7,234 research outputs found
Gravitational Waves from Coalescing Binary Sources
Coalescing binary systems (eg pulsars, neutron stars and black holes) are the
most likely sources of gravitational radiation, yet to be detected on or near
Earth, where the local gravitational field is negligible and the Poincar\'e
symmetry rules. On the other hand, the general theory of gravitational waves
emitted by axially symmetric rotating sources predicts the existence of a
non-vanishing news function. The existence of such function implies that, for a
distant observer, the asymptotic group of isometries, the BMS group, has a
translational symmetry that depends on the orbit periodicity of the source,
thus breaking the isotropy o the Poincar\'e translations. These results suggest
the application of the asymptotic BMS-covariant wave equation to obtain a
proper theoretical basis for the gravitational waves observations.Comment: 4 pages, awarded a honorable mention from the Gravity Research
Foundation 201
Axial dependence of optical weak measurements in the critical region
The interference between optical beams of different polarizations plays a
fundamental role in reproducing the optical analog of the electron spin weak
measurement. The extraordinary point in optical weak measurements is
represented by the possibility to estimate with great accuracy the
Goos-Haenchen (GH) shift by measuring the distance between the peak of the
outgoing beams for two opposite rotation angles of the polarizers located
before and after the dielectric block. Starting from the numerical calculation
of the GH shift, which clearly shows a frequency crossover for incidence near
to the critical angle, we present a detailed study of the interference between
s and p polarized waves in the critical region. This allows to determine in
which conditions it is possible to avoid axial deformations and reproduce the
GH curves. In view of a possible experimental implementation, we give the
expected weak measurement curves for Gaussian lasers of different beam waist
sizes propagating through borosilicate (BK7) and fused silica dielectric
blocks.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figure
Roughness correction to the Casimir force : Beyond the Proximity Force Approximation
We calculate the roughness correction to the Casimir effect in the parallel
plates geometry for metallic plates described by the plasma model. The
calculation is perturbative in the roughness amplitude with arbitrary values
for the plasma wavelength, the plate separation and the roughness correlation
length. The correction is found to be always larger than the result obtained in
the Proximity Force Approximation.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, v2 with minor change
Dynamical Casimir effect with cylindrical waveguides
I consider the quantum electromagnetic field in a coaxial cylindrical
waveguide, such that the outer cylindrical surface has a time-dependent radius.
The field propagates parallel to the axis, inside the annular region between
the two cylindrical surfaces. When the mechanical frequency and the thickness
of the annular region are small enough, only Transverse Electromagnetic (TEM)
photons may be generated by the dynamical Casimir effect. The photon emission
rate is calculated in this regime, and compared with the case of parallel
plates in the limit of very short distances between the two cylindrical
surfaces. The proximity force approximation holds for the transition matrix
elements in this limit, but the emission rate scales quadratically with the
mechanical frequency, as opposed to the cubic dependence for parallel plates.Comment: 6 page
Quantum radiation in a plane cavity with moving mirrors
We consider the electromagnetic vacuum field inside a perfect plane cavity
with moving mirrors, in the nonrelativistic approximation. We show that low
frequency photons are generated in pairs that satisfy simple properties
associated to the plane geometry. We calculate the photon generation rates for
each polarization as functions of the mechanical frequency by two independent
methods: on one hand from the analysis of the boundary conditions for moving
mirrors and with the aid of Green functions; and on the other hand by an
effective Hamiltonian approach. The angular and frequency spectra are discrete,
and emission rates for each allowed angular direction are obtained. We discuss
the dependence of the generation rates on the cavity length and show that the
effect is enhanced for short cavity lengths. We also compute the dissipative
force on the moving mirrors and show that it is related to the total radiated
energy as predicted by energy conservation.Comment: 17 pages, 1 figure, published in Physical Review
Police sexual coercion and its association with risky sex work and substance use behaviors among female sex workers in St. Petersburg and Orenburg, Russia.
BackgroundExtensive research documents that female sex workers (FSWs) in Russia are very vulnerable to abuses from police, including police sexual coercion. However, despite qualitative data suggesting abusive policing practices are more likely for FSWs contending with substance abuse issues and risky sex work contexts, there is a paucity of quantitative study evaluating these associations specifically in terms of police sexual coercion. Such research is needed to guide structural interventions to improve health and safety for FSWs in Russia and globally.ObjectiveThe purpose of this study is to assess the prevalence of police sexual coercion among FSWs from two Russian cities, St. Petersburg and Orenburg, and to determine whether riskier sex work behaviors and contexts and substance use behaviors, including both IDU and risky alcohol use, are associated with increased risk for sexual coercion from police.MethodFSWs in St. Petersburg and Orenburg were recruited via time-location and convenience sampling and completed structured surveys on demographics (age, education), sex work risks (e.g., violence during sex work) and substance use. Logistic regression analyses assessed associations of substance use and risky sex work with police sexual coercion, adjusting for demographics.ResultsParticipants (N=896) were aged 15 and older (94% were 20+ years). Most (69%) reported past year binge alcohol use, and 48% reported IDU the day before. Half (56%) reported 4+ clients per day. Rape during sex work ever was reported by 64%. Police sexual coercion in the past 12 months was reported by 38%. In the multivariate model, both current IDU (AOR=2.09, CI=1.45-3.02) and past year binge alcohol use (AOR=1.46, CI=1.03-2.07) were associated with police sexual coercion, as was selling sex on the street (not in venues) (AOR=7.81, CI=4.53-13.48) and rape during sex work (AOR=2.04, CI=1.43-2.92).ConclusionCurrent findings document the substantial role police sexual violence plays in the lives of FSWs in Russia. These findings also highlight heightened vulnerability to such violence among self-managed and substance abusing FSWs in this context. Structural interventions addressing police violence against FSWs may be useful to improve the health and safety of this population
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