615 research outputs found
Simulation study of Non-ergodicity Transitions: Gelation in Colloidal Systems with Short Range Attractions
Computer simulations were used to study the gel transition occurring in
colloidal systems with short range attractions. A colloid-polymer mixture was
modelled and the results were compared with mode coupling theory expectations
and with the results for other systems (hard spheres and Lennard Jones). The
self-intermediate scattering function and the mean squared displacement were
used as the main dynamical quantities. Two different colloid packing fractions
have been studied. For the lower packing fraction, -scaling holds and
the wave-vector analysis of the correlation function shows that gelation is a
regular non-ergodicity transition within MCT. The leading mechanism for this
novel non-ergodicity transition is identified as bond formation caused by the
short range attraction. The time scale and diffusion coefficient also show
qualitatively the expected behaviour, although different exponents are found
for the power-law divergences of these two quantities. The non-Gaussian
parameter was also studied and very large correction to Gaussian behaviour
found. The system with higher colloid packing fraction shows indications of a
nearby high-order singularity, causing -scaling to fail, but the
general expectations for non-ergodicity transitions still hold.Comment: 13 pages, 15 figure
Radio emission and jets from microquasars
To some extent, all Galactic binary systems hosting a compact object are
potential `microquasars', so much as all galactic nuclei may have been quasars,
once upon a time. The necessary ingredients for a compact object of stellar
mass to qualify as a microquasar seem to be: accretion, rotation and magnetic
field. The presence of a black hole may help, but is not strictly required,
since neutron star X-ray binaries and dwarf novae can be powerful jet sources
as well. The above issues are broadly discussed throughout this Chapter, with a
a rather trivial question in mind: why do we care? In other words: are jets a
negligible phenomenon in terms of accretion power, or do they contribute
significantly to dissipating gravitational potential energy? How do they
influence their surroundings? The latter point is especially relevant in a
broader context, as there is mounting evidence that outflows powered by
super-massive black holes in external galaxies may play a crucial role in
regulating the evolution of cosmic structures. Microquasars can also be thought
of as a form of quasars for the impatient: what makes them appealing, despite
their low number statistics with respect to quasars, are the fast variability
time-scales. In the first approximation, the physics of the jet-accretion
coupling in the innermost regions should be set by the mass/size of the
accretor: stellar mass objects vary on 10^5-10^8 times shorter time-scales,
making it possible to study variable accretion modes and related ejection
phenomena over average Ph.D. time-scales. [Abridged]Comment: 28 pages, 13 figures, To appear in Belloni, T. (ed.): The Jet
Paradigm - From Microquasars to Quasars, Lect. Notes Phys. 794 (2009
Aspects of the dynamics of colloidal suspensions: Further results of the mode-coupling theory of structural relaxation
Results of the idealized mode-coupling theory for the structural relaxation
in suspensions of hard-sphere colloidal particles are presented and discussed
with regard to recent light scattering experiments. The structural relaxation
becomes non-diffusive for long times, contrary to the expectation based on the
de Gennes narrowing concept. A semi-quantitative connection of the wave vector
dependences of the relaxation times and amplitudes of the final
-relaxation explains the approximate scaling observed by Segr{\`e} and
Pusey [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 77}, 771 (1996)]. Asymptotic expansions lead to a
qualitative understanding of density dependences in generalized Stokes-Einstein
relations. This relation is also generalized to non-zero frequencies thereby
yielding support for a reasoning by Mason and Weitz [Phys. Rev. Lett {\bf 74},
1250 (1995)]. The dynamics transient to the structural relaxation is discussed
with models incorporating short-time diffusion and hydrodynamic interactions
for short times.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures; to be published in Phys. Rev.
Macromolecular theory of solvation and structure in mixtures of colloids and polymers
The structural and thermodynamic properties of mixtures of colloidal spheres
and non-adsorbing polymer chains are studied within a novel general
two-component macromolecular liquid state approach applicable for all size
asymmetry ratios. The dilute limits, when one of the components is at infinite
dilution but the other concentrated, are presented and compared to field theory
and models which replace polymer coils with spheres. Whereas the derived
analytical results compare well, qualitatively and quantitatively, with
mean-field scaling laws where available, important differences from ``effective
sphere'' approaches are found for large polymer sizes or semi-dilute
concentrations.Comment: 23 pages, 10 figure
On D0-branes in Gepner models
We show why and when D0-branes at the Gepner point of Calabi-Yau manifolds
given as Fermat hypersurfaces exist.Comment: 22 pages, substantial improvements in sections 2 and 3, references
added, version to be publishe
A 15.7-minAMâCVn binary discovered in K2
We present the discovery of SDSSâJ135154.46â064309.0, a short-period variable observed using 30-mincadence photometry in K2 Campaign 6. Follow-up spectroscopy and high-speed photometry support a classification as a new member of the rare class of ultracompact accreting binaries known as AMâCVn stars. The spectroscopic orbital period of 15.65 ± 0.12âmin makes this system the fourth-shortest-period AMâCVn known, and the second system of this type to be discovered by the Kepler spacecraft. The K2 data show photometric periods at 15.7306 ± 0.0003âmin, 16.1121 ± 0.0004âmin, and 664.82 ± 0.06âmin, which we identify as the orbital period, superhump period, and disc precession period, respectively. From the superhump and orbital periods we estimate the binary mass ratio q = M2/M1= 0.111 ± 0.005, though this method of mass ratio determination may not be well calibrated for helium-dominated binaries. This system is likely to be a bright foreground source of gravitational waves in the frequency range detectable by Laser Interferometer Space Antenna, and may be of use as a calibration source if future studies are able to constrain the masses of its stellar components
Limitations of the heavy-baryon expansion as revealed by a pion-mass dispersion relation
The chiral expansion of nucleon properties such as mass, magnetic moment, and
magnetic polarizability are investigated in the framework of chiral
perturbation theory, with and without the heavy-baryon expansion. The analysis
makes use of a pion-mass dispersion relation, which is shown to hold in both
frameworks. The dispersion relation allows an ultraviolet cutoff to be
implemented without compromising the symmetries. After renormalization, the
leading-order heavy-baryon loops demonstrate a stronger dependence on the
cutoff scale, which results in weakened convergence of the expansion. This
conclusion is tested against the recent results of lattice quantum
chromodynamics simulations for nucleon mass and isovector magnetic moment. In
the case of the polarizability, the situation is even more dramatic as the
heavy-baryon expansion is unable to reproduce large soft contributions to this
quantity. Clearly, the heavy-baryon expansion is not suitable for every
quantity.Comment: Accepted for publication in EPJ C. Made changes based on referee
comments: clarifying sentences to conclusion 1. of Section IV, beginning of
Section V, and new footnote in Section VI, page 8. Added more detailed
explanation in paragraph 4 of Section III. Added citations of Phys.Rev. D60,
034014, and Phys.Lett. B716, 33
Solitary magnetic perturbations at the ELM onset
Edge localised modes (ELMs) allow maintaining sufficient purity of tokamak
H-mode plasmas and thus enable stationary H-mode. On the other hand in a future
device ELMs may cause divertor power flux densities far in excess of tolerable
material limits. The size of the energy loss per ELM is determined by
saturation effects in the non-linear phase of the ELM, which at present is
hardly understood. Solitary magnetic perturbations (SMPs) are identified as
dominant features in the radial magnetic fluctuations below 100kHz. They are
typically observed close (+-0.1ms) to the onset of pedestal erosion. SMPs are
field aligned structures rotating in the electron diamagnetic drift direction
with perpendicular velocities of about 10km/s. A comparison of perpendicular
velocities suggests that the perturbation evoking SMPs is located at or inside
the separatrix. Analysis of very pronounced examples showed that the number of
peaks per toroidal turn is 1 or 2, which is clearly lower than corresponding
numbers in linear stability calculations. In combination with strong peaking of
the magnetic signals this results in a solitary appearance resembling modes
like palm tree modes, edge snakes or outer modes. This behavior has been
quantified as solitariness and correlated to main plasma parameters. SMPs may
be considered as a signature of the non-linear ELM-phase originating at the
separatrix or further inside. Thus they provide a handle to investigate the
transition from linear to non-linear ELM phase. By comparison with data from
gas puff imaging processes in the non-linear phase at or inside the separatrix
and in the scrape-off-layer (SOL) can be correlated. A connection between the
passing of an SMP and the onset of radial filament propagation has been found.
Eventually the findings related to SMPs may contribute to a future quantitative
understanding of the non-linear ELM evolution.Comment: submitted to Nuclear Fusio
Core excitation in Coulomb breakup reactions
Within the pure Coulomb breakup mechanism, we investigate the one-neutron
removal reaction of the type A(a,b)X with Be and C
projectiles on a heavy target nucleus Pb at the beam energy of 60
MeV/nucleon. Our intention is to examine the prospective of using these
reactions to study the structure of neutron rich nuclei. Integrated partial
cross sections and momentum distributions for the ground as well as excited
bound states of core nuclei are calculated within the finite range distorted
wave Born approximation as well as within the adiabatic model of the Coulomb
breakup. Our results are compared with those obtained in the studies of the
reactions on a light target where the breakup proceeds via the pure nuclear
mechanism. We find that the transitions to excited states of the core are quite
weak in the Coulomb dominated process as compared to the pure nuclear breakup.Comment: Revtex format, five postscript figures included, to appear in Phys.
Rev.
Predictive powers of chiral perturbation theory in Compton scattering off protons
We study low-energy nucleon Compton scattering in the framework of baryon
chiral perturbation theory (BPT) with pion, nucleon, and (1232)
degrees of freedom, up to and including the next-to-next-to-leading order
(NNLO). We include the effects of order , and , with
MeV the -resonance excitation energy. These are
all "predictive" powers in the sense that no unknown low-energy constants enter
until at least one order higher (i.e, ). Estimating the theoretical
uncertainty on the basis of natural size for effects, we find that
uncertainty of such a NNLO result is comparable to the uncertainty of the
present experimental data for low-energy Compton scattering. We find an
excellent agreement with the experimental cross section data up to at least the
pion-production threshold. Nevertheless, for the proton's magnetic
polarizability we obtain a value of fm, in
significant disagreement with the current PDG value. Unlike the previous
PT studies of Compton scattering, we perform the calculations in a
manifestly Lorentz-covariant fashion, refraining from the heavy-baryon (HB)
expansion. The difference between the lowest order HBPT and BPT
results for polarizabilities is found to be appreciable. We discuss the chiral
behavior of proton polarizabilities in both HBPT and BPT with the
hope to confront it with lattice QCD calculations in a near future. In studying
some of the polarized observables, we identify the regime where their naive
low-energy expansion begins to break down, thus addressing the forthcoming
precision measurements at the HIGS facility.Comment: 24 pages, 9 figures, RevTeX4, revised version published in EPJ
- âŠ