Theoretical models of planetary system formation: mass vs semi-major axis

Planet formation models have been developed during the last years in order to try to reproduce the observations of both the solar system, and the extrasolar planets. Some of these models have partially succeeded, focussing however on massive planets, and for the sake of simplicity excluding planets belonging to planetary systems. However, more and more planets are now found in planetary systems. This tendency, which is a result of both radial velocity, transit and direct imaging surveys, seems to be even more pronounced for low mass planets. These new observations require the improvement of planet formation models, including new physics, and considering the formation of systems. In a recent series of papers, we have presented some improvements in the physics of our models, focussing in particular on the internal structure of forming planets, and on the computation of the excitation state of planetesimals, and their resulting accretion rate. In this paper, we focus on the concurrent effect of the formation of more than one planet in the same protoplanetary disc, and show the effect, in terms of global architecture and composition of this multiplicity. We use a N-body calculation including collision detection to compute the orbital evolution of a planetary system. Moreover, we describe the effect of competition for accretion of gas and solids, as well as the effect of gravitational interactions between planets. We show that the masses and semi-major axis of planets are modified by both the effect of competition and gravitational interactions. We also present the effect of the assumed number of forming planets in the same system (a free parameter of the model), as well as the effect of the inclination and eccentricity damping.Comment: accepted in Astronomy and Astrophysic

Astronomical spectrograph calibration with broad-spectrum frequency combs

Broadband femtosecond-laser frequency combs are filtered to spectrographically resolvable frequency-mode spacing, and the limitations of using cavities for spectral filtering are considered. Data and theory are used to show implications to spectrographic calibration of high-resolution, astronomical spectrometers

The impact of geographic expansion in banking: some axioms to grind

Interstate banking ; Banking structure ; Banking market

Kilohertz-resolution spectroscopy of cold atoms with an optical frequency comb

We have performed sub-Doppler spectroscopy on the narrow intercombination line of cold calcium atoms using the amplified output of a femtosecond laser frequency comb. Injection locking of a 657-nm diode laser with a femtosecond comb allows for two regimes of amplification, one in which many lines of the comb are amplified, and one where a single line is predominantly amplified. The output of the laser in both regimes was used to perform kilohertz-level spectroscopy. This experiment demonstrates the potential for high-resolution absolute-frequency spectroscopy over the entire spectrum of the frequency comb output using a single high-finesse optical reference cavity.Comment: 4 pages, 4 Figure

Ultralow phase noise microwave generation with an Er:fiber-based optical frequency divider

We present an optical frequency divider based on a 200 MHz repetition rate Er:fiber mode-locked laser that, when locked to a stable optical frequency reference, generates microwave signals with absolute phase noise that is equal to or better than cryogenic microwave oscillators. At 1 Hz offset from a 10 GHz carrier, the phase noise is below -100 dBc/Hz, limited by the optical reference. For offset frequencies > 10 kHz, the phase noise is shot noise limited at -145 dBc/Hz. An analysis of the contribution of the residual noise from the Er:fiber optical frequency divider is also presented.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Fermionic Symmetries: Extension of the two to one Relationship Between the Spectra of Even-Even and Neighbouring Odd mass Nuclei

In the single j shell there is a two to one relationship between the spectra of certain even-even and neighbouring odd mass nuclei e.g. the calculated energy levels of J=0^+ states in ^{44}Ti are at twice the energies of corresponding levels in ^{43}Ti(^{43}Sc) with J=j=7/2. Here an approximate extension of the relationship is made by adopting a truncated seniority scheme i.e. for ^{46}Ti and ^{45}Sc we get the relationship if we do not allow the seniority v=4 states to mix with the v=0 and v=2 states. Better than that, we get very close to the two to one relationship if seniority v=4 states are admixed perturbatively. In addition, it is shown that the higher isospin states do not contain seniority 4 admixtures.Comment: 11 pages, RevTex file and no figures, typos added, references changed and changed content

A New Bound on Excess Frequency Noise in Second Harmonic Generation in PPKTP at the 10^-19 Level

We report a bound on the relative frequency fluctuations in nonlinear second harmonic generation. A 1064nm Nd:YAG laser is used to read out the phase of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer while PPKTP, a nonlinear crystal, is placed in each arm to generate second harmonic light. By comparing the arm length difference of the Mach Zehnder as read out by the fundamental 1064 nm light, and its second harmonic at 532 nm, we can bound the excess frequency noise introduced in the harmonic generation process. We report an amplitude spectral density of frequency noise with total RMS frequency deviation of 3mHz and a minimum value of 20 {\mu}Hz/rtHz over 250 seconds with a measurement bandwidth of 128 Hz, corresponding to an Allan deviation of 10^-19 at 20 seconds.Comment: Submitted to Optics Express June 201

Observation of the 1S0 - 3P0 clock transition in 27Al+

We report for the first time, laser spectroscopy of the 1S0 - 3P0 clock transition in 27Al+. A single aluminum ion and a single beryllium ion are simultaneously confined in a linear Paul trap, coupled by their mutual Coulomb repulsion. This coupling allows the beryllium ion to sympathetically cool the aluminum ion, and also enables transfer of the aluminum's electronic state to the beryllium's hyperfine state, which can be measured with high fidelity. These techniques are applied to a measurement of the clock transition frequency, \nu = 1 121 015 393 207 851(8) Hz. They are also used to measure the lifetime of the metastable clock state, \tau = 20.6 +/- 1.4 s, the ground state 1S0 g-factor, g_S = -0.00079248(14), and the excited state 3P0 g-factor, g_P = -0.00197686(21), in units of the Bohr magneton.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures; updated author lis

Origin, burial and preservation of late Pleistocene-age glacier ice in Arctic permafrost (Bylot Island, NU, Canada)

Over the past decades, observations of buried glacier ice exposed in coastal bluffs and headwalls of retrogressive thaw slumps of the Arctic have indicated that considerable amounts of late Pleistocene glacier ice survived the deglaciation and are still preserved in permafrost. In exposures, relict glacier ice and intrasedimental ice often coexist and look alike but their genesis is strikingly different. This paper aims to present a detailed description and infer the origin of a massive ice body preserved in the permafrost of Bylot Island (Nunavut). The massive ice exposure and core samples were described according to the cryostratigraphic approach, combining the analysis of permafrost cryofacies and cryostructures, ice crystallography, stable O-H isotopes and cation contents. The ice was clear to whitish in appearance with large crystals (cm) and small gas inclusions (mm) at crystal intersections, similar to observations of englacial ice facies commonly found on contemporary glaciers and ice sheets. However, the δ18O composition (-34.0±0.4&thinsp;‰) of the massive ice was markedly lower than contemporary glacier ice and was consistent with the late Pleistocene age ice in the Barnes Ice Cap. This ice predates the aggradation of the surrounding permafrost and can be used as an archive to infer palaeo-environmental conditions at the study site. As most of the glaciated Arctic landscapes are still strongly determined by their glacial legacy, the melting of these large ice bodies could lead to extensive slope failures and settlement of the ground surface, with significant impact on permafrost geosystem landscape dynamics, terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and infrastructure.</p