16,146 research outputs found
Reduction of the QCD string to a time component vector potential
We demonstrate the equivalence of the relativistic flux tube model of mesons
to a simple potential model in the regime of large radial excitation. We make
no restriction on the quark masses; either quark may have a zero or finite
mass. Our primary result shows that for fixed angular momentum and large radial
excitation, the flux tube/QCD string meson with a short-range Coulomb
interaction is described by a spinless Salpeter equation with a time component
vector potential V(r) = ar - k/r.Comment: RevTeX4, 10 pages, 3 eps figure
Parallel computing and molecular dynamics of biological membranes
In this talk I discuss the general question of the portability of Molecular
Dynamics codes for diffusive systems on parallel computers of the APE family.
The intrinsic single precision arithmetics of the today available APE platforms
does not seem to affect the numerical accuracy of the simulations, while the
absence of integer addressing from CPU to individual nodes puts strong
constraints on the possible programming strategies. Liquids can be very
satisfactorily simulated using the "systolic" method. For more complex systems,
like the biological ones at which we are ultimately interested in, the "domain
decomposition" approach is best suited to beat the quadratic growth of the
inter-molecular computational time with the number of elementary components of
the system. The promising perspectives of using this strategy for extensive
simulations of lipid bilayers are briefly reviewed.Comment: 4 pages LaTeX, 2 figures included, espcrc2.sty require
Experimental and Theoretical Modelling of 3D Gravity Currents
Postprint (published version
Large Highly-Ionized Nebulae Around Ultra-luminous X-ray Sources
We present the results of deep optical spectroscopic observations using the
LRIS spectrograph on the Keck I 10-m telescope of three ultra-luminous X-ray
sources (ULXs), Ho IX X-1; M81 X-6; and Ho II X-1. Our observations reveal the
existence of large (100 - 200 pc diameter) highly-ionized nebulae, identified
by diffuse He II (4686 Angstrom) emission, surrounding these sources. Our
results are the first to find highly-ionized nebulae of this extent, and the
detection in all three objects indicates this may be a common feature of ULXs.
In addition to the extended emission, Ho IX X-1 has an unresolved central
component containing about one-third of the total He II flux, with a
significant velocity dispersion of ~ 370 km/s, suggestive of the existence of a
photo-ionized accretion disk or an extremely hot early-type stellar
counterpart. Most of the He II emission appears to be surrounded by
significantly more extended Hbeta emission, and the intensity ratios between
the two lines, which range from 0.12 - 0.33, indicate that photo-ionization is
the origin of the He II emission. Sustaining these extended nebulae requires
substantial X-ray emission, in the range ~ 10^{39} - 10^{40} ergs/s, comparable
to the measured X-ray luminosities of the sources. This favors models where the
X-ray emission is isotropic, rather than beamed, which includes the
interpretation that ULXs harbor intermediate-mass black holes.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ Letter
Universal light quark mass dependence and heavy-light meson spectroscopy
Clean predictions are presented for all the spin-averaged heavy-light meson
spectroscopies. A new symmetry is identified wherein the energy eigenstates
have a universal dependence on both the light and heavy quark masses. This
universality is used in an efficient analysis of these mesons within the QCD
string/flux tube picture. Unique predictions for all the D, D_s, B, and B_s
type mesons in terms of just four measured quantities.Comment: REVTeX4, 6 pages, 9 eps figure
Recommended from our members
Altered brain connectivity in sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) revealed using resting-state fMRI.
The circumstances surrounding SUDEP suggest autonomic or respiratory collapse, implying central failure of regulation or recovery. Characterisation of the communication among brain areas mediating such processes may shed light on mechanisms and noninvasively indicate risk. We used rs-fMRI to examine network properties among brain structures in people with epilepsy who suffered SUDEP (n = 8) over an 8-year follow-up period, compared with matched high- and low-risk subjects (n = 16/group) who did not suffer SUDEP during that period, and a group of healthy controls (n = 16). Network analysis was employed to explore connectivity within a 'regulatory-subnetwork' of brain regions involved in autonomic and respiratory regulation, and over the whole-brain. Modularity, the extent of network organization into separate modules, was significantly reduced in the regulatory-subnetwork, and the whole-brain, in SUDEP and high-risk. Increased participation, a local measure of inter-modular belonging, was evident in SUDEP and high-risk groups, particularly among thalamic structures. The medial prefrontal thalamus was increased in SUDEP compared with all other control groups, including high-risk. Patterns of hub topology were similar in SUDEP and high-risk, but were more extensive in low-risk patients, who displayed greater hub prevalence and a radical reorganization of hubs in the subnetwork. SUDEP is associated with reduced functional organization among cortical and sub-cortical brain regions mediating autonomic and respiratory regulation. Living high-risk subjects demonstrated similar patterns, suggesting such network measures may provide prospective risk-indicating value, though a crucial difference between SUDEP and high-risk was altered connectivity of the medial thalamus in SUDEP, which was also elevated compared with all sub-groups. Disturbed thalamic connectivity may reflect a potential non-invasive marker of elevated SUDEP risk
Simulating Hard Rigid Bodies
Several physical systems in condensed matter have been modeled approximating
their constituent particles as hard objects. The hard spheres model has been
indeed one of the cornerstones of the computational and theoretical description
in condensed matter. The next level of description is to consider particles as
rigid objects of generic shape, which would enrich the possible phenomenology
enormously. This kind of modeling will prove to be interesting in all those
situations in which steric effects play a relevant role. These include biology,
soft matter, granular materials and molecular systems. With a view to
developing a general recipe for event-driven Molecular Dynamics simulations of
hard rigid bodies, two algorithms for calculating the distance between two
convex hard rigid bodies and the contact time of two colliding hard rigid
bodies solving a non-linear set of equations will be described. Building on
these two methods, an event-driven molecular dynamics algorithm for simulating
systems of convex hard rigid bodies will be developed and illustrated in
details. In order to optimize the collision detection between very elongated
hard rigid bodies, a novel nearest-neighbor list method based on an oriented
bounding box will be introduced and fully explained. Efficiency and performance
of the new algorithm proposed will be extensively tested for uniaxial hard
ellipsoids and superquadrics. Finally applications in various scientific fields
will be reported and discussed.Comment: 36 pages, 17 figure
Sequentializing Parameterized Programs
We exhibit assertion-preserving (reachability preserving) transformations
from parameterized concurrent shared-memory programs, under a k-round
scheduling of processes, to sequential programs. The salient feature of the
sequential program is that it tracks the local variables of only one thread at
any point, and uses only O(k) copies of shared variables (it does not use extra
counters, not even one counter to keep track of the number of threads).
Sequentialization is achieved using the concept of a linear interface that
captures the effect an unbounded block of processes have on the shared state in
a k-round schedule. Our transformation utilizes linear interfaces to
sequentialize the program, and to ensure the sequential program explores only
reachable states and preserves local invariants.Comment: In Proceedings FIT 2012, arXiv:1207.348
Optical (VRI) Photometry in the Field of the Galaxy Cluster AC 118 at z=0.31
We present new photometric V-, R- and I-band data for the rich galaxy cluster
AC 118 at z=0.31. The new photometry covers an area of 8.6x8.6 arcmin,
corresponding to 2.92.9 Mpc (H km s Mpc,
q and ). The data have been collected for a project aimed
at studying galaxy evolution through the color-magnitude relation and the
fundamental plane. We provide a catalogue including all the sources (N = 1206)
detected in the cluster field. The galaxy sample is complete to V=22.8 mag
(N_gal=574), R=22.3 mag (N_gal=649) and I=20.8 mag (N_gal=419). We give
aperture magnitudes within a fixed aperture of 4.4 arcsec and Kron magnitudes.
We also give photometric redshifts for 459 sources for which additional U- and
K-band photometry is available. We derive and discuss the V- and R-band
luminosity functions. The catalogue, which is distributed in electronic form,
is intended as a tool for studies in galaxy evolution.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, A&A in pres
The Sun was not born in M 67
Using the most recent proper-motion determination of the old,
Solar-metallicity, Galactic open cluster M 67, in orbital computations in a
non-axisymmetric model of the Milky Way, including a bar and 3D spiral arms, we
explore the possibility that the Sun once belonged to this cluster. We have
performed Monte Carlo numerical simulations to generate the present-day orbital
conditions of the Sun and M 67, and all the parameters in the Galactic model.
We compute 3.5 \times 10^5 pairs of orbits Sun-M 67 looking for close
encounters in the past with a minimum distance approach within the tidal radius
of M 67. In these encounters we find that the relative velocity between the Sun
and M 67 is larger than 20 km/s. If the Sun had been ejected from M 67 with
this high velocity by means of a three-body encounter, this interaction would
destroy an initial circumstellar disk around the Sun, or disperse its already
formed planets. We also find a very low probability, much less than 10^-7, that
the Sun was ejected from M 67 by an encounter of this cluster with a giant
molecular cloud. This study also excludes the possibility that the Sun and M 67
were born in the same molecular cloud. Our dynamical results convincingly
demonstrate that M67 could not have been the birth cluster of our Solar System.Comment: Astronomical Journal accepted (35 pages, 9 figures
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