412 research outputs found
Relativistic linear stability equations for the nonlinear Dirac equation in Bose-Einstein condensates
We present relativistic linear stability equations (RLSE) for
quasi-relativistic cold atoms in a honeycomb optical lattice. These equations
are derived from first principles and provide a method for computing
stabilities of arbitrary localized solutions of the nonlinear Dirac equation
(NLDE), a relativistic generalization of the nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation.
We present a variety of such localized solutions: skyrmions, solitons,
vortices, and half-quantum vortices, and study their stabilities via the RLSE.
When applied to a uniform background, our calculations reveal an experimentally
observable effect in the form of Cherenkov radiation. Remarkably, the Berry
phase from the bipartite structure of the honeycomb lattice induces a
boson-fermion transmutation in the quasi-particle operator statistics.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure
A beta-alpha coincidence counting system for measurement of trace quantities of 238U and 232Th in aqueous samples at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory
The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory experiment was built to measure the total flux of 8B solar neutrinos via the neutral current disintegration deuterium nuclei. This process can be mimicked by daughter isotopes of 232Th and 238U which can photo-disintegrate the deuterium nucleus. Measurement of the concentration of such radioisotopes in the heavy water was critical to the success of the experiment. A radium assay technique using Hydrous Titanium Oxide coated filters was developed for this purpose and it was used in conjunction with a delayed beta-alpha coincidence counting system. The design, calibration and operation of this counting system are described in this paper. The counting efficiency for 232Th (224Ra) and 238U (226Ra) were measured to be 50 +/- 5% and 62 +/- 7
Four methods for determining the composition of trace radioactive surface contamination of low-radioactivity metal
Four methods for determining the composition of low-level uranium- and
thorium-chain surface contamination are presented. One method is the
observation of Cherenkov light production in water. In two additional methods a
position-sensitive proportional counter surrounding the surface is used to make
both a measurement of the energy spectrum of alpha particle emissions and also
coincidence measurements to derive the thorium-chain content based on the
presence of short-lived isotopes in that decay chain. The fourth method is a
radiochemical technique in which the surface is eluted with a weak acid, the
eluate is concentrated, added to liquid scintillator and assayed by recording
beta-alpha coincidences. These methods were used to characterize two `hotspots'
on the outer surface of one of the He-3 proportional counters in the Neutral
Current Detection array of the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory experiment. The
methods have similar sensitivities, of order tens of ng, to both thorium- and
uranium-chain contamination.Comment: 22 pages, 19 figure
Finite temperature Cherenkov radiation in the presence of a magnetodielectric medium
A canonical approach to Cherenkov radiation in the presence of a
magnetodielectric medium is presented in classical, nonrelativistic and
relativistic quantum regimes. The equations of motion for the canonical
variables are solved explicitly for both positive and negative times. Maxwell
and related constitute equations are obtained. In the large-time limit, the
vector potential operator is found and expressed in terms of the medium
operators. The energy loss of a charged particle, emitted in the form of
radiation, in finite temperature is calculated. A Dirac equation concerning the
relativistic motion of the particle in presence of the magnetodielectric medium
is derived and the relativistic Cherenkov radiation at zero and finite
temperature is investigated. Finally, it is shown that the Cherenkov radiation
in nonrelativistic and relativistic quantum regimes, unlike its classical
counterpart, introduces automatically a cutoff for higher frequencies beyond
which the power of radiation emission is zero.Comment: To be appear in PR
High sensitivity measurement of 224Ra and 226Ra in water with an improved hydrous titanium oxide technique at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory
The existing hydrous titanium oxide (HTiO) technique for the measurement of
224Ra and 226Ra in the water at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) has been
changed to make it faster and less sensitive to trace impurities in the HTiO
eluate. Using HTiO-loaded filters followed by cation exchange adsorption and
HTiO co-precipitation, Ra isotopes from 200-450 tonnes of heavy water can be
extracted and concentrated into a single sample of a few millilitres with a
total chemical efficiency of 50%. Combined with beta-alpha coincidence
counting, this method is capable of measuring 2.0x10^3 uBq/kg of 224Ra and
3.7x10^3 uBq/kg of 226Ra from the 232Th and 238U decay chains, respectively,
for a 275 tonne D2O assay, which are equivalent to 5x10^16 g Th/g and 3x10^16 g
U/g in heavy water.Comment: 8 Pages, 2 figures and 2 table
Slow group velocity and Cherenkov radiation
We theoretically study the effect of ultraslow group velocities on the
emission of Vavilov-Cherenkov radiation in a coherently driven medium. We show
that in this case the aperture of the group cone on which the intensity of the
radiation peaks is much smaller than that of the usual wave cone associated
with the Cherenkov coherence condition. We show that such a singular behaviour
may be observed in a coherently driven ultracold atomic gas.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Measurement of 222Rn dissolved in water at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory
The technique used at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) to measure the
concentration of 222Rn in water is described. Water from the SNO detector is
passed through a vacuum degasser (in the light water system) or a membrane
contact degasser (in the heavy water system) where dissolved gases, including
radon, are liberated. The degasser is connected to a vacuum system which
collects the radon on a cold trap and removes most other gases, such as water
vapor and nitrogen. After roughly 0.5 tonnes of H2O or 6 tonnes of D2O have
been sampled, the accumulated radon is transferred to a Lucas cell. The cell is
mounted on a photomultiplier tube which detects the alpha particles from the
decay of 222Rn and its daughters. The overall degassing and concentration
efficiency is about 38% and the single-alpha counting efficiency is
approximately 75%. The sensitivity of the radon assay system for D2O is
equivalent to ~3 E(-15) g U/g water. The radon concentration in both the H2O
and D2O is sufficiently low that the rate of background events from U-chain
elements is a small fraction of the interaction rate of solar neutrinos by the
neutral current reaction.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures; v2 has very minor change
The calibration of the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory using uniformly distributed radioactive sources
The production and analysis of distributed sources of 24Na and 222Rn in the
Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) are described. These unique sources provided
accurate calibrations of the response to neutrons, produced through
photodisintegration of the deuterons in the heavy water target, and to low
energy betas and gammas. The application of these sources in determining the
neutron detection efficiency and response of the 3He proportional counter
array, and the characteristics of background Cherenkov light from trace amounts
of natural radioactivity is described.Comment: 24 pages, 13 figure
An Upper Limit to Microwave Pulse Emission at the Onset of a Supernova
This paper reports an upper limit at 10 GHz of 4 x 10^(43) erg in a 40 MHz bandwidth for the microwave pulse emission at the onset of an optically observed supernova
A Search for Ultra-High Energy Counterparts to Gamma-Ray Bursts
A small air shower array operating over many years has been used to search
for ultra-high energy (UHE) gamma radiation ( TeV) associated with
gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) detected by the BATSE instrument on the Compton
Gamma-Ray Observatory (CGRO). Upper limits for a one minute interval after each
burst are presented for seven GRBs located with zenith angles . A excess over background was observed between 10 and
20 minutes following the onset of a GRB on 11 May 1991. The confidence level
that this is due to a real effect and not a background fluctuation is 99.8\%.
If this effect is real then cosmological models are excluded for this burst
because of absorption of UHE gamma rays by the intergalactic radiation fields.Comment: 4 pages LaTeX with one postscript figure. This version does not use
kluwer.sty and will allow automatic postscript generatio
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