859 research outputs found
Precision Mass Measurements of 129-131Cd and Their Impact on Stellar Nucleosynthesis via the Rapid Neutron Capture Process
Masses adjacent to the classical waiting-point nuclide 130Cd have been
measured by using the Penning- trap spectrometer ISOLTRAP at ISOLDE/CERN. We
find a significant deviation of over 400 keV from earlier values evaluated by
using nuclear beta-decay data. The new measurements show the reduction of the N
= 82 shell gap below the doubly magic 132Sn. The nucleosynthesis associated
with the ejected wind from type-II supernovae as well as from compact object
binary mergers is studied, by using state-of-the-art hydrodynamic simulations.
We find a consistent and direct impact of the newly measured masses on the
calculated abundances in the A = 128 - 132 region and a reduction of the
uncertainties from the precision mass input data
Orbits in the Field of a Gravitating Magnetic Monopole
Orbits of test particles and light rays are an important tool to study the
properties of space-time metrics. Here we systematically study the properties
of the gravitational field of a globally regular magnetic monopole in terms of
the geodesics of test particles and light. The gravitational field depends on
two dimensionless parameters, defined as ratios of the characteristic mass
scales present. For critical values of these parameters the resulting metric
coefficients develop a singular behavior, which has profound influence on the
properties of the resulting space-time and which is clearly reflected in the
orbits of the test particles and light rays.Comment: 24 pages, 15 figures. Accepted for publication in GR
Self-dual Vortices in the Generalized Abelian Higgs Model with Independent Chern-Simons Interaction
Self-dual vortex solutions are studied in detail in the generalized abelian
Higgs model with independent Chern-Simons interaction. For special choices of
couplings, it reduces to a Maxwell-Higgs model with two scalar fields, a
Chern-Simons-Higgs model with two scalar fields, or other new models. We
investigate the properties of the static solutions and perform detailed
numerical analyses. For the Chern-Simons-Higgs model with two scalar fields in
an asymmetric phase, we prove the existence of multisoliton solutions which can
be viewed as hybrids of Chern-Simons vortices and lumps. We also discuss
solutions in a symmetric phase with the help of the corresponding exact
solutions in its nonrelativistic limit. The model interpolating all three
models---Maxwell-Higgs, Chern-Simons-Higgs, and models--- is discussed
briefly. Finally we study the possibility of vortex solutions with half-integer
vorticity in the special case of the model. Numerical results are negative.Comment: 32 pages, LATEX, SNUTP 92-7
Probing the N = 32 shell closure below the magic proton number Z = 20: Mass measurements of the exotic isotopes 52,53K
The recently confirmed neutron-shell closure at N = 32 has been investigated
for the first time below the magic proton number Z = 20 with mass measurements
of the exotic isotopes 52,53K, the latter being the shortest-lived nuclide
investigated at the online mass spectrometer ISOLTRAP. The resulting
two-neutron separation energies reveal a 3 MeV shell gap at N = 32, slightly
lower than for 52Ca, highlighting the doubly-magic nature of this nuclide.
Skyrme-Hartree-Fock-Boguliubov and ab initio Gorkov-Green function calculations
are challenged by the new measurements but reproduce qualitatively the observed
shell effect.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure
Quantum Kinks: Solitons at Strong Coupling
We examine solitons in theories with heavy fermions. These ``quantum''
solitons differ dramatically from semi-classical (perturbative) solitons
because fermion loop effects are important when the Yukawa coupling is strong.
We focus on kinks in a --dimensional theory coupled to
fermions; a large- expansion is employed to treat the Yukawa coupling
nonperturbatively. A local expression for the fermion vacuum energy is derived
using the WKB approximation for the Dirac eigenvalues. We find that fermion
loop corrections increase the energy of the kink and (for large ) decrease
its size. For large , the energy of the quantum kink is proportional to ,
and its size scales as , unlike the classical kink; we argue that these
features are generic to quantum solitons in theories with strong Yukawa
couplings. We also discuss the possible instability of fermions to solitons.Comment: 21 pp. + 2 figs., phyzzx, JHU-TIPAC-92001
A scalar field instability of rotating and charged black holes in (4+1)-dimensional Anti-de Sitter space-time
We study the stability of static as well as of rotating and charged black
holes in (4+1)-dimensional Anti-de Sitter space-time which possess spherical
horizon topology. We observe a non-linear instability related to the
condensation of a charged, tachyonic scalar field and construct "hairy" black
hole solutions of the full system of coupled Einstein, Maxwell and scalar field
equations. We observe that the limiting solution for small horizon radius is
either a hairy soliton solution or a singular solution that is not a regular
extremal solution. Within the context of the gauge/gravity duality the
condensation of the scalar field describes a holographic
conductor/superconductor phase transition on the surface of a sphere.Comment: 16 pages including 8 figures, v2: discussion on soliton solutions
extended; v3: matches version accepted for publication in JHE
Rotating black holes with equal-magnitude angular momenta in d=5 Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet theory
We construct rotating black hole solutions in Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet theory in
five spacetime dimensions. These black holes are asymptotically flat, and
possess a regular horizon of spherical topology and two equal-magnitude angular
momenta associated with two distinct planes of rotation. The action and global
charges of the solutions are obtained by using the quasilocal formalism with
boundary counterterms generalized for the case of Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet theory.
We discuss the general properties of these black holes and study their
dependence on the Gauss-Bonnet coupling constant . We argue that most
of the properties of the configurations are not affected by the higher
derivative terms. For fixed the set of black hole solutions terminates
at an extremal black hole with a regular horizon, where the Hawking temperature
vanishes and the angular momenta attain their extremal values. The domain of
existence of regular black hole solutions is studied. The near horizon geometry
of the extremal solutions is determined by employing the entropy function
formalism.Comment: 25 pages, 7 figure
A global method for coupling transport with chemistry in heterogeneous porous media
Modeling reactive transport in porous media, using a local chemical
equilibrium assumption, leads to a system of advection-diffusion PDE's coupled
with algebraic equations. When solving this coupled system, the algebraic
equations have to be solved at each grid point for each chemical species and at
each time step. This leads to a coupled non-linear system. In this paper a
global solution approach that enables to keep the software codes for transport
and chemistry distinct is proposed. The method applies the Newton-Krylov
framework to the formulation for reactive transport used in operator splitting.
The method is formulated in terms of total mobile and total fixed
concentrations and uses the chemical solver as a black box, as it only requires
that on be able to solve chemical equilibrium problems (and compute
derivatives), without having to know the solution method. An additional
advantage of the Newton-Krylov method is that the Jacobian is only needed as an
operator in a Jacobian matrix times vector product. The proposed method is
tested on the MoMaS reactive transport benchmark.Comment: Computational Geosciences (2009)
http://www.springerlink.com/content/933p55085742m203/?p=db14bb8c399b49979ba8389a3cae1b0f&pi=1
New AdS solitons and brane worlds with compact extra-dimensions
We construct new static, asymptotically AdS solutions where the conformal
infinity is the product of Minkowski spacetime and a sphere . Both
globally regular, soliton-type solutions and black hole solutions are
considered. The black holes can be viewed as natural AdS generalizations of the
Schwarzschild black branes in Kaluza-Klein theory. The solitons provide new
brane-world models with compact extra-dimensions. Different from the
Randall-Sundrum single-brane scenario, a Schwarzschild black hole on the Ricci
flat part of these branes does not lead to a naked singularity in the bulk.Comment: 28 pages, 4 figure
Change in level of productivity in the treatment of schizophrenia with olanzapine or other antipsychotics
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>When treating schizophrenia, improving patients' productivity level is a major goal considering schizophrenia is a leading cause of functional disability. Productivity level has been identified as the most preferred treatment outcome by patients with schizophrenia. However, little has been done to systematically investigate productivity levels in schizophrenia. We set out to better understand the change in productivity level among chronically ill patients with schizophrenia treated with olanzapine compared with other antipsychotic medications. We also assessed the links between productivity level and other clinical outcomes.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This post hoc analysis used data from 6 randomized, double-blind clinical trials of patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, with each trial being of approximately 6 months duration. Change in productivity level was compared between olanzapine-treated patients (HGBG, n = 172; HGHJ, n = 277; HGJB, n = 171; HGLB, n = 281; HGGN, n = 159; HGDH, n = 131) and patients treated with other antipsychotic medications (separately vs. haloperidol [HGGN, n = 97; HGDH, n = 132], risperidone [HGBG, n = 167; HGGN, n = 158], quetiapine [HGJB, n = 175], ziprasidone [HGHJ, n = 271] and aripiprazole [HGLB, n = 285]). Productivity was defined as functional activities/work including working for pay, studying, housekeeping and volunteer work. Productivity level in the prior 3 months was assessed on a 5-point scale ranging from no useful functioning to functional activity/work 75% to 100% of the time.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Chronically ill patients treated with olanzapine (OLZ) experienced significantly greater improvement in productivity when compared to patients treated with risperidone (RISP) (OLZ = 0.22 ± 1.19, RISP = -0.03 ± 1.17, p = 0.033) or ziprasidone (ZIP) (OLZ = 0.50 ± 1.38, ZIP = 0.25 ± 1.27, p = 0.026), but did not significantly differ from the quetiapine, aripiprazole or haloperidol treatment groups. Among first episode patients, OLZ therapy was associated with greater improvements in productivity levels compared to haloperidol (HAL), during the acute phase (OLZ = -0.31 ± 1.59, HAL = -0.69 ± 1.56, p = 0.011) and over the long-term (OLZ = 0.10 ± 1.50, HAL = -0.32 ± 1.91, p = 0.008). Significantly more chronically ill and first episode patients treated with olanzapine showed moderately high (>50%-75% of the time) and high levels of productivity (>75%-100% of the time) at endpoint, when compared to risperidone or haloperidol-treated patients (p < .05), respectively. Higher productivity level was associated with significantly higher study completion rates and better scores on the positive, negative, disorganized thoughts, hostility and depression subscales of the Positive and Negative Symptom Scale (PANSS).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Some antipsychotic medications significantly differed in beneficial impact on productivity level in the long-term treatment of patients with schizophrenia. Findings further highlight the link between clinical and functional outcomes, showing significant associations between higher productivity, lower symptom severity and better persistence on therapy.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>clinicaltrials.gov identifier <a href="http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00088049">NCT00088049</a>; <a href="http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00036088">NCT00036088</a></p
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