Scale invariant correlations and the distribution of prime numbers

Negative correlations in the distribution of prime numbers are found to display a scale invariance. This occurs in conjunction with a nonstationary behavior. We compare the prime number series to a type of fractional Brownian motion which incorporates both the scale invariance and the nonstationary behavior. Interesting discrepancies remain. The scale invariance also appears to imply the Riemann hypothesis and we study the use of the former as a test of the latter.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, version to appear in J. Phys.

The Impact of Differential Cost Sharing of Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Agents on the Use and Costs of Analgesic Drugs

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the effect of differential cost sharing (DCS) schemes for non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) on drug subsidy program and beneficiary expenditures. DATA SOURCES/STUDY SETTING: Monthly aggregate claims data from Pharmacare, the public drug subsidy program for seniors in British Columbia, Canada over the period 1989-11 to 2001-06. STUDY DESIGN: DCS limits insurance reimbursement of a group of therapeutically similar drugs to the cost of the lowest priced drugs, with beneficiaries responsible for costs above the reimbursement limit. Pharmacare introduced two different forms of DCS, generic substitution (GS) and reference pricing (RP), in April 1994 and November 1995, respectively, to the NSAIDs. Under GS, generic and brand versions of the same NSAID are considered interchangeable, whereas under RP different NSAIDs are. We extrapolated average reimbursement per day of NSAID therapy over the months before GS and RP to estimate what expenditures would have been without the policies. These counterfactual predictions were compared to actual values to estimate the impact of the policies; the estimated impacts on reimbursement rates were multiplied by the post-policy volume of NSAIDS dispensed, which appeared unaffected by the policies, to estimate expenditure changes. DATA COLLECTION: The cleaned NSAID claims data, obtained from Pharmacare’s databases, were aggregated by month and by their reimbursement status under the GS and RP policies. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: After RP, program expenditures declined by $22.7 million, or$4 million annually, cutting expenditure by half. Most savings accrued from the substitution of low cost NSAIDs for more costly alternatives. About 20% of savings represented expenditures by seniors who elected to pay for partially-reimbursed drugs. GS produced one quarter the savings of RP. CONCLUSIONS: RP of NSAIDs achieved its goal of reducing drug expenditures and was more effective than GS. The effects of RP on patient health and associated health care costs remain to be investigated.Reference pricing; generic substitution; prescription drugs; drug cost containment; NSAIDs.

Path-integral calculation of the third virial coefficient of quantum gases at low temperatures

We derive path-integral expressions for the second and third virial coefficients of monatomic quantum gases. Unlike previous work that considered only Boltzmann statistics, we include exchange effects (Bose-Einstein or Fermi-Dirac statistics). We use state-of-the-art pair and three-body potentials to calculate the third virial coefficient of 3He and 4He in the temperature range 2.6-24.5561 K. We obtain uncertainties smaller than those of the limited experimental data. Inclusion of exchange effects is necessary to obtain accurate results below about 7 K.Comment: The following article has been accepted by The Journal of Chemical Physics. After it is published, it will be found at http://jcp.aip.org/ Version 2 includes the corrections detailed in the Erratu

Black hole lasers, a mode analysis

We show that the black hole laser effect discovered by Corley & Jacobson should be described in terms of frequency eigenmodes that are spatially bound. The spectrum contains a discrete and finite set of complex frequency modes which appear in pairs and which encode the laser effect. In addition, it contains real frequency modes that form a continuous set when space is infinite, and which are only elastically scattered, i.e., not subject to any Bogoliubov transformation. The quantization is straightforward, but the calculation of the asymptotic fluxes is rather involved. When the number of complex frequency modes is small, our expressions differ from those given earlier. In particular, when the region between the horizons shrinks, there is a minimal distance under which no complex frequency mode exists, and no radiation is emitted. Finally, we relate this effect to other dynamical instabilities found for rotating black holes and in electric fields, and we give the conditions to get this type of instability.Comment: 19 pages, 3 figures, main changes: new figure and new Sec.6 `conditions for having a laser effect', final version accepted in PR

Ka-band (32-GHz) performance of 70-meter antennas in the Deep Space Network

Two models are provided of the Deep Space Network (DSN) 70 m antenna performance at Ka-band (32 GHz) and, for comparison purposes, one at X-band (8.4 GHz). The baseline 70 m model represents expected X-band and Ka-band performance at the end of the currently ongoing 64 m to 70 m mechanical upgrade. The improved 70 m model represents two sets of Ka-band performance estimates (the X-band performance will not change) based on two separately developed improvement schemes: the first scheme, a mechanical approach, reduces tolerances of the panels and their settings, the reflector structure and subreflector, and the pointing and tracking system. The second, an electronic/mechanical approach, uses an array feed scheme to compensate fo lack of antenna stiffness, and improves panel settings using microwave holographic measuring techniques. Results are preliminary, due to remaining technical and cost uncertainties. However, there do not appear to be any serious difficulties in upgrading the baseline DSN 70 m antenna network to operate efficiently in an improved configuration at 32 GHz (Ka-band). This upgrade can be achieved by a conventional mechanical upgrade or by a mechanical/electronic combination. An electronically compensated array feed system is technically feasible, although it needs to be modeled and demonstrated. Similarly, the mechanical upgrade requires the development and demonstration of panel actuators, sensors, and an optical surveying system

Preliminary results of the Mariner IV radio occultation measurements of the upper atmosphere of Mars

Mariner IV radio occultation measurements of Mars upper atmospher

Preliminary results of the Mariner IV OCCULATION measurement of the atmosphere of Mars

Mariner IV radio occultation measurement of Mars atmospher

Plastic flow of persistent currents in two dimensional strongly interacting systems

The local persistent current in two dimensional strongly interacting systems is investigated. As the interaction strength is enhanced the current in the sample undergoes a transition from diffusive to ordered flow. The strong interacting flow has the characteristics of a plastic flow through dislocations in the pinned charge density wave which develops in the system at low densities.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. B (RC