4,060 research outputs found
A new perspective on GCRT J1745-3009
Two WSRT observations were performed and five archival VLA data were reduced
in order to redetect the enigmatic radio transient GCRT J1745-3009. The source
was not redetected. We were, however, able to extract important new information
from the discovery dataset. Our reanalysis excludes models that predict
symmetric bursts, but the transient white dwarf pulsar is favoured. Although we
now have more contraints on the properties of this source, we are still unsure
about its basic model.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure
Engineering model 8-cm thruster subsystem
An Engineering Model (EM) 8 cm Ion Thruster Propulsion Subsystem was developed for operation at a thrust level 5 mN (1.1 mlb) at a specific impulse 1 sub sp = 2667 sec with a total system input power P sub in = 165 W. The system dry mass is 15 kg with a mercury-propellant-reservoir capacity of 8.75 kg permitting uninterrupted operation for about 12,500 hr. The subsystem can be started from a dormant condition in a time less than or equal to 15 min. The thruster has a design lifetime of 20,000 hr with 10,000 startup cycles. A gimbal unit is included to provide a thrust vector deflection capability of + or - 10 degrees in any direction from the zero position. The EM subsystem development program included thruster optimization, power-supply circuit optimization and flight packaging, subsystem integration, and subsystem acceptance testing including a cyclic test of the total propulsion package
Percolation Transition in the random antiferromagnetic spin-1 chain
We give a physical description in terms of percolation theory of the phase
transition that occurs when the disorder increases in the random
antiferromagnetic spin-1 chain between a gapless phase with topological order
and a random singlet phase. We study the statistical properties of the
percolation clusters by numerical simulations, and we compute exact exponents
characterizing the transition by a real-space renormalization group
calculation.Comment: 9 pages, 4 encapsulated Postscript figures, REVTeX 3.
Challenging the orthodoxy: union learning representatives as organic intellectuals
Teacher education and continuing professional development have become a key areas of controversy in England since the period of school sector restructuring following the 1988 Education Reform Act. More recently teacher training and professional development have often been used to promote and reinforce a narrow focus on the government’s ‘standards agenda’. However, the emerging discourse of ‘new professionalism’ has raised the profile of professional development in schools, and together with union learning representatives, there are opportunities to secure real improvements in teachers’ access to continuing professional development. This paper argues however that union learning representatives must go beyond advocating for better access to professional development and should raise more fundamental questions about the nature of professional development and the education system it serves. Drawing on Gramsci’s notion of the ‘organic intellectual’, the paper argues that union learning representatives have a key role as organisers of ideas – creating spaces in which the ideological dominance of current policy orthodoxy might be challenged
Actively Contracting Bundles of Polar Filaments
We introduce a phenomenological model to study the properties of bundles of
polar filaments which interact via active elements. The stability of the
homogeneous state, the attractors of the dynamics in the unstable regime and
the tensile stress generated in the bundle are discussed. We find that the
interaction of parallel filaments can induce unstable behavior and is
responsible for active contraction and tension in the bundle. Interaction
between antiparallel filaments leads to filament sorting. Our model could apply
to simple contractile structures in cells such as stress fibers.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, RevTex, to appear in Phys. Rev. Let
Antiferromagnetic Heisenberg chains with bond alternation and quenched disorder
We consider S=1/2 antiferromagnetic Heisenberg chains with alternating bonds
and quenched disorder, which represents a theoretical model of the compound
CuCl_{2x}Br_{2(1-x)}(\gamma-{pic})_2. Using a numerical implementation of the
strong disorder renormalization group method we study the low-energy properties
of the system as a function of the concentration, x, and the type of
correlations in the disorder. For perfect correlation of disorder the system is
in the random dimer (Griffiths) phase having a concentration dependent
dynamical exponent. For weak or vanishing disorder correlations the system is
in the random singlet phase, in which the dynamical exponent is formally
infinity. We discuss consequences of our results for the experimentally
measured low-temperature susceptibility of
CuCl_{2x}Br_{2(1-x)}(\gamma-{pic})_2
Density Matrix Renormalization Group Study of the Haldane Phase in Random One-Dimensional Antiferromagnets
It is conjectured that the Haldane phase of the S=1 antiferromagnetic
Heisenberg chain and the ferromagnetic-antiferromagnetic alternating
Heisenberg chain is stable against any strength of randomness, because of
imposed breakdown of translational symmetry. This conjecture is confirmed by
the density matrix renormalization group calculation of the string order
parameter and the energy gap distribution.Comment: 4 Pages, 7 figures; Considerable revisions are made in abstract and
main text. Final accepted versio
Spin-3/2 random quantum antiferromagnetic chains
We use a modified perturbative renormalization group approach to study the
random quantum antiferromagnetic spin-3/2 chain. We find that in the case of
rectangular distributions there is a quantum Griffiths phase and we obtain the
dynamical critical exponent as a function of disorder. Only in the case of
extreme disorder, characterized by a power law distribution of exchange
couplings, we find evidence that a random singlet phase could be reached. We
discuss the differences between our results and those obtained by other
approaches.Comment: 4 page
Numerical renormalization-group study of spin correlations in one-dimensional random spin chains
We calculate the ground-state two-spin correlation functions of spin-1/2
quantum Heisenberg chains with random exchange couplings using the real-space
renormalization group scheme. We extend the conventional scheme to take account
of the contribution of local higher multiplet excitations in each decimation
step. This extended scheme can provide highly accurate numerical data for large
systems. The random average of staggered spin correlations of the chains with
random antiferromagnetic (AF) couplings shows algebraic decay like ,
which verifies the Fisher's analytic results. For chains with random
ferromagnetic (FM) and AF couplings, the random average of generalized
staggered correlations is found to decay more slowly than a power-law, in the
form close to . The difference between the distribution functions of
the spin correlations of the random AF chains and of the random FM-AF chains is
also discussed.Comment: 14 pages including 8 figures, REVTeX, submitted to Physical Review
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