Anomalous spin-dependent behaviour of one-dimensional subbands

We report a new electron interaction effect in GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wires. Using DC-bias spectroscopy, we show that large and abrupt changes occur to the energies of spin-down (lower energy) states as they populate. The effect is not observed for spin-up energy states. At B=0, interactions have a pronounced effect, in the form of the well-known 0.7 Structure. However, our new results show that interactions strongly affect the energy spectrum at all magnetic fields, from 0 to 16T, not just in the vicinity of the 0.7 Structure.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

A visible record of eddies in the southern Mozambique Channel

The flows around Madagascar feed into the Agulhas Current, but there have been few hydrographic studies of the flow within the Mozambique Channel. Some cruise and altimetric data point to this being a region of high mesoscale activity, with eddies migrating through the area. Here we show how ocean colour data throw light on the behaviour of eddies in the southern Mozambique Channel

Minimax studies

Effect of nonzero initial conditions on selection of minimax controllers for large launch vehicles and extremal bounded amplitude bounded rate inputs to linear system

Energy-level pinning and the 0.7 spin state in one dimension: GaAs quantum wires studied using finite-bias spectroscopy

We study the effects of electron-electron interactions on the energy levels of GaAs quantum wires (QWs) using finite-bias spectroscopy. We probe the energy spectrum at zero magnetic field, and at crossings of opposite-spin-levels in high in-plane magnetic field B. Our results constitute direct evidence that spin-up (higher energy) levels pin to the chemical potential as they populate. We also show that spin-up and spin-down levels abruptly rearrange at the crossing in a manner resembling the magnetic phase transitions predicted to occur at crossings of Landau levels. This rearranging and pinning of subbands provides a phenomenological explanation for the 0.7 structure, a one-dimensional (1D) nanomagnetic state, and its high-B variants.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Enhanced di-Higgs Production through Light Colored Scalars

We demonstrate enhanced di-Higgs production at the LHC in the presence of modifications of the effective couplings of Higgs to gluons from new, light, colored scalars. While our results apply to an arbitrary set of colored scalars, we illustrate the effects with a real color octet scalar -- a simple, experimentally viable model involving a light (~125-300 GeV) colored scalar. Given the recent LHC results, we consider two distinct scenarios: First, if the Higgs is indeed near 125 GeV, we show that the di-Higgs cross section could be up to nearly one thousand times the Standard Model rate for particular octet couplings and masses. This is potentially observable in \emph{single} Higgs production modes, such as $pp \to h h \to \gamma\gamma b\bar{b}$ as well as $pp \to h h \to \tau^+\tau^- b\bar{b}$ where a small fraction of the $\gamma\gamma$ or $\tau^+\tau^-$ events near the putative Higgs invariant mass peak contain also a $b\bar{b}$ resonance consistent with the Higgs mass. Second, if the Higgs is not at 125 GeV (and what the LHC has observed is an impostor), we show that the same parameter region where singly-produced Higgs production can be suppressed below current LHC limits, for a heavier Higgs mass, also simultaneously predicts substantially enhanced di-Higgs production. We point out several characteristic signals of di-Higgs production with a heavier Higgs boson, such as $pp \to hh \to W^+W^-W^+W^-$, which could use same-sign dileptons or trileptons plus missing energy to uncover evidence.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figure

Rain-flagging of the Envisat altimeter

As the goals for altimetric measurements become ever more precise, there is concern about the reliable detection and discarding of rain contaminated data. A dual-frequency rain detection technique developed for the Ku- and C-band TOPEX altimeter, is adapted for the Ku- and S-band RA-2 altimeter on Envisat. Of particular concern is the selection of a suitable threshold to minimise the quantity of good data inadvertently discarded