Non-destructive, dynamic detectors for Bose-Einstein condensates

We propose and analyze a series of non-destructive, dynamic detectors for Bose-Einstein condensates based on photo-detectors operating at the shot noise limit. These detectors are compatible with real time feedback to the condensate. The signal to noise ratio of different detection schemes are compared subject to the constraint of minimal heating due to photon absorption and spontaneous emission. This constraint leads to different optimal operating points for interference-based schemes. We find the somewhat counter-intuitive result that without the presence of a cavity, interferometry causes as much destruction as absorption for optically thin clouds. For optically thick clouds, cavity-free interferometry is superior to absorption, but it still cannot be made arbitrarily non-destructive . We propose a cavity-based measurement of atomic density which can in principle be made arbitrarily non-destructive for a given signal to noise ratio

The first cyborg and First World War bodies as anti-war propaganda

This article discusses a play published in The Strand Magazine during the First World War which features a cyborg presenting anti-war and pacifist messages, used by The Strand to create anti-German propaganda. The article draws on theories of disability, cyborgs and the posthuman, and from new research on wartime fiction magazines. The importance of the cyborg character, Soldier 241, for the literary history of science fiction is explored by focusing on the relations between the mechanical and the impaired body, and on the First World War as a nexus for technological, surgical and military development. As a cyborg, this character reflects politicized desires that the wartime authorities did not acknowledge: a longing for the end of war, and refusal to countenance a society that rejected the impaired body

Measurement of D*+/- meson production in jets from pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper reports a measurement of D*+/- meson production in jets from proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The measurement is based on a data sample recorded with the ATLAS detector with an integrated luminosity of 0.30 pb^-1 for jets with transverse momentum between 25 and 70 GeV in the pseudorapidity range |eta| < 2.5. D*+/- mesons found in jets are fully reconstructed in the decay chain: D*+ -> D0pi+, D0 -> K-pi+, and its charge conjugate. The production rate is found to be N(D*+/-)/N(jet) = 0.025 +/- 0.001(stat.) +/- 0.004(syst.) for D*+/- mesons that carry a fraction z of the jet momentum in the range 0.3 < z < 1. Monte Carlo predictions fail to describe the data at small values of z, and this is most marked at low jet transverse momentum.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (22 pages total), 5 figures, 1 table, matches published version in Physical Review

Search for direct production of charginos and neutralinos in events with three leptons and missing transverse momentum in √s = 7 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for the direct production of charginos and neutralinos in final states with three electrons or muons and missing transverse momentum is presented. The analysis is based on 4.7 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded with the ATLAS detector. Observations are consistent with Standard Model expectations in three signal regions that are either depleted or enriched in Z-boson decays. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set in R-parity conserving phenomenological minimal supersymmetric models and in simplified models, significantly extending previous results

Estimated vitamin D synthesis and dietary vitamin D intake among Asians in two distinct geographical locations (Kuala Lumpur, 3°N versus Aberdeen, 57°N) and climates

Objective: To compare the contributions of UVB exposure and diet to total vitamin D among Asians living in Kuala Lumpur (KL) and Aberdeen (AB). Design: Longitudinal study. Setting: UVB exposure (using polysulfone film badges) and skin colour and dietary vitamin D intake (by web-based questionnaire) were measured at each season in AB and during south-west (SWM) and north-east monsoons (NEM) in KL. Subjects: One hundred and fifteen Asians in KL and eighty-five Asians in AB aged 20–50 years. Results: Median summer UVB exposure of Asians in AB (0·25 SED/d) was higher than UVB exposure for the KL participants (SWM=0·20 SED/d, P=0·02; NEM= 0·14 SED/d, P&lt;0·01). UVB exposure was the major source of vitamin D in KL year-round (60%) but only during summer in AB (59%). Median dietary vitamin D intake was higher in AB (3·50 µg/d (140 IU/d)), year-round, than in KL (SWM=2·05 µg/d (82 IU/d); NEM=1·83 µg/d (73 IU/d), P&lt;0·01). Median total vitamin D (UVB plus diet) was higher in AB only during summer (8·45 µg/d (338 IU/d)) compared with KL (SWM=6·03 µg/d (241 IU/d), P=0·04; NEM=5·35 µg/d (214 IU/d), P&lt;0·01), with a comparable intake across the full year (AB=5·75 µg/d (230 IU/d); KL=6·15 µg/d (246 IU/d), P=0·78). Conclusions: UVB exposure among Asians in their home country is low. For Asians residing at the northerly latitude of Scotland, acquiring vitamin D needs from UVB exposure alone (except in summer) may be challenging due to low ambient UVB in AB (available only from April to October)

Development of a planar multi-body model of the human knee joint

The aim of this work is to develop a dynamic model for the biological human knee joint. The model is formulated in the framework of multibody systems methodologies, as a system of two bodies, the femur and the tibia. For the purpose of describing the formulation, the relative motion of the tibia with respect to the femur is considered. Due to their higher stiffness compared to that of the articular cartilages, the femur and tibia are considered as rigid bodies. The femur and tibia cartilages are considered to be deformable structures with specific material characteristics. The rotation and gliding motions of the tibia relative to the femur can not be modeled with any conventional kinematic joint, but rather in terms of the action of the knee ligaments and potential contact between the bones. Based on medical imaging techniques, the femur and tibia profiles in the sagittal plane are extracted and used to define the interface geometric conditions for contact. When a contact is detected, a continuous non-linear contact force law is applied which calculates the contact forces developed at the interface as a function of the relative indentation between the two bodies. The four basic cruciate and collateral ligaments present in the knee are also taken into account in the proposed knee joint model, which are modeled as non-linear elastic springs. The forces produced in the ligaments, together with the contact forces, are introduced into the system’s equations of motion as external forces. In addition, an external force is applied on the center of mass of the tibia, in order to actuate the system mimicking a normal gait motion. Finally, numerical results obtained from computational simulations are used to address the assumptions and procedures adopted in this study.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

Search for supersymmetry in final states with jets, missing transverse momentum and one isolated lepton in sqrt{s} = 7 TeV pp collisions using 1 fb-1 of ATLAS data

We present an update of a search for supersymmetry in final states containing jets, missing transverse momentum, and one isolated electron or muon, using 1.04 fb^-1 of proton-proton collision data at sqrt{s} = 7 TeV recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC in the first half of 2011. The analysis is carried out in four distinct signal regions with either three or four jets and variations on the (missing) transverse momentum cuts, resulting in optimized limits for various supersymmetry models. No excess above the standard model background expectation is observed. Limits are set on the visible cross-section of new physics within the kinematic requirements of the search. The results are interpreted as limits on the parameters of the minimal supergravity framework, limits on cross-sections of simplified models with specific squark and gluino decay modes, and limits on parameters of a model with bilinear R-parity violation.Comment: 18 pages plus author list (30 pages total), 9 figures, 4 tables, final version to appear in Physical Review

Reducing heterotic M-theory to five dimensional supergravity on a manifold with boundary

This paper constructs the reduction of heterotic $M$-theory in eleven dimensions to a supergravity model on a manifold with boundary in five dimensions using a Calabi-Yau three-fold. New results are presented for the boundary terms in the action and for the boundary conditions on the bulk fields. Some general features of dualisation on a manifold with boundary are used to explain the origin of some topological terms in the action. The effect of gaugino condensation on the fermion boundary conditions leads to a `twist' in the chirality of the gravitino which can provide an uplifting mechanism in the vacuum energy to cancel the cosmological constant after moduli stabilisation.Comment: 16 pages, RevTe

Measurement of tau polarization in W->taunu decays with the ATLAS detector in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

In this paper, a measurement of tau polarization in W->taunu decays is presented. It is measured from the energies of the decay products in hadronic tau decays with a single final state charged particle. The data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 24 pb^-1, were collected by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider in 2010. The measured value of the tau polarization is Ptau = -1.06 +/- 0.04 (stat) + 0.05 (syst) - 0.07 (syst), in agreement with the Standard Model prediction, and is consistent with a physically allowed 95% CL interval [-1,-0.91]. Measurements of tau polarization have not previously been made at hadron colliders.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (25 pages total), 4 figures, 4 tables, revised author list, matches published EPJC versio

Isothermal and Cyclic Aging of 310S Austenitic Stainless Steel

Unusual damage and high creep strain rates have been observed on components made of 310S stainless steel subjected to thermal cycles between room temperature and 1143 K (870 °C). Microstructural characterization of such components after service evidenced high contents in sigma phase which formed first from δ-ferrite and then from γ-austenite. To get some insight into this microstructural evolution, isothermal and cyclic aging of 310S stainless steel has been studied experimentally and discussed on the basis of numerical simulations. The higher contents of sigma phase observed after cyclic agings than after isothermal treatments are clearly associated with nucleation triggered by thermal cycling