3,237 research outputs found
Accurate first-principle equation of state for the One-Component Plasma
Accurate "first-principle" expressions for the excess free energy
and internal energy of the classical one-component plasma (OCP) are
obtained. We use the Hubbard-Schofield transformation that maps the OCP
Hamiltonian onto the Ising-like Hamiltonian, with coefficients expressed in
terms of equilibrium correlation functions of a reference system. We use the
ideal gas as a reference system for which all the correlation functions are
known. Explicit calculations are performed with the high-order terms in the
Ising-like Hamiltonian omitted. For small values of the plasma parameter
the Debye-Huckel result for and is recovered. For
large these depend linearly on in accordance with the Monte
Carlo findings for the OCP. The MC data for the internal energy are reproduced
fairly well by the obtained analytical expression.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figures, to appear in Contrib. Plasma Phys., v.38 N4,
(1998
Pan-Atlantic analysis of the overlap of a highly migratory species, the leatherback turtle, with pelagic longline fisheries
Large oceanic migrants play important roles in ecosystems, yet many species are of conservation concern as a result of anthropogenic threats, of which incidental capture by fisheries is frequently identified. The last large populations of the leatherback turtle, Dermochelys coriacea, occur in the Atlantic Ocean, but interactions with industrial fisheries could jeopardize recent positive population trends, making bycatch mitigation a priority. Here, we perform the first pan-Atlantic analysis of spatio-temporal distribution of the leatherback turtle and ascertain overlap with longline fishing effort. Data suggest that the Atlantic probably consists of two regional management units: northern and southern (the latter including turtles breeding in South Africa). Although turtles and fisheries show highly diverse distributions, we highlight nine areas of high susceptibility to potential bycatch (four in the northern Atlantic and five in the southern/equatorial Atlantic) that are worthy of further targeted investigation and mitigation. These are reinforced by reports of leatherback bycatch at eight of these sites. International collaborative efforts are needed, especially from nations hosting regions where susceptibility to bycatch is likely to be high within their exclusive economic zone (northern Atlantic: Cape Verde, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Mauritania, Senegal, Spain, USA and Western Sahara; southern Atlantic: Angola, Brazil, Namibia and UK) and from nations fishing in these high-susceptibility areas, including those located in international waters
Effects of Ellipticity and Shear on Gravitational Lens Statistics
We study the effects of ellipticity in lens galaxies and external tidal shear
from neighboring objects on the statistics of strong gravitational lenses. For
isothermal lens galaxies normalized so that the Einstein radius is independent
of ellipticity and shear, ellipticity {\it reduces} the lensing cross section
slightly, and shear leaves it unchanged. Ellipticity and shear can
significantly enhance the magnification bias, but only if the luminosity
function of background sources is steep. Realistic distributions of ellipticity
and shear {\it lower} the total optical depth by a few percent for most source
luminosity functions, and increase the optical depth only for steep luminosity
functions. The boost in the optical depth is noticeable (>5%) only for surveys
limited to the brightest quasars (L/L_* > 10). Ellipticity and shear broaden
the distribution of lens image separations but do not affect the mean.
Ellipticity and shear naturally increase the abundance of quadruple lenses
relative to double lenses, especially for steep source luminosity functions,
but the effect is not enough (by itself) to explain the observed
quadruple-to-double ratio. With such small changes to the optical depth and
image separation distribution, ellipticity and shear have a small effect on
cosmological constraints from lens statistics: neglecting the two leads to
biases of just Delta Omega_M = 0.00 \pm 0.01 and Delta Omega_Lambda = -0.02 \pm
0.01 (where the errorbars represent statistical uncertainties in our
calculations).Comment: Optical depth normalization discussed. Matches the published versio
Inspiratory muscle training reduces blood lactate concentration during volitional hyperpnoea
Although reduced blood lactate concentrations ([lacâ]B) have been observed during whole-body exercise following inspiratory muscle training (IMT), it remains unknown whether the inspiratory muscles are the source of at least part of this reduction. To investigate this, we tested the hypothesis that IMT would attenuate the increase in [lacâ]B caused by mimicking, at rest, the breathing pattern observed during high-intensity exercise. Twenty-two physically active males were matched for 85% maximal exercise minute ventilation (VËEmax) and divided equally into an IMT or a control group. Prior to and following a 6 week intervention, participants performed 10 min of volitional hyperpnoea at the breathing pattern commensurate with 85% VËEmax
Spectroscopic Factors in Ca and Pb from : Fully Relativistic Analysis
We present results for spectroscopic factors of the outermost shells in
Ca and Pb, which have been derived from the comparison between
the available quasielastic () data from NIKHEF-K and the corresponding
calculated cross-sections obtained within a fully relativistic formalism. We
include exactly the effect of Coulomb distortion on the electron wave functions
and discuss its role in the extraction of the spectroscopic factors from
experiment. Without any adjustable parameter, we find spectroscopic factors of
about 70\%, consistent with theoretical predictions. We compare our results
with previous relativistic and nonrelativistic analyses of () data. In
addition to Coulomb distortion effects we discuss different choices of the
nucleon current operator and also analyze the effects due to the relativistic
treatment of the outgoing-distorted and bound nucleon wave functions.Comment: 9 pages RevTeX, 5 figures can be obtained from the author
Sharing Space: The Presence of Other Bodies Extends the Space Judged as Near
Background: As social animals we share the space with other people. It is known that perceived extension of the peripersonal space (the reaching space) is affected by the implicit representation of our own and other's action potentialities. Our issue concerns whether the co-presence of a body in the scene influences our extrapersonal space (beyond reaching distance) categorization. Methodology/Principal Findings: We investigated, through 3D virtual scenes of a realistic environment, whether egocentric spatial categorization can be influenced by the presence of another human body (Exp. 1) and whether the effect is due to her action potentialities or simply to her human-like morphology (Exp. 2). Subjects were asked to judge the location ("Near" or "Far") of a target object located at different distances from their egocentric perspective. In Exp. 1, the judgment was given either in presence of a virtual avatar (Self-with-Other), or a non-corporeal object (Self-with-Object) or nothing (Self). In Exp. 2, the Self condition was replaced by a Self-with-Dummy condition, in which an inanimate body (a wooden dummy) was present. Mean Judgment Transition Thresholds (JTTs) were calculated for each subject in each experimental condition. Self-with-Other condition induced a significant extension of the space judged as "Near" as compared to both the Selfwith- Object condition and the Self condition. Such extension was observed also in Exp. 2 in the Self-with-Dummy condition. Results suggest that the presence of others impacts on our perception of extrapersonal space. This effect holds also when the other is a human-like wooden dummy, suggesting that structural and morphological shapes resembling human bodies are sufficient conditions for the effect to occur. Conclusions: The observed extension of the portion of space judged as near could represent a wider portion of "accessible" space, thus an advantage in the struggle to survive in presence of other potential competing individuals
What do we learn from Resonance Production in Heavy Ion Collisions?
Resonances with their short life time and strong coupling to the dense and
hot medium are suggested as a signature of the early stage of the fireball
created in a heavy ion collision \cite{rap00,lut01,lut02}. The comparison of
resonances with different lifetimes and quark contents may give information
about time evolution and density and temperature of during the expanding of
fireball medium. Resonances in elementary reactions have been measured since
1960. Resonance production in elementary collisions compared with heavy ion
collisions where we expect to create a hot and dense medium may show the direct
of influence of the medium on the resonances. This paper shows a selection of
the recent resonance measurements from SPS and RHIC heavy ion colliders.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, HotQuarks 2004 conference proceeding
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