9,523 research outputs found
The Strong Levinson Theorem for the Dirac Equation
We consider the Dirac equation in one space dimension in the presence of a
symmetric potential well. We connect the scattering phase shifts at E=+m and
E=-m to the number of states that have left the positive energy continuum or
joined the negative energy continuum respectively as the potential is turned on
from zero.Comment: Submitted to Physical Review Letter
Zero-energy states in graphene quantum dots and rings
We present exact analytical zero-energy solutions for a class of smooth
decaying potentials, showing that the full confinement of charge carriers in
electrostatic potentials in graphene quantum dots and rings is indeed possible
without recourse to magnetic fields. These exact solutions allow us to draw
conclusions on the general requirements for the potential to support fully
confined states, including a critical value of the potential strength and
spatial extent.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, references added, typos corrected, discussion
section expande
Probing Micro-quasars with TeV Neutrinos
The jets associated with Galactic micro-quasars are believed to be ejected by
accreting stellar mass black-holes or neutron stars. We show that if the energy
content of the jets in the transient sources is dominated by electron-proton
plasma, then a several hour outburst of 1--100 TeV neutrinos produced by photo-
meson interactions should precede the radio flares associated with major
ejection events. Several neutrinos may be detected during a single outburst by
a 1km^2 detector, thereby providing a powerful probe of micro-quasars jet
physics.Comment: Accepted to PRL. More detailed discussion of particle acceleratio
Carbide coated fibers in graphite-aluminum composites
The NASA-supported program at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (LASL) to develop carbon fiber-aluminum matrix composites is described. Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) was used to uniformly deposit thin, smooth, continuous coats of TiC on the fibers of graphite tows. Wet chemical coating of fibers, followed by high-temperature treatment, was also used, but showed little promise as an alternative coating method. Strength measurements on CVD coated fiber tows showed that thin carbide coats can add to fiber strength. The ability of aluminum alloys to wet TiC was successfully demonstrated using TiC-coated graphite surfaces. Pressure-infiltration of TiC- and ZrC-coated fiber tows with aluminum alloys was only partially successful. Experiments were performed to evaluate the effectiveness of carbide coats on carbon as barriers to prevent reaction between alluminum alloys and carbon. Initial results indicate that composites of aluminum and carbide-coated graphite are stable for long periods of time at temperatures near the alloy solidus
Carbide coated fibers in graphites-aluminum composites
Research activities are described for a NASA-supported program at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory to develop graphite fiber-aluminum matrix composites. A chemical vapor deposition apparatus was constructed for continuously coating graphite fibers with TiC. As much as 150 meters of continuously coated fibers were produced. Deposition temperatures were varied from 1365 K to about 1750 K, and deposition time from 6 to 150 seconds. The 6 sec deposition time corresponded to a fiber feed rate of 2.54 m/min through the coater. Thin, uniform, adherent TiC coats, with thicknesses up to approximately 0.1 micrometer were produced on the individual fibers of Thornel 50 graphite yarns without affecting fiber strength. Although coat properties were fairly uniform throughout a given batch, more work is needed to improve the batch-to-batch reproducibility. Samples of TiC-coated Thornel 50 fibers were infiltrated with an aluminum alloy and hot-pressed in vacuum to produce small composite bars for flexure testing. Strengths as high as 90% of the rule-of-mixtures strength were achieved. Results of the examination of the fracture surfaces indicate that the bonding between the aluminum and the TiC-coated fibers is better than that achieved in a similar, commercially infiltrated material made with fibers having no observable surface coats. Several samples of Al-infiltrated, TiC-coated Thornel 50 graphite yarns, together with samples of the commercially infiltrated, uncoated fibers, were heated for 100 hours at temperatures near the alloy solidus. The TiC-coated samples appear to undergo less reaction than do the uncoated samples. Photomicrographs are shown
Carbide coated fibers in graphite-aluminum composites
The study of protective-coupling layers of refractory metal carbides on the graphite fibers prior to their incorporation into composites is presented. Such layers should be directly wettable by liquid aluminum and should act as diffusion barriers to prevent the formation of aluminum carbide. Chemical vapor deposition was used to uniformly deposit thin, smooth, continuous coats of ZrC on the carbon fibers of tows derived from both rayon and polyacrylonitrile. A wet chemical coating of the fibers, followed by high-temperature treatment, was used, and showed promise as an alternative coating method. Experiments were performed to demonstrate the ability of aluminum alloys to wet carbide surfaces. Titanium carbide, zirconium carbide and carbide-coated graphite surfaces were successfully wetted. Results indicate that initial attempts to wet surfaces of ZrC-coated carbon fibers appear successful
Entanglement, measurement, and conditional evolution of the Kondo singlet interacting with a mesoscopic detector
We investigate various aspects of the Kondo singlet in a quantum dot (QD)
electrostatically coupled to a mesoscopic detector. The two subsystems are
represented by an entangled state between the Kondo singlet and the
charge-dependent detector state. We show that the phase-coherence of the Kondo
singlet is destroyed in a way that is sensitive to the charge-state information
restored both in the magnitude and in the phase of the scattering coefficients
of the detector. We also introduce the notion of the `conditional evolution' of
the Kondo singlet under projective measurement on the detector. Our study
reveals that the state of the composite system is disentangled upon this
measurement. The Kondo singlet evolves into a particular state with a fixed
number of electrons in the quantum dot. Its relaxation time is shown to be
sensitive only to the QD-charge dependence of the transmission probability in
the detector, which implies that the phase information is erased in this
conditional evolution process. We discuss implications of our observations in
view of the possible experimental realization.Comment: Focus issue on "Interference in Mesoscopic Systems" of New J. Phy
The perception of stroke-to-stroke turn boundaries in signed conversation
Speaker transitions in conversation are often brief, with minimal vocal overlap. Signed languages appear to defy this pattern with frequent, long spans of simultaneous signing. But recent evidence suggests that turn boundaries in signed language may only include the content-bearing parts of the turn (from the first stroke to the last), and not all turn-related movement (from first preparation to final retraction). We tested whether signers were able to anticipate “stroke-to-stroke” turn boundaries with only minimal conversational context. We found that, indeed, signers anticipated turn boundaries at the ends of turn-final strokes. Signers often responded early, especially when the turn was long or contained multiple possible end points. Early responses for long turns were especially apparent for interrogatives—long interrogative turns showed much greater anticipation compared to short ones
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