19,841 research outputs found
Probing Fuzzballs with Particles, Waves and Strings
We probe D1D5 micro-state geometries with massless particles, waves and
strings. To this end, we study geodetic motion, Klein-Gordon equation and
string scattering in the resulting gravitational background. Due to the reduced
rotational symmetry, even in the simple case of a circular fuzzball, the system
cannot be integrated elementarily. Yet, for motion in the plane of the string
profile or in the orthogonal plane to it, one can compute the deflection angle
or the phase shift and identify the critical impact parameter, at which even a
massless probe is captured by the fuzzball if its internal momentum is properly
tuned. We find agreement among the three approaches, thus giving further
support to the fuzzball proposal at the dynamical level.Comment: 35 pages. Extended and improved discussions on the integrability of
the geodetic equations and on the critical impact parameter
Identifying short motifs by means of extreme value analysis
The problem of detecting a binding site -- a substring of DNA where
transcription factors attach -- on a long DNA sequence requires the recognition
of a small pattern in a large background. For short binding sites, the matching
probability can display large fluctuations from one putative binding site to
another. Here we use a self-consistent statistical procedure that accounts
correctly for the large deviations of the matching probability to predict the
location of short binding sites. We apply it in two distinct situations: (a)
the detection of the binding sites for three specific transcription factors on
a set of 134 estrogen-regulated genes; (b) the identification, in a set of 138
possible transcription factors, of the ones binding a specific set of nine
genes. In both instances, experimental findings are reproduced (when available)
and the number of false positives is significantly reduced with respect to the
other methods commonly employed.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure
Anti-Fall: A Non-intrusive and Real-time Fall Detector Leveraging CSI from Commodity WiFi Devices
Fall is one of the major health threats and obstacles to independent living
for elders, timely and reliable fall detection is crucial for mitigating the
effects of falls. In this paper, leveraging the fine-grained Channel State
Information (CSI) and multi-antenna setting in commodity WiFi devices, we
design and implement a real-time, non-intrusive, and low-cost indoor fall
detector, called Anti-Fall. For the first time, the CSI phase difference over
two antennas is identified as the salient feature to reliably segment the fall
and fall-like activities, both phase and amplitude information of CSI is then
exploited to accurately separate the fall from other fall-like activities.
Experimental results in two indoor scenarios demonstrate that Anti-Fall
consistently outperforms the state-of-the-art approach WiFall, with 10% higher
detection rate and 10% less false alarm rate on average.Comment: 13 pages,8 figures,corrected version, ICOST conferenc
The Recent Star Formation in NGC 6822: an Ultraviolet Study
We characterize the star formation in the low-metallicity galaxy NGC 6822
over the past few hundred million years, using GALEX far-UV (FUV, 1344-1786 A)
and near-UV (NUV, 1771-2831 A) imaging, and ground-based Ha imaging. From GALEX
FUV image, we define 77 star-forming (SF) regions with area >860 pc^2, and
surface brightness <=26.8 mag(AB)arcsec^-2, within 0.2deg (1.7kpc) of the
center of the galaxy. We estimate the extinction by interstellar dust in each
SF region from resolved photometry of the hot stars it contains: E(B-V) ranges
from the minimum foreground value of 0.22mag up to 0.66+-0.21mag. The
integrated FUV and NUV photometry, compared with stellar population models,
yields ages of the SF complexes up to a few hundred Myr, and masses from 2x10^2
Msun to 1.5x10^6 Msun. The derived ages and masses strongly depend on the
assumed type of interstellar selective extinction, which we find to vary across
the galaxy. The total mass of the FUV-defined SF regions translates into an
average star formation rate (SFR) of 1.4x10^-2 Msun/yr over the past 100 Myr,
and SFR=1.0x10^-2 Msun/yr in the most recent 10 Myr. The latter is in agreement
with the value that we derive from the Ha luminosity, SFR=0.008 Msun/yr. The
SFR in the most recent epoch becomes higher if we add the SFR=0.02 Msun/yr
inferred from far-IR measurements, which trace star formation still embedded in
dust (age <= a few Myr).Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ, 21 pages, 6 figures, 3 table
Determination of Gd concentration profile in UO2-Gd2O3 fuel pellets
A transversal mapping of the Gd concentration was measured in UO2-Gd2O3
nuclear fuel pellets by electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy (EPR). The
quantification was made from the comparison with a Gd2O3 reference sample. The
nominal concentration in the pellets is UO2: 7.5 % Gd2O3. A concentration
gradient was found, which indicates that the Gd2O3 amount diminishes towards
the edges of the pellets. The concentration varies from (9.3 +/- 0.5)% in the
center to (5.8 +/- 0.3)% in one of the edges. The method was found to be
particularly suitable for the precise mapping of the distribution of Gd3+ ions
in the UO2 matrix.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables. Submitted to Journal of Nuclear
Material
D-brane Instantons on the T^6/Z_3 orientifold
We give a detailed microscopic derivation of gauge and stringy instanton
generated superpotentials for gauge theories living on D3-branes at
Z_3-orientifold singularities. Gauge instantons are generated by D(-1)-branes
and lead to Affleck, Dine and Seiberg (ADS) like superpotentials in the
effective N=1 gauge theories with three generations of bifundamental and
anti/symmetric matter. Stringy instanton effects are generated by Euclidean
ED3-branes wrapping four-cycles on T^6/\Z_3. They give rise to Majorana masses
in one case and non-renormalizable superpotentials for the other cases. Finally
we determine the conditions under which ADS like superpotentials are generated
in N=1 gauge theories with adjoints, fundamentals, symmetric and antisymmetric
chiral matter.Comment: 31 pages, no figure
Asymptotics of LQG fusion coefficients
The fusion coefficients from SO(3) to SO(4) play a key role in the definition
of spin foam models for the dynamics in Loop Quantum Gravity. In this paper we
give a simple analytic formula of the EPRL fusion coefficients. We study the
large spin asymptotics and show that they map SO(3) semiclassical intertwiners
into semiclassical intertwiners. This non-trivial
property opens the possibility for an analysis of the semiclassical behavior of
the model.Comment: 14 pages, minor change
Numerical analysis of paraffin-wax/oxygen hybrid rocket engines
A predictive numerical approach, based on Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes simulations including the effects of turbulence, chemistry, fluid/surface interaction, and radiation, has been developed for paraffin-wax/oxygen hybrid rocket engines. A recently fired single-port paraffin-based hybrid rocket engine, with chamber pressures up to 19.1 bar, is taken as reference for the discussion of the results of the numerical simulations, which outline important features of the internal ballistics otherwise not observed in the experiments. For the engine under consideration, radiation accounts for 33–62% of the total wall heat flux on the grain, depending on the radial dimension and chamber pressure. The rebuilding of the experimental time-averaged regression rate and chamber pressure is carried out with fair success, enabling their prediction with a maximum error of 15 and 10%, respectively. The numerical model can aid the design and the optimization of future paraffin-based hybrid rocket engines
Magnetism and superconductivity driven by identical 4 states in a heavy-fermion metal
The apparently inimical relationship between magnetism and superconductivity
has come under increasing scrutiny in a wide range of material classes, where
the free energy landscape conspires to bring them in close proximity to each
other. This is particularly the case when these phases microscopically
interpenetrate, though the manner in which this can be accomplished remains to
be fully comprehended. Here, we present combined measurements of elastic
neutron scattering, magnetotransport, and heat capacity on a prototypical heavy
fermion system, in which antiferromagnetism and superconductivity are observed.
Monitoring the response of these states to the presence of the other, as well
as to external thermal and magnetic perturbations, points to the possibility
that they emerge from different parts of the Fermi surface. This enables a
single 4 state to be both localized and itinerant, thus accounting for the
coexistence of magnetism and superconductivity.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Wrapped Magnetized Branes: Two Alternative Descriptions?
We discuss two inequivalent ways for describing magnetized D-branes wrapped N
times on a torus T^2. The first one is based on a non-abelian gauge bundle
U(N), while the second one is obtained by means of a Narain T-duality
transformation acting on a theory with non-magnetized branes. We construct in
both descriptions the boundary state and the open string vertices and show that
they give rise to different string amplitudes. In particular, the description
based on the gauge bundle has open string vertex operators with momentum
dependent Chan-Paton factors.Comment: 60 pages, LaTe
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