1,776 research outputs found
Cooling atoms in an optical trap by selective parametric excitation
We demonstrate the possibility of energy-selective removal of cold atoms from
a tight optical trap by means of parametric excitation of the trap vibrational
modes. Taking advantage of the anharmonicity of the trap potential, we
selectively remove the most energetic trapped atoms or excite those at the
bottom of the trap by tuning the parametric modulation frequency. This process,
which had been previously identified as a possible source of heating, also
appears to be a robust way for forcing evaporative cooling in anharmonic traps.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure
From interacting particle systems to random matrices
In this contribution we consider stochastic growth models in the
Kardar-Parisi-Zhang universality class in 1+1 dimension. We discuss the large
time distribution and processes and their dependence on the class on initial
condition. This means that the scaling exponents do not uniquely determine the
large time surface statistics, but one has to further divide into subclasses.
Some of the fluctuation laws were first discovered in random matrix models.
Moreover, the limit process for curved limit shape turned out to show up in a
dynamical version of hermitian random matrices, but this analogy does not
extend to the case of symmetric matrices. Therefore the connections between
growth models and random matrices is only partial.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures; Contribution to StatPhys24 special issue; minor
corrections in scaling of section 2.
NGC 300: an extremely faint, outer stellar disk observed to 10 scale lengths
We have used the Gemini Multi-object Spectrograph (GMOS) on the Gemini South
8m telescope in exceptional conditions (0.6" FWHM seeing) to observe the outer
stellar disk of the Sculptor group galaxy NGC 300 at two locations. At our
point source detection threshold of r' = 27.0 (3-sigma) mag, we trace the
stellar disk out to a radius of 24', or 2.2 R_25 where R_25 is the 25
mag/arcsec**2 isophotal radius. This corresponds to about 10 scale lengths in
this low-luminosity spiral (M_B = -18.6), or about 14.4 kpc at a cepheid
distance of 2.0 +/- 0.07 Mpc. The background galaxy counts are derived in the
outermost field, and these are within 10% of the mean survey counts from both
Hubble Deep Fields. The luminosity profile is well described by a nucleus plus
a simple exponential profile out to 10 optical scale lengths. We reach an
effective surface brightness of 30.5 mag/arcsec**2 (2-sigma) at 55%
completeness which doubles the known radial extent of the optical disk. These
levels are exceedingly faint in the sense that the equivalent surface
brightness in B or V is about 32 mag/arcsec**2. We find no evidence for
truncation of the stellar disk. Only star counts can be used to reliably trace
the disk to such faint levels, since surface photometry is ultimately limited
by nonstellar sources of radiation. In the Appendix, we derive the expected
surface brightness of one such source: dust scattering of starlight in the
outer disk.Comment: ApJ accepted -- 30 pages, 13 figures -- see
ftp://www.aao.gov.au/pub/local/jbh/astro-ph/N300 for full resolution figures
and preprin
A multi-color and Fourier study of RR Lyrae variables in the globular cluster NGC 5272 (M3)
We have performed a detailed study of the pulsational and evolutionary
characteristics of 133 RR Lyrae stars in the globular cluster NGC5272 (M3)
using highly accurate BVI data taken on 5 separate epochs. M3 seems to contain
no less than ~32% of Blazhko stars, and the occurrence and characteristics of
the Blazhko effect have been analyzed in detail. We have identified a good
number (~ 14%) of overluminous RR Lyrae stars that are likely in a more
advanced evolutionary stage off the Zero Age Horizontal Branch (ZAHB). Physical
parameters (i.e. temperature, luminosity, mass) have been derived from (B--V)
colors and accurate color-temperature calibration, and compared with Horizontal
Branch evolutionary models and with the requirements of stellar pulsation
theory. Additional analysis by means of Fourier decomposition of the V light
curves confirms, as expected, that no metallicity spread is present in M3.
Evolution off the ZAHB does not affect [Fe/H] determinations, whereas Blazhko
stars at low amplitude phase do affect [Fe/H] distributions as they appear more
metal-rich. Absolute magnitudes derived from Fourier coefficients might provide
useful average estimates for groups of stars, if applicable, but do not give
reliable {\em individual} values. Intrinsic colors derived from Fourier
coefficients show significant discrepancies with the observed ones, hence the
resulting temperatures and temperature-related parameters are unreliable.Comment: 86 pages, 19 figures, 13 tables, in press A
Empirical relations for cluster RR Lyrae stars revisited
Our former study on the empirical relations between the Fourier parameters of
the light curves of the fundamental mode RR Lyrae stars and their basic stellar
parameters has been extended to considerably larger data sets. The most
significant contribution to the absolute magnitude M_v comes from the period P
and from the first Fourier amplitude A_1, but there are statistically
significant contributions also from additional higher order components, most
importantly from A_3 and in a lesser degree from the Fourier phase phi_51. When
different colors are combined in reddening-free quantities, we obtain basically
period-luminosity-color relations. Due to the log T_eff (B-V, log g, [Fe/H])
relation from stellar atmosphere models, we would expect some dependence also
on phi_31. Unfortunately, the data are still not extensive and accurate enough
to decipher clearly the small effect of this Fourier phase. However, with the
aid of more accurate multicolor data on field variables, we show that this
Fourier phase should be present either in V-I or in B-V or in both. From the
standard deviations of the various regressions, an upper limit can be obtained
on the overall inhomogeneity of the reddening in the individual clusters. This
yields sigma_E(B-V)}< 0.012 mag, which also implies an average minimum
observational error of sigma_V > 0.018 mag.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figures, 11 tables, accepted in Astronomy & Astrophysic
Manipulation of Cold Atomic Collisions by Cavity QED Effects
We show how the dynamics of collisions between cold atoms can be manipulated
by a modification of spontaneous emission times. This is achieved by placing
the atomic sample in a resonant optical cavity. Spontaneous emission is
enhanced by a combination of multiparticle entanglement together with a higher
density of modes of the modified vacuum field, in a situation akin to
superradiance. A specific situation is considered and we show that this effect
can be experimentally observed as a large suppression in trap-loss rates.Comment: RevTex, 2 EPS figures; scheduled for Phys. Rev. Lett. 19 Feb 01, with
minor change
Theory of an optical dipole trap for cold atoms
The theory of an atom dipole trap composed of a focused, far red-detuned, trapping laser beam, and a pair of red-detuned, counterpropagating, cooling beams is developed for the simplest realistic multilevel dipole interaction scheme based on a model of a (3+5)-level atom. The description of atomic motion in the trap is based on the quantum kinetic equations for the atomic density matrix and the reduced quasiclassical kinetic equation for atomic distribution function. It is shown that when the detuning of the trapping field is much larger than the detuning of the cooling field, and with low saturation, the one-photon absorption (emission) processes responsible for the trapping potential can be well separated from the two-photon processes responsible for sub-Doppler cooling atoms in the trap. Two conditions are derived that are necessary and sufficient for stable atomic trapping. The conditions show that stable atomic trapping in the optical dipole trap can be achieved when the trapping field has no effect on the two-photon cooling process and when the cooling field does not change the structure of the trapping potential but changes only the numerical value of the trapping potential well. It is concluded that the separation of the trapping and cooling processes in a pure optical dipole trap allows one to cool trapped atoms down to a minimum temperature close to the recoil temperature, keeping simultaneously a deep potential well
Direct entropy determination and application to artificial spin ice
From thermodynamic origins, the concept of entropy has expanded to a range of
statistical measures of uncertainty, which may still be thermodynamically
significant. However, laboratory measurements of entropy continue to rely on
direct measurements of heat. New technologies that can map out myriads of
microscopic degrees of freedom suggest direct determination of configurational
entropy by counting in systems where it is thermodynamically inaccessible, such
as granular and colloidal materials, proteins and lithographically fabricated
nanometre-scale arrays. Here, we demonstrate a conditional-probability
technique to calculate entropy densities of translation-invariant states on
lattices using limited configuration data on small clusters, and apply it to
arrays of interacting nanometre-scale magnetic islands (artificial spin ice).
Models for statistically disordered systems can be assessed by applying the
method to relative entropy densities. For artificial spin ice, this analysis
shows that nearest-neighbour correlations drive longer-range ones.Comment: 10 page
The density dependence of the transition temperature in a homogenous Bose flui
Transition temperature data obtained as a function of particle density in the
He-Vycor system are compared with recent theoretical calculations for 3D
Bose condensed systems. In the low density dilute Bose gas regime we find, in
agreement with theory, a positive shift in the transition temperature of the
form . At higher densities a maximum is
found in the ratio of for a value of the interaction parameter,
na, that is in agreement with path-integral Monte Carlo calculations.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
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