164 research outputs found
Symmetry of the Atomic Electron Density in Hartree, Hartree-Fock, and Density Functional Theory
The density of an atom in a state of well-defined angular momentum has a
specific finite spherical harmonic content, without and with interactions.
Approximate single-particle schemes, such as the Hartree, Hartree-Fock, and
Local Density Approximations, generally violate this feature. We analyze, by
means of perturbation theory, the degree of this violation and show that it is
small. The correct symmetry of the density can be assured by a
constrained-search formulation without significantly altering the calculated
energies. We compare our procedure to the (different) common practice of
spherically averaging the self-consistent potential. Kohn-Sham density
functional theory with the exact exchange-correlation potential has the correct
finite spherical harmonic content in its density; but the corresponding exact
single particle potential and wavefunctions contain an infinite number of
spherical harmonics.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures. Expanded discussion of spherical harmonic
expansion of Hartree density. Some typos corrected, references adde
New hadrons as ultra-high energy cosmic rays
Ultra-high energy cosmic ray (UHECR) protons produced by uniformly
distributed astrophysical sources contradict the energy spectrum measured by
both the AGASA and HiRes experiments, assuming the small scale clustering of
UHECR observed by AGASA is caused by point-like sources. In that case, the
small number of sources leads to a sharp exponential cutoff at the energy
E<10^{20} eV in the UHECR spectrum. New hadrons with mass 1.5-3 GeV can solve
this cutoff problem. For the first time we discuss the production of such
hadrons in proton collisions with infrared/optical photons in astrophysical
sources. This production mechanism, in contrast to proton-proton collisions,
requires the acceleration of protons only to energies E<10^{21} eV. The diffuse
gamma-ray and neutrino fluxes in this model obey all existing experimental
limits. We predict large UHE neutrino fluxes well above the sensitivity of the
next generation of high-energy neutrino experiments. As an example we study
hadrons containing a light bottom squark. These models can be tested by
accelerator experiments, UHECR observatories and neutrino telescopes.Comment: 17 pages, revtex style; v2: shortened, as to appear in PR
Understanding Business Travel Time and Its Place in the Working Day
This article argues that there is a need to understand business travel time in the context of the wider organization of work time. It considers why travel time use is potentially changing with the use of mobile technologies by the increasing number of individuals engaged in ‘knowledge work’, and examines existing evidence that indicates that travel time use is part of a wider work-related ‘taskscape’. However, it not only considers material productive output, but suggests that travel time as ‘time out’ from work-related activities also plays a vital role for employees. It also suggests that business travel time use that is not of benefit to the employer may not be at the employer's expense. This is contrasted with the assumptions used in UK transport appraisal. Data gathered from the autumn 2004 wave of the National Rail Passenger Survey (GB) is used to illustrate some key issues concerning productivity and ‘anti-activity’. A case study of an individual business traveller then points towards the need for a new approach to exploring the role played by travel time in the organization of work practices to be considered. © 2008, Sage Publications. All rights reserved
Managing emerging fisheries of the North Kenya Banks in the context of environmental change
The North Kenya Banks have long been considered an important emerging fishery with the potential to spur economic growth for local fishing communities. As a regionally important extension to the otherwise narrow East African continental shelf, the North Kenya Banks remain under studied with implications for efforts to develop a sustainable fisheries management strategy. The local marine ecosystem is known to be strongly influenced by wind driven upwelling processes with seasonal variability driven by the changing monsoon seasons being of particular importance. Nevertheless, the Western Indian Ocean is warming due to anthropogenic climate change with evidence indicating reduced ocean productivity in future. How the ecosystem of the North Kenya Banks will respond is currently uncertain but is of great importance due to the significance of coastal fishery resources to coastal communities, and growing Blue Economy initiatives to exploit the North Kenya Banks fisheries more widely. There is, however, limited knowledge of the processes influencing productivity over the North Kenya Banks regions and currently there is no management plan in place to sustainably manage the fishery resources. Here, information about the North Kenya Banks fisheries are examined in relation to environmental processes and threats from climate change impacts with suggestions for future research and management directions
Antimatter Regions in the Early Universe and Big Bang Nucleosynthesis
We have studied big bang nucleosynthesis in the presence of regions of
antimatter. Depending on the distance scale of the antimatter region, and thus
the epoch of their annihilation, the amount of antimatter in the early universe
is constrained by the observed abundances. Small regions, which annihilate
after weak freezeout but before nucleosynthesis, lead to a reduction in the 4He
yield, because of neutron annihilation. Large regions, which annihilate after
nucleosynthesis, lead to an increased 3He yield. Deuterium production is also
affected but not as much. The three most important production mechanisms of 3He
are 1) photodisintegration of 4He by the annihilation radiation, 2) pbar-4He
annihilation, and 3) nbar-4He annihilation by "secondary" antineutrons produced
in anti-4He annihilation. Although pbar-4He annihilation produces more 3He than
the secondary nbar-4He annihilation, the products of the latter survive later
annihilation much better, since they are distributed further away from the
annihilation zone.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures. Minor changes to match the PRD versio
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Energetic particle influence on the Earth's atmosphere
This manuscript gives an up-to-date and comprehensive overview of the effects of energetic particle precipitation (EPP) onto the whole atmosphere, from the lower thermosphere/mesosphere through the stratosphere and troposphere, to the surface. The paper summarizes the different sources and energies of particles, principally
galactic cosmic rays (GCRs), solar energetic particles (SEPs) and energetic electron precipitation (EEP). All the proposed mechanisms by which EPP can affect the atmosphere
are discussed, including chemical changes in the upper atmosphere and lower thermosphere, chemistry-dynamics feedbacks, the global electric circuit and cloud formation. The role of energetic particles in Earth’s atmosphere is a multi-disciplinary problem that requires expertise from a range of scientific backgrounds. To assist with this synergy, summary tables are provided, which are intended to evaluate the level of current knowledge of the effects of energetic particles on processes in the entire atmosphere
Exact quantum-mechanical propagator for an electron in a saddle-point potential and a magnetic field
We study the time-dependent propagator for an electron which moves in a plane and which is subject to quadrupolar electric fields with certain reflection symmetries, and to a uniform magnetic field perpendicular to the plane. It is shown that the electric potential, which has a saddle point at the origin, can be produced by voltages applied to four symmetrically configured cylindrical electrodes whose axes are perpendicular to the plane. We use path-integral methods to derive a closed-form expression for the propagator, and comment in some detail on the structure of its normalization factor
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