Diffraction of wave packets in space and time

The phenomenon of wave packet diffraction in space and time is described. It consists in a diffraction pattern whose spatial location progresses with time. The pattern is produced by wave packet quantum scattering off an attractive or repulsive time independent potential. An analytical formula for the pattern at $t\to\infty$ is derived both in one dimension and in three dimensions. The condition for the pattern to exist is developed. The phenomenon is shown numerically and analytically for the Dirac equation in one dimension also. An experiment for the verification of the phenomenon is described and simulated numerically.Comment: replaces quant-ph 0008077, 0008107, Journal of physics, A, in pres

Expansion-limited aggregation of nanoclusters in a single-pulse laser-produced plume

Formation of carbon nanoclusters in a single-laser-pulse created ablation plume was studied both in vacuum and in a noble gas environment at various pressures. The developed theory provides cluster radius dependence on combination of laser parameters, properties of ablated material, and type and pressure of an ambient gas in agreement with experiments. The experiments were performed on carbon nanoclusters formed by laser ablation of graphite targets with 12 picosecond 532 nm laser pulses at MHz-range repetition rate in a broad range of ambient He, Ar, Kr, and Xe gas pressures from 2× 10-2 to 1500 Torr. The experimental results confirmed our theoretical prediction that the average size of the nanoparticles depends weakly on the type of the ambient gas used, and is determined exclusively by the single laser pulse parameters even at the repetition rate as high as 28 MHz with the time gap 36 ns between the pulses. The most important finding relates to the fact that in vacuum the cluster size is mainly determined by hydrodynamic expansion of the plume while in the ambient gas it is controlled by atomic diffusion in the gas. We demonstrate that the ultrashort pulses can be used for production of clusters with the size less than the critical value, which separates the particles with properties drastically different from those of a material in a bulk. The presented results of experiments on formation of carbon nanoclusters are in close agreement with the theoretical scaling. The developed theory is applicable for cluster formation from any monatomic material, such as silicon for example

The Business Boost from Marriage Equality: Evidence from the Health and Marriage Equality in Massachusetts Survey

This brief draws on two sources of data, a survey and state-collected tax revenue data, and finds that marriages have had a positive economic effect on Massachusetts -- likely providing a boost of over $100 million to the state economy. Same-sex couples' weddings injected significant spending into the Massachusetts economy and brought out-of-state guests to the state, whose spending also added to the economic boost

Installed performance assessment of a boundary layer ingesting distributed propulsion system at design point

Boundary layer ingesting systems have been proposed as a concept with great potential for reducing the fuel consumption of conventional propulsion systems and the overall drag of an aircraft. These studies have indicated that if the aerodynamic and efficiency losses were minimised, the propulsion system demonstrated substantial power consumption benefits in comparison to equivalent propulsion systems operating in free stream flow. Previously assessed analytical methods for BLI simulation have been from an uninstalled perspective. This research will present the formulation of an rapid analytical method for preliminary design studies which evaluates the installed performance of a boundary layer ingesting system. The method uses boundary layer theory and one dimensional gas dynamics to assess the performance of an integrated system. The method was applied to a case study of the distributed propulsor array of a blended wing body aircraft. There was particular focus on assessment how local flow characteristics influence the performance of individual propulsors and the propulsion system as a whole. The application of the model show that the spanwise flow variation has a significant impact on the performance of the array as a whole. A clear optimum design point is identified which minimises the power consumption for an array with a fixed configuration and net propulsive force requirement. In addition, the sensitivity of the system to distortion related losses is determined and a point is identi ed where a conventional free-stream propulsor is the lower power option. Power saving coefficient for the configurations considered is estimated to lie in the region of 15%

Probing Split Supersymmetry with Cosmic Rays

A striking aspect of the recently proposed split supersymmetry is the existence of heavy gluinos which are metastable because of the very heavy squarks which mediate their decay. In this paper we correlate the expected flux of these particles with the accompanying neutrino flux produced in inelastic $pp$ collisions in distant astrophysical sources. We show that an event rate at the Pierre Auger Observatory of approximately 1 yr$^{-1}$ for gluino masses of about 500 GeV is consistent with existing limits on neutrino fluxes. The extremely low inelasticity of the gluino-containing hadrons in their collisions with the air molecules makes possible a distinct characterization of the showers induced in the atmosphere. Should such anomalous events be observed, we show that their cosmogenic origin, in concert with the requirement that they reach the Earth before decay, leads to a lower bound on their proper lifetime of the order of 100 years, and consequently, to a lower bound on the scale of supersymmetry breaking, $\Lambda_{\rm SUSY} >2.6 \times 10^{11}$ GeV. Obtaining such a bound is not possible in collider experiments.Comment: Version to be published in Phys. Rev.

Duration judgements in patients with schizophrenia

Background. The ability to encode time cues underlies many cognitive processes. In the light of schizophrenic patients' compromised cognitive abilities in a variety of domains, it is noteworthy that there are numerous reports of these patients displaying impaired timing abilities. However, the timing intervals that patients have been evaluated on in prior studies vary considerably in magnitude (e.g. 1 s, 1 min, 1 h etc.). Method. In order to obviate differences in abilities in chronometric counting and place minimal demands on cognitive processing, we chose tasks that involve making judgements about brief durations of time (<1 s). Results. On a temporal generalization task, patients were less accurate than controls at recognizing a standard duration. The performance of patients was also significantly different from controls on a temporal bisection task, in which participants categorized durations as short or long. Although time estimation may be closely intertwined with working memory, patients' working memory as measured by the digit span task did not correlate significantly with their performance on the duration judgement tasks. Moreover, lowered intelligence scores could not completely account for the findings. Conclusions. We take these results to suggest that patients with schizophrenia are less accurate at estimating brief time periods. These deficits may reflect dysfunction of biopsychological timing processes

Q^2 Evolution of the Neutron Spin Structure Moments using a ^3He Target

We have measured the spin structure functions g_1 and g_2 of ^3He in a double-spin experiment by inclusively scattering polarized electrons at energies ranging from 0.862 to 5.058 GeV off a polarized ^3He target at a 15.5° scattering angle. Excitation energies covered the resonance and the onset of the deep inelastic regions. We have determined for the first time the Q^2 evolution of Γ_1(Q^2)=∫_0^1g_1(x,Q^2)dx, Γ_2(Q^2)=∫_0^1g_2(x,Q^2)dx, and d_2(Q^2)=∫_0^1x^2[2g_1(x,Q^2)+3g_2(x,Q^2)]dx for the neutron in the range 0.1 ≤ Q^2 ≤0.9  GeV^2 with good precision. Γ_1(Q^2) displays a smooth variation from high to low Q^2. The Burkhardt-Cottingham sum rule holds within uncertainties and d_2 is nonzero over the measured range

The general relativistic infinite plane

Uniform fields are one of the simplest and most pedagogically useful examples in introductory courses on electrostatics or Newtonian gravity. In general relativity there have been several proposals as to what constitutes a uniform field. In this article we examine two metrics that can be considered the general relativistic version of the infinite plane with finite mass per unit area. The first metric is the 4D version of the 5D "brane" world models which are the starting point for many current research papers. The second case is the cosmological domain wall metric. We examine to what extent these different metrics match or deviate from our Newtonian intuition about the gravitational field of an infinite plane. These solutions provide the beginning student in general relativity both computational practice and conceptual insight into Einstein's field equations. In addition they do this by introducing the student to material that is at the forefront of current research.Comment: Accepted for publication in the American Journal of Physic