Sensitivity of Nuclear Transition Frequencies to Temporal Variation of the Fine Structure Constant or the Strong Interaction

There exist in nature a few nuclear isomers with very low (eV) excitation energies, and the combination of low energy and narrow width makes them possible candidates for laser-based investigations. The best candidate is the lowest-energy excited state known in nuclear physics, the 7.6(5) eV isomer of $^{229}$Th. A recent study suggests that a measurement of the temporal variation of the excitation energy of this isomer would have 5-6 orders of magnitude enhanced sensitivity to a variation of the fine structure constant ($\alpha \cong 1/137.036$) or of a strong interaction parameter ($m_q/\Lambda_{QCD}$). We reexamine the physics involved in these arguments. By invoking the Feynman-Hellmann Theorem we argue that there is no expectation of significantly enhanced sensitivity to a variation in the fine structure constant (beyond that obtained from experimental considerations such as the low energy and narrow width of the isomer). A similar argument applies to the strong interaction, but evaluating the shift due to temporal variations of the underlying parameters of the strong interaction may be beyond current nuclear structure techniques.Comment: 4 Pages, no figure

Melting behavior of ultrathin titanium nanowires

The thermal stability and melting behavior of ultrathin titanium nanowires with multi-shell cylindrical structures are studied using molecular dynamic simulation. The melting temperatures of titanium nanowires show remarkable dependence on wire sizes and structures. For the nanowire thinner than 1.2 nm, there is no clear characteristic of first-order phase transition during the melting, implying a coexistence of solid and liquid phases due to finite size effect. An interesting structural transformation from helical multi-shell cylindrical to bulk-like rectangular is observed in the melting process of a thicker hexagonal nanowire with 1.7 nm diameter.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Systematic analysis of pT -distributions in p + p collisions

A systematic analysis of transverse momentum distribution of hadrons produced in ultra-relativistic p + p collisions is presented. We investigate the effective temperature and the entropic parameter from the non-extensive thermodynamic theory of strong interaction. We conclude that the existence of a limiting effective temperature and of a limiting entropic parameter is in accordance with experimental data.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure

On the fraction of dark matter in charged massive particles (CHAMPs)

From various cosmological, astrophysical and terrestrial requirements, we derive conservative upper bounds on the present-day fraction of the mass of the Galactic dark matter (DM) halo in charged massive particles (CHAMPs). If dark matter particles are neutral but decay lately into CHAMPs, the lack of detection of heavy hydrogen in sea water and the vertical pressure equilibrium in the Galactic disc turn out to put the most stringent bounds. Adopting very conservative assumptions about the recoiling velocity of CHAMPs in the decay and on the decay energy deposited in baryonic gas, we find that the lifetime for decaying neutral DM must be > (0.9-3.4)x 10^3 Gyr. Even assuming the gyroradii of CHAMPs in the Galactic magnetic field are too small for halo CHAMPs to reach Earth, the present-day fraction of the mass of the Galactic halo in CHAMPs should be < (0.4-1.4)x 10^{-2}. We show that redistributing the DM through the coupling between CHAMPs and the ubiquitous magnetic fields cannot be a solution to the cuspy halo problem in dwarf galaxies.Comment: 21 pages, 2 figures. To appear in JCA

Searching for Radio Pulsars in 3EG Sources at Urumqi Observatory

Since mid-2005, a pulsar searching system has been operating at 18 cm on the 25-m radio telescope of Urumqi Observatory. Test observations on known pulsars show that the system can perform the intended task. The prospect of using this system to observe 3EG sources and other target searching tasks is discussed.Comment: a training project about MSc thesi

Spin Glass Behavior in RuSr2Gd1.5Ce0.5Cu2O10

The dynamics of the magnetic properties of polycrystalline RuSr2Gd1.5Ce0.5Cu2O10 (Ru-1222) have been studied by ac susceptibility and dc magnetization measurements, including relaxation and ageing studies. Ru-1222 is a reported magneto-superconductor with Ru spins magnetic ordering at temperatures near 100 K and superconductivity in Cu-O2 planes below Tc ~ 40 K. The exact nature of Ru spins magnetic ordering is still debated and no conclusion has been reached yet. In this work, a frequency-dependent cusp was observed in ac susceptibility vs. T measurements, which is interpreted as a spin glass transition. The change in the cusp position with frequency follows the Vogel-Fulcher law, which is commonly accepted to describe a spin glass with magnetically interacting clusters. Such interpretation is supported by themoremanaent magnetization (TRM) measurements at T = 60 K. TRM relaxations are well described by a stretched exponential relation, and present significant ageing effects.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Covariant description of inelastic electron--deuteron scattering:predictions of the relativistic impulse approximation

Using the covariant spectator theory and the transversity formalism, the unpolarized, coincidence cross section for deuteron electrodisintegration, $d(e,e'p)n$, is studied. The relativistic kinematics are reviewed, and simple theoretical formulae for the relativistic impulse approximation (RIA) are derived and discussed. Numerical predictions for the scattering in the high $Q^2$ region obtained from the RIA and five other approximations are presented and compared. We conclude that measurements of the unpolarized coincidence cross section and the asymmetry $A_\phi$, to an accuracy that will distinguish between different theoretical models, is feasible over most of the wide kinematic range accessible at Jefferson Lab.Comment: 54 pages and 24 figure

Singular Liouville fields and spiky strings in \rr^{1,2} and SL(2,\rr)

The closed string dynamics in \rr^{1,2} and SL(2,\rr) is studied within the scheme of Pohlmeyer reduction. In both spaces two different classes of string surfaces are specified by the structure of the fundamental quadratic forms. The first class in \rr^{1,2} is associated with the standard lightcone gauge strings and the second class describes spiky strings and their conformal deformations on the Virasoro coadjoint orbits. These orbits correspond to singular Liouville fields with the monodromy matrixes $\pm I$. The first class in SL(2,\rr) is parameterized by the Liouville fields with vanishing chiral energy functional. Similarly to \rr^{1,2}, the second class in SL(2,\rr) describes spiky strings, related to the vacuum configurations of the SL(2,\rr)/U(1) coset model.Comment: 37 p. 6 fi

Magnetic Fields in the Milky Way

This chapter presents a review of observational studies to determine the magnetic field in the Milky Way, both in the disk and in the halo, focused on recent developments and on magnetic fields in the diffuse interstellar medium. I discuss some terminology which is confusingly or inconsistently used and try to summarize current status of our knowledge on magnetic field configurations and strengths in the Milky Way. Although many open questions still exist, more and more conclusions can be drawn on the large-scale and small-scale components of the Galactic magnetic field. The chapter is concluded with a brief outlook to observational projects in the near future.Comment: 22 pages, 5 figures, to appear in "Magnetic Fields in Diffuse Media", eds. E.M. de Gouveia Dal Pino and A. Lazaria