828 research outputs found
Geological record and reconstruction of the late Pliocene impact of the Eltanin asteroid in the Southern Ocean
The O(2) model in polar coordinates at nonzero temperature
We study the restoration of spontaneously broken symmetry at nonzero
temperature in the framework of the O(2) model using polar coordinates. We
apply the CJT formalism to calculate the masses and the condensate in the
double-bubble approximation, both with and without a term that explicitly
breaks the O(2) symmetry. We find that, in the case with explicitly broken
symmetry, the mass of the angular degree of freedom becomes tachyonic above a
temperature of about 300 MeV. Taking the term that explicitly breaks the
symmetry to be infinitesimally small, we find that the Goldstone theorem is
respected below the critical temperature. However, this limit cannot be
performed for temperatures above the phase transition. We find that, no matter
whether we break the symmetry explicitly or not, there is no region of
temperature in which the radial and the angular degree of freedom become
degenerate in mass. These results hold also when the mass of the radial mode is
sent to infinity.Comment: 23 pages, 10 figure
Bloch-Wall Phase Transition in the Spherical Model
The temperature-induced second-order phase transition from Bloch to linear
(Ising-like) domain walls in uniaxial ferromagnets is investigated for the
model of D-component classical spin vectors in the limit D \to \infty. This
exactly soluble model is equivalent to the standard spherical model in the
homogeneous case, but deviates from it and is free from unphysical behavior in
a general inhomogeneous situation. It is shown that the thermal fluctuations of
the transverse magnetization in the wall (the Bloch-wall order parameter)
result in the diminishing of the wall transition temperature T_B in comparison
to its mean-field value, thus favouring the existence of linear walls. For
finite values of T_B an additional anisotropy in the basis plane x,y is
required; in purely uniaxial ferromagnets a domain wall behaves like a
2-dimensional system with a continuous spin symmetry and does not order into
the Bloch one.Comment: 16 pages, 2 figure
Holographic Measurement and Improvement of the Green Bank Telescope Surface
We describe the successful design, implementation, and operation of a 12 GHz
holography system installed on the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT).
We have used a geostationary satellite beacon to construct high-resolution
holographic images of the telescope mirror surface irregularities. These images
have allowed us to infer and apply improved position offsets for the 2209
actuators which control the active surface of the primary mirror, thereby
achieving a dramatic reduction in the total surface error (from 390 microns to
~240 microns, rms). We have also performed manual adjustments of the corner
offsets for a few panels. The expected improvement in the radiometric aperture
efficiency has been rigorously modeled and confirmed at 43 GHz and 90 GHz. The
improvement in the telescope beam pattern has also been measured at 11.7 GHz
with greater than 60 dB of dynamic range. Symmetric features in the beam
pattern have emerged which are consistent with a repetitive pattern in the
aperture due to systematic panel distortions. By computing average images for
each tier of panels from the holography images, we confirm that the magnitude
and direction of the panel distortions, in response to the combination of
gravity and thermal gradients, are in general agreement with finite-element
model predictions. The holography system is now fully integrated into the GBT
control system, and by enabling the telescope staff to monitor the health of
the individual actuators, it continues to be an essential tool to support
high-frequency observations.Comment: Accepted for publication in PASP. Contains 28 pages with 2 tables and
9 figures (several at reduced quality). The full resolution version is
available at http://wwwlocal.gb.nrao.edu/ptcs/papers/Hunter2011/gbtholo.ps.gz
(34MB gzip file unpacks to 134MB postscript
International Trends and Practices on Sustainability Reporting in Higher Education Institutions
Sustainability reports are regarded as important tools in offering information about the environmental, social, economic, and institutional performance of an institution, and in demonstrating a commitment to matters related to sustainable development. But even though sustainability reporting has been used by a variety of higher education institutions to date, it is not as widely practiced as it should be. To further investigate this topic, a twofold approach was used: a study focusing on sustainability reporting approaches deployed in a sample of 30 universities across a set of countries; and a survey with a sample of 72 universities from different global regions to assess the extent to which they are deploying sustainability reporting as part of their activities. The scientific value of the paper resides in the fact that it offers a comprehensive overview of the subject matter of sustainability reporting, and how higher education institutions handle it. It also outlines the efforts in developing these documents which may catalyse further progress in this key area
Search for CP Violation in the Decay Z -> b (b bar) g
About three million hadronic decays of the Z collected by ALEPH in the years
1991-1994 are used to search for anomalous CP violation beyond the Standard
Model in the decay Z -> b \bar{b} g. The study is performed by analyzing
angular correlations between the two quarks and the gluon in three-jet events
and by measuring the differential two-jet rate. No signal of CP violation is
found. For the combinations of anomalous CP violating couplings, and , limits of \hat{h}_b < 0.59h^{\ast}_{b} < 3.02$ are given at 95\% CL.Comment: 8 pages, 1 postscript figure, uses here.sty, epsfig.st
Search for charginos in e+e- interactions at sqrt(s) = 189 GeV
An update of the searches for charginos and gravitinos is presented, based on
a data sample corresponding to the 158 pb^{-1} recorded by the DELPHI detector
in 1998, at a centre-of-mass energy of 189 GeV. No evidence for a signal was
found. The lower mass limits are 4-5 GeV/c^2 higher than those obtained at a
centre-of-mass energy of 183 GeV. The (\mu,M_2) MSSM domain excluded by
combining the chargino searches with neutralino searches at the Z resonance
implies a limit on the mass of the lightest neutralino which, for a heavy
sneutrino, is constrained to be above 31.0 GeV/c^2 for tan(beta) \geq 1.Comment: 22 pages, 8 figure
Search for composite and exotic fermions at LEP 2
A search for unstable heavy fermions with the DELPHI detector at LEP is
reported. Sequential and non-canonical leptons, as well as excited leptons and
quarks, are considered. The data analysed correspond to an integrated
luminosity of about 48 pb^{-1} at an e^+e^- centre-of-mass energy of 183 GeV
and about 20 pb^{-1} equally shared between the centre-of-mass energies of 172
GeV and 161 GeV. The search for pair-produced new leptons establishes 95%
confidence level mass limits in the region between 70 GeV/c^2 and 90 GeV/c^2,
depending on the channel. The search for singly produced excited leptons and
quarks establishes upper limits on the ratio of the coupling of the excited
fermio
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