Exact ground states of spin-2 chains

We use the matrix product approach to construct all optimum ground states of general anisotropic spin-2 chains with nearest neighbour interactions and common symmetries. These states are exact ground states of the model and their properties depend on up to three parameters. We find three different antiferromagnetic Haldane phases, one weak antiferromagnetic and one weak ferromagnetic phase. The antiferromagnetic phases can be described as spin liquids with exponentially decaying correlation functions. The variety of phases found with the matrix product ansatz also gives insight into the behaviour of spin chains with arbitrary higher spins.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, to be published in europhysics letters, uses epl.cl

Shock-induced CO2 loss from CaCO3: Implications for early planetary atmospheres

Recovered samples from shock recovery experiments on single crystal calcite were subjected to thermogravimetric analysis to determine the amount of post-shock CO2, the decarbonization interval and the activation energy, for the removal of remaining CO2 in shock-loaded calcite. Comparison of post-shock CO2 with that initially present determines shock-induced CO2 loss as a function of shock pressure. Incipient to complete CO2 loss occurs over a pressure range of approximately 10 to approximately 70 GPa. Optical and scanning electron microscopy reveal structural changes, which are related to the shock-loading. The occurrence of dark, diffuse areas, which can be resolved as highly vesicular areas as observed with a scanning electron microscope are interpreted as representing quenched partial melts, into which shock-released CO2 was injected. The experimental results are used to constrain models of shock-produced, primary CO2 atmospheres on the accreting terrestrial planets

Top-Quark Pair Production Beyond Next-to-Leading Order

We report on recent calculations of the differential cross section for top-quark pair production at hadron colliders. The results are differential with respect to the top-pair invariant mass and to the partonic scattering angle. In these calculations, which were carried out by employing soft-collinear effective theory techniques, we resummed threshold logarithms up to next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic order. Starting from the differential cross section, it is possible to obtain theoretical predictions for the invariant-mass distribution and the total cross section. We summarize here our results for these observables, and we compare them with the results obtained from different calculational methods.Comment: Talk presented at Loops and Legs in Quantum Field Theory 2010, Woerlitz, Germany, April 25-30, 2010. 6 page

Shock temperatures in anorthite glass

Temperatures of CaAl2Si2O8 (anorthite glass) shocked to pressures between 48 and 117 GPa were measured in the range from 2500 to 5600 K, using optical pyrometry techniques. The pressure dependence of the shock temperatures deviates significantly from predictions based on a single high pressure phase. At least three phase transitions, at pressures of about 55, 85, and 100 GPa and with transition energies of about 0.5 MJ/kg each (approximately 1.5 MJ/kg total) are required to explain the shock temperature data. The phase transition at 100 GPa can possibly be identified with the stishovite melting transition. Theoretical models of the time dependence of the thermal radiation from the shocked anorthite based on the geometry of the experiment and the absorptive properties of the shocked material yields good agreement with observations, indicating that it is not necessary to invoke intrinsic time dependences to explain the data in many cases

Motivations and experiences of UK students studying abroad

This report summarises the findings of research aimed at improving understanding of the motivations behind the international diploma mobility of UK student

Exact dimer ground states for a continuous family of quantum spin chains

Using the matrix product formalism, we define a multi-parameter family of spin models on one dimensional chains, with nearest and next-nearest neighbor anti-ferromagnetic interaction for which exact analytical expressions can be found for its doubly degenerate ground states. The family of Hamiltonians which we define, depend on 5 continuous parameters and the Majumdar-Ghosh model is a particular point in this parameter space. Like the Majumdar-Ghosh model, the doubly degenerate ground states of our models have a very simple structure, they are the product of entangled states on adjacent sites. In each of these states there is a non-zero staggered magnetization, which vanishes when we take their translation-invariant combination as the new ground states. At the Majumdar-Ghosh point, these entangled states become the spin-singlets pertaining to this model. We will also calculate in closed form the two point correlation functions, both for finite size of the chain and in the thermodynamic limit.Comment: 11 page

From AMANDA to IceCube

The first string of the neoteric high energy neutrino telescope IceCube successfully began operating in January 2005. It is anticipated that upon completion the new detector will vastly increase the sensitivity and extend the reach of AMANDA to higher energies. A discussion of the IceCube's discovery potential for extra-terrestrial neutrinos, together with the prospects of new physics derived from the ongoing AMANDA research will be the focus of this paper. Preliminary results of the first antarctic high energy neutrino telescope AMANDA searching in the muon neutrino channel for localized and diffuse excess of extra-terrestrial neutrinos will be reviewed using data collected between 2000 and 2003. Neutrino flux limits obtained with the all-flavor dedicated UHE and cascade analyses will be described. A first neutrino spectrum above one TeV in agreement with atmospheric neutrino flux expectations and no extra-terrestrial contribution will be presented, followed by a discussion of a limit for neutralino CDM candidates annihilating in the center of the Sun.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures Invited talk contribution at 5th International Conference on Non-accelerator New Physics (NANP 05), Dubna, Russia, 20-25 Jun 200

Impact induced dehydration of serpentine and the evolution of planetary atmospheres

Shock recovery experiments in the 25 to 45 GPa range on antigorite serpentine determine the amount of shock-induced loss of structural water as a function of shock pressure. Infrared absorption spectra of shock recovered samples demonstrate systematic changes in the amount of structural water and molecular, surface adsorbed water. These yield qualitative estimates of shock-induced water loss and demonstrate that a portion of the shock released structural water is readsorbed on interfacial grain surfaces. Determination of the post-shock water content of the shocked samples relates shock-induced water loss and shock pressure. Based on the present results and theoretical predictions, we conclude that shock pressures of from 20 to ∼60 GPa induce incipient to complete water loss, respectively. This result agrees closely with theoretical estimates for total dehydration. The dehydration interval and the activation energies for dehydration in shocked samples decrease systematically with increasing shock pressure as experienced by the sample. We believe the present experiments are applicable to describing dehydration processes of serpentine-like minerals in the accretional environment of the terrestrial planets. We conclude that complete loss of structural water in serpentine could have occurred from accretional impacts of ∼3 km/sec when earth and Venus have grown to about 50% of their final size. Accreting planetesimals, impacting Mars, never reached velocities sufficient for complete dehydration of serpentine. Our results support a model in which an impact generated atmosphere/hydrosphere forms while the earth is accreting

Critical behavior of the Random-Field Ising Magnet with long range correlated disorder

We study the correlated-disorder driven zero-temperature phase transition of the Random-Field Ising Magnet using exact numerical ground-state calculations for cubic lattices. We consider correlations of the quenched disorder decaying proportional to r^a, where r is the distance between two lattice sites and a<0. To obtain exact ground states, we use a well established mapping to the graph-theoretical maximum-flow problem, which allows us to study large system sizes of more than two million spins. We use finite-size scaling analyses for values a={-1,-2,-3,-7} to calculate the critical point and the critical exponents characterizing the behavior of the specific heat, magnetization, susceptibility and of the correlation length close to the critical point. We find basically the same critical behavior as for the RFIM with delta-correlated disorder, except for the finite-size exponent of the susceptibility and for the case a=-1, where the results are also compatible with a phase transition at infinitesimal disorder strength. A summary of this work can be found at the papercore database at www.papercore.org.Comment: 9 pages, 13 figure

Black Holes at the IceCube Neutrino Telescope

If the fundamental Planck scale is about a TeV and the cosmic neutrino flux is at the Waxman-Bahcall level, quantum black holes are created daily in the Antarctic ice-cap. We re-examine the prospects for observing such black holes with the IceCube neutrino-detection experiment. To this end, we first revise the black hole production rate by incorporating the effects of inelasticty, i.e., the energy radiated in gravitational waves by the multipole moments of the incoming shock waves. After that we study in detail the process of Hawking evaporation accounting for the black hole's large momentum in the lab system. We derive the energy spectrum of the Planckian cloud which is swept forward with a large, O (10^6), Lorentz factor. (It is noteworthy that the boosted thermal spectrum is also relevant for the study of near-extremal supersymmetric black holes, which could be copiously produced at the LHC.) In the semiclassical regime, we estimate the average energy of the boosted particles to be less than 20% the energy of the neutrino-progenitor. Armed with such a constraint, we determine the discovery reach of IceCube by tagging on "soft" (relative to what one would expect from charged current standard model processes) muons escaping the electromagnetic shower bubble produced by the black hole's light descendants. The statistically significant 5-sigma excess extends up to a quantum gravity scale ~ 1.3 TeV.Comment: Matching version to be published in Phys. Rev.