Effect of topological defects on "nuclear pasta" observables

Background: The “pasta” phase of nuclear matter may play an important role in the structure and evolution of neutron stars. Recent works suggest nuclear pasta has a high resistivity which could be explained by the presence of long-lived topological defects. The defects act as impurities that decrease thermal and electrical conductivity of the pasta. Purpose: To quantify how topological defects affect transport properties of nuclear pasta and estimate this effect using an impurity parameter Q_(imp). Methods: Contrast molecular dynamics simulations of up to 409 600 nucleons arranged in parallel nuclear pasta slabs (perfect pasta) with simulations of pasta slabs connected by topological defects (impure pasta). From these simulations we compare the viscosity and heat conductivity of perfect and impure pasta to obtain an effective impurity parameter Q_(imp) due to the presence of defects. Results: Both the viscosity and thermal conductivity calculated for both perfect and impure pasta are anisotropic, peaking along directions perpendicular to the slabs and reaching a minimum close to zero parallel to them. In our 409 600 nucleon simulation topological defects connecting slabs of pasta reduce both the thermal conductivity and viscosity on average by about 37%. We estimate an effective impurity parameter due to the defects of order Q_(imp)∼30. Conclusions: Topological defects in the pasta phase of nuclear matter have an effect similar to impurities in a crystal lattice. The irregularities introduced by the defects reduce the thermal and electrical conductivities and the viscosity of the system. This effect can be parametrized by a large impurity parameter Q_(imp)∼30

Single-mode approximation and effective Chern-Simons theories for quantum Hall systems

A unified description of elementary and collective excitations in quantum Hall systems is presented within the single-mode approximation (SMA) framework, with emphasis on revealing an intimate link with Chern-Simons theories. It is shown that for a wide class of quantum Hall systems the SMA in general yields, as an effective theory, a variant of the bosonic Chern-Simons theory. For single-layer systems the effective theory agrees with the standard Chern-Simons theory at long wavelengths whereas substantial deviations arise for collective excitations in bilayer systems. It is suggested, in particular, that Hall-drag experiments would be a good place to detect out-of-phase collective excitations inherent to bilayer systems. It is also shown that the intra-Landau-level modes bear a similarity in structure (though not in scale) to the inter-Landau-level modes, and its implications on the composite-fermion and composite-boson theories are discussed.Comment: 9 pages, Revtex

Rotationally invariant family of L\'evy like random matrix ensembles

We introduce a family of rotationally invariant random matrix ensembles characterized by a parameter $\lambda$. While $\lambda=1$ corresponds to well-known critical ensembles, we show that $\lambda \ne 1$ describes "L\'evy like" ensembles, characterized by power law eigenvalue densities. For $\lambda > 1$ the density is bounded, as in Gaussian ensembles, but $\lambda <1$ describes ensembles characterized by densities with long tails. In particular, the model allows us to evaluate, in terms of a novel family of orthogonal polynomials, the eigenvalue correlations for L\'evy like ensembles. These correlations differ qualitatively from those in either the Gaussian or the critical ensembles.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure

Materials for phantoms for terahertz pulsed imaging

Phantoms are commonly used in medical imaging for quality assurance, calibration, research and teaching. They may include test patterns or simulations of organs, but in either case a tissue substitute medium is an important component of the phantom. The aim of this work was to identify materials suitable for use as tissue substitutes for the relatively new medical imaging modality terahertz pulsed imaging. Samples of different concentrations of the candidate materials TX151 and napthol green dye were prepared, and measurements made of the frequency-dependent absorption coefficient (0.5 to 1.5 THz) and refractive index (0.5 to 1.0 THz). These results were compared qualitatively with measurements made in a similar way on samples of excised human tissue (skin, adipose tissue and striated muscle). Both materials would be suitable for phantoms where the dominant mechanism to be simulated is absorption (similar to ∼100 cm(-1) at 1 THz) and where simulation of the strength of reflections from boundaries is not important; for example, test patterns for spatial resolution measurements. Only TX151 had a frequency-dependent refractive index close to that of tissue, and could therefore be used to simulate the layered structure of skin, the complexity of microvasculature or to investigate frequency-dependent interference effects that have been noted in terahertz images

Nonuniform Neutron-Rich Matter and Coherent Neutrino Scattering

Nonuniform neutron-rich matter present in both core-collapse supernovae and neutron-star crusts is described in terms of a semiclassical model that reproduces nuclear-matter properties and includes long-range Coulomb interactions. The neutron-neutron correlation function and the corresponding static structure factor are calculated from molecular dynamics simulations involving 40,000 to 100,000 nucleons. The static structure factor describes coherent neutrino scattering which is expected to dominate the neutrino opacity. At low momentum transfers the static structure factor is found to be small because of ion screening. In contrast, at intermediate momentum transfers the static structure factor displays a large peak due to coherent scattering from all the neutrons in a cluster. This peak moves to higher momentum transfers and decreases in amplitude as the density increases. A large static structure factor at zero momentum transfer, indicative of large density fluctuations during a first-order phase transition, may increase the neutrino opacity. However, no evidence of such an increase has been found. Therefore, it is unlikely that the system undergoes a simple first-order phase transition. It is found that corrections to the commonly used single heavy nucleus approximation first appear at a density of the order of $10^{13}$ g/cm$^3$ and increase rapidly with increasing density. Thus, neutrino opacities are overestimated in the single heavy nucleus approximation relative to the complete molecular dynamics simulations.Comment: 17 pages, 23 included ps figure