10,032 research outputs found
WKB-type Approximation to Noncommutative Quantum Cosmology
In this work, we develop and apply the WKB approximation to several examples
of noncommutative quantum cosmology, obtaining the time evolution of the
noncommutative universe, this is done starting from a noncommutative quantum
formulation of cosmology where the noncommutativity is introduced by a
deformation on the minisuperspace variables. This procedure gives a
straightforward algorithm to incorporate noncommutativity to cosmology and
inflation.Comment: Revtex4, 6 pages, no figure
Dipolar origin of the gas-liquid coexistence of the hard-core 1:1 electrolyte model
We present a systematic study of the effect of the ion pairing on the
gas-liquid phase transition of hard-core 1:1 electrolyte models. We study a
class of dipolar dimer models that depend on a parameter R_c, the maximum
separation between the ions that compose the dimer. This parameter can vary
from sigma_{+/-} that corresponds to the tightly tethered dipolar dimer model,
to R_c --> infinity, that corresponds to the Stillinger-Lovett description of
the free ion system. The coexistence curve and critical point parameters are
obtained as a function of R_c by grand canonical Monte Carlo techniques. Our
results show that this dependence is smooth but non-monotonic and converges
asymptotically towards the free ion case for relatively small values of R_c.
This fact allows us to describe the gas-liquid transition in the free ion model
as a transition between two dimerized fluid phases. The role of the unpaired
ions can be considered as a perturbation of this picture.Comment: 16 pages, 13 figures, submitted to Physical Review
Theory of the optical absorption of light carrying orbital angular momentum by semiconductors
We develop a free-carrier theory of the optical absorption of light carrying
orbital angular momentum (twisted light) by bulk semiconductors. We obtain the
optical transition matrix elements for Bessel-mode twisted light and use them
to calculate the wave function of photo-excited electrons to first-order in the
vector potential of the laser. The associated net electric currents of first
and second-order on the field are obtained. It is shown that the magnetic field
produced at the center of the beam for the mode is of the order of a
millitesla, and could therefore be detected experimentally using, for example,
the technique of time-resolved Faraday rotation.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett. (23 Jan 2008
Neutrino, Neutron, and Cosmic Ray Production in the External Shock Model of Gamma Ray Bursts
The hypothesis that ultra-high energy (>~ 10^19 eV) cosmic rays (UHECRs) are
accelerated by gamma-ray burst (GRB) blast waves is assumed to be correct.
Implications of this assumption are then derived for the external shock model
of gamma-ray bursts. The evolving synchrotron radiation spectrum in GRB blast
waves provides target photons for the photomeson production of neutrinos and
neutrons. Decay characteristics and radiative efficiencies of the neutral
particles that escape from the blast wave are calculated. The diffuse
high-energy GRB neutrino background and the distribution of high-energy GRB
neutrino events are calculated for specific parameter sets, and a scaling
relation for the photomeson production efficiency in surroundings with
different densities is derived. GRBs provide an intense flux of high-energy
neutrons, with neutron-production efficiencies exceeding ~ 1% of the total
energy release. The radiative characteristics of the neutron beta-decay
electrons from the GRB "neutron bomb" are solved in a special case. Galaxies
with GRB activity should be surrounded by radiation halos of ~ 100 kpc extent
from the outflowing neutrons, consisting of a nonthermal optical/X-ray
synchrotron component and a high-energy gamma-ray component from
Compton-scattered microwave background radiation. The luminosity of sources of
GRBs and relativistic outflows in L* galaxies such as the Milky Way is at the
level of ~10^40+-1 ergs/s. This is sufficient to account for UHECR generation
by GRBs. We briefly speculate on the possibility that hadronic cosmic rays
originate from the subset of supernovae that collapse to form relativistic
outflows and GRBs. (abridged)Comment: 53 pages, 8 figures, ApJ, in press, 574, July 20, 2002. Substantial
revision, previous Appendix expanded to ApJ, 556, 479; cosmic ray origin
speculations to Heidelberg (astro-ph/001054) and Hamburg ICRC
(astro-ph/0202254) proceeding
European 'NAFLD Preparedness Index' - Is Europe ready to meet the challenge of fatty liver disease?
Background & Aims: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which is closely associated with obesity, metabolic syndrome,
and diabetes, is a highly prevalent emerging condition that can be optimally managed through a multidisciplinary patient centred approach. National preparedness to address NAFLD is essential to ensure that health systems can deliver effective
care. We present a NAFLD Preparedness Index for Europe.
Methods: In June 2019, data were extracted by expert groups from 29 countries to complete a 41-item questionnaire about
NAFLD. Questions were classified into 4 categories: policies/civil society (9 questions), guidelines (16 questions), epidemiology
(4 questions), and care management (12 questions). Based on the responses, national preparedness for each indicator was
classified into low, middle, or high-levels. We then applied a multiple correspondence analysis to obtain a standardised
preparedness score for each country ranging from 0 to 100.
Results: The analysis estimated a summary factor that explained 71.3% of the variation in the dataset. No countries were
found to have yet attained a high-level of preparedness. Currently, the UK (75.5) scored best, although falling within the mid level preparedness band, followed by Spain (56.2), and Denmark (43.4), whereas Luxembourg and Ireland were the lowest
scoring countries with a score of 4.9. Only Spain scored highly in the epidemiology indicator category, whereas the UK was the
only country that scored highly for care management.
Conclusions: The NAFLD Preparedness Index indicates substantial variation between countries’ readiness to address NAFLD.
Notably, even those countries that score relatively highly exhibit deficiencies in key domains, suggesting that structural
changes are needed to optimise NAFLD management and ensure effective public health approaches are in place.
Lay summary: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which is closely associated with obesity, metabolic syndrome, and
diabetes, is a highly prevalent condition that can be optimally managed through a multidisciplinary patient-centred approach.
National preparedness to address NAFLD is essential to allow for effective public health measures aimed at preventing disease
while also ensuring that health systems can deliver effective care to affected populations. This study defined preparedness as
having adequate policies and civil society engagement, guidelines, epidemiology, and care management. NAFLD preparedness
was found to be deficient in all 29 countries studied, with great variation among the countries and the 4 categories studied
Asymmetric Primitive-Model Electrolytes: Debye-Huckel Theory, Criticality and Energy Bounds
Debye-Huckel (DH) theory is extended to treat two-component size- and
charge-asymmetric primitive models, focussing primarily on the 1:1 additive
hard-sphere electrolyte with, say, negative ion diameters, a--, larger than the
positive ion diameters, a++. The treatment highlights the crucial importance of
the charge-unbalanced ``border zones'' around each ion into which other ions of
only one species may penetrate. Extensions of the DH approach which describe
the border zones in a physically reasonable way are exact at high and low
density, , and, furthermore, are also in substantial agreement with
recent simulation predictions for \emph{trends} in the critical parameters,
and , with increasing size asymmetry. Conversely, the simplest
linear asymmetric DH description, which fails to account for physically
expected behavior in the border zones at low , can violate a new lower bound
on the energy (which applies generally to models asymmetric in both charge and
size). Other recent theories, including those based on the mean spherical
approximation, have predicted trends in the critical parameters quite opposite
to those established by the simulations.Comment: to appear in Physical Review
Reentrant charge ordering caused by polaron formation
Based on a two-dimensional extended Hubbard model with electron-phonon
interaction, we have studied the effect of polaron formation on the charge
ordering (CO) transition. It is found that for fully ferromagnetically ordered
spins the CO state may go through a process of appearance, collapse and
reappearance with decreasing temperature. This is entirely due to a
emperature-dependent polaron bandwidth. On the other hand, when a paramagnetic
spin state is considered, only a simple reentrant behavior of the CO transition
is found, which is only partly due to polaron effect. This model is proposed as
an explanation of the observed reentrant behavior of the CO transition in the
layered manganite LaSrMnO.Comment: 4 pages, 2 eps figures, revised version accepted by Phys. Rev. Let
Coexistence and Criticality in Size-Asymmetric Hard-Core Electrolytes
Liquid-vapor coexistence curves and critical parameters for hard-core 1:1
electrolyte models with diameter ratios lambda = sigma_{-}/\sigma_{+}=1 to 5.7
have been studied by fine-discretization Monte Carlo methods. Normalizing via
the length scale sigma_{+-}=(sigma_{+} + sigma_{-})/2 relevant for the low
densities in question, both Tc* (=kB Tc sigma_{+-}/q^2 and rhoc* (= rhoc sigma
_{+-}^{3}) decrease rapidly (from ~ 0.05 to 0.03 and 0.08 to 0.04,
respectively) as lambda increases. These trends, which unequivocally contradict
current theories, are closely mirrored by results for tightly tethered dipolar
dimers (with Tc* lower by ~ 0-11% and rhoc* greater by 37-12%).Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
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