Poynting vector, energy density and energy velocity in anomalous dispersion medium

The Poynting vector, energy density and energy velocity of light pulses propagating in anomalous dispersion medium (used in WKD-like experiments) are calculated. Results show that a negative energy density in the medium propagates along opposite of incident direction with such a velocity similar to the negative group velocity while the direction of the Poynting vector is positive. In other words, one might say that a positive energy density in the medium would propagate along the positive direction with a speed having approximately the absolute valueof the group velocity. We further point out that neither energy velocity nor group velocity is a good concept to describe the propagation process of light pulse inside the medium in WKD experiment owing to the strong accumulation and dissipation effects.Comment: 6 page

Inverse Temperature 4-vector in Special Relativity

There exist several prescriptions for identifying the notion of temperature in special relativity. We argue that the inverse temperature 4-vector $\bf \beta$ is the only viable option from the laws of thermodynamics, and $\bf \beta$ is a future-directed timelike 4-vector. Using a superfluidity thought experiment, one can show that $\bf \beta$ is not necessarily along the time direction of the comoving frame of the system, as is usually thought. It is conjectured that, for an isolated system, the 4-vector is determined from the entropy-maximum principle.Comment: 11 pages, revised versio

Collisions of Einstein-Conformal Scalar Waves

A large class of solutions of the Einstein-conformal scalar equations in D=2+1 and D=3+1 is identified. They describe the collisions of asymptotic conformal scalar waves and are generated from Einstein-minimally coupled scalar spacetimes via a (generalized) Bekenstein transformation. Particular emphasis is given to the study of the global properties and the singularity structure of the obtained solutions. It is shown, that in the case of the absence of pure gravitational radiation in the initial data, the formation of the final singularity is not only generic, but is even inevitable.Comment: 17 pages, LaTe

One-step continuous synthesis of biocompatible gold nanorods for optical coherence tomography

We present a novel one-step flow process to synthesize biocompatible gold nanorods with tunable absorption and biocompatible surface ligands. Photothermal optical coherence tomography (OCT) of human breast tissue is successfully demonstrated using tailored gold nanorods designed to have strong absorption in the near-infrared range.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (grant CHE-0714189)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (R01-CA75289-15)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (K99-EB010071-01A1)United States. Air Force Office of Scientific Research (FA9550-10-1-0063)Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG-GSC80-SAOT)Spain. Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (MEC)US-UK Fulbright Commissio

Temperature and entropy of Schwarzschild-de Sitter space-time

In the light of recent interest in quantum gravity in de Sitter space, we investigate semi-classical aspects of 4-dimensional Schwarzschild-de Sitter space-time using the method of complex paths. The standard semi-classical techniques (such as Bogoliubov coefficients and Euclidean field theory) have been useful to study quantum effects in space-times with single horizons; however, none of these approaches seem to work for Schwarzschild-de Sitter or, in general, for space-times with multiple horizons. We extend the method of complex paths to space-times with multiple horizons and obtain the spectrum of particles produced in these space-times. We show that the temperature of radiation in these space-times is proportional to the effective surface gravity -- inverse harmonic sum of surface gravity of each horizon. For the Schwarzschild-de Sitter, we apply the method of complex paths to three different coordinate systems -- spherically symmetric, Painleve and Lemaitre. We show that the equilibrium temperature in Schwarzschild-de Sitter is the harmonic mean of cosmological and event horizon temperatures. We obtain Bogoliubov coefficients for space-times with multiple horizons by analyzing the mode functions of the quantum fields near the horizons. We propose a new definition of entropy for space-times with multiple horizons analogous to the entropic definition for space-times with a single horizon. We define entropy for these space-times to be inversely proportional to the square of the effective surface gravity. We show that this definition of entropy for Schwarzschild-de Sitter satisfies the D-bound conjecture.Comment: Final version; To appear in Phys. Rev. D; 12 pages, 1 figure, RevTex-4; Typos corrected; References adde

Pairing symmetry and properties of iron-based high temperature superconductors

Pairing symmetry is important to indentify the pairing mechanism. The analysis becomes particularly timely and important for the newly discovered iron-based multi-orbital superconductors. From group theory point of view we classified all pairing matrices (in the orbital space) that carry irreducible representations of the system. The quasiparticle gap falls into three categories: full, nodal and gapless. The nodal-gap states show conventional Volovik effect even for on-site pairing. The gapless states are odd in orbital space, have a negative superfluid density and are therefore unstable. In connection to experiments we proposed possible pairing states and implications for the pairing mechanism.Comment: 4 pages, 1 table, 2 figures, polished versio

G1 Cosmologies with Gravitational and Scalar Waves

I present here a new algorithm to generate families of inhomogeneous massless scalar field cosmologies. New spacetimes, having a single isometry, are generated by breaking the homogeneity of massless scalar field $G_2$ models along one direction. As an illustration of the technique I construct cosmological models which in their late time limit represent perturbations in the form of gravitational and scalar waves propagating on a non-static inhomogeneous background. Several features of the obtained metrics are discussed, such as their early and late time limits, structure of singularities and physical interpretation.Comment: 24 pages, 2 figure

Physics at BES-III

This physics book provides detailed discussions on important topics in $\tau$-charm physics that will be explored during the next few years at \bes3 . Both theoretical and experimental issues are covered, including extensive reviews of recent theoretical developments and experimental techniques. Among the subjects covered are: innovations in Partial Wave Analysis (PWA), theoretical and experimental techniques for Dalitz-plot analyses, analysis tools to extract absolute branching fractions and measurements of decay constants, form factors, and CP-violation and \DzDzb-oscillation parameters. Programs of QCD studies and near-threshold tau-lepton physics measurements are also discussed.Comment: Edited by Kuang-Ta Chao and Yi-Fang Wan