40,777 research outputs found
Heat Fluctuations in Brownian Transducers
Heat fluctuation probability distribution function in Brownian transducers
operating between two heat reservoirs is studied. We find, both analytically
and numerically, that the recently proposed Fluctuation Theorem for Heat
Exchange [C. Jarzynski and D. K. Wojcik, Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 230602 (2004)]
has to be modified when the coupling mechanism between both baths is
considered. We also extend such relation when external work is present. Our
work fixes the domain of applicability of the theorem in more realistic
operating systems.Comment: Comments are welcom
The age structure of stellar populations in the solar vicinity. Clues of a two-phase formation history of the Milky Way disk
We analyze high quality abundances data of solar neighborhood stars and show
that there are two distinct regimes of [alpha/Fe] versus age which we identify
as the epochs of the thick and thin disk formation. A tight correlation between
metallicity and [alpha/Fe] versus age is clearly identifiable on thick disk
stars, implying that this population formed from a well mixed ISM, over a time
scale of 4-5 Gyr. Thick disk stars vertical velocity dispersion correlate with
age, with the youngest objects having as small scale heights as those of thin
disk stars. A natural consequence of these two results is that a vertical
metallicity gradient is expected in this population. We suggest that the thick
disk set the initial conditions for the formation of the inner thin disk. This
provides also an explanation of the apparent coincidence between the step in
metallicity at 7-10 kpc in the thin disk and the confinment of the thick disk
at about R<10 kpc. We suggest that the outer thin disk developped outside the
influence of the thick disk, but also that the high alpha-enrichment of the
outer regions may originate from a primordial pollution by the gas expelled
from the thick disk. Local metal-poor thin disk stars, whose properties are
best explained by an origin in the outer disk, are shown to be as old as the
youngest thick disk (9-10 Gyr), implying that the outer thin disk started to
form while the thick disk formation was still on-going in the inner Galaxy. We
point out that, given the tight age-abundance relations in the thick disk, an
inside-out process would give rise to a radial gradient in abundances in this
population which is not observed. Finally, we argue that the data discussed
here leave little room for radial migration, either to have contaminated the
solar vicinity, or, to have redistributed stars in significant proportion
across the solar annulus.Comment: Accepted in A&A, Revised version with new figures and extended
discussio
Ferromagnetic 0-pi Junctions as Classical Spins
The ground state of highly damped PdNi based 0-pi ferromagnetic Josephson
junctions shows a spontaneous half quantum vortex, sustained by a supercurrent
of undetermined sign. This supercurrent flows in the electrode of a Josephson
junction used as a detector and produces a phi(0)/4 shift in its magnetic
diffraction pattern. We have measured the statistics of the positive or
negative sign shift occurring at the superconducting transition of such a
junction. The randomness of the shift sign, the reproducibility of its
magnitude and the possibility of achieving exact flux compensation upon field
cooling: all these features show that 0-pi junctions behave as classical spins,
just as magnetic nanoparticles with uniaxial anisotropy.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
-Flavour Violation at the LHC
We study the conditions required for
decays to yield observable tau flavour violation at the LHC, for cosmologically
interesting values of the neutralino relic density. These condition can be
achieved in the framework of a SU(5) model with a see-saw mechanism that allows
a possible coexistence of a LHC signal a low prediction for radiative LFV
decays.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, Prepared for the proceedings of the workshop:
"LC09: Physics at the TeV Scale and the Dark Matter Connection",
21-24 September 2009, Perugia, Ital
Tight coupling in thermal Brownian motors
We study analytically a thermal Brownian motor model and calculate exactly
the Onsager coefficients. We show how the reciprocity relation holds and that
the determinant of the Onsager matrix vanishes. Such condition implies that the
device is built with tight coupling. This explains why Carnot's efficiency can
be achieved in the limit of infinitely slow velocities. We also prove that the
efficiency at maximum power has the maximum possible value, which corresponds
to the Curzon-Alhborn bound. Finally, we discuss the model acting as a Brownian
refrigerator
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