1,071 research outputs found
Elastic and Raman scattering of 9.0 and 11.4 MeV photons from Au, Dy and In
Monoenergetic photons between 8.8 and 11.4 MeV were scattered elastically and
in elastically (Raman) from natural targets of Au, Dy and In.15 new cross
sections were measured. Evidence is presented for a slight deformation in the
197Au nucleus, generally believed to be spherical. It is predicted, on the
basis of these measurements, that the Giant Dipole Resonance of Dy is very
similar to that of 160Gd. A narrow isolated resonance at 9.0 MeV is observed in
In.Comment: 31 pages, 11 figure
Functional neuroimaging and withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment from vegetative patients
Recent studies using functional magnetic resonance imaging of patients in a vegetative state have raised the possibility that such patients retain some degree of consciousness. In this paper, the ethical implications of such findings are outlined, in particular in relation to decisions about withdrawing life-sustaining treatment. It is sometimes assumed that if there is evidence of consciousness, treatment should not be withdrawn. But, paradoxically, the discovery of consciousness in very severely brain-damaged patients may provide more reason to let them die. Although functional neuroimaging is likely to play an increasing role in the assessment of patients in a vegetative state, caution is needed in the interpretation of neuroimaging findings
Estimates in Beurling--Helson type theorems. Multidimensional case
We consider the spaces of functions on the
-dimensional torus such that the sequence of the Fourier
coefficients belongs to
. The norm on is defined by
. We study the rate of
growth of the norms as
for -smooth real
functions on (the one-dimensional case was investigated
by the author earlier). The lower estimates that we obtain have direct
analogues for the spaces
Weak radiative corrections to the Drell-Yan process for large invariant mass of a dilepton pair
The weak radiative corrections to the Drell-Yan process above the Z-peak have
been studied. The compact asymptotic expression for the two heavy boson
exchange - one of the significant contributions to the investigated process -
has been obtained, the results expand in the powers of the Sudakov electroweak
logarithms. At the quark level we compare the weak radiative corrections to the
total cross section and forward-backward asymmetry with the existing results
and achieve a rather good coincidence at \sqrt{s}>= 0.5 TeV. The numerical
analysis has been performed in the high energy region corresponding to the
future experiments at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC). To simulate the
detector acceptance we used the standard CMS detector cuts. It was shown that
double Sudakov logarithms of the WW boxes are the dominant contributions in
hadronic cross section. The considered radiative corrections are significant at
high dilepton mass M and change the dilepton mass distribution up to ~+3(-12)%
at the LHC energies and M=1(5) TeV.Comment: Changed content; 13 pp, 4 fig, 1 tabl
Concern for others leads to vicarious optimism
An optimistic learning bias leads people to update their beliefs in response to better-than-expected good news but neglect worse-than-expected bad news. Because evidence suggests that this bias arises from self-concern, we hypothesized that a similar bias may affect beliefs about other people’s futures, to the extent that people care about others. Here, we demonstrated the phenomenon of vicarious optimism and showed that it arises from concern for others. Participants predicted the likelihood of unpleasant future events that could happen to either themselves or others. In addition to showing an optimistic learning bias for events affecting themselves, people showed vicarious optimism when learning about events affecting friends and strangers. Vicarious optimism for strangers correlated with generosity toward strangers, and experimentally increasing concern for strangers amplified vicarious optimism for them. These findings suggest that concern for others can bias beliefs about their future welfare and that optimism in learning is not restricted to oneself
Galactic interstellar 18O/17O ratios - a radial gradient?
(Abridged) Our aim is to determine 18O/17O abundance ratios across the entire
Galaxy. These provide a measure of the amount of enrichment by high-mass versus
intermediate-mass stars. Such ratios, derived from the C18O and C17O J=1-0
lines alone, may be affected by systematic errors. Therefore, the C18O and C17O
(1-0), (2-1), and (3-2), as well as the 13CO (1-0) and (2-1) lines, were
observed towards 18 prominent galactic targets (a total of 25 positions). The
combined dataset was analysed with an LVG model, accounting for optical depth
effects. The data cover galactocentric radii R between 0.1 and 16.9 kpc (solar
circle at 8.5 kpc). Near the centre of the Galaxy, 18O/17O = 2.88 +/- 0.11. For
the galactic disc out to an R of ca. 10 kpc, 18O/17O = 4.16 +/- 0.09. At ca. R
= 16.5 kpc, 18O/17O = 5.03 +/- 0.46. Assuming that 18O is synthesised
predominantly in high-mass stars (M > 8 Msun), while C17O is mainly a product
of lower-mass stars, the ratio from the inner Galaxy indicates a dominance of
CNO-hydrogen burning products that is also apparent in the C- and N-isotope
ratios. The high 18O/17O value of the solar system (5.5) relative to that of
the ambient ISM suggests contamination by nearby high-mass stars during its
formation. High values in the metal-poor environment of the outer Galaxy are
not matched by the low values observed towards the even more metal-poor LMC.
Apparently, the outer Galaxy cannot be considered as an intermediate
environment between the solar neighbourhood and the ISM of small metal-poor
galaxies. The apparent 18O/17O gradient along the galactic disc and the
discrepancy between outer disc and LMC isotope ratios may be explained by
different ages of the respective stellar populations.Comment: Accepted by Astron. & Astroph.; 10 pages + 4 pages on-line material
(figs
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
Lognormal scale invariant random measures
In this article, we consider the continuous analog of the celebrated
Mandelbrot star equation with lognormal weights. Mandelbrot introduced this
equation to characterize the law of multiplicative cascades. We show existence
and uniqueness of measures satisfying the aforementioned continuous equation;
these measures fall under the scope of the Gaussian multiplicative chaos theory
developed by J.P. Kahane in 1985 (or possibly extensions of this theory). As a
by product, we also obtain an explicit characterization of the covariance
structure of these measures. We also prove that qualitative properties such as
long-range independence or isotropy can be read off the equation.Comment: 31 pages; Probability Theory and Related Fields (2012) electronic
versio
Exact asymptotics of the freezing transition of a logarithmically correlated random energy model
We consider a logarithmically correlated random energy model, namely a model
for directed polymers on a Cayley tree, which was introduced by Derrida and
Spohn. We prove asymptotic properties of a generating function of the partition
function of the model by studying a discrete time analogy of the KPP-equation -
thus translating Bramson's work on the KPP-equation into a discrete time case.
We also discuss connections to extreme value statistics of a branching random
walk and a rescaled multiplicative cascade measure beyond the critical point
Discovery of SiCSi in IRC+10216: A missing link between gas and dust carriers of SiC bonds
We report the discovery in space of a disilicon species, SiCSi, from
observations between 80 and 350 GHz with the IRAM 30m radio telescope. Owing to
the close coordination between laboratory experiments and astrophysics, 112
lines have now been detected in the carbon-rich star CWLeo. The derived
frequencies yield improved rotational and centrifugal distortion constants up
to sixth order. From the line profiles and interferometric maps with the
Submillimeter Array, the bulk of the SiCSi emis- sion arises from a region of 6
arcseconds in radius. The derived abundance is comparable to that of SiC2. As
expected from chemical equilibrium calculations, SiCSi and SiC2 are the most
abundant species harboring a SiC bond in the dust formation zone and certainly
both play a key role in the formation of SiC dust grains.Comment: To be published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters; Accepted May 6
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