4,646 research outputs found
Metastable helium molecules as tracers in superfluid liquid He
Metastable helium molecules generated in a discharge near a sharp tungsten
tip operated in either pulsed mode or continuous field-emission mode in
superfluid liquid He are imaged using a laser-induced-fluorescence
technique. By pulsing the tip, a small cloud of He molecules is
produced. At 2.0 K, the molecules in the liquid follow the motion of the normal
fluid. We can determine the normal-fluid velocity in a heat-induced counterflow
by tracing the position of a single molecule cloud. As we run the tip in
continuous field-emission mode, a normal-fluid jet from the tip is generated
and molecules are entrained in the jet. A focused 910 nm pump laser pulse is
used to drive a small group of molecules to the vibrational state.
Subsequent imaging of the tagged molecules with an expanded 925 nm probe
laser pulse allows us to measure the velocity of the normal fluid. The
techniques we developed demonstrate for the first time the ability to trace the
normal-fluid component in superfluid helium using angstrom-sized particles.Comment: 4 pages, 7 figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
Calibration of liquid argon and neon detectors with
We report results from tests of Kr, as a calibration
source in liquid argon and liquid neon. Kr atoms are
produced in the decay of Rb, and a clear Kr
scintillation peak at 41.5 keV appears in both liquids when filling our
detector through a piece of zeolite coated with Rb. Based on this
scintillation peak, we observe 6.0 photoelectrons/keV in liquid argon with a
resolution of 6% (/E) and 3.0 photoelectrons/keV in liquid neon with a
resolution of 19% (/E). The observed peak intensity subsequently decays
with the Kr half-life after stopping the fill, and we
find evidence that the spatial location of Kr atoms in
the chamber can be resolved. Kr will be a useful
calibration source for liquid argon and neon dark matter and solar neutrino
detectors.Comment: 7 pages, 12 figure
A 83Krm Source for Use in Low-background Liquid Xenon Time Projection Chambers
We report the testing of a charcoal-based Kr-83m source for use in
calibrating a low background two-phase liquid xenon detector. Kr-83m atoms
produced through the decay of Rb-83 are introduced into a xenon detector by
flowing xenon gas past the Rb-83 source. 9.4 keV and 32.1 keV transitions from
decaying 83Krm nuclei are detected through liquid xenon scintillation and
ionization. The characteristics of the Kr-83m source are analyzed and shown to
be appropriate for a low background liquid xenon detector. Introduction of
Kr-83m allows for quick, periodic calibration of low background noble liquid
detectors at low energy.Comment: Updated to version submitted to JINS
Homogeneous nucleation of a non-critical phase near a continuous phase transition
Homogeneous nucleation of a new phase near a second, continuous, transition,
is considered. The continuous transition is in the metastable region associated
with the first-order phase transition, one of whose coexisting phases is
nucleating. Mean-field calculations show that as the continuous transition is
approached, the size of the nucleus varies as the response function of the
order parameter of the continuous transition. This response function diverges
at the continuous transition, as does the temperature derivative of the free
energy barrier to nucleation. This rapid drop of the barrier as the continuous
transition is approached means that the continuous transition acts to reduce
the barrier to nucleation at the first-order transition. This may be useful in
the crystallisation of globular proteins.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figur
Calibration of a Liquid Xenon Detector with Kr-83m
We report the preparation of a Kr-83m source and its subsequent use in
calibrating a liquid xenon detector. Kr-83m atoms were produced through the
decay of Rb-83 atoms trapped in zeolite molecular sieve and were then
introduced into liquid xenon. Decaying Kr-83m nuclei were detected through
liquid xenon scintillation. Conversion electrons with energies of 9.4 keV and
32.1 keV from the decay of Kr-83m were both observed. This calibration source
will allow the characterization of the scintillation and ionization response of
noble liquid detectors at low energies, highly valuable for the search for WIMP
dark matter. Kr-83m may also be useful for measuring fluid flow dynamics, both
to understand purification in noble liquid-based particle detectors, as well as
for studies of classical and quantum turbulence in superfluid helium.Comment: Minor edits to match published versio
Glauber dynamics of phase transitions: SU(3) lattice gauge theory
Motivated by questions about the QCD deconfining phase transition, we studied
in two previous papers Model A (Glauber) dynamics of 2D and 3D Potts models,
focusing on structure factor evolution under heating (heating in the gauge
theory notation, i.e., cooling of the spin systems). In the present paper we
set for 3D Potts models (Ising and 3-state) the scale of the dynamical effects
by comparing to equilibrium results at first and second order phase transition
temperatures, obtained by re-weighting from a multicanonical ensemble. Our
finding is that the dynamics entirely overwhelms the critical and non-critical
equilibrium effects.
In the second half of the paper we extend our results by investigating the
Glauber dynamics of pure SU(3) lattice gauge on
lattices directly under heating quenches from the confined into the deconfined
regime. The exponential growth factors of the initial response are calculated,
which give Debye screening mass estimates. The quench leads to competing vacuum
domains of distinct triality, which delay equilibration of pure gauge
theory forever, while their role in full QCD remains a subtle question. As in
spin systems we find for pure SU(3) gauge theory a dynamical growth of
structure factors, reaching maxima which scale approximately with the volume of
the system, before settling down to equilibrium. Their influence on various
observables is studied and different lattice sizes are simulated to illustrate
an approach to a finite volume continuum limit. Strong correlations are found
during the dynamical process, but not in the deconfined phase at equilibrium.Comment: 12 pages, 18 figure
Higgs signals and hard photons at the Next Linear Collider: the -fusion channel in the Standard Model
In this paper, we extend the analyses carried out in a previous article for
-fusion to the case of Higgs production via -fusion within the Standard
Model at the Next Linear Collider, in presence of electromagnetic radiation due
real photon emission. Calculations are carried out at tree-level and rates of
the leading order (LO) processes e^+e^-\rightarrow e^+e^- H \ar e^+e^- b\bar b
and e^+e^-\rightarrow e^+e^- H \ar e^+e^- WW \ar e^+e^- \mathrm{jjjj} are
compared to those of the next-to-leading order (NLO) reactions
e^+e^-\rightarrow e^+e^- H (\gamma)\ar e^+e^- b\bar b \gamma and
e^+e^-\rightarrow e^+e^- H (\gamma)\ar e^+e^- WW (\gamma) \ar e^+e^-
\mathrm{jjjj}\gamma, in the case of energetic and isolated photons.Comment: 12 pages, LaTeX, 5 PostScript figures embedded using epsfig and
bitmapped at 100dpi, complete paper including high definition figures
available at ftp://axpa.hep.phy.cam.ac.uk/stefano/cavendish_9611.ps or at
http://www.hep.phy.cam.ac.uk/theory/papers
White Paper: Measuring the Neutrino Mass Hierarchy
This white paper is a condensation of a report by a committee appointed
jointly by the Nuclear Science and Physics Divisions at Lawrence Berkeley
National Laboratory (LBNL). The goal of this study was to identify the most
promising technique(s) for resolving the neutrino mass hierarchy. For the most
part, we have relied on calculations and simulations presented by the
proponents of the various experiments. We have included evaluations of the
opportunities and challenges for these experiments based on what is available
already in the literature.Comment: White paper prepared for Snowmass-201
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