6,747 research outputs found
Topological Charge Screening and the `Proton Spin' Beyond the Chiral Limit
The theory of the `proton spin' effect proposed in our earlier papers is
extended to include the chiral SU(3) symmetry breaking and flavour mixing
induced by non-vanishing quark masses in QCD. The theoretical basis is the
derivation of exact, unified Goldberger-Treiman (GT) relations valid beyond the
chiral limit. The observed suppression in the flavour singlet axial charge
is explained by an anomalously small value for the slope of the
singlet current correlation function <0|T~\pl^\m J_{\m 5}^0 ~ \pl^\n J_{\n
5}^0 |0>, a consequence of the screening of topological charge in the QCD
vacuum. Numerical predictions are obtained by evaluating the current
correlation functions using QCD spectral sum rules. The results, and (at Q^2=10
\~\GV^2), are in good agreement with current experimental data on the
polarised proton structure function .Comment: 44 pages, plain TeX, 2 ps figure
A study to examine the operation and function of a virtual UK environmental specimen bank (UK-ESB). Final report
Executive Summary:
1. Environmental specimen banking is recognised internationally as an integral part of long-term environmental research and monitoring. Analysis of preserved environmental samples is often needed to detect and quantify patterns and rate of environmental change, and the emergence and progression of environmental hazards and risks.
2. National Environmental Specimen Banks have been established in several countries; they vary in scope and breadth. There are a few specialised environmental specimen holdings in the UK but no national-scale catalogue of holdings, despite an estimated annual spend of ÂŁ16 million to store specimens. This lack of information results in under-exploitation of archived specimens and is a lost opportunity to facilitate world-class science and identify emerging pressures and threats on the environment.
3. An earlier project had identified key stakeholder organisations either engaged in archiving nationally important environmental specimens or who wished to utilise such specimens. These stakeholders had agreed there was a need for a national metadata catalogue of environmental specimens (subsequently termed a virtual UK-ESB). The objective of the current project was to further develop a virtual UK-ESB. Specifically, the aim was to work with stakeholders to establish the correct metadata entry fields, the search capabilities, the functionality and the nature of the hosting website of a virtual UK-ESB.
4. More than 80 stakeholder organisations that had previously expressed an interest in a UK-ESB were approached to provide feedback either electronically or by attending a stakeholder workshop. Thirty eight organisations responded. All remained interested in the UK-ESB concept and seventeen answered the survey questions.
5. Mock-ups of data entry screens, search screens and ideas around the functionality of a UK-ESB were developed by the CEH project team. These were mailed to stakeholders for feedback. Initial feedback was incorporated into the mock-ups which were then presented for discussion at a workshop comprising 15 attendees from across the specimen archiving community, CEH and the UK-EOF.
6. Workshop participants reviewed and agreed the format of 23 mandatory or optional data-entry fields for a virtual UK-ESB that, in the absence of standard for material samples and archives, were aligned with ISO19115 (geospatial metadata standard) and DublinCore (metadata standard). These fields were sub-divided into the following headings: Sample description, Categorisation, keywords and links, Storage Information and Contact information. Workshop participants also made a number of recommendations as to the format of the data entry screens and inclusion of extra fields.
7. Workshop participants reviewed options for search capabilities and made recommendations as to simple and advanced searching methods and their formats. It was also recommended that search facilities of the ESBs of other countries be examined to determine what is used, ease of use, and how they match the recommendations from the workshop.
8. Workshop participants reviewed options for functionality and agreed a detailed list of prioritised requirements.
9. Workshop participants agreed that a virtual UK-ESB should be hosted through a dedicated website that would also provide wider information, such as recently updated or added specimen holdings, most downloaded information, links to other groups, standard operating procedures, etc.
10. The next step for the development of a virtual UK-ESB is to implement the design and development ideas captured in the current report and build a test version of a virtual UK-ESB. This would be tested and refined, and could then be launched on a specifically designed website. This would need to be accompanied by a communication strategy. There is potential to link and co-brand a virtual UK-ESB with the UK-Environmental Observation Framework (UK-EOF)
The effects of an extra U(1) axial condensate on the radiative decay eta' --> gamma gamma at finite temperature
Supported by recent lattice results, we consider a scenario in which a
U(1)-breaking condensate survives across the chiral transition in QCD. This
scenario has important consequences on the pseudoscalar-meson sector, which can
be studied using an effective Lagrangian model. In particular, generalizing the
results obtained in a previous paper (where the zero-temperature case was
considered), we study the effects of this U(1) chiral condensate on the
radiative decay eta' --> gamma gamma at finite temperature.Comment: 15 pages, LaTeX fil
The O I] 1641A line as a probe of symbiotic star winds
The neutral oxygen resonance 1302A line can, if the optical depth is
sufficiently high, de-excite by an intercombination transition at 1641A to a
metastable state. This has been noted in a number of previous studies but never
systematically investigated as a diagnostic of the neutral red giant wind in
symbiotic stars and symbiotic-like recurrent novae. We used archival high
resolution, and GHRS and STIS medium and high resolution, spectra to study a
sample of symbiotic stars. The integrated fluxes were measured, where possible,
for the O I 1302A and O I] 1641A lines. The intercombination 1641A line is
detected in a substantial number of symbiotic stars with optical depths that
give column densities comparable with direct eclipse measures (EG And) and the
evolution of the recurrent nova RS Oph 1985 in outburst. In four systems (EG
And, Z And, V1016 Cyg, and RR Tel), we find that the O I] variations are
strongly correlated with the optical light curve and outburst activity. This
transition can also be important for the study of a wide variety of sources in
which an ionization-bounded H II region is imbedded in an extensive neutral
medium, including active galactic nuclei, and not only for evaluations of
extinction.Comment: accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics (2010 Feb.
23), in press, NASA-GSFC-Code 66
Non-classical photon pair generation in atomic vapours
A scheme for the generation of non-classical pairs of photons in atomic
vapours is proposed. The scheme exploits the fact that the cross correlation of
the emission of photons from the extreme transitions of a four-level cascade
system shows anti-bunching which has not been reported earlier and which is
unlike the case of the three level cascade emission which shows bunching. The
Cauchy-Schwarz inequality which is the ratio of cross-correlation to the auto
correlation function in this case is estimated to be for
controllable time delay, and is one to four orders of magnitude larger compared
to previous experiments. The choice of Doppler free geometry in addition to the
fact that at three photon resonance the excitation/deexcitation processes occur
in a very narrow frequency band, ensures cleaner signals.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figure
Tuning the stochastic background of gravitational waves using the WMAP data
The cosmological bound of the stochastic background of gravitational waves is
analyzed with the aid of the WMAP data, differently from lots of works in
literature, where the old COBE data were used. From our analysis, it will
result that the WMAP bounds on the energy spectrum and on the characteristic
amplitude of the stochastic background of gravitational waves are greater than
the COBE ones, but they are also far below frequencies of the earth-based
antennas band. At the end of this letter a lower bound for the integration time
of a potential detection with advanced LIGO is released and compared with the
previous one arising from the old COBE data. Even if the new lower bound is
minor than the previous one, it results very long, thus for a possible
detection we hope in the LISA interferometer and in a further growth in the
sensitivity of advanced projects.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures, published in Modern Physics Letters A. arXiv
admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:0901.119
Stochastic processes, galactic star formation, and chemical evolution. Effects of accretion, stripping, and collisions in multiphase multi-zone models
This paper reports simulations allowing for stochastic accretion and mass
loss within closed and open systems modeled using a previously developed
multi-population, multi-zone (halo, thick disk, thin disk) treatment. The star
formation rate is computed as a function of time directly from the model
equations and all chemical evolution is followed without instantaneous
recycling. Several types of simulations are presented here: (1) a closed system
with bursty mass loss from the halo to the thick disk, and from the thick to
the thin disk, in separate events to the thin disk; (2) open systems with
random environmental (extragalactic) accretion, e.g. by infall of high velocity
clouds directly to the thin disk; (3) schematic open system single and multiple
collision events and intracluster stripping. For the open models, the mass of
the Galaxy has been explicitly tracked with time. We present the evolution of
the star formation rate, metallicity histories, and concentrate on the light
elements. We find a wide range of possible outcomes, including an explanation
for variations in the Galactic D/H ratio, and highlight the problems for
uniquely reconstructing star forming histories from contemporary abundance
measurements.Comment: 12 pages, 12 Postscript figures, uses A&A style macros. Accepted for
publication by Astronomy & Astrophysic
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