28,114 research outputs found
Locally Inertial Reference Frames in Lorentzian and Riemann-Cartan Spacetimes
In this paper we scrutinize the concept of locally inertial reference frames
(LIRF) in Lorentzian and Riemann-Cartan spacetime structures. We present
rigorous mathematical definitions for those objects, something that needs
preliminary a clear mathematical distinction between the concepts of observers,
reference frames, naturally adapted coordinate functions to a given reference
frame and which properties may characterize an inertial reference frame (if
any) in the Lorentzian and Riemann-Cartan structures. We hope to have clarified
some eventual obscure issues associated to the concept of LIRF appearing in the
literature, in particular the relationship between LIRFs in Lorentzian and
Riemann-Cartan spacetimes and Einstein's most happy though, i.e., the
equivalence principle.Comment: In this version a new reference has been added, some misprints and
typos have been corrected and some few sentences in two remarks and in the
conclusions have been changed for better intelligibilit
Quark-hybrid matter in the cores of massive neutron stars
Using a nonlocal extension of the SU(3) Nambu-Jona Lasinio model, which
reproduces several of the key features of Quantum Chromodynamics, we show that
mixed phases of deconfined quarks and confined hadrons (quark-hybrid matter)
may exist in the cores of neutron stars as massive as around 2.1 M_Sun. The
radii of these objects are found to be in the canonical range of
km. According to our study, the transition to pure quark matter does not occur
in stable neutron stars, but is shifted to neutron stars which are unstable
against radial oscillations. The implications of our study for the recently
discovered, massive neutron star PSR J1614-2230, whose gravitational mass is
, are that this neutron star may contain an extended
region of quark-hybrid matter at it center, but no pure quark matter.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figure
Insights into channel function via channel dysfunction
The nicotinic synapse has been a touchstone for advances in neuroscience ever since Jean Nicot, the French ambassador to Portugal, sent some tobacco seeds home to Paris in 1550 with a note that the New World plant had interesting effects when smoked. Now the muscle nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) is a well-studied example of ligand-gated ion channels. After a motor neuron is stimulated, the nerve impulse reaches the presynaptic terminal, where it evokes release of acetylcholine (ACh) into the synapse. The nAChR depolarizes the postsynaptic muscle and triggers muscle action potentials; muscle contraction follows. To date, several nAChR subtypes have been successfully isolated, purified, imaged, and expressed, and unitary currents have been recorded from these channels (1). Researchers continue to unravel the molecular mechanisms of these macromolecules that are embedded in membranes at vertebrate nerve-muscle synapses, at invertebrate nicotinic synapses (which explains why nicotine-producing tobacco plants have a select advantage against invertebrate pests), and in the vertebrate central system (which explains Jean Nicot’s fascination with those leaves). However, the precise structural events that trigger channel opening or "gating" remain mostly unknown
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