13,656 research outputs found
Stabilization of lactate dehydrogenase
Addition of substances such as dimethylsulfoxide, glycerol, and gelatin to aqueous solutions of lactate dehydrogenase maintains enzymes in stable and fully active form when stored at 2 - 6 C
How unprovable is Rabin's decidability theorem?
We study the strength of set-theoretic axioms needed to prove Rabin's theorem
on the decidability of the MSO theory of the infinite binary tree. We first
show that the complementation theorem for tree automata, which forms the
technical core of typical proofs of Rabin's theorem, is equivalent over the
moderately strong second-order arithmetic theory to a
determinacy principle implied by the positional determinacy of all parity games
and implying the determinacy of all Gale-Stewart games given by boolean
combinations of sets. It follows that complementation for
tree automata is provable from - but not -comprehension.
We then use results due to MedSalem-Tanaka, M\"ollerfeld and
Heinatsch-M\"ollerfeld to prove that over -comprehension, the
complementation theorem for tree automata, decidability of the MSO theory of
the infinite binary tree, positional determinacy of parity games and
determinacy of Gale-Stewart games are all
equivalent. Moreover, these statements are equivalent to the
-reflection principle for -comprehension. It follows in
particular that Rabin's decidability theorem is not provable in
-comprehension.Comment: 21 page
The generalization of the Regge-Wheeler equation for self-gravitating matter fields
It is shown that the dynamical evolution of perturbations on a static
spacetime is governed by a standard pulsation equation for the extrinsic
curvature tensor. The centerpiece of the pulsation equation is a wave operator
whose spatial part is manifestly self-adjoint. In contrast to metric
formulations, the curvature-based approach to gravitational perturbation theory
generalizes in a natural way to self-gravitating matter fields. For a certain
relevant subspace of perturbations the pulsation operator is symmetric with
respect to a positive inner product and therefore allows spectral theory to be
applied. In particular, this is the case for odd-parity perturbations of
spherically symmetric background configurations. As an example, the pulsation
equations for self-gravitating, non-Abelian gauge fields are explicitly shown
to be symmetric in the gravitational, the Yang Mills, and the off-diagonal
sector.Comment: 4 pages, revtex, no figure
Macroscopic Quantum Coherence in a Magnetic Nanoparticle Above the Surface of a Superconductor
We study macroscopic quantum tunneling of the magnetic moment in a
single-domain particle placed above the surface of a superconductor. Such a
setup allows one to manipulate the height of the energy barrier, preserving the
degeneracy of the ground state. The tunneling amplitude and the effect of the
dissipation in the superconductor are computed.Comment: RevTeX, 4 pages, 1 figure. Submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
Hydrostatic Expansion and Spin Changes During Type I X-Ray Bursts
We present calculations of the spin-down of a neutron star atmosphere due to
hydrostatic expansion during a Type I X-ray burst. We show that (i) Cumming and
Bildsten overestimated the spin-down of rigidly-rotating atmospheres by a
factor of two, and (ii) general relativity has a small (5-10%) effect on the
angular momentum conservation law. We rescale our results to different neutron
star masses, rotation rates and equations of state, and present some detailed
rotational profiles. Comparing with recent observations of large frequency
shifts in MXB 1658-298 and 4U 1916-053, we find that the spin-down expected if
the atmosphere rotates rigidly is a factor of two to three less than the
observed values. If differential rotation is allowed to persist, we find that
the upper layers of the atmosphere spin down by an amount comparable to the
observed values; however, there is no compelling reason to expect the observed
spin frequency to be that of only the outermost layers. We conclude that
hydrostatic expansion and angular momentum conservation alone cannot account
for the largest frequency shifts observed during Type I bursts.Comment: Submitted to the Astrophysical Journal (13 pages, including 4
figures
Quantum Effects in the Mechanical Properties of Suspended Nanomechanical Systems
We explore the quantum aspects of an elastic bar supported at both ends and
subject to compression. If strain rather than stress is held fixed, the system
remains stable beyond the buckling instability, supporting two potential
minima. The classical equilibrium transverse displacement is analogous to a
Ginsburg-Landau order parameter, with strain playing the role of temperature.
We calculate the quantum fluctuations about the classical value as a function
of strain. Excitation energies and quantum fluctuation amplitudes are compared
for silicon beams and carbon nanotubes.Comment: RevTeX4. 5 pages, 3 eps figures. Submitted to Physical Review Letter
Chiral Dynamics of Deeply Bound Pionic Atoms
We present and discuss a systematic calculation, based on two-loop chiral
perturbation theory, of the pion-nuclear s-wave optical potential. A proper
treatment of the explicit energy dependence of the off-shell pion self-energy
together with (electromagnetic) gauge invariance of the Klein-Gordon equation
turns out to be crucial. Accurate data for the binding energies and widths of
the 1s and 2p levels in pionic ^{205}Pb and ^{207}Pb are well reproduced, and
the notorious "missing repulsion" in the pion-nuclear s-wave optical potential
is accounted for. The connection with the in-medium change of the pion decay
constant is clarified.Comment: preprint ECT*-02-16, 4 pages, 3 figure
- …