7,927 research outputs found
Scattering approach to fidelity decay in closed systems and parametric level correlations
This paper is based on recent work which provided an exact analytical
description of scattering fidelity experiments with a microwave cavity under
the variation of an antenna coupling [K\"ober et al., Phys. Rev. E 82, 036207
(2010)]. It is shown that this description can also be used to predict the
decay of the fidelity amplitude for arbitrary Hermitian perturbations of a
closed system. Two applications are presented: First, the known result for
global perturbations is re-derived, and second, the exact analytical expression
for the perturbation due to a moving S-wave scatterer is worked out. The latter
is compared to measured data from microwave experiments, which have been
reported some time ago. Finally, we generalize an important relation between
fidelity decay and parametric level correlations to arbitrary perturbations.Comment: 20 pages, 2 figures, research article, (v2: stylistic changes, ref.
added
Gravitational Lorentz Violations from M-Theory
In an attempt to bridge the gap between M-theory and braneworld
phenomenology, we present various gravitational Lorentz-violating braneworlds
which arise from p-brane systems. Lorentz invariance is still preserved locally
on the braneworld. For certain p-brane intersections, the massless graviton is
quasi-localized. This also results from an M5-brane in a C-field. In the case
of a p-brane perturbed from extremality, the quasi-localized graviton is
massive. For a braneworld arising from global AdS_5, gravitons travel faster
when further in the bulk, thereby apparently traversing distances faster than
light.Comment: 13 pages, 1 figure, LaTeX, references added, minor corrections and
addition
Examples of signature (2,2) manifolds with commuting curvature operators
We exhibit Walker manifolds of signature (2,2) with various commutativity
properties for the Ricci operator, the skew-symmetric curvature operator, and
the Jacobi operator. If the Walker metric is a Riemannian extension of an
underlying affine structure A, these properties are related to the Ricci tensor
of A
Self-organized criticality and directed percolation
A sandpile model with stochastic toppling rule is studied. The control
parameters and the phase diagram are determined through a MF approach, the
subcritical and critical regions are analyzed. The model is found to have some
similarities with directed percolation, but the existence of different boundary
conditions and conservation law leads to a different universality class, where
the critical state is extended to a line segment due to self-organization.
These results are supported with numerical simulations in one dimension. The
present model constitute a simple model which capture the essential difference
between ordinary nonequilibrium critical phenomena, like DP, and self-organized
criticality.Comment: 9 pages, 10 eps figs, revtex, submitted to J. Phys.
The mutual assessment system in teamwork: The value of the individual grade
Teaching-learning based on cooperative learning is grounded on a methodology that is currently one of the most widely used within formal education classrooms. Recently, special attention has begun to be paid to a fundamentally relevant aspect of the assessment of the learning of university students within their group performance: their individual grades obtained from teamwork. In addition to describing the individual grading system that is used to assess individual contributions, this study analyses the perceptions of 99 university students regarding the benefits that the system has for students’ learning process. A system of evaluation based on self-assessment, co-assessment and peer-assessment was implemented in a Spanish university. The results collected using a specially designed questionnaire led to the conclusion that improvements were achieved in the teaching-learning process, in manifesting positive attitudes and in improving students’ ability to learn to learn. In conclusion, students feel that they are granted greater control over their final grade and, as a result, perceive that their involvement in the task increases and their capacity for self-criticism develops
Non conservative Abelian sandpile model with BTW toppling rule
A non conservative Abelian sandpile model with BTW toppling rule introduced
in [Tsuchiya and Katori, Phys. Rev. E {\bf 61}, 1183 (2000)] is studied. Using
a scaling analysis of the different energy scales involved in the model and
numerical simulations it is shown that this model belong to a universality
class different from that of previous models considered in the literature.Comment: RevTex, 5 pages, 6 ps figs, Minor change
Variable Stars in Local Group Galaxies. I: Tracing the Early Chemical Enrichment and Radial Gradients in the Sculptor dSph with RR Lyrae Stars
We identified and characterized the largest (536) RR Lyrae (RRL) sample in a
Milky Way dSph satellite (Sculptor) based on optical photometry data collected
over 24 years.
The RRLs display a spread in V-magnitude (0.35 mag) which appears
larger than photometric errors and the horizontal branch (HB) luminosity
evolution of a mono-metallic population. Using several calibrations of two
different reddening free and metal independent Period-Wesenheit relations we
provide a new distance estimate =19.62 mag (=0.04 mag) that
agrees well with literature estimates. We constrained the metallicity
distribution of the old population, using the Period-Luminosity relation,
and we found that it ranges from -2.3 to -1.5 dex. The current estimate is
narrower than suggested by low and intermediate spectroscopy of RGBs
([Fe/H] 1.5).
We also investigated the HB morphology as a function of the galactocentric
distance. The HB in the innermost regions is dominated by red HB stars and by
RRLs, consistent with a more metal-rich population, while in the outermost
regions it is dominated by blue HB stars and RRLs typical of a metal-poor
population. Our results suggest that fast chemical evolution occurred in
Sculptor, and that the radial gradients were in place at an early epoch.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, MNRAS accepte
Detection of a multi-shell planetary nebula around the hot subdwarf O-type star 2MASS J19310888+4324577
(Abridged) The origin of hot subdwarf O-type stars (sdOs) remains unclear
since their discovery in 1947. Among others, a post-Asymptotic Giant Branch
(post-AGB) origin is possible for a fraction of sdOs. We are involved in a
comprehensive ongoing study to search for and to analyze planetary nebulae
(PNe) around sdOs with the aim of establishing the fraction and properties of
sdOs with a post-AGB origin. We use deep Halpha and [OIII] images of sdOs to
detect nebular emission and intermediate resolution, long-slit optical
spectroscopy of the detected nebulae and their sdO central stars. These data
are complemented with other observations for further analysis of the detected
nebulae. We report the detection of an extremely faint, complex PN around 2MASS
J19310888+4324577 (2M1931+4324), a star classified as sdO in a binary system.
The PN shows a bipolar and an elliptical shell, whose major axes are oriented
perpendicular to each other, and high-excitation structures outside the two
shells. WISE archive images show faint, extended emission at 12 and 22 microns
in the inner nebular regions. The internal nebular kinematics is consistent
with a bipolar and a cylindrical/ellipsoidal shell, in both cases with the main
axis mainly perpendicular to the line of sight. The nebular spectrum only
exhibits Halpha, Hbeta and [OIII]4959,5007 emission lines, but suggests a very
low-excitation ([OIII]/Hbeta = 1.5), in strong contrast with the absence of
low-excitation emission lines. The spectrum of 2M1931+4324 presents narrow,
ionized helium absorptions that confirm the previous sdO classification and
suggest an effective temperature >= 60000 K. The binary nature of 2M1931+4324,
its association with a complex PN, and several properties of the system provide
strong support for the idea that binary central stars are a crucial ingredient
in the formation of complex PNe.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, accepted in Astronomy and Astrophysic
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