253 research outputs found
Design and User Satisfaction of Interactive Maps for Visually Impaired People
Multimodal interactive maps are a solution for presenting spatial information
to visually impaired people. In this paper, we present an interactive
multimodal map prototype that is based on a tactile paper map, a multi-touch
screen and audio output. We first describe the different steps for designing an
interactive map: drawing and printing the tactile paper map, choice of
multi-touch technology, interaction technologies and the software architecture.
Then we describe the method used to assess user satisfaction. We provide data
showing that an interactive map - although based on a unique, elementary,
double tap interaction - has been met with a high level of user satisfaction.
Interestingly, satisfaction is independent of a user's age, previous visual
experience or Braille experience. This prototype will be used as a platform to
design advanced interactions for spatial learning
The Blackbody Radiation Spectrum Follows from Zero-Point Radiation and the Structure of Relativistic Spacetime in Classical Physics
The analysis of this article is entirely within classical physics. Any
attempt to describe nature within classical physics requires the presence of
Lorentz-invariant classical electromagnetic zero-point radiation so as to
account for the Casimir forces between parallel conducting plates at low
temperatures. Furthermore, conformal symmetry carries solutions of Maxwell's
equations into solutions. In an inertial frame, conformal symmetry leaves
zero-point radiation invariant and does not connect it to non-zero-temperature;
time-dilating conformal transformations carry the Lorentz-invariant zero-point
radiation spectrum into zero-point radiation and carry the thermal radiation
spectrum at non-zero temperature into thermal radiation at a different
non-zero-temperature. However, in a non-inertial frame, a time-dilating
conformal transformation carries classical zero-point radiation into thermal
radiation at a finite non-zero-temperature. By taking the no-acceleration
limit, one can obtain the Planck radiation spectrum for blackbody radiation in
an inertial frame from the thermal radiation spectrum in an accelerating frame.
Here this connection between zero-point radiation and thermal radiation is
illustrated for a scalar radiation field in a Rindler frame undergoing
relativistic uniform proper acceleration through flat spacetime in two
spacetime dimensions. The analysis indicates that the Planck radiation spectrum
for thermal radiation follows from zero-point radiation and the structure of
relativistic spacetime in classical physics.Comment: 21 page
Search for Small Trans-Neptunian Objects by the TAOS Project
The Taiwan-America Occultation Survey (TAOS) aims to determine the number of
small icy bodies in the outer reach of the Solar System by means of stellar
occultation. An array of 4 robotic small (D=0.5 m), wide-field (f/1.9)
telescopes have been installed at Lulin Observatory in Taiwan to simultaneously
monitor some thousand of stars for such rare occultation events. Because a
typical occultation event by a TNO a few km across will last for only a
fraction of a second, fast photometry is necessary. A special CCD readout
scheme has been devised to allow for stellar photometry taken a few times per
second. Effective analysis pipelines have been developed to process stellar
light curves and to correlate any possible flux changes among all telescopes. A
few billion photometric measurements have been collected since the routine
survey began in early 2005. Our preliminary result of a very low detection rate
suggests a deficit of small TNOs down to a few km size, consistent with the
extrapolation of some recent studies of larger (30--100 km) TNOs.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, IAU Symposium 23
Variable-range hopping in quasi-one-dimensional electron crystals
We study the effect of impurities on the ground state and the low-temperature
dc transport in a 1D chain and quasi-1D systems of many parallel chains. We
assume that strong interactions impose a short-range periodicicity of the
electron positions. The long-range order of such an electron crystal (or
equivalently, a charge-density wave) is destroyed by impurities. The 3D
array of chains behaves differently at large and at small impurity
concentrations . At large , impurities divide the chains into metallic
rods. The low-temperature conductivity is due to the variable-range hopping of
electrons between the rods. It obeys the Efros-Shklovskii (ES) law and
increases exponentially as decreases. When is small, the metallic-rod
picture of the ground state survives only in the form of rare clusters of
atypically short rods. They are the source of low-energy charge excitations. In
the bulk the charge excitations are gapped and the electron crystal is pinned
collectively. A strongly anisotropic screening of the Coulomb potential
produces an unconventional linear in energy Coulomb gap and a new law of the
variable-range hopping . remains
constant over a finite range of impurity concentrations. At smaller the
2/5-law is replaced by the Mott law, where the conductivity gets suppressed as
goes down. Thus, the overall dependence of on is nonmonotonic.
In 1D, the granular-rod picture and the ES apply at all . The conductivity
decreases exponentially with . Our theory provides a qualitative explanation
for the transport in organic charge-density wave compounds.Comment: 20 pages, 7 figures. (v1) The abstract is abridged to 24 lines. For
the full abstract, see the manuscript (v2) several changes in presentation
per referee's comments. No change in result
Antiferromagnetically coupled alternating spin chains
The effect of antiferromagnetic interchain coupling in alternating spin
(1,1/2) chains is studied by mean of a spin wave theory and density matrix
renormalization group (DMRG). In particular, two limiting cases are
investigated, the two-leg ladder and its two dimensional (2D) generalization.
Results of the ground state properties like energy, spin gap, magnetizations,
and correlation functions are reported for the whole range of the interchain
coupling . For the 2D case the spin wave results predict a smooth
dimensional crossover from 1D to 2D keeping the ground state always ordered.
For the ladder system, the DMRG results show that any drives the
system to a gapped ground state. Furthermore the behaviour of the correlation
functions closely resemble the uniform spin-1/2 ladder. For lower
than 0.3, however, the gap behaves quadratically as . Finally, it is argued that the behaviour of the spin gap for an
arbitrary number of mixed coupled spin chains is analogous to that of the
uniform spin-1/2 chains.Comment: 5 pages, 7 ps-figure
The origin of paramagnetic magnetization in field-cooled YBa2Cu3O7 films
Temperature dependences of the magnetic moment have been measured in
YBa_2Cu_3O_{7-\delta} thin films over a wide magnetic field range (5 <= H <=
10^4 Oe). In these films a paramagnetic signal known as the paramagnetic
Meissner effect has been observed. The experimental data in the films, which
have strong pinning and high critical current densities (J_c ~ 2 \times 10^6
A/cm^2 at 77 K), are quantitatively shown to be highly consistent with the
theoretical model proposed by Koshelev and Larkin [Phys. Rev. B 52, 13559
(1995)]. This finding indicates that the origin of the paramagnetic effect is
ultimately associated with nucleation and inhomogeneous spatial redistribution
of magnetic vortices in a sample which is cooled down in a magnetic field. It
is also shown that the distribution of vortices is extremely sensitive to the
interplay of film properties and the real experimental conditions of the
measurements.Comment: RevTex, 8 figure
Kinks in the discrete sine-Gordon model with Kac-Baker long-range interactions
We study effects of Kac-Baker long-range dispersive interaction (LRI) between
particles on kink properties in the discrete sine-Gordon model. We show that
the kink width increases indefinitely as the range of LRI grows only in the
case of strong interparticle coupling. On the contrary, the kink becomes
intrinsically localized if the coupling is under some critical value.
Correspondingly, the Peierls-Nabarro barrier vanishes as the range of LRI
increases for supercritical values of the coupling but remains finite for
subcritical values. We demonstrate that LRI essentially transforms the internal
dynamics of the kinks, specifically creating their internal localized and
quasilocalized modes. We also show that moving kinks radiate plane waves due to
break of the Lorentz invariance by LRI.Comment: 11 pages (LaTeX) and 14 figures (Postscript); submitted to Phys. Rev.
Recent developments in unconventional superconductivity theory
The review of recent developments in the unconventional superconductivity
theory is given. In the fist part I consider the physical origin of the Kerr
rotation polarization of light reflected from the surface of superconducting
. Then the comparison of magneto-optical responses in
superconductors with orbital and spin spontaneous magnetization is presented.
The latter result is applied to the estimation of the magneto-optical
properties of neutral superfluids with spontaneous magnetization. The second
part is devoted to the natural optical activity or gyrotropy properties of
noncentrosymmetric metals in their normal and superconducting states. The
temperature behavior of the gyrotropy coefficient is compared with the
temperature behavior of paramagnetic susceptibility determining the noticeable
increase of the paramagnetic limiting field in noncentrosymmetric
superconductors. In the last chapter I describe the order parameter and the
symmetry of superconducting state in the itinerant ferromagnet with
orthorhombic symmetry. Finally the Josephson coupling between two adjacent
ferromagnet superconducting domains is discussed.Comment: 15 page
Atomic layering at the liquid silicon surface: a first- principles simulation
We simulate the liquid silicon surface with first-principles molecular
dynamics in a slab geometry. We find that the atom-density profile presents a
pronounced layering, similar to those observed in low-temperature liquid metals
like Ga and Hg. The depth-dependent pair correlation function shows that the
effect originates from directional bonding of Si atoms at the surface, and
propagates into the bulk. The layering has no major effects in the electronic
and dynamical properties of the system, that are very similar to those of bulk
liquid Si. To our knowledge, this is the first study of a liquid surface by
first-principles molecular dynamics.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to PR
Nonlinear electrodynamics of p-wave superconductors
We consider the Maxwell-London electrodynamics of three dimensional
superconductors in p-wave pairing states with nodal points or lines in the
energy gap. The current-velocity relation is then nonlinear in the applied
field, cubic for point nodes and quadratic for lines. We obtain explicit
angular and depth dependent expressions for measurable quantities such as the
transverse magnetic moment, and associated torque. These dependences are
different for point and line nodes and can be used to distinguish between
different order parameters. We discuss the experimental feasibility of this
method, and bring forth its advantages, as well as limitations that might be
present.Comment: Fourteen pages RevTex plus four postscript figure
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