1,521 research outputs found
The Discovery of Cherenkov Radiation and its use in the detection of extensive air showers
Cascades of charged particles are created when high-energy cosmic rays enter
the earth's atmosphere: these 'extensive air-showers' are studied to gain
information on the energy spectrum, arrival direction distribution and mass
composition of the particles above 1014 eV where direct observations using
instruments carried by balloons or satellites become impractical. Detection of
light in the visible and ultra-violet ranges of the electromagnetic spectrum
plays a key role in this work, the two processes involved being the emission of
Cherenkov light and the production of fluorescence radiation. In this paper I
will outline some of the history of the discovery of the Cherenkov process and
describe the use to which it has been put in the study of extensive air-showers
at ground level.Comment: To appear in Proceedings of CRIS2010: Cosmic Ray International
Seminar on '100 years of Cosmic Rays: from Pioneering Experiments to Physics
in Space
Multi-nanolayered VO2/Sapphire Thin Film via Spinodal Decomposition
Abstract Coating of VO2-based thin film has been extensively studied for fabricating energy-saving smart windows. One of the most efficient ways for fabricating high performance films is to create multi-nanolayered structure. However, it has been highly challenge to make such layers in the VO2-based films using conventional methods. In this work, a facile two-step approach is established to fabricate multilayered VO2-TiO2 thin films. We first deposited the amorphous thin films upon sputtering, and then anneal them to transform the amorphous phase into alternating Ti- and V-rich multilayered nanostructure via a spinodal decomposition mechanism. In particular, we take advantage of different sapphire substrate planes (A-plane (11–20), R-plane (1–102), C-plane (0001), and M-plane (10-10)) to achieve different decomposition modes. The new approach has made it possible to tailoring the microstructure of the thin films for optimized performances by controlling the disorder-order transition in terms of both kinetic and thermodynamic aspects. The derived thin films exhibit superior optical modulation upon phase transition, significantly reduced transition temperature and hysteresis loop width, and high degradation resistance, these improvements indicate a high potential to be used for fabricating the next generation of energy saving smart windows
Influence of Fermi surface topology on the quasiparticle spectrum in the vortex state
We study the influence of Fermi surface topology on the quasiparticle density
of states in the vortex state of type II superconductors. We observe that the
field dependence and the shape of the momentum and spatially averaged density
of states is affected significantly by the topology of the Fermi surface. We
show that this behavior can be understood in terms of characteristic Fermi
surface functions and that an important role is played by the number of points
on the Fermi surface at which the Fermi velocity is directed parallel to the
magnetic field. A critical comparison is made with a broadened BCS type density
of states, that has been used frequently in analysis of tunneling data. We
suggest a new formula as a replacement for the broadened BCS model for the
special case of a cylindrical Fermi surface. We apply our results to the two
gap superconductor MgB and show that in this particular case the field
dependence of the partial densities of states of the two gaps behaves very
differently due to the different topologies of the corresponding Fermi
surfaces, in qualitative agreement with recent tunneling experiments.Comment: 12 pages 12 figure
Generating AdS String Solutions
We use a Pohlmeyer type reduction to generate classical string solutions in
AdS spacetime. In this framework we describe a correspondence between spikes in
AdS_3 and soliton profiles of the sinh-Gordon equation. The null cusp string
solution and its closed spinning string counterpart are related to the
sinh-Gordon vacuum. We construct classical string solutions corresponding to
sinh-Gordon solitons, antisolitons and breathers by the inverse scattering
technique. The breather solutions can also be reproduced by the sigma model
dressing method.Comment: 21 pages, 3 figures, references adde
Reversible magnetization of MgB2 single crystals with a two-gap nature
We present reversible magnetization measurements on MgB2 single crystals in
magnetic fields up to 2.5 T applied parallel to the crystal's c-axis. This
magnetization is analyzed in terms of the Hao-Clem model, and various
superconducting parameters, such as the critical fields [Hc(0) and Hc2(0)], the
characteristic lengths [xi(0) and lambda(0)], and the Ginzburg-Landau
parameter, kappa, are derived. The temperature dependence of the magnetic
penetration depth, lambda(T), obtained from the Hao-Clem analysis could not be
explained by theories assuming a single gap. Our data are well described by
using a two-gap model.Comment: 20 pages, 1 table, 4 figures, will be published in Phys. Rev.
Heavy--light mesons in a bilocal effective theory
Heavy--light mesons are described in an effective quark theory with a
two--body vector--type interaction. The bilocal interaction is taken to be
instantaneous in the rest frame of the bound state, but formulated covariantly
through the use of a boost vector. The chiral symmetry of the light flavor is
broken spontaneously at mean field level. The framework for our discussion of
bound states is the effective bilocal meson action obtained by bosonization of
the quark theory. Mesons are described by 3--dimensional wave functions
satisfying Salpeter equations, which exhibit both Goldstone solutions in the
chiral limit and heavy--quark symmetry for . We present
numerical solutions for pseudoscalar -- and --mesons. Heavy--light meson
spectra and decay constants are seen to be sensitive to the description of
chiral symmetry breaking (dynamically generated vs.\ constant quark mass).Comment: (34 p., standard LaTeX, 7 PostScript figures appended)
UNITUE-THEP-17/9
From bi-layer to tri-layer Fe nanoislands on Cu3Au(001)
Self assembly on suitably chosen substrates is a well exploited root to
control the structure and morphology, hence magnetization, of metal films. In
particular, the Cu3Au(001) surface has been recently singled out as a good
template to grow high spin Fe phases, due to the close matching between the
Cu3Au lattice constant (3.75 Angstrom) and the equilibrium lattice constant for
fcc ferromagnetic Fe (3.65 Angstrom). Growth proceeds almost layer by layer at
room temperature, with a small amount of Au segregation in the early stage of
deposition. Islands of 1-2 nm lateral size and double layer height are formed
when 1 monolayer of Fe is deposited on Cu3Au(001) at low temperature. We used
the PhotoElectron Diffraction technique to investigate the atomic structure and
chemical composition of these nanoislands just after the deposition at 140 K
and after annealing at 400 K. We show that only bi-layer islands are formed at
low temperature, without any surface segregation. After annealing, the Fe atoms
are re-aggregated to form mainly tri-layer islands. Surface segregation is
shown to be inhibited also after the annealing process. The implications for
the film magnetic properties and the growth model are discussed.Comment: Revtex, 5 pages with 4 eps figure
Solar Intranetwork Magnetic Elements: bipolar flux appearance
The current study aims to quantify characteristic features of bipolar flux
appearance of solar intranetwork (IN) magnetic elements. To attack such a
problem, we use the Narrow-band Filter Imager (NFI) magnetograms from the Solar
Optical Telescope (SOT) on board \emph{Hinode}; these data are from quiet and
an enhanced network areas. Cluster emergence of mixed polarities and IN
ephemeral regions (ERs) are the most conspicuous forms of bipolar flux
appearance within the network. Each of the clusters is characterized by a few
well-developed ERs that are partially or fully co-aligned in magnetic axis
orientation. On average, the sampled IN ERs have total maximum unsigned flux of
several 10^{17} Mx, separation of 3-4 arcsec, and a lifetime of 10-15 minutes.
The smallest IN ERs have a maximum unsigned flux of several 10^{16} Mx,
separations less than 1 arcsec, and lifetimes as short as 5 minutes. Most IN
ERs exhibit a rotation of their magnetic axis of more than 10 degrees during
flux emergence. Peculiar flux appearance, e.g., bipole shrinkage followed by
growth or the reverse, is not unusual. A few examples show repeated
shrinkage-growth or growth-shrinkage, like magnetic floats in the dynamic
photosphere. The observed bipolar behavior seems to carry rich information on
magneto-convection in the sub-photospheric layer.Comment: 26 pages, 14 figure
Generation of a wave packet tailored to efficient free space excitation of a single atom
We demonstrate the generation of an optical dipole wave suitable for the
process of efficiently coupling single quanta of light and matter in free
space. We employ a parabolic mirror for the conversion of a transverse beam
mode to a focused dipole wave and show the required spatial and temporal
shaping of the mode incident onto the mirror. The results include a proof of
principle correction of the parabolic mirror's aberrations. For the application
of exciting an atom with a single photon pulse we demonstrate the creation of a
suitable temporal pulse envelope. We infer coupling strengths of 89% and
success probabilities of up to 87% for the application of exciting a single
atom for the current experimental parameters.Comment: to be published in Europ. Phys. J.
Plasmonic excitations in noble metals: The case of Ag
The delicate interplay between plasmonic excitations and interband
transitions in noble metals is described by means of {\it ab initio}
calculations and a simple model in which the conduction electron plasmon is
coupled to the continuum of electron-hole pairs. Band structure effects,
specially the energy at which the excitation of the -like bands takes place,
determine the existence of a subthreshold plasmonic mode, which manifests
itself in Ag as a sharp resonance at 3.8 eV. However, such a resonance is not
observed in the other noble metals. Here, this different behavior is also
analyzed and an explanation is provided.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figure
- …