1,088 research outputs found
Quasilocal Conservation Laws: Why We Need Them
We argue that conservation laws based on the local matter-only
stress-energy-momentum tensor (characterized by energy and momentum per unit
volume) cannot adequately explain a wide variety of even very simple physical
phenomena because they fail to properly account for gravitational effects. We
construct a general quasi}local conservation law based on the Brown and York
total (matter plus gravity) stress-energy-momentum tensor (characterized by
energy and momentum per unit area), and argue that it does properly account for
gravitational effects. As a simple example of the explanatory power of this
quasilocal approach, consider that, when we accelerate toward a freely-floating
massive object, the kinetic energy of that object increases (relative to our
frame). But how, exactly, does the object acquire this increasing kinetic
energy? Using the energy form of our quasilocal conservation law, we can see
precisely the actual mechanism by which the kinetic energy increases: It is due
to a bona fide gravitational energy flux that is exactly analogous to the
electromagnetic Poynting flux, and involves the general relativistic effect of
frame dragging caused by the object's motion relative to us.Comment: 20 pages, 1 figur
Dirac versus Reduced Quantization of the Poincar\'{e} Symmetry in Scalar Electrodynamics
The generators of the Poincar\'{e} symmetry of scalar electrodynamics are
quantized in the functional Schr\"{o}dinger representation. We show that the
factor ordering which corresponds to (minimal) Dirac quantization preserves the
Poincar\'{e} algebra, but (minimal) reduced quantization does not. In the
latter, there is a van Hove anomaly in the boost-boost commutator, which we
evaluate explicitly to lowest order in a heat kernel expansion using zeta
function regularization. We illuminate the crucial role played by the gauge
orbit volume element in the analysis. Our results demonstrate that preservation
of extra symmetries at the quantum level is sometimes a useful criterion to
select between inequivalent, but nevertheless self-consistent, quantization
schemes.Comment: 24 page
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The visibility of environmental rights in the EU legal order: eurolegalism in action?
The current article responds to a key puzzle and a question. First, why, given the potential for ‘rights talk’ that has been seen in other countries and other policy areas, have environmental rights in the EU legal order been relatively invisible until recently? And second, with Daniel Kelemen’s influential work on Eurolegalism arguing that the EU has become much more reliant on US-style adversarial legalism, including a shift towards rights-based litigation, do EU environmental rights fit the picture Kelemen has painted, or are they an exception? The article explores the visibility of EU environmental rights at EU level and then seeks to explain the possible reasons for visibility/invisibility
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On the modeling, design and validation of two dimensional quasi-static eddy current forces in a mechanical oscillator.
Damping vibrations is important in the design of some types of inertial sensing devices. One method for adding damping to a device is to use magnetic forces generated by a static magnetic field interacting with eddy currents. In this report, we develop a 2-dimensional finite element model for the analysis of quasistatic eddy currents in a thin sheet of conducting material. The model was used for design and sensitivity analyses of a novel mechanical oscillator that consists of a shuttle mass (thin sheet of conducting material) and a set of folded spring elements. The oscillator is damped through the interaction of a static magnetic field and eddy currents in the shuttle mass. Using a prototype device and Laser Dopler Velocimetry (LDV), measurements were compared to the model in a validation study using simulation based uncertainty analyses. Measurements were found to follow the trends predicted by the model
Angular momentum and an invariant quasilocal energy in general relativity
Owing to its transformation property under local boosts, the Brown-York
quasilocal energy surface density is the analogue of E in the special
relativity formula: E^2-p^2=m^2. In this paper I will motivate the general
relativistic version of this formula, and thereby arrive at a geometrically
natural definition of an `invariant quasilocal energy', or IQE. In analogy with
the invariant mass m, the IQE is invariant under local boosts of the set of
observers on a given two-surface S in spacetime. A reference energy subtraction
procedure is required, but in contrast to the Brown-York procedure, S is
isometrically embedded into a four-dimensional reference spacetime. This
virtually eliminates the embeddability problem inherent in the use of a
three-dimensional reference space, but introduces a new one: such embeddings
are not unique, leading to an ambiguity in the reference IQE. However, in this
codimension-two setting there are two curvatures associated with S: the
curvatures of its tangent and normal bundles. Taking advantage of this fact, I
will suggest a possible way to resolve the embedding ambiguity, which at the
same time will be seen to incorporate angular momentum into the energy at the
quasilocal level. I will analyze the IQE in the following cases: both the
spatial and future null infinity limits of a large sphere in asymptotically
flat spacetimes; a small sphere shrinking toward a point along either spatial
or null directions; and finally, in asymptotically anti-de Sitter spacetimes.
The last case reveals a striking similarity between the reference IQE and a
certain counterterm energy recently proposed in the context of the conjectured
AdS/CFT correspondence.Comment: 54 pages LaTeX, no figures, includes brief summary of results,
submitted to Physical Review
Model Calculations for the Two-Fragment Electro-Disintegration of He
Differential cross sections for the electro-disintegration process are calculated, using a model in which
the final state interaction is included by means of a nucleon-nucleus (3+1)
potential constructed via Marchenko inversion. The required bound-state wave
functions are calculated within the integrodifferential equation approach
(IDEA). In our model the important condition that the initial bound state and
the final scattering state are orthogonal is fulfilled. The sensitivity of the
cross section to the input interaction in certain kinematical regions
is investigated. The approach adopted could be useful in reactions involving
few cluster systems where effective interactions are not well known and exact
methods are presently unavailable. Although, our Plane-Wave Impulse
Approximation results exhibit, similarly to other calculations, a dip in the
five-fold differential cross-section around a missing momentum of , it is argued that this is an artifact of the omission of re-scattering
four-nucleon processes.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication by Phys.Rev.
Imaging Molecular Structure through Femtosecond Photoelectron Diffraction on Aligned and Oriented Gas-Phase Molecules
This paper gives an account of our progress towards performing femtosecond
time-resolved photoelectron diffraction on gas-phase molecules in a pump-probe
setup combining optical lasers and an X-ray Free-Electron Laser. We present
results of two experiments aimed at measuring photoelectron angular
distributions of laser-aligned 1-ethynyl-4-fluorobenzene (C8H5F) and
dissociating, laseraligned 1,4-dibromobenzene (C6H4Br2) molecules and discuss
them in the larger context of photoelectron diffraction on gas-phase molecules.
We also show how the strong nanosecond laser pulse used for adiabatically
laser-aligning the molecules influences the measured electron and ion spectra
and angular distributions, and discuss how this may affect the outcome of
future time-resolved photoelectron diffraction experiments.Comment: 24 pages, 10 figures, Faraday Discussions 17
Back-to-back emission of the electrons in double photoionization of helium
We calculate the double differential distributions and distributions in
recoil momenta for the high energy non-relativistic double photoionization of
helium. We show that the results of recent experiments is the pioneering
experimental manifestation of the quasifree mechanism for the double
photoionization, predicted long ago in our papers. This mechanism provides a
surplus in distribution over the recoil momenta at small values of the latter,
corresponding to nearly "back-to-back" emission of the electrons. Also in
agreement with previous analysis the surplus is due to the quadrupole terms of
the photon-electron interaction. We present the characteristic angular
distribution for the "back-to-back" electron emission. The confirmation of the
quasifree mechanism opens a new area of exiting experiments, which are expected
to increase our understanding of the electron dynamics and of the bound states
structure. The results of this Letter along with the recent experiments open a
new field for studies of two-electron ionization not only by photons but by
other projectiles, e.g. by fast electrons or heavy ions.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figure
X-ray resonant photoexcitation: line widths and energies of K{\alpha} transitions in highly charged Fe ions
Photoabsorption by and fluorescence of the K{\alpha} transitions in highly
charged iron ions are essential mechanisms for X-ray radiation transfer in
astrophysical environments. We study photoabsorption due to the main K{\alpha}
transitions in highly charged iron ions from heliumlike to fluorinelike (Fe
24+...17+) using monochromatic X-rays around 6.6 keV at the PETRA III
synchrotron photon source. Natural linewidths were determined with hitherto
unattained accuracy. The observed transitions are of particular interest for
the understanding of photoexcited plasmas found in X-ray binaries and active
galactic nuclei.Comment: Revised versio
Communication: X-ray coherent diffractive imaging by immersion in nanodroplets
Citation: Tanyag, R. M. P., Bernando, C., Jones, C. F., Bacellar, C., Ferguson, K. R., Anielski, D., . . . Vilesov, A. F. (2015). Communication: X-ray coherent diffractive imaging by immersion in nanodroplets. Structural Dynamics, 2(5), 9. doi:10.1063/1.4933297Lensless x-ray microscopy requires the recovery of the phase of the radiation scattered from a specimen. Here, we demonstrate a de novo phase retrieval technique by encapsulating an object in a superfluid helium nanodroplet, which provides both a physical support and an approximate scattering phase for the iterative image reconstruction. The technique is robust, fast-converging, and yields the complex density of the immersed object. Images of xenon clusters embedded in superfluid helium droplets reveal transient configurations of quantum vortices in this fragile system. (C) 2015 Author(s). All article content, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.Additional Authors: Neumark, D. M.;Rolles, D.;Rudek, B.;Rudenko, A.;Siefermann, K. R.;Ullrich, J.;Weise, F.;Bostedt, C.;Gessner, O.;Vilesov, A. F
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