18,690 research outputs found
Preliminary report on IUE spectra of the Crab Nebula
The Crab Nebula is marginally observable with the IUE. Observations of the optically brightest filamentary regions, made with IUE in August 1979, show the C IV lambda 1549, He II lambda 1640, and C III lambda 1909 emission lines. The intensities of these lines were compared with the visual wavelength data. It appears that carbon is not overabundant in the Crab; carbon/oxygen is approximately normal and oxygen is slightly scarcer than normal as a fraction of the total mass
Photoionization and Photoelectric Loading of Barium Ion Traps
Simple and effective techniques for loading barium ions into linear Paul
traps are demonstrated. Two-step photoionization of neutral barium is achieved
using a weak intercombination line (6s2 1S0 6s6p 3P1, 791 nm) followed by
excitation above the ionization threshold using a nitrogen gas laser (337 nm).
Isotopic selectivity is achieved by using a near Doppler-free geometry for
excitation of the triplet 6s6p 3P1 state. Additionally, we report a
particularly simple and efficient trap loading technique that employs an
in-expensive UV epoxy curing lamp to generate photoelectrons.Comment: 5 pages, Accepted to PRA 3/20/2007 -fixed typo -clarified figure 3
caption -added reference [15
Gravitational waves from stochastic relativistic sources: primordial turbulence and magnetic fields
The power spectrum of a homogeneous and isotropic stochastic variable,
characterized by a finite correlation length, does in general not vanish on
scales larger than the correlation scale. If the variable is a divergence free
vector field, we demonstrate that its power spectrum is blue on large scales.
Accounting for this fact, we compute the gravitational waves induced by an
incompressible turbulent fluid and by a causal magnetic field present in the
early universe. The gravitational wave power spectra show common features: they
are both blue on large scales, and peak at the correlation scale. However, the
magnetic field can be treated as a coherent source and it is active for a long
time. This results in a very effective conversion of magnetic energy in
gravitational wave energy at horizon crossing. Turbulence instead acts as a
source for gravitational waves over a time interval much shorter than a Hubble
time, and the conversion into gravitational wave energy is much less effective.
We also derive a strong constraint on the amplitude of a primordial magnetic
field when the correlation length is much smaller than the horizon.Comment: Replaced with revised version accepted for publication in Phys Rev
Null Geodesics in Five Dimensional Manifolds
We analyze a class of 5D non-compact warped-product spaces characterized by
metrics that depend on the extra coordinate via a conformal factor. Our model
is closely related to the so-called canonical coordinate gauge of Mashhoon et
al. We confirm that if the 5D manifold in our model is Ricci-flat, then there
is an induced cosmological constant in the 4D sub-manifold. We derive the
general form of the 5D Killing vectors and relate them to the 4D Killing
vectors of the embedded spacetime. We then study the 5D null geodesic paths and
show that the 4D part of the motion can be timelike -- that is, massless
particles in 5D can be massive in 4D. We find that if the null trajectories are
affinely parameterized in 5D, then the particle is subject to an anomalous
acceleration or fifth force. However, this force may be removed by
reparameterization, which brings the correct definition of the proper time into
question. Physical properties of the geodesics -- such as rest mass variations
induced by a variable cosmological ``constant'', constants of the motion and 5D
time-dilation effects -- are discussed and are shown to be open to experimental
or observational investigation.Comment: 19 pages, REVTeX, in press in Gen. Rel. Gra
Unitary ambiguity in the extraction of the E2/M1 ratio for the transition
The resonant electric quadrupole amplitude in the transition is of great interest for the understanding of
baryon structure. Various dynamical models have been developed to extract it
from the corresponding photoproduction multipole of pions on nucleons. It is
shown that once such a model is specified, a whole class of unitarily
equivalent models can be constructed, all of them providing exactly the same
fit to the experimental data. However, they may predict quite different
resonant amplitudes. Therefore, the extraction of the E2/M1() ratio (bare or dressed) which is based on a dynamical
model using a largely phenomenological interaction is not unique.Comment: 10 pages revtex including 4 postscript figure
Events, processes, and the time of a killing
The paper proposes a novel solution to the problem of the time of a killing (ToK), which persistently besets theories of act-individuation. The solution proposed claims to expose a crucial wrong-headed assumption in the debate, according to which ToK is essentially a problem of locating some event that corresponds to the killing. The alternative proposal put forward here turns on recognizing a separate category of dynamic occurents, viz. processes. The paper does not aim to mount a comprehensive defense of process ontology, relying instead on extant defenses. The primary aim is rather to put process ontology to work in diagnosing the current state of play over ToK, and indeed in solving it
Nonlinear Electron Oscillations in a Viscous and Resistive Plasma
New non-linear, spatially periodic, long wavelength electrostatic modes of an
electron fluid oscillating against a motionless ion fluid (Langmuir waves) are
given, with viscous and resistive effects included. The cold plasma
approximation is adopted, which requires the wavelength to be sufficiently
large. The pertinent requirement valid for large amplitude waves is determined.
The general non-linear solution of the continuity and momentum transfer
equations for the electron fluid along with Poisson's equation is obtained in
simple parametric form. It is shown that in all typical hydrogen plasmas, the
influence of plasma resistivity on the modes in question is negligible. Within
the limitations of the solution found, the non-linear time evolution of any
(periodic) initial electron number density profile n_e(x, t=0) can be
determined (examples). For the modes in question, an idealized model of a
strictly cold and collisionless plasma is shown to be applicable to any real
plasma, provided that the wavelength lambda >> lambda_{min}(n_0,T_e), where n_0
= const and T_e are the equilibrium values of the electron number density and
electron temperature. Within this idealized model, the minimum of the initial
electron density n_e(x_{min}, t=0) must be larger than half its equilibrium
value, n_0/2. Otherwise, the corresponding maximum n_e(x_{max},t=tau_p/2),
obtained after half a period of the plasma oscillation blows up. Relaxation of
this restriction on n_e(x, t=0) as one decreases lambda, due to the increase of
the electron viscosity effects, is examined in detail. Strong plasma viscosity
is shown to change considerably the density profile during the time evolution,
e.g., by splitting the largest maximum in two.Comment: 16 one column pages, 11 figures, Abstract and Sec. I, extended, Sec.
VIII modified, Phys. Rev. E in pres
Reconstructing Seesaws
We explore some aspects of "reconstructing" the heavy singlet sector of
supersymmetric type I seesaw models, for two, three or four singlets. We work
in the limit where one light neutrino is massless. In an ideal world, where
selected coefficients of the TeV-scale effective Lagrangian could be measured
with arbitrary accuracy, the two-singlet case can be reconstructed, two three
or more singlets can be differentiated, and an inverse seesaw with four
singlets can be reconstructed. In a more realistic world, we estimate \ell_\a
\to \ell_\b \gamma expectations with a "Minimal-Flavour-Violation-like"
ansatz, which gives a relation between ratios of the three branching ratios.
The two singlet model predicts a discrete set of ratios.Comment: 14 page
Narrowing the window for millicharged particles by CMB anisotropy
We calculate the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy spectrum in
models with millicharged particles of electric charge q\sim 10^{-6}-10^{-1} in
units of electron charge. We find that a large region of the parameter space
for the millicharged particles exists where their effect on the CMB spectrum is
similar to the effect of baryons. Using WMAP data on the CMB anisotropy and
assuming Big Bang nucleosynthesis value for the baryon abundance we find that
only a small fraction of cold dark matter, Omega_{mcp}h_0^2 < 0.007 (at 95%
CL), may consists of millicharged particles with the parameters (charge and
mass) from this region. This bound significantly narrows the allowed range of
the parameters of millicharged particles. In models without paraphoton
millicharged particles are now excluded as a dark matter candidate. We also
speculate that recent observation of 511 keV gamma-rays from the Galactic bulge
may be an indication that a (small) fraction of CDM is comprised of the
millicharged particles.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures; v2: journal version, references adde
Identifying Opportunities for Educators to Pursue Collaboration at the Interface of Nursing and Engineering -- And a Word of Caution
- …