8,557 research outputs found
Effect of current corrugations on the stability of the tearing mode
The generation of zonal magnetic fields in laboratory fusion plasmas is
predicted by theoretical and numerical models and was recently observed
experimentally. It is shown that the modification of the current density
gradient associated with such corrugations can significantly affect the
stability of the tearing mode. A simple scaling law is derived that predicts
the impact of small stationary current corrugations on the stability parameter
. The described destabilization mechanism can provide an explanation
for the trigger of the Neoclassical Tearing Mode (NTM) in plasmas without
significant MHD activity.Comment: Accepted to Physics of Plasma
Lepton number violating interactions and their effects on neutrino oscillation experiments
Mixing between bosons that transform differently under the standard model
gauge group, but identically under its unbroken subgroup, can induce
interactions that violate the total lepton number. We discuss four-fermion
operators that mediate lepton number violating neutrino interactions both in a
model-independent framework and within supersymmetry (SUSY) without R-parity.
The effective couplings of such operators are constrained by: i) the upper
bounds on the relevant elementary couplings between the bosons and the
fermions, ii) by the limit on universality violation in pion decays, iii) by
the data on neutrinoless double beta decay and, iv) by loop-induced neutrino
masses. We find that the present bounds imply that lepton number violating
neutrino interactions are not relevant for the solar and atmospheric neutrino
problems. Within SUSY without R-parity also the LSND anomaly cannot be
explained by such interactions, but one cannot rule out an effect
model-independently. Possible consequences for future terrestrial neutrino
oscillation experiments and for neutrinos from a supernova are discussed.Comment: 28 pages, 2 figures, Late
The Physical Role of Gravitational and Gauge Degrees of Freedom in General Relativity - II: Dirac versus Bergmann observables and the Objectivity of Space-Time
(abridged)The achievements of the present work include: a) A clarification of
the multiple definition given by Bergmann of the concept of {\it (Bergmann)
observable. This clarification leads to the proposal of a {\it main conjecture}
asserting the existence of i) special Dirac's observables which are also
Bergmann's observables, ii) gauge variables that are coordinate independent
(namely they behave like the tetradic scalar fields of the Newman-Penrose
formalism). b) The analysis of the so-called {\it Hole} phenomenology in strict
connection with the Hamiltonian treatment of the initial value problem in
metric gravity for the class of Christoudoulou -Klainermann space-times, in
which the temporal evolution is ruled by the {\it weak} ADM energy. It is
crucial the re-interpretation of {\it active} diffeomorphisms as {\it passive
and metric-dependent} dynamical symmetries of Einstein's equations, a
re-interpretation which enables to disclose their (nearly unknown) connection
to gauge transformations on-shell; this is expounded in the first paper
(gr-qc/0403081). The use of the Bergmann-Komar {\it intrinsic
pseudo-coordinates} allows to construct a {\it physical atlas} of 4-coordinate
systems for the 4-dimensional {\it mathematical} manifold, in terms of the
highly non-local degrees of freedom of the gravitational field (its four
independent {\it Dirac observables}), and to realize the {\it physical
individuation} of the points of space-time as {\it point-events} as a
gauge-fixing problem, also associating a non-commutative structure to each
4-coordinate system.Comment: 41 pages, Revtex
Cosmic String in Scalar-Tensor Gravity
The gravitational properties of a local cosmic string in the framework of
scalar-tensor gravity are examined. We find the metric in the weak-field
approximation and we show that, contrary to the General Relativity case, the
cosmic string in scalar-tensor gravitation exerces a force on non-relativistic,
neutral test particle. This force is proportional to the derivative of the
conformal factor and it is always attractive. Moreover, this
force could have played an important role at the Early Universe, although
nowadays it can be neglegible. It is also shown that the angular separation
remains unaltered for scalar-tensor cosmic strings.Comment: 15 pages, LATEX, no figure
Cosmic String Wakes in Scalar-Tensor Gravities
The formation and evolution of cosmic string wakes in the framework of a
scalar-tensor gravity are investigated in this work. We consider a simple model
in which cold dark matter flows past an ordinary string and we treat this
motion in the Zel'dovich approximation. We make a comaprison between our
results and previous results obtained in the context of General Relativity. We
propose a mechanism in which the contribution of the scalar field to the
evolution of the wakes may lead to a cosmological observation.Comment: Replaced version to be published in the Classical and Quantum Gravit
A New Superwind Wolf-Rayet Galaxy Mrk 1259
We report the discovery of a starburst-driven wind (superwind) from the
starburst nucleus galaxy Mrk 1259. The estimated number ratio of Wolf-Rayet
(WR) to O stars amounts to ~0.09. While the nuclear emission-line region is due
to usual photoionization by massive stars, the circumnuclear emission-line
regions show anomalous line ratios that can be due to cooling shocks. Since the
host galaxy seems to be a face-on disk galaxy and the excitation conditions of
the circumnuclear emission-line regions show the spatial symmetry, we consider
that we are seeing the superwind nearly from a pole-on view. Cooling shock
models may explain the observed emission line ratios of the circumnuclear
regions although a factor of 2 overabundance of nitrogen is necessary. All
these suggest that the high-mass enhanced starburst occurred ~5X10^6 years ago
in the nuclear region of Mrk 1259.Comment: To be published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, 15 pages, 4
figure
Molecular heat pump for rotational states
In this work we investigate the theory for three different uni-directional
population transfer schemes in trapped multilevel systems which can be utilized
to cool molecular ions. The approach we use exploits the laser-induced coupling
between the internal and motional degrees of freedom so that the internal state
of a molecule can be mapped onto the motion of that molecule in an external
trapping potential. By sympathetically cooling the translational motion back
into its ground state the mapping process can be employed as part of a cooling
scheme for molecular rotational levels. This step is achieved through a common
mode involving a laser-cooled atom trapped alongside the molecule. For the
coherent mapping we will focus on adiabatic passage techniques which may be
expected to provide robust and efficient population transfers. By applying
far-detuned chirped adiabatic rapid passage pulses we are able to achieve an
efficiency of better than 98% for realistic parameters and including
spontaneous emission. Even though our main focus is on cooling molecular
states, the analysis of the different adiabatic methods has general features
which can be applied to atomic systems
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