681 research outputs found

    Semiclassical treatment of the Dirac sea contribution for finite nuclei

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    Dirac sea corrections for bulk properties of finite nuclei are computed within a self-consistent scheme in the σ\sigma-ω\omega model. The valence part is treated in the Hartree approximation whereas the sea contribution is evaluated semiclassically up to fourth order in \hbar. Numerically, we find a quick convergence of the semiclassical expansion; the fourth order contributing much less than one percent to the binding energy per nucleon.Comment: LaTeX, 11 page

    Phase transitions in BaTiO3_3 from first principles

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    We develop a first-principles scheme to study ferroelectric phase transitions for perovskite compounds. We obtain an effective Hamiltonian which is fully specified by first-principles ultra-soft pseudopotential calculations. This approach is applied to BaTiO3_3, and the resulting Hamiltonian is studied using Monte Carlo simulations. The calculated phase sequence, transition temperatures, latent heats, and spontaneous polarizations are all in good agreement with experiment. The order-disorder vs.\ displacive character of the transitions and the roles played by different interactions are discussed.Comment: 13 page

    Changes in the radius of a nucleon in interaction with another nucleon

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    We consider a two-nucleon system described by two different skyrmion models that provide attraction for the central NN potential. One of these models is based on the product ansatz and the other on dilaton coupling. Within these models we ask the question, To what degree does the nucleon swell or shrink when the internucleon separation distance is appropriate to attraction or repulsion? We find typically swelling of 3 to 4 percent for central attraction of some 40 to 50 MeV.Comment: Nine pages of plain TeX plus two uuencoded figure

    The Nuclear Sigma Term in the Skyrme Model: Pion-Nucleus Interaction

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    The nuclear sigma term is calculated including the nuclear matrix element of the derivative of the NN interaction with respect to the quark mass, mqVNNmqm_q\frac{\partial V_{NN}}{\partial m_q}. The NN potential is evaluated in the skyrmion-skyrmion picture within the quantized product ansatz. The contribution of the NN potential to the nuclear sigma term provides repulsion to the pion-nucleus interaction. The strength of the s-wave pion-nucleus optical potential is estimated including such contribution. The results are consistent with the analysis of the experimental data.Comment: 16 pages (latex), 3 figures (eps), e-mail: [email protected] and [email protected]

    Quantum phase-space description of light polarization

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    We present a method to characterize the polarization state of a light field in the continuous-variable regime. Instead of using the abstract formalism of SU(2) quasidistributions, we model polarization in the classical spirit by superposing two harmonic oscillators of the same angular frequency along two orthogonal axes. By describing each oscillator by a ss-parametrized quasidistribution, we derive in a consistent way the final function for the polarization. We compare with previous approaches and discuss how this formalism works in some relevant examples.Comment: 17 pages, 4 eps color figure

    What are communities of practice? A comparative review of four seminal works

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    This paper is a comparative review of four seminal works on communities of practice. It is argued that the ambiguities of the terms community and practice are a source of the concept's reusability allowing it to be reappropriated for different purposes, academic and practical. However, it is potentially confusing that the works differ so markedly in their conceptualizations of community, learning, power and change, diversity and informality. The three earlier works are underpinned by a common epistemological view, but Lave and Wenger's 1991 short monograph is often read as primarily about the socialization of newcomers into knowledge by a form of apprenticeship, while the focus in Brown and Duguid's article of the same year is, in contrast, on improvising new knowledge in an interstitial group that forms in resistance to management. Wenger's 1998 book treats communities of practice as the informal relations and understandings that develop in mutual engagement on an appropriated joint enterprise, but his focus is the impact on individual identity. The applicability of the concept to the heavily individualized and tightly managed work of the twenty-first century is questionable. The most recent work by Wenger – this time with McDermott and Snyder as coauthors – marks a distinct shift towards a managerialist stance. The proposition that managers should foster informal horizontal groups across organizational boundaries is in fact a fundamental redefinition of the concept. However it does identify a plausible, if limited, knowledge management (KM) tool. This paper discusses different interpretations of the idea of 'co-ordinating' communities of practice as a management ideology of empowerment

    Molecular dynamics simulation of the order-disorder phase transition in solid NaNO2_2

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    We present molecular dynamics simulations of solid NaNO2_2 using pair potentials with the rigid-ion model. The crystal potential surface is calculated by using an \emph{a priori} method which integrates the \emph{ab initio} calculations with the Gordon-Kim electron gas theory. This approach is carefully examined by using different population analysis methods and comparing the intermolecular interactions resulting from this approach with those from the \emph{ab initio} Hartree-Fock calculations. Our numerics shows that the ferroelectric-paraelectric phase transition in solid NaNO2_2 is triggered by rotation of the nitrite ions around the crystallographical c axis, in agreement with recent X-ray experiments [Gohda \textit{et al.}, Phys. Rev. B \textbf{63}, 14101 (2000)]. The crystal-field effects on the nitrite ion are also addressed. Remarkable internal charge-transfer effect is found.Comment: RevTeX 4.0, 11 figure

    Magnetic Field Measurement with Ground State Alignment

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    Observational studies of magnetic fields are crucial. We introduce a process "ground state alignment" as a new way to determine the magnetic field direction in diffuse medium. The alignment is due to anisotropic radiation impinging on the atom/ion. The consequence of the process is the polarization of spectral lines resulting from scattering and absorption from aligned atomic/ionic species with fine or hyperfine structure. The magnetic field induces precession and realign the atom/ion and therefore the polarization of the emitted or absorbed radiation reflects the direction of the magnetic field. The atoms get aligned at their low levels and, as the life-time of the atoms/ions we deal with is long, the alignment induced by anisotropic radiation is susceptible to extremely weak magnetic fields (1GB10151{\rm G}\gtrsim B\gtrsim 10^{-15}G). In fact, the effects of atomic/ionic alignment were studied in the laboratory decades ago, mostly in relation to the maser research. Recently, the atomic effect has been already detected in observations from circumstellar medium and this is a harbinger of future extensive magnetic field studies. A unique feature of the atomic realignment is that they can reveal the 3D orientation of magnetic field. In this article, we shall review the basic physical processes involved in atomic realignment. We shall also discuss its applications to interplanetary, circumstellar and interstellar magnetic fields. In addition, our research reveals that the polarization of the radiation arising from the transitions between fine and hyperfine states of the ground level can provide a unique diagnostics of magnetic fields in the Epoch of Reionization.Comment: 30 pages, 12 figures, chapter in Lecture Notes in Physics "Magnetic Fields in Diffuse Media". arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1203.557

    K* nucleon hyperon form factors and nucleon strangeness

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    A crucial input for recent meson hyperon cloud model estimates of the nucleon matrix element of the strangeness current are the nucleon-hyperon-K* (NYK*) form factors which regularize some of the arising loops. Prompted by new and forthcoming information on these form factors from hyperon-nucleon potential models, we analyze the dependence of the loop model results for the strange-quark observables on the NYK* form factors and couplings. We find, in particular, that the now generally favored soft N-Lambda-K* form factors can reduce the magnitude of the K* contributions in such models by more than an order of magnitude, compared to previous results with hard form factors. We also discuss some general implications of our results for hadronic loop models.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures, new co-author, discussion extended to the momentum dependence of the strange vector form factor
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