18,503 research outputs found
Second Order Gravitational Self-Force
The second-order gravitational self-force on a small body is an important
problem for gravitational-wave astronomy of extreme mass-ratio inspirals. We
give a first-principles derivation of a prescription for computing the first
and second perturbed metric and motion of a small body moving through a vacuum
background spacetime. The procedure involves solving for a "regular field" with
a specified (sufficiently smooth) "effective source", and may be applied in any
gauge that produces a sufficiently smooth regular field
Turmoil in the student loan market
Recent credit market problems and federal legislation lowering lender revenues have diminished the availability of some types of student loans. Nevertheless, new sources of funding have become available, changing the structure of the market while helping to meet the demand for student loansStudent loans ; Credit
Gauge and Averaging in Gravitational Self-force
A difficulty with previous treatments of the gravitational self-force is that
an explicit formula for the force is available only in a particular gauge
(Lorenz gauge), where the force in other gauges must be found through a
transformation law once the Lorenz gauge force is known. For a class of gauges
satisfying a ``parity condition'' ensuring that the Hamiltonian center of mass
of the particle is well-defined, I show that the gravitational self-force is
always given by the angle-average of the bare gravitational force. To derive
this result I replace the computational strategy of previous work with a new
approach, wherein the form of the force is first fixed up to a gauge-invariant
piece by simple manipulations, and then that piece is determined by working in
a gauge designed specifically to simplify the computation. This offers
significant computational savings over the Lorenz gauge, since the Hadamard
expansion is avoided entirely and the metric perturbation takes a very simple
form. I also show that the rest mass of the particle does not evolve due to
first-order self-force effects. Finally, I consider the ``mode sum
regularization'' scheme for computing the self-force in black hole background
spacetimes, and use the angle-average form of the force to show that the same
mode-by-mode subtraction may be performed in all parity-regular gauges. It
appears plausible that suitably modified versions of the Regge-Wheeler and
radiation gauges (convenient to Schwarzschild and Kerr, respectively) are in
this class
Generalized Wilson Chain for solving multichannel quantum impurity problems
The Numerical Renormalization Group is used to solve quantum impurity
problems, which describe magnetic impurities in metals, nanodevices, and
correlated materials within DMFT. Here we present a simple generalization of
the Wilson Chain, which improves the scaling of computational cost with the
number of channels/bands, bringing new problems within reach. The method is
applied to calculate the t-matrix of the three-channel Kondo model at T=0,
which shows universal crossovers near non-Fermi liquid critical points. A
non-integrable three-impurity problem with three bands is also studied,
revealing a rich phase diagram and novel screening/overscreening mechanisms.Comment: 5 pages + 5 pages supplementary materia
Glacial cycles promote greater dispersal, which can help explain larger clutch sizes, in north temperate birds
Earth’s glacial history and patterns in the life history traits of the planet’s avifauna suggest the following interpretations of how recent geological history has affected these key characteristics of the biota: 1) Increased colonizing ability has been an important advantage of increased dispersal, and life history strategies are better categorized by dispersive colonizing ability than by their intrinsic growth rates; 2) Birds of the North Temperate Zone show a greater tendency to disperse, and they disperse farther, than tropical or south temperate birds; 3) Habitat changes associated with glacial advance and retreat selected for high dispersal ability, particularly in the North; and 4) Selection for greater dispersal throughout the unstable Pleistocene has also resulted in other well-recognized life history contrasts, especially larger clutch sizes in birds of North Temperate areas
Canonical Generations and the British Left: The Narrative Construction of the Miners’ Strike 1984–85
‘Generations’ have been invoked to describe a variety of social and cultural relationships, and to understand the development of self-conscious group identity. Equally, the term can be an applied label and politically useful construct; generations can be retrospectively produced. Drawing on the concept of ‘canonical generations’ – those whose experiences come to epitomise an event of historic and symbolic importance – this article examines the narrative creation and functions of ‘generations’ as collective memory shapes and re-shapes the desire for social change. Building a case study of the canonical role of the miners’ strike of 1984–85 in the narrative history of the British left, it examines the selective appropriation and transmission of the past in the development of political consciousness. It foregrounds the autobiographical narratives of activists who, in examining and legitimising their own actions and prospects, (re)produce a ‘generation’ in order to create a relatable and useful historical understanding
Monolith formation and ring-stain suppression in low-pressure evaporation of poly(ethylene oxide) droplets
When droplets of dilute suspensions are left to evaporate the final dry residue is typically the familiar coffee-ring stain, with nearly all material deposited at the initial triple line (Deegan et al, Nature, vol. 389, 1997, pp. 827-829). However, aqueous poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) droplets only form coffee-ring stains for a very narrow range of the experimental parameters molecular weight, concentration and drying rate. Instead, over a wide range of values they form either a flat disk or a very distinctive tall central monolith via a four-stage deposition process which includes a remarkable bootstrap-building step. To predict which deposit will form, we present a quantitative model comparing the effects of advective build-up at the triple line to diffusive flux and use this to calculate a dimensionless number χ. By experimentally varying concentration and flux (using a low-pressure drying chamber), the prediction is tested over nearly two orders of magnitude in both variables and shown to be in good agreement with the boundary between disks and monoliths at χ ≈ 1.6
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