Percolation limited magnetic order in Eu1-xCaxB6

Abstract.: We report the results of measurements of the low-temperature specific heat Cp(T) and the ac susceptibility χac(T) in low applied magnetic fields for a series of samples of Eu1-xCaxB6. The anomalies in Cp(T), together with the results for χac(T) and M(H), confirm the onset of phase transitions to long range magnetic order for x < 0.7 and provide evidence that for x ≥ 0.7, the Eu moments, which are captured in large magnetic clusters with magnetic moments of the order of 260 μB, adopt a spin-glass type ground state. The data set allows to establish the low-temperature [ T,x] phase diagram of this alloy serie

Observations of the Prompt Gamma-Ray Emission of GRB 070125

The long, bright gamma-ray burst GRB 070125 was localized by the Interplanetary Network. We present light curves of the prompt gamma-ray emission as observed by Konus-WIND, RHESSI, Suzaku-WAM, and \textit{Swift}-BAT. We detail the results of joint spectral fits with Konus and RHESSI data. The burst shows moderate hard-to-soft evolution in its multi-peaked emission over a period of about one minute. The total burst fluence as observed by Konus is $1.79 \times 10^{-4}$ erg/cm$^2$ (20 keV--10 MeV). Using the spectroscopic redshift $z=1.548$, we find that the burst is consistent with the ``Amati'' $E_{peak,i}-E_{iso}$ correlation. Assuming a jet opening angle derived from broadband modeling of the burst afterglow, GRB 070125 is a significant outlier to the ``Ghirlanda'' $E_{peak,i}-E_\gamma$ correlation. Its collimation-corrected energy release $E_\gamma = 2.5 \times 10^{52}$ ergs is the largest yet observed.Comment: 25 pages, 6 figures; accepted for publication in ApJ. Improved spectral fits and energetics estimate

Symmetry-dependent Mn-magnetism in Al69.8Pd12.1Mn18.1

Abstract.: We investigated the stability of magnetic moments in Al69.8Pd12.1Mn18.1. This alloy exists in both, the icosahedral (i) and the decagonal (d) quasicrystalline form. The transition from the i- to the d-phase is achieved by a simple heat treatment. We present the results of measurements of the 27Al NMR-response, the dc magnetic susceptibility, and the low-temperature specific heat of both phases. In the icosahedral compound, the majority of the Mn ions carries a magnetic moment. Their number is reduced by approximately a factor of two by transforming the alloy to its decagonal variety. For both compounds, we have indications for two different local environments of the Al nuclei. The first reflects a low density of states of conduction electrons and a weak coupling of the Al nuclei to the Mn-moments. The second type of environment implies a large d-electron density of states at the Fermi level and a strong coupling to the magnetic Mn moments. Spin-glass freezing transitions are observed at Tdecaf=12K for the decagonal, and Ticof=19 K for the icosahedral phas

Strong Electron-Phonon Coupling in Superconducting MgB2_2: A Specific Heat Study

We report on measurements of the specific heat of the recently discovered superconductor MgB$_2$ in the temperature range between 3 and 220 K. Based on a modified Debye-Einstein model, we have achieved a rather accurate account of the lattice contribution to the specific heat, which allows us to separate the electronic contribution from the total measured specific heat. From our result for the electronic specific heat, we estimate the electron-phonon coupling constant $\lambda$ to be of the order of 2, significantly enhanced compared to common weak-coupling values $\leq 0.4$. Our data also indicate that the electronic specific heat in the superconducting state of MgB$_2$ can be accounted for by a conventional, s-wave type BCS-model.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Magneto-optical Kerr effect in Eu1−xCaxB6Eu_{1-x}Ca_{x}B_{6}

We have measured the magneto-optical Kerr rotation of ferromagnetic $Eu_{1-x}Ca_{x}B_{6}$ with x=0.2 and 0.4, as well as of $YbB_{6}$ serving as the non-magnetic reference material. As previously for $EuB_{6}$, we could identify a feature at 1 $eV$ in the Kerr response which is related with electronic transitions involving the localized 4f electron states. The absence of this feature in the data for $YbB_{6}$ confirms the relevance of the partially occupied 4f states in shaping the magneto-optical features of $Eu$-based hexaborides. Disorder by $Ca$-doping broadens the itinerant charge carrier contribution to the magneto-optical spectra

Joint analysis of resident complaints, meteorological, acoustic, and ground motion data to establish a robust annoyance evaluation of wind turbine emissions

In order to advance the expansion of onshore wind energy, wind turbines (WTs) must be erected in often complex terrain. The orography and the associated meteorological conditions, as well as the complex propagation of sound and ground motion waves can lead to increased annoyance of residents. Here a joint investigation of residential noise reports, meteorological, acoustic and ground motion data together with operational parameters of a wind farm in southern Germany is presented, with the objective to assess the annoyance of residents affected by WT emissions. Once strongly annoyed residents had been identified, simultaneous measurements were conducted over a 2-month period while residents used a noise reporting app to document their annoyance. A combination of the data shows that WT-related signals can be detected by acoustic and ground motion measurements in the vicinity of the WTs and, to a lesser extent, at the residential sites. In addition, background noise can be identified well. The app data indicates higher complaint rates in the early morning, evening and night hours. Changes in rotation rate seem to be the cause of annoyance as well as high rotation rates. These findings can be used to adjust WT operation in order to decrease immissions

Lorentz violating electrodynamics

After summarizing the most interesting results in the calculation of synchrotron radiation in the Myers-Pospelov effective model for Lorentz invariance violating (LIV) electrodynamics, we present a general unified way of describing the radiation regime of LIV electrodynamics which include the following three different models : Gambini-Pullin, Ellis et al. and Myers-Pospelov. Such unification reduces to the standard approach of radiation in a dispersive and absortive (in general) medium with a given index of refraction. The formulation is presented up to second order in the LIV parameter and it is explicitly applied to the synchrotron radiation case.Comment: 11 pages, extended version of the talk given by L.F. Urrutia in the VI Mexican School: Approaches to Quantum Gravity, Playa del Carmen, Mexico, Nov. 2004. Minor chages in the text and added reference

Signatures of photon and axion-like particle mixing in the gamma-ray burst jet

Photons couple to Axion-Like Particles (ALPs) or more generally to any pseudo Nambu-Goldstone boson in the presence of an external electromagnetic field. Mixing between photons and ALPs in the strong magnetic field of a Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) jet during the prompt emission phase can leave observable imprints on the gamma-ray polarization and spectrum. Mixing in the intergalactic medium is not expected to modify these signatures for ALP mass > 10^(-14) eV and/or for < nG magnetic field. We show that the depletion of photons due to conversion to ALPs changes the linear degree of polarization from the values predicted by the synchrotron model of gamma ray emission. We also show that when the magnetic field orientation in the propagation region is perpendicular to the field orientation in the production region, the observed synchrotron spectrum becomes steeper than the theoretical prediction and as detected in a sizable fraction of GRB sample. Detection of the correlated polarization and spectral signatures from these steep-spectrum GRBs by gamma-ray polarimeters can be a very powerful probe to discover ALPs. Measurement of gamma-ray polarization from GRBs in general, with high statistics, can also be useful to search for ALPs.Comment: 17 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publication in JCAP with minor change