4,739 research outputs found
Lepton masses and mixings in orbifold models with three Higgs families
We analyse the phenomenological viability of heterotic Z(3) orbifolds with
two Wilson lines, which naturally predict three supersymmetric families of
matter and Higgs fields. Given that these models can accommodate realistic
scenarios for the quark sector avoiding potentially dangerous flavour-changing
neutral currents, we now address the leptonic sector, finding that viable
orbifold configurations can in principle be obtained. In particular,it is
possible to accomodate present data on charged lepton masses, while avoiding
conflict with lepton flavour-violating decays. Concerning the generation of
neutrino masses and mixings, we find that Z(3) orbifolds offer several
interesting possibilities.Comment: 28 pages, 11 figures. References adde
Dynamic Scaling of Non-Euclidean Interfaces
The dynamic scaling of curved interfaces presents features that are
strikingly different from those of the planar ones. Spherical surfaces above
one dimension are flat because the noise is irrelevant in such cases. Kinetic
roughening is thus a one-dimensional phenomenon characterized by a marginal
logarithmic amplitude of the fluctuations. Models characterized by a planar
dynamical exponent , which include the most common stochastic growth
equations, suffer a loss of correlation along the interface, and their dynamics
reduce to that of the radial random deposition model in the long time limit.
The consequences in several applications are discussed, and we conclude that it
is necessary to reexamine some experimental results in which standard scaling
analysis was applied
Stochastic growth equations on growing domains
The dynamics of linear stochastic growth equations on growing substrates is
studied. The substrate is assumed to grow in time following the power law
, where the growth index is an arbitrary positive number.
Two different regimes are clearly identified: for small the interface
becomes correlated, and the dynamics is dominated by diffusion; for large
the interface stays uncorrelated, and the dynamics is dominated by
dilution. In this second regime, for short time intervals and spatial scales
the critical exponents corresponding to the non-growing substrate situation are
recovered. For long time differences or large spatial scales the situation is
different. Large spatial scales show the uncorrelated character of the growing
interface. Long time intervals are studied by means of the auto-correlation and
persistence exponents. It becomes apparent that dilution is the mechanism by
which correlations are propagated in this second case.Comment: Published versio
Chemical Oscillations out of Chemical Noise
The dynamics of one species chemical kinetics is studied. Chemical reactions
are modelled by means of continuous time Markov processes whose probability
distribution obeys a suitable master equation. A large deviation theory is
formally introduced, which allows developing a Hamiltonian dynamical system
able to describe the system dynamics. Using this technique we are able to show
that the intrinsic fluctuations, originated in the discrete character of the
reagents, may sustain oscillations and chaotic trajectories which are
impossible when these fluctuations are disregarded. An important point is that
oscillations and chaos appear in systems whose mean-field dynamics has too low
a dimensionality for showing such a behavior. In this sense these phenomena are
purely induced by noise, which does not limit itself to shifting a bifurcation
threshold. On the other hand, they are large deviations of a short transient
nature which typically only appear after long waiting times. We also discuss
the implications of our results in understanding extinction events in
population dynamics models expressed by means of stoichiometric relations
Pressure effects in PrT2B2C (T = Co, Ni, Pt): Applied and chemical pressure
High-pressure electrical resistivity, r(T), measurements on intermetallic
Pr(Co, Ni, Pt)2B2C compounds were performed down to 2K. At room pressure the
r(T) in a-b direction curves for the non superconducting Pr(Co, Ni)2B2C
compounds exhibit magnetic correlations at about 10 and 4 K, respectively. At
low temperatures, PrCo2B2C shows a large spin-dependent electron scattering in
comparison to PrNi2B2C. Under applied pressure the magnetic scattering tends to
be suppressed more effectively in PrCo2B2C than in PrNi2 B2C. The low
temperature behavior of r(T,P) for PrNi2B2C and PrCo2B2C suggests a spin
fluctuations mechanism. In the other hand PrPt2B2C compound shows
superconductivity at about 6 K and under pressure its superconducting
transition temperature tends to be degraded at a rate dTc/dP = -0.34 K/GPa, as
expected in compounds with transition metals. The experimental results in Co,
Ni and Pt based compounds are analyzed from the point of view of the external
and chemical internal pressure effects
Nonlinear field theories during homogeneous spatial dilation
The effect of a uniform dilation of space on stochastically driven nonlinear
field theories is examined. This theoretical question serves as a model problem
for examining the properties of nonlinear field theories embedded in expanding
Euclidean Friedmann-Lema\^{\i}tre-Robertson-Walker metrics in the context of
cosmology, as well as different systems in the disciplines of statistical
mechanics and condensed matter physics. Field theories are characterized by the
speed at which they propagate correlations within themselves. We show that for
linear field theories correlations stop propagating if and only if the speed at
which the space dilates is higher than the speed at which correlations
propagate. The situation is in general different for nonlinear field theories.
In this case correlations might stop propagating even if the velocity at which
space dilates is lower than the velocity at which correlations propagate. In
particular, these results imply that it is not possible to characterize the
dynamics of a nonlinear field theory during homogeneous spatial dilation {\it a
priori}. We illustrate our findings with the nonlinear Kardar-Parisi-Zhang
equation
Analysis of the Behaviour of Biofuel-Fired Gas Turbine Power Plants
The utilisation of biofuels in gas turbines is a promising alternative to fossil fuels for power generation. It would lead to significant reduction of CO2 emissions using an existing combustion technology, although significant changes seem to be needed and further technological development is necessary. The goal of this work is to perform energy and exergy analyses of the behaviour of gas turbines fired with biogas, ethanol and synthesis gas (bio-syngas), compared with natural gas. The global energy transformation process (i.e. from biomass to electricity) has also been studied. Furthermore, the potential reduction of CO2 emissions attained by the use of biofuels has been determined, considering the restrictions regarding biomass availability. Two different simulation tools have been used to accomplish the aims of this work. The results suggest a high interest and the technical viability of the use of Biomass Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (BIGCC) systems for large scale power generation
The feminine face of Science
Uno de los objetivos fijados en la asignatura Ciencias para el mundo contemporáneo (1º de Bachillerato) es el de superar el escaso interés que siente el alumnado hacia la ciencia. Es necesario para tal fin un cambio en los
planteamientos tanto metodológicos como temáticos, respecto a las asignaturas de ciencias tradicionales. Con la intención de contribuir a este cambio se han diseñado actividades en las que confluyen características que
podrán ayudar a conseguirlo. En el caso propuesto se escogió una temática controvertida a lo largo de la historia: Mujeres y Ciencia; eligiendo como estrategia de aprendizaje las webquests y publicando en la red las tareas realizadas por el alumnado, todo esto con la finalidad de romper las paredes del aula y hacer extensiva la cultura científica al resto de la comunidad educativa y público en general
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