3,170 research outputs found
Coulomb Charging Effects for Finite Channel Number
We consider quantum fluctuations of the charge on a small metallic grain
caused by virtual electron tunneling to a nearby electrode. The average
electron number and the effective charging energy are determined by means of
perturbation theory in the tunneling Hamiltonian. In particular we discuss the
dependence of charging effects on the number N of tunneling channels. Earlier
results for N>>1 are found to be approached rather rapidly with increasing N.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure
Discovery of KiloHertz Quasi-Periodic Oscillations in 4U 1735-44
We discovered a single kHz quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) near 1150 Hz in
the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer X-ray light curve of the low mass X-ray binary
and atoll source 4U 1735-44. The rms amplitude of this peak was 2-3%, and the
FWHM 6-40 Hz. There are indications that the kHz QPO frequency decreased from
1160 Hz to 1145 Hz when the count rate increased, which would be quite
different from what is observed in other atoll sources for which kHz QPOs have
been discovered. In the X-ray color-color diagram and hardness-intensity
diagram the source traced out the curved branch (the so-called banana branch)
which has been found by previous instruments. The kHz QPO was only detected
when the source was at the lowest count rates during our observations, i.e. on
the lower part of the banana branch. When 4U 1735-44 was at higher count rates,
i.e. on the upper part of the banana branch and at higher inferred mass
accretion rate with respect to that on the lower part of the banana branch, the
QPO was not detected.
Besides the kHz QPO we discovered a low frequency QPO with a frequency near
67 Hz, together with a complex broad peaked noise component below 30 Hz. This
67 Hz QPO may be related to the magnetospheric beat-frequency QPO, which is
observed on the horizontal branch of Z sources. This idea is supported by the
(peaked) noise found in both 4U 1735-44 and Z sources at frequencies just below
the QPO frequency.Comment: 9 pages, including 2 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ Letter
Neutron Star Masses and Radii as Inferred from kilo-Hertz QPOs
Kilo-Hertz (kHz) Quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) have been discovered in
the X-ray fluxes of 8 low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) with the Rossi X-ray
Timing Explorer (RXTE). The characteristics of these QPOs are remarkably
similar from one source to another. In particular, the highest observed QPO
frequencies for 6 of the 8 sources fall in a very narrow range: 1,066 to 1,171
Hz. This is the more remarkable when one considers that these sources are
thought to have very different luminosities and magnetic fields, and produce
very different count rates in the RXTE detectors. Therefore it is highly
unlikely that this near constancy of the highest observed frequencies is due to
some unknown selection effect or instrumental bias. In this letter we propose
that the highest observed QPO frequency can be taken as the orbital frequency
of the marginally stable orbit. This leads to the conclusions that the neutron
stars in these LMXBs are inside their marginally stable orbits and have masses
in the vicinity of 2.0 solar masses. This mass is consistent with the
hypothesis that these neutron stars were born with about 1.4 solar masses and
have been accreting matter at a fraction of the Eddington limit for 100 million
years.Comment: 7 pages, uses aas2pp4.sty, Accepted by ApJ
Carbon release by selective alloying of transition metal carbides
We have performed first principles density functional theory calculations on
TiC alloyed on the Ti sublattice with 3d transition metals ranging from Sc to
Zn. The theory is accompanied with experimental investigations, both as regards
materials synthesis as well as characterization. Our results show that by
dissolving a metal with a weak ability to form carbides, the stability of the
alloy is lowered and a driving force for the release of carbon from the carbide
is created. During thin film growth of a metal carbide this effect will favor
the formation of a nanocomposite with carbide grains in a carbon matrix. The
choice of alloying elements as well as their concentrations will affect the
relative amount of carbon in the carbide and in the carbon matrix. This can be
used to design the structure of nanocomposites and their physical and chemical
properties. One example of applications is as low-friction coatings. Of the
materials studied, we suggest the late 3d transition metals as the most
promising elements for this phenomenon, at least when alloying with TiC.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure
Improved Lieb-Oxford exchange-correlation inequality with gradient correction
We prove a Lieb-Oxford-type inequality on the indirect part of the Coulomb
energy of a general many-particle quantum state, with a lower constant than the
original statement but involving an additional gradient correction. The result
is similar to a recent inequality of Benguria, Bley and Loss, except that the
correction term is purely local, which is more usual in density functional
theory. In an appendix, we discuss the connection between the indirect energy
and the classical Jellium energy for constant densities. We show that they
differ by an explicit shift due to the long range of the Coulomb potential.Comment: Final version to appear in Physical Review A. Compared to the very
first version, this one contains an appendix discussing the link with the
Jellium proble
Chandra observations of the accretion-driven millisecond X-ray pulsars XTE J0929-314 and XTE J1751-305 in quiescence
(Abridge) We observed the accreting millisecond X-ray pulsars XTE J0929-314
and XTE J1751-305 in their quiescent states using Chandra. From XTE J0929-314
we detected 22 photons (0.3-8 keV) in 24.4 ksec, resulting in a count rate of 9
x 10^{-4} c/s. The small number of photons detected did not allow for a
detailed spectral analysis, but we can demonstrate that the spectrum is harder
than simple thermal emission which is what is usually presumed to arise from a
cooling neutron star that has been heated during the outbursts. Assuming a
power-law model for the spectrum, we obtain a power-law index of ~1.8 and an
unabsorbed flux of 6 x 10^{-15} ergs/s/cm^2 (0.5-10 keV), resulting in a
luminosity of 7 x 10^{31} (d/10 kpc)^2 ergs/s, with d in kpc. No thermal
component could be detected; such a component contributed at most 30% to the
0.5-10 keV flux. Variability in the count rate of XTE J0929-314 was observed at
the 95% confidence level. We did not conclusively detect XTE J1751-305 in our
43 ksec observation, with 0.5-10 keV flux upper limits between 0.2 and 2.7 x
10^{-14} ergs/s/cm^2 depending on assumed spectral shape, resulting in
luminosity upper limits of 0.2 - 2 x 10^{32} (d/8 kpc)^2 ergs/s. We compare our
results with those obtained for other neutron-star X-ray transients in their
quiescent state. Using simple accretion disk physics in combination with our
measured quiescent luminosity of XTE J0929-314 and the luminosity upper limits
of XTE J1751-305, and the known spin frequency of the neutron stars, we could
constrain the magnetic field of the neutron stars in XTE J0929-314 and XTE
J1751-305 to be less than 3 x 10^9 (d/10 kpc) and 3 - 7 x 10^8 (d/8 kpc) Gauss
(depending on assumed spectral shape of the quiescent spectrum), respectively.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ, 29 September 2004. Added spectral
variability search for the data of XTE J0929-314 and added the non-detection
with Chandra of XTE J1751-30
Some Exact Results for Spanning Trees on Lattices
For -vertex, -dimensional lattices with , the number
of spanning trees grows asymptotically as
in the thermodynamic limit. We present an exact closed-form result for the
asymptotic growth constant for spanning trees on the
-dimensional body-centered cubic lattice. We also give an exact integral
expression for on the face-centered cubic lattice and an exact
closed-form expression for on the lattice.Comment: 7 pages, 1 tabl
Thermal Casimir Force between Magnetic Materials
We investigate the Casimir pressure between two parallel plates made of
magnetic materials at nonzero temperature. It is shown that for real
magnetodielectric materials only the magnetic properties of ferromagnets can
influence the Casimir pressure. This influence is accomplished through the
contribution of the zero-frequency term of the Lifshitz formula. The
possibility of the Casimir repulsion through the vacuum gap is analyzed
depending on the model used for the description of the dielectric properties of
the metal plates.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures. Contribution to the Proceedings of QFEXT09,
Norman, OK, September 21-25, 200
An estimate of the QCD corrections to the decay Z --> W u d
We present an estimate of perturbative QCD corrections to the decay . A simple approximate approach is described in detail. The difference
of masses of and is used as an expansion parameter. A complete
analytical formula for a part of the corrections is also presented.Comment: 9 pages, late
Effect of the Tunneling Conductance on the Coulomb Staircase
Quantum fluctuations of the charge in the single electron box are
investigated. The rounding of the Coulomb staircase caused by virtual electron
tunneling is determined by perturbation theory up to third order in the
tunneling conductance and compared with precise Monte Carlo data computed with
a new algorithm. The remarkable agreement for large conductance indicates that
presently available experimental data on Coulomb charging effects in metallic
nanostructures can be well explained by finite order perturbative results.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
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