Consolidation and break-up of the South American platform in southeastern Brazil: Tectonothermal and denudation histories

The different tectonic stages that occurred at the end of the Proterozoic and during the Phanerozoic have an important bearing on the tectonothermal history of the South American Platform and its consolidation. Geochronological data (U/Pb monazite, Ar-40/Ar-39 whole rock) and apatite fission-track analysis, from Precambrian rocks of the southeastern Brazilian coastline, permit the modeling of a long-term thermal history of the crust and constrain variable denudation rates.Using these data, a temperature-time diagram reflects a period of accelerated exhumation during the end of the Brasiliano Orogeny, followed by long stability and reactivation of the platform during the Rifting Phase of the South Atlantic Ocean.U/Pb zircon and monazite (blocking temperature of ca. 650degreesC) data from a series of igneous bodies suggest that a tangential and transpressional tectonic regime occurred between 625 and 610 Ma. During the following escape tectonics, between 610 and 590 Ma the exhumation process indicates cooling rates of ca. 12degreesC/Ma. Ar-40/Ar-39 biotite ages between 540 and 510 Ma (ca. 300degreesC) and a corrected fission-track age on apatites (100degreesC) of 480 Ma indicate an exhumation event related to block tectonics with huge vertical displacement along shear zones.A long stabilization phase, with low exhumation, and cooling rate around 0.25degreesC/Ma was recorded from the Cambro/Ordovician to the Mesozoic. At 65 Ma an acceleration of the exhumation through denudation and reworking of the South American surface with cooling rate of 1.5degreesC/Ma is observed.The uplift of the Mantiqueira and Serra do Mar mountain ranges along the southeast Brazilian coastline works as a climatic barrier provoking lateral erosional processes causing long-term scarp retreat, combined with intense, but progressive denudation towards the continent. A denudation of 2.5 to 4 km was calculated for such processes. This lateral retreat of escarpments and flexural response can provide important insights regarding marginal isostatic uplift and the evolution of offshore sedimentary basins of southeast Brazil.

ACCELERATING ITERATIVE ALGORITHMS FOR SYMMETRICAL LINEAR COMPLEMENTARITY-PROBLEMS

We propose a method for accelerating iterative algorithms for solving symmetric linear complementarity problems. The method consists in performing a one-dimensional optimization in the direction generated by a splitting method even for non-descent directions. We give strong convergence proofs and present numerical experiments that justify using this acceleration.

Analytic solutions for the Lambda-FRW model

The high precision attained by cosmological data in the last few years has increased the interest in exact solutions. Analytic expressions for solutions in the Standard Model are presented here for all combinations of Lambda = 0, Lambda not equal 0, kappa = 0, and kappa = 0, in the presence and absence of radiation and nonrelativistic matter. The most complete case (here called the Lambda gamma CDM Model) has Lambda not equal 0, kappa not equal 0, and supposes the presence of radiation and dust. It exhibits clearly the recent onset of acceleration. The treatment includes particular models of interest such as the Lambda CDM Model (which includes the cosmological constant plus cold dark matter as source constituents).

Separation of particles in time-dependent focusing billiards

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Distinção entre areias eolicas e praiais pele analise discriminante

Beach deposits occur in high energy environments with continual sorting by swash and backswash. The fines are removed by the backswash, which is not competent to remove the coarser material. Hence negative asymmetry (skewness) results. The wind transports only the finer fraction to the dunes, resulting in a tendency towards a positively skewed distribution. In the case studied the aeolian sand has a mean asymmetry of 0.13, the beach sand -0.11. Equivalent values for mean grain size and standard deviation are 2.51 and 0.24 (aeolian) and 2.41 and 0.37 (beach). Beach sands are therefore coarser and less well sorted than aeolian sands. -V.Gardiner

Efeitos da estimulação ultra-sônica sobre o processo de reparo em ferida de extração dental: estudo histológico em ratos.

The effects of ultrasound on the wound healing process after teeth extractions were studied histologically. The right upper incisor was extracted in 56 rats. They were divided into 2 groups, one control (I) and one experimental (II). Group II received ultrasound stimulation that was applied with the frequency of repetition of 1,000 Hz and pulse length of 2,000 us continuously, during five minutes daily since the extraction day until 24 hours before the death. The rats were sacrificed at 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, and 21 postoperative days. The results showed a precocious granulation tissue formation, faster remodeling of osseous ridges, and consequently acceleration of the alveolar wound healing process.

Do static sources outside a Schwarzschild black hole radiate?

We show that static sources coupled to a massless scalar field in Schwarzschild spacetime give rise to emission and absorption of zero-energy particles due to the presence of Hawking radiation. This is in complete analogy with the description of the bremsstrahlung by a uniformly accelerated charge from the coaccelerated observers' point of view. The response rate of the source is found to coincide with that in Minkowski spacetime as a function of its proper acceleration. It is interesting that this quantum result appears to reflect the classical equivalence principle.

Background thermal depolarization of electrons in storage rings

We discuss the influence of the background thermal bath on the depolarization of electrons in high-energy storage rings, and on the photon emission associated with the spin flip. We focus, in particular, on electrons at CERN LEP. We show that in a certain interval of solid angles the photon emission is enhanced several orders of magnitude because of the presence of the thermal bath. Notwithstanding, the overall depolarization induced by the background thermal bath at LEP conditions is much smaller than the one induced by plain acceleration at zero temperature and can be neglected in practical situations. Eventually we discuss under what conditions the background thermal bath can enhance the overall depolarization by several orders of magnitude.

Interaction of Hawking radiation with static sources outside a Schwarzschild black hole

We show that the response rate of (i) a static source interacting with Hawking radiation of a massless scalar field in Schwarzschild spacetime (with the Unruh vacuum) and that of (ii) a uniformly accelerated source with the same proper acceleration in Minkowski spacetime (with the Minkowski vacuum) are equal. We show that this equality will not hold if the Unruh vacuum is replaced by the Hartle-Hawking vacuum. It is verified that the source responds to the Hawking radiation near the horizon as if it were at rest in a thermal bath in Minkowski spacetime with the same temperature. It is also verified that the response rate in the Hartle-Hawking vacuum approaches that in Minkowski spacetime with the same temperature far away from the black hole. Finally, we compare our results with others in the literature.

Design of the main racetrack microtron accelerator end magnets of the Institute of Physics of University of São Paulo

This work deals with the design of the Institute of Physics of the University of São Paulo (IFUSP) main racetrack microtron accelerator end magnets. This is the last stage of acceleration, comprised of an accelerating section (1.04 m) and two end magnets (0.1585 T), in which a 5.10 MeV beam, produced by a racetrack microtron booster has its energy raised up to 31.15 MeV after 28 accelerations. POISSON code was used to give the final configuration that includes auxiliary pole pieces (clamps) and auxiliary homogenizing gaps. The clamps create a reverse fringe field region and avoid the vertical defocusing and the horizontal displacement of the beam produced by extended fringe fields; PTRACE code was used to perform the trajectory calculations in the fringe field region. The auxiliary homogenizing gaps improve the field uniformity as they create a magnetic shower that provides uniformity of ±0.3%, before the introduction of the correcting coils that will be attached to the pole faces. This method of correction, used in the IFUSP racetrack microtron booster magnets, enabled uniformity of ±0.001% in an average field of 0.1 T and will also be employed for these end magnets. © 1999 The American Physical Society.

Constraints on space-time manifold in Euclidean supergravity in terms of Dirac eigenvalues

We generalize a previous work on Dirac eigenvalues as dynamical variables of Euclidean supergravity. The most general set of constraints on the curvatures of the tangent bundle and on the spinor bundle of the space-time manifold, under which space-time admits Dirac eigenvalues as observables, are derived.

Gravitomagnetic moments of the fundamental fields

The quadratic form of the Dirac equation in a Riemann space-time yields a gravitational gyromagnetic ratio κ(S) = 2 for the interaction of a Dirac spinor with curvature. A gravitational gyromagnetic ratio κ(S) = 1 is also found for the interaction of a vector field with curvature. It is shown that the Dirac equation in a curved background can be obtained as the square-root of the corresponding vector field equation only if the gravitational gyromagnetic ratios are properly taken into account.

Low-energy sector quantization of a massless scalar field outside a Reissner-Nordström black hole and static sources

We quantize the low-energy sector of a massless scalar field in Reissner-Nordström spacetime. This allows the analysis of processes involving soft scalar particles occurring outside charged black holes. In particular, we compute the response of a static scalar source interacting with Hawking radiation using the Unruh (and the Hartle-Hawking) vacuum. This response is compared with the one obtained when the source is uniformly accelerated in the usual vacuum of Minkowski spacetime with the same proper acceleration. We show that both responses are in general different in opposition to the result obtained when the Reissner-Nordström black hole is replaced by a Schwarzschild one. The conceptual relevance of this result is commented on. ©2000 The American Physical Society.

Fine tuning in quintessence models with exponential potentials

We explore regions of parameter space in a simple exponential model of the form V = V0 e-λ(Q/Mp) that are allowed by observational constraints. We find that the level of fine tuning in these models is not different from more sophisticated models of dark energy. We study a transient regime where the parameter λ has to be less than √3 and the fixed point ΩQ = 1 has not been reached. All values of the parameter λ that lead to this transient regime are permitted. We also point out that this model can accelerate the universe today even for λ > √2, leading to a halt of the present acceleration of the universe in the future thus avoiding the horizon problem. We conclude that this model can not be discarded by current observations. © SISSA/ISAS 2002.

Water waves generated by local disturbance: Serre's model validity

Water waves generated by landslides were long menace in certain localities and the study of this phenomenon were carried out at an accelerated rate in the last decades. Nevertheless, the phase of wave creation was found to be very complex. As such, a numerical model based on Boussinesq equations was used to describe water waves generated by local disturbance. This numerical model takes in account the vertical acceleration of the particles and considers higher orders derivate terms previously neglected by Boussinesq, so that in the generation zone, this model can support high relative amplitude of waves.