Microfluidic and Nanofluidic Cavities for Quantum Fluids Experiments

The union of quantum fluids research with nanoscience is rich with opportunities for new physics. The relevant length scales in quantum fluids, 3He in particular, are comparable to those possible using microfluidic and nanofluidic devices. In this article, we will briefly review how the physics of quantum fluids depends strongly on confinement on the microscale and nanoscale. Then we present devices fabricated specifically for quantum fluids research, with cavity sizes ranging from 30 nm to 11 microns deep, and the characterization of these devices for low temperature quantum fluids experiments.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, Accepted to Journal of Low Temperature Physic

Response, relaxation and transport in unconventional superconductors

We investigate the collision-limited electronic Raman response and the attenuation of ultrasound in spin-singlet d-wave superconductors at low temperatures. The dominating elastic collisions are treated within a t-matrix approximation, which combines the description of weak (Born) and strong (unitary) impurity scattering. In the long wavelength limit a two-fluid description of both response and transport emerges. Collisions are here seen to exclusively dominate the relaxational dynamics of the (Bogoliubov) quasiparticle system and the analysis allows for a clear connection of response and transport phenomena. When applied to quasi-2-d superconductors like the cuprates, it turns out that the transport parameter associated with the Raman scattering intensity for B1g and B2g photon polarization is closely related to the corresponding components of the shear viscosity tensor, which dominates the attenuation of ultrasound. At low temperatures we present analytic solutions of the transport equations, resulting in a non-power-law behavior of the transport parameters on temperature.Comment: 22 pages, 3 figure

Unconventional Vortices and Phase Transitions in Rapidly Rotating Superfluid ^{3}He

This paper studies vortex-lattice phases of rapidly rotating superfluid ^3He based on the Ginzburg-Landau free-energy functional. To identify stable phases in the p-Omega plane (p: pressure; Omega: angular velocity), the functional is minimized with the Landau-level expansion method using up to 3000 Landau levels. This system can sustain various exotic vortices by either (i) shifting vortex cores among different components or (ii) filling in cores with components not used in the bulk. In addition, the phase near the upper critical angular velocity Omega_{c2} is neither the A nor B phases, but the polar state with the smallest superfluid density as already shown by Schopohl. Thus, multiple phases are anticipated to exist in the p-Omega plane. Six different phases are found in the present calculation performed over 0.0001 Omega_{c2} <= Omega <= Omega_{c2}, where Omega_{c2} is of order (1- T/T_c) times 10^{7} rad/s. It is shown that the double-core vortex experimentally found in the B phase originates from the conventional hexagonal lattice of the polar state near Omega_{c2} via (i) a phase composed of interpenetrating polar and Scharnberg-Klemm sublattices; (ii) the A-phase mixed-twist lattice with polar cores; (iii) the normal-core lattice found in the isolated-vortex calculation by Ohmi, Tsuneto, and Fujita; and (iv) the A-phase-core vortex discovered in another isolated-vortex calculation by Salomaa and Volovik. It is predicted that the double-core vortex will disappear completely in the experimental p-T phase diagram to be replaced by the A-phase-core vortex for Omega >~ 10^{3} ~ 10^{4} rad/s. C programs to minimize a single-component Ginzburg-Landau functional are available at {http://phys.sci.hokudai.ac.jp/~kita/index-e.html}.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figure

A stratigraphic framework for abrupt climatic changes during the Last Glacial period based on three synchronized Greenland ice-core records: refining and extending the INTIMATE event stratigraphy

Due to their outstanding resolution and well-constrained chronologies, Greenland ice-core records provide a master record of past climatic changes throughout the Last Interglacial–Glacial cycle in the North Atlantic region. As part of the INTIMATE (INTegration of Ice-core, MArine and TErrestrial records) project, protocols have been proposed to ensure consistent and robust correlation between different records of past climate. A key element of these protocols has been the formal definition and ordinal numbering of the sequence of Greenland Stadials (GS) and Greenland Interstadials (GI) within the most recent glacial period. The GS and GI periods are the Greenland expressions of the characteristic Dansgaard–Oeschger events that represent cold and warm phases of the North Atlantic region, respectively. We present here a more detailed and extended GS/GI template for the whole of the Last Glacial period. It is based on a synchronization of the NGRIP, GRIP, and GISP2 ice-core records that allows the parallel analysis of all three records on a common time scale. The boundaries of the GS and GI periods are defined based on a combination of stable-oxygen isotope ratios of the ice (δ18O, reflecting mainly local temperature) and calcium ion concentrations (reflecting mainly atmospheric dust loading) measured in the ice. The data not only resolve the well-known sequence of Dansgaard–Oeschger events that were first defined and numbered in the ice-core records more than two decades ago, but also better resolve a number of short-lived climatic oscillations, some defined here for the first time. Using this revised scheme, we propose a consistent approach for discriminating and naming all the significant abrupt climatic events of the Last Glacial period that are represented in the Greenland ice records. The final product constitutes an extended and better resolved Greenland stratotype sequence, against which other proxy records can be compared and correlated. It also provides a more secure basis for investigating the dynamics and fundamental causes of these climatic perturbations

Between text and stage: the theatrical adaptations of J.M. Coetzee’s Foe

Several of J.M. Coetzee’s novels have been adapted successfully for the stage, both as theatrical and operatic versions, but these adaptations have not received much critical attention. This article examines the ways in which Peter Glazer and Mark Wheatley have adapted Coetzee’s novel Foe (1986), resulting in two different and distinct stage productions, performed in the US and the UK respectively. In order to explore the complex relationship between the published text and the play versions, the article will ground itself in theories of adaptation, drawing extensively on work by Linda Hutcheon and Robert Stam and Alessandra Raengo. One of the key ideas in adaptation theory is that adaptive fidelity to the source text is neither possible nor desirable, but that adaptation is a more complex, multi-layered intertextual and intermedial interplay of fictional material. The article discusses the two play scripts and analyses the adaptive choices which underpin them and how these structure their meaning-making. Finally, the article also suggests that these scripts can be used to throw more light on Coetzee’s enigmatic novel.DHE

A stratigraphic framework for abrupt climatic changes during the Last Glacial period based on three synchronized Greenland ice-core records: refining and extending the INTIMATE event stratigraphy

Due to their outstanding resolution and well-constrained chronologies, Greenland ice-core records provide a master record of past climatic changes throughout the Last Interglacial–Glacial cycle in the North Atlantic region. As part of the INTIMATE (INTegration of Ice-core, MArine and TErrestrial records) project, protocols have been proposed to ensure consistent and robust correlation between different records of past climate. A key element of these protocols has been the formal definition and ordinal numbering of the sequence of Greenland Stadials (GS) and Greenland Interstadials (GI) within the most recent glacial period. The GS and GI periods are the Greenland expressions of the characteristic Dansgaard–Oeschger events that represent cold and warm phases of the North Atlantic region, respectively. We present here a more detailed and extended GS/GI template for the whole of the Last Glacial period. It is based on a synchronization of the NGRIP, GRIP, and GISP2 ice-core records that allows the parallel analysis of all three records on a common time scale. The boundaries of the GS and GI periods are defined based on a combination of stable-oxygen isotope ratios of the ice (δ18O, reflecting mainly local temperature) and calcium ion concentrations (reflecting mainly atmospheric dust loading) measured in the ice. The data not only resolve the well-known sequence of Dansgaard–Oeschger events that were first defined and numbered in the ice-core records more than two decades ago, but also better resolve a number of short-lived climatic oscillations, some defined here for the first time. Using this revised scheme, we propose a consistent approach for discriminating and naming all the significant abrupt climatic events of the Last Glacial period that are represented in the Greenland ice records. The final product constitutes an extended and better resolved Greenland stratotype sequence, against which other proxy records can be compared and correlated. It also provides a more secure basis for investigating the dynamics and fundamental causes of these climatic perturbations

On the mechanisms governing gas penetration into a tokamak plasma during a massive gas injection

A new 1D radial fluid code, IMAGINE, is used to simulate the penetration of gas into a tokamak plasma during a massive gas injection (MGI). The main result is that the gas is in general strongly braked as it reaches the plasma, due to mechanisms related to charge exchange and (to a smaller extent) recombination. As a result, only a fraction of the gas penetrates into the plasma. Also, a shock wave is created in the gas which propagates away from the plasma, braking and compressing the incoming gas. Simulation results are quantitatively consistent, at least in terms of orders of magnitude, with experimental data for a D 2 MGI into a JET Ohmic plasma. Simulations of MGI into the background plasma surrounding a runaway electron beam show that if the background electron density is too high, the gas may not penetrate, suggesting a possible explanation for the recent results of Reux et al in JET (2015 Nucl. Fusion 55 093013)