Solving the Solar Neutrino Problem 2 km Underground -- the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory

The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) is capable of measuring simultaneously the flux of electron-type neutrinos and the total flux of all active flavours of neutrinos originating from the Sun. A model-independent test of neutrino flavour transformation was performed by comparing these two measurements. Assuming an undistorted neutrino energy spectrum, this transformation has been definitively demonstrated in the pure D2O phase of the SNO experiment. In the second phase with dissolved NaCl in the D2O, the total active solar neutrino flux was measured without any assumption on the energy dependence of flavour transformation. In this talk, results from these measurements, their physics implications and the current status of the SNO experiment are presented.Comment: Proceedings of the 8th ICATPP Conference on Astroparticle, Particle, Space Physics, Detectors and Medical Physics Applications (Como, Italy, Oct 6-10, 2003) 10 pages, 3 figures, 2 table

Coarsening to Chaos-Stabilized Fronts

We investigate a model for pattern formation in the presence of Galilean symmetry proposed by Matthews and Cox [Phys.\ Rev.\ E \textbf{62}, R1473 (2000)], which has the form of coupled generalized Burgers and Ginzburg-Landau-type equations. With only the system size $L$ as a parameter, we find distinct "small-$L$" and "large-$L$" regimes exhibiting clear differences in their dynamics and scaling behavior. The long-time statistically stationary state contains a single $L$-dependent front, stabilized globally by spatiotemporally chaotic dynamics localized away from the front. For sufficiently large domains, the transient dynamics include a state consisting of several viscous shock-like structures which coarsens gradually, before collapsing to a single front when one front absorbs the others.Comment: 4 pages, 7 figures; submitte

Recent Results from the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory

The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) measures both the flux of the electron-type neutrinos and the total flux of all active flavours of neutrinos originating from the Sun. A model-independent test of neutrino flavour transformation was performed by comparing these two measurements. In 2002, this flavour transformation was definitively demonstrated. In this talk, results from these measurements and the current status of the SNO detector are presented.Comment: Proceedings of the International Europhysics Conference on High Energy Physics (EPS2003) 3 pages, 2 figures, 2 table

Enhanced superconductivity and lattice instability in Nb-Rh alloys

Superconductivity with transition temperature above 10 °K has been observed in a new Nb-Rh intermediate phase. The new metastable phase is obtained by liquid quenching the binary alloy or by the addition of a small percentage of carbon to form a stable ternary alloy

Bulk and wetting phenomena in a colloidal mixture of hard spheres and platelets

Density functional theory is used to study binary colloidal fluids consisting of hard spheres and thin platelets in their bulk and near a planar hard wall. This system exhibits liquid-liquid coexistence of a phase that is rich in spheres (poor in platelets) and a phase that is poor in spheres (rich in platelets). For the mixture near a planar hard wall, we find that the phase rich in spheres wets the wall completely upon approaching the liquid demixing binodal from the sphere-poor phase, provided the concentration of the platelets is smaller than a threshold value which marks a first-order wetting transition at coexistence. No layering transitions are found in contrast to recent studies on binary mixtures of spheres and non-adsorbing polymers or thin hard rods.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Polydispersity Effects in Colloid-Polymer Mixtures

We study phase separation and transient gelation in a mixture consisting of polydisperse colloids and non-adsorbing polymers, where the ratio of the average size of the polymer to that of the colloid is approximately 0.063. Unlike what has been reported previously for mixtures with somewhat lower colloid polydispersity, the addition of polymers does not expand the fluid-solid coexistence region. Instead, we find a region of fluid-solid coexistence which has an approximately constant width but an unexpected re-entrant shape. We detect the presence of a metastable gas-liquid binodal, which gives rise to two-stepped crystallization kinetics that can be rationalized as the effect of fractionation. Finally, we find that the separation into multiple coexisting solid phases at high colloid volume fractions predicted by equilibrium statistical mechanics is kinetically suppressed before the system reaches dynamical arrest.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure

Computer Game Addiction and Emotional Dependence

As computer games grow in popularity, the negative effects of usage should be studied. Computer games (games played on a computer, tablet, or any web-enabled device) have salient qualities, especially MMORPGs, that cause addictive symptoms. I investigated computer game addiction and usage in Trinity College students. A sample of 114 students (M =20.4 years of age, 61% female) was divided into a non-addicted, social player, and computer-addicted group based on Young\u27s Diagnostic Questionnaire. My results showed that there is no significant correlation between day quality and computer game usage, and no significant correlation between emotional dependence and group. Not enough computer-game addicted subjects participated (n=4), so it was unable to be concluded that computer game addicts have lower GPA, or prefer a certain type of game. However, the large number of social players (n=57) shows that more research needs to be conducted to analyze the prevalence of addictive symptoms

Incorporating IFRS Into The U.S. Financial Reporting System

The SEC issued the “Commission Statement in Support of Convergence and Global Accounting Standards” in February 2010 to reaffirm its position that IFRS was best positioned to serve as the single set of high-quality globally accepted accounting standards and indicated that its staff would continue its evaluation of IFRS and a determination was expected to be made in 2011 as to whether, when, and how to incorporate IFRS into the financial reporting system for U.S. issuers. However, 2011 has come and gone and the SEC still has not yet made a decision. The SEC has indicated that it will not incorporate IFRS into the financial reporting system for U.S. issuers unless such a change is in the best interest of U.S. investors and capital markets.  Whatever decision eventually made by the SEC, hopefully, is indeed the most beneficial one for U.S. investors and capital markets. This paper provides an overview of the possible incorporation of IFRS into the U.S. financial reporting system