167,526 research outputs found
Decay Modes of the Hoyle State in
Recent experimental results give an upper limit less than 0.043\% (95\% C.L.)
to the direct decay of the Hoyle state into 3 respect to the sequential
decay into {Be}+. We performed one and two-dimensional tunneling
calculations to estimate such a ratio and found it to be more than one order of
magnitude smaller than experiment depending on the range of the nuclear force.
This is within high statistics experimental capabilities. Our results can also
be tested by measuring the decay modes of high excitation energy states of
C where the ratio of direct to sequential decay might reach 10\% at
(C)=10.3 MeV. The link between a Bose Einstein Condensate (BEC) and
the direct decay of the Hoyle state is also addressed. We discuss a
hypothetical `Efimov state' at (C)=7.458 MeV, which would mainly
{\it sequentially} decay with 3 of {\it equal energies}: a
counterintuitive result of tunneling. Such a state, if it would exist, is at
least 8 orders of magnitude less probable than the Hoyle's, thus below the
sensitivity of recent and past experiments.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, accepted by Phys. Lett.
Reduced magnetohydrodynamic theory of oblique plasmoid instabilities
The three-dimensional nature of plasmoid instabilities is studied using the
reduced magnetohydrodynamic equations. For a Harris equilibrium with guide
field, represented by \vc{B}_o = B_{po} \tanh (x/\lambda) \hat{y} + B_{zo}
\hat{z}, a spectrum of modes are unstable at multiple resonant surfaces in the
current sheet, rather than just the null surface of the polodial field , which is the only resonant surface in 2D or in
the absence of a guide field. Here is the asymptotic value of the
equilibrium poloidal field, is the constant equilibrium guide field,
and is the current sheet width. Plasmoids on each resonant surface
have a unique angle of obliquity . The resonant
surface location for angle is x_s = - \lambda \arctanh (\tan \theta
B_{zo}/B_{po}), and the existence of a resonant surface requires . The most unstable angle is oblique, i.e. and , in the constant- regime, but parallel, i.e.
and , in the nonconstant- regime. For a fixed angle
of obliquity, the most unstable wavenumber lies at the intersection of the
constant- and nonconstant- regimes. The growth rate of this mode is
, in which
, is the Alfv\'{e}n speed, is the current sheet
length, and is the Lundquist number. The number of plasmoids scales as .Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures, to be published in Physics of Plasma
Bioinspired electrohydrodynamic ceramic patterning of curved metallic substrates
Template-assisted electrohydrodynamic atomisation (TAEA) has been used for the first time to pattern curved metallic surfaces. Parallel lines of ceramic titania (TiO2) were produced on titanium substrates, convex and concave with diameters of ~25 mm, at the ambient temperature. Optimal results were obtained with 4 wt% TiO2 in ethanol suspension deposited over 300 s during stable cone-jetting at 20 µl/min, 10kV and collection distance 80 mm. A high degree of control over pattern line width, interline spacing and thickness were achieved. Nanoindentation load-displacement curves were continuous for the full loading and unloading cycle, indicating good adhesion between pattern and substrate. At a loading rate of 1 μN/s and a hold time of 1 s, pattern hardness decreased as load increased up to 7 μN and remained at 0·1 GPa up to higher loads. Elastic modulus behaved similarly, and both were not sensitive to loading rate. The effect of heat treatment to further consolidate the patterned deposits was also investigated. Hardness of the patterns was not markedly affected by heating. This work shows that TAEA is highly controllable and compatible on a range of substrate geometries. Extending TAEA capabilities from flat to curved surfaces, enabling the bioactive patterning of different surface geometries, takes this technology closer to orthopaedic engineering applications
Storage and recall of weak coherent optical pulses with an efficiency of 25%
We demonstrate experimentally a quantum memory scheme for the storage of weak
coherent light pulses in an inhomogeneously broadened optical transition in a
Pr^{3+}: YSO crystal at 2.1 K. Precise optical pumping using a frequency stable
(about 1kHz linewidth) laser is employed to create a highly controllable Atomic
Frequency Comb (AFC) structure. We report single photon storage and retrieval
efficiencies of 25%, based on coherent photon echo type re-emission in the
forward direction. The coherence property of the quantum memory is proved
through interference between a super Gaussian pulse and the emitted echo.
Backward retrieval of the photon echo emission has potential for increasing
storage and recall efficiency.Comment: 5,
The potential of Antheraea pernyi silk for spinal cord repair
This work was supported by the Institute of Medical Sciences of the University of Aberdeen, Scottish Rugby Union and RS McDonald Charitable Trust. We are grateful to Mr Nicholas Hawkins from Oxford University and Ms Annette Raffan from the University of Aberdeen for assistance with tensile testing. We thank Ms Michelle Gniβ for her help with the microglial response experiments. We also thank Mr Gianluca Limodio for assisting with the MATLAB script for automation of tensile testing’s data analysis.Peer reviewedPublisher PD
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