298 research outputs found
Superconducting proximity effect in the presence of strong spin scattering
We report measurements of the four terminal temperature dependent resistance
of narrow Au wires implanted with ~100 ppm Fe impurities in proximity to
superconducting Al films. The wires show an initial decrease in resistance as
the temperature is lowered through the superconducting transition of the Al
films, but then show an increase in resistance as the temperature is lowered
further. In contrast to the case of pure Au wires in contact with a
superconducting film, the resistance at the lowest temperatures rises above the
normal state resistance. Analysis of the data shows that, in addition to
contributions from magnetic scattering and electron-electron interactions, the
temperature dependent resistivity shows a substantial contribution from the
superconducting proximity effect, which exists even in the presence of strong
spin scattering.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
PO-0692: A novel endoscopically injected liquid-gel marker for image guided radiotherapy of thoracic tumours
Chiral-symmetry restoration in the linear sigma model at nonzero temperature and baryon density
We study the chiral phase transition in the linear sigma model with 2 quark
flavors and colors. One-loop calculations predict a first-order phase
transition at both and . We also discuss the phase diagram
and make a comparison with a thermal parametrization of existing heavy-ion
experimental data.Comment: 12 pages, 6 ps-figures, LaTe
Star cluster formation and star formation: the role of environment and star-formation efficiencies
âThe original publication is available at www.springerlink.comâ. Copyright Springer. DOI: 10.1007/s10509-009-0088-5By analyzing global starburst properties in various kinds of starburst and post-starburst galaxies and relating them to the properties of the star cluster populations they form, I explore the conditions for the formation of massive, compact, long-lived star clusters. The aim is to determine whether the relative amount of star formation that goes into star cluster formation as opposed to field star formation, and into the formation of massive long-lived clusters in particular, is universal or scales with star-formation rate, burst strength, star-formation efficiency, galaxy or gas mass, and whether or not there are special conditions or some threshold for the formation of star clusters that merit to be called globular clusters a few billion years later.Peer reviewe
A parton picture of de Sitter space during slow-roll inflation
It is well-known that expectation values in de Sitter space are afflicted by
infra-red divergences. Long ago, Starobinsky proposed that infra-red effects in
de Sitter space could be accommodated by evolving the long-wavelength part of
the field according to the classical field equations plus a stochastic source
term. I argue that--when quantum-mechanical loop corrections are taken into
account--the separate-universe picture of superhorizon evolution in de Sitter
space is equivalent, in a certain leading-logarithm approximation, to
Starobinsky's stochastic approach. In particular, the time evolution of a box
of de Sitter space can be understood in exact analogy with the DGLAP evolution
of partons within a hadron, which describes a slow logarithmic evolution in the
distribution of the hadron's constituent partons with the energy scale at which
they are probed.Comment: 36 pages; uses iopart.cls and feynmp.sty. v2: Minor typos corrected.
Matches version published in JCA
Moduli and (un)attractor black hole thermodynamics
We investigate four-dimensional spherically symmetric black hole solutions in
gravity theories with massless, neutral scalars non-minimally coupled to gauge
fields. In the non-extremal case, we explicitly show that, under the variation
of the moduli, the scalar charges appear in the first law of black hole
thermodynamics. In the extremal limit, the near horizon geometry is
and the entropy does not depend on the values of moduli at
infinity. We discuss the attractor behaviour by using Sen's entropy function
formalism as well as the effective potential approach and their relation with
the results previously obtained through special geometry method. We also argue
that the attractor mechanism is at the basis of the matching between the
microscopic and macroscopic entropies for the extremal non-BPS Kaluza-Klein
black hole.Comment: 36 pages, no figures, V2: minor changes, misprints corrected,
expanded references; V3: sections 4.3 and 4.5 added; V4: minor changes,
matches the published versio
Using Simulation to Assess the Opportunities of Dynamic Waste Collection
In this paper, we illustrate the use of discrete event simulation to evaluate how dynamic planning methodologies can be best applied for the collection of waste from underground containers. We present a case study that took place at the waste collection company Twente Milieu, located in The Netherlands. Even though the underground containers are already equipped with motion sensors, the planning of container emptyingâs is still based on static cyclic schedules. It is expected that the use of a dynamic planning methodology, that employs sensor information, will result in a more efficient collection process with respect to customer satisfaction, profits, and CO2 emissions. In this research we use simulation to (i) evaluate the current planning methodology, (ii) evaluate various dynamic planning possibilities, (iii) quantify the benefits of switching to a dynamic collection process, and (iv) quantify the benefits of investing in fillâlevel sensors. After simulating all scenarios, we conclude that major improvements can be achieved, both with respect to logistical costs as well as customer satisfaction
Cooperative AUV Navigation using a Single Maneuvering Surface Craft
In this paper we describe the experimental implementation of an online algorithm for cooperative localization of submerged autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) supported by an autonomous surface craft. Maintaining accurate localization of an AUV is difficult because electronic signals, such as GPS, are highly attenuated by water. The usual solution to the problem is to utilize expensive navigation sensors to slow the rate of dead-reckoning divergence. We investigate an alternative approach that utilizes the position information of a surface vehicle to bound the error and uncertainty of the on-board position estimates of a low-cost AUV. This approach uses the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) acoustic modem to exchange vehicle location estimates while simultaneously estimating inter-vehicle range. A study of the system observability is presented so as to motivate both the choice of filtering approach and surface vehicle path planning. The first contribution of this paper is to the presentation of an experiment in which an extended Kalman filter (EKF) implementation of the concept ran online on-board an OceanServer Iver2 AUV while supported by an autonomous surface vehicle moving adaptively. The second contribution of this paper is to provide a quantitative performance comparison of three estimators: particle filtering (PF), non-linear least-squares optimization (NLS), and the EKF for a mission using three autonomous surface craft (two operating in the AUV role). Our results indicate that the PF and NLS estimators outperform the EKF, with NLS providing the best performance.United States. Office of Naval Research (Grant N000140711102)United States. Office of Naval Research. Multidisciplinary University Research InitiativeSingapore. National Research FoundationSingapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology. Center for Environmental Sensing and Monitorin
Non-monotonic variation with salt concentration of the second virial coefficient in protein solutions
The osmotic virial coefficient of globular protein solutions is
calculated as a function of added salt concentration at fixed pH by computer
simulations of the ``primitive model''. The salt and counter-ions as well as a
discrete charge pattern on the protein surface are explicitly incorporated. For
parameters roughly corresponding to lysozyme, we find that first
decreases with added salt concentration up to a threshold concentration, then
increases to a maximum, and then decreases again upon further raising the ionic
strength. Our studies demonstrate that the existence of a discrete charge
pattern on the protein surface profoundly influences the effective interactions
and that non-linear Poisson Boltzmann and Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek
(DLVO) theory fail for large ionic strength. The observed non-monotonicity of
is compared to experiments. Implications for protein crystallization are
discussed.Comment: 43 pages, including 17 figure
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