2,976 research outputs found
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
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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 EconimĂa 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
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