Reentrant glass transition in a colloid-polymer mixture with depletion attractions

Performing light scattering experiments we show that introducing short-ranged attraction to a colloidal suspension of nearly hard spheres by addition of free polymer produces new glass transition phenomena. We observe a dramatic acceleration of the density fluctuations amounting to the melting of a colloidal glass. Increasing the strength of the attractions the system freezes into another nonergodic state sharing some qualitative features with gel states occurring at lower colloid packing fractions. This reentrant glass transition is in qualitative agreement with recent theoretical predictions.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figure

The hydrogen atom in an electric field: Closed-orbit theory with bifurcating orbits

Closed-orbit theory provides a general approach to the semiclassical description of photo-absorption spectra of arbitrary atoms in external fields, the simplest of which is the hydrogen atom in an electric field. Yet, despite its apparent simplicity, a semiclassical quantization of this system by means of closed-orbit theory has not been achieved so far. It is the aim of this paper to close that gap. We first present a detailed analytic study of the closed classical orbits and their bifurcations. We then derive a simple form of the uniform semiclassical approximation for the bifurcations that is suitable for an inclusion into a closed-orbit summation. By means of a generalized version of the semiclassical quantization by harmonic inversion, we succeed in calculating high-quality semiclassical spectra for the hydrogen atom in an electric field

An algorithm for calculating the Lorentz angle in silicon detectors

Future experiments will use silicon sensors in the harsh radiation environment of the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) and high magnetic fields. The drift direction of the charge carriers is affected by the Lorentz force due to the high magnetic field. Also the resulting radiation damage changes the properties of the drift. In this paper measurements of the Lorentz angle of electrons and holes before and after irradiation are reviewed and compared with a simple algorithm to compute the Lorentz angle.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures, final version accepted by NIMA. Mainly clarifications included and slightly shortene

Symmetry-breaking thermally induced collapse of dipolar Bose-Einstein condensates

We investigate a Bose-Einstein condensate with additional long-range dipolar interaction in a cylindrically symmetric trap within a variational framework. Compared to the ground state of this system, little attention has as yet been payed to its unstable excited states. For thermal excitations, however, the latter is of great interest, because it forms the "activated complex" that mediates the collapse of the condensate. For a certain value of the s-wave scatting length our investigations reveal a bifurcation in the transition state, leading to the emergence of two additional and symmetry-breaking excited states. Because these are of lower energy than their symmetric counterpart, we predict the occurrence of a symmetry-breaking thermally induced collapse of dipolar condensates. We show that its occurrence crucially depends on the trap geometry and calculate the thermal decay rates of the system within leading order transition state theory with the help of a uniform rate formula near the rank-2 saddle which allows to smoothly pass the bifurcation.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure

Photoabsorption spectra of the diamagnetic hydrogen atom in the transition regime to chaos: Closed orbit theory with bifurcating orbits

With increasing energy the diamagnetic hydrogen atom undergoes a transition from regular to chaotic classical dynamics, and the closed orbits pass through various cascades of bifurcations. Closed orbit theory allows for the semiclassical calculation of photoabsorption spectra of the diamagnetic hydrogen atom. However, at the bifurcations the closed orbit contributions diverge. The singularities can be removed with the help of uniform semiclassical approximations which are constructed over a wide energy range for different types of codimension one and two catastrophes. Using the uniform approximations and applying the high-resolution harmonic inversion method we calculate fully resolved semiclassical photoabsorption spectra, i.e., individual eigenenergies and transition matrix elements at laboratory magnetic field strengths, and compare them with the results of exact quantum calculations.Comment: 26 pages, 9 figures, submitted to J. Phys.

Dvoretzky type theorems for multivariate polynomials and sections of convex bodies

In this paper we prove the Gromov--Milman conjecture (the Dvoretzky type theorem) for homogeneous polynomials on $\mathbb R^n$, and improve bounds on the number $n(d,k)$ in the analogous conjecture for odd degrees $d$ (this case is known as the Birch theorem) and complex polynomials. We also consider a stronger conjecture on the homogeneous polynomial fields in the canonical bundle over real and complex Grassmannians. This conjecture is much stronger and false in general, but it is proved in the cases of $d=2$ (for $k$'s of certain type), odd $d$, and the complex Grassmannian (for odd and even $d$ and any $k$). Corollaries for the John ellipsoid of projections or sections of a convex body are deduced from the case $d=2$ of the polynomial field conjecture

Tests of silicon sensors for the CMS pixel detector

The tracking system of the CMS experiment, currently under construction at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN (Geneva, Switzerland), will include a silicon pixel detector providing three spacial measurements in its final configuration for tracks produced in high energy pp collisions. In this paper we present the results of test beam measurements performed at CERN on irradiated silicon pixel sensors. Lorentz angle and charge collection efficiency were measured for two sensor designs and at various bias voltages.Comment: Talk presented at 6th International Conference on Large Scale Applications and Radiation Hardness of Semiconductor Detectors, September 29-October 1, 2003, Firenze, Italy. Proceedings will be published in Nuclear Instr. & Methods in Phys. Research, Section

Heparin and air filters reduce embolic events caused by intra-arterial cerebral angiography - A prospective, randomized trial

Background-Intra-arterial cerebral angiography is associated with a low risk for neurological complications, but clinically silent ischemic events after angiography have been seen in a substantial number of patients.Methods and Results-In a prospective study, diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DW-MRI) before and after intra-arterial cerebral angiography and transcranial Doppler sonography during angiography were used to evaluate the frequency of cerebral embolism. One hundred fifty diagnostic cerebral angiographies were randomized into 50 procedures, each using conventional angiographic technique, or systemic heparin treatment throughout the procedure, or air filters between the catheter and both the contrast medium syringe and the catheter flushing. There was no neurological complication during or after angiography. Overall, DW-MRI revealed 26 new ischemic lesions in 17 patients (11%). In the control group, 11 patients showed a total of 18 lesions. In the heparin group, 3 patients showed a total of 4 lesions. In the air filter group, 3 patients exhibited a total of 4 lesions. The reduced incidence of ischemic events in the heparin and air filter groups compared with the control group was significantly different (P=0.002). Transcranial Doppler sonography demonstrated a large number of microembolic signals that was significantly lower in the air filter group compared with the heparin and control groups (P=0.01), which did not differ from each other.Conclusions-Air filters and heparin both reduce the incidence of silent ischemic events detected by DW-MRI after intra-arterial cerebral angiography and can potentially lower clinically overt ischemic complications. This may apply to any intra-arterial angiographic procedure