Towards a physics of Internet traffic in a geographic network

A set of equations from a biased random walk are shown to describe the time-based Gaussian distributions of Internet traffic relative to the Earth’s time zones. The Internet is an example of a more general physical problem dealing with motion near the speed of light relative to different time frames of reference. The second order differential equation (DE) takes the form of ‘time diffusion’ near the speed of light or alternatively considered as a complex variable with real time and imaginary longitudinal components. Congestion waves are generated by peak global traffic from different time zones following the Earth’s revolution. The DE is divided into space and time operators for discussion and each component solution, including constants, is illustrated using data from a global network compiled by the Stanford Linear Accelerator Centre (SLAC). Indices of global and regional phase congestion for the monitoring sites are calculated from standardised regressions from the Earth’s rotation. There is also a J-curve limit to transferring information by the Internet and this is expressed as an inequality underpinned by the speed of light with examples from US and European traffic. The research returns to an often little known theme of Isaac Newton’s: mixing physics with geography. In our case, the equations define trajectories of information packets travelling near the speed of light, navigating within networks and between longitudes, relative to the Earth’s rotation.     

Spin waves and revised crystal structure of honeycomb iridate Na2IrO3

We report inelastic neutron scattering measurements on Na2IrO3, a candidate for the Kitaev spin model on the honeycomb lattice. We observe spin-wave excitations below 5 meV with a dispersion that can be accounted for by including substantial further-neighbor exchanges that stabilize zigzag magnetic order. The onset of long-range magnetic order below T(N)=15.3 K is confirmed via the observation of oscillations in zero-field muon-spin rotation experiments. Combining single-crystal diffraction and density functional calculations we propose a revised crystal structure model with significant departures from the ideal 90° Ir-O-Ir bonds required for dominant Kitaev exchange.     

The influence of spread of excitation on the detection of amplitude modulation imposed on sinusoidal carriers at high levels

The improvement in amplitude modulation (AM) detection thresholds with increasing level of a sinusoidal carrier has been attributed to listening on the high-frequency side of the excitation pattern, where the growth of excitation is more linear, or to an increase in the number of "channels" via spread of excitation. In the present study, AM detection thresholds were measured using a 1000-Hz sinusoidal carrier. Thresholds for modulation frequencies of 4-64 Hz improved by about 10-20 dB as the carrier level increased from 10 dB SL (14.5 dB SPL on average) to 80 dB SPL. To minimize the use of spread of excitation with an 80-dB carrier, tonal "restrictors" with frequencies of 501, 801, 1210, and 1510 Hz were used alone and in combination. High-frequency restrictors elevated AM detection thresholds, whereas low-frequency restrictors did not, indicating that excitation on the high side is more important for detecting AM. Results of modeling suggest that the improvement in AM detection thresholds at high levels is likely due to the use of a relatively linear growth of response on the high-frequency side of the excitation pattern.     

Onset of quark-hadron duality in pion electroproduction

A large data set of charged-pion (pi+/-) electroproduction from both hydrogen and deuterium targets has been obtained spanning the low-energy residual-mass region. These data conclusively show the onset of the quark-hadron duality phenomenon, as predicted for high-energy hadron electroproduction. We construct several ratios from these data to exhibit the relation of this phenomenon to the high-energy factorization ansatz of electron-quark scattering and subsequent quark-->pion production mechanisms.     

Functional MRI of working memory and selective attention in vibrotactile frequency discrimination

Background  

Focal lesions of the frontal, parietal and temporal lobe may interfere with tactile working memory and attention. To characterise the neural correlates of intact vibrotactile working memory and attention, functional MRI was conducted in 12 healthy young adults. Participants performed a forced-choice vibrotactile frequency discrimination task, comparing a cue stimulus of fixed frequency to their right thumb with a probe stimulus of identical or higher frequency. To investigate working memory, the time interval between the 2 stimuli was pseudo-randomized (either 2 or 8 s). To investigate selective attention, a distractor stimulus was occasionally presented contralaterally, simultaneous to the probe.     

First observation of the decay B --> J/psistraight phiK

We present the first observation of the decay B-->J/psistraight phiK. Using 9.6x10(6) B&Bmacr; meson pairs collected with the CLEO detector, we have observed ten fully reconstructed B-->J/psistraight phiK candidates, whereas the estimated background is 0.5+/-0.2 event. We obtain a branching fraction of B(B-->J/psistraight phiK) = (8. 8(+3.5)(-3.0)[stat]+/-1.3[syst])x10(-5). This is the first observed B meson decay requiring the creation of an additional s&smacr; quark pair.