8,992 research outputs found
Anisotropic Diffusion Limited Aggregation
Using stochastic conformal mappings we study the effects of anisotropic
perturbations on diffusion limited aggregation (DLA) in two dimensions. The
harmonic measure of the growth probability for DLA can be conformally mapped
onto a constant measure on a unit circle. Here we map preferred directions
for growth of angular width to a distribution on the unit circle which
is a periodic function with peaks in such that the width
of each peak scales as , where defines the
``strength'' of anisotropy along any of the chosen directions. The two
parameters map out a parameter space of perturbations that allows a
continuous transition from DLA (for or ) to needle-like fingers
as . We show that at fixed the effective fractal dimension of
the clusters obtained from mass-radius scaling decreases with
increasing from to a value bounded from below by
. Scaling arguments suggest a specific form for the dependence
of the fractal dimension on for large , form which compares
favorably with numerical results.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Numerical investigation of black hole interiors
Gravitational perturbations which are present in any realistic stellar
collapse to a black hole, die off in the exterior of the hole, but experience
an infinite blueshift in the interior. This is believed to lead to a slowly
contracting lightlike scalar curvature singularity, characterized by a
divergence of the hole's (quasi-local) mass function along the inner horizon.
The region near the inner horizon is described to great accuracy by a plane
wave spacetime. While Einstein's equations for this metric are still too
complicated to be solved in closed form it is relatively simple to integrate
them numerically.
We find for generic regular initial data the predicted mass inflation type
null singularity, rather than a spacelike singularity. It thus seems that mass
inflation indeed represents a generic self-consistent picture of the black hole
interior.Comment: 6 pages LaTeX, 3 eps figure
Speech and language therapy versus placebo or no intervention for speech problems in Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease patients commonly suffer from speech and vocal problems including dysarthric speech, reduced loudness and loss of articulation. These symptoms increase in frequency and intensity with progression of the disease). Speech and language therapy (SLT) aims to improve the intelligibility of speech with behavioural treatment techniques or instrumental aids
Are HIV smartphone apps and online interventions fit for purpose?
Sexual health is an under-explored area of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), particularly sexually transmitted infections such as HIV. Due to the stigma associated with these infections, people are often motivated to seek information online. With the rise of smartphone and web apps, there is enormous potential for technology to provide easily accessible information and resources. However, using online information raises important concerns about the trustworthiness of these resources and whether they are fit for purpose. We conducted a review of smartphone and web apps to investigate the landscape of currently available online apps and whether they meet the diverse needs of people seeking information on HIV online. Our functionality review revealed that existing technology interventions have a one-size-fits-all approach and do not support the breadth and complexity of HIV-related support needs. We argue that technology-based interventions need to signpost their offering and provide tailored support for different stages of HIV, including prevention, testing, diagnosis and management
Learning about compact binary merger: the interplay between numerical relativity and gravitational-wave astronomy
Activities in data analysis and numerical simulation of gravitational waves
have to date largely proceeded independently. In this work we study how
waveforms obtained from numerical simulations could be effectively used within
the data analysis effort to search for gravitational waves from black hole
binaries. We propose measures to quantify the accuracy of numerical waveforms
for the purpose of data analysis and study how sensitive the analysis is to
errors in the waveforms. We estimate that ~100 templates (and ~10 simulations
with different mass ratios) are needed to detect waves from non-spinning binary
black holes with total masses in the range 100 Msun < M < 400 Msun using
initial LIGO. Of course, many more simulation runs will be needed to confirm
that the correct physics is captured in the numerical evolutions. From this
perspective, we also discuss sources of systematic errors in numerical waveform
extraction and provide order of magnitude estimates for the computational cost
of simulations that could be used to estimate the cost of parameter space
surveys. Finally, we discuss what information from near-future numerical
simulations of compact binary systems would be most useful for enhancing the
detectability of such events with contemporary gravitational wave detectors and
emphasize the role of numerical simulations for the interpretation of eventual
gravitational-wave observations.Comment: 19 pages, 12 figure
Self-Similar Collapse of Scalar Field in Higher Dimensions
This paper constructs continuously self-similar solution of a spherically
symmetric gravitational collapse of a scalar field in n dimensions. The
qualitative behavior of these solutions is explained, and closed-form answers
are provided where possible. Equivalence of scalar field couplings is used to
show a way to generalize minimally coupled scalar field solutions to the model
with general coupling.Comment: RevTex 3.1, 15 pages, 3 figures; references adde
Advanced pressurization systems for cryogenic propellants Final report, 20 Nov. 1963 - 25 Jun. 1965
Optimized pressurization system for Apollo-type service module using cryogenic propellant
Stability of degenerate Cauchy horizons in black hole spacetimes
In the multihorizon black hole spacetimes, it is possible that there are
degenerate Cauchy horizons with vanishing surface gravities. We investigate the
stability of the degenerate Cauchy horizon in black hole spacetimes. Despite
the asymptotic behavior of spacetimes (flat, anti-de Sitter, or de Sitter), we
find that the Cauchy horizon is stable against the classical perturbations, but
unstable quantum mechanically.Comment: Revtex, 4 pages, no figures, references adde
Quasinormal Modes in three-dimensional time-dependent Anti-de Sitter spacetime
The massless scalar wave propagation in the time-dependent BTZ black hole
background has been studied. It is shown that in the quasi-normal ringing both
the decay and oscillation time-scales are modified in the time-dependent
background.Comment: 8 pages and 7 figure
Quasi-normal modes of Schwarzschild-de Sitter black holes
The low-laying frequencies of characteristic quasi-normal modes (QNM) of
Schwarzschild-de Sitter (SdS) black holes have been calculated for fields of
different spin using the 6th-order WKB approximation and the approximation by
the P\"{o}shl-Teller potential. The well-known asymptotic formula for large
is generalized here on a case of the Schwarzchild-de Sitter black hole. In the
limit of the near extreme term the results given by both methods are
in a very good agreement, and in this limit fields of different spin decay with
the same rate.Comment: 9 pages, 1 ancillary Mathematica(R) noteboo
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