Five-Dimensional QED, Muon Pair Production and Correction to the Coulomb Potential

We consider QED in five dimensions in a configuration where matter is localized on a 3-brane while foton propagates in the bulk. The idea is to investigate the effects of the Kaluza-Klein modes of the photon in the relativistic regime, but in low energy, and in the nonrelativistic regime. In the relativistic regime, we calculate the cross section for the reaction $e^+ + e^- \to \mu^+ + \mu^-$. We compare our theoretical result with a precise measurement of this cross section at $\sqrt{s}=57.77$ GeV. As result, we extract a lower bound on the size of the extra dimension. In the nonrelativistic regime, we derive the contribution for the Coulomb potential due to the whole tower of the Kaluza-Klein excited modes of the photon. We use the modified potential to calculate the Rutherford scattering differential cross section.Comment: minor changes, three new refs. added, to appear in IJMP

A conjugate for the Bargmann representation

In the Bargmann representation of quantum mechanics, physical states are mapped into entire functions of a complex variable z*, whereas the creation and annihilation operators $\hat{a}^\dagger$ and $\hat{a}$ play the role of multiplication and differentiation with respect to z*, respectively. In this paper we propose an alternative representation of quantum states, conjugate to the Bargmann representation, where the roles of $\hat{a}^\dagger$ and $\hat{a}$ are reversed, much like the roles of the position and momentum operators in their respective representations. We derive expressions for the inner product that maintain the usual notion of distance between states in the Hilbert space. Applications to simple systems and to the calculation of semiclassical propagators are presented.Comment: 15 page

Guia de excursão pedológica do XXX Congresso Brasileiro de Ciência do Solo: solos da Zona da Mata de Pernambuco

bitstream/CNPS-2010/14872/1/doc72-2005-guia-excursao-pedologicaxxx.pd

Semiclassical Propagation of Wavepackets with Real and Complex Trajectories

We consider a semiclassical approximation for the time evolution of an originally gaussian wave packet in terms of complex trajectories. We also derive additional approximations replacing the complex trajectories by real ones. These yield three different semiclassical formulae involving different real trajectories. One of these formulae is Heller's thawed gaussian approximation. The other approximations are non-gaussian and may involve several trajectories determined by mixed initial-final conditions. These different formulae are tested for the cases of scattering by a hard wall, scattering by an attractive gaussian potential, and bound motion in a quartic oscillator. The formula with complex trajectories gives good results in all cases. The non-gaussian approximations with real trajectories work well in some cases, whereas the thawed gaussian works only in very simple situations.Comment: revised text, 24 pages, 6 figure

Evidências polifásicas suportam a reclassificação de bradyrhizobium japonicum tipo Ia em uma nova espécie.

O gênero Bradyrhizobium compreende um grupo diverso de bactérias com capacidade de estabelecer simbiose com plantas da família Leguminosae. Espécies de B. japonicum são divididas em dois grupos bem definidos (tipo I e Ia) e fortes evidências sugerem que eles representam espécies distintas. Com o objetivo de apontar as diferença entre esses dois grupos, foram utilizadas quatro estirpes do tipo Ia em uma análise polifásica. O fingerprinting obtido por BOX-PCR demonstrou a grande semelhança dentro do grupo de B. japonicum tipo Ia, com valores acima de 85% de similaridade entre eles. Resultado análogo também foi constatado pela análise dos genes housekeeping concatenados. Dados de hibridização DNA-DNA mostram que o valor obtido entre a estirpe referência de B. japonicum tipo Ia e a estirpe tipo de B. japonicum tipo I é de 65% e de 63% com a estirpe tipo de B. betae. Esses resultados apontam a necessidade de um estudo de taxonomia polifásica mais aprofundado e leva-nos a sugerir, futuramente, a reclassificação de B. japonicum tipo Ia como uma nova espécie, de acordo com as normas do Comitê Internacional de Sistemática de Procariotos (ICSP).Fertbio

The Apparent Fractal Conjecture: Scaling Features in Standard Cosmologies

This paper presents an analysis of the smoothness problem in cosmology by focussing on the ambiguities originated in the simplifying hypotheses aimed at observationally verifying if the large-scale distribution of galaxies is homogeneous, and conjecturing that this distribution should follow a fractal pattern in perturbed standard cosmologies. This is due to a geometrical effect, appearing when certain types of average densities are calculated along the past light cone. The paper starts reviewing the argument concerning the possibility that the galaxy distribution follows such a scaling pattern, and the premises behind the assumption that the spatial homogeneity of standard cosmology can be observable. Next, it is argued that to discuss observable homogeneity one needs to make a clear distinction between local and average relativistic densities, and showing how the different distance definitions strongly affect them, leading the various average densities to display asymptotically opposite behaviours. Then the paper revisits Ribeiro's (1995: astro-ph/9910145) results, showing that in a fully relativistic treatment some observational average densities of the flat Friedmann model are not well defined at z ~ 0.1, implying that at this range average densities behave in a fundamentally different manner as compared to the linearity of the Hubble law, well valid for z < 1. This conclusion brings into question the widespread assumption that relativistic corrections can always be neglected at low z. It is also shown how some key features of fractal cosmologies can be found in the Friedmann models. In view of those findings, it is suggested that the so-called contradiction between the cosmological principle, and the galaxy distribution forming an unlimited fractal structure, may not exist.Comment: 30 pages, 2 figures, LaTeX. This paper is a follow-up to gr-qc/9909093. Accepted for publication in "General Relativity and Gravitation

Production, breeding and potential of cowpea crop in Brazil.

About 50 years ago cowpea was reported as a relatively minor tropical legume. However, in the last years, it has been emerging as one of the most important food legume of the 21st century (SINGH, 2010). Brazil is not out of this panorama. Brazilian agriculture is undergoing major technological changes and, in addition, globalization in agribusiness has caused impacts on the production chain of several crops, particularly those heavily dependent on the use of a large volume of agricultural inputs, mainly fertilizers and pesticides. Such crops have had a higher production cost each year. On the other hand, this situation has brought new opportunities. Business farmers have sought new alternatives for their production arrangements. In this context cowpea constitutes one of the best options.bitstream/item/85620/1/Doc-216-Production.pd