Testing and evaluation of solid lubricants for gas bearings

The testing and results of testing solid film lubricants for gas lubricated bearing applications are reported. The tests simulated operational hazards of tilting pad gas bearings. The presence of a low coefficient of friction and the endurance of the solid film lubricant were the criteria for judging superior performance. All solid lubricants tested were applied to a plasma sprayed chrome oxide surface. Molybdenum disulfide and graphite fluoride were the solid lubricants tested; other test parameters included the method of application of the solid lubricant and the surface finish of the plasma sprayed coating. In general, the application of a solid film lubricant was found to significantly improve the coefficient of friction of the rubbing surfaces

Structure formation by cosmic strings with a cosmological constant

Final published version.Comment: 4 Page

A Theory of time-varying Constants

We present a flat (K=0) cosmological model, described by a perfect fluid with the ``constants'' $G,c$ and $\Lambda$ varying with cosmological time $t$. We introduce Planck\'s ``constant'' $\hbar$ in the field equations through the equation of state for the energy density of radiation. We then determine the behaviour of the ``constants'' by using the zero divergence of the second member of the modified Einstein\'s field equations i.e. $div(\frac{G}{c^{4}}T_{i}^{j}+\delta_{i}^{j}\Lambda)=0,$ together with the equation of state and the Einstein cosmological equations. Assuming realistic physical and mathematical conditions we obtain a consistent result with $\hbar c=constant$. In this way we obtain gauge invariance for the Schr\"{o}dinger equation and the behaviour of the remaining ``constants''Comment: 15 pages, RevTeX

Characterization of nanometer-sized, mechanically exfoliated graphene on the H-passivated Si(100) surface using scanning tunnelling microscopy

We have developed a method for depositing graphene monolayers and bilayers with minimum lateral dimensions of 2-10 nm by the mechanical exfoliation of graphite onto the Si(100)-2x1:H surface. Room temperature, ultra-high vacuum (UHV) tunnelling spectroscopy measurements of nanometer-sized single-layer graphene reveal a size dependent energy gap ranging from 0.1-1 eV. Furthermore, the number of graphene layers can be directly determined from scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) topographic contours. This atomistic study provides an experimental basis for probing the electronic structure of nanometer-sized graphene which can assist the development of graphene-based nanoelectronics.Comment: Accepted for publication in Nanotechnolog

Doppler peaks from active perturbations

We examine how the qualitative structure of the Doppler peaks in the angular power spectrum of the cosmic microwave anisotropy depends on the fundamental nature of the perturbations which produced them. The formalism of Hu and Sugiyama is extended to treat models with cosmic defects. We discuss how perturbations can be ``active'' or ``passive'' and ``incoherent'' or ``coherent'', and show how causality and scale invariance play rather different roles in these various cases. We find that the existence of secondary Doppler peaks and the rough placing of the primary peak unambiguously reflect these basic properties.Comment: uufile, 8pages, 3 figures. Now available at http://euclid.tp.ph/Papers/index.html; Changes: URL added, Eqn. (8) expanded, grant numbers include

Wiggly Relativistic Strings

We derive the equations of motion for general strings, i.e. strings with arbitrary relation between tension $\tau$ and energy per unit length $\epsilon$. The renormalization of $\tau$ and $\epsilon$ that results from averaging out small scale wiggles on the string is obtained in the general case to lowest order in the amount of wiggliness. For Nambu-Goto strings we find deviations from the equation of state $\epsilon \tau = {\rm constant}$ in higher orders. Finally we argue that wiggliness may radically modify the gauge cosmic string scenario.Comment: 10 pages, LaTeX, UFIFT-HEP-92-1

Cosmic Strings in an Open Universe with Baryonic and Non-Baryonic Dark Matter

We study the effects of cosmic strings on structure formation in open universes. We calculate the power spectrum of density perturbations for two class of models: one in which all the dark matter is non baryonic (CDM) and one in which it is all baryonic (BDM). Our results are compared to the 1 in 6 IRAS QDOT power spectrum. The best candidates are then used to estimate $\mu$, the energy per unit length of the string network. Some comments are made on mechanisms by which structures are formed in the two theories.Comment: uu-encoded compressed tar of postscript files, Imperial/TP/94-95/0

Parity lifetime of bound states in a proximitized semiconductor nanowire

Quasiparticle excitations can compromise the performance of superconducting devices, causing high frequency dissipation, decoherence in Josephson qubits, and braiding errors in proposed Majorana-based topological quantum computers. Quasiparticle dynamics have been studied in detail in metallic superconductors but remain relatively unexplored in semiconductor-superconductor structures, which are now being intensely pursued in the context of topological superconductivity. To this end, we introduce a new physical system comprised of a gate-confined semiconductor nanowire with an epitaxially grown superconductor layer, yielding an isolated, proximitized nanowire segment. We identify Andreev-like bound states in the semiconductor via bias spectroscopy, determine the characteristic temperatures and magnetic fields for quasiparticle excitations, and extract a parity lifetime (poisoning time) of the bound state in the semiconductor exceeding 10 ms.Comment: text and supplementary information combine

Primordial Adiabatic Fluctuations from Cosmic Defects

We point out that in the context of ``two-metric'' theories of gravity there is the possibility that cosmic defects will produce a spectrum of primordial adiabatic density perturbations. This will happen when the speed characterising the defect-producing scalar field is much larger than the speed characterising gravity and all standard model particles. This model will exactly mimic the standard predictions of inflationary models, with the exception of a small non-Gaussian signal which could be detected by future experiments. We briefly discuss defect evolution in these scenarios and analyze their cosmological consequences.Comment: 5 LaTeX pages, no figures; version to appear in Phys. Rev. Let