What Casimir Energy can suggest about Space Time Foam?

In the context of a model of space-time foam, made by $N$ wormholes we discuss the possibility of having a foam formed by different configurations. An equivalence between Schwarzschild and Schwarzschild-Anti-de Sitter wormholes in terms of Casimir energy is shown. An argument to discriminate which configuration could represent a foamy vacuum coming from Schwarzschild black hole transition frequencies is used. The case of a positive cosmological constant is also discussed. Finally, a discussion involving charged wormholes leads to the conclusion that they cannot be used to represent a ground state of the foamy type.Comment: ReVTeX, 3 pages. Talk given at the Fifth Workshop on Quantum Field Theory under the Influence of External Conditions, Leipzig, September 10-14, 200

Analysis of Accordion DNA Stretching Revealed by The Gold Cluster Ruler

A promising new method for measuring intramolecular distances in solution uses small-angle X-ray scattering interference between gold nanocrystal labels (Mathew-Fenn et al, Science, 322, 446 (2008)). When applied to double stranded DNA, it revealed that the DNA length fluctuations are strikingly strong and correlated over at least 80 base pair steps. In other words, the DNA behaves as accordion bellows, with distant fragments stretching and shrinking concertedly. This hypothesis, however, disagrees with earlier experimental and computational observations. This Letter shows that the discrepancy can be rationalized by taking into account the cluster exclusion volume and assuming a moderate long-range repulsion between them. The long-range interaction can originate from an ion exclusion effect and cluster polarization in close proximity to the DNA surface.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Comparison of FDMA and CDMA for second generation land-mobile satellite communications

Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) (both analog and digital) systems capacities are compared on the basis of identical link availabilities and physical propagation models. Parameters are optimized for a bandwidth limited, multibeam environment. For CDMA, the benefits of voice activated carriers, antenna discrimination, polarization reuse, return link power control and multipath suppression are included in the analysis. For FDMA, the advantages of bandwidth efficient modulation/coding combinations, voice activated carriers, polarization reuse, beam placement, and frequency staggering were taken into account

The Cardy-Verlinde formula and entropy of Topological Reissner-Nordstr\"om black holes in de Sitter spaces

In this paper we discuss the question of whether the entropy of cosmological horizon in Topological Reissner-Nordstr\"om- de Sitter spaces can be described by the Cardy-Verlinde formula, which is supposed to be an entropy formula of conformal field theory in any dimension. Furthermore, we find that the entropy of black hole horizon can also be rewritten in terms of the Cardy-Verlinde formula for these black holes in de Sitter spaces, if we use the definition due to Abbott and Deser for conserved charges in asymptotically de Sitter spaces. Our result is in favour of the dS/CFT correspondence.Comment: 6 pages, accepted for publication in IJMP

The viability of learning journals as an instructional methodology for adult learners

This qualitative study used student and faculty focus groups to examine learning journals\u27 effectiveness as an instructional methodology for adults enrolled in undergraduate and graduate Organizational Leadership (OL) degree programs. Learning journals are assigned to encourage reflection; however, concerns have arisen from student complaints that they constitute busywork. The study\u27s purpose was to examine learning journals\u27 viability by determining to what extent they deepened and broadened students\u27 understanding of leadership, generated greater self-awareness, provided a leadership development tool, and encouraged the application of leadership knowledge. Students nearing degree completion as well as faculty teaching in the OL programs participated in qualitative focus group interviews. There were 9 focus groups conducted; transcripts were used for data analysis. Frequency analyses measured the strength of themes and patterns that emerged validating the findings and conclusions. The study found that learning journals are a viable instructional strategy for many, but not all adult learners enrolled in OL degree programs. Journaling can deepen and broaden students\u27 understanding of leadership by internalizing and integrating learning as well as providing a study tool. Learning journals generate greater self-awareness in many students through increased self-knowledge and recognition of personal strengths, feelings, and emotions. Learning journals contributed to personal and leadership growth and some found them an effective problem solving tool. Journaling encouraged students to apply learning through changed thinking and behavior. The focus group participants offered suggestions to enhance the effectiveness of learning journals. They recommended journaling assignments with clearly defined requirements and instructor feedback. The purpose and value of journaling should be introduced in orientation and reinforced by instructors. Finally, alternative strategies to build reflective thinking skills such as dialogue should be considered. This study raised several issues requiring further research. Although participants had a strong preference for structured journaling, an examination of what constitutes a well-designed assignment is needed. Second, the study was limited to participants who completed their degree requirements and had multiple journaling assignments; exploring the perceptions of students earlier in the program might yield different outcomes. Another area of inquiry was raised when participants suggested incorporating alternative strategies to build reflective thinking

Limit structure of Future Null Infinity tangent -topology of the event horizon and gravitational wave tail-

We investigated the relation between the behavior of gravitational wave at late time and the limit structure of future null infinity tangent which will determine the topology of the event horizon far in the future. In the present article, we mainly consider a spacetime with two black holes. Although in most of cases, the black holes coalesce and its event horizon is topologically a single sphere far in the future, there are several possibilities that the black holes never coalesce and such exact solutions as examples. In our formulation, the tangent vector of future null infinity is, under conformal embedding, related to the number of black holes far in the future through the Poincar\'e-Hopf's theorem. Under the conformal embedding, the topology of event horizon far in the future will be affected by the geometrical structure of the future null infinity. In this article, we related the behavior of Weyl curvature to this limit behavior of the generator vector of the future null infinity. We show if Weyl curvature decays sufficiently slowly at late time in the neighborhood of future null infinity, two black holes never coalesce.Comment: 20 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Class. Quant. Gra

The gravitational path integral and trace of the diffeomorphisms

I give a resolution of the conformal mode divergence in the Euclidean gravitational path-integral by isolating the trace of the diffeomorphisms and its contribution to the Faddeev-Popov measure.Comment: 20 pgs

The mixing of interplanetary magnetic field lines: A significant transport effect in studies of the energy spectra of impulsive flares

Using instrumentation on board the ACE spacecraft we describe short-time scale (~3 hour) variations observed in the arrival profiles of ~20 keV nucleon^(–1) to ~2 MeV nucleon^(–1) ions from impulsive solar flares. These variations occurred simultaneously across all energies and were generally not in coincidence with any local magnetic field or plasma signature. These features appear to be caused by the convection of magnetic flux tubes past the observer that are alternately filled and devoid of flare ions even though they had a common flare source at the Sun. In these particle events we therefore have a means to observe and measure the mixing of the interplanetary magnetic field due to random walk. In a survey of 25 impulsive flares observed at ACE between 1997 November and 1999 July these features had an average time scale of 3.2 hours, corresponding to a length of ~0.03 AU. The changing magnetic connection to the flare site sometimes lead to an incomplete observation of a flare at 1 AU; thus the field-line mixing is an important effect in studies of impulsive flare energy spectra

Endotaxial Si nanolines in Si(001):H

We present a detailed study of the structural and electronic properties of a self-assembled silicon nanoline embedded in the H-terminated silicon (001) surface, known as the Haiku stripe. The nanoline is a perfectly straight and defect free endotaxial structure of huge aspect ratio; it can grow micrometre long at a constant width of exactly four Si dimers (1.54nm). Another remarkable property is its capacity to be exposed to air without suffering any degradation. The nanoline grows independently of any step edges at tunable densities, from isolated nanolines to a dense array of nanolines. In addition to these unique structural characteristics, scanning tunnelling microscopy and density functional theory reveal a one-dimensional state confined along the Haiku core. This nanoline is a promising candidate for the long sought after electronic solid-state one-dimensional model system to explore the fascinating quantum properties emerging in such reduced dimensionality.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure