Dynamics of a quantum quench in an ultra-cold atomic BCS superfluid

We study dynamics of an ultra-cold atomic BCS superfluid driven towards the BCS superfluid-Fermi liquid quantum critical point by a gradual decrease of the pairing interaction. We analyze how the BCS superfluid falls out of equilibrium and show that the non-equilibrium gap and Cooper pair size reflect critical properties of the transition. We observe three stages of evolution: adiabatic where the Cooper pair size is inversely proportional to the equilibrium gap, weakly non-equilibrium where it is inversely proportional to the non-equilibrium gap, and strongly non-equilibrium where it decouples from both equilibrium and non-equilibrium gap. These phenomena should stimulate future experimental characterization of non-equilibrium ultra-cold atomic BCS superfluids.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, to appear in PR

Manual for extending the laser specklegram technique to strain analysis of rotating components

The theory, techniques, and equipment necessary for extending laser speckle techniques to analyze stresses in rotating blades are described. Details for setting up the equipment, for timing the events, for data recording, and for data analysis are discussed. Finite element techniques are investigated for analysis of speckle data. Advantages and limitations of the finite element analysis for the speckle data are discussed. The finite element program is listed

Microwave Remote Sensing of Ocean Surface Wind Speed and Rain Rates over Tropical Storms

The value of using narrowly spaced frequencies within a microwave band to measure wind speeds and rain rates over tropical storms with radiometers is reviewed. The technique focuses on results obtained in the overflights of Hurricane Allen during 5 and 8 of August, 1980

A Two Energy Gap Preformed-Pair Scenario For the Cuprates: Implications for Angle-Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy

We show how, within a preformed pair scenario for the cuprate pseudogap, the nodal and antinodal responses in angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy necessarily have very different temperature $T$ dependences. We examine the behavior and the contrasting $T$ dependences for a range of temperatures both below and above $T_c$. Our calculations are based on a fully microscopic $T$-matrix approach for addressing pairing correlations in a regime where the attraction is stronger than BCS and the coherence length is anomalously short. Previously, the distinct nodal and anti-nodal responses have provided strong support for the "two-gap scenario" of the cuprates in which the pseudogap competes with superconductivity. Instead, our theory supports a picture in which the pseudogap derives from pairing correlations, identifying the two gap components with non-condensed and condensed pairs. It leads to reasonably good agreement with a range of different experiments in the moderately underdoped regime and we emphasize that here there is no explicit curve fitting. Ours is a microscopic rather than a phenomenological theory. We briefly address the more heavily underdoped regime in which the behavior is more complex.Comment: 12 pages; 10 figure

Stellar Photometric Structures of the Host Galaxies of Nearby Type 1 Active Galactic Nuclei

We present detailed image analysis of rest-frame optical images of 235 low-redshift ($z \leq$ 0.35) type 1 active galactic nuclei (AGNs) observed with the Hubble Space Telescope. The high-resolution images enable us to perform rigorous two-dimensional image modeling to decouple the luminous central point source from the host galaxy, which, when warranted, is further decomposed into its principal structural components (bulge, bar, and disk). In many cases, care must be taken to account for structural complexities such as spiral arms, tidal features, and overlapping or interacting companion galaxies. We employ Fourier modes to characterize the degree of asymmetry of the light distribution of the stars, as a quantitative measure of morphological distortion due to interactions or mergers. We examine the dependence of the physical parameters of the host galaxies on the properties of the AGNs, namely radio-loudness and the width of the broad emission lines. In accordance with previous studies, narrow-line (H$\beta$ FWHM $\leq 2000$ km~s$^{-1}$) type 1 AGNs, in contrast to their broad-line (H$\beta$ FWHM $> 2000$ km~s$^{-1}$) counterparts, are preferentially hosted in later type, lower luminosity galaxies, which have a higher incidence of pseudo-bulges, are more frequently barred, and are less morphologically disturbed. This suggests narrow-line type 1 AGNs experienced a more quiescent evolutionary history driven primarily by internal secular evolution instead of external dynamical perturbations. The fraction of AGN hosts showing merger signatures is larger for more luminous sources. Radio-loud AGNs generally preferentially live in earlier type (bulge-dominated), more massive hosts, although a minority of them appears to contain a significant disk component. We do not find convincing evidence for enhanced merger signatures in the radio-loud population.Comment: Published in ApJ

Fermionic superfluidity: From high Tc superconductors to ultracold Fermi gases

We present a pairing fluctuation theory which self-consistently incorporates finite momentum pair excitations in the context of BCS--Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) crossover, and we apply this theory to high $T_c$ superconductors and ultracold Fermi gases. There are strong similarities between Fermi gases in the unitary regime and high Tc superconductors. Here we address key issues of common interest, especially the pseudogap. In the Fermi gases we summarize recent experiments including various phase diagrams (with and without population imbalance), as well as evidence for a pseudogap in thermodynamic and other experiments.Comment: Expanded version, invited talk at the 5th International Conference on Complex Matter -- Stripes 2006, 6 pages, 6 figure

Accuracy of Electronic Wave Functions in Quantum Monte Carlo: the Effect of High-Order Correlations

Compact and accurate wave functions can be constructed by quantum Monte Carlo methods. Typically, these wave functions consist of a sum of a small number of Slater determinants multiplied by a Jastrow factor. In this paper we study the importance of including high-order, nucleus-three-electron correlations in the Jastrow factor. An efficient algorithm based on the theory of invariants is used to compute the high-body correlations. We observe significant improvements in the variational Monte Carlo energy and in the fluctuations of the local energies but not in the fixed-node diffusion Monte Carlo energies. Improvements for the ground states of physical, fermionic atoms are found to be smaller than those for the ground states of fictitious, bosonic atoms, indicating that errors in the nodal surfaces of the fermionic wave functions are a limiting factor.Comment: 9 pages, no figures, Late

The Carnegie-Irvine Galaxy Survey. III. The Three-Component Structure of Nearby Elliptical Galaxies

Motivated by recent developments in our understanding of the formation and evolution of massive galaxies, we explore the detailed photometric structure of a representative sample of 94 bright, nearby elliptical galaxies, using high-quality optical images from the Carnegie-Irvine Galaxy Survey. The sample spans a range of environments and stellar masses, from M* = 10^{10.2} to 10^{12.0} solar mass. We exploit the unique capabilities of two-dimensional image decomposition to explore the possibility that local elliptical galaxies may contain photometrically distinct substructure that can shed light on their evolutionary history. Compared with the traditional one-dimensional approach, these two-dimensional models are capable of consistently recovering the surface brightness distribution and the systematic radial variation of geometric information at the same time. Contrary to conventional perception, we find that the global light distribution of the majority (>75%) of elliptical galaxies is not well described by a single Sersic function. Instead, we propose that local elliptical galaxies generically contain three subcomponents: a compact (R_e < 1 kpc) inner component with luminosity fraction f ~ 0.1-0.15; an intermediate-scale (R_e ~ 2.5 kpc) middle component with f ~ 0.2-0.25; and a dominant (f = 0.6), extended (R_e ~ 10 kpc) outer envelope. All subcomponents have average Sersic indices n ~ 1-2, significantly lower than the values typically obtained from single-component fits. The individual subcomponents follow well-defined photometric scaling relations and the stellar mass-size relation. We discuss the physical nature of the substructures and their implications for the formation of massive elliptical galaxies.Comment: To appear in The Astrophysical Journal; 36 pages, 2 tables, 38 figures; For the full resolution version, see: http://users.obs.carnegiescience.edu/shuang/PaperIII.pdf ; For the atlas of all selected models, see http://users.obs.carnegiescience.edu/shuang/AppendixE.pd