3,530 research outputs found
Possibility of the new type phase transition
The scalar field theory and the scalar electrodynamics quantized in the flat
gap are considered. The dynamical effects arising due to the boundary presence
with two types of boundary conditions (BC) satisfied by scalar fields are
studied. It is shown that while the Neumann BC lead to the usual scalar field
mass generation, the Dirichlet BC give rise to the dynamical mechanism of
spontaneous symmetry breaking. Due to the later, there arises the possibility
of the new type phase transition from the normal to spontaneously broken phase.
The decreasing in the characteristic size of the quantization region (the gap
size here) and increasing in the temperature compete with each other, tending
to transport the system in the spontaneously broken and in the normal phase,
respectively. The system evolves with a combined parameter, simultaneously
reflecting the change in temperature and in the size. As a result, at the
critical value of this parameter there occurs the phase transition from the
normal phase to the spontaneously broken one. In particular, the usual massless
scalar electrodynamics transforms to the Higgs model
Reduced brain activation during inhibitory control in children with COMT Val/Val genotype
IntroductionBehavioral undercontrol is a well‐established risk factor for substance use disorder, identifiable at an early age well before the onset of substance use. However, the biological mechanistic structure underlying the behavioral undercontrol/substance use relationship is not well understood. The enzyme catechol O‐methyltransferase (COMT) catabolizes dopamine and norepinephrine in the prefrontal cortex and striatum, brain regions involved in behavioral control. The goal of this work was to investigate the association between genetic variation in COMT functioning and fronto‐striatal brain functioning during successful inhibitory control, a critical aspect of behavioral control.MethodsParticipants were 65 (22 female) 7–12 year olds who were genotyped for the functional COMT Val158Met (rs4680) single‐nucleotide polymorphism and underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while performing a go/no‐go task. The majority of the sample (80%) had at least one parent with a history of alcohol use disorder and were thus at heightened risk for substance use disorders.ResultsThere was a significant main effect of genotype on brain activation in left and right putamen during successful versus failed inhibition and in right inferior frontal gyrus/insula during successful inhibition versus baseline. Follow‐up tests revealed that Met homozygotes had greater activation in each region relative to Val homozygotes.ConclusionsThese results are relevant for understanding how specific genes influence brain functioning related to underlying risk factors for substance use disorders and other disinhibitory psychopathologies.The goal of this work was to investigate the association between genetic variation in COMT functioning and fronto‐striatal brain functioning during inhibitory control, a critical aspect of behavioral control. Participants were 65 (22 female) 7–12 year olds who were genotyped for the functional COMT Val158Met (rs4680) single‐nucleotide polymorphism and underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while performing a go/no‐go task. There was a significant main effect of genotype on brain activation in left and right putamen during successful versus failed inhibition and in right inferior frontal gyrus/insula during successful inhibition versus baseline; follow‐up tests revealed that Met homozygotes had greater activation in each region relative to Val homozygotes.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135697/1/brb3577_am.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135697/2/brb3577.pd
Frequency-Dependent Squeezing for Advanced LIGO
The first detection of gravitational waves by the Laser Interferometer
Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) in 2015 launched the era of gravitational
wave astronomy. The quest for gravitational wave signals from objects that are
fainter or farther away impels technological advances to realize ever more
sensitive detectors. Since 2019, one advanced technique, the injection of
squeezed states of light is being used to improve the shot noise limit to the
sensitivity of the Advanced LIGO detectors, at frequencies above Hz.
Below this frequency, quantum back action, in the form of radiation pressure
induced motion of the mirrors, degrades the sensitivity. To simultaneously
reduce shot noise at high frequencies and quantum radiation pressure noise at
low frequencies requires a quantum noise filter cavity with low optical losses
to rotate the squeezed quadrature as a function of frequency. We report on the
observation of frequency-dependent squeezed quadrature rotation with rotation
frequency of 30Hz, using a 16m long filter cavity. A novel control scheme is
developed for this frequency-dependent squeezed vacuum source, and the results
presented here demonstrate that a low-loss filter cavity can achieve the
squeezed quadrature rotation necessary for the next planned upgrade to Advanced
LIGO, known as "A+."Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev. Let
A Keck/DEIMOS spectroscopic survey of the faint M31 satellites And IX, And XI, And XII, and And XIII
We present the first spectroscopic analysis of the faint M31 satellite
galaxies, AndXI and AndXIII, and a reanalysis of existing spectroscopic data
for two further faint companions, And IX and AndXII. By combining data obtained
using the DEIMOS spectrograph mounted on the Keck II telescope with deep
photometry from the Suprime-Cam instrument on Subaru, we have calculated global
properties for the dwarfs, such as systemic velocities, metallicites and
half-light radii.We find each dwarf to be very metal poor ([Fe/H] -2 both
photometrically and spectroscopically, from their stacked spectrum), and as
such, they continue to follow the luminosity-metallicity relationship
established with brighter dwarfs. We are unable to resolve a dispersion for And
XI due to small sample size and low S/N, but we set a one sigma upper limit of
sigma-v <5 km/s. For And IX, And XII and And XIII we resolve velocity
dispersions of v=4.5 (+3.4,-3.2), 2.6(+5.1,-2.6) and 9.7(+8.9,-4.5) km/s, and
derive masses within the half light radii of 6.2(+5.3,-5.1)x10^6 Msun, 2.4
(+6.5,-2.4)x10^6 Msun and 1.1(+1.4,-0.7)x10^7 Msun respectively. We discuss
each satellite in the context of the Mateo relations for dwarf spheroidal
galaxies, and the Universal halo profiles established for Milky Way dwarfs
(Walker et al. 2009). For both galaxies, this sees them fall below the
Universal halo profiles of Walker et al. (2009). When combined with the
findings of McConnachie & Irwin (2006a), which reveal that the M31 satellites
are twice as extended (in terms of both half-light and tidal radii) as their
Milky Way counterparts, these results suggest that the satellite population of
the Andromeda system could inhabit halos that are significantly different from
those of the Milky Way in terms of their central densities (abridged).Comment: 26 pages, 18 figures, MNRAS submitte
Stress response function of a two-dimensional ordered packing of frictional beads
We study the stress profile of an ordered two-dimensional packing of beads in
response to the application of a vertical overload localized at its top
surface. Disorder is introduced through the Coulombic friction between the
grains which gives some indeterminacy and allows the choice of one constrained
random number per grain in the calculation of the contact forces. The so-called
`multi-agent' technique we use, lets us deal with systems as large as
grains. We show that the average response profile has a double
peaked structure. At large depth , the position of these peaks grows with
, while their widths scales like . and are analogous to
`propagation' and `diffusion' coefficients. Their values depend on that of the
friction coefficient . At small , we get and , with , which means that the peaks get
closer and wider as the disorder gets larger. This behavior is qualitatively
what was predicted in a model where a stochastic relation between the stress
components is assumed.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures, accepted version to Europhys. Let
The Corona Australis star formation complex is accelerating away from the Galactic plane
We study the kinematics of the recently discovered Corona Australis (CrA)
chain of clusters by examining the 3D space motion of its young stars using
Gaia DR3 and APOGEE-2 data. While we observe linear expansion between the
clusters in the Cartesian XY directions, the expansion along Z exhibits a
curved pattern. To our knowledge, this is the first time such a nonlinear
velocity-position relation has been observed for stellar clusters. We propose a
scenario to explain our findings, in which the observed gradient is caused by
stellar feedback, accelerating the gas away from the Galactic plane. A
traceback analysis confirms that the CrA star formation complex was located
near the central clusters of the Scorpius Centaurus (Sco-Cen) OB association
10-15 Myr ago. It contains massive stars and thus offers a natural source of
feedback. Based on the velocity of the youngest unbound CrA cluster, we
estimate that a median number of about two supernovae would have been
sufficient to inject the present-day kinetic energy of the CrA molecular cloud.
This number agrees with that of recent studies. The head-tail morphology of the
CrA molecular cloud further supports the proposed feedback scenario, in which a
feedback force pushed the primordial cloud from the Galactic north, leading to
the current separation of 100 pc from the center of Sco-Cen. The formation of
spatially and temporally well-defined star formation patterns, such as the CrA
chain of clusters, is likely a common process in massive star-forming regions.Comment: Accepted for publication as a Letter in Astronomy and Astrophysic
The Cosmic Horseshoe: Discovery of an Einstein Ring around a Giant Luminous Red Galaxy
We report the discovery of an almost complete Einstein ring of diameter 10"
in Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 5 (DR5). Spectroscopic data
from the 6m telescope of the Special Astrophysical Observatory reveals that the
deflecting galaxy has a line-of-sight velocity dispersion in excess of 400 km/s
and a redshift of 0.444, whilst the source is a star-forming galaxy with a
redshift of 2.379. From its color and luminosity, we conclude that the lens is
an exceptionally massive Luminous Red Galaxy (LRG) with a mass within the
Einstein radius of 5 x 10^12 solar masses. This remarkable system provides a
laboratory for probing the dark matter distribution in LRGs at distances out to
3 effective radii, and studying the properties of high redshift star-forming
galaxies.Comment: ApJ (Letters), in pres
The Masses of the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies
We present a family of robust tracer mass estimators to compute the enclosed
mass of galaxy haloes from samples of discrete positional and kinematical data
of tracers, such as halo stars, globular clusters and dwarf satellites. The
data may be projected positions, distances, line of sight velocities or proper
motions. Forms of the estimator tailored for the Milky Way galaxy and for M31
are given. Monte Carlo simulations are used to quantify the uncertainty as a
function of sample size. For the Milky Way, the satellite sample consists of 26
galaxies with line-of-sight velocities. We find that the mass of the Milky Way
within 300 kpc is ~ 0.9 x 10^12 solar masses assuming velocity isotropy.
However, the mass estimate is sensitive to the anisotropy and could plausibly
lie between 0.7 - 3.4 x 10^12 solar masses. Incorporating the proper motions of
6 Milky Way satellites into the dataset, we find ~ 1.4 x 10^12 solar masses.
The range here if plausible anisotropies are used is still broader, from 1.2 -
2.7 x 10^12 solar masses. For M31, there are 23 satellite galaxies with
measured line-of-sight velocities, but only M33 and IC 10 have proper motions.
We use the line of sight velocities and distances of the satellite galaxies to
estimate the mass of M31 within 300 kpc as ~ 1.4 x 10^12 solar masses assuming
isotropy. There is only a modest dependence on anisotropy, with the mass
varying between 1.3 -1.6 x 10^12 solar masses. Given the uncertainties, we
conclude that the satellite data by themselves yield no reliable insights into
which of the two galaxies is actually the more massive.Comment: 15 pages, submitted to MNRA
Non-universal Soft Parameters in Brane World and the Flavor Problem in Supergravity
We consider gravity mediated supersymmetry (SUSY) breaking in 5D spacetime
with two 4D branes B1 and B2 separated in the extra dimension. Using an
off-shell 5D supergravity (SUGRA) formalism, we argue that the SUSY breaking
scales could be non-universal even at the fundamental scale in a brane world
setting, since SUSY breaking effects could be effectively localized. As an
application, we suggest a model in which the two light chiral MSSM generations
reside on B1, while the third generation is located on B2, and the Higgs
multiplets as well as gravity and gauge multiplets reside in the bulk. For SUSY
breaking of the order of 10--20 TeV caused by a hidden sector localized at B1,
the scalars belonging to the first two generations can become sufficiently
heavy to overcome the SUSY flavor problem. SUSY breaking on B2 from a different
localized hidden sector gives rise to the third generation soft scalar masses
of the order of 1 TeV. Gaugino masses are also of the order of 1 TeV if the
size of the extra dimension is . As in 4D
effective supersymmetric theory, an adjustment of TeV scale parameters is
needed to realize the 100 GeV electroweak symmetry breaking scale.Comment: 1+22 pages, Version to appear in PRD with additional comments and
reference
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