Relative spins and excitation energies of superdeformed bands in 190Hg: Further evidence for octupole vibration

An experiment using the Eurogam Phase II gamma-ray spectrometer confirms the existence of an excited superdeformed (SD) band in 190Hg and its very unusual decay into the lowest SD band over 3-4 transitions. The energies and dipole character of the transitions linking the two SD bands have been firmly established. Comparisons with RPA calculations indicate that the excited SD band can be interpreted as an octupole-vibrational structure.Comment: 12 pages, latex, 4 figures available via WWW at http://www.phy.anl.gov/bgo/bc/hg190_nucl_ex.htm

Time-odd components in the mean field of rotating superdeformed nuclei

Rotation-induced time-odd components in the nuclear mean field are analyzed using the Hartree-Fock cranking approach with effective interactions SIII, SkM*, and SkP. Identical dynamical moments ${{\cal J}^{(2)}}$ are obtained for pairs of superdeformed bands $^{151}$Tb(2)--$^{152}$Dy(1) and $^{150}$Gd(2)--$^{151}$Tb(1). The corresponding relative alignments strongly depend on which time-odd mean-field terms are taken into account in the Hartree-Fock equations.Comment: 23 pages, ReVTeX, 6 uuencoded postscript figures include

Microscopic Structure of High-Spin Vibrational Excitations in Superdeformed 190,192,194Hg

Microscopic RPA calculations based on the cranked shell model are performed to investigate the quadrupole and octupole correlations for excited superdeformed bands in 190Hg, 192Hg, and 194Hg. The K=2 octupole vibrations are predicted to be the lowest excitation modes at zero rotational frequency. At finite frequency, however, the interplay between rotation and vibrations produces different effects depending on neutron number: The lowest octupole phonon is rotationally aligned in 190Hg, is crossed by the aligned two-quasiparticle bands in 192Hg, and retains the K=2 octupole vibrational character up to the highest frequency in 194Hg. The gamma vibrations are predicted to be higher in energy and less collective than the octupole vibrations. From a comparison with the experimental dynamic moments of inertia, a new interpretation of the observed excited bands invoking the K=2 octupole vibrations is proposed, which suggests those octupole vibrations may be prevalent in SD Hg nuclei.Comment: 22 pages, REVTeX, 12 postscript figures are available on reques

Understanding conspiracy theories

Scholarly efforts to understand conspiracy theories have grown significantly in recent years, and there is now a broad and interdisciplinary literature that we review in this article. We ask three specific questions. First, what are the factors that are associated with conspiracy theorizing? Our review of the literature shows that conspiracy beliefs result from a range of psychological, political and social factors. Next, how are conspiracy theories communicated? Here, we explain how conspiracy theories are shared among individuals and spread through traditional and social media platforms. Next, what are the risks and rewards associated with conspiracy theories? By focusing on politics and science, we argue that conspiracy theories do more harm than good. Finally, because this is a growing literature and many open questions remain, we conclude by suggesting several promising avenues for future research

Grey squirrels in central Italy: a new threat for endemic red squirrel subspecies

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The nuclear collective motion

Current developments in nuclear structure are discussed from a theoretical perspective. First, the progress in theoretical modeling of nuclei is reviewed. This is followed by the discussion of nuclear time scales, nuclear collective modes, and nuclear deformations. Some perspectives on nuclear structure research far from stability are given. Finally, interdisciplinary aspects of the nuclear many-body problem are outlined

Female chromosome X mosaicism is age-related and preferentially affects the inactivated X chromosome

To investigate large structural clonal mosaicism of chromosome X, we analysed the SNP microarray intensity data of 38,303 women from cancer genome-wide association studies (20,878 cases and 17,425 controls) and detected 124 mosaic X events >2 Mb in 97 (0.25%) women. Here we show rates for X-chromosome mosaicism are four times higher than mean autosomal rates; X mosaic events more often include the entire chromosome and participants with X events more likely harbour autosomal mosaic events. X mosaicism frequency increases with age (0.11% in 50-year olds; 0.45% in 75-year olds), as reported for Y and autosomes. Methylation array analyses of 33 women with X mosaicism indicate events preferentially involve the inactive X chromosome. Our results provide further evidence that the sex chromosomes undergo mosaic events more frequently than autosomes, which could have implications for understanding the underlying mechanisms of mosaic events and their possible contribution to risk for chronic diseases