Molecular transport calculations with Wannier functions

We present a scheme for calculating coherent electron transport in atomic-scale contacts. The method combines a formally exact Green's function formalism with a mean-field description of the electronic structure based on the Kohn-Sham scheme of density functional theory. We use an accurate plane-wave electronic structure method to calculate the eigenstates which are subsequently transformed into a set of localized Wannier functions (WFs). The WFs provide a highly efficient basis set which at the same time is well suited for analysis due to the chemical information contained in the WFs. The method is applied to a hydrogen molecule in an infinite Pt wire and a benzene-dithiol (BDT) molecule between Au(111) surfaces. We show that the transmission function of BDT in a wide energy window around the Fermi level can be completely accounted for by only two molecular orbitals.Comment: 15 pages, 12 figures, submitted to Chemical Physic

Multiple-path Quantum Interference Effects in a Double-Aharonov-Bohm Interferometer

We investigate quantum interference effects in a double-Aharonov-Bohm (AB) interferometer consisting of five quantum dots sandwiched between two metallic electrodes in the case of symmetric dot-electrode couplings by the use of the Green’s function equation of motion method. The analytical expression for the linear conductance at zero temperature is derived to interpret numerical results. A three-peak structure in the linear conductance spectrum may evolve into a double-peak structure, and two Fano dips (zero conductance points) may appear in the quantum system when the energy levels of quantum dots in arms are not aligned with one another. The AB oscillation for the magnetic flux threading the double-AB interferometer is also investigated in this paper. Our results show the period of AB oscillation can be converted from 2π to π by controlling the difference of the magnetic fluxes threading the two quantum rings

Low energy fast events from radon progenies at the surface of a CsI(Tl) scintillator

In searches for rare phenomena such as elastic scattering of dark matter particles or neutrinoless double beta decay, alpha decays of Rn222 progenies attached to the surfaces of the detection material have been identified as a serious source of background. In measurements with CsI(Tl) scintillator crystals, we demonstrate that alpha decays of surface contaminants produce fast signals with a characteristic mean-time distribution that is distinct from those of neutron- and gamma-induced events.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figure

Pulsar-wind nebulae and magnetar outflows: observations at radio, X-ray, and gamma-ray wavelengths

We review observations of several classes of neutron-star-powered outflows: pulsar-wind nebulae (PWNe) inside shell supernova remnants (SNRs), PWNe interacting directly with interstellar medium (ISM), and magnetar-powered outflows. We describe radio, X-ray, and gamma-ray observations of PWNe, focusing first on integrated spectral-energy distributions (SEDs) and global spectral properties. High-resolution X-ray imaging of PWNe shows a bewildering array of morphologies, with jets, trails, and other structures. Several of the 23 so far identified magnetars show evidence for continuous or sporadic emission of material, sometimes associated with giant flares, and a few possible "magnetar-wind nebulae" have been recently identified.Comment: 61 pages, 44 figures (reduced in quality for size reasons). Published in Space Science Reviews, "Jets and Winds in Pulsar Wind Nebulae, Gamma-ray Bursts and Blazars: Physics of Extreme Energy Release

Search for direct production of charginos and neutralinos in events with three leptons and missing transverse momentum in √s = 7 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for the direct production of charginos and neutralinos in final states with three electrons or muons and missing transverse momentum is presented. The analysis is based on 4.7 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded with the ATLAS detector. Observations are consistent with Standard Model expectations in three signal regions that are either depleted or enriched in Z-boson decays. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set in R-parity conserving phenomenological minimal supersymmetric models and in simplified models, significantly extending previous results

Jet size dependence of single jet suppression in lead-lead collisions at sqrt(s(NN)) = 2.76 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

Measurements of inclusive jet suppression in heavy ion collisions at the LHC provide direct sensitivity to the physics of jet quenching. In a sample of lead-lead collisions at sqrt(s) = 2.76 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of approximately 7 inverse microbarns, ATLAS has measured jets with a calorimeter over the pseudorapidity interval |eta| < 2.1 and over the transverse momentum range 38 < pT < 210 GeV. Jets were reconstructed using the anti-kt algorithm with values for the distance parameter that determines the nominal jet radius of R = 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5. The centrality dependence of the jet yield is characterized by the jet "central-to-peripheral ratio," Rcp. Jet production is found to be suppressed by approximately a factor of two in the 10% most central collisions relative to peripheral collisions. Rcp varies smoothly with centrality as characterized by the number of participating nucleons. The observed suppression is only weakly dependent on jet radius and transverse momentum. These results provide the first direct measurement of inclusive jet suppression in heavy ion collisions and complement previous measurements of dijet transverse energy imbalance at the LHC.Comment: 15 pages plus author list (30 pages total), 8 figures, 2 tables, submitted to Physics Letters B. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at http://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/HION-2011-02