The tunneling conductance between a superconducting STM tip and an out-of-equilibrium carbon nanotube

We calculate the current and differential conductance for the junction between a superconducting (SC) STM tip and a Luttinger liquid (LL). For an infinite single-channel LL, the SC coherence peaks are preserved in the tunneling conductance for interactions weaker than a critical value, while for strong interactions (g <0.38), they disappear and are replaced by cusp-like features. For a finite-size wire in contact with non-interacting leads, we find however that the peaks are restored even for extremely strong interactions. In the presence of a source-drain voltage the peaks/cusps split, and the split is equal to the voltage. At zero temperature, even very strong interactions do not smear the two peaks into a broader one; this implies that the recent experiments of Y.-F. Chen et. al. (Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 036804 (2009)) do not rule out the existence of strong interactions in carbon nanotubes.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure

Numerical analysis of one-dimensional waves in generalized thermoelasticity

Classical thermoelasticity theory is based on Fourier\u27s Law of heat conduction, which, when combined with the other fundamental field equations, leads to coupled hyperbolic-parabolic governing equations. These equations imply that thermal effects are to be felt instantaneously, far away from the external thermomechanieal load. Therefore, this theory admits infinite speeds of propagation of thermoelastic disturbances. This paradox becomes especially evident in problems involving very short time intervals, or high rates. of heat flux. Since infinite wave speeds are physically unrealistic in some situations, and since experiments have shown the existence of wavetype thermoelastic interactions, like in the observation of thermal pulses in dielectric crystals, generalized thermoelasticity theories have been developed. This thesis concentrates on one generalized thermoelasticity theory, proposed by Green and Lindsay, in which a generalized thermoelastic coupling constant, e, and two relaxation times, t0 and t, account for finite speed thermoelastic waves . A numerical analysis of an exact analytical solution, involving an instantaneous plane source of heat in an infinite body, is performed. The analysis reveals two finite speed wave fronts for each of the four fields: displacement, stress, temperature, and heat flux. The results are complimentary to previous analysis, and improve upon them, because a large range of parameters is involved, and the exact solution to the problem has been used

Statistical mechanics of image restoration and error-correcting codes

We develop a statistical-mechanical formulation for image restoration and error-correcting codes. These problems are shown to be equivalent to the Ising spin glass with ferromagnetic bias under random external fields. We prove that the quality of restoration/decoding is maximized at a specific set of parameter values determined by the source and channel properties. For image restoration in mean-field system a line of optimal performance is shown to exist in the parameter space. These results are illustrated by solving exactly the infinite-range model. The solutions enable us to determine how precisely one should estimate unknown parameters. Monte Carlo simulations are carried out to see how far the conclusions from the infinite-range model are applicable to the more realistic two-dimensional case in image restoration.Comment: 20 pages, 9 figures, ReVTe

Nonequilibrium-induced metal-superconductor quantum phase transition in graphene

We study the effects of dissipation and time-independent nonequilibrium drive on an open superconducting graphene. In particular, we investigate how dissipation and nonequilibrium effects modify the semi-metal-BCS quantum phase transition that occurs at half-filling in equilibrium graphene with attractive interactions. Our system consists of a graphene sheet sandwiched by two semi-infinite three-dimensional Fermi liquid reservoirs, which act both as a particle pump/sink and a source of decoherence. A steady-state charge current is established in the system by equilibrating the two reservoirs at different, but constant, chemical potentials. The nonequilibrium BCS superconductivity in graphene is formulated using the Keldysh path integral formalism, and we obtain generalized gap and number density equations valid for both zero and finite voltages. The behaviour of the gap is discussed as a function of both attractive interaction strength and electron densities for various graphene-reservoir couplings and voltages. We discuss how tracing out the dissipative environment (with or without voltage) leads to decoherence of Cooper pairs in the graphene sheet, hence to a general suppression of the gap order parameter at all densities. For weak enough attractive interactions we show that the gap vanishes even for electron densities away from half-filling, and illustrate the possibility of a dissipation-induced metal-superconductor quantum phase transition. We find that the application of small voltages does not alter the essential features of the gap as compared to the case when the system is subject to dissipation alone (i.e. zero voltage).Comment: 13 pages, 8 figure

On the use of the proximity force approximation for deriving limits to short-range gravitational-like interactions from sphere-plane Casimir force experiments

We discuss the role of the proximity force approximation in deriving limits to the existence of Yukawian forces - predicted in the submillimeter range by many unification models - from Casimir force experiments using the sphere-plane geometry. Two forms of this approximation are discussed, the first used in most analyses of the residuals from the Casimir force experiments performed so far, and the second recently discussed in this context in R. Decca et al. [Phys. Rev. D 79, 124021 (2009)]. We show that the former form of the proximity force approximation overestimates the expected Yukawa force and that the relative deviation from the exact Yukawa force is of the same order of magnitude, in the realistic experimental settings, as the relative deviation expected between the exact Casimir force and the Casimir force evaluated in the proximity force approximation. This implies both a systematic shift making the actual limits to the Yukawa force weaker than claimed so far, and a degree of uncertainty in the alpha-lambda plane related to the handling of the various approximations used in the theory for both the Casimir and the Yukawa forces. We further argue that the recently discussed form for the proximity force approximation is equivalent, for a geometry made of a generic object interacting with an infinite planar slab, to the usual exact integration of any additive two-body interaction, without any need to invoke approximation schemes. If the planar slab is of finite size, an additional source of systematic error arises due to the breaking of the planar translational invariance of the system, and we finally discuss to what extent this may affect limits obtained on power-law and Yukawa forces.Comment: 11 page, 5 figure

Aerodynamic noise from rigid trailing edges with finite porous extensions

This paper investigates the effects of finite flat porous extensions to semi-infinite impermeable flat plates in an attempt to control trailing-edge noise through bio-inspired adaptations. Specifically the problem of sound generated by a gust convecting in uniform mean steady flow scattering off the trailing edge and permeable-impermeable junction is considered. This setup supposes that any realistic trailing-edge adaptation to a blade would be sufficiently small so that the turbulent boundary layer encapsulates both the porous edge and the permeable-impermeable junction, and therefore the interaction of acoustics generated at these two discontinuous boundaries is important. The acoustic problem is tackled analytically through use of the Wiener-Hopf method. A two-dimensional matrix Wiener-Hopf problem arises due to the two interaction points (the trailing edge and the permeable-impermeable junction). This paper discusses a new iterative method for solving this matrix Wiener-Hopf equation which extends to further two-dimensional problems in particular those involving analytic terms that exponentially grow in the upper or lower half planes. This method is an extension of the commonly used "pole removal" technique and avoids the needs for full matrix factorisation. Convergence of this iterative method to an exact solution is shown to be particularly fast when terms neglected in the second step are formally smaller than all other terms retained. The final acoustic solution highlights the effects of the permeable-impermeable junction on the generated noise, in particular how this junction affects the far-field noise generated by high-frequency gusts by creating an interference to typical trailing-edge scattering. This effect results in partially porous plates predicting a lower noise reduction than fully porous plates when compared to fully impermeable plates.Comment: LaTeX, 20 pp., 19 graphics in 6 figure

BB Potentials in Quenched Lattice QCD

The potentials between two B-mesons are computed in the heavy-quark limit using quenched lattice QCD at $m_\pi\sim 400~{\rm MeV}$. Non-zero central potentials are clearly evident in all four spin-isospin channels, (I,s_l) = (0,0) , (0,1) , (1,0) , (1,1), where s_l is the total spin of the light degrees of freedom. At short distance, we find repulsion in the $I\ne s_l$ channels and attraction in the I=s_l channels. Linear combinations of these potentials that have well-defined spin and isospin in the t-channel are found, in three of the four cases, to have substantially smaller uncertainties than the potentials defined with the s-channel (I,s_l), and allow quenching artifacts from single hairpin exchange to be isolated. The BB*\pi coupling extracted from the long-distance behavior of the finite-volume t-channel potential is found to be consistent with quenched calculations of the matrix element of the isovector axial-current. The tensor potentials in both of the s_l = 1 channels are found to be consistent with zero within calculational uncertainties.Comment: 30 page