1,159 research outputs found
Physics with Rare Isotope Beams
Using stable and radioactive beams provided by ATLAS nuclear reactions of special interest in astrophysics have been studied with emphasis on breakout from the hot CNO cycle to the rp-process. The masses of nuclear fragments provided by a strong fission source have been measured in order to help trace the path of the r process. 8Li ions produced by the d(7Li,8Li)n reaction have been trapped and the electrons and alphas emitted in the ensuing beta-decay measured. The neutrino directions were therefore determined, which leads to a measurement of the electron-neutrino correlation. The energies and kinematics are such that a sensitive search for any tensor admixture could be performed and an upper limit of 0.6% was placed on any such admixture. Earlier work on the electromagnetic form factors of the proton was extended. Graduate students were active participants in all of these eperiments, which formed the basis for six PhD theses
Coarse graining of master equations with fast and slow states
We propose a general method for simplifying master equations by eliminating
from the description rapidly evolving states. The physical recipe we impose is
the suppression of these states and a renormalization of the rates of all the
surviving states. In some cases, this decimation procedure can be analytically
carried out and is consistent with other analytical approaches, like in the
problem of the random walk in a double-well potential. We discuss the
application of our method to nontrivial examples: diffusion in a lattice with
defects and a model of an enzymatic reaction outside the steady state regime.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures, final version (new subsection and many minor
improvements
Spectroscopy of drums and quantum billiards: perturbative and non-perturbative results
We develop powerful numerical and analytical techniques for the solution of
the Helmholtz equation on general domains. We prove two theorems: the first
theorem provides an exact formula for the ground state of an arbirtrary
membrane, while the second theorem generalizes this result to any excited state
of the membrane. We also develop a systematic perturbative scheme which can be
used to study the small deformations of a membrane of circular or square
shapes. We discuss several applications, obtaining numerical and analytical
results.Comment: 29 pages, 12 figures, 7 tabl
Rigorous elimination of fast stochastic variables from the linear noise approximation using projection operators
The linear noise approximation (LNA) offers a simple means by which one can
study intrinsic noise in monostable biochemical networks. Using simple physical
arguments, we have recently introduced the slow-scale LNA (ssLNA) which is a
reduced version of the LNA under conditions of timescale separation. In this
paper, we present the first rigorous derivation of the ssLNA using the
projection operator technique and show that the ssLNA follows uniquely from the
standard LNA under the same conditions of timescale separation as those
required for the deterministic quasi-steady state approximation. We also show
that the large molecule number limit of several common stochastic model
reduction techniques under timescale separation conditions constitutes a
special case of the ssLNA.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure, submitted to Physical Review E; see also BMC
Systems Biology 6, 39 (2012
Passive Scalar: Scaling Exponents and Realizability
An isotropic passive scalar field advected by a rapidly-varying velocity
field is studied. The tail of the probability distribution for
the difference in across an inertial-range distance is found
to be Gaussian. Scaling exponents of moments of increase as
or faster at large order , if a mean dissipation conditioned on is
a nondecreasing function of . The computed numerically
under the so-called linear ansatz is found to be realizable. Some classes of
gentle modifications of the linear ansatz are not realizable.Comment: Substantially revised to conform with published version. Revtex (4
pages) with 2 postscript figures. Send email to [email protected]
Evaluation of rate law approximations in bottom-up kinetic models of metabolism.
BackgroundThe mechanistic description of enzyme kinetics in a dynamic model of metabolism requires specifying the numerical values of a large number of kinetic parameters. The parameterization challenge is often addressed through the use of simplifying approximations to form reaction rate laws with reduced numbers of parameters. Whether such simplified models can reproduce dynamic characteristics of the full system is an important question.ResultsIn this work, we compared the local transient response properties of dynamic models constructed using rate laws with varying levels of approximation. These approximate rate laws were: 1) a Michaelis-Menten rate law with measured enzyme parameters, 2) a Michaelis-Menten rate law with approximated parameters, using the convenience kinetics convention, 3) a thermodynamic rate law resulting from a metabolite saturation assumption, and 4) a pure chemical reaction mass action rate law that removes the role of the enzyme from the reaction kinetics. We utilized in vivo data for the human red blood cell to compare the effect of rate law choices against the backdrop of physiological flux and concentration differences. We found that the Michaelis-Menten rate law with measured enzyme parameters yields an excellent approximation of the full system dynamics, while other assumptions cause greater discrepancies in system dynamic behavior. However, iteratively replacing mechanistic rate laws with approximations resulted in a model that retains a high correlation with the true model behavior. Investigating this consistency, we determined that the order of magnitude differences among fluxes and concentrations in the network were greatly influential on the network dynamics. We further identified reaction features such as thermodynamic reversibility, high substrate concentration, and lack of allosteric regulation, which make certain reactions more suitable for rate law approximations.ConclusionsOverall, our work generally supports the use of approximate rate laws when building large scale kinetic models, due to the key role that physiologically meaningful flux and concentration ranges play in determining network dynamics. However, we also showed that detailed mechanistic models show a clear benefit in prediction accuracy when data is available. The work here should help to provide guidance to future kinetic modeling efforts on the choice of rate law and parameterization approaches
Numerical Comparison of Experimentally Measured Ultrasound through a Multilayered Specimen
The integrity of bonded structures is of paramount importance in the safe and reliable operation of aircraft equipment. Fuselages, helicopter rotor blades and nose cones are multilayered composite structures bonded together. The operational readiness and security of these units depend to a large extent on the integrity of the interfacial bonds. Adhesive and cohesive strength studies do not appear promising because failure is really dominated by defects and not by some average physical properties of the adhesive and the interface [1].</p
Preparations for Recoil Detection System at the Cooler T-Site
This research was sponsored by the National Science Foundation Grant NSF PHY-931478
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