32,137 research outputs found
Fluctuations, Higher Order Anharmonicities, and Landau Expansion for Barium Titanate
Correct phenomenological description of ferroelectric phase transitions in
barium titanate requires accounting for eighth-order terms in the free energy
expansion, in addition to the conventional sixth-order contributions. Another
unusual feature of BaTiO_3 crystal is that the coefficients B_1 and B_2 of the
terms P_x^4 and P_x^2*P_y^2 in the Landau expansion depend on the temperature.
It is shown that the temperature dependence of B_1 and B_2 may be caused by
thermal fluctuations of the polarization, provided the fourth-order
anharmonicity is anomalously small, i. e. the nonlinearity of P^4 type and
higher-order ones play comparable roles. Non-singular (non-critical)
fluctuation contributions to B_1 and B_2 are calculated in the first
approximation in sixth-order and eighth-order anharmonic constants. Both
contributions increase with the temperature, which is in agreement with
available experimental data. Moreover, the theory makes it possible to
estimate, without any additional assumptions, the ratio of fluctuation
(temperature dependent) contributions to coefficients B_1 and B_2. Theoretical
value of B_1/B_2 appears to be close to that given by experiments.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figur
Spectral universality of strong shocks accelerating charged particles
As a rule, the shock compression controls the spectrum of diffusively
accelerated particles. We argue that this is not so if the backreaction of
these particles on the shock structure is significant. We present a
self-similar solution in which the accelerated particles change the flow
structure near the shock so strongly that the total shock compression may
become arbitrarily large. Despite this, the energy spectrum behind the shock is
close to E^{-3/2} independently of anything at all.Comment: Submitted to ApJL, 4 pages, 1 figure, uses revtex and boxedep
The Structure of the Outer Halo of the Galaxy and its Relationship to Nearby Large-Scale Structure
We present evidence to support an earlier indication that the Galaxy is
embedded in an extended, highly inclined, triaxial halo outlined by the spatial
distribution of companion galaxies to the Milky Way. Signatures of this spatial
distribution are seen in 1) the angular variation of the radial-velocity
dispersion of the companion galaxies, 2) the spatial distribution of the M~31
sub-group of galaxies, 3) the spatial distribution of the isolated, mainly
dwarf irregular, galaxies of the Local Group, 4) the velocity anisotropy
quadrupole of a sub-group of high-velocity clouds, and 5) the spatial
distribution of galaxies in the Coma-Sculptor cloud. Tidal effects of M~31 and
surrounding galaxies on the Galaxy are not strong enough to have affected the
observed structure. We conclude that this distribution is a reflection of
initial conditions. A simple galaxy formation scenario is proposed which ties
together the results found here with those of Holmberg (1969) and Zaritsky et
al. (1997) on the peculiar distribution of satellites around a large sample of
spiral galaxies.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astron J., March 2000, 12 pages with
1 figur
The LCO/Palomar 10,000 km/sec Cluster Survey. II. Constraints on Large-Scale Streaming
The LCO/Palomar 10,000 km/sec (LP10K) Tully-Fisher (TF) data set is used to
test for bulk streaming motions on a ~150 Mpc scale. The sample consists of 172
cluster galaxies in the original target range of the survey, 9000-13,000
km/sec, plus an additional 72 galaxies with cz < 30,000 km/sec. A
maximum-likelihood analysis that is insensitive to Malmquist and selection bias
effects is used to constrain the bulk velocity parameters, and realistic
Monte-Carlo simulations are carried out to correct residual biases and
determine statistical errors. When the analysis is restricted to the original
target range, the bias-corrected bulk flow is v_B=720 +/- 280 km/sec toward
l=266, b=19. When all objects out to z=0.1 are included the result is virtually
unchanged, v_B=700 +/- 250 km/sec toward l=272, b=10. The hypothesis that the
Hubble flow has converged to the CMB frame at distances less than ~ 100 Mpc is
ruled out at the 97% confidence level. The data are inconsistent with the flow
vector found by Lauer & Postman. However, the LP10K bulk flow is consistent
with that obtained from the SMAC survey of elliptical galaxies recently
described by Hudson et al. If correct, the LP10K results indicate that the
convergence depth for the Hubble flow is >~ 150 Mpc.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures, uses emulateapj, submitted to the Astrophysical
Journal. Also available at http://astro.stanford.edu/jeff
Probing protein-protein interactions by dynamic force correlated spectroscopy (FCS)
We develop a formalism for single molecule dynamic force spectroscopy to map
the energy landscape of protein-protein complex (). The joint
distribution of unbinding lifetimes and
measurable in a compression-tension cycle, which accounts for the internal
relaxation dynamics of the proteins under tension, shows that the histogram of
is not Poissonian. The theory is applied to the forced unbinding of
protein , modeled as a wormlike chain, from . We propose a new
class of experiments which can resolve the effect of internal protein dynamics
on the unbinding lifetimes.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, accepted to Phys. Rev. Let
Quantum Correlation Bounds for Quantum Information Experiments Optimization: the Wigner Inequality Case
Violation of modified Wigner inequality by means binary bipartite quantum
system allows the discrimination between the quantum world and the classical
local-realistic one, and also ensures the security of Ekert-like quantum key
distribution protocol. In this paper we study both theoretically and
experimentally the bounds of quantum correlation associated to the modified
Wigner's inequality finding the optimal experimental configuration for its
maximal violation. We also extend this analysis to the implementation of
Ekert's protocol
Transition from spot to faculae domination -- An alternate explanation for the dearth of intermediate \textit{Kepler} rotation periods
The study of stellar activity cycles is crucial to understand the underlying
dynamo and how it causes activity signatures such as dark spots and bright
faculae. We study the appearance of activity signatures in contemporaneous
photometric and chromospheric time series. Lomb-Scargle periodograms are used
to search for cycle periods present in both time series. To emphasize the
signature of the activity cycle we account for rotation-induced scatter in both
data sets by fitting a quasi-periodic Gaussian process model to each observing
season. After subtracting the rotational variability, cycle amplitudes and the
phase difference between the two time series are obtained by fitting both time
series simultaneously using the same cycle period. We find cycle periods in 27
of the 30 stars in our sample. The phase difference between the two time series
reveals that the variability in fast rotating active stars is usually in
anti-phase, while the variability of slowly rotating inactive stars is in
phase. The photometric cycle amplitudes are on average six times larger for the
active stars. The phase and amplitude information demonstrates that active
stars are dominated by dark spots, whereas less active stars are dominated by
bright faculae. We find the transition from spot to faculae domination at the
Vaughan-Preston gap, and around a Rossby number equal to one. We conclude that
faculae are the dominant ingredient of stellar activity cycles at ages >2.55
Gyr. The data further suggest that the Vaughan-Preston gap can not explain the
previously detected dearth of Kepler rotation periods between 15-25 days.
Nevertheless, our results led us to propose an explanation for the rotation
period dearth to be due to the non-detection of periodicity caused by the
cancellation of dark spots and bright faculae at 800 Myr.Comment: 12+15 pages, 10+2 figures, accepted for publication in A&
Inertial frame rotation induced by rotating gravitational waves
We calculate the rotation of the inertial frames within an almost flat
cylindrical region surrounded by a pulse of non-axially-symmetric gravitational
waves that rotate about the axis of our cylindrical polar coordinates. Our
spacetime has only one Killing vector. It is along the z-axis and hypersurface
orthogonal. We solve the Einstein equations to first order in the wave
amplitude and superpose such linearized solutions to form a wave pulse. We then
solve the relevant Einstein equation to second order in the amplitude to find
the rotation of inertial frames produced by the pulse. The rotation is without
time delay. The influence of gravitational wave angular momentum on the
inertial frame demonstrates that Mach's principle can not be expressed in terms
of the influence of the stress-energy-momentum tensor alone but must involve
also influences of gravitational wave energy and angular momentum.Comment: Scheduled to appear in Class. and Quantum Grav. July 2008, "inertial"
added in titl
Non-Contextual Hidden Variables and Physical Measurements
For a hidden variable theory to be indistinguishable from quantum theory for
finite precision measurements, it is enough that its predictions agree for some
measurement within the range of precision. Meyer has recently pointed out that
the Kochen-Specker theorem, which demonstrates the impossibility of a
deterministic hidden variable description of ideal spin measurements on a spin
1 particle, can thus be effectively nullified if only finite precision
measurements are considered. We generalise this result: it is possible to
ascribe consistent outcomes to a dense subset of the set of projection valued
measurements, or to a dense subset of the set of positive operator valued
measurements, on any finite dimensional system. Hence no Kochen-Specker like
contradiction can rule out hidden variable theories indistinguishable from
quantum theory by finite precision measurements in either class.Comment: Typo corrected. Final version: to appear in Phys. Rev. Let
Extended Bell and Stirling numbers from hypergeometric exponentiation
Exponentiating the hypergeometric series
0FL(1,1,...,1;z), L = 0,1,2,..., furnishes a recursion relation for the members of certain integer sequences
bL(n), n = 0,1,2,.... For L >= 0, the bL(n)'s are generalizations of the conventional Bell numbers, b0(n). The corresponding associated Stirling numbers of the second kind are also investigated. For L = 1 one can give a combinatorial interpretation of the numbers b1(n) and of some Stirling numbers associated with them. We also consider the L>1 analogues of Bell numbers for restricted partitions
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