9,654 research outputs found
Dark Energy as a Born-Infeld Gauge Interaction Violating the Equivalence Principle
We investigate the possibility that dark energy does not couple to
gravitation in the same way than ordinary matter, yielding a violation of the
weak and strong equivalence principles on cosmological scales. We build a
transient mechanism in which gravitation is pushed away from general relativity
by a Born-Infeld gauge interaction acting as an "Abnormally Weighting" (dark)
Energy. This mechanism accounts for the Hubble diagram of far-away supernovae
by cosmic acceleration and time variation of the gravitational constant while
accounting naturally for the present tests on general relativity.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, sequel of Phys. Rev. D 73 023520 (2006), to
appear in Physical Review Letter
Rippled Cosmological Dark Matter from Damped Oscillating Newton Constant
Let the reciprocal Newton 'constant' be an apparently non-dynamical
Brans-Dicke scalar field damped oscillating towards its General Relativistic
VEV. We show, without introducing additional matter fields or dust, that the
corresponding cosmological evolution averagely resembles, in the Jordan frame,
the familiar dark radiation -> dark matter -> dark energy domination sequence.
The fingerprints of our theory are fine ripples, hopefully testable, in the FRW
scale factor; they die away at the General Relativity limit. The possibility
that the Brans-Dicke scalar also serves as the inflaton is favorably examined.Comment: RevTex4, 12 pages, 5 figures; Minor revision, References adde
Exact calculation of the radiatively-induced Lorentz and CPT violation in QED
Radiative corrections arising from the axial coupling of charged fermions to
a constant vector b_\mu can induce a Lorentz- and CPT-violating Chern-Simons
term in the QED action. We calculate the exact one-loop correction to this term
keeping the full b_\mu dependence, and show that in the physically interesting
cases it coincides with the lowest-order result. The effect of regularization
and renormalization and the implications of the result are briefly discussed.Comment: LaTex, 8 pages; minor correction
Are Eastern Oysters Being Bored to Death? Influence of \u3cem\u3eCliona celata\u3c/em\u3e on \u3cem\u3eCrassostrea virginica\u3c/em\u3e Condition, Growth and Survival
The boring sponge Cliona celata is a nuisance species that can have deleterious effects on eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica growth, condition, and survival. Surprisingly, however, these effects have not been well documented and when examined, results have been equi-vocal. In this study, we provide a direct comparison of growth, condition, and survival of sponge-colonized and uncolonized oysters in southeast North Carolina in 2 separate experiments. In the first experiment, sponge-colonized oysters exhibited significantly slower growth rates, reduced condition, and lower survival relative to uncolonized oysters, although results may have been confounded by oyster source. In the second experiment, using smaller oysters from the same source population, growth rate was again significantly reduced in colonized oysters relative to uncolonized oysters, however neither condition nor survival differed. In field surveys of the same population, colonized individuals across a range of sizes demonstrated significantly reduced condition. Further, condition index was negatively correlated with sponge biomass, which was positively correlated with oyster size, suggesting that the impact of the sponge changes with ontogeny. By investigating clearance rates, tissue isotopic and nutrient content, as well as caloric value, this study provides further evidence that sponge presence causes the oysters to divert energy into costly shell maintenance and repair at the expense of shell and somatic growth. Thus, although variable, our results demonstrate negative impacts of sponge infestation on oyster demographics, particularly as oysters grow larger
When the working day is through: The end of work as identity?
This article seeks to present a counter-case to the âend of work thesisâ advocated by writers such as Beck, Sennett and Bauman. It argues that work remains a significant locus of personal identity and that the depiction by these writers of endemic insecurity in the workplace is inaccurate and lacks empirical basis. The article draws upon case study data to illustrate how, across a range of workplaces, work remains an importance source of identity, meaning and social affiliation
Single ion implantation for single donor devices using Geiger mode detectors
Electronic devices that are designed to use the properties of single atoms
such as donors or defects have become a reality with recent demonstrations of
donor spectroscopy, single photon emission sources, and magnetic imaging using
defect centers in diamond. Improving single ion detector sensitivity is linked
to improving control over the straggle of the ion as well as providing more
flexibility in lay-out integration with the active region of the single donor
device construction zone by allowing ion sensing at potentially greater
distances. Using a remotely located passively gated single ion Geiger mode
avalanche diode (SIGMA) detector we have demonstrated 100% detection efficiency
at a distance of >75 um from the center of the collecting junction. This
detection efficiency is achieved with sensitivity to ~600 or fewer
electron-hole pairs produced by the implanted ion. Ion detectors with this
sensitivity and integrated with a thin dielectric, for example 5 nm gate oxide,
using low energy Sb implantation would have an end of range straggle of <2.5
nm. Significant reduction in false count probability is achieved by modifying
the ion beam set-up to allow for cryogenic operation of the SIGMA detector.
Using a detection window of 230 ns at 1 Hz, the probability of a false count
was measured as 1E-1 and 1E-4 for operation temperatures of 300K and 77K,
respectively. Low temperature operation and reduced false, dark, counts are
critical to achieving high confidence in single ion arrival. For the device
performance in this work, the confidence is calculated as a probability of >98%
for counting one and only one ion for a false count probability of 1E-4 at an
average ion number per gated window of 0.015.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Nanotechnolog
Possible Spontaneous Breaking of Lorentz and CPT Symmetry
One possible ramification of unified theories of nature such as string theory
that may underlie the conventional standard model is the possible spontaneous
breakdown of Lorentz and CPT symmetry. In this talk, the formalism for
inclusion of such effects into a low-energy effective field theory is
presented. An extension of the standard model that includes Lorentz- and
CPT-breaking terms is developed. The restriction of the standard model
extension to the QED sector is then discussed.Comment: Talk presented at Non-Accelerator New Physics, Dubna, Russia, July
199
Immune status of recipients following bone marrow - Augmented solid organ transplantation
It has been postulated that the resident âpassengerâ leukocytes of hematolymphoid origin that migrate from whole organ grafts and subsequently establish systemic chimerism are essential for graft acceptance and the induction of donor-specific nonreactivity. This phenomenon was augmented by infusing 3 Ă 108 unmodified donor bone-marrow cells into 40 patients at the time of organ transplantation. Fifteen of the first 18 analyzable patients had sequential immunological evaluation over postoperative intervals of 5 to 17 months, (which included 7 kidney (two with islets), 7 liver (one with islets), and one heart recipient). The evolution of changes was compared with that in 16 kidney and liver nonmarrow controls followed for 4 to5 months. The generic immune reactivity of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) was determined by their proliferative responses to mitogens (PHA, ConA). Alloreactivity was measured by the recipient mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) to donor and HLA-mis-matched third-party panel cells. Based on all 3 tests,the recipients were classified as donor-specific hyporeactive, intermediate, and responsive; patients who were globally suppressed made up a fourth category. Eight (53%) of the 15 marrow-treated recipients exhibited progressive modulation of donor-specific reactivity (3 hyporeactive and 5 intermediate) while 7 remained antidonor-responsive. In the nonmarrow controls, 2 (12.5%) of the 16 patients showed donor-specific hyporeactivity, 10 (62.5%) were reactive, and 4 (25%) studied during a CMV infection had global suppression of responsiveness to all stimuli. © 1995 by Williams and Wilkins
A Curvature Principle for the interaction between universes
We propose a Curvature Principle to describe the dynamics of interacting
universes in a multi-universe scenario and show, in the context of a simplified
model, how interaction drives the cosmological constant of one of the universes
toward a vanishingly small value. We also conjecture on how the proposed
Curvature Principle suggests a solution for the entropy paradox of a universe
where the cosmological constant vanishes.Comment: Essay selected for an honorable mention by the Gravity Research
Foundation, 2007. Plain latex, 8 page
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