The structure of frontoparallel haptic space is task dependent

In three experiments, we investigated the structure of frontoparallel haptic space. In the first experiment, we asked blindfolded participants to rotate a matching bar so that it felt parallel to the reference bar, the bars could be at various positions in the frontoparallel plane. Large systematic errors were observed, in which orientations that were perceived to be parallel were not physically parallel. In two subsequent experiments, we investigated the origin of these errors. In Experiment 2, we asked participants to verbally report the orientation of haptically presented bars. In this task, participants made errors that were considerably smaller than those made in Experiment 1. In Experiment 3, we asked participants to set bars in a verbally instructed orientation, and they also made errors significantly smaller than those observed in Experiment 1. The data suggest that the errors in the matching task originate from the transfer of the reference orientation to the matching-bar position

Observation of Feshbach resonances between two different atomic species

We have observed three Feshbach resonances in collisions between lithium-6 and sodium-23 atoms. The resonances were identified as narrow loss features when the magnetic field was varied. The molecular states causing these resonances have been identified, and additional lithium-sodium resonances are predicted. These resonances will allow the study of degenerate Bose-Fermi mixtures with adjustable interactions, and could be used to generate ultracold heteronuclear molecules

Formation Time of a Fermion Pair Condensate

The formation time of a condensate of fermionic atom pairs close to a Feshbach resonance was studied. This was done using a phase-shift method in which the delayed response of the many-body system to a modulation of the interaction strength was recorded. The observable was the fraction of condensed molecules in the cloud after a rapid magnetic field ramp across the Feshbach resonance. The measured response time was slow compared to the rapid ramp, which provides final proof that the molecular condensates reflect the presence of fermion pair condensates before the ramp.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

The metamorphic basement of Romanian Carpathians: a discussion of K-Ar and 40Ar/39Ar ages

More than 600 radiometric K-Ar ages on rocks from the metamorphic basement of the Romanian Carpathians are statistically treated and discussed. The data suggest that the most pervasive Alpine rejuvenation occurred in a belt of about 100-120 km width, within which crystalline rocks were intensely reworked, undergoing a metamorphic remobilisation of Barrovian type before Middle – Late Cretaceous. This Eo-Alpine metamorphic belt outcrops on the flanks of the Mureş Zone, i.e., in the Rodna massif to the NE, and in the Northern Apuseni to the west. Away from it, ages get progressively older and outline a broad Variscan metamorphic province. In the most external part of the South Carpathians preserved pre-Variscan ages point to the former extension of the Moesian Plate. Within the study area radiometric K-Ar ages, as well as recently reported fission-track data, do not support reheating above 300°C and corresponding regional metamorphic events during meso- and neo-Alpine times

Critical velocity for superfluid flow across the BEC-BCS crossover

Critical velocities have been observed in an ultracold superfluid Fermi gas throughout the BEC-BCS crossover. A pronounced peak of the critical velocity at unitarity demonstrates that superfluidity is most robust for resonant atomic interactions. Critical velocities were determined from the abrupt onset of dissipation when the velocity of a moving one dimensional optical lattice was varied. The dependence of the critical velocity on lattice depth and on the inhomogeneous density profile was studied

Determinism and Connectionism in a Rule-Based Natural Language System

The processing of Natural Language is, at the same time, natural symbolic and naturally symbolic and naturally sub-symbolic. It is symbolic because ultimately symbols play a critical role. Writing systems, for example, owe their existence to the symbolic nature of language. It is also sub-symbolic because of the nature of speech, the fuzziness of concepts, and the high degree of parallelism that is difficult to explain as a purely symbolic phenomenon. This report details a set of experiments which support the claim that Natural Language can be syntactically processed in a robust manner using a connectionist deterministic parser. The model is trained based on a deterministic grammar and tested with sentences which are grammatically and ones that ill-formed. Tests are also conducted with sentences containing lexically ambiguous items. Some new directions for this work are explored in the final section. The goal of fully connectionistic parsing is discussed and a detail plan for its achievements is present

Dimensional Crossover of Dilute Neon inside Infinitely Long Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes Viewed from Specific Heats

A simple formula for coordinates of carbon atoms in a unit cell of a single-walled nanotube (SWNT) is presented and the potential of neon (Ne) inside an infinitely long SWNT is analytically derived under the assumption of pair-wise Lennard-Jones potential between Ne and carbon atoms. Specific heats of dilute Ne inside infinitely long (5, 5), (10, 10), (15, 15) and (20, 20) SWNT's are calculated at different temperatures. It is found that Ne inside four kinds of nanotubes exhibits 3-dimensional (3D) gas behavior at high temperature but different behaviors at low temperature: Ne inside (5, 5) nanotube behaves as 1D gas but inside (10, 10), (15, 15), and (20, 20) nanotubes behaves as 2D gas. Furthermore, at ultra low temperature, Ne inside (5, 5) nanotube still displays 1D behavior but inside (10, 10), (15, 15), and (20, 20) nanotubes behaves as lattice gas.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure