19,797 research outputs found
Protention and retention in biological systems
This paper proposes an abstract mathematical frame for describing some
features of cognitive and biological time. We focus here on the so called
"extended present" as a result of protentional and retentional activities
(memory and anticipation). Memory, as retention, is treated in some physical
theories (relaxation phenomena, which will inspire our approach), while
protention (or anticipation) seems outside the scope of physics. We then
suggest a simple functional representation of biological protention. This
allows us to introduce the abstract notion of "biological inertia".Comment: This paper was made possible only as part of an extended
collaboration with Francis Bailly (see references), a dear friend and
"ma\^itre \'a penser", who contributed to the key ideas. Francis passed away
in february 2008: we continue here our inspiring discussions and joint wor
Derivation of the Lorentz Force Law, the Magnetic Field Concept and the Faraday-Lenz Law using an Invariant Formulation of the Lorentz Transformation
It is demonstrated how the right hand sides of the Lorentz Transformation
equations may be written, in a Lorentz invariant manner, as 4--vector scalar
products. This implies the existence of invariant length intervals analogous to
invariant proper time intervals. This formalism, making essential use of the
4-vector electromagnetic potential concept, provides a short derivation of the
Lorentz force law of classical electrodynamics, the conventional definition of
the magnetic field, in terms of spatial derivatives of the 4--vector potential
and the Faraday-Lenz Law. An important distinction between the physical
meanings of the space-time and energy-momentum 4--vectors is pointed out.Comment: 15 pages, no tables 1 figure. Revised and extended version of
physics/0307133 Some typos removed and minor text improvements in this
versio
On the Application of Gluon to Heavy Quarkonium Fragmentation Functions
We analyze the uncertainties induced by different definitions of the momentum
fraction in the application of gluon to heavy quarkonium fragmentation
function. We numerically calculate the initial fragmentation
functions by using the non-covariant definitions of with finite gluon
momentum and find that these fragmentation functions have strong dependence on
the gluon momentum . As , these fragmentation
functions approach to the fragmentation function in the light-cone definition.
Our numerical results show that large uncertainties remains while the
non-covariant definitions of are employed in the application of the
fragmentation functions. We present for the first time the polarized gluon to
fragmentation functions, which are fitted by the scheme exploited in
this work.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures;added reference for sec.
Enhancing the heavy Higgs signal with jet-jet profile cuts
The jet-jet profile, or detailed manner, in which transverse energy and mass
are distributed around the jet-jet system resulting from the hadronic decay of
a boson in the process Higgs at a proton-proton collider energy of
40\tev is carefully examined. Two observables are defined that can be used to
help distinguish the -jet-jet signal from Higgs decay from the
``ordinary'' QCD background arising from the large transverse momentum
production of single bosons plus the associated jets. By making cuts on
these observables, signal to background enhancement factors greater than
can be obtained.Comment: 16 pages, Univ. Florida IFT-93-
Multiscale characterization of DP980 steels for automotive applications
Development has been organized as a ÒpipelineÓ that links the separate disciplinary efforts of groups housed in seven institutions spread across the United States. The main research steps are: high resolution three-dimensional (3D) imaging of the microstructure, statistical characterization of the microstructure, formulation of a probabilistic generator for creating virtual specimens that replicate the measured statistics, creation of a computational model for a virtual specimen that allows general representation of discrete damage events, calibration of the model using room and high temperature tests, simulation of failure, and model validation. Key new experiments include digital surface image correlation and ¼-m resolution 3D computed tomography imaging of the microstructure and evolving damage, both executed at temperatures exceeding 1500°C. Conceptual advances include using both geometry and topology to characterize stochastic microstructures. Computational methods include new probabilistic algorithms for generating stochastic virtual specimens and a new Augmented Finite Element Method that yields extreme efficiency in dealing with arbitrary cracking in heterogeneous materials. The challenge of relating variance in engineering properties to stochastic microstructure in a computationally tractable manner, while retaining necessary physical details in models, will be discussed
Near-Infrared Spectroscopy of Molecular Hydrogen Emission in Four Reflection Nebulae: NGC 1333, NGC 2023, NGC 2068, and NGC 7023
We present near-infrared spectroscopy of fluorescent molecular hydrogen (H_2)
emission from NGC 1333, NGC 2023, NGC 2068, and NGC 7023 and derive the
physical properties of the molecular material in these reflection nebulae. Our
observations of NGC 2023 and NGC 7023 and the physical parameters we derive for
these nebulae are in good agreement with previous studies. Both NGC 1333 and
NGC 2068 have no previously-published analysis of near-infrared spectra. Our
study reveals that the rotational-vibrational states of molecular hydrogen in
NGC 1333 are populated quite differently from NGC 2023 and NGC 7023. We
determine that the relatively weak UV field illuminating NGC 1333 is the
primary cause of the difference. Further, we find that the density of the
emitting material in NGC 1333 is of much lower density, with n ~ 10^2 - 10^4
cm^-3. NGC 2068 has molecular hydrogen line ratios more similar to those of NGC
7023 and NGC 2023. Our model fits to this nebula show that the bright,
H_2-emitting material may have a density as high as n ~ 10^5 cm^-3, similar to
what we find for NGC 2023 and NGC 7023. Our spectra of NGC 2023 and NGC 7023
show significant changes in both the near-infrared continuum and H_2 intensity
along the slit and offsets between the peaks of the H_2 and continuum emission.
We find that these brightness changes may correspond to real changes in the
density and temperatures of the emitting region, although uncertainties in the
total column of emitting material along a given line of sight complicates the
interpretation. The spatial difference in the peak of the H_2 and near-infrared
continuum peaks in NGC 2023 and NGC 7023 shows that the near-infrared continuum
is due to a material which can survive closer to the star than H_2 can.Comment: Submitted for publication in ApJ. 34 pages including 12 embedded
postscript figures. Also available at
http://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~martini/pub
The Sources of b-Quarks at the Tevatron and their Correlations
The leading-log order QCD hard scattering Monte-Carlo models of HERWIG,
ISAJET, and PYTHIA are used to study the sources of b-quarks at the Tevatron.
The reactions responsible for producing b and bbar quarks are separated into
three categories; flavor creation, flavor excitation, and
parton-shower/fragmentation. Flavor creation corresponds to the production of a
b-bbar pair by gluon fusion or by annihilation of light quarks, while flavor
excitation corresponds to a b or bbar quark being knocked out of the
initial-state by a gluon or a light quark or antiquark. The third source occurs
when a b-bbar pair is produced within a parton shower or during the
fragmentation process of a gluon or a light quark or antiquark (includes gluon
splitting). The QCD Monte-Carlo models indicate that all three sources of
b-quarks are important at the Tevatron and when combined they qualitatively
describe the inclusive cross-section data. Correlations between the b and bbar
quark are very different for the three sources and can be used to isolate the
individual contributions.Comment: RevTex4, 14 pages, 20 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Exposure to atmospheric radon.
We measured radon (222Rn) concentrations in Iowa and Minnesota and found that unusually high annual average radon concentrations occur outdoors in portions of central North America. In some areas, outdoor concentrations exceed the national average indoor radon concentration. The general spatial patterns of outdoor radon and indoor radon are similar to the spatial distribution of radon progeny in the soil. Outdoor radon exposure in this region can be a substantial fraction of an individual's total radon exposure and is highly variable across the population. Estimated lifetime effective dose equivalents for the women participants in a radon-related lung cancer study varied by a factor of two at the median dose, 8 mSv, and ranged up to 60 mSv (6 rem). Failure to include these doses can reduce the statistical power of epidemiologic studies that examine the lung cancer risk associated with residential radon exposure
Thermal Charm Production in Quark-Gluon Plasma at LHC
Charm production from the quark-gluon plasma created in the midrapidity of
central heavy ion collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is studied in
the next-to-leading order in QCD. Using a schematic longitudinally
boost-invariant and transversally expanding fire-cylinder model, we find that
charm production could be appreciably enhanced at LHC as a result of the high
temperature that is expected to be reached in the produced quark-gluon plasma.
Sensitivities of our results to the number of charm quark pairs produced from
initial hard scattering, the initial thermalization time and temperature of the
quark-gluon plasma, and the charm quark mass are also studied.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures; adding a figure and relevant discussion on the
sensitivity of our results to the number of charm quark pairs produced from
initial hard scattering. Version accepted for publication in PR
Probing Turbulence with Infrared Observations in OMC1
A statistical analysis is presented of the turbulent velocity structure in
the Orion Molecular Cloud at scales ranging from 70 AU to 30000 AU. Results are
based on IR Fabry-Perot interferometric observations of shock and
photon-excited H2 in the K-band S(1) v=1-0 line at 2.121micron and refer to the
dynamical characteristics of warm perturbed gas. Observations establish that
the Larson size-linewidth relation is obeyed to the smallest scales studied
here extending the range of validity of this relationship by nearly 2 orders of
magnitude. The velocity probability distribution function (PDF) is constructed
showing extended exponential wings, providing evidence of intermittency,
further supported by the skewness and kurtosis of the velocity distribution.
Variance and kurtosis of the PDF of velocity differences are constructed as a
function of lag. The variance shows an approximate power law dependence on lag,
with exponent significantly lower than the Kolmogorov value, and with
deviations below 2000AU which are attributed to outflows and possibly disk
structures associated with low mass star formation within OMC1. The kurtosis
shows strong deviation from a gaussian velocity field, providing evidence of
velocity correlations at small lags. Results agree accurately with
semi-empirical simulations in Eggers & Wang (1998).
In addition, 170 individual H2 emitting clumps have been analysed with sizes
between 500 and 2200 AU. These show considerable diversity with regard to PDFs
and variance functions. Our analysis constitutes the first characterization of
the turbulent velocity field at the scale of star formation and provide a
dataset which models of star-forming regions should aim to reproduce.Comment: 17 pages, 11 figures, to appear in A&A, typos correcte
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