7,869 research outputs found
Bimetric gravity is cosmologically viable
Bimetric theory describes gravitational interactions in the presence of an
extra spin-2 field. Previous work has suggested that its cosmological solutions
are generically plagued by instabilities. We show that by taking the Planck
mass for the second metric, , to be small, these instabilities can be
pushed back to unobservably early times. In this limit, the theory approaches
general relativity with an effective cosmological constant which is,
remarkably, determined by the spin-2 interaction scale. This provides a
late-time expansion history which is extremely close to CDM, but with
a technically-natural value for the cosmological constant. We find should
be no larger than the electroweak scale in order for cosmological perturbations
to be stable by big-bang nucleosynthesis. We further show that in this limit
the helicity-0 mode is no longer strongly-coupled at low energy scales.Comment: 8+2 pages, 2 tables. Version published in PLB. Minor typo corrections
from v
Phosphorus donors in highly strained silicon
The hyperfine interaction of phosphorus donors in fully strained Si thin
films grown on virtual SiGe substrates with is
determined via electrically detected magnetic resonance. For highly strained
epilayers, hyperfine interactions as low as 0.8 mT are observed, significantly
below the limit predicted by valley repopulation. Within a Green's function
approach, density functional theory (DFT) shows that the additional reduction
is caused by the volume increase of the unit cell and a local relaxation of the
Si ligands of the P donor.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figure
A dynamical, confining model and hot quark stars
We explore the consequences of an equation of state (EOS) obtained in a
confining Dyson-Schwinger equation model of QCD for the structure and stability
of nonstrange quark stars at finite-T, and compare the results with those
obtained using a bag-model EOS. Both models support a temperature profile that
varies over the star's volume and the consequences of this are model
independent. However, in our model the analogue of the bag pressure is
(T,mu)-dependent, which is not the case in the bag model. This is a significant
qualitative difference and comparing the results effects a primary goal of
elucidating the sensitivity of quark star properties to the form of the EOS.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, epsfig.sty, elsart.sty. Shortened version to
appear in Phys. Lett. B, qualitatively unmodifie
Deconfinement at finite chemical potential
In a confining, renormalisable, Dyson-Schwinger equation model of two-flavour
QCD we explore the chemical-potential dependence of the dressed-quark
propagator, which provides a means of determining the behaviour of the chiral
and deconfinement order parameters, and low-energy pion observables. We find
coincident, first order deconfinement and chiral symmetry restoration
transitions at \mu_c = 375 MeV. f_\pi is insensitive to \mu until \mu \approx
\mu_0 = 0.7 mu_c when it begins to increase rapidly. m_\pi is weakly dependent
on \mu, decreasing slowly with \mu and reaching a minimum 6% less than its
\mu=0 value at \mu=\mu_0. In a two-flavour free-quark gas at \mu=\mu_c the
baryon number density would be approximately 3 \rho_0, where \rho_0=0.16
fm^{-3}; while in such a gas at \mu_0 the density is \rho_0.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures, epsfig.sty, elsart.st
A Textured Silicon Calorimetric Light Detector
We apply the standard photovoltaic technique of texturing to reduce the
reflectivity of silicon cryogenic calorimetric light detectors. In the case of
photons with random incidence angles, absorption is compatible with the
increase in surface area. For the geometrically thin detectors studied, energy
resolution from athermal phonons, dominated by position dependence, is
proportional to the surface-to-volume ratio. With the CaWO4 scintillating
crystal used as light source, the time constants of the calorimeter should be
adapted to the relatively slow light-emission times.Comment: Submitted to Journal of Applied Physic
Dorsal root ganglion axon bifurcation tolerates increased cyclic GMP levels: the role of phosphodiesterase 2A and scavenger receptor Npr3
A cyclic GMP (cGMP) signaling pathway, comprising C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP), its guanylate cyclase receptor Npr2, and cGMP-dependent protein kinase I, is critical for the bifurcation of dorsal root ganglion (DRG) and cranial sensory ganglion axons when entering the mouse spinal cord and the hindbrain respectively. However, the identity and functional relevance of phosphodiesterases (PDEs) that degrade cGMP in DRG neurons are not completely understood. Here, we asked whether regulation of the intracellular cGMP concentration by PDEs modulates the branching of sensory axons. Real-time imaging of cGMP with a genetically encoded fluorescent cGMP sensor, RT-PCR screens, in situ hybridization, and immunohistology combined with the analysis of mutant mice identified PDE2A as the major enzyme for the degradation of CNP-induced cGMP in embryonic DRG neurons. Tracking of PDE2A-deficient DRG sensory axons in conjunction with cGMP measurements indicated that axon bifurcation tolerates increased cGMP concentrations. As we found that the natriuretic peptide scavenger receptor Npr3 is expressed by cells associated with dorsal roots but not in DRG neurons itself at early developmental stages, we analyzed axonal branching in the absence of Npr3. In Npr3-deficient mice, the majority of sensory axons showed normal bifurcation, but a small population of axons (13%) was unable to form T-like branches and generated turns in rostral or caudal directions only. Taken together, this study shows that sensory axon bifurcation is insensitive to increases of CNP-induced cGMP levels and Npr3 does not have an important scavenging function in this axonal system
IRSL Signals from Maar Lake Sediments Stimulated at Various Temperatures
Optisch stimulierte Lumineszenz (OSL) und infrarot stimulierte Lumineszenz (IRSL) wurden an sieben Feinkorn Proben von Kern JW3 aus dem Trockenmaar Jungfernweiher gemessen. Zwei verschiedene post-IR IRSL Messprotokolle (blaue Detektion) wurden an den polymineralischen Feinkörnern (4–11 μm) angewandt. Diese Protokolle beinhalten eine Stimulation mit IR bei 50°C für bis zu 200 s vor einer weiteren IR Stimulation bei erhöhten Temperaturen bei 225°C für 100 s oder 290°C für 200 s. Die OSL von Quarz sättigt bei Dosen von 260–300 Gy und die De-Werte, die mit IRSL bei 50°C (IR50) erhalten werden, nehmen mit der Tiefe nicht zu. Dies weist darauf hin, dass auch dieses Signal bei ~500 Gy in Sättigung geht. De-Werte des post-IR IRSL Signals bei 225°C (pIRIR225) und 290°C (pIRIR290) nehmen jedoch mit der Tiefe von ~800 Gy bis ~1400 Gy zu, und zeigen ein korrigiertes Minimalalter von ~200 ka für die jüngsten Sedimente an. Die durchschnittlichen im Labor gemessene Fadingraten liegen für IR50 bei 4.09 ± 0.02%/decade und für pIRIR225 bei 2.55 ± 0.14%/decade. Für Probe JWS1 wurde für pIRIR290 ein g-value von 0.52 ± 1.12%/decade gemessen. Sowohl fading korrigierte pIRIR225 als auch unkorrigierte pIRIR290 De-Werte der jüngsten Probe (~16 m unterhalb der heutigen Erdoberfläche) weisen auf ein Alter von ~250 ka für die oberste Probe hin. Für die ältesten Proben, die in ~94 m unterhalb der heutigen Erdoberfläche genommen wurden, wurden Alter von bis zu ~400 ka gemessen.researc
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