Super-energy tensor for space-times with vanishing scalar curvature

A four-index tensor is constructed with terms both quadratic in the Riemann tensor and linear in its second derivatives, which has zero divergence for space-times with vanishing scalar curvature. This tensor reduces in vacuum to the Bel-Robinson tensor. Furthermore, the completely timelike component referred to any observer is positive, and zero if and only if the space-time is flat (excluding some unphysical space-times). We also show that this tensor is the unique that can be constructed with these properties. Such a tensor does not exist for general gravitational fields. Finally, we study this tensor in several examples: the Friedmann-Lema\^{\i}tre-Robertson-Walker space-times filled with radiation, the plane-fronted gravitational waves, and the Vaidya radiating metric.Comment: 13 pages, LaTeX 2.09. To be published in Journal of Mathematical Physic

Effect of the enzymatic inhibitor of Kunitz on the gastric lesions from reserpine, from phenylbutazone, from pyloric ligation and by restraint in the rat

The protective effects of certain polypeptides on gastric ulcerations caused from reserpine and phenylbutazone in the rate were studied. It was found that the Kunitz enzymatic inhibitor exerts a protective action in regard to gastric lesions. However, the inhibitor did not change the development of Shay ulcers and stress ulcers from restraint

Interest of site-specific pollution control policies

Owing to increasing environmental concerns the current trend is to bend technical production systems in order to adapt them to the specific characteristics of the milieu and diversify them. Inherent to such dynamics is the issue of how to design the accompanying environmental policies. Theoretically, spatially targeted environmental policies are considered optimal, since economic agents tune their efforts according to the sensitivity of the milieu where they operate. But, according to empirical analyses, this advantage is undermined by the high cost of implementation, monitoring and enforcement. This paper outlines the conditions required for site-specific policies to be effective at least cost. Our starting point is the nitrate pollution of water from agriculture, which varies according to climate, soil type and agricultural production system. Farm management practices enabling to reduce pollution depend on this variability. An interdisciplinary study of the efficiency of differentiating the way this pollution is regulated was carried out on two sites in France. It focussed on assessing the importance of spatial variability in physical parameters and in private and social costs.NONPOINT POLLUTION; SITE SPECIFIC TECHNOLOGY; SITE SPECIFIC ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY; ABATEMENT COST; TRANSACTION COST

Stochastic Ergodicity Breaking: a Random Walk Approach

The continuous time random walk (CTRW) model exhibits a non-ergodic phase when the average waiting time diverges. Using an analytical approach for the non-biased and the uniformly biased CTRWs, and numerical simulations for the CTRW in a potential field, we obtain the non-ergodic properties of the random walk which show strong deviations from Boltzmann--Gibbs theory. We derive the distribution function of occupation times in a bounded region of space which, in the ergodic phase recovers the Boltzmann--Gibbs theory, while in the non-ergodic phase yields a generalized non-ergodic statistical law.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Why does gravitational radiation produce vorticity?

We calculate the vorticity of world--lines of observers at rest in a Bondi--Sachs frame, produced by gravitational radiation, in a general Sachs metric. We claim that such an effect is related to the super--Poynting vector, in a similar way as the existence of the electromagnetic Poynting vector is related to the vorticity in stationary electrovacum spacetimes.Comment: 9 pages; to appear in Classical and Quantum Gravit

Reference frames and rigid motions in relativity: Applications

The concept of rigid reference frame and of constricted spatial metric, given in the previous work [\emph{Class. Quantum Grav.} {\bf 21}, 3067,(2004)] are here applied to some specific space-times: In particular, the rigid rotating disc with constant angular velocity in Minkowski space-time is analyzed, a new approach to the Ehrenfest paradox is given as well as a new explanation of the Sagnac effect. Finally the anisotropy of the speed of light and its measurable consequences in a reference frame co-moving with the Earth are discussed.Comment: 13 pages, 1 figur

A Random Walk to a Non-Ergodic Equilibrium Concept

Random walk models, such as the trap model, continuous time random walks, and comb models exhibit weak ergodicity breaking, when the average waiting time is infinite. The open question is: what statistical mechanical theory replaces the canonical Boltzmann-Gibbs theory for such systems? In this manuscript a non-ergodic equilibrium concept is investigated, for a continuous time random walk model in a potential field. In particular we show that in the non-ergodic phase the distribution of the occupation time of the particle on a given lattice point, approaches U or W shaped distributions related to the arcsin law. We show that when conditions of detailed balance are applied, these distributions depend on the partition function of the problem, thus establishing a relation between the non-ergodic dynamics and canonical statistical mechanics. In the ergodic phase the distribution function of the occupation times approaches a delta function centered on the value predicted based on standard Boltzmann-Gibbs statistics. Relation of our work with single molecule experiments is briefly discussed.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figure

A local potential for the Weyl tensor in all dimensions

In all dimensions and arbitrary signature, we demonstrate the existence of a new local potential -- a double (2,3)-form -- for the Weyl curvature tensor, and more generally for all tensors with the symmetry properties of the Weyl curvature tensor. The classical four-dimensional Lanczos potential for a Weyl tensor -- a double (2,1)-form -- is proven to be a particular case of the new potential: its double dual.Comment: 7 pages; Late

On the structure of the new electromagnetic conservation laws

New electromagnetic conservation laws have recently been proposed: in the absence of electromagnetic currents, the trace of the Chevreton superenergy tensor, $H_{ab}$ is divergence-free in four-dimensional (a) Einstein spacetimes for test fields, (b) Einstein-Maxwell spacetimes. Subsequently it has been pointed out, in analogy with flat spaces, that for Einstein spacetimes the trace of the Chevreton superenergy tensor $H_{ab}$ can be rearranged in the form of a generalised wave operator $\square_L$ acting on the energy momentum tensor $T_{ab}$ of the test fields, i.e., $H_{ab}=\square_LT_{ab}/2$. In this letter we show, for Einstein-Maxwell spacetimes in the full non-linear theory, that, although, the trace of the Chevreton superenergy tensor $H_{ab}$ can again be rearranged in the form of a generalised wave operator $\square_G$ acting on the electromagnetic energy momentum tensor, in this case the result is also crucially dependent on Einstein's equations; hence we argue that the divergence-free property of the tensor $H_{ab}=\square_GT_{ab}/2$ has significant independent content beyond that of the divergence-free property of $T_{ab}$

Magnetic hyperthermia in single-domain monodisperse FeCo nanoparticles: Evidences for Stoner-Wohlfarth behaviour and large losses

We report on hyperthermia measurements on a colloidal solution of 15 nm monodisperse FeCo nanoparticles (NPs). Losses as a function of the magnetic field display a sharp increase followed by a plateau, which is what is expected for losses of ferromagnetic single-domain NPs. The frequency dependence of the coercive field is deduced from hyperthermia measurement and is in quantitative agreement with a simple model of non-interacting NPs. The measured losses (1.5 mJ/g) compare to the highest of the literature, though the saturation magnetization of the NPs is well below the bulk one.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figure