30,208 research outputs found
Towards the timely detection of toxicants
We address the problem of enhancing the sensitivity of biosensors to the
influence of toxicants, with an entropy method of analysis, denoted as
CASSANDRA, recently invented for the specific purpose of studying
non-stationary time series. We study the specific case where the toxicant is
tetrodotoxin. This is a very poisonous substance that yields an abrupt drop of
the rate of spike production at t approximatively 170 minutes when the
concentration of toxicant is 4 nanomoles. The CASSANDRA algorithm reveals the
influence of toxicants thirty minutes prior to the drop in rate at a
concentration of toxicant equal to 2 nanomoles. We argue that the success of
this method of analysis rests on the adoption of a new perspective of
complexity, interpreted as a condition intermediate between the dynamic and the
thermodynamic state.Comment: 6 pages and 3 figures. Accepted for publication in the special issue
of Chaos Solitons and Fractal dedicated to the conference "Non-stationary
Time Series: A Theoretical, Computational and Practical Challenge", Center
for Nonlinear Science at University of North Texas, from October 13 to
October 19, 2002, Denton, TX (USA
Matrix string states in pure 2d Yang Mills theories
We quantize pure 2d Yang-Mills theory on a torus in the gauge where the field
strength is diagonal. Because of the topological obstructions to a global
smooth diagonalization, we find string-like states in the spectrum similar to
the ones introduced by various authors in Matrix string theory. We write
explicitly the partition function, which generalizes the one already known in
the literature, and we discuss the role of these states in preserving modular
invariance. Some speculations are presented about the interpretation of 2d
Yang-Mills theory as a Matrix string theory.Comment: Latex file of 38 pages plus 6 eps figures. A note and few references
added, figures improve
Confinement, quark mass functions, and spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking in Minkowski space
We formulate the covariant equations for quark-antiquark bound states in
Minkowski space in the framework of the Covariant Spectator Theory. The quark
propagators are dressed with the same kernel that describes the interaction
between different quarks. We show that these equations are charge-conjugation
invariant, and that in the chiral limit of vanishing bare quark mass, a
massless pseudoscalar bound state is produced in a Nambu-Jona-Lasinio (NJL)
mechanism, which is associated with the Goldstone boson of spontaneous chiral
symmetry breaking. In this introductory paper, we test the formalism by using a
simplified kernel consisting of a momentum-space delta-function with a vector
Lorentz structure, to which one adds a mixed scalar and vector confining
interaction. The scalar part of the confining interaction is not chirally
invariant by itself, but decouples from the equations in the chiral limit and
therefore allows the NJL mechanism to work. With this model we calculate the
quark mass function, and we compare our Minkowski-space results to lattice QCD
data obtained in Euclidean space. In a companion paper, we apply this formalism
to a calculation of the pion form factor.Comment: 17 pages, 12 figures, version published in Phys. Rev.
Pion electromagnetic form factor in the Covariant Spectator Theory
The pion electromagnetic form factor at spacelike momentum transfer is
calculated in relativistic impulse approximation using the Covariant Spectator
Theory. The same dressed quark mass function and the equation for the pion
bound-state vertex function as discussed in the companion paper are used for
the calculation, together with a dressed quark current that satisfies the
Ward-Takahashi identity. The results obtained for the pion form factor are in
agreement with experimental data, they exhibit the typical monopole behavior at
high-momentum transfer, and they satisfy some remarkable scaling relations.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, version published in Phys. Rev.
Two-pion exchange potential and the amplitude
We discuss the two-pion exchange potential which emerges from a box diagram
with one nucleon (the spectator) restricted to its mass shell, and the other
nucleon line replaced by a subtracted, covariant scattering amplitude
which includes , Roper, and isobars, as well as contact terms
and off-shell (non-pole) dressed nucleon terms. The amplitude satisfies
chiral symmetry constraints and fits data below 700 MeV pion
energy. We find that this TPE potential can be well approximated by the
exchange of an effective sigma and delta meson, with parameters close to the
ones used in one-boson-exchange models that fit data below the pion
production threshold.Comment: 9 pages (RevTex) and 7 postscript figures, in one uuencoded gzipped
tar fil
Sound propagation in a cylindrical Bose-condensed gas
We study the normal modes of a cylindrical Bose condensate at using
the linearized time-dependent Gross-Pitaevskii equation in the Thomas-Fermi
limit. These modes are relevant to the recent observation of pulse propagation
in long, cigar-shaped traps. We find that pulses generated in a cylindrical
condensate propagate with little spread at a speed ,
where is the average density of the condensate over its
cross-sectional area.Comment: 4 pages, 2 Postscript figure
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