The State of Self-Organized Criticality of the Sun During the Last 3 Solar Cycles. I. Observations

We analyze the occurrence frequency distributions of peak fluxes $P$, total fluxes $E$, and durations $T$ of solar flares over the last three solar cycles (during 1980--2010) from hard X-ray data of HXRBS/SMM, BATSE/CGRO, and RHESSI. From the synthesized data we find powerlaw slopes with mean values of $\alpha_P=1.72\pm0.08$ for the peak flux, $\alpha_E=1.60\pm0.14$ for the total flux, and $\alpha_T=1.98\pm0.35$ for flare durations. We find a systematic anti-correlation of the powerlaw slope of peak fluxes as a function of the solar cycle, varying with an approximate sinusoidal variation $\alpha_P(t)=\alpha_0+\Delta \alpha \cos{[2\pi (t-t_0)/T_{cycle}]}$, with a mean of $\alpha_0=1.73$, a variation of $\Delta \alpha =0.14$, a solar cycle period $T_{cycle}=12.6$ yrs, and a cycle minimum time $t_0=1984.1$. The powerlaw slope is flattest during the maximum of a solar cycle, which indicates a higher magnetic complexity of the solar corona that leads to an overproportional rate of powerful flares.Comment: subm. to Solar Physic

Integral equation method for the electromagnetic wave propagation in stratified anisotropic dielectric-magnetic materials

We investigate the propagation of electromagnetic waves in stratified anisotropic dielectric-magnetic materials using the integral equation method (IEM). Based on the superposition principle, we use Hertz vector formulations of radiated fields to study the interaction of wave with matter. We derive in a new way the dispersion relation, Snell's law and reflection/transmission coefficients by self-consistent analyses. Moreover, we find two new forms of the generalized extinction theorem. Applying the IEM, we investigate the wave propagation through a slab and disclose the underlying physics which are further verified by numerical simulations. The results lead to a unified framework of the IEM for the propagation of wave incident either from a medium or vacuum in stratified dielectric-magnetic materials.Comment: 14pages, 3figure

Path integral solution for an angle-dependent anharmonic oscillator

We have given a straightforward method to solve the problem of noncentral anharmonic oscillator in three dimensions. The relative propagator is presented by means of path integrals in spherical coordinates. By making an adequate change of time we were able to separate the angular motion from the radial one. The relative propagator is then exactly calculated. The energy spectrum and the corresponding wave functions are obtained.Comment: Corrected typos and mistakes, To appear in Communications in Theoretical Physic

An assessment of pulse transit time for detecting heavy blood loss during surgical operation

Copyright @ Wang et al.; Licensee Bentham Open. This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.The main contribution of this paper is the use of non-invasive measurements such as electrocardiogram (ECG) and photoplethysmographic (PPG) pulse oximetry waveforms to develop a new physiological signal analysis technique for detecting blood loss during surgical operation. Urological surgery cases were considered as the control group due to its generality, and cardiac surgery as experimental group since it involves blood loss and water supply. Results show that the control group has the tendency of a reduction of the pulse transient time (PTT), and this indicates an increment in the blood flow velocity changes from slow to fast. While for the experimental group, the PTT indicates high values during blood loss, and low values during water supply. Statistical analysis shows considerable differences (i.e., P <0.05) between both groups leading to the conclusion that PTT could be a good indicator for monitoring patients' blood loss during a surgical operation.The National Science Council (NSC) of Taiwan and the Centre for Dynamical Biomarkers and Translational Medicine, National Central University, Taiwan

Variational Approximations in a Path-Integral Description of Potential Scattering

Using a recent path integral representation for the T-matrix in nonrelativistic potential scattering we investigate new variational approximations in this framework. By means of the Feynman-Jensen variational principle and the most general ansatz quadratic in the velocity variables -- over which one has to integrate functionally -- we obtain variational equations which contain classical elements (trajectories) as well as quantum-mechanical ones (wave spreading).We analyse these equations and solve them numerically by iteration, a procedure best suited at high energy. The first correction to the variational result arising from a cumulant expansion is also evaluated. Comparison is made with exact partial-wave results for scattering from a Gaussian potential and better agreement is found at large scattering angles where the standard eikonal-type approximations fail.Comment: 35 pages, 3 figures, 6 tables, Latex with amsmath, amssymb; v2: 28 pages, EPJ style, misprints corrected, note added about correct treatment of complex Gaussian integrals with the theory of "pencils", matches published versio

A Systematic Study on Energy Dependence of Quasi-Periodic Oscillation Frequency in GRS 1915+105

Systematically studying all the RXTE/PCA observations for GRS 1915+105 before November 2010, we have discovered three additional patterns in the relation between Quasi-Periodic Oscillation (QPO) frequency and photon energy, extending earlier outcomes reported by Qu et al. (2010). We have confirmed that as QPO frequency increases, the relation evolves from the negative correlation to positive one. The newly discovered patterns provide new constraints on the QPO models

CP Violation in Hyperon Nonleptonic Decays within the Standard Model

We calculate the CP-violating asymmetries A(Lambda_-^0) and A(Xi_-^-) in nonleptonic hyperon decay within the Standard Model using the framework of heavy-baryon chiral perturbation theory (chiPT). We identify those terms that correspond to previous calculations and discover several errors in the existing literature. We present a new result for the lowest-order (in chiPT) contribution of the penguin operator to these asymmetries, as well as an estimate for the uncertainty of our result that is based on the calculation of the leading nonanalytic corrections.Comment: 21 pages, 2 figures; discussion clarified, results & conclusions unchanged, to appear in Phys. Rev.