6,174 research outputs found
One hundred angstrom niobium wire
Composite of fine niobium wires in copper is used to study the size and proximity effects of a superconductor in a normal matrix. The niobium rod was drawn to a 100 angstrom diameter wire on a copper tubing
Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking in General Relativity. Vector Order Parameter
Gravitational properties of a hedge-hog type topological defect in two extra
dimensions are considered in General Relativity employing a vector as the order
parameter. All previous considerations were done using the order parameter in
the form of a multiplet in a target space of scalar fields. The difference of
these two approaches is analyzed and demonstrated in detail. Regular solutions
of the Einstein equations are studied analytically and numerically. It is shown
that the existence of a negative cosmological constant is sufficient for the
spontaneous symmetry breaking of the initially plain bulk. Regular
configurations have a growing gravitational potential and are able to trap the
matter on the brane. If the energy of spontaneous symmetry breaking is high,
the gravitational potential has several points of minimum. Identical in the
uniform bulk spin-less particles, being trapped within separate minima, acquire
different masses and appear to the observer on brane as different particles
with integer spins.Comment: 23 pages, 6 figure
Black Holes and Black String-like Solutions in Codimension-2 Braneworlds
We discuss black hole solutions with a Gauss-Bonnet term in the bulk and an
induced gravity term on a thin brane of codimension-2. We show that these black
holes can be localized on the brane, and they can be extended further into the
bulk by a warp function. These solutions have regular horizons and no other
curvature singularities appear apart from the string-like ones. The projection
of the Gauss-Bonnet term on the brane imposes a constraint relation which
dictates the form of matter on the brane and in the bulk.Comment: 9 pages, no figures, plenary talk given at the 7th Friedmann
International Seminar on Gravitation and Cosmology, 29 June-5 July 2008, Joao
Pessoa, Brazil, to appear in the proceeding
Bounding the dimensions of rational cohomology groups
Let be an algebraically closed field of characteristic , and let
be a simple simply-connected algebraic group over that is defined and
split over the prime field . In this paper we investigate
situations where the dimension of a rational cohomology group for can be
bounded by a constant times the dimension of the coefficient module. We then
demonstrate how our results can be applied to obtain effective bounds on the
first cohomology of the symmetric group. We also show how, for finite Chevalley
groups, our methods permit significant improvements over previous estimates for
the dimensions of second cohomology groups.Comment: 13 page
The protein import apparatus of chloroplasts
Routing of cytosolically synthesized precursor proteins into chloroplasts is a specific process which involves a multitude of soluble and membrane components. In this review we wil1 focus on early events of the translocation pathway of nuclear coded plastidic precursor proteins and compare import routes for polypeptide of the outer chloroplast envelope to that of internal chloroplast compartments. A number of proteins housed in the chloroplast envelopes have been implied to be involved in the translocation process, but so far a certain function has not been assigned to any of these proteins. The only exception could be an envelope localized hsc 70 homologue which could retain the import competence of a precursor protein in transit into the organelle
Status of Electroweak Phase Transition and Baryogenesis
I review recent progress on the electroweak phase transition and
baryogenesis, focusing on the minimal supersymmetric standard model as the
source of new physics.Comment: 10 pp, 6 figures; plenary talk given at 6th Workshop on High Energy
Physics Phenomenology, 4 Jan. 2000, Chennai, India. v.2: added reference
Kaluza-Klein relics from warped reheating
It has been suggested that after brane-antibrane inflation in a
Klebanov-Strassler (KS) warped throat, metastable Kaluza-Klein (KK) excitations
can be formed due to nearly-conserved angular momenta along isometric
directions in the throat. If sufficiently long-lived, these relics could
conflict with big bang nucleosynthesis or baryogenesis by dominating the energy
density of the universe. We make a detailed estimate of the decay rate of such
relics using the low energy effective action of type IIB string theory
compactified on the throat geometry, with attention to powers of the warp
factor. We find that it is necessary to turn on SUSY-breaking deformations of
the KS background in order to ensure that the most dangerous relics will decay
fast enough. The decay rate is found to be much larger than the naive guess
based on the dimension of the operators which break the angular isometries of
the throat. For an inflationary warp factor of order , we obtain
the bound M_{3/2} \gsim 10^9 GeV on the scale of SUSY breaking to avoid
cosmological problems from the relics, which is satisfied in the KKLT
construction assumed to stabilize the compactification. Given the requirement
that the relics decay before nucleosynthesis or baryogenesis, we place bounds
on the mass of the relic as a function of the warp factor in the throat for
more general warped backgrounds.Comment: 30 pages, 7 figures. Added analysis and discussions to address the
referees concerns: explored the effects of different IR boundary conditions,
clarified the role of the simplified toy model, discussed the dominant
SUSY-preserving decay route (but still conclude the SUSY-breaking one is
faster). All original conclusions still hol
Shock Deformation in Zircon, a Comparison of Results from Shock-Reverberation and Single-Shock Experiments
The utility of the mineral zircon, ZrSiO4, as a shock-metamorphic geobarometer and geochronometer, has been steadily growing within the planetary science community. Zircon is an accessory phase found in many terrestrial rock types, lunar samples, lunar meteorites, martian meteorites and various other achondrites. Because zircon is refractory and has a high closure temperature for Pb diffusion, it has been used to determine the ages of some of the oldest material on Earth and elsewhere in the Solar System. Furthermore, major (O) and trace-element (REE, Ti, Hf) abundances and isotope compositions of zircon help characterize the petrogenetic environments and sources from which they crystallized. The response of zircon to impact-induced shock deformation is predominantly crystallographic, including dislocation creep and the formation of planar and sub-planar, low-angle grain boundaries; the formation of mechanical {112} twins; transformation to the high pressure polymorph reidite; the development of polycrystalline microtextures; and dissociation to the oxide constituents SiO2 and ZrO2. Shock microstructures can also variably affect the U- Pb isotope systematics of zircon and, in some instances, be used to constrain the impact age. While numerous studies have characterized shock deformation in zircon recovered from a variety of terrestrial impact craters and ejecta deposits and Apollo samples, experimental studies of shock deformation in zircon are limited to a handful of examples in the literature. In addition, the formation conditions (e.g., P, T) of various shock microstructures, such as planar-deformation bands, twins, and reidite lamellae, remain poorly con-strained. Furthermore, previous shocked-zircon experimental charges have not been analyzed using modern analytical equipment. This study will therefore under-take an new set of zircon shock experiments, which will then be microstructurally characterized using state-of-the-art instrumentation within the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Division (ARES), NASA Johnson Space Center
Protecting the Primordial Baryon Asymmetry From Erasure by Sphalerons
If the baryon asymmetry of the universe was created at the GUT scale,
sphalerons together with exotic sources of -violation could have erased
it, unless the latter satisfy stringent bounds. We elaborate on how the small
Yukawa coupling of the electron drastically weakens previous estimates of these
bounds.Comment: 41 pp., 4 latex figures included and 3 uuencoded or postscript
figures available by request, UMN-TH-1213-9
Sun-Earth Day - Teaching Heliophysics Through Education Technology
Sun-Earth Day (SED) is an Education and Outreach program supported by the U.S, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The intent of the program is to teach students and the general public about Heliophysics (the science of the study of the Sun, how it varies, and how solar dynamics affect the rest of the solar system, especially the Earth). The program was begun ten years ago. Each year since that time a particular day has been designated as "Sun-Earth Day ,,. Usually the day of the spring equinox (March 20 or 21) is Sun-Earth Day, but other days have been used as well. Each year a theme is chosen relating to Heliophysics and events reflecting that theme are planned not only for Sun-Earth Day, but for the entire year. From the very beginning educational technology was emphasized in the events in order to effectively reach wide audiences with the SED message. The main approach has been to have a "webcast" related to each year's theme, often from a location that supports the theme as well. For example, a webcast took place from the Mayan pyramids at Chichen Itza, Mexico to highlight the theme of "Ancient Observatories, Timeless Knowledge". Webcasts were not the only technology employed, however. Many of the themes centered on the dynamic nature of the Sun and the effects that solar storms can have on interplanetary space and in our day-to-day life on Earth. Activities for tracking when solar storms happen and how they affect the Earth were developed and brought together in an educational package called Space Weather Action Centers. This project is explained in more detail in another presentation in this session being given by Norma Teresinha Oliveira Reis. Recent Sun-Earth Days have utilized "social networking" technologies to reach widespread groups on the internet. Podcasts, Vodcasts, Facebook, Twitter, and Second Life are the types of network technologies being employed now. The NASA Distance learning Network is another method for bringing Sun-Earth Day events and training to widespread educators and classrooms in order to magnify the reach of Sun-Earth Day. Examples of the technologies will be shown along with an assessment of their effectiveness
- …