2,772 research outputs found
The Off-Shell Nucleon-Nucleon Amplitude: Why it is Unmeasurable in Nucleon-Nucleon Bremsstrahlung
Nucleon-nucleon bremsstrahlung has long been considered a way of getting
information about the off-shell nucleon-nucleon amplitude which would allow one
to distinguish among nucleon-nucleon potentials based on their off-shell
properties. There have been many calculations and many experiments devoted to
this aim. We show here, in contrast to this standard view, that such off-shell
amplitudes are not measurable as a matter of principle. This follows formally
from the invariance of the S-matrix under transformations of the fields. This
result is discussed here and illustrated via two simple models, one applying to
spin zero, and one to spin one half, processes. The latter model is very
closely related to phenomenological models which have been used to study
off-shell effects at electromagnetic vertices.Comment: 6 pages, Latex, uses FBSsuppl.cls - Invited plenary talk at the Asia
Pacific Conference on Few Body Problems in Physics, Noda/Kashiwa, Japan,
August, 1999 - To be published in Few Body Systems Supp
High magnetic field superconducting properties of Nb3Sn films Final report
High magnetic field superconducting properties of niobium stannide films and shielding characterictics of stannide layer
News and narratives in financial systems: Exploiting big data for systemic risk assessment
This paper applies algorithmic analysis to financial market text-based data to assess how narratives and sentiment might drive financial system developments. We find changes in emotional content in narratives are highly correlated across data sources and show the formation (and subsequent collapse) of exuberance prior to the global financial crisis. Our metrics also have predictive power for other commonly used indicators of sentiment and appear to influence economic variables. A novel machine learning application also points towards increasing consensus around the strongly positive narrative prior to the crisis. Together, our metrics might help to warn about impending financial system distress
The evolutionary state of the southern dense core Cha-MMS1
Aims: Our goal is to set constraints on the evolutionary state of the dense
core Cha-MMS1 in the Chamaeleon I molecular cloud. Methods: We analyze
molecular line observations carried out with the new submillimeter telescope
APEX. We look for outflow signatures around the dense core and probe its
chemical structure, which we compare to predictions of models of gas-phase
chemistry. We also use the public database of the Spitzer Space Telescope (SST)
to compare Cha-MMS1 with the two Class 0 protostars IRAM 04191 and L1521F,
which are at the same distance. Results: We measure a large deuterium
fractionation for N2H+ (11 +/- 3 %), intermediate between the prestellar core
L1544 and the very young Class 0 protostar L1521F. It is larger than for HCO+
(2.5 +/- 0.9 %), which is probably the result of depletion removing HCO+ from
the high-density inner region. Our CO(3-2) map reveals the presence of a
bipolar outflow driven by the Class I protostar Ced 110 IRS 4 but we do not
find evidence for an outflow powered by Cha-MMS1. We also report the detection
of Cha-MMS1 at 24, 70 and 160 microns by the instrument MIPS of the SST, at a
level nearly an order of magnitude lower than IRAM 04191 and L1521F.
Conclusions: Cha-MMS1 appears to have already formed a compact object, either
the first hydrostatic core at the very end of the prestellar phase, or an
extremely young protostar that has not yet powered any outflow, at the very
beginning of the Class 0 accretion phase.Comment: Accepted by Astronomy & Astrophysics as a letter, to appear in the
special issue on the APEX first result
Anomalous radio emission from dust in the Helix
A byproduct of experiments designed to map the CMB is the recent detection of
a new component of foreground Galactic emission. The anomalous foreground at ~
10--30 GHz, unexplained by traditional emission mechanisms, correlates with
100um dust emission. We report that in the Helix the emission at 31 GHz and
100um are well correlated, and exhibit similar features on sky images, which
are absent in H\beta. Upper limits on the 250 GHz continuum emission in the
Helix rule out cold grains as candidates for the 31 GHz emission, and provide
spectroscopic evidence for an excess at 31 GHz over bremsstrahlung. We estimate
that the 100um-correlated radio emission, presumably due to dust, accounts for
at least 20% of the 31 GHz emission in the Helix. This result strengthens
previous tentative interpretations of diffuse ISM spectra involving a new dust
emission mechanism at radio frequencies. Very small grains have not been
detected in the Helix, which hampers interpreting the new component in terms of
spinning dust. The observed iron depletion in the Helix favors considering the
identity of this new component to be magnetic dipole emission from hot
ferromagnetic grains. The reduced level of free-free continuum we report also
implies an electronic temperature of Te=4600\pm1200K for the free-free emitting
material, which is significantly lower than the temperature of 9500\pm500K
inferred from collisionally-excited lines (abridged).Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap
Minimally-destructive detection of magnetically-trapped atoms using frequency-synthesised light
We present a technique for atomic density measurements by the off-resonant
phase-shift induced on a two-frequency, coherently-synthesised light beam. We
have used this scheme to measure the column density of a magnetically trapped
atom cloud and to monitor oscillations of the cloud in real time by making over
a hundred non-destructive local density measurments. For measurements using
pulses of 10,000-100,000 photons lasting ~10 microsecond, the precision is
limited by statistics of the photons and the photodiode avalanche. We explore
the relationship between measurement precision and the unwanted loss of atoms
from the trap and introduce a figure of merit that characterises it. This
method can be used to probe the density of a BEC with minimal disturbance of
its phase.Comment: Submitted to New Journal of Physic
The Papoose Flat Pluton of eastern California: a reassessment of its emplacement history in the light of new microstructural and crystallographic fabric observations
One of the most outstanding apparent examples in N America of a forcibly emplaced pluton is the Papoose Flat Pluton of eastern California. Sideways expansion of this granitic pluton, during emplacement into a series of Cambrian shelf strata, has been regarded by early workers as resulting in the observed intense crystal plastic deformation of the pluton's mylonitic border facies and surrounding country rocks. This deformation is evidenced by up to 90% thinning of individual stratigraphic layers within the pluton's metamorphic aureole, although such intense penetrative deformation of the country rocks is not observed outside the aureole. Previously published quartz c-axis fabrics associated with this deformation (and presented on projection planes oriented perpendicular to lineation) were interpreted as being symmetrical with respect to foliation and lineation, implying almost coaxial deformation histories. Such fabrics could be interpreted as indicating that the pluton evolved by "ballooning” as a result of new magma being intruded into its core during emplacement. However, a major problem with applying the strict ballooning model to the Papoose Flat Pluton is that while oblate strains would be expected to develop in association with a ballooning mechanism, the mylonitic rocks of this elongate WNW-ESE-trending pluton and its aureole are characterised by both a strongly developed foliation, which is concordant with the pluton's margin, and an intense, NW-SE trending, shallow plunging stretching lineation. Previously published fabrics from the Papoose Flat Pluton and its metamorphic aureole have been rotated on to a projection plane oriented parallel to lineation and perpendicular to foliation. Examination of the fabrics in this projection plane has revealed that they are in fact dominantly asymmetric, and that a constant sense of asymmetry is detected across the pluton, suggesting a consistent (top-to-the-SE) shear-sense. This new interpretation is strongly supported by microstructural and petrofabric analysis of additional L-S tectonites collected, during recent fieldwork, from both the aureole and quartz veins within the pluton's gneissic border facies. Thus mylonite formation around the Papoose Flat Pluton could have involved large-scale consistently oriented translation and associated shearing, rather than passive "blister-like” coaxial deformation associated with pluton ballooning. It should be noted that mylonitic deformation is restricted to the western half of the pluton, features indicative of a more "permitted” emplacement mechanism being found in the eastern portion of the pluton. The detected top-to-the-SE shear-sense could be interpreted as indicating that the granitic material forming the western part of the pluton was forcibly intruded in a northwestward direction from the pluton source as a nearly solidified wedge beneath a static cover of sedimentary rocks. Alternatively, the detected shear sense could also be interpreted as indicating SE-directed thrusting of the cover rocks over the underlying pluton, the western margin of the pluton suffering intense mylonitic deformation, while the eastern margin was located in a "stress-shadow” region. If this alternative interpretation is correct, then the deformation temperatures indicated by the pattern of quartz c-axis fabrics dictate that thrusting must either be synchronous with pluton emplacement, or at least have commenced during the early stages of pluton coolin
Tubular carbonate concretions as hydrocarbon migration pathways? Examples from North Island, New Zealand
Cold seep carbonate deposits are associated with the development on the sea floor of distinctive chemosyn¬thetic animal communities and carbonate minerali¬sation as a consequence of microbially mediated anaerobic oxidation of methane. Several possible sources of the methane exist, identifiable from the carbon isotope values of the carbonate precipitates. In the modern, seep carbonates can occur on the sea floor above petroleum reservoirs where an important origin can be from ascending thermogenic hydrocar¬bons. The character of geological structures marking the ascent pathways from deep in the subsurface to shallow subsurface levels are poorly understood, but one such structure resulting from focused fluid flow may be tubular carbonate concretions.
Several mudrock-dominated Cenozoic (especially Miocene) sedimentary formations in the North Island of New Zealand include carbonate concretions having a wide range of tubular morphologies. The concretions are typically oriented at high angles to bedding, and often have a central conduit that is either empty or filled with late stage cements. Stable isotope analyses (δ13C, δ18O) suggest that the carbonate cements in the concretions precipitated mainly from ascending methane, likely sourced from a mixture of deep thermogenic and shallow biogenic sources. A clear link between the tubular concretions and overlying paleo-sea floor seep-carbonate deposits exists at some sites.
We suggest that the tubular carbonate concretions mark the subsurface plumbing network of cold seep systems. When exposed and accessible in outcrop, they afford an opportunity to investigate the geochemical evolution of cold seeps, and possibly also the nature of linkages between subsurface and surface portions of such a system. Seep field development has implications for the characterisation of fluid flow in sedimentary basins, for the global carbon cycle, for exerting a biogeochemical influence on the development of marine communities, and for the evaluation of future hydrocarbon resources, recovery, and drilling and production hazards. These matters remain to be fully assessed within a petroleum systems framework for New Zealand’s Cenozoic sedimentary basins
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