Casimir-Polder interaction between an atom and a conducting wall in cosmic string spacetime

The Casimir-Polder interaction potential is evaluated for a polarizable microparticle and a conducting wall in the geometry of a cosmic string perpendicular to the wall. The general case of the anisotropic polarizability tensor for the microparticle is considered. The corresponding force is a function of the wall-microparticle and cosmic string-microparticle distances. Depending on the orientation of the polarizability tensor principal axes the force can be either attractive or repulsive. The asymptotic behavior of the Casimir-Polder potential is investigated at large and small separations compared to the wavelength of the dominant atomic transitions. We show that the conical defect may be used to control the strength and the sign of the Casimir-Polder force.Comment: 17 pages, 3 figure

Self-Forces on Electric and Magnetic Linear Sources in the Space-Time of a Cosmic String

In this paper we calculate the magnetic and electric self-forces, induced by the conical structure of a cosmic string space-time, on a long straight wire which presents either a constant current or a linear charge density. We also show how these self-forces are related by a Lorentz tranformation and, in this way, explain what two different inertial observers detect in their respective frames.Comment: 10 pages, LaTeX, to be published in Phys. Rev. D

Relativistic Quantum Scattering on a Cone

We study the relativistic quantum mechanical scattering of a bosonic particle by an infinite straight cosmic string, considering the non-minimal coupling between the bosonic field and the scalar curvature. In this case, an effective two-dimensional delta-function interaction takes place besides the usual topological scattering and a renormalization procedure is necessary in order to treat the problem that appears in connection with the delta-function.Comment: 22 pages, LATEX fil

Black hole formation in bidimensional dilaton gravity coupled to scalar matter systems

This work deals with the formation of black hole in bidimensional dilaton gravity coupled to scalar matter fields. We investigate two scalar matter systems, one described by a sixth power potential and the other defined with two scalar fields containing up to the fourth power in the fields. The topological solutions that appear in these cases allow the formation of black holes in the corresponding dilaton gravity models.Comment: Latex, 9 pages. Published in Mod. Phys. Lett. A14 (1999) 268

A DIESEL ENGINE CONVERTED INTO OTTO CYCLE ENGINE: THE INFLUENCE OF THE SPARK ADVANCE ON ITS PERFORMANCE AND ON NOx EMISSIONS

This paper analyzes the performance of a diesel engine converted into an Otto cycle engine and its Nitrogen dioxide emissions in terms of the spark advance variation. The tests were conducted on a Perkins diesel engine 1104C - 44TAG turbocharged, whose compression ratio was reduced to 9.33:1. After conversion the engine started operating with liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and running just with stoichiometric mixtures. The tests have been limited to 10 to 40 kW, always at 1800 rpm. During the experiments the ignition advance angle ranged from 5º up to 27º (BTDC), using the increment of 5°, whenever possible. Particularly at 40 kW, the range of the ignition advance was 15º to 20º. The results showed a significant influence of the spark advance angle on the fuel consumption, on the temperature and on the NOx emissions, as well as on the magnitude of the generated power