2,268 research outputs found
On the importance of testing gravity at distances less than 1cm
If the mechanism responsible for the smallness of the vacuum energy is
consistent with local quantum field theory, general arguments suggest the
existence of at least one unobserved scalar particle with Compton wavelength
bounded from below by one tenth of a millimeter. We show that this bound is
saturated if vacuum energy is a substantial component of the energy density of
the universe. Therefore, the success of cosmological models with a significant
vacuum energy component suggests the existence of new macroscopic forces with
range in the sub-millimeter region. There are virtually no experimental
constraints on the existence of quanta with this range of interaction.Comment: 9 pages TeX, 2 eps figures, uses mtexsis.tex and epsf.tex. Entry in
1996 Gravity Research Foundation essay competition. To be published in the
Journal of General Relativity and Gravitatio
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Impact of Gulf Stream SST biases on the global atmospheric circulation
The UK Met Office Unified Model in the Global Coupled 2 (GC2) configuration has a warm bias of up to almost 7K in the Gulf Stream SSTs in the winter season, which is associated with surface heat flux biases and potentially related to biases in the atmospheric circulation. The role of this SST bias is examined with a focus on the tropospheric response by performing three sensitivity experiments. The SST biases are imposed on the atmosphere-only configuration of the model over a small and medium section of the Gulf Stream, and also the wider North Atlantic. Here we show that the dynamical response to this anomalous Gulf Stream heating (and associated shifting and changing SST gradients) is to enhance vertical motion in the transient eddies over the Gulf Stream, rather than balance the heating with a linear dynamical meridional wind or meridional eddy heat transport. Together with the imposed Gulf Stream heating bias, the response affects the troposphere not only locally but also in remote regions of the Northern Hemisphere via a planetary Rossby wave response. The sensitivity experiments partially reproduce some of the differences in the coupled configuration of the model relative to the atmosphere-only configuration and to the ERA-Interim reanalysis. These biases may have implications for the ability of the model to respond correctly to variability or changes in the Gulf Stream. Better global prediction therefore requires particular focus on reducing any large western boundary current SST biases in these regions of high ocean-atmosphere interaction
Acoustically driven storage of light in a quantum well
The strong piezoelectric fields accompanying a surface acoustic wave on a
semiconductor quantum well structure are employed to dissociate optically
generated excitons and efficiently trap the created electron hole pairs in the
moving lateral potential superlattice of the sound wave. The resulting spatial
separation of the photogenerated ambipolar charges leads to an increase of the
radiative lifetime by orders of magnitude as compared to the unperturbed
excitons. External and deliberate screening of the lateral piezoelectric fields
triggers radiative recombination after very long storage times at a remote
location on the sample.Comment: 4 PostScript figures included, Physical Review Letters, in pres
Measurement of the Neutron Radius of Pb-208 through Parity Violation in Electron Scattering
We report the first measurement of the parity-violating asymmetry A(PV) in the elastic scattering of polarized electrons from Pb-208. APV is sensitive to the radius of the neutron distribution (R-n). The result A(PV) = 0.656 +/- 0.060(stat) +/- 0.014(syst) ppm corresponds to a difference between the radii of the neutron and proton distributions R-n - R-p = 0.33(-0.18)(+0.16) fm and provides the first electroweak observation of the neutron skin which is expected in a heavy, neutron-rich nucleus
On the nonlinearity interpretation of q- and f-deformation and some applications
q-oscillators are associated to the simplest non-commutative example of Hopf
algebra and may be considered to be the basic building blocks for the symmetry
algebras of completely integrable theories. They may also be interpreted as a
special type of spectral nonlinearity, which may be generalized to a wider
class of f-oscillator algebras. In the framework of this nonlinear
interpretation, we discuss the structure of the stochastic process associated
to q-deformation, the role of the q-oscillator as a spectrum-generating algebra
for fast growing point spectrum, the deformation of fermion operators in
solid-state models and the charge-dependent mass of excitations in f-deformed
relativistic quantum fields.Comment: 11 pages Late
Local Gravity Constraints and Power Law f(R) Theories
There is a conformal equivalence between power law theories and scalar
field theories in which the scalar degree of freedom evolves under the action
of an exponential potential function. In the scalar field representation there
is a strong coupling of the scalar field with the matter sector due to the
conformal transformation. We use chameleon mechanism to implement constraints
on the potential function of the scalar field in order that the resulting model
be in accord with Solar System experiments. Investigation of these constraints
reveals that there may be no possibility to distinguish between a power law
function and the usual Einstein-Hilbert Lagrangian density.Comment: 11 Pages, no figure. To appear in Gravitation and Cosmolog
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Up-gradient eddy fluxes of potential vorticity near the subtropical jet
The role of eddy fluxes in the general circulation is
often approached by treating eddies as (macro)turbulence.
In this approach, the eddies act to diffuse certain quasiconservative quantities, such as potential vorticity (PV), along isentropic surfaces in the free atmosphere. The eddy fluxes are determined primarily by the eddy diffusivities and are necessarily down-gradient of the basic state PV field. Support for the (macro)turbulence approach stems from the fact that the eddy fluxes of PV in the free atmosphere are generally down-gradient in the long-term mean. Here we call attention to a pronounced and significant region of upgradient eddy PV fluxes on the poleward flank of the jet core in both hemispheres. The region of up-gradient (i.e., notionally “antidiffusive”) eddy PV fluxes is most pronounced during the winter and spring seasons and partially contradicts the turbulence approach described above. Analyses of the PV variance (potential enstrophy) budget suggest that the up-gradient PV fluxes represent local wave decay and are maintained by poleward fluxes of PV variance. Finite-amplitude effects thus represent leading order contributions to the PV variance budget, whereas dissipation is only of secondary importance locally. The appearance of up-gradient PV fluxes in the long-term mean is associated with the poleward shift of the jet—and thus the region of wave decay relative to wave growth—following wave-breaking events
Environmental lithium exposure in the north of Chile - Tissue exposure indices
Background: northern Chile has the highest levels of lithium in surface waters in the world which is reflected in very high lithium levels in the plants and animals that depend on these water systems and consequently in the indigenous population.
Methods: the lithium tissue burdens in populations from two valleys in the extreme north of Chile have been studied. The bulk of this report is based on analyses of lithium levels in urine, hair, and breast milk in the population of several villages. Data on serum levels, some of which had been previously published, are included for the sake of completeness. Since this paper reports studies by several groups of workers samples were analysed by a variety of methods. These include atomic emission, atomic absorption, other photospectroscopic techniques and mass spectroscopy.
Results: in all samples studied the average lithium level (5.3 ppm) was found to be significantly elevated compared to levels reported in the literature and measured in this study for people not exposed to high levels in water and food (0.009-0.228 ppm).
Conclusions: the people studied represent a unique longitudinal cohort. The work should provide important insights into the potential neuroprotective effects of lithium also help us set guidelines to assess the risks from high dose environmental exposure
Direct measurement of stellar angular diameters by the VERITAS Cherenkov Telescopes
The angular size of a star is a critical factor in determining its basic
properties. Direct measurement of stellar angular diameters is difficult: at
interstellar distances stars are generally too small to resolve by any
individual imaging telescope. This fundamental limitation can be overcome by
studying the diffraction pattern in the shadow cast when an asteroid occults a
star, but only when the photometric uncertainty is smaller than the noise added
by atmospheric scintillation. Atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes used for
particle astrophysics observations have not generally been exploited for
optical astronomy due to the modest optical quality of the mirror surface.
However, their large mirror area makes them well suited for such
high-time-resolution precision photometry measurements. Here we report two
occultations of stars observed by the VERITAS Cherenkov telescopes with
millisecond sampling, from which we are able to provide a direct measurement of
the occulted stars' angular diameter at the milliarcsecond scale.
This is a resolution never achieved before with optical measurements and
represents an order of magnitude improvement over the equivalent lunar
occultation method. We compare the resulting stellar radius with empirically
derived estimates from temperature and brightness measurements, confirming the
latter can be biased for stars with ambiguous stellar classifications.Comment: Accepted for publication in Nature Astronom
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