2,505 research outputs found
Crystal Nucleation by Laser-Induced Cavitation\ud
High-speed and high-resolution photography have been used to investigate the relationship between creation, expansion, and collapse of a vapor cavity induced by a 6 ns laser pulse and the subsequent nucleation of crystals. A thin layer of supersaturated aqueous solutions of (NH4)2SO4 and KMnO4 was confined between two glass plates with a separation of 50 and 100 μm. The expansion and collapse of the laser-induced vapor bubble occurred over a total time scale of 200 μs, while the first identifiable crystal appears one second after the laser pulse. Crystals were observed to form on a ring with a diameter of 70 μm centered in the focal point of the laser. The ring is preceded by an optical disturbance observed through the cavity around 30–50 μs after the laser pulse and vapor cavity formation. This ring-shaped optical disturbance originates from changes in refractive index induced by crystal nuclei formation. The formation of the nuclei most probably coincides with the formation of the bubble, when the rate of evaporation and the supersaturation are at their maxima. Apparently, it takes the nuclei around 30–50 μs to grow to a particle size with a visible optical disturbanc
Processing load induced by informational masking is related to linguistic abilities
It is often assumed that the benefit of hearing aids is not primarily reflected in better speech performance, but that it is reflected in less effortful listening in the aided than in the unaided condition. Before being able to assess such a hearing aid benefit the present study examined how processing load while listening to masked speech relates to inter-individual differences in cognitive abilities relevant for language processing. Pupil dilation was measured in thirty-two normal hearing participants while listening to sentences masked by fluctuating noise or interfering speech at either 50% and 84% intelligibility. Additionally, working memory capacity, inhibition of irrelevant information, and written text reception was tested. Pupil responses were larger during interfering speech as compared to fluctuating noise. This effect was independent of intelligibility level. Regression analysis revealed that high working memory capacity, better inhibition, and better text reception were related to better speech reception thresholds. Apart from a positive relation to speech recognition, better inhibition and better text reception are also positively related to larger pupil dilation in the single-talker masker conditions. We conclude that better cognitive abilities not only relate to better speech perception, but also partly explain higher processing load in complex listening conditions
Dynamics of cholesteric structures in an electric field
Motivated by Lehmann-like rotation phenomena in cholesteric drops we study
the transverse drift of two types of cholesteric fingers, which form rotating
spirals in thin layers of cholesteric liquid crystal in an ac or dc electric
field. We show that electrohydrodynamic effects induced by Carr-Helfrich charge
separation or flexoelectric charge generation can describe the drift of
cholesteric fingers. We argue that the observed Lehmann-like phenomena can be
understood on the same basis.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to PR
On the black hole limit of rotating discs and rings
Solutions to Einstein's field equations describing rotating fluid bodies in
equilibrium permit parametric (i.e. quasi-stationary) transitions to the
extreme Kerr solution (outside the horizon). This has been shown analytically
for discs of dust and numerically for ring solutions with various equations of
state. From the exterior point of view, this transition can be interpreted as a
(quasi) black hole limit. All gravitational multipole moments assume precisely
the values of an extremal Kerr black hole in the limit. In the present paper,
the way in which the black hole limit is approached is investigated in more
detail by means of a parametric Taylor series expansion of the exact solution
describing a rigidly rotating disc of dust. Combined with numerical
calculations for ring solutions our results indicate an interesting universal
behaviour of the multipole moments near the black hole limit.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures; Dedicated to Gernot Neugebauer on the occasion
of his 70th birthda
Non-existence of stationary two-black-hole configurations
We resume former discussions of the question, whether the spin-spin repulsion
and the gravitational attraction of two aligned black holes can balance each
other. To answer the question we formulate a boundary value problem for two
separate (Killing-) horizons and apply the inverse (scattering) method to solve
it. Making use of results of Manko, Ruiz and Sanabria-G\'omez and a novel black
hole criterion, we prove the non-existence of the equilibrium situation in
question.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figures; Contribution to Juergen Ehlers Memorial Issue
(GeRG journal
Systematic study of Coulomb distortion effects in exclusive (e,e'p) reactions
A technique to deal with Coulomb electron distortions in the analysis of
(e,e'p) reactions is presented. Thereby, no approximations are made. The
suggested technique relies on a partial-wave expansion of the electron wave
functions and a multipole decomposition of the electron and nuclear current in
momentum space. In that way, we succeed in keeping the computational times
within reasonable limits. This theoretical framework is used to calculate the
quasielastic (e,e'p) reduced cross sections for proton knockout from the
valence shells in O, Ca, Zr and Pb. The
final-state interaction of the ejected proton with the residual nucleus is
treated within an optical potential model. The role of electron distortion on
the extracted spectroscopic factors is discussed.Comment: 45 pages, 10 encapsulated postscript figures, Revtex, uses epsfig.sty
and fancybox.sty, to be published in Physical Review
The Wahlquist-Newman solution
Based on a geometrical property which holds both for the Kerr metric and for
the Wahlquist metric we argue that the Kerr metric is a vacuum subcase of the
Wahlquist perfect-fluid solution. The Kerr-Newman metric is a physically
preferred charged generalization of the Kerr metric. We discuss which geometric
property makes this metric so special and claim that a charged generalization
of the Wahlquist metric satisfying a similar property should exist. This is the
Wahlquist-Newman metric, which we present explicitly in this paper. This family
of metrics has eight essential parameters and contains the Kerr-Newman-de
Sitter and the Wahlquist metrics, as well as the whole Pleba\'nski limit of the
rotating C-metric, as particular cases. We describe the basic geometric
properties of the Wahlquist-Newman metric, including the electromagnetic field
and its sources, the static limit of the family and the extension of the
spacetime across the horizon.Comment: LaTeX, 18 pages, no figures. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
A note on second-order perturbations of non-canonical scalar fields
We study second-order perturbations for a general non-canonical scalar field,
minimally coupled to gravity, on the unperturbed FRW background, where metric
fluctuations are neglected a priori. By employing different approaches to
cosmological perturbation theory, we show that, even in this simplified set-up,
the second-order perturbations to the stress tensor, the energy density and the
pressure display potential instabilities, which are not present at linear
order. The conditions on the Lagrangian under which these instabilities take
place are provided. We also discuss briefly the significance of our analysis in
light of the possible linearization instability of these fields about the FRW
background.Comment: 8 page, Revtex 4. Clarifications added, results unchanged; [v3] 10
pages, matches with the published version, Discussion for specific cases
expanded and preliminary results including the metric perturbations discusse
Chandra Smells a RRAT: X-ray Detection of a Rotating Radio Transient
"Rotating RAdio Transients" (RRATs) are a newly discovered astronomical
phenomenon, characterised by occasional brief radio bursts, with average
intervals between bursts ranging from minutes to hours. The burst spacings
allow identification of periodicities, which fall in the range 0.4 to 7
seconds. The RRATs thus seem to be rotating neutron stars, albeit with
properties very different from the rest of the population. We here present the
serendipitous detection with the Chandra X-ray Observatory of a bright
point-like X-ray source coincident with one of the RRATs. We discuss the
temporal and spectral properties of this X-ray emission, consider counterparts
in other wavebands, and interpret these results in the context of possible
explanations for the RRAT population.Comment: 5 pages, 2 b/w figures, 1 color figure. To appear in the proceedings
of "Isolated Neutron Stars", Astrophysics & Space Science, in pres
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