771 research outputs found
Cosmological Evolution of Global Monopoles
We investigate the cosmological evolution of global monopoles in the
radiation dominated (RD) and matter dominated (MD) universes by numerically
solving field equations of scalar fields. It is shown that the global monopole
network relaxes into the scaling regime, unlike the gauge monopole network. The
number density of global monopoles is given by during the RD era and during the MD
era. Thus, we have confirmed that density fluctuations produced by global
monopoles become scale invariant and are given by during the RD (MD) era, where is the breaking
scale of the symmetry.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev. D (R
Atmospheric Channel Characteristics for Quantum Communication with Continuous Polarization Variables
We investigate the properties of an atmospheric channel for free space
quantum communication with continuous polarization variables. In our
prepare-and-measure setup, coherent polarization states are transmitted through
an atmospheric quantum channel of 100m length on the roof of our institute's
building. The signal states are measured by homodyne detection with the help of
a local oscillator (LO) which propagates in the same spatial mode as the
signal, orthogonally polarized to it. Thus the interference of signal and LO is
excellent and atmospheric fluctuations are autocompensated. The LO also acts as
spatial and spectral filter, which allows for unrestrained daylight operation.
Important characteristics for our system are atmospheric channel influences
that could cause polarization, intensity and position excess noise. Therefore
we study these influences in detail. Our results indicate that the channel is
suitable for our quantum communication system in most weather conditions.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Applied Physics B following an
invitation for the special issue "Selected Papers Presented at the 2009
Spring Meeting of the Quantum Optics and Photonics Section of the German
Physical Society
High sensitivity measurement of 224Ra and 226Ra in water with an improved hydrous titanium oxide technique at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory
The existing hydrous titanium oxide (HTiO) technique for the measurement of
224Ra and 226Ra in the water at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) has been
changed to make it faster and less sensitive to trace impurities in the HTiO
eluate. Using HTiO-loaded filters followed by cation exchange adsorption and
HTiO co-precipitation, Ra isotopes from 200-450 tonnes of heavy water can be
extracted and concentrated into a single sample of a few millilitres with a
total chemical efficiency of 50%. Combined with beta-alpha coincidence
counting, this method is capable of measuring 2.0x10^3 uBq/kg of 224Ra and
3.7x10^3 uBq/kg of 226Ra from the 232Th and 238U decay chains, respectively,
for a 275 tonne D2O assay, which are equivalent to 5x10^16 g Th/g and 3x10^16 g
U/g in heavy water.Comment: 8 Pages, 2 figures and 2 table
Feasibility of salivary DNA collection in a population-based case-control study: A pilot study of pediatric Crohn’s disease
Background: Epidemiologic studies combining exposure and outcome data with the collection of biosamples are needed to study gene-environment interactions that might contribute to the etiology of complex diseases such as pediatric Crohn’s disease (CD). Nationwide registries, including those in Denmark and other Scandinavian countries, provide efficient and reliable sources of data for epidemiological studies evaluating the environmental determinants of disease. We performed a pilot study to test the feasibility of collecting salivary DNA to augment registry data in established cases of pediatric CD and randomly selected, population-based controls. Subjects and methods: Cases of CD born after 1995 and residing in the central region of Denmark were identified through the Danish National Patient Registry and confirmed by using standard diagnostic criteria. Age- and gender-matched controls were selected at random through the civil registration system. Cases and controls were contacted by mail and telephone and invited to submit a saliva sample. DNA was extracted and genotyped for six CD-associated single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Results: A total of 53 cases of pediatric CD were invited, and 40 contributed a saliva sample (75% response rate). A total of 126 controls were invited, and 54 contributed a saliva sample (44% response rate). As expected, demographic characteristics did not differ between cases and controls. DNA was successfully isolated from 93 of 94 samples. Genotyping was performed with only 2% undetermined genotypes. For five of six SNPs known to be associated with CD, risk allele frequencies were higher in cases than controls. Conclusion: This pilot study strongly supports the feasibility of augmenting traditional epidemiological data from Danish population-based registries with the de novo collection of genetic information from population-based cases and controls. This will facilitate rigorous studies of gene-environment interactions in complex chronic conditions such as CD
Precision Pion-Proton Elastic Differential Cross Sections at Energies Spanning the Delta Resonance
A precision measurement of absolute pi+p and pi-p elastic differential cross
sections at incident pion laboratory kinetic energies from T_pi= 141.15 to
267.3 MeV is described. Data were obtained detecting the scattered pion and
recoil proton in coincidence at 12 laboratory pion angles from 55 to 155
degrees for pi+p, and six angles from 60 to 155 degrees for pi-p. Single arm
measurements were also obtained for pi+p energies up to 218.1 MeV, with the
scattered pi+ detected at six angles from 20 to 70 degrees. A flat-walled,
super-cooled liquid hydrogen target as well as solid CH2 targets were used. The
data are characterized by small uncertainties, ~1-2% statistical and ~1-1.5%
normalization. The reliability of the cross section results was ensured by
carrying out the measurements under a variety of experimental conditions to
identify and quantify the sources of instrumental uncertainty. Our lowest and
highest energy data are consistent with overlapping results from TRIUMF and
LAMPF. In general, the Virginia Polytechnic Institute SM95 partial wave
analysis solution describes our data well, but the older Karlsruhe-Helsinki PWA
solution KH80 does not.Comment: 39 pages, 22 figures (some with quality reduced to satisfy ArXiv
requirements. Contact M.M. Pavan for originals). Submitted to Physical Review
Effective null Raychaudhuri equation
The effects on Raychaudhuri's equation of an intrinsically-discrete or
particle nature of spacetime are investigated. This is done through the
consideration of null congruences emerging from, or converging to, a generic
point of spacetime, i.e. in geometric circumstances somehow prototypical of
singularity issues. We do this from an effective point of view, that is through
a (continuous) description of spacetime modified to embody the existence of an
intrinsic discreteness on the small scale, this adding to previous results for
non-null congruences.
Various expressions for the effective rate of change of expansion are
derived. They in particular provide finite values for the limiting effective
expansion and its rate of variation when approaching the focal point. Further,
this results in a non-vanishing of the limiting cross-sectional area itself of
the congruence.Comment: 7 pages; v2: some comparisons with other approaches adde
Tear production, intraocular pressure and conjunctival microbiota, cytology and histology of New Zealand rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus)
The purpose of this study was to establish reference values for selected ophthalmic diagnostic tests in New Zealand rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus). A total of 22 adult male rabbits were used. The ophthalmic tests included evaluation of tear production with Schirmer tear test 1(STT1) and Endodontic absorbent paper point tear test (EAPPTT) using two different commercial brand materials. Applanation tonometry, Culture of the conjunctival bacterial flora, , conjunctival cytology and conjunctival histology were also performed. Mean (±SD) for STT1, EAPPTTa, EAPPTTb and IOP was 7.27±2.51mm/min, 12.43±1.69mm/min, 15.24±2.07mm/min, 12.89±2.80mm Hg, respectively. Staphylococcus epidermidis, Staphylococcus sp. and Bacillus sp. were predominant. The cytological evaluation revealed the presence columnar epithelial cells, superficial squamous keratinized cells, lymphocytes, heterophils, red blood cells, mucus and bacteria. The histological analysis revealed a stratified epithelium, characterized by the presence of columnar epithelial cells with a large number of goblet cells. The reported data can be used for therapeutic or experimental purposes
Demonstration of the temporal matter-wave Talbot effect for trapped matter waves
We demonstrate the temporal Talbot effect for trapped matter waves using
ultracold atoms in an optical lattice. We investigate the phase evolution of an
array of essentially non-interacting matter waves and observe matter-wave
collapse and revival in the form of a Talbot interference pattern. By using
long expansion times, we image momentum space with sub-recoil resolution,
allowing us to observe fractional Talbot fringes up to 10th order.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figure
Azimuthal anisotropy and correlations in p+p, d+Au and Au+Au collisions at 200 GeV
We present the first measurement of directed flow () at RHIC. is
found to be consistent with zero at pseudorapidities from -1.2 to 1.2,
then rises to the level of a couple of percent over the range . The latter observation is similar to data from NA49 if the SPS rapidities
are shifted by the difference in beam rapidity between RHIC and SPS.
Back-to-back jets emitted out-of-plane are found to be suppressed more if
compared to those emitted in-plane, which is consistent with {\it jet
quenching}. Using the scalar product method, we systematically compared
azimuthal correlations from p+p, d+Au and Au+Au collisions. Flow and non-flow
from these three different collision systems are discussed.Comment: Quark Matter 2004 proceeding, 4 pages, 3 figure
Azimuthal anisotropy: the higher harmonics
We report the first observations of the fourth harmonic (v_4) in the
azimuthal distribution of particles at RHIC. The measurement was done taking
advantage of the large elliptic flow generated at RHIC. The integrated v_4 is
about a factor of 10 smaller than v_2. For the sixth (v_6) and eighth (v_8)
harmonics upper limits on the magnitudes are reported.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures, contribution to the Quark Matter 2004 proceeding
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