A statistical mechanics model for free-for-all airplane passenger boarding

I present and discuss a model for the free-for-all passenger boarding which is employed by some discount air carriers. The model is based on the principles of statistical mechanics where each seat in the aircraft has an associated energy which reflects the preferences of the population of air travelers. As each passenger enters the airplane they select their seats using Boltzmann statistics, proceed to that location, load their luggage, sit down, and the partition function seen by remaining passengers is modified to reflect this fact. I discuss the various model parameters and make qualitative comparisons of this passenger boarding model with models which involve assigned seats. This model can also be used to predict the probability that certain seats will be occupied at different times during the boarding process. These results may be of value to industry professionals as a useful description of this boarding method. However, it also has significant value as a pedagogical tool since it is a relatively unusual application of undergraduate level physics and it describes a situation with which many students and faculty may be familiar.Comment: version 1: 4 pages 2 figures version 2: 7 pages with 5 figure

Dipole Excitation of Dipositronium

The energy interval between the ground and the P-wave excited states of the recently discovered positronium molecule Ps_2 is evaluated, including the relativistic and the leading logarithmic radiative corrections, E_P-E_S = 0.181 586 7(8) a.u. The P-state, decaying usually via annihilation, is found to decay into the ground state by an electric dipole transition 19 percent of the time. Anticipated observation of this transition will provide insight into this exotic system.Comment: 5 page

Controlled nanochannel lattice formation utilizing prepatterned substrates

Solid substrates can be endued with self-organized regular stripe patterns of nanoscopic lengthscale by Langmuir-Blodgett transfer of organic monolayers. Here we consider the effect of periodically prepatterned substrates on this process of pattern formation. It leads to a time periodic forcing of the oscillatory behavior at the meniscus. Utilizing higher order synchronization with this forcing, complex periodic patterns of predefined wavelength can be created. The dependence of the synchronization on the amplitude and the wavelength of the wetting contrast is investigated in one and two spatial dimensions and the resulting patterns are discussed. Furthermore, the effect of prepatterned substrates on the pattern selection process is investigated

Extended Hylleraas three-electron integral

A closed form expression for the three-electron Hylleraas integral involving the inverse quadratic power of one inter-particle coordinate is obtained, and recursion relations are derived for positive powers of other coordinates. This result is suited for high precision calculations of relativistic effects in lithium and light lithium-like ions.Comment: Submited to Phys. Rev.

Dynamics of a thin liquid film with surface rigidity and spontaneous curvature

The effect of rigid surfaces on the dynamics of thin liquid films which are amenable to the lubrication approximation is considered. It is shown that the Helfrich energy of the layer gives rise to additional terms in the time-evolution equations of the liquid film. The dynamics is found to depend on the absolute value of the spontaneous curvature, irrespective of its sign. Due to the additional terms, a novel finite wavelength instability of flat rigid interfaces can be observed. Furthermore, the dependence of the shape of a droplet on the bending rigidity as well as on the spontaneous curvature is discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Lower Bounds on Mutual Information

We correct claims about lower bounds on mutual information (MI) between real-valued random variables made in A. Kraskov {\it et al.}, Phys. Rev. E {\bf 69}, 066138 (2004). We show that non-trivial lower bounds on MI in terms of linear correlations depend on the marginal (single variable) distributions. This is so in spite of the invariance of MI under reparametrizations, because linear correlations are not invariant under them. The simplest bounds are obtained for Gaussians, but the most interesting ones for practical purposes are obtained for uniform marginal distributions. The latter can be enforced in general by using the ranks of the individual variables instead of their actual values, in which case one obtains bounds on MI in terms of Spearman correlation coefficients. We show with gene expression data that these bounds are in general non-trivial, and the degree of their (non-)saturation yields valuable insight.Comment: 4 page

Using Josephson junctions to determine the pairing state of superconductors without crystal inversion symmetry

Theoretical studies of a planar tunnel junction between two superconductors with antisymmetric spin-orbit coupling are presented. The half-space Green's function for such a superconductor is determined. This is then used to derive expressions for the dissipative current and the Josephson current of the junction. Numerical results are presented in the case of the Rashba spin-orbit coupling, relevant to the much studied compound CePt$_3$Si. Current-voltage diagrams, differential conductance and the critical Josephson current are presented for different crystallographic orientations and different weights of singlet and triplet components of the pairing state. The main conclusion is that Josephson junctions with different crystallographic orientations may provide a direct connection between unconventional pairing in superconductors of this kind and the absence of inversion symmetry in the crystal.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figure

Solid-fluid transition in a granular shear flow

The rheology of a granular shear flow is studied in a quasi-2d rotating cylinder. Measurements are carried out near the midpoint along the length of the surface flowing layer where the flow is steady and non-accelerating. Streakline photography and image analysis are used to obtain particle velocities and positions. Different particle sizes and rotational speeds are considered. We find a sharp transition in the apparent viscosity ($\eta$) variation with rms velocity ($u$). In the fluid-like region above the depth corresponding to the transition point (higher rms velocities) there is a rapid increase in viscosity with decreasing rms velocity. Below the transition depth we find $\eta \propto u^{-1.5}$ for all the different cases studied and the material approaches an amorphous solid-like state deep in the layer. The velocity distribution is Maxwellian above the transition point and a Poisson velocity distribution is obtained deep in the layer. The observed transition appears to be analogous to a glass transition.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Signatures of electron-boson coupling in half-metallic ferromagnet Mn5_5Ge3_3: study of electron self-energy Σ(ω)\Sigma(\omega) obtained from infrared spectroscopy

We report results of our infrared and optical spectroscopy study of a half-metallic ferromagnet Mn$_5$Ge$_3$. This compound is currently being investigated as a potential injector of spin polarized currents into germanium. Infrared measurements have been performed over a broad frequency (50 - 50000 cm$^{-1}$) and temperature (10 - 300 K) range. From the complex optical conductivity $\sigma(\omega)$ we extract the electron self-energy $\Sigma(\omega)$. The calculation of $\Sigma(\omega)$ is based on novel numerical algorithms for solution of systems of non-linear equations. The obtained self-energy provides a new insight into electron correlations in Mn$_5$Ge$_3$. In particular, it reveals that charge carriers may be coupled to bosonic modes, possibly of magnetic origin

Evolving Newton's Constant, Extended Gravity Theories and SnIa Data Analysis

If Newton's constant G evolves on cosmological timescales as predicted by extended gravity theories then Type Ia supernovae (SnIa) can not be treated as standard candles. The magnitude-redshift datasets however can still be useful. They can be used to simultaneously fit for both H(z) and G(z) (so that local G(z) constraints are also satisfied) in the context of appropriate parametrizations. Here we demonstrate how can this analysis be done by applying it to the Gold SnIa dataset. We compare the derived effective equation of state parameter w(z) at best fit with the corresponding result obtained by neglecting the evolution G(z). We show that even though the results clearly differ from each other, in both cases the best fit w(z) crosses the phantom divide w=-1. We then attempt to reconstruct a scalar tensor theory that predicts the derived best fit forms of H(z) and G(z). Since the best fit G(z) fixes the scalar tensor potential evolution F(z), there is no ambiguity in the reconstruction and the potential U(z) can be derived uniquely. The particular reconstructed scalar tensor theory however, involves a change of sign of the kinetic term $\Phi'(z)^2$ as in the minimally coupled case.Comment: Minor changes. Accepted in Phys. Rev. D. 7 revtex pages, 5 figures. The mathematica file with the numerical analysis of the paper is available at http://leandros.physics.uoi.gr/snevol.ht