NeIII/OII as an oxygen abundance indicator in the HII regions and HII galaxies

To calibrate the relationship between Ne3O2 (Ne3O2 = log(\neiii$\lambda3869$/\oii$\lambda3727$)) and oxygen abundances, we present a sample of $\sim$3000 \hii galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) data release four. They are associated with a sample from the literature intended to enlarge the oxygen abundance region. We calculated the electron temperatures ($T_e$) of 210 galaxies in the SDSS sample with the direct method, and $T_e$ of the other 2960 galaxies in SDSS sample calculated with an empirical method. Then, we use a linear least-square fitting to calibrate the Ne3O2 oxygen abundance indicator. It is found that the Ne3O2 estimator follows a linear relation with \zoh\ that holds for the whole abundance range covered by the sample, from approximately 7.0 to 9.0. The best linear relationship between the Ne3O2 and the oxygen abundance is calibrated. The dispersion between oxygen abundance and Ne3O2 index in the metal rich galaxies may come partly from the moderate depletion of oxygen onto grains. The $Ne3O2$ method has the virtue of being single-valued and not affected by internal reddening. As a result, the $Ne3O2$ method can be a good metallicity indicator in the \hii regions and \hii galaxies, especially in high-redshift galaxies.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures. A&A accepte

Quantum Tunneling of Spin Particles in Periodic Potentials with Asymmetric Twin Barriers

The tunneling effect of a periodic potential with an asymmetric twin barrier per period is calculated using the instanton method. The model is derived from the Hamiltonian of a small ferromagnetic particle in an external magnetic field using the spin-coherent-state path integral. The instantons in two neighbouring barriers differ and lead to different level shifts $\triangle\epsilon_1, \triangle\epsilon_2$. We derive with Bloch theory the energy spectrum which has formally the structure of an energy band. The spectrum depends on both level shifts. The removal of Kramer's degeneracy by an external magnetic field is discussed. In addition we find a new kind of quenching of macroscopic quantum coherence which is irrelevant to Kramer's degeneracy.Comment: 18 pages, LaTex, one figur

Macroscopic Quantum Coherence in Small Antiferromagnetic Particle and the Quantum Interference Effects

Starting from the Hamiltonian operator of the noncompensated two-sublattice model of a small antiferromagnetic particle, we derive the effective Lagrangian of a biaxial antiferromagnetic particle in an external magnetic field with the help of spin-coherent-state path integrals. Two unequal level-shifts induced by tunneling through two types of barriers are obtained using the instanton method. The energy spectrum is found from Bloch theory regarding the periodic potential as a superlattice. The external magnetic field indeed removes Kramers' degeneracy, however a new quenching of the energy splitting depending on the applied magnetic field is observed for both integer and half-integer spins due to the quantum interference between transitions through two types of barriers.Comment: 9 pages, Latex, 4 Postscript figure

Experimental and Numerical Investigation on Progressive Collapse Resistance of Post-tensioned Precast Concrete Beam-Column Sub-assemblages

In this paper, four 1/2 scaled precast concrete (PC) beam-column sub-assemblages with high performance connection were tested under push-down loading procedure to study the load resisting mechanism of PC frames subjected to different column removal scenarios. The parameters investigated include the location of column removal and effective prestress in tendons. The test results indicated that the failure modes of unbonded post-tensioned precast concrete (PTPC) frames were different from that of reinforced concrete (RC) frames: no cracks formed in the beams and wide opening formed near the beam to column interfaces. For specimens without overhanging beams, the failure of side column was eccentric compression failure. Moreover, the load resisting mechanisms in PC frames were significantly different from that of RC frames: the compressive arch action (CAA) developed in concrete during column removal was mainly due to actively applied pre-compressive stress in the concrete; CAA will not vanish when severe crush in concrete occurred. Thus, it may provide negative contribution for load resistance when the displacement exceeds one-beam depth; the tensile force developed in the tendons could provide catenary action from the beginning of the test. Moreover, to deeper understand the behavior of tested specimens, numerical analyses were carried out. The effects of concrete strength, axial compression ratio at side columns, and loading approaches on the behavior of the sub-assemblages were also investigated based on validated numerical analysis

Comparison between the Torquato-Rintoul theory of the interface effect in composite media and elementary results

We show that the interface effect on the properties of composite media recently proposed by Torquato and Rintoul (TR) [Phys. Rev. Lett. 75, 4067 (1995)] is in fact elementary, and follows directly from taking the limit in the dipolar polarizability of a coated sphere: the TR ``critical values'' are simply those that make the dipolar polarizability vanish. Furthermore, the new bounds developed by TR either coincide with the Clausius-Mossotti (CM) relation or provide poor estimates. Finally, we show that the new bounds of TR do not agree particularly well with the original experimental data that they quote.Comment: 13 pages, Revtex, 8 Postscript figure

Aharonov-Casher phase and persistent current in a polyacetylene ring

We investigate a polyacetylene ring in an axially symmetric, static electric field with a modified SSH Hamiltonian of a polyacetylene chain. An effective gauge potential of the single electron Hamiltonian due to spin-field interaction is obtained and it results in a Fr\"{o}hlich's type of superconductivity equivalent to the effect of travelling lattice wave. The total energy as well as the persistent current density are shown to be a periodic function of the flux of the gauge field embraced by the polyacetylene ring.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure

Deterministic Quantum Key Distribution Using Gaussian-Modulated Squeezed States

A continuous variable ping-pong scheme, which is utilized to generate deterministically private key, is proposed. The proposed scheme is implemented physically by using Gaussian-modulated squeezed states. The deterministic way, i.e., no basis reconciliation between two parties, leads a two-times efficiency comparing to the standard quantum key distribution schemes. Especially, the separate control mode does not need in the proposed scheme so that it is simpler and more available than previous ping-pong schemes. The attacker may be detected easily through the fidelity of the transmitted signal, and may not be successful in the beam splitter attack strategy.Comment: 7 pages, 4figure

A Cosmology-Independent Calibration of Gamma-Ray Burst Luminosity Relations and the Hubble Diagram

An important concern in the application of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) to cosmology is that the calibration of GRB luminosity/energy relations depends on the cosmological model, due to the lack of a sufficient low-redshift GRB sample. In this paper, we present a new method to calibrate GRB relations in a cosmology-independent way. Since objects at the same redshift should have the same luminosity distance and since the distance moduli of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) obtained directly from observations are completely cosmology independent, we obtain the distance modulus of a GRB at a given redshift by interpolating from the Hubble diagram of SNe Ia. Then we calibrate seven GRB relations without assuming a particular cosmological model and construct a GRB Hubble diagram to constrain cosmological parameters. From the 42 GRBs at $1.4<z\le6.6$, we obtain $\Omega_{\rm M}=0.25_{-0.05}^{+0.04}$, $\Omega_{\Lambda}=0.75_{-0.04}^{+0.05}$ for the flat $\Lambda$CDM model, and for the dark energy model with a constant equation of state $w_0=-1.05_{-0.40}^{+0.27}$, which is consistent with the concordance model in a 1-$\sigma$ confidence region.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, 1 table, now matches the editorially revised version; accepted for publication in ApJ (vol 685)