139 research outputs found
Anomalous Hall conductivity of clean Sr2RuO4 at finite temperatures
Building on previous work, we calculate the temperature- and
frequency-dependent {\it anomalous} Hall conductivity for the putative
multiband chiral superconductor \Sr using a simple microscopic two-orbital
model without impurities. A Hall effect arises in this system without the
application of an external magnetic field due to the time-reversal-symmetry
breaking chiral superconducting state. The anomalous Hall conductivity is
nonzero only when there is more than one superconducting order parameter,
involving inter- as well as intra-band Cooper pairing. We find that such a
multiband superconducting state gives rise to a distinctive resonance in the
frequency-dependence of the Hall conductivity at a frequency close to the
inter-orbital hopping energy scale that describes hopping between Ru
and orbitals. The detection of this feature, robust to temperature and
impurity effects in the superconducting phase, would thus constitute compelling
evidence in favour of a multiband origin of superconductivity in \Sr, with
strong superconductivity on the and bands. The temperature
dependence of the Hall conductivity and Kerr rotation angle are studied within
this model at the one-loop approximation.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures. Invited submission, proceedings of M2S 2012.
Published versio
Beyond maximum entropy: Fractal Pixon-based image reconstruction
We have developed a new Bayesian image reconstruction method that has been shown to be superior to the best implementations of other competing methods, including Goodness-of-Fit methods such as Least-Squares fitting and Lucy-Richardson reconstruction, as well as Maximum Entropy (ME) methods such as those embodied in the MEMSYS algorithms. Our new method is based on the concept of the pixon, the fundamental, indivisible unit of picture information. Use of the pixon concept provides an improved image model, resulting in an image prior which is superior to that of standard ME. Our past work has shown how uniform information content pixons can be used to develop a 'Super-ME' method in which entropy is maximized exactly. Recently, however, we have developed a superior pixon basis for the image, the Fractal Pixon Basis (FPB). Unlike the Uniform Pixon Basis (UPB) of our 'Super-ME' method, the FPB basis is selected by employing fractal dimensional concepts to assess the inherent structure in the image. The Fractal Pixon Basis results in the best image reconstructions to date, superior to both UPB and the best ME reconstructions. In this paper, we review the theory of the UPB and FPB pixon and apply our methodology to the reconstruction of far-infrared imaging of the galaxy M51. The results of our reconstruction are compared to published reconstructions of the same data using the Lucy-Richardson algorithm, the Maximum Correlation Method developed at IPAC, and the MEMSYS ME algorithms. The results show that our reconstructed image has a spatial resolution a factor of two better than best previous methods (and a factor of 20 finer than the width of the point response function), and detects sources two orders of magnitude fainter than other methods
Photometry and Photometric Redshifts of Faint Galaxies in the Hubble Deep Field South NICMOS Field
We present a catalog of photometry and photometric redshifts of 335 faint
objects in the HDF-S NICMOS field. The analysis is based on (1) infrared images
obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) using the Near Infrared Camera
and Multi-Object Spectrograph (NICMOS) with the F110W, F160W, and F222M
filters, (2) an optical image obtained with HST using the Space Telescope
Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) with no filter, and (3) optical images obtained
with the European Southern Observatory (ESO) Very Large Telescope (VLT) with U,
B, V, R, and I filters. The primary utility of the catalog of photometric
redshifts is as a survey of faint galaxies detected in the NICMOS F160W and
F222M images. The sensitivity of the survey varies significantly with position,
reaching a limiting depth of AB(16,000) ~ 28.7 and covering 1.01 arcmin^2 to
AB(16,000) = 27 and 1.05 arcmin^2 to AB(16,000) = 26.5. The catalog of
photometric redshifts identifies 21 galaxies (or 6% of the total) of redshift z
> 5, 8 galaxies (or 2% of the total) of redshift z > 10, and 11 galaxies (or 3%
of the total) of best-fit spectral type E/S0, of which 5 galaxies (or 1% of the
total) are of redshift z > 1.Comment: 33 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical
Journal, August 1, 2000 issu
Unveiling a nematic quantum critical point in multi-orbital systems
Electronic nematicity, proposed to exist in a number of transition metal
materials, can have different microscopic origins. In particular, the
anisotropic resistivity and meta-magnetic jumps observed in Sr3Ru2O7 are
consistent with an earlier proposal that the isotropic-nematic transition is
generically first order and accompanied by meta-magnetism when tuned by a
magnetic field. However, additional striking experimental features such as a
non-Fermi liquid resistivity and critical thermodynamic behavior imply the
presence of an unidentified quantum critical point (QCP). Here we show that
orbital degrees of freedom play an essential role in revealing a nematic QCP,
even though it is overshadowed by a nearby meta-nematic transition at low
temperature. We further present a finite temperature phase diagram including
the entropy landscape and discuss our findings in light of the phenomena
observed in Sr3Ru2O7.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure
Identifying spin-triplet pairing in spin-orbit coupled multi-band superconductors
We investigate the combined effect of Hund's and spin-orbit (SO) coupling on
superconductivity in multi-orbital systems. Hund's interaction leads to
orbital-singlet spin-triplet superconductivity, where the Cooper pair wave
function is antisymmetric under the exchange of two orbitals. We identify three
d-vectors describing even-parity orbital-singlet spin-triplet pairings among
t2g-orbitals, and find that the three d-vectors are mutually orthogonal to each
other. SO coupling further assists pair formation, pins the orientation of the
d-vector triad, and induces spin-singlet pairings with a relative phase
difference of \pi/2. In the band basis the pseudospin d-vectors are aligned
along the z-axis and correspond to momentum-dependent inter- and intra-band
pairings. We discuss quasiparticle dispersion, magnetic response, collective
modes, and experimental consequences in light of the superconductor Sr2RuO4.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure
New Near-Infrared Spectroscopy of the High Redshift Quasar B 1422+231 at z=3.62
We present new near-infrared (rest-frame UV-to-optical) spectra of the high
redshift, gravitationally lensed quasar B 1422+231 (z=3.62). Diagnostic
emission lines of FeII, [OIII]5007, and Hb, commonly used to determine the
excitation, ionization, and chemical abundances of radio-quiet and radio-loud
quasars, were detected. Our new data show that the ratio FeII(UV)/Hb=18.1+-4.6
and FeII(optical)/Hb=2.3+-0.6 are higher than those reported by Kawara et al.
(1996) by factors of 1.6 and 3.3, respectively, although the ration
[OIII]5007/Hb=0.19+-0.02 is nearly the same between the two measurements. The
discrepancy of the line flux ratios between the measurements is likely due to
improved data and fitting procedures rather that to intrinsic variability.
While approximately half of the high-z quasars observed to date have much more
extreme FeII(optical)/Hb ratios, the line ratio measured for B 422+231 are
consistent with the observed range of FeII(optical) ratios of low-z quasars.Comment: 5 pages, 1 table, 4 figures. To appear in The Astronomical Journa
High Resolution Infrared Imaging and Spectroscopy of the Pistol Nebula: Evidence for Ejection
We present new NICMOS/HST infrared images and CGS4/UKIRT Br-alpha (4.05 um)
spectroscopy of the Pistol Star and its associated nebula, finding strong
evidence to support the hypothesis that the Pistol Nebula was ejected from the
Pistol Star. The Pa-alpha NICMOS image shows that the nebula completely
surrounds the Pistol Star, although the line intensity is much stronger on its
northern and western edges. The Br-alpha spectra show the classical ring-like
signature of quasi-spherical expansion, with weak blueshifted emission (V_max
approx -60 km/s) and strong redshifted emission (V_max approx +10 km/s), where
the velocities are with respect to the velocity of the Pistol Star; further,
the redshifted emission appears to be "flattened" in the position-velocity
diagram. These data suggest that the nebula was ejected from the star several
thousand years ago, with a velocity between the current terminal velocity of
the stellar wind (95 km/s) and the present expansion velocity of gas in the
outer shell of the nebula (60 km/s). The Pa-alpha image reveals several
emission-line stars in the region, including two newly-identified emission-line
stars north of the Pistol Star with spectral types earlier than WC8 (T_eff >
50,000 K). The presence of these stars, the morphology of the Pa-alpha
emission, and the velocity field in the gas suggest that the side of the nebula
furthest from us is approaching, and being ionized by, the hot stars of the
Quintuplet, and that the highest velocity redshifted gas has been decelerated
by winds from the Quintuplet stars. We also discuss the possibility that the
nebular gas might be magnetically confined by the ambient magnetic field
delineated by the nearby nonthermal filaments.Comment: Figure 1 is included as a JPG file. Figure 1 and 2 also available at
ftp://quintup.astro.ucla.edu/pistol2
Comparison of Image Restoration Methods for Lunar Epithermal Neutron Emission Mapping
Orbital measurements of neutrons by the Lunar Exploring Neutron Detector (LEND) onboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter are being used to quantify the spatial distribution of near surface hydrogen (H). Inferred H concentration maps have low signal-to-noise (SN) and image restoration (IR) techniques are being studied to enhance results. A single-blind. two-phase study is described in which four teams of researchers independently developed image restoration techniques optimized for LEND data. Synthetic lunar epithermal neutron emission maps were derived from LEND simulations. These data were used as ground truth to determine the relative quantitative performance of the IR methods vs. a default denoising (smoothing) technique. We review and used factors influencing orbital remote sensing of neutrons emitted from the lunar surface to develop a database of synthetic "true" maps for performance evaluation. A prior independent training phase was implemented for each technique to assure methods were optimized before the blind trial. Method performance was determined using several regional root-mean-square error metrics specific to epithermal signals of interest. Results indicate unbiased IR methods realize only small signal gains in most of the tested metrics. This suggests other physically based modeling assumptions are required to produce appreciable signal gains in similar low SN IR applications
Confirmation of the Luminous Blue Variable status of MWC 930
We present spectroscopic and photometric observations of the emission-line
star MWC 930 (V446 Sct) during its long-term optical brightening in 2006--2013.
Based on our earlier data we suggested that the object has features found in
Luminous Blue Variables (LBV), such as a high luminosity (~3 10^5 Lsun, a low
wind terminal velocity (~ 140 km/s), and a tendency to show strong brightness
variations (~1 mag over 20 years). For the last ~7 years it has been exhibiting
a continuous optical and near-IR brightening along with a change of the
emission-line spectrum appearance and cooling of the star's photosphere. We
present the object's --band light curve, analyze the spectral variations,
and compare the observed properties with those of other recognized Galactic
LBVs, such as AG Car and HR Car. Overall we conclude the MWC 930 is a bona fide
Galactic LBV that is currently in the middle of an S Dor cycle.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figure
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