7,180 research outputs found
Conformal anomaly in 2d dilaton-scalar theory
The discrepancy between the anomaly found by Bousso and Hawking
(hep-th/9705236) and that of other workers is explained by the omission of a
zero mode contribution to the effective action.Comment: 5 pages, JyTeX. References added with brief remar
Quintessence, the Gravitational Constant, and Gravity
Dynamical vacuum energy or quintessence, a slowly varying and spatially
inhomogeneous component of the energy density with negative pressure, is
currently consistent with the observational data. One potential difficulty with
the idea of quintessence is that couplings to ordinary matter should be
strongly suppressed so as not to lead to observable time variations of the
constants of nature. We further explore the possibility of an explicit coupling
between the quintessence field and the curvature. Since such a scalar field
gives rise to another gravity force of long range (\simg H^{-1}_0), the solar
system experiments put a constraint on the non-minimal coupling: |\xi| \siml
10^{-2}.Comment: 9 pages, a version to be published in Phys.Rev.
Kinematic Constraints to the Transition Redshift from SNe Ia Union Data
The kinematic approach to cosmological tests provides a direct evidence to
the present accelerating stage of the universe which does not depend on the
validity of general relativity, as well as on the matter-energy content of the
Universe. In this context, we consider here a linear two-parameter expansion
for the decelerating parameter, , where and are
arbitrary constants to be constrained by the Union supernovae data. By assuming
a flat Universe we find that the best fit to the pair of free parameters is
() = ( whereas the transition redshift is () (). This
kinematic result is in agreement with some independent analyzes and
accommodates more easily many dynamical flat models (like CDM).Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, 1 tabl
Predicting the optical observables for nucleon scattering on even-even actinides
Previously derived Lane consistent dispersive coupled-channel optical model
for nucleon scattering on Th and U nuclei is extended to
describe scattering on even-even actinides with 90--98. A
soft-rotator-model (SRM) description of the low-lying nuclear structure is
used, where SRM Hamiltonian parameters are adjusted to the observed collective
levels of the target nucleus. SRM nuclear wave functions (mixed in quantum
number) have been used to calculate coupling matrix elements of the generalized
optical model. The "effective" deformations that define inter-band couplings
are derived from SRM Hamiltonian parameters. Conservation of nuclear volume is
enforced by introducing a dynamic monopolar term to the deformed potential
leading to additional couplings between rotational bands. Fitted static
deformation parameters are in very good agreement with those derived by Wang
and collaborators using the Weizs\"acker-Skyrme global mass model (WS4),
allowing to use the latter to predict cross section for nuclei without
experimental data. A good description of scarce "optical" experimental database
is achieved. SRM couplings and volume conservation allow a precise calculation
of the compound-nucleus formation cross sections, which is significantly
different from the one calculated with rigid-rotor potentials coupling the
ground-state rotational band. Derived parameters can be used to describe both
neutron and proton induced reactions.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, 5 table
Nucleon scattering on actinides using a dispersive optical model with extended couplings
Tamura coupling model has been extended to consider the coupling of
additional low-lying rotational bands to the ground state band. Rotational
bands are built on vibrational bandheads (even-even targets) or single particle
bandheads (odd- targets) including both axial and non-axial deformations.
These additional excitations are introduced as a perturbation to the underlying
axially-symmetric rigid rotor structure of the ground state rotational band.
Coupling matrix elements of the generalized optical model are derived for
extended multi-band transitions in even-even and odd- nuclei. Isospin
symmetric formulation of the optical model is employed.
A coupled-channels optical model potential (OMP) containing a dispersive
contribution is used to fit simultaneously all available optical experimental
databases including neutron strength functions for nucleon scattering on
Th, U and Pu nuclei and quasi-elastic (,)
scattering data on Th and U. Lane consistent OMP is derived for
all actinides if corresponding multi-band coupling schemes are defined.
Calculations using the derived OMP potential reproduce measured total
cross-section differences between several actinide pairs within experimental
uncertainty for incident neutron energies from 50 keV up to 150MeV. Multi-band
coupling is stronger in even-even targets due to the collective nature of the
coupling; the impact of extended coupling on predicted compound-nucleus
formation cross section reaches 5% below 3 MeV of incident neutron energy.
Coupling of ground-state rotational band levels in odd- nuclei is sufficient
for a good description of the compound-nucleus formation cross sections as long
as the coupling is saturated (a minimum of 7 coupled levels are typically
needed).Comment: 30 pages, 4 figures, 8 tables, 3 appendice
Three-dimensional orbits of metal-poor halo stars and the formation of the Galaxy
We present the three-dimensional orbital motions of metal-poor stars in
conjunction with their metal abundances, for the purpose of getting insight
into the formation process of the Galaxy. Our sample stars, which include
metal-deficient red giants and RR Lyrae variables observed by the Hipparcos
satellite, are least affected by known systematics, stemmed from kinematic
bias, metallicity calibration, and secondary metal contamination of stellar
surface. We find, for the stars in the metallicity range of [Fe/H]<-1, that
there is no evidence for the correlation between [Fe/H] and their orbital
eccentricities e. Even for [Fe/H]<-1.6, about 16% of the stars have e less than
0.4. We show that the e distribution of orbits for [Fe/H]<-1.6 is independent
of the height |z| away from the Galactic plane, whereas for [Fe/H]>-1.6 the
stars at |z|>1 kpc are systematically devoid of low-e orbits with e<0.6. This
indicates that low-e stars with [Fe/H]<-1.6 belong to the halo component,
whereas the rapidly-rotating thick disk with a scale height about 1 kpc has a
metal-weak tail in the range of -1.6<[Fe/H]<-1. The fraction of this metal-weak
thick disk appears to be only less than 20%. The significance of these results
for the early evolution of the Galaxy is briefly discussed.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures, AASTeX, to appear in ApJ Letter
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