Probing Pauli Blocking Factors in Quantum Pumps with Broken Time-Reversal Symmetry

A recently demonstrated quantum electron pump is discussed within the framework of photon-assisted tunneling. Due to lack of time-reversal symmetry, different results are obtained for the pump current depending on whether or not final-state Pauli blocking factors are used when describing the tunneling process. Whilst in both cases the current depends quadratically on the driving amplitude for moderate pumping, a marked difference is predicted for the temperature dependence. With blocking factors the pump current decreases roughly linearly with temperature until k_B T ~ \hbar\omega is reached, whereas without them it is unaffected by temperature, indicating that the entire Fermi sea participates in the electronic transport.Comment: 4 pages in RevTex4 (beta4), 6 figures; status: to appear in PR

Kaon and Pion production in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

The BUU transport model is applied to study strangeness and pion production in nucleus-nucleus collisions. Starting from proton induced reactions, we further investigate Si+Au, Au+Au and Pb+Pb collisions in the energy range between 2 and 40 A$\cdot$GeV and compare with data and with other transport calculations. The $q \bar q$ annihilation, or resonance, channel simulated by the string model in meson-nucleon collisions at $\sqrt{s} > 2$ GeV is introduced. The importance of this channel for a good description of the proton-nucleus data on $K^+$ production is demonstrated. We, furthermore, show that the meson-meson collisions contribute significantly to the $K \bar K$ production in heavy-ion collisions above 5 A GeV and improve an agreement with data on the $K^+/\pi^+$ ratio. Finally, we study the influence of the in-medium modifications of the FRITIOF model on the pion and kaon production.Comment: 20 pages, 25 figures, added statistical errors in figure

Kaon production from 1 to 40 A GeV

Kaon production is studied within the Giessen Boltzmann-Uehling-Uhlenbeck (GiBUU) model. Results are compared with experiment and with other models. The influence of the kaon potential on the kaon azimuthal distributions at SIS energies is considered. We also discuss the role of the many-body collisions at high-density phase of reaction.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, Proc. of the Int. Workshop on Hot and Dense Matter in Relativistic Heavy Ion Collisions, 09-12.04.2006, Budapes

Kaon production from 1 to 40 A GeV

Kaon production is studied within the Giessen Boltzmann-Uehling-Uhlenbeck (GiBUU) model. Results are compared with experiment and with other models. The influence of the kaon potential on the kaon azimuthal distributions at SIS energies is considered. We also discuss the role of the many-body collisions at high-density phase of reaction.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, Proc. of the Int. Workshop on Hot and Dense Matter in Relativistic Heavy Ion Collisions, 09-12.04.2006, Budapes

Safety verification of a fault tolerant reconfigurable autonomous goal-based robotic control system

Fault tolerance and safety verification of control systems are essential for the success of autonomous robotic systems. A control architecture called Mission Data System (MDS), developed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, takes a goal-based control approach. In this paper, a method for converting goal network control programs into linear hybrid systems is developed. The linear hybrid system can then be verified for safety in the presence of failures using existing symbolic model checkers. An example task is simulated in MDS and successfully verified using HyTech, a symbolic model checking software for linear hybrid systems

Combustor liner construction

A combustor liner is fabricated from a plurality of individual segments each containing counter/parallel Finwall material and are arranged circumferentially and axially to define the combustion zone. Each segment is supported by a hook and ring construction to an opened lattice frame with sufficient tolerance between the hook and ring to permit thermal expansion with a minimum of induced stresses

Dynamics of a two-level system coupled with a quantum oscillator in the very strong coupling limit

The time-dependent behavior of a two-level system interacting with a quantum oscillator system is analyzed in the case of a coupling larger than both the energy separation between the two levels and the energy of quantum oscillator ($\Omega < \omega < \lambda$, where $\Omega$ is the frequency of the transition between the two levels, $\omega$ is the frequency of the oscillator, and $\lambda$ is the coupling between the two-level system and the oscillator). Our calculations show that the amplitude of the expectation value of the oscillator coordinate decreases as the two-level system undergoes the transition from one level to the other, while the transfer probability between the levels is staircase-like. This behavior is explained by the interplay between the adiabatic and the non-adiabatic regimes encountered during the dynamics with the system acting as a quantum counterpart of the Landau-Zener model. The transition between the two levels occurs as long as the expectation value of the oscillator coordinate is driven close to zero. On the contrary, if the initial conditions are set such that the expectation values of the oscillator coordinate are far from zero, the system will remain locked on one level.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, to be published in Physical Review

The last glacial-interglacial cycle in Lake Ohrid (Macedonia/Albania): testing diatom response to climate

Lake Ohrid is a site of global importance for palaeoclimate research. This study presents results of diatom analysis of a ca. 136 ka sequence, Co1202, from the northeast of the lake basin. It offers the opportunity to test diatom response across two glacial-interglacial transitions and within the Last Glacial, while setting up taxonomic protocols for future research. The results are outstanding in demonstrating the sensitivity of diatoms to climate change, providing proxy evidence for temperature change marked by glacial-interglacial shifts between the dominant planktonic taxa, Cyclotella fottii and C. ocellata, and exact correlation with geochemical proxies to mark the start of the Last Interglacial at ca. 130 ka. Importantly, diatoms show much stronger evidence in this site for warming during MIS3 than recorded in other productivity-related proxies, peaking at ca. 39 ka, prior to the extreme conditions of the Last Glacial maximum. In the light of the observed patterns, and from the results of analysis of early Holocene sediments from a second core, Lz1120, the lack of a response to Late Glacial and early Holocene warming from ca. 15-7.4 ka suggests the Co1202 sequence may be compromised during this phase. After ca. 7.4 ka, there is evidence for enhanced nutrient enrichment compared to the Last Interglacial, following by a post-Medieval cooling trend. Taxonomically, morphological variability in C. fottii shows no clear trends linked to climate, but an intriguing change in central area morphology occurs after ca. 48.7 ka, coincident with a tephra layer. In contrast, C. ocellata shows morphological variation in the number of ocelli between interglacials, suggesting climatically-forced variation or evolutionary selection pressure. The application of a simple dissolution index does not track preservation quality very effectively, underlining the importance of diatom concentration data in future studies

About the determination of critical exponents related to possible phase transitions in nuclear fragmentation

We introduce a method based on the finite size scaling assumption which allows to determine numerically the critical point and critical exponents related to observables in an infinite system starting from the knowledge of the observables in finite systems. We apply the method to bond percolation in 2 dimensions and compare the results obtained when the bond probability p or the fragment multiplicity m are chosen as the relevant parameter.Comment: 12 pages, TeX, 4 figure