Linking partial and quasi dynamical symmetries in rotational nuclei

Background: Quasi dynamical symmetries (QDS) and partial dynamical symmetries (PDS) play an important role in the understanding of complex systems. Up to now these symmetry concepts have been considered to be unrelated. Purpose: Establish a link between PDS and QDS and find an emperical manifestation. Methods: Quantum number fluctuations and the intrinsic state formalism are used within the framework of the interacting boson model of nuclei. Results: A previously unrecognized region of the parameter space of the interacting boson model that has both O(6) PDS (purity) and SU(3) QDS (coherence) in the ground band is established. Many rare-earth nuclei approximately satisfying both symmetry requirements are identified. Conclusions: PDS are more abundant than previously recognized and can lead to a QDS of an incompatible symmetry.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, 1 tabl

Elasticity-Dependent Self-assembly of Micro-Templated Chromonic Liquid Crystal Films

We explore micropatterned director structures of aqueous lyotropic chromonic liquid crystal (LCLC) films created on square lattice cylindrical-micropost substrates. The structures are manipulated by modulating the LCLC mesophases and their elastic properties via concentration through drying. Nematic LCLC films exhibit preferred bistable alignment along the diagonals of the micropost lattice. Columnar LCLC films, dried from nematics, form two distinct director and defect configurations: a diagonally aligned director pattern with local squares of defects, and an off-diagonal configuration with zig-zag defects. The formation of these states appears to be tied to the relative splay and bend free energy costs of the initial nematic films. The observed nematic and columnar configurations are understood numerically using a Landau-de Gennes free energy model. Among other attributes, the work provide first examples of quasi-2D micropatterning of LC films in the columnar phase and lyotropic LC films in general, and it demonstrates alignment and configuration switching of typically difficult-to-align LCLC films via bulk elastic properties.Comment: 9 pages; 9 figures; accepted for publication in Soft Matte

Being in front is good—but where is in front? Preferences for spatial referencing affect evaluation

Speakers of English frequently associate location in space with valence, as in moving up and down the “social ladder.” If such an association also holds for the sagittal axis, an object “in front of” another object would be evaluated more positively than the one “behind.” Yet how people conceptualize relative locations depends on which frame of reference (FoR) they adopt—and hence on cross‐linguistically diverging preferences. What is conceptualized as “in front” in one variant of the relative FoR (e.g., translation) is “behind” under another variant (reflection), and vice versa. Do such diverging conceptualizations of an object's location also lead to diverging evaluations? In two studies employing an implicit association test, we demonstrate, first, that speakers of German, Chinese, and Japanese indeed evaluate the object “in front of” another object more positively than the one “behind.” Second, and crucially, the reversal of which object is conceptualized as “in front” involves a corresponding reversal of valence, suggesting an impact of linguistically imparted FoR preferences on evaluative processes.publishedVersio

The maximum modulus of a trigonometric trinomial

Let Lambda be a set of three integers and let C_Lambda be the space of 2pi-periodic functions with spectrum in Lambda endowed with the maximum modulus norm. We isolate the maximum modulus points x of trigonometric trinomials T in C_Lambda and prove that x is unique unless |T| has an axis of symmetry. This permits to compute the exposed and the extreme points of the unit ball of C_Lambda, to describe how the maximum modulus of T varies with respect to the arguments of its Fourier coefficients and to compute the norm of unimodular relative Fourier multipliers on C_Lambda. We obtain in particular the Sidon constant of Lambda

Integrating quality into the cycle of therapeutic development

The quality of healthcare, particularly as reflected in current practice versus the available evidence, has become a major focus of national health policy discussions. Key components needed to provide quality care include: 1) development of quality indicators and performance measures from specific practice guidelines, 2) better ways to disseminate such guidelines and measures, and 3) development of support tools to promote standardized practice. Although rational decision-making and development of practice guidelines have relied upon results of randomized trials and outcomes studies, not all questions can be answered by randomized trials, and many treatment decisions necessarily reflect physiology, intuition, and experience when treating individuals. Debate about the role of "evidence-based medicine" also has raised questions about the value of applying trial results in practice, and some skepticism has arisen about whether advocated measures of clinical effectiveness, the basic definition of quality, truly reflect a worthwhile approach to improving medical practice. We provide a perspective on this issue by describing a model that integrates quantitative measurements of quality and performance into the development cycle of existing and future therapeutics. Such a model would serve as a basic approach to cardiovascular medicine that is necessary, but not sufficient, to those wishing to provide the best care for their patients

From Einstein's Theorem to Bell's Theorem: A History of Quantum Nonlocality

In this Einstein Year of Physics it seems appropriate to look at an important aspect of Einstein's work that is often down-played: his contribution to the debate on the interpretation of quantum mechanics. Contrary to popular opinion, Bohr had no defence against Einstein's 1935 attack (the EPR paper) on the claimed completeness of orthodox quantum mechanics. I suggest that Einstein's argument, as stated most clearly in 1946, could justly be called Einstein's reality-locality-completeness theorem, since it proves that one of these three must be false. Einstein's instinct was that completeness of orthodox quantum mechanics was the falsehood, but he failed in his quest to find a more complete theory that respected reality and locality. Einstein's theorem, and possibly Einstein's failure, inspired John Bell in 1964 to prove his reality-locality theorem. This strengthened Einstein's theorem (but showed the futility of his quest) by demonstrating that either reality or locality is a falsehood. This revealed the full nonlocality of the quantum world for the first time.Comment: 18 pages. To be published in Contemporary Physics. (Minor changes; references and author info added

Present and Future Experiments with Stored Exotic Nuclei at Relativistic Energies

Recent progress is presented from experiments on masses and lifetimes of bare and few-electron exotic nuclei at GSI.Comment: Proceedings of International Conference on "Frontiers in Nuclear Structure, Astrophysics and Reactions", Kos, Greece, September 12-17, 200

Direct observation of long-lived isomers in 212^{212}Bi

Long-lived isomers in 212Bi have been studied following 238U projectile fragmentation at 670 MeV per nucleon. The fragmentation products were injected as highly charged ions into the GSI storage ring, giving access to masses and half-lives. While the excitation energy of the first isomer of 212Bi was confirmed, the second isomer was observed at 1478(30) keV, in contrast to the previously accepted value of >1910 keV. It was also found to have an extended Lorentz-corrected in-ring halflife >30 min, compared to 7.0(3) min for the neutral atom. Both the energy and half-life differences can be understood as being due a substantial, though previously unrecognised, internal decay branch for neutral atoms. Earlier shell-model calculations are now found to give good agreement with the isomer excitation energy. Furthermore, these and new calculations predict the existence of states at slightly higher energy that could facilitate isomer de-excitation studies.Comment: published in PRL 110, 12250