805 research outputs found
Scaling in the Lattice Gas Model
A good quality scaling of the cluster size distributions is obtained for the
Lattice Gas Model using the Fisher's ansatz for the scaling function. This
scaling identifies a pseudo-critical line in the phase diagram of the model
that spans the whole (subcritical to supercritical) density range. The
independent cluster hypothesis of the Fisher approach is shown to describe
correctly the thermodynamics of the lattice only far away from the critical
point.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Information entropy in fragmenting systems
The possibility of facing critical phenomena in nuclear fragmentation is a
topic of great interest. Different observables have been proposed to identify
such a behavior, in particular, some related to the use of information entropy
as a possible signal of critical behavior. In this work we critically examine
some of the most widespread used ones comparing its performance in bond
percolation and in the analysis of fragmenting Lennard Jones Drops.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figure
Viability of vector-tensor theories of gravity
We present a detailed study of the viability of general vector-tensor
theories of gravity in the presence of an arbitrary temporal background vector
field. We find that there are six different classes of theories which are
indistinguishable from General Relativity by means of local gravity
experiments. We study the propagation speeds of scalar, vector and tensor
perturbations and obtain the conditions for classical stability of those
models. We compute the energy density of the different modes and find the
conditions for the absence of ghosts in the quantum theory. We conclude that
the only theories which can pass all the viability conditions for arbitrary
values of the background vector field are not only those of the pure Maxwell
type, but also Maxwell theories supplemented with a (Lorentz type) gauge fixing
term.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figures, 1 table. Final version to appear in JCA
The Role of Surface Entropy in Statistical Emission of Massive Fragments from Equilibrated Nuclear Systems
Statistical fragment emission from excited nuclear systems is studied within
the framework of a schematic Fermi-gas model combined with Weisskopf's detailed
balance approach. The formalism considers thermal expansion of finite nuclear
systems and pays special attention to the role of the diffuse surface region in
the decay of hot equilibrated systems. It is found that with increasing
excitation energy, effects of surface entropy lead to a systematic and
significant reduction of effective emission barriers for fragments and,
eventually, to the vanishing of these barriers. The formalism provides a
natural explanation for the occurrence of negative nuclear heat capacities
reported in the literature. It also accounts for the observed linearity of
pseudo-Arrhenius plots of the logarithm of the fragment emission probability
{\it versus} the inverse square-root of the excitation energy, but does not
predict true Arrhenius behavior of these emission probabilities
Bioaccessibility performance data for fifty-seven elements in guidance material BGS 102
BGS 102, a guidance material for bioaccessible arsenic (As) and lead (Pb), was produced during validation of the in vitro Unified Bioaccessibility Method (UBM). This paper reports a compilation of reproducible bioaccessible guidance values for fifty-five additional elements in BGS 102, providing guidance for analysts to broaden the scope of UBM analyses for a wider range of elements based on data collected over an average of 60 separate analytical batches per element. Data are presented in categories for both gastric (STOM) and gastrointestinal (STOM + INT) extraction phases, where reproducibility, measured as relative standard deviation (RSD) was; ≤ 10% RSD for 27 elements (Mg, Al, Si, P, Ca, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, As, Rb, Sr, Y, Ba, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Tb, Gd, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb); between 10 and 20% RSD for 10 elements (Li, K, V, Fe, Cu, Zn, Cd, Lu, Pb, U); and ≥ 20% RSD for 19 elements in the gastric phase (Be, B, S, Ti, Ga, Se, Zr, Nb, Mo, Ag, Sn, Sb, Cs, Hf, Ta, W, Tl, Bi, Th). Two elements (Mg, Rb) met the ≤ 10% RSD criteria in the UBM gastrointestinal extraction phase due to the alkaline conditions of this phase precipitating out the majority of determinands. Certain elements, including Na, K, Zn and Se, were found to be a significant component of the extraction fluids with proportionally higher concentrations compared to the guidance material. Bioaccessible fractions (%BAF) were also calculated, but were found to be a less reproducible format for confirming the accuracy of measurements. The low concentration of some elements of interest in BGS 102, such as antimony (Sb), justifies the preparation of an alternative certified reference material (CRM). This paper presents an opportunity to broaden the scope of the UBM method to address food security issues (e.g. Fe and Zn micronutrient deficiencies) and contributions to dietary intake from extraneous dust or soil through evidence of the analytical possibilities and current limitations requiring further investigation
Caloric Curves and Nuclear Expansion
Nuclear caloric curves have been analyzed using an expanding Fermi gas
hypothesis to extract average nuclear densities. In this approach the observed
flattening of the caloric curves reflects progressively increasing expansion
with increasing excitation energy. This expansion results in a corresponding
decrease in the density and Fermi energy of the excited system. For nuclei of
medium to heavy mass apparent densities ~ 0.4 rho_0 are reached at the higher
excitation energies.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Weak convergence of finite element approximations of linear stochastic evolution equations with additive noise II. Fully discrete schemes
We present an abstract framework for analyzing the weak error of fully
discrete approximation schemes for linear evolution equations driven by
additive Gaussian noise. First, an abstract representation formula is derived
for sufficiently smooth test functions. The formula is then applied to the wave
equation, where the spatial approximation is done via the standard continuous
finite element method and the time discretization via an I-stable rational
approximation to the exponential function. It is found that the rate of weak
convergence is twice that of strong convergence. Furthermore, in contrast to
the parabolic case, higher order schemes in time, such as the Crank-Nicolson
scheme, are worthwhile to use if the solution is not very regular. Finally we
apply the theory to parabolic equations and detail a weak error estimate for
the linearized Cahn-Hilliard-Cook equation as well as comment on the stochastic
heat equation
Model of multifragmentation, Equation of State and phase transition
We consider a soluble model of multifragmentation which is similar in spirit
to many models which have been used to fit intermediate energy heavy ion
collision data. We draw a p-V diagram for the model and compare with a p-V
diagram obtained from a mean-field theory. We investigate the question of
chemical instability in the multifragmentation model. Phase transitions in the
model are discussed.Comment: Revtex, 9 pages including 6 figures: some change in the text and Fig.
Heritability of specific language impairment depends on diagnostic criteria
Heritability estimates for specific language impairment (SLI) have been inconsistent. Four twin studies reported heritability of 0.5 or more, but a recent report from the Twins Early Development Study found negligible genetic influence in 4-year-olds. We considered whether the method of ascertainment influenced results and found substantially higher heritability if SLI was defined in terms of referral to speech and language pathology services than if defined by language test scores. Further analysis showed that presence of speech difficulties played a major role in determining whether a child had contact with services. Childhood language disorders that are identified by population screening are likely to have a different phenotype and different etiology from clinically referred cases. Genetic studies are more likely to find high heritability if they focus on cases who have speech difficulties and who have been referred for intervention
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Effects of wind shear and turbulence on wind turbine power curves
It is a common practice to use wind speeds at hub height in determining wind turbine power curves. Although the possible influence of other variables (sub as turbulence and wind shear) is generally neglected in power curve measurements, we discovered the importance of other variables in an analysis of power curves for three 2.5 MW wind turbines. When the power curves were stratified by turbulence intensity. Such a large sensitivity to turbulence was not expected, and further analyses were conducted to determine if other factors accompanying the change in turbulence level could cause or contribute to the observed sensitivity of the power curves to turbulence. In summary, the sensitivity of the observed power curves was largely due to two factors: (1) an actual sensitivity to turbulence in determining the power curve and (2) the deviation of the disk-averaged velocity from the hub-height velocity under low turbulence conditions that were most prevalent at the site. An examination of the wind shear profiles over the height of the rotor disk revealed that low turbulence conditions were characterized by strong shear in the lower half of the rotor disk and weak or negative shear in the upper half. Implications of this analysis are that significant errors in power curve measurements can result if the effects of wind shear and turbulence are ignored. 7 refs., 6 figs
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