44,697 research outputs found
Optical Probe of Quantum Shot Noise Reduction at a Single-Atom Contact
Visible and infra-red light emitted at a Ag-Ag(111) junction has been
investigated from tunneling to single atom contact conditions with a scanning
tunneling microscope. The light intensity varies in a highly nonlinear fashion
with the conductance of the junction and exhibits a minimum at conductances
close to the conductance quantum. The data are interpreted in terms of current
noise at optical frequencies, which is characteristic of partially open
transport channels
Numerical Tests of Rotational Mixing in Massive Stars with the new Population Synthesis Code BONNFIRES
We use our new population synthesis code BONNFIRES to test how surface
abundances predicted by rotating stellar models depend on the numerical
treatment of rotational mixing, such as spatial resolution, temporal resolution
and computation of mean molecular weight gradients. We find that even with
identical numerical prescriptions for calculating the rotational mixing
coefficients in the diffusion equation, different timesteps lead to a deviation
of the coefficients and hence surface abundances. We find the surface
abundances vary by 10-100% between the model sequences with short timestep of
0.001Myr to model sequences with longer timesteps. Model sequences with
stronger surface nitrogen enrichment also have longer main-sequence lifetimes
because more hydrogen is mixed to the burning cores. The deviations in
main-sequence lifetimes can be as large as 20%. Mathematically speaking, no
numerical scheme can give a perfect solution unless infinitesimally small
timesteps are used. However, we find that the surface abundances eventually
converge within 10% between modelling sequences with sufficiently small
timesteps below 0.1Myr. The efficiency of rotational mixing depends on the
implemented numerical scheme and critically on the computation of the mean
molecular weight gradient. A smoothing function for the mean molecular weight
gradient results in stronger rotational mixing. If the discretization scheme or
the computational recipe for calculating the mean molecular weight gradient is
altered, re-calibration of mixing parameters may be required to fit
observations. If we are to properly understand the fundamental physics of
rotation in stars, it is crucial that we minimize the uncertainty introduced
into stellar evolution models when numerically approximating rotational mixing
processes.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, accepted by A&
The Skewness of the Aperture Mass Statistic
We present simple formulae for calculating the skewness and kurtosis of the
aperture mass statistic for weak lensing surveys which is insensitive to
masking effects of survey geometry or variable survey depth. The calculation is
the higher order analog of the formula given by Schneider et al (2002) which
has been used to compute the variance of the aperture mass from several lensing
surveys. As our formula requires the three-point shear correlation function, we
also present an efficient tree-based algorithm for measuring it. We show how
our algorithm would scale in computing time and memory usage for future lensing
surveys. Finally, we apply the procedure to our CTIO survey data, originally
described in Jarvis et al (2003). We find that the skewness is positive
(inconsistent with zero) at the 2 sigma level. However, the signal is too noisy
from this data to usefully constrain cosmology.Comment: 16 pages, accepted by MNRAS. Minor revisions; this replacement
matches the accepted versio
Hall effect in laser ablated Co_2(Mn,Fe)Si thin films
Pulsed laser deposition was employed to grow thin films of the Heusler
compounds Co_2MnSi and Co_2FeSi. Epitaxial growth was realized both directly on
MgO (100) and on a Cr or Fe buffer layer. Structural analysis by x-ray and
electron diffraction shows for both materials the ordered L2_1 structure. Bulk
magnetization was determined with a SQUID magnetometer. The values agree with
the Slater-Pauling rule for half-metallic Heusler compounds. On the films grown
directly on the substrate measurements of the Hall effect have been performed.
The normal Hall effect is nearly temperature independent and points towards a
compensated Fermi surface. The anomalous contribution is found to be dominated
by skew scattering. A remarkable sign change of both normal and anomalous Hall
coefficients is observed on changing the valence electron count from 29 (Mn) to
30 (Fe).Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures submitted to J Phys
Evolution of the Pairwise Peculiar Velocity Distribution Function in Lagrangian Perturbation Theory
The statistical distribution of the radial pairwise peculiar velocity of
galaxies is known to have an exponential form as implied by observations and
explicitly shown in N-body simulations. Here we calculate its statistical
distribution function using the Zel'dovich approximation assuming that the
primordial density fluctuations are Gaussian distributed. We show that the
exponential distribution is realized as a transient phenomena on megaparsec
scales in the standard cold-dark-matter model.Comment: 19 pages, 8 Postscript figures, AAS LaTe
Implications of the isotope effects on the magnetization, magnetic torque and susceptibility
We analyze the magnetization, magnetic torque and susceptibility data of
La2-xSrxCu(16,18)O4 and YBa2(63,65)CuO7-x near Tc in terms of the universal
3D-XY scaling relations. It is shown that the isotope effect on Tc mirrors that
on the anisotropy. Invoking the generic behavior of the anisotropy the doping
dependence of the isotope effects on the critical properties, including Tc,
correlation lengths and magnetic penetration depths are traced back to a change
of the mobile carrier concentration.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Frequency comparisons and absolute frequency measurements of 171Yb+ single-ion optical frequency standards
We describe experiments with an optical frequency standard based on a laser
cooled Yb ion confined in a radiofrequency Paul trap. The
electric-quadrupole transition from the ground state to the
state at the wavelength of 436 nm is used as the reference
transition. In order to compare two Yb standards, separate
frequency servo systems are employed to stabilize two probe laser frequencies
to the reference transition line centers of two independently stored ions. The
experimental results indicate a relative instability (Allan standard deviation)
of the optical frequency difference between the two systems of only, so that shifts in the sub-hertz range can be
resolved. Shifts of several hertz are observed if a stationary electric field
gradient is superimposed on the radiofrequency trap field. The absolute optical
transition frequency of Yb at 688 THz was measured with a cesium atomic
clock at two times separated by 2.8 years. A temporal variation of this
frequency can be excluded within a relative uncertainty of yr. Combined with recently published values for the constancy
of other transition frequencies this measurement provides a limit on the
present variability of the fine structure constant at the level of
yr.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures, Proceedings of MPLP'04, Novosibirsk, August
22.-27., 200
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