Relativistic Elastic Differential Cross Sections for Equal Mass Nuclei

The effects of relativistic kinematics are studied for nuclear collisions of equal mass nuclei. It is found that the relativistic and non-relativistic elastic scattering amplitudes are nearly indistinguishable, and, hence, the relativistic and non-relativistic differential cross sections become indistinguishable. These results are explained by analyzing the Lippmann-Schwinger equation with the first order optical potential that was employed in the calculatio

Twin-spool turbopumps for ''low'' net positive suction pressure operations

Modified single-shaft turbopump incorporates inducer and main pump, each separately driven at different speeds through coaxial-shaft arrangement. Inducer operates at low speed for low net positive suction pressure, main pump operates at high speed to generate high pressure. This arrangement requires no external control for the inducer

Twilight for the energy conditions?

The tension, if not outright inconsistency, between quantum physics and general relativity is one of the great problems facing physics at the turn of the millennium. Most often, the problems arising in merging Einstein gravity and quantum physics are viewed as Planck scale issues (10^{19} GeV, 10^{-34} m, 10^{-45} s), and so safely beyond the reach of experiment. However, over the last few years it has become increasingly obvious that the difficulties are more widespread: There are already serious problems of deep and fundamental principle at the semi-classical level, and worse, certain classical systems (inspired by quantum physics, but in no sense quantum themselves) exhibit seriously pathological behaviour. One manifestation of these pathologies is in the so-called ``energy conditions'' of general relativity. Patching things up in the gravity sector opens gaping holes elsewhere; and some ``fixes'' are more radical than the problems they are supposed to cure.Comment: Honourable mention in the 2002 Gravity Research Foundation essay contest. 12 pages. Plain LaTeX 2

Winter Home Range and Habitat Use of the Virginia Northern Flying Squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus fuscus)

We radio-tracked two male and one female Virginia northern flying squirrels (Glaucomys sabrinus fuscus) in the Allegheny Mountains of West Virginia at Snowshoe Mountain Resort, in winter 2003 and Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge in winter 2004, respectively, to document winter home range and habitat use in or near ski areas. Male home range size in the winter was larger than that reported for males during summer and fall, whereas the female home range we observed was smaller than those reported for summer and fall. However, winter habitat use was similar to summer and fall habitat use reported in other studies. Virginia northern flying squirrels foraged and denned in both red spruce (Picea rubens)-dominated forests and northern hardwood forests; however, selection of red spruce-dominated forests and open areas was greater than expected based on availability. Use of northern hardwood forest occurred less than expected based on availability. Male squirrels denned near, and routinely crossed, downhill ski slopes and unimproved roads during foraging bouts, whereas the female approached, but did not cross forest edges onto roads or trails

Parameter scaling in the decoherent quantum-classical transition for chaotic systems

The quantum to classical transition has been shown to depend on a number of parameters. Key among these are a scale length for the action, $\hbar$, a measure of the coupling between a system and its environment, $D$, and, for chaotic systems, the classical Lyapunov exponent, $\lambda$. We propose computing a measure, reflecting the proximity of quantum and classical evolutions, as a multivariate function of $(\hbar,\lambda,D)$ and searching for transformations that collapse this hyper-surface into a function of a composite parameter $\zeta = \hbar^{\alpha}\lambda^{\beta}D^{\gamma}$. We report results for the quantum Cat Map, showing extremely accurate scaling behavior over a wide range of parameters and suggest that, in general, the technique may be effective in constructing universality classes in this transition.Comment: Submitte

Quantum Inequalities and Singular Energy Densities

There has been much recent work on quantum inequalities to constrain negative energy. These are uncertainty principle-type restrictions on the magnitude and duration of negative energy densities or fluxes. We consider several examples of apparent failures of the quantum inequalities, which involve passage of an observer through regions where the negative energy density becomes singular. We argue that this type of situation requires one to formulate quantum inequalities using sampling functions with compact support. We discuss such inequalities, and argue that they remain valid even in the presence of singular energy densities.Comment: 18 pages, LaTex, 2 figures, uses eps

Wigner Distribution Function Approach to Dissipative Problems in Quantum Mechanics with emphasis on Decoherence and Measurement Theory

We first review the usefulness of the Wigner distribution functions (WDF), associated with Lindblad and pre-master equations, for analyzing a host of problems in Quantum Optics where dissipation plays a major role, an arena where weak coupling and long-time approximations are valid. However, we also show their limitations for the discussion of decoherence, which is generally a short-time phenomenon with decay rates typically much smaller than typical dissipative decay rates. We discuss two approaches to the problem both of which use a quantum Langevin equation (QLE) as a starting-point: (a) use of a reduced WDF but in the context of an exact master equation (b) use of a WDF for the complete system corresponding to entanglement at all times

Controlling transition probability from matter-wave soliton to chaos

For a Bose-Einstein condensate loaded into a weak traveling optical superlattice it is demonstrated that under a stochastic initial set and in a given parameter region the solitonic chaos appears with a certain probability. Effects of the lattice depths and wave vectors on the chaos probability are investigated analytically and numerically, and different chaotic regions associated with different chaos probabilities are found. The results suggest a feasible method for eliminating or strengthening chaos by modulating the moving superlattice experimentally.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure