Reestimation of the production spectra of cosmic ray secondary positrons and electrons in the ISM

A detailed calculation of the production spectra of charged hadrons produced by interactions of cosmic rays in the interstellar medium is presented along with a thorough treatment of pion and muon decays. Newly parameterized inclusive cross sections of hadrons were used and exact kinematic limitations were taken into account. Single parametrized expressions for the production spectra of both secondary positrons and electrons in the energy range .1 to 100 GeV are presented. The results are compared with other authors' predictions. Equilibrium spectra using various models are also presented

Surface roughness influence on the quality factor of high frequency nanoresonators

Surface roughness influences significantly the quality factor of high frequency nanoresonators for large frequency - relaxation times within the non-Newtonian regime, where a purely elastic dynamics develops. It is shown that the influence of sort wavelength roughness, which is expressed by the roughness exponent H for the case of self-affine roughness, plays significant role in comparison with the effect of the long wavelength roughness parameters such as the rms roughness amplitude and the lateral roughness correlation length. Therefore, the surface morphology can play important role in designing high-frequency resonators operating within the non-Newtonian regime.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, To appear in J. Appl. Phys. (2008

Inference and Optimization of Real Edges on Sparse Graphs - A Statistical Physics Perspective

Inference and optimization of real-value edge variables in sparse graphs are studied using the Bethe approximation and replica method of statistical physics. Equilibrium states of general energy functions involving a large set of real edge-variables that interact at the network nodes are obtained in various cases. When applied to the representative problem of network resource allocation, efficient distributed algorithms are also devised. Scaling properties with respect to the network connectivity and the resource availability are found, and links to probabilistic Bayesian approximation methods are established. Different cost measures are considered and algorithmic solutions in the various cases are devised and examined numerically. Simulation results are in full agreement with the theory.Comment: 21 pages, 10 figures, major changes: Sections IV to VII updated, Figs. 1 to 3 replace

Non-equilibrium chemistry and dust formation in AGB stars as probed by SiO line emission

We have performed high spatial resolution observations of SiO line emission for a sample of 11 AGB stars using the ATCA, VLA and SMA interferometers. Detailed radiative transfer modelling suggests that there are steep chemical gradients of SiO in their circumstellar envelopes. The emerging picture is one where the radial SiO abundance distribution starts at an initial high abundance, in the case of M-stars consistent with LTE chemistry, that drastically decreases at a radius of ~1E15 cm. This is consistent with a scenario where SiO freezes out onto dust grains. The region of the wind with low abundance is much more extended, typically ~1E16 cm, and limited by photodissociation. The surpisingly high SiO abundances found in carbon stars requires non-equilibrium chemical processes.Comment: 2 pages, 1 figure. To be published in the proceedings of the conference "Why Galaxies Care about AGB Stars", held in Vienna, August 7-11, 2006; F. Kerschbaum, C. Charbonnel, B. Wing eds, ASP Conf.Ser. in pres

Cold-air performance of a 15.41-cm-tip-diameter axial-flow power turbine with variable-area stator designed for a 75-kW automotive gas turbine engine

An experimental evaluation of the aerodynamic performance of the axial flow, variable area stator power turbine stage for the Department of Energy upgraded automotive gas turbine engine was conducted in cold air. The interstage transition duct, the variable area stator, the rotor, and the exit diffuser were included in the evaluation of the turbine stage. The measured total blading efficiency was 0.096 less than the design value of 0.85. Large radial gradients in flow conditions were found at the exit of the interstage duct that adversely affected power turbine performance. Although power turbine efficiency was less than design, the turbine operating line corresponding to the steady state road load power curve was within 0.02 of the maximum available stage efficiency at any given speed

Constraints on Dark Photon from Neutrino-Electron Scattering Experiments

A possible manifestation of an additional light gauge boson $A^\prime$, named as Dark Photon, associated with a group $U(1)_{\rm B-L}$ is studied in neutrino electron scattering experiments. The exclusion plot on the coupling constant $g_{\rm B-L}$ and the dark photon mass $M_{A^\prime}$ is obtained. It is shown that contributions of interference term between the dark photon and the Standard Model are important. The interference effects are studied and compared with for data sets from TEXONO, GEMMA, BOREXINO, LSND as well as CHARM II experiments. Our results provide more stringent bounds to some regions of parameter space.Comment: 22 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables, text improved, fig.6 updated, references adde