Correlating the nanostructure of Al-oxide with deposition conditions and dielectric contributions of two-level systems in perspective of superconducting quantum circuits

This work is concerned with Al/Al-oxide(AlO$_{x}$)/Al-layer systems which are important for Josephson-junction-based superconducting devices such as quantum bits. The device performance is limited by noise, which has been to a large degree assigned to the presence and properties of two-level tunneling systems in the amorphous AlO$_{x}$ tunnel barrier. The study is focused on the correlation of the fabrication conditions, nanostructural and nanochemical properties and the occurrence of two-level tunneling systems with particular emphasis on the AlO$_{x}$-layer. Electron-beam evaporation with two different processes and sputter deposition were used for structure fabrication, and the effect of illumination by ultraviolet light during Al-oxide formation is elucidated. Characterization was performed by analytical transmission electron microscopy and low-temperature dielectric measurements. We show that the fabrication conditions have a strong impact on the nanostructural and nanochemical properties of the layer systems and the properties of two-level tunneling systems. Based on the understanding of the observed structural characteristics, routes are derived towards the fabrication of Al/AlO$_{x}$/Al-layers systems with improved properties.Comment: 28 pages, 4 figure

Inspiral-merger-ringdown waveforms for black-hole binaries with non-precessing spins

We present the first analytical inspiral-merger-ringdown gravitational waveforms from binary black holes (BBHs) with non-precessing spins, that is based on a description of the late-inspiral, merger and ringdown in full general relativity. By matching a post-Newtonian description of the inspiral to a set of numerical-relativity simulations, we obtain a waveform family with a conveniently small number of physical parameters. These waveforms will allow us to detect a larger parameter space of BBH coalescence, including a considerable fraction of precessing binaries in the comparable-mass regime, thus significantly improving the expected detection rates.Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev. Lett. Significant new results. One figure removed due to page limitatio

Gribov horizon and i-particles: about a toy model and the construction of physical operators

Restricting the functional integral to the Gribov region $\Omega$ leads to a deep modification of the behavior of Euclidean Yang-Mills theories in the infrared region. For example, a gluon propagator of the Gribov type, $\frac{k^2}{k^4+{\hat \gamma}^4}$, can be viewed as a propagating pair of unphysical modes, called here $i$-particles, with complex masses $\pm i{\hat \gamma}^2$. From this viewpoint, gluons are unphysical and one can see them as being confined. We introduce a simple toy model describing how a suitable set of composite operators can be constructed out of $i$-particles whose correlation functions exhibit only real branch cuts, with associated positive spectral density. These composite operators can thus be called physical and are the toy analogy of glueballs in the Gribov-Zwanziger theory.Comment: 35 pages, 10 .pdf figures. v2: version accepted for publication in Physical Review

Negative Giant Longitudinal Magnetoresistance in NiMnSb/InSb: An interface effect

We report on the electrical and magneto-transport properties of the contact formed between polycrystalline NiMnSb thin films grown using pulsed laser deposition (PLD) and n-type degenerate InSb (100) substrates. A negative giant magnetoresistance (GMR) effect is observed when the external magnetic field is parallel to the surface of the film and to the current direction. We attribute the observed phenomenon to magnetic precipitates formed during the magnetic film deposition and confined to a narrow layer at the interface. The effect of these precipitates on the magnetoresistance depends on the thermal processing of the system.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figure

RELEASE: A High-level Paradigm for Reliable Large-scale Server Software

Erlang is a functional language with a much-emulated model for building reliable distributed systems. This paper outlines the RELEASE project, and describes the progress in the first six months. The project aim is to scale the Erlang’s radical concurrency-oriented programming paradigm to build reliable general-purpose software, such as server-based systems, on massively parallel machines. Currently Erlang has inherently scalable computation and reliability models, but in practice scalability is constrained by aspects of the language and virtual machine. We are working at three levels to address these challenges: evolving the Erlang virtual machine so that it can work effectively on large scale multicore systems; evolving the language to Scalable Distributed (SD) Erlang; developing a scalable Erlang infrastructure to integrate multiple, heterogeneous clusters. We are also developing state of the art tools that allow programmers to understand the behaviour of massively parallel SD Erlang programs. We will demonstrate the effectiveness of the RELEASE approach using demonstrators and two large case studies on a Blue Gene

Involution and Constrained Dynamics I: The Dirac Approach

We study the theory of systems with constraints from the point of view of the formal theory of partial differential equations. For finite-dimensional systems we show that the Dirac algorithm completes the equations of motion to an involutive system. We discuss the implications of this identification for field theories and argue that the involution analysis is more general and flexible than the Dirac approach. We also derive intrinsic expressions for the number of degrees of freedom.Comment: 28 pages, latex, no figure

Direct Evidence of the Discontinuous Character of the Kosterlitz-Thouless Jump

It is numerically shown that the discontinuous character of the helicity modulus of the two-dimensional XY model at the Kosterlitz-Thouless (KT) transition can be directly related to a higher order derivative of the free energy without presuming any {\it a priori} knowledge of the nature of the transition. It is also suggested that this higher order derivative is of intrinsic interest in that it gives an additional characteristics of the KT transition which might be associated with a universal number akin to the universal value of the helicity modulus at the critical temperature.Comment: 4 pages, to appear in PR

Matching post-Newtonian and numerical relativity waveforms: systematic errors and a new phenomenological model for non-precessing black hole binaries

We present a new phenomenological gravitational waveform model for the inspiral and coalescence of non-precessing spinning black hole binaries. Our approach is based on a frequency domain matching of post-Newtonian inspiral waveforms with numerical relativity based binary black hole coalescence waveforms. We quantify the various possible sources of systematic errors that arise in matching post-Newtonian and numerical relativity waveforms, and we use a matching criteria based on minimizing these errors; we find that the dominant source of errors are those in the post-Newtonian waveforms near the merger. An analytical formula for the dominant mode of the gravitational radiation of non-precessing black hole binaries is presented that captures the phenomenology of the hybrid waveforms. Its implementation in the current searches for gravitational waves should allow cross-checks of other inspiral-merger-ringdown waveform families and improve the reach of gravitational wave searches.Comment: 22 pages, 11 figure

Fredholm determinants and the statistics of charge transport

Using operator algebraic methods we show that the moment generating function of charge transport in a system with infinitely many non-interacting Fermions is given by a determinant of a certain operator in the one-particle Hilbert space. The formula is equivalent to a formula of Levitov and Lesovik in the finite dimensional case and may be viewed as its regularized form in general. Our result embodies two tenets often realized in mesoscopic physics, namely, that the transport properties are essentially independent of the length of the leads and of the depth of the Fermi sea.Comment: 30 pages, 2 figures, reference added, credit amende

Chiral fermions on the lattice and index relations

Comparing recent lattice results on chiral fermions and old continuum results for the index puzzling questions arise. To clarify this issue we start with a critical reconsideration of the results on finite lattices. We then work out various aspects of the continuum limit. After determining bounds and norm convergences we obtain the limit of the anomaly term. Collecting our results the index relation of the quantized theory gets established. We then compare in detail with the Atiyah-Singer theorem. Finally we analyze conventional continuum approaches.Comment: 34 pages; a more detaild introduction and a subsection with remarks on literature adde