Refraction holodiagrams and Snell's law

The refraction holodiagram RHD is analyzed here with respect to the law of refraction. Particularly, we study the surface that exactly conjugates by refraction a virtual point source with a real image or conversely. By using the total optical path as a parameter we build a diagram that consists in a family of Descartes ovals of the apple type that contains the Pascal's limaçon as a particular extreme case and the spherical surface with the Weierstrass points as another. These representations permit the straightforward application of Fermat's principle in the case of arbitrary refracting surfaces and show the shape of generalized Fresnel's zones in the intersections with any surface. Snell's law is applied to rays incident on the apple type surfaces to find out the conditions for exact conjugation. Sensitivity to optical path variations is also discussed. The RHD curves family can be represented in a Cartesian way where the ovals appear as equally spaced straight lines.     

Reply to Comment on “Towards a large deviation theory for strongly correlated systems”

The computational study commented by Touchette opens the door to a desirable generalization of standard large deviation theory for special, though ubiquitous, correlations. We focus on three inter-related aspects: (i) numerical results strongly suggest that the standard exponential probability law is asymptotically replaced by a power-law dominant term; (ii) a subdominant term appears to reinforce the thermodynamically extensive entropic nature of q-generalized rate function; (iii) the correlations we discussed, correspond to Q-Gaussian distributions, differing from Lévy?s, except in the case of Cauchy–Lorentz distributions. Touchette has agreeably discussed point (i), but, unfortunately, points (ii) and (iii) escaped to his analysis. Claiming the absence of connection with q-exponentials is unjustified.     

The generalized second law in phantom dominated universes in the presence of black holes

This Letter considers the generalized second law of gravitational thermodynamics in two scenarios featuring a phantom dominated expansion plus a black hole. The law is violated in both scenarios.     

Symmetries and constants of the motion for singular Lagrangian systems

A classification of infinitesimal symmetries of singular autonomous and nonautonomous Lagrangian systems is obtained. The relationship between infinitesimal symmetries and constants of the motion is given.     

Expanding models with a varying cosmological term and bulk stress

The effect of a varying cosmological term and a dissipative bulk stress on the evolution of a homogeneous and isotropic universe is investigated. In the cases of interest neither analytical nor qualitative analysis is feasible and so we study these numerically only. Our work extends that of Calvão et al. to bulk stresses not considered in their analysis.     

On classical electrodynamics of point particles and mass renormalization: Some preliminary results

Apparently, no rigorous results exist for the dynamics of a classical point particle interacting with the electromagnetic field, as described by the standard Maxwell-Lorentz equations. Some results are given here for the corresponding linearized system (dipole approximation) in the presence of a mechanical linear restoring force. We consider a regularization of the system (Pauli-Fierz model), and explicitly solve the Cauchy problem in terms of normal modes. Then we study the limit of the particle's motion as the regularization is removed. We prove that the particle's motion corresponding to smooth initial data for the field has a well-defined limit if mass is renormalized, while the motion is trivial (i.e. the particle does not move at all) if mass is not renormalized. Moreover, the limit particle's motion corresponding to an interesting class of initial data satifies exactly the Abraham-Lorentz-Dirac equation. Finally, for generic initial data the limit motion is runaway.     

Systematic study of decay properties of heaviest elements

Decay properties and stability of heaviest nuclei with Z ?? 132 are studied within the macro-microscopical approach for nuclear ground-state masses. We use phenomenological relations for the half-lives with respect to ??-decay, ??-decay and spontaneous fission. Our calculations demonstrate that the ??-stable isotopes ²⁹¹Cn and ²⁹³Cn with a half-life of about 100 years are the longest-living superheavy nuclei located on the first island of stability. We found the second island of stability of superheavy nuclei in the region of Z ?? 124 and N ?? 198. It is separated from the ??continent?? by the ??gulf?? of short-living nuclei with half-lives shorted than 1 ??s.     

A measurement of the neutral current electroweak parameters using the fermilab narrow band neutrino beam

We report a measurement of the electroweak parameters sin₂θ ^w and ? based on the ratios of neutral current to charged current events measured in the Fermilab narrow-band neutrino beam at energies of 30–240 GeV. The data are fully corrected for radiative effects, heavy-quark production, and other effects. The best value for sin₂θ ^w obtained, sin₂θ ^w =0.239±0.011, is consistent with the most recent values fromW andZ production, as well as from other neutrino experiments.     

Characterizations based on conditional expectations of the doubled truncated distribution

The expression of the continuous distribution function F(x) is obtained whenever % MathType!MTEF!2!1!+-% feaafeart1ev1aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn% hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXafv3ySLgzGmvETj2BSbqefm0B1jxALjhiov2D% aebbfv3ySLgzGueE0jxyaibaiGc9yrFr0xXdbba91rFfpec8Eeeu0x% Xdbba9frFj0-OqFfea0dXdd9vqaq-JfrVkFHe9pgea0dXdar-Jb9hs% 0dXdbPYxe9vr0-vr0-vqpWqaaeaabiGaciaacaqabeaadaqaaqGaaO% qaaerbhv2BYDwAHbacfiGaa8xBaiaabIcacaWG4bGaaiilaiaadMha% caqGPaGaa8hiaiaab2dacaWFGaGaa8xraiaa-HcacaWFybGaa8hiai% aa-XhacaWFGaGaa8hEaiaa-bcacqGHKjYOcaWFGaGaa8hwaiaa-bca% cqGHKjYOcaWFGaGaa8xEaiaa-Lcaaaa!53EE!\[m{\rm{(}}x,y{\rm{)}} {\rm{ = }} E(X | x \le X \le y)\]is known. Moreover, we obtain the necessary and sufficient conditions so that any function m: ² is the conditional expectation % MathType!MTEF!2!1!+-% feaafeart1ev1aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn% hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXafv3ySLgzGmvETj2BSbqefm0B1jxALjhiov2D% aebbfv3ySLgzGueE0jxyaibaiGc9yrFr0xXdbba91rFfpec8Eeeu0x% Xdbba9frFj0-OqFfea0dXdd9vqaq-JfrVkFHe9pgea0dXdar-Jb9hs% 0dXdbPYxe9vr0-vr0-vqpWqaaeaabiGaciaacaqabeaadaqaaqGaaO% qaaiaadweacaGGOaGaamiwaerbhv2BYDwAHbacfiGaa8hiaiaacYha% caWFGaGaa8hEaiaa-bcacqGHKjYOcaWFGaGaa8hwaiaa-bcacqGHKj% YOcaWFGaGaa8xEaiaacMcaaaa!4D0D!\[E(X | x \le X \le y)\]of a random variable X with continuous distribution function. Furthermore, we relate m(x,y) to order statistics.     

Generating well-behaved utility functions for compromise programming

The purpose of this paper is to seek utility functions satisfying a weak condition which guarantees that the utility optimum always belongs to the compromise set. This set is a special subset of the attainable or feasible set, which is generated through the application of the well-known operational research approach called compromise programming. It is shown that there are large families of utility functions satisfying this condition, thus reinforcing the value of compromise programming as a good surrogate of the traditional utility optimum.Thanks are due to the reviewers for their helpful suggestions. The English editing by Ms. Christine Méndez is appreciated. The authors have been supported by the Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología (CICYT), Madrid, Spain.