3,875 research outputs found
The `Periodic Nulls' of Radio Pulsar J1819+1305
We present a single-pulse study of the four-component pulsar J1819+1305,
whose ``null'' pulses bunch at periodic intervals of around 57 times the
rotation period. The emission bursts between the null bunches exhibit
characteristic modulations at two shorter periodicities of approximately 6.2
and 3 times the rotation period, the former found largely in the two outer
components, and the latter only in the first component. Many bursts commence
with bright emission in second component, exhibit positive six-period drift
across the full profile width, and end with 3-period modulation in the leading
component. The 57-period cycle can be modelled geometrically as a sparsely
filled subbeam carousel with nulls appearing whenever our line of sight
intersects a circulating empty region. This interpretation is compatible with
other recent evidence for periodic, carousel-related nulling and appears to
support the physics of a polar-gap emission model for ``drifting'' subpulses,
but the subtle structure of the emission bursts defies an easy explanation.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figure
Recommended from our members
High resolution forecast models of water vapour over mountains: comparison of results from the UM and MERIS
Propagation delay due to variable tropospheric water vapor (WV) is one of the most intractable problems for radar interferometry, particularly over mountains. The WV field can be simulated by an atmospheric model, and the difference between the two fields is used to correct the radar interferogram. Here, we report our use of the U.K. Met Office Unified Model in a nested mode to produce high-resolution forecast fields for the 3-km-high Mount Etna volcano. The simulated precipitablewater field is validated against that retrieved from the Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) radiometer on the Envisat satellite, which has a resolution of 300 m. Two case studies, one from winter (November 24, 2004) and one from summer (June 25, 2005), show that the mismatch between the model and the MERIS fields (rms = 1.1 and 1.6 mm, respectively) is small. One of the main potential sources of error in the models is the timing of the WV field simulation. We show that long-wavelength upper tropospheric troughs of low WV could be identified in both the model output and Meteosat WV imagery for the November 24, 2004 case and used to choose the best time of model output. Š 2007 IEEE
Spatially Resolved Far-Ultraviolet Spectroscopy of the Nuclear Region of NGC 1068
We carry out high-resolution FUSE spectroscopy of the nuclear region of NGC
1068. The first set of spectra was obtained with a 30" square aperture that
collects all emission from the narrow-line region. The data reveal a strong
broad OVI component of FWHM ~3500 kms-1 and two narrow OVI 1031/1037 components
of ~350 kms-1. The CIII 977 and NIII 991 emission lines in this spectrum can be
fitted with a narrow component of FWHM ~1000 kms-1 and a broad one of ~2500
kms-1. Another set of seven spatially resolved spectra were made using a long
slit of 1.25" X 20", at steps of ~1" along the axis of the emission-line cone.
We find that (1) Major emission lines in the FUSE wavelength range consist of a
broad and a narrow component; (2) There is a gradient in the velocity field for
the narrow OVI component of ~200 kms-1 from ~2" southwest of the nucleus to ~4"
northeast. A similar pattern is also observed with the broad OVI component,
with a gradient of ~3000 kms-1. These are consistent with the HST/STIS findings
and suggest a biconical structure in which the velocity field is mainly radial
outflow; (3) A major portion of the CIII and NIII line flux is produced in the
compact core. They are therefore not effective temperature diagnostics for the
conical region; and (4) The best-fitted UV continuum suggests virtually no
reddening, and the HeII 1085/1640 ratio suggests a consistently low extinction
factor across the cone.Comment: To appear in the Astrophysical Journal. 37 pages with 12 figure
What caused the unseasonal extreme dust storm in Uzbekistan during November 2021?
An unseasonal dust storm hit large parts of Central Asia on 4-5 November 2021, setting records for the column aerosol burden and fine particulate concentration in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The dust event originated from an agropastoral region in southern Kazakhstan, where the soil erodibility was enhanced by a prolonged agricultural drought resulting from La NiĂąa-related precipitation deficit and persistent high atmospheric evaporative demand. The dust outbreak was triggered by sustained postfrontal northerly winds during an extreme cold air outbreak. The cold air and dust outbreaks were preceded by a chain of processes consisting of recurrent synoptic-scale transient Rossby wave packets over the North Pacific and North Atlantic, upper-level wave breaking and blocking over Greenland, followed by high-latitude blocking over Northern Europe and West Siberia, and the equatorward shift of a tropopause polar vortex and cold pool into southern Kazakhstan. Our study suggests that the historic dust storm in Uzbekistan was a compound weather event driven by cold extreme, high winds, and drought precondition
Oxygen ion dynamics in the Earth's ring current: Van Allen probes observations
Oxygen (O+) enhancements in the inner magnetosphere are often observed during geomagnetically active times, such as geomagnetic storms. In this study, we quantitatively examine the difference in ring current dynamics with and without a substantial O+ ion population based on almost 6 years of Van Allen Probes observations. Our results have not only confirmed previous finding of the role of O+ ions to the ring current but also found that abundant O+ ions are always present during large storms when sym-H < -60 nT without exception, whilst having the pressure ratio () between O+ and proton (H+) larger than 0.8 and occasionally even larger than 1 when L < 3. Simultaneously, the pressure anisotropy decreases with decreasing sym-H and increasing L shell. The pressure anisotropy decrease during the storm main phase is likely related to the pitch angle isotropization processes. In addition, we find that increases during the storm main phase and then decreases during the storm recovery phase, suggesting faster buildup and decay of O+ pressure compared to H+ ions, which are probably associated with some species dependent source and/or energization as well as loss processes in the inner magnetosphere.Accepted manuscrip
The TATA Binding Protein in the Sea Urchin Embryo Is Maternally Derived
AbstractThe cDNA encoding the TATA binding protein was isolated from 8- to 16-cell and morula-stage embryonic libraries of two distantly related species of sea urchin,Strongylocentrotus purpuratusandLytechinus variegatus,respectively. The two proteins are 96% identical over both the N- and C-terminal domains, suggesting a conservation of transcriptional processes between the two species. The prevalence of SpTBP transcripts at several developmental time points was determined using the tracer excess titration method, and the corresponding number of TBP protein molecules was determined by quantitative Western blot analysis. Our results indicate that the amount of TBP mRNA and protein per embryo remains relatively constant throughout development. An initial large pool of TBP protein (>109) molecules in the egg becomes diluted as a consequence of cell division and decreases to about 2 Ă 106molecules per cell by the gastrula stage. We found byin situRNA hybridization that the oocyte contains a large amount of TBP mRNA which is depleted late in oogenesis so that the eggs and early embryos have extremely low levels of TBP mRNA. We conclude that the oocyte manufactures nearly all of the TBP protein necessary for embryogenesis
Scaling of Majorana Zero-Bias Conductance Peaks
We report an experimental study of the scaling of zero-bias conductance peaks
compatible with Majorana zero modes as a function of magnetic field, tunnel
coupling, and temperature in one-dimensional structures fabricated from an
epitaxial semiconductor-superconductor heterostructure. Results are consistent
with theory, including a peak conductance that is proportional to tunnel
coupling, saturates at , decreases as expected with field-dependent
gap, and collapses onto a simple scaling function in the dimensionless ratio of
temperature and tunnel coupling.Comment: Accepted in Physical Review Letter
Evidence of topological superconductivity in planar Josephson junctions
Majorana zero modes are quasiparticle states localized at the boundaries of
topological superconductors that are expected to be ideal building blocks for
fault-tolerant quantum computing. Several observations of zero-bias conductance
peaks measured in tunneling spectroscopy above a critical magnetic field have
been reported as experimental indications of Majorana zero modes in
superconductor/semiconductor nanowires. On the other hand, two dimensional
systems offer the alternative approach to confine Ma jorana channels within
planar Josephson junctions, in which the phase difference {\phi} between the
superconducting leads represents an additional tuning knob predicted to drive
the system into the topological phase at lower magnetic fields. Here, we report
the observation of phase-dependent zero-bias conductance peaks measured by
tunneling spectroscopy at the end of Josephson junctions realized on a InAs/Al
heterostructure. Biasing the junction to {\phi} ~ {\pi} significantly reduces
the critical field at which the zero-bias peak appears, with respect to {\phi}
= 0. The phase and magnetic field dependence of the zero-energy states is
consistent with a model of Majorana zero modes in finite-size Josephson
junctions. Besides providing experimental evidence of phase-tuned topological
superconductivity, our devices are compatible with superconducting quantum
electrodynamics architectures and scalable to complex geometries needed for
topological quantum computing.Comment: main text and extended dat
Superconducting Gatemon Qubit based on a Proximitized Two-Dimensional Electron Gas
The coherent tunnelling of Cooper pairs across Josephson junctions (JJs)
generates a nonlinear inductance that is used extensively in quantum
information processors based on superconducting circuits, from setting qubit
transition frequencies and interqubit coupling strengths, to the gain of
parametric amplifiers for quantum-limited readout. The inductance is either set
by tailoring the metal-oxide dimensions of single JJs, or magnetically tuned by
parallelizing multiple JJs in superconducting quantum interference devices
(SQUIDs) with local current-biased flux lines. JJs based on
superconductor-semiconductor hybrids represent a tantalizing all-electric
alternative. The gatemon is a recently developed transmon variant which employs
locally gated nanowire (NW) superconductor-semiconductor JJs for qubit control.
Here, we go beyond proof-of-concept and demonstrate that semiconducting
channels etched from a wafer-scale two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) are a
suitable platform for building a scalable gatemon-based quantum computer. We
show 2DEG gatemons meet the requirements by performing voltage-controlled
single qubit rotations and two-qubit swap operations. We measure qubit
coherence times up to ~2 us, limited by dielectric loss in the 2DEG host
substrate
- âŚ