The Zero-Point Field and Inertia

A brief overview is presented of the basis of the electromagnetic zero-point field in quantum physics and its representation in stochastic electrodynamics. Two approaches have led to the proposal that the inertia of matter may be explained as an electromagnetic reaction force. The first is based on the modeling of quarks and electrons as Planck oscillators and the method of Einstein and Hopf to treat the interaction of the zero-point field with such oscillators. The second approach is based on analysis of the Poynting vector of the zero-point field in accelerated reference frames. It is possible to derive both Newton's equation of motion, F=ma, and its relativistic co-variant form from Maxwell's equations as applied to the zero-point field of the quantum vacuum. This appears to account, at least in part, for the inertia of matter.Comment: 8 pages, no fig

The mathematical theory of resonant transducers in a spherical gravity wave antenna

The rigoruos mathematical theory of the coupling and response of a spherical gravitational wave detector endowed with a set of resonant transducers is presented and developed. A perturbative series in ascending powers of the square root of the ratio of the resonator to the sphere mass is seen to be the key to the solution of the problem. General layouts of arbitrary numbers of transducers can be assessed, and a specific proposal (PHC), alternative to the highly symmetric TIGA of Merkowitz and Johnson, is described in detail. Frequency spectra of the coupled system are seen to be theoretically recovered in full agreement with experimental determinations.Comment: 31 pages, 7 figures, LaTeX2e, \usepackage{graphicx,deleq

Iron oxide nanowires from bacteria biofilm as an edfficient visible-light magnetic photocatalyst

Published: July 15, 2016Naturally produced iron oxide nanowires by Mariprofundus ferrooxydans bacteria as biofilm are evaluated for their structural, chemical, and photocatalytic performance under visible-light irradiation. The crystal phase structure of this unique natural material presents a 1-dimensional (1D) nanowire-like geometry, which is transformed from amorphous to crystalline (hematite) by thermal annealing at high temperature without changing their morphology. This study systematically assesses the effect of different annealing temperatures on the photocatalytic activity of iron oxide nanowires produced by Mariprofundus ferrooxydans bacteria. The nanowires processed at 800 °C were the most optimal for photocatalytic applications degrading a model dye (rhodamine B) in less than an hour. These nanowires displayed excellent reusability with no significant loss of activity even after 6 cycles. Kinetic studies by using hydrogen peroxide (radical generator) and isopropyl alcohol (radical scavenger) suggest that OH• is the dominant photooxidant. These nanowires are naturally produced, inexpensive, highly active, stable, and magnetic and have the potential to be used for broad applications including environmental remediation, water disinfection, and industrial catalysis.Luoshan Wang, Tushar Kumeria, Abel Santos, Peter Forward, Martin F. Lambert, and Dusan Losi

Natural Wormholes as Gravitational Lenses

Visser has suggested traversable 3-dimensional wormholes that could plausibly form naturally during Big Bang inflation. A wormhole mouth embedded in high mass density might accrete mass, giving the other mouth a net *negative* mass of unusual gravitational properties. The lensing of such a gravitationally negative anomalous compact halo object (GNACHO) will enhance background stars with a time profile that is observable and qualitatively different from that recently observed for massive compact halo objects (MACHOs) of positive mass. We recommend that MACHO search data be analyzed for GNACHOs.Comment: 4 pages; plus 4 figures; ReV_TeX 3.0; DOE/ER/40537-001/NPL94-07-01

Detection strategies for scalar gravitational waves with interferometers and resonant spheres

We compute the response and the angular pattern function of an interferometer for a scalar component of gravitational radiation in Brans-Dicke theory. We examine the problem of detecting a stochastic background of scalar GWs and compute the scalar overlap reduction function in the correlation between an interferometer and the monopole mode of a resonant sphere. While the correlation between two interferometers is maximized taking them as close as possible, the interferometer-sphere correlation is maximized at a finite value of f*d, where `f' is the resonance frequency of the sphere and `d' the distance between the detectors. This defines an optimal resonance frequency of the sphere as a function of the distance. For the correlation between the Virgo interferometer located near Pisa and a sphere located in Frascati, near Rome, we find an optimal resonance frequency f=590 Hz. We also briefly discuss the difficulties in applying this analysis to the dilaton and moduli fields predicted by string theory.Comment: 26 pages, Latex, 4 Postscript figures. Various minor improvements, misprint in eqs. 42, 127, 138 corrected, references adde

Removing non-stationary, non-harmonic external interference from gravitational wave interferometer data

We describe a procedure to identify and remove a class of non-stationary and non-harmonic interference lines from gravitational wave interferometer data. These lines appear to be associated with the external electricity main supply, but their amplitudes are non-stationary and they do not appear at harmonics of the fundamental supply frequency. We find an empirical model able to represent coherently all the non-harmonic lines we have found in the power spectrum, in terms of an assumed reference signal of the primary supply input signal. If this signal is not available then it can be reconstructed from the same data by making use of the coherent line removal algorithm that we have described elsewhere. All these lines are broadened by frequency changes of the supply signal, and they corrupt significant frequency ranges of the power spectrum. The physical process that generates this interference is so far unknown, but it is highly non-linear and non-stationary. Using our model, we cancel the interference in the time domain by an adaptive procedure that should work regardless of the source of the primary interference. We have applied the method to laser interferometer data from the Glasgow prototype detector, where all the features we describe in this paper were observed. The algorithm has been tuned in such a way that the entire series of wide lines corresponding to the electrical interference are removed, leaving the spectrum clean enough to detect signals previously masked by them. Single-line signals buried in the interference can be recovered with at least 75 % of their original signal amplitude.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, Revtex, psfi

On the complementarity of pulsar timing and space laser interferometry for the individual detection of supermassive black hole binaries

Gravitational waves coming from Super Massive Black Hole Binaries (SMBHBs) are targeted by both Pulsar Timing Array (PTA) and Space Laser Interferometry (SLI). The possibility of a single SMBHB being tracked first by PTA, through inspiral, and later by SLI, up to merger and ring down, has been previously suggested. Although the bounding parameters are drawn by the current PTA or the upcoming Square Kilometer Array (SKA), and by the New Gravitational Observatory (NGO), derived from the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA), this paper also addresses sequential detection beyond specific project constraints. We consider PTA-SKA, which is sensitive from 10^(-9) to p x 10^(-7) Hz (p=4, 8), and SLI, which operates from s x 10^(-5) up to 1 Hz (s = 1, 3). A SMBHB in the range 2x 10^(8) - 2 x 10^(9) solar masses (the masses are normalised to a (1+z) factor, the red shift lying between z = 0.2 and z=1.5) moves from the PTA-SKA to the SLI band over a period ranging from two months to fifty years. By combining three Super Massive Black Hole (SMBH)-host relations with three accretion prescriptions, nine astrophysical scenarios are formed. They are then related to three levels of pulsar timing residuals (50, 5, 1 ns), generating twenty-seven cases. For residuals of 1 ns, sequential detection probability will never be better than 4.7 x 10^(-4) y^(-2) or 3.3 x 10^(-6) y^(-2) (per year to merger and per year of survey), according to the best and worst astrophysical scenarios, respectively; put differently this means one sequential detection every 46 or 550 years for an equivalent maximum time to merger and duration of the survey. The chances of sequential detection are further reduced by increasing values of the s parameter (they vanish for s = 10) and of the SLI noise, and by decreasing values of the remnant spin. REST OF THE ABSTRACT IN THE PDF FILE.Comment: To appear in the Astrophysical Journa

A theory of nonvertical triplet energy transfer in terms of accurate potential energy surfaces: The transfer reaction from π,π∗ triplet donors to 1,3,5,7-cyclooctatetraene

Triplet energy transfer (TET) from aromatic donors to 1,3,5,7-cyclooctatetraene (COT) is an extreme case of “nonvertical” behavior, where the transfer rate for low-energy donors is considerably faster than that predicted for a thermally activated (Arrhenius) process. To explain the anomalous TET of COT and other molecules, a new theoretical model based on transition state theory for nonadiabatic processes is proposed here, which makes use of the adiabatic potential energy surfaces (PES) of reactants and products, as computed from high-level quantum mechanical methods, and a nonadiabatic transfer rate constant. It is shown that the rate of transfer depends on a geometrical distortion parameter γ = (2g2/κ1)1/2 in which g stands for the norm of the energy gradient in the PES of the acceptor triplet state and κ1 is a combination of vibrational force constants of the ground-state acceptor in the gradient direction. The application of the model to existing experimental data for the triplet energy transfer reaction to COT from a series of π,π∗ triplet donors, provides a detailed interpretation of the parameters that determine the transfer rate constant. In addition, the model shows that the observed decrease of the acceptor electronic excitation energy is due to thermal activation of C�C bond stretchings and C–C bond torsions, which collectively change the ground-state COT bent conformation (D2d) toward a planar triplet state (D8h)[email protected]

Detectability of gravitational wave events by spherical resonant-mass antennas

We have calculated signal-to-noise ratios for eight spherical resonant-mass antennas interacting with gravitational radiation from inspiralling and coalescing binary neutron stars and from the dynamical and secular bar-mode instability of a rapidly rotating star. We find that by using technology that could be available in the next several years, spherical antennas can detect neutron star inspiral and coalescence at a distance of 15 Mpc and the dynamical bar-mode instability at a distance of 2 Mpc.Comment: 39 pages, 4 EPS Figures, some additional SNRs for secular instabilities, some changes to LIGO SNRs, Appendix added on the asymptotic expansion of energy sensitivity, corrected supernova rates. Results available at http://www.physics.umd.edu/rgroups/gen_rel_exp/snr.html Submitted to Phys. Rev.