19,964 research outputs found
Fluctuations of the Casimir-Polder force between an atom and a conducting wall
We consider the quantum fluctuations of the Casimir-Polder force between a
neutral atom and a perfectly conducting wall in the ground state of the system.
In order to obtain the atom-wall force fluctuation we first define an operator
directly associated to the force experienced by the atom considered as a
polarizable body in an electromagnetic field, and we use a time-averaged force
operator in order to avoid ultraviolet divergences appearing in the fluctuation
of the force. This time-averaged force operator takes into account that any
measurement involves a finite time. We also calculate the Casimir-Polder force
fluctuation for an atom between two conducting walls. Experimental
observability of these Casimir-Polder force fluctuations is also discussed, as
well as the dependence of the relative force fluctuation on the duration of the
measurement.Comment: 6 page
Amniotic Fluid Ingestion Enhances\ud Opioid-Mediated But Not\ud Nonopioid-Mediated Analgesia
Ingestion of amniotic fluid or placenta by rats has been shown to enhance several types of opioid-mediated analgesia: that induced by morphine, footshock, vaginal/cervical stimulation, and late pregnancy. This enhancement has also been blocked by administration of opioid antagonists. The present study was designed to examine further the specificity of the enhancement effect for opioid-mediated analgesia by testing for enhancement following administration of aspirin, a nonopioid analgesic. The formalin test was used as the pain threshold assay. Amniotic fluid or beef bouillon was administered by orogastric tube to rats that were treated either with morphine sulfate or saline. or pretreated with naltrexone, then treated with aspirin or vehicle. Both morphine and aspirin treatments produced analgesia. Amniotic fluid significantly enhanced the analgesia produced by morphine, but did not enhance the analgesia produced by aspirin, further suggesting that the enhancing effect of amniotic fluid ingestion is specific for opioid-mediated analgesia, such as that existing at the start of parturition
Elliptic Flow, Initial Eccentricity and Elliptic Flow fluctuations in Heavy Ion Collisions at RHIC
We present measurements of elliptic flow and event-by-event fluctuations
established by the PHOBOS experiment. Elliptic flow scaled by participant
eccentricity is found to be similar for both systems when collisions with the
same number of participants or the same particle area density are compared. The
agreement of elliptic flow between Au+Au and Cu+Cu collisions provides evidence
that the matter is created in the initial stage of relativistic heavy ion
collisions with transverse granularity similar to that of the participant
nucleons. The event-by-event fluctuation results reveal that the initial
collision geometry is translated into the final state azimuthal particle
distribution, leading to an event-by-event proportionality between the observed
elliptic flow and initial eccentricity.Comment: To appear in the proceedings of the Lake Louise Winter Institute
2007. The proceedings of the institute will be published by World Scientifi
GAELS Project Final Report: Information environment for engineering
The GAELS project was a collaboration commenced in 1999 between Glasgow University Library and Strathclyde University Library with two main aims:· to develop collaborative information services in support of engineering research at the Universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde· to develop a CAL (computer-aided learning package) package in advanced information skills for engineering research students and staff The project was funded by the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council (SHEFC) from their Strategic Change Initiative funding stream, and funding was awarded initially for one year, with an extension of the grant for a further year. The project ended in June 2001.The funding from SHEFC paid for two research assistants, one based at Glasgow University Library working on collaborative information services and one based at Strathclyde University Library developing courseware. Latterly, after these two research assistants left to take up other posts, there has been a single researcher based at Glasgow University Library.The project was funded to investigate the feasibility of new services to the Engineering Faculties at both Universities, with a view to making recommendations for service provision that can be developed for other subject areas
Simulation tools for future interferometers
For the design and commissioning of the LIGO interferometer, simulation tools have been used explicitly and implicitly. The requirement of the advanced LIGO interferometer is much more demanding than the first generation interferometer. Development of revised simulation tools for future interferometers are underway in the LIGO Laboratory. The outline of those simulation tools and applications are discussed
Saddle Points and Stark Ladders: Exact Calculations of Exciton Spectra in Superlattices
A new, exact method for calculating excitonic absorption in superlattices is
described. It is used to obtain high resolution spectra showing the saddle
point exciton feature near the top of the miniband. The evolution of this
feature is followed through a series of structures with increasing miniband
width. The Stark ladder of peaks produced by an axial electric field is
investigated, and it is shown that for weak fields the line shapes are strongly
modified by coupling to continuum states, taking the form of Fano resonances.
The calculated spectra, when suitably broadened, are found to be in good
agreement with experimental results.Comment: 9 pages Revtex v3.0, followed by 4 uuencoded postscript figures,
SISSA-CM-94-00
Background Independent Algebraic Structures in Closed String Field Theory
We construct a Batalin-Vilkovisky (BV) algebra on moduli spaces of Riemann
surfaces. This algebra is background independent in that it makes no reference
to a state space of a conformal field theory. Conformal theories define a
homomorphism of this algebra to the BV algebra of string functionals. The
construction begins with a graded-commutative free associative algebra \C
built from the vector space whose elements are orientable subspaces of moduli
spaces of punctured Riemann surfaces. The typical element here is a surface
with several connected components. The operation of sewing two
punctures with a full twist is shown to be an odd, second order derivation that
squares to zero. It follows that (\C, \Delta) is a Batalin-Vilkovisky
algebra. We introduce the odd operator , where
is the boundary operator. It is seen that , and that
consistent closed string vertices define a cohomology class of . This
cohomology class is used to construct a Lie algebra on a quotient space of
\C. This Lie algebra gives a manifestly background independent description of
a subalgebra of the closed string gauge algebra.Comment: phyzzx.tex, MIT-CTP-234
Possible Local Spiral Counterparts to Compact Blue Galaxies at Intermediate Redshift
We identify nearby disk galaxies with optical structural parameters similar
to those of intermediate-redshift compact blue galaxies. By comparing HI and
optical emission-line widths, we show that the optical widths substantially
underestimate the true kinematic widths of the local galaxies. By analogy,
optical emission-line widths may underrepresent the masses of intermediate-z
compact objects. For the nearby galaxies, the compact blue morphology is the
result of tidally-triggered central star formation: we argue that interactions
and minor mergers may cause apparently compact morphology at higher redshift.Comment: 5 pages, uses emulateapj5 and psfig. To appear in ApJ
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