4,484 research outputs found
Ocean odours
The ocean's distinctive smell is caused by a single chemical released by plankton and other marine life, dimethyl sulphide (DMS). A study by a group of investigators from the University of Groningen used a technique called laser-sheet particle image velocimetry to monitor the water flows produced by aquatic animals. The investigators looked closely at how DMS affects copepods. Their tests showed that when DMS hit a copepod, the test animal reacted with a search behaviour. This demonstrates that copepods can smell the DMS and suggests that this and possibly other compounds released by phytoplankton and microzooplankton may help copepods in finding their prey
Effective String Theory of Vortices and Regge Trajectories of Hybrid Mesons with Zero Mass Quarks
We show how a field theory containing classical vortex solutions can be
expressed as an effective string theory of long distance QCD describing the two
transverse oscillations of the string. We use the semiclassical expansion of
this effective string theory about a classical rotating string solution to
obtain Regge trajectories for mesons with zero mass quarks. The first
semiclassical correction adds the constant 1/12 to the classical Regge formula
for the angular momentum of mesons on the leading Regge trajectory. In D
spacetime dimensions, this additive constant is (D-2)/24. The excited states of
the rotating string give rise to daughter Regge trajectories determining the
spectrum of hybrid mesons.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures, LaTeX, style file include
Performance of a 1.15-pressure-ratio axial-flow fan stage with a blade tip solidity of 0.5
The overall and blade-element performance of a low-solidity, low-pressure-ratio, low-tip-speed fan stage is presented over the stable operating range at rotative speeds from 90 to 120 percent of design speed. At design speed a stage peak efficiency of 0.836 was obtained at a weight flow of 30.27 kilograms per second and a pressure ratio of 1.111. The pressure ratio was less than design pressure ratio, and the design energy input into the rotor was not achieved. A mismatch of the rotor and stator blade elements resulted due to the lower than design pressure ratio of the rotor
Aerodynamic performance of a 1.35-pressure-ratio axial-flow fan stage
The overall blade element performances and the aerodynamic design parameters are presented for a 1.35-pressure-ratio fan stage. The fan stage was designed for a weight flow of 32.7 kilograms per second and a tip speed of 302.8 meters per second. At design speed the stage peak efficiency of 0.879 occurred at a pressure ratio of 1.329 and design flow. Stage stall margin was approximately 14 percent. At design flow rotor efficiency was 0.94 and the pressure ratio was 1.360
Thermodynamic evidence for valley-dependent density of states in bulk bismuth
Electron-like carriers in bismuth are described by the Dirac Hamiltonian,
with a band mass becoming a thousandth of the bare electron mass along one
crystalline axis. The existence of three anisotropic valleys offers electrons
an additional degree of freedom, a subject of recent attention. Here, we map
the Landau spectrum by angle-resolved magnetostriction, and quantify the
carrier number in each valley: while the electron valleys keep identical
spectra, they substantially differ in their density of states at the Fermi
level. Thus, the electron fluid does not keep the rotational symmetry of the
lattice at low temperature and high magnetic field, even in the absence of
internal strain. This effect, reminiscent of the Coulomb pseudo-gap in
localized electronic states, affects only electrons in the immediate vicinity
of the Fermi level. It presents the most striking departure from the
non-interacting picture of electrons in bulk bismuth.Comment: 6 pages, 3 Figure
Communication in quantum networks of logical bus topology
Perfect state transfer (PST) is discussed in the context of passive quantum
networks with logical bus topology, where many logical nodes communicate using
the same shared media, without any external control. The conditions under
which, a number of point-to-point PST links may serve as building blocks for
the design of such multi-node networks are investigated. The implications of
our results are discussed in the context of various Hamiltonians that act on
the entire network, and are capable of providing PST between the logical nodes
of a prescribed set in a deterministic manner.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figur
Quantum-measurement backaction from a Bose-Einstein condensate coupled to a mechanical oscillator
We study theoretically the dynamics of a hybrid optomechanical system consisting of a macroscopic mechanical membrane magnetically coupled to a spinor Bose-Einstein condensate via a nanomagnet attached at the membrane center. We demonstrate that this coupling permits us to monitor indirectly the center-of-mass position of the membrane via measurements of the spin of the condensed atoms. These measurements normally induce a significant backaction on the membrane motion, which we quantify for the cases of thermal and coherent initial states of the membrane. We discuss the possibility of measuring this quantum backaction via repeated measurements. We also investigate the potential to generate nonclassical states of the membrane, in particular Schrödinger-cat states, via such repeated measurements
Recommended from our members
Review of IT Offshore Outsourcing issues
This paper attempts to take an objective look at offshore outsourcing within the information technology (IT) industry. Background material is provided to establish a clear definition and context for the discussion. Basic benefits, risks, and trends are identified and domestic market impacts are explored
- …