Quasi-perpendicular fast magnetosonic shock with wave precursor in collisionless plasma

A one-dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation tracks a fast magnetosonic shock over time scales comparable to an inverse ion gyrofrequency. The magnetic pressure is comparable to the thermal pressure upstream. The shock propagates across a uniform background magnetic field with a pressure that equals the thermal pressure upstream at the angle 85$^\circ$ at a speed that is 1.5 times the fast magnetosonic speed in the electromagnetic limit. Electrostatic contributions to the wave dispersion increase its phase speed at large wave numbers, which leads to a convex dispersion curve. A fast magnetosonic precursor forms ahead of the shock with a phase speed that exceeds the fast magnetosonic speed by about $\sim 30 \%$. The wave is slower than the shock and hence it is damped.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

TiO2 surfaces support neuron growth during electric field stimulation

The authors are grateful to Francisco Almendros and Ismael Santamaría for help in preparation of the TiO2 substrates. We acknowledge the European Project NERBIOS (NEST/STREP (FP6), 028473-2) for financial support. Maria Canillas acknowledges the JAE-CSIC program of her PhD scholarship. Berta Moreno acknowledges the Fondo Social Europeo and the CSIC for the funding of her JAE Doc contract. Ann Rajnicek acknowledges financial support from The Development Trust at the University of Aberdeen to the Aberdeen Spinal Research Group, including support from the Scottish Rugby Union.Peer reviewedPostprin

Supersymmetric CP-violating Currents and Electroweak Baryogenesis

In this work we compute the CP-violating currents of the right-handed stops and Higgsinos, induced by the presence of non-trivial vacuum expectation values of the Higgs fields within the context of the minimal supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model (MSSM) with explicit CP-violating phases. Using the Keldysh formalism, we perform the computation of the currents at finite temperature, in an expansion of derivatives of the Higgs fields. Contrary to previous works, we implement a resummation of the Higgs mass insertion effects to all orders in perturbation theory. While the components of the right-handed stop current j^\mu_{\widetilde t_R} become proportional to the difference H_2 \partial^{\mu}H_1-H_1 \partial^{\mu} H_2 (suppressed by \Delta\beta), the Higgsino currents, j^\mu_{\widetilde{H}_i}, present contributions proportional to both H_2 \partial^{\mu}H_1\pm H_1 \partial^{\mu} H_2. For large values of the charged Higgs mass and moderate values of \tan\beta the contribution to the source proportional to H_2 \partial^{\mu}H_1+H_1 \partial^{\mu} H_2 in the diffusion equations become sizeable, although it is suppressed by the Higgsino number violating interaction rate \Gamma_\mu^{-1/2}. For small values of the wall velocity, 0.04\simlt v_\omega \simlt 0.1, the total contribution leads to acceptable values of the baryon asymmetry for values of the CP-violating phases \phi_{CP} in the range 0.04\simlt|\sin\phi_{CP}|\simlt 1. Finally, we comment on the relevance of the latest results of Higgs searches at LEP2 for the mechanism of electroweak baryogenesis within the MSSM.Comment: 27 pages, 4 figures, latex2e. Typo corrected and references adde

First principle electronic, structural, elastic, and optical properties of strontium titanate

We report self-consistent ab-initio electronic, structural, elastic, and optical properties of cubic SrTiO$_{3}$ perovskite. Our non-relativistic calculations employed a generalized gradient approximation (GGA) potential and the linear combination of atomic orbitals (LCAO) formalism. The distinctive feature of our computations stem from solving self-consistently the system of equations describing the GGA, using the Bagayoko-Zhao-Williams (BZW) method. Our results are in agreement with experimental ones where the later are available. In particular, our theoretical, indirect band gap of 3.24 eV, at the experimental lattice constant of 3.91 \AA{}, is in excellent agreement with experiment. Our predicted, equilibrium lattice constant is 3.92 \AA{}, with a corresponding indirect band gap of 3.21 eV and bulk modulus of 183 GPa.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures,Accepted for publication in AIP Advances (2012

The Bak-Sneppen Model on Scale-Free Networks

We investigate by numerical simulations and analytical calculations the Bak-Sneppen model for biological evolution in scale-free networks. By using large scale numerical simulations, we study the avalanche size distribution and the activity time behavior at nodes with different connectivities. We argue the absence of a critical barrier and its associated critical behavior for infinite size systems. These findings are supported by a single site mean-field analytic treatment of the model.Comment: 5 pages and 3 eps figures. Final version appeared in Europhys. Let

Warm dark matter sterile neutrinos in electron capture and beta decay spectra

We briefly review the motivation to search for sterile neutrinos in the keV mass scale, as dark matter candidates, and the prospects to find them in beta decay or electron capture spectra, with a global perspective. We describe the fundamentals of the neutrino flavor-mass eigenstate mismatch that opens the possibility of detecting sterile neutrinos in such ordinary nuclear processes. Results are shown and discussed for the effect of heavy neutrino emission in electron capture in Holmium 163 and in two isotopes of Lead, 202 and 205, as well as in the beta decay of Tritium. We study the de-excitation spectrum in the considered cases of electron capture and the charged lepton spectrum in the case of Tritium beta decay. For each of these cases, we define ratios of integrated transition rates over different regions of the spectrum under study, and give new results that may guide and facilitate the analysis of possible future measurements, paying particular attention to forbidden transitions in Lead isotopes.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, 2 table

Developing Scenarios for Product Longevity and Sufficiency

This paper explores the narrative of peoples’ relationships with products as a window on understanding the types of innovation that may inform a culture of sufficiency. The work forms part of the 'Business as Unusual: Designing Products with Consumers in the Loop' [BaU] project, funded as part of the UK EPSRC-ESRC RECODE network (RECODE, 2016) that aims to explore the potential of re-distributed manufacturing (RdM) in a context of sustainability. This element of the project employed interviews, mapping and workshops as methods to investigate the relationship between people and products across the product lifecycle. A focus on product longevity and specifically the people-product interactions is captured in conversations around product maintenance and repair. In exploring ideas of ‘broken’ we found different characteristics of, and motivations for, repair. Mapping these and other product-people interactions across the product lifecycle indicated where current activity is, who owns such activity (i.e. organisation or individual) and where gaps in interactions occur. These issues were explored further in a workshop which grouped participants to look at products from the perspective of one of four scenarios; each scenario represented either short or long product lifespans and different types of people engagement in the design process. The findings help give shape to new scenarios for designing sufficiency-based social models of material flows

Broadening of H2_2O rotational lines by collision with He atoms at low temperature

We report pressure broadening coefficients for the 21 electric-dipole transitions between the eight lowest rotational levels of ortho-H$_2$O and para-H$_2$O molecules by collisions with He at temperatures from 20 to 120 K. These coefficients are derived from recently published experimental state-to-state rate coefficients for H$_2$O:He inelastic collisions, plus an elastic contribution from close coupling calculations. The resulting coefficients are compared to the available experimental data. Mostly due to the elastic contribution, the pressure broadening coefficients differ much from line to line, and increase markedly at low temperature. The present results are meant as a guide for future experiments and astrophysical observations.Comment: 2 figures, 2 table