2,178 research outputs found
Oxygen surface exchange kinetics of erbia-stabilized bismuth oxide
The surface oxygen exchange kinetics of bismuth\ud
oxide stabilized with 25 mol% erbia (BE25) has been studied\ud
in the temperature and pO2 ranges 773–1,023 K and 0.1–\ud
0.95 atm, respectively, using pulse-response 18O–16O isotope\ud
exchange measurements. The results indicate that BE25\ud
exhibits a comparatively high exchange rate, which is rate\ud
determined by the dissociative adsorption of oxygen. Defect\ud
chemical considerations and the observed pO2\ud
1=2 dependence\ud
of the rate of dissociative oxygen adsorption suggest\ud
electron transfer to intermediate superoxide ions as the rate\ud
determining step in surface oxygen exchange on BE2
Failure of Gauge Invariance in the Nonperturbative Formulation of Massless Lorentz-Violating QED
We consider a Lorentz-violating modification to the fermionic Lagrangian of
QED that is known to produce a finite Chern-Simons term at leading order. We
compute the second order correction to the one-loop photon self-energy in the
massless case using an exact propagator and a nonperturbative formulation of
the theory. This nonperturbative theory assigns a definite value to the
coefficient of the induced Chern-Simons term; however, we find that the theory
fails to preserve gauge invariance at higher orders. We conclude that the
specific nonperturbative value of the Chern-Simons coefficient has no special
significance.Comment: 8 pages, very minor change
Chern-Simons like term generation in an extended model of QED under external conditions
The possibility of a Chern-Simons like term generation in an extended model
of QED, in which a Lorentz and CPT non-covariant interaction term for fermions
is present, has been investigated at finite temperature and in the presence of
a background color magnetic field. To this end, the photon polarization
operator in an external constant axial-vector field has been considered.
One-loop contributions to its antisymmetric component due to fermions in the
linear order of the axial-vector field have been obtained. Moreover, the first
nontrivial correction to the induced CS term due to the presence of a weak
constant homogeneous color magnetic field has been derived.Comment: RevTex, 10 pages with 3 figure
Supergauge interactions and electroweak baryogenesis
We present a complete treatment of the diffusion processes for supersymmetric
electroweak baryogenesis that characterizes transport dynamics ahead of the
phase transition bubble wall within the symmetric phase. In particular, we
generalize existing approaches to distinguish between chemical potentials of
particles and their superpartners. This allows us to test the assumption of
superequilibrium (equal chemical potentials for particles and sparticles) that
has usually been made in earlier studies. We show that in the Minimal
Supersymmetric Standard Model, superequilibrium is generically maintained --
even in the absence of fast supergauge interactions -- due to the presence of
Yukawa interactions. We provide both analytic arguments as well as illustrative
numerical examples. We also extend the latter to regions where analytical
approximations are not available since down-type Yukawa couplings or supergauge
interactions only incompletely equilibrate. We further comment on cases of
broken superequilibrium wherein a heavy superpartner decouples from the
electroweak plasma, causing a kinematic bottleneck in the chain of
equilibrating reactions. Such situations may be relevant for baryogenesis
within extensions of the MSSM. We also provide a compendium of inputs required
to characterize the symmetric phase transport dynamics.Comment: 49 pages, 9 figure
Auxiliary Fields for Super Yang-Mills from Division Algebras
Division algebras are used to explain the existence and symmetries of various
sets of auxiliary fields for super Yang-Mills in dimensions .
(Contribution to G\"ursey Memorial Conference I: Strings and Symmetries)Comment: 7 pages, plain TeX, CERN-TH.7470/9
Dilaton-Axion hair for slowly rotating Kerr black holes
Campbell et al. demonstrated the existence of axion ``hair'' for Kerr black
holes due to the non-trivial Lorentz Chern-Simons term and calculated it
explicitly for the case of slow rotation. Here we consider the dilaton coupling
to the axion field strength, consistent with low energy string theory and
calculate the dilaton ``hair'' arising from this specific axion source.Comment: 13 pages + 1 fi
Magnetic Fields at First Order Phase Transition: A Threat to Electroweak Baryogenesis
The generation of the observed baryon asymmetry may have taken place during
the electroweak phase transition, thus involving physics testable at LHC, a
scenario dubbed electroweak baryogenesis. In this paper we point out that the
magnetic field which is produced in the bubbles of a first order phase
transition endangers the baryon asymmetry produced in the bubble walls. The
reason being that the produced magnetic field couples to the sphaleron magnetic
moment and lowers the sphaleron energy; this strengthens the sphaleron
transitions inside the bubbles and triggers a more effective wash out of the
baryon asymmetry. We apply this scenario to the Minimal Supersymmetric
extension of the Standard Model (MSSM) where, in the absence of a magnetic
field, successful electroweak baryogenesis requires the lightest CP-even Higgs
and the right-handed stop masses to be lighter than about 127 GeV and 120 GeV,
respectively. We show that even for moderate values of the magnetic field, the
Higgs mass required to preserve the baryon asymmetry is below the present
experimental bound. As a consequence electroweak baryogenesis within the MSSM
should be confronted on the one hand to future measurements at the LHC on the
Higgs and the right-handed stop masses, and on the other hand to more precise
calculations of the magnetic field produced at the electroweak phase
transition.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figures. Minor corrections and references added to match
published versio
Finite Size and Current Effects on IV Characteristics of Josephson Junction Arrays
The effects of finite size and of finite current on the current-voltage
characteristics of Josephson junction arrays is studied both theoretically and
by numerical simulations. The cross-over from non-linear to linear behavior at
low temperature is shown to be a finite size effect and the non-linear behavior
at higher temperature, , is shown to be a finite current effect.
These are argued to result from competition between the three length scales
characterizing the system. The importance of boundary effects is discussed and
it is shown that these may dominate the behavior in small arrays.Comment: 5 pages, figures included, to appear in PR
A Way to Reopen the Window for Electroweak Baryogenesis
We reanalyse the sphaleron bound of electroweak baryogenesis when allowing
deviations to the Friedmann equation. These modifications are well motivated in
the context of brane cosmology where they appear without being in conflict with
major experimental constraints on four-dimensional gravity. While suppressed at
the time of nucleosynthesis, these corrections can dominate at the time of the
electroweak phase transition and in certain cases provide the amount of
expansion needed to freeze out the baryon asymmetry without requiring a
strongly first order phase transition. The sphaleron bound is substantially
weakened and can even disappear so that the constraints on the higgs and stop
masses do not apply anymore. Such modification of cosmology at early times
therefore reopens the parameter space allowing electroweak baryogenesis which
had been reduced substantially given the new bound on the higgs mass imposed by
LEP. In contrast with previous attempts to turn around the sphaleron bound
using alternative cosmologies, we are still considering that the electroweak
phase transition takes place in a radiation dominated universe. The universe is
expanding fast because of the modification of the Friedmann equation itself
without the need for a scalar field and therefore evading the problem of the
decay of this scalar field after the completion of the phase transition and the
risk that its release of entropy dilutes the baryon asymmetry produced at the
transition.Comment: 19 pages, 3 figures; v2: minor changes, remark added at end of
section 5 and in caption of figure 1; v3: references added, version to be
publishe
Dengue fever mimicking acute appendicitis: A case report
AbstractINTRODUCTIONDengue fever is an acute viral disease, which usually presents as a mild febrile illness. Patients with severe disease present with dengue haemorrhagic fever or dengue toxic shock syndrome. Rarely, it presents with abdominal symptoms mimicking acute appendicitis. We present a case of a male patient presenting with right iliac fossa pain and suspected acute appendicitis that was later diagnosed with dengue fever following a negative appendicectomy.PRESENTATION OF CASEA 13-year old male patient presented with fever, localized right-sided abdominal pain and vomiting. Abdominal ultrasound was not helpful and appendicectomy was performed due to worsening abdominal signs and an elevated temperature. A normal appendix with enlarged mesenteric nodes was found at surgery. Complete blood count showed thrombocytopenia with leucopenia. Dengue fever was now suspected and confirmed by IgM enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay against dengue virus.DISCUSSIONThis unusual presentation of dengue fever mimicking acute appendicitis should be suspected during viral outbreaks and in patients with atypical symptoms and cytopenias on blood evaluation in order to prevent unnecessary surgery.CONCLUSIONThis case highlights the occurrence of abdominal symptoms and complications that may accompany dengue fever. Early recognition of dengue fever mimicking acute appendicitis will avoid non-therapeutic operation and the diagnosis may be aided by blood investigations indicating a leucopenia, which is uncommon in patients with suppurative acute appendicitis
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