9,747 research outputs found
Towards understanding two-level-systems in amorphous solids -- Insights from quantum circuits
Amorphous solids show surprisingly universal behaviour at low temperatures.
The prevailing wisdom is that this can be explained by the existence of
two-state defects within the material. The so-called standard tunneling model
has become the established framework to explain these results, yet it still
leaves the central question essentially unanswered -- what are these two-level
defects? This question has recently taken on a new urgency with the rise of
superconducting circuits in quantum computing, circuit quantum electrodynamics,
magnetometry, electrometry and metrology. Superconducting circuits made from
aluminium or niobium are fundamentally limited by losses due to two-level
defects within the amorphous oxide layers encasing them. On the other hand,
these circuits also provide a novel and effective method for studying the very
defects which limit their operation. We can now go beyond ensemble measurements
and probe individual defects -- observing the quantum nature of their dynamics
and studying their formation, their behaviour as a function of applied field,
strain, temperature and other properties. This article reviews the plethora of
recent experimental results in this area and discusses the various theoretical
models which have been used to describe the observations. In doing so, it
summarises the current approaches to solving this fundamentally important
problem in solid-state physics.Comment: 34 pages, 7 figures, 1 tabl
Active suspension design for a Large Space Structure ground test facility
The expected future high performance requirements for Large Space Structures (LSS) enforce technology innovations such as active vibration damping techniques e.g., by means of structure sensors and actuators. The implementation of new technologies like that requires an interactive and integrated structural and control design with an increased effort in hardware validation by ground testing. During the technology development phase generic system tests will be most important covering verification and validation aspects up to the preparation and definition of relevant space experiments. For many applications using advanced designs it is deemed necessary to improve existing testing technology by further reducing disturbances and gravity coupling effects while maintaining high performance reliability. A key issue in this context is the improvement of suspension techniques. The ideal ground test facility satisfying these requirements completely will never be found. The highest degree of reliability will always be obtained by passive suspension methods taking into account severe performance limitations such as non-zero rigid body modes, restriction of degrees of freedom of motion and frequency response limitations. Passive compensation mechanisms, e.g., zero-spring-rate mechanisms, either require large moving masses or they are limited with respect to low-frequency performance by friction, stiction or other non-linear effects. With active suspensions these limitations can be removed to a large extent thereby increasing the range of applications. Despite an additional complexity which is associated with a potential risk in reliability their development is considered promising due to the amazing improvement of real-time control technology which is still continuing
Radial Velocity Confirmation of a Binary Detected from Pulse Timings
A periodic variation in the pulse timings of the pulsating hot subdwarf B
star CS 1246 was recently discovered via the O-C diagram and suggests the
presence of a binary companion with an orbital period of two weeks. Fits to
this phase variation, when interpreted as orbital reflex motion, imply CS 1246
orbits a barycenter 11 light-seconds away with a velocity of 16.6 km/s. Using
the Goodman spectrograph on the SOAR telescope, we decided to confirm this
hypothesis by obtaining radial velocity measurements of the system over several
months. Our spectra reveal a velocity variation with amplitude, period, and
phase in accordance with the O-C diagram predictions. This corroboration
demonstrates that the rapid pulsations of hot subdwarf B stars can be adequate
clocks for the discovery of binary companions via the pulse timing method.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ Letters; 5 pages, 2 figures, 3
tables; uses emulateap
Surface motion in the pulsating DA white dwarf G 29-38
We present time-resolved spectrophotometry of the pulsating DA white dwarf G
29-38. As in previous broad-band photometry, the light curve shows the presence
of a large number of periodicities. Many of these are combination frequencies,
i.e., periodicities occurring at frequencies that are sums or differences of
frequencies of stronger, real modes. We identify at least six real modes, and
at least five combination frequencies. We measure line-of-sight velocities for
our spectra and detect periodic variations at the frequencies of five of the
six real modes, with amplitudes of up to 5 km/s. We argue that these variations
reflect the horizontal surface motion associated with the g-mode pulsations. No
velocity signals are detected at any of the combination frequencies, confirming
that the flux variations at these frequencies do not reflect physical
pulsation, but rather mixing of frequencies due to a non-linear transformation
in the outer layers of the star. We discuss the amplitude ratios and phase
differences found for the velocity and light variations, as well as those found
for the real modes and their combination frequencies, both in a
model-independent way and in the context of models based on the
convective-driving mechanism. In a companion paper, we use the wavelength
dependence of the amplitudes of the modes to infer their spherical degree.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures, mn.sty. Accepted for publication in MNRA
Mode identification from time-resolved spectroscopy of the pulsating white dwarf G 29-38
We have used time-resolved spectroscopy to measure the colour dependence of
pulsation amplitudes in the DAV white dwarf G 29-38. Model atmospheres predict
that mode amplitudes should change with wavelength in a manner that depends on
the spherical harmonic degree l of the mode. This dependence arises from the
convolution of mode geometry with wavelength-dependent limb darkening. Our
analysis of the six largest normal modes detected in Keck observations of G
29-38 reveals one mode with a colour dependence different from the other five,
permitting us to identify the l value of all six modes and to test the model
predictions. The Keck observations also show pulsation amplitudes that are
unexpectedly asymmetric within absorption lines. We show that these asymmetries
arise from surface motions associated with the non-radial pulsations (which are
discussed in detail in a companion paper). By incorporating surface velocity
fields into line profile calculations, we are able to produce models that more
closely resemble the observations.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, mn.sty. Accepted for publication in MNRA
Central Banking and the Choice of Currency Regime in Accession Countries
The subject matter of this paper is the design of appropriate Central Banking arrangements and exchange rate regimes for those former centrally planned Central and East European countries that are candidates for full membership in the European Union. We give an overview of the existing arrangements and point out to which extent monetary arrangements are restricted by conditions for entry both into the European Union and eventually into the European Monetary Union. Furthermore we investigate to which degree countries are fulfilling the accession criteria and compare their performance with the performance of earlier EU joiners like the countries of the Iberian Peninsula, Ireland and Greece.
Relaxation of a Colloidal Particle into a Nonequilibrium Steady State
We study the relaxation of a single colloidal sphere which is periodically
driven between two nonequilibrium steady states. Experimentally, this is
achieved by driving the particle along a toroidal trap imposed by scanned
optical tweezers. We find that the relaxation time after which the probability
distributions have been relaxed is identical to that obtained by a steady state
measurement. In quantitative agreement with theoretical calculations the
relaxation time strongly increases when driving the system further away from
thermal equilibrium
A probability-conserving cross-section biasing mechanism for variance reduction in Monte Carlo particle transport calculations
In Monte Carlo particle transport codes, it is often important to adjust
reaction cross sections to reduce the variance of calculations of relatively
rare events, in a technique known as non-analogous Monte Carlo. We present the
theory and sample code for a Geant4 process which allows the cross section of a
G4VDiscreteProcess to be scaled, while adjusting track weights so as to
mitigate the effects of altered primary beam depletion induced by the cross
section change. This makes it possible to increase the cross section of nuclear
reactions by factors exceeding 10^4 (in appropriate cases), without distorting
the results of energy deposition calculations or coincidence rates. The
procedure is also valid for bias factors less than unity, which is useful, for
example, in problems that involve computation of particle penetration deep into
a target, such as occurs in atmospheric showers or in shielding
The unusual distribution of molecular gas and star formation in Arp 140
We investigate the atomic and molecular interstellar medium and star
formation of NGC 275, the late-type spiral galaxy in Arp 140, which is
interacting with NGC 274, an early-type system. The atomic gas (HI)
observations reveal a tidal tail from NGC 275 which extends many optical radii
beyond the interacting pair. The HI morphology implies a prograde encounter
between the galaxy pair approximately 1.5 x 10**8 years ago. The Halpha
emission from NGC 275 indicates clumpy irregular star-formation, clumpiness
which is mirrored by the underlying mass distribution as traced by the Ks-band
emission. The molecular gas distribution is striking in its anti-correlation
with the {HII regions. Despite the evolved nature of NGC 275's interaction and
its barred potential, neither the molecular gas nor the star formation are
centrally concentrated. We suggest that this structure results from stochastic
star formation leading to preferential consumption of the gas in certain
regions of the galaxy. In contrast to the often assumed picture of interacting
galaxies, NGC 275, which appears to be close to merger, does not display
enhanced or centrally concentrated star formation. If the eventual merger is to
lead to a significant burst of star formation it must be preceded by a
significant conversion of atomic to molecular gas as at the current rate of
star formation all the molecular gas will be exhausted by the time the merger
is complete.Comment: 13 paper, accepted my Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical
Societ
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