26,297 research outputs found
The Pierre Auger Observatory: Results on Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays
The focus of this article is on recent results on ultra-high energy cosmic
rays obtained with the Pierre Auger Observatory. The world's largest instrument
of this type and its performance are described. The observations presented here
include the energy spectrum, the primary particle composition, limits on the
fluxes of photons and neutrinos and a discussion of the anisotropic
distribution of the arrival directions of the most energetic particles.
Finally, plans for the construction of a Northern Auger Observatory in
Colorado, USA, are discussed.Comment: Proceedings of the International Workshop on Advances in Cosmic Ray
Science, Waseda University, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan, March 2008; to be
published in the Journal of the Physical Society of Japan (JPSJ) supplemen
Microlensing of -Ray Burst Afterglows
The afterglow of a cosmological Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) should appear on the
sky as a narrow emission ring of radius 3x10^{16}cm(t/day)^{5/8} which expands
faster than light. After a day, the ring radius is comparable to the Einstein
radius of a solar mass lens at a cosmological distance. Thus, microlensing by
an intervening star can modify significantly the lightcurve and polarization
signal from a GRB afterglow. We show that the achromatic amplification signal
of the afterglow flux can be used to determine the impact parameter and
expansion rate of the source in units of the Einstein radius of the lens, and
probe the superluminal nature of the expansion. If the synchrotron emission
from the afterglow photosphere originates from a set of coherent magnetic field
patches, microlensing would induce polarization variability due to the
transient magnification of the patches behind the lens. The microlensing
interpretation of the flux and polarization data can be confirmed by a parallax
experiment which would probe the amplification peak at different times. The
fraction of microlensed afterglows can be used to calibrate the density
parameter of stellar-mass objects in the Universe.Comment: 12 pages, latex, 2 figures, submitted to ApJ
Popular Matchings in the Capacitated House Allocation Problem
We consider the problem of finding a popular matching in the Capacitated House Allocation problem (CHA). An instance of CHA involves a set of agents and a set of houses. Each agent has a preference list in which a subset of houses are ranked in strict order, and each house may be matched to a number of agents that must not exceed its capacity. A matching M is popular if there is no other matching M′ such that the number of agents who prefer their allocation in M′ to that in M exceeds the number of agents who prefer their allocation in M to that in M′. Here, we give an O(√C+n1m) algorithm to determine if an instance of CHA admits a popular matching, and if so, to find a largest such matching, where C is the total capacity of the houses, n1 is the number of agents and m is the total length of the agents’ preference lists. For the case where preference lists may contain ties, we give an O(√Cn1+m) algorithm for the analogous problem
Ruptured splenic artery aneurysm in late pregnancy
The spontaneous rupture of the spleen in pregnancy is rare and is frequently misdiagnosed. Failure to recognize the condition can be fatal to mother and foetus at least in a peripheral hospital. In the last trimester of pregnancy it is easily confused with rupture of uterus or abruptio placenta
A Rigorous Derivation of Electromagnetic Self-force
During the past century, there has been considerable discussion and analysis
of the motion of a point charge, taking into account "self-force" effects due
to the particle's own electromagnetic field. We analyze the issue of "particle
motion" in classical electromagnetism in a rigorous and systematic way by
considering a one-parameter family of solutions to the coupled Maxwell and
matter equations corresponding to having a body whose charge-current density
and stress-energy tensor scale to zero size
in an asymptotically self-similar manner about a worldline as . In this limit, the charge, , and total mass, , of the body go to
zero, and goes to a well defined limit. The Maxwell field
is assumed to be the retarded solution associated with
plus a homogeneous solution (the "external field") that varies
smoothly with . We prove that the worldline must be a
solution to the Lorentz force equations of motion in the external field
. We then obtain self-force, dipole forces, and spin force
as first order perturbative corrections to the center of mass motion of the
body. We believe that this is the first rigorous derivation of the complete
first order correction to Lorentz force motion. We also address the issue of
obtaining a self-consistent perturbative equation of motion associated with our
perturbative result, and argue that the self-force equations of motion that
have previously been written down in conjunction with the "reduction of order"
procedure should provide accurate equations of motion for a sufficiently small
charged body with negligible dipole moments and spin. There is no corresponding
justification for the non-reduced-order equations.Comment: 52 pages, minor correction
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Assessing the motivational effects of ethanol in mice using a discrete-trial current-intensity intracranial self-stimulation procedure.
BackgroundAlcohol (ethanol) produces both rewarding and aversive effects, and sensitivity to these effects is associated with risk for an alcohol use disorder (AUD). Measurement of these motivational effects in animal models is an important but challenging aspect of preclinical research into the neurobiology of AUD. Here, we evaluated whether a discrete-trial current-intensity intracranial self-stimulation (ICSS) procedure can be used to assess both reward-enhancing and aversive responses to ethanol in mice.MethodsMale and female C57BL/6J mice were surgically implanted with bipolar stimulating electrodes targeting the medial forebrain bundle and trained on a discrete-trial current-intensity ICSS procedure. Mice were tested for changes in response thresholds after various doses of ethanol (0.5 g/kg-1.75 g/kg; n = 5-7 per dose), using a Latin square design.ResultsA 1 g/kg dose of ethanol produced a significant reward-enhancement (i.e., lowered response thresholds), whereas a 1.75 g/kg dose produced an aversive effect (elevated response thresholds). Ethanol doses from 1 to 1.75 g/kg increased response latencies as compared to saline treatment.ConclusionsThe discrete-trial current-intensity ICSS procedure is an effective assay for measuring both reward-enhancing responses to ethanol as well as aversive responses in the same animal. This should prove to be a useful tool for assessing the effects of experimental manipulations on the motivational effects of ethanol in mice
Identifying the Environment and Redshift of GRB Afterglows from the Time-Dependence of Their Absorption Spectra
The discovery of Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) afterglows revealed a new class of
variable sources at optical and radio wavelengths. At present, the environment
and precise redshift of the detected afterglows are still unknown. We show that
if a GRB source resides in a compact (<100pc) gas-rich environment, the
afterglow spectrum will show time-dependent absorption features due to the
gradual ionization of the surrounding medium by the afterglow radiation.
Detection of this time-dependence can be used to constrain the size and density
of the surrounding gaseous system. For example, the MgII absorption line
detected in GRB970508 should have weakened considerably during the first month
if the absorption occurred in a gas cloud of size <100pc around the source. The
time-dependent HI or metal absorption features provide a precise determination
of the GRB redshift.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, submitted to ApJ
Coherent Patterning of Matter Waves with Subwavelength Localization
We propose the Subwavelength Localization via Adiabatic Passage (SLAP)
technique to coherently achieve state-selective patterning of matter waves well
beyond the diffraction limit. The SLAP technique consists in coupling two
partially overlapping and spatially structured laser fields to three internal
levels of the matter wave yielding state-selective localization at those
positions where the adiabatic passage process does not occur. We show that by
means of this technique matter wave localization down to the single nanometer
scale can be achieved. We analyze in detail the potential implementation of the
SLAP technique for nano-lithography with an atomic beam of metastable Ne* and
for coherent patterning of a two-component 87Rb Bose-Einstein condensate.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure
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