19,332 research outputs found
XY Spin Fluid in an External Magnetic Field
A method of integral equations is developed to study inhomogeneous fluids
with planar spins in an external field. As a result, the calculations for these
systems appear to be no more difficult than those for ordinary homogeneous
liquids. The approach proposed is applied to the ferromagnetic XY spin fluid in
a magnetic field using a soft mean spherical closure and the Born-Green-Yvon
equation. This provides an accurate reproduction of the complicated phase
diagram behavior obtained by cumbersome Gibbs ensemble simulation and multiple
histogram reweighting techniques.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
Faraday rotation spectra of bismuth-substituted ferrite garnet films with in-plane magnetization
Single crystalline films of bismuth-substituted ferrite garnets have been
synthesized by the liquid phase epitaxy method where GGG substrates are dipped
into the flux. The growth parameters are controlled to obtain films with
in-plane magnetization and virtually no domain activity, which makes them
excellently suited for magnetooptic imaging. The Faraday rotation spectra were
measured across the visible range of wavelengths. To interprete the spectra we
present a simple model based on the existence of two optical transitions of
diamagnetic character, one tetrahedral and one octahedral. We find excellent
agreement between the model and our experimental results for photon energies
between 1.77 and 2.53 eV, corresponding to wavelengths between 700 and 490 nm.
It is shown that the Faraday rotation changes significantly with the amount of
substituted gallium and bismuth. Furthermore, the experimental results suggest
that the magnetooptic response changes linearly with the bismuth substitution.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, published in Phys. Rev.
Crowding of Polymer Coils and Demixing in Nanoparticle-Polymer Mixtures
The Asakura-Oosawa-Vrij (AOV) model of colloid-polymer mixtures idealizes
nonadsorbing polymers as effective spheres that are fixed in size and
impenetrable to hard particles. Real polymer coils, however, are intrinsically
polydisperse in size (radius of gyration) and may be penetrated by smaller
particles. Crowding by nanoparticles can affect the size distribution of
polymer coils, thereby modifying effective depletion interactions and
thermodynamic stability. To analyse the influence of crowding on polymer
conformations and demixing phase behaviour, we adapt the AOV model to mixtures
of nanoparticles and ideal, penetrable polymer coils that can vary in size. We
perform Gibbs ensemble Monte Carlo simulations, including trial
nanoparticle-polymer overlaps and variations in radius of gyration. Results are
compared with predictions of free-volume theory. Simulation and theory
consistently predict that ideal polymers are compressed by nanoparticles and
that compressibility and penetrability stabilise nanoparticle-polymer mixtures.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figure
Statistically derived contributions of diverse human influences to twentieth-century temperature changes
The warming of the climate system is unequivocal as evidenced by an increase in global temperatures by 0.8â°C over the past century. However, the attribution of the observed warming to human activities remains less clear, particularly because of the apparent slow-down in warming since the late 1990s. Here we analyse radiative forcing and temperature time series with state-of-the-art statistical methods to address this question without climate model simulations. We show that long-term trends in total radiative forcing and temperatures have largely been determined by atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations, and modulated by other radiative factors. We identify a pronounced increase in the growth rates of both temperatures and radiative forcing around 1960, which marks the onset of sustained global warming. Our analyses also reveal a contribution of human interventions to two periods when global warming slowed down. Our statistical analysis suggests that the reduction in the emissions of ozone-depleting substances under the Montreal Protocol, as well as a reduction in methane emissions, contributed to the lower rate of warming since the 1990s. Furthermore, we identify a contribution from the two world wars and the Great Depression to the documented cooling in the mid-twentieth century, through lower carbon dioxide emissions. We conclude that reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are effective in slowing the rate of warming in the short term.F.E. acknowledges financial support from the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia (http://www.conacyt.gob.mx) under grant CONACYT-310026, as well as from PASPA DGAPA of the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. (CONACYT-310026 - Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia; PASPA DGAPA of the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico
Adiabatically coupled systems and fractional monodromy
We present a 1-parameter family of systems with fractional monodromy and
adiabatic separation of motion. We relate the presence of monodromy to a
redistribution of states both in the quantum and semi-quantum spectrum. We show
how the fractional monodromy arises from the non diagonal action of the
dynamical symmetry of the system and manifests itself as a generic property of
an important subclass of adiabatically coupled systems
Analysis of the Dynamics of Liquid Aluminium: Recurrent Relation Approach
By use of the recurrent relation approach (RRA) we study the microscopic
dynamics of liquid aluminium at T=973 K and develop a theoretical model which
satisfies all the corresponding sum rules. The investigation covers the
inelastic features as well as the crossover of our theory into the
hydrodynamical and the free-particle regimes. A comparison between our
theoretical results with those following from a generalized hydrodynamical
approach is also presented. In addition to this we report the results of our
molecular dynamics simulations for liquid aluminium, which are also discussed
and compared to experimental data. The received results reveal that (i) the
microscopical dynamics of density fluctuations is defined mainly by the first
four even frequency moments of the dynamic structure factor, and (ii) the
inherent relation of the high-frequency collective excitations observed in
experimental spectra of dynamic structure factor with the two-,
three- and four-particle correlations.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure
Determination of the Hurst Exponent by Use of Wavelet Transforms
We propose a new method for (global) Hurst exponent determination based on
wavelets. Using this method, we analyze synthetic data with predefined Hurst
exponents, fracture surfaces and data from economy. The results are compared
with those obtained from Fourier spectral analysis. When many samples are
available, the wavelet and Fourier methods are comparable in accuracy. However,
when one or only a few samples are available, the wavelet method outperforms
the Fourier method by a large margin.Comment: 10 pages RevTeX, 13 Postscript figures. Some additional material
compared to previous versio
Liquid racism and the Danish Prophet Muhammad cartoons
This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published article is available from the link below. Copyright @ 2010 The Author.This article examines reactions to the October 2005 publication of the Prophet Muhammad cartoons in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. It does so by using the concept of âliquid racismâ. While the controversy arose because it is considered blasphemous by many Muslims to create images of the Prophet Muhammad, the article argues that the meaning of the cartoons is multidimensional, that their analysis is significantly more complex than most commentators acknowledge, and that this complexity can best be addressed via the concept of liquid racism. The article examines the liquidity of the cartoons in relation to four readings. These see the cartoons as: (1) a criticism of Islamic fundamentalism; (2) blasphemous images; (3) Islamophobic and racist; and (4) satire and a defence of freedom of speech. Finally, the relationship between postmodernity and the rise of fundamentalism is discussed because the cartoons, reactions to them, and Islamic fundamentalism, all contain an important postmodern dimension.ESR
Donor Stars in Black-Hole X-Ray Binaries
We study theoretically the formation of black-hole (BH) X-ray binaries.
Consistency of the models with the observed relative numbers of systems with
low-mass (<2 M_sun) and intermediate-mass (~2 M_sun - M_{BH}) donors leads to
severe constraints on the evolutionary parameters of the progenitors. In
particular, we find that (i) BH progenitor masses cannot exceed about 2 M_{BH};
(ii) high values of the common-envelope efficiency parameter (alpha_{CE} > 1)
are required, implying that energy sources other than orbital contraction must
be invoked to eject the envelope; (iii) the mass-loss fraction in helium-star
winds is limited to be <50%. Outside of this limited parameter space for
progenitors we find that either BH X-ray binary formation cannot occur at all
or donors do not have the full range of observed masses. We discuss the
implications of these results for the structure of massive hydrogen-rich stars,
the evolution of helium-stars, and BH formation. We also consider the possible
importance of asymmetric kicks.Comment: 29 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical
Journa
Lines, Circles, Planes and Spheres
Let be a set of points in , no three collinear and not
all coplanar. If at most are coplanar and is sufficiently large, the
total number of planes determined is at least . For similar conditions and
sufficiently large , (inspired by the work of P. D. T. A. Elliott in
\cite{Ell67}) we also show that the number of spheres determined by points
is at least , and this bound is best
possible under its hypothesis. (By , we are denoting the
maximum number of three-point lines attainable by a configuration of
points, no four collinear, in the plane, i.e., the classic Orchard Problem.)
New lower bounds are also given for both lines and circles.Comment: 37 page
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