6,318 research outputs found
Displacement Profile of Charge Density Waves and Domain Walls at Critical Depinning
The influence of a strong surface potential on the critical depinning of an
elastic system driven in a random medium is considered. If the surface
potential prevents depinning completely the elastic system shows a parabolic
displacement profile. Its curvature exhibits at zero temperature
a pronounced rhombic hysteresis curve of width with the bulk depinning
threshold . The hysteresis disappears at non-zero temperatures if the
driving force is changed adiabatically. If the surface depins by the applied
force or thermal creep, is reduced with increasing velocity. The
results apply, e.g., to driven magnetic domain walls, flux-line lattices and
charge-density waves.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
The Final Remnant of Binary Black Hole Mergers: Multipolar Analysis
Methods are presented to define and compute source multipoles of dynamical
horizons in numerical relativity codes, extending previous work from the
isolated and dynamical horizon formalisms in a manner that allows for the
consideration of horizons that are not axisymmetric. These methods are then
applied to a binary black hole merger simulation, providing evidence that the
final remnant is a Kerr black hole, both through the (spatially)
gauge-invariant recovery of the geometry of the apparent horizon, and through a
detailed extraction of quasinormal ringing modes directly from the strong-field
region.Comment: 12 pages, 13 figures. Published version. Some references have been
added and reordered, and the figures cleaned up
Computing the merger of black-hole binaries: the IBBH problem
Gravitational radiation arising from the inspiral and merger of binary black
holes (BBH's) is a promising candidate for detection by kilometer-scale
interferometric gravitational wave observatories. This paper discusses a
serious obstacle to searches for such radiation and to the interpretation of
any observed waves: the inability of current computational techniques to evolve
a BBH through its last ~10 orbits of inspiral (~100 radians of
gravitational-wave phase). A new set of numerical-relativity techniques is
proposed for solving this ``Intermediate Binary Black Hole'' (IBBH) problem:
(i) numerical evolutions performed in coordinates co-rotating with the BBH, in
which the metric coefficients evolve on the long timescale of inspiral, and
(ii) techniques for mathematically freezing out gravitational degrees of
freedom that are not excited by the waves.Comment: 6 pages RevTe
In-Chain Tunneling Through Charge-Density Wave Nanoconstrictions and Break-Junctions
We have fabricated longitudinal nanoconstrictions in the charge-density wave
conductor (CDW) NbSe using a focused ion beam and using a mechanically
controlled break-junction technique. Conductance peaks are observed below the
TK and TK CDW transitions, which correspond closely
with previous values of the full CDW gaps and
obtained from photo-emission. These results can be explained by assuming
CDW-CDW tunneling in the presence of an energy gap corrugation
comparable to , which eliminates expected peak at
. The nanometer length-scales our experiments imply
indicate that an alternative explanation based on tunneling through
back-to-back CDW-normal junctions is unlikely.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, submitted to physical review letter
Central Exclusive Di-jet Production at the Tevatron
We perform a phenomenological analysis of dijet production in double pomeron
exchange at the Tevatron. We find that the CDF Run I results do not rule out
the presence of an exclusive dijet component, as predicted by Khoze, Martin and
Ryskin (KMR). With the high statistics CDF Run II data, we predict that an
exclusive component at the level predicted by KMR may be visible, although the
observation will depend on accurate modelling of the inclusive double pomeron
exchange process. We also compare to the predictions of the DPEMC Monte Carlo,
which contains a non-perturbative model for the central exclusive process. We
show that the perturbative model of KMR gives different predictions for the
di-jet ET dependence in the high di-jet mass fraction region than
non-perturbative models.Comment: 17 pages, 15 figure
Distortion of Schwarzschild-anti-de Sitter black holes to black strings
Motivated by the existence of black holes with various topologies in
four-dimensional spacetimes with a negative cosmological constant, we study
axisymmetric static solutions describing any large distortions of
Schwarzschild-anti-de Sitter black holes parametrized by the mass . Under
the approximation such that is much larger than the anti-de Sitter radius,
it is found that a cylindrically symmetric black string is obtained as a
special limit of distorted spherical black holes. Such a prolonged distortion
of the event horizon connecting a Schwarzschild-anti-de Sitter black hole to a
black string is allowed without violating both the usual black hole
thermodynamics and the hoop conjecture for the horizon circumference.Comment: 13 pages, accepted for publication in Physical Review
Pairwise alignment incorporating dipeptide covariation
Motivation: Standard algorithms for pairwise protein sequence alignment make
the simplifying assumption that amino acid substitutions at neighboring sites
are uncorrelated. This assumption allows implementation of fast algorithms for
pairwise sequence alignment, but it ignores information that could conceivably
increase the power of remote homolog detection. We examine the validity of this
assumption by constructing extended substitution matrixes that encapsulate the
observed correlations between neighboring sites, by developing an efficient and
rigorous algorithm for pairwise protein sequence alignment that incorporates
these local substitution correlations, and by assessing the ability of this
algorithm to detect remote homologies. Results: Our analysis indicates that
local correlations between substitutions are not strong on the average.
Furthermore, incorporating local substitution correlations into pairwise
alignment did not lead to a statistically significant improvement in remote
homology detection. Therefore, the standard assumption that individual residues
within protein sequences evolve independently of neighboring positions appears
to be an efficient and appropriate approximation
Nonlinear dynamics, rectification, and phase locking for particles on symmetrical two-dimensional periodic substrates with dc and circular ac drives
We investigate the dynamical motion of particles on a two-dimensional
symmetric periodic substrate in the presence of both a dc drive along a
symmetry direction of the periodic substrate and an additional circular ac
drive. For large enough ac drives, the particle orbit encircles one or more
potential maxima of the periodic substrate. In this case, when an additional
increasing dc drive is applied in the longitudinal direction, the longitudinal
velocity increases in a series of discrete steps that are integer multiples of
the lattice constant of the substrate times the frequency. Fractional steps can
also occur. These integer and fractional steps correspond to distinct stable
dynamical orbits. A number of these phases also show a rectification in the
positive or negative transverse direction where a non-zero transverse velocity
occurs in the absence of a dc transverse drive. We map out the phase diagrams
of the regions of rectification as a function of ac amplitude, and find a
series of tongues. Most of the features, including the steps in the
longitudinal velocity and the transverse rectification, can be captured with a
simple toy model and by arguments from nonlinear maps. We have also
investigated the effects of thermal disorder and incommensuration on the
rectification phenomena, and find that for increasing disorder, the
rectification regions are gradually smeared and the longitudinal velocity steps
are no longer flat but show a linearly increasing velocity.Comment: 14 pages, 17 postscript figure
Previous reproductive history and post-natal family planning among HIV-infected women in Ukraine
BACKGROUND: Ukraine has the highest antenatal HIV prevalence in Europe. The national prevention of mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) programme has reduced the MTCT rate, but less attention has been given to the prevention of unintended pregnancy among HIV-positive women. Our objectives were to describe the reproductive health, condom use and family planning (FP) practices of HIV-positive childbearing Ukrainian women and to identify factors associated with different methods of post-natal contraception.
METHODS: HIV-infected childbearing women, diagnosed before or during pregnancy, were enrolled prospectively in a post-natal cohort study in four regional HIV/AIDS centres in Ukraine from December 2007. Logistic regression models were used to identify factors associated with post-natal FP practices.
RESULTS: Data were available for 371 women enrolled by March 2009; 82% (n = 303) were married or cohabiting, 27% (97 of 363) reported a current HIV-negative sexual partner and 69% were diagnosed with HIV during their most recent pregnancy. Overall, 21% (75 of 349) of women were not using contraception post-natally (of whom 80% reported no current sexual activity), 50% (174 of 349) used condoms, 20% (74 of 349) relied solely/partially on coitus interruptus and 4% used hormonal methods or intrauterine device. Among married/cohabiting women, consistent use of condoms in the previous pregnancy [AOR 1.96 (95%CI 1.06–3.62)], having an HIV-positive partner [AOR 0.42 (0.20–0.87)], current sexual activity [AOR 4.53 (1.19–17.3)] and study site were significantly associated with post-natal condom use; 16% of those with HIV-negative partners did not use condoms. Risk factors for non-use of FP were lack of affordability [AOR 6.34 (1.73–23.2)] and inconsistent use of condoms in the previous pregnancy [AOR 7.25 (1.41–37.2)].
CONCLUSIONS: More than 40% of HIV-positive women in this population are at risk of unintended pregnancy and the one in six women in HIV-discordant couples not using barrier methods risk transmitting HIV to their partners. Our study results are limited by the observational nature of the data and the potential for both measured and unmeasured confounding
Domain Wall Depinning in Random Media by AC Fields
The viscous motion of an interface driven by an ac external field of
frequency omega_0 in a random medium is considered here for the first time. The
velocity exhibits a smeared depinning transition showing a double hysteresis
which is absent in the adiabatic case omega_0 --> 0. Using scaling arguments
and an approximate renormalization group calculation we explain the main
characteristics of the hysteresis loop. In the low frequency limit these can be
expressed in terms of the depinning threshold and the critical exponents of the
adiabatic case.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
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