25,965 research outputs found
Either or neither, but not both : locating the effects of masked primes
Execution of a response that has been primed by a backward-masked stimulus is inhibited (negative compatibility effect; NCE). Three experiments investigated the locus of this inhibition. Masked primes (left- or right-pointing arrows) were followed either by an arrow or a circle target. Arrow targets always required a left- or right-hand response, but the experiments differed in the response required to circles: press neither, either or both response keys (i.e. nogo, free choice and bimanual, respectively). Arrow targets showed the usual NCEs. Circle targets showed NCEs in the form of a response bias away from the primed response in the nogo and free-choice tasks; primes and targets differed on these trials, ruling out a perceptual explanation of the NCE. The bimanual task showed no such bias, suggesting that the NCE is located at a level of abstract response codes rather than specific muscle commands
Bi-Lipschitz geometry of weighted homogeneous surface singularities
We show that a weighted homogeneous complex surface singularity is metrically
conical (i.e., bi-Lipschitz equivalent to a metric cone) only if its two lowest
weights are equal. We also give an example of a pair of weighted homogeneous
complex surface singularities that are topologically equivalent but not
bi-Lipschitz equivalent.Comment: 5 pages. Added result that nonhomogeneous cyclic quotients are not
conica
The 2-generalized knot group determines the knot
Generalized knot groups were introduced independently by Kelly
(1991) and Wada (1992). We prove that determines the unoriented knot
type and sketch a proof of the same for for .Comment: 4 page
Comment on "138La-138Ce-136Ce nuclear cosmochronometer of the supernova neutrino process"
The nuclear chosmochronometer suggested by Hayakawa et al. [Phys. Rev.C 77,
065802 (2008)] based on the 138La-138Ce-136Ce abundance ratio in presolar
grains would be affected by the existence of a hitherto unknown low-energy 1+
state in 138La. Results of a recent high-resolution study of the 138Ba(3He,t)
reaction under kinematics selectively populating 1+ states in 138La through
Gamow-Teller transitions provides strong evidence against the existence of such
a hypothetical state.Comment: Comment on Phys. Rev. C 77, 065802 (2008), submittted to Phys. Rev.
Electric dipole response of 208Pb from proton inelastic scattering: constraints on neutron skin thickness and symmetry energy
The electric dipole (E1) response of 208Pb has been precisely determined by
measuring Coulomb excitation induced by proton scattering at very forward
angles. The electric dipole polarizability, defined as inverse energy-weighted
sum rule of the E1 strength, has been extracted as 20.1+-0.6 fm^3. The data can
be used to constrain the neutron skin thickness of 208Pb to
0.168(+-0.009)_expt(+-0.013)_theo(+-0.021)_est fm, where the subscript "expt"
refers to the experimental uncertainty, "theor" to the theoretical confidence
band and "est" to the uncertainty associated with the estimation of the
symmetry energy at the saturation density. In addition, a constraint band has
been extracted in the plane of the symmetry energy (J) and its slope parameter
(L) at the saturation density.Comment: 6 pages, 8 figures, revised manuscript submitted to special volume of
Eur. Phys. J. A on symmetry energ
On the Sharpness and Bias of Quantum Effects
The question of quantifying the sharpness (or unsharpness) of a quantum
mechanical effect is investigated. Apart from sharpness, another property,
bias, is found to be relevant for the joint measurability or coexistence of two
effects. Measures of bias will be defined and examples given.Comment: Substantially expanded version, with new results and some proofs
correcte
Properties of the first excited state of 9Be derived from (gamma,n) and (e,e') reactions
Properties of the first excited state of the nucleus 9Be are discussed based
on recent (e,e') and (gamma,n) experiments. The parameters of an R-matrix
analysis of different data sets are consistent with a resonance rather than a
virtual state predicted by some model calculations. The energy and the width of
the resonance are deduced. Their values are rather similar for all data sets,
and the energy proves to be negative. It is argued that the disagreement
between the extracted B(E1) values may stem from different ways of integration
of the resonance. If corrected, fair agreement between the (e,e') and one of
the (gamma,n) data sets is found. A recent (gamma,n) experiment at the HIgS
facility exhibits larger cross sections close to the neutron threshold which
remain to be explained.Comment: 5 pages, accepted fro publication in Phys. Rev.
Solid-State Excitation Laser for Laser-Ultrasonics
The inspection speed of laser-ultrasonics compared with conventional ultrasonic testing is limited by the pulse repetition rate of the excitation laser. The maximum pulse repetition rate reported up to now for CO2-lasers, which are presently used for nearly all systems, is in the range of 400 Hz. In this paper a new approach based on a diode-pumped solid-state laser is discussed, which is currently being developed. This new excitation laser is designed for a repetition rate of 1 kHz and will operate at a mid-IR wavelength of 3.3 m. The higher repeti-tion rate enables a higher inspection speed, whereas the mid-IR wavelength anticipates a better coupling efficiency. The total power for pumping the laser crystals is transported via flexible optical fibres to the compact laser head, thus allowing operation on a robot arm. The laser head consists of a master oscillator feeding several lines of power amplifiers and in-cludes nonlinear optical wavelength conversion by an optical parametric process. It is char-acterized by a modular construction which provides optimal conditions for operation at high average power as well as for easy maintenance. These features will enable building reliable, long-lived, rugged, smart laser ultrasonic systems in futur
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