31,836 research outputs found
Metastable Cosmic Strings in Realistic Models
We investigate the stability of the electroweak Z-string at high
temperatures. Our results show that while finite temperature corrections can
improve the stability of the Z-string, their effect is not strong enough to
stabilize the Z-string in the standard electroweak model. Consequently, the
Z-string will be unstable even under the conditions present during the
electroweak phase transition. We then consider phenomenologically viable models
based on the gauge group and show
that metastable strings exist and are stable to small perturbations for a large
region of the parameter space for these models. We also show that these strings
are superconducting with bosonic charge carriers. The string superconductivity
may be able to stabilize segments and loops against dynamical contraction.
Possible implications of these strings for cosmology are discussed.Comment: 24 pages, 2 figures (available on request); HUTP-92/A032,
Fermilab-Pub-92/228-
Unitarity and the Hilbert space of quantum gravity
Under the premises that physics is unitary and black hole evaporation is
complete (no remnants, no topology change), there must exist a one-to-one
correspondence between states on future null and timelike infinity and on any
earlier spacelike Cauchy surface (e.g., slices preceding the formation of the
hole). We show that these requirements exclude a large set of semiclassical
spacetime configurations from the Hilbert space of quantum gravity. In
particular, the highest entropy configurations, which account for almost all of
the volume of semiclassical phase space, would not have quantum counterparts,
i.e. would not correspond to allowed states in a quantum theory of gravity.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, revtex; minor changes in v2 (version published in
Class. Quant. Grav.
Coal desulfurization process
A method for chlorinolysis of coal is an organic solvent at a moderate temperautre and atmospheric pressure has been proven to be effective in removing sulfur, particularly the organic sulfur, from coal. Chlorine gas is bubbled through a slurry of moist coal in chlorinated solvent. The chlorinated coal is separated, hydrolyzed and the dechlorinated. Preliminary results of treating a high sulfutr (4.77%S) bituminous coal show that up to 70% organic sulfur, 90% hyritic sulfur and 76% total sulfur can be removed. The treated coal is dechlorinated by heating at 500 C. The presence of moisture helps to remove organic sulfur
High Temperature Superfluid and Feshbach Resonance
We study an effective field theory describing cold fermionic atoms near a
Feshbach resonance. The theory gives a unique description of the dynamics in
the limit that the energy of the Feshbach resonance is tuned to be twice that
of the Fermi surface. We show that in this limit the zero temperature
superfluid condensate is of order the Fermi energy, and obtain a critical
temperature Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, RevTe
Trellis phase codes for power-bandwith efficient satellite communications
Support work on improved power and spectrum utilization on digital satellite channels was performed. Specific attention is given to the class of signalling schemes known as continuous phase modulation (CPM). The specific work described in this report addresses: analytical bounds on error probability for multi-h phase codes, power and bandwidth characterization of 4-ary multi-h codes, and initial results of channel simulation to assess the impact of band limiting filters and nonlinear amplifiers on CPM performance
Interpenetration as a Mechanism for Liquid-Liquid Phase Transitions
We study simple lattice systems to demonstrate the influence of
interpenetrating bond networks on phase behavior. We promote interpenetration
by using a Hamiltonian with a weakly repulsive interaction with nearest
neighbors and an attractive interaction with second-nearest neighbors. In this
way, bond networks will form between second-nearest neighbors, allowing for two
(locally) distinct networks to form. We obtain the phase behavior from analytic
solution in the mean-field approximation and exact solution on the Bethe
lattice. We compare these results with exact numerical results for the phase
behavior from grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations on square, cubic, and
tetrahedral lattices. All results show that these simple systems exhibit rich
phase diagrams with two fluid-fluid critical points and three thermodynamically
distinct phases. We also consider including third-nearest-neighbor
interactions, which give rise to a phase diagram with four critical points and
five thermodynamically distinct phases. Thus the interpenetration mechanism
provides a simple route to generate multiple liquid phases in single-component
systems, such as hypothesized in water and observed in several model and
experimental systems. Additionally, interpenetration of many such networks
appears plausible in a recently considered material made from nanoparticles
functionalized by single strands of DNA.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Thermal gravity, black holes and cosmological entropy
Taking seriously the interpretation of black hole entropy as the logarithm of
the number of microstates, we argue that thermal gravitons may undergo a phase
transition to a kind of black hole condensate. The phase transition proceeds
via nucleation of black holes at a rate governed by a saddlepoint configuration
whose free energy is of order the inverse temperature in Planck units. Whether
the universe remains in a low entropy state as opposed to the high entropy
black hole condensate depends sensitively on its thermal history. Our results
may clarify an old observation of Penrose regarding the very low entropy state
of the universe.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, RevTex. v4: to appear in Phys. Rev.
Spectral Properties of Statistical Mechanics Models
The full spectrum of transfer matrices of the general eight-vertex model on a
square lattice is obtained by numerical diagonalization. The eigenvalue spacing
distribution and the spectral rigidity are analyzed. In non-integrable regimes
we have found eigenvalue repulsion as for the Gaussian orthogonal ensemble in
random matrix theory. By contrast, in integrable regimes we have found
eigenvalue independence leading to a Poissonian behavior, and, for some points,
level clustering. These first examples from classical statistical mechanics
suggest that the conjecture of integrability successfully applied to quantum
spin systems also holds for classical systems.Comment: 4 pages, 1 Revtex file and 4 postscript figures tarred, gzipped and
uuencode
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