804 research outputs found
Fission widths of hot nuclei from Langevin dynamics
Fission dynamics of excited nuclei is studied in the framework of Langevin
equation. The one body wall-and-window friction is used as the dissipative
force in the Langevin equation. In addition to the usual wall formula friction,
the chaos weighted wall formula developed earlier to account for
nonintegrability of single-particle motion within the nuclear volume is also
considered here. The fission rate calculated with the chaos weighted wall
formula is found to be faster by about a factor of two than that obtained with
the usual wall friction. The systematic dependence of fission width on
temperature and spin of the fissioning nucleus is investigated and a simple
parametric form of fission width is obtained.Comment: RevTex, 12 pages including 9 Postscript figure
Prescission neutron multiplicity and fission probability from Langevin dynamics of nuclear fission
A theoretical model of one-body nuclear friction which was developed earlier,
namely the chaos-weighted wall formula, is applied to a dynamical description
of compound nuclear decay in the framework of the Langevin equation coupled
with statistical evaporation of light particles and photons. We have used both
the usual wall formula friction and its chaos-weighted version in the Langevin
equation to calculate the fission probability and prescission neutron
multiplicity for the compound nuclei W, Pt, Pb,
Fr, Th, and Es. We have also obtained the contributions
of the presaddle and postsaddle neutrons to the total prescission multiplicity.
A detailed analysis of our results leads us to conclude that the chaos-weighted
wall formula friction can adequately describe the fission dynamics in the
presaddle region. This friction, however, turns out to be too weak to describe
the postsaddle dynamics properly. This points to the need for a suitable
explanation for the enhanced neutron emission in the postsaddle stage of
nuclear fission.Comment: RevTex, 14 pages including 5 Postscript figures, results improved by
using a different potential, conclusions remain unchanged, to appear in Phys.
Rev.
Self-pulsing effect in chaotic scattering
We study the quantum and classical scattering of Hamiltonian systems whose
chaotic saddle is described by binary or ternary horseshoes. We are interested
in parameters of the system for which a stable island, associated with the
inner fundamental periodic orbit of the system exists and is large, but chaos
around this island is well developed. In this situation, in classical systems,
decay from the interaction region is algebraic, while in quantum systems it is
exponential due to tunneling. In both cases, the most surprising effect is a
periodic response to an incoming wave packet. The period of this self-pulsing
effect or scattering echoes coincides with the mean period, by which the
scattering trajectories rotate around the stable orbit. This period of rotation
is directly related to the development stage of the underlying horseshoe.
Therefore the predicted echoes will provide experimental access to topological
information. We numerically test these results in kicked one dimensional models
and in open billiards.Comment: Submitted to New Journal of Physics. Two movies (not included) and
full-resolution figures are available at http://www.cicc.unam.mx/~mejia
A blind detection of a large, complex, Sunyaev--Zel'dovich structure
We present an interesting Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) detection in the first of
the Arcminute Microkelvin Imager (AMI) 'blind', degree-square fields to have
been observed down to our target sensitivity of 100{\mu}Jy/beam. In follow-up
deep pointed observations the SZ effect is detected with a maximum peak
decrement greater than 8 \times the thermal noise. No corresponding emission is
visible in the ROSAT all-sky X-ray survey and no cluster is evident in the
Palomar all-sky optical survey. Compared with existing SZ images of distant
clusters, the extent is large (\approx 10') and complex; our analysis favours a
model containing two clusters rather than a single cluster. Our Bayesian
analysis is currently limited to modelling each cluster with an ellipsoidal or
spherical beta-model, which do not do justice to this decrement. Fitting an
ellipsoid to the deeper candidate we find the following. (a) Assuming that the
Evrard et al. (2002) approximation to Press & Schechter (1974) correctly gives
the number density of clusters as a function of mass and redshift, then, in the
search area, the formal Bayesian probability ratio of the AMI detection of this
cluster is 7.9 \times 10^4:1; alternatively assuming Jenkins et al. (2001) as
the true prior, the formal Bayesian probability ratio of detection is 2.1
\times 10^5:1. (b) The cluster mass is MT,200 = 5.5+1.2\times 10^14h-1M\odot.
(c) Abandoning a physical model with num- -1.3 70 ber density prior and instead
simply modelling the SZ decrement using a phenomenological {\beta}-model of
temperature decrement as a function of angular distance, we find a central SZ
temperature decrement of -295+36 {\mu}K - this allows for CMB primary
anisotropies, receiver -15 noise and radio sources. We are unsure if the
cluster system we observe is a merging system or two separate clusters.Comment: accepted MNRAS. 12 pages, 9 figure
Theory of quantum radiation observed as sonoluminescence
Sonoluminescence is explained in terms of quantum radiation by moving
interfaces between media of different polarizability. In a stationary
dielectric the zero-point fluctuations of the electromagnetic field excite
virtual two-photon states which become real under perturbation due to motion of
the dielectric. The sonoluminescent bubble is modelled as an optically empty
cavity in a homogeneous dielectric. The problem of the photon emission by a
cavity of time-dependent radius is handled in a Hamiltonian formalism which is
dealt with perturbatively up to first order in the velocity of the bubble
surface over the speed of light. A parameter-dependence of the zero-order
Hamiltonian in addition to the first-order perturbation calls for a new
perturbative method combining standard perturbation theory with an adiabatic
approximation. In this way the transition amplitude from the vacuum into a
two-photon state is obtained, and expressions for the single-photon spectrum
and the total energy radiated during one flash are given both in full and in
the short-wavelengths approximation when the bubble is larger than the
wavelengths of the emitted light. It is shown analytically that the spectral
density has the same frequency-dependence as black-body radiation; this is
purely an effect of correlated quantum fluctuations at zero temperature. The
present theory clarifies a number of hitherto unsolved problems and suggests
explanations for several more. Possible experiments that discriminate this from
other theories of sonoluminescence are proposed.Comment: Latex file, 28 pages, postscript file with 3 figs. attache
Localization of Events in Space-Time
The present paper deals with the quantum coordinates of an event in
space-time, individuated by a quantum object. It is known that these
observables cannot be described by self-adjoint operators or by the
corresponding spectral projection-valued measure. We describe them by means of
a positive-operator-valued (POV) measure in the Minkowski space-time,
satisfying a suitable covariance condition with respect to the Poincare' group.
This POV measure determines the probability that a measurement of the
coordinates of the event gives results belonging to a given set in space-time.
We show that this measure must vanish on the vacuum and the one-particle
states, which cannot define any event. We give a general expression for the
Poincare' covariant POV measures. We define the baricentric events, which lie
on the world-line of the centre-of-mass, and we find a simple expression for
the average values of their coordinates. Finally, we discuss the conditions
which permit the determination of the coordinates with an arbitrary accuracy.Comment: 31 pages, latex, no figure
Evidence for Stellar Substructure in the Halo and Outer Disk of M31
We report the discovery of significant stellar substructure in the halo and
outer disk of our nearest large galactic neighbour, M31. Our deep panoramic
survey with the Isaac Newton Telescope Wide Field Camera currently maps out an
area of ~25 square degrees around M31, extending along the semi-major axis to
55 kpc, and is the first to allow an uninterrupted study of the density and
color distribution of individual red giant branch stars across a large fraction
of the halo of an external spiral galaxy. We find evidence for both spatial
density and metallicity (as inferred from colour information) variations, which
are often, but not always, correlated. In addition to the previously reported
giant stellar stream (Ibata 2001b), the data reveal the presence of significant
stellar overdensities at large radii close to the south-western major axis, in
the proximity of the very luminous globular cluster G1, and near the
north-eastern major axis, coinciding with and extending beyond the
previously-known `northern spur'. The most prominent metallicity variations are
found in the southern half of the halo, where two large structures with above
average metallicites are apparent; one of these coincides with the giant
stellar stream while the other corresponds to a much lower-level stellar
enhancement. Our findings contrast with, but do not conflict with, past studies
of the M31 halo and outer disk which have suggested a rather homogeneous
stellar population at large radius: the bulk of our newly-detected substructure
lies in the previously-uncharted far outer regions of the galaxy. We discuss
the possible origin of the substructure observed and the implications it has
for constraining the galaxy assembly process.Comment: 20 pages, 10 figures. Accepted for publication in AJ (Sep 2002).
Version with high resolution embedded figures available at
http://www.astro.rug.nl/~ferguson/m31.ps.g
The fundamental constants and their variation: observational status and theoretical motivations
This article describes the various experimental bounds on the variation of
the fundamental constants of nature. After a discussion on the role of
fundamental constants, of their definition and link with metrology, the various
constraints on the variation of the fine structure constant, the gravitational,
weak and strong interactions couplings and the electron to proton mass ratio
are reviewed. This review aims (1) to provide the basics of each measurement,
(2) to show as clearly as possible why it constrains a given constant and (3)
to point out the underlying hypotheses. Such an investigation is of importance
to compare the different results, particularly in view of understanding the
recent claims of the detections of a variation of the fine structure constant
and of the electron to proton mass ratio in quasar absorption spectra. The
theoretical models leading to the prediction of such variation are also
reviewed, including Kaluza-Klein theories, string theories and other
alternative theories and cosmological implications of these results are
discussed. The links with the tests of general relativity are emphasized.Comment: 56 pages, l7 figures, submitted to Rev. Mod. Phy
"Author! Author!" : Shakespeare and biography
Original article can be found at: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=t714579626~db=all Copyright Informa / Taylor & Francis Group. DOI: 10.1080/17450910902764454Since 1996, not a year has passed without the publication of at least one Shakespeare biography. Yet for many years the place of the author in the practice of understanding literary works has been problematized, and even on occasions eliminated. Criticism reads the “works”, and may or may not refer to an author whose “life” contributed to their meaning. Biography seeks the author in the works, the personality that precedes the works and gives them their characteristic shape and meaning. But the form of literary biography addresses the unusual kind of “life” that puts itself into “works”, and this is particularly challenging where the “works” predominate massively over the salient facts of the “life”. This essay surveys the current terrain of Shakespeare biography, and considers the key questions raised by the medium: can we know anything of Shakespeare's “personality” from the facts of his life and the survival of his works? What is the status of the kind of speculation that inevitably plays a part in biographical reconstruction? Are biographers in the end telling us as much about themselves as they tell us about Shakespeare?Peer reviewe
First LIGO search for gravitational wave bursts from cosmic (super)strings
We report on a matched-filter search for gravitational wave bursts from
cosmic string cusps using LIGO data from the fourth science run (S4) which took
place in February and March 2005. No gravitational waves were detected in 14.9
days of data from times when all three LIGO detectors were operating. We
interpret the result in terms of a frequentist upper limit on the rate of
gravitational wave bursts and use the limits on the rate to constrain the
parameter space (string tension, reconnection probability, and loop sizes) of
cosmic string models.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures. Replaced with version submitted to PR
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