Superselection rules in quantum theory: Part I. A new proposal for state restriction violation

It is argued that preparation of a quantum state characterized by density operator not commuting with a superselection operatorQ does not by itself constitute an instance of superselection rule violation. It would, however, be an instance of state restriction violation. It is held that superselection rule violation is only possible with simultaneous observable and state restriction violations. It is shown that it is a priori conceivable to subdivide an ensemble whose satisfies[, Q] = 0 into subensembles whose density operators violate the state restrictions. The dynamics of the subdivision process is not considered.     

Studies on crude oil‐water biphasic mixtures by low‐field NMR

Low‐field ¹H NMR was used in this work for the analysis of mixtures involving crude oils and water. CPMG experiments were performed to determine the transverse relaxation time (T₂) distribution curves, which were computed by the inverse Laplace transform of the echo decay data. The instrument's ability of quantifying water and petroleum in biphasic mixtures following different methodologies was tested. For mixtures between deionized water and petroleum, one achieved excellent results, with root mean squared error of cross‐validation (RMSECV) of 0.8% for a regression between the water content (wt %) and the relative area of the water peak in the T₂ distribution curve, or a standard deviation of 0.9% for the relationship between the water content and the relative water peak area, corrected by the relative hydrogen index of the crude. In the case of biphasic mixtures of Mn²⁺‐doped water and crude oils, the best result of RMSECV = 1.6% was achieved by using the raw magnetization decay data for a partial least squares regression. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Scaling in soft hadroproduction by positive projectiles in the range of 32–147 GeV/c

The total hadron multiplicity and the multiplicity in the three-jet events ine ⁺ e ^?-annihilation are considered. The formula for the total multiplicity (with account for the heavy quark contribution) agrees well with experiment. The value of the multiplicity for three-jet events is predicted.     

Antiproton-hydrogen scattering at low-eV energies

In the scattering of negative particles other than the electron by atoms at lab-frame energies around 10 eV, an elastic process termed “brickwall scattering” might lead to a high probability for scattering angles around 180°. For an antiproton slowing in hydrogen, this backward scattering would result in the loss of nearly all of its energy in a single collision, since it and a hydrogen atom have nearly the same mass. Such energy loss would have a significant effect on the energy distribution of antiprotons at energies where capture by the protons of hydrogen is possible and might, thereby, affect the capture rate and the distribution of capture states. In the semiclassical treatment of the problem with an adiabatic potential energy, brickwall scattering is indeed present, and with a substantial cross section. However, this model appears to underestimate inelastic processes. Based on calculations for negative muons on hydrogen atoms, these processes appear to occur for about the same impact parameters as brickwall scattering and thus substantially reduce its effect.     

A long conduction time compact torus plasma opening switch

Experiments to form and accelerate compact toroid (CT) plasmas have been performed on the 0.4-MJ Shiva Star fast capacitor bank at Phillips Laboratory. Theoretical investigations of employing a CT as a very fast opening switch are reported. A particular axisymmetric, geometrically complex switch design is studied with the help of 2-1/2-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic computer simulations. This design, called a magnetically-confined-plasma opening switch (McPOS), accumulates magnetic energy in an inductive store. Because of its intrinsic stability, the switch can conduct current for ten or more microseconds and can open in less than 100 ns-substantially less than the risetime of the capacitively produced electric current. A long conduction time compact torus plasma opening switch     

Statistical approaches for investigating silk properties

Amino acid repeats or motifs have engendered interest because of their significance for protein physical characteristics as well as folding properties. Spider dragline silk proteins are unique because they are composed of long repetitive sections and relatively short non-repetitive sections that are known to interact to generate the very peculiar mechanical and solubility properties of silk. Computational analysis compared with in vitro measurements suggest that the silks achieve their unique pattern of extreme solubility inside the spider glands/complete insolubility outside by correlating their repetitive hydrophobic regions through a type of stochastic resonance, generated by the addition of the non-repetitive sequences to a basically periodic hydrophobicity pattern. PACS 87.14.Ee; 87.15.Cc; 87.15.He; 02.50.Ey; 05.40.Ca     

Synthesis and characterization of nanostructured iron compounds prepared from the decomposition of iron pentacarbonyl dispersed into carbon materials with varying porosities

This work describes the production and characterization of carbon-iron nanocomposites obtained from the decomposition of iron pentacarbonyl (Fe(CO)₅) mixed with different carbon materials: a high surface area activated carbon (AC), powdered graphite (G), milled graphite (MG), and carbon black (CB). The nanocomposites were prepared either under argon or in ambient atmosphere, with a fixed ratio of Fe(CO)₅ (4.0 mL) to carbon precursor (2.0 g). The images of scanning electron microscopy and the analysis of textural properties indicated the presence of nanostructured Fe compounds homogeneously dispersed into the different classes of pores of the carbon matrices. The elemental Fe content was always larger for samples prepared in ambient atmosphere, reaching values in the range of 20–32 wt%. On the other hand, samples prepared under argon showed reduced Fe content, with values in the range 5–10 wt% for samples prepared from precursors with low surface area (G, MG, and CB) and a much higher value (~19 wt%) for samples prepared from the precursor of high surface area (AC). Mössbauer spectroscopy and X-ray diffractometry showed that the nanoparticles were mostly composed of iron oxides in the case of the samples prepared in oxygen-rich ambient atmosphere and also for the AC-derived nanocomposite prepared under argon, which is consistent with the large oxygen content of this precursor. For the other precursors, with reduced or no oxygen content, metallic iron and iron carbides were found to be the dominant phases in samples prepared under oxygen-free atmosphere. The samples prepared in ambient atmosphere and the AC-derived sample prepared under argon exhibited superparamagnetic behavior at room temperature, as revealed by temperature-dependent magnetization curves and Mössbauer spectroscopy.     

Simulations of Co‐GISAXS during kinetic roughening of growth surfaces

The recent development of surface growth studies using X‐ray photon correlation spectroscopy in a grazing‐incidence small‐angle X‐ray scattering (Co‐GISAXS) geometry enables the investigation of dynamical processes during kinetic roughening in greater detail than was previously possible. In order to investigate the Co‐GISAXS behavior expected from existing growth models, calculations and (2+1)‐dimension simulations of linear Kuramoto–Sivashinsky and non‐linear Kardar–Parisi–Zhang surface growth equations are presented which analyze the temporal correlation functions of the height–height structure factor. Calculations of the GISAXS intensity auto‐correlation functions are also performed within the Born/distorted‐wave Born approximation for comparison with the scaling behavior of the height–height structure factor and its correlation functions.     

Direct measurements of (p, \gamma) cross-sections at astrophysical energies using radioactive beams and the Daresbury Recoil Separator

There are a number of astrophysical environments in which the path of nucleosynthesis proceeds through proton-rich nuclei. These nuclei have traditionally not been available as beams, and thus proton-capture reactions on these nuclei could only be studied indirectly. At the Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility (HRIBF), some of the first direct measurements of (p, $ \gamma$ ) cross-sections on radioactive beams have been made. The Daresbury Recoil Separator (DRS) has been used to separate the recoils of interest from the unreacted primary beam and identify them in an isobutane-filled ionization counter. First data from ¹⁷F (p, $ \gamma$ ¹⁸Ne and ⁷Be (p, $ \gamma$ ⁸B measurements are presented.