1,340 research outputs found
Energy distribution and cooling of a single atom in an optical tweezer
We investigate experimentally the energy distribution of a single rubidium
atom trapped in a strongly focused dipole trap under various cooling regimes.
Using two different methods to measure the mean energy of the atom, we show
that the energy distribution of the radiatively cooled atom is close to
thermal. We then demonstrate how to reduce the energy of the single atom, first
by adiabatic cooling, and then by truncating the Boltzmann distribution of the
single atom. This provides a non-deterministic way to prepare atoms at low
microKelvin temperatures, close to the ground state of the trapping potential.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, published in PR
Comprehensive Observations of a Solar Minimum CME with STEREO
We perform the first kinematic analysis of a CME observed by both imaging and
in situ instruments on board STEREO, namely the SECCHI, PLASTIC, and IMPACT
experiments. Launched on 2008 February 4, the CME is tracked continuously from
initiation to 1 AU using the SECCHI imagers on both STEREO spacecraft, and is
then detected by the PLASTIC and IMPACT particle and field detectors on board
STEREO-B. The CME is also detected in situ by ACE and SOHO/CELIAS at Earth's L1
Lagrangian point. The CME hits STEREO-B, ACE, and SOHO on 2008 February 7, but
misses STEREO-A entirely. This event provides a good example of just how
different the same event can look when viewed from different perspectives. We
also demonstrate many ways in which the comprehensive and continuous coverage
of this CME by STEREO improves confidence in our assessment of its kinematic
behavior, with potential ramifications for space weather forecasting. The
observations provide several lines of evidence in favor of the observable part
of the CME being narrow in angular extent, a determination crucial for deciding
how best to convert observed CME elongation angles from Sun-center to actual
Sun-center distances.Comment: 27 pages, 10 figures, AASTEX v5.2, accepted by Ap
A Coronal Hole's Effects on CME Shock Morphology in the Inner Heliosphere
We use STEREO imagery to study the morphology of a shock driven by a fast
coronal mass ejection (CME) launched from the Sun on 2011 March 7. The source
region of the CME is located just to the east of a coronal hole. The CME ejecta
is deflected away from the hole, in contrast with the shock, which readily
expands into the fast outflow from the coronal hole. The result is a CME with
ejecta not well centered within the shock surrounding it. The shock shape
inferred from the imaging is compared with in situ data at 1 AU, where the
shock is observed near Earth by the Wind spacecraft, and at STEREO-A. Shock
normals computed from the in situ data are consistent with the shock morphology
inferred from imaging.Comment: to appear in The Astrophysical Journa
Lifetime Measurement of the 6s Level of Rubidium
We present a lifetime measurements of the 6s level of rubidium. We use a
time-correlated single-photon counting technique on two different samples of
rubidium atoms. A vapor cell with variable rubidium density and a sample of
atoms confined and cooled in a magneto-optical trap. The 5P_{1/2} level serves
as the resonant intermediate step for the two step excitation to the 6s level.
We detect the decay of the 6s level through the cascade fluorescence of the
5P_{3/2} level at 780 nm. The two samples have different systematic effects,
but we obtain consistent results that averaged give a lifetime of 45.57 +- 0.17
ns.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figure
Carrier thermal escape in families of InAs/InP self-assembled quantum dots
We investigate the thermal quenching of the multimodal photoluminescence from
InAs/InP (001) self-assembled quantum dots. The temperature evolution of the
photoluminescence spectra of two samples is followed from 10 K to 300 K. We
develop a coupled rate-equation model that includes the effect of carrier
thermal escape from a quantum dot to the wetting layer and to the InP matrix,
followed by transport, recapture or non-radiative recombination. Our model
reproduces the temperature dependence of the emission of each family of quantum
dots with a single set of parameters. We find that the main escape mechanism of
the carriers confined in the quantum dots is through thermal emission to the
wetting layer. The activation energy for this process is found to be close to
one-half the energy difference between that of a given family of quantum dots
and that of the wetting layer as measured by photoluminescence excitation
experiments. This indicates that electron and holes exit the InAs quantum dots
as correlated pairs
Applicability of a Representation for the Martin's Real-Part Formula in Model-Independent Analyses
Using a novel representation for the Martin's real-part formula without the
full scaling property, an almost model-independent description of the
proton-proton differential cross section data at high energies (19.4 GeV - 62.5
GeV) is obtained. In the impact parameter and eikonal frameworks, the extracted
inelastic overlap function presents a peripheral effect (tail) above 2 fm and
the extracted opacity function is characterized by a zero (change of sign) in
the momentum transfer space, confirming results from previous model-independent
analyses. Analytical parametrization for these empirical results are introduced
and discussed. The importance of investigations on the inverse problems in
high-energy elastic hadron scattering is stressed and the relevance of the
proposed representation is commented. A short critical review on the use of
Martin's formula is also presented.Comment: Two comments and one reference added at the end of Subsec. 3.3; 23
pages, 9 figures; to be published in Int. J. Mod. Phys.
Universal scaling functions of critical Casimir forces obtained by Monte Carlo simulations
Effective Casimir forces induced by thermal fluctuations in the vicinity of
bulk critical points are studied by means of Monte Carlo simulations in
three-dimensional systems for film geometries and within the experimentally
relevant Ising and XY universality classes. Several surface universality
classes of the confining surfaces are considered, some of which are relevant
for recent experiments. A novel approach introduced previously EPL 80, 60009
(2007), based inter alia on an integration scheme of free energy differences,
is utilized to compute the universal scaling functions of the critical Casimir
forces in the critical range of temperatures above and below the bulk critical
temperature. The resulting predictions are compared with corresponding
experimental data for wetting films of fluids and with available theoretical
results.Comment: 21 pages, 17 figure
Evidence for a long-lived superheavy nucleus with atomic mass number A=292 and atomic number Z=~122 in natural Th
Evidence for the existence of a superheavy nucleus with atomic mass number
A=292 and abundance (1-10)x10^(-12) relative to 232Th has been found in a study
of natural Th using inductively coupled plasma-sector field mass spectrometry.
The measured mass matches the predictions [1,2] for the mass of an isotope with
atomic number Z=122 or a nearby element. Its estimated half-life of t1/2 >=
10^8 y suggests that a long-lived isomeric state exists in this isotope. The
possibility that it might belong to a new class of long-lived high spin super-
and hyperdeformed isomeric states is discussed.[3-6]Comment: 14 pages, 5 figure
Parameter Estimation from Time-Series Data with Correlated Errors: A Wavelet-Based Method and its Application to Transit Light Curves
We consider the problem of fitting a parametric model to time-series data
that are afflicted by correlated noise. The noise is represented by a sum of
two stationary Gaussian processes: one that is uncorrelated in time, and
another that has a power spectral density varying as . We present
an accurate and fast [O(N)] algorithm for parameter estimation based on
computing the likelihood in a wavelet basis. The method is illustrated and
tested using simulated time-series photometry of exoplanetary transits, with
particular attention to estimating the midtransit time. We compare our method
to two other methods that have been used in the literature, the time-averaging
method and the residual-permutation method. For noise processes that obey our
assumptions, the algorithm presented here gives more accurate results for
midtransit times and truer estimates of their uncertainties.Comment: Accepted in ApJ. Illustrative code may be found at
http://www.mit.edu/~carterja/code/ . 17 page
Evidence of a high velocity ionised outflow in a second narrow line quasar PG0844+349
Following the discovery of X-ray absorption in a high velocity outflow from
the bright quasar PG1211+143 we have searched for similar features in XMM
archival data of a second (high accretion rate) quasar PG0844+349. Evidence is
found for absorption lines in both the EPIC and RGS spectra, whose
identification with resonance transitions in H-like Fe, S, and Ne implies an
origin in highly ionised matter with an outflow velocity of order ~0.2c. The
line equivalent widths require a line-of-sight column density of N_H ~ 4 x
10^23 cm^-2, at an ionisation parameter of log(xi) ~ 3.7. Assuming a radial
outflow being driven by radiation pressure from the inner accretion disc, as
suggested previously for PG1211+143, the flow is again likely to be optically
thick, in this case within ~ 25 Schwarzschild radii. We suggest that a high
velocity, highly ionised outflow is likely to be a significant component in the
mass and energy budgets of many AGN accreting at or above the Eddington rate.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, accepted by MNRA
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