23,877 research outputs found
Stars in the USNO-B1 Catalog with Proper Motions Between 1.0 and 5.0 arcseconds per year
This paper examines a subset of objects from the USNO-B1 catalogue with
listed proper motions between 1.0 and 5.0 arcseconds per year. We look at the
degree of contamination within this range of proper motions, and point out the
major sources of spurious high proper motion objects. Roughly 0.1% of the
objects in the USNO-B1 catalogue with listed motions between 1.0 and 5.0
arcseconds per year are real. Comparison with the revised version of Luyten's
Half Second catalogue indicates that USNO-B1 is only about 47% complete for
stars in this range. Preliminary studies indicate that there may be a dip in
completeness in USNO-B1 for objects with motions near 0.1 arcseconds per year.
We also present two new stars with motions between 1.0 and 5.0 arcseconds per
year, 36 new stars with confirmed motions between 0.1 and 1.0 arcseconds per
year, several new common proper motion pairs, and the recovery of LHS237a
(VBs3).Comment: 42 pages, 16 figures, uses AASTeX v5.2, accepted by A
Assessment of a satellite power system and six alternative technologies
The satellite power system is assessed in comparison to six alternative technologies. The alternatives are: central-station terrestrial photovoltaic systems, conventional coal-fired power plants, coal-gasification/combined-cycle power plants, light water reactor power plants, liquid-metal fast-breeder reactors, and fusion. The comparison is made regarding issues of cost and performance, health and safety, environmental effects, resources, socio-economic factors, and institutional issues. The criteria for selecting the issues and the alternative technologies are given, and the methodology of the comparison is discussed. Brief descriptions of each of the technologies considered are included
Filamin cross-linked semiflexible networks: Fragility under strain
The semiflexible F-actin network of the cytoskeleton is cross-linked by a
variety of proteins including filamin, which contain Ig-domains that unfold
under applied tension. We examine a simple semiflexible network model
cross-linked by such unfolding linkers that captures the main mechanical
features of F-actin networks cross-linked by filamin proteins and show that
under sufficiently high strain the network spontaneously self-organizes so that
an appreciable fraction of the filamin cross-linkers are at the threshold of
domain unfolding. We propose an explanation of this organization based on a
mean-field model and suggest a qualitative experimental signature of this type
of network reorganization under applied strain that may be observable in
intracellular microrheology experiments of Crocker et al.Comment: 4 Pages, 3 figures, Revtex4, submitted to PR
Intensity distribution in rotational line spectra
Completely resolved Doppler-free rotational line spectra of six vibronic two-photon bands in benzene C6 H6 and C6 D6 are presented. The excited final states possess different excess energies in S1 (1567 to 2727 cm−1 ) and are embedded in dense manifolds of background states with differing densities of states (1<rho<60 1/cm−1 ). The bands are analyzed by a statistical procedure. The intensity distribution of several hundreds of lines of each band is investigated. It is found that all weakly perturbed bands display a similar, peaked intensity distribution while in strongly perturbed bands the number of lines decreases monotonically with increasing intensity. The origin of this difference is discussed in terms of coupling to the many background states. The Journal of Chemical Physics is copyrighted by The American Institute of Physics
Quantum Versus Mean Field Behavior of Normal Modes of a Bose-Einstein Condensate in a Magnetic Trap
Quantum evolution of a collective mode of a Bose-Einstein condensate
containing a finite number N of particles shows the phenomena of collapses and
revivals. The characteristic collapse time depends on the scattering length,
the initial amplitude of the mode and N. The corresponding time values have
been derived analytically under certain approximation and numerically for the
parabolic atomic trap. The revival of the mode at time of several seconds, as a
direct evidence of the effect, can occur, if the normal component is
significantly suppressed.
We also discuss alternative means to verify the proposed mechanism.Comment: minor corrections are introduced into the tex
Unfolding cross-linkers as rheology regulators in F-actin networks
We report on the nonlinear mechanical properties of a statistically
homogeneous, isotropic semiflexible network cross-linked by polymers containing
numerous small unfolding domains, such as the ubiquitous F-actin cross-linker
Filamin.
We show that the inclusion of such proteins has a dramatic effect on the
large strain behavior of the network. Beyond a strain threshold, which depends
on network density, the unfolding of protein domains leads to bulk shear
softening. Past this critical strain, the network spontaneously organizes
itself so that an appreciable fraction of the Filamin cross-linkers are at the
threshold of domain unfolding. We discuss via a simple mean-field model the
cause of this network organization and suggest that it may be the source of
power-law relaxation observed in in vitro and in intracellular microrheology
experiments. We present data which fully justifies our model for a simplified
network architecture.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures. to appear in Physical Review
Propagating mode-I fracture in amorphous materials using the continuous random network (CRN) model
We study propagating mode-I fracture in two dimensional amorphous materials
using atomistic simulations. We used the continuous random network (CRN) model
of an amorphous material, creating samples using a two dimensional analogue of
the WWW (Wooten, Winer & Weaire) Monte-Carlo algorithm. For modeling fracture,
molecular-dynamics simulations were run on the resulting samples. The results
of our simulations reproduce the main experimental features. In addition to
achieving a steady-state crack under a constant driving displacement (which had
not yet been achieved by other atomistic models for amorphous materials), the
runs show micro-branching, which increases with driving, transitioning to
macro-branching for the largest drivings. Beside the qualitative visual
similarity of the simulated cracks to experiment, the simulation also succeeds
in explaining the experimentally observed oscillations of the crack velocity
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