999 research outputs found
Meshfree finite differences for vector Poisson and pressure Poisson equations with electric boundary conditions
We demonstrate how meshfree finite difference methods can be applied to solve
vector Poisson problems with electric boundary conditions. In these, the
tangential velocity and the incompressibility of the vector field are
prescribed at the boundary. Even on irregular domains with only convex corners,
canonical nodal-based finite elements may converge to the wrong solution due to
a version of the Babuska paradox. In turn, straightforward meshfree finite
differences converge to the true solution, and even high-order accuracy can be
achieved in a simple fashion. The methodology is then extended to a specific
pressure Poisson equation reformulation of the Navier-Stokes equations that
possesses the same type of boundary conditions. The resulting numerical
approach is second order accurate and allows for a simple switching between an
explicit and implicit treatment of the viscosity terms.Comment: 19 pages, 7 figure
13C dynamic nuclear polarization in diamond via a microwave-free 'integrated' cross effect
Color-center-hosting semiconductors are emerging as promising source
materials for low-field dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) at or near room
temperature, but hyperfine broadening, susceptibility to magnetic field
heterogeneity, and nuclear spin relaxation induced by other paramagnetic
defects set practical constraints difficult to circumvent. Here, we explore an
alternate route to color-center-assisted DNP using nitrogen-vacancy (NV)
centers in diamond coupled to substitutional nitrogen impurities, the so-called
P1 centers. Working near the level anti-crossing condition - where the P1
Zeeman splitting matches one of the NV spin transitions - we demonstrate
efficient microwave-free 13C DNP through the use of consecutive magnetic field
sweeps and continuous optical excitation. The amplitude and sign of the
polarization can be controlled by adjusting the low-to-high and high-to-low
magnetic field sweep rates in each cycle so that one is much faster than the
other. By comparing the 13C DNP response for different crystal orientations, we
show that the process is robust to magnetic field/NV misalignment, a feature
that makes the present technique suitable to diamond powders and settings where
the field is heterogeneous. Applications to shallow NVs could capitalize on the
greater physical proximity between surface paramagnetic defects and outer
nuclei to efficiently polarize target samples in contact with the diamond
crystal
New Measurement of Compton Scattering from the Deuteron and an Improved Extraction of the Neutron Electromagnetic Polarizabilities
The electromagnetic polarizabilities of the nucleon are fundamental
properties that describe its response to external electric and magnetic fields.
They can be extracted from Compton-scattering data --- and have been, with good
accuracy, in the case of the proton. In contradistinction, information for the
neutron requires the use of Compton scattering from nuclear targets. Here we
report a new measurement of elastic photon scattering from deuterium using
quasimonoenergetic tagged photons at the MAX IV Laboratory in Lund, Sweden.
These first new data in more than a decade effectively double the world
dataset. Their energy range overlaps with previous experiments and extends it
by 20 MeV to higher energies. An analysis using Chiral Effective Field Theory
with dynamical \Delta(1232) degrees of freedom shows the data are consistent
with and within the world dataset. After demonstrating that the fit is
consistent with the Baldin sum rule, extracting values for the isoscalar
nucleon polarizabilities and combining them with a recent result for the
proton, we obtain the neutron polarizabilities as \alpha_n = [11.55 +/-
1.25(stat) +/- 0.2(BSR) +/- 0.8(th)] X 10^{-4} fm^3 and \beta_n = [3.65 -/+
1.25(stat) +/- 0.2(BSR) -/+ 0.8(th)] X 10^{-4} fm3, with \chi^2 = 45.2 for 44
degrees of freedom.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, comments from Physical Review Letters Referees
addresse
An Optical Readout TPC (O-TPC) for Studies in Nuclear Astrophysics With Gamma-Ray Beams at HIgS
We report on the construction, tests, calibrations and commissioning of an
Optical Readout Time Projection Chamber (O-TPC) detector operating with a
CO2(80%) + N2(20%) gas mixture at 100 and 150 Torr. It was designed to measure
the cross sections of several key nuclear reactions involved in stellar
evolution. In particular, a study of the rate of formation of oxygen and carbon
during the process of helium burning will be performed by exposing the chamber
gas to intense nearly mono-energetic gamma-ray beams at the High Intensity
Gamma Source (HIgS) facility. The O-TPC has a sensitive target-drift volume of
30x30x21 cm^3. Ionization electrons drift towards a double parallel grid
avalanche multiplier, yielding charge multiplication and light emission.
Avalanche induced photons from N2 emission are collected, intensified and
recorded with a Charge Coupled Device (CCD) camera, providing two-dimensional
track images. The event's time projection (third coordinate) and the deposited
energy are recorded by photomultipliers and by the TPC charge-signal,
respectively. A dedicated VME-based data acquisition system and associated data
analysis tools were developed to record and analyze these data. The O-TPC has
been tested and calibrated with 3.183 MeV alpha-particles emitted by a 148Gd
source placed within its volume with a measured energy resolution of 3.0%.
Tracks of alpha and 12C particles from the dissociation of 16O and of three
alpha-particles from the dissociation of 12C have been measured during initial
in-beam test experiments performed at the HIgS facility at Duke University. The
full detection system and its performance are described and the results of the
preliminary in-beam test experiments are reported.Comment: Supported by the Richard F. Goodman Yale-Weizmann Exchange Program,
ACWIS, NY, and USDOE grant Numbers: DE-FG02-94ER40870 and DE-FG02-97ER4103
On well-rounded ideal lattices - II
We study well-rounded lattices which come from ideals in quadratic number
fields, generalizing some recent results of the first author with K. Petersen.
In particular, we give a characterization of ideal well-rounded lattices in the
plane and show that a positive proportion of real and imaginary quadratic
number fields contains ideals giving rise to well-rounded lattices.Comment: 13 pages; to appear in the International Journal of Number Theor
Deuterium Fractionation across the Infrared Dark Cloud G034.77-00.55 interacting with the Supernova Remnant W44
Supernova remnants (SNRs) may regulate star formation in galaxies. For
example, SNR-driven shocks may form new molecular gas or compress pre-existing
clouds and trigger the formation of new stars. To test this scenario, we
measure the deuteration of , , a well-studied tracer
of pre-stellar cores, across the Infrared Dark Cloud (IRDC) G034.77-00.55,
known to be experiencing a shock interaction with the SNR W44. We use
NH and ND J=1-0 single pointing observations obtained with the
30m antenna at the Instituto de Radioastronomia Millimetrica to infer
toward five positions across the cloud, namely a massive
core, different regions across the shock front, a dense clump and ambient gas.
We find in the range 0.03-0.1, several orders of magnitude
larger than the cosmic D/H ratio (10). Across the shock front,
is enhanced by more than a factor of 2
(0.05-0.07) with respect to the ambient gas (0.03)
and similar to that measured generally in pre-stellar cores. Indeed, in the
massive core and dense clump regions of this IRDC we measure
}0.1. We find enhanced deuteration of across
the region of the shock, at a level that is enhanced with respect to regions of
unperturbed gas. It is possible that this has been induced by shock
compression, which would then be indirect evidence that the shock is triggering
conditions for future star formation. However, since unperturbed dense regions
also show elevated levels of deuteration, further, higher-resolution studies
are needed to better understand the structure and kinematics of the deuterated
material in the shock region, e.g., if it still in relatively diffuse form or
already organised in a population of low-mass pre-stellar cores.Comment: Accepted for publication on A&A; 8 pages, 5 figure
Unambiguous Identification of the Second 2+ State in 12C and the Structure of the Hoyle State
The second 2+ state of 12C, predicted over fifty years ago as an excitation
of the Hoyle state, has been unambiguously identified using the 12C(g,a_0)8Be
reaction. The alpha particles produced by the photodisintegration of 12C were
detected using an Optical Time Projection Chamber (O-TPC). Data were collected
at beam energies between 9.1 and 10.7 MeV using the intense nearly
mono-energetic gamma-ray beams at the HIgS facility. The measured angular
distributions determine the cross section and the E1-E2 relative phases as a
function of energy leading to an unambiguous identification of the second 2+
state in 12C at 10.03(11) MeV, with a total width of 800(130) keV and a ground
state gamma-decay width of 60(10) meV; B(E2: 2+ ---> gs) = 0.73(13) e2fm4 [or
0.45(8) W.u.]. The Hoyle state and its rotational 2+ state that are more
extended than the ground state of 12C presents a challenge and constraints for
models attempting to reveal the nature of three alpha particle states in 12C.
Specifically it challenges the ab-initio Lattice Effective Field Theory (L-EFT)
calculations that predict similar r.m.s. radii for the ground state and the
Hoyle state.Comment: Accepted for Publication in the Physical Review Lette
Dynamical cloud formation traced by atomic and molecular gas
Context. Atomic and molecular cloud formation is a dynamical process. However, kinematic signatures of these processes are still observationally poorly constrained.
Aims. We identify and characterize the cloud formation signatures in atomic and molecular gas.
Methods. Targeting the cloud-scale environment of the prototypical infrared dark cloud G28.3, we employed spectral line imaging observations of the two atomic lines HI and [CI] as well as molecular lines observations in 13CO in the 1–0 and 3–2 transitions. The analysis comprises investigations of the kinematic properties of the different tracers, estimates of the mass flow rates, velocity structure functions, a histogram of oriented gradients (HOG) study, and comparisons to simulations.
Results. The central infrared dark cloud (IRDC) is embedded in a more diffuse envelope of cold neutral medium traced by HI self-absorption and molecular gas. The spectral line data as well as the HOG and structure function analysis indicate a possible kinematic decoupling of the HI from the other gas compounds. Spectral analysis and position–velocity diagrams reveal two velocity components that converge at the position of the IRDC. Estimated mass flow rates appear rather constant from the cloud edge toward the center. The velocity structure function analysis is consistent with gas flows being dominated by the formation of hierarchical structures.
Conclusions. The observations and analysis are consistent with a picture where the IRDC G28.3 is formed at the center of two converging gas flows. While the approximately constant mass flow rates are consistent with a self-similar, gravitationally driven collapse of the cloud, external compression (e.g., via spiral arm shocks or supernova explosions) cannot be excluded yet. Future investigations should aim at differentiating the origin of such converging gas flows
Constraining globular cluster formation through studies of young massive clusters - V. ALMA observations of clusters in the Antennae
Some formation scenarios that have been put forward to explain multiple populations within Globular Clusters (GCs) require that the young massive cluster have large reservoirs of cold gas within them, which is necessary to form future generations of stars. In this paper we use deep observations taken with Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array (ALMA) to assess the amount of molecular gas within 3 young (50-200 Myr) massive (~10^6 Msun) clusters in the Antennae galaxies. No significant CO(3--2) emission was found associated with any of the three clusters. We place upper limits for the molecular gas within these clusters of ~1x10^5 Msun (or <9 % of the current stellar mass). We briefly review different scenarios that propose multiple episodes of star formation and discuss some of their assumptions and implications. Our results are in tension with the predictions of GC formation scenarios that expect large reservoirs of cool gas within young massive clusters at these ages
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