198 research outputs found
Electron correlation energy in confined two-electron systems
Radial, angular and total correlation energies are calculated for four
two-electron systems with atomic numbers Z=0-3 confined within an impenetrable
sphere of radius R. We report accurate results for the non-relativistic,
restricted Hartree-Fock and radial limit energies over a range of confinement
radii from 0.05 - 10 a0. At small R, the correlation energies approach limiting
values that are independent of Z while at intermediate R, systems with Z > 1
exhibit a characteristic maximum in the correlation energy resulting from an
increase in the angular correlation energy which is offset by a decrease in the
radial correlation energy
Eroding market stability by proliferation of financial instruments
We contrast Arbitrage Pricing Theory (APT), the theoretical basis for the
development of financial instruments, with a dynamical picture of an
interacting market, in a simple setting. The proliferation of financial
instruments apparently provides more means for risk diversification, making the
market more efficient and complete. In the simple market of interacting traders
discussed here, the proliferation of financial instruments erodes systemic
stability and it drives the market to a critical state characterized by large
susceptibility, strong fluctuations and enhanced correlations among risks. This
suggests that the hypothesis of APT may not be compatible with a stable market
dynamics. In this perspective, market stability acquires the properties of a
common good, which suggests that appropriate measures should be introduced in
derivative markets, to preserve stability.Comment: 26 pages, 8 figure
Ecosystem Capacity for Microbial Biodegradation of Munitions Compounds and Phenanthrene in Three Coastal Waterways in North Carolina, United States
Munitions compounds (i.e., 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT), octahy-dro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocin (HMX), and hexadydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazin (RDX), also called energetics) were originally believed to be recalcitrant to microbial biodegradation based on historical groundwater chemical attenuation data and laboratory culture work. More recently, it has been established that natural bacterial assemblages in coastal waters and sediment can rapidly metabolize these organic nitrogen sources and even incorporate their carbon and nitrogen into bacterial biomass. Here, we report on the capacity of natural microbial assemblages in three coastal North Carolina (United States) estuaries to metabolize energetics and phenanthrene (PHE), a proxy for terrestrial aromatic compounds. Microbial assemblages generally had the highest ecosystem capacity (mass of the compound mineralized per average estuarine residence time) for HMX (21-5463 kg) RDX (1.4-5821 kg) PHE (0.29-660 kg) TNT (0.25-451 kg). Increasing antecedent precipitation tended to decrease the ecosystem capacity to mineralize TNT in the Newport River Estuary, and PHE and TNT mineralization were often highest with increasing salinity. There was some evidence from the New River Estuary that increased N-demand (due to a phytoplankton bloom) is associated with increased energetic mineralization rates. Using this type of analysis to determine the ecosystem capacity to metabolize energetics can explain why these compounds are rarely detected in seawater and marine sediment, despite the known presence of unexploded ordnance or recent use in military training exercises. Overall, measuring the ecosystem capacity may help predict the effects of climate change (warming and altered precipitation patterns) and other perturbations on exotic compound fate and transport within ecosystems and provide critical information for managers and decision-makers to develop management strategies based on these changes
Optical proxies for terrestrial dissolved organic matter in estuaries and coastal waters
Dissolved organic matter (DOM) absorbance and fluorescence were used as optical proxies to track terrestrial DOM fluxes through estuaries and coastal waters by comparing models developed for several coastal ecosystems. Key to using these optical properties is validating and calibrating them with chemical measurements, such as lignin-derived phenols-a proxy to quantify terrestrial DOM. Utilizing parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC), and comparing models statistically using the OpenFluor database (http://www.openfluor.org) we have found common, ubiquitous fluorescing components which correlate most strongly with lignin phenol concentrations in several estuarine and coastal environments. Optical proxies for lignin were computed for the following regions: Mackenzie River Estuary, Atchafalaya River Estuary (ARE), Charleston Harbor, Chesapeake Bay, and Neuse River Estuary (NRE) (all in North America). The slope of linear regression models relating CDOM absorption at 350 nm (a350) to DOC and to lignin, varied 5-10-fold among systems. Where seasonal observations were available from a region, there were distinct seasonal differences in equation parameters for these optical proxies. The variability appeared to be due primarily to river flow into these estuaries and secondarily to biogeochemical cycling of DOM within them. Despite the variability, overall models using single linear regression were developed that related dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration to CDOM (DOC = 40 ± 2 × a350 + 138 ± 16; R2 = 0.77; N = 130) and lignin (Σ8) to CDOM (Σ8 = 2.03 ± 0.07 × a350 - 0.47 ± 0.59; R2 = 0.87; N = 130). This wide variability suggested that local or regional optical models should be developed for predicting terrestrial DOM flux into coastal oceans and taken into account when upscaling to remote sensing observations and calibrations
pi-NN Coupling Constants from NN Elastic Data between 210 and 800 Mev
High partial waves for and elastic scattering are examined
critically from 210 to 800 MeV. Non-OPE contributions are compared with
predictions from theory. There are some discrepancies, but sufficient agreement
that values of the coupling constants for exchange
and for charged exchange can be derived. Results are and , where the first error is statistical and the
second is an estimate of the likely systematic error, arising mostly from
uncertainties in the normalisation of total cross sections and
.Comment: 21 pages of LaTeX, UI-NTH-940
Sedentary time and markers of inflammation in people with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes
AbstractBackground and aimsWe investigated whether objectively measured sedentary time was associated with markers of inflammation in adults with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes.Methods and resultsWe studied 285 adults (184 men, 101 women, mean age 59.0 ± 9.7) who had been recruited to the Early ACTivity in Diabetes (Early ACTID) randomised controlled trial. C-reactive protein (CRP), adiponectin, soluble intracellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and accelerometer-determined sedentary time and moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) were measured at baseline and after six-months. Linear regression analysis was used to investigate the independent cross-sectional and longitudinal associations of sedentary time with markers of inflammation.At baseline, associations between sedentary time and IL-6 were observed in men and women, an association that was attenuated following adjustment for waist circumference. After 6 months of follow-up, sedentary time was reduced by 0.4 ± 1.2 h per day in women, with the change in sedentary time predicting CRP at follow-up. Every hour decrease in sedentary time between baseline and six-months was associated with 24% (1, 48) lower CRP. No changes in sedentary time between baseline and 6 months were seen in men.ConclusionsHigher sedentary time is associated with IL-6 in men and women with type 2 diabetes, and reducing sedentary time is associated with improved levels of CRP in women. Interventions to reduce sedentary time may help to reduce inflammation in women with type 2 diabetes
Geometric Approach to Pontryagin's Maximum Principle
Since the second half of the 20th century, Pontryagin's Maximum Principle has
been widely discussed and used as a method to solve optimal control problems in
medicine, robotics, finance, engineering, astronomy. Here, we focus on the
proof and on the understanding of this Principle, using as much geometric ideas
and geometric tools as possible. This approach provides a better and clearer
understanding of the Principle and, in particular, of the role of the abnormal
extremals. These extremals are interesting because they do not depend on the
cost function, but only on the control system. Moreover, they were discarded as
solutions until the nineties, when examples of strict abnormal optimal curves
were found. In order to give a detailed exposition of the proof, the paper is
mostly self\textendash{}contained, which forces us to consider different areas
in mathematics such as algebra, analysis, geometry.Comment: Final version. Minors changes have been made. 56 page
Shadowing in Inelastic Scattering of Muons on Carbon, Calcium and Lead at Low XBj
Nuclear shadowing is observed in the per-nucleon cross-sections of positive
muons on carbon, calcium and lead as compared to deuterium. The data were taken
by Fermilab experiment E665 using inelastically scattered muons of mean
incident momentum 470 GeV/c. Cross-section ratios are presented in the
kinematic region 0.0001 < XBj <0.56 and 0.1 < Q**2 < 80 GeVc. The data are
consistent with no significant nu or Q**2 dependence at fixed XBj. As XBj
decreases, the size of the shadowing effect, as well as its A dependence, are
found to approach the corresponding measurements in photoproduction.Comment: 22 pages, incl. 6 figures, to be published in Z. Phys.
From Quantum Systems to L-Functions: Pair Correlation Statistics and Beyond
The discovery of connections between the distribution of energy levels of
heavy nuclei and spacings between prime numbers has been one of the most
surprising and fruitful observations in the twentieth century. The connection
between the two areas was first observed through Montgomery's work on the pair
correlation of zeros of the Riemann zeta function. As its generalizations and
consequences have motivated much of the following work, and to this day remains
one of the most important outstanding conjectures in the field, it occupies a
central role in our discussion below. We describe some of the many techniques
and results from the past sixty years, especially the important roles played by
numerical and experimental investigations, that led to the discovery of the
connections and progress towards understanding the behaviors. In our survey of
these two areas, we describe the common mathematics that explains the
remarkable universality. We conclude with some thoughts on what might lie ahead
in the pair correlation of zeros of the zeta function, and other similar
quantities.Comment: Version 1.1, 50 pages, 6 figures. To appear in "Open Problems in
Mathematics", Editors John Nash and Michael Th. Rassias. arXiv admin note:
text overlap with arXiv:0909.491
Theory and Applications of Non-Relativistic and Relativistic Turbulent Reconnection
Realistic astrophysical environments are turbulent due to the extremely high
Reynolds numbers. Therefore, the theories of reconnection intended for
describing astrophysical reconnection should not ignore the effects of
turbulence on magnetic reconnection. Turbulence is known to change the nature
of many physical processes dramatically and in this review we claim that
magnetic reconnection is not an exception. We stress that not only
astrophysical turbulence is ubiquitous, but also magnetic reconnection itself
induces turbulence. Thus turbulence must be accounted for in any realistic
astrophysical reconnection setup. We argue that due to the similarities of MHD
turbulence in relativistic and non-relativistic cases the theory of magnetic
reconnection developed for the non-relativistic case can be extended to the
relativistic case and we provide numerical simulations that support this
conjecture. We also provide quantitative comparisons of the theoretical
predictions and results of numerical experiments, including the situations when
turbulent reconnection is self-driven, i.e. the turbulence in the system is
generated by the reconnection process itself. We show how turbulent
reconnection entails the violation of magnetic flux freezing, the conclusion
that has really far reaching consequences for many realistically turbulent
astrophysical environments. In addition, we consider observational testing of
turbulent reconnection as well as numerous implications of the theory. The
former includes the Sun and solar wind reconnection, while the latter include
the process of reconnection diffusion induced by turbulent reconnection, the
acceleration of energetic particles, bursts of turbulent reconnection related
to black hole sources as well as gamma ray bursts. Finally, we explain why
turbulent reconnection cannot be explained by turbulent resistivity or derived
through the mean field approach.Comment: 66 pages, 24 figures, a chapter of the book "Magnetic Reconnection -
Concepts and Applications", editors W. Gonzalez, E. N. Parke
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