4,485 research outputs found

    Cold neutrons trapped in external fields

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    The properties of inhomogeneous neutron matter are crucial to the physics of neutron-rich nuclei and the crust of neutron stars. Advances in computational techniques now allow us to accurately determine the binding energies and densities of many neutrons interacting via realistic microscopic interactions and confined in external fields. We perform calculations for different external fields and across several shells to place important constraints on inhomogeneous neutron matter, and hence the large isospin limit of the nuclear energy density functionals that are used to predict properties of heavy nuclei and neutron star crusts. We find important differences between microscopic calculations and current density functionals; in particular the isovector gradient terms are significantly more repulsive than in traditional models, and the spin-orbit and pairing forces are comparatively weaker.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, final version. Additional material reference added in the published versio

    Phase Transitions in a Dusty Plasma with Two Distinct Particle Sizes

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    In semiconductor manufacturing, contamination due to particulates significantly decreases the yield and quality of device fabrication, therefore increasing the cost of production. Dust particle clouds can be found in almost all plasma processing environments including both plasma etching devices and in plasma deposition processes. Dust particles suspended within such plasmas will acquire an electric charge from collisions with free electrons in the plasma. If the ratio of inter-particle potential energy to the average kinetic energy is sufficient, the particles will form either a liquid structure with short range ordering or a crystalline structure with long range ordering. Otherwise, the dust particle system will remain in a gaseous state. Many experiments have been conducted over the past decade on such colloidal plasmas to discover the character of the systems formed, but more work is needed to fully understand these structures. The preponderance of previous experiments used monodisperse spheres to form complex plasma systems

    Quantum Monte Carlo study of inhomogeneous neutron matter

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    We present an ab-initio study of neutron drops. We use Quantum Monte Carlo techniques to calculate the energy up to 54 neutrons in different external potentials, and we compare the results with Skyrme forces. We also calculate the rms radii and radial densities, and we find that a re-adjustment of the gradient term in Skyrme is needed in order to reproduce the properties of these systems given by the ab-initio calculation. By using the ab-initio results for neutron drops for close- and open-shell configurations, we suggest how to improve Skyrme forces when dealing with systems with large isospin-asymmetries like neutron-rich nuclei.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, talk given at Horizons on Innovative Theories, Experiments, and Supercomputing in Nuclear Physics 2012, (HITES2012), New Orleans, Louisiana, June 4-7, 2012; to appear in Journal of Physics: Conference Series (JPCS

    Solar Protons and Magnetic Storms in July 1961

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    Injun i satellite observations of solar protons and magnetic storm

    Quantum Monte Carlo calculations of excited states in A = 6--8 nuclei

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    A variational Monte Carlo method is used to generate sets of orthogonal trial functions, Psi_T(J^pi,T), for given quantum numbers in various light p-shell nuclei. These Psi_T are then used as input to Green's function Monte Carlo calculations of first, second, and higher excited (J^pi,T) states. Realistic two- and three-nucleon interactions are used. We find that if the physical excited state is reasonably narrow, the GFMC energy converges to a stable result. With the combined Argonne v_18 two-nucleon and Illinois-2 three-nucleon interactions, the results for many second and higher states in A = 6--8 nuclei are close to the experimental values.Comment: Revised version with minor changes as accepted by Phys. Rev. C. 11 page

    Tensor Forces and the Ground-State Structure of Nuclei

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    Two-nucleon momentum distributions are calculated for the ground states of nuclei with mass number A≤8A\leq 8, using variational Monte Carlo wave functions derived from a realistic Hamiltonian with two- and three-nucleon potentials. The momentum distribution of npnp pairs is found to be much larger than that of pppp pairs for values of the relative momentum in the range (300--600) MeV/c and vanishing total momentum. This order of magnitude difference is seen in all nuclei considered and has a universal character originating from the tensor components present in any realistic nucleon-nucleon potential. The correlations induced by the tensor force strongly influence the structure of npnp pairs, which are predominantly in deuteron-like states, while they are ineffective for pppp pairs, which are mostly in 1^1S0_0 states. These features should be easily observable in two-nucleon knock-out processes, such as A(e,e′np)A(e,e^\prime np) and A(e,e′pp)A(e,e^\prime pp).Comment: 4 pages including 3 figure

    Dependence of two-nucleon momentum densities on total pair momentum

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    Two-nucleon momentum distributions are calculated for the ground states of 3He and 4He as a function of the nucleons' relative and total momenta. We use variational Monte Carlo wave functions derived from a realistic Hamiltonian with two- and three-nucleon potentials. The momentum distribution of pp pairs is found to be much smaller than that of pn pairs for values of the relative momentum in the range (300--500) MeV/c and vanishing total momentum. However, as the total momentum increases to 400 MeV/c, the ratio of pp to pn pairs in this relative momentum range grows and approaches the limit 1/2 for 3He and 1/4 for 4He, corresponding to the ratio of pp to pn pairs in these nuclei. This behavior should be easily observable in two-nucleon knock-out processes, such as A(e,e'pN).Comment: 3 pages, 3 figure

    Analysis of the Expression of Human Endogenous Retroviruses in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

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    Chronic fatigue syndrome or myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) is a poorly understood condition that affects between .007% and 2.8% of the US population. Characterized by fatigue without a clear cause persisting for at least six months, CFS/ME has never had a precise cause identified. Despite this, researchers have often focused on one of several potential disease mechanisms. While early studies focused on actual pathogens, immune abnormalities in patients with CFS/ME have recently suggested that there may be an autoimmune component to the condition. Given recent research suggesting that the expression of endogenous retroviral elements (ERV) may play a role in activating the innate immune system. I conducted a study to determine whether ERVs might be expressed at greater levels in patients with CFS/ME. To do this, I used a bioinformatic approach to identify ERVs in RNA sequencing data derived from patients diagnosed with CFS/ME as well as controls. Data were processed using the ERVmap scripts and analyzed each ERV identified using a two-sample T test. I identified 49 ERVs that showed a significant positive (p \u3c.05) correlation with CFS/ME. Although my results would be stronger with a larger sample size, they generally show evidence of a connection between expression of ERVs and CFS/ME. Future research should focus on whether inhibiting the specific innate immunity pathways decreases the severity of CFS/ME symptoms

    Challenging social systems under the threat of pollution: Replication and extension of Eadeh and Chang (2019)

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    I replicated and extended Eadeh and Chang (2019; Study 2) who found that reading a story about pollution harming a child increased self-reported liberalism and increased support for environmental regulation policies through greater negative affect (i.e., anger and disgust) (Hypothesis 1). Eadeh and Chang’s (2019) threat-affordance model posits that perceived threat can increase greater support for liberalism or greater support for conservatism, depending on the type of threat. In contrast, Jost and colleagues’ (2003) system justification theory posits that perceived threat asymmetrically predicts greater support for conservatism and greater systemsupporting collective action. This article advances a synthesis of these two theoretical perspectives such that the threat of environmental pollution (a) increases system-challenging collective action intentions and donation behavior through negative affect (Hypothesis 2) and (b) increases liberalism, support for environmental regulation, collection action intentions, and donation behavior through lower system justification (moderated by empathy), greater perceived injustice, and greater negative affect (in order; Hypothesis 3)
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