10,380 research outputs found
HI ``Tails'' from Cometary Globules in IC1396
IC 1396 is a relatively nearby (750 pc), large (>2 deg), HII region ionized
by a single O6.5V star and containing bright-rimmed cometary globules. We have
made the first arcmin resolution images of atomic hydrogen toward IC 1396, and
have found remarkable ``tail''-like structures associated with some of the
globules and extending up to 6.5 pc radially away from the central ionizing
star. These HI ``tails'' may be material which has been ablated from the
globule through ionization and/or photodissociation and then accelerated away
from the globule by the stellar wind, but which has since drifted into the
``shadow'' of the globules.
This report presents the first results of the Galactic Plane Survey Project
recently begun by the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory.Comment: 11 pages, 5 postscript figures, uses aaspp4.sty macros, submitted in
uuencoded gzipped tar format, accepted for publication in Astrophysical
Journal Letters, colour figures available at
http://www.drao.nrc.ca/~schieven/news_sep95/ic1396.htm
Exciton binding energies in carbon nanotubes from two-photon photoluminescence
One- and two-photon luminescence excitation spectroscopy showed a series of
distinct excitonic states in single-walled carbon nanotubes. The energy
splitting between one- and two-photon-active exciton states of different
wavefunction symmetry is the fingerprint of excitonic interactions in carbon
nanotubes. We determine exciton binding energies of 0.3-0.4 eV for different
nanotubes with diameters between 0.7 and 0.9 nm. Our results, which are
supported by ab-initio calculations of the linear and non-linear optical
spectra, prove that the elementary optical excitations of carbon nanotubes are
strongly Coulomb-correlated, quasi-one dimensionally confined electron-hole
pairs, stable even at room temperature. This alters our microscopic
understanding of both the electronic structure and the Coulomb interactions in
carbon nanotubes, and has direct impact on the optical and transport properties
of novel nanotube devices.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
G55.0+0.3: A Highly Evolved Supernova Remnant
Multi-frequency analysis has revealed the presence of a new supernova
remnant, G55.0+0.3, in the Galactic plane. A kinematic distance of 14 kpc has
been measured from HI spectral line data. The faint, clumpy half-shell is
non-thermal and has a physical radius of 70 pc. Using an evolutionary model,
the age of the remnant is estimated to be on the order of one million years,
which exceeds conventional limits by a factor of five. The remnant may be
associated with the nearby pulsar J1932+2020, which has a spin-down age of 1.1
million years. This work implies that the radiative lifetimes of remnants could
be much longer than previously suggested.Comment: 27 pages, 7 figures in 9 files (figures 1 and 2 require 2 files
each), Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal (Jan. 20, 1998
volume
The S=1/2 chain in a staggered field: High-energy bound-spinon state and the effects of a discrete lattice
We report an experimental and theoretical study of the antiferromagnetic
S=1/2 chain subject to uniform and staggered fields. Using inelastic neutron
scattering, we observe a novel bound-spinon state at high energies in the
linear chain compound CuCl2 * 2((CD3)2SO). The excitation is explained with a
mean-field theory of interacting S=1/2 fermions and arises from the opening of
a gap at the Fermi surface due to confining spinon interactions. The mean-field
model also describes the wave-vector dependence of the bound-spinon states,
particularly in regions where effects of the discrete lattice are important. We
calculate the dynamic structure factor using exact diagonalization of finite
length chains, obtaining excellent agreement with the experiments.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures, accepted by Phys. Rev.
Phase diagram and spin Hamiltonian of weakly-coupled anisotropic S=1/2 chains in CuCl2*2((CD3)2SO)
Field-dependent specific heat and neutron scattering measurements were used
to explore the antiferromagnetic S=1/2 chain compound CuCl2 * 2((CD3)2SO). At
zero field the system acquires magnetic long-range order below TN=0.93K with an
ordered moment of 0.44muB. An external field along the b-axis strengthens the
zero-field magnetic order, while fields along the a- and c-axes lead to a
collapse of the exchange stabilized order at mu0 Hc=6T and mu0 Hc=3.5T,
respectively (for T=0.65K) and the formation of an energy gap in the excitation
spectrum. We relate the field-induced gap to the presence of a staggered
g-tensor and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions, which lead to effective
staggered fields for magnetic fields applied along the a- and c-axes.
Competition between anisotropy, inter-chain interactions and staggered fields
leads to a succession of three phases as a function of field applied along the
c-axis. For fields greater than mu0 Hc, we find a magnetic structure that
reflects the symmetry of the staggered fields. The critical exponent, beta, of
the temperature driven phase transitions are indistinguishable from those of
the three-dimensional Heisenberg magnet, while measurements for transitions
driven by quantum fluctuations produce larger values of beta.Comment: revtex 12 pages, 11 figure
Scaling of the conductance in gold nanotubes
A new form of gold nanobridges has been recently observed in ultrahigh-vacuum
experiments, where the gold atoms rearrange to build helical nanotubes, akin in
some respects to carbon nanotubes. The good reproducibility of these wires and
their unexpected stability will allow for conductance measurements and make
them promising candidates for future applications . We present here a study of
the transport properties of these nanotubes in order to understand the role of
chirality and of the different orbitals in quantum transport observables. The
conductance per atomic row shows a light decreasing trend as the diameter
grows, which is also shown through an analytical formula based on a one-orbital
model.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figure
Radio and gamma-ray constraints on dark matter annihilation in the Galactic center
We determine upper limits on the dark matter (DM) self-annihilation cross
section for scenarios in which annihilation leads to the production of
electron--positron pairs. In the Galactic centre (GC), relativistic electrons
and positrons produce a radio flux via synchroton emission, and a gamma ray
flux via bremsstrahlung and inverse Compton scattering. On the basis of
archival, interferometric and single-dish radio data, we have determined the
radio spectrum of an elliptical region around the Galactic centre of extent 3
degrees semi-major axis (along the Galactic plane) and 1 degree semi-minor axis
and a second, rectangular region, also centered on the GC, of extent 1.6
degrees x 0.6 degrees. The radio spectra of both regions are non-thermal over
the range of frequencies for which we have data: 74 MHz -- 10 GHz. We also
consider gamma-ray data covering the same region from the EGRET instrument
(about GeV) and from HESS (around TeV). We show how the combination of these
data can be used to place robust constraints on DM annihilation scenarios, in a
way which is relatively insensitive to assumptions about the magnetic field
amplitude in this region. Our results are approximately an order of magnitude
more constraining than existing Galactic centre radio and gamma ray limits. For
a DM mass of m_\chi =10 GeV, and an NFW profile, we find that the
velocity-averaged cross-section must be less than a few times 10^-25 cm^3 s^-1.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures. Version accepted for publication in PRD.
Reference section updated/extended
Magnetization of small lead particles
The magnetization of an ensemble of isolated lead grains of sizes ranging
from below 6 nm to 1000 nm is measured. A sharp disappearance of Meissner
effect with lowering of the grain size is observed for the smaller grains. This
is a direct observation by magnetization measurement of the occurrence of a
critical particle size for superconductivity, which is consistent with
Anderson's criterion.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, Submitted to PR
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