Deeply subrecoil two-dimensional Raman cooling

We report the implementation of a two-dimensional Raman cooling scheme using sequential excitations along the orthogonal axes. Using square pulses, we have cooled a cloud of ultracold Cesium atoms down to an RMS velocity spread of 0.39(5) recoil velocity, corresponding to an effective temperature of 30 nK (0.15 T_rec). This technique can be useful to improve cold atom atomic clocks, and is particularly relevant for clocks in microgravity.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Anomalous optical absorption in a random system with scale-free disorder

We report on an anomalous behavior of the absorption spectrum in a one-dimensional lattice with long-range-correlated diagonal disorder with a power-like spectrum in the form S(k) ~ 1/k^A. These type of correlations give rise to a phase of extended states at the band center, provided A is larger than a critical value A_c. We show that for A < A_c the absorption spectrum is single-peaked, while an additional peak arises when A > A_c, signalling the occurrence of the Anderson transition. The peak is located slightly below the low-energy mobility edge, providing a unique spectroscopic tool to monitor the latter. We present qualitative arguments explaining this anomaly.Comment: 4 pages, 4 postscript figures, uses revtex

Chiral effective theory predictions for deuteron form factor ratios at low Q^2

We use chiral effective theory to predict the deuteron form factor ratio G_C/G_Q as well as ratios of deuteron to nucleon form factors. These ratios are calculated to next-to-next-to-leading order. At this order the chiral expansion for the NN isoscalar charge operator (including consistently calculated 1/M corrections) is a parameter-free prediction of the effective theory. Use of this operator in conjunction with NLO and NNLO chiral effective theory wave functions produces results that are consistent with extant experimental data for Q^2 < 0.35 GeV^2. These wave functions predict a deuteron quadrupole moment G_Q(Q^2=0)=0.278-0.282 fm^2-with the variation arising from short-distance contributions to this quantity. The variation is of the same size as the discrepancy between the theoretical result and the experimental value. This motivates the renormalization of G_Q via a two-nucleon operator that couples to quadrupole photons. After that renormalization we obtain a robust prediction for the shape of G_C/G_Q at Q^2 < 0.3 GeV^2. This allows us to make precise, model-independent predictions for the values of this ratio that will be measured at the lower end of the kinematic range explored at BLAST. We also present results for the ratio G_C/G_M.Comment: 31 pages, 7 figure

The slowly expanding envelope of CRL618 probed with HC3N rotational ladders

Lines from HC3N and isotopic substituted species in ground and vibrationally excited states produce crowded millimeter and submillimeter wave spectra in the C-rich protoplanetary nebula CRL618. The complete sequence of HC3N rotational lines from J=9-8 to J=30-29 has been observed with the IRAM 30m telescope toward this object. Lines from a total of 15 different vibrational states (including the fundamental), with energies up to 1100 cm^-1, have been detected for the main HC3N isotopomer. In addition, the CSO telescope has been used to complement this study in the range J=31-30 to J=39-38, with detections in five of these states, all of them below 700 cm^-1. Vibrationally excited HC3N rotational lines exhibit P-Cygni profiles at 3 mm, evolving to pure emission lineshapes at shorter wavelengths. This evolution of the line profile shows little dependence on the vibrational state from which they rotational lines arise. The absorption features are formed against the continuum emission, which has been successfully characterized in this work due to the large frequency coverage. The HC3N column density in front of the the continuum source has been determined by comparing the output of an array of models to the data. The best fits are obtained for column densities in the range 2.0-3.5 10$^17 cm^-2, consistent with previous estimates from ISO data, and TK in the range 250 to 275 K, in very good agreement with estimates made from the same ISO data.Comment: 24 pages, 7 figures, accepted in ApJ part I (Jul. 8, 2004

On X-ray Optical Depth in the Coronae of Active Stars

We have investigated the optical thickness of the coronal plasma through the analysis of high-resolution X-ray spectra of a large sample of active stars observed with the High Energy Transmission Grating Spectrometer on Chandra. In particular, we probed for the presence of significant resonant scattering in the strong Lyman series lines arising from hydrogen-like oxygen and neon ions. The active RS CVn-type binaries II Peg and IM Peg and the single M dwarf EV Lac show significant optical depth. For these active coronae, the Lya/Lyb ratios are significantly depleted as compared with theoretical predictions and with the same ratios observed in similar active stars. Interpreting these decrements in terms of resonance scattering of line photons out of the line-of-sight, we are able to derive an estimate for the typical size of coronal structures, and from these we also derive estimates of coronal filling factors. For all three sources we find that the both the photon path length as a fraction of the stellar radius, and the implied surface filling factors are very small and amount to a few percent at most. The measured Lya/Lyb ratios are in good agreement with APED theoretical predictions, thus indicating negligible optical depth, for the other sources in our sample. We discuss the implications for coronal structuring and heating flux requirements. For the stellar sample as a whole, the data suggest increasing quenching of Lya relative to Lyb as function of both L_x/L_bol and the density-sensitive MgXI forbidden to intercombination line ratio, as might generally be expected.Comment: Accepted for publication on the Astrophysical Journa

Finite Sized Atomistic Simulations of Screw Dislocations

The interaction of screw dislocations with an applied stress is studied using atomistic simulations in conjunction with a continuum treatment of the role played by the far field boundary condition. A finite cell of atoms is used to consider the response of dislocations to an applied stress and this introduces an additional force on the dislocation due to the presence of the boundary. Continuum mechanics is used to calculate the boundary force which is subsequently accounted for in the equilibrium condition for the dislocation. Using this formulation, the lattice resistance curve and the associated Peierls stress are calculated for screw dislocations in several close packed metals. As a concrete example of the boundary force method, we compute the bow out of a pinned screw dislocation; the line-tension of the dislocation is calculated from the results of the atomistic simulations using a variational principle that explicitly accounts for the boundary force.Comment: LaTex, 20 pages, 11 figure

A novel absorption resonance for all-optical atomic clocks

We report an experimental study of an all-optical three-photon-absorption resonance (known as a "N-resonance") and discuss its potential application as an alternative to atomic clocks based on coherent population trapping (CPT). We present measurements of the N-resonance contrast, width and light-shift for the D1 line of 87Rb with varying buffer gases, and find good agreement with an analytical model of this novel resonance. The results suggest that N-resonances are promising for atomic clock applications.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figure

Structure and Strength of Dislocation Junctions: An Atomic Level Analysis

The quasicontinuum method is used to simulate three-dimensional Lomer-Cottrell junctions both in the absence and in the presence of an applied stress. The simulations show that this type of junction is destroyed by an unzipping mechanism in which the dislocations that form the junction are gradually pulled apart along the junction segment. The calculated critical stress needed for breaking the junction is comparable to that predicted by line tension models. The simulations also demonstrate a strong influence of the initial dislocation line directions on the breaking mechanism, an effect that is neglected in the macroscopic treatment of the hardening effect of junctions.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Multi-contrast imaging and digital refocusing on a mobile microscope with a domed LED array

We demonstrate the design and application of an add-on device for improving the diagnostic and research capabilities of CellScope--a low-cost, smartphone-based point-of-care microscope. We replace the single LED illumination of the original CellScope with a programmable domed LED array. By leveraging recent advances in computational illumination, this new device enables simultaneous multi-contrast imaging with brightfield, darkfield, and phase imaging modes. Further, we scan through illumination angles to capture lightfield datasets, which can be used to recover 3D intensity and phase images without any hardware changes. This digital refocusing procedure can be used for either 3D imaging or software-only focus correction, reducing the need for precise mechanical focusing during field experiments. All acquisition and processing is performed on the mobile phone and controlled through a smartphone application, making the computational microscope compact and portable. Using multiple samples and different objective magnifications, we demonstrate that the performance of our device is comparable to that of a commercial microscope. This unique device platform extends the field imaging capabilities of CellScope, opening up new clinical and research possibilities