15,121 research outputs found
Differential Forms and Wave Equations for General Relativity
Recently, Choquet-Bruhat and York and Abrahams, Anderson, Choquet-Bruhat, and
York (AACY) have cast the 3+1 evolution equations of general relativity in
gauge-covariant and causal ``first-order symmetric hyperbolic form,'' thereby
cleanly separating physical from gauge degrees of freedom in the Cauchy problem
for general relativity. A key ingredient in their construction is a certain
wave equation which governs the light-speed propagation of the extrinsic
curvature tensor. Along a similar line, we construct a related wave equation
which, as the key equation in a system, describes vacuum general relativity.
Whereas the approach of AACY is based on tensor-index methods, the present
formulation is written solely in the language of differential forms. Our
approach starts with Sparling's tetrad-dependent differential forms, and our
wave equation governs the propagation of Sparling's 2-form, which in the
``time-gauge'' is built linearly from the ``extrinsic curvature 1-form.'' The
tensor-index version of our wave equation describes the propagation of (what is
essentially) the Arnowitt-Deser-Misner gravitational momentum.Comment: REVTeX, 26 pages, no figures, 1 macr
Analysis of laser absorption on a rough metal surface
We have developed a simple model to estimate the cumulative absorption coefficient of an ultraviolet laser pulse impinging on a pure metal, including the effects of surface roughness whose scale is much larger than the laser wavelength λ. The multiple reflections from the rough surface may increase the absorption coefficient over a pristine, flat surface by an order of magnitude. Thus, as much as 16% (at room temperature) of the power of a 248 nm KrF excimer laser pulse may be absorbed by an aluminum target. A comparison with experimental data is given. © 1997 American Institute of Physics.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/71289/2/APPLAB-70-6-696-1.pd
Using Positive Youth Development Constructs to Design a Money Management Curriculum for Junior Secondary School Students in Hong Kong
This paper aims to discuss the relationships between the selected positive youth development constructs and the enhancement of Hong Kong junior secondary school students' money management skills, values, and attitudes. Various issues of money management of adolescents are reviewed. These issues include the need for money management programs for adolescents, the content and coverage of an appropriate money management program, and its relationships with the selected positive youth development constructs. The curriculum units for secondary 3 students are taken as examples to illustrate the design of the program. It is believed that promoting cognitive competence, self-efficacy, and spirituality could be an effective way to enhance students' money management skills, values, and attitudes, thus preparing them better for facing the finance-related issues in life
Have Tropical Cyclones Been Feeding More Extreme Rainfall?
We have conducted a study of the relationship between tropical cyclone (TC) and extreme rain events using GPCP and TRMM rainfall data, and storm track data for July through November (JASON) in the North Atlantic (NAT) and the western North Pacific (WNP). Extreme rain events are defined in terms of percentile rainrate, and TC-rain by rainfall associated with a named TC. Results show that climatologically, 8% of rain events and 17% of the total rain amount in NAT are accounted by TCs, compared to 9% of rain events and 21% of rain amount in WNP. The fractional contribution of accumulated TC-rain to total rain, Omega, increases nearly linearly as a function of rainrate. Extending the analyses using GPCP pentad data for 1979-2005, and for the post-SSM/I period (1988-2005), we find that while there is no significant trend in the total JASON rainfall over NAT or WNP, there is a positive significant trend in heavy rain over both basins for the 1979-2005 period, but not for the post-SSM/I period. Trend analyses of Omega for both periods indicate that TCs have been feeding increasingly more to rainfall extremes in NAT, where the expansion of the warm pool area can explain slight more than 50% of the change in observed trend in total TC rainfall. In WNP, trend signals for Omega are mixed, and the long-term relationship between TC rain and warm pool areas are strongly influenced by interannual and interdecadal variability
Tropical Cyclones Feed More Heavy Rain in a Warmer Climate
The possible linkage of tropical cyclones (TC) to global warming is a hotly debated scientific topic, with immense societal impacts. Most of the debate has been focused on the issue of uncertainty in the use of non-research quality data for long-term trend analyses, especially with regard to TC intensity provided by TC forecasting centers. On the other hand, it is well known that TCs are associated with heavy rain during the processes of genesis and intensification, and that there are growing evidences that rainfall characteristics (not total rainfall) are most likely to be affected by global warming. Yet, satellite rainfall data have not been exploited in any recent studies of linkage between tropical cyclones (TC) and global warming. This is mostly due to the large uncertainties associated with detection of long-term trend in satellite rainfall estimates over the ocean. This problem, as we demonstrate in this paper, can be alleviated by examining rainfall distribution, rather than rainfall total. This paper is the first to use research-quality, satellite-derived rainfall from TRMM and GPCP over the tropical oceans to estimate shift in rainfall distribution during the TC season, and its relationships with TCs, and sea surface temperature (SST) in the two major ocean basins, the northern Atlantic and the northern Pacific for 1979-2005. From the rainfall distribution, we derive the TC contributions to rainfall in various extreme rainfall categories as a function to time. Our results show a definitive trend indicating that TCs are contributing increasingly to heavier rain events, i.e., intense TC's are more frequent in the last 27 years. The TC contribution to top 5% heavy rain has nearly doubled in the last two decades in the North Atlantic, and has increased by about 10% in the North Pacific. The different rate of increase in TC contribution to heavy rain may be related to the different rates of different rate of expansion of the warm pool (SST >2S0 C) area in the two oceans
Non-magnetic semiconductor spin transistor
We propose a spin transistor using only non-magnetic materials that exploits
the characteristics of bulk inversion asymmetry (BIA) in (110) symmetric
quantum wells. We show that extremely large spin splittings due to BIA are
possible in (110) InAs/GaSb/AlSb heterostructures, which together with the
enhanced spin decay times in (110) quantum wells demonstrates the potential for
exploitation of BIA effects in semiconductor spintronics devices. Spin
injection and detection is achieved using spin-dependent resonant interband
tunneling and spin transistor action is realized through control of the
electron spin lifetime in an InAs lateral transport channel using an applied
electric field (Rashba effect). This device may also be used as a spin valve,
or a magnetic field sensor. The electronic structure and spin relaxation times
for the spin transistor proposed here are calculated using a nonperturbative
14-band k.p nanostructure model.Comment: Accepted for publication in Applied Physics Letter
Using Positive Youth Development Constructs to Design a Drug Education Curriculum for Junior Secondary Students in Hong Kong
This paper outlines the design of a new curriculum for positive youth development (P.A.T.H.S. II) in Hong Kong. The paper discusses the conceptual base for designing a drug-education curriculum for junior-secondary students using four positive youth development constructs—cognitive competence, emotional competence, beliefs in the future, and self-efficacy. The program design is premised on the belief that adolescents do have developmental assets; therefore, the curriculum is designed to develop their psychosocial competencies. The goal of the curriculum is to develop the selfhood of these youths and ultimately achieve the goal of successful adolescent development
A comparison of efficacy between conventional and modified methods of the chronic myocardial ischemia/reperfusion model
The objective of this study is to develop and compare the efficacy of a modified versus conventional rat model of chronic myocardial ischemia/reperfusion. Sixty Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were randomlydivided into two groups, a modified group (mask respiratory support and short-time chest-opening) and a conventional group (tracheal intubation and long-time chest-opening). Operation time, surgical success rate, survival rate and infarct size were investigated. In addition, the post-operative living state of the rats was observed. In the perioperative period, the surgical success rate was greater in the modified model (P 0.05). The modified method offers advantages of simplicity, efficiency and independent conduct. Its employment enhances the success rate of the chronic rat myocardial ischemia/reperfusion model
Measurement of Cosmic-ray Muons and Muon-induced Neutrons in the Aberdeen Tunnel Underground Laboratory
We have measured the muon flux and production rate of muon-induced neutrons
at a depth of 611 m water equivalent. Our apparatus comprises three layers of
crossed plastic scintillator hodoscopes for tracking the incident cosmic-ray
muons and 760 L of gadolinium-doped liquid scintillator for producing and
detecting neutrons. The vertical muon intensity was measured to be cmssr. The yield of
muon-induced neutrons in the liquid scintillator was determined to be
neutrons/(gcm). A fit to the recently measured neutron
yields at different depths gave a mean muon energy dependence of for liquid-scintillator targets.Comment: 14 pages, 17 figures, 3 table
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