3,357 research outputs found
Quantum phase transitions of polar molecules in bilayer systems
We investigate the quantum phase transitions of bosonic polar molecules in a
two-dimensional double layer system. We show that an interlayer bound state of
dipoles (dimers) can be formed when the dipole strength is above a critical
value, leading to a zero-energy resonance in the interlayer s-wave scattering
channel. In the positive detuning side of the resonance, the strong repulsive
interlayer pseudopotential can drive the system into a maximally entangled
state, where the wave function is a superposition of two states that have all
molecules in one layer and none in the other. We discuss how the zero-energy
resonance, dimer states, and the maximally entangled state can be measured in
time-of-flight experiments.Comment: Minor correction
Measurement of the Scintillation Efficiency of Na Recoils in NaI(Tl) down to 10 keV Nuclear Recoil Energy relevant to Dark Matter Searches
We present preliminary results of measurements of the quenching factor for Na
recoils in NaI(Tl) at room temperature, made at a dedicated neutron facility at
the University of Sheffield. Measurements have been performed with a 2.45 MeV
mono-energetic neutron generator in the energy range from 10 keV to 100 keV
nuclear recoil energy. A BC501A liquid scintillator detector was used to tag
neutrons. Cuts on pulse-shape discrimination from the BC501A liquid
scintillator detector and neutron time-of-flight were performed on pulses
recorded by a digitizer with a 2 ns sampling time. Measured quenching factors
range from 19% to 26%, in agreement with other experiments. From pulse-shape
analysis, a mean time of pulses from electron and nuclear recoils are compared
down to 2 keV electron equivalent energy.Comment: to appear in Proc. 6th Int. Workshop on the Identification of Dark
Matter, 11-16 September 2006, Rhodes, Greece; 6 pages, 4 figures; corrected
preliminary theoretical estimation curve plotted in figure
Effect of Farm-Level Constraints, Existing and Prospective Policies on Expansion of Coconut-Based Intercropping in Sri Lanka
Coconut-based intercropping (CBI) in Sri Lanka was introduced some 20 years ago to overcome the two main limitations of traditional coconut monocropping, inefficient land use and low incomes to farmers, but it has not been widely adopted. This study analyses the effect of farm-level resource constraints, and government policies on the intensity of adoption of CBI. A multiperiod linear programming (MLP) model was applied for three farmer groups - resource poor, medium endowed, well endowed - categorised using cluster analysis. Data was collected from a survey of randomly selected 113 intercroppers. Empirical results reveal that expansion of CBI is mainly constrained by seasonal labour shortages for all farmer groups, particularly the well endowed, and by the scarcity of cash in the case of resource-poor farmers. CBI policies aimed at subsidising inputs or intercrop prices are not likely to be efficient in raising adoption, but alternative policies aimed at alleviating resource constraints would be more effective. The study concluded that the low adoption of CBI is mainly attributable to the scarcity of different farm-level resources (other than land), at varying degrees among different farmer groups. Hence a targeted approach to alleviate them is suggested.Crop Production/Industries,
Lag effects in the impacts of mass coral bleaching on coral reef fish, fisheries, and ecosystems
Recent episodes of coral bleaching have led to wide-scale loss of reef corals and raised concerns over the effectiveness of existing conservation and management efforts. The 1998 bleaching event was most severe in the western Indian Ocean, where coral declined by up to 90% in some locations. Using fisheries-independent data, we assessed the long-term impacts of this event on fishery target species in the Seychelles, the overall size structure of the fish assemblage, and the effectiveness of two marine protected areas (MPAs) in protecting fish communities. The biomass of fished species above the size retained in fish traps changed little between 1994 and 2005, indicating no current effect on fishery yields. Biomass remained higher in MPAs, indicating they were effective in protecting fish stocks. Nevertheless, the size structure of the fish communities, as described with size-spectra analysis, changed in both fished areas and MPAs, with a decline in smaller fish (<30 cm) and an increase in larger fish (>45 cm). We believe this represents a time-lag response to a reduction in reef structural complexity brought about because fishes are being lost through natural mortality and fishing, and are not being replaced by juveniles. This effect is expected to be greater in terms of fisheries productivity and, because congruent patterns are observed for herbivores, suggests that MPAs do not offer coral reefs long-term resilience to bleaching events. Corallivores and planktivores declined strikingly in abundance, particularly in MPAs, and this decline was associated with a similar pattern of decline in their preferred corals. We suggest that climate-mediated disturbances, such as coral bleaching, be at the fore of conservation planning for coral reefs.\u
Large-Scale Image Processing with the ROTSE Pipeline for Follow-Up of Gravitational Wave Events
Electromagnetic (EM) observations of gravitational-wave (GW) sources would
bring unique insights into a source which are not available from either channel
alone. However EM follow-up of GW events presents new challenges. GW events
will have large sky error regions, on the order of 10-100 square degrees, which
can be made up of many disjoint patches. When searching such large areas there
is potential contamination by EM transients unrelated to the GW event.
Furthermore, the characteristics of possible EM counterparts to GW events are
also uncertain. It is therefore desirable to be able to assess the statistical
significance of a candidate EM counterpart, which can only be done by
performing background studies of large data sets. Current image processing
pipelines such as that used by ROTSE are not usually optimised for large-scale
processing. We have automated the ROTSE image analysis, and supplemented it
with a post-processing unit for candidate validation and classification. We
also propose a simple ad hoc statistic for ranking candidates as more likely to
be associated with the GW trigger. We demonstrate the performance of the
automated pipeline and ranking statistic using archival ROTSE data. EM
candidates from a randomly selected set of images are compared to a background
estimated from the analysis of 102 additional sets of archival images. The
pipeline's detection efficiency is computed empirically by re-analysis of the
images after adding simulated optical transients that follow typical light
curves for gamma-ray burst afterglows and kilonovae. We show that the automated
pipeline rejects most background events and is sensitive to simulated
transients to limiting magnitudes consistent with the limiting magnitude of the
images
Quantum phase diagrams of fermionic dipolar gases for an arbitrary orientation of dipole moment in a planar array of 1D tubes
We systematically study ground state properties of fermionic dipolar gases in
a planar array of one-dimensional potential tubes for an arbitrary orientation
of dipole moments. Using the Luttinger liquid theory with the generalized
Bogoliubov transformation, we calculate the elementary excitations and the
Luttinger scaling exponents for various relevant quantum orders. The complete
quantum phase diagrams for arbitrary polar angle of the dipole moment is
obtained, including charge density wave, p-wave superfluid, inter-tube
gauge-phase density wave, and inter-tube s-wave superfluid, where the last two
breaks the U(1) gauge symmetry of the system (conservation of particle number
in each tube) and occurs only when the inter-tube interaction is larger than
the intra-tube interaction. We then discuss the physical properties of these
many-body phases and their relationship with some solid state systems.Comment: 10 pages and 10 figure
A method for characterization of coherent backgrounds in real time and its application in gravitational wave data analysis
Many experiments, and in particular gravitational wave detectors, produce
continuous streams of data whose frequency representations contain discrete,
relatively narrowband coherent features at high amplitude. We discuss the
application of digital Fourier transforms (DFTs) to characterization of these
features, hereafter frequently referred to as lines. Application of DFTs to
continuously produced time domain data are achieved through an algorithm
hereafter referred to as EFC for efficient time-domain determination of the
Fourier coefficients of a data set. We first define EFC and discuss parameters
relating to the algorithm that determine its properties and action on the data.
In gravitational wave interferometers, these lines are commonly due to
parasitic sources of coherent background interference coupling into the
instrument. Using GEO 600 data, we next demonstrate that time domain
subtraction of lines can proceed without detrimental effects either on features
at frequencies separated from that of the subtracted line, or on features at
the frequency of the line but having different stationarity properties.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures, 1 table. Accepted by Classical and Quantum
Gravit
An effective many-body theory for strongly interacting polar molecules
We derive a general effective many-body theory for bosonic polar molecules in
strong interaction regime, which cannot be correctly described by previous
theories within the first Born approximation. The effective Hamiltonian has
additional interaction terms, which surprisingly reduces the anisotropic
features of dipolar interaction near the shape resonance regime. In the 2D
system with dipole moment perpendicular to the plane, we find that the phonon
dispersion scales as \sqrt{|\bfp|} in the low momentum (\bfp) limit,
showing the same low energy properties as a 2D charged Bose gas with Coulomb
() interactions.Comment: Same as published version (11 pages, 2 figure
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