20,960 research outputs found
Hinting at primary composition using asymmetries in time distributions
Evidence of azimuthal asymmetries in the time structure and signal size have
been found in non-vertical showers at the Pierre Auger Observatory. It has been
previously shown that the asymmetry in time distributions offers a new
possibility for the determination of the mass composition. New studies have
demonstrated that the dependence of the asymmetry parameter in the rise-time
and fall-time distributions with sec(theta) shows a clear peak. Both, the
position of the peak, X_asymax, and the size of the asymmetry at X_asymax are
sensitive to primary mass composition and have a small dependence on energy. In
this paper a study of the discriminating power of the new observables to
separate primary species is presented.Comment: To be published in the Proceedings of 29th International Cosmic Ray
Conference (ICRC 2005), Pune, India, August 3-10, 200
Comment on the Adiabatic Condition
The experimental observation of effects due to Berry's phase in quantum
systems is certainly one of the most impressive demonstrations of the
correctness of the superposition principle in quantum mechanics. Since Berry's
original paper in 1984, the spin 1/2 coupled with rotating external magnetic
field has been one of the most studied models where those phases appear. We
also consider a special case of this soluble model. A detailed analysis of the
coupled differential equations and comparison with exact results teach us why
the usual procedure (of neglecting nondiagonal terms) is mathematically sound.Comment: 9 page
Self-Regulation of Star Formation in Low Metallicity Clouds
We investigate the process of self-regulated star formation via
photodissociation of hydrogen molecules in low metallicity clouds. We evaluate
the influence region's scale of a massive star in low metallicity gas clouds
whose temperatures are between 100 and 10000 Kelvin. A single O star can
photodissociate hydrogen molecules in the whole of the host cloud. If
metallicity is smaller than about 10^{-2.5} of the solar metallicity, the
depletion of coolant of the the host cloud is very serious so that the cloud
cannot cool in a free-fall time, and subsequent star formation is almost
quenched. On the contrary, if metallicity is larger than about 10^{-1.5} of the
solar metallicity, star formation regulation via photodissociation is not
efficient. The typical metallicity when this transition occurs is about 1/100
of the solar metallicity. This indicates that stars do not form efficiently
before the metallicity becomes larger than about 1/100 of the solar metallicity
and we considered that this value becomes the lower limit of the metallicity of
luminous objects such as galaxies.Comment: 14 pages, including 5 figures, To appear in ApJ, Vol. 53
Achondroplasia and Downâs Syndrome â Case Report of a Rare Association
The association of achondroplasia and Downâs syndrome is very rare and only five cases
have been reported in the literature so far. These two genetic alterations have overlapping features such as short stature, developmental delay or hypotonia that complicate management and follow up.
We report the case of a girl that is unique since she was born from a mother with
achondroplasia and a healthy father. Achondroplasia was dominantly inherited from the mother but at birth she had features of Downâs syndrome as well, confirmed later by
kariotype. We review her evolution regarding physical health, cognitive problems and
adaptive behavior during her eight years of life.
To our knowledge this is the first report of the combination of both disorders in which the achondroplasia was inherited and not a âde novoâ mutation. We address the problems
resulting from the additional burden of having two disorders, and how they can be
improved, aiming to help others in the future to deal with these cases
On the Electronic Transport Mechanism in Conducting Polymer Nanofibers
Here, we present theoretical analysis of electron transport in polyaniline
based (PANi) nanofibers assuming the metalic state of the material. To build up
this theory we treat conducting polymers as a special kind of granular metals,
and we apply the quantum theory of conduction in mesoscopic systems to describe
the transport between metallic-like granules. Our results show that the concept
of resonance electron tunneling as the predominating mechanism providing charge
transport between the grains is supported with recent experiments on the
electrical characterization of single PANi nanofibers. By contacting the
proposed theory with the experimental data we estimate some important
parameters characterizing the electron transport in these materials. Also, we
discuss the origin of rectifying features observed in current-voltage
characteristics of fibers with varying cross-sectional areas.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. B, Vol.72,
xxxx (2005
Electron cloud buildup and impedance effects on beam dynamics in the future circular e+eâ collider and experimental characterization of thin TiZrV vacuum chamber coatings
The Future Circular Collider FCC-ee is a study toward a high luminosity electron-positron collider with a centre-of-mass energy from 91 GeV to 365 GeV. Due to the beam parameters and pipe dimensions, collective effects and electron cloud can be very critical aspects for the machine and can represent the main limitations to its performance. An estimation of the electron cloud build up in the main machine components and an impedance model are required to analyze the induced instabilities and to find solutions for their mitigation. Special attention has been given to the resistive wall impedance associated with a layer of nonevaporable getter (NEG) coating on the vacuum chamber required for electron cloud mitigation. The studies presented in this paper will show that minimizing the thickness of this coating layer is mandatory to increase the single bunch instability thresholds in the proposed lepton collider at 45.6 GeV. For this reason, NEG thin films with thicknesses below 250 nm have been investigated by means of numerical simulations to minimize the resistive wall impedance. In parallel, an extensive measurement campaign was performed at CERN to characterize these thin films, with the purpose of finding the minimum effective thickness satisfying vacuum and electron cloud requirements
Past and future blurring at fundamental length scale
We obtain the -deformed versions of the retarded and advanced Green
functions and show that their causality properties are blurred in a time
interval of the order of a length parameter . The functions also
indicate a smearing of the light cone. These results favor the interpretation
of as a fundamental length scale below which the concept of a point in
spacetime should be substituted by the concept of a fuzzy region of radius ,
as proposed long ago by Heisenberg.Comment: Essentially, this is the version published in the Phys. Rev. Lett.
105, 211601 (2010). It has 4 pages and contains 2 figure
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