782 research outputs found
On Hoyle-Narlikar-Wheeler mechanism of vibration energy powered magneto-dipole emission of neutron stars
We revisit the well-known Hoyle-Narlikar-Wheeler proposition that neutron
star emerging in the magnetic-flux-conserving process of core-collapse
supernova can convert the stored energy of Alfven vibrations into power of
magneto-dipole radiation. We show that the necessary requirement for the energy
conversion is the decay of internal magnetic field. In this case the loss of
vibration energy of the star causes its vibration period, equal to period of
pulsating emission, to lengthen at a rate proportional to the rate of magnetic
field decay. These prediction of the model of vibration powered neutron star
are discussed in juxtaposition with data on pulsating emission of magnetars
whose radiative activity is generally associated with the decay of ultra strong
magnetic field.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astrophysics & Space Scienc
Reduction and Realization in Toda and Volterra
We construct a new symplectic, bi-hamiltonian realization of the KM-system by
reducing the corresponding one for the Toda lattice. The bi-hamiltonian pair is
constructed using a reduction theorem of Fernandes and Vanhaecke. In this paper
we also review the important work of Moser on the Toda and KM-systems.Comment: 17 page
Indirect techniques in nuclear astrophysics. Asymptotic Normalization Coefficient and Trojan Horse
Owing to the presence of the Coulomb barrier at astrophysically relevant
kinetic energies it is very difficult, or sometimes impossible, to measure
astrophysical reaction rates in the laboratory. That is why different indirect
techniques are being used along with direct measurements. Here we address two
important indirect techniques, the asymptotic normalization coefficient (ANC)
and the Trojan Horse (TH) methods. We discuss the application of the ANC
technique for calculation of the astrophysical processes in the presence of
subthreshold bound states, in particular, two different mechanisms are
discussed: direct capture to the subthreshold state and capture to the
low-lying bound states through the subthreshold state, which plays the role of
the subthreshold resonance. The ANC technique can also be used to determine the
interference sign of the resonant and nonresonant (direct) terms of the
reaction amplitude. The TH method is unique indirect technique allowing one to
measure astrophysical rearrangement reactions down to astrophysically relevant
energies. We explain why there is no Coulomb barrier in the sub-process
amplitudes extracted from the TH reaction. The expressions for the TH amplitude
for direct and resonant cases are presented.Comment: Invited talk on the Conference "Nuclear Physics in Astrophysics II",
Debrecen, Hungary, 16-20 May, 200
Microfluidic and Nanofluidic Cavities for Quantum Fluids Experiments
The union of quantum fluids research with nanoscience is rich with
opportunities for new physics. The relevant length scales in quantum fluids,
3He in particular, are comparable to those possible using microfluidic and
nanofluidic devices. In this article, we will briefly review how the physics of
quantum fluids depends strongly on confinement on the microscale and nanoscale.
Then we present devices fabricated specifically for quantum fluids research,
with cavity sizes ranging from 30 nm to 11 microns deep, and the
characterization of these devices for low temperature quantum fluids
experiments.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, Accepted to Journal of Low Temperature Physic
Temperature enhanced persistent currents and " periodicity"
We predict a non-monotonous temperature dependence of the persistent currents
in a ballistic ring coupled strongly to a stub in the grand canonical as well
as in the canonical case. We also show that such a non-monotonous temperature
dependence can naturally lead to a periodicity of the persistent
currents, where =h/e. There is a crossover temperature , below
which persistent currents increase in amplitude with temperature while they
decrease above this temperature. This is in contrast to persistent currents in
rings being monotonously affected by temperature. is parameter-dependent
but of the order of , where is the level spacing
of the isolated ring. For the grand-canonical case is half of that for
the canonical case.Comment: some typos correcte
Globally optimal geodesic active contours
An approach to optimal object segmentation in the geodesic active contour framework is presented with application to automated image segmentation. The new segmentation scheme seeks the geodesic active contour of globally minimal energy under the sole restriction that it contains a specified internal point p_int. This internal point selects the object of interest and may be used as the only input parameter to yield a highly automated segmentation scheme. The image to be segmented is represented as a Riemannian space S with an associated metric induced by the image. The metric is an isotropic and decreasing function of the local image gradient at each point in the image, encoding the local homogeneity of image features. Optimal segmentations are then the closed geodesics which partition the object from the background with minimal similarity across the partitioning. An efficient algorithm is presented for the computation of globally optimal segmentations and applied to cell microscopy, x-ray, magnetic resonance and cDNA microarray images
Quasi-particle model for lattice QCD: quark-gluon plasma in heavy ion collisions
We propose a quasi-particle model to describe the lattice QCD equation of
state for pure SU(3) gauge theory in its deconfined state, for .
The method involves mapping the interaction part of the equation of state to an
effective fugacity of otherwise non-interacting quasi-gluons. We find that this
mapping is exact. Using the quasi-gluon distribution function, we determine the
energy density and the modified dispersion relation for the single particle
energy, in which the trace anomaly is manifest. As an application, we first
determine the Debye mass, and then the important transport parameters, {\it
viz}, the shear viscosity, and the shear viscosity to entropy density
ratio, . We find that both and
are sensitive to the interactions, and that the interactions significantly
lower both and .Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, epj class file, version accepted for publication
in Euro. Phys.J
Effects of non-invasive brain stimulation in multiple sclerosis: systematic review and meta-analysis
Objective: The objective of this meta-analysis was to summarize evidence on the therapeutic effects of non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) on core symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS). Specifically, findings from studies deploying transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) protocols were summarized in this review. Methods: We systematically searched articles published in four databases, until 31 May 2021, which compared the effects of active tDCS or rTMS with sham intervention in MS patients. We used a random-effects model for this meta-analysis. Meta-regression and subgroup meta-analysis were used to examine the effects of stimulation dose and different stimulation protocols, respectively. Results: Twenty-five randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were included in this review, consisting of 19 tDCS and 6 rTMS studies. tDCS led to a significant and immediate reduction of fatigue with a large effect size (Hedges’s g = −0.870, 95% confidence intervals (CI) = [−1.225 to −0.458], number needed to treat (NNT) = 2). Particularly, a subgroup analysis showed that applying tDCS over the left DLPFC and bilateral S1 led to fatigue reductions compared to sham stimulation. Furthermore, tDCS had favorable effects on fatigue in MS patients with low physical disability but not those with high physical disability, and additionally improved cognitive function. Finally, whereas rTMS was observed to reduce muscle spasticity, these NIBS protocols showed no further effect on MS-associated pain and mood symptoms. Conclusion: tDCS in MS alleviates fatigue and improves cognitive function whereas rTMS reduces muscle spasticity. More high-quality studies are needed to substantiate the therapeutic effects of different NIBS protocols in MS
Hydrodynamics and Flow
In this lecture note, we present several topics on relativistic hydrodynamics
and its application to relativistic heavy ion collisions. In the first part we
give a brief introduction to relativistic hydrodynamics in the context of heavy
ion collisions. In the second part we present the formalism and some
fundamental aspects of relativistic ideal and viscous hydrodynamics. In the
third part, we start with some basic checks of the fundamental observables
followed by discussion of collective flow, in particular elliptic flow, which
is one of the most exciting phenomenon in heavy ion collisions at relativistic
energies. Next we discuss how to formulate the hydrodynamic model to describe
dynamics of heavy ion collisions. Finally, we conclude the third part of the
lecture note by showing some results from ideal hydrodynamic calculations and
by comparing them with the experimental data.Comment: 40 pages, 35 figures; lecture given at the QGP Winter School, Jaipur,
India, Feb.1-3, 2008; to appear in Springer Lecture Notes in Physic
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