17,696 research outputs found
Surface-wave interferometry on single subwavelength slit-groove structures fabricated on gold films
We apply the technique of far-field interferometry to measure the properties
of surface waves generated by two-dimensional (2D) single subwavelength
slit-groove structures on gold films. The effective surface index of refraction
measured for the surface wave propagating over a distance of more than 12
microns is determined to be 1.016 with a measurement uncertainty of 0.004, to
within experimental uncertainty of the expected bound surface plasmon-polariton
(SPP) value for a Au/Air interface of 1.018. We compare these measurements to
finite-difference-time-domain (FDTD) numerical simulations of the optical field
transmission through these devices. We find excellent agreement between the
measurements and the simulations for the surface index of refraction. The
measurements also show that the surface wave propagation parameter exhibits
transient behavior close to the slit, evolving smoothly from greater values
asymptotically toward the value expected for the SPP over the first 2-3 microns
of slit-groove distance. This behavior is confirmed by the FDTD simulations
Chirally-sensitive electron-molecule interactions
All molecular forms of life have chemically-specific handedness. However, the origin of these asymmetries is not understood. A possible explanation was suggested by Vester and Ulbricht immediately following the discovery of parity violation in 1957: chiral beta radiation in cosmic rays may have preferentially destroyed one enantiomeric form of various biological precursors. In the experiments reported here, we observed chiral specificity in two electronmolecule interactions: quasi-elastic scattering and dissociative electron attachment. Using lowenergy longitudinally spin-polarized (chiral) electrons as substitutes for beta rays, we found that chiral bromocamphor molecules exhibited both a transmission and dissociative electron attachment rate that depended on their handedness for a given direction of incident electron spin. Consequently, these results, especially those with dissociative electron attachment, connect the universal chiral asymmetry of the weak force with a molecular breakup process, thereby demonstrating the viability of the Vester-Ulbricht hypothesis
Chirally Sensitive Electron-Induced Molecular Breakup and the Vester-Ulbricht Hypothesis
We have studied dissociative electron attachment in sub-eV collisions between longitudinally polarized electrons and chiral bromocamphor molecules. For a given target enantiomer, the dissociative Br anion production depends on the helicity of the incident electrons, with an asymmetry that depends on the electron energy and is of order 3 × 10−4. The existence of chiral sensitivity in a well-defined molecular breakup reaction demonstrates the viability of the Vester-Ulbrict hypothesis, namely, that the longitudinal polarization of cosmic beta radiation was responsible for the origins of biological homochirality
Gluon propagator in diffractive scattering
In this work, we perform a comparison of the employ of distinct gluon
propagators with the experimental data in diffractive processes, elastic
scattering and light meson photo-production. The gluon propagators are
calculated through non-perturbative methods, being justified their use in this
class of events, due to the smallness of the momentum transfer. Our results are
not able to select the best choice for the modified gluon propagator among the
analyzed ones, showing that the application of this procedure in this class of
high energy processes, although giving a reasonable fit to the experimental
data, should be taken with same caution.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Int. J. Mod. Phys. A
(uses ws-ijmpa.cls). Authors correcte
Unitarity Corrections to the Proton Structure Functions through the Dipole Picture
We study the dipole picture for the description of the deep inelastic
scattering, focusing on the structure functions which are driven directly by
the gluon distribution. One performs estimates using the effective dipole cross
section given by the Glauber-Mueller approach in QCD, which encodes the
corrections due to the unitarity effects associated with the saturation
phenomenon. We also address issues about frame invariance of the calculations
when analysing the observables.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figures. Version to be published in Phys. Rev.
Criterion for purely elastic Taylor-Couette instability in the flows of shear-banding fluids
In the past twenty years, shear-banding flows have been probed by various
techniques, such as rheometry, velocimetry and flow birefringence. In micellar
solutions, many of the data collected exhibit unexplained spatio-temporal
fluctuations. Recently, it has been suggested that those fluctuations originate
from a purely elastic instability of the flow. In cylindrical Couette geometry,
the instability is reminiscent of the Taylor-like instability observed in
viscoelastic polymer solutions. In this letter, we describe how the criterion
for purely elastic Taylor-Couette instability should be adapted to
shear-banding flows. We derive three categories of shear-banding flows with
curved streamlines, depending on their stability.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure
Potential "ways of thinking" about the shear-banding phenomenon
Shear-banding is a curious but ubiquitous phenomenon occurring in soft
matter. The phenomenological similarities between the shear-banding transition
and phase transitions has pushed some researchers to adopt a 'thermodynamical'
approach, in opposition to the more classical 'mechanical' approach to fluid
flows. In this heuristic review, we describe why the apparent dichotomy between
those approaches has slowly faded away over the years. To support our
discussion, we give an overview of different interpretations of a single
equation, the diffusive Johnson-Segalman (dJS) equation, in the context of
shear-banding. We restrict ourselves to dJS, but we show that the equation can
be written in various equivalent forms usually associated with opposite
approaches. We first review briefly the origin of the dJS model and its initial
rheological interpretation in the context of shear-banding. Then we describe
the analogy between dJS and reaction-diffusion equations. In the case of
anisotropic diffusion, we show how the dJS governing equations for steady shear
flow are analogous to the equations of the dynamics of a particle in a quartic
potential. Going beyond the existing literature, we then draw on the Lagrangian
formalism to describe how the boundary conditions can have a key impact on the
banding state. Finally, we reinterpret the dJS equation again and we show that
a rigorous effective free energy can be constructed, in the spirit of early
thermodynamic interpretations or in terms of more recent approaches exploiting
the language of irreversible thermodynamics.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures, tutorial revie
Deformation of grain boundaries in polar ice
The ice microstructure (grain boundaries) is a key feature used to study ice
evolution and to investigate past climatic changes. We studied a deep ice core,
in Dome Concordia, Antarctica, which records past mechanical deformations. We
measured a "texture tensor" which characterizes the pattern geometry and
reveals local heterogeneities of deformation along the core. These results
question key assumptions of the current models used for dating
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