225 research outputs found
Cherenkov-like emission of Z bosons
We study CPT and Lorentz violation in the electroweak gauge sector of the Standard Model in the context of the Standard-Model Extension (SME). In particular, we show that any non-zero value of a certain relevant Lorentz violation parameter that is thus far unbounded by experiment would imply that for sufficiently large energies one of the helicity modes of the Z boson should propagate with spacelike four-momentum and become stable against decay in vacullin. In this scenario, Cherenkov-hike radiation of Z bosons by ultra-highenergy cosmic-ray protons becomes possible. We deduce a bound on the Lorentz violation parameter from the observational data on ultra-high energy cosmic rays.Portuguese Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (FCT) [SFRH/BPD/101403/2014]; program POPH/FS
Marginal deformations in string field theory
We describe a method for obtaining analytic solutions corresponding to exact
marginal deformations in open bosonic string field theory. For the photon
marginal deformation we have an explicit analytic solution to all orders. Our
construction is based on a pure gauge solution where the gauge field is not in
the Hilbert space. We show that the solution itself is nevertheless perfectly
regular. We study its gauge transformations and calculate some coefficients
explicitly. Finally, we discuss how our method can be implemented for other
marginal deformations.Comment: 23 pages. v2: Some paragraphs improved, typos corrected, ref adde
Transmittivity of a Bose-Einstein condensate on a lattice: interference from period doubling and the effect of disorder
We evaluate the particle current flowing in steady state through a
Bose-Einstein condensate subject to a constant force in a quasi-onedimensional
lattice and to attractive interactions from fermionic atoms that are localized
in various configurations inside the lattice wells. The system is treated
within a Bose-Hubbard tight binding model by an out-of-equilibrium Green's
function approach. A new band gap opens up when the lattice period is doubled
by locating the fermions in alternate wells and yields an interference pattern
in the transmittivity on varying the intensity of the driving force. The
positions of the transmittivity minima are determined by matching the period of
Bloch oscillations and the time for tunnelling across the band gap. Massive
disorder in the distribution of the fermions will wash out the interference
pattern, but the same period doubling of the lattice can be experimentally
realized in a four-beam set-up. We report illustrative numerical results for a
mixture of 87Rb and 40K atoms in an optical lattice created by laser beams with
a wavelength of 763 nm.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figure
Magnetism in a lattice of spinor Bose condensates
We study the ground state magnetic properties of ferromagnetic spinor
Bose-Einstein condensates confined in a deep optical lattices. In the Mott
insulator regime, the ``mini-condensates'' at each lattice site behave as
mesoscopic spin magnets that can interact with neighboring sites through both
the static magnetic dipolar interaction and the light-induced dipolar
interaction. We show that such an array of spin magnets can undergo a
ferromagnetic or anti-ferromagnetic phase transition under the magnetic dipolar
interaction depending on the dimension of the confining optical lattice. The
ground-state spin configurations and related magnetic properties are
investigated in detail
Nonlinear atom optics and bright gap soliton generation in finite optical lattices
We theoretically investigate the transmission dynamics of coherent matter
wave pulses across finite optical lattices in both the linear and the nonlinear
regimes. The shape and the intensity of the transmitted pulse are found to
strongly depend on the parameters of the incident pulse, in particular its
velocity and density: a clear physical picture for the main features observed
in the numerical simulations is given in terms of the atomic band dispersion in
the periodic potential of the optical lattice. Signatures of nonlinear effects
due the atom-atom interaction are discussed in detail, such as atom optical
limiting and atom optical bistability. For positive scattering lengths, matter
waves propagating close to the top of the valence band are shown to be subject
to modulational instability. A new scheme for the experimental generation of
narrow bright gap solitons from a wide Bose-Einstein condensate is proposed:
the modulational instability is seeded in a controlled way starting from the
strongly modulated density profile of a standing matter wave and the solitonic
nature of the generated pulses is checked from their shape and their
collisional properties
Treatment solutions to cure Xylella fastidiosa diseased plants
This opinion addresses the question of the efficacy of current treatment solutions to cure Xylella fastidiosa diseased plants, and discusses the experimental treatments under evaluation by two research groups in Apulian olive orchards infected by strain CoDiRO (Complesso del Disseccamento Rapido dell'Olivo). The increasing problems from newly emerging vascular bacterial diseases and the limited success to cure plants from such infections have stimulated numerous studies on treatments with chemical and biological compounds. Under field conditions, various formulations of copper and zinc as spray or root drench are currently used while further options, for example the application of bioactive substances, are at an experimental stage. In Apulia, preliminary results from intensive treatments with such formulations, in combination with the use of good crop management practices, reported more vigorous new growth of diseased trees. However, results provided so far confirmed the continued presence of X. fastidiosa after the treatments under evaluation. This is in agreement with current knowledge that there are no means to cure plants from this bacterial disease, in the sense of eliminating the pathogen from plant tissues. The reported positive response of the treated olive trees is most probably due to the effect of micronutrients and other bioactive compounds that, together with soil cultivation and agronomical practices, improve the vigour of the plants and their resilience to stress caused by bacterial infections. Notwithstanding the preliminary status of these findings, the Panel acknowledged the potentially positive effects of such treatments in prolonging the productive phase of olive trees and their putative relevance for the management of olive orchards, particularly in the containment area where eradication of the pathogen is considered no longer possible. The Panel also concluded that long-term studies are needed to confirm that the reported positive effects on crop performance can be sustained over many years
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