918 research outputs found
Gamma Ray Fresnel lenses - why not?
Fresnel lenses offer the possibility of concentrating the flux of X-rays or
gamma-rays flux falling on a geometric area of many square metres onto a focal
point which need only be a millimetre or so in diameter (and which may even be
very much smaller). They can do so with an efficiency that can approach 100%,
and yet they are easily fabricated and have no special alignment requirements.
Fresnel lenses can offer diffraction-limited angular resolution, even in a
domain where that limit corresponds to less than a micro second of arc.
Given all these highly desirable attributes, it is natural to ask why Fresnel
gamma ray lenses are not already being used, or at least why there is not yet
any mission that plans to use the technology. Possible reasons (apart from the
obvious one that nobody thought of doing so) include the narrow bandwidth of
simple Fresnel lenses, their very long focal length, and the problems of target
finding. It is argued that none of these is a "show stopper" and that this
technique should be seriously considered for nuclear astrophysics.Comment: Presented at "Gamma Wave 2005", Bonifacio, September 2005. To be
published in "Experimental Astronomy
Quantum Fluctuations versus Topology - a Study in U(1)_2 Lattice Gauge Theory
Using the geometric definition of the topological charge we decompose the
path integral of 2-dimensional U(1) lattice gauge theory into topological
sectors. In a Monte Carlo simulation we compute the average value of the action
as well as the distribution of its values for each sector separately. These
numbers are compared with analytic lower bounds of the action which are
relevant for classical configurations carrying topological charge. We find that
quantum fluctuations entirely dominate the path integral. Our results for the
probability distribution of the Monte Carlo generated configurations among the
topological sectors can be understood by a semi-phenomenological argument.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figure
Lattice-Boltzmann Method for Geophysical Plastic Flows
We explore possible applications of the Lattice-Boltzmann Method for the
simulation of geophysical flows. This fluid solver, while successful in other
fields, is still rarely used for geotechnical applications. We show how the
standard method can be modified to represent free-surface realization of
mudflows, debris flows, and in general any plastic flow, through the
implementation of a Bingham constitutive model. The chapter is completed by an
example of a full-scale simulation of a plastic fluid flowing down an inclined
channel and depositing on a flat surface. An application is given, where the
fluid interacts with a vertical obstacle in the channel.Comment: in W. Wu, R.I. Borja (Edts.) Recent advances in modelling landslides
and debris flow, Springer Series in Geomechanics and Geoengineering (2014),
ISBN 978-3-319-11052-3, pp. 131-14
Modern nuclear force predictions for the neutron-deuteron scattering lengths
The nd doublet and quartet scattering lengths have been calculated based on
the modern NN and 3N interactions. We also studied the effect of the
electromagnetic interactions in the form introduced in AV18. Switching them off
for the various nuclear force models leads to shifts of up to +0.04 fm for
doublet scattering length, which is significant for present day standards. The
electromagnetic effects have also a noticeable effect on quartet scattering
length, which otherwise is extremely stable under the exchange of the nuclear
forces. For the current nuclear force models there is a strong scatter of the
3H binding energy and the doublet scattering length values around an averaged
straight line (Phillips line). This allows to use doublet scattering length and
the 3H binding energy as independent low energy observables.Comment: 16 pages, 1 table, 4 ps figure
The extended empirical process test for non-Gaussianity in the CMB, with an application to non-Gaussian inflationary models
In (Hansen et al. 2002) we presented a new approach for measuring
non-Gaussianity of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) anisotropy pattern,
based on the multivariate empirical distribution function of the spherical
harmonics a_lm of a CMB map. The present paper builds upon the same ideas and
proposes several improvements and extensions. More precisely, we exploit the
additional information on the random phases of the a_lm to provide further
tests based on the empirical distribution function. Also we take advantage of
the effect of rotations in improving the power of our procedures. The suggested
tests are implemented on physically motivated models of non-Gaussian fields;
Monte-Carlo simulations suggest that this approach may be very promising in the
analysis of non-Gaussianity generated by non-standard models of inflation. We
address also some experimentally meaningful situations, such as the presence of
instrumental noise and a galactic cut in the map.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Universal Correlations in Pion-less EFT with the Resonating Group Model: Three and Four Nucleons
The Effective Field Theory "without pions" at next-to-leading order is used
to analyze universal bound state and scattering properties of the 3- and
4-nucleon system. Results of a variety of phase shift equivalent nuclear
potentials are presented for bound state properties of 3H and 4He, and for the
singlet S-wave 3He-neutron scattering length a_0(3He-n). The calculations are
performed with the Refined Resonating Group Method and include a full treatment
of the Coulomb interaction and the leading-order 3-nucleon interaction. The
results compare favorably with data and values from AV18(+UIX) model
calculations. A new correlation between a_0(3He-n) and the 3H binding energy is
found. Furthermore, we confirm at next-to-leading order the correlations,
already found at leading-order, between the 3H binding energy and the 3H charge
radius, and the Tjon line. With the 3H binding energy as input, we get
predictions of the Effective Field Theory "without pions" at next-to-leading
order for the root mean square charge radius of 3H of (1.6\pm 0.2) fm, for the
4He binding energy of (28\pm 2.5) MeV, and for Re(a_0(3He-n)) of (7.5\pm
0.6)fm. Including the Coulomb interaction, the splitting in binding energy
between 3H and 3He is found to be (0.66\pm 0.03) MeV. The discrepancy to data
of (0.10\mp 0.03) MeV is model independently attributed to higher order charge
independence breaking interactions. We also demonstrate that different results
for the same observable stem from higher order effects, and carefully assess
that numerical uncertainties are negligible. Our results demonstrate the
convergence and usefulness of the pion-less theory at next-to-leading order in
the 4He channel. We conclude that no 4-nucleon interaction is needed to
renormalize the theory at next-to-leading order in the 4-nucleon sector.Comment: 24 pages revtex4, including 8 figures as .eps files embedded with
includegraphicx, leading-order results added, calculations include the LO
three-nucleon interaction explicitly, comment on Wigner bound added, minor
modification
Green functions for generalized point interactions in 1D: A scattering approach
Recently, general point interactions in one dimension has been used to model
a large number of different phenomena in quantum mechanics. Such potentials,
however, requires some sort of regularization to lead to meaningful results.
The usual ways to do so rely on technicalities which may hide important
physical aspects of the problem. In this work we present a new method to
calculate the exact Green functions for general point interactions in 1D. Our
approach differs from previous ones because it is based only on physical
quantities, namely, the scattering coefficients, and , to construct .
Renormalization or particular mathematical prescriptions are not invoked. The
simple formulation of the method makes it easy to extend to more general
contexts, such as for lattices of general point interactions; on a line; on
a half-line; under periodic boundary conditions; and confined in a box.Comment: Revtex, 9 pages, 3 EPS figures. To be published in PR
CP--odd Correlation in the Decay of Neutral Higgs Boson into , , or
We investigate the possibility of detecting CP--odd angular correlations in
the various decay modes of the neutral Higgs boson including the modes of a
pair, a pair, or a heavy quark pair. It is a natural way to probe
the CP character of the Higgs boson once it is identified. Final state
interactions (i.e. the absorptive decay amplitude) is not required in such
correlations. As an illustrative example we take the fundamental source of the
CP nonconservation to be in the Yukawa couplings of the Higgs boson to the
heavy fermions. A similar correlation in the process is
also proposed. Our analysis of these correlations will be useful for
experiments in future colliders such as LEP II, SSC, LHC or NLC.Comment: 16 pages, plus 8 postscript graphs not posted befor
Changes in European wind energy generation potential within a 1.5°C warmer world
Global climate model simulations from the "Half a degree Additional warming, Prognosis and Projected Impacts" (HAPPI) project were used to assess how wind power generation over Europe would change in a future world where global temperatures reach 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. Comparing recent historical (2006-2015) and future 1.5°C forcing experiments highlights that the climate models demonstrate a northward shift in the Atlantic jet, leading to a significant (p<0.01) increase in surface winds over the UK and Northern Europe and a significant (p<0.05) reduction over Southern Europe. The northward shift of the jet is in agreement with other studies. We use a wind turbine power model to transform daily near-surface (10 m) wind speeds into daily wind power output, accounting for sub-daily variability, the height of the turbine, and power losses due to transmission and distribution of electricity. To reduce regional model biases we use bias-corrected 10 m wind speeds. We see an increase in power generation potential over much of Europe, with the greatest increase in load factor over the UK of around four percentage points. Increases in variability are seen over much of central and northern Europe with the largest seasonal change in summer. Focusing on the UK, we find that wind energy production during spring and autumn under 1.5°C forcing would become as productive as it is currently during the peak winter season. Similarly, summer winds would increase driving up wind generation to resemble levels currently seen in spring and autumn. We conclude that the potential for wind energy in Northern Europe may be greater than has been previously assumed, with likely increases even in a 1.5°C warmer world. While there is the potential for Southern Europe to see a reduction in their wind resource, these decreases are likely to be negligible
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