Systematic study of deformed nuclei at the drip lines and beyond

An improved prescription for choosing a transformed harmonic oscillator (THO) basis for use in configuration-space Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov (HFB) calculations is presented. The new HFB+THO framework that follows accurately reproduces the results of coordinate-space HFB calculations for spherical nuclei, including those that are weakly bound. Furthermore, it is fully automated, facilitating its use in systematic investigations of large sets of nuclei throughout the periodic table. As a first application, we have carried out calculations using the Skyrme Force SLy4 and volume pairing, with exact particle number projection following application of the Lipkin-Nogami prescription. Calculations were performed for all even-even nuclei from the proton drip line to the neutron drip line having proton numbers Z=2,4,...,108 and neutron numbers N=2,4,...,188. We focus on nuclei near the neutron drip line and find that there exist numerous particle-bound even-even nuclei (i.e., nuclei with negative Fermi energies) that have at the same time negative two-neutron separation energies. This phenomenon, which was earlier noted for light nuclei, is attributed to bound shape isomers beyond the drip line.Comment: 12 ReVTeX4 pages, 6 EPS figures. See also http://www.fuw.edu.pl/~dobaczew/thodri/thodri.htm

Spectral shift function for operators with crossed magnetic and electric fields

We obtain a representation formula for the derivative of the spectral shift function $\xi(\lambda; B, \epsilon)$ related to the operators $H_0(B,\epsilon) = (D_x - By)^2 + D_y^2 + \epsilon x$ and $H(B, \epsilon) = H_0(B, \epsilon) + V(x,y), \: B > 0, \epsilon > 0$. We establish a limiting absorption principle for $H(B, \epsilon)$ and an estimate ${\mathcal O}(\epsilon^{n-2})$ for $\xi'(\lambda; B, \epsilon)$, provided $\lambda \notin \sigma(Q)$, where $Q = (D_x - By)^2 + D_y^2 + V(x,y).

Neuronal Mechanisms and Transformations Encoding Time-Varying Signals

Sensation in natural environments requires the analysis of time-varying signals. While previous work has uncovered how a signal’s temporal rate is represented by neurons in sensory cortex, in this issue of Neuron, new evidence from Gao et al. (2016) provides insights on the underlying mechanisms

Polyhedral units and network connectivity in calcium aluminosilicate glasses from high-energy x-ray diffraction

Structure factors for Cax/2AlxSi1-xO2 glasses (x=0,0.25,0.5,0.67) extended to a wave vector of magnitude Q= 40 1/A have been obtained by high-energy x-ray diffraction. For the first time, it is possible to resolve the contributions of Si-O, Al-O and Ca-O coordination polyhedra to the experimental atomic pair distribution functions (PDF). It has been found that both Si and Al are four-fold coordinated and so participate in a continuous tetrahedral network at low values of x. The number of network breaking defects in the form of non-bridging oxygens (NBO's) increases slowly with x until x=0.5 (NBO's ~ 10% at x=0.5). By x=0.67 the network breaking defects become significant as evidenced by the significant drop in the average coordination number of Si. By contrast, Al-O tetrahedra remain free of NBO's and fully integrated in the Al/Si-O network for all values of x. Calcium maintains a rather uniform coordination sphere of approximately 5 oxygen atoms for all values of x. The results suggest that not only Si/Al-O tetrahedra but Ca-O polyhedra, too, play a role in determining the glassy structure

Information systems, software engineering, and systems thinking: challenges and opportunities

This article traces past research on the application of the systems approach to information systems development within the disciplines of information systems and software engineering. Their origins historically are related to a number of areas, including general systems theory. While potential improvement of software development practices is linked by some leading experts to the application of more systemic methods, the current state of the practice in software engineering and information systems development shows this is some way from being achieved. The authors propose possible directions for future research and practical work on bringing together both fields with systems thinking

Fabrication of salt–hydrogel marbles and hollow-shell microcapsules by an aerosol gelation technique

We designed a new method for preparation of liquid marbles by using hydrophilic particles. Salt–hydrogel marbles were prepared by atomising droplets of hydrogel solution in a cold air column followed by rolling of the collected hydrogel microbeads in a bed of micrometre sized salt particles. Evaporation of the water from the resulting salt marbles with a hydrogel core yielded hollow-shell salt microcapsules. The method is not limited to hydrophilic particles and could potentially be also applied to particles of other materials, such as graphite, carbon black, silica and others. The structure and morphology of the salt–hydrogel marbles were analysed by SEM and their particle size distributions were measured. We also tested the dissolution times of the dried salt marbles and compared them with those of table salt samples under the same conditions. The high accessible surface area of the shell of salt microcrystals allows a faster initial release of salt from the hollow-shell salt capsules upon their dissolution in water than from the same amount of table salt. The results suggest that such hollow-shell particles could find applications as a table salt substitute in dry food products and salt seasoning formulations with reduced salt content without the loss of saltiness