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 $n$-vertex, $d$-dimensional lattices $\Lambda$ with $d \ge 2$, the number of spanning trees $N_{ST}(\Lambda)$ grows asymptotically as $\exp(n z_\Lambda)$ in the thermodynamic limit. We present an exact closed-form result for the asymptotic growth constant $z_{bcc(d)}$ for spanning trees on the $d$-dimensional body-centered cubic lattice. We also give an exact integral expression for $z_{fcc}$ on the face-centered cubic lattice and an exact closed-form expression for $z_{488}$ on the $4 \cdot 8 \cdot 8$ 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 $Z \to Wu\bar d$. A simple approximate approach is described in detail. The difference of masses of $M_Z$ and $M_W$ 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