Null-point titration measurements of free magnesium in stored erythrocytes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bock, J.L.; Yusuf, Y.; Puntillo, E.

1987-01-01

Free intracellular magnesium concentration (Mg/sub i/) was measured in stored human erythrocytes, using null-point titration with ionophore A23187. For cells stored 31 P NMR spectroscopy, which showed a decrease in Mg/sub i/ with storage. However, the NMR measurements are performed with no pretreatment of the cells, while the null-point method requires an initial washing step, which alters pH/sub i/ and may also alter Mg/sub i/. The titration-measured Mg/sub i/ values are still surprisingly low for long-stored cells, considering that depletion of ATP and 2,3-DPG should release bound Mg. Using the titration-measured Mg/sub i/ values along with measurements of total Mg, ATP, and 2,3-DPG, they estimate that an additional buffer contains about 47% of total Mg in cells stored 21 days. Mg/sub i/ determinations by both 31 P NMR and null-point titration thus indicate that erythrocyte Mg is largely bound to a high-capacity, low-affinity buffer whose relative importance increases during cell storage. Discrepancies between the methods require further investigation

Numerical simulations of sheared magnetic lines at the solar null line

Science.gov (United States)

Kuźma, B.; Murawski, K.; Solov'ev, A.

2015-05-01

Aims: We perform numerical simulations of sheared magnetic lines at the magnetic null line configuration of two magnetic arcades that are settled in a gravitationally stratified and magnetically confined solar corona. Methods: We developed a general analytical model of a 2.5D solar atmospheric structure. As a particular application of this model, we adopted it for the curved magnetic field lines with an inverted Y shape that compose the null line above two magnetic arcades, which are embedded in the solar atmosphere that is specified by the realistic temperature distribution. The physical system is described by 2.5D magnetohydrodynamic equations that are numerically solved by the FLASH code. Results: The magnetic field line shearing, implemented about 200 km below the transition region, results in Alfvén and magnetoacoustic waves that are able to penetrate solar coronal regions above the magnetic null line. As a result of the coupling of these waves, partial reflection from the transition region and scattering from inhomogeneous regions the Alfvén waves experience fast attenuation on time scales comparable to their wave periods, and the physical system relaxes in time. The attenuation time grows with the large amplitude and characteristic growing time of the shearing. Conclusions: By having chosen a different magnetic flux function, the analytical model we devised can be adopted to derive equilibrium conditions for a diversity of 2.5D magnetic structures in the solar atmosphere. Movie associated to Fig. 5 is available in electronic form at http://www.aanda.org

Kinetic modeling of particle acceleration in a solar null point reconnection region

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Baumann, Gisela; Haugbølle, Troels; Nordlund, Åke

2013-01-01

The primary focus of this paper is on the particle acceleration mechanism in solar coronal 3D reconnection null-point regions. Starting from a potential field extrapolation of a SOHO magnetogram taken on 2002 November 16, we first performed MHD simulations with horizontal motions observed by SOHO...... particles and 3.5 billion grid cells of size 17.5\\,km --- these simulations offer a new opportunity to study particle acceleration in solar-like settings....... applied to the photospheric boundary of the computational box. After a build-up of electric current in the fan-plane of the null-point, a sub-section of the evolved MHD data was used as initial and boundary conditions for a kinetic particle-in-cell model of the plasma. We find that sub...

Magnetic reconnection and current sheet formation in 3D magnetic configurations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frank, A.G.

1999-01-01

The problem of magnetic reconnection in three-dimensional (3D) magnetic configurations has been studied experimentally. The research has concentrated on the possibilities of formation of current sheets, which represent crucial objects for a realization of magnetic reconnection phenomena. Different types of 3D magnetic configurations were examined, including configurations with singular lines of the X-type, non-uniform fields containing isolated magnetic null-points and without null-points. It was revealed that formation of quasi-one-dimensional current sheets is the universal process for plasma dynamics in 3D magnetic fields both with null-points and without. At the same time the peculiarities of current sheets, plasma dynamics and magnetic reconnection processes depend essentially on characteristics of 3D magnetic configurations. The result of principal significance obtained was that magnetic reconnection phenomena can take place in a wide range of 3D magnetic configurations as a consequence of their ability to form current sheets. (author)

Experimental measurement of magnetic field null in the vacuum chamber of KTM tokamak based on matrix of 2D Hall sensors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shapovalov, G.; Chektybayev, B., E-mail: chektybaev@nnc.kz; Sadykov, A.; Skakov, M.; Kupishev, E.

2016-11-15

Experimental technique of measurement of magnetic field null region inside of the KTM tokamak vacuum chamber has been developed. Square matrix of 36 2D Hall sensors, which used in the technique, allows carrying out direct measurements of poloidal magnetic field dynamics in the vacuum chamber. To better measuring accuracy, Hall sensor’s matrix was calibrated with commercial Helmholtz coils and in situ measurement of defined magnetic field from poloidal and toroidal coils. Standard KTM Data-Acquisition System has been used to collect data from Hall sensors. Experimental results of measurement of magnetic field null in the vacuum chamber of KTM are shown in the paper. Additionally results of the magnetic field null reconstruction from signals of inductive total flux loops are shown in the paper.

Vlasov Fluid stability of a 2-D plasma with a linear magnetic field null

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, J.S.

1984-01-01

Vlasov Fluid stability of a 2-dimensional plasma near an O type magnetic null is investigated. Specifically, an elongated Z-pinch is considered, and applied to Field Reversed Configurations at Los Alamos National Laboratory by making a cylindrical approximation of the compact torus. The orbits near an elliptical O type null are found to be very complicated; the orbits are large and some are stochastic. The kinetic corrections to magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) are investigated by evaluating the expectation values of the growth rates of a Vlasov Fluid dispersion functional by using a set of trial functions based on ideal MHD. The dispersion functional involves fluid parts and orbit dependent parts. The latter involves phase integral of two time correlations. The phase integral is replaced by the time integral both for the regular and for the stochastic orbits. Two trial functions are used; one has a large displacement near the null and the other away from the null

Suspension of a field-cooled BiPbSrCaCuO high-T sub c superconductor under a toroidal permanent magnet

CERN Document Server

Lee, S H; Choe, W; Lee, T S

2002-01-01

Magnetic flux measurements of a toroidal magnet revealed a concave-shaped field distribution with a single minimum and a null field along the axis of the torus at the point where the field reversed. The non-linear magnetic field of the toroidal magnet perpendicular to the Ag sub 2 O-doped superconducting disc sample with trapped magnetic flux distorted the field line distribution. As a result, the interaction force between the magnet and the sample exhibited regions of repulsive, null, attractive, null and finally repulsive force. The asymmetrical concave-shaped force pattern along the axis with two null force points indicates that the force exerted on the sample changes direction, the transition from repulsive to attractive at the null force point, and the force becomes repulsive again beyond the second null force point as the distance along the axis increases. The magnetic field simulation using the Poisson numerical code for the toroidal magnet of 46 mm OD, 12 mm ID and 10 mm thickness was in close agreeme...

Standard Test Method for Measuring Extreme Heat-Transfer Rates from High-Energy Environments Using a Transient, Null-Point Calorimeter

CERN Document Server

American Society for Testing and Materials. Philadelphia

2008-01-01

1.1 This test method covers the measurement of the heat-transfer rate or the heat flux to the surface of a solid body (test sample) using the measured transient temperature rise of a thermocouple located at the null point of a calorimeter that is installed in the body and is configured to simulate a semi-infinite solid. By definition the null point is a unique position on the axial centerline of a disturbed body which experiences the same transient temperature history as that on the surface of a solid body in the absence of the physical disturbance (hole) for the same heat-flux input. 1.2 Null-point calorimeters have been used to measure high convective or radiant heat-transfer rates to bodies immersed in both flowing and static environments of air, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, helium, hydrogen, and mixtures of these and other gases. Flow velocities have ranged from zero (static) through subsonic to hypersonic, total flow enthalpies from 1.16 to greater than 4.65 × 101 MJ/kg (5 × 102 to greater than 2 × 104 ...

Double null X-point operation in JET with NBI and ICRH heating

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tubbing, B.; Bhatnagar, V.

1989-01-01

In this paper we report on a selection of experiments on H-modes, in 3 and 3.5MA discharges, in the double null X-point configuration. The first experiment, section 2, is an attempt to couple ICRH power to H-modes. Here we also report on a rather unique H-mode with a smaller than usual distance between plasma and limiter. The second experiment, section 3, is on H-modes in the low density, hot ion regime. (author) 5 refs., 4 figs

A near-null magnetic field affects cryptochrome-related hypocotyl growth and flowering in Arabidopsis

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Chunxiao; Yin, Xiao; Lv, Yan; Wu, Changzhe; Zhang, Yuxia; Song, Tao

2012-03-01

The blue light receptor, cryptochrome, has been suggested to act as a magnetoreceptor based on the proposition that photochemical reactions are involved in sensing the geomagnetic field. But the effects of the geomagnetic field on cryptochrome remain unclear. Although the functions of cryptochrome have been well demonstrated for Arabidopsis, the effect of the geomagnetic field on the growth of Arabidopsis and its mechanism of action are poorly understood. We eliminated the local geomagnetic field to grow Arabidopsis in a near-null magnetic field and found that the inhibition of Arabidopsis hypocotyl growth by white light was weakened, and flowering time was delayed. The expressions of three cryptochrome-signaling-related genes, PHYB, CO and FT also changed; the transcript level of PHYB was elevated ca. 40%, and that of CO and FT was reduced ca. 40% and 50%, respectively. These data suggest that the effects of a near-null magnetic field on Arabidopsis are cryptochrome-related, which may be revealed by a modification of the active state of cryptochrome and the subsequent signaling cascade.

A Comparison of Plasma Performance Between Single-Null and Double-Null Configurations During Elming H-Mode

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Petrie, T.W.; Fenstermacher, M.E.; Allen, S.L.; Carlstrom, T.N.; Gohil, P.; Groebner, R.J.; Greenfield, C.M.; Hyatt, A.W.; Lasnier, C.J.; La Haye, R.J.; Leonard, A.W.; Mahdavi, M.A.; Osborne, T.H.; Porter, G.D.; Rhodes, T.L.; Thomas, D.M.; Watkins, J.G.; West, W.P.; Wolf, N.S.

1999-01-01

Tokamak plasma performance generally improves with increased shaping of the plasma cross section, such as higher elongation and higher triangularity. The stronger shaping, especially higher triangularity, leads to changes in the magnetic topology of the divertor. Because there are engineering and divertor physics issues associated with changes in the details of the divertor flux geometry, especially as the configuration transitions from a single-null (SN) divertor to a marginally balanced double-null (DN) divertor, we have undertaken a systematic evaluation of the plasma characteristics as the magnetic geometry is varied, particularly with respect to (1) energy confinement, (2) the response of the plasma to deuterium gas fueling, (3) the operational density range for the ELMing H-mode, and (4) heat flux sharing by the diverters. To quantify the degree of divertor imbalance (or equivalently, to what degree the shape is double-null or single-null), we define a parameter DRSEP. DRSEP is taken as the radial distance between the upper divertor separatrix and the lower divertor separatrix, as determined at the outboard midplane. For example, if DRSEP=O, the configuration is a magnetically balanced DN; if DRSEP = +1.0 cm, the divertor configuration is biased toward the upper divertor. Three examples are shown in Fig. 1. In the following discussions, VB drift is directed toward the lower divertor

Calculation of null points in SPAIR, FLAIR, and STIR. Part 2. Application to pelvic diffusion-weighted imaging with SPAIR at 3T

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kita, Miho; Kawano, Kazuhiro; Kometani, Katsuya; Kondo, Toshihiko; Shimamoto, Kazuhiro; Tanaka, Humihiro; Oda, Hideyuki; Kojima, Akihiro; Sato, Morio

2013-01-01

Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) requires adequate fat suppression because of its sensitivity to chemical shift artifacts, especially at 3 Tesla (T). We investigated the utility of calculating the inversion time of the null point (TI null ) in pelvic DWI with spectral attenuated inversion recovery (SPAIR) at 3 T for obtaining adequate fat suppression. Thirteen volunteers underwent pelvic SPAIR-DWI using various SPAIR inversion delay times (TI) at 5-ms intervals in the range of the calculated TI null ±25 ms. The degree of fat suppression was evaluated into 3 grades and was compared among the various SPAIR-TIs with the calculated TI null . In 65 cases of prostatic disease, we evaluated the ratio of adequate fat suppression obtained using the calculated TI null . We obtained adequate fat suppression in all 13 volunteers and in 61 (94%) of the 65 patients using the calculated TI null . Fat suppression was best when the calculated TI null was used (P null (P null increased. In conclusion, this method of calculating the TI null may be useful for obtaining adequate fat suppression for pelvic SPAIR-DWI at 3T. (author)

Influence of pinches on magnetic reconnection in turbulent space plasmas

Science.gov (United States)

Olshevsky, Vyacheslav; Lapenta, Giovanni; Markidis, Stefano; Divin, Andrey

A generally accepted scenario of magnetic reconnection in space plasmas is the breakage of magnetic field lines in X-points. In laboratory, reconnection is widely studied in pinches, current channels embedded into twisted magnetic fields. No model of magnetic reconnection in space plasmas considers both null-points and pinches as peers. We have performed a particle-in-cell simulation of magnetic reconnection in a three-dimensional configuration where null-points are present nitially, and Z-pinches are formed during the simulation. The X-points are relatively stable, and no substantial energy dissipation is associated with them. On contrary, turbulent magnetic reconnection in the pinches causes the magnetic energy to decay at a rate of approximately 1.5 percent per ion gyro period. Current channels and twisted magnetic fields are ubiquitous in turbulent space plasmas, so pinches can be responsible for the observed high magnetic reconnection rates.

The importance of topographically corrected null models for analyzing ecological point processes.

Science.gov (United States)

McDowall, Philip; Lynch, Heather J

2017-07-01

Analyses of point process patterns and related techniques (e.g., MaxEnt) make use of the expected number of occurrences per unit area and second-order statistics based on the distance between occurrences. Ecologists working with point process data often assume that points exist on a two-dimensional x-y plane or within a three-dimensional volume, when in fact many observed point patterns are generated on a two-dimensional surface existing within three-dimensional space. For many surfaces, however, such as the topography of landscapes, the projection from the surface to the x-y plane preserves neither area nor distance. As such, when these point patterns are implicitly projected to and analyzed in the x-y plane, our expectations of the point pattern's statistical properties may not be met. When used in hypothesis testing, we find that the failure to account for the topography of the generating surface may bias statistical tests that incorrectly identify clustering and, furthermore, may bias coefficients in inhomogeneous point process models that incorporate slope as a covariate. We demonstrate the circumstances under which this bias is significant, and present simple methods that allow point processes to be simulated with corrections for topography. These point patterns can then be used to generate "topographically corrected" null models against which observed point processes can be compared. © 2017 by the Ecological Society of America.

Novel Remarks on Point Mass Sources, Firewalls, Null Singularities and Gravitational Entropy

Science.gov (United States)

Perelman, Carlos Castro

2016-01-01

A continuous family of static spherically symmetric solutions of Einstein's vacuum field equations with a spatial singularity at the origin r = 0 is found. These solutions are parametrized by a real valued parameter λ (ranging from 0 to 1) and such that the radial horizon's location is displaced continuously towards the singularity ( r = 0 ) as λ increases. In the extreme limit λ = 1, the location of the singularity and horizon merges leading to a null singularity. In this extreme case, any infalling observer hits the null singularity at the very moment he/she crosses the horizon. This fact may have important consequences for the resolution of the fire wall problem and the complementarity controversy in black holes. An heuristic argument is provided how one might avoid the Hawking particle emission process in this extreme case when the singularity and horizon merges. The field equations due to a delta-function point-mass source at r = 0 are solved and the Euclidean gravitational action corresponding to those solutions is evaluated explicitly. It is found that the Euclidean action is precisely equal to the black hole entropy (in Planck area units). This result holds in any dimensions D ≥ 3.

A visualization of null geodesics for the bonnor massive dipole

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. Andree Oliva Mercado

2015-08-01

Full Text Available In this work we simulate null geodesics for the Bonnor massive dipole metric by implementing a symbolic-numerical algorithm in Sage and Python. This program is also capable of visualizing in 3D, in principle, the geodesics for any given metric. Geodesics are launched from a common point, collectively forming a cone of light beams, simulating a solid-angle section of a point source in front of a massive object with a magnetic field. Parallel light beams also were considered, and their bending due to the curvature of the space-time was simulated.

A fully magnetohydrodynamic simulation of three-dimensional non-null reconnection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pontin, D.I.; Galsgaard, K.; Hornig, G.; Priest, E.R.

2005-01-01

A knowledge of the nature of fully three-dimensional magnetic reconnection is crucial in understanding a great many processes in plasmas. It has been previously shown that in the kinematic regime the evolution of magnetic flux in three-dimensional reconnection is very different from two dimensions. In this paper a numerical fully magnetohydrodynamic simulation is described, in which this evolution is investigated. The reconnection takes place in the absence of a magnetic null point, and the nonideal region is localized in the center of the domain. The effect of differently prescribed resistivities is considered. The magnetic field is stressed by shear boundary motions, and a current concentration grows within the volume. A stagnation-point flow develops, with strong outflow jets emanating from the reconnection region. The behavior of the magnetic flux matches closely that discovered in the kinematic regime. In particular, it is found that no unique field line velocity exists, and that as a result field lines change their connections continually and continuously throughout the nonideal region. In order to describe the motion of magnetic flux within the domain, it is therefore necessary to use two different field line velocities. The importance of a component of the electric field parallel to the magnetic field is also demonstrated

Critical points in magnetic systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bongaarts, A.L.M.

1975-01-01

The magnetical phase transitions of CsCoCl 3 .2H 2 O and CsCoCl 3 .2D 2 O are investigated by neutron diffraction techniques with special attention to the critical points in the phase diagrams. CsCoCl 3 .2H 2 O turned out to be a one-dimentional magnetic antiferromagnet with ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic interactions. In the vicinity of the Neel point, the critical behavior in zero magnetic field could be described as a three-dimentional long range ordering, while the fluctuations in the system are one-dimensional. In the presence of a magnetic field, the behavior of the system in the critical region of the magnetic phase diagram between the Neel temperature at zero field (3.3degK) and 1.85degK, was in good agreement with the theory. Below 1.85degK, the phase transition in a magnetic field changes into a line of triple points whose end point could be identified as a tricritical point, i.e., an intersection of three critical lines. The parameters derived from observations in the neighborhood of this tricritical point obey the scaling laws but are not in numerical agreement with theoretical predictions

A Challenging Solar Eruptive Event of 18 November 2003 and the Causes of the 20 November Geomagnetic Superstorm. III. Catastrophe of the Eruptive Filament at a Magnetic Null Point and Formation of an Opposite-Handedness CME

Science.gov (United States)

Uralov, A. M.; Grechnev, V. V.; Rudenko, G. V.; Myshyakov, I. I.; Chertok, I. M.; Filippov, B. P.; Slemzin, V. A.

2014-10-01

Our analysis in Papers I and II (Grechnev et al., Solar Phys. 289, 289, 2014b and Solar Phys. 289, 1279, 2014c) of the 18 November 2003 solar event responsible for the 20 November geomagnetic superstorm has revealed a complex chain of eruptions. In particular, the eruptive filament encountered a topological discontinuity located near the solar disk center at a height of about 100 Mm, bifurcated, and transformed into a large cloud, which did not leave the Sun. Concurrently, an additional CME presumably erupted close to the bifurcation region. The conjectures about the responsibility of this compact CME for the superstorm and its disconnection from the Sun are confirmed in Paper IV (Grechnev et al., Solar Phys. submitted, 2014a), which concludes about its probable spheromak-like structure. The present article confirms the presence of a magnetic null point near the bifurcation region and addresses the origin of the magnetic helicity of the interplanetary magnetic clouds and their connection to the Sun. We find that the orientation of a magnetic dipole constituted by dimmed regions with the opposite magnetic polarities away from the parent active region corresponded to the direction of the axial field in the magnetic cloud, while the pre-eruptive filament mismatched it. To combine all of the listed findings, we propose an intrinsically three-dimensional scheme, in which a spheromak-like eruption originates via the interaction of the initially unconnected magnetic fluxes of the eruptive filament and pre-existing ones in the corona. Through a chain of magnetic reconnections their positive mutual helicity was transformed into the self-helicity of the spheromak-like magnetic cloud.

Dynamic magnetic x-points

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leboeuf, J.N.; Tajima, T.; Dawson, J.M.

1981-03-01

Two-and-one-half dimensional magnetostatic and electromagnetic particle simulations of time-varying magnetic x-points and the associated plasma response are reported. The stability and topology depend on the crossing angle of the field lines at the x-point, irrespective of the plasma β. The electrostatic field and finite Larmor radius effects play an important role in current penetration and shaping of the plasma flow. The snapping of the field lines, and dragging of the plasma into, and confinement of the plasma at, an o-point (magnetic island) is observed. Magnetic island coalescence with explosive growth of the coalescence mode occurs and is accompanied by a large increase of kinetic energy and temperature as well as the formation of hot tails on the distribution functions

Three-dimensional Oscillatory Magnetic Reconnection

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Thurgood, Jonathan O.; McLaughlin, James A. [Department of Mathematics, Physics and Electrical Engineering, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 1ST (United Kingdom); Pontin, David I., E-mail: jonathan.thurgood@northumbria.ac.uk [Division of Mathematics, University of Dundee, Dundee, DD1 4HN (United Kingdom)

2017-07-20

Here we detail the dynamic evolution of localized reconnection regions about 3D magnetic null points using numerical simulation. We demonstrate for the first time that reconnection triggered by the localized collapse of a 3D null point that is due to an external magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) wave involves a self-generated oscillation, whereby the current sheet and outflow jets undergo a reconnection reversal process during which back-pressure formation at the jet heads acts to prise open the collapsed field before overshooting the equilibrium into an opposite-polarity configuration. The discovery that reconnection at fully 3D nulls can proceed naturally in a time-dependent and periodic fashion suggests that oscillatory reconnection mechanisms may play a role in explaining periodicity in astrophysical phenomena associated with magnetic reconnection, such as the observed quasi-periodicity of solar and stellar flare emission. Furthermore, we find that a consequence of oscillatory reconnection is the generation of a plethora of freely propagating MHD waves that escape the vicinity of the reconnection region.

Three-dimensional Oscillatory Magnetic Reconnection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thurgood, Jonathan O.; McLaughlin, James A.; Pontin, David I.

2017-01-01

Here we detail the dynamic evolution of localized reconnection regions about 3D magnetic null points using numerical simulation. We demonstrate for the first time that reconnection triggered by the localized collapse of a 3D null point that is due to an external magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) wave involves a self-generated oscillation, whereby the current sheet and outflow jets undergo a reconnection reversal process during which back-pressure formation at the jet heads acts to prise open the collapsed field before overshooting the equilibrium into an opposite-polarity configuration. The discovery that reconnection at fully 3D nulls can proceed naturally in a time-dependent and periodic fashion suggests that oscillatory reconnection mechanisms may play a role in explaining periodicity in astrophysical phenomena associated with magnetic reconnection, such as the observed quasi-periodicity of solar and stellar flare emission. Furthermore, we find that a consequence of oscillatory reconnection is the generation of a plethora of freely propagating MHD waves that escape the vicinity of the reconnection region.

The simple map for a single-null divertor tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Punjabi, A.; Verma, A.; Boozer, A.

1996-01-01

We present the simple map for a single-null divertor tokamak. The simple map is an area-preserving map based on the idea that magnetic field lines are a single-degree-of-freedom time-dependent Hamiltonian system, and that the basic features of such systems near the X-point are generic. We obtain the properties of this map and the resulting footprints of field lines on the divertor plate. These include the width of the stochastic layer, the edge safety factor, the area of the footprint and the amount of magnetic flux diverted. We give the safety factor profile, the average and median values of strike angles, lengths and the Liapunov exponents. We describe how the effects of magnetic perturbations can be included in the simple map. We show how the map can be applied to the problem of the determination of heat flux on the divertor plate in tokamaks. (Author)

Magnetic reconnection through the current sheets as the universal process for plasma dynamics in nonuniform magnetic fields

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frank, A.G.; Bogdanov, S.Yu.; Burilina, V.B.; Kyrie, N.P.

1997-01-01

Laboratory experiments are reported, in which we studied the possibilities of the formation of current sheets (CS) in different magnetic configurations, as well as the magnetic reconnection phenomena. In 2D magnetic fields with null-lines the CS formation was shown to be a typical process in both linear and nonlinear regimes. The problem of CS formation is of a fundamental importance in the general case of 3D magnetic configurations. We have revealed experimentally, that the formation of CS occurs in the various 3D configurations, both containing magnetic null-points and without them. At the same time, the CS parameters essentially depend on the local characteristics of the configuration. We may conclude therefore, that the self-organization of CS represents the universal process for the plasma dynamics in the nonuniform magnetic fields. (author)

Relativistic dynamics of point magnetic moment

Science.gov (United States)

Rafelski, Johann; Formanek, Martin; Steinmetz, Andrew

2018-01-01

The covariant motion of a classical point particle with magnetic moment in the presence of (external) electromagnetic fields is revisited. We are interested in understanding extensions to the Lorentz force involving point particle magnetic moment (Stern-Gerlach force) and how the spin precession dynamics is modified for consistency. We introduce spin as a classical particle property inherent to Poincaré symmetry of space-time. We propose a covariant formulation of the magnetic force based on a `magnetic' 4-potential and show how the point particle magnetic moment relates to the Amperian (current loop) and Gilbertian (magnetic monopole) descriptions. We show that covariant spin precession lacks a unique form and discuss the connection to g-2 anomaly. We consider the variational action principle and find that a consistent extension of the Lorentz force to include magnetic spin force is not straightforward. We look at non-covariant particle dynamics, and present a short introduction to the dynamics of (neutral) particles hit by a laser pulse of arbitrary shape.

Influence of frame-dragging on magnetic null points near rotating black holes

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Karas, Vladimír; Kopáček, Ondřej; Kunneriath, Devaky

2012-01-01

Roč. 29, č. 3 (2012), 035010/1-035010/12 ISSN 0264-9381 R&D Projects: GA MŠk ME09036 Grant - others:GA ČR(CZ) GA205/09/H033 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10030501 Keywords : Magnetic fields * Reconnection * Black holes Subject RIV: BN - Astronomy, Celestial Mechanics, Astrophysics Impact factor: 3.562, year: 2012

Relativistic dynamics of point magnetic moment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rafelski, Johann; Formanek, Martin; Steinmetz, Andrew [The University of Arizona, Department of Physics, Tucson, AZ (United States)

2018-01-15

The covariant motion of a classical point particle with magnetic moment in the presence of (external) electromagnetic fields is revisited. We are interested in understanding extensions to the Lorentz force involving point particle magnetic moment (Stern-Gerlach force) and how the spin precession dynamics is modified for consistency. We introduce spin as a classical particle property inherent to Poincare symmetry of space-time. We propose a covariant formulation of the magnetic force based on a 'magnetic' 4-potential and show how the point particle magnetic moment relates to the Amperian (current loop) and Gilbertian (magnetic monopole) descriptions. We show that covariant spin precession lacks a unique form and discuss the connection to g - 2 anomaly. We consider the variational action principle and find that a consistent extension of the Lorentz force to include magnetic spin force is not straightforward. We look at non-covariant particle dynamics, and present a short introduction to the dynamics of (neutral) particles hit by a laser pulse of arbitrary shape. (orig.)

Magnetic reconnection in nontoroidal plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boozer, Allen H.

2005-01-01

Magnetic reconnection is a major issue in solar and astrophysical plasmas. The mathematical result that the evolution of a magnetic field with only point nulls is always locally ideal limits the nature of reconnection in nontoroidal plasmas. Here it is shown that the exponentially increasing separation of neighboring magnetic field lines, which is generic, tends to produce rapid magnetic reconnection if the length of the field lines is greater than about 20 times the exponentiation, or Lyapunov, length

On the Robinson theorem and shearfree geodesic null congruences

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tafel, J.

1985-01-01

Null electromagnetic fields and shearfree geodesic null congruences in curved and flat spacetimes are studied. We point out some mathematical problems connected with the validity of the Robinson theorem. The problem of finding nonanalytic twisting congruences in the Minkowski space is reduced to the construction of holomorphic functions with specific boundary conditions. (orig.)

Resistivity at the field null of the FRC plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gerwin, R.A.

1989-01-01

In the absence of the major destructive instabilities, the configuration time is ultimately determined by particle and flux containment. If the profiles are ''gentle,'' then the anomalous flux-loss rate depends essentially on the anomalous resistivity at the field null. Conventional electrostatic quasi-linear models of anomalous cross-field resistive diffusivity are based upon the use of rvec E x rvec B drift velocities, and hence break down at the magnetic field null. In this paper, an electromagnetic treatment valid at the field null is developed, based upon the presence of flute-parity perturbations. An expression for anomalous resistivity at the field null in the quasi-linear approximation is derived by averaging in the ignorable direction over the random phases of the perturbations. The expression is valid for arbitrary (non-local) radial shapes of the perturbing modes (for example, the eigenfunctions need not be centered at the field null), and for an arbitrary ratio of real frequency to growth rate. The effective resistivity due to flute perturbations of the MHD type will be considered. 1 ref

Quantum Triple Point and Quantum Critical End Points in Metallic Magnets.

Science.gov (United States)

Belitz, D; Kirkpatrick, T R

2017-12-29

In low-temperature metallic magnets, ferromagnetic (FM) and antiferromagnetic (AFM) orders can exist, adjacent to one another or concurrently, in the phase diagram of a single system. We show that universal quantum effects qualitatively alter the known phase diagrams for classical magnets. They shrink the region of concurrent FM and AFM order, change various transitions from second to first order, and, in the presence of a magnetic field, lead to either a quantum triple point where the FM, AFM, and paramagnetic phases all coexist or a quantum critical end point.

Yang-Mills theory in null path space

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kent, S.L.

1982-01-01

A reformulation of classical GL(n,c) Yang-Mills theory is presented. The reformulation is in terms of a single matrix-valued function G on a six-dimensional subspace of the space of paths in Minkowski space, M. This subspace is defined as the null paths beginning at each point, (X/sup a/), of M and ending at future null infinity. A convenient parametrization of these paths is to give the Minkowski coordinates x/sup a/ of the starting point and the (complex) stereographic coordinates (xi, antixi) on S 2 which label the light cone generators of x/sup a/. A path is thus labeled by (x/sup a/,xi, antixi). The function G(x/sup a/,xi, antixi) is defined by the parallel propagation (with a given connection) of n linearly independent fiber vectors from x/sup a/ to null infinity along the (xi, antixi) generator. From knowledge of G(x/sup a/,xi, antixi) the connection one-form γ/sub a/ at the point x/sup a/ can be obtained is shown. Furthermore how the vacuum Yang-Mills equations can be imposed on the G is shown. This results in a rather complicated integro-differential equation for G which involves the characteristic initial data (essentially the radiation field) acting as the driving term. Two simple special cases are immediately obtainable; in the case of self-dual (or anti-self dual) fields the author obtains a simple derivation of the Sparling equation, namely delta G = -GA, while for Abelian (Maxwell) theories obtained the equation delta anti delta log G = -anti delta A-anti delta A, where A and its conjugate anti A are the characteristic free data given on null infinity. The latter equation is equivalent to the vacuum Maxwell equations

Bursty, Broadband Electromagnetic Waves Associated with Three-Dimensional Nulls Observed in Turbulent Magnetosheath Reconnection

Science.gov (United States)

Adrian, Mark L.; Wendel, D. E.

2012-01-01

We investigate observations of intense bursts of electromagnetic wave energy in association with the thin current layers of turbulent magnetosheath reconnection. These observed emissions - typically detected in the layers immediately outside of the current layer proper - form two distinct types: (i) broadband emissions that extend continuously to lOs of Hertz; and (ii) structured bursts of emitted energy that occur above 80-Hz, often displaying features reminiscent of absorption bands and are observed near the local minima in the magnetic field. We present detailed analyses of these intense bursts of electromagnetic energy and quantify their proximity to X-IO-nulls and magnetic spine connected null pairs, as well as their correlation - if any - to the amount of magnetic energy converted by the process of magnetic reconnection.

A model for electron currents near a field null

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stark, R.A.; Miley, G.H.

1987-01-01

The fluid approximation is invalid near a field null, since the local electron orbit size and the magnetic scale length are comparable. To model the electron currents in this region we propose a single equation of motion describing the bulk electron dynamics. The equation applies to the plasma within one thermal orbit size of the null. The region is treated as unmagnetized; electrons are accelerated by the inductive electric field and drag on ions; damping is provided by viscosity due to electrons and collisions with ions. Through variational calculations and a particle tracking code for electrons, the size of the terms in the equation of motion have been estimated. The resulting equation of motion combines with Faraday's Law to produce a governing equation which implicitly contains the self inductive field of the electrons. This governing equation predicts that viscosity prevents complete cancellation of the ion current density by the electrons in the null region. Thus electron dynamics near the field null should not prevent the formation and deepening of field reversal using neutral-beam injection

Characteristics of X-point lobe structures in single-null discharges on MAST

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Harrison, J.R.; Kirk, A.; Chapman, I.T.; Cahyna, Pavel; Liu, Y.; Nardon, E.; Thornton, A.J.

2014-01-01

Roč. 54, č. 6 (2014), 064015-064015 ISSN 0029-5515 R&D Projects: GA ČR GAP205/11/2341 Institutional support: RVO:61389021 Keywords : tokamak * MAST * X-point * resonant magnetic perturbation Subject RIV: BL - Plasma and Gas Discharge Physics Impact factor: 3.062, year: 2014 http://iopscience.iop.org/0029-5515/54/6/064015/pdf/0029-5515_54_6_064015.pdf

Spatial determination of magnetic avalanche ignition points

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jaafar, Reem; McHugh, S.; Suzuki, Yoko; Sarachik, M.P.; Myasoedov, Y.; Zeldov, E.; Shtrikman, H.; Bagai, R.; Christou, G.

2008-01-01

Using time-resolved measurements of local magnetization in the molecular magnet Mn 12 -ac, we report studies of magnetic avalanches (fast magnetization reversals) with non-planar propagating fronts, where the curved nature of the magnetic fronts is reflected in the time-of-arrival at micro-Hall sensors placed at the surface of the sample. Assuming that the avalanche interface is a spherical bubble that grows with a radius proportional to time, we are able to locate the approximate ignition point of each avalanche in a two-dimensional cross-section of the crystal. We find that although in most samples the avalanches ignite at the long ends, as found in earlier studies, there are crystals in which ignition points are distributed throughout an entire weak region near the center, with a few avalanches still originating at the ends

Spatial determination of magnetic avalanche ignition points

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jaafar, Reem; McHugh, S.; Suzuki, Yoko [Physics Department, City College of the City University of New York, New York, NY 10031 (United States); Sarachik, M.P. [Physics Department, City College of the City University of New York, New York, NY 10031 (United States)], E-mail: sarachik@sci.ccny.cuny.edu; Myasoedov, Y.; Zeldov, E.; Shtrikman, H. [Department Condensed Matter Physics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100 (Israel); Bagai, R.; Christou, G. [Department of Chemistry, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611 (United States)

2008-03-15

Using time-resolved measurements of local magnetization in the molecular magnet Mn{sub 12}-ac, we report studies of magnetic avalanches (fast magnetization reversals) with non-planar propagating fronts, where the curved nature of the magnetic fronts is reflected in the time-of-arrival at micro-Hall sensors placed at the surface of the sample. Assuming that the avalanche interface is a spherical bubble that grows with a radius proportional to time, we are able to locate the approximate ignition point of each avalanche in a two-dimensional cross-section of the crystal. We find that although in most samples the avalanches ignite at the long ends, as found in earlier studies, there are crystals in which ignition points are distributed throughout an entire weak region near the center, with a few avalanches still originating at the ends.

Magnetic Fixed Points and Emergent Supersymmetry

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Antipin, Oleg; Mojaza, Matin; Pica, Claudio

2013-01-01

We establish in perturbation theory the existence of fixed points along the renormalization group flow for QCD with an adjoint Weyl fermion and scalar matter reminiscent of magnetic duals of QCD [1-3]. We classify the fixed points by analyzing their basin of attraction. We discover that among...

OEDGE modeling of the DIII-D double null (CH4)-C-13 puffing experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Elder, J.D.; Wampler, W.R.; McLean, A.G.; Stangeby, P.C.; Allen, S.L.; Bray, B.D.; Brooks, N.H.; Leonard, A.W.; Unterberg, Ezekial A.; Watkins, J.G.

2011-01-01

Unbalanced double null ELMy H-mode configurations in DIII-D are used to simulate the situation in ITER high triangularity, burning plasma magnetic equilibria, where the second X-point lies close to the top of the vacuum vessel, creating a secondary divertor region at the upper blanket modules. The measured plasma conditions in the outer secondary divertor closely duplicated those projected for ITER. (CH4)-C-13 was injected into the secondary outer divertor to simulate sputtering there. The majority of the C-13 found was in the secondary outer divertor. This material migration pattern is radically different than that observed for main wall (CH4)-C-13 injections into single null configurations where the deposition is primarily at the inner divertor. The implications for tritium codeposition resulting from sputtering at the secondary divertor in ITER are significant since release of tritium from Be co-deposits at the main wall bake temperature for ITER, 240 degrees C, is incomplete. The principal features of the measured C-13 deposition pattern have been replicated by the OEDGE interpretive code.

Standard and Null Weak Values

OpenAIRE

Zilberberg, Oded; Romito, Alessandro; Gefen, Yuval

2013-01-01

Weak value (WV) is a quantum mechanical measurement protocol, proposed by Aharonov, Albert, and Vaidman. It consists of a weak measurement, which is weighed in, conditional on the outcome of a later, strong measurement. Here we define another two-step measurement protocol, null weak value (NVW), and point out its advantages as compared to WV. We present two alternative derivations of NWVs and compare them to the corresponding derivations of WVs.

Dynamics of solar magnetic fields. VI. Force-free magnetic fields and motions of magnetic foot-points

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Low, B.C.; Nakagawa, Y.

1975-01-01

A mathematical model is developed to consider the evolution of force-free magnetic fields in relation to the displacements of their foot-points. For a magnetic field depending on only two Cartesian coordinates and time, the problem reduces to solving a nonlinear elliptic partial differential equation. As illustration of the physical process, two specific examples of evolving force-free magnetic fields are examined in detail, one evolving with rising and the other with descending field lines. It is shown that these two contrasting behaviors of the field lines correspond to sheared motions of their foot-points of quite different characters. The physical implications of these two examples of evolving force-free magnetic fields are discussed. (auth)

Symplectic tracking using point magnets in the presence of a longitudinal magnetic field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parzen, G.

1993-09-01

In the absence of a longitudinal magnetic field, symplectic tracking can be achieved by replacing the magnets by a series of point magnets and drift spaces. To treat the case when a longitudinal magnetic field is also present, this procedure is modified in this paper by replacing the drift space by a solenoidal drift, which is defined as the motion of a particle in a uniform longitudinal magnetic field. A symplectic integrator can be obtained by subdividing each magnet into pieces and replacing each magnet piece by point magnets, with only transverse fields, and solenoidal drift spaces. The reference orbit used here is made up of arcs of circles and straight lines which join smoothly with each other. For this choice of reference orbit, the required results are obtained to track particles, which are the transfer functions, and the transfer time for the different elements. It is shown that these results provide a symplectic integrator, and they are exact in the sense that as the number of magnet pieces is increased, the particle motion will converge to the particle motion of the exact equations of motion

The quantum null energy condition in curved space

Science.gov (United States)

Fu, Zicao; Koeller, Jason; Marolf, Donald

2017-11-01

The quantum null energy condition (QNEC) is a conjectured bound on components (Tkk = Tab ka k^b) of the stress tensor along a null vector k a at a point p in terms of a second k-derivative of the von Neumann entropy S on one side of a null congruence N through p generated by k a . The conjecture has been established for super-renormalizeable field theories at points p that lie on a bifurcate Killing horizon with null tangent k a and for large-N holographic theories on flat space. While the Koeller-Leichenauer holographic argument clearly yields an inequality for general ( p, k^a) , more conditions are generally required for this inequality to be a useful QNEC. For d≤slant 3 , for arbitrary backgroud metric we show that the QNEC is naturally finite and independent of renormalization scheme when the expansion θ of N at the point p vanishes. This is consistent with the original QNEC conjecture which required θ and the shear σab to satisfy θ \\vert _p= \\dotθ\\vert p =0 , σab\\vert _p=0 . But for d=4, 5 more conditions than even these are required. In particular, we also require the vanishing of additional derivatives and a dominant energy condition. In the above cases the holographic argument does indeed yield a finite QNEC, though for d≥slant6 we argue these properties to fail even for weakly isolated horizons (where all derivatives of θ, σab vanish) that also satisfy a dominant energy condition. On the positive side, a corrollary to our work is that, when coupled to Einstein-Hilbert gravity, d ≤slant 3 holographic theories at large N satisfy the generalized second law (GSL) of thermodynamics at leading order in Newton’s constant G. This is the first GSL proof which does not require the quantum fields to be perturbations to a Killing horizon.

Compact solar UV burst triggered in a magnetic field with a fan-spine topology

Science.gov (United States)

Chitta, L. P.; Peter, H.; Young, P. R.; Huang, Y.-M.

2017-09-01

Context. Solar ultraviolet (UV) bursts are small-scale features that exhibit intermittent brightenings that are thought to be due to magnetic reconnection. They are observed abundantly in the chromosphere and transition region, in particular in active regions. Aims: We investigate in detail a UV burst related to a magnetic feature that is advected by the moat flow from a sunspot towards a pore. The moving feature is parasitic in that its magnetic polarity is opposite to that of the spot and the pore. This comparably simple photospheric magnetic field distribution allows for an unambiguous interpretation of the magnetic geometry leading to the onset of the observed UV burst. Methods: We used UV spectroscopic and slit-jaw observations from the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) to identify and study chromospheric and transition region spectral signatures of said UV burst. To investigate the magnetic topology surrounding the UV burst, we used a two-hour-long time sequence of simultaneous line-of-sight magnetograms from the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) and performed data-driven 3D magnetic field extrapolations by means of a magnetofrictional relaxation technique. We can connect UV burst signatures to the overlying extreme UV (EUV) coronal loops observed by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA). Results: The UV burst shows a variety of extremely broad line profiles indicating plasma flows in excess of ±200 km s-1 at times. The whole structure is divided into two spatially distinct zones of predominantly up- and downflows. The magnetic field extrapolations show a persistent fan-spine magnetic topology at the UV burst. The associated 3D magnetic null point exists at a height of about 500 km above the photosphere and evolves co-spatially with the observed UV burst. The EUV emission at the footpoints of coronal loops is correlated with the evolution of the underlying UV burst. Conclusions: The magnetic field around the null point is sheared by

Modelling the electromechanical interactions in a null-flux EDS Maglev system

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boeij, de J.; Steinbuch, M.; Gutierrez, H.M.; Fair, H.D.

2004-01-01

The fundamental electromechanical interactionsin a passive null-ux EDS maglev system aremediated by the voltages induced in the levita-tion coils by the sled magnets, and by the forcesexerted on the sled as a result of the inducedcurrents. This paper presents a reliable andcompact method to

Axisymmetric tandem mirror stabilized by a magnetic limiter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kesner, J.; Post, R.S.; Lane, B.

1985-06-01

In order to stabilize MHD-like, fast growing m = 1 fluctuations in the central cell of a tandem mirror we propose the introduction of a magnetic limiter. The magnetic limiter would create a ring null in the magnetic field. Electrons which enter the null can stream azimuthally and thereby ''short-circuit'' m = 1 fluctuations. Some pressure could be maintained on the separatrix flux surface by locating the null on a local magnetic maxima or by axial plugging. This scheme introduces the possibility of a fully axisymmetric tandem mirror

Twisting null geodesic congruences and the Einstein-Maxwell equations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Newman, Ezra T; Silva-Ortigoza, Gilberto

2006-01-01

In a recent article, we returned to the study of asymptotically flat solutions of the vacuum Einstein equations with a rather unconventional point of view. The essential observation in that work was that from a given asymptotically flat vacuum spacetime with a given Bondi shear, one can find a class of asymptotically shear-free (but, in general, twisting) null geodesic congruences where the class was uniquely given up to the arbitrary choice of a complex analytic 'worldline' in a four-dimensional complex space. By imitating certain terms in the Weyl tensor that are found in the algebraically special type II metrics, this complex worldline could be made unique and given-or assigned-the physical meaning as the complex centre of mass. Equations of motion for this case were found. The purpose of the present work is to extend those results to asymptotically flat solutions of the Einstein-Maxwell equations. Once again, in this case, we get a class of asymptotically shear-free null geodesic congruences depending on a complex worldline in the same four-dimensional complex space. However in this case there will be, in general, two distinct but uniquely chosen worldlines, one of which can be assigned as the complex centre of charge while the other could be called the complex centre of mass. Rather than investigating the situation where there are two distinct complex worldlines, we study instead the special degenerate case where the two worldlines coincide, i.e., where there is a single unique worldline. This mimics the case of algebraically special Einstein-Maxwell fields where the degenerate principle null vector of the Weyl tensor coincides with a Maxwell principle null vector. Again we obtain equations of motion for this worldline-but explicitly found here only in an approximation. Though there are ambiguities in assigning physical meaning to different terms it appears as if reliance on the Kerr and charged Kerr metrics and classical electromagnetic radiation theory helps

In-situ observations of flux ropes formed in association with a pair of spiral nulls in magnetotail plasmas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Guo, Ruilong; Xie, Lun; He, Jiansen [School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871 (China); Pu, Zuyin; Fu, Suiyan [School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871 (China); PKU/UCLA Joint Research Institute in Science and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing (China); Chen, Li-Jen [NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771 (United States); Wang, Xiaogang [Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001 (China); Dunlop, Malcolm [School of Astronautics, Beihang University, Beijing 100191 (China); RAL Space, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, STFC, Didcot OX11 0QX (United Kingdom); Bogdanova, Yulia V. [RAL Space, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, STFC, Didcot OX11 0QX (United Kingdom); Yao, Zhonghua; Fazakerley, Andrew N. [UCL Mullard Space Science Laboratory, Dorking RH5 6NT (United Kingdom); Xiao, Chijie [School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871 (China)

2016-05-15

Signatures of secondary islands are frequently observed in the magnetic reconnection regions of magnetotail plasmas. In this paper, magnetic structures with the secondary-island signatures observed by Cluster are reassembled by a fitting-reconstruction method. The results show three-dimensionally that a secondary island event can manifest the flux rope formed with an A{sub s}-type null and a B{sub s}-type null paired via their spines. We call this A{sub s}-spine-B{sub s}-like configuration the helically wrapped spine model. The reconstructed field lines wrap around the spine to form the flux rope, and an O-type topology is therefore seen on the plane perpendicular to the spine. Magnetized electrons are found to rotate on and cross the fan surface, suggesting that both the torsional-spine and the spine-fan reconnection take place in the configuration. Furthermore, detailed analysis implies that the spiral nulls and flux ropes were locally generated nearby the spacecraft in the reconnection outflow region, indicating that secondary reconnection may occur in the exhaust away from the primary reconnection site.

In-situ observations of flux ropes formed in association with a pair of spiral nulls in magnetotail plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guo, Ruilong; Xie, Lun; He, Jiansen; Pu, Zuyin; Fu, Suiyan; Chen, Li-Jen; Wang, Xiaogang; Dunlop, Malcolm; Bogdanova, Yulia V.; Yao, Zhonghua; Fazakerley, Andrew N.; Xiao, Chijie

2016-01-01

Signatures of secondary islands are frequently observed in the magnetic reconnection regions of magnetotail plasmas. In this paper, magnetic structures with the secondary-island signatures observed by Cluster are reassembled by a fitting-reconstruction method. The results show three-dimensionally that a secondary island event can manifest the flux rope formed with an A_s-type null and a B_s-type null paired via their spines. We call this A_s-spine-B_s-like configuration the helically wrapped spine model. The reconstructed field lines wrap around the spine to form the flux rope, and an O-type topology is therefore seen on the plane perpendicular to the spine. Magnetized electrons are found to rotate on and cross the fan surface, suggesting that both the torsional-spine and the spine-fan reconnection take place in the configuration. Furthermore, detailed analysis implies that the spiral nulls and flux ropes were locally generated nearby the spacecraft in the reconnection outflow region, indicating that secondary reconnection may occur in the exhaust away from the primary reconnection site.

Kastor-Traschen black holes, null geodesics and conformal circles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Casey, Stephen

2012-01-01

The Kastor-Traschen metric is a time-dependent solution of the Einstein-Maxwell equations with positive cosmological constant Λ which can be used to describe an arbitrary number of charged dynamical black holes. In this paper, we consider the null geodesic structure of this solution, in particular, focusing on the projection to the space of orbits of the timelike conformal retraction. It is found that these projected light rays arise as integral curves of a system of third-order ordinary differential equations. This system is not uniquely defined, however, and we use the inherent freedom to construct a new system whose integral curves coincide with the projection of distinguished null curves of Kastor-Traschen arising from a magnetic flow. We discuss our results in the one-centre case and demonstrate a link to conformal circles in the limit Λ → 0. We also show how to construct analytic expressions for the projected null geodesics of this metric by exploiting a well-known diffeomorphism between the K-T metric and extremal Reissner-Nordstrom-de Sitter. We make some remarks about the two-centre solution and demonstrate a link with the one-centre case. (paper)

Toward laboratory torsional spine magnetic reconnection

Science.gov (United States)

Chesny, David L.; Orange, N. Brice; Oluseyi, Hakeem M.; Valletta, David R.

2017-12-01

Magnetic reconnection is a fundamental energy conversion mechanism in nature. Major attempts to study this process in controlled settings on Earth have largely been limited to reproducing approximately two-dimensional (2-D) reconnection dynamics. Other experiments describing reconnection near three-dimensional null points are non-driven, and do not induce any of the 3-D modes of spine fan, torsional fan or torsional spine reconnection. In order to study these important 3-D modes observed in astrophysical plasmas (e.g. the solar atmosphere), laboratory set-ups must be designed to induce driven reconnection about an isolated magnetic null point. As such, we consider the limited range of fundamental resistive magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) and kinetic parameters of dynamic laboratory plasmas that are necessary to induce the torsional spine reconnection (TSR) mode characterized by a driven rotational slippage of field lines - a feature that has yet to be achieved in operational laboratory magnetic reconnection experiments. Leveraging existing reconnection models, we show that within a 3$ apparatus, TSR can be achieved in dense plasma regimes ( 24~\\text{m}-3$ ) in magnetic fields of -1~\\text{T}$ . We find that MHD and kinetic parameters predict reconnection in thin current sheets on time scales of . While these plasma regimes may not explicitly replicate the plasma parameters of observed astrophysical phenomena, studying the dynamics of the TSR mode within achievable set-ups signifies an important step in understanding the fundamentals of driven 3-D magnetic reconnection and the self-organization of current sheets. Explicit control of this reconnection mode may have implications for understanding particle acceleration in astrophysical environments, and may even have practical applications to fields such as spacecraft propulsion.

Improved equivalent magnetic network modeling for analyzing working points of PMs in interior permanent magnet machine

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Liyan; Xia, Changliang; Wang, Huimin; Wang, Zhiqiang; Shi, Tingna

2018-05-01

As is well known, the armature current will be ahead of the back electromotive force (back-EMF) under load condition of the interior permanent magnet (PM) machine. This kind of advanced armature current will produce a demagnetizing field, which may make irreversible demagnetization appeared in PMs easily. To estimate the working points of PMs more accurately and take demagnetization under consideration in the early design stage of a machine, an improved equivalent magnetic network model is established in this paper. Each PM under each magnetic pole is segmented, and the networks in the rotor pole shoe are refined, which makes a more precise model of the flux path in the rotor pole shoe possible. The working point of each PM under each magnetic pole can be calculated accurately by the established improved equivalent magnetic network model. Meanwhile, the calculated results are compared with those calculated by FEM. And the effects of d-axis component and q-axis component of armature current, air-gap length and flux barrier size on working points of PMs are analyzed by the improved equivalent magnetic network model.

Magnetic suspension and pointing system. [on a carrier vehicle

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, W. W.; Groom, N. J. (Inventor)

1979-01-01

Apparatus for providing accurate pointing of instruments on a carrier vehicle and for providing isolation of the instruments from the vehicle's motion disturbances is presented. The apparatus includes two assemblies, with connecting interfaces, each assembly having a separate function. The first assembly is attached to the carrier vehicle and consists of an azimuth gimbal and an elevation gimbal which provide coarse pointing of the instruments by allowing two rotations of the instruments relative to the carrier vehicle. The second or vernier pointing assembly is made up of magnetic suspension and fine pointing actuators, roll motor segments, and an instrument mounting plate around which a continuous annular rim is attached which provides appropriate magnetic circuits for the actuators and the roll motor segments. The vernier pointing assembly provides six degree-of-freedom isolation from carrier motion disturbances.

Catastrophe in the stochastic layer due to dipole perturbation for a single-null divertor Tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ali, H.; Watson, M.; Punjabi, A.; Boozer, A.

1996-01-01

We use the method of maps developed by Punjabi and Boozer to investigate the motion of magnetic field lines in stochastic scrape-off layer in the presence of dipole perturbation of a single-null divertor Tokamak. This method is based on the idea that the magnetic field line trajectories in a divertor tokamak are mathematically equivalent to a single degree of freedom, time dependent Hamiltonian System, and that the basic features of motion near a separatrix broadened by asymmetric perturbations are generic for such Hamiltonian and near-Hamiltonian systems. The magnetic topology of a single-null divertor tokamak with the effects on dipole perturbations is represented by the Symmetric Simple Map followed by Dipole Map. We have found that as the amplitude of the dipole perturbation increases, the width of the stochastic layer also increases. At some critical value of the amplitude is reached, there is a catastrophic increase in the width of stochastic layer. This may have significant implications for tokamak divertor physics

Maxwell fields and shear-free null geodesic congruences

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Newman, Ezra T

2004-01-01

We study and report on the class of vacuum Maxwell fields in Minkowski space that possess a non-degenerate, diverging, principal null vector field (null eigenvector field of the Maxwell tensor) that is tangent to a shear-free null geodesics congruence. These congruences can be either surface forming (the tangent vectors being proportional to gradients) or not, i.e., the twisting congruences. In the non-twisting case, the associated Maxwell fields are precisely the Lienard-Wiechert fields, i.e., those Maxwell fields arising from an electric monopole moving on an arbitrary worldline. The null geodesic congruence is given by the generators of the light-cones with apex on the worldline. The twisting case is much richer, more interesting and far more complicated. In a twisting subcase, where our main interests lie, the following strange interpretation can be given. If we allow the real Minkowski space to be complexified so that the real Minkowski coordinates x a take complex values, i.e., x a → z a = x a + iy a with complex metric g η ab dz a dz b , the real vacuum Maxwell equations can be extended into the complex space and rewritten as curl W=i W radical, div W=0 with W=E+iB. This subcase of Maxwell fields can then be extended into the complex space so as to have as source, a complex analytic worldline, i.e., to now become complex Lienard-Wiechart fields. When viewed as real fields on the real Minkowski space (z a = x a ), they possess a real principal null vector that is shear-free but twisting and diverging. The twist is a measure of how far the complex worldline is from the real 'slice'. Most Maxwell fields in this subcase are asymptotically flat with a time-varying set of electric and magnetic moments, all depending on the complex displacements and the complex velocities

Null geodesics and wave front singularities in the Gödel space-time

Science.gov (United States)

Kling, Thomas P.; Roebuck, Kevin; Grotzke, Eric

2018-01-01

We explore wave fronts of null geodesics in the Gödel metric emitted from point sources both at, and away from, the origin. For constant time wave fronts emitted by sources away from the origin, we find cusp ridges as well as blue sky metamorphoses where spatially disconnected portions of the wave front appear, connect to the main wave front, and then later break free and vanish. These blue sky metamorphoses in the constant time wave fronts highlight the non-causal features of the Gödel metric. We introduce a concept of physical distance along the null geodesics, and show that for wave fronts of constant physical distance, the reorganization of the points making up the wave front leads to the removal of cusp ridges.

The Effect of Magnetic Topology on the Escape of Flare Particles

Science.gov (United States)

Antiochos, S. K.; Masson, S.; DeVore, C. R.

2012-01-01

Magnetic reconnection in the solar atmosphere is believed to be the driver of most solar explosive phenomena. Therefore, the topology of the coronal magnetic field is central to understanding the solar drivers of space weather. Of particular importance to space weather are the impulsive Solar Energetic particles that are associated with some CME/eruptive flare events. Observationally, the magnetic configuration of active regions where solar eruptions originate appears to agree with the standard eruptive flare model. According to this model, particles accelerated at the flare reconnection site should remain trapped in the corona and the ejected plasmoid. However, flare-accelerated particles frequently reach the Earth long before the CME does. We present a model that may account for the injection of energetic particles onto open magnetic flux tubes connecting to the Earth. Our model is based on the well-known 2.5D breakout topology, which has a coronal null point (null line) and a four-flux system. A key new addition, however, is that we include an isothermal solar wind with open-flux regions. Depending on the location of the open flux with respect to the null point, we find that the flare reconnection can consist of two distinct phases. At first, the flare reconnection involves only closed field, but if the eruption occurs close to the open field, we find a second phase involving interchange reconnection between open and closed. We argue that this second reconnection episode is responsible for the injection of flare-accelerated particles into the interplanetary medium. We will report on our recent work toward understanding how flare particles escape to the heliosphere. This work uses high-resolution 2.5D MHD numerical simulations performed with the Adaptively Refined MHD Solver (ARMS).

Variation of particle exhaust with changes in divertor magnetic balance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Petrie, T.W.; Allen, S.L.; Brooks, N.H.

2006-01-01

Recent experiments on DIII-D point to the importance of two factors in determining how effectively the deuterium particle inventory in a tokamak plasma can be controlled through pumping at the divertor target(s): (1) the divertor magnetic balance, i.e. the degree to which the divertor topology is single-null or double-null (DN) and (2) the direction of the of B x ∇B ion drift with respect to the X-point(s). Changes in divertor magnetic balance near the DN shape have a much stronger effect on the particle exhaust rate at the inner divertor target(s) than on the particle exhaust rate at the outer divertor target(s). The particle exhaust rate for the DN shape is strongest at the outer strike point opposite the B x ∇B ion particle drift direction. Our data suggests that the presence of B x ∇B and E x B ion particle drifts in the scrape-off layer and divertor(s) play an important role in the particle exhaust rates of DN and near-DN plasmas. Particle exhaust rates are shown to depend strongly on the edge (pedestal) density. These results have implications for particle control in ITER and other future tokamaks

Magnetic X-points, edge localized modes, and stochasticity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sugiyama, L. E.; Strauss, H. R.

2010-01-01

Edge localized modes (ELMs) near the boundary of a high temperature, magnetically confined toroidal plasma represent a new type of nonlinear magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) plasma instability that grows through a coherent plasma interaction with part of a chaotic magnetic field. Under perturbation, the freely moving magnetic boundary surface with an X-point splits into two different limiting asymptotic surfaces (manifolds), similar to the behavior of a hyperbolic saddle point in Hamiltonian dynamics. Numerical simulation using the extended MHD code M3D shows that field-aligned plasma instabilities, such as ballooning modes, can couple to the ''unstable'' manifold that forms helical, field-following lobes around the original surface. Large type I ELMs proceed in stages. Initially, a rapidly growing ballooning outburst involves the entire outboard side. Large plasma fingers grow well off the midplane, while low density regions penetrate deeply into the plasma. The magnetic field becomes superficially stochastic. A secondary inboard edge instability causes inboard plasma loss. The plasma gradually relaxes back toward axisymmetry, with diminishing cycles of edge instability. Poloidal rotation of the interior and edge plasma may be driven. The magnetic tangle constrains the early nonlinear ballooning, but may encourage the later inward penetration. Equilibrium toroidal rotation and two-fluid diamagnetic drifts have relatively small effects on a strong MHD instability. Intrinsic magnetic stochasticity may help explain the wide range of experimentally observed ELMs and ELM-free behavior in fusion plasmas, as well as properties of the H-mode and plasma edge.

pyNSMC: A Python Module for Null-Space Monte Carlo Uncertainty Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

White, J.; Brakefield, L. K.

2015-12-01

The null-space monte carlo technique is a non-linear uncertainty analyses technique that is well-suited to high-dimensional inverse problems. While the technique is powerful, the existing workflow for completing null-space monte carlo is cumbersome, requiring the use of multiple commandline utilities, several sets of intermediate files and even a text editor. pyNSMC is an open-source python module that automates the workflow of null-space monte carlo uncertainty analyses. The module is fully compatible with the PEST and PEST++ software suites and leverages existing functionality of pyEMU, a python framework for linear-based uncertainty analyses. pyNSMC greatly simplifies the existing workflow for null-space monte carlo by taking advantage of object oriented design facilities in python. The core of pyNSMC is the ensemble class, which draws and stores realized random vectors and also provides functionality for exporting and visualizing results. By relieving users of the tedium associated with file handling and command line utility execution, pyNSMC instead focuses the user on the important steps and assumptions of null-space monte carlo analysis. Furthermore, pyNSMC facilitates learning through flow charts and results visualization, which are available at many points in the algorithm. The ease-of-use of the pyNSMC workflow is compared to the existing workflow for null-space monte carlo for a synthetic groundwater model with hundreds of estimable parameters.

On the Electron Diffusion Region in Asymmetric Reconnection with a Guide Magnetic Field

Science.gov (United States)

Hesse, Michael; Liu, Yi-Hsin; Chen, Li-Jen; Bessho, Naoki; Kuznetsova, Masha; Birn, Joachim; Burch, James L.

2016-01-01

Particle-in-cell simulations in a 2.5-D geometry and analytical theory are employed to study the electron diffusion region in asymmetric reconnection with a guide magnetic field. The analysis presented here demonstrates that similar to the case without guide field, in-plane flow stagnation and null of the in-plane magnetic field are well separated. In addition, it is shown that the electric field at the local magnetic X point is again dominated by inertial effects, whereas it remains dominated by nongyrotropic pressure effects at the in-plane flow stagnation point. A comparison between local electron Larmor radii and the magnetic gradient scale lengths predicts that distribution should become nongyrotropic in a region enveloping both field reversal and flow stagnation points. This prediction is verified by an analysis of modeled electron distributions, which show clear evidence of mixing in the critical region.

Topological study of magnetic field near a neutral point

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fukao, Shoichiro; Ugai, Masayuki; Tsuda, Takao.

1975-01-01

Configuration of magnetic fields near a neutral point is re-examined by a topological analysis. The so-called X-and 0-type magnetic fields respectively occupy their own seat in our classified table. Then the existence of the spiral and node types of configuration will be shown by the analysis. (auth.)

Octupolar out-of-plane magnetic field structure generation during collisionless magnetic reconnection in a stressed X-point collapse

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Graf von der Pahlen, J.; Tsiklauri, D. [School of Physics and Astronomy, Queen Mary University of London, London E1 4NS (United Kingdom)

2014-06-15

The out-of-plane magnetic field, generated by fast magnetic reconnection, during collisionless, stressed X-point collapse, was studied with a kinetic, 2.5D, fully electromagnetic, relativistic particle-in-cell numerical code, using both closed (flux conserving) and open boundary conditions on a square grid. It was discovered that the well known quadrupolar structure in the out-of-plane magnetic field gains four additional regions of opposite magnetic polarity, emerging near the corners of the simulation box, moving towards the X-point. The emerging, outer, magnetic field structure has opposite polarity to the inner quadrupolar structure, leading to an overall octupolar structure. Using Ampere's law and integrating electron and ion currents, defined at grid cells, over the simulation domain, contributions to the out-of-plane magnetic field from electron and ion currents were determined. The emerging regions of opposite magnetic polarity were shown to be the result of ion currents. Magnetic octupolar structure is found to be a signature of X-point collapse, rather than tearing mode, and factors relating to potential discoveries in experimental scenarios or space-craft observations are discussed.

Magnetic Topology of Coronal Hole Linkages

Science.gov (United States)

Titov, V. S.; Mikic, Z.; Linker, J. A.; Lionello, R.; Antiochos, S. K.

2010-01-01

In recent work, Antiochos and coworkers argued that the boundary between the open and closed field regions on the Sun can be extremely complex with narrow corridors of open ux connecting seemingly disconnected coronal holes from the main polar holes, and that these corridors may be the sources of the slow solar wind. We examine, in detail, the topology of such magnetic configurations using an analytical source surface model that allows for analysis of the eld with arbitrary resolution. Our analysis reveals three important new results: First, a coronal hole boundary can join stably to the separatrix boundary of a parasitic polarity region. Second, a single parasitic polarity region can produce multiple null points in the corona and, more important, separator lines connecting these points. Such topologies are extremely favorable for magnetic reconnection, because it can now occur over the entire length of the separators rather than being con ned to a small region around the nulls. Finally, the coronal holes are not connected by an open- eld corridor of finite width, but instead are linked by a singular line that coincides with the separatrix footprint of the parasitic polarity. We investigate how the topological features described above evolve in response to motion of the parasitic polarity region. The implications of our results for the sources of the slow solar wind and for coronal and heliospheric observations are discussed.

On smoothness-asymmetric null infinities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Valiente Kroon, Juan Antonio

2006-01-01

We discuss the existence of asymptotically Euclidean initial data sets for the vacuum Einstein field equations which would give rise (modulo an existence result for the evolution equations near spatial infinity) to developments with a past and a future null infinity of different smoothness. For simplicity, the analysis is restricted to the class of conformally flat, axially symmetric initial data sets. It is shown how the free parameters in the second fundamental form of the data can be used to satisfy certain obstructions to the smoothness of null infinity. The resulting initial data sets could be interpreted as those of some sort of (nonlinearly) distorted Schwarzschild black hole. Their developments would be that they admit a peeling future null infinity, but at the same time have a polyhomogeneous (non-peeling) past null infinity

Visible Nulling Coronagraphy for Exo-Planetary Detection and Characterization

Science.gov (United States)

Lyon, Richard G.; Clampin, Mark; Woodruff, Robert; Vasudevan, Gopal; Shao, Mike; Levine, Martin; Melnick, Gary; Tolls, Volker; Petrone, Peter; Dogoda, Peter; Duval, Julia; Ge, Jian

Visible Nulling Coronagraphy (VNC) is the proposed method of detecting and characterizing exo-solar Jovian planets (null depth 10-9) for the proposed NASA's Extrasolar Planetary Imaging Coronagraph (EPIC) Clampin & Lyon 2004 and is an approach under evaluation for NASA's Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF) mission. The VNC approach uses a single unobscured filled-aperture telescope and splits, via a 50:50 beamsplitter, its re-imaged pupil into two paths within a Mach-Zender interferometer. An achromatic PI phase shift is imposed onto one beam path and the two paths are laterally sheared with respect to each other. The two beams are recombined at a second 50:50 beamsplitter. The net effect is that the on axis (stellar) light is transmitted out of the bright interferometer arm while the off-axis (planetary) light is transmitted out of the nulled interferometer arm. The bright output is used for fine pointing control and coarse wavefront control. The nulled output is relayed to the science camera for science imagery and fine wavefront control. The actual transmission pattern, projected on the sky, follows a θ^2 pattern for a single shear, θ^4 for a double shear, with the spacing of the successive maxima proportional to the inverse of the relative lateral shear. Combinations of shears and spacecraft rolls build up the spatial frequency content of the sky transmission pattern in the same manner as imaging interferometer builds up the spatial frequency content of the image.

Null solution of the Yang-Mills equations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tafel, J.

1986-05-01

We investigate the correspondence between null solutions of the Yang-Mills equations and shearfree geodesic null congruences. We give an example of a non-Abelian null solution with twisting rays. (orig.)

PERSEE: a nulling interferometer with dynamic correction of external perturbations

Science.gov (United States)

Jacquinod, S.; Houairi, K.; Le Duigou, J.-M.; Barillot, M.; Cassaing, F.; Réess, J.-M.; Hénault, F.; Sorrente, B.; Morinaud, G.; Amans, J.-P.; Coudé du Foresto, V.; Ollivier, M.

2017-11-01

Nulling interferometry is one of the direct detection methods assessed to find and characterize extrasolar planets and particularly telluric ones. Several projects such as Darwin [1;2], TPF-I [3;4], PEGASE [5;6] or FKSI [7], are currently considered. One of the main issues is the feasibility of a stable polychromatic null despite the presence of significant disturbances, induced by vibrations, atmospheric turbulence on the ground or satellite drift. Satisfying all these requirements is a great challenge and a key issue of these missions. In the context of the PEGASE mission, it was decided (in 2006), to build a laboratory demonstrator named PERSEE. It is the first laboratory setup which couples deep nulling interferometry with a free flying GNC simulator [8]. It is developed by a consortium composed of CNES, IAS, LESIA, OCA, ONERA, and TAS. In this paper, we detail the main objectives, the set-up and the function of the bench. We describe all the subsystems and we focus particularly on two key points of PERSEE: the beam combiner and the Fringe tracker.

Null-strut calculus. II. Dynamics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kheyfets, A.; LaFave, N.J.; Miller, W.A.

1990-01-01

In this paper, we continue from the preceding paper to develop a fully functional Regge calculus geometrodynamic algorithm from the null-strut-calculus construction. The developments discussed include (a) the identification of the Regge calculus analogue of the constraint and evolution equations on the null-strut lattice, (b) a description of the Minkowski solid geometry for the simplicial blocks of the null-strut lattice, (c) a description of the evolution algorithm for the geometrodynamic scheme and an analysis of its consistency, and (d) a presentation of the dynamical degrees of freedom for a simplicial hypersurface and the description of an initial-value prescription. To demonstrate qualitatively this new approach to geometrodynamics, we present the most simple application of null-strut calculus that we know of---the Friedmann cosmology using the three-boundary of a 600-cell simplicial polytope to model the simplicial hypersurface

Visible Nulling Coronagraph Progress Report

Science.gov (United States)

Lyon, R. G.; Clampin, M.; Woodruff, R. A.; Vasudevan, G.; Thompson, P.; Petrone, P.; Madison, T.; Rizzo, M.; Melnick, G.; Tolls, V.

2010-10-01

We report on recent laboratory results with the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Visible Nulling Coronagraph (VNC) testbed. We have achieved focal plane contrasts of 108 and approaching 109 at inner working angles of 2 λ/D and 4 λ/D, respectively. Results were obtained with a broadband source and 40 nm filter centered on 630 nm. A null control breadboard (NCB) was also developed to assess and quantify MEMS based deformable mirror technology (DM), and to develop and assess closed-loop null control algorithms. We have demonstrated closed-loop performance at 27 Hz.

Averaged null energy condition from causality

Science.gov (United States)

Hartman, Thomas; Kundu, Sandipan; Tajdini, Amirhossein

2017-07-01

Unitary, Lorentz-invariant quantum field theories in flat spacetime obey mi-crocausality: commutators vanish at spacelike separation. For interacting theories in more than two dimensions, we show that this implies that the averaged null energy, ∫ duT uu , must be non-negative. This non-local operator appears in the operator product expansion of local operators in the lightcone limit, and therefore contributes to n-point functions. We derive a sum rule that isolates this contribution and is manifestly positive. The argument also applies to certain higher spin operators other than the stress tensor, generating an infinite family of new constraints of the form ∫ duX uuu··· u ≥ 0. These lead to new inequalities for the coupling constants of spinning operators in conformal field theory, which include as special cases (but are generally stronger than) the existing constraints from the lightcone bootstrap, deep inelastic scattering, conformal collider methods, and relative entropy. We also comment on the relation to the recent derivation of the averaged null energy condition from relative entropy, and suggest a more general connection between causality and information-theoretic inequalities in QFT.

Permanent magnet working point ripple in synchronous generators

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stefan Sjökvist

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Permanent magnets (PMs are today widely used in electrical machines of all sorts. With their increase in popularity, the amount of research has increased as well. In this study, the magnetic flux density ripple of the working point of the PMs in a 100 kW PM synchronous generator has been investigated for three different load cases: no load, AC load, and DC load. The PMs will be subjected to a shift in working point as a consequence of the characteristics of the electrical loading. This study is based on finite element method simulations where the ripple of the magnetic flux density in the PMs was recorded at three positions within a PM. The slot harmonic of 7.5 times the electrical frequency (f(el was present in the results for all load cases, but mainly at the surface of the PM, as expected. Results showed an unexpected harmonic of 1.5 f(el, assumed to be an undertone of the slot harmonics. The 6f(el harmonic for the DC load case was significantly higher than for the AC load case and is caused by the current fluctuation during passive rectification. For the studied machine, the added harmonics in the magnetic field due to passive rectification are less than the slot-related harmonics.

Visible nulling coronagraph testbed results

Science.gov (United States)

Lyon, Richard G.; Clampin, Mark; Woodruff, Robert A.; Vasudevan, Gopal; Thompson, Patrick; Petrone, Peter; Madison, Timothy; Rizzo, Maxime; Melnick, Gary; Tolls, Volker

2009-08-01

We report on our recent laboratory results with the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) Visible Nulling Coronagraph (VNC) testbed. We have experimentally achieved focal plane contrasts of 1 x 108 and approaching 109 at inner working angles of 2 * wavelength/D and 4 * wavelength/D respectively where D is the aperture diameter. The result was obtained using a broadband source with a narrowband spectral filter of width 10 nm centered on 630 nm. To date this is the deepest nulling result with a visible nulling coronagraph yet obtained. Developed also is a Null Control Breadboard (NCB) to assess and quantify MEMS based segmented deformable mirror technology and develop and assess closed-loop null sensing and control algorithm performance from both the pupil and focal planes. We have demonstrated closed-loop control at 27 Hz in the laboratory environment. Efforts are underway to first bring the contrast to > 109 necessary for the direct detection and characterization of jovian (Jupiter-like) and then to > 1010 necessary for terrestrial (Earth-like) exosolar planets. Short term advancements are expected to both broaden the spectral passband from 10 nm to 100 nm and to increase both the long-term stability to > 2 hours and the extent of the null out to a ~ 10 * wavelength / D via the use of MEMS based segmented deformable mirror technology, a coherent fiber bundle, achromatic phase shifters, all in a vacuum chamber at the GSFC VNC facility. Additionally an extreme stability textbook sized compact VNC is under development.

Phase Mixing of Alfvén Waves Near a 2D Magnetic Null Point J. A. ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

nar Alfvén wavefront remains planar, despite the varying equilibrium ..... Since the wave is so stretched where it forms the 'reflection point' in the wave- .... Thus, we find that the Alfvén wave is again distorted from its initially planar shape,.

Quenching points of dimeric single-molecule magnets: Exchange interaction effects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Florez, J.M.; Nunez, Alvaro S.; Vargas, P.

2010-01-01

We study the quenched energy-splitting (Δ E ) of a single-molecule magnet (SMM) conformed by two exchange coupled giant-spins. An assessment of two nontrivial characteristics of this quenching is presented: (i) The quenching-points of a strongly exchange-coupled dimer differ from the ones of their respective giant-spin modeled SMM and such a difference can be well described by using the Solari-Kochetov extra phase; (ii) the dependence on the exchange coupling of the magnetic field values at the quenching-points when Δ E passes from monomeric to dimeric behavior. The physics behind these exchange-modified points, their relation with the Δ E -oscillations experimentally obtained by the Landau-Zener method and with the diabolical-plane of a SMM, is discussed.

Quenching points of dimeric single-molecule magnets: Exchange interaction effects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Florez, J.M., E-mail: juanmanuel.florez@alumnos.usm.c [Departamento de Fisica, Universidad Tecnica Federico Santa Maria, P.O. Box 110-V, Valparaiso (Chile); Nunez, Alvaro S., E-mail: alnunez@dfi.uchile.c [Departamento de Fisica, Facultad de Ciencias Fisicas y Matematicas, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 487-3, Santiago (Chile); Vargas, P., E-mail: patricio.vargas@usm.c [Departamento de Fisica, Universidad Tecnica Federico Santa Maria, P.O. Box 110-V, Valparaiso (Chile)

2010-11-15

We study the quenched energy-splitting ({Delta}{sub E}) of a single-molecule magnet (SMM) conformed by two exchange coupled giant-spins. An assessment of two nontrivial characteristics of this quenching is presented: (i) The quenching-points of a strongly exchange-coupled dimer differ from the ones of their respective giant-spin modeled SMM and such a difference can be well described by using the Solari-Kochetov extra phase; (ii) the dependence on the exchange coupling of the magnetic field values at the quenching-points when {Delta}{sub E} passes from monomeric to dimeric behavior. The physics behind these exchange-modified points, their relation with the {Delta}{sub E}-oscillations experimentally obtained by the Landau-Zener method and with the diabolical-plane of a SMM, is discussed.

Magnetic-field control of quantum critical points of valence transition.

Science.gov (United States)

Watanabe, Shinji; Tsuruta, Atsushi; Miyake, Kazumasa; Flouquet, Jacques

2008-06-13

We study the mechanism of how critical end points of first-order valence transitions are controlled by a magnetic field. We show that the critical temperature is suppressed to be a quantum critical point (QCP) by a magnetic field, and unexpectedly, the QCP exhibits nonmonotonic field dependence in the ground-state phase diagram, giving rise to the emergence of metamagnetism even in the intermediate valence-crossover regime. The driving force of the field-induced QCP is clarified to be cooperative phenomena of the Zeeman and Kondo effects, which create a distinct energy scale from the Kondo temperature. This mechanism explains the peculiar magnetic response in CeIrIn(5) and the metamagnetic transition in YbXCu(4) for X=In as well as the sharp contrast between X=Ag and Cd.

Null structure groups in eleven dimensions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cariglia, Marco; Mac Conamhna, Oisin A. P.

2006-01-01

We classify all the structure groups which arise as subgroups of the isotropy group (Spin(7)xR 8 )xR, of a single null Killing spinor in 11 dimensions. We construct the spaces of spinors fixed by these groups. We determine the conditions under which structure subgroups of the maximal null structure group (Spin(7)xR 8 )xR may also be embedded in SU(5), and hence the conditions under which a supersymmetric spacetime admits only null, or both timelike and null, Killing spinors. We discuss how this purely algebraic material will facilitate the direct analysis of the Killing spinor equation of 11 dimensional supergravity, and the classification of supersymmetric spacetimes therein

Lost and found: The missing diabolical points in the Fe$_8$ molecular magnet

OpenAIRE

Li, Feifei; Garg, Anupam

2010-01-01

Certain diabolical points in the tunneling spectrum of the single-molecule magnet Fe$_8$ were previously believed to be have been eliminated as a result of a weak fourth-order anisotropy. As shown by Bruno, this is not so, and the points are only displaced in the magnetic field space along the medium anisotropy direction. The previously missing points are numerically located by following the lines of the Berry curvature. The importance of an experimental search for these rediscovered points i...

Handheld magnetic probe with permanent magnet and Hall sensor for identifying sentinel lymph nodes in breast cancer patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Sekino, Masaki; Kuwahata, Akihiro; Ookubo, Tetsu; Shiozawa, Mikio; Ohashi, Kaichi; Kaneko, Miki; Saito, Itsuro; Inoue, Yusuke; Ohsaki, Hiroyuki; Takei, Hiroyuki; Kusakabe, Moriaki

2018-01-19

The newly developed radioisotope-free technique based on magnetic nanoparticle detection using a magnetic probe is a promising method for sentinel lymph node biopsy. In this study, a novel handheld magnetic probe with a permanent magnet and magnetic sensor is developed to detect the sentinel lymph nodes in breast cancer patients. An outstanding feature of the probe is the precise positioning of the sensor at the magnetic null point of the magnet, leading to highly sensitive measurements unaffected by the strong ambient magnetic fields of the magnet. Numerical and experimental results show that the longitudinal detection length is approximately 10 mm, for 140 μg of iron. Clinical tests were performed, for the first time, using magnetic and blue dye tracers-without radioisotopes-in breast cancer patients to demonstrate the performance of the probe. The nodes were identified through transcutaneous and ex-vivo measurements, and the iron accumulation in the nodes was quantitatively revealed. These results show that the handheld magnetic probe is useful in sentinel lymph node biopsy and that magnetic techniques are widely being accepted as future standard methods in medical institutions lacking nuclear medicine facilities.

Imaging a Magnetic-breakout Solar Eruption

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Yao; Du, Guohui; Zhao, Di; Wu, Zhao; Liu, Wei; Wang, Bing; Ruan, Guiping; Feng, Shiwei; Song, Hongqiang

2016-04-01

The fundamental mechanism initiating coronal mass ejections (CMEs) remains controversial. One of the leading theories is magnetic breakout, in which magnetic reconnection occurring high in the corona removes the confinement on an energized low-corona structure from the overlying magnetic field, thus allowing it to erupt. Here, we report critical observational evidence of this elusive breakout reconnection in a multi-polar magnetic configuration that leads to a CME and an X-class, long-duration flare. Its occurrence is supported by the presence of pairs of heated cusp-shaped loops around an X-type null point and signatures of reconnection inflows. Other peculiar features new to the breakout picture include sequential loop brightening, coronal hard X-rays at energies up to ˜100 keV, and extended high-corona X-rays above the later restored multi-polar structure. These observations, from a novel perspective with clarity never achieved before, present crucial clues to understanding the initiation mechanism of solar eruptions.

IMAGING A MAGNETIC-BREAKOUT SOLAR ERUPTION

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Yao; Du, Guohui; Zhao, Di; Wu, Zhao; Wang, Bing; Ruan, Guiping; Feng, Shiwei; Song, Hongqiang; Liu, Wei

2016-01-01

The fundamental mechanism initiating coronal mass ejections (CMEs) remains controversial. One of the leading theories is magnetic breakout, in which magnetic reconnection occurring high in the corona removes the confinement on an energized low-corona structure from the overlying magnetic field, thus allowing it to erupt. Here, we report critical observational evidence of this elusive breakout reconnection in a multi-polar magnetic configuration that leads to a CME and an X-class, long-duration flare. Its occurrence is supported by the presence of pairs of heated cusp-shaped loops around an X-type null point and signatures of reconnection inflows. Other peculiar features new to the breakout picture include sequential loop brightening, coronal hard X-rays at energies up to ∼100 keV, and extended high-corona X-rays above the later restored multi-polar structure. These observations, from a novel perspective with clarity never achieved before, present crucial clues to understanding the initiation mechanism of solar eruptions

On the Penrose inequality along null hypersurfaces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mars, Marc; Soria, Alberto

2016-01-01

The null Penrose inequality, i.e. the Penrose inequality in terms of the Bondi energy, is studied by introducing a functional on surfaces and studying its properties along a null hypersurface Ω extending to past null infinity. We prove a general Penrose-type inequality which involves the limit at infinity of the Hawking energy along a specific class of geodesic foliations called Geodesic Asymptotically Bondi (GAB), which are shown to always exist. Whenever this foliation approaches large spheres, this inequality becomes the null Penrose inequality and we recover the results of Ludvigsen–Vickers (1983 J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 16 3349–53) and Bergqvist (1997 Class. Quantum Grav. 14 2577–83). By exploiting further properties of the functional along general geodesic foliations, we introduce an approach to the null Penrose inequality called the Renormalized Area Method and find a set of two conditions which imply the validity of the null Penrose inequality. One of the conditions involves a limit at infinity and the other a restriction on the spacetime curvature along the flow. We investigate their range of applicability in two particular but interesting cases, namely the shear-free and vacuum case, where the null Penrose inequality is known to hold from the results by Sauter (2008 PhD Thesis Zürich ETH ), and the case of null shells propagating in the Minkowski spacetime. Finally, a general inequality bounding the area of the quasi-local black hole in terms of an asymptotic quantity intrinsic of Ω is derived. (paper)

Null Geodesic Congruences, Asymptotically-Flat Spacetimes and Their Physical Interpretation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Timothy M. Adamo

2009-09-01

Full Text Available A priori, there is nothing very special about shear-free or asymptotically shear-free null geodesic congruences. Surprisingly, however, they turn out to possess a large number of fascinating geometric properties and to be closely related, in the context of general relativity, to a variety of physically significant effects. It is the purpose of this paper to try to fully develop these issues. This work starts with a detailed exposition of the theory of shear-free and asymptotically shear-free null geodesic congruences, i.e., congruences with shear that vanishes at future conformal null infinity. A major portion of the exposition lies in the analysis of the space of regular shear-free and asymptotically shear-free null geodesic congruences. This analysis leads to the space of complex analytic curves in complex Minkowski space. They in turn play a dominant role in the applications. The applications center around the problem of extracting interior physical properties of an asymptotically-flat spacetime directly from the asymptotic gravitational (and Maxwell field itself, in analogy with the determination of total charge by an integral over the Maxwell field at infinity or the identification of the interior mass (and its loss by (Bondi’s integrals of the Weyl tensor, also at infinity. More specifically, we will see that the asymptotically shear-free congruences lead us to an asymptotic definition of the center-of-mass and its equations of motion. This includes a kinematic meaning, in terms of the center-of-mass motion, for the Bondi three-momentum. In addition, we obtain insights into intrinsic spin and, in general, angular momentum, including an angular-momentum–conservation law with well-defined flux terms. When a Maxwell field is present, the asymptotically shear-free congruences allow us to determine/define at infinity a center-of-charge world line and intrinsic magnetic dipole moment.

Null Geodesic Congruences, Asymptotically-Flat Spacetimes and Their Physical Interpretation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Timothy M. Adamo

2012-01-01

Full Text Available A priori, there is nothing very special about shear-free or asymptotically shear-free null geodesic congruences. Surprisingly, however, they turn out to possess a large number of fascinating geometric properties and to be closely related, in the context of general relativity, to a variety of physically significant effects. It is the purpose of this paper to try to fully develop these issues. This work starts with a detailed exposition of the theory of shear-free and asymptotically shear-free null geodesic congruences, i.e., congruences with shear that vanishes at future conformal null infinity. A major portion of the exposition lies in the analysis of the space of regular shear-free and asymptotically shear-free null geodesic congruences. This analysis leads to the space of complex analytic curves in an auxiliary four-complex dimensional space, H-space. They in turn play a dominant role in the applications. The applications center around the problem of extracting interior physical properties of an asymptotically-flat spacetime directly from the asymptotic gravitational (and Maxwell field itself, in analogy with the determination of total charge by an integral over the Maxwell field at infinity or the identification of the interior mass (and its loss by (Bondi's integrals of the Weyl tensor, also at infinity. More specifically, we will see that the asymptotically shear-free congruences lead us to an asymptotic definition of the center-of-mass and its equations of motion. This includes a kinematic meaning, in terms of the center-of-mass motion, for the Bondi three-momentum. In addition, we obtain insights into intrinsic spin and, in general, angular momentum, including an angular-momentum--conservation law with well-defined flux terms. When a Maxwell field is present, the asymptotically shear-free congruences allow us to determine/define at infinity a center-of-charge world line and intrinsic magnetic dipole moment.

Null Geodesic Congruences, Asymptotically-Flat Spacetimes and Their Physical Interpretation.

Science.gov (United States)

Adamo, Timothy M; Newman, Ezra T; Kozameh, Carlos

2012-01-01

A priori, there is nothing very special about shear-free or asymptotically shear-free null geodesic congruences. Surprisingly, however, they turn out to possess a large number of fascinating geometric properties and to be closely related, in the context of general relativity, to a variety of physically significant effects. It is the purpose of this paper to try to fully develop these issues. This work starts with a detailed exposition of the theory of shear-free and asymptotically shear-free null geodesic congruences, i.e., congruences with shear that vanishes at future conformal null infinity. A major portion of the exposition lies in the analysis of the space of regular shear-free and asymptotically shear-free null geodesic congruences. This analysis leads to the space of complex analytic curves in an auxiliary four-complex dimensional space, [Formula: see text]-space. They in turn play a dominant role in the applications. The applications center around the problem of extracting interior physical properties of an asymptotically-flat spacetime directly from the asymptotic gravitational (and Maxwell) field itself, in analogy with the determination of total charge by an integral over the Maxwell field at infinity or the identification of the interior mass (and its loss) by (Bondi's) integrals of the Weyl tensor, also at infinity. More specifically, we will see that the asymptotically shear-free congruences lead us to an asymptotic definition of the center-of-mass and its equations of motion. This includes a kinematic meaning, in terms of the center-of-mass motion, for the Bondi three-momentum. In addition, we obtain insights into intrinsic spin and, in general, angular momentum, including an angular-momentum-conservation law with well-defined flux terms. When a Maxwell field is present, the asymptotically shear-free congruences allow us to determine/define at infinity a center-of-charge world line and intrinsic magnetic dipole moment.

On the null origin of the ambitwistor string

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Casali, Eduardo [Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford,Woodstock Road, Oxford, OX2 6GG (United Kingdom); Tourkine, Piotr [Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics,Wilberforce Road, Cambridge, CB3 0WA (United Kingdom)

2016-11-07

In this paper we present the null string origin of the ambitwistor string. Classically, the null string is the tensionless limit of string theory, and so too is the ambitwistor string. Both have as constraint algebra the Galilean Conformal Algebra in two dimensions. But something interesting happens in the quantum theory since there is an ambiguity in quantizing the null string. We show that, given a particular choice of quantization scheme and a particular gauge, the null string coincides with the ambitwistor string both classically and quantum mechanically. We also show that the same holds for the spinning versions of the null string and ambitwistor string. With these results we clarify the relationship between the ambitwistor string, the null string, the usual string and the Hohm-Siegel-Zwiebach theory.

A magnetically induced quantum critical point in holography

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gursoy, U.; Gnecchi, A.; Toldo, C.; Papadoulaki, O.

We investigate quantum critical points in a 2+1 dimensional gauge theory at finite chemical potential χ and magnetic field B. The gravity dual is based on 4D NN = 2 Fayet-Iliopoulos gauged supergravity and the solutions we consider — that are constructed analytically — are extremal, dyonic,

[Dilemma of null hypothesis in ecological hypothesis's experiment test.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Ji

2016-06-01

Experimental test is one of the major test methods of ecological hypothesis, though there are many arguments due to null hypothesis. Quinn and Dunham (1983) analyzed the hypothesis deduction model from Platt (1964) and thus stated that there is no null hypothesis in ecology that can be strictly tested by experiments. Fisher's falsificationism and Neyman-Pearson (N-P)'s non-decisivity inhibit statistical null hypothesis from being strictly tested. Moreover, since the null hypothesis H 0 (α=1, β=0) and alternative hypothesis H 1 '(α'=1, β'=0) in ecological progresses are diffe-rent from classic physics, the ecological null hypothesis can neither be strictly tested experimentally. These dilemmas of null hypothesis could be relieved via the reduction of P value, careful selection of null hypothesis, non-centralization of non-null hypothesis, and two-tailed test. However, the statistical null hypothesis significance testing (NHST) should not to be equivalent to the causality logistical test in ecological hypothesis. Hence, the findings and conclusions about methodological studies and experimental tests based on NHST are not always logically reliable.

On the dependence of energy confinement on elongation in Single Null divertor plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weisen, H.; Martin, Y.; Moret, J. M.; Others

2002-03-01

An analysis of the effect of magnetic geometry on heat flux in a wide range of Single Null diverted discharge configurations with 1.5 κ ∼ 74, based on the configurations in the study. This is very close to dependences from the ITER database for discharge conditions, such as ELMy H-modes, obtained from a large number of experiments in various tokamak devices. (author)

Gravitational collapse of a cylindrical null shell in vacuum

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Khakshournia

2008-03-01

Full Text Available   Barrabès-Israel null shell formalism is used to study the gravitational collapse of a thin cylindrical null shell in vacuum. In general the lightlike matter shell whose history coincides with a null hypersurface is characterized by a surface energy density. In addition, a gravitational impulsive wave is present on this null hypersurface whose generators admit both the shear and expansion. In the case of imposing the cylindrical flatness the surface energy-momentum tensor of the matter shell on the null hypersurface vanishes and the null hyper- surface is just the history of the gravitational wave .

Bare Quantum Null Energy Condition.

Science.gov (United States)

Fu, Zicao; Marolf, Donald

2018-02-16

The quantum null energy condition (QNEC) is a conjectured relation between a null version of quantum field theory energy and derivatives of quantum field theory von Neumann entropy. In some cases, divergences cancel between these two terms and the QNEC is intrinsically finite. We study the more general case here where they do not and argue that a QNEC can still hold for bare (unrenormalized) quantities. While the original QNEC applied only to locally stationary null congruences in backgrounds that solve semiclassical theories of quantum gravity, at least in the formal perturbation theory at a small Planck length, the quantum focusing conjecture can be viewed as the special case of our bare QNEC for which the metric is on shell.

Supersymmetric null-like holographic cosmologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lin Fengli; Wen Wenyu

2006-01-01

We construct a new class of 1/4-BPS time dependent domain-wall solutions with null-like metric and dilaton in type II supergravities, which admit a null-like big bang singularity. Based on the domain-wall/QFT correspondence, these solutions are dual to 1/4-supersymmetric quantum field theories living on a boundary cosmological background with time dependent coupling constant and UV cutoff. In particular we evaluate the holographic c function for the 2-dimensional dual field theory living on the corresponding null-like cosmology. We find that this c function runs in accordance with the c-theorem as the boundary universe evolves, this means that the number of degrees of freedom is divergent at big bang and suggests the possible resolution of big bang singularity

Multi-critical points in weakly anisotropic magnetic systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Basten, J.A.J.

1979-02-01

This report starts with a rather extensive presentation of the concepts and ideas which constitute the basis of the modern theory of static critical phenomena. It is shown how at a critical point the semi-phenomenological concepts of universality and scaling are directly related to the divergence of the correlation length and how they are extended to a calculational method for critical behaviour in Wilson's Renormalization-Group (RG) approach. Subsequently the predictions of the molecular-field and RG-theories on the phase transitions and critical behaviour in weakly anisotropic antiferromagnets are treated. In a magnetic field applied along the easy axis, these materials can display an (H,T) phase diagram which contains either a bicritical point or a tetracritical point. Especially the behaviour close to these multi-critical points, as predicted by the extended-scaling theory, is discussed. (Auth.)

Null geodesic deviation II. Conformally flat space--times

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peters, P.C.

1975-01-01

The equation of geodesic deviation is solved in conformally flat space--time in a covariant manner. The solution is given as an integral equation for general geodesics. The solution is then used to evaluate second derivatives of the world function and derivatives of the parallel propagator, which need to be known in order to find the Green's function for wave equations in curved space--time. A method of null geodesic limits of two-point functions is discussed, and used to find the scalar Green's function as an iterative series

On the Relation Between Facular Bright Points and the Magnetic Field

Science.gov (United States)

Berger, Thomas; Shine, Richard; Tarbell, Theodore; Title, Alan; Scharmer, Goran

1994-12-01

Multi-spectral images of magnetic structures in the solar photosphere are presented. The images were obtained in the summers of 1993 and 1994 at the Swedish Solar Telescope on La Palma using the tunable birefringent Solar Optical Universal Polarimeter (SOUP filter), a 10 Angstroms wide interference filter tuned to 4304 Angstroms in the band head of the CH radical (the Fraunhofer G-band), and a 3 Angstroms wide interference filter centered on the Ca II--K absorption line. Three large format CCD cameras with shuttered exposures on the order of 10 msec and frame rates of up to 7 frames per second were used to create time series of both quiet and active region evolution. The full field--of--view is 60times 80 arcseconds (44times 58 Mm). With the best seeing, structures as small as 0.22 arcseconds (160 km) in diameter are clearly resolved. Post--processing of the images results in rigid coalignment of the image sets to an accuracy comparable to the spatial resolution. Facular bright points with mean diameters of 0.35 arcseconds (250 km) and elongated filaments with lengths on the order of arcseconds (10(3) km) are imaged with contrast values of up to 60 % by the G--band filter. Overlay of these images on contemporal Fe I 6302 Angstroms magnetograms and Ca II K images reveals that the bright points occur, without exception, on sites of magnetic flux through the photosphere. However, instances of concentrated and diffuse magnetic flux and Ca II K emission without associated bright points are common, leading to the conclusion that the presence of magnetic flux is a necessary but not sufficient condition for the occurence of resolvable facular bright points. Comparison of the G--band and continuum images shows a complex relation between structures in the two bandwidths: bright points exceeding 350 km in extent correspond to distinct bright structures in the continuum; smaller bright points show no clear relation to continuum structures. Size and contrast statistical cross

Singular Null Hypersurfaces in General Relativity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dray, T

2006-01-01

Null hypersurfaces are a mathematical consequence of the Lorentzian signature of general relativity; singularities in mathematical models usually indicate where the interesting physics takes place. This book discusses what happens when you combine these ideas. Right from the preface, this is a no-nonsense book. There are two principal approaches to singular shells, one distributional and the other 'cut and paste'; both are treated in detail. A working knowledge of GR is assumed, including familiarity with null tetrads, differential forms, and 3 + 1 decompositions. Despite my own reasonably extensive, closely related knowledge, there was material unfamiliar to me already in chapter 3, although I was reunited with some old friends in later chapters. The exposition is crisp, with a minimum of transition from chapter to chapter. In fact, my main criticism is that there is no clear statement of the organization of the book, nor is there an index. Everything is here, and the story is compelling if you know what to look for, although it is less easy to follow the story if you are not already familiar with it. But this is really a book for experts, and the authors certainly qualify, having played a significant role in developing and extending the results they describe. It is also entirely appropriate that the book is dedicated to Werner Israel, who pioneered the thin-shell approach to (non-null) singular surfaces and later championed the use of similar methods for analysing null shells. After an introductory chapter on impulsive signals, the authors show how the Bianchi identities can be used to classify spacetimes with singular null hypersurfaces. This approach, due to the authors, generalizes the framework originally proposed by Penrose. While astrophysical applications are discussed only briefly, the authors point out that detailed physical characteristics of signals from isolated sources can be determined in this manner. In particular, they describe the behaviour of

Null geodesics and embedding diagrams of the interior Schwarzschild--de Sitter spacetimes with uniform density

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stuchlik, Zdenek; Hledik, Stanislav; Soltes, Jiri; Ostgaard, Erlend

2001-01-01

Null geodesics and embedding diagrams of central planes in the ordinary space geometry and the optical reference geometry of the interior Schwarzschild--de Sitter spacetimes with uniform density are studied. For completeness, both positive and negative values of the cosmological constant are considered. The null geodesics are restricted to the central planes of these spacetimes, and their properties can be reflected by an 'effective potential.' If the interior spacetime is extremely compact, the effective potential has a local maximum corresponding to a stable circular null geodesic around which bound null geodesics are concentrated. The upper limit on the size of the interior spacetimes containing bound null geodesics is R=3M, independently of the value of the cosmological constant. The embedding diagrams of the central planes of the ordinary geometry into three-dimensional Euclidean space are well defined for the complete interior of all spacetimes with a repulsive cosmological constant, but the planes cannot be embedded into the Euclidean space in the case of spacetimes with subcritical values of an attractive cosmological constant. On the other hand, the embedding diagrams of the optical geometry are well defined for all of the spacetimes, and the turning points of these diagrams correspond to the radii of the circular null geodesics. All the embedding diagrams, for both the ordinary and optical geometry, are smoothly matched to the corresponding embedding diagrams of the external vacuum Schwarzschild--de Sitter spacetimes

Gravitomagnetic effect in magnetized neutron stars

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chatterjee, Debarati [LPC/ENSICAEN, 6 Boulevard Maréchal Juin, Caen, 14050 France (France); Chakraborty, Chandrachur [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Homi Bhabha Road, Colaba, Mumbai, 400005 India (India); Bandyopadhyay, Debades, E-mail: dchatterjee@lpccaen.in2p3.fr, E-mail: chandrachur.chakraborty@tifr.res.in, E-mail: debades.bandyopadhyay@saha.ac.in [Astroparticle Physics and Cosmology Division, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, HBNI, 1/AF Bidhannagar, Kolkata, 700064 India (India)

2017-01-01

Rotating bodies in General Relativity produce frame dragging, also known as the gravitomagnetic effect in analogy with classical electromagnetism. In this work, we study the effect of magnetic field on the gravitomagnetic effect in neutron stars with poloidal geometry, which is produced as a result of its rotation. We show that the magnetic field has a non-negligible impact on frame dragging. The maximum effect of the magnetic field appears along the polar direction, where the frame-dragging frequency decreases with increase in magnetic field, and along the equatorial direction, where its magnitude increases. For intermediate angles, the effect of the magnetic field decreases, and goes through a minimum for a particular angular value at which magnetic field has no effect on gravitomagnetism. Beyond that particular angle gravitomagnetic effect increases with increasing magnetic field. We try to identify this 'null region' for the case of magnetized neutron stars, both inside and outside, as a function of the magnetic field, and suggest a thought experiment to find the null region of a particular pulsar using the frame dragging effect.

SLIP-SQUASHING FACTORS AS A MEASURE OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL MAGNETIC RECONNECTION

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Titov, V. S.; Mikic, Z.; Linker, J. A.; Forbes, T. G.; Priest, E. R.

2009-01-01

A general method for describing magnetic reconnection in arbitrary three-dimensional magnetic configurations is proposed. The method is based on the field-line mapping technique previously used only for the analysis of a magnetic structure at a given time. This technique is extended here so as to analyze the evolution of a magnetic structure. Such a generalization is made with the help of new dimensionless quantities called s lip-squashing factors.Their large values define the surfaces that border the reconnected or to-be-reconnected magnetic flux tubes for a given period of time during the magnetic evolution. The proposed method is universal, since it assumes only that the time sequence of evolving magnetic field and the tangential boundary flows are known. The application of the method is illustrated for simple examples, one of which was considered previously by Hesse and coworkers in the framework of the general magnetic reconnection theory. The examples help us to compare these two approaches; it reveals also that, just as for magnetic null points, hyperbolic and cusp minimum points of a magnetic field serve as favorable sites for magnetic reconnection. The new method admits a straightforward numerical implementation and provides a powerful tool for the diagnostics of magnetic reconnection in numerical models of solar-flare-like phenomena in space and laboratory plasmas.

Null infinity and extremal horizons in AdS-CFT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hickling, Andrew; Wiseman, Toby; Lucietti, James

2015-01-01

We consider AdS gravity duals to CFT on background spacetimes with a null infinity. Null infinity on the conformal boundary may extend to an extremal horizon in the bulk. For example it does so for Poincaré–AdS, although does not for planar Schwarzschild–AdS. If null infinity does extend into an extremal horizon in the bulk, we show that the bulk near-horizon geometry is determined by the geometry of the boundary null infinity. Hence the ‘infra-red’ geometry of the bulk is fixed by the large scale behaviour of the CFT spacetime. In addition the boundary stress tensor must have a particular decay at null infinity. As an application, we argue that for CFT on asymptotically flat backgrounds, any static bulk dual containing an extremal horizon extending from the boundary null infinity, must have the near-horizon geometry of Poincaré–AdS. We also discuss a class of boundary null infinity that cannot extend to a bulk extremal horizon, although we give evidence that they can extend to an analogous null surface in the bulk which possesses an associated scale-invariant ‘near-geometry’. (paper)

Null lifts and projective dynamics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cariglia, Marco, E-mail: marco@iceb.ufop.br

2015-11-15

We describe natural Hamiltonian systems using projective geometry. The null lift procedure endows the tangent bundle with a projective structure where the null Hamiltonian is identified with a projective conic and induces a Weyl geometry. Projective transformations generate a set of known and new dualities between Hamiltonian systems, as for example the phenomenon of coupling-constant metamorphosis. We conclude outlining how this construction can be extended to the quantum case for Eisenhart–Duval lifts.

Detection of Fatigue Cracks at Rivets with Self-Nulling Probe

Science.gov (United States)

Wincheski, Buzz; Fulton, Jim; Nath, Shridhar; Namkung, Min

1994-01-01

A new eddy current probe developed at NASA Langley Research Center has been used to detect small cracks at rivets in aircraft lap splices [1]. The device has earlier been used to detect isolated fatigue cracks with a minimum detectable flaw size of roughly 1/2 to 1/3 the diameter of the probe [2]. The present work shows that the detectable flaw size for cracks originating at rivets can be greatly improved upon from that of isolated flaws. The use of a rotating probe method combined with spatial filtering has been used to detect 0.18 cm EDM notches, as measured from the rivet shank, with a 1.27 cm diameter probe and to detect flaws buried under the rivet head, down to a length of 0.076 cm, using a 0.32 cm diameter probe. The Self-Nulling Electromagnetic Flaw Detector induces a high density eddy current ring in the sample under test. A ferromagnetic flux focusing lens is incorporated such that in the absence of any inhomogeneities in the material under test only a minimal magnetic field will reach the interior of the probe. A magnetometer (pickup coil) located in the center of the probe therefore registers a null voltage in the absence of material defects. When a fatigue crack or other discontinuity is present in the test article the path of the eddy currents in the material is changed. The magnetic field associated with these eddy currents then enter into the interior of the probe, producing a large output voltage across the pickup coil leads. Further

The Importance of Proving the Null

Science.gov (United States)

Gallistel, C. R.

2009-01-01

Null hypotheses are simple, precise, and theoretically important. Conventional statistical analysis cannot support them; Bayesian analysis can. The challenge in a Bayesian analysis is to formulate a suitably vague alternative, because the vaguer the alternative is (the more it spreads out the unit mass of prior probability), the more the null is…

Conformal symmetry inheritance in null fluid spacetimes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tupper, B O J; Keane, A J; Hall, G S; Coley, A A; Carot, J

2003-01-01

We define inheriting conformal Killing vectors for null fluid spacetimes and find the maximum dimension of the associated inheriting Lie algebra. We show that for non-conformally flat null fluid spacetimes, the maximum dimension of the inheriting algebra is seven and for conformally flat null fluid spacetimes the maximum dimension is eight. In addition, it is shown that there are two distinct classes of non-conformally flat generalized plane wave spacetimes which possess the maximum dimension, and one class in the conformally flat case

Telescopes in Near Space: Balloon Exoplanet Nulling Interferometer (BigBENI)

Science.gov (United States)

Lyon, Richard G.; Clampin, Mark; Petrone, Peter; Mallik, Udayan; Mauk, Robin

2012-01-01

A significant and often overlooked path to advancing both science and technology for direct imaging and spectroscopic characterization of exosolar planets is to fly "near space" missions, i.e. balloon borne exosolar missions. A near space balloon mission with two or more telescopes, coherently combined, is capable of achieving a subset of the mission science goals of a single large space telescope at a small fraction of the cost. Additionally such an approach advances technologies toward flight readiness for space flight. Herein we discuss the feasibility of flying two 1.2 meter telescopes, with a baseline separation of 3.6 meters, operating in visible light, on a composite boom structure coupled to a modified visible nulling coronagraph operating to achieve an inner working angle of 60 milli-arcseconds. We discuss the potential science return, atmospheric residuals at 135,000 feet, pointing control and visible nulling and evaluate the state-or-art of these technologies with regards to balloon missions.

Miniaturization design and implementation of magnetic field coupled RFID antenna

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Tiling

2013-03-01

The development of internet of things has brought new opportunities and challenges to the application of RFID tags. Moreover, the Miniaturization application trend of tags at present has become the mainstream of development. In this paper, the double-layer design is to reduce the size of HF antenna, and the magnetic null point of magnetic reconnection region between the RLC resonant circuit and the reader provides sufficient energy to the miniaturization of antenna. The calculated and experimental results show that the miniaturization of HF antennas can meet the reading and writing requirement of the international standard ISO/IEC14443 standard. The results of this paper may make a positive contribution to the applications of RFID technology.

Characterizing the Motion of Solar Magnetic Bright Points at High Resolution

Science.gov (United States)

Van Kooten, Samuel J.; Cranmer, Steven R.

2017-11-01

Magnetic bright points in the solar photosphere, visible in both continuum and G-band images, indicate footpoints of kilogauss magnetic flux tubes extending to the corona. The power spectrum of bright-point motion is thus also the power spectrum of Alfvén wave excitation, transporting energy up flux tubes into the corona. This spectrum is a key input in coronal and heliospheric models. We produce a power spectrum of bright-point motion using radiative magnetohydrodynamic simulations, exploiting spatial resolution higher than can be obtained in present-day observations, while using automated tracking to produce large data quantities. We find slightly higher amounts of power at all frequencies compared to observation-based spectra, while confirming the spectrum shape of recent observations. This also provides a prediction for observations of bright points with DKIST, which will achieve similar resolution and high sensitivity. We also find a granule size distribution in support of an observed two-population distribution, and we present results from tracking passive tracers, which show a similar power spectrum to that of bright points. Finally, we introduce a simplified, laminar model of granulation, with which we explore the roles of turbulence and of the properties of the granulation pattern in determining bright-point motion.

Non-abelian gauge invariant classical Lagrangian formalism for point electric and magnetic charge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brandt, R.A.; Neri, F.

1978-01-01

The classical electrodynamics of electrically charged point particles has been generalized to include non-Abelian gauge groups and to include magnetically charged point particles. In this paper these two distinct generalizations are unified into a non-Abelian gauge theory of electric and magnetic charge. Just as the electrically charged particles constitute the generalized source of the gauge fields, the magnetically charged particles constitute the generalized source of the dual fields. The resultant equations of motion are invariant to the original 'electric' non-Abelian gauge group, but, because of the absence of a corresponding 'magnetic' gauge group, there is no 'duality' symmetry between electric and magnetic quantities. However, for a class of solutions to these equations, which includes all known point electric and magnetic monopole constructions, there is shown to exist an equivalent description based on a magnetic, rather than electric, gauge group. The gauge potentials in general are singular on strings extending from the particle position to infinity, but it is shown that the observables are without string singularities, and that the theory is Lorentz invariant, provided a charge quantization condition is satisfied. This condition, deduced from a stability analysis, is necessary for the consistency of the classical non-Abelian theory, in contrast to the Abelian case, where such a condition is necessary only for the consistency of the quantum theory. It is also shown that in the classical theory the strings cannot be removed by gauge transformations, as they sometimes can be in the quantum theory. (Auth.)

An omnibus test for the global null hypothesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Futschik, Andreas; Taus, Thomas; Zehetmayer, Sonja

2018-01-01

Global hypothesis tests are a useful tool in the context of clinical trials, genetic studies, or meta-analyses, when researchers are not interested in testing individual hypotheses, but in testing whether none of the hypotheses is false. There are several possibilities how to test the global null hypothesis when the individual null hypotheses are independent. If it is assumed that many of the individual null hypotheses are false, combination tests have been recommended to maximize power. If, however, it is assumed that only one or a few null hypotheses are false, global tests based on individual test statistics are more powerful (e.g. Bonferroni or Simes test). However, usually there is no a priori knowledge on the number of false individual null hypotheses. We therefore propose an omnibus test based on cumulative sums of the transformed p-values. We show that this test yields an impressive overall performance. The proposed method is implemented in an R-package called omnibus.

Ambitwistor strings at null infinity and (subleading) soft limits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Geyer, Yvonne; Lipstein, Arthur E; Mason, Lionel

2015-01-01

The relationship between BMS symmetries at null infinity and Weinberg's soft theorems for gravitons and photons together with their subleading extensions are developed using ambitwistor string theory. Ambitwistor space is the phase space of complex null geodesics in complexified space-time. We show how it can be canonically identified with the cotangent bundle of complexified null infinity. BMS symmetries of null infinity lift to give a Hamiltonian action on ambitwistor space, both in general dimension and in its twistorial four-dimensional representation. General vertex operators arise from Hamiltonians generating diffeomorphisms of ambitwistor space that determine the scattering from past to future null infinity. When a momentum eigenstate goes soft, the diffeomorphism defined by its leading and its subleading part are extended BMS generators realized in the world sheet conformal field theory of the ambitwistor string. More generally, this gives an explicit perturbative correspondence between the scattering of null geodesics and that of the gravitational field via ambitwistor string theory. (paper)

Controlling laser-induced magnetization reversal dynamics in a rare-earth iron garnet across the magnetization compensation point

Science.gov (United States)

Deb, Marwan; Molho, Pierre; Barbara, Bernard; Bigot, Jean-Yves

2018-04-01

In this work we explore the ultrafast magnetization dynamics induced by femtosecond laser pulses in a doped film of gadolinium iron garnet over a broad temperature range including the magnetization compensation point TM. By exciting the phonon-assisted 6S→4G and 6S→4P electronic d -d transitions simultaneously by one- and two-photon absorption processes, we find out that the transfer of heat energy from the lattice to the spin has, at a temperature slightly below TM, a large influence on the magnetization dynamics. In particular, we show that the speed and the amplitude of the magnetization dynamics can be strongly increased when increasing either the external magnetic field or the laser energy density. The obtained results are explained by a magnetization reversal process across TM. Furthermore, we find that the dynamics has unusual characteristics which can be understood by considering the weak spin-phonon coupling in magnetic garnets. These results open new perspectives for controlling the magnetic state of magnetic dielectrics using an ultrashort optically induced heat pulse.

Null controllability of the viscous Camassa–Holm equation with ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

In this paper, we study the null controllability of the viscous Camassa–. Holm equation on the one-dimensional torus. By using a moving distributed control, we obtain that the system is null controllable for a given data with certain regularity. Keywords. Viscous Camassa–Holm equation; null controllability; moving control;.

Null Subjects in European and Brazilian Portuguese

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pilar Barbosa

2005-12-01

Full Text Available The goals of this paper are twofold: a to provide a structural account of the effects of the informal ‘Avoid Pronoun Principle’, proposed in Chomsky (1981: 65 for the Null Subject Languages (NSLs, and b to compare, in European and Brazilian Portuguese (EP and BP, the distribution of the third person pronouns in its full and null forms, to check whether in written corpora BP incorporates signs of the ongoing loss of the null subject, largely attested in its contemporary spoken language. The strong theoretical claim is that in the Romance non-NSLs the pre-verbal subject is sitting in Spec of IP, while in the Romance NSLs it is Clitic Left-Dislocated (or is extracted by A-bar movement if it belongs to a restricted set of non-referential quantified expressions. The paper provides quantitative evidence that BP is losing the properties associated with the Null Subject Parameter. In its qualitative analysis, it shows that the contrasts between EP and BP are easily accounted for if the two derivations are assumed and if the null subjects in the two varieties are considered to be of a different nature: a pronoun in EP and a pronominal anaphor in BP.

Apoptosis in spermatogonia irradiated P53 null mice

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Streit-Bianchi, M.; Hendry, J.H.; Roberts, S.A.; Morris, J.D.; Durgaryan, A.A.

2007-01-01

Complete text of publication follows. The exposure of germ cells to ionizing radiations is of concern both from high-dose therapeutic exposures and from low doses causing deleterious trans-generational mutations. P53 protein plays an important role in cellular damage and is expressed in the testis normally during meiosis, its expression being localised to the preleptotene and early/mid pachytene spermatocytes. P53 null mice, heterozygotes possessing a 129 Sv/C57BL6 genetic background and B6D2F1 mice have been irradiated to 1 and 2 Gy single doses. Fractionated exposures of 1+1 Gy at 4 hours interval were also carried out. Apoptosis induction, spermatogonia and spermatocytes survival were assessed by microscope analysis of histological samples at 4 to 96 hours after irradiation in time-course experiments. The same end-points were also assessed at 72 and 96 hours after irradiation to single doses in the region between 20cGy to 2Gy. A dose dependent level of p53 expression was observed at 4 hours after irradiation to 1 and 2 Gy which returned to normal level by 24 hours. Our data support a two process mode of apoptosis with a first wave around 12 hours followed by a second wave at 2-3 days. The first wave apoptosis is substantially reduced in p53 null mice whereas the second wave is reduced in B6D2F1 mice. The initial increase in apoptosis was delayed in some stages of the of germ cells development which were identified by the spermatids shape. Clear correlation exists between apoptosis and survival assessed in stage XI-XII Tubules 72 hours after irradiation. The data are in agreement with other data in literature indicating that irradiated spermatogonia die through apoptosis. The lack of apoptosis observed in p53 null mice results in a very high survival rate of daughter cells assessed later. Theses spermatocytes and the following progenitor cells are likely to carry mutations as most will not die in the smaller second wave of apoptosis observed 3 days after

Null-strut calculus. I. Kinematics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kheyfets, A.; LaFave, N.J.; Miller, W.A.

1990-01-01

This paper describes the kinematics of null-strut calculus---a 3+1 Regge calculus approach to general relativity. We show how to model the geometry of spacetime with simplicial spacelike three-geometries (TET's) linked to ''earlier'' and ''later'' momentumlike lattice surfaces (TET * ) entirely by light rays or ''null struts.'' These three-layered lattice spacetime geometries are defined and analyzed using combinatorial formulas for the structure of polytopes. The following paper in this series describes how these three-layered spacetime lattices are used to model spacetimes in full conformity with Einstein's theory of gravity

2010 August 1-2 Sympathetic Eruptions. II. Magnetic Topology of the MHD Background Field

Science.gov (United States)

Titov, Viacheslav S.; Mikić, Zoran; Török, Tibor; Linker, Jon A.; Panasenco, Olga

2017-08-01

Using a potential field source-surface (PFSS) model, we recently analyzed the global topology of the background coronal magnetic field for a sequence of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that occurred on 2010 August 1-2. Here we repeat this analysis for the background field reproduced by a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model that incorporates plasma thermodynamics. As for the PFSS model, we find that all three CME source regions contain a coronal hole (CH) that is separated from neighboring CHs by topologically very similar pseudo-streamer structures. However, the two models yield very different results for the size, shape, and flux of the CHs. We find that the helmet-streamer cusp line, which corresponds to a source-surface null line in the PFSS model, is structurally unstable and does not form in the MHD model. Our analysis indicates that, generally, in MHD configurations, this line instead consists of a multiple-null separator passing along the edge of disconnected-flux regions. Some of these regions are transient and may be the origin of the so-called streamer blobs. We show that the core topological structure of such blobs is a three-dimensional “plasmoid” consisting of two conjoined flux ropes of opposite handedness, which connect at a spiral null point of the magnetic field. Our analysis reveals that such plasmoids also appear in pseudo-streamers on much smaller scales. These new insights into the coronal magnetic topology provide some intriguing implications for solar energetic particle events and for the properties of the slow solar wind.

Internalizing Null Extraterrestrial "Signals": An Astrobiological App for a Technological Society

OpenAIRE

Chaisson, Eric J.

2014-01-01

One of the beneficial outcomes of searching for life in the Universe is that it grants greater awareness of our own problems here on Earth. Lack of contact with alien beings to date might actually comprise a null "signal" pointing humankind toward a viable future. Astrobiology has surprising practical applications to human society; within the larger cosmological context of cosmic evolution, astrobiology clarifies the energetic essence of complex systems throughout the Universe, including tech...

The Visible Nulling Coronagraph--Architecture Definition and Technology Development

Science.gov (United States)

Shao, Michael; Levine, B. Martin; Wallace, J. Kent; Liu, Duncan T.; Schmidtlin, Edouard; Serabyn, Eugene; Mennesson, Bertrand; Green, Joseph J.; Aguayo, Francisco; Fregoso, S. Felipe;

Orientation of coronal bright points and small-scale magnetic bipoles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

MINENKO, E.P.; SHERDANOV, CH.T.; SATTAROV, I.; KARACHIK, N.V.

2014-01-01

Using the observations from Extreme-Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT) on the SOHO board and longitudinal full-disk magnetograms (vector spectromagnetograph - VSM) from the Synoptic Optical Long-Term Investigations of the Sun (SOLIS), we explore the orientation and relationship between the coronal bright points at 195 A o (hereafter CBPs) and magnetic bipoles (only for the central zone of solar disk). The magnetic bipoles are identified as a pair of streams of positive and negative polarities with a shortest distance between them. This paper presents a study of the structure and orientation (angles) of magnetic bipoles to the solar equator and two types of CBPs: 'dim' CBPs in the quiet regions of the Sun and 'bright' CBPs associated with active regions. For these magnetic bipoles associated with 'bright' CBPs, we find that their orientation angles are distributed randomly along the equator. (authors)

Critical point in the QCD phase diagram for extremely strong background magnetic fields

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Endrödi, Gergely

2015-01-01

Lattice simulations have demonstrated that a background (electro)magnetic field reduces the chiral/deconfinement transition temperature of quantum chromodynamics for eB<1 GeV 2 . On the level of observables, this reduction manifests itself in an enhancement of the Polyakov loop and in a suppression of the light quark condensates (inverse magnetic catalysis) in the transition region. In this paper, we report on lattice simulations of 1+1+1-flavor QCD at an unprecedentedly high value of the magnetic field eB=3.25 GeV 2 . Based on the behavior of various observables, it is shown that even at this extremely strong field, inverse magnetic catalysis prevails and the transition, albeit becoming sharper, remains an analytic crossover. In addition, we develop an algorithm to directly simulate the asymptotically strong magnetic field limit of QCD. We find strong evidence for a first-order deconfinement phase transition in this limiting theory, implying the presence of a critical point in the QCD phase diagram. Based on the available lattice data, we estimate the location of the critical point.

2010 August 1–2 Sympathetic Eruptions. II. Magnetic Topology of the MHD Background Field

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Titov, Viacheslav S.; Mikić, Zoran; Török, Tibor; Linker, Jon A. [Predictive Science Inc., 9990 Mesa Rim Road, Suite 170, San Diego, CA 92121 (United States); Panasenco, Olga, E-mail: titovv@predsci.com [Advanced Heliophysics, 1127 E Del Mar Blvd, Suite 425, Pasadena, CA 91106 (United States)

2017-08-20

Using a potential field source-surface (PFSS) model, we recently analyzed the global topology of the background coronal magnetic field for a sequence of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that occurred on 2010 August 1–2. Here we repeat this analysis for the background field reproduced by a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model that incorporates plasma thermodynamics. As for the PFSS model, we find that all three CME source regions contain a coronal hole (CH) that is separated from neighboring CHs by topologically very similar pseudo-streamer structures. However, the two models yield very different results for the size, shape, and flux of the CHs. We find that the helmet-streamer cusp line, which corresponds to a source-surface null line in the PFSS model, is structurally unstable and does not form in the MHD model. Our analysis indicates that, generally, in MHD configurations, this line instead consists of a multiple-null separator passing along the edge of disconnected-flux regions. Some of these regions are transient and may be the origin of the so-called streamer blobs. We show that the core topological structure of such blobs is a three-dimensional “plasmoid” consisting of two conjoined flux ropes of opposite handedness, which connect at a spiral null point of the magnetic field. Our analysis reveals that such plasmoids also appear in pseudo-streamers on much smaller scales. These new insights into the coronal magnetic topology provide some intriguing implications for solar energetic particle events and for the properties of the slow solar wind.

2010 August 1–2 Sympathetic Eruptions. II. Magnetic Topology of the MHD Background Field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Titov, Viacheslav S.; Mikić, Zoran; Török, Tibor; Linker, Jon A.; Panasenco, Olga

2017-01-01

Using a potential field source-surface (PFSS) model, we recently analyzed the global topology of the background coronal magnetic field for a sequence of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that occurred on 2010 August 1–2. Here we repeat this analysis for the background field reproduced by a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model that incorporates plasma thermodynamics. As for the PFSS model, we find that all three CME source regions contain a coronal hole (CH) that is separated from neighboring CHs by topologically very similar pseudo-streamer structures. However, the two models yield very different results for the size, shape, and flux of the CHs. We find that the helmet-streamer cusp line, which corresponds to a source-surface null line in the PFSS model, is structurally unstable and does not form in the MHD model. Our analysis indicates that, generally, in MHD configurations, this line instead consists of a multiple-null separator passing along the edge of disconnected-flux regions. Some of these regions are transient and may be the origin of the so-called streamer blobs. We show that the core topological structure of such blobs is a three-dimensional “plasmoid” consisting of two conjoined flux ropes of opposite handedness, which connect at a spiral null point of the magnetic field. Our analysis reveals that such plasmoids also appear in pseudo-streamers on much smaller scales. These new insights into the coronal magnetic topology provide some intriguing implications for solar energetic particle events and for the properties of the slow solar wind.

Explosive X-point collapse in relativistic magnetically dominated plasma

Science.gov (United States)

Lyutikov, Maxim; Sironi, Lorenzo; Komissarov, Serguei S.; Porth, Oliver

2017-12-01

The extreme properties of the gamma-ray flares in the Crab nebula present a clear challenge to our ideas on the nature of particle acceleration in relativistic astrophysical plasma. It seems highly unlikely that standard mechanisms of stochastic type are at work here and hence the attention of theorists has switched to linear acceleration in magnetic reconnection events. In this series of papers, we attempt to develop a theory of explosive magnetic reconnection in highly magnetized relativistic plasma which can explain the extreme parameters of the Crab flares. In the first paper, we focus on the properties of the X-point collapse. Using analytical and numerical methods (fluid and particle-in-cell simulations) we extend Syrovatsky's classical model of such collapse to the relativistic regime. We find that the collapse can lead to the reconnection rate approaching the speed of light on macroscopic scales. During the collapse, the plasma particles are accelerated by charge-starved electric fields, which can reach (and even exceed) values of the local magnetic field. The explosive stage of reconnection produces non-thermal power-law tails with slopes that depend on the average magnetization . For sufficiently high magnetizations and vanishing guide field, the non-thermal particle spectrum consists of two components: a low-energy population with soft spectrum that dominates the number census; and a high-energy population with hard spectrum that possesses all the properties needed to explain the Crab flares.

Magnetic Reconnection in Strongly Magnetized Regions of the Low Solar Chromosphere

Science.gov (United States)

Ni, Lei; Lukin, Vyacheslav S.; Murphy, Nicholas A.; Lin, Jun

2018-01-01

Magnetic reconnection in strongly magnetized regions around the temperature minimum region of the low solar atmosphere is studied by employing MHD-based simulations of a partially ionized plasma within a reactive 2.5D multi-fluid model. It is shown that in the absence of magnetic nulls in a low β plasma, the ionized and neutral fluid flows are well-coupled throughout the reconnection region. However, non-equilibrium ionization–recombination dynamics play a critical role in determining the structure of the reconnection region, leading to much lower temperature increases and a faster magnetic reconnection rate as compared to simulations that assume plasma to be in ionization–recombination equilibrium. The rate of ionization of the neutral component of the plasma is always faster than recombination within the current sheet region even when the initial plasma β is as high as {β }0=1.46. When the reconnecting magnetic field is in excess of a kilogauss and the plasma β is lower than 0.0145, the initially weakly ionized plasmas can become fully ionized within the reconnection region and the current sheet can be strongly heated to above 2.5× {10}4 K, even as most of the collisionally dissipated magnetic energy is radiated away. The Hall effect increases the reconnection rate slightly, but in the absence of magnetic nulls it does not result in significant asymmetries or change the characteristics of the reconnection current sheet down to meter scales.

Quasi-static three-dimensional magnetic field evolution in solar active region NOAA 11166 associated with an X1.5 flare

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vemareddy, P.; Wiegelmann, T.

2014-01-01

We study the quasi-static evolution of coronal magnetic fields constructed from the non-linear force-free field (NLFFF) approximation aiming to understand the relation between the magnetic field topology and ribbon emission during an X1.5 flare in active region (AR) NOAA 11166. The flare with a quasi-elliptical and two remote ribbons occurred on 2011 March 9 at 23:13 UT over a positive flux region surrounded by negative flux at the center of the bipolar AR. Our analysis of the coronal magnetic structure with potential and NLFFF solutions unveiled the existence of a single magnetic null point associated with a fan-spine topology and is co-spatial with the hard X-ray source. The footpoints of the fan separatrix surface agree with the inner edge of the quasi-elliptical ribbon and the outer spine is linked to one of the remote ribbons. During the evolution, the slow footpoint motions stressed the field lines along the polarity inversion line and caused electric current layers in the corona around the fan separatrix surface. These current layers trigger magnetic reconnection as a consequence of dissipating currents, which are visible as cusp-shaped structures at lower heights. The reconnection process reorganized the magnetic field topology whose signatures are observed at the separatrices/quasi-separatrix layer structure in both the photosphere and the corona during the pre-to-post flare evolution. In agreement with previous numerical studies, our results suggest that the line-tied footpoint motions perturb the fan-spine system and cause null point reconnection, which eventually causes the flare emission at the footpoints of the field lines.

Fine art of computing nulling interferometer maps

Science.gov (United States)

Hénault, F.

2008-07-01

Spaceborne nulling interferometers are often characterized by means of their nulling ratio, which is defined as the deepest possible extinction of one target star supposed to harbor an extra-solar system. Herein is shown that another parameter, which is the transmitting efficiency of nearby bright fringes, is also of prime importance. More generally, "nulling maps" formed by the whole destructive and constructive fringe pattern projected on-sky, are found to be very sensitive on the design of some subsystems constituting the interferometer. In particular, we consider Spatial Filtering (SF) and Achromatic Phase Shifter (APS) devices, both required achieving planet detection and characterization. Consequences of the SF choice (pinhole or single-mode optical fiber) and APS properties (with or without induced pupil-flip) are discussed, for both monochromatic and polychromatic cases. Examples of numerical simulations are provided for single Bracewell interferometer, Angel cross and X-array configurations, demonstrating noticeable differences in the aspect of resulting nulling maps. It is concluded that both FS and APS designs exhibit variable capacities for serendipitous planet discovery.

CHANGES IN EDGE AND SCRAPE-OFF LAYER PLASMA BEHAVIOE DUE TO VAARIATION IN MAGNETIC BALANCE IN DIII-D

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

PETRIE, T.W.; WATKINS, J.G.; BAYLOR, L.R.; BROOKS, N.H.; FENSTERMACHER, M.E.; HYATT, A.W.; JACKSON, G.L.; LASNIER, C.J.; LEONARD, A.W.; PIGAROV, A.YU.; RENSINK, M.E.; ROGNLIEN, T.D.; SCHAFFER, M.J.; WOLF, N.S.

2002-01-01

Changes in the divertor magnetic balance in DIII-D H-mode plasmas affects core, edge, and divertor plasma behavior. Both the pedestal density n e,PED and plasma stored energy W T were sensitive to changes in magnetic balance near the double-null (DN) configuration, e.g., both decreased 20%-30% when the DN shifted to a slightly unbalanced DN, where the B x (del)B drift direction pointed away from the main X-point. Recycling at each of the four divertor targets was sensitive to changes in magnetic balance and the B x (del)B drift direction. The poloidal distribution of the recycling in DN is in qualitative agreement with the predictions of UEDGE modeling with particle drifts included. The particle flux at the inner divertor target is shown to be much more sensitive to magnetic balance than the particle flux at the outer divertor target near the DN shape. These results suggest possible advantages and drawbacks for balanced DN operation

Spin-Orbital Momentum Decomposition and Helicity Exchange in a Set of Non-Null Knotted Electromagnetic Fields

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manuel Arrayás

2018-03-01

Full Text Available We calculate analytically the spin-orbital decomposition of the angular momentum using completely nonparaxial fields that have a certain degree of linkage of electric and magnetic lines. The split of the angular momentum into spin-orbital components is worked out for non-null knotted electromagnetic fields. The relation between magnetic and electric helicities and spin-orbital decomposition of the angular momentum is considered. We demonstrate that even if the total angular momentum and the values of the spin and orbital momentum are the same, the behavior of the local angular momentum density is rather different. By taking cases with constant and non-constant electric and magnetic helicities, we show that the total angular momentum density presents different characteristics during time evolution.

Latex allergy and filaggrin null mutations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Carlsen, Berit C; Meldgaard, Michael; Hamann, Dathan

2011-01-01

to aeroallergens and it is possible that filaggrin null mutations also increase the risk of latex allergy. The aim of this paper was to examine the association between filaggrin null mutations and type I latex allergy. Methods Twenty latex allergic and 24 non-latex allergic dentists and dental assistants...... in the cases in this study may not have occurred through direct skin contact but through the respiratory organs via latex proteins that are absorbed in glove powder and aerosolized...

Qualification of a Null Lens Using Image-Based Phase Retrieval

Science.gov (United States)

Bolcar, Matthew R.; Aronstein, David L.; Hill, Peter C.; Smith, J. Scott; Zielinski, Thomas P.

2012-01-01

In measuring the figure error of an aspheric optic using a null lens, the wavefront contribution from the null lens must be independently and accurately characterized in order to isolate the optical performance of the aspheric optic alone. Various techniques can be used to characterize such a null lens, including interferometry, profilometry and image-based methods. Only image-based methods, such as phase retrieval, can measure the null-lens wavefront in situ - in single-pass, and at the same conjugates and in the same alignment state in which the null lens will ultimately be used - with no additional optical components. Due to the intended purpose of a Dull lens (e.g., to null a large aspheric wavefront with a near-equal-but-opposite spherical wavefront), characterizing a null-lens wavefront presents several challenges to image-based phase retrieval: Large wavefront slopes and high-dynamic-range data decrease the capture range of phase-retrieval algorithms, increase the requirements on the fidelity of the forward model of the optical system, and make it difficult to extract diagnostic information (e.g., the system F/#) from the image data. In this paper, we present a study of these effects on phase-retrieval algorithms in the context of a null lens used in component development for the Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory (CLARREO) mission. Approaches for mitigation are also discussed.

Estimation of Neutral Density in Edge Plasma with Double Null Configuration in EAST

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Ling; Xu Guosheng; Ding Siye; Gao Wei; Wu Zhenwei; Chen Yingjie; Huang Juan; Liu Xiaoju; Zang Qing; Chang Jiafeng; Zhang Wei; Li Yingying; Qian Jinping

2011-01-01

In this work, population coefficients of hydrogen's n = 3 excited state from the hydrogen collisional-radiative (CR) model, from the data file of DEGAS 2, are used to calculate the photon emissivity coefficients (PECs) of hydrogen Balmer-α (n = 3 → n = 2) (H α ). The results are compared with the PECs from Atomic Data and Analysis Structure (ADAS) database, and a good agreement is found. A magnetic surface-averaged neutral density profile of typical double-null (DN) plasma in EAST is obtained by using FRANTIC, the 1.5-D fluid transport code. It is found that the sum of integral D α and H α emission intensity calculated via the neutral density agrees with the measured results obtained by using the absolutely calibrated multi-channel poloidal photodiode array systems viewing the lower divertor at the last closed flux surface (LCFS). It is revealed that the typical magnetic surface-averaged neutral density at LCFS is about 3.5 x 10 16 m -3 . (magnetically confined plasma)

Point dipole as a magnetic obstacle in liquid metal duct flow

Science.gov (United States)

Tympel, Saskia; Boeck, Thomas; Krasnov, Dmitry; Schumacher, Jörg

2011-11-01

Lorentz force velocimetry is a new contactless technique to measure the velocities of hot and agressive conductiong liquids. The measurement of the Lorentz force on the magnet is highly sensitive to the velocity profile that is influenced by the magnetic field. Thus the knowlegde of the flow transformation and the influence of an inhomogeneous local magnetic field on liquid metal flow is essential for obtaining velocity information from the measured forces. We consider liquid metal flow in a square duct with electrically insulating walls under the influence of a magnetic point dipole using three-dimensional direct numerical simulations with a finite-difference method. The dipole acts as a magnetic obstacle. A wide range of parameters affects the created wake. In this canonical setting, we study the modification of the flow for different Hartmann and Reynolds numbers. We observe a strong dependence of the magnetic obstacle effect and the corresponding Lorentz force on the orientation of the dipole as well as on its position. The authors acknowledge the support of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.

The magnet system of the Tokamak T-15 upgrade

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khvostenko, P.P.; Azizov, E.A.; Alfimov, D.E.; Belyakov, V.A.; Bondarchuk, E.N.; Chudnovsky, A.N.; Dokuka, V.N.; Kavin, A.A.; Khayrutdinov, R.R.; Khokhlov, M.V.; Kitaev, B.A.; Krasnov, S.V.; Maximova, I.I.; Labusov, A.N.; Lukash, V.E.; Mineev, A.B.; Muratov, V.P.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • T-15U project is the initial technical base for creating fusion neutron sources. • Magnet system of T-15U will confine the hot plasma in the divertor configuration. • Toroidal magnetic field at the plasma axis is 2 T. • T-15U should begin operations in 2016. - Abstract: Presently, the Tokamak T-15 is being upgraded. The magnet system of the Tokamak T-15 upgrade will obtain and confine the hot plasma in the divertor configuration. Plasma parameters are a major radius of 1.48 m, a minor radius of 0.67 m, an elongation of 1.7–1.9 and a triangularity of 0.3–0.4. The magnet system includes the toroidal winding and the poloidal magnet system. The poloidal magnet system generates the divertor with single null and double null magnetic configurations. The power supply system provides the necessary current scenarios in the windings of the magnet system. All elements of the magnet system will be manufactured by the end of 2015. The Tokamak T-15 upgrade should begin operations in 2016.

The magnet system of the Tokamak T-15 upgrade

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Khvostenko, P.P., E-mail: ppkhvost@rambler.ru [National Research Centre ‘Kurchatov Institute’, Institute of Tokamak Physics, Kurchatov sq. 1, 123182 Moscow (Russian Federation); Azizov, E.A.; Alfimov, D.E. [National Research Centre ‘Kurchatov Institute’, Institute of Tokamak Physics, Kurchatov sq. 1, 123182 Moscow (Russian Federation); Belyakov, V.A.; Bondarchuk, E.N. [Joint Stock Company “D.V. Efremov Institute of Electrophysical Apparatus”, Metallostroy, 196641 St. Petersburg (Russian Federation); Chudnovsky, A.N.; Dokuka, V.N. [National Research Centre ‘Kurchatov Institute’, Institute of Tokamak Physics, Kurchatov sq. 1, 123182 Moscow (Russian Federation); Kavin, A.A. [Joint Stock Company “D.V. Efremov Institute of Electrophysical Apparatus”, Metallostroy, 196641 St. Petersburg (Russian Federation); Khayrutdinov, R.R. [National Research Centre ‘Kurchatov Institute’, Institute of Tokamak Physics, Kurchatov sq. 1, 123182 Moscow (Russian Federation); Khokhlov, M.V.; Kitaev, B.A.; Krasnov, S.V.; Maximova, I.I.; Labusov, A.N. [Joint Stock Company “D.V. Efremov Institute of Electrophysical Apparatus”, Metallostroy, 196641 St. Petersburg (Russian Federation); Lukash, V.E. [National Research Centre ‘Kurchatov Institute’, Institute of Tokamak Physics, Kurchatov sq. 1, 123182 Moscow (Russian Federation); Mineev, A.B.; Muratov, V.P. [Joint Stock Company “D.V. Efremov Institute of Electrophysical Apparatus”, Metallostroy, 196641 St. Petersburg (Russian Federation); and others

2015-10-15

Highlights: • T-15U project is the initial technical base for creating fusion neutron sources. • Magnet system of T-15U will confine the hot plasma in the divertor configuration. • Toroidal magnetic field at the plasma axis is 2 T. • T-15U should begin operations in 2016. - Abstract: Presently, the Tokamak T-15 is being upgraded. The magnet system of the Tokamak T-15 upgrade will obtain and confine the hot plasma in the divertor configuration. Plasma parameters are a major radius of 1.48 m, a minor radius of 0.67 m, an elongation of 1.7–1.9 and a triangularity of 0.3–0.4. The magnet system includes the toroidal winding and the poloidal magnet system. The poloidal magnet system generates the divertor with single null and double null magnetic configurations. The power supply system provides the necessary current scenarios in the windings of the magnet system. All elements of the magnet system will be manufactured by the end of 2015. The Tokamak T-15 upgrade should begin operations in 2016.

Phase-space lagrangians for null spinning strings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barcelos-Neto, J.; Ruiz-Altaba, M.; Ramirez, C.

1990-01-01

The striking fact that normal-ordered null strings have the same critical dimension as their usual non-zero tension siblings can be understood from the observation that one must, in the tensionless case, keep all the conjugate momenta as independent dynamical variables, thus doubling the number of physical degrees of freedom. The fermionic momenta give rise to a second-class constraint which cannot be solved covariantly, but can be successfully incorporated into the first-class constraint algebra after gauge-fixing. The ghost contributions to the anomaly consist of two b-c (and also two β-γ systems in the supersymmetric case), of the single Virasoro sub(super)algebra for the closed null (spinning) string. In the appropriate gauge, the null (super)string is (super)chiral. (orig.)

Conical twist fields and null polygonal Wilson loops

Science.gov (United States)

Castro-Alvaredo, Olalla A.; Doyon, Benjamin; Fioravanti, Davide

2018-06-01

Using an extension of the concept of twist field in QFT to space-time (external) symmetries, we study conical twist fields in two-dimensional integrable QFT. These create conical singularities of arbitrary excess angle. We show that, upon appropriate identification between the excess angle and the number of sheets, they have the same conformal dimension as branch-point twist fields commonly used to represent partition functions on Riemann surfaces, and that both fields have closely related form factors. However, we show that conical twist fields are truly different from branch-point twist fields. They generate different operator product expansions (short distance expansions) and form factor expansions (large distance expansions). In fact, we verify in free field theories, by re-summing form factors, that the conical twist fields operator product expansions are correctly reproduced. We propose that conical twist fields are the correct fields in order to understand null polygonal Wilson loops/gluon scattering amplitudes of planar maximally supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory.

Tensionless branes and the null string critical dimension

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bozhilov, P.

1998-01-01

BRST quantization is carried out for a model of p-branes with second class constraints. After extension of the phase space the constraint algebra coincides with the one of null string when p=1. It is shown that in this case one can or cannot obtain critical dimension for the null string, depending on the choice of the operator ordering and corresponding vacuum states. When p>1, operator orderings leading to critical dimension in the p=1 case are not allowed. Admissible orderings give no restrictions on the dimension of the embedding space-time. Finally, a generalization to supersymmetric null branes is proposed

Micro Coronal Bright Points Observed in the Quiet Magnetic Network by SOHO/EIT

Science.gov (United States)

Falconer, D. A.; Moore, R. L.; Porter, J. G.

1997-01-01

When one looks at SOHO/EIT Fe XII images of quiet regions, one can see the conventional coronal bright points (> 10 arcsec in diameter), but one will also notice many smaller faint enhancements in brightness (Figure 1). Do these micro coronal bright points belong to the same family as the conventional bright points? To investigate this question we compared SOHO/EIT Fe XII images with Kitt Peak magnetograms to determine whether the micro bright points are in the magnetic network and mark magnetic bipoles within the network. To identify the coronal bright points, we applied a picture frame filter to the Fe XII images; this brings out the Fe XII network and bright points (Figure 2) and allows us to study the bright points down to the resolution limit of the SOHO/EIT instrument. This picture frame filter is a square smoothing function (hlargelyalf a network cell wide) with a central square (quarter of a network cell wide) removed so that a bright point's intensity does not effect its own background. This smoothing function is applied to the full disk image. Then we divide the original image by the smoothed image to obtain our filtered image. A bright point is defined as any contiguous set of pixels (including diagonally) which have enhancements of 30% or more above the background; a micro bright point is any bright point 16 pixels or smaller in size. We then analyzed the bright points that were fully within quiet regions (0.6 x 0.6 solar radius) centered on disk center on six different days.

Magnetic trapping of cold bromine atoms.

Science.gov (United States)

Rennick, C J; Lam, J; Doherty, W G; Softley, T P

2014-01-17

Magnetic trapping of bromine atoms at temperatures in the millikelvin regime is demonstrated for the first time. The atoms are produced by photodissociation of Br2 molecules in a molecular beam. The lab-frame velocity of Br atoms is controlled by the wavelength and polarization of the photodissociation laser. Careful selection of the wavelength results in one of the pair of atoms having sufficient velocity to exactly cancel that of the parent molecule, and it remains stationary in the lab frame. A trap is formed at the null point between two opposing neodymium permanent magnets. Dissociation of molecules at the field minimum results in the slowest fraction of photofragments remaining trapped. After the ballistic escape of the fastest atoms, the trapped slow atoms are lost only by elastic collisions with the chamber background gas. The measured loss rate is consistent with estimates of the total cross section for only those collisions transferring sufficient kinetic energy to overcome the trapping potential.

The intrinsic crossing point of the magnetization vs. temperature curves in superconducting cuprates in the high-magnetic-field limit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mosqueira, J.; Torron, C.; Veira, J.A.; Vidal, F.

1998-01-01

The crossing point of the magnetization vs. temperature curves that appears below T c in highly anisotropic superconducting cuprates was measured in different compounds, with a different number, N, of superconducting CuO 2 layers per periodicity length, s, and also with different values of s. By correcting the measurements from different extrinsic inhomogeneity effects through the Meissner fraction, it is demonstrated experimentally for the first time that in the high-magnetic-field limit the intrinsic crossing point may be explained at a quantitative level in terms of the Tesanovic and coworkers approach based on thermal fluctuations of quasi-2D vortices (pancakes), with an effective periodicity length equal to s, independently of N. (orig.)

Disruption Neutral Point Experiment on Alcator C-Mod

Science.gov (United States)

Granetz, R. S.; Nakamura, Y.

2000-10-01

Disruptions of single-null elongated plasmas generally result in loss of vertical position control, leading to a current quench occurring at the top or bottom of the machine, with all the attendant problems of halo and eddy currents flowing in divertor structures. On JT-60U, it has been found that if the plasma is operated with its magnetic axis at a particular height, called the neutral point, the initial vertical drift after a thermal quench is significantly slower than usual, and sometimes can even be arrested, thereby avoiding a current quench in the divertor region entirely. In an ongoing collaboration between MIT and JAERI, the neutral point concept is being tested in Alcator C-Mod, which has a significantly higher plasma elongation than JT-60U (1.65 vs 1.3). Calculations using TSC predict a neutral point at z~=+1 cm above the midplane (a=22 cm). The existence of a neutral point has now been experimentally confirmed, albeit at a height of z=+2.7 cm. The plasma has remained vertically stable for up to 9 ms after the disruption thermal quench, which in principle, is long enough for the PF control system to respond, if programmed appropriately. In addition, the physics of the neutral point stability on C-Mod appears to be somewhat different than that on JT-60U.

Modification of electronic structure, magnetic structure, and topological phase of bismuthene by point defects

Science.gov (United States)

Kadioglu, Yelda; Kilic, Sevket Berkay; Demirci, Salih; Aktürk, O. Üzengi; Aktürk, Ethem; Ciraci, Salim

2017-12-01

This paper reveals how the electronic structure, magnetic structure, and topological phase of two-dimensional (2D), single-layer structures of bismuth are modified by point defects. We first showed that a free-standing, single-layer, hexagonal structure of bismuth, named h-bismuthene, exhibits nontrivial band topology. We then investigated interactions between single foreign adatoms and bismuthene structures, which comprise stability, bonding, electronic structure, and magnetic structures. Localized states in diverse locations of the band gap and resonant states in band continua of bismuthene are induced upon the adsorption of different adatoms, which modify electronic and magnetic properties. Specific adatoms result in reconstruction around the adsorption site. Single vacancies and divacancies can form readily in bismuthene structures and remain stable at high temperatures. Through rebondings, Stone-Whales-type defects are constructed by divacancies, which transform into a large hole at high temperature. Like adsorbed adatoms, vacancies induce also localized gap states, which can be eliminated through rebondings in divacancies. We also showed that not only the optical and magnetic properties, but also the topological features of pristine h-bismuthene can be modified by point defects. The modification of the topological features depends on the energies of localized states and also on the strength of coupling between point defects.

Matter sources for a null big bang

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bronnikov, K A; Zaslavskii, O B

2008-01-01

We consider the properties of stress-energy tensors compatible with a null big bang, i.e., cosmological evolution starting from a Killing horizon rather than a singularity. For Kantowski-Sachs cosmologies, it is shown that if matter satisfies the null energy condition, then (i) regular cosmological evolution can only start from a Killing horizon, (ii) matter is absent at the horizon and (iii) matter can only appear in the cosmological region due to interaction with vacuum. The latter is understood phenomenologically as a fluid whose stress tensor is insensitive to boosts in a particular direction. We also argue that matter is absent in a static region beyond the horizon. All this generalizes the observations recently obtained for a mixture of dust and a vacuum fluid. If, however, we admit the existence of phantom matter, its certain special kinds (with the parameter w ≤ -3) are consistent with a null big bang without interaction with vacuum (or without vacuum fluid at all). Then in the static region there is matter with w ≥ -1/3. Alternatively, the evolution can begin from a horizon in an infinitely remote past, leading to a scenario combining the features of a null big bang and an emergent universe

Tolerance analysis of null lenses using an end-use system performance criterion

Science.gov (United States)

Rodgers, J. Michael

2000-07-01

An effective method of assigning tolerances to a null lens is to determine the effects of null-lens fabrication and alignment errors on the end-use system itself, not simply the null lens. This paper describes a method to assign null- lens tolerances based on their effect on any performance parameter of the end-use system.

Premeiotic germ cell defect in seminiferous tubules of Atm-null testis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takubo, Keiyo; Hirao, Atsushi; Ohmura, Masako; Azuma, Masaki; Arai, Fumio; Nagamatsu, Go; Suda, Toshio

2006-01-01

Lifelong spermatogenesis is maintained by coordinated sequential processes including self-renewal of stem cells, proliferation of spermatogonial cells, meiotic division, and spermiogenesis. It has been shown that ataxia telangiectasia-mutated (ATM) is required for meiotic division of the seminiferous tubules. Here, we show that, in addition to its role in meiosis, ATM has a pivotal role in premeiotic germ cell maintenance. ATM is activated in premeiotic spermatogonial cells and the Atm-null testis shows progressive degeneration. In Atm-null testicular cells, differing from bone marrow cells of Atm-null mice, reactive oxygen species-mediated p16 Ink4a activation does not occur in Atm-null premeiotic germ cells, which suggests the involvement of different signaling pathways from bone marrow defects. Although Atm-null bone marrow undergoes p16 Ink4a -mediated cellular senescence program, Atm-null premeiotic germ cells exhibited cell cycle arrest and apoptotic elimination of premeiotic germ cells, which is different from p16 Ink4a -mediated senescence

Quenched spin tunneling and diabolical points in magnetic molecules. II. Asymmetric configurations

Science.gov (United States)

Garg, Anupam

2001-09-01

The perfect quenching of spin tunneling first predicted for a model with biaxial symmetry, and recently observed in the magnetic molecule Fe8, is further studied using the discrete phase integral or WKB (Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin) method. The analysis of the previous paper is extended to the case where the magnetic field has both hard and easy components, so that the Hamiltonian has no obvious symmetry. Herring's formula is now inapplicable, so the problem is solved by finding the wave function and using connection formulas at every turning point. A general formula for the energy surface in the vicinity of the diabolo is obtained in this way. This formula gives the tunneling amplitude between two wells unrelated by symmetry in terms of a small number of action integrals, and appears to be generally valid, even for problems where the recursion contains more than five terms. Explicit results are obtained for the diabolical points in the model for Fe8 that closely parallel the experimental observations. The leading semiclassical results for the diabolical points are found to agree precisely with exact results.

Stabilisation and precision pointing quadrupole magnets in the Compact Linear Collider (CLIC)

CERN Document Server

Janssens, Stef; Linde, Frank; van den Brand, Jo; Bertolini, Alessandro; Artoos, Kurt

This thesis describes the research done to provide stabilisation and precision positioning for the main beam quadrupole magnets of the Compact Linear Collider CLIC. The introduction describes why new particle accelerators are needed to further the knowledge of our universe and why they are linear. A proposed future accelerator is the Compact Linear Collider (CLIC) which consists of a novel two beam accelerator concept. Due to its linearity and subsequent single pass at the interaction point, this new accelerator requires a very small beam size at the interaction point, in order to increase collision effectiveness. One of the technological challenges, to obtain these small beam sizes at the interaction point, is to keep the quadrupole magnets aligned and stable to 1.5 nm integrated r.m.s. in vertical and 5 nm integrated root mean square (r.m.s.) in lateral direction. Additionally there is a proposal to create an intentional offset (max. 50 nm every 20 ms with a precision of +/- 1 nm), for several quadrupole ma...

Development of a magnetic lab-on-a-chip for point-of-care sepsis diagnosis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schotter, Joerg; Shoshi, Astrit; Brueckl, Hubert

2009-01-01

We present design criteria, operation principles and experimental examples of magnetic marker manipulation for our magnetic lab-on-a-chip prototype. It incorporates both magnetic sample preparation and detection by embedded GMR-type magnetoresistive sensors and is optimized for the automated point-of-care detection of four different sepsis-indicative cytokines directly from about 5 μl of whole blood. The sample volume, magnetic particle size and cytokine concentration determine the microfluidic volume, sensor size and dimensioning of the magnetic gradient field generators. By optimizing these parameters to the specific diagnostic task, best performance is expected with respect to sensitivity, analysis time and reproducibility.

Variational principle for gravity with null and non-null boundaries: a unified boundary counter-term

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Parattu, Krishnamohan; Chakraborty, Sumanta; Padmanabhan, T. [IUCAA, Post Bag 4, Pune (India)

2016-03-15

It is common knowledge that the Einstein-Hilbert action does not furnish a well-posed variational principle. The usual solution to this problem is to add an extra boundary term to the action, called a counter-term, so that the variational principle becomes well-posed. When the boundary is spacelike or timelike, the Gibbons-Hawking-York counter-term is the most widely used. For null boundaries, we had proposed a counter-term in a previous paper. In this paper, we extend the previous analysis and propose a counter-term that can be used to eliminate variations of the ''off-the-surface'' derivatives of the metric on any boundary, regardless of its spacelike, timelike or null nature. (orig.)

Beyond the Tipping Point: Issues of Racial Diversity in Magnet Schools Following Unitary Status

Science.gov (United States)

Smrekar, Claire

2009-01-01

This article uses qualitative case study methodology to examine why the racial composition of magnet schools in Nashville, Tennessee, has shifted to predominantly African American in the aftermath of unitary status. The article compares the policy contexts and parents' reasons for choosing magnet schools at two points in time--under court order…

Visible nulling coronagraphy testbed development for exoplanet detection

Science.gov (United States)

Lyon, Richard G.; Clampin, Mark; Woodruff, Robert A.; Vasudevan, Gopal; Thompson, Patrick; Chen, Andrew; Petrone, Peter; Booth, Andrew; Madison, Timothy; Bolcar, Matthew; Noecker, M. Charley; Kendrick, Stephen; Melnick, Gary; Tolls, Volker

2010-07-01

Three of the recently completed NASA Astrophysics Strategic Mission Concept (ASMC) studies addressed the feasibility of using a Visible Nulling Coronagraph (VNC) as the prime instrument for exoplanet science. The VNC approach is one of the few approaches that works with filled, segmented and sparse or diluted aperture telescope systems and thus spans the space of potential ASMC exoplanet missions. NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) has a well-established effort to develop VNC technologies and has developed an incremental sequence of VNC testbeds to advance the this approach and the technologies associated with it. Herein we report on the continued development of the vacuum Visible Nulling Coronagraph testbed (VNT). The VNT is an ultra-stable vibration isolated testbed that operates under high bandwidth closed-loop control within a vacuum chamber. It will be used to achieve an incremental sequence of three visible light nulling milestones of sequentially higher contrasts of 108, 109 and 1010 at an inner working angle of 2*λ/D and ultimately culminate in spectrally broadband (>20%) high contrast imaging. Each of the milestones, one per year, is traceable to one or more of the ASMC studies. The VNT uses a modified Mach-Zehnder nulling interferometer, modified with a modified "W" configuration to accommodate a hex-packed MEMS based deformable mirror, a coherent fiber bundle and achromatic phase shifters. Discussed will be the optical configuration laboratory results, critical technologies and the null sensing and control approach.

On the Penrose inequality for dust null shells in the Minkowski spacetime of arbitrary dimension

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mars, Marc; Soria, Alberto

2012-01-01

A particular, yet relevant, case of the Penrose inequality involves null shells propagating in the Minkowski spacetime. Despite previous claims in the literature, the validity of this inequality remains open. In this paper, we rewrite this inequality in terms of the geometry of the surface obtained by intersecting the past null cone of the original surface S with a constant time hyperplane and the 'time height' function of S over this hyperplane. We also specialize to the case when S lies in the past null cone of a point and show the validity of the corresponding inequality in any dimension (in four dimensions this inequality was proved by Tod (1985 Class. Quantum Grav. 2 L65-8). Exploiting properties of convex hypersurfaces in the Euclidean space, we write down the Penrose inequality in the Minkowski spacetime of an arbitrary dimension n + 2 as an inequality for two smooth functions on the sphere S n . We finally obtain a sufficient condition for the validity of the Penrose inequality in the four-dimensional Minkowski spacetime and show that this condition is satisfied by a large class of surfaces. (paper)

Snowflake divertor plasmas on TCV

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Piras, F; Coda, S; Furno, I; Moret, J-M; Sauter, O; Turri, G; Bencze, A; Duval, B P; Felici, F; Pochelon, A; Zucca, C; Pitts, R A; Tal, B

2009-01-01

Starting from a standard single null X-point configuration, a second order null divertor (snowflake (SF)) has been successfully created on the Tokamak a Configuration Variable (TCV) tokamak. The magnetic properties of this innovative configuration have been analysed and compared with a standard X-point configuration. For the SF divertor, the connection length and the flux expansion close to the separatrix exceed those of the standard X-point by more than a factor of 2. The magnetic shear in the plasma edge is also larger for the SF configuration.

Meterwavelength Single-pulse Polarimetric Emission Survey. III. The Phenomenon of Nulling in Pulsars

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Basu, Rahul; Mitra, Dipanjan; Melikidze, George I., E-mail: rahulbasu.astro@gmail.com [Janusz Gil Institute of Astronomy, University of Zielona Góra, ul. Szafrana 2, 65–516 Zielona Góra (Poland)

2017-09-10

A detailed analysis of nulling was conducted for the pulsars studied in the Meterwavelength Single-pulse Polarimetric Emission Survey. We characterized nulling in 36 pulsars including 17 pulsars where the phenomenon was reported for the first time. The most dominant nulls lasted for a short duration, less than five periods. Longer duration nulls extending to hundreds of periods were also seen in some cases. A careful analysis showed the presence of periodicities in the transition from the null to the burst states in 11 pulsars. In our earlier work, fluctuation spectrum analysis showed multiple periodicities in 6 of these 11 pulsars. We demonstrate that the longer periodicity in each case was associated with nulling. The shorter periodicities usually originate from subpulse drifting. The nulling periodicities were more aligned with the periodic amplitude modulation, indicating a possible common origin for both. The most prevalent nulls last for a single period and can be potentially explained using random variations affecting the plasma processes in the pulsar magnetosphere. On the other hand, longer-duration nulls require changes in the pair-production processes, which need an external triggering mechanism for the changes. The presence of periodic nulling puts an added constraint on the triggering mechanism, which also needs to be periodic.

Emission and null coordinates: geometrical properties and physical construction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coll, Bartolome; Ferrando, Joan J; Morales-Lladosa, Juan A

2011-01-01

A Relativistic Positioning System is defined by four clocks (emitters) broadcasting their proper time. Then, every event reached by the signals is naturally labeled by these four times which are the emission coordinates of this event. The coordinate hypersurfaces of the emission coordinates are the future light cones based on the emitter trajectories. For this reason the emission coordinates have been also named null coordinates or light coordinates. Nevertheless, other coordinate systems used in different relativistic contexts have the own right to be named null or light coordinates. Here we analyze when one can say that a coordinate is a null coordinate and when one can say that a coordinate system is null. Moreover, we examine the physical construction and the geometrical properties of several n ull coordinate systems : the emission and the reception coordinates, the radar coordinates, and the Bondi-Sachs coordinates, among others.

A new dynamic null model for phylogenetic community structure

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pigot, Alex L; Etienne, Rampal S

Phylogenies are increasingly applied to identify the mechanisms structuring ecological communities but progress has been hindered by a reliance on statistical null models that ignore the historical process of community assembly. Here, we address this, and develop a dynamic null model of assembly by

Origin and structures of solar eruptions II: Magnetic modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Yang; Cheng, Xin; Ding, MingDe

2017-07-01

The topology and dynamics of the three-dimensional magnetic field in the solar atmosphere govern various solar eruptive phenomena and activities, such as flares, coronal mass ejections, and filaments/prominences. We have to observe and model the vector magnetic field to understand the structures and physical mechanisms of these solar activities. Vector magnetic fields on the photosphere are routinely observed via the polarized light, and inferred with the inversion of Stokes profiles. To analyze these vector magnetic fields, we need first to remove the 180° ambiguity of the transverse components and correct the projection effect. Then, the vector magnetic field can be served as the boundary conditions for a force-free field modeling after a proper preprocessing. The photospheric velocity field can also be derived from a time sequence of vector magnetic fields. Three-dimensional magnetic field could be derived and studied with theoretical force-free field models, numerical nonlinear force-free field models, magnetohydrostatic models, and magnetohydrodynamic models. Magnetic energy can be computed with three-dimensional magnetic field models or a time series of vector magnetic field. The magnetic topology is analyzed by pinpointing the positions of magnetic null points, bald patches, and quasi-separatrix layers. As a well conserved physical quantity, magnetic helicity can be computed with various methods, such as the finite volume method, discrete flux tube method, and helicity flux integration method. This quantity serves as a promising parameter characterizing the activity level of solar active regions.

Temperature Dependence and Magnetic Field Dependence of Quantum Point Contacts in Si-Inversion Layers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wang, S.L.; Son, P.C. van; Wees, B.J. van; Klapwijk, T.M.

1992-01-01

The conductance of ballistic point contacts in high-mobility Si-inversion layers has been studied at several temperatures between 75 and 600 mK both without and in a magnetic field (up to 12T). When the width of constriction is varied in zero magnetic field, step-like features at multiples of 4e2/h

Cooling Curve of Strange Star in Strong Magnetic Field

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

WANG Xiao-Qin; LUO Zhi-Quan

2008-01-01

In this paper, firstly, we investigate the neutrino emissivity from quark Urca process in strong magnetic field. Then, we discuss the heat capacity of strange stars in strong magnetic field. Finally, we give the cooling curve in strong magnetic field. In order to make a comparison, we also give the corresponding cooling curve in the case of null magnetic field. It turns out that strange stars cool faster in strong magnetic field than that without magnetic field.

Modular Hamiltonians for deformed half-spaces and the averaged null energy condition

Science.gov (United States)

Faulkner, Thomas; Leigh, Robert G.; Parrikar, Onkar; Wang, Huajia

2016-09-01

We study modular Hamiltonians corresponding to the vacuum state for deformed half-spaces in relativistic quantum field theories on {{R}}^{1,d-1} . We show that in addition to the usual boost generator, there is a contribution to the modular Hamiltonian at first order in the shape deformation, proportional to the integral of the null components of the stress tensor along the Rindler horizon. We use this fact along with monotonicity of relative entropy to prove the averaged null energy condition in Minkowski space-time. This subsequently gives a new proof of the Hofman-Maldacena bounds on the parameters appearing in CFT three-point functions. Our main technical advance involves adapting newly developed perturbative methods for calculating entanglement entropy to the problem at hand. These methods were recently used to prove certain results on the shape dependence of entanglement in CFTs and here we generalize these results to excited states and real time dynamics. We also discuss the AdS/CFT counterpart of this result, making connection with the recently proposed gravitational dual for modular Hamiltonians in holographic theories.

Null-plane quantization of fermions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mustaki, D.

1990-01-01

Massive Dirac fermions are canonically quantized on the null plane using the Dirac-Bergmann algorithm. The procedure is carried out in the framework of quantum electrodynamics as an illustration of a rigorous treatment of interacting fermion fields

Shift of the eutectoid point in the Fe-C binary system by a high magnetic field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Y D; Esling, C; Calcagnotto, M; Gong, M L; Zhao, X; Zuo, L

2007-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to investigate experimentally the shift of the eutectoid point in the Fe-C binary system when applying a high magnetic field. The eutectoid carbon content is observed to shift from 0.77 wt% to 0.83 wt% under a 12 T magnetic field. A practical and complete calculation method is proposed-on the basis of the statistical thermodynamic model-to calculate the Gibbs free energy of the related phases and predict the shift of the eutectoid point due to a magnetic field in both composition and temperature coordinates. The composition values are seen to be in fair agreement with the experimental data. The calculation of both shifts shows that the rise in eutectoid temperature because of the 12 T field is 28.97 deg. C. The impact of the magnetic field on both eutectoid carbon content and eutectoid temperature is not linear. The rate of the shift of both carbon content and temperature decreases as the magnetic field rises

Analysis of payload bay magnetic fields due to dc power multipoint and single point ground configurations

Science.gov (United States)

Lawton, R. M.

1976-01-01

An analysis of magnetic fields in the Orbiter Payload Bay resulting from the present grounding configuration (structure return) was presented and the amount of improvement that would result from installing wire returns for the three dc power buses was determined. Ac and dc magnetic fields at five points in a cross-section of the bay are calculated for both grounding configurations. Y and Z components of the field at each point are derived in terms of a constant coefficient and the current amplitude of each bus. The dc loads assumed are 100 Amperes for each bus. The ac noise current used is a spectrum 6 db higher than the Orbiter equipment limit for narrowband conducted emissions. It was concluded that installing return wiring to provide a single point ground for the dc Buses in the Payload Bay would reduce the ac and dc magnetic field intensity by approximately 30 db.

Detection of long nulls in PSR B1706-16, a pulsar with large timing irregularities

Science.gov (United States)

Naidu, Arun; Joshi, Bhal Chandra; Manoharan, P. K.; Krishnakumar, M. A.

2018-04-01

Single pulse observations, characterizing in detail, the nulling behaviour of PSR B1706-16 are being reported for the first time in this paper. Our regular long duration monitoring of this pulsar reveals long nulls of 2-5 h with an overall nulling fraction of 31 ± 2 per cent. The pulsar shows two distinct phases of emission. It is usually in an active phase, characterized by pulsations interspersed with shorter nulls, with a nulling fraction of about 15 per cent, but it also rarely switches to an inactive phase, consisting of long nulls. The nulls in this pulsar are concurrent between 326.5 and 610 MHz. Profile mode changes accompanied by changes in fluctuation properties are seen in this pulsar, which switches from mode A before a null to mode B after the null. The distribution of null durations in this pulsar is bimodal. With its occasional long nulls, PSR B1706-16 joins the small group of intermediate nullers, which lie between the classical nullers and the intermittent pulsars. Similar to other intermediate nullers, PSR B1706-16 shows high timing noise, which could be due to its rare long nulls if one assumes that the slowdown rate during such nulls is different from that during the bursts.

Euclidean null controllability of nonlinear infinite delay systems with ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Sufficient conditions for the Euclidean null controllability of non-linear delay systems with time varying multiple delays in the control and implicit derivative are derived. If the uncontrolled system is uniformly asymptotically stable and if the control system is controllable, then the non-linear infinite delay system is Euclidean null ...

Visual and Plastic Arts in Teaching Literacy: Null Curricula?

Science.gov (United States)

Wakeland, Robin Gay

2010-01-01

Visual and plastic arts in contemporary literacy instruction equal null curricula. Studies show that painting and sculpture facilitate teaching reading and writing (literacy), yet such pedagogy has not been formally adopted into USA curriculum. An example of null curriculum can be found in late 19th - early 20th century education the USA…

Design considerations for superconducting magnets as a maglev pad

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ichikawa, H.; Ogiwara, H.

1974-01-01

The design and construction of a thin superconducting magnet for a magnetically suspended high-speed train are explained. The superconducting magnet, which is to be used in a null-flux maglev train system, is called a 'wing-type' superconducting magnet because of its geometry. The wing-type superconducting magnet is about 1.5m long and weighs about 500kg, but its heat loss is within 1W, which is very small compared with that of conventional superconducting magnets. (author)

Null but not void: considerations for hypothesis testing.

Science.gov (United States)

Shaw, Pamela A; Proschan, Michael A

2013-01-30

Standard statistical theory teaches us that once the null and alternative hypotheses have been defined for a parameter, the choice of the statistical test is clear. Standard theory does not teach us how to choose the null or alternative hypothesis appropriate to the scientific question of interest. Neither does it tell us that in some cases, depending on which alternatives are realistic, we may want to define our null hypothesis differently. Problems in statistical practice are frequently not as pristinely summarized as the classic theory in our textbooks. In this article, we present examples in statistical hypothesis testing in which seemingly simple choices are in fact rich with nuance that, when given full consideration, make the choice of the right hypothesis test much less straightforward. Published 2012. This article is a US Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

Vacuum non-expanding horizons and shear-free null geodesic congruences

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Adamo, T M; Newman, E T

2009-01-01

We investigate the geometry of a particular class of null surfaces in spacetime called vacuum non-expanding horizons (NEHs). Using the spin-coefficient equation, we provide a complete description of the horizon geometry, as well as fixing a canonical choice of null tetrad and coordinates on a NEH. By looking for particular classes of null geodesic congruences which live exterior to NEHs but have the special property that their shear vanishes at the intersection with the horizon, a good cut formalism for NEHs is developed which closely mirrors asymptotic theory. In particular, we show that such null geodesic congruences are generated by arbitrary choice of a complex worldline in a complex four-dimensional space, each such choice induces a CR structure on the horizon, and a particular worldline (and hence CR structure) may be chosen by transforming to a privileged tetrad frame.

Polarized neutron reflectometry in high magnetic fields

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fritzsche, H.

2005-01-01

A simple method is described to maintain the polarization of a neutron beam on its way through the large magnetic stray fields produced by a vertical field of a cryomagnet with a split-coil geometry. The two key issues are the proper shielding of the neutron spin flippers and an additional radial field component in order to guide the neutron spin through the region of the null point (i.e., point of reversal for the vertical field component). Calculations of the neutron's spin rotation as well as polarized neutron reflectometry experiments on an ErFe 2 /DyFe 2 multilayer show the perfect performance of the used setup. The recently commissioned cryomagnet M5 with a maximum vertical field of up to 7.2 T in asymmetric mode for polarized neutrons and 9 T in symmetric mode for unpolarized neutrons was used on the C5 spectrometer in reflectometry mode, at the NRU reactor in Chalk River, Canada

High-contrast Nulling Interferometry Techniques Project

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — "We are developing rotating-baseline nulling-interferometry techniques and algorithms on the single-aperture Hale and Keck telescopes at near-infrared wavelengths,...

ISCO and Principal Null Congruences in Extremal Kerr Spacetime

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pradhan, Parthapratim

2012-01-01

The effective potential in universal like coordinates(U, V, θ, φ), which are smooth across the event horizon is derived and investigated the ISCO(Innermost Stable Circular Orbits) explicitly in these coordinates for extremal Kerr spacetime. Extremization of the effective potential for timelike circular orbit shows that the existence of a stable circular geodesics in the extremal spacetime for direct orbit, precisely on the event horizon in terms of the radial coordinate which coincides with the principal null geodesic congruences of the event horizon. These null geodesic congruences mold themselves to the spacetime curvature in such a way that Weyl conformal tensor and its dual are vanished, that is why they are in-fact doubly degenerate principal null congruences.

Magnetic resonance separation imaging using a divided inversion recovery technique (DIRT).

Science.gov (United States)

Goldfarb, James W

2010-04-01

The divided inversion recovery technique is an MRI separation method based on tissue T(1) relaxation differences. When tissue T(1) relaxation times are longer than the time between inversion pulses in a segmented inversion recovery pulse sequence, longitudinal magnetization does not pass through the null point. Prior to additional inversion pulses, longitudinal magnetization may have an opposite polarity. Spatial displacement of tissues in inversion recovery balanced steady-state free-precession imaging has been shown to be due to this magnetization phase change resulting from incomplete magnetization recovery. In this paper, it is shown how this phase change can be used to provide image separation. A pulse sequence parameter, the time between inversion pulses (T180), can be adjusted to provide water-fat or fluid separation. Example water-fat and fluid separation images of the head, heart, and abdomen are presented. The water-fat separation performance was investigated by comparing image intensities in short-axis divided inversion recovery technique images of the heart. Fat, blood, and fluid signal was suppressed to the background noise level. Additionally, the separation performance was not affected by main magnetic field inhomogeneities.

Evaluation of 2-point, 3-point, and 6-point Dixon magnetic resonance imaging with flexible echo timing for muscle fat quantification.

Science.gov (United States)

Grimm, Alexandra; Meyer, Heiko; Nickel, Marcel D; Nittka, Mathias; Raithel, Esther; Chaudry, Oliver; Friedberger, Andreas; Uder, Michael; Kemmler, Wolfgang; Quick, Harald H; Engelke, Klaus

2018-06-01

The purpose of this study is to evaluate and compare 2-point (2pt), 3-point (3pt), and 6-point (6pt) Dixon magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sequences with flexible echo times (TE) to measure proton density fat fraction (PDFF) within muscles. Two subject groups were recruited (G1: 23 young and healthy men, 31 ± 6 years; G2: 50 elderly men, sarcopenic, 77 ± 5 years). A 3-T MRI system was used to perform Dixon imaging on the left thigh. PDFF was measured with six Dixon prototype sequences: 2pt, 3pt, and 6pt sequences once with optimal TEs (in- and opposed-phase echo times), lower resolution, and higher bandwidth (optTE sequences) and once with higher image resolution (highRes sequences) and shortest possible TE, respectively. Intra-fascia PDFF content was determined. To evaluate the comparability among the sequences, Bland-Altman analysis was performed. The highRes 6pt Dixon sequences served as reference as a high correlation of this sequence to magnetic resonance spectroscopy has been shown before. The PDFF difference between the highRes 6pt Dixon sequence and the optTE 6pt, both 3pt, and the optTE 2pt was low (between 2.2% and 4.4%), however, not to the highRes 2pt Dixon sequence (33%). For the optTE sequences, difference decreased with the number of echoes used. In conclusion, for Dixon sequences with more than two echoes, the fat fraction measurement was reliable with arbitrary echo times, while for 2pt Dixon sequences, it was reliable with dedicated in- and opposed-phase echo timing. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Magnetic properties of point defect interaction with impurity atoms in Fe-Cr alloys

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen-Manh, D.; Lavrentiev, M. Yu.; Dudarev, S. L.

2009-04-01

An integrated ab initio and statistical Monte Carlo investigation has been recently carried out to model the thermodynamic and kinetic properties of Fe-Cr alloys. We found that the conventional Fe-Cr phase diagram is not adequate at low temperature region where the magnetic contribution to the free energy plays an important role in the prediction of an ordered Fe 15Cr phase and its negative enthalpy of formation. The origin of the anomalous thermodynamic and magnetic properties of Fe-Cr alloys can be understood using a tight-binding Stoner model combined with the charge neutrality condition. We investigate the environmental dependence of magnetic moment distributions for various self-interstitial atom dumbbells configurations using spin density maps found using density functional theory calculations. The mixed dumbbell Fe-Cr and Fe-Mn binding energies are found to be positive due to magnetic interactions. Finally, we discuss the relationship between the migration energy of vacancy in Fe-Cr alloys and magnetism at the saddle point configuration.

Quenched spin tunneling and diabolical points in magnetic molecules. I. Symmetric configurations

Science.gov (United States)

Garg, Anupam

2001-09-01

The perfect quenching of spin tunneling that has previously been discussed in terms of interfering instantons, and has recently been observed in the magnetic molecule Fe8, is treated using a discrete phase integral (or Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin) method. The simplest model Hamiltonian for the phenomenon leads to a Schrödinger equation that is a five-term recursion relation. This recursion relation is reflection symmetric when the magnetic field applied to the molecule is along the hard magnetic axis. A completely general Herring formula for the tunnel splittings for all reflection-symmetric five-term recursion relations is obtained. Using connection formulas for a nonclassical turning point that may be described as lying ``under the barrier,'' and which underlies the oscillations in the splitting as a function of magnetic field, this Herring formula is transformed into two other formulas that express the splittings in terms of a small number of action and actionlike integrals. These latter formulas appear to be generally valid, even for problems where the recursion contains more than five terms. The results for the model Hamiltonian are compared with experiment, numerics, previous instanton based approaches, and the limiting case of no magnetic field.

Forces on a magnet moving past figure-eight coils

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mulcahy, T.H.; He, Jianliang; Rote, D.M.; Rossing, T.D.

1993-01-01

For the first time, the lift, drag, and guidance forces acting on a permanent magnet are measured as the magnet passes over different arrays of figure-eight (null-flux) coils. The experimental results are in good agreement with the predictions of dynamic circuit theory, which is used to explain more optimal coil arrays

Metallic magnets without inversion symmetry and antiferromagnetic quantum critical points

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fischer, I.A.

2006-07-01

This thesis focusses on two classes of systems that exhibit non-Fermi liquid behaviour in experiments: we investigated aspects of chiral ferromagnets and of antiferromagnetic metals close to a quantum critical point. In chiral ferromagnets, the absence of inversion symmetry makes spin-orbit coupling possible, which leads to a helical modulation of the ferromagnetically ordered state. We studied the motion of electrons in the magnetically ordered state of a metal without inversion symmetry by calculating their generic band-structure. We found that spin-orbit coupling, although weak, has a profound effect on the shape of the Fermi surface: On a large portion of the Fermi surface the electron motion parallel to the helix practically stops. Signatures of this effect can be expected to show up in measurements of the anomalous Hall effect. Recent neutron scattering experiments uncovered the existence of a peculiar kind of partial order in a region of the phase diagram adjacent to the ordered state of the chiral ferromagnet MnSi. Starting from the premise that this partially ordered state is a thermodynamically distinct phase, we investigated an extended Ginzburg-Landau theory for chiral ferromagnets. In a certain parameter regime of the Ginzburg-Landau theory we identified crystalline phases that are reminiscent of the so-called blue phases in liquid crystals. Many antiferromagnetic heavy-fermion systems can be tuned into a regime where they exhibit non-Fermi liquid exponents in the temperature dependence of thermodynamic quantities such as the specific heat capacity; this behaviour could be due to a quantum critical point. If the quantum critical behaviour is field-induced, the external field does not only suppress antiferromagnetism but also induces spin precession and thereby influences the dynamics of the order parameter. We investigated the quantum critical behavior of clean antiferromagnetic metals subject to a static, spatially uniform external magnetic field. We

The formation and disintegration of magnetic bright points observed by sunrise/IMaX

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Utz, D.; Del Toro Iniesta, J. C.; Bellot Rubio, L. R. [Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (CSIC), Apdo. de Correos 3004, E-18080 Granada (Spain); Jurčák, J. [Astronomical Institute, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, 251 65 Ondřejov (Czech Republic); Martínez Pillet, V. [Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, Vía Láctea, s/n, E-38200 La Laguna (Spain); Solanki, S. K. [Max-Planck Institut für Sonnensystemforschung, Max-Planck-Strasse, 2, D-37191 (Germany); Schmidt, W., E-mail: utz@iaa.es, E-mail: dominik.utz@uni-graz.at [Kiepenheuer-Institut für Sonnenphysik, Schöneckstrasse 6, D-79104 Freiburg (Germany)

2014-12-01

The evolution of the physical parameters of magnetic bright points (MBPs) located in the quiet Sun (mainly in the interwork) during their lifetime is studied. First, we concentrate on the detailed description of the magnetic field evolution of three MBPs. This reveals that individual features follow different, generally complex, and rather dynamic scenarios of evolution. Next, we apply statistical methods on roughly 200 observed MBP evolutionary tracks. MBPs are found to be formed by the strengthening of an equipartition field patch, which initially exhibits a moderate downflow. During the evolution, strong downdrafts with an average velocity of 2.4 km s{sup –1} set in. These flows, taken together with the concurrent strengthening of the field, suggest that we are witnessing the occurrence of convective collapses in these features, although only 30% of them reach kG field strengths. This fraction might turn out to be larger when the new 4 m class solar telescopes are operational as observations of MBPs with current state of the art instrumentation could still be suffering from resolution limitations. Finally, when the bright point disappears (although the magnetic field often continues to exist) the magnetic field strength has dropped to the equipartition level and is generally somewhat weaker than at the beginning of the MBP's evolution. Also, only relatively weak downflows are found on average at this stage of the evolution. Only 16% of the features display upflows at the time that the field weakens, or the MBP disappears. This speaks either for a very fast evolving dynamic process at the end of the lifetime, which could not be temporally resolved, or against strong upflows as the cause of the weakening of the field of these magnetic elements, as has been proposed based on simulation results. It is noteworthy that in about 10% of the cases, we observe in the vicinity of the downflows small-scale strong (exceeding 2 km s{sup –1}) intergranular upflows

H-mode transition physics close to double null on MAST and its applications to other tokamaks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meyer, H.; Carolan, P.G.; Cunningham, G.; Kirk, A.; Lloyd, B.; Saarelma, S.; Wilson, H.R.; Conway, G.D.; Horton, L.D.; Ryter, F.; Schirmer, J.; Suttrop, W.; Maingi, R.

2005-01-01

By accessing extreme parameter regimes combined with well diagnosed edge MAST data contribute towards the understanding of H-mode physics. The first inter-machine comparisons with respect to the influence of the magnetic topology on the power threshold with ASDEX Upgrade and NSTX reveal a reduction of the power threshold in true double null (C-DN) configuration opening new operation regimes in both devices. In L-mode, the negative radial electric field close to the separatrix was found to be more negative in C-DN than in single null (SN), whilst most of the other edge parameters are similar. Pedestal temperatures in MAST are lower than in ASDEX Upgrade in MAST-equivalent discharges, whereas the pedestal densities can be similar, although in long inter ELM periods the MAST density pedestal is higher than on ASDEX Upgrade. In order to test four leading H-mode theories MAST data are compared statistically to their H-mode access criteria. The usual DN operating regime with co current NBI in MAST has been extended to include single null (SN) configurations, to provide more direct comparisons with conventional tokamaks. The plasma edge in SN on MAST is more stable to ELMs and the typical type-III ELMs, often observed in C-DN, are absent, despite input powers close to the H-mode threshold power. In this respect, the stability of measured plasma edge profiles in SN and DN against ideal peeling-ballooning modes will be discussed. (author)

Averaged null energy condition and difference inequalities in quantum field theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yurtsever, U.

1995-01-01

For a large class of quantum states, all local (pointwise) energy conditions widely used in relativity are violated by the renormalized stress-energy tensor of a quantum field. In contrast, certain nonlocal positivity constraints on the quantum stress-energy tensor might hold quite generally, and this possibility has received considerable attention in recent years. In particular, it is now known that the averaged null energy condition, the condition that the null-null component of the stress-energy tensor integrated along a complete null geodesic is non-negative for all states, holds quite generally in a wide class of spacetimes for a minimally coupled scalar field. Apart from the specific class of spacetimes considered (mainly two-dimensional spacetimes and four-dimensional Minkowski space), the most significant restriction on this result is that the null geodesic over which the average is taken must be achronal. Recently, Ford and Roman have explored this restriction in two-dimensional flat spacetime, and discovered that in a flat cylindrical space, although the stress energy tensor itself fails to satisfy the averaged null energy condition (ANEC) along the (nonachronal) null geodesics, when the ''Casimir-vacuum'' contribution is subtracted from the stress-energy the resulting tensor does satisfy the ANEC inequality. Ford and Roman name this class of constraints on the quantum stress-energy tensor ''difference inequalities.'' Here I give a proof of the difference inequality for a minimally coupled massless scalar field in an arbitrary (globally hyperbolic) two-dimensional spacetime, using the same techniques as those we relied on to prove the ANEC in an earlier paper with Wald. I begin with an overview of averaged energy conditions in quantum field theory

Sequential weak continuity of null Lagrangians at the boundary

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Kalamajska, A.; Kraemer, S.; Kružík, Martin

2014-01-01

Roč. 49, 3/4 (2014), s. 1263-1278 ISSN 0944-2669 R&D Projects: GA ČR GAP201/10/0357 Institutional support: RVO:67985556 Keywords : null Lagrangians * nonhomogeneous nonlinear mappings * sequential weak/in measure continuity Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics Impact factor: 1.518, year: 2014 http://library.utia.cas.cz/separaty/2013/MTR/kruzik-sequential weak continuity of null lagrangians at the boundary.pdf

A parameter set for a double-null DEMO reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cooke, P.I.H.

1987-01-01

The present study is aimed at commenting on the reactor-relevance of the design principles and technology being proposed for NET. The authors propose that a double-null device serve as a basis for a NET-based demonstration reactor. Calculations are carried out to determine the parameter set for reactors based on the double-null NET design, and the results are presented in tabular form. (U.K.)

Are eikonal quasinormal modes linked to the unstable circular null geodesics?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R.A. Konoplya

2017-08-01

Full Text Available In Cardoso et al. [6] it was claimed that quasinormal modes which any stationary, spherically symmetric and asymptotically flat black hole emits in the eikonal regime are determined by the parameters of the circular null geodesic: the real and imaginary parts of the quasinormal mode are multiples of the frequency and instability timescale of the circular null geodesics respectively. We shall consider asymptotically flat black hole in the Einstein–Lovelock theory, find analytical expressions for gravitational quasinormal modes in the eikonal regime and analyze the null geodesics. Comparison of the both phenomena shows that the expected link between the null geodesics and quasinormal modes is violated in the Einstein–Lovelock theory. Nevertheless, the correspondence exists for a number of other cases and here we formulate its actual limits.

Are eikonal quasinormal modes linked to the unstable circular null geodesics?

Science.gov (United States)

Konoplya, R. A.; Stuchlík, Z.

2017-08-01

In Cardoso et al. [6] it was claimed that quasinormal modes which any stationary, spherically symmetric and asymptotically flat black hole emits in the eikonal regime are determined by the parameters of the circular null geodesic: the real and imaginary parts of the quasinormal mode are multiples of the frequency and instability timescale of the circular null geodesics respectively. We shall consider asymptotically flat black hole in the Einstein-Lovelock theory, find analytical expressions for gravitational quasinormal modes in the eikonal regime and analyze the null geodesics. Comparison of the both phenomena shows that the expected link between the null geodesics and quasinormal modes is violated in the Einstein-Lovelock theory. Nevertheless, the correspondence exists for a number of other cases and here we formulate its actual limits.

Plasma structure change and intermittent fluctuation near magnetic island X-point under detached plasma condition in LHD

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ohno, N.; Tsuji, Y.; Tanaka, H.; Masuzaki, S.; Kobayashi, M.; Akiyama, T.; Morisaki, T.; Motojima, G.; Narushima, Y.

2014-10-01

Plasma profiles and intermittent fluctuations near the helical divertor X-point and on a divertor plate were investigated using a fast scanning Langmuir probe and a probe array embedded on a divertor plate in detached divertor condition that was sustained by applying a resonant magnetic perturbation (RMP) field in LHD. When the RMP induced magnetic island X-point (n/m = 1/1) is located near the helical divertor X-point, the reduction of particle flux accompanied by the plasma detachment occurred near the helical divertor X-point (n/m = 2/10), which leads to the reduction of the particle flux at the strike point on the divertor plate. We also found that when the divertor plasma turned to be the detached condition, the enhanced plasma fluctuations were confirmed between the helical divertor X-point and ergodic region, which exhibited a dynamic behavior having a large amount of positive-spike components with highly intermittent property. (author)

Modular Hamiltonians on the null plane and the Markov property of the vacuum state

Science.gov (United States)

Casini, Horacio; Testé, Eduardo; Torroba, Gonzalo

2017-09-01

We compute the modular Hamiltonians of regions having the future horizon lying on a null plane. For a CFT this is equivalent to regions with a boundary of arbitrary shape lying on the null cone. These Hamiltonians have a local expression on the horizon formed by integrals of the stress tensor. We prove this result in two different ways, and show that the modular Hamiltonians of these regions form an infinite dimensional Lie algebra. The corresponding group of unitary transformations moves the fields on the null surface locally along the null generators with arbitrary null line dependent velocities, but act non-locally outside the null plane. We regain this result in greater generality using more abstract tools on the algebraic quantum field theory. Finally, we show that modular Hamiltonians on the null surface satisfy a Markov property that leads to the saturation of the strong sub-additive inequality for the entropies and to the strong super-additivity of the relative entropy.

Toll-like receptor 4 mutant and null mice retain morphine-induced tolerance, hyperalgesia, and physical dependence.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Theresa Alexandra Mattioli

Full Text Available The innate immune system modulates opioid-induced effects within the central nervous system and one target that has received considerable attention is the toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4. Here, we examined the contribution of TLR4 in the development of morphine tolerance, hyperalgesia, and physical dependence in two inbred mouse strains: C3H/HeJ mice which have a dominant negative point mutation in the Tlr4 gene rendering the receptor non-functional, and B10ScNJ mice which are TLR4 null mutants. We found that neither acute antinociceptive response to a single dose of morphine, nor the development of analgesic tolerance to repeated morphine treatment, was affected by TLR4 genotype. Likewise, opioid induced hyperalgesia and opioid physical dependence (assessed by naloxone precipitated withdrawal were not altered in TLR4 mutant or null mice. We also examined the behavioural consequence of two stereoisomers of naloxone: (- naloxone, an opioid receptor antagonist, and (+ naloxone, a purported antagonist of TLR4. Both stereoisomers of naloxone suppressed opioid induced hyperalgesia in wild-type control, TLR4 mutant, and TLR4 null mice. Collectively, our data suggest that TLR4 is not required for opioid-induced analgesic tolerance, hyperalgesia, or physical dependence.

sirt1-null mice develop an autoimmune-like condition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sequeira, Jedon; Boily, Gino; Bazinet, Stephanie; Saliba, Sarah; He Xiaohong; Jardine, Karen; Kennedy, Christopher; Staines, William; Rousseaux, Colin; Mueller, Rudi; McBurney, Michael W.

2008-01-01

The sirt1 gene encodes a protein deacetylase with a broad spectrum of reported substrates. Mice carrying null alleles for sirt1 are viable on outbred genetic backgrounds so we have examined them in detail to identify the biological processes that are dependent on SIRT1. Sera from adult sirt1-null mice contain antibodies that react with nuclear antigens and immune complexes become deposited in the livers and kidneys of these animals. Some of the sirt1-null animals develop a disease resembling diabetes insipidus when they approach 2 years of age although the relationship to the autoimmunity remains unclear. We interpret these observations as consistent with a role for SIRT1 in sustaining normal immune function and in this way delaying the onset of autoimmune disease

Evaluation of magnetic helicity density in the wave number domain using multi-point measurements in space

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Y. Narita

2009-10-01

Full Text Available We develop an estimator for the magnetic helicity density, a measure of the spiral geometry of magnetic field lines, in the wave number domain as a wave diagnostic tool based on multi-point measurements in space. The estimator is numerically tested with a synthetic data set and then applied to an observation of magnetic field fluctuations in the Earth foreshock region provided by the four-point measurements of the Cluster spacecraft. The energy and the magnetic helicity density are determined in the frequency and the wave number domain, which allows us to identify the wave properties in the plasma rest frame correcting for the Doppler shift. In the analyzed time interval, dominant wave components have parallel propagation to the mean magnetic field, away from the shock at about Alfvén speed and a left-hand spatial rotation sense of helicity with respect to the propagation direction, which means a right-hand temporal rotation sense of polarization. These wave properties are well explained by the right-hand resonant beam instability as the driving mechanism in the foreshock. Cluster observations allow therefore detailed comparisons with various theories of waves and instabilities.

INVIVO 31P MAGNETIC-RESONANCE SPECTROSCOPY (MRS) OF TENDER POINTS IN PATIENTS WITH PRIMARY FIBROMYALGIA SYNDROME

NARCIS (Netherlands)

DEBLECOURT, AC; WOLF, RF; VANRIJSWIJK, MH; KAMMAN, RL; KNIPPING, AA; MOOYAART, EL

1991-01-01

31P Magnetic Resonance-Spectroscopy was performed at the site of tender points in the trapezius muscle of patients with primary fibromyalgia syndrome. Earlier, in vitro studies have reported changes in the high energy phosphate-metabolism in biopsies taken from tender points of fibromyalgia

Dynamics and waves near multiple magnetic null points in reconnection diffusion region

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Deng, X. H.; Zhou, M.; Li, S. Y.; Baumjohann, W.; Andre, M.; Cornilleau, N.; Santolík, Ondřej; Pontin, D. I.; Reme, H.; Lucek, E.; Fazakerley, A. N.; Decreau, P.; Daly, P.; Nakamura, R.; Tang, R. X.; Hu, Y. H.; Pang, Y.; Büchner, J.; Zhao, H.; Vaivads, A.; Pickett, J. S.; Ng, C. S.; Lin, X.; Fu, S.; Yuan, Z. G.; Su, Z. W.; Wang, J. F.

2009-01-01

Roč. 114, - (2009), A07216/1-A07216/7 ISSN 0148-0227 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z30420517 Keywords : waves * dynamics * reconnection * diffusion Subject RIV: BL - Plasma and Gas Discharge Physics Impact factor: 3.082, year: 2009

Logarithmic corrections to gravitational entropy and the null energy condition

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Parikh, Maulik, E-mail: maulik.parikh@asu.edu; Svesko, Andrew

2016-10-10

Using a relation between the thermodynamics of local horizons and the null energy condition, we consider the effects of quantum corrections to the gravitational entropy. In particular, we find that the geometric form of the null energy condition is not affected by the inclusion of logarithmic corrections to the Bekenstein–Hawking entropy.

Logarithmic corrections to gravitational entropy and the null energy condition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maulik Parikh

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Using a relation between the thermodynamics of local horizons and the null energy condition, we consider the effects of quantum corrections to the gravitational entropy. In particular, we find that the geometric form of the null energy condition is not affected by the inclusion of logarithmic corrections to the Bekenstein–Hawking entropy.

The data-driven null models for information dissemination tree in social networks

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Zhiwei; Wang, Zhenyu

2017-10-01

For the purpose of detecting relatedness and co-occurrence between users, as well as the distribution features of nodes in spreading path of a social network, this paper explores topological characteristics of information dissemination trees (IDT) that can be employed indirectly to probe the information dissemination laws within social networks. Hence, three different null models of IDT are presented in this article, including the statistical-constrained 0-order IDT null model, the random-rewire-broken-edge 0-order IDT null model and the random-rewire-broken-edge 2-order IDT null model. These null models firstly generate the corresponding randomized copy of an actual IDT; then the extended significance profile, which is developed by adding the cascade ratio of information dissemination path, is exploited not only to evaluate degree correlation of two nodes associated with an edge, but also to assess the cascade ratio of different length of information dissemination paths. The experimental correspondences of the empirical analysis for several SinaWeibo IDTs and Twitter IDTs indicate that the IDT null models presented in this paper perform well in terms of degree correlation of nodes and dissemination path cascade ratio, which can be better to reveal the features of information dissemination and to fit the situation of real social networks.

Weak ferrimagnetism, compensation point and magnetization reversal in Ni(HCOO)2x2H2O

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kageyama, H.; Khomskii, D.I.; Levitin, R.Z.; Vasiliev, A.N.

2003-01-01

Nickel (II) format dihydrate Ni(HCOO) 2 x2H 2 O shows peculiar magnetic response at T N =15.5 K. The magnitude of weak magnetic moment increases initially below T N , equals zero at T*=8.5 K and increases again at lowering temperature. The sign of low field magnetization at any given temperature is determined by the sample's magnetic prehistory and the signs are opposite to each other at T N . This behavior suggests that Ni(HCOO) 2 x2H 2 O is a weak ferrimagnet and T* is a compensation point

Elementary Theoretical Forms for the Spatial Power Spectrum of Earth's Crustal Magnetic Field

Science.gov (United States)

Voorhies, C.

1998-01-01

The magnetic field produced by magnetization in Earth's crust and lithosphere can be distinguished from the field produced by electric currents in Earth's core because the spatial magnetic power spectrum of the crustal field differs from that of the core field. Theoretical forms for the spectrum of the crustal field are derived by treating each magnetic domain in the crust as the point source of a dipole field. The geologic null-hypothesis that such moments are uncorrelated is used to obtain the magnetic spectrum expected from a randomly magnetized, or unstructured, spherical crust of negligible thickness. This simplest spectral form is modified to allow for uniform crustal thickness, ellipsoidality, and the polarization of domains by an periodically reversing, geocentric axial dipole field from Earth's core. Such spectra are intended to describe the background crustal field. Magnetic anomalies due to correlated magnetization within coherent geologic structures may well be superimposed upon this background; yet representing each such anomaly with a single point dipole may lead to similar spectral forms. Results from attempts to fit these forms to observational spectra, determined via spherical harmonic analysis of MAGSAT data, are summarized in terms of amplitude, source depth, and misfit. Each theoretical spectrum reduces to a source factor multiplied by the usual exponential function of spherical harmonic degree n due to geometric attenuation with attitude above the source layer. The source factors always vary with n and are approximately proportional to n(exp 3) for degrees 12 through 120. The theoretical spectra are therefore not directly proportional to an exponential function of spherical harmonic degree n. There is no radius at which these spectra are flat, level, or otherwise independent of n.

On the geometry of null congruences in general relativity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahsan, Zafar; Malik, N.P.

1977-01-01

Some theorems for the null congruences within the framework of general theory of relativity are given. These theorems are important in themselves as they illustrate the geometric meaning of the spin coefficients. The newly developed Geroch-Held-Penrose (GHP) formalism has been used throughout the investigations. The salient features of GHP formalism that are necessary for the present work are given and these techniques are applied to a pair of null congruences C(l) and C(n). (author)

Bifurcation magnetic resonance in films magnetized along hard magnetization axis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vasilevskaya, Tatiana M., E-mail: t_vasilevs@mail.ru [Ulyanovsk State University, Leo Tolstoy 42, 432017 Ulyanovsk (Russian Federation); Sementsov, Dmitriy I.; Shutyi, Anatoliy M. [Ulyanovsk State University, Leo Tolstoy 42, 432017 Ulyanovsk (Russian Federation)

2012-09-15

We study low-frequency ferromagnetic resonance in a thin film magnetized along the hard magnetization axis performing an analysis of magnetization precession dynamics equations and numerical simulation. Two types of films are considered: polycrystalline uniaxial films and single-crystal films with cubic magnetic anisotropy. An additional (bifurcation) resonance initiated by the bistability, i.e. appearance of two closely spaced equilibrium magnetization states is registered. The modification of dynamic modes provoked by variation of the frequency, amplitude, and magnetic bias value of the ac field is studied. Both steady and chaotic magnetization precession modes are registered in the bifurcation resonance range. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer An additional bifurcation resonance arises in a case of a thin film magnetized along HMA. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Bifurcation resonance occurs due to the presence of two closely spaced equilibrium magnetization states. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Both regular and chaotic precession modes are realized within bifurcation resonance range. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Appearance of dynamic bistability is typical for bifurcation resonance.

Final Technical Report for NSF/DOE partnership grant 1004284/ER54905/SC0004660; 2011- 2013

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stenzel, Reiner [University of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States); Urrutia, Manuel [University of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)

2014-10-15

Research has been performed on two topics: (1) Nonlinear time-dependent phenomena in the regime of electron magnetohydrodynamics (EMHD). (2) Plasma structures forming ”bubbles”. The latter are regions of localized density depletions or enhancements separated from the ambient plasma by sheaths or double layers. Three-dimensional magnetic null points can also be considered as ”magnetic bubbles”. Nonlinear EMHD fields are generated by pulsed magnetic loops. The magnetic field varies in time faster than an ion cyclotron period, hence interacts only with electrons. Space charge electric fields are created when magnetic forces try to separate electrons from ions. Electric and magnetic forces nearly balance to keep the plasma quasi neutral. This leads to rotational electron motions, i.e. Hall currents and associated magnetic perturbations. When the time scale falls between the ion and electron cyclotron period the magnetic perturbation is convected in the whistler mode. When the time-varying magnetic field exceeds the background magnetic field the whistler mode becomes highly nonlinear since its properties depend on the total magnetic field. When the time-varying magnetic field creates magnetic null points or null lines EMHD breaks down. Electrons can be accelerated in null lines which dissipated magnetic energy like in magnetic reconnection. Energized electrons with anisotropic distributions create secondary whistler instabilities. These effects have been observed in field topologies resembling spheromaks and field-reversed configurations (FRCs). The whistler mode propagation near magnetic nulls is not trivial when the field gradients and wavelength are comparable. Ray tracing is inappropriate when the WKB approximation breaks down. Experiments have been started to map wave propagation on curved field lines with null points. Initial results show that whistlers in highly nonuniform fields have highly oblique phase velocities but the energy flow remains dominantly

Integrated null-flux suspension and multiphase propulsion system for magnetically-levitated vehicles

Science.gov (United States)

Rote, D.M.; He, J.; Johnson, L.R.

1994-01-04

A propulsion and stabilization system are described comprising a series of coils mounted vertically on the walls of the guideway to provide suspension, lateral guidance, and propulsion of a magnetically levitated vehicle. This system further allows for altering the magnetic field effects by changing the relative position of the loops comprising the coils either longitudinally and/or vertically with resulting changes in the propulsion, the vertical stability, and the suspension. 8 figures.

Integrated null-flux suspension and multiphase propulsion system for magnetically-levitated vehicles

Science.gov (United States)

Rote, Donald M.; He, Jianliang; Johnson, Larry R.

1994-01-01

A propulsion and stabilization system comprising a series of FIG. 8 coils mounted vertically on the walls of the guideway to provide suspension, lateral guidance and propulsion of a magnetically levitated vehicle. This system further allows for altering the magnetic field effects by changing the relative position of the loops comprising the FIG. 8 coils either longitudinally and/or vertically with resulting changes in the propulsion, the vertical stability, and the suspension.

Testing the null hypothesis: the forgotten legacy of Karl Popper?

Science.gov (United States)

Wilkinson, Mick

2013-01-01

Testing of the null hypothesis is a fundamental aspect of the scientific method and has its basis in the falsification theory of Karl Popper. Null hypothesis testing makes use of deductive reasoning to ensure that the truth of conclusions is irrefutable. In contrast, attempting to demonstrate the new facts on the basis of testing the experimental or research hypothesis makes use of inductive reasoning and is prone to the problem of the Uniformity of Nature assumption described by David Hume in the eighteenth century. Despite this issue and the well documented solution provided by Popper's falsification theory, the majority of publications are still written such that they suggest the research hypothesis is being tested. This is contrary to accepted scientific convention and possibly highlights a poor understanding of the application of conventional significance-based data analysis approaches. Our work should remain driven by conjecture and attempted falsification such that it is always the null hypothesis that is tested. The write up of our studies should make it clear that we are indeed testing the null hypothesis and conforming to the established and accepted philosophical conventions of the scientific method.

Null controllability of a cascade system of Schrodinger equations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marcos Lopez-Garcia

2016-03-01

Full Text Available This article presents a control problem for a cascade system of two linear N-dimensional Schrodinger equations. We address the problem of null controllability by means of a control supported in a region not satisfying the classical geometrical control condition. The proof is based on the application of a Carleman estimate with degenerate weights to each one of the equations and a careful analysis of the system in order to prove null controllability with only one control force.

Point defects and magnetic properties of neutron irradiated MgO single crystal

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mengxiong Cao

2017-05-01

Full Text Available (100-oriented MgO single crystals were irradiated to introduce point defects with different neutron doses ranging from 1.0×1016 to 1.0×1020 cm-2. The point defect configurations were studied with X-ray diffuse scattering and UV-Vis absorption spectra. The isointensity profiles of X-ray diffuse scattering caused by the cubic and double-force point defects in MgO were theoretically calculated based on the Huang scattering theory. The magnetic properties at different temperature were measured with superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID. The reciprocal space mappings (RSMs of irradiated MgO revealed notable diffuse scattering. The UV-Vis spectra indicated the presence of O Frenkel defects in irradiated MgO. Neutron-irradiated MgO was diamagnetic at room temperature and became ferromagnetic at low temperature due to O Frenkel defects induced by neutron-irradiation.

Density effects on tokamak edge turbulence and transport with magnetic X-points

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu, X.Q.; Cohen, R.H.; Nevins, W.M.; Rognlien, T.D.; Ryutov, D.D.; Umansky, M.V.; Pearlstein, L.D.; Bulmer, R.H.; Russell, D.A.; Myra, J.R.; D'Ippolito, D.A.; Greenwald, M.; Snyder, P.B.; Mahdavi, M.A.

2005-01-01

Results are presented from the 3D electromagnetic turbulence code BOUT, the 2D transport code UEDGE, and theoretical analysis of boundary turbulence and transport in a real divertor-plasma geometry and its relationship to the density limit. Key results include: (1) a transition of the boundary turbulence from resistive X-point to resistive-ballooning as a critical plasma density is exceeded; (2) formation of an X-point MARFE in 2D UEDGE transport simulations for increasing outboard radial transport as found by BOUT for increasing density; (3) identification of convective transport by localized plasma 'blobs' in the SOL at high density during neutral fueling, and decorrelation of turbulence between the midplane and the divertor leg due to strong X-point magnetic shear; (4) a new divertor-leg instability driven at high plasma beta by a radial tilt of the divertor plate. (author)

Charged point particles with magnetic moment in general relativity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amorim, R.; Tiomno, J.

1977-01-01

Halbwachs Lagrangean formalism for the theory of charged point particles with spin (g = 2) is generalized and formulated in General Relativity for particles of arbitrary charge and magnetic moment. Equations are obtained, both corresponding to Frenkel's condition Ssub(μν)Xsup(ν) = 0 and to Nakano's condition Ssub(μν)Psup(ν) = 0. With the later condition the exact equations are highly coupled and non linear. When linearized in the electromagnetic and gravitational fields they coincide with de Groot-Suttorp equations for vanishing gravitational fields and with Dixon-Wald equations in the absence of electromagnetic field. The equations corresponding to Frenkel's condition, when linearized in Ssub(μν), coincide with Papapetrou's and Frenkel's equations in the corresponding limits [pt

The (2, 0) superalgebra, null M-branes and Hitchin's system

Science.gov (United States)

Kucharski, P.; Lambert, N.; Owen, M.

2017-10-01

We present an interacting system of equations with sixteen supersymmetries and an SO(2) × SO(6) R-symmetry where the fields depend on two space and one null dimensions that is derived from a representation of the six-dimensional (2, 0) superalgebra. The system can be viewed as two M5-branes compactified on {S}-^1× T^2 or equivalently as M2-branes on R+× R^2 , where ± refer to null directions. We show that for a particular choice of fields the dynamics can be reduced to motion on the moduli space of solutions to the Hitchin system. We argue that this provides a description of intersecting null M2-branes and is also related by U-duality to a DLCQ description of four-dimensional maximally supersymmetric Yang-Mills.

Vacuum Nuller Testbed (VNT) Performance, Characterization and Null Control: Progress Report

Science.gov (United States)

Lyon, Richard G.; Clampin, Mark; Petrone, Peter; Mallik, Udayan; Madison, Timothy; Bolcar, Matthew R.; Noecker, M. Charley; Kendrick, Stephen; Helmbrecht, Michael

2011-01-01

Herein we report on the development. sensing and control and our first results with the Vacuum Nuller Testbed to realize a Visible Nulling Coronagraph (VNC) for exoplanet coronagraphy. The VNC is one of the few approaches that works with filled. segmented and sparse or diluted-aperture telescope systems. It thus spans a range of potential future NASA telescopes and could be Hown as a separate instrument on such a future mission. NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) has a well-established effort to develop VNC technologies. and has developed an incremental sequence of VNC testbeds to advance this approach and the enabling technologies associated with it. We discuss the continued development of the vacuum Visible Nulling Coronagraph testbed (VNT). Tbe VNT is an ultra-stable vibration isolated testbed that operates under closed-loop control within a vacuum chamber. It will be used to achieve an incremental sequence of three visible-light nulling milestones with sequentially higher contrasts of 10(sup 8), 10(sup 9) and ideally 10(sup 10) at an inner working angle of 2*lambda/D. The VNT is based on a modified Mach-Zehnder nulling interferometer, with a "W" configuration to accommodate a hex-packed MEMS based deformable mirror, a coherent fiber bundle and achromatic phase shifters. We discuss the initial laboratory results, the optical configuration, critical technologies and the null sensing and control approach.

Vacuum nuller testbed (VNT) performance, characterization and null control: progress report

Science.gov (United States)

Lyon, Richard G.; Clampin, Mark; Petrone, Peter; Mallik, Udayan; Madison, Timothy; Bolcar, Matthew R.; Noecker, M. Charley; Kendrick, Stephen; Helmbrecht, Michael

2011-10-01

Herein we report on the development, sensing and control and our first results with the Vacuum Nuller Testbed to realize a Visible Nulling Coronagraph (VNC) for exoplanet coronagraphy. The VNC is one of the few approaches that works with filled, segmented and sparse or diluted-aperture telescope systems. It thus spans a range of potential future NASA telescopes and could be flown as a separate instrument on such a future mission. NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) has a well-established effort to develop VNC technologies, and has developed an incremental sequence of VNC testbeds to advance this approach and the enabling technologies associated with it. We discuss the continued development of the vacuum Visible Nulling Coronagraph testbed (VNT). The VNT is an ultra-stable vibration isolated testbed that operates under closed-loop control within a vacuum chamber. It will be used to achieve an incremental sequence of three visible-light nulling milestones with sequentially higher contrasts of 108, 109, and ideally 1010 at an inner working angle of 2*λ/D. The VNT is based on a modified Mach-Zehnder nulling interferometer, with a "W" configuration to accommodate a hex-packed MEMS based deformable mirror, a coherent fiber bundle and achromatic phase shifters. We discuss the initial laboratory results, the optical configuration, critical technologies and the null sensing and control approach.

Nulling tomography with weak gravitational lensing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huterer, Dragan; White, Martin

2005-01-01

We explore several strategies of eliminating (or nulling) the small-scale information in weak lensing convergence power spectrum measurements in order to protect against undesirable effects, for example, the effects of baryonic cooling and pressure forces on the distribution of large-scale structures. We selectively throw out the small-scale information in the convergence power spectrum that is most sensitive to the unwanted bias, while trying to retain most of the sensitivity to cosmological parameters. The strategies are effective in the difficult but realistic situations when we are able to guess the form of the contaminating effect only approximately. However, we also find that the simplest scheme of simply not using information from the largest multipoles works about as well as the proposed techniques in most, although not all, realistic cases. We advocate further exploration of nulling techniques and believe that they will find important applications in the weak lensing data mining

An improved null model for assessing the net effects of multiple stressors on communities.

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, Patrick L; MacLennan, Megan M; Vinebrooke, Rolf D

2018-01-01

Ecological stressors (i.e., environmental factors outside their normal range of variation) can mediate each other through their interactions, leading to unexpected combined effects on communities. Determining whether the net effect of stressors is ecologically surprising requires comparing their cumulative impact to a null model that represents the linear combination of their individual effects (i.e., an additive expectation). However, we show that standard additive and multiplicative null models that base their predictions on the effects of single stressors on community properties (e.g., species richness or biomass) do not provide this linear expectation, leading to incorrect interpretations of antagonistic and synergistic responses by communities. We present an alternative, the compositional null model, which instead bases its predictions on the effects of stressors on individual species, and then aggregates them to the community level. Simulations demonstrate the improved ability of the compositional null model to accurately provide a linear expectation of the net effect of stressors. We simulate the response of communities to paired stressors that affect species in a purely additive fashion and compare the relative abilities of the compositional null model and two standard community property null models (additive and multiplicative) to predict these linear changes in species richness and community biomass across different combinations (both positive, negative, or opposite) and intensities of stressors. The compositional model predicts the linear effects of multiple stressors under almost all scenarios, allowing for proper classification of net effects, whereas the standard null models do not. Our findings suggest that current estimates of the prevalence of ecological surprises on communities based on community property null models are unreliable, and should be improved by integrating the responses of individual species to the community level as does our

Self-Nulling Beam Combiner Using No External Phase Inverter

Science.gov (United States)

Bloemhof, Eric E.

2010-01-01

A self-nulling beam combiner is proposed that completely eliminates the phase inversion subsystem from the nulling interferometer, and instead uses the intrinsic phase shifts in the beam splitters. Simplifying the flight instrument in this way will be a valuable enhancement of mission reliability. The tighter tolerances on R = T (R being reflection and T being transmission coefficients) required by the self-nulling configuration actually impose no new constraints on the architecture, as two adaptive nullers must be situated between beam splitters to correct small errors in the coatings. The new feature is exploiting the natural phase shifts in beam combiners to achieve the 180 phase inversion necessary for nulling. The advantage over prior art is that an entire subsystem, the field-flipping optics, can be eliminated. For ultimate simplicity in the flight instrument, one might fabricate coatings to very high tolerances and dispense with the adaptive nullers altogether, with all their moving parts, along with the field flipper subsystem. A single adaptive nuller upstream of the beam combiner may be required to correct beam train errors (systematic noise), but in some circumstances phase chopping reduces these errors substantially, and there may be ways to further reduce the chop residuals. Though such coatings are beyond the current state of the art, the mechanical simplicity and robustness of a flight system without field flipper or adaptive nullers would perhaps justify considerable effort on coating fabrication.

Null cone superspace supergravity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Downes-Martin, S.G.

1980-03-01

The null cone formalism is used to derive a 2(N-1) parameter family of constraints for O(N) extended superspace supergravity. The invariance groups of these constraints is analysed and is found to be [subgroup U submanifold] contains GL(4,R) for N = 1, the submanifold being eliminated for N > 1. The invariance group defines non-Weyl rotations on the superbein which combine to form Weyl transformations on the supertangent space metric. The invariance of the supergravity Lagrangian under these transformations is discussed. (Auth.)

High Contrast Vacuum Nuller Testbed (VNT) Contrast, Performance and Null Control

Science.gov (United States)

Lyon, Richard G.; Clampin, Mark; Petrone, Peter; Mallik, Udayan; Madison, Timothy; Bolcar, Matthew R.

2012-01-01

Herein we report on our Visible Nulling Coronagraph high-contrast result of 109 contrast averaged over a focal planeregion extending from 14 D with the Vacuum Nuller Testbed (VNT) in a vibration isolated vacuum chamber. TheVNC is a hybrid interferometriccoronagraphic approach for exoplanet science. It operates with high Lyot stopefficiency for filled, segmented and sparse or diluted-aperture telescopes, thereby spanning the range of potential futureNASA flight telescopes. NASAGoddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) has a well-established effort to develop the VNCand its technologies, and has developed an incremental sequence of VNC testbeds to advance this approach and itsenabling technologies. These testbeds have enabled advancement of high-contrast, visible light, nulling interferometry tounprecedented levels. The VNC is based on a modified Mach-Zehnder nulling interferometer, with a W configurationto accommodate a hex-packed MEMS based deformable mirror, a coherent fiber bundle and achromatic phase shifters.We give an overview of the VNT and discuss the high-contrast laboratory results, the optical configuration, criticaltechnologies and null sensing and control.

High contrast vacuum nuller testbed (VNT) contrast, performance, and null control

Science.gov (United States)

Lyon, Richard G.; Clampin, Mark; Petrone, Peter; Mallik, Udayan; Madison, Timothy; Bolcar, Matthew R.

2012-09-01

Herein we report on our Visible Nulling Coronagraph high-contrast result of 109 contrast averaged over a focal plane region extending from 1 - 4 λ/D with the Vacuum Nuller Testbed (VNT) in a vibration isolated vacuum chamber. The VNC is a hybrid interferometric/coronagraphic approach for exoplanet science. It operates with high Lyot stop efficiency for filled, segmented and sparse or diluted-aperture telescopes, thereby spanning the range of potential future NASA flight telescopes. NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) has a well-established effort to develop the VNC and its technologies, and has developed an incremental sequence of VNC testbeds to advance this approach and its enabling technologies. These testbeds have enabled advancement of high-contrast, visible light, nulling interferometry to unprecedented levels. The VNC is based on a modified Mach-Zehnder nulling interferometer, with a “W” configuration to accommodate a hex-packed MEMS based deformable mirror, a coherent fiber bundle and achromatic phase shifters. We give an overview of the VNT and discuss the high-contrast laboratory results, the optical configuration, critical technologies and null sensing and control.

Spatial and null infinity via advanced and retarded conformal factors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hayward, Sean A.

2003-01-01

A new approach to space-time asymptotics is presented, refining Penrose's idea of conformal transformations with infinity represented by the conformal boundary of space-time. It is proposed that the Penrose conformal factor be a product of advanced and retarded conformal factors, which asymptotically relate physical and conformal null coordinates and vanish at future and past null infinity respectively. A refined definition of asymptotic flatness at both spatial and null infinity is given, including that the conformal boundary is locally a light cone, with spatial infinity as the vertex. It is shown how to choose the conformal factors so that this asymptotic light cone is locally a metric light cone. The theory is implemented in the spin-coefficient (or null-tetrad) formalism by a joint transformation of the spin-metric and spin-basis (or metric and tetrad). Asymptotic regularity conditions are proposed, based on the conformal boundary locally being a smoothly embedded metric light cone. These conditions ensure that the Bondi-Sachs energy-flux integrals of ingoing and outgoing gravitational radiation decay at spatial infinity such that the total radiated energy is finite, and that the Bondi-Sachs energy-momentum has a unique limit at spatial infinity, coinciding with the uniquely rendered ADM energy-momentum

Unicorns do exist: a tutorial on "proving" the null hypothesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Streiner, David L

2003-12-01

Introductory statistics classes teach us that we can never prove the null hypothesis; all we can do is reject or fail to reject it. However, there are times when it is necessary to try to prove the nonexistence of a difference between groups. This most often happens within the context of comparing a new treatment against an established one and showing that the new intervention is not inferior to the standard. This article first outlines the logic of "noninferiority" testing by differentiating between the null hypothesis (that which we are trying to nullify) and the "nill" hypothesis (there is no difference), reversing the role of the null and alternate hypotheses, and defining an interval within which groups are said to be equivalent. We then work through an example and show how to calculate sample sizes for noninferiority studies.

Causal null hypotheses of sustained treatment strategies: What can be tested with an instrumental variable?

Science.gov (United States)

Swanson, Sonja A; Labrecque, Jeremy; Hernán, Miguel A

2018-05-02

Sometimes instrumental variable methods are used to test whether a causal effect is null rather than to estimate the magnitude of a causal effect. However, when instrumental variable methods are applied to time-varying exposures, as in many Mendelian randomization studies, it is unclear what causal null hypothesis is tested. Here, we consider different versions of causal null hypotheses for time-varying exposures, show that the instrumental variable conditions alone are insufficient to test some of them, and describe additional assumptions that can be made to test a wider range of causal null hypotheses, including both sharp and average causal null hypotheses. Implications for interpretation and reporting of instrumental variable results are discussed.

Measurement of high-departure aspheres using subaperture stitching with the Variable Optical Null (VON)

Science.gov (United States)

Kulawiec, Andrew; Murphy, Paul; DeMarco, Michael

2010-10-01

Aspheric surfaces are proven to provide significant benefits to a wide variety of optical systems, but the ability to produce high-precision aspheric surfaces has historically been limited by the ability (or lack thereof) to measure them. Traditionally, aspheric measurements have required dedicated null optics, but the cost, lead time, and calibration difficulty of using null optics has made the use of aspheres more challenging and less attractive. In the past three years, QED has developed the Subaperture Stitching Interferometer for Aspheres (SSI-A®) to help address this limitation, providing flexible aspheric measurement capability of up to 200 waves of aspheric departure from best-fit sphere. Some aspheres, however, have thousands of waves of departure. We have recently developed Variable Optical Null (VON) technology that can null much of the aspheric departure in a subaperture. The VON is automatically configurable and is adjusted to nearly null each specific subaperture of an asphere. This ability to nearly null a local subaperture of an asphere provides a significant boost in aspheric measurement capability, enabling aspheres with up to 1000 waves of departure to be measured, without the use of dedicated null optics. We outline the basic principles of subaperture stitching and VON technology, demonstrate the extended capability provided by the VON, and present measurement results from the new Aspheric Stitching Interferometer (ASI®).

Broadband Active Segmented Aperture and Radial Shear Nulling

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The Visible Nulling Coronagraph (VNC) is a starlight suppression system for enabling exoplanet detectionand atmospheric measurement. Conceptual space telescope...

Null canonical formalism 1, Maxwell field. [Poisson brackets, boundary conditions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wodkiewicz, K [Warsaw Univ. (Poland). Inst. Fizyki Teoretycznej

1975-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to formulate the canonical formalism on null hypersurfaces for the Maxwell electrodynamics. The set of the Poisson brackets relations for null variables of the Maxwell field is obtained. The asymptotic properties of the theory are investigated. The Poisson bracket relations for the news-functions of the Maxwell field are computed. The Hamiltonian form of the asymptotic Maxwell equations in terms of these news-functions is obtained.

Spherical null geodesics of rotating Kerr black holes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hod, Shahar

2013-01-01

The non-equatorial spherical null geodesics of rotating Kerr black holes are studied analytically. Unlike the extensively studied equatorial circular orbits whose radii are known analytically, no closed-form formula exists in the literature for the radii of generic (non-equatorial) spherical geodesics. We provide here an approximate formula for the radii r ph (a/M;cosi) of these spherical null geodesics, where a/M is the dimensionless angular momentum of the black hole and cos i is an effective inclination angle (with respect to the black-hole equatorial plane) of the orbit. It is well-known that the equatorial circular geodesics of the Kerr spacetime (the prograde and the retrograde orbits with cosi=±1) are characterized by a monotonic dependence of their radii r ph (a/M;cosi=±1) on the dimensionless spin-parameter a/M of the black hole. We use here our novel analytical formula to reveal that this well-known property of the equatorial circular geodesics is actually not a generic property of the Kerr spacetime. In particular, we find that counter-rotating spherical null orbits in the range (3√(3)−√(59))/4≲cosi ph (a/M;cosi=const) on the dimensionless rotation-parameter a/M of the black hole. Furthermore, it is shown that spherical photon orbits of rapidly-rotating black holes are characterized by a critical inclination angle, cosi=√(4/7), above which the coordinate radii of the orbits approach the black-hole radius in the extremal limit. We prove that this critical inclination angle signals a transition in the physical properties of the spherical null geodesics: in particular, it separates orbits which are characterized by finite proper distances to the black-hole horizon from orbits which are characterized by infinite proper distances to the horizon.

Study of the fast inversion recovery pulse sequence. With reference to fast fluid attenuated inversion recovery and fast short TI inversion recovery pulse sequence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsuchihashi, Toshio; Maki, Toshio; Suzuki, Takeshi

1997-01-01

The fast inversion recovery (fast IR) pulse sequence was evaluated. We compared the fast fluid attenuated inversion recovery (fast FLAIR) pulse sequence in which inversion time (TI) was established as equal to the water null point for the purpose of the water-suppressed T 2 -weighted image, with the fast short TI inversion recovery (fast STIR) pulse sequence in which TI was established as equal to the fat null point for purpose of fat suppression. In the fast FLAIR pulse sequence, the water null point was increased by making TR longer. In the FLAIR pulse sequence, the longitudinal magnetization contrast is determined by TI. If TI is increased, T 2 -weighted contrast improves in the same way as increasing TR for the SE pulse sequence. Therefore, images should be taken with long TR and long TI, which are longer than TR and longer than the water null point. On the other hand, the fat null point is not affected by TR in the fast STIR pulse sequence. However, effective TE was affected by variation of the null point. This increased in proportion to the increase in effective TE. Our evaluation indicated that the fast STIR pulse sequence can control the extensive signals from fat in a short time. (author)

A Null Space Control of Two Wheels Driven Mobile Manipulator Using Passivity Theory

Science.gov (United States)

Shibata, Tsuyoshi; Murakami, Toshiyuki

This paper describes a control strategy of null space motion of a two wheels driven mobile manipulator. Recently, robot is utilized in various industrial fields and it is preferable for the robot manipulator to have multiple degrees of freedom motion. Several studies of kinematics for null space motion have been proposed. However stability analysis of null space motion is not enough. Furthermore, these approaches apply to stable systems, but they do not apply unstable systems. Then, in this research, base of manipulator equips with two wheels driven mobile robot. This robot is called two wheels driven mobile manipulator, which becomes unstable system. In the proposed approach, a control design of null space uses passivity based stabilizing. A proposed controller is decided so that closed-loop system of robot dynamics satisfies passivity. This is passivity based control. Then, control strategy is that stabilizing of the robot system applies to work space observer based approach and null space control while keeping end-effector position. The validity of the proposed approach is verified by simulations and experiments of two wheels driven mobile manipulator.

Numerical methods for finding periodic points in discrete maps. High order islands chains and noble barriers in a toroidal magnetic configuration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Steinbrecher, G. [Association Euratom-Nasti Romania, Dept. of Theoretical Physics, Physics Faculty, University of Craiova (Romania); Reuss, J.D.; Misguich, J.H. [Association Euratom-CEA Cadarache, 13 - Saint-Paul-lez-Durance (France). Dept. de Recherches sur la Fusion Controlee

2001-11-01

We first remind usual physical and mathematical concepts involved in the dynamics of Hamiltonian systems, and namely in chaotic systems described by discrete 2D maps (representing the intersection points of toroidal magnetic lines in a poloidal plane in situations of incomplete magnetic chaos in Tokamaks). Finding the periodic points characterizing chains of magnetic islands is an essential step not only to determine the skeleton of the phase space picture, but also to determine the flux of magnetic lines across semi-permeable barriers like Cantori. We discuss here several computational methods used to determine periodic points in N dimensions, which amounts to solve a set of N nonlinear coupled equations: Newton method, minimization techniques, Laplace or steepest descend method, conjugated direction method and Fletcher-Reeves method. We have succeeded to improve this last method in an important way, without modifying its useful double-exponential convergence. This improved method has been tested and applied to finding periodic points of high order m in the 2D 'Tokamap' mapping, for values of m along rational chains of winding number n/m converging towards a noble value where a Cantorus exists. Such precise positions of periodic points have been used in the calculation of the flux across this Cantorus. (authors)

Anti-optic-null medium: Achieving the optic-null medium effect by enclosing an air region with relatively low-anisotropy media

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Fei; Liu, Yichao; He, Sailing

2016-07-01

A so-called anti-optic-null medium (anti-ONM), which can be utilized to cancel the optic-null medium (ONM) and create many novel optical illusions, is introduced and designed by transformation optics (TO). Optical separation illusions can be achieved with an anti-ONM. With the help of the anti-ONM, we can achieve the same optical illusions where ONM is required via a shelled structure filled with low anisotropic medium, which is easier to realize for some novel optical devices designed by TO and optical surface transformation. The special function of the anti-ONM will lead to a new way to design optical devices or simplify the material requirements. Overlapping illusions, and wave-front reshapers are designed to demonstrate the function of the proposed method.

Instabilities and the null energy condition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buniy, Roman V.; Hsu, Stephen D.H.

2006-01-01

We show that violation of the null energy condition implies instability in a broad class of models, including gauge theories with scalar and fermionic matter as well as any perfect fluid. When applied to the dark energy, our results imply that w=p/ρ is unlikely to be less than -1. than -1

Parallel-propagated frame along null geodesics in higher-dimensional black hole spacetimes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kubiznak, David; Frolov, Valeri P.; Connell, Patrick; Krtous, Pavel

2009-01-01

In [arXiv:0803.3259] the equations describing the parallel transport of orthonormal frames along timelike (spacelike) geodesics in a spacetime admitting a nondegenerate principal conformal Killing-Yano 2-form h were solved. The construction employed is based on studying the Darboux subspaces of the 2-form F obtained as a projection of h along the geodesic trajectory. In this paper we demonstrate that, although slightly modified, a similar construction is possible also in the case of null geodesics. In particular, we explicitly construct the parallel-transported frames along null geodesics in D=4, 5, 6 Kerr-NUT-(A)dS spacetimes. We further discuss the parallel transport along principal null directions in these spacetimes. Such directions coincide with the eigenvectors of the principal conformal Killing-Yano tensor. Finally, we show how to obtain a parallel-transported frame along null geodesics in the background of the 4D Plebanski-Demianski metric which admits only a conformal generalization of the Killing-Yano tensor.

On the geometry of null cones to infinity under curvature flux bounds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alexakis, Spyros; Shao, Arick

2014-01-01

The main objective of this paper is to control the geometry of a future outgoing truncated null cone extending smoothly toward infinity in an Einstein-vacuum spacetime. In particular, we wish to do this under minimal regularity assumptions, namely, at the (weighted) L 2 -curvature level. We show that if the curvature flux and the data on an initial sphere of the cone are sufficiently close to the corresponding values in a standard Minkowski or Schwarzschild null cone, then we can obtain quantitative bounds on the geometry of the entire infinite cone. The same bounds also imply the existence of limits at infinity, along the null cone, of naturally scaled geometric quantities. In Alexakis and Shao (2013 Bounds on the Bondi energy by a flux of curvature arXiv:1308.4170), we will apply these results in order to control various physical quantities—e.g., the Bondi energy and (linear and angular) momenta—associated with such infinite null cones in vacuum spacetimes. (paper)

Simple Fourier optics formalism for high-angular-resolution systems and nulling interferometry.

Science.gov (United States)

Hénault, François

2010-03-01

Reviewed are various designs of advanced, multiaperture optical systems dedicated to high-angular-resolution imaging or to the detection of exoplanets by nulling interferometry. A simple Fourier optics formalism applicable to both imaging arrays and nulling interferometers is presented, allowing their basic theoretical relationships to be derived as convolution or cross-correlation products suitable for fast and accurate computation. Several unusual designs, such as a "superresolving telescope" utilizing a mosaicking observation procedure or a free-flying, axially recombined interferometer are examined, and their performance in terms of imaging and nulling capacity are assessed. In all considered cases, it is found that the limiting parameter is the diameter of the individual telescopes. A final section devoted to nulling interferometry shows an apparent superiority of axial versus multiaxial recombining schemes. The entire study is valid only in the framework of first-order geometrical optics and scalar diffraction theory. Furthermore, it is assumed that all entrance subapertures are optically conjugated with their associated exit pupils.

Abnormal Activation of BMP Signaling Causes Myopathy in Fbn2 Null Mice.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gerhard Sengle

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Fibrillins are large extracellular macromolecules that polymerize to form the backbone structure of connective tissue microfibrils. Mutations in the gene for fibrillin-1 cause the Marfan syndrome, while mutations in the gene for fibrillin-2 cause Congenital Contractural Arachnodactyly. Both are autosomal dominant disorders, and both disorders affect musculoskeletal tissues. Here we show that Fbn2 null mice (on a 129/Sv background are born with reduced muscle mass, abnormal muscle histology, and signs of activated BMP signaling in skeletal muscle. A delay in Myosin Heavy Chain 8, a perinatal myosin, was found in Fbn2 null forelimb muscle tissue, consistent with the notion that muscle defects underlie forelimb contractures in these mice. In addition, white fat accumulated in the forelimbs during the early postnatal period. Adult Fbn2 null mice are already known to demonstrate persistent muscle weakness. Here we measured elevated creatine kinase levels in adult Fbn2 null mice, indicating ongoing cycles of muscle injury. On a C57Bl/6 background, Fbn2 null mice showed severe defects in musculature, leading to neonatal death from respiratory failure. These new findings demonstrate that loss of fibrillin-2 results in phenotypes similar to those found in congenital muscular dystrophies and that FBN2 should be considered as a candidate gene for recessive congenital muscular dystrophy. Both in vivo and in vitro evidence associated muscle abnormalities and accumulation of white fat in Fbn2 null mice with abnormally activated BMP signaling. Genetic rescue of reduced muscle mass and accumulation of white fat in Fbn2 null mice was accomplished by deleting a single allele of Bmp7. In contrast to other reports that activated BMP signaling leads to muscle hypertrophy, our findings demonstrate the exquisite sensitivity of BMP signaling to the fibrillin-2 extracellular environment during early postnatal muscle development. New evidence presented here suggests that

Standard map in magnetized relativistic systems: fixed points and regular acceleration.

Science.gov (United States)

de Sousa, M C; Steffens, F M; Pakter, R; Rizzato, F B

2010-08-01

We investigate the concept of a standard map for the interaction of relativistic particles and electrostatic waves of arbitrary amplitudes, under the action of external magnetic fields. The map is adequate for physical settings where waves and particles interact impulsively, and allows for a series of analytical result to be exactly obtained. Unlike the traditional form of the standard map, the present map is nonlinear in the wave amplitude and displays a series of peculiar properties. Among these properties we discuss the relation involving fixed points of the maps and accelerator regimes.

Pattern Nulling of Linear Antenna Arrays Using Backtracking Search Optimization Algorithm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kerim Guney

2015-01-01

Full Text Available An evolutionary method based on backtracking search optimization algorithm (BSA is proposed for linear antenna array pattern synthesis with prescribed nulls at interference directions. Pattern nulling is obtained by controlling only the amplitude, position, and phase of the antenna array elements. BSA is an innovative metaheuristic technique based on an iterative process. Various numerical examples of linear array patterns with the prescribed single, multiple, and wide nulls are given to illustrate the performance and flexibility of BSA. The results obtained by BSA are compared with the results of the following seventeen algorithms: particle swarm optimization (PSO, genetic algorithm (GA, modified touring ant colony algorithm (MTACO, quadratic programming method (QPM, bacterial foraging algorithm (BFA, bees algorithm (BA, clonal selection algorithm (CLONALG, plant growth simulation algorithm (PGSA, tabu search algorithm (TSA, memetic algorithm (MA, nondominated sorting GA-2 (NSGA-2, multiobjective differential evolution (MODE, decomposition with differential evolution (MOEA/D-DE, comprehensive learning PSO (CLPSO, harmony search algorithm (HSA, seeker optimization algorithm (SOA, and mean variance mapping optimization (MVMO. The simulation results show that the linear antenna array synthesis using BSA provides low side-lobe levels and deep null levels.

Partial null astigmatism-compensated interferometry for a concave freeform Zernike mirror

Science.gov (United States)

Dou, Yimeng; Yuan, Qun; Gao, Zhishan; Yin, Huimin; Chen, Lu; Yao, Yanxia; Cheng, Jinlong

2018-06-01

Partial null interferometry without using any null optics is proposed to measure a concave freeform Zernike mirror. Oblique incidence on the freeform mirror is used to compensate for astigmatism as the main component in its figure, and to constrain the divergence of the test beam as well. The phase demodulated from the partial nulled interferograms is divided into low-frequency phase and high-frequency phase by Zernike polynomial fitting. The low-frequency surface figure error of the freeform mirror represented by the coefficients of Zernike polynomials is reconstructed from the low-frequency phase, applying the reverse optimization reconstruction technology in the accurate model of the interferometric system. The high-frequency surface figure error of the freeform mirror is retrieved from the high-frequency phase adopting back propagating technology, according to the updated model in which the low-frequency surface figure error has been superimposed on the sag of the freeform mirror. Simulations verified that this method is capable of testing a wide variety of astigmatism-dominated freeform mirrors due to the high dynamic range. The experimental result using our proposed method for a concave freeform Zernike mirror is consistent with the null test result employing the computer-generated hologram.

Red hair is the null phenotype of MC1R.

Science.gov (United States)

Beaumont, Kimberley A; Shekar, Sri N; Cook, Anthony L; Duffy, David L; Sturm, Richard A

2008-08-01

The Melanocortin-1 Receptor (MC1R) is a G-protein coupled receptor, which is responsible for production of the darker eumelanin pigment and the tanning response. The MC1R gene has many polymorphisms, some of which have been linked to variation in pigmentation phenotypes within human populations. In particular, the p.D84E, p.R151C, p.R160W and p.D294 H alleles have been strongly associated with red hair, fair skin and increased skin cancer risk. These red hair colour (RHC) variants are relatively well described and are thought to result in altered receptor function, while still retaining varying levels of signaling ability in vitro. The mouse Mc1r null phenotype is yellow fur colour, the p.R151C, p.R160W and p.D294 H alleles were able to partially rescue this phenotype, leading to the question of what the true null phenotype of MC1R would be in humans. Due to the rarity of MC1R null alleles in human populations, they have only been found in the heterozygous state until now. We report here the first case of a homozygous MC1R null individual, phenotypic analysis indicates that red hair and fair skin is found in the absence of MC1R function.

Vortical null orbits, repulsive barriers, energy confinement in Kerr metric

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Calvani, M [Padua Univ. (Italy). Ist. di Astronomia; De Felice, F

1978-10-01

The complete analytical description of the null trajectories in the field of a Kerr naked singularity is given. Two peculiar phenomena are described: the existence of repulsive barriers in the r < O world and the existence of null circular bound orbits which surround the singularity in 'shells'. They distribute around the surface at r = m, which is the position of the horizon in the extreme black-hole case; this suggests that a naked singularity 'remembers' the position of the last horizon.

Future null infinity of Robertson-Walker spacetimes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moreschi, O.M.

1988-08-01

The future null infinity for all non-contracting Robertson-Walker space time is studied systematically. A theorem is proved which establishes the expected relation between the nature of J + and the appearance or absence of cosmic event horizons. (author). 7 refs, 1 tab

Influence of choice of null network on small-world parameters of structural correlation networks.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S M Hadi Hosseini

Full Text Available In recent years, coordinated variations in brain morphology (e.g., volume, thickness have been employed as a measure of structural association between brain regions to infer large-scale structural correlation networks. Recent evidence suggests that brain networks constructed in this manner are inherently more clustered than random networks of the same size and degree. Thus, null networks constructed by randomizing topology are not a good choice for benchmarking small-world parameters of these networks. In the present report, we investigated the influence of choice of null networks on small-world parameters of gray matter correlation networks in healthy individuals and survivors of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Three types of null networks were studied: 1 networks constructed by topology randomization (TOP, 2 networks matched to the distributional properties of the observed covariance matrix (HQS, and 3 networks generated from correlation of randomized input data (COR. The results revealed that the choice of null network not only influences the estimated small-world parameters, it also influences the results of between-group differences in small-world parameters. In addition, at higher network densities, the choice of null network influences the direction of group differences in network measures. Our data suggest that the choice of null network is quite crucial for interpretation of group differences in small-world parameters of structural correlation networks. We argue that none of the available null models is perfect for estimation of small-world parameters for correlation networks and the relative strengths and weaknesses of the selected model should be carefully considered with respect to obtained network measures.

Influence of Choice of Null Network on Small-World Parameters of Structural Correlation Networks

Science.gov (United States)

Hosseini, S. M. Hadi; Kesler, Shelli R.

2013-01-01

In recent years, coordinated variations in brain morphology (e.g., volume, thickness) have been employed as a measure of structural association between brain regions to infer large-scale structural correlation networks. Recent evidence suggests that brain networks constructed in this manner are inherently more clustered than random networks of the same size and degree. Thus, null networks constructed by randomizing topology are not a good choice for benchmarking small-world parameters of these networks. In the present report, we investigated the influence of choice of null networks on small-world parameters of gray matter correlation networks in healthy individuals and survivors of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Three types of null networks were studied: 1) networks constructed by topology randomization (TOP), 2) networks matched to the distributional properties of the observed covariance matrix (HQS), and 3) networks generated from correlation of randomized input data (COR). The results revealed that the choice of null network not only influences the estimated small-world parameters, it also influences the results of between-group differences in small-world parameters. In addition, at higher network densities, the choice of null network influences the direction of group differences in network measures. Our data suggest that the choice of null network is quite crucial for interpretation of group differences in small-world parameters of structural correlation networks. We argue that none of the available null models is perfect for estimation of small-world parameters for correlation networks and the relative strengths and weaknesses of the selected model should be carefully considered with respect to obtained network measures. PMID:23840672

On Bäcklund transformation and vortex filament equation for null Cartan curve in Minkowski 3-space

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Grbović, Milica, E-mail: milica.grbovic@kg.ac.rs; Nešović, Emilija, E-mail: nesovickg@sbb.rs [University of Kragujevac, Faculty of Science, Department of Mathematics and Informatics (Serbia)

2016-12-15

In this paper we introduce Bäcklund transformation of a null Cartan curve in Minkowski 3-space as a transformation which maps a null Cartan helix to another null Cartan helix, congruent to the given one. We also give the sufficient conditions for a transformation between two null Cartan curves in the Minkowski 3-space such that these curves have equal constant torsions. By using the Da Rios vortex filament equation, based on localized induction approximation, we derive the vortex filament equation for a null Cartan curve and obtain evolution equation for it’s torsion. As an application, we show that Cartan’s frame vectors generate new solutions of the Da Rios vortex filament equation.

Left cardiac isomerism in the Sonic hedgehog null mouse.

Science.gov (United States)

Hildreth, Victoria; Webb, Sandra; Chaudhry, Bill; Peat, Jonathan D; Phillips, Helen M; Brown, Nigel; Anderson, Robert H; Henderson, Deborah J

2009-06-01

Sonic hedgehog (Shh) is a secreted morphogen necessary for the production of sidedness in the developing embryo. In this study, we describe the morphology of the atrial chambers and atrioventricular junctions of the Shh null mouse heart. We demonstrate that the essential phenotypic feature is isomerism of the left atrial appendages, in combination with an atrioventricular septal defect and a common atrioventricular junction. These malformations are known to be frequent in humans with left isomerism. To confirm the presence of left isomerism, we show that Pitx2c, a recognized determinant of morphological leftness, is expressed in the Shh null mutants on both the right and left sides of the inflow region, and on both sides of the solitary arterial trunk exiting from the heart. It has been established that derivatives of the second heart field expressing Isl1 are asymmetrically distributed in the developing normal heart. We now show that this population is reduced in the hearts from the Shh null mutants, likely contributing to the defects. To distinguish the consequences of reduced contributions from the second heart field from those of left-right patterning disturbance, we disrupted the movement of second heart field cells into the heart by expressing dominant-negative Rho kinase in the population of cells expressing Isl1. This resulted in absence of the vestibular spine, and presence of atrioventricular septal defects closely resembling those seen in the hearts from the Shh null mutants. The primary atrial septum, however, was well formed, and there was no evidence of isomerism of the atrial appendages, suggesting that these features do not relate to disruption of the contributions made by the second heart field. We demonstrate, therefore, that the Shh null mouse is a model of isomerism of the left atrial appendages, and show that the recognized associated malformations found at the venous pole of the heart in the setting of left isomerism are likely to arise from

Recent developments with the visible nulling coronagraph

Science.gov (United States)

Hicks, Brian A.; Lyon, Richard G.; Bolcar, Matthew R.; Clampin, Mark; Petrone, Peter; Helmbrecht, Michael A.; Howard, Joseph M.; Miller, Ian J.

2016-08-01

A wide array of general astrophysics studies including detecting and characterizing habitable exoplanets could be enabled by a future large segmented telescope with sensitivity in the UV, optical, and infrared bands. When paired with a starshade or coronagraph, such an observatory could enable direct imaging and detailed spectroscopic observations of nearby Earth-like habitable zone planets. Over the past several years, a laboratory-based Visible Nulling Coronagraph (VNC) has evolved to reach requisite contrasts over a 1 nm bandwidth at narrow source angle separation using a segmented deformable mirror in one arm of a Mach-Zehnder layout. More recent efforts targeted broadband performance following the addition of two sets of half-wave Fresnel rhomb achromatic phase shifters (APS) with the goal of reaching 10-9 contrast, at a separation of 2λ/D, using a 40 nm (6%) bandwidth single mode fiber source. Here we present updates on the VNC broadband nulling effort, including approaches to addressing system contrast limitations.

Noncolocated Time-Reversal MUSIC: High-SNR Distribution of Null Spectrum

Science.gov (United States)

Ciuonzo, Domenico; Rossi, Pierluigi Salvo

2017-04-01

We derive the asymptotic distribution of the null spectrum of the well-known Multiple Signal Classification (MUSIC) in its computational Time-Reversal (TR) form. The result pertains to a single-frequency non-colocated multistatic scenario and several TR-MUSIC variants are here investigated. The analysis builds upon the 1st-order perturbation of the singular value decomposition and allows a simple characterization of null-spectrum moments (up to the 2nd order). This enables a comparison in terms of spectrums stability. Finally, a numerical analysis is provided to confirm the theoretical findings.

Toroidal field magnet and poloidal divertor field coil systems adapted to reactor requirements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koeppendoerfer, W.

1985-01-01

ASDEX Upgrade is a tokamak experiment with external poloidal field coils, that is now under construction at IPP Garching. It can produce elongated single-null (SN), double-null (DN) and limiter (L) configurations. The SN is the reference configuration with asymmetric load distributions in the poloidal field (PF) system and the toroidal field (TF) magnet. Plasma control and stabilization requires a rigid passive conductor close to the plasma. The design principles of the coils and support structure are described. (orig.)

Hypersensitivities for acetaldehyde and other agents among cancer cells null for clinically relevant Fanconi anemia genes.

Science.gov (United States)

Ghosh, Soma; Sur, Surojit; Yerram, Sashidhar R; Rago, Carlo; Bhunia, Anil K; Hossain, M Zulfiquer; Paun, Bogdan C; Ren, Yunzhao R; Iacobuzio-Donahue, Christine A; Azad, Nilofer A; Kern, Scott E

2014-01-01

Large-magnitude numerical distinctions (>10-fold) among drug responses of genetically contrasting cancers were crucial for guiding the development of some targeted therapies. Similar strategies brought epidemiological clues and prevention goals for genetic diseases. Such numerical guides, however, were incomplete or low magnitude for Fanconi anemia pathway (FANC) gene mutations relevant to cancer in FANC-mutation carriers (heterozygotes). We generated a four-gene FANC-null cancer panel, including the engineering of new PALB2/FANCN-null cancer cells by homologous recombination. A characteristic matching of FANCC-null, FANCG-null, BRCA2/FANCD1-null, and PALB2/FANCN-null phenotypes was confirmed by uniform tumor regression on single-dose cross-linker therapy in mice and by shared chemical hypersensitivities to various inter-strand cross-linking agents and γ-radiation in vitro. Some compounds, however, had contrasting magnitudes of sensitivity; a strikingly high (19- to 22-fold) hypersensitivity was seen among PALB2-null and BRCA2-null cells for the ethanol metabolite, acetaldehyde, associated with widespread chromosomal breakage at a concentration not producing breaks in parental cells. Because FANC-defective cancer cells can share or differ in their chemical sensitivities, patterns of selective hypersensitivity hold implications for the evolutionary understanding of this pathway. Clinical decisions for cancer-relevant prevention and management of FANC-mutation carriers could be modified by expanded studies of high-magnitude sensitivities. Copyright © 2014 American Society for Investigative Pathology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Dall-Null tester for spaceborne applications

Science.gov (United States)

Wingler, R. L.

1984-12-01

This is a study to design a self correcting primary mirror system for a space telescope. The design is centered around a Dall-Null tester (a Foucault knife-edge tester with compensating lens). An indepth study of the theory of the Foucault test from Foucault's original publications to current work is presented. Also short comings of the diffraction approach are shown. The findings of a simple experiment showed the way to the correct explanation as to the workings of the test. Based on this new explanation, a computer program to find the error in the surface of the mirror from the irradiance pattern provided by the Dall-Null tester was developed. The computer program with a sample run is included in the appendixes A and B. The basic design of an adaptive optic system for a spaceborne application is also presented in the paper. This design has the desired quality of being able to correct the mirror while the telescope is in use. The equations being independent of wavelength allows for the design to be applied to systems working outside of the visible spectrum as well as the systems working in the visible.

Zero-point energy and the Eoetvoes experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ross, D.K.

1999-01-01

The paper shows that the modification of the electromagnetic zero-point energy inside a solid aluminum ball ia large enough to be detected by a feasible Eoetvoes-type experiment improved only a factor of 100 over earlier experiments. Because of the uncertainties surrounding the relationship of the zero-point energy to the cosmological constant and to renormalization effects in general relativity that such an experiment might give a non-null result. This would be a test of the weak equivalence principle and of general relativity itself in regard to a very special purely quantum-mechanical form of energy

Maximum Attainable Accuracy of Inexact Saddle Point Solvers

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Jiránek, P.; Rozložník, Miroslav

2008-01-01

Roč. 29, č. 4 (2008), s. 1297-1321 ISSN 0895-4798 R&D Projects: GA MŠk 1M0554; GA AV ČR 1ET400300415 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10300504 Keywords : saddle point problems * Schur complement reduction * null-space projection method * rounding error analysis Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics Impact factor: 1.328, year: 2008

Reversing hypomyelination in BACE1-null mice with Akt-DD overexpression.

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Xiangyou; Schlanger, Rita; He, Wanxia; Macklin, Wendy B; Yan, Riqiang

2013-05-01

β-Site amyloid precursor protein convertase enzyme 1 (BACE1), a type I transmembrane aspartyl protease required to cleave amyloid precursor protein for releasing a toxic amyloid peptide, also cleaves type I and type III neuregulin-1 (Nrg-1). BACE1 deficiency in mice causes hypomyelination during development and impairs remyelination if injured. In BACE1-null mice, the abolished cleavage of neuregulin-1 by BACE1 is speculated to cause reduced myelin sheath thickness in both the central nervous system and peripheral nervous system because reduced cleavage of Nrg-1 correlates with reduced Akt phosphorylation, a downstream signaling molecule of the Nrg-1/ErbB pathway. Here we tested specifically whether increasing Akt activity alone in oligodendrocytes would be sufficient to reverse the hypomyelination phenotype in BACE1-null mice. BACE1-null mice were bred with transgenic mice expressing constitutively active Akt (Akt-DD; mutations with D(308)T and D(473)S) in oligodendrocytes. Relative to littermate BACE1-null controls, BACE1(-/-)/Akt-DD mice exhibited enhanced expression of myelin basic protein and promoter of proteolipid protein. The elevated expression of myelin proteins correlated with a thicker myelin sheath in optic nerves; comparison of quantified g ratios with statistic significance was used to confirm this reversion. However, it appeared that myelin sheath thickness in the sciatic nerves was not increased in BACE1(-/-)/Akt-DD mice, as the g ratio was not significantly different from the control. Hence, increased Akt activity in BACE1-null myelinating cells only compensates for the loss of BACE1 activity in the central nervous system, which is consistent with the observation that overexpression of Akt-DD in Schwann cells did not induce hypermyelination. Our results suggest that signaling activity other than Akt may also contribute to proper myelination in peripheral nerves.

Toroidal magnetic confinement of non-neutral plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoshida, Zensho; Ogawa, Yuichi; Morikawa, Junji; Himura, Haruhiko; Kondo, Shigeo; Nakashima, Chihiro; Kakuno, Shuichi; Iqbal, Muhamad; Volponi, Francesco; Shibayama, Norihisa; Tahara, Shigeru

1999-01-01

A new method of toroidal non-neutral plasma trap has been developed with applying the chaos-induced radial transport of particles near a magnetic null point. A pure electron plasma is produced by injecting an electron beam. The poloidal gyroradius of an electron at the energy of 1 keV is of order 10 mm, which determines the length scale of the chaotic region. Amongst various applications of toroidal non-neutral plasmas, a possibility of producing very high-β plasma, which is suitable for advanced fusion, has been examined. The self-electric field of a non-neutral plasma can generate a strong shear flow. When the flow velocity is comparable to the Alfven speed (which is smaller than the ion sound speed, if β>1), a high-β equilibrium can be produced in which the plasma pressure is primarily balanced by the dynamic pressure of the flow. This configuration is described by a generalized Bernoulli law

The Quantum Focussing Conjecture and Quantum Null Energy Condition

Science.gov (United States)

Koeller, Jason

Evidence has been gathering over the decades that spacetime and gravity are best understood as emergent phenomenon, especially in the context of a unified description of quantum mechanics and gravity. The Quantum Focussing Conjecture (QFC) and Quantum Null Energy Condition (QNEC) are two recently-proposed relationships between entropy and geometry, and energy and entropy, respectively, which further strengthen this idea. In this thesis, we study the QFC and the QNEC. We prove the QNEC in a variety of contexts, including free field theories on Killing horizons, holographic theories on Killing horizons, and in more general curved spacetimes. We also consider the implications of the QFC and QNEC in asymptotically flat space, where they constrain the information content of gravitational radiation arriving at null infinity, and in AdS/CFT, where they are related to other semiclassical inequalities and properties of boundary-anchored extremal area surfaces. It is shown that the assumption of validity and vacuum-state saturation of the QNEC for regions of flat space defined by smooth cuts of null planes implies a local formula for the modular Hamiltonian of these regions. We also demonstrate that the QFC as originally conjectured can be violated in generic theories in d ≥ 5, which led the way to an improved formulation subsequently suggested by Stefan Leichenauer.

Zero emission city. Preliminary study; Null-Emissions-Stadt. Sondierungsstudie

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Diefenbach, N; Enseling, A; Werner, P; Flade, A; Greiff, R; Hennings, D; Muehlich, E; Wullkopf, U; Sturm, P; Kieslich, W; Born, R; Grossklos, M; Hatteh, R; Mueller, K; Ratschow, A; Valouch-Fornoff, C

2002-10-01

The idea of a 'zero emission city' is investigated by the Institut Wohnen und Umwelt on behalf of the Federal Minister of Education and Research. After describing the current situation and defining the key parameters of a 'zero emission city', settlement structures, power supply, production processes and transportation are analyzed and linked with the communal action level to obtain a framework for research, activities and actions. The study ends with recommendations for a research programme 'zero emission city'. (orig.) [German] Die von den Staedten der Industrielaender ausgehenden Emissionen stellen im Hinblick auf die globalen Belastungen wie z.B. Treibhauseffekt, Ozonabbau und Versauerung das Hauptproblem dar. Aus diesem Grunde bietet es sich an, den Gedanken der 'Null-Emissions-Stadt', der Vision einer moeglichst emissionsfreien Stadt, aufzugreifen und auf seine Tragfaehigkeit fuer innovative Handlungsmodelle forschungsstrategisch zu ueberpruefen. Das Bundesministerium fuer Bildung und Forschung hat das Institut Wohnen und Umwelt beauftragt, in einer Sondierungsstudie dieser Fragestellung nachzugehen. Nach der Festlegung der Ausgangsbedingungen und Eckpunkte der Vision 'Null-Emissions-Stadt' und der Analyse der vier Handlungsfelder Siedlungsstrukturen, Energieversorgung, Produktionsprozesse (Kreislaufwirtschaft) und Verkehr werden diese aufgegriffen und mit der kommunalen Handlungsebene verknuepft und zu einem Forschungs-, Handlungs- und moeglichen Aktionsrahmen zusammengefuegt. Die Studie schliesst mit Hinweisen fuer die Gestaltung eines Forschungsprogramms 'Null-Emissions-Stadt'. (orig.)

Hypothesis testing of a change point during cognitive decline among Alzheimer's disease patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Ji, Ming; Xiong, Chengjie; Grundman, Michael

2003-10-01

In this paper, we present a statistical hypothesis test for detecting a change point over the course of cognitive decline among Alzheimer's disease patients. The model under the null hypothesis assumes a constant rate of cognitive decline over time and the model under the alternative hypothesis is a general bilinear model with an unknown change point. When the change point is unknown, however, the null distribution of the test statistics is not analytically tractable and has to be simulated by parametric bootstrap. When the alternative hypothesis that a change point exists is accepted, we propose an estimate of its location based on the Akaike's Information Criterion. We applied our method to a data set from the Neuropsychological Database Initiative by implementing our hypothesis testing method to analyze Mini Mental Status Exam scores based on a random-slope and random-intercept model with a bilinear fixed effect. Our result shows that despite large amount of missing data, accelerated decline did occur for MMSE among AD patients. Our finding supports the clinical belief of the existence of a change point during cognitive decline among AD patients and suggests the use of change point models for the longitudinal modeling of cognitive decline in AD research.

Observation of photoelectrons of magnetic conjugate point with the rocket K-9M-54

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mukai, Toshinori; Hirao, Kunio

1976-01-01

The results of the observation of photoelectrons with the rocket K-9M-54 are described. The instrument used for the observation has been reported elsewhere, and it is a low energy electron spectrometer. The angle of direction of the collimator of the detector was 30 degrees to the spin axis of the rocket. Variation of the electric potential was large. The rocket K-9M-54 took off on January 17, 1976, at six o'clock. The finally attained altitude of the rocket was about 366 km. The solar zenith angles were 106 degrees at Uchinoura and 94 degrees at the magnetic conjugate point. The UV shadow heights were 361 km at Uchinoura and 116 km at the magnetic conjugate point. The distribution of the pitch angle was observed, and was almost isotropic. The altitude variation of the integrated flux is shown in a figure, and it shows remarkable difference between the present result and the previous ones observed in day-time. The relations between energy and photoelectron flux at various altitudes were obtained. The characteristic features of the energy distribution were similar to those of the spectra observed in day-time. (Kato, T.)

A class of algebraically general solutions of the Einstein-Maxwell equations for non-null electromagnetic fields

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tupper, B.O.J.

1976-01-01

In a previous article (Gen. Rel. Grav.; 6 : 345 (1975)) the Einstein-Maxwell field equations for non-null electromagnetic fields were studied under the conditions that the null tetrad is parallel-propagated along both principal null congruences. A solution with twist and shear, but no expansion, was found and was conjectured to be the only expansion-free solution. Here it is shown that this conjecture is false; the general expansion-free solution is found to be a family of space-times depending on a single constant parameter which is the ratio of the (constant) twists of the two principal null congruences. (author)

Magnetic resonance imaging of the ankle in female ballet dancers en pointe

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Russell, Jeffrey A. (Dept. of Dance, Univ. of California-Irvine, Irvine, CA (United States)), e-mail: jeff.russell@uci.edu; Shave, Ruth M. (Dept. of Radiology, Russells Hall Hospital, Dudley (United Kingdom)); Yoshioka, Hiroshi (Dept. of Radiological Sciences, Univ. of California-Irvine, Irvine, CA (United States)); Kruse, David W. (Dept. of Orthopaedic Surgery and Family Medicine, Univ. of California-Irvine, Irvine, CA (United States)); Koutedakis, Yiannis; Wyon, Matthew A. (School of Sport, Performing Arts and Leisure, Univ. of Wolverhampton, Walsall (United Kingdom))

2010-07-15

Background: Ballet dancers require extreme range of motion of the ankle, especially weight-bearing maximum plantar flexion (en pointe). In spite of a high prevalence of foot and ankle injuries in ballet dancers, the anatomy and pathoanatomy of this position have not been sufficiently studied in weight-bearing. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a beneficial method for such study. Purpose: To develop an MRI method of evaluating the ankles of female ballet dancers standing en pointe and to assess whether pathological findings from the MR images were associated with ankle pain reported by the subjects. Material and Methods: Nine female ballet dancers (age, 21+-2.9 years; dance experience, 16+-4.1 years; en pointe dance experience, 7+-4.9 years) completed an ankle pain visual analog scale questionnaire and underwent T1- and T2-weighted scans using a 0.25 T open MRI device. The ankle was scanned in three positions: supine with full plantar flexion, standing with the ankle in anatomical position, and standing en pointe. Results: Obtaining MR images of the ballet dancers en pointe was successful in spite of limitations imposed by the difficulty of remaining motionless in the en pointe position during scanning. MRI signs of ankle pathology and anatomical variants were observed. Convergence of the posterior edge of the tibial plafond, posterior talus, and superior calcaneus was noted in 100% of cases. Widened anterior joint congruity and synovitis/joint effusion were present in 71% and 67%, respectively. Anterior tibial and/or talar spurs and Stieda's process were each seen in 44%. However, clinical signs did not always correlate with pain reported by the subjects. Conclusion: This study successfully established an ankle imaging technique for ballet dancers en pointe that can be used in the future to assess the relationship between en pointe positioning and ankle pathoanatomy in ballet dancers

Magnetic resonance imaging of the ankle in female ballet dancers en pointe.

Science.gov (United States)

Russell, Jeffrey A; Shave, Ruth M; Yoshioka, Hiroshi; Kruse, David W; Koutedakis, Yiannis; Wyon, Matthew A

2010-07-01

Ballet dancers require extreme range of motion of the ankle, especially weight-bearing maximum plantar flexion (en pointe). In spite of a high prevalence of foot and ankle injuries in ballet dancers, the anatomy and pathoanatomy of this position have not been sufficiently studied in weight-bearing. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a beneficial method for such study. To develop an MRI method of evaluating the ankles of female ballet dancers standing en pointe and to assess whether pathological findings from the MR images were associated with ankle pain reported by the subjects. Nine female ballet dancers (age, 21+/-2.9 years; dance experience, 16+/-4.1 years; en pointe dance experience, 7+/-4.9 years) completed an ankle pain visual analog scale questionnaire and underwent T1- and T2-weighted scans using a 0.25 T open MRI device. The ankle was scanned in three positions: supine with full plantar flexion, standing with the ankle in anatomical position, and standing en pointe. Obtaining MR images of the ballet dancers en pointe was successful in spite of limitations imposed by the difficulty of remaining motionless in the en pointe position during scanning. MRI signs of ankle pathology and anatomical variants were observed. Convergence of the posterior edge of the tibial plafond, posterior talus, and superior calcaneus was noted in 100% of cases. Widened anterior joint congruity and synovitis/joint effusion were present in 71% and 67%, respectively. Anterior tibial and/or talar spurs and Stieda's process were each seen in 44%. However, clinical signs did not always correlate with pain reported by the subjects. This study successfully established an ankle imaging technique for ballet dancers en pointe that can be used in the future to assess the relationship between en pointe positioning and ankle pathoanatomy in ballet dancers.

IMPROVING INTERFEROMETRIC NULL DEPTH MEASUREMENTS USING STATISTICAL DISTRIBUTIONS: THEORY AND FIRST RESULTS WITH THE PALOMAR FIBER NULLER

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hanot, C.; Riaud, P.; Absil, O.; Mennesson, B.; Martin, S.; Liewer, K.; Loya, F.; Mawet, D.; Serabyn, E.

2011-01-01

A new 'self-calibrated' statistical analysis method has been developed for the reduction of nulling interferometry data. The idea is to use the statistical distributions of the fluctuating null depth and beam intensities to retrieve the astrophysical null depth (or equivalently the object's visibility) in the presence of fast atmospheric fluctuations. The approach yields an accuracy much better (about an order of magnitude) than is presently possible with standard data reduction methods, because the astrophysical null depth accuracy is no longer limited by the magnitude of the instrumental phase and intensity errors but by uncertainties on their probability distributions. This approach was tested on the sky with the two-aperture fiber nulling instrument mounted on the Palomar Hale telescope. Using our new data analysis approach alone-and no observations of calibrators-we find that error bars on the astrophysical null depth as low as a few 10 -4 can be obtained in the near-infrared, which means that null depths lower than 10 -3 can be reliably measured. This statistical analysis is not specific to our instrument and may be applicable to other interferometers.

An equation satisfied by the tangent to a shear-free, geodesic, null congruence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hogan, P.A.; Dublin Inst. for Advanced Studies

1987-01-01

A tensorial equation satisfied by the tangent to a shear-free geodesic, null congruence is presented. If the congruence is neither twist-free nor expansion-free then the equation defines a second, unique, null direction previously obtained, using the spinor formalism, by Somers. Some further properties of the equation are discussed. (orig.)

Effects of discharge operation regimes and magnetic field geometry on the in-out divertor asymmetry in EAST

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Du, Hailong; Sang, Chaofeng; Wang, Liang; Bonnin, Xavier; Sun, Jizhong; Wang, Dezhen

2016-01-01

Highlights: • The in-out divertor asymmetry is studied using SOLPS. • The discharge operation and the magnetic filed have a great influence on the divertor asymmetry. • The asymmetry is not obvious in low recycling regime as that in high recycling regime. - Abstract: This paper aims to investigate the reason why the divertor in-out asymmetry was not obvious as experimentally observed in EAST only considering the classical drifts from previous simulations (Guo et al., J. Nucl. Mater. 438 (2013) 280; Du et al., J. Nucl. Mater. 463 (2015) 485). With consideration of the classical drifts, a series of different typical discharge scenarios in EAST in different magnetic field geometries were simulated by using the SOLPS5.2 code package. The simulated results reveal that the classical drifts make a major contribution to the in-out divertor asymmetry in the high recycling regime (HRR) and partial detachment (one divertor target begins to detach, while the other divertor remains attached) regime. In comparison, in low recycling regime the classical drifts play a much smaller role in the contributions to the in-out divertor asymmetry, which can explain reasonably the reason for it in Guo et al. (J. Nucl. Mater. 438 (2013) 280). In addition, the magnetic field geometry also has a great impact on the classical drifts inducing the asymmetry; it is found that for lower single-null, upper single-null and connected double-null topologies, in HRR the classical drifts play an dominant role in the contribution to the in-out divertor asymmetry, while for a disconnected double null magnetic field configuration, they play a minor role, which is the reason why the in-out asymmetry was unobvious by considering the drifts in Du et al. (J. Nucl. Mater. 463 (2015) 485).

Effects of discharge operation regimes and magnetic field geometry on the in-out divertor asymmetry in EAST

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Du, Hailong; Sang, Chaofeng [Key Laboratory of Materials Modification by Laser, Ion and Electron Beams (Ministry of Education), School of Physics and Optoelectronic Technology, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024 (China); Wang, Liang [Key Laboratory of Materials Modification by Laser, Ion and Electron Beams (Ministry of Education), School of Physics and Optoelectronic Technology, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024 (China); Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031 (China); Bonnin, Xavier [LSPM-CNRS, Université Paris 13, Sorbonne Paris Cité, F-93430 Villetaneuse (France); Sun, Jizhong [Key Laboratory of Materials Modification by Laser, Ion and Electron Beams (Ministry of Education), School of Physics and Optoelectronic Technology, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024 (China); Wang, Dezhen, E-mail: wangdez@dlut.edu.cn [Key Laboratory of Materials Modification by Laser, Ion and Electron Beams (Ministry of Education), School of Physics and Optoelectronic Technology, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024 (China)

2016-11-01

Highlights: • The in-out divertor asymmetry is studied using SOLPS. • The discharge operation and the magnetic filed have a great influence on the divertor asymmetry. • The asymmetry is not obvious in low recycling regime as that in high recycling regime. - Abstract: This paper aims to investigate the reason why the divertor in-out asymmetry was not obvious as experimentally observed in EAST only considering the classical drifts from previous simulations (Guo et al., J. Nucl. Mater. 438 (2013) 280; Du et al., J. Nucl. Mater. 463 (2015) 485). With consideration of the classical drifts, a series of different typical discharge scenarios in EAST in different magnetic field geometries were simulated by using the SOLPS5.2 code package. The simulated results reveal that the classical drifts make a major contribution to the in-out divertor asymmetry in the high recycling regime (HRR) and partial detachment (one divertor target begins to detach, while the other divertor remains attached) regime. In comparison, in low recycling regime the classical drifts play a much smaller role in the contributions to the in-out divertor asymmetry, which can explain reasonably the reason for it in Guo et al. (J. Nucl. Mater. 438 (2013) 280). In addition, the magnetic field geometry also has a great impact on the classical drifts inducing the asymmetry; it is found that for lower single-null, upper single-null and connected double-null topologies, in HRR the classical drifts play an dominant role in the contribution to the in-out divertor asymmetry, while for a disconnected double null magnetic field configuration, they play a minor role, which is the reason why the in-out asymmetry was unobvious by considering the drifts in Du et al. (J. Nucl. Mater. 463 (2015) 485).

Clausius entropy for arbitrary bifurcate null surfaces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baccetti, Valentina; Visser, Matt

2014-01-01

Jacobson’s thermodynamic derivation of the Einstein equations was originally applied only to local Rindler horizons. But at least some parts of that construction can usefully be extended to give meaningful results for arbitrary bifurcate null surfaces. As presaged in Jacobson’s original article, this more general construction sharply brings into focus the questions: is entropy objectively ‘real’? Or is entropy in some sense subjective and observer-dependent? These innocent questions open a Pandora’s box of often inconclusive debate. A consensus opinion, though certainly not universally held, seems to be that Clausius entropy (thermodynamic entropy, defined via a Clausius relation dS=đQ/T) should be objectively real, but that the ontological status of statistical entropy (Shannon or von Neumann entropy) is much more ambiguous, and much more likely to be observer-dependent. This question is particularly pressing when it comes to understanding Bekenstein entropy (black hole entropy). To perhaps further add to the confusion, we shall argue that even the Clausius entropy can often be observer-dependent. In the current article we shall conclusively demonstrate that one can meaningfully assign a notion of Clausius entropy to arbitrary bifurcate null surfaces—effectively defining a ‘virtual Clausius entropy’ for arbitrary ‘virtual (local) causal horizons’. As an application, we see that we can implement a version of the generalized second law (GSL) for this virtual Clausius entropy. This version of GSL can be related to certain (nonstandard) integral variants of the null energy condition. Because the concepts involved are rather subtle, we take some effort in being careful and explicit in developing our framework. In future work we will apply this construction to generalize Jacobson’s derivation of the Einstein equations. (paper)

Magnetic Molecules from Chemist's Point of View

Science.gov (United States)

Hendrickson, David

2002-03-01

A single-molecule magnet (SMM) is a molecule that functions as a nanoscale, single-domain magnetic particle that, below its blocking temperature, exhibits magnetization hysteresis [1]. SMMs have attracted considerable interest because they : (1) can serve as the smallest nanomagnet, monodisperse in size, shape and anisotropy; (2) exhibit quantum tunneling of magnetization (QTM); and (3) may function as memory devices in a quantum computer. SMM’s are synthetically designed nanomagnets, built from a core containing metal ion unpaired spin carriers bridged by oxide or other simple ions which is surrounded by organic ligands. Many systematic changes can be made in the structure of these molecular nanomagnets. Manganese-containing SMM’s are known with from Mn4 to Mn_30 compositions. The magnetic bistability, which is desirable for data storage applications, is achievable at temperatures below 3K. The largest spin of the ground state of a SMM is presently S = 13. Appreciable largely uniaxial magnetoanisotropy in the ground state leads to magnetic bistability. Rather than a continuum of higher energy states separating the “spin-up” and “spin-down” ground states, the quantum nature of the molecular nanomagnets result in a well defined ladder of discrete quantum states. Recent studies have definitively shown that, under conditions that can be controlled via the application of external perturbations, quantum tunneling may occur through the energy separating the “spin-up” and “spin-down” states. The tunneling is due to weak symmetry breaking perturbations that give rise to long-lived quantum states consisting of coherent superpositions of the “spin-up” and “spin-down” states. It is the ability to manipulate these coherent states that makes SMMs particularly attractive for quantum computation. Reference: [1] G. Christou, D. Gatteschi, D. N. Hendrickson, R. Sessoli, “Single-molecule Magnets”, M.R.S. Bull. 25, 66 (2001).

Null vectors in superconformal quantum field theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang Chaoshang

1993-01-01

The superspace formulation of the N=1 superconformal field theory and superconformal Ward identities are used to give a precise definition of fusion. Using the fusion procedure, superconformally covariant differential equations are derived and consequently a complete and straightforward algorithm for finding null vectors in Verma modules of the Neveu-Schwarz algebra is given. (orig.)

Linked and knotted beams of light, conservation of helicity and the flow of null electromagnetic fields

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Irvine, William T M

2010-01-01

Maxwell's equations allow for some remarkable solutions consisting of pulsed beams of light which have linked and knotted field lines. The preservation of the topological structure of the field lines in these solutions has previously been ascribed to the fact that the electric and magnetic helicities, a measure of the degree of linking and knotting between field lines, are conserved. Here we show that the elegant evolution of the field is due to the stricter condition that the electric and magnetic fields be everywhere orthogonal. The field lines then satisfy a 'frozen field' condition and evolve as if they were unbreakable filaments embedded in a fluid. The preservation of the orthogonality of the electric and magnetic field lines is guaranteed for null, shear-free fields such as the ones considered here by a theorem of Robinson. We calculate the flow field of a particular solution and find it to have the form of a Hopf fibration moving at the speed of light in a direction opposite to the propagation of the pulsed light beam, a familiar structure in this type of solution. The difference between smooth evolution of individual field lines and conservation of electric and magnetic helicities is illustrated by considering a further example in which the helicities are conserved, but the field lines are not everywhere orthogonal. The field line configuration at time t = 0 corresponds to a nested family of torus knots but unravels upon evolution.

Lovelock vacua with a recurrent null vector field

Science.gov (United States)

Ortaggio, Marcello

2018-02-01

Vacuum solutions of Lovelock gravity in the presence of a recurrent null vector field (a subset of Kundt spacetimes) are studied. We first discuss the general field equations, which constrain both the base space and the profile functions. While choosing a "generic" base space puts stronger constraints on the profile, in special cases there also exist solutions containing arbitrary functions (at least for certain values of the coupling constants). These and other properties (such as the p p - waves subclass and the overlap with VSI, CSI and universal spacetimes) are subsequently analyzed in more detail in lower dimensions n =5 , 6 as well as for particular choices of the base manifold. The obtained solutions describe various classes of nonexpanding gravitational waves propagating, e.g., in Nariai-like backgrounds M2×Σn -2. An Appendix contains some results about general (i.e., not necessarily Kundt) Lovelock vacua of Riemann type III/N and of Weyl and traceless-Ricci type III/N. For example, it is pointed out that for theories admitting a triply degenerate maximally symmetric vacuum, all the (reduced) field equations are satisfied identically, giving rise to large classes of exact solutions.

Lost and found: The missing diabolical points in the Fe8 molecular magnet

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Feifei; Garg, Anupam

2011-03-01

The tunneling spectrum of the single-molecule-magnet Fe 8 is known to have diabolical points (DP's). For magnetic fields along the hard axis, there are four such points for tunneling between the ground pair of levels, whereas the simplest model including only second-order anisotropy would predict ten DP's. The difference is due to a very weak fourth-order anisotropy, which in a semiclassical picture generates instantons with endpoint discontinuities, one of which dominates for large enough fields, and having no interfering partner, causes six of the underlying DP's to go away. However, as shown by Bruno, the six missing DP's do not truly disappear, but merely move off the hard axis into the hard-medium plane. In this talk, we report on a numerical search for these ``missing" DP's. This search is nontrivial because the energy surface is like a smooth golf course, on which the DP's are extremely localized and deep holes. We therefore locate the DP's by following the lines of the Berry curvature which have monopole singulairities at the DP's. This exercise is performed for tunneling between excited pairs of levels also. An experimental observation of the rediscovered DP's would be an important test of the underlying spin Hamiltonian for Fe 8 . (Submitted to the arxiv: Nov. 18, 2010.) Work supported by the NSF via grant no. PHY-0854896.

Initial development of the DIII–D snowflake divertor control

Science.gov (United States)

Kolemen, E.; Vail, P. J.; Makowski, M. A.; Allen, S. L.; Bray, B. D.; Fenstermacher, M. E.; Humphreys, D. A.; Hyatt, A. W.; Lasnier, C. J.; Leonard, A. W.; McLean, A. G.; Maingi, R.; Nazikian, R.; Petrie, T. W.; Soukhanovskii, V. A.; Unterberg, E. A.

2018-06-01

Simultaneous control of two proximate magnetic field nulls in the divertor region is demonstrated on DIII–D to enable plasma operations in an advanced magnetic configuration known as the snowflake divertor (SFD). The SFD is characterized by a second-order poloidal field null, created by merging two first-order nulls of the standard divertor configuration. The snowflake configuration has many magnetic properties, such as high poloidal flux expansion, large plasma-wetted area, and additional strike points, that are advantageous for divertor heat flux management in future fusion reactors. However, the magnetic configuration of the SFD is highly-sensitive to changes in currents within the plasma and external coils and therefore requires complex magnetic control. The first real-time snowflake detection and control system on DIII–D has been implemented in order to stabilize the configuration. The control algorithm calculates the position of the two nulls in real-time by locally-expanding the Grad–Shafranov equation in the divertor region. A linear relation between variations in the poloidal field coil currents and changes in the null locations is then analytically derived. This formulation allows for simultaneous control of multiple coils to achieve a desired SFD configuration. It is shown that the control enabled various snowflake configurations on DIII–D in scenarios such as the double-null advanced tokamak. The SFD resulted in a 2.5×  reduction in the peak heat flux for many energy confinement times (2–3 s) without any adverse effects on core plasma performance.

Covariant quantum mechanics on a null plane

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leutwyler, H.; Stern, J.

1977-03-01

Lorentz invariance implies that the null plane wave functions factorize into a kinematical part describing the motion of the system as a whole and an inner wave function that involves the specific dynamical properties of the system - in complete correspondence with the non-relativistic situation. Covariance is equivalent to an angular condition which admits non-trivial solutions

Vacuum Nuller Testbed Performance, Characterization and Null Control

Science.gov (United States)

Lyon, R. G.; Clampin, M.; Petrone, P.; Mallik, U.; Madison, T.; Bolcar, M.; Noecker, C.; Kendrick, S.; Helmbrecht, M. A.

2011-01-01

The Visible Nulling Coronagraph (VNC) can detect and characterize exoplanets with filled, segmented and sparse aperture telescopes, thereby spanning the choice of future internal coronagraph exoplanet missions. NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) has developed a Vacuum Nuller Testbed (VNT) to advance this approach, and assess and advance technologies needed to realize a VNC as a flight instrument. The VNT is an ultra-stable testbed operating at 15 Hz in vacuum. It consists of a MachZehnder nulling interferometer; modified with a "W" configuration to accommodate a hexpacked MEMS based deformable mirror (DM), coherent fiber bundle and achromatic phase shifters. The 2-output channels are imaged with a vacuum photon counting camera and conventional camera. Error-sensing and feedback to DM and delay line with control algorithms are implemented in a real-time architecture. The inherent advantage of the VNC is that it is its own interferometer and directly controls its errors by exploiting images from bright and dark channels simultaneously. Conservation of energy requires the sum total of the photon counts be conserved independent of the VNC state. Thus sensing and control bandwidth is limited by the target stars throughput, with the net effect that the higher bandwidth offloads stressing stability tolerances within the telescope. We report our recent progress with the VNT towards achieving an incremental sequence of contrast milestones of 10(exp 8) , 10(exp 9) and 10(exp 10) respectively at inner working angles approaching 2A/D. Discussed will be the optics, lab results, technologies, and null control. Shown will be evidence that the milestones have been achieved.

Collapse and bounce of null fluids

OpenAIRE

Creelman, Bradley; Booth, Ivan

2016-01-01

Exact solutions describing the spherical collapse of null fluids can contain regions which violate the energy conditions. Physically the violations occur when the infalling matter continues to move inwards even when non-gravitational repulsive forces become stronger than gravity. In 1991 Ori proposed a resolution for these violations: spacetime surgery should be used to replace the energy condition violating region with an outgoing solution. The matter bounces. We revisit and implement this p...

Null balance type electrostatic generating voltmeters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mahant, A.K.; Sidhu, N.P.S.; Gupta, U.C.

1977-01-01

A description is given of a null balance type generating voltmeter for measuring high D.C. voltage upto about 400 kV. The paper discusses the principle of operation, design, calibration and performance of the instrument. Main advantages of the device are: (1) it does not load the high voltage source, (2) no physical connection is required with the H.T. terminal and (3) calibration is independent of the rotor's frequency and amplifier's gain. (author)

Characterization of the Stabilized Test Bench of Nulling Interferometry PERSÉE

Science.gov (United States)

Lozi, Julien; Ollivier, M.; Cassaing, F.; Le Duigou, J.; CNES; Onera/Dota/HRA; IAS; LESIA; OCA; TAS

2013-01-01

There are two problems with the observation of exoplanets: the contrast between the planet and the star and their very low separation. One technique solving these problems is nulling interferometry: two pupils are recombined to make a destructive interference on the star, and their base is adjusted to create a constructive interference on the planet. However, to ensure a sufficient extinction of the star, the optical path difference between the beams must be around the nanometer, and the pointing must be better than one hundredth of Airy disk, despite the external disturbances.To validate the critical points of such a space mission, a laboratory demonstrator, PERSÉE, was defined by a consortium led by the french space agency CNES, including IAS, LESIA, ONERA, OCA and Thales Alenia Space and integrated in Paris Observatory. This bench simulates the entire space mission (interferometer and nanometric cophasing system). Its goal is to deliver and maintain an extinction of 10^-4 stable at better than 10^-5 over a few hours in the presence of typical injected disturbances.My thesis work consisted in integrating the bench in successive stages and to develop calibration procedures. This helped me to characterize the critical elements separately before grouping them. After having implemented the control loops of the cophasing system, their precise analysis helped me to reduce down to 0.3 nm rms the residual OPD, and 0.4 % of the Airy disk the residual tip/tilt, despite disturbances of tens of nanometers, consisting of several tens of vibrational frequencies between 1 and 100 Hz. This has been achieved by the implementation of a linear quadratic Gaussian controller, parameterized by the preliminary measurement of the disturbance to minimize. Thanks to these excellent results, I obtained on the band [1.65 - 2.45] µm a record null rate of 8.8x10^-6 stabilized at 9x10^-7 over a few hours, a decade better than the original specifications. An extrapolation of these results to

Zero emission city. Preliminary study; Null-Emissions-Stadt. Sondierungsstudie

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Diefenbach, N.; Enseling, A.; Werner, P.; Flade, A.; Greiff, R.; Hennings, D.; Muehlich, E.; Wullkopf, U.; Sturm, P.; Kieslich, W.; Born, R.; Grossklos, M.; Hatteh, R.; Mueller, K.; Ratschow, A.; Valouch-Fornoff, C.

2002-10-01

The idea of a 'zero emission city' is investigated by the Institut Wohnen und Umwelt on behalf of the Federal Minister of Education and Research. After describing the current situation and defining the key parameters of a 'zero emission city', settlement structures, power supply, production processes and transportation are analyzed and linked with the communal action level to obtain a framework for research, activities and actions. The study ends with recommendations for a research programme 'zero emission city'. (orig.) [German] Die von den Staedten der Industrielaender ausgehenden Emissionen stellen im Hinblick auf die globalen Belastungen wie z.B. Treibhauseffekt, Ozonabbau und Versauerung das Hauptproblem dar. Aus diesem Grunde bietet es sich an, den Gedanken der 'Null-Emissions-Stadt', der Vision einer moeglichst emissionsfreien Stadt, aufzugreifen und auf seine Tragfaehigkeit fuer innovative Handlungsmodelle forschungsstrategisch zu ueberpruefen. Das Bundesministerium fuer Bildung und Forschung hat das Institut Wohnen und Umwelt beauftragt, in einer Sondierungsstudie dieser Fragestellung nachzugehen. Nach der Festlegung der Ausgangsbedingungen und Eckpunkte der Vision 'Null-Emissions-Stadt' und der Analyse der vier Handlungsfelder Siedlungsstrukturen, Energieversorgung, Produktionsprozesse (Kreislaufwirtschaft) und Verkehr werden diese aufgegriffen und mit der kommunalen Handlungsebene verknuepft und zu einem Forschungs-, Handlungs- und moeglichen Aktionsrahmen zusammengefuegt. Die Studie schliesst mit Hinweisen fuer die Gestaltung eines Forschungsprogramms 'Null-Emissions-Stadt'. (orig.)

A Model of Oxidative Stress Management: Moderation of Carbohydrate Metabolizing Enzymes in SOD1-Null Drosophila melanogaster

Science.gov (United States)

Bernard, Kristine E.; Parkes, Tony L.; Merritt, Thomas J. S.

2011-01-01

The response to oxidative stress involves numerous genes and mutations in these genes often manifest in pleiotropic ways that presumably reflect perturbations in ROS-mediated physiology. The Drosophila melanogaster SOD1-null allele (cSODn108) is proposed to result in oxidative stress by preventing superoxide breakdown. In SOD1-null flies, oxidative stress management is thought to be reliant on the glutathione-dependent antioxidants that utilize NADPH to cycle between reduced and oxidized form. Previous studies suggest that SOD1-null Drosophila rely on lipid catabolism for energy rather than carbohydrate metabolism. We tested these connections by comparing the activity of carbohydrate metabolizing enzymes, lipid and triglyceride concentration, and steady state NADPH:NADP+ in SOD1-null and control transgenic rescue flies. We find a negative shift in the activity of carbohydrate metabolizing enzymes in SOD1-nulls and the NADP+-reducing enzymes were found to have significantly lower activity than the other enzymes assayed. Little evidence for the catabolism of lipids as preferential energy source was found, as the concentration of lipids and triglycerides were not significantly lower in SOD1-nulls compared with controls. Using a starvation assay to impact lipids and triglycerides, we found that lipids were indeed depleted in both genotypes when under starvation stress, suggesting that oxidative damage was not preventing the catabolism of lipids in SOD1-null flies. Remarkably, SOD1-nulls were also found to be relatively resistant to starvation. Age profiles of enzyme activity, triglyceride and lipid concentration indicates that the trends observed are consistent over the average lifespan of the SOD1-nulls. Based on our results, we propose a model of physiological response in which organisms under oxidative stress limit the production of ROS through the down-regulation of carbohydrate metabolism in order to moderate the products exiting the electron transport chain. PMID

Spin glass and ferromagnetic properties of Ce(Cu_1_-_xNi_x)_4Mn alloys: Multicritical points in the magnetic phase diagram

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Synoradzki, K.; Toliński, T.

2016-01-01

We report on the CeNi_4Mn (ferromagnet FM) - CeCu_4Mn (spin-glass SG) transformation leading to a complex magnetic phase diagram (MPD). It is verified that all the Ce(Cu_1_-_xNi_x)_4Mn alloys are isostructural and the transformation is governed only by the Cu-Ni substitution. MPD is built based on the magnetic dc/ac susceptibility measurements and reveals SG formation as well as the region of the coexistence of the FM and SG state in the middle range of the Ni concentration. The complex MPD is explained by clusters formation and a competition of interactions between various crystallographic sites of the hexagonal CaCu_5-type structure, mainly the 3g-3g and 3g-2c interactions. The predominance of the SG state is confirmed by the analysis of the frequency dependence of the ac magnetic susceptibility components and the relaxation of the remanent magnetization. Additionally, the presence of two multicritical points is observed. - Highlights: • We fully characterized the magnetic properties of Ce(Cu_1_-_xNi_x)_4Mn alloys. • We show the presence of complex magnetic behaviour due to atomic-site disorder. • Magnetic phase diagram revels mixed-phase ground state. • Two multicritical points on magnetic phase diagram occurs.

Ultrarelativistic boost of a black hole in the magnetic universe of Levi-Civita-Bertotti-Robinson

Science.gov (United States)

Ortaggio, Marcello; Astorino, Marco

2018-05-01

We consider an exact Einstein-Maxwell solution constructed by Alekseev and Garcia, which describes a Schwarzschild black hole immersed in the magnetic universe of Levi-Civita, Bertotti, and Robinson (LCBR). After reviewing the basic properties of this spacetime, we study the ultrarelativistic limit in which the black hole is boosted to the speed of light, while sending its mass to 0. This results in a nonexpanding impulsive wave traveling in the LCBR universe. The wave front is a 2-sphere carrying two null point particles at its poles—a remnant of the structure of the original static spacetime. It is also shown that the obtained line element belongs to the Kundt class of spacetimes, and the relation with the known family of exact gravitational waves of finite duration propagating in the LCBR background is clarified. In the limit of a vanishing electromagnetic field, one point particle is pushed away to infinity and the single-particle Aichelburg-Sexl p p -wave propagating in Minkowski space is recovered.

The classical equations of motion for a spinning point particle with charge and magnetic moment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rowe, E.G.P.; Rowe, G.T.

1987-01-01

The classical, special relativistic equations of motion are derived for a spinning point particle interacting with the electromagnetic field through its charge and magnetic moment. Radiation reaction is included. The energy tensors for the particle and for the field are developed as well-defined distributions; consequently no infinities appear. The magnitude of spin and the rest mass are conserved. (orig.)

Nonparametric Regression Estimation for Multivariate Null Recurrent Processes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Biqing Cai

2015-04-01

Full Text Available This paper discusses nonparametric kernel regression with the regressor being a \\(d\\-dimensional \\(\\beta\\-null recurrent process in presence of conditional heteroscedasticity. We show that the mean function estimator is consistent with convergence rate \\(\\sqrt{n(Th^{d}}\\, where \\(n(T\\ is the number of regenerations for a \\(\\beta\\-null recurrent process and the limiting distribution (with proper normalization is normal. Furthermore, we show that the two-step estimator for the volatility function is consistent. The finite sample performance of the estimate is quite reasonable when the leave-one-out cross validation method is used for bandwidth selection. We apply the proposed method to study the relationship of Federal funds rate with 3-month and 5-year T-bill rates and discover the existence of nonlinearity of the relationship. Furthermore, the in-sample and out-of-sample performance of the nonparametric model is far better than the linear model.

Highly macroscopically degenerated single-point ground states as source of specific heat capacity anomalies in magnetic frustrated systems

Science.gov (United States)

Jurčišinová, E.; Jurčišin, M.

2018-04-01

Anomalies of the specific heat capacity are investigated in the framework of the exactly solvable antiferromagnetic spin- 1 / 2 Ising model in the external magnetic field on the geometrically frustrated tetrahedron recursive lattice. It is shown that the Schottky-type anomaly in the behavior of the specific heat capacity is related to the existence of unique highly macroscopically degenerated single-point ground states which are formed on the borders between neighboring plateau-like ground states. It is also shown that the very existence of these single-point ground states with large residual entropies predicts the appearance of another anomaly in the behavior of the specific heat capacity for low temperatures, namely, the field-induced double-peak structure, which exists, and should be observed experimentally, along with the Schottky-type anomaly in various frustrated magnetic system.

Asymptotic symmetries of Rindler space at the horizon and null infinity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chung, Hyeyoun

2010-01-01

We investigate the asymptotic symmetries of Rindler space at null infinity and at the event horizon using both systematic and ad hoc methods. We find that the approaches that yield infinite-dimensional asymptotic symmetry algebras in the case of anti-de Sitter and flat spaces only give a finite-dimensional algebra for Rindler space at null infinity. We calculate the charges corresponding to these symmetries and confirm that they are finite, conserved, and integrable, and that the algebra of charges gives a representation of the asymptotic symmetry algebra. We also use relaxed boundary conditions to find infinite-dimensional asymptotic symmetry algebras for Rindler space at null infinity and at the event horizon. We compute the charges corresponding to these symmetries and confirm that they are finite and integrable. We also determine sufficient conditions for the charges to be conserved on-shell, and for the charge algebra to give a representation of the asymptotic symmetry algebra. In all cases, we find that the central extension of the charge algebra is trivial.

Bi-dimensional null model analysis of presence-absence binary matrices.

Science.gov (United States)

Strona, Giovanni; Ulrich, Werner; Gotelli, Nicholas J

2018-01-01

Comparing the structure of presence/absence (i.e., binary) matrices with those of randomized counterparts is a common practice in ecology. However, differences in the randomization procedures (null models) can affect the results of the comparisons, leading matrix structural patterns to appear either "random" or not. Subjectivity in the choice of one particular null model over another makes it often advisable to compare the results obtained using several different approaches. Yet, available algorithms to randomize binary matrices differ substantially in respect to the constraints they impose on the discrepancy between observed and randomized row and column marginal totals, which complicates the interpretation of contrasting patterns. This calls for new strategies both to explore intermediate scenarios of restrictiveness in-between extreme constraint assumptions, and to properly synthesize the resulting information. Here we introduce a new modeling framework based on a flexible matrix randomization algorithm (named the "Tuning Peg" algorithm) that addresses both issues. The algorithm consists of a modified swap procedure in which the discrepancy between the row and column marginal totals of the target matrix and those of its randomized counterpart can be "tuned" in a continuous way by two parameters (controlling, respectively, row and column discrepancy). We show how combining the Tuning Peg with a wise random walk procedure makes it possible to explore the complete null space embraced by existing algorithms. This exploration allows researchers to visualize matrix structural patterns in an innovative bi-dimensional landscape of significance/effect size. We demonstrate the rational and potential of our approach with a set of simulated and real matrices, showing how the simultaneous investigation of a comprehensive and continuous portion of the null space can be extremely informative, and possibly key to resolving longstanding debates in the analysis of ecological

The ASDEX upgrade toroidal field magnet and poloidal divertor field coil system adapted to reactor requirements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koeppendoerfer, W.; Blaumoser, M.; Ennen, K.; Gruber, J.; Gruber, O.; Jandl, O.; Kaufmann, M.; Kollotzek, H.; Kotzlowski, H.; Lackner, E.; Lackner, K.; Larcher, T. von; Noterdaeme, J.M.; Pillsticker, M.; Poehlchen, R.; Preis, H.; Schneider, H.; Seidel, U.; Sombach, B.; Speth, E.; Streibl, B.; Vernickel, H.; Werner, F.; Wesner, F.; Wieczorek, A.

1986-01-01

ASDEX Upgrade is a tokamak experiment with external poloidal field coils that is now under construction at IPP Garching. It can produce elongated single-null (SN), double-null (DN) , and limiter (L) configurations. The SN is the reference configuration with asymmetric load distributions in the poloidal field (PF) system and the toroidal field (TF) magnet. Plasma control and stabilization require a rigid passive conductor close to the plasma. The design principles of the coils and support structure are described. (orig.)

Magnetization relaxation in spin glasses above transition point

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zajtsev, I.A.; Minakov, A.A.; Galonzka, R.R.

1988-01-01

Magnetization relaxation of Cd 0.6 Zn 0.4 Cr 2 Se 4 and Cd 0.6 Mn 0.4 Te monocrystalline samples with T g =21 K and T g =12 K respectively and magnetic colloid is investigated. It is shown that magnetization inexponential relaxation detected experimentally in spin and dipole glasses is essentially higher than T g temperature transition. It is found that at temperatures higher than T g the essential difference is observed in behaviour of spin glasses with different Z and disorder types

Effect of Power Point Enhanced Teaching (Visual Input) on Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners' Listening Comprehension Ability

Science.gov (United States)

Sehati, Samira; Khodabandehlou, Morteza

2017-01-01

The present investigation was an attempt to study on the effect of power point enhanced teaching (visual input) on Iranian Intermediate EFL learners' listening comprehension ability. To that end, a null hypothesis was formulated as power point enhanced teaching (visual input) has no effect on Iranian Intermediate EFL learners' listening…

Electric Current Filamentation at a Non-potential Magnetic Null-point Due to Pressure Perturbation

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Jelínek, P.; Karlický, Marian; Murawski, K.

2015-01-01

Roč. 812, č. 2 (2015), 105/1-105/9 ISSN 0004-637X R&D Projects: GA ČR GAP209/12/0103 Grant - others:EC(XE) 606862 Program:FP7 Institutional support: RVO:67985815 Keywords : magnetohydrodynamics * numerical methods * Sun corona Subject RIV: BN - Astronomy, Celestial Mechanics, Astrophysics Impact factor: 5.909, year: 2015

EFFECTS OF FIELD-LINE TOPOLOGY ON ENERGY PROPAGATION IN THE CORONA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Candelaresi, S.; Pontin, D. I.; Hornig, G. [Division of Mathematics, University of Dundee, Dundee, DD1 4HN (United Kingdom)

2016-12-01

We study the effect of photospheric footpoint motions on magnetic field structures containing magnetic nulls. The footpoint motions are prescribed on the photospheric boundary as a velocity field that entangles the magnetic field. We investigate the propagation of the injected energy, the conversion of energy, emergence of current layers, and other consequences of the nontrivial magnetic field topology in this situation. These boundary motions lead initially to an increase in magnetic and kinetic energy. Following this, the energy input from the photosphere is partially dissipated and partially transported out of the domain through the Poynting flux. The presence of separatrix layers and magnetic null points fundamentally alters the propagation behavior of disturbances from the photosphere into the corona. Depending on the field-line topology close to the photosphere, the energy is either trapped or free to propagate into the corona.

Expression Profiling of Differentiating Emerin-Null Myogenic Progenitor Identifies Molecular Pathways Implicated in Their Impaired Differentiation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ashvin Iyer

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Mutations in the gene encoding emerin cause Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy (EDMD, a disorder causing progressive skeletal muscle wasting, irregular heart rhythms and contractures of major tendons. RNA sequencing was performed on differentiating wildtype and emerin-null myogenic progenitors to identify molecular pathways implicated in EDMD, 340 genes were uniquely differentially expressed during the transition from day 0 to day 1 in wildtype cells. 1605 genes were uniquely expressed in emerin-null cells; 1706 genes were shared among both wildtype and emerin-null cells. One thousand and forty-seven transcripts showed differential expression during the transition from day 1 to day 2. Four hundred and thirty-one transcripts showed altered expression in both wildtype and emerin-null cells. Two hundred and ninety-five transcripts were differentially expressed only in emerin-null cells and 321 transcripts were differentially expressed only in wildtype cells. DAVID, STRING and Ingenuity Pathway Analysis identified pathways implicated in impaired emerin-null differentiation, including cell signaling, cell cycle checkpoints, integrin signaling, YAP/TAZ signaling, stem cell differentiation, and multiple muscle development and myogenic differentiation pathways. Functional enrichment analysis showed biological functions associated with the growth of muscle tissue and myogenesis of skeletal muscle were inhibited. The large number of differentially expressed transcripts upon differentiation induction suggests emerin functions during transcriptional reprograming of progenitors to committed myoblasts.

Magnetic layering transitions in a polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimer nano-structure: Monte Carlo study

Science.gov (United States)

Ziti, S.; Aouini, S.; Labrim, H.; Bahmad, L.

2017-02-01

We study the magnetic layering transitions in a polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimer nano-structure, under the effect of an external magnetic field. We examine the magnetic properties, of this model of the spin S=1 Ising ferromagnetic in real nanostructure used in several scientific domains. For T=0, we give and discuss the ground state phase diagrams. At non null temperatures, we applied the Monte Carlo simulations giving important results summarized in the form of the phase diagrams. We also analyzed the effect of varying the external magnetic field, and found the layering transitions in the polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimer nano-structure.

The Many Null Distributions of Person Fit Indices.

Science.gov (United States)

Molenaar, Ivo W.; Hoijtink, Herbert

1990-01-01

Statistical properties of person fit indices are reviewed as indicators of the extent to which a person's score pattern is in agreement with a measurement model. Distribution of a fit index and ability-free fit evaluation are discussed. The null distribution was simulated for a test of 20 items. (SLD)

Stitching interferometry of high numerical aperture cylindrical optics without using a fringe-nulling routine.

Science.gov (United States)

Peng, Junzheng; Wang, Qingquan; Peng, Xiang; Yu, Yingjie

2015-11-01

Stitching interferometry is a common method for measuring the figure error of high numerical aperture optics. However, subaperture measurement usually requires a fringe-nulling routine, thus making the stitching procedure complex and time-consuming. The challenge when measuring a surface without a fringe-nulling routine is that the rays no longer perpendicularly hit the surface. This violation of the null-test condition can lead to high fringe density and introduce high-order misalignment aberrations into the measurement result. This paper demonstrates that the high-order misalignment aberrations can be characterized by low-order misalignment aberrations; then, an efficient method is proposed to separate the high-order misalignment aberrations from subaperture data. With the proposed method, the fringe-nulling routine is not required. Instead, the subaperture data is measured under a nonzero fringe pattern. Then, all possible misalignment aberrations are removed with the proposed method. Finally, the full aperture map is acquired by connecting all subaperture data together. Experimental results showing the feasibility of the proposed procedure are presented.

Twisting null geodesic congruences, scri, H-space and spin-angular momentum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kozameh, Carlos; Newman, E T; Silva-Ortigoza, Gilberto

2005-01-01

The purpose of this work is to return, with a new observation and rather unconventional point of view, to the study of asymptotically flat solutions of Einstein equations. The essential observation is that from a given asymptotically flat spacetime with a given Bondi shear, one can find (by integrating a partial differential equation) a class of asymptotically shear-free (but, in general, twisting) null geodesic congruences. The class is uniquely given up to the arbitrary choice of a complex analytic world line in a four-parameter complex space. Surprisingly, this parameter space turns out to be the H-space that is associated with the real physical spacetime under consideration. The main development in this work is the demonstration of how this complex world line can be made both unique and also given a physical meaning. More specifically, by forcing or requiring a certain term in the asymptotic Weyl tensor to vanish, the world line is uniquely determined and becomes (by several arguments) identified as the 'complex centre of mass'. Roughly, its imaginary part becomes identified with the intrinsic spin-angular momentum while the real part yields the orbital angular momentum. One should think of this work as developing a generalization of the properties of the algebraically special spacetimes in the sense that the term that is forced here to vanish is automatically vanishing (among many other terms) for all the algebraically special metrics. This is demonstrated in the several given examples. It was, in fact, an understanding of the algebraically special metrics and their associated shear-free null congruence that led us to this construction of the asymptotically shear-free congruences and the unique complex world line. The Robinson-Trautman metrics and the Kerr and charged Kerr metrics with their properties are explicit examples of the construction given here

Absence of 60-Hz, 0.1-mT magnetic field-induced changes in oncogene transcription rates or levels in CEM-CM3 cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Jahreis, G P; Johnson, P G; Zhao, Y L; Hui, S W

1998-12-22

Our objective was to assess the reproducibility of the 60-Hz magnetic field-induced, time-dependent transcription changes of c-fos, c-jun and c-myc oncogenes in CEM-CM3 cells reported by Phillips et al. (Biochim. Biophys. Acta, 1132 (1992) 140-144). Cells were exposed to a 60-Hz magnetic field (MF) at 0.1 mT (rms), generated by a pair of Helmholtz coils energized in a reinforcing (MF) mode, or to a null magnetic field when the coils were energized in a bucking (sham) mode. After MF or sham exposure for 15, 30, 60 or 120 min, nuclei and cytoplasmic RNA were extracted. Transcription rates were measured by a nuclear run-on assay, and values were normalized against either their zero-time exposure values, or against those of the c-G3PDH (housekeeping) gene at the same time points. There was no significant difference, at P=0.05, detected between MF and either sham-exposed or control cells at any time point. Transcript levels of the oncogenes were measured by Northern analysis and normalized as above. No significant difference (P=0.05) in transcript levels between MF and either sham-exposed or control cells was detected.

Darwin-Lagrangian analysis for the interaction of a point charge and a magnet: considerations related to the controversy regarding the Aharonov-Bohm and Aharonov-Casher phase shifts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boyer, Timothy H

2006-01-01

The classical electromagnetic interaction of a point charge and a magnet is discussed by first calculating the interaction of a point charge with a simple model magnetic moment and then suggesting a multiparticle limit. The Darwin-Lagrangian is used to analyse the electromagnetic behaviour of the model magnetic moment (composed of two oppositely charged particles of different masses in an initially circular Coulomb orbit) interacting with a passing point charge. Considerations of force, energy, momentum and centre of energy are treated through second order in 1/c. The changing magnetic moment is found to put a force back on a passing charge; this force is of order 1/c 2 and depends upon the magnitude of the magnetic moment. The limit of a many-particle magnet arranged as a toroid is discussed. It is suggested that in the multiparticle limit, the electric fields of the passing charge are screened out of the body of the magnet while the magnetic fields of the passing charge penetrate into the body of the magnet. This is consistent with our understanding of the penetration of electromagnetic velocity fields into ohmic conductors. The proposed multiparticle limit is consistent with the conservation laws for energy and momentum, as well as constant motion of the centre of energy, and Newton's third law for the net Lorentz forces on the magnet and on the point charge. The work corresponds to a classical electromagnetic analysis of the interaction which is basic to understanding the controversy over the Aharonov-Bohm and Aharonov-Casher phase shifts and represents a refutation of the suggestions of Aharonov, Pearle and Vaidman

The Harm Done to Reproducibility by the Culture of Null Hypothesis Significance Testing.

Science.gov (United States)

Lash, Timothy L

2017-09-15

In the last few years, stakeholders in the scientific community have raised alarms about a perceived lack of reproducibility of scientific results. In reaction, guidelines for journals have been promulgated and grant applicants have been asked to address the rigor and reproducibility of their proposed projects. Neither solution addresses a primary culprit, which is the culture of null hypothesis significance testing that dominates statistical analysis and inference. In an innovative research enterprise, selection of results for further evaluation based on null hypothesis significance testing is doomed to yield a low proportion of reproducible results and a high proportion of effects that are initially overestimated. In addition, the culture of null hypothesis significance testing discourages quantitative adjustments to account for systematic errors and quantitative incorporation of prior information. These strategies would otherwise improve reproducibility and have not been previously proposed in the widely cited literature on this topic. Without discarding the culture of null hypothesis significance testing and implementing these alternative methods for statistical analysis and inference, all other strategies for improving reproducibility will yield marginal gains at best. © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Segmented Aperture Interferometric Nulling Testbed (SAINT) II: component systems update

Science.gov (United States)

Hicks, Brian A.; Bolcar, Matthew R.; Helmbrecht, Michael A.; Petrone, Peter; Burke, Elliot; Corsetti, James; Dillon, Thomas; Lea, Andrew; Pellicori, Samuel; Sheets, Teresa; Shiri, Ron; Agolli, Jack; DeVries, John; Eberhardt, Andrew; McCabe, Tyler

2017-09-01

This work presents updates to the coronagraph and telescope components of the Segmented Aperture Interferometric Nulling Testbed (SAINT). The project pairs an actively-controlled macro-scale segmented mirror with the Visible Nulling Coronagraph (VNC) towards demonstrating capabilities for the future space observatories needed to directly detect and characterize a significant sample of Earth-sized worlds around nearby stars in the quest for identifying those which may be habitable and possibly harbor life. Efforts to improve the VNC wavefront control optics and mechanisms towards repeating narrowband results are described. A narrative is provided for the design of new optical components aimed at enabling broadband performance. Initial work with the hardware and software interface for controlling the segmented telescope mirror is also presented.

Integrable structures and the quantization of free null initial data for gravity

Science.gov (United States)

Fuchs, Andreas; Reisenberger, Michael P.

2017-09-01

Variables for constraint free null canonical vacuum general relativity are presented which have simple Poisson brackets that facilitate quantization. Free initial data for vacuum general relativity on a pair of intersecting null hypersurfaces has been known since the 1960s. These consist of the ‘main’ data which are set on the bulk of the two null hypersurfaces, and additional ‘surface’ data set only on their intersection 2-surface. More recently the complete set of Poisson brackets of such data has been obtained. However the complexity of these brackets is an obstacle to their quantization. Part of this difficulty may be overcome using methods from the treatment of cylindrically symmetric gravity. Specializing from general to cylindrically symmetric solutions changes the Poisson algebra of the null initial data surprisingly little, but cylindrically symmetric vacuum general relativity is an integrable system, making powerful tools available. Here a transformation is constructed at the cylindrically symmetric level which maps the main initial data to new data forming a Poisson algebra for which an exact deformation quantization is known. (Although an auxiliary condition on the data has been quantized only in the asymptotically flat case, and a suitable representation of the algebra of quantum data by operators on a Hilbert space has not yet been found.) The definition of the new main data generalizes naturally to arbitrary, symmetryless gravitational fields, with the Poisson brackets retaining their simplicity. The corresponding generalization of the quantization is however ambiguous and requires further analysis.

Percentiles of the null distribution of 2 maximum lod score tests.

Science.gov (United States)

Ulgen, Ayse; Yoo, Yun Joo; Gordon, Derek; Finch, Stephen J; Mendell, Nancy R

2004-01-01

We here consider the null distribution of the maximum lod score (LOD-M) obtained upon maximizing over transmission model parameters (penetrance values, dominance, and allele frequency) as well as the recombination fraction. Also considered is the lod score maximized over a fixed choice of genetic model parameters and recombination-fraction values set prior to the analysis (MMLS) as proposed by Hodge et al. The objective is to fit parametric distributions to MMLS and LOD-M. Our results are based on 3,600 simulations of samples of n = 100 nuclear families ascertained for having one affected member and at least one other sibling available for linkage analysis. Each null distribution is approximately a mixture p(2)(0) + (1 - p)(2)(v). The values of MMLS appear to fit the mixture 0.20(2)(0) + 0.80chi(2)(1.6). The mixture distribution 0.13(2)(0) + 0.87chi(2)(2.8). appears to describe the null distribution of LOD-M. From these results we derive a simple method for obtaining critical values of LOD-M and MMLS. Copyright 2004 S. Karger AG, Basel

Free field theories of spin-mass trajectories and quantum electrodynamics in the null plane

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bart, G.R.; Fenster, S.

1976-06-01

The ten generators of the Poincare algebra for quantum electrodynamics and other gauge theories are given in the null plane. The explicit correspondence of their field-theoretic form to the Bacry-Chang group-theoretic form in the free case is pointed out. It is then noticed that the forms are independent of the spin and allow inclusion of charge quantum numbers at will, which indicates that they represent an advantageous free-particle starting point for a hadron theory with positive spin-mass trajectories (SMT) and with interaction. The internal oscillator content is extracted for both gauge theories and dual resonance models. Interactions are cubic and quartic in the fields. In the dual model they encompass the SMT, whereas no straightforward extension to SMT is possible for the manifestly covariant theories. The requirements of a field-theoretic SMT interaction are spelled out in an algebraic form which guarantees Poincare invariance; however no such interaction is yet known. The approach indicates how a realistic spectrum might be achieved without composite hadrons and incorporating full Poincare invariance.

Free field theories of spin-mass trajectories and quantum electrodynamics in the null plane

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bart, G.R.; Fenster, S.

1976-06-01

The ten generators of the Poincare algebra for quantum electrodynamics and other gauge theories are given in the null plane. The explicit correspondence of their field-theoretic form to the Bacry-Chang group-theoretic form in the free case is pointed out. It is then noticed that the forms are independent of the spin and allow inclusion of charge quantum numbers at will, which indicates that they represent an advantageous free-particle starting point for a hadron theory with positive spin-mass trajectories (SMT) and with interaction. The internal oscillator content is extracted for both gauge theories and dual resonance models. Interactions are cubic and quartic in the fields. In the dual model they encompass the SMT, whereas no straightforward extension to SMT is possible for the manifestly covariant theories. The requirements of a field-theoretic SMT interaction are spelled out in an algebraic form which guarantees Poincare invariance; however no such interaction is yet known. The approach indicates how a realistic spectrum might be achieved without composite hadrons and incorporating full Poincare invariance

Limit structure of future null infinity tangent-topology of the event horizon and gravitational wave tail

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tomizawa, Shinya; Siino, Masaru

2006-01-01

We investigated the relation between the behaviour of gravitational waves at late time and the limit structure of future null infinity tangent which will determine the topology of the event horizon far in the future. In the present paper, we mainly consider a spacetime with two black holes. Although in most cases, the black holes coalesce and the event horizon is topologically a single sphere far in the future, there are several possibilities that the black holes never coalesce and such exact solutions as examples. In our formulation, the tangent vector of future null infinity is, under conformal embedding, related to the number of black holes far in the future through the Poincare-Hopf theorem. Under the conformal embedding, the topology of the event horizon far in the future will be affected by the geometrical structure of the future null infinity. In this paper, we relate the behaviour of Weyl curvature to this limit behaviour of the generator vector of the future null infinity. We show if Weyl curvature decays sufficiently slowly at late time in the neighbourhood of future null infinity, two black holes never coalesce

Maxwell, Yang-Mills, Weyl and eikonal fields defined by any null shear-free congruence

Science.gov (United States)

Kassandrov, Vladimir V.; Rizcallah, Joseph A.

We show that (specifically scaled) equations of shear-free null geodesic congruences on the Minkowski space-time possess intrinsic self-dual, restricted gauge and algebraic structures. The complex eikonal, Weyl 2-spinor, SL(2, ℂ) Yang-Mills and complex Maxwell fields, the latter produced by integer-valued electric charges (“elementary” for the Kerr-like congruences), can all be explicitly associated with any shear-free null geodesic congruence. Using twistor variables, we derive the general solution of the equations of the shear-free null geodesic congruence (as a modification of the Kerr theorem) and analyze the corresponding “particle-like” field distributions, with bounded singularities of the associated physical fields. These can be obtained in a straightforward algebraic way and exhibit nontrivial collective dynamics simulating physical interactions.

From GLC to double-null coordinates and illustration with static black holes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nugier, Fabien, E-mail: fnugier@ntu.edu.tw [Leung Center for Cosmology and Particle Astrophysics, National Taiwan University, Taipei, 10617 Taiwan (China)

2016-09-01

We present a system of coordinates deriving directly from the so-called Geodesic Light-Cone (GLC) coordinates and made of two null scalars intersecting on a 2-dimensional sphere parameterized by two constant angles along geodesics. These coordinates are shown to be equivalent to the well-known double-null coordinates. As GLC, they present interesting properties for cosmology and astrophysics. We discuss this latter topic for static black holes, showing simple descriptions for the metric or particles and photons trajectories. We also briefly comment on the time of flight of ultra-relativistic particles.

Gravito-magnetic currents in the inflationary universe from WIMT

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Romero, Jesus Martin; Bellini, Mauricio [Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Departamento de Fisica, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Mar del Plata (Argentina); Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicas de Mar del Plata (IFIMAR), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas (CONICET), Mar del Plata (Argentina)

2014-09-15

Using the Weitzenboeck representation of a Riemann-flat 5D spacetime, we study the possible existence of primordial gravito-magnetic currents from Gravito-electromagnetic Inflation (GEMI). We found that these currents decrease exponentially in the Weitzenboeck representation, but they are null in a Levi-Civita representation because we are dealing with a 5D Riemann-flat spacetime without structure or torsion. (orig.)

Diversity-Multiplexing-Nulling Trade-Off Analysis of Multiuser MIMO System for Intercell Interference Coordination

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jinwoo Kim

2017-01-01

Full Text Available A fundamental performance trade-off of multicell multiuser multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO systems is explored for achieving intercell and intracell interference-free conditions. In particular, we analyze the three-dimensional diversity-multiplexing-nulling trade-off (DMNT among the diversity order (i.e., the slope of the error performance curve, multiplexing order (i.e., the number of users that are simultaneously served by MU-MIMO, and nulling order (i.e., the number of users with zero interference in a victim cell. This trade-off quantifies the performance of MU-MIMO in terms of its diversity and multiplexing order, while nulling the intercell interference toward the victim cell in the neighbor. First, we design a precoding matrix to mitigate both intercell and intracell interference for a linear precoding-based MU-MIMO system. Then, the trade-off relationship is obtained by analyzing the distribution of the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR at the user terminals. Furthermore, we demonstrate how DMNT can be applied to estimate the long-term throughput for each mobile station, which allows for determining the optimal number of multiplexing order and throughput loss due to the interference nulling.

Null Lens Assembly for X-Ray Mirror Segments

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, David W.

2011-01-01

A document discusses a null lens assembly that allows laser interferometry of 60 deg. slumped glass mirror segments used in x-ray mirrors. The assembly consists of four lenses in precise alignment to each other, with incorporated piezoelectric nanometer stepping actuators to position the lenses in six degrees of freedom for positioning relative to each other.

Magnetic neutral point stretching and coalescence in tearing-generated magnetohydrodynamic structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malara, F.; Veltri, P.; Carbone, V.

1991-01-01

The time evolution of the instability of a sheet pinch is numerically studied using a sufficiently high ratio of system length to width in order to allow the simultaneous growth of several unstable wavelengths. This numerical simulation provides new insights into the nonlinear development of the tearing instability. Before the instability saturates, the nonlinear interactions among the unstable modes produce local coalescence phenomena that destroy the weaker current pinches and reduce the number of magnetic islands. In contrast with the usual picture, this coalescence is not due to the attraction between the current maxima, but is due to the stretching of the X-neutral points associated with the most intense current pinches. The global perturbation growth rate remains essentially unchanged in time, being of the order of the resistive instability growth rate

Euclidean null controllability of perturbed infinite delay systems with ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Euclidean null controllability of perturbed infinite delay systems with limited control. ... Open Access DOWNLOAD FULL TEXT ... The results are established by placing conditions on the perturbation function which guarantee that, if the linear control base system is completely Euclidean controllable, then the perturbed system ...

Orexin Receptor Antagonism Improves Sleep and Reduces Seizures in Kcna1-null Mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Roundtree, Harrison M; Simeone, Timothy A; Johnson, Chaz; Matthews, Stephanie A; Samson, Kaeli K; Simeone, Kristina A

2016-02-01

Comorbid sleep disorders occur in approximately one-third of people with epilepsy. Seizures and sleep disorders have an interdependent relationship where the occurrence of one can exacerbate the other. Orexin, a wake-promoting neuropeptide, is associated with sleep disorder symptoms. Here, we tested the hypothesis that orexin dysregulation plays a role in the comorbid sleep disorder symptoms in the Kcna1-null mouse model of temporal lobe epilepsy. Rest-activity was assessed using infrared beam actigraphy. Sleep architecture and seizures were assessed using continuous video-electroencephalography-electromyography recordings in Kcna1-null mice treated with vehicle or the dual orexin receptor antagonist, almorexant (100 mg/kg, intraperitoneally). Orexin levels in the lateral hypothalamus/perifornical region (LH/P) and hypothalamic pathology were assessed with immunohistochemistry and oxygen polarography. Kcna1-null mice have increased latency to rapid eye movement (REM) sleep onset, sleep fragmentation, and number of wake epochs. The numbers of REM and non-REM (NREM) sleep epochs are significantly reduced in Kcna1-null mice. Severe seizures propagate to the wake-promoting LH/P where injury is apparent (indicated by astrogliosis, blood-brain barrier permeability, and impaired mitochondrial function). The number of orexin-positive neurons is increased in the LH/P compared to wild-type LH/P. Treatment with a dual orexin receptor antagonist significantly increases the number and duration of NREM sleep epochs and reduces the latency to REM sleep onset. Further, almorexant treatment reduces the incidence of severe seizures and overall seizure burden. Interestingly, we report a significant positive correlation between latency to REM onset and seizure burden in Kcna1-null mice. Dual orexin receptor antagonists may be an effective sleeping aid in epilepsy, and warrants further study on their somnogenic and ant-seizure effects in other epilepsy models. © 2016 Associated

Magnetic suspension and guidance of high speed vehicles. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Alston, I A; Clark, J M; Hayden, J T

1972-12-01

Technical and economical assessments of magnetic suspensions for high speed vehicles and transport systems are reported. In these suspensions the suspending magnet takes the form of a powerful superconducting electromagnet that induces currents while it moves over conducting sheets or loops. A number of vehicle track designs are evaluated for operating cost effectiveness. It is shown that propulsion systems using power collected from the track are more expensive than those using power generated onboard the vehicle, and that the conducting sheet suspension is slightly more expensive than the null flux suspension.

Regional and Large-Scale Climate Influences on Tree-Ring Reconstructed Null Zone Position in San Francisco Bay

Science.gov (United States)

Stahle, D.; Griffin, D.; Cleaveland, M.; Fye, F.; Meko, D.; Cayan, D.; Dettinger, M.; Redmond, K.

2007-05-01

A new network of 36 moisture sensitive tree-ring chronologies has been developed in and near the drainage basins of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers. The network is based entirely on blue oak (Quercus douglasii), which is a California endemic found from the lower forest border up into the mixed conifer zone in the Coast Ranges, Sierra Nevada, and Cascades. These blue oak tree-ring chronologies are highly correlated with winter-spring precipitation totals, Sacramento and San Joaquin streamflow, and with seasonal variations in salinity and null zone position in San Francisco Bay. Null zone is the non-tidal bottom water location where density-driven salinity and river-driven freshwater currents balance (zero flow). It is the area of highest turbidity, water residence time, sediment accumulation, and net primary productivity in the estuary. Null zone position is measured by the distance from the Golden Gate of the 2 per mil bottom water isohaline and is primarily controlled by discharge from the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers (and ultimately by winter-spring precipitation). The location of the null zone is an estuarine habitat indicator, a policy variable used for ecosystem management, and can have a major impact on biological resources in the San Francisco estuary. Precipitation-sensitive blue oak chronologies can be used to estimate null zone position based on the strong biogeophysical interaction among terrestrial, aquatic, and estuarine ecosystems, orchestrated by precipitation. The null zone reconstruction is 626-years long and provides a unique long term perspective on the interannual to decadal variability of this important estuarine habitat indicator. Consecutive two-year droughts (or longer) allow the null zone to shrink into the confined upper reaches of Suisun Bay, causing a dramatic reduction in phytoplankton production and favoring colonization of the estuary by marine biota. The reconstruction indicates an approximate 10 year recurrence interval

A Review of Point-Wise Motion Tracking Algorithms for Fetal Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Chikop, Shivaprasad; Koulagi, Girish; Kumbara, Ankita; Geethanath, Sairam

2016-01-01

We review recent feature-based tracking algorithms as applied to fetal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Motion in fetal MRI is an active and challenging area of research, but the challenge can be mitigated by strategies related to patient setup, acquisition, reconstruction, and image processing. We focus on fetal motion correction through methods based on tracking algorithms for registration of slices with similar anatomy in multiple volumes. We describe five motion detection algorithms based on corner detection and region-based methods through pseudocodes, illustrating the results of their application to fetal MRI. We compare the performance of these methods on the basis of error in registration and minimum number of feature points required for registration. Harris, a corner detection method, provides similar error when compared to the other methods and has the lowest number of feature points required at that error level. We do not discuss group-wise methods here. Finally, we attempt to communicate the application of available feature extraction methods to fetal MRI.

A new approach to the solution of the vacuum magnetic problem in fusion machines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zabeo, L.; Piccolo, F.; Sartori, F.; Albanese, R.; Cenedese, A.

2006-01-01

The magnetic vacuum topology reconstruction using the magnetic measurements is essential in controlling and understanding plasmas produced by fusion machines. In a wide range of the cases, the instruments to approach the problem have been designed for a specific machine and to solve a specific plasma model. Recently a new approach has been used by developing new magnetic software called Felix. The adopted solution in the design allows the use of the software not only at JET but also at different machines by simply changing a configuration file. A database describing the tokamak in the magnetic point of view is used to provide different vacuum magnetic models (polynomial, moments, filamentary) that can be solved by Felix without any recompiling or testing. In order to reduce the analysis and debugging time the software has been designed with modularity and platform independence in mind. That results in a large portability and in particular it allows use of the same code both offline and in real-time. One of the main aspects of the tool is its capability to solve different plasma models of current distribution by changing its configuration file. In order to improve the plasma magnetic reconstruction in real time a set of models has been run using Felix. An improved polynomial based model compared with the one presently used and two models using current filaments have been tested and compared. The new system has also been improved the calculation of plasma magnetic parameters. Double null configurations smooth transitions, more accurate gap and strike-point calculations, detailed boundary reconstruction are now systematically available. Felix is presently running at JET in different real-time analysis and control systems that need vacuum magnetic topology such as control of the plasma shape, the wall protection system [F.Piccolo et al.'Upgrade of the protection system for the first wall at JET in the ITER Be and W tiles prespective' this conference], the magnetic

Relative controllability and null controllability of linear delay systems ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Necessary and sufficient conditions are established for the relative, absolute controllability and null controllability of the generalized linear delay system and its discrete prototype. The paper presents illuminating examples on previous controllability results by Manitius and Olbrot [7] and carries over the results of Onwuatu [8] ...

Local modular Hamiltonians from the quantum null energy condition

Science.gov (United States)

Koeller, Jason; Leichenauer, Stefan; Levine, Adam; Shahbazi-Moghaddam, Arvin

2018-03-01

The vacuum modular Hamiltonian K of the Rindler wedge in any relativistic quantum field theory is given by the boost generator. Here we investigate the modular Hamiltonian for more general half-spaces which are bounded by an arbitrary smooth cut of a null plane. We derive a formula for the second derivative of the modular Hamiltonian with respect to the coordinates of the cut which schematically reads K''=Tv v . This formula can be integrated twice to obtain a simple expression for the modular Hamiltonian. The result naturally generalizes the standard expression for the Rindler modular Hamiltonian to this larger class of regions. Our primary assumptions are the quantum null energy condition—an inequality between the second derivative of the von Neumann entropy of a region and the stress tensor—and its saturation in the vacuum for these regions. We discuss the validity of these assumptions in free theories and holographic theories to all orders in 1 /N .

Limiting Accuracy of Segregated Solution Methods for Nonsymmetric Saddle Point Problems

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Jiránek, P.; Rozložník, Miroslav

Roc. 215, c. 1 (2008), s. 28-37 ISSN 0377-0427 R&D Projects: GA MŠk 1M0554; GA AV ČR 1ET400300415 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10300504 Keywords : saddle point problems * Schur complement reduction method * null-space projection method * rounding error analysis Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics Impact factor: 1.048, year: 2008

"Time sweet time": circadian characterization of galectin-1 null mice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rabinovich Gabriel A

2010-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Recent evidence suggests a two-way interaction between the immune and circadian systems. Circadian control of immune factors, as well as the effect of immunological variables on circadian rhythms, might be key elements in both physiological and pathological responses to the environment. Among these relevant factors, galectin-1 is a member of a family of evolutionarily-conserved glycan-binding proteins with both extracellular and intracellular effects, playing important roles in immune cell processes and inflammatory responses. Many of these actions have been studied through the use of mice with a null mutation in the galectin-1 (Lgals1 gene. To further analyze the role of endogenous galectin-1 in vivo, we aimed to characterize the circadian behavior of galectin-1 null (Lgals1-/- mice. Methods We analyzed wheel-running activity in light-dark conditions, constant darkness, phase responses to light pulses (LP at circadian time 15, and reentrainment to 6 hour shifts in light-dark schedule in wild-type (WT and Lgals1-/- mice. Results We found significant differences in free-running period, which was longer in mutant than in WT mice (24.02 vs 23.57 h, p alpha (14.88 vs. 12.35 circadian h, p Conclusions Given the effect of a null mutation on circadian period and entrainment, we indicate that galectin-1 could be involved in the regulation of murine circadian rhythmicity. This is the first study implicating galectin-1 in the mammalian circadian system.

Relative null controllability of linear systems with multiple delays in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

varying multiple delays in state and control are developed. If the uncontrolled system is uniformly asymptotically stable, and if the linear system is controllable, then the linear system is null controllable. Journal of the Nigerian Association of ...

Magnetic Vestibular Stimulation in Subjects with Unilateral Labyrinthine Disorders

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bryan Kevin Ward

2014-03-01

Full Text Available We recently discovered that static magnetic fields from high-strength MRI machines induce nystagmus in all normal humans, and that a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD Lorentz force, derived from ionic currents in the endolymph and pushing on the cupula, best explains this effect. Individuals with no labyrinthine function have no nystagmus. The influence of magnetic vestibular stimulation (MVS in individuals with unilateral loss of labyrinthine function is unknown and may provide insight into mechanism of MVS. These individuals should experience MVS, but with differences consistent with their residual labyrinthine function. We recorded eye movements in the static magnetic field of a 7T MRI machine in nine individuals with unilateral labyrinthine hypofunction, as determined by head impulse testing and vestibular-evoked myogenic potentials (VEMP. Eye movements were recorded using infrared videooculography. Static head positions were varied in pitch with the body supine, and slow-phase eye velocity (SPV was assessed. All subjects exhibited predominantly horizontal nystagmus after entering the magnet head-first, lying supine. The SPV direction reversed when entering feet-first. Pitching chin-to-chest caused subjects to reach a null point for horizontal SPV. Right unilateral vestibular hypofunction (UVH subjects developed slow-phase-up nystagmus and left UVH subjects, slow-phase-down nystagmus. Vertical and torsional components were consistent with superior semicircular canal excitation or inhibition, respectively, of the intact ear. These findings provide compelling support for the hypothesis that MVS is a result of a Lorentz force and suggest that the function of individual structures within the labyrinth can be assessed with MVS. As a novel method of comfortable and sustained labyrinthine stimulation, MVS can provide new insights into vestibular physiology and pathophysiology.

In vivo time-gated diffuse correlation spectroscopy at quasi-null source-detector separation.

Science.gov (United States)

Pagliazzi, M; Sekar, S Konugolu Venkata; Di Sieno, L; Colombo, L; Durduran, T; Contini, D; Torricelli, A; Pifferi, A; Mora, A Dalla

2018-06-01

We demonstrate time domain diffuse correlation spectroscopy at quasi-null source-detector separation by using a fast time-gated single-photon avalanche diode without the need of time-tagging electronics. This approach allows for increased photon collection, simplified real-time instrumentation, and reduced probe dimensions. Depth discriminating, quasi-null distance measurement of blood flow in a human subject is presented. We envision the miniaturization and integration of matrices of optical sensors of increased spatial resolution and the enhancement of the contrast of local blood flow changes.

Sea quarks contribution to the nucleon magnetic moment and charge radius at the physical point

Science.gov (United States)

Sufian, Raza Sabbir; Yang, Yi-Bo; Liang, Jian; Draper, Terrence; Liu, Keh-Fei; χ QCD Collaboration

2017-12-01

We report a comprehensive analysis of the light and strange disconnected-sea quarks contribution to the nucleon magnetic moment, charge radius, and the electric and magnetic form factors. The lattice QCD calculation includes ensembles across several lattice volumes and lattice spacings with one of the ensembles at the physical pion mass. We adopt a model-independent extrapolation of the nucleon magnetic moment and the charge radius. We have performed a simultaneous chiral, infinite volume, and continuum extrapolation in a global fit to calculate results in the continuum limit. We find that the combined light and strange disconnected-sea quarks contribution to the nucleon magnetic moment is μM(DI )=-0.022 (11 )(09 ) μN and to the nucleon mean square charge radius is ⟨r2⟩E(DI ) =-0.019 (05 )(05 ) fm2 which is about 1 /3 of the difference between the ⟨rp2⟩E of electron-proton scattering and that of a muonic atom and so cannot be ignored in obtaining the proton charge radius in the lattice QCD calculation. The most important outcome of this lattice QCD calculation is that while the combined light-sea and strange quarks contribution to the nucleon magnetic moment is small at about 1%, a negative 2.5(9)% contribution to the proton mean square charge radius and a relatively larger positive 16.3(6.1)% contribution to the neutron mean square charge radius come from the sea quarks in the nucleon. For the first time, by performing global fits, we also give predictions of the light and strange disconnected-sea quarks contributions to the nucleon electric and magnetic form factors at the physical point and in the continuum and infinite volume limits in the momentum transfer range of 0 ≤Q2≤0.5 GeV2 .

Dynamics of isolated magnetic bright points derived from Hinode/SOT G-band observations

Science.gov (United States)

Utz, D.; Hanslmeier, A.; Muller, R.; Veronig, A.; Rybák, J.; Muthsam, H.

2010-02-01

Context. Small-scale magnetic fields in the solar photosphere can be identified in high-resolution magnetograms or in the G-band as magnetic bright points (MBPs). Rapid motions of these fields can cause magneto-hydrodynamical waves and can also lead to nanoflares by magnetic field braiding and twisting. The MBP velocity distribution is a crucial parameter for estimating the amplitudes of those waves and the amount of energy they can contribute to coronal heating. Aims: The velocity and lifetime distributions of MBPs are derived from solar G-band images of a quiet sun region acquired by the Hinode/SOT instrument with different temporal and spatial sampling rates. Methods: We developed an automatic segmentation, identification and tracking algorithm to analyse G-Band image sequences to obtain the lifetime and velocity distributions of MBPs. The influence of temporal/spatial sampling rates on these distributions is studied and used to correct the obtained lifetimes and velocity distributions for these digitalisation effects. Results: After the correction of algorithm effects, we obtained a mean MBP lifetime of (2.50 ± 0.05) min and mean MBP velocities, depending on smoothing processes, in the range of (1-2) km~s-1. Corrected for temporal sampling effects, we obtained for the effective velocity distribution a Rayleigh function with a coefficient of (1.62 ± 0.05) km~s-1. The x- and y-components of the velocity distributions are Gaussians. The lifetime distribution can be fitted by an exponential function.

Abnormal nociception and opiate sensitivity of STOP null mice exhibiting elevated levels of the endogenous alkaloid morphine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aunis Dominique

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background- Mice deficient for the stable tubule only peptide (STOP display altered dopaminergic neurotransmission associated with severe behavioural defects including disorganized locomotor activity. Endogenous morphine, which is present in nervous tissues and synthesized from dopamine, may contribute to these behavioral alterations since it is thought to play a role in normal and pathological neurotransmission. Results- In this study, we showed that STOP null brain structures, including cortex, hippocampus, cerebellum and spinal cord, contain high endogenous morphine amounts. The presence of elevated levels of morphine was associated with the presence of a higher density of mu opioid receptor with a higher affinity for morphine in STOP null brains. Interestingly, STOP null mice exhibited significantly lower nociceptive thresholds to thermal and mechanical stimulations. They also had abnormal behavioural responses to the administration of exogenous morphine and naloxone. Low dose of morphine (1 mg/kg, i.p. produced a significant mechanical antinociception in STOP null mice whereas it has no effect on wild-type mice. High concentration of naloxone (1 mg/kg was pronociceptive for both mice strain, a lower concentration (0.1 mg/kg was found to increase the mean mechanical nociceptive threshold only in the case of STOP null mice. Conclusions- Together, our data show that STOP null mice displayed elevated levels of endogenous morphine, as well as an increase of morphine receptor affinity and density in brain. This was correlated with hypernociception and impaired pharmacological sensitivity to mu opioid receptor ligands.

Vortices, Reconnection and Turbulence in High Electron-Beta Plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stenzel, R. L.

2004-01-01

Plasmas in which the kinetic energy exceeds the magnetic energy by a significant factor are common in space and in the laboratory. Such plasmas can convect magnetic fields and create null points in whose vicinity first the ions become unmagnetized, then the electrons. This project focuses on the detailed study of the transition regime of these plasmas

A Solution Space for a System of Null-State Partial Differential Equations: Part 2

Science.gov (United States)

Flores, Steven M.; Kleban, Peter

2015-01-01

This article is the second of four that completely and rigorously characterize a solution space for a homogeneous system of 2 N + 3 linear partial differential equations in 2 N variables that arises in conformal field theory (CFT) and multiple Schramm-Löwner evolution (SLE). The system comprises 2 N null-state equations and three conformal Ward identities which govern CFT correlation functions of 2 N one-leg boundary operators. In the first article (Flores and Kleban, Commun Math Phys, arXiv:1212.2301, 2012), we use methods of analysis and linear algebra to prove that dim , with C N the Nth Catalan number. The analysis of that article is complete except for the proof of a lemma that it invokes. The purpose of this article is to provide that proof. The lemma states that if every interval among ( x 2, x 3), ( x 3, x 4),…,( x 2 N-1, x 2 N ) is a two-leg interval of (defined in Flores and Kleban, Commun Math Phys, arXiv:1212.2301, 2012), then F vanishes. Proving this lemma by contradiction, we show that the existence of such a nonzero function implies the existence of a non-vanishing CFT two-point function involving primary operators with different conformal weights, an impossibility. This proof (which is rigorous in spite of our occasional reference to CFT) involves two different types of estimates, those that give the asymptotic behavior of F as the length of one interval vanishes, and those that give this behavior as the lengths of two intervals vanish simultaneously. We derive these estimates by using Green functions to rewrite certain null-state PDEs as integral equations, combining other null-state PDEs to obtain Schauder interior estimates, and then repeatedly integrating the integral equations with these estimates until we obtain optimal bounds. Estimates in which two interval lengths vanish simultaneously divide into two cases: two adjacent intervals and two non-adjacent intervals. The analysis of the latter case is similar to that for one vanishing

Lovelock vacua with a recurrent null vector field

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Ortaggio, Marcello

2018-01-01

Roč. 97, č. 4 (2018), č. článku 044051. ISSN 2470-0010 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA13-10042S Institutional support: RVO:67985840 Keywords : Lovelock gravity * recurrent null vector field Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics OBOR OECD: Applied mathematics Impact factor: 4.568, year: 2016 https://journals.aps.org/prd/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevD.97.044051

Lovelock vacua with a recurrent null vector field

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Ortaggio, Marcello

2018-01-01

Roč. 97, č. 4 (2018), č. článku 044051. ISSN 2470-0010 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA13-10042S Institutional support: RVO:67985840 Keywords : Lovelock gravity * recurrent null vector field Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics OBOR OECD: Applied mathematics Impact factor: 4.568, year: 2016 https://journals. aps .org/prd/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevD.97.044051

Kinetic titration with differential thermometric determination of the end-point.

Science.gov (United States)

Sajó, I

1968-06-01

A method has been described for the determination of concentrations below 10(-4)M by applying catalytic reactions and using thermometric end-point determination. A reference solution, identical with the sample solution except for catalyst, is titrated with catalyst solution until the rates of reaction become the same, as shown by a null deflection on a galvanometer connected via bridge circuits to two opposed thermistors placed in the solutions.

Gyrokinetic simulations with external resonant magnetic perturbations: Island torque and nonambipolar transport with plasma rotation

Science.gov (United States)

Waltz, R. E.; Waelbroeck, F. L.

2012-03-01

Static external resonant magnetic field perturbations (RMPs) have been added to the gyrokinetic code GYRO [J. Candy and R. E. Waltz, J. Comp. Phys. 186, 545 (2003)]. This allows nonlinear gyrokinetic simulations of the nonambipolar radial current flow jr, and the corresponding j→×B→ plasma torque (density) R[jrBp/c], induced by magnetic islands that break the toroidal symmetry of a tokamak. This extends the previous GYRO formulation for the transport of toroidal angular momentum (TAM) [R. E. Waltz, G. M. Staebler, J. Candy, and F. L. Hinton, Phys. Plasmas 14, 122507 (2007); errata 16, 079902 (2009)]. The focus is on electrostatic full torus radial slice simulations of externally induced q =m/n=6/3 islands with widths 5% of the minor radius or about 20 ion gyroradii. Up to moderately strong E ×B rotation, the island torque scales with the radial electric field at the resonant surface Er, the island width w, and the intensity I of the high-n micro-turbulence, as Erw√I . The radial current inside the island is carried (entirely in the n =3 component) and almost entirely by the ion E ×B flux, since the electron E ×B and magnetic flutter particle fluxes are cancelled. The net island torque is null at zero Er rather than at zero toroidal rotation. This means that while the expected magnetic braking of the toroidal plasma rotation occurs at strong co- and counter-current rotation, at null toroidal rotation, there is a small co-directed magnetic acceleration up to the small diamagnetic (ion pressure gradient driven) co-rotation corresponding to the zero Er and null torque. This could be called the residual stress from an externally induced island. At zero Er, the only effect is the expected partial flattening of the electron temperature gradient within the island. Finite-beta GYRO simulations demonstrate almost complete RMP field screening and n =3 mode unlocking at strong Er.

Shaping Up the Practice of Null Hypothesis Significance Testing.

Science.gov (United States)

Wainer, Howard; Robinson, Daniel H.

2003-01-01

Discusses criticisms of null hypothesis significance testing (NHST), suggesting that historical use of NHST was reasonable, and current users should read Sir Ronald Fisher's applied work. Notes that modifications to NHST and interpretations of its outcomes might better suit the needs of modern science. Concludes that NHST is most often useful as…

Luxembourg in the Early Days of the EEC: Null Player or Not?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexander Mayer

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Voters whose yes-or-no decision never makes a difference to the outcome in a simple voting game are known as “null players”. Luxembourg’s role in the Council of Ministers during the first period of the European Economic Community (EEC is often cited as a real-world case. The paper contrasts the textbook claim that Luxembourg was a null player with a more comprehensive picture of Luxembourg’s role in EEC’s voting system. The assessment of Luxembourg’s voting power is sensitive to the role played by the European Commission in the decision-making procedure and the measurement concepts underlying power evaluations.

Increased Oocyte Degeneration and Follicular Atresia during the Estrous Cycle in Anti-Müllerian Hormone Null Mice

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Visser, Jenny A.; Durlinger, Alexandra L.L.; Peters, Isolde J.J.; Heuvel, Edwin R. van den; Rose, Ursula M.; Kramer, Piet; Jong, Frank H. de; Themmen, Axel P.N.

2007-01-01

Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) plays an important role in folliculogenesis. AMH null mice display an increased recruitment of primordial follicles. Nevertheless, these mice do not have proportionally more preovulatory follicles. Therefore, AMH null mice provide an interesting genetic model to study

Magnetohydrodynamic Modeling of Solar Coronal Dynamics with an Initial Non-force-free Magnetic Field

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Prasad, A.; Bhattacharyya, R.; Kumar, Sanjay [Udaipur Solar Observatory, Physical Research Laboratory, Dewali, Bari Road, Udaipur-313001 (India)

2017-05-01

The magnetic fields in the solar corona are generally neither force-free nor axisymmetric and have complex dynamics that are difficult to characterize. Here we simulate the topological evolution of solar coronal magnetic field lines (MFLs) using a magnetohydrodynamic model. The simulation is initialized with a non-axisymmetric non-force-free magnetic field that best correlates with the observed vector magnetograms of solar active regions (ARs). To focus on these ideas, simulations are performed for the flaring AR 11283 noted for its complexity and well-documented dynamics. The simulated dynamics develops as the initial Lorentz force pushes the plasma and facilitates successive magnetic reconnections at the two X-type null lines present in the initial field. Importantly, the simulation allows for the spontaneous development of mass flow, unique among contemporary works, that preferentially reconnects field lines at one of the X-type null lines. Consequently, a flux rope consisting of low-lying twisted MFLs, which approximately traces the major polarity inversion line, undergoes an asymmetric monotonic rise. The rise is attributed to a reduction in the magnetic tension force at the region overlying the rope, resulting from the reconnection. A monotonic rise of the rope is in conformity with the standard scenario of flares. Importantly, the simulated dynamics leads to bifurcations of the flux rope, which, being akin to the observed filament bifurcation in AR 11283, establishes the appropriateness of the initial field in describing ARs.

Pair of null gravitating shells: III. Algebra of Dirac's observables

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kouletsis, I; Hajicek, P

2002-01-01

The study of the two-shell system started in 'pair of null gravitating shells I and II' is continued. The pull back of the Liouville form to the constraint surface, which contains complete information about the Poisson brackets of Dirac observables, is computed in the singular double-null Eddington-Finkelstein (DNEF) gauge. The resulting formula shows that the variables conjugate to the Schwarzschild masses of the intershell spacetimes are simple combinations of the values of the DNEF coordinates on these spacetimes at the shells. The formula is valid for any number of in- and outgoing shells. After applying it to the two-shell system, the symplectic form is calculated for each component of the physical phase space; regular coordinates are found, defining it as a symplectic manifold. The symplectic transformation between the initial and final values of observables for the shell-crossing case is given

Altered extracellular matrix remodeling and angiogenesis in sponge granulomas of thrombospondin 2-null mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Kyriakides, T R; Zhu, Y H; Yang, Z; Huynh, G; Bornstein, P

2001-10-01

The matricellular angiogenesis inhibitor, thrombospondin (TSP) 2, has been shown to be an important modulator of wound healing and the foreign body response. Specifically, TSP2-null mice display improved healing with minimal scarring and form well-vascularized foreign body capsules. In this study we performed subcutaneous implantation of sponges and investigated the resulting angiogenic and fibrogenic responses. Histological and immunohistochemical analysis of sponges, excised at 7, 14, and 21 days after implantation, revealed significant differences between TSP2-null and wild-type mice. Most notably, TSP2-null mice exhibited increased angiogenesis and fibrotic encapsulation of the sponge. However, invasion of dense tissue was compromised, even though its overall density was increased. Furthermore, histomorphometry and biochemical assays demonstrated a significant increase in the extracellular distribution of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) 2, but no change in the levels of active transforming growth factor-beta(1). The alterations in neovascularization, dense tissue invasion, and MMP2 in TSP2-null mice coincided with the deposition of TSP2 in the extracellular matrix of wild-type animals. These observations support the proposed role of TSP2 as a modulator of angiogenesis and matrix remodeling during tissue repair. In addition, they provide in vivo evidence for a newly proposed function of TSP2 as a modulator of extracellular MMP2 levels.

Generalized Robertson-Walker Space-Time Admitting Evolving Null Horizons Related to a Black Hole Event Horizon.

Science.gov (United States)

Duggal, K L

2016-01-01

A new technique is used to study a family of time-dependent null horizons, called " Evolving Null Horizons " (ENHs), of generalized Robertson-Walker (GRW) space-time [Formula: see text] such that the metric [Formula: see text] satisfies a kinematic condition. This work is different from our early papers on the same issue where we used (1 + n )-splitting space-time but only some special subcases of GRW space-time have this formalism. Also, in contrast to previous work, we have proved that each member of ENHs is totally umbilical in [Formula: see text]. Finally, we show that there exists an ENH which is always a null horizon evolving into a black hole event horizon and suggest some open problems.

Multi-Segment Radius Measurement Using an Absolute Distance Meter Through a Null Assembly

Science.gov (United States)

Merle, Cormic; Wick, Eric; Hayden, Joseph

2011-01-01

This system was one of the test methods considered for measuring the radius of curvature of one or more of the 18 segmented mirrors that form the 6.5 m diameter primary mirror (PM) of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The assembled telescope will be tested at cryogenic temperatures in a 17-m diameter by 27-m high vacuum chamber at the Johnson Space Center. This system uses a Leica Absolute Distance Meter (ADM), at a wavelength of 780 nm, combined with beam-steering and beam-shaping optics to make a differential distance measurement between a ring mirror on the reflective null assembly and individual PM segments. The ADM is located inside the same Pressure-Tight Enclosure (PTE) that houses the test interferometer. The PTE maintains the ADM and interferometer at ambient temperature and pressure so that they are not directly exposed to the telescope s harsh cryogenic and vacuum environment. This system takes advantage of the existing achromatic objective and reflective null assembly used by the test interferometer to direct four ADM beamlets to four PM segments through an optical path that is coincident with the interferometer beam. A mask, positioned on a linear slide, contains an array of 1.25 mm diameter circular subapertures that map to each of the 18 PM segments as well as six positions around the ring mirror. A down-collimated 4 mm ADM beam simultaneously covers 4 adjacent PM segment beamlets and one ring mirror beamlet. The radius, or spacing, of all 18 segments can be measured with the addition of two orthogonally-oriented scanning pentaprisms used to steer the ADM beam to any one of six different sub-aperture configurations at the plane of the ring mirror. The interferometer beam, at a wavelength of 687 nm, and the ADM beamlets, at a wavelength of 780 nm, pass through the objective and null so that the rays are normally incident on the parabolic PM surface. After reflecting off the PM, both the ADM and interferometer beams return to their respective

Non-linear magnetohydrodynamic modeling of plasma response to resonant magnetic perturbations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Orain, F.; Bécoulet, M.; Dif-Pradalier, G.; Nardon, E.; Passeron, C.; Latu, G.; Grandgirard, V.; Fil, A.; Ratnani, A. [CEA, IRFM, F-13108 Saint-Paul-Lez-Durance (France); Huijsmans, G. [ITER Organization, Route de Vinon, F-13115 Saint-Paul-Lez-Durance (France); Pamela, S. [IIFS-PIIM. Aix Marseille Université - CNRS, 13397 Marseille Cedex20 (France); Chapman, I.; Kirk, A.; Thornton, A. [EURATOM/CCFE Fusion Association, Culham Science Centre, Oxon OX14 3DB (United Kingdom); Hoelzl, M. [Max-Planck-Institut für Plasmaphysik, EURATOM Association, Garching (Germany); Cahyna, P. [Association EURATOM/IPP.CR, Prague (Czech Republic)

2013-10-15

The interaction of static Resonant Magnetic Perturbations (RMPs) with the plasma flows is modeled in toroidal geometry, using the non-linear resistive MHD code JOREK, which includes the X-point and the scrape-off-layer. Two-fluid diamagnetic effects, the neoclassical poloidal friction and a source of toroidal rotation are introduced in the model to describe realistic plasma flows. RMP penetration is studied taking self-consistently into account the effects of these flows and the radial electric field evolution. JET-like, MAST, and ITER parameters are used in modeling. For JET-like parameters, three regimes of plasma response are found depending on the plasma resistivity and the diamagnetic rotation: at high resistivity and slow rotation, the islands generated by the RMPs at the edge resonant surfaces rotate in the ion diamagnetic direction and their size oscillates. At faster rotation, the generated islands are static and are more screened by the plasma. An intermediate regime with static islands which slightly oscillate is found at lower resistivity. In ITER simulations, the RMPs generate static islands, which forms an ergodic layer at the very edge (ψ≥0.96) characterized by lobe structures near the X-point and results in a small strike point splitting on the divertor targets. In MAST Double Null Divertor geometry, lobes are also found near the X-point and the 3D-deformation of the density and temperature profiles is observed.

Shearfree congruences of null geodesics and Killing tensors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dietz, W.; Ruediger, R.

1980-01-01

In this communication, the mutual connections between quantities that are generalizations of the notion of a a Killing vector field are investigated. A classification of these quantities in terms of a complex vector field αsub(a) is given. A common feature of all these quantities is that they imply the existence of a pair of shearfree geodetic null congruences. There are no explicit restrictions posed on the Ricci tensor. (author)

Two-loop string theory on null compactifications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cove, Henry C.D.; Szabo, Richard J.

2006-01-01

We compute the two-loop contributions to the free energy in the null compactification of perturbative string theory at finite temperature. The cases of bosonic, type II and heterotic strings are all treated. The calculation exploits an explicit reductive parametrization of the moduli space of infinite-momentum frame string worldsheets in terms of branched cover instantons. Various arithmetic and physical properties of the instanton sums are described. Applications to symmetric product orbifold conformal field theories and to the matrix string theory conjecture are also briefly discussed

Generalized frame of reference with null congruence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ferrarese, G.; Antonelli, R.

2000-01-01

The paper derives the main properties of a generalized frame of reference with a null congruence (light flux), by means of adapted non-holonomic techniques; then it studies the geometry of the space-time in terms of non-orthogonal projection: longitudinal and transverse covariant derivatives and corresponding commutation formulae, decomposition of the Riemann and gravitational tensors, lie derivatives of the Ricci rotation coefficients, transverse Bianchi identity. Application to the (absolute and relative) light flux: kinematical characteristics and screen, Sachs theorems etc. are also given

A new AQP1 null allele identified in a Gypsy woman who developed an anti-CO3 during her first pregnancy.

Science.gov (United States)

Saison, C; Peyrard, T; Landre, C; Ballif, B A; Schlosser, K A; Dettori, I; Chicheportiche, C; Nemeth, P; Cartron, J-P; Arnaud, L

2012-08-01

The Colton blood group antigens are carried by the AQP1 water channel. AQP1(-/-) individuals, also known as Colton-null since they express no Colton antigens, do not suffer any apparent clinical consequence but may develop a clinically significant alloantibody (anti-CO3) induced by transfusion or pregnancy. Identification and transfusion support of Colton-null patients are highly challenging, not only due to the extreme rarity of this phenotype, the lack of appropriate reagents in most laboratories, as well as the possibility of confusing it with the recently described CO:-1,-2,3,-4 phenotype where AQP1 is present. This study investigated a new Colton-null case and evaluated three commercially available anti-AQP1s to identify Colton-null red blood cell samples. The Colton-null phenotype was investigated by standard serological techniques, AQP1 sequencing, immunoblot and flow cytometry analyses. We identified and characterized the Colton-null phenotype in a Gypsy woman who developed an anti-CO3 during her first pregnancy. After developing a simple and robust method to sequence AQP1, we showed that she was apparently homozygous for a new AQP1 null allele, AQP1 601delG, whose product is not expressed in her red blood cells. We also established the Colton specificity of three commercially available anti-AQP1s in immunoblot and/or flow cytometry analyses. This Gypsy woman represents the sixth Colton-null case characterized at the serological, genetic and biochemical levels. The validation here of new reagents and methods should facilitate the identification of Colton-null individuals. © 2012 The Author(s). Vox Sanguinis © 2012 International Society of Blood Transfusion.

THE EFFECT OF RECONNECTION ON THE STRUCTURE OF THE SUN’S OPEN–CLOSED FLUX BOUNDARY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pontin, D. I.; Wyper, P. F.

2015-01-01

Global magnetic field extrapolations are now revealing the huge complexity of the Sun's corona, and in particular the structure of the boundary between open and closed magnetic flux. Moreover, recent developments indicate that magnetic reconnection in the corona likely occurs in highly fragmented current layers, and that this typically leads to a dramatic increase in the topological complexity beyond that of the equilibrium field. In this paper we use static models to investigate the consequences of reconnection at the open–closed flux boundary (“interchange reconnection”) in a fragmented current layer. We demonstrate that it leads to efficient mixing of magnetic flux (and therefore plasma) from open and closed field regions. This corresponds to an increase in the length and complexity of the open–closed boundary. Thus, whenever reconnection occurs at a null point or separator of this open–closed boundary, the associated separatrix arc of the so-called S-web in the high corona becomes not a single line but a band of finite thickness within which the open–closed boundary is highly structured. This has significant implications for the acceleration of the slow solar wind, for which the interaction of open and closed field is thought to be important, and may also explain the coronal origins of certain solar energetic particles. The topological structures examined contain magnetic null points, separatrices and separators, and include a model for a pseudo-streamer. The potential for understanding both the large scale morphology and fine structure observed in flare ribbons associated with coronal nulls is also discussed

The Segmented Aperture Interferometric Nulling Testbed (SAINT) I: overview and air-side system description

Science.gov (United States)

Hicks, Brian A.; Lyon, Richard G.; Petrone, Peter; Ballard, Marlin; Bolcar, Matthew R.; Bolognese, Jeff; Clampin, Mark; Dogoda, Peter; Dworzanski, Daniel; Helmbrecht, Michael A.; Koca, Corina; Shiri, Ron

2016-07-01

This work presents an overview of the Segmented Aperture Interferometric Nulling Testbed (SAINT), a project that will pair an actively-controlled macro-scale segmented mirror with the Visible Nulling Coronagraph (VNC). SAINT will incorporate the VNC's demonstrated wavefront sensing and control system to refine and quantify end-to-end high-contrast starlight suppression performance. This pathfinder testbed will be used as a tool to study and refine approaches to mitigating instabilities and complex diffraction expected from future large segmented aperture telescopes.

Suppression of large edge localized modes in high confinement DIII-D plasmas with a stochastic magnetic boundary

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Evans, T.E. [General Atomics, P.O. Box 85608, San Diego, CA 92186-5608 (United States)]. E-mail: evans@fusion.gat.com; Moyer, R.A. [University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0417 (United States); Watkins, J.G. [Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM 87185-1129 (United States); Thomas, P.R. [Association Euratom-CEA, CEA Cadarache, F-13108, St. Paul-lez-Durance (France); Osborne, T.H. [General Atomics, P.O. Box 85608, San Diego, CA 92186-5608 (United States); Boedo, J.A. [University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0417 (United States); Fenstermacher, M.E. [Lawrence Livermore National Laborabory, Livermore, CA 94550 (United States); Finken, K.H. [Forschungszentrum Juelich, Institute for Plasma Physics, D52425 Juelich (Germany); Groebner, R.J. [General Atomics, P.O. Box 85608, San Diego, CA 92186-5608 (United States); Groth, M. [Lawrence Livermore National Laborabory, Livermore, CA 94550 (United States); Harris, J. [Australian National University, Canberra (Australia); Jackson, G.L. [General Atomics, P.O. Box 85608, San Diego, CA 92186-5608 (United States); Haye, R.J. La [General Atomics, P.O. Box 85608, San Diego, CA 92186-5608 (United States); Lasnier, C.J. [Lawrence Livermore National Laborabory, Livermore, CA 94550 (United States); Schaffer, M.J. [General Atomics, P.O. Box 85608, San Diego, CA 92186-5608 (United States); Wang, G. [University of California, Los Angeles, California (United States); Zeng, L. [University of California, Los Angeles, California (United States)

2005-03-01

Large 70 Hz Type-I edge localized modes (ELMs) are converted into small 130 Hz oscillations using edge resonant magnetic perturbations (RMPs) from a coil with currents 0.4% I {sub p} in double null DIII-D plasmas. When the RMP is properly phased with respect to the background field errors, all but a few isolated ELM-like events are suppressed. The impulsive pedestal energy loss {delta}E {sub ELM}/{delta}t {sup 1/2} to the scrape-of layer is reduced a factor of 20 relative to the Type-I ELMs and the core confinement is unaffected by the perturbation field. Significant changes in the properties of the ELMs are also observed when edge RMPs are applied to lower single null plasmas but the nature of these changes are much more complex. Both lower single null and double null plasmas are being studied to determine how ELM control techniques based on the application of edge RMPs can be expected to scale to future devices such as ITER.

Magnetic properties of point defects in proton irradiated diamond

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Makgato, T.N., E-mail: Thuto.Makgato@students.wits.ac.za [School of Physics, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2050 (South Africa); Sideras-Haddad, E. [School of Physics, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2050 (South Africa); Center of Excellence in Strong Materials, Physics Building, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2050 (South Africa); Ramos, M.A. [CMAM, Centro de Micro-Analisis de Materiales, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, C/Faraday 3, Campus de Cantoblanco, E-28049 Madrid (Spain); Departamento de Fisica de la Materia Condensada, Condensed Matter Physics Center (IFIMAC) and Instituto Nicolás Cabrera, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid (Spain); García-Hernández, M. [Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid, CSIC, Cantoblanco, E-28049 Madrid (Spain); Climent-Font, A.; Zucchiatti, A.; Muñoz-Martin, A. [CMAM, Centro de Micro-Analisis de Materiales, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, C/Faraday 3, Campus de Cantoblanco, E-28049 Madrid (Spain); Shrivastava, S. [School of Physics, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2050 (South Africa); Erasmus, R. [School of Physics, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2050 (South Africa); Center of Excellence in Strong Materials, Physics Building, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2050 (South Africa)

2016-09-01

We investigate the magnetic properties of ultra-pure type-IIa diamond following irradiation with proton beams of ≈1–2 MeV energy. SQUID magnetometry indicate the formation of Curie type paramagnetism according to the Curie law. Raman and Photoluminescence spectroscopy measurements show that the primary structural features created by proton irradiation are the centers: GR1, ND1, TR12 and 3H. The Stopping and Range of Ions in Matter (SRIM) Monte Carlo simulations together with SQUID observations show a strong correlation between vacancy production, proton fluence and the paramagnetic factor. At an average surface vacancy spacing of ≈1–1.6 nm and bulk (peak) vacancy spacing of ≈0.3-0.5 nm Curie paramagnetism is induced by formation of ND1 centres with an effective magnetic moment μ{sub eff}~(0.1–0.2)μ{sub B}. No evidence of long range magnetic ordering is observed in the temperature range 4.2-300 K. - Highlights: • Proton macro-irradiation of pure diamond creates fluence dependent paramagnetism. • The effective magnetic moment is found to be in the range μ{sub eff}~(0.1–0.2)μ{sub B}. • No evidence of long range magnetic ordering is observed.

Magnetic properties of point defects in proton irradiated diamond

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Makgato, T.N.; Sideras-Haddad, E.; Ramos, M.A.; García-Hernández, M.; Climent-Font, A.; Zucchiatti, A.; Muñoz-Martin, A.; Shrivastava, S.; Erasmus, R.

2016-01-01

We investigate the magnetic properties of ultra-pure type-IIa diamond following irradiation with proton beams of ≈1–2 MeV energy. SQUID magnetometry indicate the formation of Curie type paramagnetism according to the Curie law. Raman and Photoluminescence spectroscopy measurements show that the primary structural features created by proton irradiation are the centers: GR1, ND1, TR12 and 3H. The Stopping and Range of Ions in Matter (SRIM) Monte Carlo simulations together with SQUID observations show a strong correlation between vacancy production, proton fluence and the paramagnetic factor. At an average surface vacancy spacing of ≈1–1.6 nm and bulk (peak) vacancy spacing of ≈0.3-0.5 nm Curie paramagnetism is induced by formation of ND1 centres with an effective magnetic moment μ eff ~(0.1–0.2)μ B . No evidence of long range magnetic ordering is observed in the temperature range 4.2-300 K. - Highlights: • Proton macro-irradiation of pure diamond creates fluence dependent paramagnetism. • The effective magnetic moment is found to be in the range μ eff ~(0.1–0.2)μ B . • No evidence of long range magnetic ordering is observed.

Nav 1.8-null mice show stimulus-dependent deficits in spinal neuronal activity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wood John N

2006-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The voltage gated sodium channel Nav 1.8 has a highly restricted expression pattern to predominantly nociceptive peripheral sensory neurones. Behaviourally Nav 1.8-null mice show an increased acute pain threshold to noxious mechanical pressure and also deficits in inflammatory and visceral, but not neuropathic pain. Here we have made in vivo electrophysiology recordings of dorsal horn neurones in intact anaesthetised Nav 1.8-null mice, in response to a wide range of stimuli to further the understanding of the functional roles of Nav 1.8 in pain transmission from the periphery to the spinal cord. Results Nav 1.8-null mice showed marked deficits in the coding by dorsal horn neurones to mechanical, but not thermal, -evoked responses over the non-noxious and noxious range compared to littermate controls. Additionally, responses evoked to other stimulus modalities were also significantly reduced in Nav 1.8-null mice where the reduction observed to pinch > brush. The occurrence of ongoing spontaneous neuronal activity was significantly less in mice lacking Nav 1.8 compared to control. No difference was observed between groups in the evoked activity to electrical activity of the peripheral receptive field. Conclusion This study demonstrates that deletion of the sodium channel Nav 1.8 results in stimulus-dependent deficits in the dorsal horn neuronal coding to mechanical, but not thermal stimuli applied to the neuronal peripheral receptive field. This implies that Nav 1.8 is either responsible for, or associated with proteins involved in mechanosensation.

Influence of crosstalk on the fast fluid attenuated inversion recovery pulse sequence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Urata, Tohru; Nonoshita, Koji; Miyazaki, Takayuki; Arima, Akira

2000-01-01

The influence of crosstalk on the fast fluid attenuated inversion recovery (fast FLAIR) pulse sequence was studied. On multislice fast FLAIR images, the water null point was shortened in comparison with that on single slice images owing to the crosstalk received from adjacent slices. That influence became greater with decreases in the slice gap and increases in the number of slices. The timing of crosstalk in each slice varied according to excitation order. The process of recovery of longitudinal magnetization changed according to differences in timing; thus, it was possible that the water null point changed in each slice. In brain images with thinner slice gaps, the signal intensity of CSF is increased by the effect of crosstalk. In order to eliminate changes in the water null point caused by crosstalk on fast FLAIR, the multislice sequence requires a sequence with interleaving based on the premise that slice gaps are set for more than 100% of slice thickness. (author)

Influence of crosstalk on the fast fluid attenuated inversion recovery pulse sequence

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Urata, Tohru; Nonoshita, Koji; Miyazaki, Takayuki; Arima, Akira [Funabashi Municipal Medical Center, Chiba (Japan)

2000-04-01

The influence of crosstalk on the fast fluid attenuated inversion recovery (fast FLAIR) pulse sequence was studied. On multislice fast FLAIR images, the water null point was shortened in comparison with that on single slice images owing to the crosstalk received from adjacent slices. That influence became greater with decreases in the slice gap and increases in the number of slices. The timing of crosstalk in each slice varied according to excitation order. The process of recovery of longitudinal magnetization changed according to differences in timing; thus, it was possible that the water null point changed in each slice. In brain images with thinner slice gaps, the signal intensity of CSF is increased by the effect of crosstalk. In order to eliminate changes in the water null point caused by crosstalk on fast FLAIR, the multislice sequence requires a sequence with interleaving based on the premise that slice gaps are set for more than 100% of slice thickness. (author)

The Fourier-Kelvin Stellar Interferometer (FKSI) Nulling Testbed II: Closed-loop Path Length Metrology And Control Subsystem

Science.gov (United States)

Frey, B. J.; Barry, R. K.; Danchi, W. C.; Hyde, T. T.; Lee, K. Y.; Martino, A. J.; Zuray, M. S.

2006-01-01

The Fourier-Kelvin Stellar Interferometer (FKSI) is a mission concept for an imaging and nulling interferometer in the near to mid-infrared spectral region (3-8 microns), and will be a scientific and technological pathfinder for upcoming missions including TPF-I/DARWIN, SPECS, and SPIRIT. At NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, we have constructed a symmetric Mach-Zehnder nulling testbed to demonstrate techniques and algorithms that can be used to establish and maintain the 10(exp 4) null depth that will be required for such a mission. Among the challenges inherent in such a system is the ability to acquire and track the null fringe to the desired depth for timescales on the order of hours in a laboratory environment. In addition, it is desirable to achieve this stability without using conventional dithering techniques. We describe recent testbed metrology and control system developments necessary to achieve these goals and present our preliminary results.

Local differential geometry of null curves in conformally flat space-time

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Urbantke, H.

1989-01-01

The conformally invariant differential geometry of null curves in conformally flat space-times is given, using the six-vector formalism which has generalizations to higher dimensions. This is then paralleled by a twistor description, with a twofold merit: firstly, sometimes the description is easier in twistor terms, sometimes in six-vector terms, which leads to a mutual enlightenment of both; and secondly, the case of null curves in timelike pseudospheres or 2+1 Minkowski space we were only able to treat twistorially, making use of an invariant differential found by Fubini and Cech. The result is the expected one: apart from stated exceptional cases there is a conformally invariant parameter and two conformally invariant curvatures which, when specified in terms of this parameter, serve to characterize the curve up to conformal transformations. 12 refs. (Author)

Time asymmetric spacetimes near null and spatial infinity: I. Expansions of developments of conformally flat data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kroon, Juan Antonio Valiente

2004-01-01

The conformal Einstein equations and the representation of spatial infinity as a cylinder introduced by Friedrich are used to analyse the behaviour of the gravitational field near null and spatial infinity for the development of data which are asymptotically Euclidean, conformally flat and time asymmetric. Our analysis allows for initial data whose second fundamental form is more general than the one given by the standard Bowen-York ansatz. The conformal Einstein equations imply, upon evaluation on the cylinder at spatial infinity, a hierarchy of transport equations which can be used to calculate asymptotic expansions for the gravitational field in a recursive way. It is found that the solutions to these transport equations develop logarithmic divergences at the critical sets where null infinity meets spatial infinity. Associated with these, there is a series of quantities expressible in terms of the initial data (obstructions), which if zero, preclude the appearance of some of the logarithmic divergences. The obstructions are, in general, time asymmetric. That is, the obstructions at the intersection of future null infinity with spatial infinity are in general different from those obtained at the intersection of past null infinity with spatial infinity. The latter allows for the possibility of having spacetimes where future and past null infinity have different degrees of smoothness. Finally, it is shown that if both sets of obstructions vanish up to a certain order, then the initial data have to be asymptotically Schwarzschildean in a certain sense

Geometry of extended null supersymmetry in M theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Conamhna, Oisin A.P. Mac

2006-01-01

For supersymmetric spacetimes in 11 dimensions admitting a null Killing spinor, a set of explicit necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of any number of arbitrary additional Killing spinors is derived. The necessary and sufficient conditions are comprised of algebraic relationships, linear in the spinorial components, between the spinorial components and their first derivatives, and the components of the spin connection and four-form. The integrability conditions for the Killing spinor equation are also analyzed in detail, to determine which components of the field equations are implied by arbitrary additional supersymmetries and the four-form Bianchi identity. This provides a complete formalism for the systematic and exhaustive investigation of all spacetimes with extended null supersymmetry in 11 dimensions. The formalism is employed to show that the general bosonic solution of 11 dimensional supergravity admitting a G 2 structure defined by four Killing spinors is either locally the direct product of R 1,3 with a seven-manifold of G 2 holonomy, or locally the Freund-Rubin direct product of AdS 4 with a seven-manifold of weak G 2 holonomy. In addition, all supersymmetric spacetimes admitting a (G 2 xR 7 )xR 2 structure are classified

Vacuum solutions admitting a geodesic null congruence with shear proportional to expansion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kupeli, A.H.

1988-01-01

Algebraically general, nontwisting solutions for the vacuum to vacuum generalized Kerr--Schild (GKS) transformation are obtained. These solutions admit a geodesic null congruence with shear proportional to expansion. In the Newman--Penrose formalism, if l/sup μ/ is chosen to be the null vector of the GKS transformation, this property is stated as σ = arho and Da = 0. It is assumed that a is a constant, and the background is chosen as a pp-wave solution. For generic values of a, the GKS metrics consist of the Kasner solutions. For a = +- (1 +- (2)/sup 1/2/), there are solutions with less symmetries including special cases of the Kota--Perjes and Lukacs solutions

Euclidean null controllability of linear systems with delays in state ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Sufficient conditions are developed for the Euclidean controllability of linear systems with delay in state and in control. Namely, if the uncontrolled system is uniformly asymptotically stable and the control equation proper, then the control system is Euclidean null controllable. Journal of the Nigerian Association of ...

A comment on the null geodesic equations in Schwarzschild geometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rosa, M.A.F.; Rodrigues Junior, W.A.

1986-01-01

An integration of the null geodesic equations in the Schwarzschild geometry, which is valid to first order in GM/Rc 2 is presented. The solution is compared with others published in the literature and their range of validity is analysed. Some misunderstandings are also clarified. (Author) [pt

Oscillations in solar jets observed with the SOT of Hinode: viscous effects during reconnection

Science.gov (United States)

Tavabi, E.; Koutchmy, S.

2014-07-01

Transverse oscillatory motions and recurrence behavior in the chromospheric jets observed by Hinode/SOT are studied. A comparison is considered with the behavior that was noticed in coronal X-ray jets observed by Hinode/XRT. A jet like bundle observed at the limb in Ca II H line appears to show a magnetic topology that is similar to X-ray jets (i.e., the Eiffel tower shape). The appearance of such magnetic topology is usually assumed to be caused by magnetic reconnection near a null point. Transverse motions of the jet axis are recorded but no clear evidence of twist is appearing from the highly processed movie. The aim is to investigate the dynamical behavior of an incompressible magnetic X-point occurring during the magnetic reconnection in the jet formation region. The viscous effect is specially considered in the closed line-tied magnetic X-shape nulls. We perform the MHD numerical simulation in 2-D by solving the visco-resistive MHD equations with the tracing of velocity and magnetic field. A qualitative agreement with Hinode observations is found for the oscillatory and non-oscillatory behaviors of the observed solar jets in both the chromosphere and the corona. Our results suggest that the viscous effect contributes to the excitation of the magnetic reconnection by generating oscillations that we observed at least inside this Ca II H line cool solar jet bundle.

The effect of guide-field and boundary conditions on collisionless magnetic reconnection in a stressed X-point collapse

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Graf von der Pahlen, J.; Tsiklauri, D. [School of Physics and Astronomy, Queen Mary University of London, London E1 4NS (United Kingdom)

2014-01-15

Works of Tsiklauri and Haruki [Phys. Plasmas 15, 102902 (2008); 14, 112905 (2007)] are extended by inclusion of the out-of-plane magnetic (guide) field. In particular, magnetic reconnection during collisionless, stressed X-point collapse for varying out-of-plane guide-fields is studied using a kinetic, 2.5D, fully electromagnetic, relativistic particle-in-cell numerical code. For zero guide-field, cases for both open and closed boundary conditions are investigated, where magnetic flux and particles are lost and conserved, respectively. It is found that reconnection rates, out-of-plane currents and density in the X-point increase more rapidly and peak sooner in the closed boundary case, but higher values are reached in the open boundary case. The normalized reconnection rate is fast: 0.10-0.25. In the open boundary case it is shown that an increase of guide-field yields later onsets in the reconnection peak rates, while in the closed boundary case initial peak rates occur sooner but are suppressed. The reconnection current changes similarly with increasing guide-field; however for low guide-fields the reconnection current increases, giving an optimal value for the guide-field between 0.1 and 0.2 times the in-plane field in both cases. Also, in the open boundary case, it is found that for guide-fields of the order of the in-plane magnetic field, the generation of electron vortices occurs. Possible causes of the vortex generation, based on the flow of decoupled particles in the diffusion region and localized plasma heating, are discussed. Before peak reconnection onset, oscillations in the out-of-plane electric field at the X-point are found, ranging in frequency from approximately 1 to 2 ω{sub pe} and coinciding with oscillatory reconnection. These oscillations are found to be part of a larger wave pattern in the simulation domain. Mapping the out-of-plane electric field along the central lines of the domain over time and applying a 2D Fourier transform reveal that

Argonaute-2-null embryonic stem cells are retarded in self-renewal ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Present address: Institute of Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine, Bangalore, India ... [Chandra Shekar P, Naim A, Partha Sarathi D and Kumar S 2011 Argonaute-2-null embryonic stem cells are retarded in self-renewal ..... Research, India.

Magnetic properties and densification of Manganese-Zinc soft ferrites (Mn1-xZnxFe2O4) doped with low melting point oxides

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shokrollahi, H.

2008-01-01

Mn-Zn ferrites have high electrical resistivity, low power loss and high initial permeability up to several MHz range. Oxide additives can greatly affect the magnetic properties of these ferrites. The effects of the additives on the sintering behaviour and magnetic properties of Mn-Zn ferrites are different. Some low melting point additives such as Bi 2 O 3 enhance the sintering by forming a liquid phase in the ferrites. The additive V 2 O 5 enhances the sintering by increasing bulk diffusion due to the increased vacancy concentration which is accompanied by the solubility of V 5+ in the ferrites. Some additives are cations that are soluble in the host lattice and enter regular positions on the tetrahedral or octahedral sites. This paper investigates the effect of several low melting point oxides on the magnetic properties, microstructure and densification of Mn-Zn soft ferrites

The null-event method in computer simulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lin, S.L.

1978-01-01

The simulation of collisions of ions moving under the influence of an external field through a neutral gas to non-zero temperatures is discussed as an example of computer models of processes in which a probe particle undergoes a series of interactions with an ensemble of other particles, such that the frequency and outcome of the events depends on internal properties of the second particles. The introduction of null events removes the need for much complicated algebra, leads to a more efficient simulation and reduces the likelihood of logical error. (Auth.)

Isolation of two independent allyl alcohol resistant Adh-1 null mutants following selection of pollen and seeds.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wisman, E.; Ramanna, M.S.; Zabel, P.

1993-01-01

The Adh-1 null mutant (B15-1-8) isolated previously was used to establish conditions that allow the selection of ADH-deficient pollen grains and seeds of tomato. New Adh-1 null mutants were then selected among the progenies derived from crosses between the genetically unstable tomato lines Yvms,

Acupuncture at Waiguan (SJ5) and sham points influences activation of functional brain areas of ischemic stroke patients: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study

OpenAIRE

Qi, Ji; Chen, Junqi; Huang, Yong; Lai, Xinsheng; Tang, Chunzhi; Yang, Junjun; Chen, Hua; Qu, Shanshan

2014-01-01

Most studies addressing the specificity of meridians and acupuncture points have focused mainly on the different neural effects of acupuncture at different points in healthy individuals. This study examined the effects of acupuncture on brain function in a pathological context. Sixteen patients with ischemic stroke were randomly assigned to true point group (true acupuncture at right Waiguan (SJ5)) and sham point group (sham acupuncture). Results of functional magnetic resonance imaging revea...

Cell therapy of congenital corneal diseases with umbilical mesenchymal stem cells: lumican null mice.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hongshan Liu

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Keratoplasty is the most effective treatment for corneal blindness, but suboptimal medical conditions and lack of qualified medical personnel and donated cornea often prevent the performance of corneal transplantation in developing countries. Our study aims to develop alternative treatment regimens for congenital corneal diseases of genetic mutation. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Human mesenchymal stem cells isolated from neonatal umbilical cords were transplanted to treat thin and cloudy corneas of lumican null mice. Transplantation of umbilical mesenchymal stem cells significantly improved corneal transparency and increased stromal thickness of lumican null mice, but human umbilical hematopoietic stem cells failed to do the same. Further studies revealed that collagen lamellae were re-organized in corneal stroma of lumican null mice after mesenchymal stem cell transplantation. Transplanted umbilical mesenchymal stem cells survived in the mouse corneal stroma for more than 3 months with little or no graft rejection. In addition, these cells assumed a keratocyte phenotype, e.g., dendritic morphology, quiescence, expression of keratocyte unique keratan sulfated keratocan and lumican, and CD34. Moreover, umbilical mesenchymal stem cell transplantation improved host keratocyte functions, which was verified by enhanced expression of keratocan and aldehyde dehydrogenase class 3A1 in lumican null mice. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Umbilical mesenchymal stem cell transplantation is a promising treatment for congenital corneal diseases involving keratocyte dysfunction. Unlike donated corneas, umbilical mesenchymal stem cells are easily isolated, expanded, stored, and can be quickly recovered from liquid nitrogen when a patient is in urgent need.

Likelihood of Null Effects of Large NHLBI Clinical Trials Has Increased over Time.

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Robert M Kaplan

Full Text Available We explore whether the number of null results in large National Heart Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI funded trials has increased over time.We identified all large NHLBI supported RCTs between 1970 and 2012 evaluating drugs or dietary supplements for the treatment or prevention of cardiovascular disease. Trials were included if direct costs >$500,000/year, participants were adult humans, and the primary outcome was cardiovascular risk, disease or death. The 55 trials meeting these criteria were coded for whether they were published prior to or after the year 2000, whether they registered in clinicaltrials.gov prior to publication, used active or placebo comparator, and whether or not the trial had industry co-sponsorship. We tabulated whether the study reported a positive, negative, or null result on the primary outcome variable and for total mortality.17 of 30 studies (57% published prior to 2000 showed a significant benefit of intervention on the primary outcome in comparison to only 2 among the 25 (8% trials published after 2000 (χ2=12.2,df= 1, p=0.0005. There has been no change in the proportion of trials that compared treatment to placebo versus active comparator. Industry co-sponsorship was unrelated to the probability of reporting a significant benefit. Pre-registration in clinical trials.gov was strongly associated with the trend toward null findings.The number NHLBI trials reporting positive results declined after the year 2000. Prospective declaration of outcomes in RCTs, and the adoption of transparent reporting standards, as required by clinicaltrials.gov, may have contributed to the trend toward null findings.

Inhibition of urethane-induced genotoxicity and cell proliferation in CYP2E1-null mice

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoffler, Undi; Dixon, Darlene; Peddada, Shyamal; Ghanayem, Burhan I.

2005-01-01

Urethane is a multi-site animal carcinogen and was classified as 'reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen.' Urethane is a fermentation by-product and found at appreciable levels in alcoholic beverages and foods such as bread and cheese. Recent work in this laboratory demonstrated for the first time that CYP2E1 is the principal enzyme responsible for urethane metabolism. The current studies were undertaken to assess the relationships between CYP2E1-mediated metabolism and urethane-induced genotoxicity and cell proliferation as determined by induction of micronucleated erythrocytes (MN) and expression of Ki-67, respectively, using CYP2E1-null and wild-type mice. Urethane was administered at 0 (vehicle), 1, 10, or 100 mg/kg/day (p.o.), 5 days/week for 6 weeks. A significant dose-dependent increase in MN was observed in wild-type mice; however, a slight increase was measured in the MN-polychromatic erythrocytes in CYP2E1-null mice treated with 100 mg/kg. A significant increase in the expression of Ki-67 was detected in the livers and the lungs (terminal bronchioles, alveoli, and bronchi) of wild-type mice administered 100 mg urethane/kg in comparison to controls. In contrast, CYP2E1-null mice administered this dose exhibited negligible alterations in Ki-67 expression in the livers and lungs compared to controls. Interestingly, while Ki-67 expression in the forestomach decreased in wild-type mice, it increased in CYP2E1-null mice. Subsequent comparative metabolism studies demonstrated that total urethane-derived radioactivity in the plasma, liver, and lung was significantly higher in CYP2E1-null versus wild-type mice and un-metabolized urethane constituted greater than 83% of the radioactivity in CYP2E1-null mice. Un-metabolized urethane was not detectable in the plasma, liver, and lung of wild-type mice. In conclusion, these data demonstrated that CYP2E1-mediated metabolism of urethane, presumably via epoxide formation, is necessary for the induction of

Population estimators or progeny tests: what is the best method to assess null allele frequencies at SSR loci?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Oddou-Muratorio, S.; Vendramin, G.G.; Buiteveld, J.; Fady, B.

2009-01-01

Nuclear SSRs are notorious for having relatively high frequencies of null alleles, i.e. alleles that fail to amplify and are thus recessive and undetected in heterozygotes. In this paper, we compare two kinds of approaches for estimating null allele frequencies at seven nuclear microsatellite

Cluster magnetic field observations in the magnetosheath: four-point measurements of mirror structures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. A. Lucek

2001-09-01

Full Text Available The Cluster spacecraft have returned the first simultaneous four-point measurements of the magnetosheath. We present an analysis of data recorded on 10 November 2000, when the four spacecrafts observed an interval of strong mirrorlike activity. Correlation analysis between spacecraft pairs is used to examine the scale size of the mirror structures in three dimensions. Two examples are presented which suggest that the scale size of mirror structures is ~ 1500–3000 km along the flow direction, and shortest along the magnetopause normal (< 600 km, which, in this case, is approximately perpendicular to both the mean magnetic field and the magnetosheath flow vector. Variations on scales of ~ 750–1000 km are found along the maximum variance direction. The level of correlation in this direction, however, and the time lag observed, are found to be variable. These first results suggest that variations occur on scales of the order of the spacecraft separation ( ~ 1000 km in at least two directions, but analysis of further examples and a statistical survey of structures observed with different magnetic field orientations and tetrahedral configurations will enable us to describe more fully the size and orientation of mirror structures.Key words. Magnetosphenic physics (magnetosheath; plasma waves and instabilities

Cluster magnetic field observations in the magnetosheath: four-point measurements of mirror structures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. A. Lucek

Full Text Available The Cluster spacecraft have returned the first simultaneous four-point measurements of the magnetosheath. We present an analysis of data recorded on 10 November 2000, when the four spacecrafts observed an interval of strong mirrorlike activity. Correlation analysis between spacecraft pairs is used to examine the scale size of the mirror structures in three dimensions. Two examples are presented which suggest that the scale size of mirror structures is ~ 1500–3000 km along the flow direction, and shortest along the magnetopause normal (< 600 km, which, in this case, is approximately perpendicular to both the mean magnetic field and the magnetosheath flow vector. Variations on scales of ~ 750–1000 km are found along the maximum variance direction. The level of correlation in this direction, however, and the time lag observed, are found to be variable. These first results suggest that variations occur on scales of the order of the spacecraft separation ( ~ 1000 km in at least two directions, but analysis of further examples and a statistical survey of structures observed with different magnetic field orientations and tetrahedral configurations will enable us to describe more fully the size and orientation of mirror structures.

Key words. Magnetosphenic physics (magnetosheath; plasma waves and instabilities

MAPK signaling pathways and HDAC3 activity are disrupted during differentiation of emerin-null myogenic progenitor cells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carol M. Collins

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Mutations in the gene encoding emerin cause Emery–Dreifuss muscular dystrophy (EDMD. Emerin is an integral inner nuclear membrane protein and a component of the nuclear lamina. EDMD is characterized by skeletal muscle wasting, cardiac conduction defects and tendon contractures. The failure to regenerate skeletal muscle is predicted to contribute to the skeletal muscle pathology of EDMD. We hypothesize that muscle regeneration defects are caused by impaired muscle stem cell differentiation. Myogenic progenitors derived from emerin-null mice were used to confirm their impaired differentiation and analyze selected myogenic molecular pathways. Emerin-null progenitors were delayed in their cell cycle exit, had decreased myosin heavy chain (MyHC expression and formed fewer myotubes. Emerin binds to and activates histone deacetylase 3 (HDAC3. Here, we show that theophylline, an HDAC3-specific activator, improved myotube formation in emerin-null cells. Addition of the HDAC3-specific inhibitor RGFP966 blocked myotube formation and MyHC expression in wild-type and emerin-null myogenic progenitors, but did not affect cell cycle exit. Downregulation of emerin was previously shown to affect the p38 MAPK and ERK/MAPK pathways in C2C12 myoblast differentiation. Using a pure population of myogenic progenitors completely lacking emerin expression, we show that these pathways are also disrupted. ERK inhibition improved MyHC expression in emerin-null cells, but failed to rescue myotube formation or cell cycle exit. Inhibition of p38 MAPK prevented differentiation in both wild-type and emerin-null progenitors. These results show that each of these molecular pathways specifically regulates a particular stage of myogenic differentiation in an emerin-dependent manner. Thus, pharmacological targeting of multiple pathways acting at specific differentiation stages may be a better therapeutic approach in the future to rescue muscle regeneration in vivo.

GST M1-T1 null allele frequency patterns in geographically assorted human populations: a phylogenetic approach.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Senthilkumar Pitchalu Kasthurinaidu

Full Text Available Genetic diversity in drug metabolism and disposition is mainly considered as the outcome of the inter-individual genetic variation in polymorphism of drug-xenobiotic metabolizing enzyme (XME. Among the XMEs, glutathione-S-transferases (GST gene loci are an important candidate for the investigation of diversity in allele frequency, as the deletion mutations in GST M1 and T1 genotypes are associated with various cancers and genetic disorders of all major Population Affiliations (PAs. Therefore, the present population based phylogenetic study was focused to uncover the frequency distribution pattern in GST M1 and T1 null genotypes among 45 Geographically Assorted Human Populations (GAHPs. The frequency distribution pattern for GST M1 and T1 null alleles have been detected in this study using the data derived from literatures representing 44 populations affiliated to Africa, Asia, Europe, South America and the genome of PA from Gujarat, a region in western India. Allele frequency counting for Gujarat PA and scattered plot analysis for geographical distribution among the PAs were performed in SPSS-21. The GST M1 and GST T1 null allele frequencies patterns of the PAs were computed in Seqboot, Gendist program of Phylip software package (3.69 versions and Unweighted Pair Group method with Arithmetic Mean in Mega-6 software. Allele frequencies from South African Xhosa tribe, East African Zimbabwe, East African Ethiopia, North African Egypt, Caucasian, South Asian Afghanistan and South Indian Andhra Pradesh have been identified as the probable seven patterns among the 45 GAHPs investigated in this study for GST M1-T1 null genotypes. The patternized null allele frequencies demonstrated in this study for the first time addresses the missing link in GST M1-T1 null allele frequencies among GAHPs.

The null hypothesis of GSEA, and a novel statistical model for competitive gene set analysis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Debrabant, Birgit

2017-01-01

MOTIVATION: Competitive gene set analysis intends to assess whether a specific set of genes is more associated with a trait than the remaining genes. However, the statistical models assumed to date to underly these methods do not enable a clear cut formulation of the competitive null hypothesis....... This is a major handicap to the interpretation of results obtained from a gene set analysis. RESULTS: This work presents a hierarchical statistical model based on the notion of dependence measures, which overcomes this problem. The two levels of the model naturally reflect the modular structure of many gene set...... analysis methods. We apply the model to show that the popular GSEA method, which recently has been claimed to test the self-contained null hypothesis, actually tests the competitive null if the weight parameter is zero. However, for this result to hold strictly, the choice of the dependence measures...

A few insights into the nature of classical and quantum gravity via null-strut calculus

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kheyfets, Arkady

1989-01-01

Null-strut calculus is a 3 + 1 formulation of standard Regge calculus, wherein the dynamics of 3-geometry is propagated in time along light rays, or 'null struts'. However, just as Regge calculus is a discrete and geometric tool for the description of Einstein's theory of gravitation, so too NSC offers itself as a discrete and geometric tool for the description of Einstein's spacetime as the dynamics of discrete spacelike 3-geometries in time, or discrete geometrodynamics. It has for its objectives to provide a discrete model of a 3 + 1 split of spacetime into space plus time, while in so doing to preserve and illuminate the geometric content of Einstein's theory of gravity. The feature of 'light-cone-produced duality' is central to null-strut calculus. This paper will capitalise on this feature, and will attempt to provide some insights into the nature of classical and quantum gravity. (Author)

On the null distribution of Bayes factors in linear regression

Science.gov (United States)

We show that under the null, the 2 log (Bayes factor) is asymptotically distributed as a weighted sum of chi-squared random variables with a shifted mean. This claim holds for Bayesian multi-linear regression with a family of conjugate priors, namely, the normal-inverse-gamma prior, the g-prior, and...

[Clinical study of cervical spondylotic radiculopathy treated with massage therapy combined with Magnetic sticking therapy at the auricular points and the cost comparison].

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Saina; Sheng, Feng; Pan, Yunhua; Xu, Feng; Wang, Zhichao; Cheng, Lei

2015-08-01

To compare the clinical efficacy on cervical spondylotic radiculopathy between the combined therapy of massage and magnetic-sticking at the auricular points and the simple massage therapy, and conduct the health economics evaluation. Seventy-two patients of cervical spondylotic radiculopathy were randomized into a combined therapy group, and a simple massage group, 36 cases in each one. Finally, 35 cases and 34 cases were met the inclusive criteria in the corresponding groups separately. In the combined therapy group, the massage therapy and the magnetic sticking therapy at auricular points were combined in the treatment. Massage therapy was mainly applied to Fengchi (GB 20), Jianjing (GB 21), Jianwaishu (SI 14), Jianyu (LI 15) and Quchi (LI 11). The main auricular points for magnetic sticking pressure were Jingzhui (AH13), Gan (On12) Shen (CO10), Shenmen (TF4), Pizhixia (AT4). In the simple massage group, the simple massage therapy was given, the massage parts and methods were the same as those in the combined therapy group. The treatment was given once every two days, three times a week, for 4 weeks totally. The cervical spondylosis effect scale and the simplified McGill pain questionnaire were adopted to observe the improvements in the clinical symptoms, clinical examination, daily life movement, superficial muscular pain in the neck and the health economics cost in the patients of the two groups. The effect was evaluated in the two groups. The effective rate and the clinical curative rate in the combined therapy group were better than those in the control group [100. 0% (35/35) vs 85. 3% (29/34), 42. 9% (15/35) vs 17. 6% (6/34), both Pmassage therapy, the massage therapy combined with magnetic sticking therapy at auricular points achieves the better effect and lower cost in health economics.

No actual measurement … was required: Maxwell and Cavendish's null method for the inverse square law of electrostatics.

Science.gov (United States)

Falconer, Isobel

In 1877 James Clerk Maxwell and his student Donald MacAlister refined Henry Cavendish's 1773 null experiment demonstrating the absence of electricity inside a charged conductor. This null result was a mathematical prediction of the inverse square law of electrostatics, and both Cavendish and Maxwell took the experiment as verifying the law. However, Maxwell had already expressed absolute conviction in the law, based on results of Michael Faraday's. So, what was the value to him of repeating Cavendish's experiment? After assessing whether the law was as secure as he claimed, this paper explores its central importance to the electrical programme that Maxwell was pursuing. It traces the historical and conceptual re-orderings through which Maxwell established the law by constructing a tradition of null tests and asserting the superior accuracy of the method. Maxwell drew on his developing 'doctrine of method' to identify Cavendish's experiment as a member of a wider class of null methods. By doing so, he appealed to the null practices of telegraph engineers, diverted attention from the flawed logic of the method, and sought to localise issues around the mapping of numbers onto instrumental indications, on the grounds that 'no actual measurement … was required'. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Null half-supersymmetric solutions in five-dimensional supergravity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grover, Jai; Gutowski, Jan B.; Sabra, Wafic

2008-01-01

We classify half-supersymmetric solutions of gauged N = 2, D = 5 supergravity coupled to an arbitrary number of abelian vector multiplets for which all of the Killing spinors generate null Killing vectors. We show that there are four classes of solutions, and in each class we find the metric, scalars and gauge field strengths. When the scalar manifold is symmetric, the solutions correspond to a class of local near horizon geometries recently found by Kunduri and Lucietti.

Extrasolar Planetary Imaging Coronagraph: Visible Nulling Coronagraph Testbed Results

Science.gov (United States)

Lyon, Richard G.

2008-01-01

The Extrasolar Planetary Imaging Coronagraph (EPIC) is a proposed NASA Discovery mission to image and characterize extrasolar giant planets in orbits with semi-major axes between 2 and 10 AU. EPIC will provide insights into the physical nature of a variety of planets in other solar systems complimenting radial velocity (RV) and astrometric planet searches. It will detect and characterize the atmospheres of planets identified by radial velocity surveys, determine orbital inclinations and masses, characterize the atmospheres around A and F stars, observed the inner spatial structure and colors of inner Spitzer selected debris disks. EPIC would be launched to heliocentric Earth trailing drift-away orbit, with a 3-year mission lifetime ( 5 year goal) and will revisit planets at least three times at intervals of 9 months. The starlight suppression approach consists of a visible nulling coronagraph (VNC) that enables high order starlight suppression in broadband light. To demonstrate the VNC approach and advance it's technology readiness the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and Lockheed-Martin have developed a laboratory VNC and have demonstrated white light nulling. We will discuss our ongoing VNC work and show the latest results from the VNC testbed,

Null testing of nonrotational symmetry transmission optical freeform: design, modeling, and inspection on the basis of Fermat principles

Science.gov (United States)

Qiu, Gufeng; Cui, Xudong

2015-11-01

We present a general design method for a type of transmission freeforms without rotational symmetry and achieve the null testing by putting a well-designed Fermat reflector on the transmitting optical path. The design principle of the reflector is given, and an eccentric spherical surface with 1-mm deviation is used as an example of testing freeform. We fabricated the reflector and the freeform with the single-point diamond turning machine. Both conventional interference inspection and our approach give consistent results. The design error is less than 106 mm, and the measurement accuracy is nearly completely determined by the fabrication precision. This approach can also be applied to the inspections of reflecting freeforms with low costs.

Space Technology 5 Multi-point Measurements of Near-Earth Magnetic Fields: Initial Results

Science.gov (United States)

Slavin, James A.; Le, G.; Strangeway, R. L.; Wang, Y.; Boardsen, S.A.; Moldwin, M. B.; Spence, H. E.

2007-01-01

The Space Technology 5 (ST-5) mission successfully placed three micro-satellites in a 300 x 4500 km dawn-dusk orbit on 22 March 2006. Each spacecraft carried a boom-mounted vector fluxgate magnetometer that returned highly sensitive and accurate measurements of the geomagnetic field. These data allow, for the first time, the separation of temporal and spatial variations in field-aligned current (FAC) perturbations measured in low-Earth orbit on time scales of approximately 10 sec to 10 min. The constellation measurements are used to directly determine field-aligned current sheet motion, thickness and current density. In doing so, we demonstrate two multi-point methods for the inference of FAC current density that have not previously been possible in low-Earth orbit; 1) the "standard method," based upon s/c velocity, but corrected for FAC current sheet motion, and 2) the "gradiometer method" which uses simultaneous magnetic field measurements at two points with known separation. Future studies will apply these methods to the entire ST-5 data set and expand to include geomagnetic field gradient analyses as well as field-aligned and ionospheric currents.

Studies on laws of stress-magnetization based on magnetic memory testing technique

Science.gov (United States)

Ren, Shangkun; Ren, Xianzhi

2018-03-01

Metal magnetic memory (MMM) testing technique is a novel testing method which can early test stress concentration status of ferromagnetic components. Under the different maximum tensile stress, the relationship between the leakage magnetic field of at certain point of cold rolled steel specimen and the tensile stress was measured during the process of loading and unloading by repeated. It shows that when the maximum tensile stress is less than 610 MPa, the relationship between the magnetic induction intensity and the stress is linear; When the maximum tensile stress increase from 610 MPa to 653 MPa of yield point, the relationship between the magnetic induction intensity and the tensile becomes bending line. The location of the extreme point of the bending line will move rapidly from the position of smaller stress to the larger stress position, and the variation of magnetic induction intensity increases rapidly. When the maximum tensile stress is greater than the 653 MPa of yield point, the variation of the magnetic induction intensity remains large, and the position of the extreme point moves very little. In theoretical aspects, tensile stress is to be divided into ordered stress and disordered stress. In the stage of elastic stress, a microscopic model of the order stress magnetization is established, and the conclusions are in good agreement with the experimental data. In the plastic deformation stage, a microscopic model of disordered stress magnetization is established, and the conclusions are in good agreement with the experimental data, too. The research results can provide reference for the accurate quantitative detection and evaluation of metal magnetic memory testing technology.

Expression of extracellular matrix components is disrupted in the immature and adult estrogen receptor β-null mouse ovary.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexandra Zalewski

Full Text Available Within the ovary, Estrogen Receptor β (ERβ is localized to the granulosa cells of growing follicles. 17β-estradiol (E2 acting via ERβ augments the actions of follicle stimulating hormone in granulosa cells, leading to granulosa cell differentiation and formation of a preovulatory follicle. Adult ERβ-null females are subfertile and possess ovaries with reduced numbers of growing follicles and corpora lutea. Because the majority of E2 production by granulosa cells occurs once puberty is reached, a role for ERβ in the ovary prior to puberty has not been well examined. We now provide evidence that lack of ERβ disrupts gene expression as early as post-natal day (PND 13, and in particular, we identify a number of genes of the extracellular matrix (ECM that are significantly higher in ERβ-null follicles than in wildtype (WT follicles. Considerable changes occur to the ECM occur during normal folliculogenesis to allow for the dramatic growth, cellular differentiation, and reorganization of the follicle from the primary to preovulatory stage. Using quantitative PCR and immunofluorescence, we now show that several ECM genes are aberrantly overexpressed in ERβ-null follicles. We find that Collagen11a1, a protein highly expressed in cartilage, is significantly higher in ERβ-null follicles than WT follicles as early as PND 13, and this heightened expression continues through PND 23-29 into adulthood. Similarly, Nidogen 2, a highly conserved basement membrane glycoprotein, is elevated in ERβ-null follicles at PND 13 into adulthood, and is elevated specifically in the ERβ-null focimatrix, a basal lamina-like matrix located between granulosa cells. Focimatrix laminin and Collagen IV expression were also higher in ERβ-null ovaries than in WT ovaries at various ages. Our findings suggest two novel observations: a that ERβ regulates granulosa cell gene expression ovary prior to puberty, and b that ERβ regulates expression of ECM components in the

Should we be afraid of magnetic fields related to electricity?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Souques, M.

2009-01-01

After having recalled that the main sources of 50 Hz electric field are high voltage lines while such a field around any electrical equipment is null because of a presence of insulation, the author comments the magnetic field level at the vicinity of common electrical equipment (refrigerator, hi-fi, computer, television, and so on) and at some distance (30 or 100 meters) of high-voltage and low-voltage lines. She comments the knowledge on the effects of exposure to a 50 Hz magnetic field, and recalls that a publication suggested in 1979 that there was a risk of leukaemia for children living close to electrical lines. More recent studies proposed to apply to magnetic fields an existing classification of products with respect to cancer risk (known, likely, possible, insufficient knowledge, not carcinogen). Some studies put the risk of leukaemia associated to magnetic fields into question again

'Aharonov-Bohm antiferromagnetism' and compensation points in the lattice of quantum rings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meleshenko, Peter A.; Klinskikh, Alexander F.

2011-01-01

We investigate the magnetic properties of the lattice of non-interacting quantum rings using the 2D rotator model. The exact analytic expressions for the free energy as well as for the magnetization and magnetic susceptibility are found and analyzed. It is shown that such a system can be considered as a system with antiferromagnetic-like properties. We have shown also that all observable quantities in this case (free energy, entropy, magnetization) are periodic functions of the magnetic flux through the ring's area (as well known, such a behavior is typical for the Aharonov-Bohm effect). For the lattice of quantum rings with two different geometric parameters we investigate the ordinary compensation points ('temperature compensation points', i.e. points at which the magnetization vanishes at fixed values of the magnetic field strength). It is shown that the positions of compensation points in the temperature scale are very sensitive to small changes in the magnetic field strength. - Highlights: → The lattice of quantum rings as a system with antiferromagnetic-like properties. → In considered system the 'temperature compensation points' take place. → The 'temperature compensation points' positions depend on the Aharonov-Bohm flux.

Hamilton-Jacobi formalism for Podolsky's electromagnetic theory on the null-plane

Science.gov (United States)

Bertin, M. C.; Pimentel, B. M.; Valcárcel, C. E.; Zambrano, G. E. R.

2017-08-01

We develop the Hamilton-Jacobi formalism for Podolsky's electromagnetic theory on the null-plane. The main goal is to build the complete set of Hamiltonian generators of the system as well as to study the canonical and gauge transformations of the theory.

Automating quantum dot barcode assays using microfluidics and magnetism for the development of a point-of-care device.

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Yali; Lam, Albert W Y; Chan, Warren C W

2013-04-24

The impact of detecting multiple infectious diseases simultaneously at point-of-care with good sensitivity, specificity, and reproducibility would be enormous for containing the spread of diseases in both resource-limited and rich countries. Many barcoding technologies have been introduced for addressing this need as barcodes can be applied to detecting thousands of genetic and protein biomarkers simultaneously. However, the assay process is not automated and is tedious and requires skilled technicians. Barcoding technology is currently limited to use in resource-rich settings. Here we used magnetism and microfluidics technology to automate the multiple steps in a quantum dot barcode assay. The quantum dot-barcoded microbeads are sequentially (a) introduced into the chip, (b) magnetically moved to a stream containing target molecules, (c) moved back to the original stream containing secondary probes, (d) washed, and (e) finally aligned for detection. The assay requires 20 min, has a limit of detection of 1.2 nM, and can detect genetic targets for HIV, hepatitis B, and syphilis. This study provides a simple strategy to automate the entire barcode assay process and moves barcoding technologies one step closer to point-of-care applications.

Search for magnetic inelastic dark matter with XENON100

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aprile, E.; Anthony, M. [Physics Department, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027 (United States); Aalbers, J.; Breur, P.A.; Brown, A. [Nikhef and the University of Amsterdam, Science Park, 1098XG Amsterdam (Netherlands); Agostini, F.; Bruno, G. [INFN-Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso and Gran Sasso Science Institute, 67100 L' Aquila (Italy); Alfonsi, M. [Institut für Physik and Exzellenzcluster PRISMA, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, 55099 Mainz (Germany); Amaro, F.D. [LIBPhys, Department of Physics, University of Coimbra, 3004-516 Coimbra (Portugal); Arneodo, F.; Benabderrahmane, M.L. [New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates); Barrow, P.; Baudis, L. [Physik-Institut, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich (Switzerland); Bauermeister, B.; Calvén, J. [Oskar Klein Centre, Department of Physics, Stockholm University, AlbaNova, Stockholm SE-10691 (Sweden); Berger, T.; Brown, E. [Department of Physics, Applied Physics and Astronomy, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY 12180 (United States); Bruenner, S. [Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, 69117 Heidelberg (Germany); Budnik, R. [Department of Particle Physics and Astrophysics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 7610001 (Israel); Bütikofer, L., E-mail: lukas.buetikofer@lhep.unibe.ch, E-mail: xenon@lngs.infn.it [Physikalisches Institut, Universität Freiburg, 79104 Freiburg (Germany); and others

2017-10-01

We present the first search for dark matter-induced delayed coincidence signals in a dual-phase xenon time projection chamber, using the 224.6 live days of the XENON100 science run II. This very distinct signature is predicted in the framework of magnetic inelastic dark matter which has been proposed to reconcile the modulation signal reported by the DAMA/LIBRA collaboration with the null results from other direct detection experiments. No candidate event has been found in the region of interest and upper limits on the WIMP's magnetic dipole moment are derived. The scenarios proposed to explain the DAMA/LIBRA modulation signal by magnetic inelastic dark matter interactions of WIMPs with masses of 58.0 GeV/c{sup 2} and 122.7 GeV/c{sup 2} are excluded at 3.3 σ and 9.3 σ, respectively.

Spinal cord compression injury in lysophosphatidic acid 1 receptor-null mice promotes maladaptive pronociceptive descending control.

Science.gov (United States)

Suardíaz, M; Galan-Arriero, I; Avila-Martin, G; Estivill-Torrús, G; de Fonseca, F R; Chun, J; Gómez-Soriano, J; Bravo-Esteban, E; Taylor, J

2016-02-01

Although activation of the lysophosphatidic acid receptor 1 (LPA1) is known to mediate pronociceptive effects in peripheral pain models, the role of this receptor in the modulation of spinal nociception following spinal cord injury (SCI) is unknown. In this study, LPA1 regulation of spinal excitability mediated by supraspinal descending antinociceptive control systems was assessed following SCI in both wild-type (WT) and maLPA1-null receptor mice. The effect of a T8 spinal compression in WT and maLPA1-null mice was assessed up to 1 month after SCI using histological, immunohistochemical and behavioural techniques analysis including electrophysiological recording of noxious toes-Tibialis Anterior (TA) stimulus-response reflex activity. The effect of a T3 paraspinal transcutaneous electrical conditioning stimulus on TA noxious reflex temporal summation was also assessed. Histological analysis demonstrated greater dorsolateral funiculus damage after SCI in maLPA1-null mice, without a change in the stimulus-response function of the TA noxious reflex when compared to WT mice. While T3 conditioning stimulation in the WT group inhibited noxious TA reflex temporal summation after SCI, this stimulus strongly excited TA reflex temporal summation in maLPA1-null mice. The functional switch from descending inhibition to maladaptive facilitation of central excitability of spinal nociception demonstrated in maLPA1-null mice after SCI was unrelated to a general change in reflex activity. These data suggest that the LPA1 receptor is necessary for inhibition of temporal summation of noxious reflex activity, partly mediated via long-tract descending modulatory systems acting at the spinal level. © 2015 European Pain Federation - EFIC®

Pituitary null cell adenoma in a domestic llama (Lama glama).

Science.gov (United States)

Chalkley, M D; Kiupel, M; Draper, A C E

2014-07-01

Pituitary gland neoplasia has been reported rarely in camelids. A 12-year-old neutered male llama (Lama glama) presented with lethargy, inappetence and neurological signs. On physical examination, the llama was mentally dull and exhibited compulsive pacing and circling to the left. Complete blood count and serum biochemistry revealed haemoconcentration, mild hypophosphataemia, hyperglycaemia, hypercreatininaemia and hyperalbuminaemia. Humane destruction was elected due to rapid clinical deterioration and poor prognosis. Post-mortem examination revealed a pituitary macroadenoma and bilateral internal hydrocephalus. Microscopically, the pituitary tumour was composed of neoplastic chromophobic pituitary cells. Ultrastructural studies revealed similar neoplastic cells to those previously described in human null cell adenomas. Immunohistochemically, the neoplastic cells were strongly immunoreactive for neuroendocrine markers (synaptophysin and chromogranin A), but did not exhibit immunoreactivity for epithelial, mesenchymal, neuronal and all major pituitary hormone markers (adrenocorticotropic hormone, follicle stimulating hormone, growth hormone, luteinizing hormone, melanocyte-stimulating hormone, prolactin and thyroid stimulating hormone), consistent with the diagnosis of a pituitary null cell adenoma. This is the first report of pituitary neoplasia in a llama. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Identifying the null subject: evidence from event-related brain potentials.

Science.gov (United States)

Demestre, J; Meltzer, S; García-Albea, J E; Vigil, A

1999-05-01

Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded during spoken language comprehension to study the on-line effects of gender agreement violations in controlled infinitival complements. Spanish sentences were constructed in which the complement clause contained a predicate adjective marked for syntactic gender. By manipulating the gender of the antecedent (i.e., the controller) of the implicit subject while holding constant the gender of the adjective, pairs of grammatical and ungrammatical sentences were created. The detection of such a gender agreement violation would indicate that the parser had established the coreference relation between the null subject and its antecedent. The results showed a complex biphasic ERP (i.e., an early negativity with prominence at anterior and central sites, followed by a centroparietal positivity) in the violating condition as compared to the non-violating conditions. The brain reacts to NP-adjective gender agreement violations within a few hundred milliseconds of their occurrence. The data imply that the parser has properly coindexed the null subject of an infinitive clause with its antecedent.

Heat flux management via advanced magnetic divertor configurations and divertor detachment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kolemen, E., E-mail: ekolemen@princeton.edu [Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States); Allen, S.L. [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94550 (United States); Bray, B.D. [General Atomics, PO Box 85608, San Diego, CA 92186-5608 (United States); Fenstermacher, M.E. [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94550 (United States); Humphreys, D.A.; Hyatt, A.W. [General Atomics, PO Box 85608, San Diego, CA 92186-5608 (United States); Lasnier, C.J. [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94550 (United States); Leonard, A.W. [General Atomics, PO Box 85608, San Diego, CA 92186-5608 (United States); Makowski, M.A.; McLean, A.G. [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94550 (United States); Maingi, R.; Nazikian, R. [Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton, NJ 08543 (United States); Petrie, T.W. [General Atomics, PO Box 85608, San Diego, CA 92186-5608 (United States); Soukhanovskii, V.A. [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94550 (United States); Unterberg, E.A. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory, PO Box 2008, Oak Ridge, TN 37831 (United States)

2015-08-15

The snowflake divertor (SFD) control and detachment control to manage the heat flux at the divertor are successfully demonstrated at DIII-D. Results of the development and implementation of these two heat flux reduction control methods are presented. The SFD control algorithm calculates the position of the two null-points in real-time and controls shaping coil currents to achieve and stabilize various snowflake configurations. Detachment control stabilizes the detachment front fixed at specified distance between the strike point and the X-point throughout the shot.

Toroidal confinement of non-neutral plasma - A new approach to high-beta equilibrium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoshida, Z.; Ogawa, Y.; Morikawa, J.

2001-01-01

Departure from the quasi-neutral condition allows us to apply significant two-fluid effects that impart a new freedom to the design of high-performance fusion plasma. The self-electric field in a non-neutralized plasma induces a strong ExB-drift flow. A fast flow produces a large hydrodynamic pressure that can balance with the thermal pressure of the plasma. Basic concepts to produce a toroidal non-neutral plasma have been examined on the internal-conductor toroidal confinement device Proto-RT. A magnetic separatrix determines the boundary of the confinement region. Electrons describe chaotic orbits in the neighborhood of the magnetic null point on the separatrix. The chaos yields collisionless diffusion of electrons from the particle source (electron gun) towards the confinement region. Collisionless heating also occurs in the magnetic null region, which can be applied to produce a plasma. (author)

Constraining Magnetic Field Amplification in SN Shocks Using Radio Observations of SNe 2011fe and 2014J

Science.gov (United States)

Kundu, E.; Lundqvist, P.; Pérez-Torres, M. A.; Herrero-Illana, R.; Alberdi, A.

2017-06-01

We modeled the radio non-detection of two Type Ia supernovae (SNe), SN 2011fe and SN 2014J, considering synchrotron emission from the interaction between SN ejecta and the circumstellar medium. For ejecta whose outer parts have a power-law density structure, we compare synchrotron emission with radio observations. Assuming that 20% of the bulk shock energy is being shared equally between electrons and magnetic fields, we found a very low-density medium around both the SNe. A less tenuous medium with particle density ˜1 cm-3, which could be expected around both SNe, can be estimated when the magnetic field amplification is less than that presumed for energy equipartition. This conclusion also holds if the progenitor of SN 2014J was a rigidly rotating white dwarf (WD) with a main-sequence (MS) or red giant companion. For a He star companion, or a MS for SN 2014J, with 10% and 1% of bulk kinetic energy in magnetic fields, we obtain mass-loss rates of 99% onto the WD, but is less restricted for the latter case. However, if the tenuous medium is due to a recurrent nova, it is difficult from our model to predict synchrotron luminosities. Although the formation channels of SNe 2011fe and 2014J are not clear, the null detection in radio wavelengths could point toward a low amplification efficiency for magnetic fields in SN shocks.

Coercivity enhancement of NdFeB sintered magnets by low melting point Dy{sub 32.5}Fe{sub 62}Cu{sub 5.5} alloy modification

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liang, Liping; Ma, Tianyu, E-mail: maty@zju.edu.cn; Zhang, Pei; Jin, Jiaying; Yan, Mi, E-mail: mse_yanmi@zju.edu.cn

2014-04-15

To improve coercivity without sacrificing other magnetic performance of NdFeB sintered magnets, a low melting point Dy{sub 32.5}Fe{sub 62}Cu{sub 5.5} alloy was introduced as an intergranular additive. Magnetic properties and microstructure of the magnets with different Dy{sub 32.5}Fe{sub 62}Cu{sub 5.5} contents were studied. At the optimum addition of 3 wt%, coercivity H{sub cj} was enhanced from 12.7 to 15.2 kOe, the maximum magnetic energy product (BH){sub max} was simultaneously increased from 46.6 to 47.8 MG Oe, accompanied by a slight reduction in remanence B{sub r}. Further investigation on microstructure and grain boundary composition indicated that the enhanced H{sub cj} and (BH){sub max} could be attributed to the refined and uniform 2:14:1 phase grains, continuous grain boundaries and a (Nd,Dy){sub 2}Fe{sub 14}B hardening shell surrounding the 2:14:1 phase grains. - Highlights: • Low melting-point Dy{sub 32.5}Fe{sub 62}Cu{sub 5.5} alloy was introduced to NdFeB magnets. • The doped magnet exhibits enhanced coercivity and maximum energy product. • (Nd,Dy){sub 2}Fe{sub 14}B shell was expected to form in the surface of Nd{sub 2}Fe{sub 14}B grains. • The continuous grain boundary layer formed between neighboring Nd{sub 2}Fe{sub 14}B grains.

A Novel Maximum Power Point Tracking Control for Permanent Magnet Direct Drive Wind Energy Conversion Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wei Wang

2012-05-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes a novel optimal current given (OCG maximum power point tracking (MPPT control strategy based on the theory of power feedback and hill climb searching (HCS for a permanent magnet direct drive wind energy conversion system (WECS. The presented strategy not only has the advantages of not needing the wind speed and wind turbine characteristics of the traditional HCS method, but it also improves the stability and accuracy of MPPT by estimating the exact loss torque. The OCG MPPT control strategy is first carried out by simulation, then an experimental platform based on the dSPACE1103 controller is built and a 5.5 kW permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG is tested. Furthermore, the proposed method is compared experimentally with the traditional optimum tip speed ratio (TSR MPPT control. The experiments verify the effectiveness of the proposed OCG MPPT strategy and demonstrate its better performance than the traditional TSR MPPT control.

What Constitutes Science and Scientific Evidence: Roles of Null Hypothesis Testing

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Mark

2017-01-01

We briefly discuss the philosophical basis of science, causality, and scientific evidence, by introducing the hidden but most fundamental principle of science: the similarity principle. The principle's use in scientific discovery is illustrated with Simpson's paradox and other examples. In discussing the value of null hypothesis statistical…

Frequency of null allele of Human Leukocyte Antigen-G (HLA-G locus in subjects to recurrent miscarriage

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Nazila Alizadeh

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Background: Human leukocyte antigen-G (HLA-G is a non-classical class I molecule highly expressed by extravillous cytotrophoblast cells. Due to a single base pair deletion, its function can be compensated by other isoforms. Investigating the frequency of null allele in Recurrent Miscarriage (RM subjects could be useful in understanding the relationship between frequency of this allele and RM in a given population. Objective: This study aimed to determine the frequency of HLA-G*0105N null allele and its potential association with down-regulation of HLA-G in subjects with RM. Materials and Methods: Western blotting was used to assess the level of HLA-G protein expression. For investigating the frequency of HLA-G*0105N null allele in RM subjects, PCR-RFLP method was used. Exon 3 of HLA-G gene was amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR. Subsequently, PpuM-1 enzyme was employed to digest the PCR products and fragments were analyzed using gel electrophoresis. Results: Digestion using restriction enzyme showed the presence of heterozygous HLA-G*0105N null allele in 10% of the test population. Western blotting results confirmed the decrease in expression of HLA-G in the placental tissue of subjects with RM compared to subjects who could give normal birth. Conclusion: The frequency of heterozygous HLA-G*0105N null allele was high to some extent in subjects with RM. The mutation rate in subjects suggested that there is a significant association between RM and frequency of mutations in this allele.

Frequency of null allele of Human Leukocyte Antigen-G (HLA-G) locus in subjects to recurrent miscarriage

Science.gov (United States)

Alizadeh, Nazila; Mosaferi, Elnaz; Farzadi, Laya; Majidi, Jafar; Monfaredan, Amir; Yousefi, Bahman; Baradaran, Behzad

2016-01-01

Background: Human leukocyte antigen-G (HLA-G) is a non-classical class I molecule highly expressed by extravillous cytotrophoblast cells. Due to a single base pair deletion, its function can be compensated by other isoforms. Investigating the frequency of null allele in Recurrent Miscarriage (RM) subjects could be useful in understanding the relationship between frequency of this allele and RM in a given population. Objective: This study aimed to determine the frequency of HLA-G*0105N null allele and its potential association with down-regulation of HLA-G in subjects with RM. Materials and Methods: Western blotting was used to assess the level of HLA-G protein expression. For investigating the frequency of HLA-G*0105N null allele in RM subjects, PCR-RFLP method was used. Exon 3 of HLA-G gene was amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Subsequently, PpuM-1 enzyme was employed to digest the PCR products and fragments were analyzed using gel electrophoresis. Results: Digestion using restriction enzyme showed the presence of heterozygous HLA-G*0105N null allele in 10% of the test population. Western blotting results confirmed the decrease in expression of HLA-G in the placental tissue of subjects with RM compared to subjects who could give normal birth. Conclusion: The frequency of heterozygous HLA-G*0105N null allele was high to some extent in subjects with RM. The mutation rate in subjects suggested that there is a significant association between RM and frequency of mutations in this allele. PMID:27525330

Conformal gravity, the Einstein equations and spaces of complex null geodesics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baston, R.J.; Mason, L.J.

1987-07-01

The aim of the paper is to give a twistorial characterisation of the field equations of conformal gravity and of Einstein spacetimes. Strong evidence is provided for a particularly concise characterisation of these equations in terms of 'formal neighbourhoods'of the space of complex null geodesics. Second-order perturbations of the metric of complexified Minkowski space are considered. These correspond to certain infinitesimal deformations of its space of complex null geodesics, PN. PN has a natural codimension one embedding into a larger space. It is shown that deformations extend automatically to the fourth-order embedding (that is, the fourth formal neighbourhood). They extend to the fifth formal neighbourhood if and only if the corresponding perturbation in the metric has vanishing Bach tensor. Finally, deformations which extend to the sixth formal neighbourhood correspond to perturbations in the metric that are conformally related to ones satisfying the Einstein equations. The authors present arguments which suggest that the results will also hold when spacetime is fully curved.

Conformal gravity, the Einstein equations and spaces of complex null geodesics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baston, R.J.; Mason, L.J.

1987-01-01

The aim of the paper is to give a twistorial characterisation of the field equations of conformal gravity and of Einstein spacetimes. Strong evidence is provided for a particularly concise characterisation of these equations in terms of 'formal neighbourhoods'of the space of complex null geodesics. Second-order perturbations of the metric of complexified Minkowski space are considered. These correspond to certain infinitesimal deformations of its space of complex null geodesics, PN. PN has a natural codimension one embedding into a larger space. It is shown that deformations extend automatically to the fourth-order embedding (that is, the fourth formal neighbourhood). They extend to the fifth formal neighbourhood if and only if the corresponding perturbation in the metric has vanishing Bach tensor. Finally, deformations which extend to the sixth formal neighbourhood correspond to perturbations in the metric that are conformally related to ones satisfying the Einstein equations. The authors present arguments which suggest that the results will also hold when spacetime is fully curved. (author)

Canonical theory of spherically symmetric spacetimes with cross-streaming null dusts

Science.gov (United States)

Bičák, Jiří; Hájíček, Petr

2003-11-01

The Hamiltonian dynamics of two-component spherically symmetric null dust is studied with regard to the quantum theory of gravitational collapse. The components—the ingoing and outgoing dusts—are assumed to interact only through gravitation. Different kinds of singularities, naked or “clothed,” which can form during collapse processes are described. The general canonical formulation of the one-component null-dust dynamics by Bičák and Kuchař is restricted to the spherically symmetric case and used to construct an action for the two components. The transformation from a metric variable to the quasilocal mass is shown to simplify the mathematics. The action is reduced by a choice of gauge and the corresponding true Hamiltonian is written down. Asymptotic coordinates and energy densities of dust shells are shown to form a complete set of Dirac observables. The action of the asymptotic time translation on the observables is defined but it has been calculated explicitly only in the case of one-component dust (Vaidya metric).

Randomizing growing networks with a time-respecting null model

Science.gov (United States)

Ren, Zhuo-Ming; Mariani, Manuel Sebastian; Zhang, Yi-Cheng; Medo, Matúš

2018-05-01

Complex networks are often used to represent systems that are not static but grow with time: People make new friendships, new papers are published and refer to the existing ones, and so forth. To assess the statistical significance of measurements made on such networks, we propose a randomization methodology—a time-respecting null model—that preserves both the network's degree sequence and the time evolution of individual nodes' degree values. By preserving the temporal linking patterns of the analyzed system, the proposed model is able to factor out the effect of the system's temporal patterns on its structure. We apply the model to the citation network of Physical Review scholarly papers and the citation network of US movies. The model reveals that the two data sets are strikingly different with respect to their degree-degree correlations, and we discuss the important implications of this finding on the information provided by paradigmatic node centrality metrics such as indegree and Google's PageRank. The randomization methodology proposed here can be used to assess the significance of any structural property in growing networks, which could bring new insights into the problems where null models play a critical role, such as the detection of communities and network motifs.

Non-dissipative electromagnetic media with two Lorentz null cones

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dahl, Matias F.

2013-01-01

We study Maxwell’s equations on a 4-manifold where the electromagnetic medium is modeled by an antisymmetric (2/2 )-tensor with 21 real coefficients. In this setting the Fresnel surface is a fourth-order polynomial surface that describes the dynamical response of the medium in the geometric optics limit. For example, in an isotropic medium the Fresnel surface is a Lorentz null cone. The contribution of this paper is the pointwise description of all electromagnetic medium tensors κ with real coefficients that satisfy the following three conditions: (i)medium κ is invertible, (ii)medium κ is skewon-free, or non-dissipative, (iii)the Fresnel surface of κ is the union of two distinct Lorentz null cones. We show that there are only three classes of media with these properties and give explicit expressions in local coordinates for each class. - Highlights: ► We find two new electromagnetic media classes for which the Fresnel surface decomposes into two light cones. ► In a suitable setting we classify all electromagnetic media where this is the case. ► We find an electromagnetic medium tensor with three different signal speeds in one direction. ► The work is related to [5], which classifies all media with one light cone (in a suitable setting).

Magnetic field strength distribution of magnetic bright points inferred from filtergrams and spectro-polarimetric data

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Utz, D.; Jurčák, Jan; Hanslmeier, A.; Muller, R.; Veronig, A.; Kühner, O.

2013-01-01

Roč. 554, June (2013), A65/1-A65/12 ISSN 0004-6361 R&D Projects: GA ČR GAP209/12/0287; GA MŠk(CZ) MEB061109 Institutional support: RVO:67985815 Keywords : Sun * magnetic topology * surface magnetism Subject RIV: BN - Astronomy, Celestial Mechanics, Astrophysics Impact factor: 4.479, year: 2013

Searching for resonances in the helicity conversion of neutrinos interacting with rotating magnetic fields

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bellandi, Jose; Guzzo, Marcelo M.; Hollanda, Pedro C. de

1997-01-01

Assuming that neutrino magnetic moment is not null, we study the evolution of neutrinos submitted to rotating magnetic fields, and the way the evolution can convert 'left' helicity neutrinos (actives) into 'right' neutrinos (sterile). We use the fact that the 'right' neutrinos do not interact with the detectors to obtain information on the neutrino magnetic field magnitude. For solving the neutrino evolution equation, the expansion method was combined with steady phase approximation used for the expansion integrals solution. The possibility of 'left' conversion into 'right' neutrinos has been calculated as function of the evolution matrix parameters (neutrino magnetic moment, electron density of the medium, the magnetic field magnitude and phase, etc). We made an attempt to obtain fitting of the parameter conditions in order to occur resonances in the neutrino transition probability, and therefore to obtain information on the limits for neutrino magnetic moments from the controlled beam helicity

Mechanism of the X-ray and Soft Gamma-ray Emissions from the High Magnetic Field Pulsar: PSR B1509-58

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Yu Wang

2013-06-01

Full Text Available We use the outer gap model to explain the spectrum and the energy dependent light curves of the X-ray and soft γ-ray radiations of the spin-down powered pulsar PSR B1509-58. In the outer gap model, most pairs inside the gap are created around the null charge surface and the gap’s electric field separates the opposite charges to move in opposite directions. Consequently, the region from the null charge surface to the light cylinder is dominated by the outflow current and that from the null charge surface to the star is dominated by the inflow current. We suggest that the viewing angle of PSR B1509-58 only receives the inflow radiation. The incoming curvature photons are converted to pairs by the strong magnetic field of the star. The X-rays and soft γ-rays of PSR B1509-58 result from the synchrotron radiation of these pairs. The magnetic pair creation requires a large pitch angle, which makes the pulse profile of the synchrotron radiation distinct from that of the curvature radiation. We carefully trace the pulse profiles of the synchrotron radiation with different pitch angles. We find that the differences between the light curves of different energy bands are due to the different pitch angles of the secondary pairs, and the second peak appearing at E > 10 MeV comes from the region near the star, where the stronger magnetic field allows the pair creation to happen with a smaller pitch angle.

A Coding of Real Null Four-Momenta into World-Sheet Coordinates

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David B. Fairlie

2009-01-01

Full Text Available The results of minimizing the action for string-like systems on a simply connected world sheet are shown to encode the Cartesian components of real null momentum four-vectors into coordinates on the world sheet. This identification arises consistently from different approaches to the problem.

Development of IR single mode optical fibers for DARWIN-nulling interferometry

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Chakkalakkal Abdulla, S.M.; Cheng, L.K.; Bosch, B. van den; Dijkhuizen, N.; Nieuwland, R.A.; Gielesen, W.L.M.; Lucas, J.; Boussard-Plédel, C.; Conseil, C.; Bureau, B.; Carmo, J.P. do

2014-01-01

The DARWIN mission aims to detect weak infra-red emission lines from distant orbiting earth-like planets using nulling interferometry. This requires filtering of wavefront errors using single mode waveguides operating at a wavelength range of 6.5-20 μm. This article describes the optical design of

Human PTCHD3 nulls: rare copy number and sequence variants suggest a non-essential gene

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lionel Anath C

2011-03-01

processes mediated through the Hedgehog (Hh signaling pathway. However, further investigation yielded one individual harboring a homozygous deletion (PTCHD3 null without ASD or any other overt abnormal phenotype. Exon sequencing of PTCHD3 in other individuals with deletions revealed compound point mutations also resulting in a null state. Conclusion Our data suggests that PTCHD3 may be a non-essential gene in some humans and characterization of this novel CNV at 10p12.1 will facilitate population and disease studies.

CD4+CD28null T Cells are related to previous cytomegalovirus infection but not to accelerated atherosclerosis in ANCA-associated vasculitis.

Science.gov (United States)

Slot, Marjan C; Kroon, Abraham A; Damoiseaux, Jan G M C; Theunissen, Ruud; Houben, Alfons J H M; de Leeuw, Peter W; Tervaert, Jan Willem Cohen

2017-05-01

Previous studies have suggested an increased risk for cardiovascular events in antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV). We analyzed the presence of atherosclerotic damage in patients with AAV in relation to the presence of CD4 + CD28 null T cells and antibodies against cytomegalovirus (CMV) and human Heat-Shock Protein 60 (hHSP60). In this cross-sectional study, patients with inactive AAV were compared with healthy controls (HC). Carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) and aortic pulse-wave velocity (PWV) were measured. In addition, CD4 + CD28 null T cells, anti-CMV, and anti-hHSP60 levels were determined. Forty patients with AAV were included. Patients' spouses were recruited as HC (N = 38). CD4 + CD28 null T cells are present in patients with AAV in a higher percentage (median 3.1, range 0.01-85) than in HC (0.28, 0-36, P CD4 + CD28 null T cells (0.33 vs 13.8, P CD4 + CD28 null T cells and/or a previous CMV infection and IMT or PWV. There was no relation between anti-hHSP60 and CD4 + CD28 null T cells. Increased PWV values suggest atherosclerotic damage in patients with AAV. Plaque size, as determined by IMT, did not differ. CD4 + CD28 null T cells are increased in AAV and related to the previous CMV infection.

Null alleles and sequence variations at primer binding sites of STR loci within multiplex typing systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Yao, Yining; Yang, Qinrui; Shao, Chengchen; Liu, Baonian; Zhou, Yuxiang; Xu, Hongmei; Zhou, Yueqin; Tang, Qiqun; Xie, Jianhui

2018-01-01

Rare variants are widely observed in human genome and sequence variations at primer binding sites might impair the process of PCR amplification resulting in dropouts of alleles, named as null alleles. In this study, 5 cases from routine paternity testing using PowerPlex ® 21 System for STR genotyping were considered to harbor null alleles at TH01, FGA, D5S818, D8S1179, and D16S539, respectively. The dropout of alleles was confirmed by using alternative commercial kits AGCU Expressmarker 22 PCR amplification kit and AmpFℓSTR ® . Identifiler ® Plus Kit, and sequencing results revealed a single base variation at the primer binding site of each STR locus. Results from the collection of previous reports show that null alleles at D5S818 were frequently observed in population detected by two PowerPlex ® typing systems and null alleles at D19S433 were mostly observed in Japanese population detected by two AmpFℓSTR™ typing systems. Furthermore, the most popular mutation type appeared the transition from C to T with G to A, which might have a potential relationship with DNA methylation. Altogether, these results can provide helpful information in forensic practice to the elimination of genotyping discrepancy and the development of primer sets. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

No association of GSTM1 null polymorphism with endometriosis in women from central and southern Iran

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Razieh Dehghani Firouzabadi

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Endometriosis is one of the most common gynecologic disorders. It is a complex trait and both genetic and environmental factors have been implicated in its pathogenesis. There is growing evidence indicating that exposure to environmental contaminants is a risk factor for endometriosis. Glutathione-S-Transferase M1 (GSTM1 is one of the genes involved in detoxification of endogenous and exogenous compounds. Objective: Several studies have indicated an association between GSTM1 null mutation and endometriosis. In this study, the possible association between the GSTM1 gene null genotype and susceptibility to endometriosis in woman from central and southern Iran was investigated.Materials and Methods: One hundred and one unrelated premenopausal women with endometriosis and 142 unrelated healthy premenopausal women without endometriosis were enrolled in the study. Genomic DNA was extracted from Peripheral blood in all subjects. GSTM1 null genotyping was performed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR.Results: There was no significant difference between frequencies of GSTM1 null genotype in case and control groups (50.5% Vs. 52.1%, p=0.804. Furthermore, this genotype was not associated with severity of endometriosis in our sample (p=0.77. Conclusion: further studies involving gene-environment and gene-gene interactions, particularly combination of GSTM1 and other GST gene family polymorphisms are needed.

Do electromagnetic waves always propagate along null geodesics?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Asenjo, Felipe A; Hojman, Sergio A

2017-01-01

We find exact solutions to Maxwell equations written in terms of four-vector potentials in non–rotating, as well as in Gödel and Kerr spacetimes. We show that Maxwell equations can be reduced to two uncoupled second-order differential equations for combinations of the components of the four-vector potential. Exact electromagnetic waves solutions are written on given gravitational field backgrounds where they evolve. We find that in non–rotating spherical symmetric spacetimes, electromagnetic waves travel along null geodesics. However, electromagnetic waves on Gödel and Kerr spacetimes do not exhibit that behavior. (paper)

Quantum kinematic theory of a point charge in a constant magnetic field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krause, J.

1996-01-01

A group-theoretic quantization method is applied to the open-quote open-quote complete symmetry group close-quote close-quote describing the motion of a point charge in a constant magnetic field. Within the regular ray representation, the Schroedinger operator is obtained as the Casimir operator of the extended Lie algebra. Configuration ray representations of the complete group cast the Schroedinger operator into the familiar space-time differential operator. Next, open-quote open-quote group quantization close-quote close-quote yields the superselection rules, which produce irreducible configuration ray representations. In this way, the Schroedinger operator becomes diagonalized, together with the angular momentum. Finally, the evaluation of an invariant integral, over the group manifold, gives rise to the Feynman propagation kernel left-angle t',x'|t,x right-angle of the system. Everything stems from the assumed symmetry group. Neither canonical quantization nor the path-integral method is used in the present analysis. copyright 1996 The American Physical Society

An optimized magnet for magnetic refrigeration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bjørk, Rasmus; Bahl, Christian Robert Haffenden; Smith, Anders

2010-01-01

A magnet designed for use in a magnetic refrigeration device is presented. The magnet is designed by applying two general schemes for improving a magnet design to a concentric Halbach cylinder magnet design and dimensioning and segmenting this design in an optimum way followed by the construction...... of the actual magnet. The final design generates a peak value of 1.24 T, an average flux density of 0.9 T in a volume of 2 L using only 7.3 L of magnet, and has an average low flux density of 0.08 T also in a 2 L volume. The working point of all the permanent magnet blocks in the design is very close...... to the maximum energy density. The final design is characterized in terms of a performance parameter, and it is shown that it is one of the best performing magnet designs published for magnetic refrigeration....

An optimized magnet for magnetic refrigeration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bjork, R.; Bahl, C.R.H.; Smith, A.; Christensen, D.V.; Pryds, N.

2010-01-01

A magnet designed for use in a magnetic refrigeration device is presented. The magnet is designed by applying two general schemes for improving a magnet design to a concentric Halbach cylinder magnet design and dimensioning and segmenting this design in an optimum way followed by the construction of the actual magnet. The final design generates a peak value of 1.24 T, an average flux density of 0.9 T in a volume of 2 L using only 7.3 L of magnet, and has an average low flux density of 0.08 T also in a 2 L volume. The working point of all the permanent magnet blocks in the design is very close to the maximum energy density. The final design is characterized in terms of a performance parameter, and it is shown that it is one of the best performing magnet designs published for magnetic refrigeration.

Circulating CD4+CD28null T Cells May Increase the Risk of an Atherosclerotic Vascular Event Shortly after Kidney Transplantation

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Michiel G. H. Betjes

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Proinflammatory CD4+ T cells without the costimulatory molecule CD28 (CD4+CD28null T cells are expanded in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD and associated with atherosclerotic vascular events (AVE. In a prospective study, the number of circulating CD4+CD28null T cells was established in 295 ESRD patients prior to receiving a kidney allograft. Within the first year after transplantation, an AVE occurred in 20 patients. Univariate analysis showed that besides a history of cardiovascular disease (CVDpos, HR 8.1, , age (HR 1.04, , dyslipidaemia (HR 8.8, , and the % of CD4+CD28null T cells (HR 1.04 per % increase, 95% CI 1.00–1.09, were significantly associated with the occurrence of a posttransplantation AVE. In a multivariate analysis, only CVDpos remained a significant risk factor with a significant and positive interaction between the terms CVDpos and the % of CD4+CD28null T cells (HR 1.05, 95% CI 1.03–1.11, . Within the CVDpos group, the incidence of an AVE was 13% in the lowest tertile compared to 25% in the highest tertile of % of CD4+CD28null T cells. In conclusion, the presence of circulating CD4+CD28null T cells is associated with an increased risk for a cardiovascular event shortly after kidney transplantation.

Combined glutathione S transferase M1/T1 null genotypes is associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Science.gov (United States)

POROJAN, MIHAI D.; BALA, CORNELIA; ILIES, ROXANA; CATANA, ANDREEA; POPP, RADU A.; DUMITRASCU, DAN L.

2015-01-01

Background Due to new genetic insights, a considerably large number of genes and polymorphic gene variants are screened and linked with the complex pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes (DM). Our study aimed to investigate the association between the two isoforms of the glutathione S-transferase genes (Glutathione S transferase isoemzyme type M1- GSTM1 and Glutathione S transferase isoemzyme type T1-GSTT1) and the prevalence of DM in the Northern Romanian population. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional, randomized, case-control study evaluating the frequency of GSTM1 and GSTT1 null alleles in patients diagnosed with DM. A total of 106 patients diagnosed with DM and 124 healthy controls were included in the study. GSTM1 and GSTT1 null alleles genotyping was carried out using Multiplex PCR amplification of relevant gene fragments, followed by gel electrophoresis analysis of the resulting amplicons. Results Molecular analysis did not reveal an increased frequency of the null GSTM1 and GSTT1 alleles (mutant genotypes) respectively in the DM group compared to controls (p=0.171, OR=1.444 CI=0.852–2.447; p=0.647, OR=0.854, CI=0.436–1.673). Nevertheless, the combined GSTM1/GSTT1 null genotypes were statistically significantly higher in DM patients compared to control subjects (p=0.0021, OR=0.313, CI=0.149–0.655) Conclusions The main finding of our study is that the combined, double GSTM1/GSTT1 null genotypes are to be considered among the polymorphic genetic risk factors for type 2 DM. PMID:26528065

Study and development of an achromatic phase shifter for nulling interferometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brachet, Frank

2005-01-01

The Darwin mission is a project of the European Space Agency that should allow around 2015 the search for extra-solar planets and a spectral analysis of their atmospheres to detect gases and particularly tracers of life. The basic concept of the instrument is a Bracewell nulling interferometer. It allows the high angular resolution and high dynamic range necessary to cancel the light coming from the star to keep the planetary one. The Darwin mission technological key-points require preliminary laboratory experiments to validate each element before any space application. Among these, the π achromatic phase shifter included in the interferometer to cancel the starlight has to be achromatic in the whole Darwin spectral band from 6 to 18 μm. There are many solutions to create this phase shift. This work presents the study and development of one of these techniques based on dispersive prisms and tested on the polychromatic test bench SYNAPSE. After an introduction of Darwin stakes, both from an exo-planetological and exobiological point of view, we introduce different achromatic phase shifter techniques. The concept based on prismatic dispersive plates is then detailed, along with the development of the SYNAPSE test bench working in near infrared. We finally show that this bench allowed to maintain rejection ratio better than 4 000 (corresponding to a 2,5.10 -4 stellar leaks level) in the whole K band (from 2 to 2,5 μm) during several minutes. These results also show that more than the absolute rejection ratio needed in the whole Darwin spectral band, their stability will be the real stake during observations. (author) [fr

Micromagnetic simulation of exploratory magnetic logic device with missing corner defect

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yang, Xiaokuo, E-mail: yangxk0123@163.com; Cai, Li; Zhang, Bin; Cui, Huanqing; Zhang, Mingliang

2015-11-15

Magnetic film nanostructures are attractive components of nonvolatile magnetoresistive memories and nanomagnet logic circuits. Recently, we studied switching properties (i.e., null logic preserving) of rectangle shape nanomagnet subjected to fabrication imperfections. Specifically, we presented typical missing corner material-related imperfections and adopted an isosceles triangle to model this defect for nanomagnets. Micromagnetic simulation shows that this kind of imperfections modeling method agrees well with previous experimental observations. Using the proposed defect modeling scheme, we investigate in detail the switching characteristics of different defective stand-alone and coupled nanomagnets. The results suggest that the state transition of defective nanomagnet element highly depends on defect type and device’s aspect ratio, and the defect type B{sub d} needs the largest coercive field, while the defect type D requires the largest null field for switching. These findings can provide key technical parameters and guides for nanomagnet logic circuit design. - Highlights: • We have modeled missing corner defect issue for nanomagnet logic device. • The logic state of defective NML element highly depends on defect type and AR. • The NML device with defect type B{sub d} needs the largest coercive field to reverse state. • The defect type D in the NML devices requires the largest null field to switch.

Exact null distributions of quadratic distribution-free statistics for two-way classification

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wiel, van de M.A.

2004-01-01

Abstract We present new techniques for computing exact distributions of `Friedman-type¿ statistics. Representing the null distribution by a generating function allows for the use of general, not necessarily integer-valued rank scores. Moreover, we use symmetry properties of the multivariate

TEMPEST simulations of the plasma transport in a single-null tokamak geometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu, X.Q.; Cohen, R.H.; Rognlien, T.D.; Bodi, K.; Krasheninnikov, S.

2010-01-01

We present edge kinetic ion transport simulations of tokamak plasmas in magnetic divertor geometry using the fully nonlinear (full-f) continuum code TEMPEST. Besides neoclassical transport, a term for divergence of anomalous kinetic radial flux is added to mock up the effect of turbulent transport. To study the relative roles of neoclassical and anomalous transport, TEMPEST simulations were carried out for plasma transport and flow dynamics in a single-null tokamak geometry, including the pedestal region that extends across the separatrix into the scrape-off layer and private flux region. A series of TEMPEST simulations were conducted to investigate the transition of midplane pedestal heat flux and flow from the neoclassical to the turbulent limit and the transition of divertor heat flux and flow from the kinetic to the fluid regime via an anomalous transport scan and a density scan. The TEMPEST simulation results demonstrate that turbulent transport (as modelled by large diffusion) plays a similar role to collisional decorrelation of particle orbits and that the large turbulent transport (large diffusion) leads to an apparent Maxwellianization of the particle distribution. We also show the transition of parallel heat flux and flow at the entrance to the divertor plates from the fluid to the kinetic regime. For an absorbing divertor plate boundary condition, a non-half-Maxwellian is found due to the balance between upstream radial anomalous transport and energetic ion endloss.

The Need for Nuance in the Null Hypothesis Significance Testing Debate

Science.gov (United States)

Häggström, Olle

2017-01-01

Null hypothesis significance testing (NHST) provides an important statistical toolbox, but there are a number of ways in which it is often abused and misinterpreted, with bad consequences for the reliability and progress of science. Parts of contemporary NHST debate, especially in the psychological sciences, is reviewed, and a suggestion is made…

Synthesis and applications of magnetic nanoparticles for biorecognition and point of care medical diagnostics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sandhu, Adarsh; Handa, Hiroshi; Abe, Masanori

2010-01-01

' by nanometer sized 'target beads', enabling the detection of small concentrations of beads as small as 8 nm in 'pumpless' microcapillary systems. Finally, we describe a 'label-less homogeneous' procedure referred to as 'magneto-optical transmission (MT) sensing', where the optical transmission of a solution containing rotating linear chains of magnetic nanobeads was used to detect biomolecules with pM-level sensitivity with a dynamic range of more than four orders of magnitude. Our research on the synthesis and applications of nanoparticles is particularly suitable for point of care diagnostics. (topical review)

Glutathione S-transferase M1-null genotype as risk factor for SOS in oxaliplatin-treated patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Vreuls, C P H; Olde Damink, S W M; Koek, G H; Winstanley, A; Wisse, E; Cloots, R H E; van den Broek, M A J; Dejong, C H C; Bosman, F T; Driessen, A

2013-02-19

Oxaliplatin is used as a neo-adjuvant therapy in hepatic colorectal carcinoma metastasis. This treatment has significant side effects, as oxaliplatin is toxic to the sinusoidal endothelial cells and can induce sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (SOS), which is related to decreased overall survival. Glutathione has an important role in the defence system, catalysed by glutathione S-transferase (GST), including two non-enzyme producing polymorphisms (GSTM1-null and GSTT1-null). We hypothesise that patients with a non-enzyme producing polymorphism have a higher risk of developing toxic injury owing to oxaliplatin. In the nontumour-bearing liver, the presence of SOS was studied histopathologically. The genotype was determined by a semi-nested PCR. Thirty-two of the 55 (58%) patients showed SOS lesions, consisting of 27% mild, 22% moderate and 9% severe lesions. The GSTM1-null genotype was present in 25 of the 55 (46%). Multivariate analysis showed that the GSTM1-null genotype significantly correlated with the presence of (moderate-severe) SOS (P=0.026). The GSTM1-null genotype is an independent risk factor for SOS. This finding allows us, in association with other risk factors, to conceive a potential risk profile predicting whether the patient is at risk of developing SOS, before starting oxaliplatin, and subsequently might result in adjustment of treatment.

Technology Advancement of the Visible Nulling Coronagraph

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Lyon, Richard G.; Clampin, Mark; Petrone, Peter; Thompson, Patrick; Bolcar, Matt; Madison, Timothy; Woodruff, Robert; Noecker, Charley; Kendrick, Steve

2010-01-01

The critical high contrast imaging technology for the Extrasolar Planetary Imaging Coronagraph (EPIC) mission concept is the visible nulling coronagraph (VNC). EPIC would be capable of imaging jovian planets, dust/debris disks, and potentially super-Earths and contribute to answering how bright the debris disks are for candidate stars. The contrast requirement for EPIC is 10(exp 9) contrast at 125 milli-arseconds inner working angle. To advance the VNC technology NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, in collaboration with Lockheed-Martin, previously developed a vacuum VNC testbed, and achieved narrowband and broadband suppression of the core of the Airy disk. Recently our group was awarded a NASA Technology Development for Exoplanet Missions to achieve two milestones: (i) 10(exp 8) contrast in narrowband light, and, (ii) 10(ecp 9) contrast in broader band light; one milestone per year, and both at 2 Lambda/D inner working angle. These will be achieved with our 2nd generation testbed known as the visible nulling testbed (VNT). It contains a MEMS based hex-packed segmented deformable mirror known as the multiple mirror array (MMA) and coherent fiber bundle, i.e. a spatial filter array (SFA). The MMA is in one interferometric arm and works to set the wavefront differences between the arms to zero. Each of the MMA segments is optically mapped to a single mode fiber of the SFA, and the SFA passively cleans the sub-aperture wavefront error leaving only piston, tip and tilt error to be controlled. The piston degree of freedom on each segment is used to correct the wavefront errors, while the tip/tilt is used to simultaneously correct the amplitude errors. Thus the VNT controls both amplitude and wavefront errors with a single MMA in closed-loop in a vacuum tank at approx.20 Hz. Herein we will discuss our ongoing progress with the VNT.

Identification of Y-shaped and O-shaped diffusion regions during magnetic reconnection in a laboratory plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamada, Masaaki; Ji, H.; Hsu, S.; Carter, T.; Kulsrud, R.; Ono, Yasushi; Perkins, F.

1997-01-01

Two strikingly different shapes of diffusion regions are identified during magnetic reconnection in a magnetohydrodynamic laboratory plasma. The shapes depend on the third vector component of the reconnecting magnetic fields. Without the third component (anti-parallel or null-helicity reconnection), a thin double-Y shaped diffusion region is identified. In this case, the neutral sheet current profile is accurately measured to be as narrow as the order of the ion gyro-radius. In the presence of an appreciable third component (co-helicity reconnection), an O-shaped diffusion region appears and grows into a spheromak configuration

Deficient and Null Variants of SERPINA1 Are Proteotoxic in a Caenorhabditis elegans Model of α1-Antitrypsin Deficiency.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Erin E Cummings

Full Text Available α1-antitrypsin deficiency (ATD predisposes patients to both loss-of-function (emphysema and gain-of-function (liver cirrhosis phenotypes depending on the type of mutation. Although the Z mutation (ATZ is the most prevalent cause of ATD, >120 mutant alleles have been identified. In general, these mutations are classified as deficient (<20% normal plasma levels or null (<1% normal levels alleles. The deficient alleles, like ATZ, misfold in the ER where they accumulate as toxic monomers, oligomers and aggregates. Thus, deficient alleles may predispose to both gain- and loss-of-function phenotypes. Null variants, if translated, typically yield truncated proteins that are efficiently degraded after being transiently retained in the ER. Clinically, null alleles are only associated with the loss-of-function phenotype. We recently developed a C. elegans model of ATD in order to further elucidate the mechanisms of proteotoxicity (gain-of-function phenotype induced by the aggregation-prone deficient allele, ATZ. The goal of this study was to use this C. elegans model to determine whether different types of deficient and null alleles, which differentially affect polymerization and secretion rates, correlated to any extent with proteotoxicity. Animals expressing the deficient alleles, Mmalton, Siiyama and S (ATS, showed overall toxicity comparable to that observed in patients. Interestingly, Siiyama expressing animals had smaller intracellular inclusions than ATZ yet appeared to have a greater negative effect on animal fitness. Surprisingly, the null mutants, although efficiently degraded, showed a relatively mild gain-of-function proteotoxic phenotype. However, since null variant proteins are degraded differently and do not appear to accumulate, their mechanism of proteotoxicity is likely to be different to that of polymerizing, deficient mutants. Taken together, these studies showed that C. elegans is an inexpensive tool to assess the proteotoxicity of

Experimental investigation of coaxial-gun-formed plasmas injected into a background transverse magnetic field or plasma

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Zhang, Yue; Fisher, Dustin M.; Gilmore, Mark; Hsu, Scott C.; Lynn, Alan G.

2018-05-01

Injection of coaxial-gun-formed magnetized plasmas into a background transverse vacuum magnetic field or into a background magnetized plasma has been studied in the helicon-cathode (HelCat) linear plasma device at the University of New Mexico [M. Gilmore et al., J. Plasma Phys. 81, 345810104 (2015)]. A magnetized plasma jet launched into a background transverse magnetic field shows emergent kink stabilization of the jet due to the formation of a sheared flow in the jet above the kink stabilization threshold 0.1kVA [Y. Zhang et al., Phys. Plasmas 24, 110702 (2017)]. Injection of a spheromak-like plasma into a transverse background magnetic field led to the observation of finger-like structures on the side with a stronger magnetic field null between the spheromak and the background field. The finger-like structures are consistent with magneto-Rayleigh-Taylor instability. Jets or spheromaks launched into a background, low-β magnetized plasma show similar behavior as above, respectively, in both cases.

Magnetic Reconnection in the Solar Chromosphere

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Lukin, Vyacheslav S.; Ni, Lei; Murphy, Nicholas Arnold

2017-08-01

We report on the most recent efforts to accurately and self-consistently model magnetic reconnection processes in the context of the solar chromosphere. The solar chromosphere is a notoriously complex and highly dynamic boundary layer of the solar atmosphere where local variations in the plasma parameters can be of the order of the mean values. At the same time, the interdependence of the physical processes such as magnetic field evolution, local and global energy transfer between internal and electromagnetic plasma energy, radiation transport, plasma reactivity, and dissipation mechanisms make it a particularly difficult system to self-consistently model and understand. Several recent studies have focused on the micro-physics of multi-fluid magnetic reconnection at magnetic nulls in the weakly ionized plasma environment of the lower chromosphere[1-3]. Here, we extend the previous work by considering a range of spatial scales and magnetic field strengths in a configuration with component magnetic reconnection, i.e., for magnetic reconnection with a guide field. We show that in all cases the non-equilibrium reactivity of the plasma and the dynamic interaction among the plasma processes play important roles in determining the structure of the reconnection region. We also speculate as to the possible observables of chromospheric magnetic reconnection and the likely plasma conditions required for generation of Ellerman and IRIS bombs.[1] Leake, Lukin, Linton, and Meier, “Multi-fluid simulations of chromospheric magnetic reconnection in a weakly ionized reacting plasma,” ApJ 760 (2012).[2] Leake, Lukin, and Linton, “Magnetic reconnection in a weakly ionized plasma,” PoP 20 (2013).[3] Murphy and Lukin, “Asymmetric magnetic reconnection in weakly ionized chromospheric plasmas,” ApJ 805 (2015).[*Any opinion, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National

EBTR design-point selection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krakowski, R.A.; Bathke, C.G.

1981-01-01

The procedure used to select the design point for the ELMO Bumpy Torus Reactor (EBTR) study is described. The models used in each phase of the selection process are described, with an emphasis placed on the parametric design curves produced by each model. The tradeoffs related to burn physics, stability/equilibrium, electron-ring physics, and magnetics design are discussed. The resulting design point indicates a plasma with a 35-m major radius and a 1-m minor radium operating at an average core-plasma beta of 0.17, which at approx. 30 keV produces an average neutron wall loading of 1.4 MW/m 2 while maintaining key magnet (< 10 T) and total power (less than or equal to 4000 MWt) constraints

Point specificity in acupuncture

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Choi Emma M

2012-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract The existence of point specificity in acupuncture is controversial, because many acupuncture studies using this principle to select control points have found that sham acupoints have similar effects to those of verum acupoints. Furthermore, the results of pain-related studies based on visual analogue scales have not supported the concept of point specificity. In contrast, hemodynamic, functional magnetic resonance imaging and neurophysiological studies evaluating the responses to stimulation of multiple points on the body surface have shown that point-specific actions are present. This review article focuses on clinical and laboratory studies supporting the existence of point specificity in acupuncture and also addresses studies that do not support this concept. Further research is needed to elucidate the point-specific actions of acupuncture.

Approaches for achieving broadband achromatic phase shifts for visible nulling coronagraphy

Science.gov (United States)

Bolcar, Matthew R.; Lyon, Richard G.

2012-07-01

Visible nulling coronagraphy is one of the few approaches to the direct detection and characterization of Jovian and Terrestrial exoplanets that works with segmented aperture telescopes. Jovian and Terrestrial planets require at least 10-9 and 10-10 image plane contrasts, respectively, within the spectral bandpass and thus require a nearly achromatic π-phase difference between the arms of the interferometer. An achromatic π-phase shift can be achieved by several techniques, including sequential angled thick glass plates of varying dispersive materials, distributed thin-film multilayer coatings, or techniques that leverage the polarization-dependent phase shift of total-internal reflections. Herein we describe two implementations of such techniques: sequential thick glass plates and Fresnel rhomb prisms. A viable technique must achieve the achromatic phase shift while simultaneously minimizing the intensity difference, chromatic beam spread and polarization variation between the interferometer arms. In this paper we describe the above implementations and report on the trades associated with each technique that will lead to an implementation of the most promising one in Goddard's Visible Nulling Coronagraph (VNC).

Tracing Fast Electron Beams Emanating from the Magnetic Reconnection Site in a Solar Jet

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, B.; Yu, S.; Battaglia, M.; Krucker, S.

2017-12-01

Fast electron beams propagating in the solar corona can emit radio waves commonly known as type III radio bursts. At decimetric wavelengths, these bursts are emitted from the low corona where flare energy release is thought to take place. As such, decimetric type III radio bursts can serve as an excellent tool to directly trace fast electron beams in the vicinity of the flare energy release site. Here we report observations of decimetric type III bursts during a jet event using the Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) in 1-2 GHz. Taking advantage of VLA's highly sensitive spectral imaging capability with an ultra-high cadence of 50 ms, we derive detailed trajectories of fast electron beams (with a bulk speed of at least 0.3-0.5c, or several tens of keV) and place them in the context of extreme ultraviolet and X-ray images obtained by SDO/AIA and RHESSI. Our results show that the electron beams originated in a region just below the jet and above the lower-lying small-scale flare loops, presumably where the magnetic energy release took place. We show that the electron beams appear in groups, each with a duration of only a few seconds. Each group, consisting of beams propagating along magnetic field lines at different angles, is seen to emanate from a single site trailing the jet, interpreted as the magnetic reconnection null point. Our results suggest, at least for the present case, that the fast electron beams were energized directly at the magnetic reconnection site which was highly inhomogeneous and fragmentary possibly down to kilometer scales.

Different relationships between temporal phylogenetic turnover and phylogenetic similarity and in two forests were detected by a new null model.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Jian-Xiong; Zhang, Jian; Shen, Yong; Lian, Ju-yu; Cao, Hong-lin; Ye, Wan-hui; Wu, Lin-fang; Bin, Yue

2014-01-01

Ecologists have been monitoring community dynamics with the purpose of understanding the rates and causes of community change. However, there is a lack of monitoring of community dynamics from the perspective of phylogeny. We attempted to understand temporal phylogenetic turnover in a 50 ha tropical forest (Barro Colorado Island, BCI) and a 20 ha subtropical forest (Dinghushan in southern China, DHS). To obtain temporal phylogenetic turnover under random conditions, two null models were used. The first shuffled names of species that are widely used in community phylogenetic analyses. The second simulated demographic processes with careful consideration on the variation in dispersal ability among species and the variations in mortality both among species and among size classes. With the two models, we tested the relationships between temporal phylogenetic turnover and phylogenetic similarity at different spatial scales in the two forests. Results were more consistent with previous findings using the second null model suggesting that the second null model is more appropriate for our purposes. With the second null model, a significantly positive relationship was detected between phylogenetic turnover and phylogenetic similarity in BCI at a 10 m×10 m scale, potentially indicating phylogenetic density dependence. This relationship in DHS was significantly negative at three of five spatial scales. This could indicate abiotic filtering processes for community assembly. Using variation partitioning, we found phylogenetic similarity contributed to variation in temporal phylogenetic turnover in the DHS plot but not in BCI plot. The mechanisms for community assembly in BCI and DHS vary from phylogenetic perspective. Only the second null model detected this difference indicating the importance of choosing a proper null model.

Study of driven magnetic reconnection in a laboratory plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamada, Masaaki; Ji, H.; Hsu, S.; Carter, T.; Kulsrud, R.; Bretz, N.; Jobes, F.; Ono, Yasushi; Perkins, F.

1998-01-01