59,879 research outputs found
Finding the Origin of the Pioneer Anomaly
Analysis of radio-metric tracking data from the Pioneer 10/11 spacecraft at
distances between 20 - 70 astronomical units (AU) from the Sun has consistently
indicated the presence of an anomalous, small, constant Doppler frequency
drift. The drift can be interpreted as being due to a constant acceleration of
a_P= (8.74 \pm 1.33) x 10^{-8} cm/s^2 directed towards the Sun. Although it is
suspected that there is a systematic origin to the effect, none has been found.
As a result, the nature of this anomaly has become of growing interest. Here we
present a concept for a deep-space experiment that will reveal the origin of
the discovered anomaly and also will characterize its properties to an accuracy
of at least two orders of magnitude below the anomaly's size. The proposed
mission will not only provide a significant accuracy improvement in the search
for small anomalous accelerations, it will also determine if the anomaly is due
to some internal systematic or has an external origin. A number of critical
requirements and design considerations for the mission are outlined and
addressed. If only already existing technologies were used, the mission could
be flown as early as 2010.Comment: 21 SS pages, 4+1 figures. final changes for publicatio
Quantum games of asymmetric information
We investigate quantum games in which the information is asymmetrically
distributed among the players, and find the possibility of the quantum game
outperforming its classical counterpart depends strongly on not only the
entanglement, but also the informational asymmetry. What is more interesting,
when the information distribution is asymmetric, the contradictive impact of
the quantum entanglement on the profits is observed, which is not reported in
quantum games of symmetric information.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Random Topologies and the emergence of cooperation: the role of short-cuts
We study in detail the role of short-cuts in promoting the emergence of
cooperation in a network of agents playing the Prisoner's Dilemma Game (PDG).
We introduce a model whose topology interpolates between the one-dimensional
euclidean lattice (a ring) and the complete graph by changing the value of one
parameter (the probability p to add a link between two nodes not already
connected in the euclidean configuration). We show that there is a region of
values of p in which cooperation is largely enhanced, whilst for smaller values
of p only a few cooperators are present in the final state, and for p
\rightarrow 1- cooperation is totally suppressed. We present analytical
arguments that provide a very plausible interpretation of the simulation
results, thus unveiling the mechanism by which short-cuts contribute to promote
(or suppress) cooperation
Cosmology with Varying Constants
The idea of possible time or space variations of the `fundamental' constants
of nature, although not new, is only now beginning to be actively considered by
large numbers of researchers in the particle physics, cosmology and
astrophysics communities. This revival is mostly due to the claims of possible
detection of such variations, in various different contexts and by several
groups. Here, I present the current theoretical motivations and expectations
for such variations, review the current observational status, and discuss the
impact of a possible confirmation of these results in our views of cosmology
and physics as a whole.Comment: 14 pages, no figures. Essay to appear in Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. Lond.
A Triennial Series (Christmas 2002 Issue
Uniqueness of Nash equilibria in quantum Cournot duopoly game
A quantum Cournot game of which classical form game has multiple Nash
equilibria is examined. Although the classical equilibria fail to be Pareto
optimal, the quantum equilibrium exhibits the following two properties, (i) if
the measurement of entanglement between strategic variables chosen by the
competing firms is sufficiently large, the multiplicity of equilibria vanishes,
and, (ii) the more strongly the strategic variables are entangled, the more
closely the unique equilibrium approaches to the optimal one.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figure
Oscillatory Magneto-Thermopower and Resonant Phonon Drag in a High-Mobility 2D Electron Gas
Experimental and theoretical evidence is presented for new low-magnetic-field
( kG) 1/B-oscillations in the thermoelectric power of a high-mobility
GaAs/AlGaAs two-dimensional (2D) electron gas. The oscillations result from
inter-Landau-Level resonances of acoustic phonons carrying a momentum equal to
twice the Fermi wavenumber at . Numerical calculations show that both 3D
and 2D phonons can contribute to this effect.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
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An unusual cause of gynaecomastia in a male
Summary: Beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (βhCG) is normally produced by syncytiotrophoblasts of the placenta during pregnancy and aids embryo implantation. However, it is also secreted in varying amounts in non-pregnant conditions commonly heralding a neoplastic process. We present a case of 50-year-old man, who presented with bilateral gynaecomastia with elevated testosterone, oestradiol, suppressed gonadotropins with progressively increasing levels of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). Biochemical and radiological investigations including ultrasonography of testes, breast tissue, MRI pituitary and CT scan full body did not identify the source of hCG. FDG PET scan revealed a large mediastinal mass with lung metastasis. Immunostaining and histological analysis confirmed the diagnosis of primary choriocarcinoma of the mediastinum. It is highly aggressive and malignant tumor with poor prognosis. Early diagnosis and management are essential for the best outcome. Learning Points: High βhCG in a male patient or a non-pregnant female suggests a paraneoplastic syndrome. In the case of persistently positive serum hCG, exclude immunoassay interference by doing the urine hCG as heterophilic antibodies are not present in the urine. Non-gestational choriocarcinoma is an extremely rare trophoblastic tumor and should be considered in young men presenting with gynaecomastia and high concentration of hCG with normal gonads. A high index of suspicion and extensive investigations are required to establish an early diagnosis of extra-gonadal choriocarcinoma. Early diagnosis is crucial to formulate optimal management strategy and to minimize widespread metastasis for best clinical outcome
Quantum correlations and Nash equilibria of a bi-matrix game
Playing a symmetric bi-matrix game is usually physically implemented by
sharing pairs of 'objects' between two players. A new setting is proposed that
explicitly shows effects of quantum correlations between the pairs on the
structure of payoff relations and the 'solutions' of the game. The setting
allows a re-expression of the game such that the players play the classical
game when their moves are performed on pairs of objects having correlations
that satisfy the Bell's inequalities. If players receive pairs having quantum
correlations the resulting game cannot be considered another classical
symmetric bi-matrix game. Also the Nash equilibria of the game are found to be
decided by the nature of the correlations.Comment: minor correction
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