The spatial damping of magnetohydrodynamic waves in a flowing partially ionised prominence plasma

Solar prominences are partially ionised plasmas displaying flows and oscillations. These oscillations show time and spatial damping and, commonly, have been explained in terms of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves. We study the spatial damping of linear non-adiabatic MHD waves in a flowing partially ionised plasma, having prominence-like physical properties. We consider single fluid equations for a partially ionised hydrogen plasma including in the energy equation optically thin radiation, thermal conduction by electrons and neutrals, and heating. Keeping the frequency real and fixed, we have solved the obtained dispersion relations for the complex wavenumber, k, and have analysed the behaviour of the damping length, wavelength and the ratio of the damping length to the wavelength, versus period, for Alfven, fast, slow and thermal waves.Comment: 28 pages, 9 figure

The statistical significance of the N-S asymmetry of solar activity revisited

The main aim of this study is to point out the difficulties found when trying to assess the statistical significance of the North-South asymmetry (hereafter SSNSA) of the most usually considered time series of solar activity. First of all, we distinguish between solar activity time series composed by integer or non-integer and dimensionless data, or composed by non-integer and dimensional data. For each of these cases, we discuss the most suitable statistical tests which can be applied and highlight the difficulties to obtain valid information about the statistical significance of solar activity time series. Our results suggest that, apart from the need to apply the suitable statistical tests, other effects such as the data binning, the considered units and the need, in some tests, to consider groups of data, affect substantially the determination of the statistical significance of the asymmetry. Our main conclusion is that the assessment of the statistical significance of the N-S asymmetry of solar activity is a difficult matter and that an absolute answer cannot be given, since many different effects influence the results given by the statistical tests. In summary, the quantitative results about the statistical significance of the N-S asymmetry of solar activity provided by different authors, as well as the studies about its behaviour, must be considered with care because they depend from the chosen values of different parameters or from the considered units.Comment: Astronomy and Astrophysics Latex, 9 pages, 4 figure

Relativistic bound states in Yukawa model

The bound state solutions of two fermions interacting by a scalar exchange are obtained in the framework of the explicitly covariant light-front dynamics. The stability with respect to cutoff of the J$^{\pi}$=$0^+$ and J$^{\pi}$=$1^+$ states is studied. The solutions for J$^{\pi}$=$0^+$ are found to be stable for coupling constants $\alpha={g^2\over4\pi}$ below the critical value $\alpha_c\approx 3.72$ and unstable above it. The asymptotic behavior of the wave functions is found to follow a ${1\over k^{2+\beta}}$ law. The coefficient $\beta$ and the critical coupling constant $\alpha_c$ are calculated from an eigenvalue equation. The binding energies for the J$^{\pi}$=$1^+$ solutions diverge logarithmically with the cutoff for any value of the coupling constant. For a wide range of cutoff, the states with different angular momentum projections are weakly split.Comment: 22 pages, 13 figures, .tar.gz fil

A new vibrational level of the H2+_2^+ molecular ion

A new state of the H$_2^+$ molecular ion with binding energy of 1.09$\times10^{-9}$ a.u. below the first dissociation limit is predicted, using highly accurate numerical nonrelativistic quantum calculations. It is the first L=0 excited state, antisymmetric with respect to the exchange of the two protons. It manifests itself as a huge p-H scattering length of $a=750\pm 5$ Bohr radii.Comment: 6 pages + 3 figure

Long-term variation in the Sun's activity caused by magnetic Rossby waves in the tachocline

Long-term records of sunspot number and concentrations of cosmogenic radionuclides (10Be and 14C) on the Earth reveal the variation of the Sun's magnetic activity over hundreds and thousands of years. We identify several clear periods in sunspot, 10Be, and 14C data as 1000, 500, 350, 200 and 100 years. We found that the periods of the first five spherical harmonics of the slow magnetic Rossby mode in the presence of a steady toroidal magnetic field of 1200-1300 G in the lower tachocline are in perfect agreement with the time scales of observed variations. The steady toroidal magnetic field can be generated in the lower tachocline either due to the steady dynamo magnetic field for low magnetic diffusivity or due to the action of the latitudinal differential rotation on the weak poloidal primordial magnetic field, which penetrates from the radiative interior. The slow magnetic Rossby waves lead to variations of the steady toroidal magnetic field in the lower tachocline, which modulate the dynamo magnetic field and consequently the solar cycle strength. This result constitutes a key point for long-term prediction of the cycle strength. According to our model, the next deep minimum in solar activity is expected during the first half of this century.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, accepted in ApJ

Effects of the dexmedetomidine sedation on intraocular pressure and on the central cornea thickness in the dog

Objetivo: Determinar el efecto de la sedación con dexmedetomidina sobre la presión intraocular (PIO) y el espesor central de la córnea (ECC) en perros Material y métodos: Estudio realizado en 10 perros a los que se midió la PIO y ECC basales y tras administración tópica de tropicamida 1%. Seguidamente sedamos con dexmedetomidina 5μg/kg IV y valoramos PIO y ECC a los 5,10, 15 y 20 minutos post-sedación. Los valores medios se compararon mediante la prueba t de Student para muestras pareadas. Resultados: Los valores medios basales de PIO fueron media ± D.E. 10,95 ± 1,70 mmHg; y 571 ± 21,42 μm para el ECC. No existe asociación significativa entre PIO y ECC (r= -0,2399). La midriasis no varió significativamente los valores de PIO (P= 0,3665) pero sí el ECC (P=5,6109x10-6). La sedación con dexmedetomidina no varía significativamente los valores de PIO ni ECC (P>0,05). Conclusiones: La midriasis provocada por tropicamida 1% disminuye significativamente el ECC pero no la PIO. La sedación con dexmedetomidina 5 mg/kg IV no varía significativamente los valores basales de PIO ni del ECC.Objective: to determine the effects of the dexmedetomidine sedation on intraocular pressure (IOP) and on the central corneal thickness (CCT). Material and methods: this study has been performed over 10 dogs treated in the Veterinary Clinical Hospital of Córdoba University. The IOP and the CCT were measured before and after administration of one drop of 1% tropicamide. Thereafter, they were sedated with dexmedetomidine 5 μg/kg IV, and IOP and CCT were evaluated at 5, 10, 15 and 20 minutes after sedation. A t-Student test was performed with paired samples of mean values in order to compare both groups. Results: Basal values of IOP were 10.95 ± 1.70 mmHg, whereas CCT mean values were 571 ± 21.42μm. There were no statistically significant association between IOP and CCT (Pearson correlation r= -0.2399). Mydriasis did not significantly change the values of IOP (P= 0.3665), but did the CCT ones (P= 5.6109x10-6). No statistically significant differences were found between the IOP nor the CCT values before and after sedation with dexmedetomidine (P>0.05). Conclusions: tropicamide-induced mydriasis does not affect IOP value, but it causes a significant decrease of the CCT value. Sedation with 5 g/kg IV dexmedetomidine has not statistically significant effect on IOP or CCT

Antiproton-Hydrogen annihilation at sub-kelvin temperatures

The main properties of the interaction of ultra low-energy antiprotons ($E\le10^{-6}$ a.u.) with atomic hydrogen are established. They include the elastic and inelastic cross sections and Protonium (Pn) formation spectrum. The inverse Auger process ($Pn+e \to H+\bar{p}$) is taken into account in the framework of an unitary coupled-channels model. The annihilation cross-section is found to be several times smaller than the predictions made by the black sphere absorption models. A family of $\bar{p}H$ nearthreshold metastable states is predicited. The dependence of Protonium formation probability on the position of such nearthreshold S-matrix singularities is analysed. An estimation for the $H\bar{H}$ annihilation cross section is obtained.Comment: latex.tar.gz file, 22 pages, 9 figure

The importance of few-nucleon physics at low energy

This manuscript originated from the discussion at the workshop on the "Future of Few-body Low Energy Experimental Physics" (FFLEEP), which was held at the University of Trento on December 4-7, 2002 and has been written in its present form on March 19, 2003. It illustrates a selection of theoretical advancements in the nuclear few-body problem, including two- and many-nucleon interactions, the three-nucleon bound and scattering system, the four-body problem, the A-body (A$>$4) problem, and fields of related interest, such as reactions of astrophysical interest and few-neutron systems. Particular attention is called to the contradictory situation one experiences in this field: while theory is currently advancing and has the potential to inspire new experiments, the experimental activity is nevertheless rapidly phasing out. If such a trend will continue, advancements in this area will become critically difficult.Comment: 29 pages, 21 figures. Manuscript originated from the discussion at the workshop on the "Future of Few-body Low Energy Experimental Physics" (FFLEEP), University of Trento, December 4-7, 2002, written in its present form on March 19, 2003, circulated mainly among the participants to the FFLEEP workshop. Since the authors have been repeatedly solicited to make the manuscript accessible to a larger audience potentially interested in its scientific content, they have decided to post it on this archiv

Synthesis for Polynomial Lasso Programs

We present a method for the synthesis of polynomial lasso programs. These programs consist of a program stem, a set of transitions, and an exit condition, all in the form of algebraic assertions (conjunctions of polynomial equalities). Central to this approach is the discovery of non-linear (algebraic) loop invariants. We extend Sankaranarayanan, Sipma, and Manna's template-based approach and prove a completeness criterion. We perform program synthesis by generating a constraint whose solution is a synthesized program together with a loop invariant that proves the program's correctness. This constraint is non-linear and is passed to an SMT solver. Moreover, we can enforce the termination of the synthesized program with the support of test cases.Comment: Paper at VMCAI'14, including appendi

Limits on the low energy antinucleon-nucleus annihilations from the Heisenberg principle

We show that the quantum uncertainty principle puts some limits on the effectiveness of the antinucleon-nucleus annihilation at very low energies. This is caused by the fact that the realization a very effective short-distance reaction process implies information on the relative distance of the reacting particles. Some quantitative predictions are possible on this ground, including the approximate A-independence of antinucleon-nucleus annihilation rates.Comment: 10 pages, no figure