904 research outputs found
Strong Electron-Phonon Coupling in Superconducting MgB: A Specific Heat Study
We report on measurements of the specific heat of the recently discovered
superconductor MgB in the temperature range between 3 and 220 K. Based on a
modified Debye-Einstein model, we have achieved a rather accurate account of
the lattice contribution to the specific heat, which allows us to separate the
electronic contribution from the total measured specific heat. From our result
for the electronic specific heat, we estimate the electron-phonon coupling
constant to be of the order of 2, significantly enhanced compared to
common weak-coupling values . Our data also indicate that the
electronic specific heat in the superconducting state of MgB can be
accounted for by a conventional, s-wave type BCS-model.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
A special irreducible matrix representation of the real Clifford algebra C(3,1)
4x4 Dirac (gamma) matrices (irreducible matrix representations of the
Clifford algebras C(3,1), C(1,3), C(4,0)) are an essential part of many
calculations in quantum physics. Although the final physical results do not
depend on the applied representation of the Dirac matrices (e.g. due to the
invariance of traces of products of Dirac matrices), the appropriate choice of
the representation used may facilitate the analysis. The present paper
introduces a particularly symmetric real representation of 4x4 Dirac matrices
(Majorana representation) which may prove useful in the future. As a byproduct,
a compact formula for (transformed) Pauli matrices is found. The consideration
is based on the role played by isoclinic 2-planes in the geometry of the real
Clifford algebra C(3,0) which provide an invariant geometric frame for it. It
can be generalized to larger Clifford algebras.Comment: 23 pages LaTeX, to appear in the J. Math. Phys. (v2: appendix B on
Pauli matrices and references are added, minor other changes
Stationary shapes of deformable particles moving at low Reynolds numbers
Lecture Notes of the Summer School ``Microswimmers -- From Single Particle
Motion to Collective Behaviour'', organised by the DFG Priority Programme SPP
1726 (Forschungszentrum J{\"{u}}lich, 2015).Comment: Pages C7.1-16 of G. Gompper et al. (ed.), Microswimmers - From Single
Particle Motion to Collective Behaviour, Lecture Notes of the DFG SPP 1726
Summer School 2015, Forschungszentrum J\"ulich GmbH, Schriften des
Forschungszentrums J\"ulich, Reihe Key Technologies, Vol 110, ISBN
978-3-95806-083-
Controlling the quantum dynamics of a mesoscopic spin bath in diamond
Understanding and mitigating decoherence is a key challenge for quantum
science and technology. The main source of decoherence for solid-state spin
systems is the uncontrolled spin bath environment. Here, we demonstrate quantum
control of a mesoscopic spin bath in diamond at room temperature that is
composed of electron spins of substitutional nitrogen impurities. The resulting
spin bath dynamics are probed using a single nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centre
electron spin as a magnetic field sensor. We exploit the spin bath control to
dynamically suppress dephasing of the NV spin by the spin bath. Furthermore, by
combining spin bath control with dynamical decoupling, we directly measure the
coherence and temporal correlations of different groups of bath spins. These
results uncover a new arena for fundamental studies on decoherence and enable
novel avenues for spin-based magnetometry and quantum information processing
Composite-pulse magnetometry with a solid-state quantum sensor
The sensitivity of quantum magnetometers is challenged by control errors and,
especially in the solid-state, by their short coherence times. Refocusing
techniques can overcome these limitations and improve the sensitivity to
periodic fields, but they come at the cost of reduced bandwidth and cannot be
applied to sense static (DC) or aperiodic fields. Here we experimentally
demonstrate that continuous driving of the sensor spin by a composite pulse
known as rotary-echo (RE) yields a flexible magnetometry scheme, mitigating
both driving power imperfections and decoherence. A suitable choice of RE
parameters compensates for different scenarios of noise strength and origin.
The method can be applied to nanoscale sensing in variable environments or to
realize noise spectroscopy. In a room-temperature implementation based on a
single electronic spin in diamond, composite-pulse magnetometry provides a
tunable trade-off between sensitivities in the microT/sqrt(Hz) range,
comparable to those obtained with Ramsey spectroscopy, and coherence times
approaching T1
Do Fleas Affect Energy Expenditure of Their Free-Living Hosts?
Parasites can cause energetically costly behavioural and immunological responses which potentially can reduce host fitness. However, although most laboratory studies indicate that the metabolic rate of the host increases with parasite infestation, this has never been shown in free-living host populations. In fact, studies thus far have shown no effect of parasitism on field metabolic rate (FMR).We tested the effect of parasites on the energy expenditure of a host by measuring FMR using doubly-labelled water in free-living Baluchistan gerbils (Gerbillus nanus) infested by naturally occurring fleas during winter, spring and summer. We showed for the first time that FMR of free-living G. nanus was significantly and positively correlated with parasite load in spring when parasite load was highest; this relationship approached significance in summer when parasite load was lowest but was insignificant in winter. Among seasons, winter FMRs were highest and summer FMRs were lowest in G. nanus.The lack of parasite effect on FMR in winter could be related to the fact that FMR rates were highest among seasons. In this season, thermoregulatory costs are high which may indicate that less energy could be allocated to defend against parasites or to compensate for other costly activities. The question about the cost of parasitism in nature is now one of the major themes in ecological physiology. Our study supports the hypothesis that parasites can elevate FMR of their hosts, at least under certain conditions. However, the effect is complex and factors such as season and parasite load are involved
Hybrid Mechanical Systems
We discuss hybrid systems in which a mechanical oscillator is coupled to
another (microscopic) quantum system, such as trapped atoms or ions,
solid-state spin qubits, or superconducting devices. We summarize and compare
different coupling schemes and describe first experimental implementations.
Hybrid mechanical systems enable new approaches to quantum control of
mechanical objects, precision sensing, and quantum information processing.Comment: To cite this review, please refer to the published book chapter (see
Journal-ref and DOI). This v2 corresponds to the published versio
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