7,479 research outputs found
Competing bounds on the present-day time variation of fundamental constants
We compare the sensitivity of a recent bound on time variation of the fine
structure constant from optical clocks with bounds on time varying fundamental
constants from atomic clocks sensitive to the electron-to-proton mass ratio,
from radioactive decay rates in meteorites, and from the Oklo natural reactor.
Tests of the Weak Equivalence Principle also lead to comparable bounds on
present variations of constants. The "winner in sensitivity" depends on what
relations exist between the variations of different couplings in the standard
model of particle physics, which may arise from the unification of gauge
interactions. WEP tests are currently the most sensitive within unified
scenarios. A detection of time variation in atomic clocks would favour
dynamical dark energy and put strong constraints on the dynamics of a
cosmological scalar field.Comment: ~4 Phys Rev page
New insights into pedestrian flow through bottlenecks
Capacity estimation is an important tool for the design and dimensioning of
pedestrian facilities. The literature contains different procedures and
specifications which show considerable differences with respect to the
estimated flow values. Moreover do new experimental data indicate a stepwise
growing of the capacity with the width and thus challenge the validity of the
specific flow concept. To resolve these differences we have studied
experimentally the unidirectional pedestrian flow through bottlenecks under
laboratory conditions. The time development of quantities like individual
velocities, density and individual time gaps in bottlenecks of different width
is presented. The data show a linear growth of the flow with the width. The
comparison of the results with experimental data of other authors indicates
that the basic assumption of the capacity estimation for bottlenecks has to be
revised. In contradiction with most planning guidelines our main result is,
that a jam occurs even if the incoming flow does not overstep the capacity
defined by the maximum of the flow according to the fundamental diagram.Comment: Traffic flow, pedestrian traffic, crowd dynamics, capacity of
bottlenecks (16 pages, 8 figures); (+ 3 new figures and minor revisions
The Effect of Integrating Travel Time
This contribution demonstrates the potential gain for the quality of results
in a simulation of pedestrians when estimated remaining travel time is
considered as a determining factor for the movement of simulated pedestrians.
This is done twice: once for a force-based model and once for a cellular
automata-based model. The results show that for the (degree of realism of)
simulation results it is more relevant if estimated remaining travel time is
considered or not than which modeling technique is chosen -- here force-based
vs. cellular automata -- which normally is considered to be the most basic
choice of modeling approach.Comment: preprint of Pedestrian and Evacuation 2012 conference (PED2012)
contributio
On the Glauber model in a quantum representation
The Glauber model is reconsidered based on a quantum formulation of the
Master equation. Unlike the conventional approach the temperature and the Ising
energy are included from the beginning by introducing a Heisenberg-like picture
of the second quantized operators. This method enables us to get an exact
expression for the transition rate of a single flip-process
which is in accordance with the principle of detailed balance. The transition
rate differs significantly from the conventional one due to Glauber in the low
temperature regime. Here the behavior is controlled by the Ising energy and not
by the microscopic time scale.Comment: 8 page
Morpho-kinematic analysis of the point-symmetric, bipolar planetary nebulae Hb 5 and K 3-17, a pathway to poly-polarity
The kinematics of the bipolar planetary nebulae Hb~5 and K 3-17 are
investigated in detail by means of a comprehensive set of spatially resolved
high spectral resolution, long-slit spectra. Both objects share particularly
interesting characteristics, such as a complex filamentary, rosette-type
nucleus, axial point-symmetry and very fast bipolar outflows. The kinematic
information of Hb~5 is combined with {\it HST} imagery to construct a detailed
3D model of the nebula using the code SHAPE. The model shows that the large
scale lobes are growing in a non-homologous way. The filamentary loops in the
core are proven to actually be secondary lobes emerging from what appears to be
a randomly punctured, dense, gaseous core and the material that forms the point
symmetric structure flows within the lobes with a distinct kinematic pattern
and its interaction with the lobes has had a shaping effect on them. Hb~5 and
K~3-17 may represent a class of fast evolving planetary nebulae that will
develop poly-polar characteristics once the nebular core evolves and expands.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figures. To appear in The Astrophysical Journa
Primordial nucleosynthesis as a probe of fundamental physics parameters
We analyze the effect of variation of fundamental couplings and mass scales
on primordial nucleosynthesis in a systematic way. The first step establishes
the response of primordial element abundances to the variation of a large
number of nuclear physics parameters, including nuclear binding energies. We
find a strong influence of the n-p mass difference (for the 4He abundance), of
the nucleon mass (for deuterium) and of A=3,4,7 binding energies (for 3He, 6Li
and 7Li). A second step relates the nuclear parameters to the parameters of the
Standard Model of particle physics. The deuterium, and, above all, 7Li
abundances depend strongly on the average light quark mass hat{m} \equiv
(m_u+m_d)/2. We calculate the behaviour of abundances when variations of
fundamental parameters obey relations arising from grand unification. We also
discuss the possibility of a substantial shift in the lithium abundance while
the deuterium and 4He abundances are only weakly affected.Comment: v2: 34 pages, 2 figures, typo in last GUT scenario corrected, added
discussion and graph of nonlinear behaviour in GUT scenarios, added short
section discussing binding of dineutron and 8Be, refs added, conclusions
unaltered. Accepted for publication, Phys. Rev.
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