796 research outputs found
Optimized laser pulse profile for efficient radiation pressure acceleration of ions
The radiation pressure acceleration regime of laser ion acceleration requires
high intensity laser pulses to function efficiently. Moreover the foil should
be opaque for incident radiation during the interaction to ensure maximum
momentum transfer from the pulse to the foil, which requires proper matching of
the target to the laser pulse. However, in the ultrarelativistic regime, this
leads to large acceleration distances, over which the high laser intensity for
a Gaussian laser pulse must be maintained. It is shown that proper tailoring of
the laser pulse profile can significantly reduce the acceleration distance,
leading to a compact laser ion accelerator, requiring less energy to operate.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure
Election turnout statistics in many countries: similarities, differences, and a diffusive field model for decision-making
We study in details the turnout rate statistics for 77 elections in 11
different countries. We show that the empirical results established in a
previous paper for French elections appear to hold much more generally. We find
in particular that the spatial correlation of turnout rates decay
logarithmically with distance in all cases. This result is quantitatively
reproduced by a decision model that assumes that each voter makes his mind as a
result of three influence terms: one totally idiosyncratic component, one
city-specific term with short-ranged fluctuations in space, and one long-ranged
correlated field which propagates diffusively in space. A detailed analysis
reveals several interesting features: for example, different countries have
different degrees of local heterogeneities and seem to be characterized by a
different propensity for individuals to conform to the cultural norm. We
furthermore find clear signs of herding (i.e. strongly correlated decisions at
the individual level) in some countries, but not in others.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures, 7 table
Dominance of Radiation Pressure in Ion Acceleration with Linearly Polarized Pulses at Intensities of
A novel regime is proposed where, employing linearly polarized laser pulses
at intensities as two order of magnitude lower than
earlier predicted [T. Esirkepov et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 175003 (2004)],
ions are dominantly accelerated from ultrathin foils by the radiation pressure,
and have monoenergetic spectra. In the regime, ions accelerated from the
hole-boring process quickly catch up with the ions accelerated by target normal
sheath acceleration (TNSA), and they then join in a single bunch, undergoing a
hybrid Light-Sail/TNSA acceleration. Under an appropriate coupling condition
between foil thickness, laser intensity and pulse duration, laser radiation
pressure can be dominant in this hybrid acceleration. Two-dimensional PIC
simulations show that quasimonoenergetic
beams are obtained by linearly polarized laser pulses at intensities of
.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure
Multiscaled Cross-Correlation Dynamics in Financial Time-Series
The cross correlation matrix between equities comprises multiple interactions
between traders with varying strategies and time horizons. In this paper, we
use the Maximum Overlap Discrete Wavelet Transform to calculate correlation
matrices over different timescales and then explore the eigenvalue spectrum
over sliding time windows. The dynamics of the eigenvalue spectrum at different
times and scales provides insight into the interactions between the numerous
constituents involved.
Eigenvalue dynamics are examined for both medium and high-frequency equity
returns, with the associated correlation structure shown to be dependent on
both time and scale. Additionally, the Epps effect is established using this
multivariate method and analyzed at longer scales than previously studied. A
partition of the eigenvalue time-series demonstrates, at very short scales, the
emergence of negative returns when the largest eigenvalue is greatest. Finally,
a portfolio optimization shows the importance of timescale information in the
context of risk management
Radiation-Pressure Acceleration of Ion Beams from Nanofoil Targets: The Leaky Light-Sail Regime
A new ion radiation-pressure acceleration regime, the "leaky light sail," is proposed which uses sub-skin-depth nanometer foils irradiated by circularly polarized laser pulses. In the regime, the foil is partially transparent, continuously leaking electrons out along with the transmitted laser field. This feature can be exploited by a multispecies nanofoil configuration to stabilize the acceleration of the light ion component, supplementing the latter with an excess of electrons leaked from those associated with the heavy ions to avoid Coulomb explosion. It is shown by 2D particle-in-cell simulations that a monoenergetic proton beam with energy 18 MeV is produced by circularly polarized lasers at intensities of just 10(19) W/cm(2). 100 MeV proton beams are obtained by increasing the intensities to 2 x 10(20) W/cm(2)
Dynamic Control of Laser Produced Proton Beams
The emission characteristics of intense laser driven protons are controlled
using ultra-strong (of the order of 10^9 V/m) electrostatic fields varying on a
few ps timescale. The field structures are achieved by exploiting the high
potential of the target (reaching multi-MV during the laser interaction).
Suitably shaped targets result in a reduction in the proton beam divergence,
and hence an increase in proton flux while preserving the high beam quality.
The peak focusing power and its temporal variation are shown to depend on the
target characteristics, allowing for the collimation of the inherently highly
divergent beam and the design of achromatic electrostatic lenses.Comment: 9 Pages, 5 figure
Laser-driven collimated tens-GeV monoenergetic protons from mass-limited target plus preformed channel
Proton acceleration by ultra-intense laser pulse irradiating a target with cross-section smaller than the laser spot size and connected to a parabolic density channel is investigated. The target splits the laser into two parallel propagating parts, which snowplow the back-side plasma electrons along their paths, creating two adjacent parallel wakes and an intense return current in the gap between them. The radiation-pressure pre-accelerated target protons trapped in the wake fields now undergo acceleration as well as collimation by the quasistatic wake electrostatic and magnetic fields. Particle-in-cell simulations show that stable long-distance acceleration can be realized, and a 30 fs monoenergetic ion beam of >10 GeV peak energy and <2 degrees divergence can be produced by a circularly polarized laser pulse at an intensity of about 10(22) W/cm(2). (C) 2013 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4775728]Physics, Fluids & PlasmasSCI(E)EI3ARTICLE1null2
Financial correlations at ultra-high frequency: theoretical models and empirical estimation
A detailed analysis of correlation between stock returns at high frequency is
compared with simple models of random walks. We focus in particular on the
dependence of correlations on time scales - the so-called Epps effect. This
provides a characterization of stochastic models of stock price returns which
is appropriate at very high frequency.Comment: 22 pages, 8 figures, 1 table, version to appear in EPJ
Ising model with memory: coarsening and persistence properties
We consider the coarsening properties of a kinetic Ising model with a memory
field. The probability of a spin-flip depends on the persistence time of the
spin in a state. The more a spin has been in a given state, the less the
spin-flip probability is. We numerically studied the growth and persistence
properties of such a system on a two dimensional square lattice. The memory
introduces energy barriers which freeze the system at zero temperature. At
finite temperature we can observe an apparent arrest of coarsening for low
temperature and long memory length. However, since the energy barriers
introduced by memory are due to local effects, there exists a timescale on
which coarsening takes place as for the Ising model. Moreover the two point
correlation functions of the Ising model with and without memory are the same,
indicating that they belong to the same universality class.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures; some figures and some comments adde
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