Exact results for Casimir interactions between dielectric bodies: The weak-coupling or van der Waals Limit

In earlier papers we have applied multiple scattering techniques to calculate Casimir forces due to scalar fields between different bodies described by delta function potentials. When the coupling to the potentials became weak, closed-form results were obtained. We simplify this weak-coupling technique and apply it to the case of tenuous dielectric bodies, in which case the method involves the summation of van der Waals (Casimir-Polder) interactions. Once again exact results for finite bodies can be obtained. We present closed formulas describing the interaction between spheres and between cylinders, and between an infinite plate and a retangular slab of finite size. For such a slab, we consider the torque acting on it, and find non-trivial equilibrium points can occur.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Research Notes: University of Wisconsin

Tissue culture methods may benefit soybean breeders if whole plants can be differentiated from aneuploid, mutated, fused, or haploid cells. However, in order to realize this potential, it must be possible to derive plantlets from previously undifferentiated tissues - and ultimately from masses of callus cells. This report summarizes the information we obtained concerning adventitious budding from soybean tissues (Kimball and Bingham, 1973), early stages of embryo formation within masses of callus cells, and actual differentiation of plantlets from callus tissue

Disclosing the Radio Loudness Distribution Dichotomy in Quasars: An Unbiased Monte Carlo Approach Applied to the SDSS-FIRST Quasar Sample

We investigate the dichotomy in the radio loudness distribution of quasars by modelling their radio emission and various selection effects using a Monte Carlo approach. The existence of two physically distinct quasar populations, the radio-loud and radio-quiet quasars, is controversial and over the last decade a bimodal distribution of radio loudness of quasars has been both affirmed and disputed. We model the quasar radio luminosity distribution with simple unimodal and bimodal distribution functions. The resulting simulated samples are compared to a fiducial sample of 8,300 quasars drawn from the SDSS DR7 Quasar Catalog and combined with radio observations from the FIRST survey. Our results indicate that the SDSS-FIRST sample is best described by a radio loudness distribution which consists of two components, with 12+/-1 % of sources in the radio-loud component. On the other hand, the evidence for a local minimum in the loudness distribution (bimodality) is not strong and we find that previous claims for its existence were probably affected by the incompleteness of the FIRST survey close to its faint limit. We also investigate the redshift and luminosity dependence of the radio loudness distribution and find tentative evidence that at high redshift radio-loud quasars were rarer, on average "louder", and exhibited a smaller range in radio loudness. In agreement with other recent work, we conclude that the SDSS-FIRST sample strongly suggests that the radio loudness distribution of quasars is not a universal function, and that more complex models than presented here are needed to fully explain available observations.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ; 13 pages, 10 figure

Oak forest carbon and water simulations:Model intercomparisons and evaluations against independent data

Models represent our primary method for integration of small-scale, process-level phenomena into a comprehensive description of forest-stand or ecosystem function. They also represent a key method for testing hypotheses about the response of forest ecosystems to multiple changing environmental conditions. This paper describes the evaluation of 13 stand-level models varying in their spatial, mechanistic, and temporal complexity for their ability to capture intra- and interannual components of the water and carbon cycle for an upland, oak-dominated forest of eastern Tennessee. Comparisons between model simulations and observations were conducted for hourly, daily, and annual time steps. Data for the comparisons were obtained from a wide range of methods including: eddy covariance, sapflow, chamber-based soil respiration, biometric estimates of stand-level net primary production and growth, and soil water content by time or frequency domain reflectometry. Response surfaces of carbon and water flux as a function of environmental drivers, and a variety of goodness-of-fit statistics (bias, absolute bias, and model efficiency) were used to judge model performance. A single model did not consistently perform the best at all time steps or for all variables considered. Intermodel comparisons showed good agreement for water cycle fluxes, but considerable disagreement among models for predicted carbon fluxes. The mean of all model outputs, however, was nearly always the best fit to the observations. Not surprisingly, models missing key forest components or processes, such as roots or modeled soil water content, were unable to provide accurate predictions of ecosystem responses to short-term drought phenomenon. Nevertheless, an inability to correctly capture short-term physiological processes under drought was not necessarily an indicator of poor annual water and carbon budget simulations. This is possible because droughts in the subject ecosystem were of short duration and therefore had a small cumulative impact. Models using hourly time steps and detailed mechanistic processes, and having a realistic spatial representation of the forest ecosystem provided the best predictions of observed data. Predictive ability of all models deteriorated under drought conditions, suggesting that further work is needed to evaluate and improve ecosystem model performance under unusual conditions, such as drought, that are a common focus of environmental change discussions

Investigation of microwave transitions and nonlinear magneto-optical rotation in anti-relaxation-coated cells

Using laser optical pumping, widths and frequency shifts are determined for microwave transitions between ground-state hyperfine components of $^{85}$Rb and $^{87}$Rb atoms contained in vapor cells with alkane anti-relaxation coatings. The results are compared with data on Zeeman relaxation obtained in nonlinear magneto-optical rotation (NMOR) experiments, a comparison important for quantitative understanding of spin-relaxation mechanisms in coated cells. By comparing cells manufactured over a forty-year period we demonstrate the long-term stability of coated cells, an important property for atomic clocks and magnetometers

Peripheral blood leukocyte response and macrophage function during Eimeria adenoeides infection in turkey poults

Intestinal coccidiosis, caused by various species of Eimeria, is an economically important disease of chickens and turkeys. The peripheral blood leukocyte response and macrophage functions during a coccidial infection in turkeys have not been defined. To examine these aspects of innate immunity during primary Eimeria infection in turkeys, 4-week-old poults were orally inoculated with either 50,000 E. adenoeides oocyst (24 infected poults) or water (24 control poults). To monitor the concentrations and proportions of white blood cells (WBC) throughout the course of infection, heparinized blood was collected from 12 infected and 12 control poults prior to inoculation (day 0), and on days 4, 7, and 11 post-inoculation (PI). To study macrophage function, Sephadex-elicited abdominal exudate cells (macrophages) were collected on day 7 PI from 12 infected and 12 control poults. Macrophages were used to study phagocytosis of unopsonized and antibody-opsonized sheep red blood cells (SRBC), production of nitric oxide, and production of cytotoxic factors. E. adenoeides infection was associated with alterations in the concentration of WBC, including a decrease in the numbers of circulating lymphocytes on day 4 and a rise in lymphocytes and heterophils on day 11. Although phagocytic activity was not different in macrophages from infected and control poults, macrophages from infected poults exhibited greater cytotoxic activity. Data from these studies strongly suggest that components of innate immunity were recruited and activated during this primary infection of turkey poults with E. adenoeides. Further investigations are needed to determine the role of these components in limiting primary infection by E. adenoeides

Optically Selected BL Lacertae Candidates from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release Seven

We present a sample of 723 optically selected BL Lac candidates from the SDSS DR7 spectroscopic database encompassing 8250 deg^2 of sky; our sample constitutes one of the largest uniform BL Lac samples yet derived. Each BL Lac candidate has a high-quality SDSS spectrum from which we determine spectroscopic redshifts for ~60% of the objects. Redshift lower limits are estimated for the remaining objects utilizing the lack of host galaxy flux contamination in their optical spectra; we find that objects lacking spectroscopic redshifts are likely at systematically higher redshifts. Approximately 80% of our BL Lac candidates match to a radio source in FIRST/NVSS, and ~40% match to a ROSAT X-ray source. The homogeneous multiwavelength coverage allows subdivision of the sample into 637 radio-loud BL Lac candidates and 86 weak-featured radio-quiet objects. The radio-loud objects broadly support the standard paradigm unifying BL Lac objects with beamed radio galaxies. We propose that the majority of the radio-quiet objects may be lower-redshift (z<2.2) analogs to high-redshift weak line quasars (i.e., AGN with unusually anemic broad emission line regions). These would constitute the largest sample of such objects, being of similar size and complementary in redshift to the samples of high-redshift weak line quasars previously discovered by the SDSS. However, some fraction of the weak-featured radio-quiet objects may instead populate a rare and extreme radio-weak tail of the much larger radio-loud BL Lac population. Serendipitous discoveries of unusual white dwarfs, high-redshift weak line quasars, and broad absorption line quasars with extreme continuum dropoffs blueward of rest-frame 2800 Angstroms are also briefly described.Comment: 24 pages, 14 figures, 8 tables. Accepted for publication in A

Analytic structure factors and pair-correlation functions for the unpolarized homogeneous electron gas

We propose a simple and accurate model for the electron static structure factors (and corresponding pair-correlation functions) of the 3D unpolarized homogeneous electron gas. Our spin-resolved pair-correlation function is built up with a combination of analytic constraints and fitting procedures to quantum Monte Carlo data, and, in comparison to previous attempts (i) fulfills more known integral and differential properties of the exact pair-correlation function, (ii) is analytic both in real and in reciprocal space, and (iii) accurately interpolates the newest, extensive diffusion-Monte Carlo data of Ortiz, Harris and Ballone [Phys. Rev. Lett. 82, 5317 (1999)]. This can be of interest for the study of electron correlations of real materials and for the construction of new exchange and correlation energy density functionals.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Analytic Perturbation Theory: A New Approach to the Analytic Continuation of the Strong Coupling Constant αS\alpha_S into the Timelike Region

The renormalization group applied to perturbation theory is ordinarily used to define the running coupling constant in the spacelike region. However, to describe processes with timelike momenta transfers, it is important to have a self-consistent determination of the running coupling constant in the timelike region. The technique called analytic perturbation theory (APT) allows a consistent determination of this running coupling constant. The results are found to disagree significantly with those obtained in the standard perturbative approach. Comparison between the standard approach and APT is carried out to two loops, and threshold matching in APT is applied in the timelike region.Comment: 16 pages, REVTeX, 7 postscript figure

Identity of the van der Waals Force and the Casimir Effect and the Irrelevance of these Phenomena to Sonoluminescence

We show that the Casimir, or zero-point, energy of a dilute dielectric ball, or of a spherical bubble in a dielectric medium, coincides with the sum of the van der Waals energies between the molecules that make up the medium. That energy, which is finite and repulsive when self-energy and surface effects are removed, may be unambiguously calculated by either dimensional continuation or by zeta function regularization. This physical interpretation of the Casimir energy seems unambiguous evidence that the bulk self-energy cannot be relevant to sonoluminescence.Comment: 7 pages, no figures, REVTe