1,048 research outputs found
Electron-muon correlation as a new probe to strongly interacting quark-gluon plasma
As a new and clean probe to the strongly interacting quark-gluon plasma
(sQGP), we propose an azimuthal correlation of an electron and a muon which
originate from the semileptonic decay of charm and bottom quarks. By solving
the Langevin equation for the heavy quarks under the hydrodynamic evolution of
the hot plasma, we show that substantial quenching of the away-side peak in the
electron-muon correlation can be seen if the sQGP drag force acting on heavy
quarks is large enough as suggested from the gauge/gravity correspondence. The
effect could be detected in high-energy heavy-ion collisions at the
Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider and the Large Hadron Collider.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
Predicting and verifying transition strengths from weakly bound molecules
We investigated transition strengths from ultracold weakly bound 41K87Rb
molecules produced via the photoassociation of laser-cooled atoms. An accurate
potential energy curve of the excited state (3)1Sigma+ was constructed by
carrying out direct potential fit analysis of rotational spectra obtained via
depletion spectroscopy. Vibrational energies and rotational constants extracted
from the depletion spectra of v'=41-50 levels were combined with the results of
the previous spectroscopic study, and they were used for modifying an ab initio
potential. An accuracy of 0.14% in vibrational level spacing and 0.3% in
rotational constants was sufficient to predict the large observed variation in
transition strengths among the vibrational levels. Our results show that
transition strengths from weakly bound molecules are a good measure of the
accuracy of an excited state potential.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figure
Rayleigh-Taylor instability and mushroom-pattern formation in a two-component Bose-Einstein condensate
The Rayleigh-Taylor instability at the interface in an immiscible
two-component Bose-Einstein condensate is investigated using the mean-field and
Bogoliubov theories. Rayleigh-Taylor fingers are found to grow from the
interface and mushroom patterns are formed. Quantized vortex rings and vortex
lines are then generated around the mushrooms. The Rayleigh-Taylor instability
and mushroom-pattern formation can be observed in a trapped system.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Pattern Stability and Trijunction Motion in Eutectic Solidification
We demonstrate by both experiments and phase-field simulations that lamellar
eutectic growth can be stable for a wide range of spacings below the point of
minimum undercooling at low velocity, contrary to what is predicted by existing
stability analyses. This overstabilization can be explained by relaxing Cahn's
assumption that lamellae grow locally normal to the eutectic interface.Comment: 4 pages, 5 eps figure
Dynamics of a faceted nematic-smectic B front in thin-sample directional solidification
We present an experimental study of the directional-solidification patterns
of a nematic - smectic B front. The chosen system is C_4H_9-(C_6H_{10})_2CN (in
short, CCH4) in 12 \mu m-thick samples, and in the planar configuration
(director parallel to the plane of the sample). The nematic - smectic B
interface presents a facet in one direction -- the direction parallel to the
smectic layers -- and is otherwise rough, and devoid of forbidden directions.
We measure the Mullins-Sekerka instability threshold and establish the
morphology diagram of the system as a function of the solidification rate V and
the angle theta_{0} between the facet and the isotherms. We focus on the
phenomena occurring immediately above the instability threshold when theta_{0}
is neither very small nor close to 90^{o}. Under these conditions we observe
drifting shallow cells and a new type of solitary wave, called "faceton", which
consists essentially of an isolated macroscopic facet traveling laterally at
such a velocity that its growth rate with respect to the liquid is small.
Facetons may propagate either in a stationary, or an oscillatory way. The
detailed study of their dynamics casts light on the microscopic growth
mechanisms of the facets in this system.Comment: 12 pages, 19 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Optimising the multiplex factor of the frequency domain multiplexed readout of the TES-based microcalorimeter imaging array for the X-IFU instrument on the Athena Xray observatory
Athena is a space-based X-ray observatory intended for exploration of the hot
and energetic universe. One of the science instruments on Athena will be the
X-ray Integrated Field Unit (X-IFU), which is a cryogenic X-ray spectrometer,
based on a large cryogenic imaging array of Transition Edge Sensors (TES) based
microcalorimeters operating at a temperature of 100mK. The imaging array
consists of 3800 pixels providing 2.5 eV spectral resolution, and covers a
field of view with a diameter of of 5 arc minutes. Multiplexed readout of the
cryogenic microcalorimeter array is essential to comply with the cooling power
and complexity constraints on a space craft. Frequency domain multiplexing has
been under development for the readout of TES-based detectors for this purpose,
not only for the X-IFU detector arrays but also for TES-based bolometer arrays
for the Safari instrument of the Japanese SPICA observatory. This paper
discusses the design considerations which are applicable to optimise the
multiplex factor within the boundary conditions as set by the space craft. More
specifically, the interplay between the science requirements such as pixel
dynamic range, pixel speed, and cross talk, and the space craft requirements
such as the power dissipation budget, available bandwidth, and electromagnetic
compatibility will be discussed
X-ray study of the double radio relic galaxy cluster CIZA J2242.8+5301
Content: We present the results from observations of the merging
cluster of galaxies CIZA J2242.8+5301 at =0.192. Aims. To study the physics
of gas heating and particle acceleration in cluster mergers, we investigated
the X-ray emission from CIZA J2242.8+5301, which hosts two giant radio relics
in the northern/southern part of the cluster. Methods. We analyzed data from
three-pointed Suzaku observations of CIZA J2242.8+5301 to derive the
temperature distribution in four different directions. Results: The
Intra-Cluster Medium (ICM) temperature shows a remarkable drop from
8.5 keV to 2.7 keV across the northern radio
relic. The temperature drop is consistent with a Mach number and a shock velocity
. We also confirm the
temperature drop across the southern radio relic. However, the ICM temperature
beyond this relic is much higher than beyond the northern one, which gives a
Mach number and shock velocity
. These results agree with
other systems showing a relationship between the radio relics and shock fronts
which are induced by merging activity. We compare the X-ray derived Mach
numbers with the radio derived Mach numbers from the radio spectral index under
the assumption of diffusive shock acceleration in the linear test particle
regime. For the northern radio relic, the Mach numbers derived from X-ray and
radio observations agree with each other. Based on the shock velocities, we
estimate that CIZA J2242.8+5301 is observed approximately 0.6 Gyr after core
passage. The magnetic field pressure at the northern relic is estimated to be
9% of the thermal pressure.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures, A&A accepte
Effects of interphase boundary anisotropy on the three-phase growth dynamics in the β(In) – In 2 Bi – γ(Sn) ternary-eutectic system
International audienceWe present an experimental investigation on the effects of the interphase energy anisotropy on the formation of three-phase growth microstructures during directional solidification (DS) of the β(In)-In2Bi-γ(Sn) ternary-eutectic system. Standard DS and rotating directional solidification (RDS) experiments were performed using thin alloy samples with real-time observation. We identified two main types of eutectic grains (EGs): (i) quasi-isotropic EGs within which the solidification dynamics do not exhibit any substantial anisotropy effect, and (ii) anisotropic EGs, within which RDS microstructures exhibit an alternation of locked and unlocked microstructures. EBSD analyses revealed (i) a strong tendency to an alignment of the In2Bi and γ(Sn) crystals (both hexagonal) with respect to the thin-sample walls, and (ii) the existence of special crystal orientation relationships (ORs) between the three solid phases in both quasi-isotropic and anisotropic EGs. We initiate a discussion on the dominating locking effect of the In2Bi-β(In) interphase boundary during quasi steady-state solidification, and the existence of strong crystal selection mechanisms during early nucleation and growth stages
Radio observations of the double-relic galaxy cluster Abell 1240
We present LOFAR 120 − 168 MHz images of the merging galaxy cluster Abell 1240 that hosts double radio relics. In combination with the GMRT 595 − 629 MHz and VLA 2 − 4 GHz data, we characterised the spectral and polarimetric properties of the radio emission. The spectral indices for the relics steepen from their outer edges towards the cluster centre and the electric field vectors are approximately perpendicular to the major axes of the relics. The results are consistent with the picture that these relics trace large-scale shocks propagating outwards during the merger. Assuming diffusive shock acceleration (DSA), we obtain shock Mach numbers of M = 2.4 and 2.3 for the northern and southern shocks, respectively. For M ≲ 3 shocks, a pre-existing population of mildly relativistic electrons is required to explain the brightness of the relics due to the high (> 10 per cent) particle acceleration efficiency required. However, for M ≳ 4 shocks the required efficiency is ≳ 1% and ≳ 0.5%, respectively, which is low enough for shock acceleration directly from the thermal pool. We used the fractional polarization to constrain the viewing angle to ≥ 53 ± 3° and ≥ 39 ± 5° for the northern and southern shocks, respectively. We found no evidence for diffuse emission in the cluster central region. If the halo spans the entire region between the relics (∼1.8 Mpc) our upper limit on the power is P1.4 GHz = (1.4 ± 0.6) × 1023 W Hz−1 which is approximately equal to the anticipated flux from a cluster of this mass. However, if the halo is smaller than this, our constraints on the power imply that the halo is underluminous
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