A solenoidal electron spectrometer for a precision measurement of the neutron β\beta-asymmetry with ultracold neutrons

We describe an electron spectrometer designed for a precision measurement of the neutron $\beta$-asymmetry with spin-polarized ultracold neutrons. The spectrometer consists of a 1.0-Tesla solenoidal field with two identical multiwire proportional chamber and plastic scintillator electron detector packages situated within 0.6-Tesla field-expansion regions. Select results from performance studies of the spectrometer with calibration sources are reported.Comment: 30 pages, 19 figures, 1 table, submitted to NIM

Exact spinor-scalar bound states in a QFT with scalar interactions

We study two-particle systems in a model quantum field theory, in which scalar particles and spinor particles interact via a mediating scalar field. The Lagrangian of the model is reformulated by using covariant Green's functions to solve for the mediating field in terms of the particle fields. This results in a Hamiltonian in which the mediating-field propagator appears directly in the interaction term. It is shown that exact two-particle eigenstates of the Hamiltonian can be determined. The resulting relativistic fermion-boson equation is shown to have Dirac and Klein-Gordon one-particle limits. Analytic solutions for the bound state energy spectrum are obtained for the case of massless mediating fields.Comment: 12 pages, RevTeX, 1 figur

Improving the Detection, Assessment, Management, and Prevention of Delirium in Hospices (the DAMPen-D study): Feasibility Study of a flexible and scalable implementation strategy to deliver guideline-adherent delirium care

BackgroundDelirium is a complex condition, stressful for all involved. Although highly prevalent in palliative care settings, it remains underdiagnosed and associated with poor outcomes. Guideline-adherent delirium care may improve its detection, assessment, and management. AimTo inform a future definitive study that tests whether an implementation strategy designed to improve guideline-adherent delirium care in palliative care settings improves patient outcomes (reduced proportion of in-patient days with delirium).DesignWith Patient Involvement members, we conducted a feasibility study to assess the acceptability of and engagement with the implementation strategy by hospice staff (intervention), and whether clinical record data collection of process (e.g., guideline-adherent delirium care) and clinical outcomes (evidence of delirium using a validated chart-based instrument;) pre- and 12-weeks post-implementation of the intervention would be possible.Setting/participantsIn-patient admissions in three English hospices.Results Between June 2021-December 2022, clinical record data were extracted from 300 consecutive admissions. Despite data collection during COVID-19, target clinical record data collection (n=300) was achieved. Approximately two-thirds of patients had a delirium episode during in-patient stay at both timepoints. A 6% absolute reduction in proportion of delirium days in those with a delirium episode was observed. Post-implementation improvements in guideline-adherent metrics include: clinical delirium diagnosis 15% to 28%; delirium risk assessment 0% to 16%; screening on admission 7% to 35%.Conclusions Collection of data on delirium outcomes and guideline-adherence from clinical records is feasible. The signal of patient benefit supports formal evaluation in a large-scale study

Second Harmonic Generation for a Dilute Suspension of Coated Particles

We derive an expression for the effective second-harmonic coefficient of a dilute suspension of coated spherical particles. It is assumed that the coating material, but not the core or the host, has a nonlinear susceptibility for second-harmonic generation (SHG). The resulting compact expression shows the various factors affecting the effective SHG coefficient. The effective SHG per unit volume of nonlinear coating material is found to be greatly enhanced at certain frequencies, corresponding to the surface plasmon resonance of the coated particles. Similar expression is also derived for a dilute suspension of coated discs. For coating materials with third-harmonic (THG) coefficient, results for the effective THG coefficients are given for the cases of coated particles and coated discs.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures; accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Equation of state and magnetic susceptibility of spin polarized isospin asymmetric nuclear matter

Properties of spin polarized isospin asymmetric nuclear matter are studied within the framework of the Brueckner--Hartree--Fock formalism. The single-particle potentials of neutrons and protons with spin up and down are determined for several values of the neutron and proton spin polarizations and the asymmetry parameter. It is found an almost linear and symmetric variation of the single-particle potentials as increasing these parameters. An analytic parametrization of the total energy per particle as a function of the asymmetry and spin polarizations is constructed. This parametrization is employed to compute the magnetic susceptibility of nuclear matter for several values of the asymmetry from neutron to symmetric matter. The results show no indication of a ferromagnetic transition at any density for any asymmetry of nuclear matter.Comment: 23 pages, 8 figures, 2 tables (submitted to Phys. Rev. C

The incidence and make up of ability grouped sets in the UK primary school

The adoption of setting in the primary school (pupils ability grouped across classes for particular subjects) emerged during the 1990s as a means to raise standards. Recent research based on 8875 children in the Millennium Cohort Study showed that 25.8% of children in Year 2 were set for literacy and mathematics and a further 11.2% of children were set for mathematics or literacy alone. Logistic regression analysis showed that the best predictors of being in the top set for literacy or mathematics were whether the child was born in the Autumn or Winter and cognitive ability scores. Boys were significantly more likely than girls to be in the bottom literacy set. Family circumstances held less importance for setting placement compared with the child’s own characteristics, although they were more important in relation to bottom set placement. Children in bottom sets were significantly more likely to be part of a long-term single parent household, have experienced poverty, and not to have a mother with qualifications at NVQ3 or higher levels. The findings are discussed in relation to earlier research and the implications for schools are set out

Vortex Lattice Structures of a Bose-Einstein Condensate in a Rotating Lattice Potential

We study vortex lattice structures of a trapped Bose-Einstein condensate in a rotating lattice potential by numerically solving the time-dependent Gross-Pitaevskii equation. By rotating the lattice potential, we observe the transition from the Abrikosov vortex lattice to the pinned lattice. We investigate the transition of the vortex lattice structure by changing conditions such as angular velocity, intensity, and lattice constant of the rotating lattice potential.Comment: 6 pages, 8 figures, submitted to Quantum Fluids and Solids Conference (QFS 2006

Free expansion of lowest Landau level states of trapped atoms: a wavefunction microscope

We show that for any lowest-Landau-level state of a trapped, rotating, interacting Bose gas, the particle distribution in coordinate space in a free expansion (time of flight) experiment is related to that in the trap at the time it is turned off by a simple rescaling and rotation. When the lowest-Landau-level approximation is valid, interactions can be neglected during the expansion, even when they play an essential role in the ground state when the trap is present. The correlations in the density in a single snapshot can be used to obtain information about the fluid, such as whether a transition to a quantum Hall state has occurred.Comment: 5 pages, no figures. v2: discussion of neglect of interactions during expansion improved, refs adde

Electromagnetic Dissociation of Nuclei in Heavy-Ion Collisions

Large discrepancies have been observed between measured Electromagnetic Dissociation(ED) cross sections and the predictions of the semiclassical Weiz\"acker-Williams-Fermi(WWF) method. In this paper, the validity of the semiclassical approximation is examined. The total cross section for electromagnetic excitation of a nuclear target by a spinless projectile is calculated in first Born approximation, neglecting recoil. The final result is expressed in terms of correlation functions and convoluted densities in configuration space. The result agrees with the WWF approximation to leading order(unretarded electric dipole approximation), but the method allows an analytic evaluation of the cutoff, which is determined by the details of the electric dipole transition charge density. Using the Goldhaber-Teller model of that density, and uniform charge densities for both projectile and target, the cutoff is determined for the total cross section in the nonrelativistic limit, and found to be smaller than values currently used for ED calculations. In addition, cross sections are calculated using a phenomenological momentum space cutoff designed to model final state interactions. For moderate projectile energies, the calculated ED cross section is found to be smaller than the semiclassical result, in qualitative agreement with experiment.Comment: 28 page