Mapping the phase diagram of strongly interacting matter

We employ a conformal mapping to explore the thermodynamics of strongly interacting matter at finite values of the baryon chemical potential $\mu$. This method allows us to identify the singularity corresponding to the critical point of a second-order phase transition at finite $\mu$, given information only at $\mu=0$. The scheme is potentially useful for computing thermodynamic properties of strongly interacting hot and dense matter in lattice gauge theory. The technique is illustrated by an application to a chiral effective model.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures; published versio

Metatony, S-constituent linkage, and cognate objects

We examine metatony and its grammatical conditioning in an under described Edoid language of West Africa. In Emai, metatony on verbs is signaled by perfective suffix -í with underlying high tone. With a following adjunct, tone on this suffix is high and retained. When clause final, -í is retained but with low tone. When followed by a verb argument, the -í suffix is prohibited. Verbs with a following S-constituent exhibit metatonic asymmetry. Class one verbs prohibit suffix -í, treating S-constituents as verb arguments. Class two verbs require high tone -í, as if their S-constituent were an adjunct. When these same class two verbs occur with an immediately following cognate object nominal, they prohibit suffix -í. We interpret this asymmetric behavior of class two verbs in terms of boundary permeability (Berg 2014). We posit that class two forms are transitive and that their S-constituent derives historically from a complex Noun S-constituent structure that has become truncated and assumed a simple S-constituent form, having lost its erstwhile “cognate object noun.” It is thus the strict boundary for transitivity imposed by perfective suffix -í that signals a weakened status of S-constituents with class two verbs

Preverbs: Their syntax and semantics in West Africa

Preverbs are positionally-delimited grammatical forms that remain understudied. We examine their semantic classes in West Benue Congo (WBC) and its minor language Emai, which until recently was undocumented. Preverb classes in Emai display a subset of semantic categories identified in Dixon (1991, 2006, 2010) and Nuyts (2001, 2005, 2006, 2016). There are eight semantic classes for 30 odd preverb forms. They are apportioned according to their qualitative or quantitative character. Preverbs do not include traditional auxiliary categories of aspect, tense, and modality, which exhibit distinct diachronic and synchronic character. Common to preverbs is their orientation to grammatical subject, rather than utterance speaker. Members of each class ascribe a property to clausal subject. Preliminary evidence suggests that preverbs of similar semantic character exist in other West African languages

Vertical laser beam propagation through the troposphere

The characteristics of the earth's atmosphere and its effects upon laser beams was investigated in a series of balloon borne, optical propagation experiments. These experiments were designed to simulate the space to ground laser link. An experiment to determine the amplitude fluctuation, commonly called scintillation, caused by the atmosphere was described

Drift issues, late application considerations, and soybean fungicides

Offsite movement of pesticides by drift is an important consideration when making any pesticide application but can be an even greater concern when products are applied later in the growing season. There are several reasons for increased concern with later applications. One is that off-target movement of products from mid-season pesticide applications can affect non-target plants and other organisms more because they are actively growing. A common scenario illustrating this point is a postemergence-applied corn herbicide that drifts onto an emerged soybean crop versus a product that was soil-applied before soybeans were planted

The three-flavor chiral phase structure in hot and dense QCD matter

Chiral symmetry restoration at nonzero temperature and quark densities are investigated in the framework of a linear sigma model with N_f=3 light quark flavors. After the derivation of the grand potential in mean-field approximation, the nonstrange and strange condensates, the in-medium masses of the scalar and pseudoscalar nonets are analyzed in hot and dense medium. The influence of the axial anomaly on the nonet masses and the isoscalar mixings on the pseudoscalar \eta-\eta' and scalar \sigma(600)-f_0(1370) complex are examined. The sensitivity of the chiral phase transition as well as the existence and location of a critical end point in the phase diagram on the value of the sigma mass is explored. The chiral critical surface with and without the influence of the axial U(1)_A anomaly is elaborated as a function of the pion and kaon masses for several values of the sigma mass.Comment: 19 pages, 12 figures, 2 tables, RevTex4; revised version, accepted for publication in PR

Impact of the ash deposits from coal combustion on thermal conditions of the furnace pipes

One of the problems of thermal power plants is the contamination of heating surfaces that arises during the boiler unit operation while combusting the solid fuel. The main part of the energy is consumed by pipes forming the furnace. Non-combustible mineral part of the fuel in the form of the ash and slag accumulates on the heating surfaces and thereby prevents heating of the working liquid. Therefore, boiler requires higher fuel consumption to maintain the operating conditions. Violation of the thermal conditions of heating surfaces in consequence of contamination causes the negative effects on metal pipes right up to failure. This problem is urgent due to the fact that information about the process of slagging and its effect on the thermal conditions of the heating surface operation enables the possibility to minimize the negative consequences. This possibility is achieved by adjusting the thermal conditions of the combustion process in the furnace with the periodic cleaning of the heating surfaces

Using the local density approximation and the LYP, BLYP, and B3LYP functionals within Reference--State One--Particle Density--Matrix Theory

For closed-shell systems, the local density approximation (LDA) and the LYP, BLYP, and B3LYP functionals are shown to be compatible with reference-state one-particle density-matrix theory, where this recently introduced formalism is based on Brueckner-orbital theory and an energy functional that includes exact exchange and a non-universal correlation-energy functional. The method is demonstrated to reduce to a density functional theory when the exchange-correlation energy-functional has a simplified form, i.e., its integrand contains only the coordinates of two electron, say r1 and r2, and it has a Dirac delta function -- delta(r1 - r2) -- as a factor. Since Brueckner and Hartree--Fock orbitals are often very similar, any local exchange functional that works well with Hartree--Fock theory is a reasonable approximation with reference-state one-particle density-matrix theory. The LDA approximation is also a reasonable approximation. However, the Colle--Salvetti correlation-energy functional, and the LYP variant, are not ideal for the method, since these are universal functionals. Nevertheless, they appear to provide reasonable approximations. The B3LYP functional is derived using a linear combination of two functionals: One is the BLYP functional; the other uses exact exchange and a correlation-energy functional from the LDA.Comment: 26 Pages, 0 figures, RevTeX 4, Submitted to Mol. Phy

Dynamical Masses of Young Stars in Multiple Systems

We present recent measurements of the orbital motion in the young binaries DF Tau and ZZ Tau, and the hierarchical triple Elias 12, that were obtained with the Fine Guidance Sensors on the HST and at the Keck Observatory using adaptive optics. Combining these observations with previous measurements from the literature, we compute preliminary orbital parameters for DF Tau and ZZ Tau. We find that the orbital elements cannot yet be determined precisely because the orbital coverage spans only about 90 degr in position angle. Nonetheless, the range of possible values for the period and semi-major axis already defines a useful estimate for the total mass in DF Tau and ZZ Tau, with values of 0.90{+0.85}{-0.35} M_sun and 0.81{+0.44}{-0.25} M_sun, respectively, at a fiducial distance of 140 pc.Comment: 26 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in A

Gamma-Ray Bursts and Dark Energy - Dark Matter interaction

In this work Gamma Ray Burst (GRB) data is used to place constraints on a putative coupling between dark energy and dark matter. Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) constraints from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey II (SDSS-II) first-year results, the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR) shift parameter from WMAP seven year results and the baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) peak from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) are also discussed. The prospects for the field are assessed, as more GRB events become available.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures. Version to match the one published in Mon. Not. R. Ast. So