1,010 research outputs found
All-optical ion generation for ion trap loading
We have investigated the all-optical generation of ions by photo-ionisation
of atoms generated by pulsed laser ablation. A direct comparison between a
resistively heated oven source and pulsed laser ablation is reported. Pulsed
laser ablation with 10 ns Nd:YAG laser pulses is shown to produce large calcium
flux, corresponding to atomic beams produced with oven temperatures greater
than 650 K. For an equivalent atomic flux, pulsed laser ablation is shown to
produce a thermal load more than one order of magnitude smaller than the oven
source. The atomic beam distributions obey Maxwell-Boltzmann statistics with
most probable speeds corresponding to temperatures greater than 2200 K. Below a
threshold pulse fluence between 280 mJ/cm^2 and 330 mJ/cm^2, the atomic beam is
composed exclusively of ground state atoms. For higher fluences ions and
excited atoms are generated.Comment: 7 pages, 9 figure
LOUPE: Observing Earth from the Moon to prepare for detecting life on Earth-like exoplanets
LOUPE, the Lunar Observatory for Unresolved Polarimetry of the Earth, is a
small, robust spectro-polarimeter with a mission to observe the Earth as an
exoplanet. Detecting Earth-like planets in stellar habitable zones is one of
the key challenges of modern exoplanetary science. Characterising such planets
and searching for traces of life requires the direct detection of their
signals. LOUPE provides unique spectral flux and polarisation data of sunlight
reflected by the Earth, the only planet known to harbor life. This data will be
used to test numerical codes to predict signals of Earth-like exoplanets, to
test algorithms that retrieve planet properties, and to fine-tune the design
and observational strategies of future space observatories. From the Moon,
LOUPE will continuously see the entire Earth, enabling it to monitor the signal
changes due to the planet's daily rotation, weather patterns, and seasons,
across all phase angles. Here, we present both the science case and the
technology behind LOUPE's instrumental and mission design.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for publication in Royal Society
Philosophical Transactions A. Corrected typos in v
Observing the Earth as an exoplanet with LOUPE, the Lunar Observatory for Unresolved Polarimetry of Earth
The detections of small, rocky exoplanets have surged in recent years and
will likely continue to do so. To know whether a rocky exoplanet is habitable,
we have to characterise its atmosphere and surface. A promising
characterisation method for rocky exoplanets is direct detection using
spectropolarimetry. This method will be based on single pixel signals, because
spatially resolving exoplanets is impossible with current and near-future
instruments. Well-tested retrieval algorithms are essential to interpret these
single pixel signals in terms of atmospheric composition, cloud and surface
coverage. Observations of Earth itself provide the obvious benchmark data for
testing such algorithms. The observations should provide signals that are
integrated over the Earth's disk, that capture day and night variations, and
all phase angles. The Moon is a unique platform from where the Earth can be
observed as an exoplanet, undisturbed, all of the time. Here, we present LOUPE,
the Lunar Observatory for Unresolved Polarimetry of Earth, a small and robust
spectropolarimeter to observe our Earth as an exoplanet.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, submitted in special Issue of Planetary and
Space Science on Scientific Preparations for Lunar Exploratio
Emotional engagements predict and enhance social cognition in young chimpanzees
Social cognition in infancy is evident in coordinated triadic engagements, that is, infants attending jointly with social partners and objects. Current evolutionary theories of primate social cognition tend to highlight species differences in cognition based on human-unique cooperative motives. We consider a developmental model in which engagement experiences produce differential outcomes. We conducted a 10-year-long study in which two groups of laboratory-raised chimpanzee infants were given quantifiably different engagement experiences. Joint attention, cooperativeness, affect, and different levels of cognition were measured in 5- to 12-month-old chimpanzees, and compared to outcomes derived from a normative human database. We found that joint attention skills significantly improved across development for all infants, but by 12 months, the humans significantly surpassed the chimpanzees. We found that cooperativeness was stable in the humans, but by 12 months, the chimpanzee group given enriched engagement experiences significantly surpassed the humans. Past engagement experiences and concurrent affect were significant unique predictors of both joint attention and cooperativeness in 5- to 12-month-old chimpanzees. When engagement experiences and concurrent affect were statistically controlled, joint attention and cooperation were not associated. We explain differential social cognition outcomes in terms of the significant influences of previous engagement experiences and affect, in addition to cognition. Our study highlights developmental processes that underpin the emergence of social cognition in support of evolutionary continuity
Transition to an Insulating Phase Induced by Attractive Interactions in the Disordered Three-Dimensional Hubbard Model
We study numerically the interplay of disorder and attractive interactions
for spin-1/2 fermions in the three-dimensional Hubbard model. The results
obtained by projector quantum Monte Carlo simulations show that at moderate
disorder, increasing the attractive interaction leads to a transition from
delocalized superconducting states to the insulating phase of localized pairs.
This transition takes place well within the metallic phase of the
single-particle Anderson model.Comment: revtex, 4 pages, 3 figure
All-Optical Broadband Excitation of the Motional State of Trapped Ions
We have developed a novel all-optical broadband scheme for exciting,
amplifying and measuring the secular motion of ions in a radio frequency trap.
Oscillation induced by optical excitation has been coherently amplified to
precisely control and measure the ion's secular motion. Requiring only laser
line-of-sight, we have shown that the ion's oscillation amplitude can be
precisely controlled. Our excitation scheme can generate coherent motion which
is robust against variations in the secular frequency. Therefore, our scheme is
ideal to excite the desired level of oscillatory motion under conditions where
the secular frequency is evolving in time. Measuring the oscillation amplitude
through Doppler velocimetry, we have characterized the experimental parameters
and compared them with a molecular dynamics simulation which provides a
complete description of the system.Comment: 8 pages, 10 figure
Residual cognitive deficits 50 years after lead poisoning during childhood
The long term neurobehavioural consequences of childhood lead poisoning are not known. In this study adult subjects with a documented history of lead poisoning before age 4 and matched controls were examined with an abbreviated battery of neuropsychological tests including measures of attention, reasoning, memory, motor speed, and current mood. The subjects exposed to lead were inferior to controls on almost all of the cognitive tasks. This pattern of widespread deficits resembles that found in children evaluated at the time of acute exposure to lead rather than the more circumscribed pattern typically seen in adults exposed to lead. Despite having completed as many years of schooling as controls, the subjects exposed to lead were lower in lifetime occupational status. Within the exposed group, performance on the neuropsychological battery and occupational status were related, consistent with the presumed impact of limitations in neuropsychological functioning on everyday life. The results suggest that many subjects exposed to lead suffered acute encephalopathy in childhood which resolved into a chronic subclinical encephalopathy with associated cognitive dysfunction still evident in adulthood. These findings lend support to efforts to limit exposure to lead in childhood
Background-free detection of trapped ions
We demonstrate a Doppler cooling and detection scheme for ions with low-lying
D levels which almost entirely suppresses scattered laser light background,
while retaining a high fluorescence signal and efficient cooling. We cool a
single ion with a laser on the 2S1/2 to 2P1/2 transition as usual, but repump
via the 2P3/2 level. By filtering out light on the cooling transition and
detecting only the fluorescence from the 2P_3/2 to 2S1/2 decays, we suppress
the scattered laser light background count rate to 1 per second while
maintaining a signal of 29000 per second with moderate saturation of the
cooling transition. This scheme will be particularly useful for experiments
where ions are trapped in close proximity to surfaces, such as the trap
electrodes in microfabricated ion traps, which leads to high background scatter
from the cooling beam
Experimental properties of Bose-Einstein condensates in 1D optical lattices: Bloch oscillations, Landau-Zener tunneling and mean-field effects
We report experimental results on the properties of Bose-Einstein condensates
in 1D optical lattices. By accelerating the lattice, we observed Bloch
oscillations of the condensate in the lowest band, as well as Landau-Zener
(L-Z) tunneling into higher bands when the lattice depth was reduced and/or the
acceleration of the lattice was increased. The dependence of the L-Z tunneling
rate on the condensate density was then related to mean-field effects modifying
the effective potential acting on the condensate, yielding good agreement with
recent theoretical work. We also present several methods for measuring the
lattice depth and discuss the effects of the micromotion in the TOP-trap on our
experimental results.Comment: 11 pages, 14 figure
LOUPE: observing the Earth from the Moon to prepare for detecting life on Earth-like exoplanets
Instrumentatio
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