Photon-propagation model with random background field: Length scales and Cherenkov limits

We present improved experimental bounds on typical length scales of a photon-propagation model with a frozen (time-independent) random background field, which could result from anomalous effects of a static, multiply connected spacetime foam.Comment: 6 pages with revtex4; v3: final versio

Precise analysis of pion-pion scattering data from Roy equations and forward dispersion relations

We review our recent analysis of pion-pion scattering data in terms of Roy equations and Forward Dispersion Relations, and present some preliminary results in terms of a new set of once-subtracted coupled equations for partial waves. The first analysis consists of independent fits to the different pion-pion channels that satisfies rather well the dispersive representation. In the second analysis we constrain the fit with the dispersion relations. The latter provides a very precise and model independent description of data using just analyticity, causality and crossing.Comment: 6 pages, two figures. To appear in the proceedings of the Workshop on Scalar Mesons and Related Topics, Lisbon, Portugal, 11-16 Feb 200

Combining brain-computer interfaces and assistive technologies: state-of-the-art and challenges

In recent years, new research has brought the field of EEG-based Brain-Computer Interfacing (BCI) out of its infancy and into a phase of relative maturity through many demonstrated prototypes such as brain-controlled wheelchairs, keyboards, and computer games. With this proof-of-concept phase in the past, the time is now ripe to focus on the development of practical BCI technologies that can be brought out of the lab and into real-world applications. In particular, we focus on the prospect of improving the lives of countless disabled individuals through a combination of BCI technology with existing assistive technologies (AT). In pursuit of more practical BCIs for use outside of the lab, in this paper, we identify four application areas where disabled individuals could greatly benefit from advancements in BCI technology, namely,“Communication and Control”, “Motor Substitution”, “Entertainment”, and “Motor Recovery”. We review the current state of the art and possible future developments, while discussing the main research issues in these four areas. In particular, we expect the most progress in the development of technologies such as hybrid BCI architectures, user-machine adaptation algorithms, the exploitation of users’ mental states for BCI reliability and confidence measures, the incorporation of principles in human-computer interaction (HCI) to improve BCI usability, and the development of novel BCI technology including better EEG devices

Sphalerons, spectral flow, and anomalies

The topology of configuration space may be responsible in part for the existence of sphalerons. Here, sphalerons are defined to be static but unstable finite-energy solutions of the classical field equations. Another manifestation of the nontrivial topology of configuration space is the phenomenon of spectral flow for the eigenvalues of the Dirac Hamiltonian. The spectral flow, in turn, is related to the possible existence of anomalies. In this review, the interconnection of these topics is illustrated for three particular sphalerons of SU(2) Yang-Mills-Higgs theory.Comment: 35 pages with revtex4; invited paper for the August special issue of JMP on "Integrability, topological solitons and beyond

Relativistic three-particle scattering equations

We derive a set of relativistic three-particle scattering equations in the three-particle c.m. frame employing a relativistic three-particle propagator suggested long ago by Ahmadzadeh and Tjon in the c.m. frame of a two-particle subsystem. We make the coordinate transformation of this propagator from the c.m. frame of the two-particle subsystem to the three-particle c.m. frame. We also point out that some numerical applications of the Ahmadzadeh and Tjon propagator to the three-nucleon problem use unnecessary nonrelativistic approximations which do not simplify the computational task, but violate constraints of relativistic unitarity and/or covariance.Comment: 5pages, text and one ps figure (in revtex) include

Images in Christmas Balls

We describe light-reflection properties of spherically curved mirrors, like balls in the Christmas tree. In particular, we study the position of the image which is formed somewhere beyond the surface of a spherical mirror, when an eye observes the image of a pointlike light source. The considered problem, originally posed by Abu Ali Hasan Ibn al-Haitham -- alias Alhazen -- more than a millennium ago, turned out to have the now well known analytic solution of a biquadratic equation, being still of great relevance, e.g. for the aberration-free construction of telescopes. We do not attempt to perform an exhaustive survey of the rich historical and engineering literature on the subject, but develop a simple pedagogical approach to the issue, which we believe to be of continuing interest in view of its maltreating in many high-school textbooks.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures plain LaTeX; Also see http://cft.fis.uc.pt/eef/mirrors.htm, revised version has simplified formulas, more transparent for a wider audience, one reference adde

Relativistic Effect on Low-Energy Nucleon-Deuteron Scattering

The relativistic effect on differential cross sections, nucleon-to-nucleon and nucleon-to-deuteron polarization transfer coefficients, and the spin correlation function, of nucleon-deuteron elastic scattering is investigated employing several three-dimensional relativistic three-body equations and several nucleon-nucleon potentials. The polarization transfer coefficients are found to be sensitive to the details of the nucleon-nucleon potentials and the relativistic dynamics employed, and prefer trinucleon models with the correct triton binding energy. (To appear in Phys. Rev. C)Comment: pages: 21, LaTex text + 7 ps-figures at the en