2,510 research outputs found
Stability Analysis of a Bose-Einstein Condensate Trapped in a Generic Potential
We investigate the dynamical behavior of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation for a
Bose-Einstein condensate trapped in a spherical power law potential restricted
to the repulsive case, from the dynamical system formalism point of view. A
five-dimensional dynamical system is found (due the symmetry of the
Gross-Pitaevskii equation interacting with a potential), where the Thomas-Fermi
approximation constrains the parameter space of solutions. We show that for
values of the power law exponent equal or smaller than 2 the system seems to be
stable. However, when the corresponding exponent is bigger than 2, the
instability of the system grows when the power law exponent grows, indicating
that large values of the aforementioned parameter can be related to a loss in
the number of particles from the condensed state. This fact can be used also to
show that the stability conditions of the condensate are highly sensitive to
the exponent associated with the external potential.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figure
Thermodynamics of noncommutative quantum Kerr black holes
Thermodynamic formalism for rotating black holes, characterized by
noncommutative and quantum corrections, is constructed. From a fundamental
thermodynamic relation, equations of state and thermodynamic response functions
are explicitly given and the effect of noncommutativity and quantum correction
is discussed. It is shown that the well known divergence exhibited in specific
heat is not removed by any of these corrections. However, regions of
thermodynamic stability are affected by noncommutativity, increasing the
available states for which some thermodynamic stability conditions are
satisfied.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figure
X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy studies of non-stoichiometric superconducting NbB2+x
Polycrystalline samples of NbB2+x with nominal composition (B/Nb) = 2.0, 2.1,
2.2, 2.3, 2.4 and 2.5 were studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).
The spectra revealed Nb and B oxides on the surface of the samples, mainly B2O3
and Nb2O5. After Ar ion etching the intensity of Nb and B oxides decreased. The
Nb 3d5/2 and B 1s core levels associated with the chemical states (B/Nb) were
identified and they do not change with etching time. The Binding Energy of the
Nb 3d5/2 and B 1s core levels increase as boron content increases, suggesting a
positive chemical shift in the core levels. On the other hand, analysis of
Valence Band spectra showed that the contribution of the Nb 4d states slightly
decreased while the contribution of the B 2p(pi) states increased as the boron
content increased. As a consequence, the electronic and superconducting
properties were substantially modified, in good agreement with band-structure
calculations.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, 1 tabl
Optical spectroscopy of the microquasar GRS 1758-258: a possible intermediate mass system?
Context. GRS 1758-258 is one of two prototypical microquasars towards the
Galactic Center direction discovered almost a quarter of a century ago. The
system remains poorly studied in the optical domain due to its counterpart
being a very faint and absorbed target in a crowded region of the sky. Aims.
Our aim is to investigate GRS 1758-258 in order to shed light on the nature of
the stellar binary components. In particular, the main physical parameters of
the donor star, such as the mass or the spectral type, are not yet well
constrained. Methods. GRS 1758-258 has remained so far elusive to optical
spectroscopy owing to its observational difficulties. Here, we use this
traditional tool of stellar astronomy at low spectral resolution with a 10 m
class telescope and a long slit spectrograph. Results. An improved spectrum is
obtained as compared to previous work. The quality of the data does not allow
the detection of emission or absorption features but, nevertheless, we manage
to partially achieve our aims comparing the de-reddened continuum with the
spectral energy distribution expected from an irradiated disc model and
different donor star templates. Conclusions. We tentatively propose that GRS
1758-258 does not host a giant star companion. Instead, a main sequence star
with mid-A spectral type appears to better agree with our data. The main
impacts of this finding are the possibility that we are dealing with an
intermediate mass system and, in this case, the prediction of an orbital period
significantly shorter than previously proposed.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in A&
Measuring the mass of a sterile neutrino with a very short baseline reactor experiment
An analysis of the world's neutrino oscillation data, including sterile
neutrinos, (M. Sorel, C. M. Conrad, and M. H. Shaevitz, Phys. Rev. D 70,
073004) found a peak in the allowed region at a mass-squared difference eV. We trace its origin to harmonic oscillations in the
electron survival probability as a function of L/E, the ratio of
baseline to neutrino energy, as measured in the near detector of the Bugey
experiment. We find a second occurrence for eV. We
point out that the phenomenon of harmonic oscillations of as a
function of L/E, as seen in the Bugey experiment, can be used to measure the
mass-squared difference associated with a sterile neutrino in the range from a
fraction of an eV to several eV (compatible with that indicated by the
LSND experiment), as well as measure the amount of electron-sterile neutrino
mixing. We observe that the experiment is independent, to lowest order, of the
size of the reactor and suggest the possibility of a small reactor with a
detector sitting at a very short baseline.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
CINEMATOGRAPHICAL EXAMINATION OF POWERLIFTING AIDS IN SQUATTING
Six experienced weight-lifters were compared in powerlifting
squats with and without lifting aids. Lifting aids were commercial,
competitive elastic lifting suits and knee wraps. Subjects were filmed with a 16mm Locam camera at 50 fps while performing 3 trials of 3 repetitions maximum under the two lifting conditions.
Squats were divided into four phases (2 for descent, 2 for ascent)
by trunk to hip and thigh to leg rotations. Postural torques about the hip and the knee were estimated from digitized images. Inertial torques were discounted as modulating contributors to performance due to their invariance across the lifting conditions
On detecting CP violation in a single neutrino oscillation channel at very long baselines
We propose a way of detecting CP violation in a single neutrino oscillation
channel at very long baselines (on the order of several thousands of
kilometers), given precise knowledge of the smallest mass-squared difference.
It is shown that CP violation can be characterized by a shift in of the
peak oscillation in the -- appearance channel, both in vacuum
and in matter. In fact, matter effects enhance the shift at a fixed energy. We
consider the case in which sub-GeV neutrinos are measured with varying baseline
and also the case of a fixed baseline. For the varied baseline, accurate
knowledge of the absolute neutrino flux would not be necessary; however,
neutrinos must be distinguishable from antineutrinos. For the fixed baseline,
it is shown that CP violation can be distinguished if the mixing angle
were known.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures; minor typos correcte
Cosmological parameter inference with Bayesian statistics
Bayesian statistics and Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithms have found
their place in the field of Cosmology. They have become important mathematical
and numerical tools, especially in parameter estimation and model comparison.
In this paper, we review some fundamental concepts to understand Bayesian
statistics and then introduce MCMC algorithms and samplers that allow us to
perform the parameter inference procedure. We also introduce a general
description of the standard cosmological model, known as the CDM
model, along with several alternatives, and current datasets coming from
astrophysical and cosmological observations. Finally, with the tools acquired,
we use an MCMC algorithm implemented in python to test several cosmological
models and find out the combination of parameters that best describes the
Universe.Comment: 30 pages, 17 figures, 5 tables; accepted for publication in Universe;
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