758 research outputs found
Introducing computer science using a breadth-first approach and functional programming
Cosmology with Weak Lensing Surveys
Weak gravitational lensing surveys measure the distortion of the image of
distant sources due to the deflections of light rays by the fluctuations of the
gravitational potential along the line of sight. Since they probe the
non-linear matter power spectrum itself at medium redshift such surveys are
complimentary to both galaxy surveys (which follow stellar light) and cosmic
microwave background observations (which probe the linear regime at high
redshift). Ongoing CMB experiments such as WMAP and the future Planck satellite
mission will measure the standard cosmological parameters with unprecedented
accuracy. The focus of attention will then shift to understanding the nature of
dark matter and vacuum energy: several recent studies suggest that lensing is
the best method for constraining the dark energy equation of state. During the
next 5 year period ongoing and future weak lensing surveys such as the Joint
Dark Energy Mission (JDEM, e.g. SNAP) or the Large-aperture Synoptic Survey
Telescope (LSST) will play a major role in advancing our understanding of the
universe in this direction. In this review article we describe various aspects
of weak lensing surveys and how they can help us in understanding our universe.Comment: 15 pages, review article to appear in 2005 Triennial Issue of Phil.
Trans.
Ideal Gases in Time-Dependent Traps
We investigate theoretically the properties of an ideal trapped gas in a
time-dependent harmonic potential. Using a scaling formalism, we are able to
present simple analytical results for two important classes of experiments:
free expansion of the gas upon release of the trap; and the response of the gas
to a harmonic modulation of the trapping potential is investigated. We present
specific results relevant to current experiments on trapped Fermions.Comment: 5 pages, 3 eps figure
Early detection of plant diseases using spectral data
Early detection of crop disease is an essential step in food security. Usually, the detection becomes possible in a stage where disease symptoms are already visible on the aerial part of the plant. However, once the disease has manifested in different parts of the plant, little can be done to salvage the situation. Here, we suggest that the use of visible and near infrared spectral information facilitates disease detection in cassava crops before symptoms can be seen by the human eye. To test this hypothesis, we grow cassava plants in a screen house where they are inoculated with disease viruses. We monitor the plants over time collecting both spectra and plant tissue for wet chemistry analysis. Our results demonstrate that suitably trained classifiers are indeed able to detect cassava diseases. Specifically, we consider Generalized Matrix Relevance Learning Vector Quantization (GMLVQ) applied to original spectra and, alternatively, in combination with dimension reduction by Principal Component Analysis (PCA). We show that successful detection is possible shortly after the infection can be confirmed by wet lab chemistry, several weeks before symptoms manifest on the plants
HP-LT rocks exhumed during intra-oceanic subduction: the example of the Escambray massif (Cuba).
High-Presssure metabasites embedded in a serpentinite or metasedimentary matrix from the Sancti Spiritus dome (Escambray massif, Central Cuba) have been studied in order to better understand the origine and the evolution of the Northern Carribean boundary plate during the Cretaceous, in a global subduction context. Geochemical analyses (major, trace elements and isotopes) of the high pressure rocks show that they could be partially derived from the Cretaceous calc-alkaline arc described in Central Cuba, these were probably incorporated in the subduction zone by tectonic erosion. The High-Pressure rocks record a prograde path from the epidote bearing amphibolite facies to the barroisite bearing eclogite facies (P = 19 ± 2 Kbar, T = 590 ± 90 °C). These metabasites show evidence of retrogression starting from the glaucophane bearing eclogite facies to the lawsonite bearing blueschist facies. Therefore, these HP/LT rocks are characterized by a counter-clockwise cooling P/T path, which can be explained by the exhumation of HP rocks while the subduction was still active. Concordant geochronological data (Rb/Sr and Ar/Ar) suggest that the main exhumation of HP/LT rocks from the Sancti Spiritus dome occurred 70 Ma ago by top to SW thrusting. The retrogressed trajectory of these rocks, means that the northeast subduction of the Farallon plate continued after 70Ma. The final exhumation can be correlated with the beginning of the collision between the Bahamas platform and the Cretaceous island arc that induced a change of the subduction kinematic
Faster than Light Photons in Gravitational Fields II - Dispersion and Vacuum Polarisation
Vacuum polarisation in QED in a background gravitational field induces
interactions which effectively violate the strong equivalence principle and
affect the propagation of light. In the low frequency limit, Drummond and
Hathrell have shown that this mechanism leads to superluminal photon
velocities. To confront this phenomenon with causality, however, it is
necessary to extend the calculation of the phase velocity \vp(\w) to high
frequencies, since it is \vp(\infty) which determines the characteristics of
the effective wave equation and thus the causal structure. In this paper, we
use a recently constructed expression, valid to all orders in a derivative
expansion, for the effective action of QED in curved spacetime to determine the
frequency dependence of the phase velocity and investigate whether superluminal
velocities indeed persist in the high frequency limit.Comment: 27 pages, 7 figures, TeX with harvma
Some exact results for a trapped quantum gas at finite temperature
We present closed analytical expressions for the particle and kinetic energy
spatial densities at finite temperatures for a system of noninteracting
fermions (bosons) trapped in a d-dimensional harmonic oscillator potential. For
d=2 and 3, exact expressions for the N-particle densities are used to calculate
perturbatively the temperature dependence of the splittings of the energy
levels in a given shell due to a very weak interparticle interaction in a
dilute Fermi gas. In two dimensions, we obtain analytically the surprising
result that the |l|-degeneracy in a harmonic oscillator shell is not lifted in
the lowest order even when the exact, rather than the Thomas-Fermi expression
for the particle density is used. We also demonstrate rigorously (in two
dimensions) the reduction of the exact zero-temperature fermionic expressions
to the Thomas-Fermi form in the large-N limit.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures include
Collisionless collective modes of fermions in magnetic traps
We present a Random-Phase-Approximation formalism for the collective spectrum
of two hyperfine species of dilute 40K atoms, magnetically trapped at zero
temperature and subjected to a repulsive s-wave interaction between atoms with
different spin projections. We examine the density-like and the spin-like
oscillation spectra, as well as the transition density profiles created by
external multipolar fields. The zero sound spectrum is always fragmented and
the density and spin channels become clearly distinguishable if the trapping
potentials acting on the species are identical. Although this distinction is
lost when these confining fields are different, at selected excitation
frequencies the transition densities may display the signature of the channel.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figure
Momentum flux density, kinetic energy density and their fluctuations for one-dimensional confined gases of non-interacting fermions
We present a Green's function method for the evaluation of the particle
density profile and of the higher moments of the one-body density matrix in a
mesoscopic system of N Fermi particles moving independently in a linear
potential. The usefulness of the method is illustrated by applications to a
Fermi gas confined in a harmonic potential well, for which we evaluate the
momentum flux and kinetic energy densities as well as their quantal mean-square
fluctuations. We also study some properties of the kinetic energy functional
E_{kin}[n(x)] in the same system. Whereas a local approximation to the kinetic
energy density yields a multi-valued function, an exact single-valued
relationship between the density derivative of E_{kin}[n(x)] and the particle
density n(x) is demonstrated and evaluated for various values of the number of
particles in the system.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure
Theory of output coupling for trapped fermionic atoms
We develop a dynamic theory of output coupling, for fermionic atoms initially
confined in a magnetic trap. We consider an exactly soluble one-dimensional
model, with a spatially localized delta-type coupling between the atoms in the
trap and a continuum of free-particle external modes. Two important special
cases are considered for the confinement potential: the infinite box and the
harmonic oscillator. We establish that in both cases a bound state of the
coupled system appears for any value of the coupling constant, implying that
the trap population does not vanish in the infinite-time limit. For weak
coupling, the energy spectrum of the outgoing beam exhibits peaks corresponding
to the initially occupied energy levels in the trap; the height of these peaks
increases with the energy. As the coupling gets stronger, the energy spectrum
is displaced towards dressed energies of the fermions in the trap. The
corresponding dressed states result from the coupling between the unperturbed
fermionic states in the trap, mediated by the coupling between these states and
the continuum. In the strong-coupling limit, there is a reinforcement of the
lowest-energy dressed mode, which contributes to the energy spectrum of the
outgoing beam more strongly than the other modes. This effect is especially
pronounced for the one-dimensional box, which indicates that the efficiency of
the mode-reinforcement mechanism depends on the steepness of the confinement
potential. In this case, a quasi-monochromatic anti-bunched atomic beam is
obtained. Results for a bosonic sample are also shown for comparison.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures, added discussion on time-dependent spectral
distribution and corresponding figur
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