10,092 research outputs found
Few-body physics in effective field theory
Effective Field Theory (EFT) provides a powerful framework that exploits a
separation of scales in physical systems to perform systematically improvable,
model-independent calculations. Particularly interesting are few-body systems
with short-range interactions and large two-body scattering length. Such
systems display remarkable universal features. In systems with more than two
particles, a three-body force with limit cycle behavior is required for
consistent renormalization already at leading order. We will review this EFT
and some of its applications in the physics of cold atoms and nuclear physics.
In particular, we will discuss the possibility of an infrared limit cycle in
QCD. Recent extensions of the EFT approach to the four-body system and N-boson
droplets in two spatial dimensions will also be addressed.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, Proceedings of the INT Workshop on "Nuclear
Forces and the Quantum Many-Body Problem", Oct. 200
Symbolic Manipulators Affect Mathematical Mindsets
Symbolic calculators like Mathematica are becoming more commonplace among
upper level physics students. The presence of such a powerful calculator can
couple strongly to the type of mathematical reasoning students employ. It does
not merely offer a convenient way to perform the computations students would
have otherwise wanted to do by hand. This paper presents examples from the work
of upper level physics majors where Mathematica plays an active role in
focusing and sustaining their thought around calculation. These students still
engage in powerful mathematical reasoning while they calculate but struggle
because of the narrowed breadth of their thinking. Their reasoning is drawn
into local attractors where they look to calculation schemes to resolve
questions instead of, for example, mapping the mathematics to the physical
system at hand. We model the influence of Mathematica as an integral part of
the constant feedback that occurs in how students frame, and hence focus, their
work
Comment on "Measurement of time of arrival in quantum mechanics"
The analysis of the model quantum clocks proposed by Aharonov et al. [Phys.
Rev. A 57 (1998) 4130 - quant-ph/9709031] requires considering evanescent
components, previously ignored. We also clarify the meaning of the operational
time of arrival distribution which had been investigated.Comment: 3 inlined figures; comment on quant-ph/970903
Xenogeneic, extracorporeal liver perfusion in primates improves the ratio of branched-chain amino acids to aromatic amino acids (Fischer's ratio)
In fulminant hepatic failure (FHF), the development of hepatic encephalopathy is associated with grossly abnormal concentrations of plasma amino acids (PAA). Normalization of the ratio of branched-chain amino acids to aromatic amino acids (Fischer's ratio) correlates with clinical improvement. This study evaluated changes in PAA metabolism during 4 h of isolated, normothermic extracorporeal liver perfusion using a newly designed system containing human blood and a rhesus monkey liver. Bile and urea production were within the physiological range. Release of the transaminases AST, ALT and LDH were minimal. The ratio of branched (valine, leucine, isoleucine) to aromatic (tyrosine, phenylalanine) amino acids increased significantly. These results indicate that a xenogeneic extracorporeal liver perfusion system is capable of significantly increasing Fischer's ratio and may play a role in treating and bridging patients in FHF in the future
Dispersion-theoretical analysis of the nucleon electromagnetic form factors: Inclusion of time-like data
We update a recent dispersion--theoretical fit to the nucleon electromagnetic
form factors by including the existing data in the time--like region. We show
that while the time--like data for the proton can be described consistently
with the existing world space--like data, this is not the case for the neutron.
Another measurement of the process is called for. We
furthermore sharpen the previous estimate of the separation between the
perturbative and the non--perturbative regime, which is characterized by a
scale parameter GeV.Comment: 7 pp, LaTeX, uses epsf, 2 figures in separate file, four data points
changed, slight changes in the fits, conclusions unchange
Beyond deficit-based models of learners' cognition: Interpreting engineering students' difficulties with sense-making in terms of fine-grained epistemological and conceptual dynamics
Researchers have argued against deficit-based explanations of students'
troubles with mathematical sense-making, pointing instead to factors such as
epistemology: students' beliefs about knowledge and learning can hinder them
from activating and integrating productive knowledge they have. In this case
study of an engineering major solving problems (about content from his
introductory physics course) during a clinical interview, we show that "Jim"
has all the mathematical and conceptual knowledge he would need to solve a
hydrostatic pressure problem that we posed to him. But he reaches and sticks
with an incorrect answer that violates common sense. We argue that his lack of
mathematical sense-making-specifically, translating and reconciling between
mathematical and everyday/common-sense reasoning-stems in part from his
epistemological views, i.e., his views about the nature of knowledge and
learning. He regards mathematical equations as much more trustworthy than
everyday reasoning, and he does not view mathematical equations as expressing
meaning that tractably connects to common sense. For these reasons, he does not
view reconciling between common sense and mathematical formalism as either
necessary or plausible to accomplish. We, however, avoid a potential "deficit
trap"-substituting an epistemological deficit for a concepts/skills deficit-by
incorporating multiple, context-dependent epistemological stances into Jim's
cognitive dynamics. We argue that Jim's epistemological stance contains
productive seeds that instructors could build upon to support Jim's
mathematical sense-making: He does see common-sense as connected to formalism
(though not always tractably so) and in some circumstances this connection is
both salient and valued.Comment: Submitted to the Journal of Engineering Educatio
Potential Energy Surface for H_2 Dissociation over Pd(100)
The potential energy surface (PES) of dissociative adsorption of H_2 on
Pd(100) is investigated using density functional theory and the full-potential
linear augmented plane wave (FP-LAPW) method. Several dissociation pathways are
identified which have a vanishing energy barrier. A pronounced dependence of
the potential energy on ``cartwheel'' rotations of the molecular axis is found.
The calculated PES shows no indication of the presence of a precursor state in
front of the surface. Both results indicate that steering effects determine the
observed decrease of the sticking coefficient at low energies of the H_2
molecules. We show that the topology of the PES is related to the dependence of
the covalent H(s)-Pd(d) interactions on the orientation of the H_2 molecule.Comment: RevTeX, 8 pages, 5 figures in uufiles forma
Moller operators and Lippmann-Schwinger equations for step-like potentials
The Moller operators and the asociated Lippman-Schwinger equations obtained
from different partitionings of the Hamiltonian for a step-like potential
barrier are worked out, compared and related.Comment: 15 pages, 1 inlined figure, iopart.cl
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