9,065 research outputs found
Probing the electron EDM with cold molecules
We present progress towards a new measurement of the electron electric dipole
moment using a cold supersonic beam of YbF molecules. Data are currently being
taken with a sensitivity of . We
therefore expect to make an improvement over the Tl experiment of Commins'
group, which currently gives the most precise result. We discuss the systematic
and statistical errors and comment on the future prospect of making a
measurement at the level of .Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, proceedings of ICAP 200
Microsecond resolution of quasiparticle tunneling in the single-Cooper-pair-transistor
We present radio-frequency measurements on a single-Cooper-pair-transistor in
which individual quasiparticle poisoning events were observed with microsecond
temporal resolution. Thermal activation of the quasiparticle dynamics is
investigated, and consequently, we are able to determine energetics of the
poisoning and un-poisoning processes. In particular, we are able to assign an
effective quasiparticle temperature to parameterize the poisoning rate.Comment: 4 pages, 4 fig
The Pinhole/Occulter Facility
Scientific objectives and requirements are discussed for solar X-ray observations, coronagraph observations, studies of coronal particle acceleration, and cosmic X-ray observations. Improved sensitivity and resolution can be provided for these studies using the pinhole/occulter facility which consists of a self-deployed boom of 50 m length separating an occulter plane from a detector plane. The X-ray detectors and coronagraphic optics mounted on the detector plane are analogous to the focal plane instrumentation of an ordinary telescope except that they use the occulter only for providing a shadow pattern. The occulter plane is passive and has no electrical interface with the rest of the facility
The Pinhole/Occulter Facility
A large occulting system in space can be used for high resolution X-ray observations and for large aperture coronagraphic observations in visible and UV light. The X-ray observations can combine high angular resolution in hand (10 keV) X-radiation with the high sensitivity of a multiple pinhole camera, and can permit sensitive observations of bremsstrahlung from nonthermal particles in the corona. The large aperture coronagraphs have two major advantages: high angular resolution and good photon collection. This will permit observations of small scale structures in the corona for the first time and will give sufficient counting rates above the coronal background rates for sensitive diagnostic analysis of intensities and line profiles for coronal structures in the solar wind acceleration region. The technical basis for performing observations with a large occulting system in these three wavelength ranges is described as well as a pinhole/occulter facility presently being considered for Spacelab. Some indications about future developments are included
Space-based geoengineering: challenges and requirements
The prospect of engineering the Earth's climate (geoengineering) raises a multitude of issues associated with climatology, engineering on macroscopic scales, and indeed the ethics of such ventures. Depending on personal views, such large-scale engineering is either an obvious necessity for the deep future, or yet another example of human conceit. In this article a simple climate model will be used to estimate requirements for engineering the Earth's climate, principally using space-based geoengineering. Active cooling of the climate to mitigate anthropogenic climate change due to a doubling of the carbon dioxide concentration in the Earth's atmosphere is considered. This representative scenario will allow the scale of the engineering challenge to be determined. It will be argued that simple occulting discs at the interior Lagrange point may represent a less complex solution than concepts for highly engineered refracting discs proposed recently. While engineering on macroscopic scales can appear formidable, emerging capabilities may allow such ventures to be seriously considered in the long term. This article is not an exhaustive review of geoengineering, but aims to provide a foretaste of the future opportunities, challenges, and requirements for space-based geoengineering ventures
An extension of Wiener integration with the use of operator theory
With the use of tensor product of Hilbert space, and a diagonalization
procedure from operator theory, we derive an approximation formula for a
general class of stochastic integrals. Further we establish a generalized
Fourier expansion for these stochastic integrals. In our extension, we
circumvent some of the limitations of the more widely used stochastic integral
due to Wiener and Ito, i.e., stochastic integration with respect to Brownian
motion. Finally we discuss the connection between the two approaches, as well
as a priori estimates and applications.Comment: 13 page
Strain Modulated Superlattices in Graphene
Strain engineering of graphene takes advantage of one of the most dramatic
responses of Dirac electrons enabling their manipulation via strain-induced
pseudo-magnetic fields. Numerous theoretically proposed devices, such as
resonant cavities and valley filters, as well as novel phenomena, such as snake
states, could potentially be enabled via this effect. These proposals, however,
require strong, spatially oscillating magnetic fields while to date only the
generation and effects of pseudo-gauge fields which vary at a length scale much
larger than the magnetic length have been reported. Here we create a periodic
pseudo-gauge field profile using periodic strain that varies at the length
scale comparable to the magnetic length and study its effects on Dirac
electrons. A periodic strain profile is achieved by pulling on graphene with
extreme (>10%) strain and forming nanoscale ripples, akin to a plastic wrap
pulled taut at its edges. Combining scanning tunneling microscopy and atomistic
calculations, we find that spatially oscillating strain results in a new
quantization different from the familiar Landau quantization observed in
previous studies. We also find that graphene ripples are characterized by large
variations in carbon-carbon bond length, directly impacting the electronic
coupling between atoms, which within a single ripple can be as different as in
two different materials. The result is a single graphene sheet that effectively
acts as an electronic superlattice. Our results thus also establish a novel
approach to synthesize an effective 2D lateral heterostructure - by periodic
modulation of lattice strain.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures and supplementary informatio
Persistence and transmission of tick-borne viruses: Ixodes ricinus and louping-ill virus in red grouse populations
The population dynamics of tick-borne disease agents and in particular the mechanisms which influence their persistence are examined with reference to the flavivirus that causes louping-ill in red grouse and sheep. Pockets of infection cause heavy mortality and the infection probably persists as a consequence of immigration of susceptible hosts. Seroprevalence is positively associated with temporal variations in vectors per host, although variation between areas is associated with the abundance of mountain hares. The presence of alternative tick hosts, particularly large mammals, provides additional hosts for increasing tick abundance. Grouse alone can not support the vectors and the pathogen but both can persist when a non-viraemic mammalian host supports the tick population and a sufficiently high number of nymphs bite grouse. These alternative hosts may also amplify virus through non-viraemic transmission by the process of co-feeding, although the relative significance of this has yet to be determined. Another possible route of infection is through the ingestion of vectors when feeding or preening. Trans-ovarial transmission is a potentially important mechanism for virus persistence but has not been recorded with louping-ill and ixodes ricinus. The influence of non-viraemic hosts, both in the multiplication of vectors and the amplification of virus through non-viraemic transmission are considered significant for virus persistence
Anisotropic Hubble expansion of large scale structures
We investigate the dynamics of an homogenous distribution of galaxies moving
under the cosmological expansion through Euler-Poisson equations system. The
solutions are interpreted with the aim of understanding the cosmic velocity
fields in the Local Super Cluster, and in particular the presence of a bulk
flow. Among several solutions, we shows a planar kinematics with constant
(eternal) and rotational distortion, the velocity field is not potential
Slowing heavy, ground-state molecules using an alternating gradient decelerator
Cold supersonic beams of molecules can be slowed down using a switched
sequence of electrostatic field gradients. The energy to be removed is
proportional to the mass of the molecules. Here we report deceleration of YbF,
which is 7 times heavier than any molecule previously decelerated. We use an
alternating gradient structure to decelerate and focus the molecules in their
ground state. We show that the decelerator exhibits the axial and transverse
stability required to bring these molecules to rest. Our work significantly
extends the range of molecules amenable to this powerful method of cooling and
trapping.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
- …