13,664 research outputs found
Spectral Properties and Linear Stability of Self-Similar Wave Maps
We study co--rotational wave maps from --Minkowski space to the
three--sphere . It is known that there exists a countable family
of self--similar solutions. We investigate their stability under linear
perturbations by operator theoretic methods. To this end we study the spectra
of the perturbation operators, prove well--posedness of the corresponding
linear Cauchy problem and deduce a growth estimate for solutions. Finally, we
study perturbations of the limiting solution which is obtained from by
letting .Comment: Some extensions added to match the published versio
Transverse Velocity Dependence of the Proton-Antiproton Ratio as a Signature of the QCD Critical Endpoint
The presence of a critical point in the QCD phase diagram can deform the
trajectories describing the evolution of the expanding fireball in the
phase diagram. If the average emission time of hadrons is a function
of transverse velocity, as microscopic simulations of the hadronic freeze-out
dynamics suggest, the deformation of the hydrodynamic trajectories will change
the transverse velocity () dependence of the proton-antiproton
ratio when the fireball passes in the vicinity of the critical point. An
unusual -dependence of the ratio in a narrow beam
energy window would thus signal the presence of the critical point.Comment: Final version accepted for publicatio
Counterion density profiles at charged flexible membranes
Counterion distributions at charged soft membranes are studied using
perturbative analytical and simulation methods in both weak coupling
(mean-field or Poisson-Boltzmann) and strong coupling limits. The softer the
membrane, the more smeared out the counterion density profile becomes and
counterions pentrate through the mean-membrane surface location, in agreement
with anomalous scattering results. Membrane-charge repulsion leads to a
short-scale roughening of the membrane.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Basement and Regional Structure Along Strike of the Queen Charlotte Fault in the Context of Modern and Historical Earthquake Ruptures
The Queen Charlotte fault (QCF) is a dextral transform system located offshore of southeastern Alaska and western Canada, accommodating similar to 4.4 cm/yr of relative motion between the Pacific and North American plates. Oblique convergence along the fault increases southward, and how this convergence is accommodated is still debated. Using seismic reflection data, we interpret offshore basement structure, faulting, and stratigraphy to provide a geological context for two recent earthquakes, an M-w 7.5 strike-slip event near Craig, Alaska, and an M-w 7.8 thrust event near Haida Gwaii, Canada. We map downwarped Pacific oceanic crust near 54 degrees N, between the two rupture zones. Observed downwarping decreases north and south of 54 degrees N, parallel to the strike of the QCF. Bending of the Pacific plate here may have initiated with increased convergence rates due to a plate motion change at similar to 6 Ma. Tectonic reconstruction implies convergence-driven Pacific plate flexure, beginning at 6 Ma south of a 10 degrees bend the QCF (which is currently at 53.2 degrees N) and lasting until the plate translated past the bend by similar to 2 Ma. Normal-faulted approximately late Miocene sediment above the deep flexural depression at 54 degrees N, topped by relatively undeformed Pleistocene and younger sediment, supports this model. Aftershocks of the Haida Gwaii event indicate a normal-faulting stress regime, suggesting present-day plate flexure and underthrusting, which is also consistent with reconstruction of past conditions. We thus favor a Pacific plate underthrusting model to initiate flexure and accommodation space for sediment loading. In addition, mapped structures indicate two possible fault segment boundaries along the QCF at 53.2 degrees N and at 56 degrees N.USGS Earthquake Hazards External Grants ProgramNational Earthquake Hazards Reduction ProgramUTIG Ewing/Worzel FellowshipInstitute for Geophysic
Baryon number and strangeness: signals of a deconfined antecedent
The correlation between baryon number and strangeness is used to discern the
nature of the deconfined matter produced at vanishing chemical potential in
high-energy nuclear collisions at the BNL RHIC. Comparisons of results of
various phenomenological models with correlations extracted from lattice QCD
calculations suggest that a quasi-particle picture applies. At finite baryon
densities, such as those encountered at the CERN SPS, it is demonstrated that
the presence of a first-order phase transition and the accompanying development
of spinodal decomposition would significantly enhance the number of strangeness
carriers and the associated fluctuations.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, latex, to appear in the proceedings of the
Workshop on Correlations and Fluctuations in Relativistic Nuclear collisions,
(MIT, April 21-23,2005
Thermodynamic Scaling of the Viscosity of Van Der Waals, H-Bonded, and Ionic Liquids
Viscosities and their temperature, T, and volume, V, dependences are reported
for 7 molecular liquids and polymers. In combination with literature viscosity
data for 5 other liquids, we show that the superpositioning of relaxation times
for various glass-forming materials when expressed as a function of TV^g, where
the exponent g is a material constant, can be extended to the viscosity. The
latter is usually measured to higher temperatures than the corresponding
relaxation times, demonstrating the validity of the thermodynamic scaling
throughout the supercooled and higher T regimes. The value of g for a given
liquid principally reflects the magnitude of the intermolecular forces (e.g.,
steepness of the repulsive potential); thus, we find decreasing g in going from
van der Waals fluids to ionic liquids. For strongly H-bonded materials, such as
low molecular weight polypropylene glycol and water, the superpositioning
fails, due to the non-trivial change of chemical structure (degree of
H-bonding) with thermodynamic conditions.Comment: 16 pages 7 figure
On the correlation between fragility and stretching in glassforming liquids
We study the pressure and temperature dependences of the dielectric
relaxation of two molecular glassforming liquids, dibutyl phtalate and
m-toluidine. We focus on two characteristics of the slowing down of relaxation,
the fragility associated with the temperature dependence and the stretching
characterizing the relaxation function. We combine our data with data from the
literature to revisit the proposed correlation between these two quantities. We
do this in light of constraints that we suggest to put on the search for
empirical correlations among properties of glassformers. In particular, argue
that a meaningful correlation is to be looked for between stretching and
isochoric fragility, as both seem to be constant under isochronic conditions
and thereby reflect the intrinsic effect of temperature
Magnetic Field Evolution in Merging Clusters of Galaxies
We present initial results from the first 3-dimensional numerical
magnetohydrodynamical (MHD) simulations of magnetic field evolution in merging
clusters of galaxies. Within the framework of idealized initial conditions
similar to our previous work, we look at the gasdynamics and the magnetic field
evolution during a major merger event in order to examine the suggestion that
shocks and turbulence generated during a cluster/subcluster merger can produce
magnetic field amplification and relativistic particle acceleration and, as
such, may play a role in the formation and evolution of cluster-wide radio
halos. The ICM, as represented by the equations of ideal MHD, is evolved
self-consistently within a changing gravitational potential defined largely by
the collisionless dark matter component represented by an N-body particle
distribution. The MHD equations are solved by the Eulerian, finite-difference
code, ZEUS. The particles are evolved by a standard particle-mesh (PM) code. We
find significant evolution of the magnetic field structure and strength during
two distinct epochs of the merger evolution.Comment: 21 pages, 7 figures, Figure 2 is color postscript. Accepted for
publication in Ap
Setting the scale for the Luescher-Weisz action
We study the quark-antiquark potential of quenched SU(3) lattice gauge theory
with the Luescher-Weisz action. After blocking the gauge fields with the
recently proposed hypercubic transformation we compute the Sommer parameter,
extract the lattice spacing a and set the scale at 6 different values of the
gauge coupling in a range from a = 0.084 fm to 0.136 fm.Comment: Remarks and references added, to appear in Phys. Rev.
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