Confronting Synchrotron Shock and Inverse Comptonization Models with GRB Spectral Evolution

The time-resolved spectra of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) remain in conflict with many proposed models for these events. After proving that most of the bursts in our sample show evidence for spectral "shape-shifting", we discuss what restrictions that BATSE time-resolved burst spectra place on current models. We find that the synchrotron shock model does not allow for the steep low-energy spectral slope observed in many bursts, including GRB 970111. We also determine that saturated Comptonization with only Thomson thinning fails to explain the observed rise and fall of the low-energy spectral slope seen in GRB 970111 and other bursts. This implies that saturated Comptonization models must include some mechanism which can cause the Thomson depth to increase intially in pulses.Comment: (5 pages, 3 figures, to appear in Proceedings of the Fourth Huntsville Symposium on Gamma-Ray Bursts

Testing the Invariance of Cooling Rate in Gamma-Ray Burst Pulses

Recent studies have found that the spectral evolution of pulses within gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) is consistent with simple radiative cooling. Perhaps more interesting was a report that some bursts may have a single cooling rate for the multiple pulses that occur within it. We determine the probability that the observed "cooling rate invariance" is purely coincidental by sampling values from the observed distribution of cooling rates. We find a 0.1-26% probability that we would randomly observe a similar degree of invariance based on a variety of pulse selection methods and pulse comparison statistics. This probability is sufficiently high to warrant skepticism of any intrinsic invariance in the cooling rate.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, to appear in Proceedings of the Fourth Huntsville Symposium on Gamma-Ray Burst

J06587-5558 -- A Very Unusual Polarised Radio Source

We have found a peculiar radio source in the field of one of the hottest known clusters of galaxies 1E0657-56. It is slightly extended, highly polarised (54% at 8.8GHz) and has a very steep spectrum, with alpha ~ -1 at 1.3 GHz, steepening to ~ -1.5 at 8.8GHz (S \propto nu^alpha). No extragalactic sources are known with such high integrated polarisation, and sources with spectra as steep as this are rare. In this paper, we report the unusual properties of the source J06587-5558 and speculate on its origin and optical identification.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures, accepted by MNRAS letter

Knowledgezoom for java: A concept-based exam study tool with a zoomable open student model

This paper presents our attempt to develop a personalized exam preparation tool for Java/OOP classes based on a fine-grained concept model of Java knowledge. Our goal was to explore two most popular student model-based approaches: open student modeling and problem sequencing. The result of our work is a Java exam preparation tool, Knowledge Zoom. The tool combines an open concept-level student model component, Knowledge Explorer and a concept-based sequencing component, Knowledge Maximizer into a single interface. This paper presents both components of Knowledge Zoom, reports results of its evaluation, and discusses lessons learned. © 2013 IEEE

Symmetry Principle Preserving and Infinity Free Regularization and renormalization of quantum field theories and the mass gap

Through defining irreducible loop integrals (ILIs), a set of consistency conditions for the regularized (quadratically and logarithmically) divergent ILIs are obtained to maintain the generalized Ward identities of gauge invariance in non-Abelian gauge theories. Overlapping UV divergences are explicitly shown to be factorizable in the ILIs and be harmless via suitable subtractions. A new regularization and renormalization method is presented in the initial space-time dimension of the theory. The procedure respects unitarity and causality. Of interest, the method leads to an infinity free renormalization and meanwhile maintains the symmetry principles of the original theory except the intrinsic mass scale caused conformal scaling symmetry breaking and the anomaly induced symmetry breaking. Quantum field theories (QFTs) regularized through the new method are well defined and governed by a physically meaningful characteristic energy scale (CES) $M_c$ and a physically interesting sliding energy scale (SES) $\mu_s$ which can run from $\mu_s \sim M_c$ to a dynamically generated mass gap $\mu_s=\mu_c$ or to $\mu_s =0$ in the absence of mass gap and infrared (IR) problem. It is strongly indicated that the conformal scaling symmetry and its breaking mechanism play an important role for understanding the mass gap and quark confinement.Comment: 59 pages, Revtex, 4 figures, 1 table, Erratum added, published versio

Azimuthal and single spin asymmetry in deep-inelastic lepton-nucleon scattering

We derive a general framework for describing semi-inclusive deep-inelastic lepton-nucleon scattering in terms of the unintegrated parton distributions and other higher twist parton correlations. Such a framework provides a consistent approach to the calculation of inclusive and semi-inclusive cross sections including higher twist effects. As an example, we calculate the azimuthal asymmetries to the order of 1/Q in semi-inclusive process with transversely polarized target. A non-vanishing single-spin asymmetry in the ``triggered inclusive process'' is predicted to be 1/Q suppressed with a part of the coefficient related to a moment of the Sivers function.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figur

Development of portable microfading spectrometers for measurement of light sensitivity of materials

Microfading was originally designed for efficiently detecting extremely light-sensitive materials on objects in situ to determine the appropriate exhibition lighting conditions. By focusing an intense beam of light to a tiny submillimetre sized spot and simultaeously monitoring the colour change over time, the fading rate of the material can be measured without producing noticeable damage. The increased intensity of light allows rapid determination of light-fastness of materials. This paper examines an improved design of microfading spectrometer that is easy to assemble, compact, robust, capable of fully automatic acquisition of data with precision control of the fading time to produce higher precision measurements and to allow simultaneous monitoring of colour, spectral reflectance and other changes in real time. The effects of various parameters such as thickness and concentration of paint layer, the binding medium and substrate on the fading rates are examined for selected pigments and found that in certain cases substrates, binding media and thickness can affect the fading rate. Reciprocity in the context of microfading compared with realistic exhibition conditions is examined and found that it breaks down for some pigment

Anti-Lambda polarization in high energy pp collisions with polarized beam

We study the polarization of the anti-Lambda particle in polarized high energy pp collisions at large transverse momenta. The anti-Lambda polarization is found to be sensitive to the polarization of the anti-strange sea of the nucleon. We make predictions using different parameterizations of the polarized quark distribution functions. The results show that the measurement of longitudinal anti-Lambda polarization can distinguish different parameterizations, and that similar measurements in the transversely polarized case can give some insights into the transversity distribution of the anti-strange sea of nucleon.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure

Measurement of the topological surface state optical conductance in bulk-insulating Sn-doped Bi1.1_{1.1}Sb0.9_{0.9}Te2_2S single crystals

Topological surface states have been extensively observed via optics in thin films of topological insulators. However, in typical thick single crystals of these materials, bulk states are dominant and it is difficult for optics to verify the existence of topological surface states definitively. In this work, we studied the charge dynamics of the newly formulated bulk-insulating Sn-doped Bi$_{1.1}$Sb$_{0.9}$Te$_2$S crystal by using time-domain terahertz spectroscopy. This compound shows much better insulating behavior than any other bulk-insulating topological insulators reported previously. The transmission can be enhanced an amount which is 5$\%$ of the zero-field transmission by applying magnetic field to 7 T, an effect which we believe is due to the suppression of topological surface states. This suppression is essentially independent of the thicknesses of the samples, showing the two-dimensional nature of the transport. The suppression of surface states in field allows us to use the crystal slab itself as a reference sample to extract the surface conductance, mobility, charge density and scattering rate. Our measurements set the stage for the investigation of phenomena out of the semi-classical regime, such as the topological magneto-electric effect.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, submitted in Augus