132 research outputs found
Motion-Induced Radiation from a Dynamically Deforming Mirror
A path integral formulation is developed to study the spectrum of radiation
from a perfectly reflecting (conducting) surface. It allows us to study
arbitrary deformations in space and time. The spectrum is calculated to second
order in the height function. For a harmonic traveling wave on the surface, we
find many different regimes in which the radiation is restricted to certain
directions. It is shown that high frequency photons are emitted in a beam with
relatively low angular dispersion whose direction can be controlled by the
mechanical deformations of the plate.Comment: 4 pages, 2 eps figues included, final version as appeared in PR
Dynamical Casimir effect without boundary conditions
The moving-mirror problem is microscopically formulated without invoking the
external boundary conditions. The moving mirrors are described by the quantized
matter field interacting with the photon field, forming dynamical cavity
polaritons: photons in the cavity are dressed by electrons in the moving
mirrors. The effective Hamiltonian for the polariton is derived, and
corrections to the results based on the external boundary conditions are
discussed.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figure
Fatty Acid Methyl Esters as Biosolvents of Epoxy Resins: A Physicochemical Study
The C8 to C18 fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) have been compared as solvents for two epoxy resin pre-polymers, bisphenol A diglycidyl ether (DGEBA) and triglycidyl paminophenol ether (TGPA). It was found that the solubilization limits vary according to the ester and that methyl caprylate is the best solvent of both resins. To explain these solubility performances, physical and chemical properties of FAME were studied, such as the Hansen parameters, viscosity, binary diffusion coefficient and vaporization enthalpy. Determination of the physicochemical parameters of FAME was carried out by laboratory experimentations and by calculation from bibliographic data. The Hansen parameters of FAME and epoxy resins pre-polymers were theoretically and experimentally determined. The FAME chain length showed a long dependence on the binary diffusion parameters and kinematic viscosity, which are mass and momentum transport properties. Moreover, the vaporization enthalpy of these compounds was directly correlated with the solubilization limits
Fluctuations, dissipation and the dynamical Casimir effect
Vacuum fluctuations provide a fundamental source of dissipation for systems
coupled to quantum fields by radiation pressure. In the dynamical Casimir
effect, accelerating neutral bodies in free space give rise to the emission of
real photons while experiencing a damping force which plays the role of a
radiation reaction force. Analog models where non-stationary conditions for the
electromagnetic field simulate the presence of moving plates are currently
under experimental investigation. A dissipative force might also appear in the
case of uniform relative motion between two bodies, thus leading to a new kind
of friction mechanism without mechanical contact. In this paper, we review
recent advances on the dynamical Casimir and non-contact friction effects,
highlighting their common physical origin.Comment: 39 pages, 4 figures. Review paper to appear in Lecture Notes in
Physics, Volume on Casimir Physics, edited by Diego Dalvit, Peter Milonni,
David Roberts, and Felipe da Rosa. Minor changes, a reference adde
Four-fermion heavy quark operators and light current amplitudes in heavy flavor hadrons
We introduce and study the properties of the "color-straight" four-quark
operators containing heavy and light quark fields. They are of the form (\bar
b\Gamma_b b)(\bar q\Gamma_q q) where both brackets are color singlets. Their
expectation values include the bulk of the nonfactorizable contributions to the
nonleptonic decay widths of heavy hadrons. The expectation values of the
color-straight operators in the heavy hadrons are related to the momentum
integrals of the elastic light-quark formfactors of the respective heavy
hadron. We calculate the asymptotic behavior of the light-current formfactors
of heavy hadrons and show that the actual decrease is 1/(q^2)^3/2 rather than
1/q^4. The two-loop hybrid anomalous dimensions of the four-quark operators and
their mixing (absent in the first loop) are obtained. Using plausible models
for the elastic formfactors, we estimate the expectation values of the
color-straight operators in the heavy mesons and baryons. Improved estimates
will be possible in the future with new data on the radiative decays of heavy
hadrons. We give the Wilson coefficients of the four-fermion operators in the
1/m_b expansion of the inclusive widths and discuss the numerical predictions.
Estimates of the nonfactorizable expectation values are given.Comment: 51 pages. The case of flavor-singlet operators is added for the
two-loop anomalous dimension
Migration of chemotactic bacteria in soft agar: role of gel concentration
We study the migration of chemotactic wild-type Escherichia coli populations
in semisolid (soft) agar in the concentration range C = 0.15-0.5% (w/v). For C
< 0.35%, expanding bacterial colonies display characteristic chemotactic rings.
At C = 0.35%, however, bacteria migrate as broad circular bands rather than
sharp rings. These are growth/diffusion waves arising because of suppression of
chemotaxis by the agar and have not been previously reported experimentally to
our knowledge. For C = 0.4-0.5%, expanding colonies do not span the depth of
the agar and develop pronounced front instabilities. The migration front speed
is weakly dependent on agar concentration at C < 0.25%, but decreases sharply
above this value. We discuss these observations in terms of an extended
Keller-Segel model for which we derived novel transport parameter expressions
accounting for perturbations of the chemotactic response by collisions with the
agar. The model makes it possible to fit the observed front speed decay in the
range C = 0.15-0.35%, and its solutions qualitatively reproduce the observed
transition from chemotactic to growth/diffusion bands. We discuss the
implications of our results for the study of bacteria in porous media and for
the design of improved bacteriological chemotaxis assays.Comment: 28 pages, 5 figures. Published online at
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S000634951100721
Toward a Multifaceted Heuristic of Digital Reading to Inform Assessment, Research, Practice, and Policy
In this commentary, the author explores the tension between almost 30 years of work that has embraced increasingly complex conceptions of digital reading and recent studies that risk oversimplifying digital reading as a singular entity analogous with reading text on a screen. The author begins by tracing a line of theoretical and empirical work that both informs and complicates our understanding of digital literacy and, more specifically, digital reading. Then, a heuristic is proposed to systematically organize, label, and define a multifaceted set of increasingly complex terms, concepts, and practices that characterize the spectrum of digital reading experiences. Research that informs this heuristic is used to illustrate how more precision in defining digital reading can promote greater clarity across research methods and advance a more systematic study of promising digital reading practices. Finally, the author discusses implications for assessment, research, practice, and policy
Antioxidant therapeutic advances in COPD
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is associated with a high incidence of morbidity and mortality. Cigarette smoke-induced oxidative stress is intimately associated with the progression and exacerbation of COPD and therefore targeting oxidative stress with antioxidants or boosting the endogenous levels of antioxidants is likely to have beneficial outcome in the treatment of COPD. Among the various antioxidants tried so far, thiol antioxidants and mucolytic agents, such as glutathione, N-acetyl-L-cysteine, N-acystelyn, erdosteine, fudosteine and carbocysteine; Nrf2 activators; and dietary polyphenols (curcumin, resveratrol, and green tea catechins/quercetin) have been reported to increase intracellular thiol status along with induction of GSH biosynthesis. Such an elevation in the thiol status in turn leads to detoxification of free radicals and oxidants as well as inhibition of ongoing inflammatory responses. In addition, specific spin traps, such as α-phenyl-N-tert-butyl nitrone, a catalytic antioxidant (ECSOD mimetic), porphyrins (AEOL 10150 and AEOL 10113), and a SOD mimetic M40419 have also been reported to inhibit cigarette smoke-induced inflammatory responses in vivo in the lung. Since a variety of oxidants, free radicals and aldehydes are implicated in the pathogenesis of COPD, it is possible that therapeutic administration of multiple antioxidants and mucolytics will be effective in management of COPD. However, a successful outcome will critically depend upon the choice of antioxidant therapy for a particular clinical phenotype of COPD, whose pathophysiology should be first properly understood. This article will review the various approaches adopted to enhance lung antioxidant levels, antioxidant therapeutic advances and recent past clinical trials of antioxidant compounds in COPD
The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory
The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory is a second generation water Cherenkov
detector designed to determine whether the currently observed solar neutrino
deficit is a result of neutrino oscillations. The detector is unique in its use
of D2O as a detection medium, permitting it to make a solar model-independent
test of the neutrino oscillation hypothesis by comparison of the charged- and
neutral-current interaction rates. In this paper the physical properties,
construction, and preliminary operation of the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory are
described. Data and predicted operating parameters are provided whenever
possible.Comment: 58 pages, 12 figures, submitted to Nucl. Inst. Meth. Uses elsart and
epsf style files. For additional information about SNO see
http://www.sno.phy.queensu.ca . This version has some new reference
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