1,394 research outputs found
On Dirac sheet configurations of SU(2) lattice fields
Finite temperature Euclidean SU(2) lattice gauge fields close to the
deconfinement phase transition are subjected to cooling. We find relatively
stable or absolutely stable configurations with an action below the
one-instanton action both in the deconfinement and the
confinement phases. In this paper we attempt an interpretation of these lowest
action configurations. Their action is purely magnetic and amounts to
, where () is the timelike (spacelike)
lattice size, while the topological charge vanishes. In the confined phase part
of the corresponding lattice configurations turns out to be absolutely stable
with respect to the cooling process in which case Abelian projection reveals a
homogeneous, purely Abelian magnetic field closed over the "boundary" in one of
the spatial directions. Referring to the dyonic structure established for the
confinement phase near and based on the observation made for this phase
that such events below the instanton action emerge from
dyon-antidyon annihilation, the question of stability (metastability) is
discussed for both phases. The hypothetically different dyonic structure of the
deconfinement phase, inaccessible by cooling, could explain the metastability.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figure
Initial results from the Caltech/DRSI balloon-borne isotope experiment
The Caltech/DSRI balloonborne High Energy Isotope Spectrometer Telescope (HEIST) was flown successfully from Palestine, Texas on 14 May, 1984. The experiment was designed to measure cosmic ray isotopic abundances from neon through iron, with incident particle energies from approx. 1.5 to 2.2 GeV/nucleon depending on the element. During approximately 38 hours at float altitude, 100,000 events were recorded with Z or = 6 and incident energies approx. 1.5 GeV/nucleon. We present results from the ongoing data analysis associated with both the preflight Bevalac calibration and the flight data
A Cerenkov - ΔE/ΔX Experiment for Measuring Cosmic-Ray Isotopes from Neon Through Iron
A ballon-borne cosmic-ray experiment has been constructed to measure cosmic-ray isotope masses, It employs a pair of Cerenkov counters and a NaI scintillator stack to determine changes in ΔE in energy and Δγ in Lorentz factor for a traversing or stopping particle. Mass M = ΔE/Δγ. Mass resolution better than 0.3 a.m.u. is expected for incident elements from neon through iron, with incident Lorentz gammas ranging from 2.4 to 3.1, depending on the element. Using data obtained at the Berkeley Bevalac, the mass resolution ∂M ≈ 2 a.m.u., measured for ^(55)Mn ions with incident γ = 2.5
Local Chirality of Low-Lying Dirac Eigenmodes and the Instanton Liquid Model
The reasons for using low-lying Dirac eigenmodes to probe the local structure
of topological charge fluctuations in QCD are discussed, and it is pointed out
that the qualitative double-peaked behavior of the local chiral orientation
probability distribution in these modes is necessary, but not sufficient for
dominance of instanton-like fluctuations. The results with overlap Dirac
operator in Wilson gauge backgrounds at lattice spacings ranging from a~0.04 fm
to a~0.12 fm are reported, and it is found that the size and density of local
structures responsible for double-peaking of the distribution are in
disagreement with the assumptions of the Instanton Liquid Model. More
generally, our results suggest that vacuum fluctuations of topological charge
are not effectively dominated by locally quantized (integer-valued) lumps in
QCD.Comment: 29 pages, 13 figures; v2: minor improvements in presentation, results
and conclusions unchanged, version to appear in PR
Morphology, phylogeny, and taxonomy of Microthlaspi (Brassicaceae: Coluteocarpeae) and related genera
The genus Thlaspi has been variously subdivided since its description by Linnaeus in 1753, but due to similarities in fruit shape several segregates have still not gained broad recognition, despite the fact that they are not directly related to Thlaspi. This applies especially to segregates now considered to belong to the tribe Coluteocarpeae, which includes several well-studied taxa, e.g., Noccaea caerulescens (syn. Thlaspi caerulescens), and the widespread Microthlaspi perfoliatum (syn. Thlaspi perfoliatum). The taxonomy of this tribe is still debated, as a series of detailed monographs on Coluteocarpeae was not published in English and a lack of phylogenetic resolution within this tribe was found in previous studies. The current study presents detailed phylogenetic investigations and a critical review of morphological features, with focus on taxa previously placed in Microthlaspi. Based on one nuclear (ITS) and two chloroplast (matK, trnL-F) loci, four strongly supported major groups were recovered among the Coluteocarpeae genera included, corresponding to Ihsanalshehbazia gen. nov., Friedrichkarlmeyeria gen. nov., Microthlaspi s.str., and Noccaea s.l. In addition, two new species of Microthlaspi, M. sylvarum-cedri sp. nov. and M. mediterraneo-orientale sp. nov., were discovered, which are well supported by both morphological and molecular data. Furthermore, M. erraticum comb. nov. (diploid) and M. perfoliatum s.str. (polyploid) were shown to be distinct species, phylogenetically widely separate, but with some overlap in several morphological characters. Detailed descriptions, notes on taxonomy, geographical distribution, and line drawings for the new species and each species previously included in Microthlaspi are provided. In addition, the current taxonomic state of the tribe Coluteocarpeae is briefly discussed and it is concluded that while several annual taxa are clearly distinct from Noccaea, many perennial taxa, after thorough phylogenetic and morphological investigations, may have to be merged with this genus. © International Association for Plant Taxonomy (IAPT) 2016
The effect of dust geometry on the Lyman-alpha output of galaxies
We present the optical spectroscopic follow-up of 31 z=0.3 Lyman-alpha (Lya)
emitters, previously identified by Deharveng et al. (2008). We find that 17% of
the Lya emitters have line ratios that require the hard ionizing continuum
produced by an AGN. The uniform dust screen geometry traditionally used in
studies similar to ours is not able to simultaneously reproduce the observed
high Lya/Halpha and Halpha/Hbeta line ratios. We consider different
possibilities for the geometry of the dust around the emitting sources. We find
that also a uniform mixture of sources and dust does not reproduce the observed
line ratios. Instead, these are well reproduced by a clumpy dust screen. This
more realistic treatment of the geometry results in extinction corrected
(Lya/Halpha)_C values consistent with Case B recombination theory, whereas a
uniform dust screen model would imply values (Lya/Halpha)_C higher than 8.7.
Our analysis shows that there is no need to invoke "ad-hoc" multi phase media
in which the Lya photons only scatter between the dusty clouds and eventually
escape.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJL, 5 pages emulateapj forma
Are genetic risk factors for psychosis also associated with dimension-specific psychotic experiences in adolescence?
Psychosis has been hypothesised to be a continuously distributed quantitative phenotype and disorders such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder represent its extreme manifestations. Evidence suggests that common genetic variants play an important role in liability to both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Here we tested the hypothesis that these common variants would also influence psychotic experiences measured dimensionally in adolescents in the general population. Our aim was to test whether schizophrenia and bipolar disorder polygenic risk scores (PRS), as well as specific single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) previously identified as risk variants for schizophrenia, were associated with adolescent dimension-specific psychotic experiences. Self-reported Paranoia, Hallucinations, Cognitive Disorganisation, Grandiosity, Anhedonia, and Parent-rated Negative Symptoms, as measured by the Specific Psychotic Experiences Questionnaire (SPEQ), were assessed in a community sample of 2,152 16-year-olds. Polygenic risk scores were calculated using estimates of the log of odds ratios from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium GWAS stage-1 mega-analysis of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The polygenic risk analyses yielded no significant associations between schizophrenia and bipolar disorder PRS and the SPEQ measures. The analyses on the 28 individual SNPs previously associated with schizophrenia found that two SNPs in TCF4 returned a significant association with the SPEQ Paranoia dimension, rs17512836 (p-value=2.57x10-4) and rs9960767 (p-value=6.23x10-4). Replication in an independent sample of 16-year-olds (N=3,427) assessed using the Psychotic-Like Symptoms Questionnaire (PLIKS-Q), a composite measure of multiple positive psychotic experiences, failed to yield significant results. Future research with PRS derived from larger samples, as well as larger adolescent validation samples, would improve the predictive power to test these hypotheses further. The challenges of relating adult clinical diagnostic constructs such as schizophrenia to adolescent psychotic experiences at a genetic level are discussed
Can agricultural cultivation methods influence the healthfulness of crops for foods
The aim of the current study was to investigate if there are any health effects of long-term consumption of organically grown crops using a rat model. Crops were retrieved over two years from along-term field trial at three different locations in Denmark, using three different cultivation systems(OA, organic based on livestock manure; OB, organic based on green manure; and C, conventional with mineral fertilizers and pesticides)with two field replicates. The cultivation system had an impact on the nutritional quality, affecting γ-tocopherol, some amino acids, and fatty acid composition. Additionally, the nutritional quality was affected by harvest year and location. However, harvest year and location rather than cultivation system affected the measured health biomarkers. In conclusion, the differences in dietary treatments composed of ingredients from different cultivation systems did not lead to significant differences in the measured health biomarkers, except for a significant difference in plasma IgGl evels
First-principles modeling of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons reduction
Density functional theory modelling of the reduction of realistic
nanographene molecules (C42H18, C48H18 and C60H24) by molecular hydrogen
evidences for the presence of limits in the hydrogenation process. These limits
caused the contentions between three-fold symmetry of polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbon molecules and two-fold symmetry of adsorbed hydrogen pairs.
Increase of the binding energy between nanographenes during reduction is also
discussed as possible cause of the experimentally observed limited
hydrogenation of studied nanographenes.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figures, accepted to J. Phys. Chem.
Multi-Grid Monte Carlo via Embedding. II. Two-Dimensional Principal Chiral Model
We carry out a high-precision simulation of the two-dimensional
principal chiral model at correlation lengths up to ,
using a multi-grid Monte Carlo (MGMC) algorithm and approximately one year of
Cray C-90 CPU time. We extrapolate the finite-volume Monte Carlo data to
infinite volume using finite-size-scaling theory, and we discuss carefully the
systematic and statistical errors in this extrapolation. We then compare the
extrapolated data to the renormalization-group predictions. The deviation from
asymptotic scaling, which is at , decreases to
at . We also analyze the dynamic critical
behavior of the MGMC algorithm using lattices up to , finding
the dynamic critical exponent
(subjective 68% confidence interval). Thus, for this asymptotically free model,
critical slowing-down is greatly reduced compared to local algorithms, but not
completely eliminated.Comment: self-unpacking archive including .tex, .sty and .ps files; 126 pages
including all figure
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