11,150 research outputs found
Electrostatic trapping and in situ detection of Rydberg atoms above chip-based transmission lines
Beams of helium atoms in Rydberg-Stark states with principal quantum number
and electric dipole moments of 4600~D have been decelerated from a mean
initial longitudinal speed of 2000~m/s to zero velocity in the laboratory-fixed
frame-of-reference in the continuously moving electric traps of a
transmission-line decelerator. In this process accelerations up to
~m/s were applied, and changes in kinetic energy of
~J (~meV) per atom were achieved. Guided and decelerated atoms, and those
confined in stationary electrostatic traps, were detected in situ by pulsed
electric field ionisation. The results of numerical calculations of particle
trajectories within the decelerator have been used to characterise the observed
deceleration efficiencies, and aid in the interpretation of the experimental
data.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figure
The Bell-Szekeres Solution and Related Solutions of the Einstein-Maxwell Equations
A novel technique for solving some head-on collisions of plane homogeneous
light-like signals in Einstein-Maxwell theory is described. The technique is a
by-product of a re-examination of the fundamental Bell-Szekeres solution in
this field of study. Extensions of the Bell-Szekeres collision problem to
include light-like shells and gravitational waves are described and a family of
solutions having geometrical and topological properties in common with the
Bell-Szekeres solution is derived.Comment: 18 pages, Latex fil
Wave and Particle Scattering Properties of High Speed Black Holes
The light-like limit of the Kerr gravitational field relative to a distant
observer moving rectilinearly in an arbitrary direction is an impulsive plane
gravitational wave with a singular point on its wave front. By colliding
particles with this wave we show that they have the same focussing properties
as high speed particles scattered by the original black hole. By colliding
photons with the gravitational wave we show that there is a circular disk,
centered on the singular point on the wave front, having the property that
photons colliding with the wave within this disk are reflected back and travel
with the wave. This result is approximate in the sense that there are observers
who can see a dim (as opposed to opaque) circular disk on their sky. By
colliding plane electromagnetic waves with the gravitational wave we show that
the reflected electromagnetic waves are the high frequency waves.Comment: Latex file, 22 pages, 1 figure, accepted for publication in Classical
and Quantum Gravit
On Generating Gravity Waves with Matter and Electromagnetic Waves
If a homogeneous plane light-like shell collides head-on with a homogeneous
plane electromagnetic shock wave having a step-function profile then no
backscattered gravitational waves are produced. We demonstrate, by explicit
calculation, that if the matter is accompanied by a homogeneous plane
electromagnetic shock wave with a step-function profile then backscattered
gravitational waves appear after the collision.Comment: Latex file, 15 pages, accepted for publication in Physical Review
A comparative framework: how broadly applicable is a 'rigorous' critical junctures framework?
The paper tests Hogan and Doyle's (2007, 2008) framework for examining critical junctures. This framework sought to incorporate the concept of ideational change in understanding critical junctures. Until its development, frameworks utilized in identifying critical junctures were subjective, seeking only to identify crisis, and subsequent policy changes, arguing that one invariably led to the other, as both occurred around the same time. Hogan and Doyle (2007, 2008) hypothesized ideational change as an intermediating variable in their framework, determining if, and when, a crisis leads to radical policy change. Here we test this framework on cases similar to, but different from, those employed in developing the exemplar. This will enable us determine whether the framework's relegation of ideational change to a condition of crisis holds, or, if ideational change has more importance than is ascribed to it by this framework. This will also enable us determined if the framework itself is robust, and fit for the purposes it was designed to perform â identifying the nature of policy change
Monte Carlo Simulation of Lyman Alpha Scattering and Application to Damped Lyman Alpha Systems
A Monte Carlo code to solve the transfer of Lyman alpha (Lya) photons is
developed, which can predict the Lya image and two-dimensional Lya spectra of a
hydrogen cloud with any given geometry, Lya emissivity, neutral hydrogen
density distribution, and bulk velocity field. We apply the code to several
simple cases of a uniform cloud to show how the Lya image and emitted line
spectrum are affected by the column density, internal velocity gradients, and
emissivity distribution. We then apply the code to two models for damped Lya
absorption systems: a spherical, static, isothermal cloud, and a flattened,
axially symmetric, rotating cloud. If the emission is due to fluorescence of
the external background radiation, the Lya image should have a core
corresponding to the region where hydrogen is self-shielded. The emission line
profile has the characteristic double peak with a deep central trough. We show
how rotation of the cloud causes the two peaks to shift in wavelength as the
slit is perpendicular to the rotation axis, and how the relative amplitude of
the two peaks is changed. In reality, damped Lya systems are likely to have a
clumpy gas distribution with turbulent velocity fields, which should smooth the
line emission profile, but should still leave the rotation signature of the
wavelength shift across the system.Comment: 19 pages, 17 eps figures. One panel is added in Fig.1 to show the
recoil effect. Revisions are made in response to the referee's comments.
Accepted for publication in Ap
Semiclassical Approach to Parametric Spectral Correlation with Spin 1/2
The spectral correlation of a chaotic system with spin 1/2 is universally
described by the GSE (Gaussian Symplectic Ensemble) of random matrices in the
semiclassical limit. In semiclassical theory, the spectral form factor is
expressed in terms of the periodic orbits and the spin state is simulated by
the uniform distribution on a sphere. In this paper, instead of the uniform
distribution, we introduce Brownian motion on a sphere to yield the parametric
motion of the energy levels. As a result, the small time expansion of the form
factor is obtained and found to be in agreement with the prediction of
parametric random matrices in the transition within the GSE universality class.
Moreover, by starting the Brownian motion from a point distribution on the
sphere, we gradually increase the effect of the spin and calculate the form
factor describing the transition from the GOE (Gaussian Orthogonal Ensemble)
class to the GSE class.Comment: 25 pages, 2 figure
The Aichelburg-Sexl Boost of Domain-Walls and Cosmic Strings
We consider the application of the Aichelburg-Sexl boost to plane and line
distributions of matter. Our analysis shows that for a domain wall the
space-time after the boost is flat except on a null hypersurface which is the
history of a null shell. For a cosmic string we study the influence of the
boost on the conical singularity and give the new value of the conical deficit.Comment: Latex File, 12 pages, accepted for publication in Physical Review
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