5,994 research outputs found
A Millimeter-Wave Achromatic Half Wave Plate
We have constructed an achromatic half wave plate (AHWP) suitable for the
millimeter wavelength band. The AHWP was made from a stack of three sapphire
a-cut birefringent plates with the optical axes of the middle plate rotated by
50.5 degrees with respect to the aligned axes of the other plates. The measured
modulation efficiency of the AHWP at 110 GHz was %. In contrast,
the modulation efficiency of a single sapphire plate of the same thickness was
%. Both results are in close agreement with theoretical predictions.
The modulation efficiency of the AHWP was constant as a function of incidence
angles between 0 and 15 degrees. We discuss design parameters of an AHWP in the
context of astrophysical broad band polarimetry at the millimeter wavelength
band.Comment: In print - Applied Optics, 14 pages, 7 figure
A Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation Polarimeter Using Superconducting Bearings
Measurements of the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB)
radiation are expected to significantly increase our understanding of the early
universe. We present a design for a CMB polarimeter in which a cryogenically
cooled half wave plate rotates by means of a high-temperature superconducting
(HTS) bearing. The design is optimized for implementation in MAXIPOL, a
balloon-borne CMB polarimeter. A prototype bearing, consisting of commercially
available ring-shaped permanent magnet and an array of YBCO bulk HTS material,
has been constructed. We measured the coefficient of friction as a function of
several parameters including temperature between 15 and 80 K, rotation
frequency between 0.3 and 3.5 Hz, levitation distance between 6 and 10 mm, and
ambient pressure between 10^{-7} and 1 torr. The low rotational drag of the HTS
bearing allows rotations for long periods of time with minimal input power and
negligible wear and tear thus making this technology suitable for a future
satellite mission.Comment: 6 pages, IEEE-Transactions of Applied Superconductivity, 2003, Vol.
13, in pres
The cool and distant formation of Mars
With approximately one ninth of Earth's mass, Mars is widely considered to be
a stranded planetary embryo that never became a fully-grown planet. A currently
popular planet formation theory predicts that Mars formed near Earth and Venus
and was subsequently scattered outwards to its present location. In such a
scenario, the compositions of the three planets are expected to be similar to
each other. However, bulk elemental and isotopic data for martian meteorites
demonstrate that key aspects of Mars' composition are markedly different from
that of Earth. This suggests that Mars formed outside of the terrestrial
feeding zone during primary accretion. It is therefore probable that Mars
always remained significantly farther from the Sun than Earth; its growth was
stunted early and its mass remained relatively low. Here we identify a
potential dynamical pathway that forms Mars in the asteroid belt and keeps it
outside of Earth's accretion zone while at the same time accounting for strict
age and compositional constraints, as well as mass differences. Our uncommon
pathway (approximately 2% probability) is based on the Grand Tack scenario of
terrestrial planet formation, in which the radial migration by Jupiter
gravitationally sculpts the planetesimal disc at Mars' current location. We
conclude that Mars' formation requires a specific dynamical pathway, while this
is less valid for Earth and Venus. We further predict that} Mars' volatile
budget is most likely different from Earth's and that Venus formed close enough
to our planet that it is expected to have a nearly identical composition from
common building blocks.Comment: Accepted in Earth and Planetary Science Letter
Spectral stability of noncharacteristic isentropic Navier-Stokes boundary layers
Building on work of Barker, Humpherys, Lafitte, Rudd, and Zumbrun in the
shock wave case, we study stability of compressive, or "shock-like", boundary
layers of the isentropic compressible Navier-Stokes equations with gamma-law
pressure by a combination of asymptotic ODE estimates and numerical Evans
function computations. Our results indicate stability for gamma in the interval
[1, 3] for all compressive boundary-layers, independent of amplitude, save for
inflow layers in the characteristic limit (not treated). Expansive inflow
boundary-layers have been shown to be stable for all amplitudes by Matsumura
and Nishihara using energy estimates. Besides the parameter of amplitude
appearing in the shock case, the boundary-layer case features an additional
parameter measuring displacement of the background profile, which greatly
complicates the resulting case structure. Moreover, inflow boundary layers turn
out to have quite delicate stability in both large-displacement and
large-amplitude limits, necessitating the additional use of a mod-two stability
index studied earlier by Serre and Zumbrun in order to decide stability
Analysis of terrestrial planet formation by the grand tack model:system architecture and tack location
The Grand Tack model of terrestrial planet formation has emerged in recent
years as the premier scenario used to account for several observed features of
the inner solar system. It relies on early migration of the giant planets to
gravitationally sculpt and mix the planetesimal disc down to ~1 AU, after which
the terrestrial planets accrete from material left in a narrow circum-solar
annulus. Here we have investigated how the model fares under a range of initial
conditions and migration course-change (`tack') locations. We have run a large
number of N-body simulations with a tack location of 1.5 AU and 2 AU and tested
initial conditions using equal mass planetary embryos and a semi-analytical
approach to oligarchic growth. We make use of a recent model of the protosolar
disc that takes account of viscous heating, include the full effect of type 1
migration, and employ a realistic mass-radius relation for the growing
terrestrial planets. Results show that the canonical tack location of Jupiter
at 1.5 AU is inconsistent with the most massive planet residing at 1 AU at
greater than 95% confidence. This favours a tack farther out at 2 AU for the
disc model and parameters employed. Of the different initial conditions, we
find that the oligarchic case is capable of statistically reproducing the
orbital architecture and mass distribution of the terrestrial planets, while
the equal mass embryo case is not.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa
Orbital Ordering in ferromagnetic Lu2V2O7
We have observed the orbital ordering in the ferromagnetic Mott-insulator
Lu2V2O7 by the polarized neutron diffraction technique. The orbital ordering
pattern determined from the observed magnetic form factors can be explained in
terms of a linear combination of wave functions |yz>, |zx> and |xy>; |0> =
(1/3)^(1/2) |xy> + (1/3)^(1/2)|yz> + (1/3)^(1/2) |zx> which is proportional to
|(x + y + z)^2 - r^2>; where each orbital is extended toward the center-of-mass
of the V tetrahedron. We discuss the stability of the ferromagnetic Lu2V2O7,
using a Hubbard Hamiltonian with these three orbitals.Comment: 17pages. to be published in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 74 (2005
Multipole tensor analysis of the resonant x-ray scattering by quadrupolar and magnetic order in DyB2C2
Resonant x-ray scattering (RXS) experiment has been performed for the (3 0
1.5) superlattice reflection in the antiferroquadrupolar and antiferromagnetic
phase of DyB2C2. Azimuthal-angle dependence of the resonance enhanced
intensities for both dipolar (E1) and quadrupolar (E2) resonant processes has
been measured precisely with polarization analysis. Every scattering channel
exhibits distinctive azimuthal dependence, differently from the symmetric
reflection at (0 0 0.5) which was studied previously. We have analyzed the
results using a theory developed by Lovesey et al., which directly connects
atomic tensors with the cross-section of RXS. The fitting results indicate that
the azimuthal dependences can be explained well by the atomic tensors up to
rank 2. Rank 3 and rank 4 tensors are reflected in the data very little. In
addition, The coupling scheme among the 4f quadrupolar moment, 5d ortitals, and
the lattice has been determined from the interference among the Thomson
scattering from the lattice distortion and the resonant scatterings of E1 and
E2 processes. It has also been established from the RXS of the (3 0 1.5)
reflection that the canting of the 4f quadrupolar moments exists up to T_Q. We
also discuss a possible wavefunction of the ground state from the point-charge
model calculation.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figure
Structural Features of Layered Iron Pnictide Oxides (Fe2As2)(Sr4M2O6)
Structural features of newly found perovskite-based iron pnictide oxide
system have been systematically studied. Compared to REFePnO system,
perovskite-based system tend to have lower Pn-Fe-Pn angle and higher pnictogen
height owing to low electronegativity of alkaline earth metal and small
repulsive force between pnictogen and oxygen atoms. As-Fe-As angles of
(Fe2As2)(Sr4Cr2O6), (Fe2As2)(Sr4V2O6) and (Fe2Pn2)(Sr4MgTiO6) are close to
ideal tetrahedron and those pnictogen heights of about 1.40 A are close to
NdFeAsO with optimized carrier concentration. These structural features of this
system may leads to realization of high Tc superconductivity.Comment: 3pages, 2figures, 1table, proceedings of M2S 200
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