Feshbach resonances with large background scattering length: interplay with open-channel resonances

Feshbach resonances are commonly described by a single-resonance Feshbach model, and open-channel resonances are not taken into account explicitly. However, an open-channel resonance near threshold limits the range of validity of this model. Such a situation exists when the background scattering length is much larger than the range of the interatomic potential. The open-channel resonance introduces strong threshold effects not included in the single-resonance description. We derive an easy-to-use analytical model that takes into account both the Feshbach resonance and the open-channel resonance. We apply our model to $^{85}$Rb, which has a large background scattering length, and show that the agreement with coupled-channels calculations is excellent. The model can be readily applied to other atomic systems with a large background scattering length, such as $^6$Li and $^{133}$Cs. Our approach provides full insight into the underlying physics of the interplay between open-channel (or potential) resonances and Feshbach resonances.Comment: 16 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. A; v2: added reference

Gender-specific changes in quality of life following cardiovascular disease: a prospective study

Gender-specific changes in Quality of Life (QoL) following cardiovascular disease (CVD) were studied in 208 patients to determine whether gender-related differences in postmorbid QoL result from differences in disease severity, premorbid QoL, or different CVD-related recovery. Premorbid data were available from a community-based survey. Follow-ups were done at 6 weeks, 6 months, and 12 months after diagnosis. Results showed that females had worse QoL at all three postmorbid assessments compared to males. However, multivariate analyses adjusting for premorbid gender differences and disease severity showed no significant gender-related differences for physical and psychologic, functioning. Therefore, gender differences in QoL following CVD mainly result from premorbid differences in QoL, age, comorbidity, and disease severity at the time of diagnosis, and do not appear to be the consequence of gender-specific recovery. However, in clinical practice it is important to acknowledge the poorer QoL of females following CVD. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science. All rights reserve

Far infrared CO and H2_2O emission in intermediate-mass protostars

Intermediate-mass young stellar objects (YSOs) provide a link to understand how feedback from shocks and UV radiation scales from low to high-mass star forming regions. Aims: Our aim is to analyze excitation of CO and H$_2$O in deeply-embedded intermediate-mass YSOs and compare with low-mass and high-mass YSOs. Methods: Herschel/PACS spectral maps are analyzed for 6 YSOs with bolometric luminosities of $L_\mathrm{bol}\sim10^2 - 10^3$ $L_\odot$. The maps cover spatial scales of $\sim 10^4$ AU in several CO and H$_2$O lines located in the $\sim55-210$ $\mu$m range. Results: Rotational diagrams of CO show two temperature components at $T_\mathrm{rot}\sim320$ K and $T_\mathrm{rot}\sim700-800$ K, comparable to low- and high-mass protostars probed at similar spatial scales. The diagrams for H$_2$O show a single component at $T_\mathrm{rot}\sim130$ K, as seen in low-mass protostars, and about $100$ K lower than in high-mass protostars. Since the uncertainties in $T_\mathrm{rot}$ are of the same order as the difference between the intermediate and high-mass protostars, we cannot conclude whether the change in rotational temperature occurs at a specific luminosity, or whether the change is more gradual from low- to high-mass YSOs. Conclusions: Molecular excitation in intermediate-mass protostars is comparable to the central $10^{3}$ AU of low-mass protostars and consistent within the uncertainties with the high-mass protostars probed at $3\cdot10^{3}$ AU scales, suggesting similar shock conditions in all those sources.Comment: Accepted to Astronomy & Astrophysics. 4 pages, 5 figures, 3 table

Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Maraging Steel 300 After Selective Laser Melting

Selective laser melting (SLM) is an additive manufacturing process for the direct fabrication of prototypes, tools and functional parts. The process uses a high intensity laser beam to selectively fuse fine metal powder particles together in a layer-wise manner by scanning cross-sections generated from a three-dimensional CAD model. The SLM process is capable of producing near fully dense functional products without almost any geometrical limitation and having mechanical properties comparable to those produced by conventional manufacturing techniques. There is a wide range of materials that are suitable to be processed by SLM including various steels, Ti, Al and CoCr alloys. Being one of these materials, maraging steel 300 (18Ni-300) is an iron-nickel steel alloy which is often used in applications where high fracture toughness and strength are required or where dimensional changes have to remain at a minimal level, e.g. aircraft and aerospace industries for rocket motor castings and landing gear or tooling applications. To achieve its superior strength and hardness, maraging steel, of which the name is derived from ‘martensite aging’, should be treated with an aging heat treatment. In this study, the effect of the SLM parameters (scan speed and layer thickness) on the obtained density, surface quality and hardness of maraging steel 300 parts is investigated. Moreover, various aging heat treatments (different combinations of duration and maximum temperature) are applied on the SLM parts to achieve high hardness values. The mechanical testing of maraging steel 300 specimens produced by SLM and treated with an appropriate aging treatment is accomplished by impact toughness and tensile tests and compared to the results obtained using conventional production techniques. Additionally, the microstructures of as-built and heat treated parts are investigated.Mechanical Engineerin

Dust, Ice and Gas in Time (DIGIT) Herschel program first results: A full PACS-SED scan of the gas line emission in protostar DK Cha

DK Cha is an intermediate-mass star in transition from an embedded configuration to a star plus disk stage. We aim to study the composition and energetics of the circumstellar material during this pivotal stage. Using the Range Scan mode of PACS on the Herschel Space Observatory, we obtained a spectrum of DK Cha from 55 to 210 micron as part of the DIGIT Key Program. Almost 50 molecular and atomic lines were detected, many more than the 7 lines detected in ISO-LWS. Nearly the entire ladder of CO from J=14-13 to 38-37 (E_u/k = 4080 K), water from levels as excited as E_u/k = 843 K, and OH lines up to E_u/k = 290 K were detected. The continuum emission in our PACS SED scan matches the flux expected from a model consisting of a star, a surrounding disk of 0.03 Solar mass, and an envelope of a similar mass, supporting the suggestion that the object is emerging from its main accretion stage. Molecular, atomic, and ionic emission lines in the far-infrared reveal the outflow's influence on the envelope. The inferred hot gas can be photon-heated, but some emission could be due to C-shocks in the walls of the outflow cavity.Comment: 4 Page letter, To appear in A&A special issue on Hersche

Predicting scattering properties of ultracold atoms: adiabatic accumulated phase method and mass scaling

Ultracold atoms are increasingly used for high precision experiments that can be utilized to extract accurate scattering properties. This calls for a stronger need to improve on the accuracy of interatomic potentials, and in particular the usually rather inaccurate inner-range potentials. A boundary condition for this inner range can be conveniently given via the accumulated phase method. However, in this approach one should satisfy two conditions, which are in principle conflicting, and the validity of these approximations comes under stress when higher precision is required. We show that a better compromise between the two is possible by allowing for an adiabatic change of the hyperfine mixing of singlet and triplet states for interatomic distances smaller than the separation radius. A mass scaling approach to relate accumulated phase parameters in a combined analysis of isotopically related atom pairs is described in detail and its accuracy is estimated, taking into account both Born-Oppenheimer and WKB breakdown. We demonstrate how numbers of singlet and triplet bound states follow from the mass scaling.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figure

Atomic size oscillations in conductance histograms for gold nanowires and the influence of work hardening

Nanowires of different nature have been shown to self-assemble as a function of stress at the contact between two macroscopic metallic leads. Here we demonstrate for gold wires that the balance between various metastable nanowire configurations is influenced by the microstructure of the starting materials and we discover a new set of periodic structures, which we interpret as due to the atomic discreteness of the contact size for the three principal crystal orientations.Comment: This version corrects an error in attributing the three observed periods, and includes a comparison with recent model calculation

Feshbach Spectroscopy of a Shape Resonance

We present a new spectroscopy technique for studying cold-collision properties. The technique is based on the association and dissociation of ultracold molecules using a magnetically tunable Feshbach resonance. The energy and lifetime of a shape resonance are determined from a measurement of the dissociation rate. Additional spectroscopic information is obtained from the observation of a spatial interference pattern between an outgoing s wave and d wave. The experimental data agree well with the results from a new model, in which the dissociation process is connected to a scattering gedanken experiment, which is analyzed using a coupled-channels calculation.Comment: Introduction rewritte