3,879 research outputs found
Pushing Further the Asymptotics of the 6j-symbol
In the context of spinfoam models for quantum gravity, we investigate the
asymptotical behavior of the 6j-symbol at next-to-leading order. We compute it
analytically and check our results against numerical calculations. The
6j-symbol is the building block of the Ponzano-Regge amplitudes for 3d quantum
gravity, and the present analysis is directly relevant to deriving the quantum
corrections to gravitational correlations in the spinfoam formalism.Comment: 16 page
Superconductivity of Quasi-One-Dimensional Electrons in Strong Magnetic Field
The superconductivity of quasi-one-dimensional electrons in the magnetic
field is studied. The system is described as the one-dimensional electrons with
no frustration due to the magnetic field. The interaction is assumed to be
attractive between electrons in the nearest chains, which corresponds to the
lines of nodes of the energy gap in the absence of the magnetic field. The
effective interaction depends on the magnetic field and the transverse
momentum. As the magnetic field becomes strong, the transition temperature of
the spin-triplet superconductivity oscillates, while that of the spin-singlet
increases monotonically.Comment: 15 pages, RevTeX, 3 PostScript figures in uuencoded compressed tar
file are appende
Jetting Micron-Scale Droplets onto Chemically Heterogeneous Surfaces
We report experiments investigating the behaviour of micron-scale fluid
droplets jetted onto surfaces patterned with lyophobic and lyophilic stripes.
The final droplet shape depends on the droplet size relative to that of the
stripes. In particular when the droplet radius is of the same order as the
stripe width, the final shape is determined by the dynamic evolution of the
drop and shows a sensitive dependence on the initial droplet position and
velocity. Numerical solutions of the dynamical equations of motion of the drop
provide a close quantitative match to the experimental results. This proves
helpful in interpreting the data and allows for accurate prediction of fluid
droplet behaviour for a wide range of surfaces.Comment: 14 pages, accepted for publication in Langmui
Focal plane wavefront sensor achromatization : The multireference self-coherent camera
High contrast imaging and spectroscopy provide unique constraints for
exoplanet formation models as well as for planetary atmosphere models. But this
can be challenging because of the planet-to-star small angular separation and
high flux ratio. Recently, optimized instruments like SPHERE and GPI were
installed on 8m-class telescopes. These will probe young gazeous exoplanets at
large separations (~1au) but, because of uncalibrated aberrations that induce
speckles in the coronagraphic images, they are not able to detect older and
fainter planets. There are always aberrations that are slowly evolving in time.
They create quasi-static speckles that cannot be calibrated a posteriori with
sufficient accuracy. An active correction of these speckles is thus needed to
reach very high contrast levels (>1e7). This requires a focal plane wavefront
sensor. Our team proposed the SCC, the performance of which was demonstrated in
the laboratory. As for all focal plane wavefront sensors, these are sensitive
to chromatism and we propose an upgrade that mitigates the chromatism effects.
First, we recall the principle of the SCC and we explain its limitations in
polychromatic light. Then, we present and numerically study two upgrades to
mitigate chromatism effects: the optical path difference method and the
multireference self-coherent camera. Finally, we present laboratory tests of
the latter solution.
We demonstrate in the laboratory that the MRSCC camera can be used as a focal
plane wavefront sensor in polychromatic light using an 80 nm bandwidth at 640
nm. We reach a performance that is close to the chromatic limitations of our
bench: contrast of 4.5e-8 between 5 and 17 lambda/D.
The performance of the MRSCC is promising for future high-contrast imaging
instruments that aim to actively minimize the speckle intensity so as to detect
and spectrally characterize faint old or light gaseous planets.Comment: 14 pages, 20 figure
Control of drop positioning using chemical patterning
We explore how chemical patterning on surfaces can be used to control drop
wetting. Both numerical and experimental results are presented to show how the
dynamic pathway and equilibrium shape of the drops are altered by a hydrophobic
grid. The grid proves a successful way of confining drops and we show that it
can be used to alleviate {\it mottle}, a degradation in image quality which
results from uneven drop coalescence due to randomness in the positions of the
drops within the jetted array.Comment: 3 pages, 4 figure
Large Deviations Analysis for Distributed Algorithms in an Ergodic Markovian Environment
We provide a large deviations analysis of deadlock phenomena occurring in
distributed systems sharing common resources. In our model transition
probabilities of resource allocation and deallocation are time and space
dependent. The process is driven by an ergodic Markov chain and is reflected on
the boundary of the d-dimensional cube. In the large resource limit, we prove
Freidlin-Wentzell estimates, we study the asymptotic of the deadlock time and
we show that the quasi-potential is a viscosity solution of a Hamilton-Jacobi
equation with a Neumann boundary condition. We give a complete analysis of the
colliding 2-stacks problem and show an example where the system has a stable
attractor which is a limit cycle
Particle-particle random phase approximation applied to Beryllium isotopes
This work is dedicated to the study of even-even 8-14 Be isotopes using the
particle-particle Random Phase Approximation that accounts for two-body
correlations in the core nucleus. A better description of energies and
two-particle amplitudes is obtained in comparison with models assuming a
neutron closed-shell (or subshell) core. A Wood-Saxon potential corrected by a
phenomenological particle-vibration coupling term has been used for the
neutron-core interaction and the D1S Gogny force for the neutron-neutron
interaction. Calculated ground state properties as well as excited state ones
are discussed and compared to experimental data. In particular, results suggest
the same 2s_1/2-1p_1/2 shell inversion in 13Be as in 11Be.Comment: to appear in Phys. Rev.
Innovative implementation by non-state actors in environment-related areas : towards a positive implementation gap ?
This contribution (presented in the first International Conference on Public Policy (ICPP) in Grenoble in June 2013) explores the phenomena of innovation in action ("innovative implementation"). To do so, we operationalize "innovative implementation" as a strategy by which (coalitions of) non-state actors seek to develop ad hoc solutions to address a given environmental issue, going beyond what is provided for in formal policy designs. Following an inductive research strategy, we elaborate a conceptual framework whose main advantage is to bring the actors and their coalition (in all their diversity) back in the analysis. More concretely, we state that perceiving implementation as broader 'social interaction processes' (De Boer & Bressers 2011) within which actors play strategic 'games' (Bardach 1977, Scharpf 1997) opens interesting lines of research to better account for their innovative and strategic behaviours. In a second step, we apply this framework to three strategies of innovative implementation in different contexts, and identify on this basis empirical regularities in the individual pathways related to the emergence and success (or failure) of these strategies
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