20,987 research outputs found
Twisting Null Geodesic Congruences, Scri, H-Space and Spin-Angular Momentum
The purpose of this work is to return, with a new observation and rather
unconventional point of view, to the study of asymptotically flat solutions of
Einstein equations. The essential observation is that from a given
asymptotically flat space-time with a given Bondi shear, one can find (by
integrating a partial differential equation) a class of asymptotically
shear-free (but, in general, twistiing) null geodesic congruences. The class is
uniquely given up to the arbitrary choice of a complex analytic world-line in a
four-parameter complex space. Surprisingly this parameter space turns out to be
the H-space that is associated with the real physical space-time under
consideration. The main development in this work is the demonstration of how
this complex world-line can be made both unique and also given a physical
meaning. More specifically by forcing or requiring a certain term in the
asymptotic Weyl tensor to vanish, the world-line is uniquely determined and
becomes (by several arguments) identified as the `complex center-of-mass'.
Roughly, its imaginary part becomes identified with the intrinsic spin-angular
momentum while the real part yields the orbital angular momentum.Comment: 26 pages, authors were relisted alphabeticall
MonALISA : A Distributed Monitoring Service Architecture
The MonALISA (Monitoring Agents in A Large Integrated Services Architecture)
system provides a distributed monitoring service. MonALISA is based on a
scalable Dynamic Distributed Services Architecture which is designed to meet
the needs of physics collaborations for monitoring global Grid systems, and is
implemented using JINI/JAVA and WSDL/SOAP technologies. The scalability of the
system derives from the use of multithreaded Station Servers to host a variety
of loosely coupled self-describing dynamic services, the ability of each
service to register itself and then to be discovered and used by any other
services, or clients that require such information, and the ability of all
services and clients subscribing to a set of events (state changes) in the
system to be notified automatically. The framework integrates several existing
monitoring tools and procedures to collect parameters describing computational
nodes, applications and network performance. It has built-in SNMP support and
network-performance monitoring algorithms that enable it to monitor end-to-end
network performance as well as the performance and state of site facilities in
a Grid. MonALISA is currently running around the clock on the US CMS test Grid
as well as an increasing number of other sites. It is also being used to
monitor the performance and optimize the interconnections among the reflectors
in the VRVS system.Comment: Talk from the 2003 Computing in High Energy and Nuclear Physics
(CHEP03), La Jolla, Ca, USA, March 2003, 8 pages, pdf. PSN MOET00
CR Structures and Asymptotically Flat Space-Times
We discuss the unique existence, arising by analogy to that in algebraically
special space-times, of a CR structure realized on null infinity for any
asymptotically flat Einstein or Einstein-Maxwell space-time.Comment: 6 page
Percolation and epidemics in a two-dimensional small world
Percolation on two-dimensional small-world networks has been proposed as a
model for the spread of plant diseases. In this paper we give an analytic
solution of this model using a combination of generating function methods and
high-order series expansion. Our solution gives accurate predictions for
quantities such as the position of the percolation threshold and the typical
size of disease outbreaks as a function of the density of "shortcuts" in the
small-world network. Our results agree with scaling hypotheses and numerical
simulations for the same model.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, 2 table
A Cosmic Battery
We show that the Poynting-Robertson drag effect in an optically thin
advection-dominated accretion flow around active gravitating objects generates
strong azimuthal electric currents which give rise to astrophysically
significant magnetic fields. Although the mechanism is most effective in
accreting compact objects, it seems very promising to also account for the
generation of stellar dipolar fields during the late protostellar collapse
phase, when the star approaches the main sequence.Comment: 12 pages Latex, 1 postscript figure, to appear in the Astrophysical
Journa
Bounds for the time to failure of hierarchical systems of fracture
For years limited Monte Carlo simulations have led to the suspicion that the
time to failure of hierarchically organized load-transfer models of fracture is
non-zero for sets of infinite size. This fact could have a profound
significance in engineering practice and also in geophysics. Here, we develop
an exact algebraic iterative method to compute the successive time intervals
for individual breaking in systems of height in terms of the information
calculated in the previous height . As a byproduct of this method,
rigorous lower and higher bounds for the time to failure of very large systems
are easily obtained. The asymptotic behavior of the resulting lower bound leads
to the evidence that the above mentioned suspicion is actually true.Comment: Final version. To appear in Phys. Rev. E, Feb 199
Testing formula satisfaction
We study the query complexity of testing for properties defined by read once formulae, as instances of massively parametrized properties, and prove several testability and non-testability results. First we prove the testability of any property accepted by a Boolean read-once formula involving any bounded arity gates, with a number of queries exponential in \epsilon and independent of all other parameters. When the gates are limited to being monotone, we prove that there is an estimation algorithm, that outputs an approximation of the distance of the input from
satisfying the property. For formulae only involving And/Or gates, we provide a more efficient test whose query complexity is only quasi-polynomial in \epsilon. On the other hand we show that such testability results do not hold in general for formulae over non-Boolean alphabets; specifically we construct a property defined by a read-once arity 2 (non-Boolean) formula over alphabets of size 4, such that any 1/4-test for it requires a number of queries depending on the formula size
Maxwell Fields and Shear-Free Null Geodesic Congruences
We study and report on the class of vacuum Maxwell fields in Minkowski space
that possess a non-degenerate, diverging, principle null vector field (null
eigenvector field of the Maxwell tensor) that is tangent to a shear-free null
geodesics congruence. These congruences can be either surface forming (the
tangent vectors proportional to gradients) or not, i.e., the twisting
congruences. In the non-twisting case, the associated Maxwell fields are
precisely the Lienard-Wiechert fields, i.e., those Maxwell fields arising from
an electric monopole moving on an arbitrary worldline. The null geodesic
congruence is given by the generators of the light-cones with apex on the
world-line. The twisting case is much richer, more interesting and far more
complicated. In a twisting subcase, where our main interests lie, it can be
given the following strange interpretation. If we allow the real Minkowski
space to be complexified so that the real Minkowski coordinates x^a take
complex values, i.e., x^a => z^a=x^a+iy^a with complex metric g=eta_abdz^adz^b,
the real vacuum Maxwell equations can be extended into the complex and
rewritten as curlW =iWdot, divW with W =E+iB. This subcase of Maxwell fields
can then be extended into the complex so as to have as source, a complex
analytic world-line, i.e., to now become complex Lienard-Wiechart fields. When
viewed as real fields on the real Minkowski space, z^a=x^a, they possess a real
principle null vector that is shear-free but twisting and diverging. The twist
is a measure of how far the complex world-line is from the real 'slice'. Most
Maxwell fields in this subcase are asymptotically flat with a time-varying set
of electric and magnetic moments, all depending on the complex displacements
and the complex velocities.Comment: 3
Probabilistic Approach to Time-Dependent Load-Transfer Models of Fracture
A probabilistic method for solving time-dependent load-transfer models of
fracture is developed. It is applicable to any rule of load redistribution,
i.e, local, hierarchical, etc. In the new method, the fluctuations are
generated during the breaking process (annealed randomness) while in the usual
method, the random lifetimes are fixed at the beginning (quenched disorder).
Both approaches are equivalent.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures. To appear in Phys.Rev.
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