Focused-ion-beam-induced deposition of superconducting nanowires

Superconducting nanowires, with a critical temperature of 5.2 K, have been synthesized using an ion-beam-induced deposition, with a Gallium focused ion beam and Tungsten Carboxyl, W(CO)6, as precursor. The films are amorphous, with atomic concentrations of about 40, 40, and 20 % for W, C, and Ga, respectively. Zero Kelvin values of the upper critical field and coherence length of 9.5 T and 5.9 nm, respectively, are deduced from the resistivity data at different applied magnetic fields. The critical current density is Jc= 1.5 10^5 A/cm2 at 3 K. This technique can be used as a template-free fabrication method for superconducting devices.Comment: Accepted for publication in Applied Physics Letter

Resonant recoil in extreme mass ratio binary black hole mergers

The inspiral and merger of a binary black hole system generally leads to an asymmetric distribution of emitted radiation, and hence a recoil of the remnant black hole directed opposite to the net linear momentum radiated. The recoil velocity is generally largest for comparable mass black holes and particular spin configurations, and approaches zero in the extreme mass ratio limit. It is generally believed that for extreme mass ratios eta<<1, the scaling of the recoil velocity is V {\propto} eta^2, where the proportionality coefficient depends on the spin of the larger hole and the geometry of the system (e.g. orbital inclination). Here we show that for low but nonzero inclination prograde orbits and very rapidly spinning large holes (spin parameter a*>0.9678) the inspiralling binary can pass through resonances where the orbit-averaged radiation-reaction force is nonzero. These resonance crossings lead to a new contribution to the kick, V {\propto} eta^{3/2}. For these configurations and sufficiently extreme mass ratios, this resonant recoil is dominant. While it seems doubtful that the resonant recoil will be astrophysically significant, its existence suggests caution when extrapolating the results of numerical kick results to extreme mass ratios and near-maximal spins.Comment: fixed references; matches PRD accepted version (minor revision); 9 pages, 2 figure

Phenomenological local potentials for \pi^- + ^{12}C scattering from 120 to 766 MeV

Pion-nucleus scattering cross sections are calculated by solving a Schr\"{o}dinger equation reduced from the Klein-Gordon equation. Local potentials are assumed, and phenomenological potential parameters are searched energy-dependently for $\pi^{-} + ^{12}$C system so as to reproduce not only elastic differential cross sections but also total elastic, reaction and total cross sections at 13 pion incident energies from 120 to 766 MeV. The real and imaginary parts of the local potentials thus obtained are shown to satisfy the dispersion relation. The imaginary part of the potentials as a function of the pion energy is found to peak near the $\Delta$(1232)-resonance energy. The strong absorption radius of the pion projectile with incident energies near the $\Delta$-resonance region is found to be about $1.6 A^{1/3}$ fm, which is consistent with previous studies of the region where the decay of the $\Delta$'s takes place in nuclei. The phenomenological local potentials are then compared with the local potentials exactly phase-shift equivalent to Kisslinger potentials for pion energies near the $\Delta$-resonance

The Earth Effect in the MSW Analysis of the Solar Neutrino Experiments

We consider the Earth effect in the MSW analysis of the Homestake, Kamiokande, GALLEX, and SAGE solar neutrino experiments. Using the time-averaged data and assuming two-flavor oscillations, the large-angle region of the combined fit extends to much smaller angles (to $\sin^22\theta \simeq 0.1$) than when the Earth effect is ignored. However, the additional constraint from the Kamiokande II day-night data excludes most of the parameter space sensitive to the Earth effect independent of astrophysical uncertainties, and leaves only a small large-angle region close to maximal mixing at 90\% C.L. The nonadiabatic solution remains unaffected by the Earth effect and is still preferred. Both theoretical and experimental uncertainties are included in the analysis.Comment: (11 pages, Revtex 3.0 (can be changed to Latex), 3 postscript figures included, UPR-0570T

Standard Model Contributions to the Neutrino Index of Refraction in the Early Universe

With the standard electroweak interactions, the lowest-order coherent forward scattering amplitudes of neutrinos in a CP symmetric medium (such as the early universe) are zero, and the index of refraction of a propagating neutrino can only arise from the expansion of gauge boson propagators, from radiative corrections, and from new physics interactions. Motivated by nucleosynthesis constraints on a possible sterile neutrino (suggested by the solar neutrino deficit and a possible $17\ keV$ neutrino), we calculate the standard model contributions to the neutrino index of refraction in the early universe, focusing on the period when the temperature was of the order of a few $MeV$. We find sizable radiative corrections to the tree level result obtained by the expansion of the gauge boson propagator. For $\nu_e+e(\bar{e})\to \nu_e+e(\bar{e})$ the leading log correction is about $+10\%$, while for $\nu_e+\nu_e(\bar{\nu}_e)\to \nu_e+\nu_e(\bar{\nu}_e)$ the correction is about $+20\%$. Depending on the family mixing (if any), effects from different family scattering can be dominated by radiative corrections. The result for $\nu+\gamma\to\nu+\gamma$ is zero at one-loop level, even if neutrinos are massive. The cancellation of infrared divergence in a coherent process is also discussed.Comment: 46pp, 13 figures (not included), UPR-0495

Possible Effects of Quantum Mechanics Violation Induced by Certain Quantum Gravity on Neutrino Oscillations

In this work we tried extensively to apply the EHNS postulation about the quantum mechanics violation effects induced by the quantum gravity of black holes to neutrino oscillations. The possibilities for observing such effects in the neutrino experiments (in progress and/or accessible in the near future) were discussed. Of them, an interesting one was outlined specially.Comment: 18 pages, 0 figure, (1 REVTeX file

Periodic Oscillations of Josephson-Vortex Flow Resistance in Oxygen-Deficient Y1Ba2Cu3Ox

We measured the Josephson vortex flow resistance as a function of magnetic field applied parallel to the ab-planes using annealed Y1Ba2Cu3Ox intrinsic Josephson junctions having high anisotropy (around 40) by oxygen content reduction. Periodic oscillations were observed in magnetic fields above 45-58 kOe, corresponding to dense-dilute boundary for Josephson vortex lattice. The observed period of oscillations, agrees well with the increase of one fluxon per two junctions ($H_{p}$\textit{=$\Phi$}$_{0}$\textit{/2Ls}), may correspond to formation of a triangular lattice of Josephson vortices as has been reported by Ooi et al. for highly anisotropic (larger than 200) Bi-2212 intrinsic Josephson junctions.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Relative velocity of dark matter and baryonic fluids and the formation of the first structures

At the time of recombination, baryons and photons decoupled and the sound speed in the baryonic fluid dropped from relativistic to the thermal velocities of the hydrogen atoms. This is less than the relative velocities of baryons and dark matter computed via linear perturbation theory, so we infer that there are supersonic coherent flows of the baryons relative to the underlying potential wells created by the dark matter. As a result, the advection of small-scale perturbations (near the baryonic Jeans scale) by large-scale velocity flows is important for the formation of the first baryonic structures. This effect involves a quadratic term in the cosmological perturbation theory equations and hence has not been included in studies based on linear perturbation theory. We show that the relative motion suppresses the abundance of the first bound objects, even if one only investigates dark matter haloes, and leads to qualitative changes in their spatial distribution, such as introducing scale-dependent bias and stochasticity. We discuss the possible observable implications for high-redshift galaxy clustering and reionization