8,773 research outputs found
A simple derivation of the electromagnetic field of an arbitrarily moving charge
The expression for the electromagnetic field of a charge moving along an
arbitrary trajectory is obtained in a direct, elegant, and Lorentz invariant
manner without resorting to more complicated procedures such as differentiation
of the Lienard-Wiechert potentials. The derivation uses arguments based on
Lorentz invariance and a physically transparent expression originally due to
J.J.Thomson for the field of a charge that experiences an impulsive
acceleration.Comment: The following article has been accepted by the American Journal of
Physics. After it is published, it will be found at
http://scitation.aip.org/ajp; 12 pages, 1 figur
Electrostatic internal energy using the method of images
For several configurations of charges in the presence of conductors, the
method of images permits us to obtain some observables associated with such a
configuration by replacing the conductors with some image charges. However,
simple inspection shows that the potential energy associated with both systems
does not coincide. Nevertheless, it can be shown that for a system of a
grounded or neutral conductor and a distribution of charges outside, the
external potential energy associated with the real charge distribution embedded
in the field generated by the set of image charges is twice the value of the
internal potential energy associated with the original system. This assertion
is valid for any size and shape of the conductor, and regardless of the
configuration of images required. In addition, even in the case in which the
conductor is not grounded nor neutral, it is still possible to calculate the
internal potential energy of the original configuration through the method of
images. These results show that the method of images could also be useful for
calculations of the internal potential energy of the original system.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures. New discussions added. Minor change
Is the electrostatic force between a point charge and a neutral metallic object always attractive?
We give an example of a geometry in which the electrostatic force between a
point charge and a neutral metallic object is repulsive. The example consists
of a point charge centered above a thin metallic hemisphere, positioned concave
up. We show that this geometry has a repulsive regime using both a simple
analytical argument and an exact calculation for an analogous two-dimensional
geometry. Analogues of this geometry-induced repulsion can appear in many other
contexts, including Casimir systems.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figure
Determination of intercontinental baselines and Earth orientation using VLBI
A series of experiments was conducted during the last decade to explore the capability of very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) to measure the crustal and rotational motions of the Earth with accuracies at the centimeter level. The observing stations are those of NASA's Deep Space Network in California, Spain and Australia. A multiparameter fit to the observed values of delay and delay rate yields radio source positions, polar motion, universal time, the precession constant, baseline vectors, and solid Earth tides. Source positions are obtained with formal errors of the order of 0''.01. UT1-UTC and polar motion are determined at 49 epochs, with formal error estimates for the more recent data of 0.5 msec for UT1-UTC and 2 to 6 mas for polar motion. Intercontinental baseline lengths are determined with formal errors of 5 to 10 cm. The Love numbers and Earth tide phase lag agree with the commonly accepted values
Recent Extreme Ultraviolet Solar Spectra and Spectroheliograms
Extreme ultraviolet solar spectra and spectroheliogram analyse
VLBI measurements of radio source positions at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
The results of approximately 1300 observations of 67 radio sources are presented. Most of the measurements were made at the stations of the Deep Space Network in California, Spain, and Australia at wavelengths of 13.1 and 3.6 cm, between 1971 and 1978. The formal errors in the derived source positions are generally in the neighborhood of 0.01 seconds of arc and the positions agree fairly well with those previously published
Improved qubit bifurcation readout in the straddling regime of circuit QED
We study bifurcation measurement of a multi-level superconducting qubit using
a nonlinear resonator biased in the straddling regime, where the resonator
frequency sits between two qubit transition frequencies. We find that
high-fidelity bifurcation measurements are possible because of the enhanced
qubit-state-dependent pull of the resonator frequency, the behavior of
qubit-induced nonlinearities and the reduced Purcell decay rate of the qubit
that can be realized in this regime. Numerical simulations find up to a
threefold improvement in qubit readout fidelity when operating in, rather than
outside of, the straddling regime. High-fidelity measurements can be obtained
at much smaller qubit-resonator couplings than current typical experimental
realizations, reducing spectral crowding and potentially simplifying the
implementation of multi-qubit devices.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure
Local molecular field theory for the treatment of electrostatics
We examine in detail the theoretical underpinnings of previous successful
applications of local molecular field (LMF) theory to charged systems. LMF
theory generally accounts for the averaged effects of long-ranged components of
the intermolecular interactions by using an effective or restructured external
field. The derivation starts from the exact Yvon-Born-Green hierarchy and shows
that the approximation can be very accurate when the interactions averaged over
are slowly varying at characteristic nearest-neighbor distances. Application of
LMF theory to Coulomb interactions alone allows for great simplifications of
the governing equations. LMF theory then reduces to a single equation for a
restructured electrostatic potential that satisfies Poisson's equation defined
with a smoothed charge density. Because of this charge smoothing by a Gaussian
of width sigma, this equation may be solved more simply than the detailed
simulation geometry might suggest. Proper choice of the smoothing length sigma
plays a major role in ensuring the accuracy of this approximation. We examine
the results of a basic confinement of water between corrugated wall and justify
the simple LMF equation used in a previous publication. We further generalize
these results to confinements that include fixed charges in order to
demonstrate the broader impact of charge smoothing by sigma. The slowly-varying
part of the restructured electrostatic potential will be more symmetric than
the local details of confinements.Comment: To be published in J Phys-Cond Matt; small misprint corrected in Eq.
(12) in V
Extreme ultraviolet heliograms and the sun's corona
Design of spectroheliograph to detect solar coron
The chromatin remodeller ACF acts as a dimeric motor to space nucleosomes.
Evenly spaced nucleosomes directly correlate with condensed chromatin and gene silencing. The ATP-dependent chromatin assembly factor (ACF) forms such structures in vitro and is required for silencing in vivo. ACF generates and maintains nucleosome spacing by constantly moving a nucleosome towards the longer flanking DNA faster than the shorter flanking DNA. How the enzyme rapidly moves back and forth between both sides of a nucleosome to accomplish bidirectional movement is unknown. Here we show that nucleosome movement depends cooperatively on two ACF molecules, indicating that ACF functions as a dimer of ATPases. Further, the nucleotide state determines whether the dimer closely engages one or both sides of the nucleosome. Three-dimensional reconstruction by single-particle electron microscopy of the ATPase-nucleosome complex in an activated ATP state reveals a dimer architecture in which the two ATPases face each other. Our results indicate a model in which the two ATPases work in a coordinated manner, taking turns to engage either side of a nucleosome, thereby allowing processive bidirectional movement. This novel dimeric motor mechanism differs from that of dimeric motors such as kinesin and dimeric helicases that processively translocate unidirectionally and reflects the unique challenges faced by motors that move nucleosomes
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