2,358 research outputs found
Penning collisions of laser-cooled metastable helium atoms
We present experimental results on the two-body loss rates in a
magneto-optical trap of metastable helium atoms. Absolute rates are measured in
a systematic way for several laser detunings ranging from -5 to -30 MHz and at
different intensities, by monitoring the decay of the trap fluorescence. The
dependence of the two-body loss rate coefficient on the excited state
() and metastable state () populations is also investigated.
From these results we infer a rather uniform rate constant
cm/s.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures, Revte
Aging in One-Dimensional Coagulation-Diffusion Processes and the Fredrickson-Andersen Model
We analyse the aging dynamics of the one-dimensional Fredrickson-Andersen
(FA) model in the nonequilibrium regime following a low temperature quench.
Relaxation then effectively proceeds via diffusion limited pair coagulation
(DLPC) of mobility excitations. By employing a familiar stochastic similarity
transformation, we map exact results from the free fermion case of diffusion
limited pair annihilation to DLPC. Crucially, we are able to adapt the mapping
technique to averages involving multiple time quantities. This relies on
knowledge of the explicit form of the evolution operators involved. Exact
results are obtained for two-time correlation and response functions in the
free fermion DLPC process. The corresponding long-time scaling forms apply to a
wider class of DLPC processes, including the FA model. We are thus able to
exactly characterise the violations of the fluctuation-dissipation theorem
(FDT) in the aging regime of the FA model. We find nontrivial scaling forms for
the fluctuation-dissipation ratio (FDR) X = X(tw/t), but with a negative
asymptotic value X = -3*pi/(6*pi - 16) = -3.307. While this prevents a
thermodynamic interpretation in terms of an effective temperature, it is a
direct consequence of probing FDT with observables that couple to activated
dynamics. The existence of negative FDRs should therefore be a widespread
feature in non mean-field systems.Comment: 39 pages, 4 figure
Recommended from our members
Erratum: Author Correction: Identification of genes required for eye development by high-throughput screening of mouse knockouts.
[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/s42003-018-0226-0.]
Cluster Lenses
Clusters of galaxies are the most recently assembled, massive, bound
structures in the Universe. As predicted by General Relativity, given their
masses, clusters strongly deform space-time in their vicinity. Clusters act as
some of the most powerful gravitational lenses in the Universe. Light rays
traversing through clusters from distant sources are hence deflected, and the
resulting images of these distant objects therefore appear distorted and
magnified. Lensing by clusters occurs in two regimes, each with unique
observational signatures. The strong lensing regime is characterized by effects
readily seen by eye, namely, the production of giant arcs, multiple-images, and
arclets. The weak lensing regime is characterized by small deformations in the
shapes of background galaxies only detectable statistically. Cluster lenses
have been exploited successfully to address several important current questions
in cosmology: (i) the study of the lens(es) - understanding cluster mass
distributions and issues pertaining to cluster formation and evolution, as well
as constraining the nature of dark matter; (ii) the study of the lensed objects
- probing the properties of the background lensed galaxy population - which is
statistically at higher redshifts and of lower intrinsic luminosity thus
enabling the probing of galaxy formation at the earliest times right up to the
Dark Ages; and (iii) the study of the geometry of the Universe - as the
strength of lensing depends on the ratios of angular diameter distances between
the lens, source and observer, lens deflections are sensitive to the value of
cosmological parameters and offer a powerful geometric tool to probe Dark
Energy. In this review, we present the basics of cluster lensing and provide a
current status report of the field.Comment: About 120 pages - Published in Open Access at:
http://www.springerlink.com/content/j183018170485723/ . arXiv admin note:
text overlap with arXiv:astro-ph/0504478 and arXiv:1003.3674 by other author
The effect of fluoride on enamel and dentin formation in the uremic rat incisor
Renal impairment in children is associated with
tooth defects that include enamel pitting and hypoplasia.
However, the specific effects of uremia on tooth formation
are not known. In this study, we used rat mandibular incisors,
which continuously erupt and contain all stages of tooth
formation, to characterize the effects of uremia on tooth
formation. We also tested the hypothesis that uremia
aggravates the fluoride (F)-induced changes in developing
teeth. Rats were subjected to a two-stage 5/6 nephrectomy or
sham operation and then exposed to 0 (control) or 50 ppm
NaF in drinking water for 14 days. The effects of these
treatments on food intake, body growth rate, and biochemical
serum parameters for renal function and calcium
metabolism were monitored. Nephrectomy reduced food
intake and weight gain. Intake of F by nephrectomized rats
increased plasma F levels twofold and further decreased food
intake and body weight gain. Uremia affected formation of
dentin and enamel and was more extensive than the effect of
F alone. Uremia also significantly increased predentin width
and induced deposition of large amounts of osteodentin-like
matrix-containing cells in the pulp chamber. In enamel
formation, the cells most sensitive to uremia were the
transitional-stage ameloblasts. These data demonstrate that
intake of F by rats with reduced renal function impairs F
clearance from the plasma and aggravates the already
negative effects of uremia on incisor tooth development
Search for the standard model Higgs boson in the H to ZZ to 2l 2nu channel in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV
A search for the standard model Higgs boson in the H to ZZ to 2l 2nu decay
channel, where l = e or mu, in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7
TeV is presented. The data were collected at the LHC, with the CMS detector,
and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 4.6 inverse femtobarns. No
significant excess is observed above the background expectation, and upper
limits are set on the Higgs boson production cross section. The presence of the
standard model Higgs boson with a mass in the 270-440 GeV range is excluded at
95% confidence level.Comment: Submitted to JHE
Combined search for the quarks of a sequential fourth generation
Results are presented from a search for a fourth generation of quarks
produced singly or in pairs in a data set corresponding to an integrated
luminosity of 5 inverse femtobarns recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC in
2011. A novel strategy has been developed for a combined search for quarks of
the up and down type in decay channels with at least one isolated muon or
electron. Limits on the mass of the fourth-generation quarks and the relevant
Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix elements are derived in the context of a
simple extension of the standard model with a sequential fourth generation of
fermions. The existence of mass-degenerate fourth-generation quarks with masses
below 685 GeV is excluded at 95% confidence level for minimal off-diagonal
mixing between the third- and the fourth-generation quarks. With a mass
difference of 25 GeV between the quark masses, the obtained limit on the masses
of the fourth-generation quarks shifts by about +/- 20 GeV. These results
significantly reduce the allowed parameter space for a fourth generation of
fermions.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO
- âŚ