. To understand the effect of the radiation, the information of the dose rate at the surface of the fuel and its proximity is needed. α particles contribute strongly due to their high linear energy transfer. However, their dose rate and the energy deposition at the fuel surface are difficult to measure. Cylindrical fuel pellets as used in fuel rods show specific features, such as the rim zone, where a higher Pu concentration and a different porosity of the fuel matrix is present. The a particle dose rate was determined by simulations with the code MCNPX with focus on the rim zone of a pellet. As a result a 40% increased dose level in the rim zone exists in comparison to the center of a pellet. The potential dominant and inhomogeneous α-dose distribution is supposed to have a strong impact on radiolysis phenomena and in turn on an inhomogeneous dissolution of elements over the surface
DNA: From rigid base-pairs to semiflexible polymers
The sequence-dependent elasticity of double-helical DNA on a nm length scale
can be captured by the rigid base-pair model, whose strains are the relative
position and orientation of adjacent base-pairs. Corresponding elastic
potentials have been obtained from all-atom MD simulation and from
high-resolution structural data. On the scale of a hundred nm, DNA is
successfully described by a continuous worm-like chain model with homogeneous
elastic properties characterized by a set of four elastic constants, which have
been directly measured in single-molecule experiments. We present here a theory
that links these experiments on different scales, by systematically
coarse-graining the rigid base-pair model for random sequence DNA to an
effective worm-like chain description. The average helical geometry of the
molecule is exactly taken into account in our approach. We find that the
available microscopic parameters sets predict qualitatively similar mesoscopic
parameters. The thermal bending and twisting persistence lengths computed from
MD data are 42 and 48 nm, respectively. The static persistence lengths are
generally much higher, in agreement with cyclization experiments. All
microscopic parameter sets predict negative twist-stretch coupling. The
variability and anisotropy of bending stiffness in short random chains lead to
non-Gaussian bend angle distributions, but become unimportant after two helical
turns.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures, 6 table
Quantum Gravity Corrections for Schwarzschild Black Holes
We consider the Matrix theory proposal describing eleven-dimensional
Schwarzschild black holes. We argue that the Newtonian potential between two
black holes receives a genuine long range quantum gravity correction, which is
finite and can be computed from the supergravity point of view. The result
agrees with Matrix theory up to a numerical factor which we have not computed.Comment: 14 pages, Tex, no figure
Detecting Stellar Spots by Gravitational Microlensing
During microlensing events with a small impact parameter, the amplification
of the source flux is sensitive to the surface brightness distribution of the
source star. Such events provide a means for studying the surface structure of
target stars in the ongoing microlensing surveys, most efficiently for giants
in the Galactic bulge. In this work we demonstrate the sensitivity of
point-mass microlensing to small spots with radii source
radii. We compute the amplification deviation from the light curve of a
spotless source and explore its dependence on lensing and spot parameters.
During source-transit events spots can cause deviations larger than 2%, and
thus be in principle detectable. Maximum relative deviation usually occurs when
the lens directly crosses the spot. Its numerical value for a dark spot with
sufficient contrast is found to be roughly equal to the fractional radius of
the spot, i.e., up to 20% in this study. Spots can also be efficiently detected
by the changes in sensitive spectral lines during the event. Notably, the
presence of a spot can mimic the effect of a low-mass companion of the lens in
some events.Comment: 18 pages with 7 Postscript figures, to appear in ApJ, January 2000;
discussion expanded, references added, minor revisions in tex
On Retardation Effects in Space Charge Calculations Of High Current Electron Beams
Laser-plasma accelerators are expected to deliver electron bunches with high
space charge fields. Several recent publications have addressed the impact of
space charge effects on such bunches after the extraction into vacuum.
Artifacts due to the approximation of retardation effects are addressed, which
are typically either neglected or approximated. We discuss a much more
appropriate calculation for the case of laser wakefield acceleration with
negligible retardation artifacts due to the calculation performed in the mean
rest frame. This presented calculation approach also aims at a validation of
other simulation approaches
Attosecond double-slit experiment
A new scheme for a double-slit experiment in the time domain is presented.
Phase-stabilized few-cycle laser pulses open one to two windows (``slits'') of
attosecond duration for photoionization. Fringes in the angle-resolved energy
spectrum of varying visibility depending on the degree of which-way information
are observed. A situation in which one and the same electron encounters a
single and a double slit at the same time is discussed. The investigation of
the fringes makes possible interferometry on the attosecond time scale. The
number of visible fringes, for example, indicates that the slits are extended
over about 500as.Comment: 4 figure
Status of neutrino astronomy
Astrophysical neutrinos can be produced in proton interactions of charged
cosmic rays with ambient photon or baryonic fields. Cosmic rays are observed in
balloon, satellite and air shower experiments every day, from below 1e9 eV up
to macroscopic energies of 1e21 eV. The observation of different photon fields
has been done ever since, today with detections ranging from radio wavelengths
up to very high-energy photons in the TeV range. The leading question for
neutrino astronomers is now which sources provide a combination of efficient
proton acceleration with sufficiently high photon fields or baryonic targets at
the same time in order to produce a neutrino flux that is high enough to exceed
the background of atmospheric neutrinos. There are only two confirmed
astrophysical neutrino sources up to today: the sun and SuperNova 1987A emit
and emitted neutrinos at MeV energies. The aim of large underground Cherenkov
telescopes like IceCube and KM3NeT is the detection of neutrinos at energies
above 100 GeV. In this paper, recent developments of neutrino flux modeling for
the most promising extragalactic sources, gamma ray bursts and active galactic
nuclei, are presented.Comment: Talk given at Neutrino 2008, Christchurch (New Zealand) 6 pages, 4
figures, 1 tabl
Status of neutrino astronomy
Astrophysical neutrinos can be produced in proton interactions of charged
cosmic rays with ambient photon or baryonic fields. Cosmic rays are observed in
balloon, satellite and air shower experiments every day, from below 1e9 eV up
to macroscopic energies of 1e21 eV. The observation of different photon fields
has been done ever since, today with detections ranging from radio wavelengths
up to very high-energy photons in the TeV range. The leading question for
neutrino astronomers is now which sources provide a combination of efficient
proton acceleration with sufficiently high photon fields or baryonic targets at
the same time in order to produce a neutrino flux that is high enough to exceed
the background of atmospheric neutrinos. There are only two confirmed
astrophysical neutrino sources up to today: the sun and SuperNova 1987A emit
and emitted neutrinos at MeV energies. The aim of large underground Cherenkov
telescopes like IceCube and KM3NeT is the detection of neutrinos at energies
above 100 GeV. In this paper, recent developments of neutrino flux modeling for
the most promising extragalactic sources, gamma ray bursts and active galactic
nuclei, are presented.Comment: Talk given at Neutrino 2008, Christchurch (New Zealand) 6 pages, 4
figures, 1 tabl
Status of neutrino astronomy
Astrophysical neutrinos can be produced in proton interactions of charged
cosmic rays with ambient photon or baryonic fields. Cosmic rays are observed in
balloon, satellite and air shower experiments every day, from below 1e9 eV up
to macroscopic energies of 1e21 eV. The observation of different photon fields
has been done ever since, today with detections ranging from radio wavelengths
up to very high-energy photons in the TeV range. The leading question for
neutrino astronomers is now which sources provide a combination of efficient
proton acceleration with sufficiently high photon fields or baryonic targets at
the same time in order to produce a neutrino flux that is high enough to exceed
the background of atmospheric neutrinos. There are only two confirmed
astrophysical neutrino sources up to today: the sun and SuperNova 1987A emit
and emitted neutrinos at MeV energies. The aim of large underground Cherenkov
telescopes like IceCube and KM3NeT is the detection of neutrinos at energies
above 100 GeV. In this paper, recent developments of neutrino flux modeling for
the most promising extragalactic sources, gamma ray bursts and active galactic
nuclei, are presented.Comment: Talk given at Neutrino 2008, Christchurch (New Zealand) 6 pages, 4
figures, 1 tabl
Evidence for Quasar Activity Triggered by Galaxy Mergers in HST Observations of Dust-reddened Quasars
We present Hubble ACS images of thirteen dust reddened Type-1 quasars
selected from the FIRST/2MASS Red Quasar Survey. These quasars have high
intrinsic luminosities after correction for dust obscuration (-23.5 > M_B >
-26.2 from K-magnitude). The images show strong evidence of recent or ongoing
interaction in eleven of the thirteen cases, even before the quasar nucleus is
subtracted. None of the host galaxies are well fit by a simple elliptical
profile. The fraction of quasars showing interaction is significantly higher
than the 30% seen in samples of host galaxies of normal, unobscured quasars.
There is a weak correlation between the amount of dust reddening and the
magnitude of interaction in the host galaxy, measured using the Gini
coefficient and the Concentration index. Although few host galaxy studies of
normal quasars are matched to ours in intrinsic quasar luminosity, no evidence
has been found for a strong dependence of merger activity on host luminosity in
samples of the host galaxies of normal quasars. We thus believe that the high
merger fraction in our sample is related to their obscured nature, with a
significant amount of reddening occurring in the host galaxy. The red quasar
phenomenon seems to have an evolutionary explanation, with the young quasar
spending the early part of its lifetime enshrouded in an interacting galaxy.
This might be further indication of a link between AGN and starburst galaxies.Comment: 18 pages, 6 low resolution figures, accepted for publication in Ap
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