289 research outputs found
Confinement effects in a guided-wave interferometer with millimeter-scale arm separation
Guided-wave atom interferometers measure interference effects using atoms
held in a confining potential. In one common implementation, the confinement is
primarily two-dimensional, and the atoms move along the nearly free dimension
under the influence of an off-resonant standing wave laser beam. In this
configuration, residual confinement along the nominally free axis can introduce
a phase gradient to the atoms that limits the arm separation of the
interferometer. We experimentally investigate this effect in detail, and show
that it can be alleviated by having the atoms undergo a more symmetric motion
in the guide. This can be achieved by either using additional laser pulses or
by allowing the atoms to freely oscillate in the potential. Using these
techniques, we demonstrate interferometer measurement times up to 72 ms and arm
separations up to 0.42 mm with a well controlled phase, or times of 0.91 s and
separations of 1.7 mm with an uncontrolled phase.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figure
N-tree approximation for the largest Lyapunov exponent of a coupled-map lattice
The N-tree approximation scheme, introduced in the context of random directed
polymers, is here applied to the computation of the maximum Lyapunov exponent
in a coupled map lattice. We discuss both an exact implementation for small
tree-depth and a numerical implementation for larger s. We find that the
phase-transition predicted by the mean field approach shifts towards larger
values of the coupling parameter when the depth is increased. We conjecture
that the transition eventually disappears.Comment: RevTeX, 15 pages,5 figure
Measurement of the ac Stark shift with a guided matter-wave interferometer
We demonstrate the effectiveness of a guided-wave Bose-Einstein condensate
interferometer for practical measurements. Taking advantage of the large arm
separations obtainable in our interferometer, the energy levels of the 87Rb
atoms in one arm of the interferometer are shifted by a calibrated laser beam.
The resulting phase shifts are used to determine the ac polarizability at a
range of frequencies near and at the atomic resonance. The measured values are
in good agreement with theoretical expectations. However, we observe a
broadening of the transition near the resonance, an indication of collective
light scattering effects. This nonlinearity may prove useful for the production
and control of squeezed quantum states.Comment: 5 pages, three figure
FIB‐SEM and ToF‐SIMS Analysis of High‐Temperature PEM Fuel Cell Electrodes
The phosphoric acid (PA) distribution in the electrodes is a crucial factor for the performance of high-temperature polymer electrolyte fuel cells (HT-PEM FCs). Therefore, understanding and optimizing the electrolyte distribution is vital to maximizing power output and achieving low degradation. Although challenging, tracking the PA in nanometer-sized pores is essential because most active sites in the commonly used carbon black-supported catalysts are located in pores below 1 µm. For this study, a cell is operated at 200 mA cm−2 for 5 days. After this break-in period, the cathode is separated from the membrane electrode assembly and subsequently investigated by cryogenic focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy (cryo FIB-SEM) coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS). PA is located on the surface and in the bulk of the cathode catalyst layer. In addition, the PA distribution can be successfully linked to the gas diffusion electrode morphology and the binder distribution. The PA preferably invades nanometer-sized pores and is uniformly distributed in the catalyst layer
Mutually Penetrating Motion of Self-Organized 2D Patterns of Soliton-Like Structures
Results of numerical simulations of a recently derived most general
dissipative-dispersive PDE describing evolution of a film flowing down an
inclined plane are presented. They indicate that a novel complex type of
spatiotemporal patterns can exist for strange attractors of nonequilibrium
systems. It is suggested that real-life experiments satisfying the validity
conditions of the theory are possible: the required sufficiently viscous
liquids are readily available.Comment: minor corrections, 4 pages, LaTeX, 6 figures, mpeg simulations
available upon or reques
Coexisting Pulses in a Model for Binary-Mixture Convection
We address the striking coexistence of localized waves (`pulses') of
different lengths which was observed in recent experiments and full numerical
simulations of binary-mixture convection. Using a set of extended
Ginzburg-Landau equations, we show that this multiplicity finds a natural
explanation in terms of the competition of two distinct, physical localization
mechanisms; one arises from dispersion and the other from a concentration mode.
This competition is absent in the standard Ginzburg-Landau equation. It may
also be relevant in other waves coupled to a large-scale field.Comment: 5 pages revtex with 4 postscript figures (everything uuencoded
Noise sensitivity of sub- and supercritically bifurcating patterns with group velocities close to the convective-absolute instability
The influence of small additive noise on structure formation near a forwards
and near an inverted bifurcation as described by a cubic and quintic Ginzburg
Landau amplitude equation, respectively, is studied numerically for group
velocities in the vicinity of the convective-absolute instability where the
deterministic front dynamics would empty the system.Comment: 16 pages, 7 Postscript figure
Worm Structure in Modified Swift-Hohenberg Equation for Electroconvection
A theoretical model for studying pattern formation in electroconvection is
proposed in the form of a modified Swift-Hohenberg equation. A localized state
is found in two dimension, in agreement with the experimentally observed
``worm" state. The corresponding one dimensional model is also studied, and a
novel stationary localized state due to nonadiabatic effect is found. The
existence of the 1D localized state is shown to be responsible for the
formation of the two dimensional ``worm" state in our model
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