903 research outputs found
Theoretical study of elastic electron scattering off stable and exotic nuclei
Results for elastic electron scattering by nuclei, calculated with charge
densities of Skyrme forces and covariant effective Lagrangians that accurately
describe nuclear ground states, are compared against experiment in stable
isotopes. Dirac partial-wave calculations are performed with an adapted version
of the ELSEPA package. Motivated by the fact that studies of electron
scattering off exotic nuclei are intended in future facilities in the
commissioned GSI and RIKEN upgrades, we survey the theoretical predictions from
neutron-deficient to neutron-rich isotopes in the tin and calcium isotopic
chains. The charge densities of a covariant interaction that describes the
low-energy electromagnetic structure of the nucleon within the Lagrangian of
the theory are used to this end. The study is restricted to medium and heavy
mass nuclei because the charge densities are computed in mean field approach.
Since the experimental analysis of scattering data commonly involves
parameterized charge densities, as a surrogate exercise for the yet unexplored
exotic nuclei, we fit our calculated mean field densities with Helm model
distributions. This procedure turns out to be helpful to study the
neutron-number variation of the scattering observables and allows us to
identify correlations of potential interest among some of these observables
within the isotopic chains.Comment: 18 pages, 14 figures, revtex4; modifications in text and figure
CTQ 414: A New Gravitational Lens
We report the discovery and ground based observations of the new
gravitational lens CTQ 414. The source quasar lies at a redshift of z = 1.29
with a B magnitude of 17.6. Ground based optical imaging reveals two point
sources separated by 1.2 arcsec with a magnitude difference of roughly 1 mag.
Subtraction of two stellar point spread functions from images obtained in
subarcsecond seeing consistently leaves behind a faint, residual object. Fits
for two point sources plus an extended object places the fainter object
collinear with the two brighter components. Subsequent HST/NICMOS observations
have confirmed the identification of the fainter object as the lensing galaxy.
VLA observations at 8.46 GHz reveal that all components of the lensing system
are radio quiet down to the 0.2 mJy flux level.Comment: Latex, 18 pages including 2 ps figures; accepted for publication in
A
Bernstein-Szego Polynomials Associated with Root Systems
We introduce multivariate generalizations of the Bernstein-Szego polynomials,
which are associated to the root systems of the complex simple Lie algebras.
The multivariate polynomials in question generalize Macdonald's Hall-Littlewood
polynomials associated with root systems. For the root system of type A1
(corresponding to the Lie algebra SL (2;C)) the classic Bernstein-Szego
polynomials are recovered.Comment: LaTeX, 12 page
Computational modeling of TC0583 as a putative component of the Chlamydia muridarum V-type ATP synthase complex and assessment of its protective capabilities as a vaccine antigen.
Numerous Chlamydia trachomatis proteins have been identified as potential subunit vaccines, of which the major outer-membrane protein (MOMP) has, so far, proven the most efficacious. Recently, subunit A of the V-type ATP synthase (ATPase; TC0582) complex was shown to elicit partial protection against infection. Computational modeling of a neighboring gene revealed a novel subunit of the V-type ATPase (TC0583). To determine if this newly identified subunit could induce protection and/or enhance the partial protection provided by subunit A alone, challenge studies were performed using a combination of these recombinant proteins. The TC0583 subunit alone and concurrently with TC0582, was used to vaccinate BALB/c mice utilizing CpG-1826 and Montanide ISA 720 VG as adjuvants. Vaccinated animals were challenged intranasally with Chlamydia muridarum and the course of the infection was followed. Mice immunized with individual antigens showed minimal alleviation of body weight reduction; however, mice immunized with TC0583 and TC0582 in combination, displayed weight loss levels close to those observed with MOMP. Importantly, immunization with a combination of recombinant subunit proteins reduced chlamydial inclusion forming units by approximately a log-fold. These protection levels support that, these highly conserved Chlamydia proteins, in combination with other antigens, may serve as potential vaccine candidates
Electron scattering in isotonic chains as a probe of the proton shell structure of unstable nuclei
Electron scattering on unstable nuclei is planned in future facilities of the
GSI and RIKEN upgrades. Motivated by this fact, we study theoretical
predictions for elastic electron scattering in the N=82, N=50, and N=14
isotonic chains from very proton-deficient to very proton-rich isotones. We
compute the scattering observables by performing Dirac partial-wave
calculations. The charge density of the nucleus is obtained with a covariant
nuclear mean-field model that accounts for the low-energy electromagnetic
structure of the nucleon. For the discussion of the dependence of scattering
observables at low-momentum transfer on the gross properties of the charge
density, we fit Helm model distributions to the self-consistent mean-field
densities. We find that the changes shown by the electric charge form factor
along each isotonic chain are strongly correlated with the underlying proton
shell structure of the isotones. We conclude that elastic electron scattering
experiments in isotones can provide valuable information about the filling
order and occupation of the single-particle levels of protons.Comment: 13 pages; 19 figure
Drive, filter, and stick: A protein sorting conspiracy in photoreceptors.
The sorting of proteins into different functional compartments is a fundamental cellular task. In this issue, Maza et al. (2019. J. Cell Biol https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.201906024) demonstrate that distinct protein populations are dynamically generated in specialized regions of photoreceptors via an interplay of protein-membrane affinity, impeded diffusion, and driven transport
Irredundant Triangular Decomposition
Triangular decomposition is a classic, widely used and well-developed way to
represent algebraic varieties with many applications. In particular, there
exist sharp degree bounds for a single triangular set in terms of intrinsic
data of the variety it represents, and powerful randomized algorithms for
computing triangular decompositions using Hensel lifting in the
zero-dimensional case and for irreducible varieties. However, in the general
case, most of the algorithms computing triangular decompositions produce
embedded components, which makes it impossible to directly apply the intrinsic
degree bounds. This, in turn, is an obstacle for efficiently applying Hensel
lifting due to the higher degrees of the output polynomials and the lower
probability of success. In this paper, we give an algorithm to compute an
irredundant triangular decomposition of an arbitrary algebraic set defined
by a set of polynomials in C[x_1, x_2, ..., x_n]. Using this irredundant
triangular decomposition, we were able to give intrinsic degree bounds for the
polynomials appearing in the triangular sets and apply Hensel lifting
techniques. Our decomposition algorithm is randomized, and we analyze the
probability of success
Probing 3-D matter distribution at z~2 with QSO multiple lines of sight
We investigate the 3-D matter distribution at z~2 with high resolution (R ~
40000) spectra of QSO pairs and groups obtained with the UVES spectrograph at
ESO VLT. Our sample is unique for the number density of objects and the variety
of separations, between 0.5 and 7 proper Mpc. We compute the real space
cross-correlation function of the Lyman-alpha forest transmitted fluxes. There
is a significant clustering signal up to ~2 proper Mpc, which is still present
when absorption lines with high column density (log N > 13.8) are excluded.Comment: Poster paper presented at the IAU Colloquium #199 on "Probing
Galaxies through Quasar Absorption Lines" held in Shanghai, China from March
14th to 18th, 200
Tomography of the intergalactic medium with Ly-alpha forests in close QSO pairs
We study the three-dimensional distribution of non virialised matter at z~2
using high resolution spectra of QSO pairs and simulated spectra drawn from
cosmological hydrodynamical simulations. We have collected the largest sample
of QSO pairs ever observed with UVES at the ESO-VLT, with angular separations
between ~1 and 14 arcmin. The observed correlation functions of the transmitted
flux in the HI Lyman alpha forest along and transverse to the lines of sight
are in good agreement implying that the distortions in redshift space due to
peculiar velocities are small. The clustering signal is significant up to
velocity separations of ~200 km/s, or about 3 h^{-1} comoving Mpc. The regions
at lower overdensity (rho/ < 6.5) are still clustered but on smaller
scales (Delta v < 100 km/s). The observed and simulated correlation functions
are compatible at the 3 sigma level. A better concordance is obtained when only
the low overdensity regions are selected for the analysis or when the effective
optical depth of the simulated spectra is increased artificially, suggesting a
deficiency of strong lines in the simulated spectra. We found that also a lower
value of the power-law index of the temperature-density relation for the Lyman
alpha forest gas improves the agreement between observed and simulated results.
If confirmed, this would be consistent with other observations favouring a late
HeII reionization epoch (at z~3). We remark the detection of a significant
clustering signal in the cross correlation coefficient at a transverse velocity
separation Delta v_{\perp} ~500 km/s whose origin needs further investigation.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS, revised version matching the
accepted on
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