11,671 research outputs found
Upper-division Student Understanding of Coulomb's Law: Difficulties with Continuous Charge Distributions
Utilizing the integral expression of Coulomb's Law to determine the electric
potential from a continuous charge distribution is a canonical exercise in
Electricity and Magnetism (E&M). In this study, we use both think-aloud
interviews and responses to traditional exam questions to investigate student
difficulties with this topic at the upper-division level. Leveraging a
theoretical framework for the use of mathematics in physics, we discuss how
students activate, construct, execute and reflect on the integral form of
Coulomb's Law when solving problems with continuous charge distributions. We
present evidence that junior-level E&M students have difficulty mapping
physical systems onto the mathematical expression for the Coulomb potential.
Common challenges include difficulty expressing the difference vector in
appropriate coordinates as well as determining expressions for the differential
charge element and limits of integration for a specific charge distribution. We
discuss possible implications of these findings for future research directions
and instructional strategies.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, 2 tables, accepted to 2012 PERC Proceeding
ACER: A Framework on the Use of Mathematics in Upper-division Physics
At the University of Colorado Boulder, as part of our broader efforts to
transform middle- and upper-division physics courses, we research students'
difficulties with particular concepts, methods, and tools in classical
mechanics, electromagnetism, and quantum mechanics. Unsurprisingly, a number of
difficulties are related to students' use of mathematical tools (e.g.,
approximation methods). Previous work has documented a number of challenges
that students must overcome to use mathematical tools fluently in introductory
physics (e.g., mapping meaning onto mathematical symbols). We have developed a
theoretical framework to facilitate connecting students' difficulties to
challenges with specific mathematical and physical concepts. In this paper, we
motivate the need for this framework and demonstrate its utility for both
researchers and course instructors by applying it to frame results from
interview data on students' use of Taylor approximations.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figures, 2 tables, accepted to the 2012 PERC Proceeding
AB responses: from bare nucleons to complex nuclei
We study the occurrence of factorization in polarized and unpolarized
observables in coincidence quasi-elastic electron scattering. Starting with the
relativistic distorted wave impulse approximation, we reformulate the effective
momentum approximation and show that the latter leads to observables which
factorize under some specific conditions. Within this framework, the role
played by final state interactions and, in particular, by the spin-orbit term
is explored. Connection with the nonrelativistic formalism is studied in depth.
Numerical results are presented to illustrate the analytical derivations and to
quantify the differences between factorized and unfactorized approaches.Comment: 26 pages, 5 figures. Improved and extended version. To be published
in Phys. Rev.
Lucky Spectroscopy, an equivalent technique to Lucky Imaging. Spatially resolved spectroscopy of massive close visual binaries using the William Herschel Telescope
CONTEXT: Many massive stars have nearby companions whose presence hamper
their characterization through spectroscopy. AIMS: We want to obtain spatially
resolved spectroscopy of close massive visual binaries to derive their spectral
types. METHODS: We obtain a large number of short long-slit spectroscopic
exposures of five close binaries under good seeing conditions, select those
with the best characteristics, extract the spectra using multiple-profile
fitting, and combine the results to derive spatially separated spectra.
RESULTS: We demonstrate the usefulness of Lucky Spectroscopy by presenting the
spatially resolved spectra of the components of each system, in two cases with
separations of only ~0.3". Those are delta Ori Aa+Ab (resolved in the optical
for the first time) and sigma Ori AaAb+B (first time ever resolved). We also
spatially resolve 15 Mon AaAb+B, zeta Ori AaAb+B (both previously resolved with
GOSSS, the Galactic O-Star Spectroscopic Survey), and eta Ori AaAb+B, a system
with two spectroscopic B+B binaries and a fifth visual component. The systems
have in common that they are composed of an inner pair of slow rotators orbited
by one or more fast rotators, a characteristic that could have consequences for
the theories of massive star formation.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A, 7 page
The INTEGRAL-OMC Scientific Archive
The Optical Monitoring Camera (OMC) on-board the INTEGRAL satellite has, as
one of its scientific goals, the observation of a large number of variable
sources previously selected. After almost 6 years of operations, OMC has
monitored more than 100 000 sources of scientific interest. In this
contribution we present the OMC Scientific Archive
(http://sdc.laeff.inta.es/omc/) which has been developed to provide the
astronomical community with a quick access to the light curves generated by
this instrument.We describe the main characteristics of this archive, as well
as important aspects for the users: object types, temporal sampling of light
curves and photometric accuracy.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures. "Highlights of Spanish Astrophysics V"
Proceedings of the VIII Scientific Meeting of the Spanish Astronomical
Society (SEA) held in Santander, July 7-11, 200
Semi-relativistic description of quasielastic neutrino reactions and superscaling in a continuum shell model
The so-called semi-relativistic expansion of the weak charged current in
powers of the initial nucleon momentum is performed to describe
charge-changing, quasielastic neutrino reactions at
intermediate energies. The quality of the expansion is tested by comparing with
the relativistic Fermi gas model using several choices of kinematics of
interest for ongoing neutrino oscillation experiments. The new current is then
implemented in a continuum shell model together with relativistic kinematics to
investigate the scaling properties of and cross
sections.Comment: 33 pages, 10 figures, to appear in PR
Gene editing restores dystrophin expression in a canine model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy
Mutations in the gene encoding dystrophin, a protein that maintains muscle integrity and function, cause Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). The deltaE50-MD dog model of DMD harbors a mutation corresponding to a mutational “hotspot” in the human DMD gene. We used adeno-associated viruses to deliver CRISPR gene editing components to four dogs and examined dystrophin protein expression 6 weeks after intramuscular delivery (n = 2) or 8 weeks after systemic delivery (n = 2). After systemic delivery in skeletal muscle, dystrophin was restored to levels ranging from 3 to 90% of normal, depending on muscle type. In cardiac muscle, dystrophin levels in the dog receiving the highest dose reached 92% of normal. The treated dogs also showed improved muscle histology. These large-animal data support the concept that, with further development, gene editing approaches may prove clinically useful for the treatment of DMD
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