9,084 research outputs found
Tunable fibre-coupled multiphoton microscopy with a negative curvature fibre
Negative curvature fibre (NCF) guides light in its core by inhibiting the coupling of core and cladding modes. In this work, an NCF was designed and fabricated to transmit ultrashort optical pulses for multiphoton microscopy with low group velocity dispersion (GVD) at 800 nm. Its attenuation was measured to be <0.3 dB m(-1) over the range 600-850 nm and the GVD was -180 ± 70 fs(2)  m(-1) at 800 nm. Using an average fibre output power of ∼20 mW and pulse repetition rate of 80 MHz, the NCF enabled pulses with a duration of <200 fs to be transmitted through a length of 1.5 m of fibre over a tuning range of 180 nm without the need for dispersion compensation. In a 4 m fibre, temporal and spectral pulse widths were maintained to within 10% of low power values up to the maximum fibre output power achievable with the laser system used of 278 mW at 700 nm, 808 mW at 800 nm and 420 mW at 860 nm. When coupled to a multiphoton microscope, it enabled imaging of ex vivo tissue using excitation wavelengths from 740 nm to 860 nm without any need for adjustments to the set-up
Electronic transport coefficients from ab initio simulations and application to dense liquid hydrogen
Using Kubo's linear response theory, we derive expressions for the
frequency-dependent electrical conductivity (Kubo-Greenwood formula),
thermopower, and thermal conductivity in a strongly correlated electron system.
These are evaluated within ab initio molecular dynamics simulations in order to
study the thermoelectric transport coefficients in dense liquid hydrogen,
especially near the nonmetal-to-metal transition region. We also observe
significant deviations from the widely used Wiedemann-Franz law which is
strictly valid only for degenerate systems and give an estimate for its valid
scope of application towards lower densities
Ranking structured documents using utility theory in the Bayesian network retrieval model
In this paper a new method based on Utility and Decision theory is presented to deal with structured documents. The aim of the application of these methodologies is to refine a first ranking of structural units, generated by means of an Information Retrieval Model based on Bayesian Networks. Units are newly arranged in the new ranking by combining their posterior probabilities, obtained in the first stage, with the expected utility of retrieving them. The experimental work has been developed using the Shakespeare structured collection and the results show an improvement of the effectiveness of this new approach
Estimating the nuclear level density with the Monte Carlo shell model
A method for making realistic estimates of the density of levels in even-even
nuclei is presented making use of the Monte Carlo shell model (MCSM). The
procedure follows three basic steps: (1) computation of the thermal energy with
the MCSM, (2) evaluation of the partition function by integrating the thermal
energy, and (3) evaluating the level density by performing the inverse Laplace
transform of the partition function using Maximum Entropy reconstruction
techniques. It is found that results obtained with schematic interactions,
which do not have a sign problem in the MCSM, compare well with realistic
shell-model interactions provided an important isospin dependence is accounted
for.Comment: 14 pages, 3 postscript figures. Latex with RevTex. Submitted as a
rapid communication to Phys. Rev.
Special Theory of Relativity through the Doppler Effect
We present the special theory of relativity taking the Doppler effect as the
starting point, and derive several of its main effects, such as time dilation,
length contraction, addition of velocities, and the mass-energy relation, and
assuming energy and momentum conservation, we discuss how to introduce the
4-momentum in a natural way. We also use the Doppler effect to explain the
"twin paradox", and its version on a cylinder. As a by-product we discuss
Bell's spaceship paradox, and the Lorentz transformation for arbitrary
velocities in one dimension.Comment: 20 pages, 1 figur
The Design and Validation of the Quantum Mechanics Conceptual Survey
The Quantum Mechanics Conceptual Survey (QMCS) is a 12-question survey of
students' conceptual understanding of quantum mechanics. It is intended to be
used to measure the relative effectiveness of different instructional methods
in modern physics courses. In this paper we describe the design and validation
of the survey, a process that included observations of students, a review of
previous literature and textbooks and syllabi, faculty and student interviews,
and statistical analysis. We also discuss issues in the development of specific
questions, which may be useful both for instructors who wish to use the QMCS in
their classes and for researchers who wish to conduct further research of
student understanding of quantum mechanics. The QMCS has been most thoroughly
tested in, and is most appropriate for assessment of (as a posttest only),
sophomore-level modern physics courses. We also describe testing with students
in junior quantum courses and graduate quantum courses, from which we conclude
that the QMCS may be appropriate for assessing junior quantum courses, but is
not appropriate for assessing graduate courses. One surprising result of our
faculty interviews is a lack of faculty consensus on what topics should be
taught in modern physics, which has made designing a test that is valued by a
majority of physics faculty more difficult than expected.Comment: Submitted to Physical Review Special Topics: Physics Education
Researc
Three-body monopole corrections to the realistic interactions
It is shown that a very simple three-body monopole term can solve practically
all the spectroscopic problems--in the , and shells--that were
hitherto assumed to need drastic revisions of the realistic potentials.Comment: 4 pages, 5figure
Giving electrons a ride: nanomechanical electron shuttles
Nanomechanical shuttles transferring small groups of electrons or even
individual electrons from one electrode to another offer a novel approach to
the problem of controlled charge transport. Here, we report the fabrication of
shuttle-junctions consisting of a 20 nm diameter gold nanoparticle embedded
within the gap between two gold electrodes. The nanoparticle is attached to the
electrodes through a monolayer of flexible organic molecules which play the
role of springs so that when a sufficient voltage bias is applied, then
nanoparticle starts to oscillate transferring electrons from one electrode to
the other. Current-voltage characteristics for the fabricated devices have been
measured and compared with the results of our computer simulations.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure
Re-entrant superconductivity in Nb/Cu(1-x)Ni(x) bilayers
We report on the first observation of a pronounced re-entrant
superconductivity phenomenon in superconductor/ferromagnetic layered systems.
The results were obtained using a superconductor/ferromagnetic-alloy bilayer of
Nb/Cu(1-x)Ni(x). The superconducting transition temperature T_{c} drops sharply
with increasing thickness d_{CuNi} of the ferromagnetic layer, until complete
suppression of superconductivity is observed at d_{CuNi}= 4 nm. Increasing the
Cu(1-x)Ni(x) layer thickness further, superconductivity reappears at
d_{CuNi}=13 nm. Our experiments give evidence for the pairing function
oscillations associated with a realization of the quasi-one dimensional
Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO) like state in the ferromagnetic layer.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures, REVTEX4/twocolum
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