10,219 research outputs found
Universal physics of bound states of a few charged particles
We study few-body bound states of charged particles subject to attractive
zero-range/short-range plus repulsive Coulomb interparticle forces. The
characteristic length scales of the system at zero energy are set by the
Coulomb length scale and the Coulomb-modified effective range
. We study shallow bound states of charged particles with
and show that these systems obey universal scaling laws
different from neutral particles. An accurate description of these states
requires both the Coulomb-modified scattering length and the effective range
unless the Coulomb interaction is very weak (). Our findings are
relevant for bound states whose spatial extent is significantly larger than the
range of the attractive potential. These states enjoy universality -- their
character is independent of the shape of the short-range potential.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, extended discussion, results unchanged, to appear
in Phys. Lett.
A Semantic Framework for the Security Analysis of Ethereum smart contracts
Smart contracts are programs running on cryptocurrency (e.g., Ethereum)
blockchains, whose popularity stem from the possibility to perform financial
transactions, such as payments and auctions, in a distributed environment
without need for any trusted third party. Given their financial nature, bugs or
vulnerabilities in these programs may lead to catastrophic consequences, as
witnessed by recent attacks. Unfortunately, programming smart contracts is a
delicate task that requires strong expertise: Ethereum smart contracts are
written in Solidity, a dedicated language resembling JavaScript, and shipped
over the blockchain in the EVM bytecode format. In order to rigorously verify
the security of smart contracts, it is of paramount importance to formalize
their semantics as well as the security properties of interest, in particular
at the level of the bytecode being executed.
In this paper, we present the first complete small-step semantics of EVM
bytecode, which we formalize in the F* proof assistant, obtaining executable
code that we successfully validate against the official Ethereum test suite.
Furthermore, we formally define for the first time a number of central security
properties for smart contracts, such as call integrity, atomicity, and
independence from miner controlled parameters. This formalization relies on a
combination of hyper- and safety properties. Along this work, we identified
various mistakes and imprecisions in existing semantics and verification tools
for Ethereum smart contracts, thereby demonstrating once more the importance of
rigorous semantic foundations for the design of security verification
techniques.Comment: The EAPLS Best Paper Award at ETAP
Coherent polychotomous waves from an attractive well
A novel effect of a wave packet scattering off an attractive one- dimensional
well is found numerically and analytically. For a wave packet narrower than the
width of the well, the scattering proceeds through a quasi-bound state of
almost zero energy. The wave reflected from the well is a polychotomous
(multiple peak) monochromatic and coherent train. The transmitted wave is a
spreading smooth wave packet. The effect is strong for low average speeds of
the packet, and it disappears for wide packets.Comment: Latex, 8 eps figure
Dynamic conversion of solar generated heat to electricity
The effort undertaken during this program led to the selection of the water-superheated steam (850 psig/900 F) crescent central receiver as the preferred concept from among 11 candidate systems across the technological spectrum of the dynamic conversion of solar generated heat to electricity. The solar power plant designs were investigated in the range of plant capacities from 100 to 1000 Mw(e). The investigations considered the impacts of plant size, collector design, feed-water temperature ratio, heat rejection equipment, ground cover, and location on solar power technical and economic feasibility. For the distributed receiver systems, the optimization studies showed that plant capacities less than 100 Mw(e) may be best. Although the size of central receiver concepts was not parametrically investigated, all indications are that the optimal plant capacity for central receiver systems will be in the range from 50 to 200 Mw(e). Solar thermal power plant site selection criteria and methodology were also established and used to evaluate potentially suitable sites. The result of this effort was to identify a site south of Inyokern, California, as typically suitable for a solar thermal power plant. The criteria used in the selection process included insolation and climatological characteristics, topography, and seismic history as well as water availability
Xenogeneic, extracorporeal liver perfusion in primates improves the ratio of branched-chain amino acids to aromatic amino acids (Fischer's ratio)
In fulminant hepatic failure (FHF), the development of hepatic encephalopathy is associated with grossly abnormal concentrations of plasma amino acids (PAA). Normalization of the ratio of branched-chain amino acids to aromatic amino acids (Fischer's ratio) correlates with clinical improvement. This study evaluated changes in PAA metabolism during 4 h of isolated, normothermic extracorporeal liver perfusion using a newly designed system containing human blood and a rhesus monkey liver. Bile and urea production were within the physiological range. Release of the transaminases AST, ALT and LDH were minimal. The ratio of branched (valine, leucine, isoleucine) to aromatic (tyrosine, phenylalanine) amino acids increased significantly. These results indicate that a xenogeneic extracorporeal liver perfusion system is capable of significantly increasing Fischer's ratio and may play a role in treating and bridging patients in FHF in the future
A large sample of low surface brightness disk galaxies from the SDSS. I: The sample and the stellar populations
We present the properties of a large sample (12,282) of nearly face-on low
surface brightness (LSB) disk galaxies selected from the main galaxy sample of
SDSS-DR4. These properties include B-band central surface brightness mu_0(B),
scale lengths h, integrated magnitudes, colors, and distances D. This sample
has mu_0(B) values from 22 to 24.5 mag arcsec^{-2} with a median value of 22.42
mag arcsec^{-2}, and disk scale lengths ranging from 2 to 19 kpc. They are
quite bright with M_B taking values from -18 to -23 mag with a median value of
-20.08 mag. There exist clear correlations between logh and M_B, logh and logD,
logD and M_B. However, no obvious correlations are found between mu_0(B) and
logh, colors etc. The correlation between colors and logh is weak even though
it exists. Both the optical-optical and optical-NIR color-color diagrams
indicate that most of them have a mixture of young and old stellar populations.
They also satisfy color-magnitude relations, which indicate that brighter
galaxies tend generally to be redder. The comparison between the LSBGs and a
control sample of nearly face-on disk galaxies with higher surface brightness
(HSB) with mu_0(B) from 18.5 to 22 mag arcsec^{-2} show that, at a given
luminosity or distance, the observed LSB galaxies tend to have larger scale
lengths. These trends could be seen gradually by dividing both the LSBGs and
HSBGs into two sub-groups according to surface brightness. A volume-limited
sub-sample was extracted to check the incompleteness of surface brightness. The
only one of the property relations having an obvious change is the relation of
logh versus mu_0(B), which shows a correlation in this sub-sample.Comment: 14 pages, 18 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
The size of the proton - closing in on the radius puzzle
We analyze the recent electron-proton scattering data from Mainz using a
dispersive framework that respects the constraints from analyticity and
unitarity on the nucleon structure. We also perform a continued fraction
analysis of these data. We find a small electric proton charge radius, r_E^p =
0.84_{-0.01}^{+0.01} fm, consistent with the recent determination from muonic
hydrogen measurements and earlier dispersive analyses. We also extract the
proton magnetic radius, r_M^p = 0.86_{-0.03}^{+0.02} fm, consistent with
earlier determinations based on dispersion relations.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, fit improved, small modifications, section on
continued fractions modified, conclusions on the proton charge radius
unchanged, version accepted for publication in European Physical Journal
Generalized Swiss-cheese cosmologies: Mass scales
We generalize the Swiss-cheese cosmologies so as to include nonzero linear
momenta of the associated boundary surfaces. The evolution of mass scales in
these generalized cosmologies is studied for a variety of models for the
background without having to specify any details within the local
inhomogeneities. We find that the final effective gravitational mass and size
of the evolving inhomogeneities depends on their linear momenta but these
properties are essentially unaffected by the details of the background model.Comment: 10 pages, 14 figures, 1 table, revtex4, Published form (with minor
corrections
High-dimensional quantum dynamics of adsorption and desorption of H at Cu(111)
We performed high-dimensional quantum dynamical calculations of the
dissociative adsorption and associative desorption of hydrogen on Cu(111). The
potential energy surface (PES) is obtained from density functional theory
calculations. Two regimes of dynamics are found, at low energies sticking is
determined by the minimum energy barrier, at high energies by the distribution
of barrier heights. Experimental results are well-reproduced qualitatively, but
some quantitative discrepancies are identified as well.Comment: 4 two column pages, revtex, 4 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev. Let
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