Microscopic approach to pion-nucleus dynamics

Elastic scattering of pions from finite nuclei is investigated utilizing a contemporary, momentum--space first--order optical potential combined with microscopic estimates of second--order corrections. The calculation of the first--order potential includes:\ \ (1)~full Fermi--averaging integration including both the delta propagation and the intrinsic nonlocalities in the $\pi$-$N$ amplitude, (2)~fully covariant kinematics, (3)~use of invariant amplitudes which do not contain kinematic singularities, and (4)~a finite--range off--shell pion--nucleon model which contains the nucleon pole term. The effect of the delta--nucleus interaction is included via the mean spectral--energy approximation. It is demonstrated that this produces a convergent perturbation theory in which the Pauli corrections (here treated as a second--order term) cancel remarkably against the pion true absorption terms. Parameter--free results, including the delta--nucleus shell--model potential, Pauli corrections, pion true absorption, and short--range correlations are presented. (2 figures available from authors)Comment: 13 page

Charging axisymmetric space-times with cosmological constant

Ernst's solution generating technique for adding electromagnetic charge to axisymmetric space-times in general relativity is generalised in presence of the cosmological constant. Ernst equations for complex potentials are found and they are traced back to an affective dual complex dynamical system, whose symmetries are studied. In particular this method is able to generate charged, asymptotically (A)dS black holes from their uncharged version: as an example, it is shown explicitly how to pass from the Kerr-(A)dS to the Kerr-Newman-(A)dS metric. A new solution describing a magnetic universe in presence of the cosmological constant is also generated.Comment: 15 pages, v2: typos correcte

Long titanium heat pipes for high-temperature space radiators

Titanium heat pipes are being developed to provide light weight, reliable heat rejection devices as an alternate radiator design for the Space Reactor Power System (SP-100). The radiator design includes 360 heat pipes, each of which is 5.2 m long and dissipates 3 kW of power at 775 K. The radiator heat pipes use potassium as the working fluid, have two screen arteries for fluid return, a roughened surface distributive wicking system, and a D shaped cross section container configuration. A prototype titanium heat pipe, 5.5 m long, was fabricated and tested in space simulating conditions. Results from startup and isothermal operation tests are presented. These results are also compared to theoretical performance predictions that were used to design the heat pipe initially

Extracting forward strong amplitudes from elastic differential cross sections

The feasibility of a model-independent extraction of the forward strong amplitude from elastic nuclear cross section data in the Coulomb-nuclear interference region is assessed for $\pi$ and $K^+$ scattering at intermediate energies. Theoretically-generated "data" are analyzed to provide criteria for optimally designing experiments to measure these amplitudes, whose energy dependence (particularly that of the real parts) is needed for disentangling various sources of medium modifications of the projectile-nucleon interaction. The issues considered include determining the angular region over which to make the measurements, the role of the most forward angles measured, and the effects of statistical and systematic errors. We find that there is a region near the forward direction where Coulomb-nuclear interference allows reliable extraction of the strong forward amplitude for both pions and the $K^+$ from .3 to 1 GeV/c.Comment: 16 pages plus 12 separate postscript figure

Power law tails of time correlations in a mesoscopic fluid model

In a quenched mesoscopic fluid, modelling transport processes at high densities, we perform computer simulations of the single particle energy autocorrelation function C_e(t), which is essentially a return probability. This is done to test the predictions for power law tails, obtained from mode coupling theory. We study both off and on-lattice systems in one- and two-dimensions. The predicted long time tail ~ t^{-d/2} is in excellent agreement with the results of computer simulations. We also account for finite size effects, such that smaller systems are fully covered by the present theory as well.Comment: 11 pages, 12 figure

Self-diffusion in sheared colloidal suspensions: violation of fluctuation-dissipation relation

Using memory-function formalism we show that in sheared colloidal suspensions the fluctuation-dissipation theorem for self-diffusion, i.e. Einstein's relation between self-diffusion and mobility tensors, is violated and propose a new way to measure this violation in Brownian Dynamics simulations. We derive mode-coupling expressions for the tagged particle friction tensor and for an effective, shear-rate dependent temperature

On the degeneracies of the mass-squared differences for three-neutrino oscillations

Using an algebraic formulation, we explore two well-known degeneracies involving the mass-squared differences for three-neutrino oscillations assuming CP symmetry is conserved. For vacuum oscillation, we derive the expression for the mixing angles that permit invariance under the interchange of two mass-squared differences. This symmetry is most easily expressed in terms of an ascending mass order. This can be used to reduce the parameter space by one half in the absence of the MSW effect. For oscillations in matter, we derive within our formalism the known approximate degeneracy between the standard and inverted mass hierarchies in the limit of vanishing $\theta_{13}$. This is done with a mass ordering that permits the map $\Delta_{31} \mapsto -\Delta_{31}$. Our techniques allow us to translate mixing angles in this mass order convention into their values for the ascending order convention. Using this dictionary, we demonstrate that the vacuum symmetry and the approximate symmetry invoked for oscillations in matter are distinctly different.Comment: 5 pages, revised manuscrip

Measuring the mass of a sterile neutrino with a very short baseline reactor experiment

An analysis of the world's neutrino oscillation data, including sterile neutrinos, (M. Sorel, C. M. Conrad, and M. H. Shaevitz, Phys. Rev. D 70, 073004) found a peak in the allowed region at a mass-squared difference $\Delta m^2 \cong 0.9$ eV$^2$. We trace its origin to harmonic oscillations in the electron survival probability $P_{ee}$ as a function of L/E, the ratio of baseline to neutrino energy, as measured in the near detector of the Bugey experiment. We find a second occurrence for $\Delta m^2 \cong 1.9$ eV$^2$. We point out that the phenomenon of harmonic oscillations of $P_{ee}$ as a function of L/E, as seen in the Bugey experiment, can be used to measure the mass-squared difference associated with a sterile neutrino in the range from a fraction of an eV$^2$ to several eV$^2$ (compatible with that indicated by the LSND experiment), as well as measure the amount of electron-sterile neutrino mixing. We observe that the experiment is independent, to lowest order, of the size of the reactor and suggest the possibility of a small reactor with a detector sitting at a very short baseline.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Faster, Smaller, Cheaper: An Hedonic Price Analysis of PDAs

We compute quality-adjusted price indexes for Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) for the period 1999-2004, using data on prices and characteristics of 203 models sold by 12 manufacturers. The PDA market is growing in size, it is technologically dynamic with very substantial changes in measured characteristics over time, and it has experienced rapid rates of product introduction. Hedonic regressions consistently show prices to be positively related to processor performance, RAM memory, permanent storage capacity, and battery life, as well as several measures of screen size and quality. Features such as networking, biometric identification, camera, and cellphone capability are also positively associated with price. Hedonic price indexes implied by these regressions decline at an AAGR of 21.1% to 25.6% per year during this period. A matched model price index computed from a subset of observations declines at 18.75% per year. Though these PDA rates of price decline are lower than have been estimated for desktop and laptop PCs, consumers in this "ultra-portable" segment of the computer market appear to have enjoyed substantial welfare gains over the past five years.

The Computational Complexity of the Lorentz Lattice Gas

The Lorentz lattice gas is studied from the perspective of computational complexity theory. It is shown that using massive parallelism, particle trajectories can be simulated in a time that scales logarithmically in the length of the trajectory. This result characterizes the ``logical depth" of the Lorentz lattice gas and allows us to compare it to other models in statistical physics.Comment: 9 pages, LaTeX, to appear in J. Stat. Phy