60 research outputs found
Ionospheric photoelectrons at Venus: case studies and first observation in the tail
The presence of photoelectrons in ionospheres, including that of unmagnetised Venus, can be inferred from their characteristic spectral peaks in the electron energy spectrum. The electrons within the peaks are created by the photoionisation of neutrals in the upper atmosphere by the solar HeII 30.4 nm line. Here, we present some case studies of photoelectron spectra observed by the ASPERA-4 instrument aboard Venus Express with corresponding ion data. In the first case study, we observe photoelectron peaks in the sunlit ionosphere, indicating relatively local production. In the second case study, we observe broadened peaks in the sunlit ionosphere near the terminator, which indicate scattering processes between a more remote production region and the observation point. In the third case study, we present the first observation of ionospheric photoelectrons in the induced magnetotail of Venus, which we suggest is due to the spacecraft being located at that time on a magnetic field line connected to the dayside ionosphere at lower altitudes. Simultaneously, low energy ions are observed moving away from Venus. In common with observations at Mars and at Titan, these imply a possible role for the relatively energetic electrons in producing an ambipolar electric field which enhances ion escape
Distant ionospheric photoelectron energy peak observations at Venus
The dayside of the Venus ionosphere at the top of the planet's thick atmosphere is sustained by photoionization. The consequent photoelectrons may be identified by specific peaks in the energy spectrum at 20–30 eV which are mainly due to atomic oxygen photoionization. The ASPERA-4 electron spectrometer has an energy resolution designed to identify the photoelectron production features. Photoelectrons are seen not only in their production region, the sunlit ionosphere, but also at more distant locations on the nightside of the Venus environment. Here, we present a summary of the work to date on observations of photoelectrons at Venus, and their comparison with similar processes at Titan and Mars. We expand further by presenting new examples of the distant photoelectrons measured at Venus in the dark tail and further away from Venus than seen before. The photoelectron and simultaneous ion data are then used to determine the ion escape rate from Venus for one of these intervals. We compare the observed escape rates with other rates measured at Venus, and at other planets, moons and comets. We find that the escape rates are grouped by object type when plotted against body radius
Conductance Peak Height Correlations for a Coulomb-Blockaded Quantum Dot in a Weak Magnetic Field
We consider statistical correlations between the heights of conductance peaks
corresponding to two different levels in a Coulomb-blockaded quantum dot.
Correlations exist for two peaks at the same magnetic field if the field does
not fully break time-reversal symmetry as well as for peaks at different values
of a magnetic field that fully breaks time-reversal symmetry. Our results are
also relevant to Coulomb-blockade conductance peak height statistics in the
presence of weak spin-orbit coupling in a chaotic quantum dot.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, REVTeX 4, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
On the statistics of resonances and non-orthogonal eigenfunctions in a model for single-channel chaotic scattering
We describe analytical and numerical results on the statistical properties of
complex eigenvalues and the corresponding non-orthogonal eigenvectors for
non-Hermitian random matrices modeling one-channel quantum-chaotic scattering
in systems with broken time-reversal invariance.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
Effects of Fermi energy, dot size and leads width on weak localization in chaotic quantum dots
Magnetotransport in chaotic quantum dots at low magnetic fields is
investigated by means of a tight binding Hamiltonian on L x L clusters of the
square lattice. Chaoticity is induced by introducing L bulk vacancies. The
dependence of weak localization on the Fermi energy, dot size and leads width
is investigated in detail and the results compared with those of previous
analyses, in particular with random matrix theory predictions. Our results
indicate that the dependence of the critical flux Phi_c on the square root of
the number of open modes, as predicted by random matrix theory, is obscured by
the strong energy dependence of the proportionality constant. Instead, the size
dependence of the critical flux predicted by Efetov and random matrix theory,
namely, Phi_c ~ sqrt{1/L}, is clearly illustrated by the present results. Our
numerical results do also show that the weak localization term significantly
decreases as the leads width W approaches L. However, calculations for W=L
indicate that the weak localization effect does not disappear as L increases.Comment: RevTeX, 8 postscript figures include
A Diagrammatic Theory of Random Scattering Matrices for Normal-Superconducting Mesoscopic Junctions
The planar-diagrammatic technique of large- random matrices is extended to
evaluate averages over the circular ensemble of unitary matrices. It is then
applied to study transport through a disordered metallic ``grain'', attached
through ideal leads to a normal electrode and to a superconducting electrode.
The latter enforces boundary conditions which coherently couple electrons and
holes at the Fermi energy through Andreev scattering. Consequently, the {\it
leading order} of the conductance is altered, and thus changes much larger than
are observed when, e.g., a weak magnetic field is applied. This is in
agreement with existing theories. The approach developed here is intermediate
between the theory of dirty superconductors (the Usadel equations) and the
random-matrix approach involving transmission eigenvalues (e.g. the DMPK
equation) in the following sense: even though one starts from a scattering
formalism, a quantity analogous to the superconducting order-parameter within
the system naturally arises. The method can be applied to a variety of
mesoscopic normal-superconducting structures, but for brevity we consider here
only the case of a simple disordered N-S junction.Comment: 39 pages + 9 postscript figure
Enhancement of pair correlation in a one-dimensional hybridization model
We propose an integrable model of one-dimensional (1D) interacting electrons
coupled with the local orbitals arrayed periodically in the chain. Since the
local orbitals are introduced in a way that double occupation is forbidden, the
model keeps the main feature of the periodic Anderson model with an interacting
host. For the attractive interaction, it is found that the local orbitals
enhance the effective mass of the Cooper-pair-like singlets and also the pair
correlation in the ground state. However, the persistent current is depressed
in this case. For the repulsive interaction case, the Hamiltonian is
non-Hermitian but allows Cooper pair solutions with small momenta, which are
induced by the hybridization between the extended state and the local orbitals.Comment: 11 page revtex, no figur
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