Autoparallels From a New Action Principle

We present a simpler and more powerful version of the recently-discovered action principle for the motion of a spinless point particle in spacetimes with curvature and torsion. The surprising feature of the new principle is that an action involving only the metric can produce an equation of motion with a torsion force, thus changing geodesics to autoparallels. This additional torsion force arises from a noncommutativity of variations with parameter derivatives of the paths due to the closure failure of parallelograms in the presence of torsionComment: Paper in src. Author Information under http://www.physik.fu-berlin.de/~kleinert/institution.html Read paper directly with Netscape under http://www.physik.fu-berlin.de/~kleinert/kleiner_re243/preprint.htm

Reproducability of corticomuscular coherence:A comparison between static and perturbed tasks

Corticomuscular coherence (CMC) is used to quantify functional corticomuscular coupling during a static motor task. Although the reproducibility of CMC characteristics such as peak strength and frequency within one session is good, reproducibility of CMC between sessions is limited (Pohja et al. 2005, NeuroImage). Reproducible CMC characteristics are required in order to assess changes in corticomuscular coupling in a longitudinal study design, for example during rehabilitation. We recently demonstrated that the presence of CMC in the population in substantially increased when position perturbations are applied during an isotonic force task. Here, we assessed the reproducibility of perturbed CMC compared to unperturbed CMC. Subjects (n=10) performed isotonic wrist flexion contractions against the handle of a wrist manipulator (WM) while EEG (64 channels) and EMG of the m.flexor carpi radialis were recorded in two experimental sessions separated by at least one week. The handle of the WM either kept a neutral angle (baseline task) or imposed a small angle perturbation (perturbed task). In the baseline task, 3 subjects had significant CMC in both the first and the second sessions. In the other 7 subjects no significant CMC was found in both sessions. Between sessions, significant CMC was always found in overlapping frequency bands and generally on overlapping electrodes. In the subjects with CMC a significant cross correlation coefficient between the spectra in the two sessions was present (mean 0.57; 0.3 - 0.79). In the perturbed task CMC was present in 8 subjects in both sessions and absent in 1 subject in the two sessions. One subject had CMC only in the second session. For the subjects with CMC, the correlation coefficient between the spectra of the two sessions was significantly larger than zero with a mean of 0.68 (range 0.38 - 0.88). The presence and absence of CMC within subjects could be reproduced very well between the sessions. This was also demonstrated by the significant correlation between the spectra in the two sessions ; the degree of correlation was variable over subjects both in the baseline and the perturbed task. The reproducibility characteristics of CMC in a perturbed task are comparable or slightly better with respect to an unperturbed task. However, comparison is limited by the small number of subjects with CMC in the baseline task. Perturbed CMC is present in more subjects, which is crucial when developing methods to track corticomuscular coupling over multiple sessions, for example during rehalibitation.handles MIMO systems, and can deal with short measurement time

Enhancement of spatial coherence by surface plasmons

We report on a method to generate a stationary interference pattern from two independent optical sources, each illuminating a single slit in Young's interference experiment. The pattern arises as a result of the action of surface plasmons traveling between subwavelength slits milled in a metal film. The visibility of the interference pattern can be manipulated by tuning the wavelength of one of the optical sources. © 2007 Optical. Society of America

Nonholonomic Mapping Principle for Classical Mechanics in Spaces with Curvature and Torsion. New Covariant Conservation Law for Energy-Momentum Tensor

The lecture explains the geometric basis for the recently-discovered nonholonomic mapping principle which specifies certain laws of nature in spacetimes with curvature and torsion from those in flat spacetime, thus replacing and extending Einstein's equivalence principle. An important consequence is a new action principle for determining the equation of motion of a free spinless point particle in such spacetimes. Surprisingly, this equation contains a torsion force, although the action involves only the metric. This force changes geodesic into autoparallel trajectories, which are a direct manifestation of inertia. The geometric origin of the torsion force is a closure failure of parallelograms. The torsion force changes the covariant conservation law of the energy-momentum tensor whose new form is derived.Comment: Corrected typos. Author Information under http://www.physik.fu-berlin.de/~kleinert/institution.html . Paper also at http://www.physik.fu-berlin.de/~kleinert/kleiner_re261/preprint.htm

The constitutive tensor of linear elasticity: its decompositions, Cauchy relations, null Lagrangians, and wave propagation

In linear anisotropic elasticity, the elastic properties of a medium are described by the fourth rank elasticity tensor C. The decomposition of C into a partially symmetric tensor M and a partially antisymmetric tensors N is often used in the literature. An alternative, less well-known decomposition, into the completely symmetric part S of C plus the reminder A, turns out to be irreducible under the 3-dimensional general linear group. We show that the SA-decomposition is unique, irreducible, and preserves the symmetries of the elasticity tensor. The MN-decomposition fails to have these desirable properties and is such inferior from a physical point of view. Various applications of the SA-decomposition are discussed: the Cauchy relations (vanishing of A), the non-existence of elastic null Lagrangians, the decomposition of the elastic energy and of the acoustic wave propagation. The acoustic or Christoffel tensor is split in a Cauchy and a non-Cauchy part. The Cauchy part governs the longitudinal wave propagation. We provide explicit examples of the effectiveness of the SA-decomposition. A complete class of anisotropic media is proposed that allows pure polarizations in arbitrary directions, similarly as in an isotropic medium.Comment: 1 figur

On possible skewon effects on light propagation

We start from a local and linear spacetime relation between the electromagnetic excitation and the field strength. Then we study the generally covariant Fresnel surfaces for light rays and light waves. The metric and the connection of spacetime are left unspecified. Accordingly, our framework is ideally suited for a search of possible violations of the Lorentz symmetry in the photon sector of the extended standard model. We discuss how the skewon part of the constitutive tensor, if suitably parametrized, influences the Fresnel surfaces and disturbs the light cones of vacuum electrodynamics. Conditions are specified that yield the reduction of the original quartic Fresnel surface to the double light cone structure (birefringence) and to the single light cone. Qualitatively, the effects of the real skewon field can be compared to those in absorbing material media. In contrast, the imaginary skewon field can be interpreted in terms of non-absorbing media with natural optical activity and Faraday effects. The astrophysical data on gamma-ray bursts are used for deriving an upper limit for the magnitude of the skewon field.Comment: Revtex, 29 pages, 10 figures, references added, text as in the published versio

Optical Vortices during a Super-Resolution Process in a Metamaterial

We show that a super-resolution process with 100% visibility is characterized by the formation of a point of phase singularity in free space outside the lens in the form of a saddle with topological charge equal to -1. The saddle point is connected to two vortices at the end boundary of the lens, and the two vortices are in turn connected to another saddle point inside the lens. The structure saddle-vortices-saddle is topologically stable. The formation of the saddle point in free space explains also the negative flux of energy present in a certain region of space outside the lens. The circulation strength of the power flow can be controlled by varying the position of the object plane with respect to the lens

Numerical simulations with a first order BSSN formulation of Einstein's field equations

We present a new fully first order strongly hyperbolic representation of the BSSN formulation of Einstein's equations with optional constraint damping terms. We describe the characteristic fields of the system, discuss its hyperbolicity properties, and present two numerical implementations and simulations: one using finite differences, adaptive mesh refinement and in particular binary black holes, and another one using the discontinuous Galerkin method in spherical symmetry. The results of this paper constitute a first step in an effort to combine the robustness of BSSN evolutions with very high accuracy numerical techniques, such as spectral collocation multi-domain or discontinuous Galerkin methods.Comment: To appear in Physical Review

Paleoceanography and ice sheet variability offshore Wilkes Land, Antarctica – Part 3: Insights from Oligocene–Miocene TEX86-based sea surface temperature reconstructions

The volume of the Antarctic continental ice sheet(s) varied substantially during the Oligocene and Miocene ( 34–5 Ma) from smaller to substantially larger than today, both on million-year and on orbital timescales. However, reproduction through physical modeling of a dynamic response of the ice sheets to climate forcing remains problematic, suggesting the existence of complex feedback mechanisms between the cryosphere, ocean, and atmosphere systems. There is therefore an urgent need to improve the models for better predictions of these systems, including resulting potential future sea level change. To assess the interactions between the cryosphere, ocean, and atmosphere, knowledge of ancient sea surface conditions close to the Antarctic margin is essential. Here, we present a new TEX86- based sea surface water paleotemperature record measured on Oligocene sediments from Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Site U1356, offshore Wilkes Land, East Antarctica. The new data are presented along with previously published Miocene temperatures from the same site. Together the data cover the interval between 34 and 11 Ma and encompasses two hiatuses. This record allows us to accurately reconstruct the magnitude of sea surface temperature (SST) variability and trends on both million-year and glacial–interglacial timescales.Julian D. Hartman, Francesca Sangiorgi, Henk Brinkhuis, and Peter K. Bijl acknowledge the NWO Netherlands Polar Program project number 866.10.110. Stefan Schouten was supported by the Netherlands Earth System Science Centre (NESSC), funded by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW). Peter K. Bijl and Francien Peterse received funding through NWO-ALW VENI grant nos. 863.13.002 and 863.13.016, respectively. Carlota Escutia and Ariadna Salabarnada thank the Spanish Ministerio de Econimía y Competitividad for grant CTM2014-60451-C2-1-P. We thank Alexander Ebbing and Anja Bruls for GDGT sample preparation during their MSc research. This research used samples from the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP). IODP was sponsored by the US National Science Foundation and participating countries under management of Joined Oceanographic Institutions Inc