475 research outputs found
Fake News and Indifference to Truth
State of the Union Addresses (SOUA) by two recent US Presidents, President
Obama (2016) and President Trump (2018), and a series of recent of tweets by
President Trump, are analysed by means of the data mining technique, sentiment
analysis. The intention is to explore the contents and sentiments of the
messages contained, the degree to which they dier, and their potential implications
for the national mood and state of the economy. President Trump's 2018
SOUA and his sample tweets are identied as being more positive in sentiment
than President Obama's 2016 SOUA. This is conrmed by bootstrapped t tests
and non-parametric sign tests on components of the respective sentiment scores.
The issue of whether overly positive pronouncements amount to self-promotion,
rather than intrinsic merit or sentiment, is a topic for future research
Parity-Violating Interaction Effects I: the Longitudinal Asymmetry in pp Elastic Scattering
The proton-proton parity-violating longitudinal asymmetry is calculated in
the lab-energy range 0--350 MeV, using a number of different, latest-generation
strong-interaction potentials--Argonne V18, Bonn-2000, and Nijmegen-I--in
combination with a weak-interaction potential consisting of rho- and
omega-meson exchanges--the model known as DDH. The complete scattering problem
in the presence of parity-conserving, including Coulomb, and parity-violating
potentials is solved in both configuration- and momentum-space. The predicted
parity-violating asymmetries are found to be only weakly dependent upon the
input strong-interaction potential adopted in the calculation. Values for the
rho- and omega-meson weak coupling constants and
are determined by reproducing the measured asymmetries at 13.6 MeV, 45 MeV, and
221 MeV.Comment: 24 pages, 8 figures, submitted to Physical Review
Spin glass behavior of frustrated 2-D Penrose lattice in the classical planar model
Via extensive Monte Carlo studies we show that the frustrated XY Hamiltonian
on a 2-D Penrose lattice admits of a spin glass phase at low temperature.
Studies of the Edwards-Anderson order parameter, spin glass susceptibility, and
local (linear) susceptibility point unequivocally to a paramagnetic to spin
glass transition as the temperature is lowered. Specific heat shows a rounded
peak at a temperature above the spin glass transition temperature, as is
commonly observed in spin glasses. Our results strongly suggest that the
critical point exponents are the same as obtained by Bhatt and Young in the
Ising model on a square lattice. However, unlike in the latter case,
the critical temperature is clearly finite (nonzero). The results imply that a
quasiperiodic 2-D array of superconducting grains in a suitably chosen
transverse magnetic field should behave as a superconducting glass at low
temperature.Comment: RevTex, 4 pages Including 4 figures. To appear in the June 1 1996
issue of Phys. Rev. B (Rapid Communications). Revised/replaced edition
contains an erratum at the end of the paper, also to appear in Phys. Rev.
Estimating the parameters of the Sgr A* black hole
The measurement of relativistic effects around the galactic center may allow
in the near future to strongly constrain the parameters of the supermassive
black hole likely present at the galactic center (Sgr A*). As a by-product of
these measurements it would be possible to severely constrain, in addition,
also the parameters of the mass-density distributions of both the innermost
star cluster and the dark matter clump around the galactic center.Comment: Accepted for publication on General Relativity and Gravitation, 2010.
11 Pages, 1 Figur
Microscopic transition potential: Determination of and coupling constants
A transition potential, based on an effective
quark-quark interaction and a constituent quark cluster model for baryons, is
derived in the Born-Oppenheimer approach. The potential shows significant
differences with respect to those obtained by a direct scaling of the
nucleon-nucleon interaction. From its asymptotic behavior we extract the values
of and coupling constants in a
particular coupling schemeComment: 15 eps figures, Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
Detection of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Virus H5N1 Clade 2.3.4.4b in Great Skuas:A Species of Conservation Concern in Great Britain
The UK and Europe have seen successive outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza across the 2020/21 and 2021/22 autumn/winter seasons. Understanding both the epidemiology and transmission of these viruses in different species is critical to aid mitigating measures where outbreaks cause extensive mortalities in both land- and waterfowl. Infection of different species can result in mild or asymptomatic outcomes, or acute infections that result in high morbidity and mortality levels. Definition of disease outcome in different species is of great importance to understanding the role different species play in the maintenance and transmission of these pathogens. Further, the infection of species that have conservation value is also important to recognise and characterise to understand the impact on what might be limited wild populations. Highly pathogenic avian influenza virus H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b has been detected in great skuas (Stercorarius skua) across different colonies on islands off the shore of Scotland, Great Britain during summer 2021. A large number of great skuas were observed as developing severe clinical disease and dying during the epizootic and mortalities were estimated to be high where monitored. Of eight skuas submitted for post-mortem examination, seven were confirmed as being infected with this virus using a range of diagnostic assays. Here we overview the outbreak event that occurred in this species, listed as species of conservation concern in Great Britain and outline the importance of this finding with respect to virus transmission and maintenance
Geometry and material effects in Casimir physics - Scattering theory
We give a comprehensive presentation of methods for calculating the Casimir
force to arbitrary accuracy, for any number of objects, arbitrary shapes,
susceptibility functions, and separations. The technique is applicable to
objects immersed in media other than vacuum, to nonzero temperatures, and to
spatial arrangements in which one object is enclosed in another. Our method
combines each object's classical electromagnetic scattering amplitude with
universal translation matrices, which convert between the bases used to
calculate scattering for each object, but are otherwise independent of the
details of the individual objects. This approach, which combines methods of
statistical physics and scattering theory, is well suited to analyze many
diverse phenomena. We illustrate its power and versatility by a number of
examples, which show how the interplay of geometry and material properties
helps to understand and control Casimir forces. We also examine whether
electrodynamic Casimir forces can lead to stable levitation. Neglecting
permeabilities, we prove that any equilibrium position of objects subject to
such forces is unstable if the permittivities of all objects are higher or
lower than that of the enveloping medium; the former being the generic case for
ordinary materials in vacuum.Comment: 44 pages, 11 figures, to appear in upcoming Lecture Notes in Physics
volume in Casimir physic
Distillation of continuous-variable entanglement with optical means
We present an event-ready procedure that is capable of distilling Gaussian
two-mode entangled states from a supply of weakly entangled states that have
become mixed in a decoherence process. This procedure relies on passive optical
elements and photon detectors distinguishing the presence and the absence of
photons, but does not make use of photon counters. We identify fixed points of
the iteration map, and discuss in detail its convergence properties. Necessary
and sufficient criteria for the convergence to two-mode Gaussian states are
presented. On the basis of various examples we discuss the performance of the
procedure as far as the increase of the degree of entanglement and two-mode
squeezing is concerned. Finally, we consider imperfect operations and outline
the robustness of the scheme under non-unit detection efficiencies of the
detectors. This analysis implies that the proposed protocol can be implemented
with currently available technology and detector efficiencies.Comment: 14 pages, 12 figure
Toward an internally consistent astronomical distance scale
Accurate astronomical distance determination is crucial for all fields in
astrophysics, from Galactic to cosmological scales. Despite, or perhaps because
of, significant efforts to determine accurate distances, using a wide range of
methods, tracers, and techniques, an internally consistent astronomical
distance framework has not yet been established. We review current efforts to
homogenize the Local Group's distance framework, with particular emphasis on
the potential of RR Lyrae stars as distance indicators, and attempt to extend
this in an internally consistent manner to cosmological distances. Calibration
based on Type Ia supernovae and distance determinations based on gravitational
lensing represent particularly promising approaches. We provide a positive
outlook to improvements to the status quo expected from future surveys,
missions, and facilities. Astronomical distance determination has clearly
reached maturity and near-consistency.Comment: Review article, 59 pages (4 figures); Space Science Reviews, in press
(chapter 8 of a special collection resulting from the May 2016 ISSI-BJ
workshop on Astronomical Distance Determination in the Space Age
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