Nonlinear Micromechanical Casimir Oscillator

The Casimir force between uncharged metallic surfaces originates from quantum mechanical zero point fluctuations of the electromagnetic field. We demonstrate that this quantum electrodynamical effect has a profound influence on the oscillatory behavior of microstructures when surfaces are in close proximity (<= 100 nm). Frequency shifts, hysteretic behavior and bistability caused by the Casimir force are observed in the frequency response of a periodically driven micromachined torsional oscillator.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures; added and rearranged references; added comments on sensitivit

Moduli of mathematical instanton vector bundles with odd c_2 on projective space

The problem of irreducibility of the moduli space I_n of rank-2 mathematical instanton vector bundles with arbitrary positive second Chern class n on the projective 3-space is considered. The irreducibility of I_n was known for small values of n: Barth 1977 (n=1), Hartshorne 1978 (n=2), Ellingsrud and Stromme 1981 (n=3), Barth 1981 (n=4), Coanda, Tikhomirov and Trautmann 2003 (n=5). In this paper we prove the irreducibility of I_n for an arbitrary odd n.Comment: 62 page

Perturbation of Tunneling Processes by Mechanical Degrees of Freedom in Mesoscopic Junctions

We investigate the perturbation in the tunneling current caused by non-adiabatic mechanical motion in a mesoscopic tunnel junction. A theory introduced by Caroli et al. \cite{bi1,bi2,bi3} is used to evaluate second order self-energy corrections for this non-equilibrium situation lacking translational invariance. Inelastic signatures of the mechanical degrees of freedom are found in the current-voltage $I(V)$ characteristics. These give rise to sharp features in the derivative spectrum, $d^2I/dV^2$.Comment: 22 pages LaTeX + 3 uuencoded PS picture

The Canonical Model of a Singular Curve

We give refined statements and modern proofs of Rosenlicht's results about the canonical model C' of an arbitrary complete integral curve C. Notably, we prove that C and C' are birationally equivalent if and only if C is nonhyperelliptic, and that, if C is nonhyperelliptic, then C' is equal to the blowup of C with respect to the canonical sheaf \omega. We also prove some new results: we determine just when C' is rational normal, arithmetically normal, projectively normal, and linearly normal.Comment: 28 pages, no figures, IV Congresso Iberoamericano de Geometria Complex

Democratic cultural policy : democratic forms and policy consequences

The forms that are adopted to give practical meaning to democracy are assessed to identify what their implications are for the production of public policies in general and cultural policies in particular. A comparison of direct, representative, democratic elitist and deliberative versions of democracy identifies clear differences between them in terms of policy form and democratic practice. Further elaboration of these differences and their consequences are identified as areas for further research

Optimal Control of Molecular Motion Expressed Through Quantum Fluid Dynamics

A quantum fluid dynamic control formulation is presented for optimally manipulating atomic and molecular systems. In quantum fluid dynamic the control quantum system is expressed in terms of the probability density and the quantum current. This choice of variables is motivated by the generally expected slowly varying spatial-temporal dependence of the fluid dynamical variables. The quantum fluid dynamic approach is illustrated for manipulation of the ground electronic state dynamics of HCl induced by an external electric field.Comment: 18 pages, latex, 3 figure

Easily retrievable objects among the NEO population

Asteroids and comets are of strategic importance for science in an effort to understand the formation, evolution and composition of the Solar System. Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) are of particular interest because of their accessibility from Earth, but also because of their speculated wealth of material resources. The exploitation of these resources has long been discussed as a means to lower the cost of future space endeavours. In this paper, we consider the currently known NEO population and define a family of so-called Easily Retrievable Objects (EROs), objects that can be transported from accessible heliocentric orbits into the Earth’s neighbourhood at affordable costs. The asteroid retrieval transfers are sought from the continuum of low energy transfers enabled by the dynamics of invariant manifolds; specifically, the retrieval transfers target planar, vertical Lyapunov and halo orbit families associated with the collinear equilibrium points of the Sun-Earth Circular Restricted Three Body problem. The judicious use of these dynamical features provides the best opportunity to find extremely low energy Earth transfers for asteroid material. A catalogue of asteroid retrieval candidates is then presented. Despite the highly incomplete census of very small asteroids, the ERO catalogue can already be populated with 12 different objects retrievable with less than 500 m/s of Δv. Moreover, the approach proposed represents a robust search and ranking methodology for future retrieval candidates that can be automatically applied to the growing survey of NEOs

Pinning-induced transition to disordered vortex phase in layered superconductors

Destruction of the vortex lattice by random point pinning is considered as a mechanism of the ``second peak'' transition observed experimentally in weakly coupled layered high temperature superconductors. The transition field separating the topologically ordered quasilattice from the amorphous vortex configuration is strongly influenced by the layered structure and by the nonlocal nature of the vortex tilt energy due to the magnetic interlayer coupling. We found three different regimes of transition depending on the relative strength of the Josephson and magnetic couplings. The regimes can be distinguished by the dependence of the transition fieldComment: 8 pages, 3 Postscript figures. Accepted to Phys. Rev.B. (regular article