25,699 research outputs found
Vector field theories in cosmology
Recently proposed theories based on the cosmic presence of a vectorial field
are compared and contrasted. In particular the so called Einstein aether theory
is discussed in parallel with a recent proposal of a strained space-time theory
(Cosmic Defect theory). We show that the latter fits reasonably well the cosmic
observed data with only one, or at most two, adjustable parameters, whilst
other vector theories use much more. The Newtonian limits are also compared.
Finally we show that the CD theory may be considered as a special case of the
aether theories, corresponding to a more compact and consistent paradigm.Comment: 19 pages, 1 figure, to appear on Phys. Rev.
Altered Human Neutrophil Function in Response to Acute Psychological Stress
Objective: To examine the effects of an acute laboratory psychological stress task on neutrophil function, specifically phagocytosis of Escherichia coli and stimulated superoxide production in human neutrophils. There is mounting evidence that acute stress is associated with short-term increases in a number of immune indices. \ud
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Methods: Participants were 40 (n = 20 females) university students (mean age, 25.9 ± 4.56 years). Blood samples to determine neutrophil function by flow cytometry were taken at the end of resting baseline, during an acute stress task, and during recovery. The stress task was a 10-minute time-pressured mental arithmetic challenge with social evaluation. \ud
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Results: There was an acute increase in phagocytic ability, = .047, η2p = 0.076, and a reduction of superoxide production, p = .026, η2p = 0.101, associated with the stress task relative to baseline. \ud
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Conclusion: These findings suggest that neutrophil bactericidal function may be sensitive to mental challenge tasks that provoke acute psychological stress. Further research is needed to replicate the observed psychological stress-induced changes in neutrophil function. \ud
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Light Deflection, Lensing, and Time Delays from Gravitational Potentials and Fermat's Principle in the Presence of a Cosmological Constant
The contribution of the cosmological constant to the deflection angle and the
time delays are derived from the integration of the gravitational potential as
well as from Fermat's Principle. The findings are in agreement with recent
results using exact solutions to Einstein's equations and reproduce precisely
the new -term in the bending angle and the lens equation. The
consequences on time delay expressions are explored. While it is known that
contributes to the gravitational time delay, it is shown here that a
new -term appears in the geometrical time delay as well. Although
these newly derived terms are perhaps small for current observations, they do
not cancel out as previously claimed. Moreover, as shown before, at galaxy
cluster scale, the contribution can be larger than the second-order
term in the Einstein deflection angle for several cluster lens systems.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figure, matches version published in PR
Rippled Cosmological Dark Matter from Damped Oscillating Newton Constant
Let the reciprocal Newton 'constant' be an apparently non-dynamical
Brans-Dicke scalar field damped oscillating towards its General Relativistic
VEV. We show, without introducing additional matter fields or dust, that the
corresponding cosmological evolution averagely resembles, in the Jordan frame,
the familiar dark radiation -> dark matter -> dark energy domination sequence.
The fingerprints of our theory are fine ripples, hopefully testable, in the FRW
scale factor; they die away at the General Relativity limit. The possibility
that the Brans-Dicke scalar also serves as the inflaton is favorably examined.Comment: RevTex4, 12 pages, 5 figures; Minor revision, References adde
Dark Energy as a Born-Infeld Gauge Interaction Violating the Equivalence Principle
We investigate the possibility that dark energy does not couple to
gravitation in the same way than ordinary matter, yielding a violation of the
weak and strong equivalence principles on cosmological scales. We build a
transient mechanism in which gravitation is pushed away from general relativity
by a Born-Infeld gauge interaction acting as an "Abnormally Weighting" (dark)
Energy. This mechanism accounts for the Hubble diagram of far-away supernovae
by cosmic acceleration and time variation of the gravitational constant while
accounting naturally for the present tests on general relativity.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, sequel of Phys. Rev. D 73 023520 (2006), to
appear in Physical Review Letter
Theoretic Limits on the Equation of State Parameter of Quintessence
The value of scalar field coupled to gravity should be less than the Planck
scale in the consistent theory of quantum gravity. It provides a theoretic
constraint on the equation of state parameter for the quintessence. In some
cases our theoretic constraints are more stringent than the constraints from
the present experiments.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures; minor corrections and refs adde
Nonlocal Cosmology
We explore nonlocally modified models of gravity, inspired by quantum loop
corrections, as a mechanism for explaining current cosmic acceleration. These
theories enjoy two major advantages: they allow a delayed response to cosmic
events, here the transition from radiation to matter dominance, and they avoid
the usual level of fine tuning; instead, emulating Dirac's dictum, the required
large numbers come from the large time scales involved. Their solar system
effects are safely negligible, and they may even prove useful to the black hole
information problem.Comment: Expanded(!) version, to appear in Phys. Rev. Letter
Mission Impact Analysis Visualization for Enhanced Situational Awareness
This research effort examines the creation of mission impact analysis visualizations to enhance situational awareness. It focuses on using prefuse to create a visualization that allows the user to quickly understand the impact of the failure of any element needed directly or indirectly for a mission. The visualization correctly identifies the direct or indirect impact on physical requirements such as network links and servers as well as non-physical elements such as the generation of a report, or ability to perform a task. The visualization provides an overview of the situation, as well as including enhancements to allow for greater detail on any element to be viewed. The result of this research is the foundation for a tool to allow commanders and others, at a glance, to understand the scope of mission impact when an outage occurs
Solitary and compact-like shear waves in the bulk of solids
We show that a model proposed by Rubin, Rosenau, and Gottlieb [J. Appl. Phys.
77 (1995) 4054], for dispersion caused by an inherent material characteristic
length, belongs to the class of simple materials. Therefore, it is possible to
generalize the idea of Rubin, Rosenau, and Gottlieb to include a wide range of
material models, from nonlinear elasticity to turbulence. Using this insight,
we are able to fine-tune nonlinear and dispersive effects in the theory of
nonlinear elasticity in order to generate pulse solitary waves and also bulk
travelling waves with compact support
Cosmic Acceleration Data and Bulk-Brane Energy Exchange
We consider a braneworld model with bulk-brane energy exchange. This allows
for crossing of the w=-1 phantom divide line without introducing phantom energy
with quantum instabilities. We use the latest SnIa data included in the Gold06
dataset to provide an estimate of the preferred parameter values of this
braneworld model. We use three fitting approaches which provide best fit
parameter values and hint towards a bulk energy component that behaves like
relativistic matter which is propagating in the bulk and is moving at a speed v
along the fifth dimension, while the bulk-brane energy exchange component
corresponds to negative pressure and signifies energy flowing from the bulk
into the brane. We find that the best fit effective equation of state parameter
marginally crosses the phantom divide line w=-1. Thus, we have
demonstrated both the ability of this class of braneworld models to provide
crossing of the phantom divide and also that cosmological data hint towards
natural values for the model parameters.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures, added comments, references update
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