20,026 research outputs found
Exact solution for the energy density inside a one-dimensional non-static cavity with an arbitrary initial field state
We study the exact solution for the energy density of a real massless scalar
field in a two-dimensional spacetime, inside a non-static cavity with an
arbitrary initial field state, taking into account the Neumann and Dirichlet
boundary conditions. This work generalizes the exact solution proposed by Cole
and Schieve in the context of the Dirichlet boundary condition and vacuum as
the initial state. We investigate diagonal states, examining the vacuum and
thermal field as particular cases. We also study non-diagonal initial field
states, taking as examples the coherent and Schrodinger cat states.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figure
Amplitude analysis of four-body decays using a massively-parallel fitting framework
The GooFit Framework is designed to perform maximum-likelihood fits for
arbitrary functions on various parallel back ends, for example a GPU. We
present an extension to GooFit which adds the functionality to perform
time-dependent amplitude analyses of pseudoscalar mesons decaying into four
pseudoscalar final states. Benchmarks of this functionality show a significant
performance increase when utilizing a GPU compared to a CPU. Furthermore, this
extension is employed to study the sensitivity on the mixing
parameters and in a time-dependent amplitude analysis of the decay . Studying a sample of 50 000 events and setting
the central values to the world average of and , the statistical sensitivities of and are determined
to be and .Comment: Proceedings of the 22nd International Conference on Computing in High
Energy and Nuclear Physics, CHEP 201
The Dynamical State of Barnard 68: A Thermally Supported, Pulsating Dark Cloud
We report sensitive, high resolution molecular-line observations of the dark
cloud Barnard 68 obtained with the IRAM 30-m telescope. We analyze
spectral-line observations of C18O, CS(2--1), C34S(2--1), and N2H+(1--0) in
order to investigate the kinematics and dynamical state of the cloud. We find
extremely narrow linewidths in the central regions of the cloud. These narrow
lines are consistent with thermally broadened profiles for the measured gas
temperature of 10.5 K. We determine the thermal pressure to be a factor 4 -- 5
times greater than the non-thermal (turbulent) pressure in the central regions
of the cloud, indicating that thermal pressure is the primary source of support
against gravity in this cloud. This confirms the inference of a thermally
supported cloud drawn previously from deep infrared extinction measurements.
The rotational kinetic energy is found to be only a few percent of the
gravitational potential energy, indicating that the contribution of rotation to
the overall stability of the cloud is insignificant. Finally, our observations
show that CS line is optically thick and self-reversed across nearly the entire
projected surface of the cloud. The shapes of the self-reversed profiles are
asymmetric and are found to vary across the cloud in such a manner that the
presence of both inward and outward motions are observed within the cloud.
Moreover, these motions appear to be globally organized in a clear and
systematic alternating spatial pattern which is suggestive of a small
amplitude, non-radial oscillation or pulsation of the outer layers of the cloud
about an equilibrium configuration.Comment: To appear in the Astrophysical Journal; 23 pages, 8 figures;
Manuscript and higher resolution images can be obtained at
http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/~ebergin/pubs_html/b68_vel.htm
Developing economic thresholds for stink bugs in rice - problems and prospects.
Field experiments was conducted to determine the relationship between Tibraca limbativentris infestation and rice yield loss. Experimental design involved randomized complete blocks with at least four replications
Dynamical Casimir effect with Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions
We derive the radiation pressure force on a non-relativistic moving plate in
1+1 dimensions. We assume that a massless scalar field satisfies either
Dirichlet or Neumann boundary conditions (BC) at the instantaneous position of
the plate. We show that when the state of the field is invariant under time
translations, the results derived for Dirichlet and Neumann BC are equal. We
discuss the force for a thermal field state as an example for this case. On the
other hand, a coherent state introduces a phase reference, and the two types of
BC lead to different results.Comment: 12 page
Metaproteomics of anaerobic microbial communities degrading long-chain fatty acids
The anaerobic conversion of long-chain fatty acids (LCFA), and specifically the difference between the degradation of unsaturated- and saturated-LCFA, is not fully understood. In this work, syntrophic degradation of stearate (C18:0) and oleate (C18:1) was studied. A comparative metaproteomics approach, in which proteins were analyzed by LC-MS/MS, was combined with 16S rRNA gene pyrosequencing. Saturated- and unsaturated-LCFA were converted to methane by the anaerobic consortia. 16S rRNA gene pyrosequencing revealed differences in the microbial composition of sludges incubated with stearate and oleate, separately. Abundance of microorganisms within Deltaproteobacteria and within Synergistia taxa was higher in stearate and oleate incubations, respectively. Methanosaeta was the most abundant methanogen in both conditions. Metaproteomics results were similar and comparable distributions of COG functional categories were found for both samples. Archaeal proteomes were much better identified than bacterial ones, with five times more proteins retrieved. Most of the proteins identified belong to Methanosaeta concilli and Syntrophobacter fumaroxidans, two organisms that have their genome sequenced. Syntrophobacter belongs to Deltaproteobacteria, however this group was not dominant in oleate incubation as determined by pyrosequencing results. Studying metaproteomes of complex microbial communities is still a big challenge especially because most of the genomes are not sequenced which hinders protein identification
Modelling of epitaxial film growth with a Ehrlich-Schwoebel barrier dependent on the step height
The formation of mounded surfaces in epitaxial growth is attributed to the
presence of barriers against interlayer diffusion in the terrace edges, known
as Ehrlich-Schwoebel (ES) barriers. We investigate a model for epitaxial growth
using a ES barrier explicitly dependent on the step height. Our model has an
intrinsic topological step barrier even in the absence of an explicit ES
barrier. We show that mounded morphologies can be obtained even for a small
barrier while a self-affine growth, consistent with the Villain-Lai-Das Sarma
equation, is observed in absence of an explicit step barrier. The mounded
surfaces are described by a super-roughness dynamical scaling characterized by
locally smooth (faceted) surfaces and a global roughness exponent .
The thin film limit is featured by surfaces with self-assembled
three-dimensional structures having an aspect ratio (height/width) that may
increase or decrease with temperature depending on the strength of step
barrier.Comment: To appear in J. Phys. Cond. Matter; 3 movies as supplementary
materia
Error threshold in finite populations
A simple analytical framework to study the molecular quasispecies evolution
of finite populations is proposed, in which the population is assumed to be a
random combination of the constiyuent molecules in each generation,i.e.,
linkage disequilibrium at the population level is neglected. In particular, for
the single-sharp-peak replication landscape we investigate the dependence of
the error threshold on the population size and find that the replication
accuracy at threshold increases linearly with the reciprocal of the population
size for sufficiently large populations. Furthermore, in the deterministic
limit our formulation yields the exact steady-state of the quasispecies model,
indicating then the population composition is a random combination of the
molecules.Comment: 14 pages and 4 figure
18 Sco: a solar twin rich in refractory and neutron-capture elements. Implications for chemical tagging
We study with unprecedented detail the chemical composition and stellar
parameters of the solar twin 18 Sco in a strictly differential sense relative
to the Sun. Our study is mainly based on high resolution (R ~ 110 000) high S/N
(800-1000) VLT UVES spectra, which allow us to achieve a precision of about
0.005 dex in differential abundances. The effective temperature and surface
gravity of 18 Sco are Teff = 5823+/-6 K and log g = 4.45+/-0.02 dex, i.e., 18
Sco is 46+/-6 K hotter than the Sun and log g is 0.01+/-0.02 dex higher. Its
metallicity is [Fe/H] = 0.054+/-0.005 dex and its microturbulence velocity is
+0.02+/-0.01 km/s higher than solar. Our precise stellar parameters and
differential isochrone analysis show that 18 Sco has a mass of 1.04+/-0.02M_Sun
and that it is ~1.6 Gyr younger than the Sun. We use precise HARPS radial
velocities to search for planets, but none were detected. The chemical
abundance pattern of 18 Sco displays a clear trend with condensation
temperature, showing thus higher abundances of refractories in 18 Sco than in
the Sun. Intriguingly, there are enhancements in the neutron-capture elements
relative to the Sun. Despite the small element-to-element abundance differences
among nearby n-capture elements (~0.02 dex), we successfully reproduce the
r-process pattern in the solar system. This is independent evidence for the
universality of the r-process. Our results have important implications for
chemical tagging in our Galaxy and nucleosynthesis in general.Comment: ApJ, in pres
- …