1,026 research outputs found
Comment on ``Neutrino oscillations in the early universe: how can large lepton asymmetry be generated?"
We comment on the recent paper by A. D. Dolgov, S. H. Hansen, S. Pastor and
D. V. Semikoz (DHPS) [Astropart. Phys. {\bf 14}, 79 (2000)] on the generation
of neutrino asymmetries from active-sterile neutrino oscillations. We
demonstrate that the approximate asymmetry evolution equation obtained therein
is an expansion, up to a minor discrepancy, of the well-established static
approximation equation, valid only when the supposedly new higher order
correction term is small. In the regime where this so-called ``back-reaction''
term is large and artificially terminates the asymmetry growth, their evolution
equation ceases to be a faithful approximation to the Quantum Kinetic Equations
(QKEs) simply because pure Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein (MSW) transitions have
been neglected. At low temperatures the MSW effect is the dominant asymmetry
amplifier. Neither the static nor the DHPS approach contains this important
physics. Therefore we conclude that the DHPS results have sufficient veracity
at the onset of explosive asymmetry generation, but are invalid in the ensuing
low temperature epoch where MSW conversions are able to enhance the asymmetry
to values of order . DHPS do claim to find a significant final
asymmetry for very large values. However, for this regime the
effective potential they employed is not valid.Comment: RevTeX, 32 pages, including 4 embedded figures; this version to
appear in Astropart.Phy
The mixed problem in L^p for some two-dimensional Lipschitz domains
We consider the mixed problem for the Laplace operator in a class of
Lipschitz graph domains in two dimensions with Lipschitz constant at most 1.
The boundary of the domain is decomposed into two disjoint sets D and N. We
suppose the Dirichlet data, f_D has one derivative in L^p(D) of the boundary
and the Neumann data is in L^p(N). We find conditions on the domain and the
sets D and N so that there is a p_0>1 so that for p in the interval (1,p_0), we
may find a unique solution to the mixed problem and the gradient of the
solution lies in L^p
Adhesion-induced phase separation of multiple species of membrane junctions
A theory is presented for the membrane junction separation induced by the
adhesion between two biomimetic membranes that contain two different types of
anchored junctions (receptor/ligand complexes). The analysis shows that several
mechanisms contribute to the membrane junction separation. These mechanisms
include (i) the height difference between type-1 and type-2 junctions is the
main factor which drives the junction separation, (ii) when type-1 and type-2
junctions have different rigidities against stretch and compression, the
``softer'' junctions are the ``favored'' species, and the aggregation of the
softer junction can occur, (iii) the elasticity of the membranes mediates a
non-local interaction between the junctions, (iv) the thermally activated shape
fluctuations of the membranes also contribute to the junction separation by
inducing another non-local interaction between the junctions and renormalizing
the binding energy of the junctions. The combined effect of these mechanisms is
that when junction separation occurs, the system separates into two domains
with different relative and total junction densities.Comment: 23 pages, 6 figure
An efficient method for the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations on irregular domains with no-slip boundary conditions, high order up to the boundary
Common efficient schemes for the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations, such
as projection or fractional step methods, have limited temporal accuracy as a
result of matrix splitting errors, or introduce errors near the domain
boundaries (which destroy uniform convergence to the solution). In this paper
we recast the incompressible (constant density) Navier-Stokes equations (with
the velocity prescribed at the boundary) as an equivalent system, for the
primary variables velocity and pressure. We do this in the usual way away from
the boundaries, by replacing the incompressibility condition on the velocity by
a Poisson equation for the pressure. The key difference from the usual
approaches occurs at the boundaries, where we use boundary conditions that
unequivocally allow the pressure to be recovered from knowledge of the velocity
at any fixed time. This avoids the common difficulty of an, apparently,
over-determined Poisson problem. Since in this alternative formulation the
pressure can be accurately and efficiently recovered from the velocity, the
recast equations are ideal for numerical marching methods. The new system can
be discretized using a variety of methods, in principle to any desired order of
accuracy. In this work we illustrate the approach with a 2-D second order
finite difference scheme on a Cartesian grid, and devise an algorithm to solve
the equations on domains with curved (non-conforming) boundaries, including a
case with a non-trivial topology (a circular obstruction inside the domain).
This algorithm achieves second order accuracy (in L-infinity), for both the
velocity and the pressure. The scheme has a natural extension to 3-D.Comment: 50 pages, 14 figure
Compton scattering beyond the impulse approximation
We treat the non-relativistic Compton scattering process in which an incoming
photon scatters from an N-electron many-body state to yield an outgoing photon
and a recoil electron, without invoking the commonly used frameworks of either
the impulse approximation (IA) or the independent particle model (IPM). An
expression for the associated triple differential scattering cross section is
obtained in terms of Dyson orbitals, which give the overlap amplitudes between
the N-electron initial state and the (N-1) electron singly ionized quantum
states of the target. We show how in the high energy transfer regime, one can
recover from our general formalism the standard IA based formula for the cross
section which involves the ground state electron momentum density (EMD) of the
initial state. Our formalism will permit the analysis and interpretation of
electronic transitions in correlated electron systems via inelastic x-ray
scattering (IXS) spectroscopy beyond the constraints of the IA and the IPM.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figur
A novel determination of the local dark matter density
We present a novel study on the problem of constructing mass models for the
Milky Way, concentrating on features regarding the dark matter halo component.
We have considered a variegated sample of dynamical observables for the Galaxy,
including several results which have appeared recently, and studied a 7- or
8-dimensional parameter space - defining the Galaxy model - by implementing a
Bayesian approach to the parameter estimation based on a Markov Chain Monte
Carlo method. The main result of this analysis is a novel determination of the
local dark matter halo density which, assuming spherical symmetry and either an
Einasto or an NFW density profile is found to be around 0.39 GeV cm with
a 1- error bar of about 7%; more precisely we find a for the Einasto profile and for the NFW. This is in contrast to the
standard assumption that is about 0.3 GeV cm with an
uncertainty of a factor of 2 to 3. A very precise determination of the local
halo density is very important for interpreting direct dark matter detection
experiments. Indeed the results we produced, together with the recent accurate
determination of the local circular velocity, should be very useful to
considerably narrow astrophysical uncertainties on direct dark matter
detection.Comment: 31 pages,11 figures; minor changes in the text; two figures adde
Anthropogenic Space Weather
Anthropogenic effects on the space environment started in the late 19th
century and reached their peak in the 1960s when high-altitude nuclear
explosions were carried out by the USA and the Soviet Union. These explosions
created artificial radiation belts near Earth that resulted in major damages to
several satellites. Another, unexpected impact of the high-altitude nuclear
tests was the electromagnetic pulse (EMP) that can have devastating effects
over a large geographic area (as large as the continental United States). Other
anthropogenic impacts on the space environment include chemical release ex-
periments, high-frequency wave heating of the ionosphere and the interaction of
VLF waves with the radiation belts. This paper reviews the fundamental physical
process behind these phenomena and discusses the observations of their impacts.Comment: 71 pages, 35 figure
Effects of dietary vegetable oil on atlantic salmon hepatocyte fatty acid desaturation and liver fatty acid compositions
Fatty acyl desaturase activities, involved in the conversion of the C18 EFA, 18:2n-6 and 18:3n-3, to the highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFA) 20:4n-6, 20:5n-3 and 22:6n-3, are known to be under nutritional regulation. Specifically, the activity of the desaturation/elongation pathway is depressed when animals, including fish, are fed fish oils rich in n-3HUFA compared to animals fed vegetable oils rich in C18 EFA. The primary aims of the present study were a) to establish the relative importance of product inhibition (n-3HUFA) versus increased substrate concentration (C18 EFA) and, b) to determine whether 18:2n-6 and 18:3n-3 differ in their effects, on the hepatic fatty acyl desaturation/elongation pathway in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). Smolts were fed ten experimental diets containing blends of two vegetable oils, linseed (LO) and rapeseed oil (RO), and fish oil (FO) in a triangular mixture design for 50 weeks. Fish were sampled after 32 and 50 weeks, lipid and fatty acid composition of liver determined, fatty acyl desaturation/elongation activity estimated in hepatocytes using [1-14C]18:3n-3 as substrate, and the data subjected to regression analyses. Dietary 18:2n-6 was positively correlated, and n-3HUFA negatively correlated, with lipid content of liver. Dietary 20:5n-3 and 22:6n-3 were positively correlated with liver fatty acids with a slope greater than unity suggesting relative retention and deposition of these HUFA. In contrast, dietary 18:2n-6 and 18:3n-3 were positively correlated with liver fatty acids with a slope of less than unity suggesting metabolism via β-oxidation and/or desaturation/elongation. Consistent with this, fatty acyl desaturation/elongation in hepatocytes was significantly increased by feeding diets containing vegetable oils. Dietary 20:5n-3 and 22:6n-3 levels were negatively correlated with hepatocyte fatty acyl desaturation. At 32 weeks, 18:2n-6 but not 18:3n-3, was positively correlated with hepatocyte fatty acyl desaturation activity whereas the reverse was true at 50 weeks. The data indicate that both feedback inhibition through increased n-3HUFA and decreased C18 fatty acyl substrate concentration are probably important in determining hepatocyte fatty acyl desaturation activities, and that 18:2n-6 and 18:3n-3 may differ in their effects on this pathway
The Effect of Chemical Information on the Spatial Distribution of Fruit Flies: I Model Results
Animal aggregation is a general phenomenon in ecological systems. Aggregations are generally considered as an evolutionary advantageous state in which members derive the benefits of protection and mate choice, balanced by the costs of limiting resources and competition. In insects, chemical information conveyance plays an important role in finding conspecifics and forming aggregations. In this study, we describe a spatio-temporal simulation model designed to explore and quantify the effects of these infochemicals, i.e., food odors and an aggregation pheromone, on the spatial distribution of a fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) population, where the lower and upper limit of local population size are controlled by an Allee effect and competition. We found that during the spatial expansion and strong growth of the population, the use of infochemicals had a positive effect on population size. The positive effects of reduced mortality at low population numbers outweighed the negative effects of increased mortality due to competition. At low resource densities, attraction toward infochemicals also had a positive effect on population size during recolonization of an area after a local population crash, by decreasing the mortality due to the Allee effect. However, when the whole area was colonized and the population was large, the negative effects of competition on population size were larger than the positive effects of the reduction in mortality due to the Allee effect. The use of infochemicals thus has mainly positive effects on population size and population persistence when the population is small and during the colonization of an area
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