Momentum Regularity and Stability of the Relativistic Vlasov-Maxwell-Boltzmann System

In the study of solutions to the relativistic Boltzmann equation, their regularity with respect to the momentum variables has been an outstanding question, even local in time, due to the initially unexpected growth in the post-collisional momentum variables which was discovered in 1991 by Glassey & Strauss \cite{MR1105532}. We establish momentum regularity within energy spaces via a new splitting technique and interplay between the Glassey-Strauss frame and the center of mass frame of the relativistic collision operator. In a periodic box, these new momentum regularity estimates lead to a proof of global existence of classical solutions to the two-species relativistic Vlasov-Boltzmann-Maxwell system for charged particles near Maxwellian with hard ball interaction.Comment: 23 pages; made revisions which were suggested by the referee; to appear in Comm. Math. Phy

Hilbert Expansion from the Boltzmann equation to relativistic Fluids

We study the local-in-time hydrodynamic limit of the relativistic Boltzmann equation using a Hilbert expansion. More specifically, we prove the existence of local solutions to the relativistic Boltzmann equation that are nearby the local relativistic Maxwellian constructed from a class of solutions to the relativistic Euler equations that includes a large subclass of near-constant, non-vacuum fluid states. In particular, for small Knudsen number, these solutions to the relativistic Boltzmann equation have dynamics that are effectively captured by corresponding solutions to the relativistic Euler equations.Comment: 50 page

Asymptotic Stability of the Relativistic Boltzmann Equation for the Soft Potentials

In this paper it is shown that unique solutions to the relativistic Boltzmann equation exist for all time and decay with any polynomial rate towards their steady state relativistic Maxwellian provided that the initial data starts out sufficiently close in $L^\infty_\ell$. If the initial data are continuous then so is the corresponding solution. We work in the case of a spatially periodic box. Conditions on the collision kernel are generic in the sense of (Dudy{\'n}ski and Ekiel-Je{\.z}ewska, Comm. Math. Phys., 1988); this resolves the open question of global existence for the soft potentials.Comment: 64 page

Low-Background gamma counting at the Kimballton Underground Research Facility

The next generation of low-background physics experiments will require the use of materials with unprecedented radio-purity. A gamma-counting facility at the Kimballton Underground Research Facility (KURF) has been commissioned to perform initial screening of materials for radioactivity primarily from nuclides in the 238U and 232Th decay chains, 40K and cosmic-ray induced isotopes. The facility consists of two commercial low-background high purity germanium (HPGe) detectors. A continuum background reduction better than a factor of 10 was achieved by going underground. This paper describes the facility, detector systems, analysis techniques and selected assay results.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures. Submitted to NIM

Robustness of a Cellular Automata Model for the HIV Infection

An investigation was conducted to study the robustness of the results obtained from the cellular automata model which describes the spread of the HIV infection within lymphoid tissues [R. M. Zorzenon dos Santos and S. Coutinho, Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 168102 (2001)]. The analysis focussed on the dynamic behavior of the model when defined in lattices with different symmetries and dimensionalities. The results illustrated that the three-phase dynamics of the planar models suffered minor changes in relation to lattice symmetry variations and, while differences were observed regarding dimensionality changes, qualitative behavior was preserved. A further investigation was conducted into primary infection and sensitiveness of the latency period to variations of the model's stochastic parameters over wide ranging values. The variables characterizing primary infection and the latency period exhibited power-law behavior when the stochastic parameters varied over a few orders of magnitude. The power-law exponents were approximately the same when lattice symmetry varied, but there was a significant variation when dimensionality changed from two to three. The dynamics of the three-dimensional model was also shown to be insensitive to variations of the deterministic parameters related to cell resistance to the infection, and the necessary time lag to mount the specific immune response to HIV variants. The robustness of the model demonstrated in this work reinforce that its basic hypothesis are consistent with the three-stage dynamic of the HIV infection observed in patients.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures, 21 references, Latex style Elsar

Global existence and full regularity of the Boltzmann equation without angular cutoff

We prove the global existence and uniqueness of classical solutions around an equilibrium to the Boltzmann equation without angular cutoff in some Sobolev spaces. In addition, the solutions thus obtained are shown to be non-negative and $C^\infty$ in all variables for any positive time. In this paper, we study the Maxwellian molecule type collision operator with mild singularity. One of the key observations is the introduction of a new important norm related to the singular behavior of the cross section in the collision operator. This norm captures the essential properties of the singularity and yields precisely the dissipation of the linearized collision operator through the celebrated H-theorem

All-sky search for long-duration gravitational wave transients with initial LIGO

We present the results of a search for long-duration gravitational wave transients in two sets of data collected by the LIGO Hanford and LIGO Livingston detectors between November 5, 2005 and September 30, 2007, and July 7, 2009 and October 20, 2010, with a total observational time of 283.0 days and 132.9 days, respectively. The search targets gravitational wave transients of duration 10-500 s in a frequency band of 40-1000 Hz, with minimal assumptions about the signal waveform, polarization, source direction, or time of occurrence. All candidate triggers were consistent with the expected background; as a result we set 90% confidence upper limits on the rate of long-duration gravitational wave transients for different types of gravitational wave signals. For signals from black hole accretion disk instabilities, we set upper limits on the source rate density between 3.4×10-5 and 9.4×10-4 Mpc-3 yr-1 at 90% confidence. These are the first results from an all-sky search for unmodeled long-duration transient gravitational waves. © 2016 American Physical Society

All-sky search for long-duration gravitational wave transients with initial LIGO

We present the results of a search for long-duration gravitational wave transients in two sets of data collected by the LIGO Hanford and LIGO Livingston detectors between November 5, 2005 and September 30, 2007, and July 7, 2009 and October 20, 2010, with a total observational time of 283.0 days and 132.9 days, respectively. The search targets gravitational wave transients of duration 10-500 s in a frequency band of 40-1000 Hz, with minimal assumptions about the signal waveform, polarization, source direction, or time of occurrence. All candidate triggers were consistent with the expected background; as a result we set 90% confidence upper limits on the rate of long-duration gravitational wave transients for different types of gravitational wave signals. For signals from black hole accretion disk instabilities, we set upper limits on the source rate density between 3.4×10-5 and 9.4×10-4 Mpc-3 yr-1 at 90% confidence. These are the first results from an all-sky search for unmodeled long-duration transient gravitational waves. © 2016 American Physical Society

Search for Tensor, Vector, and Scalar Polarizations in the Stochastic Gravitational-Wave Background

The detection of gravitational waves with Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo has enabled novel tests of general relativity, including direct study of the polarization of gravitational waves. While general relativity allows for only two tensor gravitational-wave polarizations, general metric theories can additionally predict two vector and two scalar polarizations. The polarization of gravitational waves is encoded in the spectral shape of the stochastic gravitational-wave background, formed by the superposition of cosmological and individually unresolved astrophysical sources. Using data recorded by Advanced LIGO during its first observing run, we search for a stochastic background of generically polarized gravitational waves. We find no evidence for a background of any polarization, and place the first direct bounds on the contributions of vector and scalar polarizations to the stochastic background. Under log-uniform priors for the energy in each polarization, we limit the energy densities of tensor, vector, and scalar modes at 95% credibility to Ω0T<5.58×10-8, Ω0V<6.35×10-8, and Ω0S<1.08×10-7 at a reference frequency f0=25 Hz. © 2018 American Physical Society