351 research outputs found
Microscopic Transport Theory of Nuclear Processes
We formulate a microscopic theory of the decay of a compound nucleus through
fission which generalizes earlier microscopic approaches of fission dynamics
performed in the framework of the adiabatic hypothesis. It is based on the
constrained Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov procedure and the Generator Coordinate
Method, and requires an effective nucleon-nucleon interaction as the only input
quantity. The basic assumption is that the slow evolution of the nuclear shape
must be treated explicitely, whereas the rapidly time-dependent intrinsic
excitations can be treated by statistical approximations. More precisely, we
introduce a reference density which represents the slow evolution of the
nuclear shape by a reduced density matrix and the state of intrinsic
excitations by a canonical distribution at each given shape of the nucleus. The
shape of the nuclear density distribution is described by parameters
("generator coordinates"), not by "superabundant" degrees of freedom introduced
in addition to the complete set of nucleonic degrees of freedom. We first
derive a rigorous equation of motion for the reference density and,
subsequently, simplify this equation on the basis of the Markov approximation.
The temperature which appears in the canonical distribution is determined by
the requirement that, at each time t, the reference density should correctly
reproduce the mean excitation energy at given values of the shape parameters.
The resulting equation for the "local" temperature must be solved together with
the equations of motion obtained for the reduced density matrix.Comment: 33 pages, accepted in Nucl. Phys.
Chaotic Scattering in the Regime of Weakly Overlapping Resonances
We measure the transmission and reflection amplitudes of microwaves in a
resonator coupled to two antennas at room temperature in the regime of weakly
overlapping resonances and in a frequency range of 3 to 16 GHz. Below 10.1 GHz
the resonator simulates a chaotic quantum system. The distribution of the
elements of the scattering matrix S is not Gaussian. The Fourier coefficients
of S are used for a best fit of the autocorrelation function if S to a
theoretical expression based on random--matrix theory. We find very good
agreement below but not above 10.1 GHz
Characterization of Fluctuations of Impedance and Scattering Matrices in Wave Chaotic Scattering
In wave chaotic scattering, statistical fluctuations of the scattering matrix
and the impedance matrix depend both on universal properties and on
nonuniversal details of how the scatterer is coupled to external channels. This
paper considers the impedance and scattering variance ratios, and
, where ,
, and denotes
variance. is shown to be a universal function of distributed losses
within the scatterer. That is, is independent of nonuniversal coupling
details. This contrasts with for which universality applies only in the
large loss limit. Explicit results are given for for time reversal
symmetric and broken time reversal symmetric systems. Experimental tests of the
theory are presented using data taken from scattering measurements on a chaotic
microwave cavity.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, updated with referees' comment
Single- and double-beta decay Fermi-transitions in an exactly solvable model
An exactly solvable model suitable for the description of single and
double-beta decay processes of the Fermi-type is introduced. The model is
equivalent to the exact shell-model treatment of protons and neutrons in a
single j-shell. Exact eigenvalues and eigenvectors are compared to those
corresponding to the hamiltonian in the quasiparticle basis (qp) and with the
results of both the standard quasiparticle random phase approximation (QRPA)
and the renormalized one (RQRPA). The role of the scattering term of the
quasiparticle hamiltonian is analyzed. The presence of an exact eigenstate with
zero energy is shown to be related to the collapse of the QRPA. The RQRPA and
the qp solutions do not include this zero-energy eigenvalue in their spectra,
probably due to spurious correlations. The meaning of this result in terms of
symmetries is presented.Comment: 29 pages, 9 figures included in a Postsript file. Submitted to
Physcal Review
Nuclear Octupole Correlations and the Enhancement of Atomic Time-Reversal Violation
We examine the time-reversal-violating nuclear ``Schiff moment'' that induces
electric dipole moments in atoms. After presenting a self-contained derivation
of the form of the Schiff operator, we show that the distribution of Schiff
strength, an important ingredient in the ground-state Schiff moment, is very
different from the electric-dipole-strength distribution, with the Schiff
moment receiving no strength from the giant dipole resonance in the
Goldhaber-Teller model. We then present shell-model calculations in light
nuclei that confirm the negligible role of the dipole resonance and show the
Schiff strength to be strongly correlated with low-lying octupole strength.
Next, we turn to heavy nuclei, examining recent arguments for the strong
enhancement of Schiff moments in octupole-deformed nuclei over that of 199Hg,
for example. We concur that there is a significant enhancement while pointing
to effects neglected in previous work (both in the octupole-deformed nuclides
and 199Hg) that may reduce it somewhat, and emphasizing the need for
microscopic calculations to resolve the issue. Finally, we show that static
octupole deformation is not essential for the development of collective Schiff
moments; nuclei with strong octupole vibrations have them as well, and some
could be exploited by experiment.Comment: 25 pages, 4 figures embedded in tex
Signatures of the correlation hole in total and partial cross sections
In a complex scattering system with few open channels, say a quantum dot with
leads, the correlation properties of the poles of the scattering matrix are
most directly related to the internal dynamics of the system. We may ask how to
extract these properties from an analysis of cross sections. In general this is
very difficult, if we leave the domain of isolated resonances. We propose to
consider the cross correlation function of two different elastic or total cross
sections. For these we can show numerically and to some extent also
analytically a significant dependence on the correlations between the
scattering poles. The difference between uncorrelated and strongly correlated
poles is clearly visible, even for strongly overlapping resonances.Comment: 25 pages, 13 Postscript figures, typos corrected and references adde
Measuring the Lyapunov exponent using quantum mechanics
We study the time evolution of two wave packets prepared at the same initial
state, but evolving under slightly different Hamiltonians. For chaotic systems,
we determine the circumstances that lead to an exponential decay with time of
the wave packet overlap function. We show that for sufficiently weak
perturbations, the exponential decay follows a Fermi golden rule, while by
making the difference between the two Hamiltonians larger, the characteristic
exponential decay time becomes the Lyapunov exponent of the classical system.
We illustrate our theoretical findings by investigating numerically the overlap
decay function of a two-dimensional dynamical system.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure
Strain-induced partially flat band, helical snake states, and interface superconductivity in topological crystalline insulators
Topological crystalline insulators in IV-VI compounds host novel topological
surface states consisting of multi-valley massless Dirac fermions at low
energy. Here we show that strain generically acts as an effective gauge field
on these Dirac fermions and creates pseudo-Landau orbitals without breaking
time-reversal symmetry. We predict the realization of this phenomenon in IV-VI
semiconductor heterostructures, due to a naturally occurring misfit dislocation
array at the interface that produces a periodically varying strain field.
Remarkably, the zero-energy Landau orbitals form a flat band in the vicinity of
the Dirac point, and coexist with a network of snake states at higher energy.
We propose that the high density of states of this flat band gives rise to
interface superconductivity observed in IV-VI semiconductor multilayers at
unusually high temperatures, with non-BCS behavior. Our work demonstrates a new
route to altering macroscopic electronic properties to achieve a partially flat
band, and paves the way for realizing novel correlated states of matter.Comment: Accepted by Nature Physic
Pesticide Leaching from Agricultural Fields with Ridges and Furrows
In the evaluation of the risk of pesticide leaching to groundwater, the soil surface is usually assumed to be level, although important crops like potato are grown on ridges. A fraction of the water from rainfall and sprinkler irrigation may flow along the soil surface from the ridges to the furrows, thus bringing about an extra load of water and pesticide on the furrow soil. A survey of the literature reveals that surface-runoff from ridges to furrows is a well-known phenomenon but that hardly any data are available on the quantities of water and pesticide involved. On the basis of a field experiment with additional sprinkler irrigation, computer simulations were carried out with the Pesticide Emission Assessment at Regional and Local scales model for separate ridge and furrow systems in a humic sandy potato field. Breakthrough curves of bromide ion (as a tracer for water flow) and carbofuran (as example pesticide) were calculated for 1-m depth in the field. Bromide ion leached comparatively fast from the furrow system, while leaching from the ridge system was slower showing a maximum concentration of about half of that for the furrow system. Carbofuran breakthrough from the furrow system began about a month after application and increased steadily to substantial concentrations. Because the transport time of carbofuran in the ridge soil was much longer, no breakthrough occurred in the growing season. The maximum concentration of carbofuran leaching from the ridge–furrow field was computed to be a factor of six times as high as that computed for the corresponding level field. The study shows that the risk of leaching of pesticides via the furrow soil can be substantially higher than that via the corresponding level field soil
- …