395 research outputs found
Experiments on the twisted vortex state in superfluid 3He-B
We have performed measurements and numerical simulations on a bundle of
vortex lines which is expanding along a rotating column of initially
vortex-free 3He-B. Expanding vortices form a propagating front: Within the
front the superfluid is involved in rotation and behind the front the twisted
vortex state forms, which eventually relaxes to the equilibrium vortex state.
We have measured the magnitude of the twist and its relaxation rate as function
of temperature above 0.3Tc. We also demonstrate that the integrity of the
propagating vortex front results from axial superfluid flow, induced by the
twist.Comment: prepared for proceedings of the QFS2007 symposium in Kaza
Model of Inhomogeneous Impurity Distribution in Fermi Superfluids
The standard treatment of impurities in metals assumes a homogeneous
distribution of impurities. In this paper we study distributions that are
inhomogeneous. We discuss in detail the "isotropic inhomogeneous scattering
model" which takes into account the spatially varying scattering on the scale
of the superfluid coherence length. On a large scale the model reduces to a
homogeneous medium with renormalized parameter values. We apply the model to
superfluid 3He, where porous aerogel acts as the impurity. We calculate the
transition temperature Tc, the order parameter, and the superfluid density.
Both A- and B-like phases are considered. Two different types of behavior are
identified for the temperature dependence of the order parameter. We compare
the calculations with experiments on 3He in aerogel. We find that most of the
differences between experiments and the homogeneous theory can be explained by
the inhomogeneous model. All our calculations are based on the quasiclassical
theory of Fermi liquids. The parameters of this theory for superfluid 3He in
aerogel are discussed.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures, minor change
Dairy producer attitudes to pain in cattle in relation to disbudding calves
Pain is an important indicator of poor welfare of livestock. Despite this, pain has largely gone unrecognized in farm animals due to attitudes of producers and veterinarians, although they play a key role in monitoring and managing the perception of animal pain. Producer attitudes toward animal welfare influence livestock management and production. The aim was to quantify dairy producer attitudes to the painfulness of various cattle diseases and disbudding, a painful routine procedure performed on farm to ensure safer handling of cattle. A questionnaire on disbudding-related opinions and practices was sent to 1,000 Finnish dairy producers (response rate: 45%). Attitudes toward disbudding were gauged using a 5-point Likert scale and attitudes to cattle pain scored on an 11-point numerical rating scale. Principal components analysis was used to assess the loadings, which were further tested for differences between producer gender and housing systems with Mann-Whitney U-tests, and between herd milk yield, herd size, and age and work experience of producers with a Kruskal-Wallis test. Four main factors were identified: factor I (“taking disbudding pain seriously”), factor II (“sensitivity to pain caused by cattle diseases”), factor III (“ready to medicate calves myself”), and factor IV (“pro horns”). Female producers took disbudding pain more seriously, were more sensitive to pain caused to cattle by diseases, and were more ready to medicate disbudded calves than male producers. Producers with tie-stalls favored horns over producers with freestalls. Male producers with tie-stalls were sensitive to cattle pain and preferred horns over male producers with freestalls. Female producers with freestalls were more ready to medicate calves, but did not prefer horns more than female producers with tie-stalls. Taking disbudding seriously correlated with sensitivity to pain caused by cattle diseases. Producers with low-milk-yielding herds were less willing to medicate calves and more willing to keep cattle with horns than producers with higher-yielding herds. Older producers were more sensitive to cattle pain than middle-aged and younger producers. No effect was established for taking disbudding pain seriously: the pro-horn factor was associated with work experience, age, and herd size. Women rated pain higher and were more positive toward pain medication for animals than men. Maintaining horns are more important for producers with tie-stalls than for those with freestalls.Peer reviewe
Climate-induced hydrography change favours small-bodied zooplankton in a coastal ecosystem
In the Baltic Sea, the climate change is expected to reduce salinity and increase temperature, and shift mesozooplankton communities towards dominance of small-bodied brackish-water taxa and cause a decline in large-bodied marine taxa. Here, we analyse environmental monitoring data, collected in a coastal area in the northern Baltic Archipelago Sea during May–September, 1967––2013, for trends and relationship between mesozooplankton biomass anomalies, salinity and temperature. During the study period, the surface water temperature increased and salinity decreased. Since the mid-1980s, the community was dominated by small-bodied brackish-water taxa whereas large-bodied calanoid copepods and marine taxa were mostly scarce or absent from the samples. The observed decline of marine taxa was related to the decline in salinity and, to some extent, to the increase of temperature. The brackish-water taxa were, for the most part, positively influenced by the temperature increase, although possibly other direct or indirect factors, not considered in this study, were also influencing the dynamics. This study adds to the knowledge of a possible on-going shift in the food web structure towards smaller-sized species and emphasizes the significance of long-term environmental monitoring in understanding the dynamics in plankton communities</p
Spin susceptibility of the superfluid He-B in aerogel
The temperature dependence of paramagnetic susceptibility of the superfluid
^{3}He-B in aerogel is found. Calculations have been performed for an arbitrary
phase shift of s-wave scattering in the framework of BCS weak coupling theory
and the simplest model of aerogel as an aggregate of homogeneously distributed
ordinary impurities. Both limiting cases of the Born and unitary scattering can
be easily obtained from the general result. The existence of gapless
superfluidity starting at the critical impurity concentration depending on the
value of the scattering phase has been demonstrated. While larger than in the
bulk liquid the calculated susceptibility of the B-phase in aerogel proves to
be conspicuously smaller than that determined experimentally in the high
pressure region.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, REVTe
Structure of surface vortex sheet between two rotating 3He superfluids
We study a two-phase sample of superfluid 3He where vorticity exists in one
phase (3He-A) but cannot penetrate across the interfacial boundary to a second
coherent phase (3He-B). We calculate the bending of the vorticity into a
surface vortex sheet on the interface and solve the internal structure of this
new type of vortex sheet. The compression of the vorticity from three to two
dimensions enforces a structure which is made up of half-quantum units,
independently of the structure of the source vorticity in the bulk. These
results are consistent with our NMR measurements.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Boojums in Rotating Two-Component Bose-Einstein Condensates
A boojum is a topological defect that can form only on the surface of an
ordered medium such as superfluid He and liquid crystals. We study
theoretically boojums appearing between two phases with different vortex
structures in two-component BECs where the intracomponent interaction is
repulsive in one phase and attractive in the other. The detailed structure of
the boojums is revealed by investigating its density distribution, effective
superflow vorticity and pseudospin texture.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Electromagnetic wormholes via handlebody constructions
Cloaking devices are prescriptions of electrostatic, optical or
electromagnetic parameter fields (conductivity , index of refraction
, or electric permittivity and magnetic permeability
) which are piecewise smooth on and singular on a
hypersurface , and such that objects in the region enclosed by
are not detectable to external observation by waves. Here, we give related
constructions of invisible tunnels, which allow electromagnetic waves to pass
between possibly distant points, but with only the ends of the tunnels visible
to electromagnetic imaging. Effectively, these change the topology of space
with respect to solutions of Maxwell's equations, corresponding to attaching a
handlebody to . The resulting devices thus function as
electromagnetic wormholes.Comment: 25 pages, 6 figures (some color
Silicon Atomic Quantum Dots Enable Beyond-CMOS Electronics
We review our recent efforts in building atom-scale quantum-dot cellular
automata circuits on a silicon surface. Our building block consists of silicon
dangling bond on a H-Si(001) surface, which has been shown to act as a quantum
dot. First the fabrication, experimental imaging, and charging character of the
dangling bond are discussed. We then show how precise assemblies of such dots
can be created to form artificial molecules. Such complex structures can be
used as systems with custom optical properties, circuit elements for
quantum-dot cellular automata, and quantum computing. Considerations on
macro-to-atom connections are discussed.Comment: 28 pages, 19 figure
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