9,429 research outputs found
Towards a Coulomb gas of instantons in the SO(4)xU(1) Higgs model on R_4
The Higgs model on is extended by a term so
that the action receives a nonvanishing contribution from the interactions of
2-instantons and 3-instantons, and can be expressed as the inverse of the
Laplacian on in terms of the mutual distances of the instantons. The
one-instanton solutions of both the basic and the extended models have been
studied in detail numerically.Comment: 29 pages LaTeX, 4 Figures available from authors on reques
Measuring a photonic qubit without destroying it
Measuring the polarisation of a single photon typically results in its
destruction. We propose, demonstrate, and completely characterise a
\emph{quantum non-demolition} (QND) scheme for realising such a measurement
non-destructively. This scheme uses only linear optics and photo-detection of
ancillary modes to induce a strong non-linearity at the single photon level,
non-deterministically. We vary this QND measurement continuously into the weak
regime, and use it to perform a non-destructive test of complementarity in
quantum mechanics. Our scheme realises the most advanced general measurement of
a qubit: it is non-destructive, can be made in any basis, and with arbitrary
strength.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Giant optical Faraday rotation induced by a single electron spin in a quantum dot: Applications to entangling remote spins via a single photon
We propose a quantum non-demolition method - giant Faraday rotation - to
detect a single electron spin in a quantum dot inside a microcavity where
negatively-charged exciton strongly couples to the cavity mode. Left- and
right-circularly polarized light reflected from the cavity feels different
phase shifts due to cavity quantum electrodynamics and the optical spin
selection rule. This yields giant and tunable Faraday rotation which can be
easily detected experimentally. Based on this spin-detection technique, a
scalable scheme to create an arbitrary amount of entanglement between two or
more remote spins via a single photon is proposed.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Changing social contracts in climate-change adaptation
Risks from extreme weather events are mediated through
state, civil society and individual action
1
,
2
. We propose evolving
social contracts as a primary mechanism by which adaptation
to climate change proceeds. We use a natural experiment
of policy and social contexts of the UK and Ireland affected
by the same meteorological event and resultant flooding in
November 2009. We analyse data from policy documents and
from household surveys of 356 residents in western Ireland and
northwest England. We find significant differences between
perceptions of individual responsibility for protection across
the jurisdictions and between perceptions of future risk from
populations directly affected by flooding events. These explain
differences in stated willingness to take individual adaptive
actions when state support retrenches. We therefore show
that expectations for state protection are critical in mediating
impacts and promoting longer-term adaptation. We argue
that making social contracts explicit may smooth pathways to
effective and legitimate adaptation
Finite energy/action solutions of Yang-Mills equations on Schwarzschild and deSitter backgrounds for dimension
Physically relevant gauge and gravitational theories can be seen as special
members of hierarchies of more elaborate systems. The Yang-Mills (YM) system is
the first member of a hierarchy of Lagrangians which we will index by ,
and the Einstein-Hilbert (EH) system of general relativity is the first member
of another hierarchy which we index by . In this paper, we study the
classical equations of the YM hierarchy considered in the
background of special geometries (Schwarzschild, deSitter,anti-deSitter) of the
EH hierarchy. Solutions are obtained in various dimensions and lead
to several examples of non-self-dual YM fields. When self-dual
solutions exist in addition. Their action is equal to the Chern-Pontryagin
charge and can be compared with that of the non-self-dual solutions.Comment: LaTeX, 25 pages, 2 figures, new title, minor change
Measuring the Impact of Nextstep Career Advice in the North East of England
In September, 2007, the main contractors of the four nextstep networks in the North East (referred to in this paper as the ‘consortium’) successfully submitted a proposal to the Learning & Skills Council (LSC) for funding to develop a
framework for measuring the impact of career advice. It was agreed that the project would result in a practice-based ‘Impact Toolkit’ that would include:-
• a set of impact measures that should be used in the new adult careers service with a rationale for their inclusion;
• methodologies for each of the impact measures identified;
• approaches to obtaining information on progression in learning and work – with templates and case study material;
• approaches to measuring soft outcomes; and
• suggested Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Swift observations of the 2006 outburst of the recurrent nova RS Ophiuchi: I. Early X-ray emission from the shocked ejecta and red giant wind
RS Ophiuchi began its latest outburst on 2006 February 12. Previous outbursts
have indicated that high velocity ejecta interact with a pre-existing red giant
wind, setting up shock systems analogous to those seen in Supernova Remnants.
However, in the previous outburst in 1985, X-ray observations did not commence
until 55 days after the initial explosion. Here we report on Swift observations
covering the first month of the 2006 outburst with the Burst Alert (BAT) and
X-ray Telescope (XRT) instruments. RS Oph was clearly detected in the BAT 14-25
keV band from t=0 to days. XRT observationsfrom 0.3-10 keV, started at
3.17 days after outburst. The rapidly evolving XRT spectra clearly show the
presence of both line and continuum emission which can be fitted by thermal
emission from hot gas whose characteristic temperature, overlying absorbing
column, , and resulting unabsorbed total flux decline monotonically
after the first few days. Derived shock velocities are in good agreement with
those found from observations at other wavelengths. Similarly, is in
accord with that expected from the red giant wind ahead of the forward shock.
We confirm the basic models of the 1985 outburst and conclude that standard
Phase I remnant evolution terminated by days and the remnant then
rapidly evolved to display behaviour characteristic of Phase III. Around t=26
days however, a new, luminous and highly variable soft X-ray source began to
appear whose origin will be explored in a subsequent paper.Comment: 20 pages, 4 figures (2 updated), accepted by Ap
Quantum Non-demolition Measurements on Qubits
We discuss the characterization and properties of quantum non-demolition
(QND) measurements on qubit systems. We introduce figures of merit which can be
applied to systems of any Hilbert space dimension thus providing universal
criteria for characterizing QND measurements. We discuss the controlled-NOT
gate and an optical implementation as examples of QND devices for qubits. We
also discuss the QND measurement of weak values
Limitations of the Standard Gravitational Perfect Fluid Paradigm
We show that the standard perfect fluid paradigm is not necessarily a valid
description of a curved space steady state gravitational source. Simply by
virtue of not being flat, curved space geometries have to possess intrinsic
length scales, and such length scales can affect the fluid structure. For modes
of wavelength of order or greater than such scales eikonalized geometrical
optics cannot apply and rays are not geodesic. Covariantizing thus entails not
only the replacing of flat space functions by covariant ones, but also the
introduction of intrinsic scales that were absent in flat space. In principle
it is thus unreliable to construct the curved space energy-momentum tensor as
the covariant generalization of a geodesic-based flat spacetime energy-momentum
tensor. By constructing the partition function as an incoherent average over a
complete set of modes of a scalar field propagating in a curved space
background, we show that for the specific case of a static, spherically
symmetric geometry, the steady state energy-momentum tensor that ensues will in
general be of the form
where the
anisotropic is a symmetric, traceless rank two tensor which
obeys . Such a type term is absent for an
incoherently averaged steady state fluid in a spacetime where there are no
intrinsic length scales, and in principle would thus be missed in a
covariantizing of a flat spacetime . While the significance of such
type terms would need to be evaluated on a case by case basis,
through the use of kinetic theory we reassuringly find that the effect of such
type terms is small for weak gravity stars where perfect fluid
sources are commonly used.Comment: Final version to appear in General Relativity and Gravitation (the
final publication is available at http://www.springerlink.com). 29 pages, 1
figur
Testing the standard fireball model of GRBs using late X-ray afterglows measured by Swift
We show that all X-ray decay curves of GRBs measured by Swift can be fitted
using one or two components both of which have exactly the same functional form
comprised of an early falling exponential phase followed by a power law decay.
The 1st component contains the prompt gamma-ray emission and the initial X-ray
decay. The 2nd component appears later, has a much longer duration and is
present for ~80% of GRBs. It most likely arises from the external shock which
eventually develops into the X-ray afterglow. In the remaining ~20% of GRBs the
initial X-ray decay of the 1st component fades more slowly than the 2nd and
dominates at late times to form an afterglow but it is not clear what the
origin of this emission is.
The temporal decay parameters and gamma/X-ray spectral indices derived for
107 GRBs are compared to the expectations of the standard fireball model
including a search for possible "jet breaks". For ~50% of GRBs the observed
afterglow is in accord with the model but for the rest the temporal and
spectral indices do not conform to the expected closure relations and are
suggestive of continued, late, energy injection. We identify a few possible jet
breaks but there are many examples where such breaks are predicted but are
absent.
The time, T_a, at which the exponential phase of the 2nd component changes to
a final powerlaw decay afterglow is correlated with the peak of the gamma-ray
spectrum, E_peak. This is analogous to the Ghirlanda relation, indicating that
this time is in some way related to optically observed break times measured for
pre-Swift bursts.Comment: submitted to Ap
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