4,180 research outputs found
Improved liquid-level sensor for cryogenics
Liquid-level indicator, consisting of a diode heated by a resistor, allows simultaneous use of two or three of the liquids nitrogen, hydrogen, and helium. Operation depends on strong temperature-dependence of the forward resistance of a germanium diode and the difference between liquid and vapor in heat-transfer properties
Dynamics and Transport in Random Antiferromagnetic Spin Chains
We present the first results on the low-frequency dynamical and transport
properties of random antiferromagnetic spin chains at low temperature (). We
obtain the momentum and frequency dependent dynamic structure factor in the
Random Singlet (RS) phases of both spin-1/2 and spin-1 chains, as well as in
the Random Dimer phase of spin-1/2 chains. We also show that the RS phases are
unusual `spin-metals' with divergent low-frequency conductivity at T=0, and
follow the spin conductivity through `metal-insulator' transitions tuned by the
strength of dimerization or Ising anisotropy in the spin-1/2 case, and by the
strength of disorder in the spin-1 case.Comment: 4 pages (two-column format). Presentation substantially revised to
accomodate new result
Soluble tau species, not neurofibrillary aggregates, disrupt neural system integration in a tau transgenic model
Neurofibrillary tangles are a feature of Alzheimer disease and other tauopathies, and while they are generally believed to be markers of neuronal pathology, there is little evidence evaluating whether tangles directly impact neuronal function. To investigate the response of cells in hippocampal circuits to complex behavioral stimuli, we used an environmental enrichment paradigm to induce expression of an immediate-early gene, Arc, in the rTg4510 mouse model of tauopathy. These mice reversibly overexpress P301L tau and exhibit substantial neurofibrillary tangle deposition, neuronal loss, and memory deficits. Employing fluorescent in situ hybridization to detect Arc mRNA, we found that rTg4510 mice have impaired hippocampal Arc expression both without stimulation and in response to environmental enrichment; this likely reflects the combination of functional impairments of existing neurons and loss of neurons. However, tangle-bearing cells were at least as likely as non-tangle-bearing neurons to exhibit Arc expression in response to enrichment. Transgene suppression with doxycycline for 6 weeks resulted in increased percentages of Arc-positive cells in rTg4510 brains compared to untreated transgenics, restoring enrichment-induced Arc mRNA levels to that of wild-type controls despite the continued presence of neurofibrillary pathology. We interpret these data to indicate that soluble tau contributes to impairment of hippocampal function, while tangles do not preclude neurons from responding in a functional circuit
Comparison between disordered quantum spin 1/2 chains
We study the magnetic properties of two types of one dimensional XX spin 1/2
chains. The first type has only nearest neighbor interactions which can be
either antiferromagnetic or ferromagnetic and the second type which has both
nearest neighbor and next nearest neighbor interactions, but only
antiferromagnetic in character. We study these systems in the presence of low
transverse magnetic fields both analytically and numerically. Comparison of
results show a close relation between the two systems, which is in agreement
with results previously found in Heisenberg chains by means of a numerical real
space renormalization group procedure.Comment: 7 page
H-NMR Study of the Random Bond Effect in the Quantum Spin System (CH)CHNHCu(ClBr)
Spin-lattice relaxation rate of H-NMR has been measured in
(CH)CHNHCu(ClBr) with , which has been
reported to be gapped system with singlet ground state from the previous
macroscopic magnetization and specific heat measurements, in order to
investigate the bond randomness effect microscopically in the gapped composite
Haldane system (CH)CHNHCuCl. It was found that the spin-lattice
relaxation rate in the present system includes both fast and slow
relaxation parts indicative of the gapless magnetic ground state and the gapped
singlet ground state, respectively. We discuss the obtained results with the
previous macroscopic magnetization and specific heat measurements together with
the microscopic SR experiments.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, to be published in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. vol.76
(2007) No.
Real Space Renormalization Group Study of the S=1/2 XXZ Chains with Fibonacci Exchange Modulation
Ground state properties of the S=1/2 antiferromagnetic XXZ chain with
Fibonacci exchange modulation are studied using the real space renormalization
group method for strong modulation. The quantum dynamical critical behavior
with a new universality class is predicted in the isotropic case. Combining our
results with the weak coupling renormalization group results by Vidal et al.,
the ground state phase diagram is obtained.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figure
A Search for the Near-Infrared Counterpart to GCRT J1745-3009
We present an optical/near-infrared search for a counterpart to the
perplexing radio transient GCRT J1745-3009, a source located ~1 degree from the
Galactic Center. Motivated by some similarities to radio bursts from nearby
ultracool dwarfs, and by a distance upper limit of 70 pc for the emission to
not violate the 1e12 K brightness temperature limit for incoherent radiation,
we searched for a nearby star at the position of GCRT J1745-3009. We found only
a single marginal candidate, limiting the presence of any late-type star to >1
kpc (spectral types earlier than M9), >200 pc (spectral types L and T0-T4), and
>100 pc (spectral types T4-T7), thus severely restricting the possible local
counterparts to GCRT J1745-3009. We also exclude any white dwarf within 1 kpc
or a supergiant star out to the distance of the Galactic Center as possible
counterparts. This implies that GCRT J1745-3009 likely requires a coherent
emission process, although whether or not it reflects a new class of sources is
unclear.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical
Journa
Phase diagram of disordered spin-Peierls systems
We study the competition between the spin-Peierls and the antiferromagnetic
ordering in disordered quasi-one-dimensional spin systems. We obtain the
temperature vs disorder-strength phase diagram, which qualitatively agrees with
recent experiments on doped CuGeO_3.Comment: 4 pages, revtex, epsf, 2 Postscript figure
Griffiths effects and quantum critical points in dirty superconductors without spin-rotation invariance: One-dimensional examples
We introduce a strong-disorder renormalization group (RG) approach suitable
for investigating the quasiparticle excitations of disordered superconductors
in which the quasiparticle spin is not conserved. We analyze one-dimensional
models with this RG and with elementary transfer matrix methods. We find that
such models with broken spin rotation invariance {\it generically} lie in one
of two topologically distinct localized phases. Close enough to the critical
point separating the two phases, the system has a power-law divergent
low-energy density of states (with a non-universal continuously varying
power-law) in either phase, due to quantum Griffiths singularities. This
critical point belongs to the same infinite-disorder universality class as the
one dimensional particle-hole symmetric Anderson localization problem, while
the Griffiths phases in the vicinity of the transition are controlled by lines
of strong (but not infinite) disorder fixed points terminating in the critical
point.Comment: 14 pages (two-column PRB format), 9 eps figure
Variable Radio Sources in the Galactic Plane
Using three epochs of VLA observations of the Galactic Plane in the first
quadrant taken ~15 years apart, we have conducted a search for a population of
variable Galactic radio emitters in the flux density range 1-100 mJy at 6 cm.
We find 39 variable sources in a total survey area of 23.2 sq deg. Correcting
for various selection effects and for the extragalactic variable population of
active galactic nuclei, we conclude there are ~1.6 Galactic sources per sq deg
which vary by more than 50% on a time scale of years (or shorter). We show that
these sources are much more highly variable than extragalactic objects; more
than 50% show variability by a factor >2 compared to <10% for extragalactic
objects in the same flux density range. We also show that the fraction of
variable sources increases toward the Galactic center (another indication that
this is a Galactic population), and that the spectral indices of many of these
sources are flat or inverted. A small number of the variables are coincident
with mid-IR sources and two are coincident with X-ray emitters, but most have
no known counterparts at other wavelengths. Intriguingly, one lies at the
center of a supernova remnant, while another appears to be a very compact
planetary nebula; several are likely to represent activity associated with star
formation regions. We discuss the possible source classes which could
contribute to the variable cohort and followup observations which could clarify
the nature of these sources.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures; to be published in the Astronomical Journal;
data available on MAGPIS website at http://third.ucllnl.org/gps
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