Peaks and Troughs in Helioseismology: The Power Spectrum of Solar Oscillations

I present a matched-wave asymptotic analysis of the driving of solar oscillations by a general localised source. The analysis provides a simple mathematical description of the asymmetric peaks in the power spectrum in terms of the relative locations of eigenmodes and troughs in the spectral response. It is suggested that the difference in measured phase function between the modes and the troughs in the spectrum will provide a key diagnostic of the source of the oscillations. I also suggest a form for the asymmetric line profiles to be used in the fitting of solar power spectra. Finally I present a comparison between the numerical and asymptotic descriptions of the oscillations. The numerical results bear out the qualitative features suggested by the asymptotic analysis but suggest that numerical calculations of the locations of the troughs will be necessary for a quantitative comparison with the observations.Comment: 18 pages + 8 separate figures. To appear in Ap

Improved bounds and new techniques for Davenport-Schinzel sequences and their generalizations

Let lambda_s(n) denote the maximum length of a Davenport-Schinzel sequence of order s on n symbols. For s=3 it is known that lambda_3(n) = Theta(n alpha(n)) (Hart and Sharir, 1986). For general s>=4 there are almost-tight upper and lower bounds, both of the form n * 2^poly(alpha(n)) (Agarwal, Sharir, and Shor, 1989). Our first result is an improvement of the upper-bound technique of Agarwal et al. We obtain improved upper bounds for s>=6, which are tight for even s up to lower-order terms in the exponent. More importantly, we also present a new technique for deriving upper bounds for lambda_s(n). With this new technique we: (1) re-derive the upper bound of lambda_3(n) <= 2n alpha(n) + O(n sqrt alpha(n)) (first shown by Klazar, 1999); (2) re-derive our own new upper bounds for general s; and (3) obtain improved upper bounds for the generalized Davenport-Schinzel sequences considered by Adamec, Klazar, and Valtr (1992). Regarding lower bounds, we show that lambda_3(n) >= 2n alpha(n) - O(n), and therefore, the coefficient 2 is tight. We also present a simpler version of the construction of Agarwal, Sharir, and Shor that achieves the known lower bounds for even s>=4.Comment: To appear in Journal of the ACM. 48 pages, 3 figure

Macroscopic Observables Detecting Genuine Multipartite Entanglement and Partial Inseparability in Many-Body Systems

We show a general approach for detecting genuine multipartite entanglement (GME) and partial inseparability in many-body-systems by means of macroscopic observables (such as the energy) only. We show that the obtained criteria, the "GME gap" and "the k-entanglement gap", detect large areas of genuine multipartite entanglement and partial entanglement in typical many body states, which are not detected by other criteria. As genuine multipartite entanglement is a necessary property for several quantum information theoretic applications such as e.g. secret sharing or certain kinds of quantum computation, our methods can be used to select or design appropriate condensed matter systems.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, published version, title extende

Asteroseismology of Massive Stars : Some Words of Caution

Although playing a key role in the understanding of the supernova phenomenon, the evolution of massive stars still suffers from uncertainties in their structure, even during their "quiet" main sequence phase and later on during their subgiant and helium burning phases. What is the extent of the mixed central region? In the local mixing length theory (LMLT) frame, are there structural differences using Schwarzschild or Ledoux convection criterion? Where are located the convective zone boundaries? Are there intermediate convection zones during MS and post-MS phase, and what is their extent and location? We discuss these points and show how asteroseismology could bring some light on these questions.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, IAU Symposium 307, New windows on massive stars: asteroseismology, interferometry, and spectropolarimetry, G. Meynet, C. Georgy, J.H. Groh & Ph. Stee, ed

Sensitivity to Timing and Order in Human Visual Cortex

Visual recognition takes a small fraction of a second and relies on the cascade of signals along the ventral visual stream. Given the rapid path through multiple processing steps between photoreceptors and higher visual areas, information must progress from stage to stage very quickly. This rapid progression of information suggests that fine temporal details of the neural response may be important to the how the brain encodes visual signals. We investigated how changes in the relative timing of incoming visual stimulation affect the representation of object information by recording intracranial field potentials along the human ventral visual stream while subjects recognized objects whose parts were presented with varying asynchrony. Visual responses along the ventral stream were sensitive to timing differences between parts as small as 17 ms. In particular, there was a strong dependency on the temporal order of stimulus presentation, even at short asynchronies. This sensitivity to the order of stimulus presentation provides evidence that the brain may use differences in relative timing as a means of representing information.Comment: 10 figures, 1 tabl

On the tensor convolution and the quantum separability problem

We consider the problem of separability: decide whether a Hermitian operator on a finite dimensional Hilbert tensor product is separable or entangled. We show that the tensor convolution defined for certain mappings on an almost arbitrary locally compact abelian group, give rise to formulation of an equivalent problem to the separability one.Comment: 13 pages, two sections adde

Cooperativity and Stability in a Langevin Model of Protein Folding

We present two simplified models of protein dynamics based on Langevin's equation of motion in a viscous medium. We explore the effect of the potential energy function's symmetry on the kinetics and thermodynamics of simulated folding. We find that an isotropic potential energy function produces, at best, a modest degree of cooperativity. In contrast, a suitable anisotropic potential energy function delivers strong cooperativity.Comment: 45 pages, 16 figures, 2 tables. LaTeX. Submitted to the Journal of Chemical Physic

The Coping Patterns among Primary Care Givers of the Persons with Schizophrenia - An Empirical Study

"Over the past half century, the model for mental health care has changed from the institutionalization of individuals suffering from mental disorders to a community care approach backed by the availability of beds in general hospitals for acute cases. This change is based both on respect for the human rights of individuals with mental disorders, and on the use of updated interventions and techniques" (WH0, 2001). Recovery from schizophrenia is a long-term goal and a journey that has to be made. There will be good and bad days in the journey, and it may be easy to get tired of fighting the illness and give up. Support and encouragement for the   Person getting the family to take a constructive role in the journey are important. This is way it is so important to have someone who can help and guide the person and the families managing the illness and the social problems. The present empirical study on the Coping Patterns among primary   care   givers   of   the persons with schizophrenia by researchers would definitely through light to practitioners to intervene. By adopting systematic random sampling procedure the authors have drawn 60 samples, from every second name among the list of 120 universes. A self prepared questionnaire has been used to collect socio-demographic data and to measure the level of coping patterns the three point scale developed by  Priya Daniyal (1997)  has been used. The study reveals that the majority (72%) of the respondents expressed overall high level of coping mechanism. Keywords: Coping Patterns, Schizophrenia, Primary care-givers and community care approach

A New Test of the Einstein Equivalence Principle and the Isotropy of Space

Recent research has established that nonsymmetric gravitation theories like Moffat's NGT predict that a gravitational field singles out an orthogonal pair of polarization states of light that propagate with different phase velocities. We show that a much wider class of nonmetric theories encompassed by the $\chi g$ formalism predict such violations of the Einstein equivalence principle. This gravity-induced birefringence of space implies that propagation through a gravitational field can alter the polarization of light. We use data from polarization measurements of extragalactic sources to constrain birefringence induced by the field of the Galaxy. Our new constraint is $10^8$ times sharper than previous ones.Comment: 21 pages, Latex, 3 Postscript figure