Nanoscale Impurity Structures on the Surface of dx2−y2d_{x^2-y^2}-wave Superconductors

We study the effects of nanoscale impurity structures on the local electronic structure of $d_{x^2-y^2}$-wave superconductors. We show that the interplay between the momentum dependence of the superconducting gap, the geometry of the nanostructure and its orientation gives rise to a series of interesting quantum effects. Among these are the emergence of a zero bias conductance peak in the superconductor's density of states and the suppression of impurity states for certain nanostructures. The latter effect can be used to screen impurity resonances in the superconducting state.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Particle and particle pair dispersion in turbulence modeled with spatially and temporally correlated stochastic processes

In this paper we present a new model for modeling the diffusion and relative dispersion of particles in homogeneous isotropic turbulence. We use an Heisenberg-like Hamiltonian to incorporate spatial correlations between fluid particles, which are modeled by stochastic processes correlated in time. We are able to reproduce the ballistic regime in the mean squared displacement of single particles and the transition to a normal diffusion regime for long times. For the dispersion of particle pairs we find a $t^{2}$-dependence of the mean squared separation at short times and a $t$-dependence for long ones. For intermediate times indications for a Richardson $t^{3}$ law are observed in certain situations. Finally the influence of inertia of real particles on the dispersion is investigated.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, 1 tabl

Focusing of opinions in the Deffuant model: First impression counts

The paper treats opinion dynamics of an unequal distribution as the initial opinion distribution. Simulated is the Deffuant model on a directed Barabasi-Albert network with discrete opinions and several subjects. Noticed is a focusing of the the resulting opinion distribution during the simulation towards the average value of the initial opinion distribution. A small change of the focusing is seen. A dependency of this change on the number of subjects and opinions is detected and indicates the change as a consequence of discretization the opinions. Hereby the average value of the initial opinion distribution can be identified as the guide of opinion forming.Comment: 8 pages including 5 figures, for Int. J. Mod. Phys.

Strong UV and X-ray variability of the Narrow Line Seyfert 1 Galaxy WPVS 007 -- on the nature of the X-ray low state

We report on multi-wavelength observations of the X-ray transient Narrow Line Seyfert 1 (NLS1) galaxy WPVS 007. The galaxy was monitored with Swift between October 2005 and July 2013, after it had undergone a dramatic drop in its X-ray flux earlier. For the first time, we are able to repeatedly detect this NLS1 in X-rays again. This increased number of detections in the last couple of years may suggest that the strong absorber that has been found in this AGN is starting to become leaky, and may eventually disappear. The X-ray spectra obtained for WPVS 007 are all consistent with a partial covering absorber model. A spectrum based on the data during the extreme low X-ray flux states shows that the absorption column density is of the order of 4 x 10^23 cm^-2 with a covering fraction of 95%. WPVS 007 also displays one of the strongest UV variabilities seen in Narrow Line Seyfert 1s. The UV continuum variability anti-correlates with the optical/UV slope alpha-UV which suggests that the variability primarily may be due to reddening. The UV variability time scales are consistent with moving dust `clouds' located beyond the dust sublimation radius of approximately 20 ld. We present for the first time near infrared JHK data of WPVS 007, which reveal a rich emission-line spectrum. Recent optical spectroscopy does not indicate significant variability in the broad and FeII emission lines, implying that the ionizing continuum seen by those gas clouds has not significantly changed over the last decades. All X-ray and UV observations are consistent with a scenario in which an evolving Broad Absorption Line (BAL) flow obscures the continuum emission. As such, WPVS 007 is an important target for our understanding of BAL flows in low-mass active galactic nuclei (AGN).Comment: Accepted for publications in the Astronomical Journal; 29 pages, 10 Figures, 7 Table

Dissipationless Spin Current between Two Coupled Ferromagnets

We demonstrate the general principle which states that a dissipationless spin current flows between two coupled ferromagnets if their magnetic orders are misaligned. This principle applies regardless the two ferromagnets are metallic or insulating, and also generally applies to bulk magnetic insulators. On a phenomenological level, this principle is analogous to Josephson effect, and yields a dissipationless spin current that is independent from scattering. The microscopic mechanisms for the dissipationless spin current depend on the systems, which are elaborated in details. A uniform, static magnetic field is further proposed to be an efficient handle to create the misaligned configuration and stabilize the dissipationless spin current.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure

Realisation of Hardy's Thought Experiment

We present an experimental realisation of Hardy's thought experiment [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 68}, 2981 (1992)], using photons. The experiment consists of a pair of Mach-Zehnder interferometers that interact through photon bunching at a beam splitter. A striking contradiction is created between the predictions of quantum mechanics and local hidden variable based theories. The contradiction relies on non-maximally entangled position states of two particles.Comment: 5 page

Experimental investigation of quantum key distribution with position and momentum of photon pairs

We investigate the utility of Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen correlations of the position and momentum of photon pairs from parametric down-conversion in the implementation of a secure quantum key distribution protocol. We show that security is guaranteed by the entanglement between downconverted pairs, and can be checked by either direct comparison of Alice and Bob's measurement results or evaluation of an inequality of the sort proposed by Mancini et al. (Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 120401 (2002)).Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, subimitted for publicatio

Short-Timescale monitoring of the X-ray, UV and broad double-peak emission line of the nucleus of NGC 1097

Recent studies have suggested that the short-timescale ($\lesssim7$ days) variability of the broad ($\sim$10,000 km s$^{-1}$) double-peaked H$\alpha$ profile of the LINER nucleus of NGC1097 could be driven by a variable X-ray emission from a central radiatively inefficient accretion flow (RIAF). To test this scenario, we have monitored the NGC1097 nucleus in X-ray and UV continuum with Swift and the H$\alpha$ flux and profile in the optical spectrum using SOAR and Gemini-South from 2012 August to 2013 February. During the monitoring campaign, the H$\alpha$ flux remained at a very low level --- 3 times lower than the maximum flux observed in previous campaigns and showing only limited ($\sim 20\%$) variability. The X-ray variations were small, only $\sim 13\%$ throughout the campaign, while the UV did not show significant variations. We concluded that the timescale of the H$\alpha$ profile variation is close to the sampling interval of the optical observations, which results in only marginal correlation between the X-ray and H$\alpha$ fluxes. We have caught the AGN in NGC1097 in a very low activity state, in which the ionizing source was very weak and capable of ionizing just the innermost part of the gas in the disk. Nonetheless, the data presented here still support the picture in which the gas that emits the broad double-peaked Balmer lines is illuminated/ionized by a source of high-energy photons which is located interior to the inner radius of the line-emitting part of the disk.Comment: The paper contains 14 pages, 7 figures and is accepted for publication at the Astrophysical Journa