1,201 research outputs found
Prospective elementary teachers\u2019 perceptions of the processes of modeling: A case study
In this paper we discuss a study on the approaches to modeling of students of the 4-year elementary school teacher program at the University of Palermo, Italy. The answers to a specially designed questionnaire are analyzed on the basis of an a priori analysis made using a general scheme of reference on the epistemology of mathematics and physics. The study is performed by using quantitative data analysis methods, i.e. factorial analysis of the correspondences and implicative analysis. A qualitative analysis of key words and terms used by students during interviews is also used to examine some aspects that emerged from the quantitative analysis. The students have been classified on the basis of their different epistemological approaches to knowledge construction, and implications between different conceptual strategies used to answer the questionnaire have been highlighted. The study\u2019s conclusions are consistent with previous research, but the use of quantitative data analysis allowed us to classify the students into three \u201cprofiles\u201d related to different epistemological approaches to knowledge construction, and to show the implications of the different conceptual strategies used to answer the questionnaire, giving an estimation of the classification or implication \u201cstrength.\u201d Some hints on how a course for elementary school physics and mathematics education can be planned to orient the future teachers to the construction of models of explanation are reported
Lifetimes of b-flavoured hadrons
I discuss the heavy quark expansion for the inclusive widths of heavy-light
hadrons, which predicts quite well the experimental ratios of B_q meson
lifetimes. As for , current determinations of
contribution to do not allow to explain the small measured
value of . As a final topic, I discuss the
implications of the measurement of the B_c lifetime.Comment: LaTex, 4 pages, 1 figure. Talk given at the "U.K. Phenomenology
Workshop on Heavy Flavours and CP violation" Durham, 17-22 Sep. 2000 (Mixing
and Lifetimes Working Group
Statistical mechanics of the Cluster-Ising model
We study a Hamiltonian system describing a three-spin-1/2 cluster-like
interaction competing with an Ising-like anti-ferromagnetic interaction. We
compute free energy, spin correlation functions and entanglement both in the
ground and in thermal states. The model undergoes a quantum phase transition
between an Ising phase with a nonvanishing magnetization and a cluster phase
characterized by a string order. Any two-spin entanglement is found to vanish
in both quantum phases because of a nontrivial correlation pattern.
Neverthless, the residual multipartite entanglement is maximal in the cluster
phase and dependent on the magnetization in the Ising phase. We study the block
entropy at the critical point and calculate the central charge of the system,
showing that the criticality of the system is beyond the Ising universality
class.Comment: To be published in Physical Review
Proposal for a Datta-Das transistor in the quantum Hall regime
We propose a resonant spin-field-effect transistor for chiral spin-resolved
edge states in the integer quantum Hall effect with Rashba spin-orbit
interaction. It employs a periodic array of voltage-controlled top gates that
locally modulate the Rashba spin-orbit interaction. Strong resonant spin-field
effect is achieved when the array periodicity matches the inverse of the
wave-vector difference of the two chiral states involved. Well-known techniques
of separately contacting the edge states make it possible to selectively
populate and read out the edge states, allowing full spin readout. The resonant
nature of the spin-field effect and the adiabatic character of the edge states
guarantee a high degree of robustness with respect to disorder. Our device
represents the quantum Hall version of the all-electrical Datta-Das spin-field
effect transistor.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure
Niobium diselenide superconducting photodetectors
We report the photoresponse of niobium diselenide (NbSe2), a transition metal dichalcogenide which exhibits superconducting properties
down to a single layer. Devices are built by using micromechanically cleaved 2–10 layers and tested under current bias using nano-optical
mapping in the 350 mK–5K range, where they are found to be superconducting. The superconducting state can be perturbed by absorption
of light, resulting in a voltage signal when the devices are current biased. The response is found to be energy dependent, making the devices
useful for applications requiring energy resolution, such as bolometry, spectroscopy, and infrared imaging
On the Rapid Collapse and Evolution of Molecular Clouds
Stars generally form faster than the ambipolar diffusion time, suggesting
that several processes short circuit the delay and promote a rapid collapse.
These processes are considered here, including turbulence compression in the
outer parts of giant molecular cloud (GMC) cores and GMC envelopes, GMC core
formation in an initially supercritical state, and compression-induced
triggering in dispersing GMC envelopes. The classical issues related to star
formation timescales are addressed: high molecular fractions, low efficiencies,
long consumption times for CO and HCN, rapid GMC core disruption and the lack
of a stable core, long absolute but short relative timescales with accelerated
star formation, and the slow motions of protostars. We consider stimuli to
collapse from changes in the density dependence of the ionization fraction, the
cosmic ray ionization rate, and various dust properties at densities above
~10^5 cm^{-3}. We favor the standard model of subcritical GMC envelops and
suggest they would be long lived if not for disruption by rapid star formation
in GMC cores. The lifecycle of GMCs is illustrated by a spiral arm section in
the Hubble Heritage image of M51, showing GMC formation, star formation, GMC
disruption with lingering triggered star formation, and envelope dispersal.
There is no delay between spiral arm dustlanes and star formation; the
classical notion results from heavy extinction in the dust lane and triggered
star formation during cloud dispersal. Differences in the IMF for the different
modes of star formation are considered.Comment: 46 pages, 5 figures, scheduled for ApJ 668, October 20, 200
Rings and bars: unmasking secular evolution of galaxies
Secular evolution gradually shapes galaxies by internal processes, in
contrast to early cosmological evolution which is more rapid. An important
driver of secular evolution is the flow of gas from the disk into the central
regions, often under the influence of a bar. In this paper, we review several
new observational results on bars and nuclear rings in galaxies. They show that
these components are intimately linked to each other, and to the properties of
their host galaxy. We briefly discuss how upcoming observations, e.g., imaging
from the Spitzer Survey of Stellar Structure in Galaxies (S4G), will lead to
significant further advances in this area of research.Comment: Invited review at "Galaxies and their Masks", celebrating Ken
Freeman's 70-th birthday, Sossusvlei, Namibia, April 2010. To be published by
Springer, New York, editors D.L. Block, K.C. Freeman, & I. Puerari; minor
change
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