704 research outputs found
Nonlinear Dirac and diffusion equations in 1 + 1 dimensions from stochastic considerations
We generalize the method of obtaining the fundamental linear partial
differential equations such as the diffusion and Schrodinger equation, Dirac
and telegrapher's equation from a simple stochastic consideration to arrive at
certain nonlinear form of these equations. The group classification through one
parameter group of transformation for two of these equations is also carried
out.Comment: 18 pages, Latex file, some equations corrected and group analysis in
one more case adde
A phenomenological theory giving the full statistics of the position of fluctuating pulled fronts
We propose a phenomenological description for the effect of a weak noise on
the position of a front described by the Fisher-Kolmogorov-Petrovsky-Piscounov
equation or any other travelling wave equation in the same class. Our scenario
is based on four hypotheses on the relevant mechanism for the diffusion of the
front. Our parameter-free analytical predictions for the velocity of the front,
its diffusion constant and higher cumulants of its position agree with
numerical simulations.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure
Effect of selection on ancestry: an exactly soluble case and its phenomenological generalization
We consider a family of models describing the evolution under selection of a
population whose dynamics can be related to the propagation of noisy traveling
waves. For one particular model, that we shall call the exponential model, the
properties of the traveling wave front can be calculated exactly, as well as
the statistics of the genealogy of the population. One striking result is that,
for this particular model, the genealogical trees have the same statistics as
the trees of replicas in the Parisi mean-field theory of spin glasses. We also
find that in the exponential model, the coalescence times along these trees
grow like the logarithm of the population size. A phenomenological picture of
the propagation of wave fronts that we introduced in a previous work, as well
as our numerical data, suggest that these statistics remain valid for a larger
class of models, while the coalescence times grow like the cube of the
logarithm of the population size.Comment: 26 page
Macro and Micro Plastics Sorb and Desorb Metals and Act As A Point Source of Trace Metals To Coastal Ecosystems
Nine urban intertidal regions in Burrard Inlet, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, were sampled for plastic debris. Debris included macro and micro plastics and originated from a wide diversity of uses ranging from personal hygiene to solar cells. Debris was characterized for its polymer through standard physiochemical characteristics, then subject to a weak acid extraction to remove the metals, zinc, copper, cadmium and lead from the polymer. Recently manufactured low density polyethylene (LDPE), nylon, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) were subject to the same extraction. Data was statistically analyzed by appropriate parametric and non-parametric tests when needed with significance set at P < 0.05. Polymers identified in field samples in order of abundance were; PVC (39), LDPE (28), PS (18), polyethylene (PE, 9), PP (8), nylon (8), high density polyethylene (HDPE, 7), polycarbonate (PC, 6), PET (6), polyurethane (PUR, 3) and polyoxymethylene (POM, 2). PVC and LDPE accounted for 46% of all samples. Field samples of PVC, HDPE and LDPE had significantly greater amounts of acid extracted copper and HDPE, LDPE and PUR significantly greater amounts of acid extracted zinc. PVC and LDPE had significantly greater amounts of acid extracted cadmium and PVC tended to have greater levels of acid extracted lead, significantly so for HDPE. Five of the collected items demonstrated extreme levels of acid extracted metal; greatest concentrations were 188, 6667, 698,000 and 930 ÎŒgg-1 of copper, zinc, lead and cadmium respectively recovered from an unidentified object comprised of PVC. Comparison of recently manufactured versus field samples indicated that recently manufactured samples had significantly greater amounts of acid extracted cadmium and zinc and field samples significantly greater amounts of acid extracted copper and lead which was primarily attributed to metal extracted from field samples of PVC. Plastic debris will affect metals within coastal ecosystems by; 1) providing a sorption site (copper and lead), notably for PVC 2) desorption from the plastic i.e., the âinherentâ load (cadmium and zinc) and 3) serving as a point source of acute trace metal exposure to coastal ecosystems. All three mechanisms will put coastal ecosystems at risk to the toxic effects of these metals
Geometric scaling as traveling waves
We show the relevance of the nonlinear Fisher and Kolmogorov-Petrovsky-
Piscounov (KPP) equation to the problem of high energy evolution of the QCD
amplitudes. We explain how the traveling wave solutions of this equation are
related to geometric scaling, a phenomenon observed in deep-inelastic
scattering experiments. Geometric scaling is for the first time shown to result
from an exact solution of nonlinear QCD evolution equations. Using general
results on the KPP equation, we compute the velocity of the wave front, which
gives the full high energy dependence of the saturation scale.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure. v2: references adde
Noether symmetries for two-dimensional charged particle motion
We find the Noether point symmetries for non-relativistic two-dimensional
charged particle motion. These symmetries are composed of a quasi-invariance
transformation, a time-dependent rotation and a time-dependent spatial
translation. The associated electromagnetic field satisfy a system of
first-order linear partial differential equations. This system is solved
exactly, yielding three classes of electromagnetic fields compatible with
Noether point symmetries. The corresponding Noether invariants are derived and
interpreted
Noisy traveling waves: effect of selection on genealogies
For a family of models of evolving population under selection, which can be
described by noisy traveling wave equations, the coalescence times along the
genealogical tree scale like , where is the size of the
population, in contrast with neutral models for which they scale like . An
argument relating this time scale to the diffusion constant of the noisy
traveling wave leads to a prediction for which agrees with our
simulations. An exactly soluble case gives trees with statistics identical to
those predicted for mean-field spin glasses in Parisi's theory.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures New version includes more numerical simulations
and some rewriting of the text presenting our result
Geant4 simulation of the response of phosphor screens for X-ray imaging
poster Pistrui-Maximean, submitted to NIM AIn order to predict and optimize the response of phosphor screens, it is important to understand the role played by the different physical processes inside the scintillator layer. Monte Carlo simulations were carried out to determine the Modulation Transfer Function (MTF) of phosphor screens for energies used in X-ray medical imaging and nondestructive testing applications. The visualization of the dose distribution inside the phosphor layer gives an insight into how the MTF is progressively degraded by X-ray and electron transport. The simulation model allows to study the inïŹuence of physical and technological parameters on the detector performances, as well as to design and optimize new detector conïŹgurations. Preliminary MTF measurements have been carried out and agreement with experimental data has been found in the case of a commercial screen (Kodak Lanex Fine), at an X-ray tube potential voltage of 100 kV. Further validation with other screens (transparent or granular) at different energies is under way
Quantum metastability in a class of moving potentials
In this paper we consider quantum metastability in a class of moving
potentials introduced by Berry and Klein. Potential in this class has its
height and width scaled in a specific way so that it can be transformed into a
stationary one. In deriving the non-decay probability of the system, we argue
that the appropriate technique to use is the less known method of scattering
states. This method is illustrated through two examples, namely, a moving
delta-potential and a moving barrier potential. For expanding potentials, one
finds that a small but finite non-decay probability persists at large times.
Generalization to scaling potentials of arbitrary shape is briefly indicated.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure
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