Stabilization of heterodimensional cycles

We consider diffeomorphisms $f$ with heteroclinic cycles associated to saddles $P$ and $Q$ of different indices. We say that a cycle of this type can be stabilized if there are diffeomorphisms close to $f$ with a robust cycle associated to hyperbolic sets containing the continuations of $P$ and $Q$. We focus on the case where the indices of these two saddles differ by one. We prove that, excluding one particular case (so-called twisted cycles that additionally satisfy some geometrical restrictions), all such cycles can be stabilized.Comment: 31 pages, 9 figure

Career situation of female astronomers in Germany

We survey the job situation of women in astronomy in Germany and of German women abroad and review indicators for their career development. Our sample includes women astronomers from all academic levels from doctoral students to professors, as well as female astronomers who have left the field. We find that networking and human support are among the most important factors for success. Experience shows that students should carefully choose their supervisor and collect practical knowledge abroad. We reflect the private situation of female German astronomers and find that prejudices are abundant, and are perceived as discriminating.We identify reasons why women are more likely than men to quit astronomy after they obtain their PhD degree. We give recommendations to young students on what to pay attention to in order to be on the successful path in astronomy.Comment: published in Astronomical Note

Careers in astronomy in Germany and the UK

We discuss the outcomes of surveys addressing the career situation of astronomers in Germany and the UK, finding social and cultural differences between communities as well as gender bias in both.Comment: Astronomy and Geophysics. 13 page pdf with colour image

Coupling of intrinsic Josephson oscillations in layered superconductors by charge fluctuations

The coupling of Josephson oscillations in layered superconductors is studied with help of a tunneling Hamiltonian formalism. The general form of the current density across the barriers between the superconducting layers is derived. The induced charge fluctuations on the superconducting layers lead to a coupling of the Josephson oscillations in different junctions. A simplified set of equations is then used to study the non-linear dynamics of the system. In particular the influence of the coupling on the current-voltage characteristics is investigated and upper limits for the coupling strength are estimated from a comparison with experiments on cuprate superconductors.Comment: To be published in proceedings of SPIE conference San Diego 199

Small rare gas clusters in soft X-ray pulses

We develop a microscopic model for the interaction of small rare gas clusters with soft X-ray radiation. It is shown that, while the overall charging of the clusters is rather low, unexpectedly high atomic charge states can arise due to charge imbalances inside the cluster. The mechanism does not require unusually high absorption rates, and the heating can be described by standard inverse bremsstrahlung formulae.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Massive spin 2 propagator on de Sitter space

We compute the Pauli-Jordan, Hadamard and Feynman propagators for the massive metrical perturbations on de Sitter space. They are expressed both in terms of mode sums and in invariant forms.Comment: 30 pages + 1 eps fi