24,201 research outputs found
Kinematic Constraints to the Transition Redshift from SNe Ia Union Data
The kinematic approach to cosmological tests provides a direct evidence to
the present accelerating stage of the universe which does not depend on the
validity of general relativity, as well as on the matter-energy content of the
Universe. In this context, we consider here a linear two-parameter expansion
for the decelerating parameter, , where and are
arbitrary constants to be constrained by the Union supernovae data. By assuming
a flat Universe we find that the best fit to the pair of free parameters is
() = ( whereas the transition redshift is () (). This
kinematic result is in agreement with some independent analyzes and
accommodates more easily many dynamical flat models (like CDM).Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, 1 tabl
Chemical Potential and the Nature of the Dark Energy: The case of phantom
The influence of a possible non zero chemical potential on the nature
of dark energy is investigated by assuming that the dark energy is a
relativistic perfect simple fluid obeying the equation of state (EoS),
(). The entropy condition, ,
implies that the possible values of are heavily dependent on the
magnitude, as well as on the sign of the chemical potential. For , the
-parameter must be greater than -1 (vacuum is forbidden) while for not only the vacuum but even a phantomlike behavior () is
allowed. In any case, the ratio between the chemical potential and temperature
remains constant, that is, . Assuming that the dark energy
constituents have either a bosonic or fermionic nature, the general form of the
spectrum is also proposed. For bosons is always negative and the extended
Wien's law allows only a dark component with which includes
vacuum and the phantomlike cases. The same happens in the fermionic branch for
are permmited only if . The thermodynamics and statistical arguments constrain the
EoS parameter to be , a result surprisingly close to the maximal
value required to accelerate a FRW type universe dominated by matter and dark
energy ().Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure
Quantum Fluctuations in Dipolar Bose Gases
We investigate the influence of quantum fluctuations upon dipolar Bose gases
by means of the Bogoliubov-de Gennes theory. Thereby, we make use of the local
density approximation to evaluate the dipolar exchange interaction between the
condensate and the excited particles. This allows to obtain the Bogoliubov
spectrum analytically in the limit of large particle numbers. After discussing
the condensate depletion and the ground-state energy correction, we derive
quantum corrected equations of motion for harmonically trapped dipolar Bose
gases by using superfluid hydrodynamics. These equations are subsequently
applied to analyze the equilibrium configuration, the low-lying oscillation
frequencies, and the time-of-flight dynamics. We find that both atomic magnetic
and molecular electric dipolar systems offer promising scenarios for detecting
beyond mean-field effects.Comment: Published in PR
Axisymmetric polydimethysiloxane microchannels for in vitro hemodynamic studies
The current microdevices used for biomedical research are often manufactured using microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology. Although it is possible to fabricate precise and reproducible rectangular microchannels using soft lithography techniques, this kind of geometry may not reflect the actual physiology of the microcirculation. Here, we present a simple method to fabricate circular polydimethysiloxane (PDMS) microchannels aiming to mimic an in vivo microvascular environment and suitable for state-of-the-art microscale flow visualization techniques, such as confocal µPIV/PTV. By using a confocal µPTV system individual red blood cells (RBCs) were successfully tracked trough a 75 µm circular PDMS microchannel. The results show that RBC lateral dispersion increases with the volume fraction of RBCs in the solution, i.e. with the hematocrit
An accurate formula for the period of a simple pendulum oscillating beyond the small-angle regime
A simple approximation formula is derived here for the dependence of the
period of a simple pendulum on amplitude that only requires a pocket calculator
and furnishes an error of less than 0.25% with respect to the exact period. It
is shown that this formula describes the increase of the pendulum period with
amplitude better than other simple formulas found in literature. A good
agreement with experimental data for a low air-resistance pendulum is also
verified and it suggests, together with the current availability/precision of
timers and detectors, that the proposed formula is useful for extending the
pendulum experiment beyond the usual small-angle oscillations.Comment: 15 pages and 4 figures. to appear in American Journal of Physic
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