Unified Analysis of Cosmological Perturbations in Generalized Gravity

In a class of generalized Einstein's gravity theories we derive the equations and general asymptotic solutions describing the evolution of the perturbed universe in unified forms. Our gravity theory considers general couplings between the scalar field and the scalar curvature in the Lagrangian, thus includes broad classes of generalized gravity theories resulting from recent attempts for the unification. We analyze both the scalar-type mode and the gravitational wave in analogous ways. For both modes the large scale evolutions are characterized by the same conserved quantities which are valid in the Einstein's gravity. This unified and simple treatment is possible due to our proper choice of the gauges, or equivalently gauge invariant combinations.Comment: 4 pages, revtex, no figure

Quantum fluctuations of Cosmological Perturbations in Generalized Gravity

Recently, we presented a unified way of analysing classical cosmological perturbation in generalized gravity theories. In this paper, we derive the perturbation spectrums generated from quantum fluctuations again in unified forms. We consider a situation where an accelerated expansion phase of the early universe is realized in a particular generic phase of the generalized gravity. We take the perturbative semiclassical approximation which treats the perturbed parts of the metric and matter fields as quantum mechanical operators. Our generic results include the conventional power-law and exponential inflations in Einstein's gravity as special cases.Comment: 5 pages, revtex, no figure

Cosmological perturbations in a gravity with quadratic order curvature couplings

We present a set of equations describing the evolution of the scalar-type cosmological perturbation in a gravity with general quadratic order curvature coupling terms. Equations are presented in a gauge ready form, thus are ready to implement various temporal gauge conditions depending on the problems. The Ricci-curvature square term leads to a fourth-order differential equation for describing the spacetime fluctuations in a spatially homogeneous and isotropic cosmological background.Comment: 5 pages, no figure, To appear in Phys. Rev.

Brain Control of Movement Execution Onset Using Local Field Potentials in Posterior Parietal Cortex

The precise control of movement execution onset is essential for safe and autonomous cortical motor prosthetics. A recent study from the parietal reach region (PRR) suggested that the local field potentials (LFPs) in this area might be useful for decoding execution time information because of the striking difference in the LFP spectrum between the plan and execution states (Scherberger et al., 2005). More specifically, the LFP power in the 0–10 Hz band sharply rises while the power in the 20–40 Hz band falls as the state transitions from plan to execution. However, a change of visual stimulus immediately preceded reach onset, raising the possibility that the observed spectral change reflected the visual event instead of the reach onset. Here, we tested this possibility and found that the LFP spectrum change was still time locked to the movement onset in the absence of a visual event in self-paced reaches. Furthermore, we successfully trained the macaque subjects to use the LFP spectrum change as a "go" signal in a closed-loop brain-control task in which the animals only modulated the LFP and did not execute a reach. The execution onset was signaled by the change in the LFP spectrum while the target position of the cursor was controlled by the spike firing rates recorded from the same site. The results corroborate that the LFP spectrum change in PRR is a robust indicator for the movement onset and can be used for control of execution onset in a cortical prosthesis

Higher Fock sectors in Wick-Cutkosky model

In the Wick-Cutkosky model we analyze nonperturbatively, in light-front dynamics, the contributions of two-body and higher Fock sectors to the total norm and electromagnetic form factor. It turns out that two- and three-body sectors always dominate. For maximal value of coupling constant $\alpha=2\pi$, corresponding to zero bound state mass M=0, they contribute 90% to the norm. With decrease of $\alpha$ the two-body contribution increases up to 100%. The form factor asymptotic is always determined by two-body sector.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, to appear in the proceedings of Light Cone 2004, Amsterdam, August 16-20, 200

Temperature Dependence of Gluon and Quark Condensates as from Linear Confinement

The gluon and quark condensates and their temperature dependence are investigated within QCD premises. The input for the former is a gauge invariant $gg$ kernel made up of the direct (D), exchange (X) and contact(C) QCD interactions in the lowest order, but with the perturbative propagator $k^{-2}$ replaced by a `non-perturbative $k^{-4}$ form obtained via two differentiations: $\mu^2 \partial_m^2 (m^2+k^2)^{-1}$, ($\mu$ a scale parameter), and then setting $m=0$, to simulate linear confinement. Similarly for the input $q{\bar q}$ kernel the gluon propagator is replaced by the above $k^{-4}$ form. With these `linear' simulations, the respective condensates are obtained by `looping' up the gluon and quark lines in the standard manner. Using Dimensional regularization (DR), the necessary integrals yield the condensates plus temperature corrections, with a common scale parameter $\mu$ for both. For gluons the exact result is $$= {36\mu^4}\pi^{-3}\alpha_s(\mu^2)[2-\gamma - 4\pi^2 T^2/(3\mu^2)]$$. Evaluation of the quark condensate is preceded by an approximate solution of the SDE for the mass function $m(p)$, giving a recursive formula, with convergence achieved at the third iteration. Setting the scale parameter $\mu$ equal to the universal Regge slope $1 GeV^2$, the gluon and quark condensates at T=0 are found to be $0.586 Gev^4$ and $(240-260 MeV)^3$ respectively, in fair accord with QCD sum rule values. Next, the temperature corrections (of order $-T^2$ for both condensates) is determined via finite-temperature field theory a la Matsubara. Keywords: Gluon Condensate, mass tensor, gauge invariance, linear confinement, finite-temperature, contour-closing. PACS: 11.15.Tk ; 12.38.Lg ; 13.20.CzComment: 13 pages (LaTeX) including 2 figure

Role of Li_2B_(12)H_(12) for the Formation and Decomposition of LiBH_4

By in situ X-ray diffraction (XRD) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, the role of Li_2B_(12)H_(12) for the sorption of LiBH_4 is analyzed. We demonstrate that Li_2B_(12)H_(12) and an amorphous Li_2B_(10)H_(10) phase are formed by the reaction of LiBH_4 with diborane (B_2H_6) at 200 °C. Based on our present results, we propose that the Li -2B - (12)H_(12) formation in the desorption of LiBH_4 can be explained as a result of reaction of diborane and LiBH_4. This reaction of the borohydride with diborane may also be observed for other borohydrides, where B_(12)H_(12) phases are found during decomposition

Catalytic role of boron atoms in self-interstitial clustering in Si

Using density functional theory (DFT) calculations and kinetic simulations, we have investigated the influence of boron atoms on self-interstitial clustering in Si. From DFT calculations of neutral interstitial clusters with a single B atom (BsIn, nIn–1 + BsI) becomes substantially weaker than that of an interstitial (BsIn-->BsIn–1 + I) when n>=4. This implies boron can be liberated while leaving an interstitial cluster behind. Our kinetic simulations including the boron liberation explain well experimental observations reported by J. L. Benton et al., J. Appl. Phys. 82, 120 (1997)

Local strain redistribution corrections for a simplified inelastic analysis procedure based on an elastic finite-element analysis

Strain redistribution corrections were developed for a simplified inelastic analysis procedure to economically calculate material cyclic response at the critical location of a structure for life prediction proposes. The method was based on the assumption that the plastic region in the structure is local and the total strain history required for input can be defined from elastic finite-element analyses. Cyclic stress-strain behavior was represented by a bilinear kinematic hardening model. The simplified procedure predicts stress-strain response with reasonable accuracy for thermally cycled problems but needs improvement for mechanically load-cycled problems. Neuber-type corrections were derived and incorporated in the simplified procedure to account for local total strain redistribution under cyclic mechanical loading. The corrected simplified method was used on a mechanically load-cycled benchmark notched-plate problem. The predicted material response agrees well with the nonlinear finite-element solutions for the problem. The simplified analysis computer program was 0.3% of the central processor unit time required for a nonlinear finite-element analysis