782 research outputs found
Restricted three body problems at the nanoscale
In this paper, we investigate some of the classical restricted three body
problems at the nanoscale, such as the circular planar restricted problem for
three C60 fullerenes, and a carbon atom and two C60 fullerenes. We model the
van der Waals forces between the fullerenes by the Lennard-Jones potential. In
particular, the pairwise potential energies between the carbon atoms on the
fullerenes are approximated by the continuous approach, so that the total
molecular energy between two fullerenes can be determined analytically. Since
we assume that such interactions between the molecules occur at sufficiently
large distance, the classical three body problems analysis is legitimate to
determine the collective angular velocity of the two and three C60 fullerenes
at the nanoscale. We find that the maximum angular frequency of the two and
three fullerenes systems reach the terahertz range and we determine the
stationary points and the points which have maximum velocity for the carbon
atom for the carbon atom and the two fullerenes system
A log analysis study of 10 years of ebook consumption in academic library collections
Even though libraries have been offering eBooks for more than a decade, very little is known about eBook access and consumption in academic library collections. This paper addresses this gap with a log analysis study of eBook access at the library of the University of Waikato. This in-depth analysis covers a period spanning 10 years of eBook use at this university. We draw conclusions about the use of eBooks at this institution and compare the results with other published studies of eBook usage at tertiary institutes
Plasma Turbulence in the Local Bubble
Turbulence in the Local Bubble could play an important role in the
thermodynamics of the gas that is there. The best astronomical technique for
measuring turbulence in astrophysical plasmas is radio scintillation.
Measurements of the level of scattering to the nearby pulsar B0950+08 by
Philips and Clegg in 1992 showed a markedly lower value for the line-of-sight
averaged turbulent intensity parameter is smaller than normal for two of them, but is completely nominal for
the third. This inconclusive status of affairs could be improved by
measurements and analysis of ``arcs'' in ``secondary spectra'' of pulsars.Comment: Submitted to Space Science Reviews as contribution to Proceedings of
ISSI (International Space Science Institute) workshop "From the Heliosphere
to the Local Bubble". Refereed version accepted for publicatio
Optical properties of pyrochlore oxide
We present optical conductivity spectra for
single crystal at different temperatures. Among reported pyrochlore ruthenates,
this compound exhibits metallic behavior in a wide temperature range and has
the least resistivity. At low frequencies, the optical spectra show typical
Drude responses, but with a knee feature around 1000 \cm. Above 20000 \cm, a
broad absorption feature is observed. Our analysis suggests that the low
frequency responses can be understood from two Drude components arising from
the partially filled Ru bands with different plasma frequencies and
scattering rates. The high frequency broad absorption may be contributed by two
interband transitions: from occupied Ru states to empty bands
and from the fully filled O 2p bands to unoccupied Ru states.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figure
The mediating role of parenting in the associations between household chaos and children’s representations of family dysfunction
Children’s drawings are thought to reflect their mental representations of self and their interpersonal relations within families. Household chaos is believed to disrupt key proximal processes related to optimal development. The present study examines the mediating role of parenting behaviors in the relations between two measures of household chaos, instability and disorganization, and how they may be evidenced in children’s representations of family dysfunction as derived from their drawings. The sample (N= 962) is from a longitudinal study of rural poverty exploring the ways in which child, family, and contextual factors shape development over time. Findings reveal that, after controlling for numerous factors including child and primary caregiver covariates, there were significant indirect effects from cumulative family disorganization, but not cumulative family instability, on children’s representation of family dysfunction through parenting behaviors. Results suggest that the proximal effects of daily disorganization outweigh the effects of periodic instability overtime
Anomalous diffusion and the first passage time problem
We study the distribution of first passage time (FPT) in Levy type of
anomalous diffusion. Using recently formulated fractional Fokker-Planck
equation we obtain three results. (1) We derive an explicit expression for the
FPT distribution in terms of Fox or H-functions when the diffusion has zero
drift. (2) For the nonzero drift case we obtain an analytical expression for
the Laplace transform of the FPT distribution. (3) We express the FPT
distribution in terms of a power series for the case of two absorbing barriers.
The known results for ordinary diffusion (Brownian motion) are obtained as
special cases of our more general results.Comment: 25 pages, 4 figure
Kondo effect in systems with dynamical symmetries
This paper is devoted to a systematic exposure of the Kondo physics in
quantum dots for which the low energy spin excitations consist of a few
different spin multiplets . Under certain conditions (to be
explained below) some of the lowest energy levels are nearly
degenerate. The dot in its ground state cannot then be regarded as a simple
quantum top in the sense that beside its spin operator other dot (vector)
operators are needed (in order to fully determine its quantum
states), which have non-zero matrix elements between states of different spin
multiplets . These "Runge-Lenz"
operators do not appear in the isolated dot-Hamiltonian (so in some sense they
are "hidden"). Yet, they are exposed when tunneling between dot and leads is
switched on. The effective spin Hamiltonian which couples the metallic electron
spin with the operators of the dot then contains new exchange terms,
beside the ubiquitous ones . The operators and generate a
dynamical group (usually SO(n)). Remarkably, the value of can be controlled
by gate voltages, indicating that abstract concepts such as dynamical symmetry
groups are experimentally realizable. Moreover, when an external magnetic field
is applied then, under favorable circumstances, the exchange interaction
involves solely the Runge-Lenz operators and the corresponding
dynamical symmetry group is SU(n). For example, the celebrated group SU(3) is
realized in triple quantum dot with four electrons.Comment: 24 two-column page
Short-term changes observed in multi-parametric liver MRI following therapy with direct acting antivirals in chronic hepatitis C virus patients
Methods: We applied multiparametric MRI to assess changes in liver composition, perfusion and blood flow in 17 patients before DAA therapy and after treatment completion (within 12 weeks of last DAA tablet swallowed).Results: We observed changes in hepatic composition indicated by a reduction in both liver longitudinal relaxation time (T1, 35±4 ms), transverse relaxation time (T2, 2.5±0.8 ms; T2* 3.0±0.7 ms) and liver perfusion (28.1±19.7ml/100g/min) which we suggest are linked to reduced pro-inflammatory milieu, including interstitial oedema, within the liver. No changes were observed in liver or spleen blood flow, splenic perfusion, or SMA blood flow.Conclusion: For the first time, our study has shown that treatment of HCV with DAAs in patients with cirrhosis leads to an acute reduction in liver T1, T2, T2* and an increase in liver perfusion measured using MR parameters. The ability of MRI to characterise changes in the angio-architecture of patients with cirrhosis after intervention in the short term will enhance our understanding of the natural history of regression of liver disease and potentially influence clinical decision algorithms
Rings and bars: unmasking secular evolution of galaxies
Secular evolution gradually shapes galaxies by internal processes, in
contrast to early cosmological evolution which is more rapid. An important
driver of secular evolution is the flow of gas from the disk into the central
regions, often under the influence of a bar. In this paper, we review several
new observational results on bars and nuclear rings in galaxies. They show that
these components are intimately linked to each other, and to the properties of
their host galaxy. We briefly discuss how upcoming observations, e.g., imaging
from the Spitzer Survey of Stellar Structure in Galaxies (S4G), will lead to
significant further advances in this area of research.Comment: Invited review at "Galaxies and their Masks", celebrating Ken
Freeman's 70-th birthday, Sossusvlei, Namibia, April 2010. To be published by
Springer, New York, editors D.L. Block, K.C. Freeman, & I. Puerari; minor
change
Horizontal Branch Stars: The Interplay between Observations and Theory, and Insights into the Formation of the Galaxy
We review HB stars in a broad astrophysical context, including both variable
and non-variable stars. A reassessment of the Oosterhoff dichotomy is
presented, which provides unprecedented detail regarding its origin and
systematics. We show that the Oosterhoff dichotomy and the distribution of
globular clusters (GCs) in the HB morphology-metallicity plane both exclude,
with high statistical significance, the possibility that the Galactic halo may
have formed from the accretion of dwarf galaxies resembling present-day Milky
Way satellites such as Fornax, Sagittarius, and the LMC. A rediscussion of the
second-parameter problem is presented. A technique is proposed to estimate the
HB types of extragalactic GCs on the basis of integrated far-UV photometry. The
relationship between the absolute V magnitude of the HB at the RR Lyrae level
and metallicity, as obtained on the basis of trigonometric parallax
measurements for the star RR Lyrae, is also revisited, giving a distance
modulus to the LMC of (m-M)_0 = 18.44+/-0.11. RR Lyrae period change rates are
studied. Finally, the conductive opacities used in evolutionary calculations of
low-mass stars are investigated. [ABRIDGED]Comment: 56 pages, 22 figures. Invited review, to appear in Astrophysics and
Space Scienc
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