17,162 research outputs found
Polarization and readout of coupled single spins in diamond
We study the coupling of a single nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond to a
nearby single nitrogen defect at room temperature. The magnetic dipolar
coupling leads to a splitting in the electron spin resonance frequency of the
nitrogen-vacancy center, allowing readout of the state of a single nitrogen
electron spin. At magnetic fields where the spin splitting of the two centers
is the same we observe a strong polarization of the nitrogen electron spin. The
amount of polarization can be controlled by the optical excitation power. We
combine the polarization and the readout in time-resolved pump-probe
measurements to determine the spin relaxation time of a single nitrogen
electron spin. Finally, we discuss indications for hyperfine-induced
polarization of the nitrogen nuclear spin
The cloud-in-cloud problem for non-Gaussian density fields
The cloud-in-cloud problem is studied in the context of the extension to
non-Gaussian density fields of the Press-Schechter approach for the calculation
of the mass function. As an example of a non-Gaussian probability distribution
functions (PDFs) we consider the Chi-square, with various degrees of freedom.
We generate density fields in cubic boxes with periodic boundary conditions and
then determine the number of points considered collapsed at each scale through
an hierarchy of smoothing windows. We find that the mass function we obtain
differs from that predicted using the Extended Press-Schechter formalism,
particularly for low values of and for those PDFs most distinct from a
Gaussian.Comment: 5 pages, LaTex using mn.sty, matches published version, results for
the Inverted Chi-square distribution withdraw
Instability and spatiotemporal rheochaos in a shear-thickening fluid model
We model a shear-thickening fluid that combines a tendency to form
inhomogeneous, shear-banded flows with a slow relaxational dynamics for fluid
microstructure. The interplay between these factors gives rich dynamics, with
periodic regimes (oscillating bands, travelling bands, and more complex
oscillations) and spatiotemporal rheochaos. These phenomena, arising from
constitutive nonlinearity not inertia, can occur even when the steady-state
flow curve is monotonic. Our model also shows rheochaos in a low-dimensional
truncation where sharply defined shear bands cannot form
Limit cycles in the presence of convection, a travelling wave analysis
We consider a diffusion model with limit cycle reaction functions, in the
presence of convection. We select a set of functions derived from a realistic
reaction model: the Schnakenberg equations. This resultant form is
unsymmetrical. We find a transformation which maps the irregular equations into
model form. Next we transform the dependent variables into polar form. From
here, a travelling wave analysis is performed on the radial variable. Results
are complex, but we make some simple estimates.
We carry out numerical experiments to test our analysis. An initial `knock'
starts the propagation of pattern. The speed of the travelling wave is not
quite as expected. We investigate further. The system demonstrates distinctly
different behaviour to the left and the right. We explain how this phenomenon
occurs by examining the underlying behaviour.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figure
Remote sensing in Iowa agriculture: Identification and classification of Iowa's crops, soils and forestry resources using ERTS-1 and complimentary underflight imagery
There are no author-identified significant results in this report
Investment under ambiguity with the best and worst in mind
Recent literature on optimal investment has stressed the difference between the impact of risk and the impact of ambiguity - also called Knightian uncertainty - on investors' decisions. In this paper, we show that a decision maker's attitude towards ambiguity is similarly crucial for investment decisions. We capture the investor's individual ambiguity attitude by applying alpha-MEU preferences to a standard investment problem. We show that the presence of ambiguity often leads to an increase in the subjective project value, and entrepreneurs are more eager to invest. Thereby, our investment model helps to explain differences in investment behavior in situations which are objectively identical
Socially Optimal Mining Pools
Mining for Bitcoins is a high-risk high-reward activity. Miners, seeking to
reduce their variance and earn steadier rewards, collaborate in pooling
strategies where they jointly mine for Bitcoins. Whenever some pool participant
is successful, the earned rewards are appropriately split among all pool
participants. Currently a dozen of different pooling strategies (i.e., methods
for distributing the rewards) are in use for Bitcoin mining.
We here propose a formal model of utility and social welfare for Bitcoin
mining (and analogous mining systems) based on the theory of discounted
expected utility, and next study pooling strategies that maximize the social
welfare of miners. Our main result shows that one of the pooling strategies
actually employed in practice--the so-called geometric pay pool--achieves the
optimal steady-state utility for miners when its parameters are set
appropriately.
Our results apply not only to Bitcoin mining pools, but any other form of
pooled mining or crowdsourcing computations where the participants engage in
repeated random trials towards a common goal, and where "partial" solutions can
be efficiently verified
Evolution of systemic therapy of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) commonly occurs in hepatitis B endemic areas, especially in Asian countries. HCC is highly refractory to cytotoxic chemotherapy. This resistance is partly related to its tumor biology, pharmacokinetic properties, and both intrinsic and acquired drug resistance. There is no convincing evidence thus far that systemic chemotherapy improves overall survival in advanced HCC patients. Other systemic approaches, such as hormonal therapy and immunotherapy, have also disappointing results. Recently, encouraging results have been shown in using sorafenib in the treatment of advanced HCC patients. In this review, we concisely summarize the evolution of developments in the systemic therapy of advanced HCC. © 2008 The WJG Press. All rights reserved.published_or_final_versio
Causal perturbation theory in terms of retarded products, and a proof of the Action Ward Identity
In the framework of perturbative algebraic quantum field theory a local
construction of interacting fields in terms of retarded products is performed,
based on earlier work of Steinmann. In our formalism the entries of the
retarded products are local functionals of the off shell classical fields, and
we prove that the interacting fields depend only on the action and not on terms
in the Lagrangian which are total derivatives, thus providing a proof of
Stora's 'Action Ward Identity'. The theory depends on free parameters which
flow under the renormalization group. This flow can be derived in our local
framework independently of the infrared behavior, as was first established by
Hollands and Wald. We explicitly compute non-trivial examples for the
renormalization of the interaction and the field.Comment: 76 pages, to appear in Rev. Math. Phy
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