The Equivalence Principle Revisited

A precise formulation of the strong Equivalence Principle is essential to the understanding of the relationship between gravitation and quantum mechanics. The relevant aspects are reviewed in a context including General Relativity, but allowing for the presence of torsion. For the sake of brevity, a concise statement is proposed for the Principle: "An ideal observer immersed in a gravitational field can choose a reference frame in which gravitation goes unnoticed". This statement is given a clear mathematical meaning through an accurate discussion of its terms. It holds for ideal observers (time-like smooth non-intersecting curves), but not for real, spatially extended observers. Analogous results hold for gauge fields. The difference between gravitation and the other fundamental interactions comes from their distinct roles in the equation of force.Comment: RevTeX, 18 pages, no figures, to appear in Foundations of Physic

Gravitation as Anholonomy

A gravitational field can be seen as the anholonomy of the tetrad fields. This is more explicit in the teleparallel approach, in which the gravitational field-strength is the torsion of the ensuing Weitzenboeck connection. In a tetrad frame, that torsion is just the anholonomy of that frame. The infinitely many tetrad fields taking the Lorentz metric into a given Riemannian metric differ by point-dependent Lorentz transformations. Inertial frames constitute a smaller infinity of them, differing by fixed-point Lorentz transformations. Holonomic tetrads take the Lorentz metric into itself, and correspond to Minkowski flat spacetime. An accelerated frame is necessarily anholonomic and sees the electromagnetic field strength with an additional term.Comment: RevTeX4, 10 pages, no figures. To appear in Gen. Rel. Gra

The two-echelon capacitated vehicle routing problem: models and math-based heuristics

Multiechelon distribution systems are quite common in supply-chain and logistics. They are used by public administrations in their transportation and traffic planning strategies, as well as by companies, to model own distribution systems. In the literature, most of the studies address issues relating to the movement of flows throughout the system from their origins to their final destinations. Another recent trend is to focus on the management of the vehicle fleets required to provide transportation among different echelons. The aim of this paper is twofold. First, it introduces the family of two-echelon vehicle routing problems (VRPs), a term that broadly covers such settings, where the delivery from one or more depots to customers is managed by routing and consolidating freight through intermediate depots. Second, it considers in detail the basic version of two-echelon VRPs, the two-echelon capacitated VRP, which is an extension of the classical VRP in which the delivery is compulsorily delivered through intermediate depots, named satellites. A mathematical model for two-echelon capacitated VRP, some valid inequalities, and two math-heuristics based on the model are presented. Computational results of up to 50 customers and four satellites show the effectiveness of the methods developed

Manejo e controle das principais pragas da cultura do arroz irrigado na região do baixo São Francisco.

bitstream/item/64533/1/CPATC-DOCUMENTOS-70-MANEJO-E-CONTROLE-DAS-PRINCIPAIS-PRAGAS-DA-CULTURA-DO-ARROZ-IRRIGADO-NA-REGIA.pd

Demonstration of Imaging Flow Diagnostics Using Rayleigh Scattering in Langley 0.3-Meter Transonic Cryogenic Tunnel

The feasibility of using the Rayleigh scattering technique for molecular density imaging of the free-stream flow field in the Langley 0.3-Meter Transonic Cryogenic Tunnel has been experimentally demonstrated. The Rayleigh scattering was viewed with a near-backward geometry with a frequency-doubled output from a diode-pumped CW Nd:YAG laser and an intensified charge-coupled device camera. Measurements performed in the range of free-stream densities from 3 x 10(exp 25) to 24 x 10(exp 25) molecules/cu m indicate that the observed relative Rayleigh signal levels are approximately linear with flow field density. The absolute signal levels agree (within approx. 30 percent) with the expected signal levels computed based on the well-known quantities of flow field density, Rayleigh scattering cross section for N2, solid angle of collection, transmission of the optics, and the independently calibrated camera sensitivity. These results show that the flow field in this facility is primarily molecular (i.e., not contaminated by clusters) and that Rayleigh scattering is a viable technique for quantitative nonintrusive diagnostics in this facility

Dark interlayer plasmons in colloidal gold nanoparticle bi- and few-layers

We demonstrate the excitation of dark plasmon modes with linearly polarized light at normal incidence in self-assembled layers of gold nanoparticles. Because of field retardation, the incident light field induces plasmonic dipoles that are parallel within each layer but antiparallel between the layers, resulting in a vanishing net dipole moment. Using microabsorbance spectroscopy we measured a pronounced absorbance peak and reflectance dip at 1.5 eV for bi- and trilayers of gold nanoparticles with a diameter of 46 nm and 2 nm interparticle gap size. The excitations were identified as dark interlayer plasmons by finite-difference time-domain simulations. The dark plasmon modes are predicted to evolve into standing waves when further increasing the layer number, which leads to 90% transmittance of the incident light through the nanoparticle film. Our approach is easy to implement and paves the way for large-area coatings with tunable plasmon resonance

Group Theory analysis of phonons in two-dimensional Transition Metal Dichalcogenides

Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) have emerged as a new two dimensional materials field since the monolayer and few-layer limits show different properties when compared to each other and to their respective bulk materials. For example, in some cases when the bulk material is exfoliated down to a monolayer, an indirect-to-direct band gap in the visible range is observed. The number of layers $N$ ($N$ even or odd) drives changes in space group symmetry that are reflected in the optical properties. The understanding of the space group symmetry as a function of the number of layers is therefore important for the correct interpretation of the experimental data. Here we present a thorough group theory study of the symmetry aspects relevant to optical and spectroscopic analysis, for the most common polytypes of TMDCs, i.e. $2Ha$, $2Hc$ and $1T$, as a function of the number of layers. Real space symmetries, the group of the wave vectors, the relevance of inversion symmetry, irreducible representations of the vibrational modes, optical selection rules and Raman tensors are discussed.Comment: 32 pages, 4 figure