25,658 research outputs found
de Broglie-Proca and Bopp-Podolsky massive photon gases in cosmology
We investigate the influence of massive photons on the evolution of the
expanding universe. Two particular models for generalized electrodynamics are
considered, namely de Broglie-Proca and Bopp-Podolsky electrodynamics. We
obtain the equation of state (EOS) for each case using
dispersion relations derived from both theories. The EOS are inputted into the
Friedmann equations of a homogeneous and isotropic space-time to determine the
cosmic scale factor . It is shown that the photon non-null mass does not
significantly alter the result valid for a massless photon
gas; this is true either in de Broglie-Proca's case (where the photon mass
is extremely small) or in Bopp-Podolsky theory (for which is extremely
large).Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures; v2 matches the published versio
Spin-orbit mode transfer via a classical analog of quantum teleportation
We translate the quantum teleportation protocol into a sequence of coherent
operations involving three degrees of freedom of a classical laser beam. The
protocol, which we demonstrate experimentally, transfers the polarisation state
of the input beam to the transverse mode of the output beam. The role of
quantum entanglement is played by a non-separable mode describing the path and
transverse degrees of freedom. Our protocol illustrates the possibility of new
optical applications based on this intriguing classical analogue of quantum
entanglement.Comment: 5 pages, 7 figure
Irreversibility and the arrow of time in a quenched quantum system
Irreversibility is one of the most intriguing concepts in physics. While
microscopic physical laws are perfectly reversible, macroscopic average
behavior has a preferred direction of time. According to the second law of
thermodynamics, this arrow of time is associated with a positive mean entropy
production. Using a nuclear magnetic resonance setup, we measure the
nonequilibrium entropy produced in an isolated spin-1/2 system following fast
quenches of an external magnetic field and experimentally demonstrate that it
is equal to the entropic distance, expressed by the Kullback-Leibler
divergence, between a microscopic process and its time-reverse. Our result
addresses the concept of irreversibility from a microscopic quantum standpoint.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, RevTeX4-1; Accepted for publication Phys. Rev.
Let
The Statistical Multifragmentation Model with Skyrme Effective Interactions
The Statistical Multifragmentation Model is modified to incorporate the
Helmholtz free energies calculated in the finite temperature Thomas-Fermi
approximation using Skyrme effective interactions. In this formulation, the
density of the fragments at the freeze-out configuration corresponds to the
equilibrium value obtained in the Thomas-Fermi approximation at the given
temperature. The behavior of the nuclear caloric curve at constant volume is
investigated in the micro-canonical ensemble and a plateau is observed for
excitation energies between 8 and 10 MeV per nucleon. A kink in the caloric
curve is found at the onset of this gas transition, indicating the existence of
a small excitation energy region with negative heat capacity. In contrast to
previous statistical calculations, this situation takes place even in this case
in which the system is constrained to fixed volume. The observed phase
transition takes place at approximately constant entropy. The charge
distribution and other observables also turn out to be sensitive to the
treatment employed in the calculation of the free energies and the fragments'
volumes at finite temperature, specially at high excitation energies. The
isotopic distribution is also affected by this treatment, which suggests that
this prescription may help to obtain information on the nuclear equation of
state
The Overlooked Potential of Generalized Linear Models in Astronomy - I: Binomial Regression
Revealing hidden patterns in astronomical data is often the path to
fundamental scientific breakthroughs; meanwhile the complexity of scientific
inquiry increases as more subtle relationships are sought. Contemporary data
analysis problems often elude the capabilities of classical statistical
techniques, suggesting the use of cutting edge statistical methods. In this
light, astronomers have overlooked a whole family of statistical techniques for
exploratory data analysis and robust regression, the so-called Generalized
Linear Models (GLMs). In this paper -- the first in a series aimed at
illustrating the power of these methods in astronomical applications -- we
elucidate the potential of a particular class of GLMs for handling
binary/binomial data, the so-called logit and probit regression techniques,
from both a maximum likelihood and a Bayesian perspective. As a case in point,
we present the use of these GLMs to explore the conditions of star formation
activity and metal enrichment in primordial minihaloes from cosmological
hydro-simulations including detailed chemistry, gas physics, and stellar
feedback. We predict that for a dark mini-halo with metallicity , an increase of in the gas
molecular fraction, increases the probability of star formation occurrence by a
factor of 75%. Finally, we highlight the use of receiver operating
characteristic curves as a diagnostic for binary classifiers, and ultimately we
use these to demonstrate the competitive predictive performance of GLMs against
the popular technique of artificial neural networks.Comment: 20 pages, 10 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in Astronomy
and Computin
The Overlooked Potential of Generalized Linear Models in Astronomy-III: Bayesian Negative Binomial Regression and Globular Cluster Populations
In this paper, the third in a series illustrating the power of generalized
linear models (GLMs) for the astronomical community, we elucidate the potential
of the class of GLMs which handles count data. The size of a galaxy's globular
cluster population is a prolonged puzzle in the astronomical
literature. It falls in the category of count data analysis, yet it is usually
modelled as if it were a continuous response variable. We have developed a
Bayesian negative binomial regression model to study the connection between
and the following galaxy properties: central black hole mass,
dynamical bulge mass, bulge velocity dispersion, and absolute visual magnitude.
The methodology introduced herein naturally accounts for heteroscedasticity,
intrinsic scatter, errors in measurements in both axes (either discrete or
continuous), and allows modelling the population of globular clusters on their
natural scale as a non-negative integer variable. Prediction intervals of 99%
around the trend for expected comfortably envelope the data,
notably including the Milky Way, which has hitherto been considered a
problematic outlier. Finally, we demonstrate how random intercept models can
incorporate information of each particular galaxy morphological type. Bayesian
variable selection methodology allows for automatically identifying galaxy
types with different productions of GCs, suggesting that on average S0 galaxies
have a GC population 35% smaller than other types with similar brightness.Comment: 14 pages, 12 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA
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