37,657 research outputs found
Density dependence of the Ionization Avalanche in ultracold Rydberg gases
We report on the behaviour of the ionization avalanche in an ensemble of
ultracold 87Rb atoms coupled to a high lying Rydberg state and investigate
extensions to the current model by including the effects of three-body
recombination and plasma expansion. To separate the two effects we study the
time dependence of the plasma formation at various densities as well as for
different nS and nD states. At medium densities and low n we observe the onset
of the avalanche as has been reported in other experiments, as well as a
subsequent turn-off of the avalanche for longer excitation times, which we
associate with plasma expansion. At higher densities and for higher lying
Rydberg states we observe a disappearance of the avalanche signature, which we
attribute to three-body recombination.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
On the micro mechanics of one-dimensional normal compression
Discrete-element modelling has been used to investigate the micro mechanics of one-dimensional compression. One-dimensional compression is modelled in three dimensions using an oedometer and a large number of particles, and without the use of agglomerates. The fracture of a particle is governed by the octahedral shear stress within the particle due to the multiple contacts and a Weibull distribution of strengths. Different fracture mechanisms are considered, and the influence of the distribution of fragments produced for each fracture on the global particle size distribution and the slope of the normal compression line is investigated. Using the discrete-element method, compression is related to the evolution of a fractal distribution of particles. The compression index is found to be solely a function of the strengths of the particles as a function of size
Influence of blade aerodynamic model on prediction of helicopter rotor aeroacoustic signatures
Brownâs vorticity transport model has been used to investigate how the local blade aerodynamic model influences the quality of the prediction of the high-frequency airloads associated with bladeâvortex interactions, and thus the accuracy with which the acoustic signature of a helicopter rotor can be predicted. The vorticity transport model can accurately resolve the structure of the wake of the rotor and allows significant flexibility in the way that the blade loading can be represented. The Second Higher-Harmonic Control Aeroacoustics Rotor Test was initiated to provide experimental insight into the acoustic signature of a rotor in cases of strong bladeâvortex interaction. Predictions of two models for the local blade aerodynamics are compared with the test data. A marked improvement in accuracy of the predicted high-frequency airloads and acoustic signature is obtained when a lifting-chord model for the blade aerodynamics is used instead of a lifting-line-type approach. Errors in the amplitude and phase of the acoustic peaks are reduced, and the quality of the prediction is affected to a lesser extent by the computational resolution of the wake, with the lifting-chord model producing the best representation of the distribution of sound pressure below the rotor
Observation of the single-electron regime in a highly tunable silicon quantum dot
We report on low-temperature electronic transport measurements of a silicon
metal-oxide-semiconductor quantum dot, with independent gate control of
electron densities in the leads and the quantum dot island. This architecture
allows the dot energy levels to be probed without affecting the electron
density in the leads, and vice versa. Appropriate gate biasing enables the dot
occupancy to be reduced to the single-electron level, as evidenced by
magnetospectroscopy measurements of the ground state of the first two charge
transitions. Independent gate control of the electron reservoirs also enables
discrimination between excited states of the dot and density of states
modulations in the leads.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, accepted for Applied Physics Letter
Forecasting and Granger Modelling with Non-linear Dynamical Dependencies
Traditional linear methods for forecasting multivariate time series are not
able to satisfactorily model the non-linear dependencies that may exist in
non-Gaussian series. We build on the theory of learning vector-valued functions
in the reproducing kernel Hilbert space and develop a method for learning
prediction functions that accommodate such non-linearities. The method not only
learns the predictive function but also the matrix-valued kernel underlying the
function search space directly from the data. Our approach is based on learning
multiple matrix-valued kernels, each of those composed of a set of input
kernels and a set of output kernels learned in the cone of positive
semi-definite matrices. In addition to superior predictive performance in the
presence of strong non-linearities, our method also recovers the hidden dynamic
relationships between the series and thus is a new alternative to existing
graphical Granger techniques.Comment: Accepted for ECML-PKDD 201
Asymptotic silence-breaking singularities
We discuss three complementary aspects of scalar curvature singularities:
asymptotic causal properties, asymptotic Ricci and Weyl curvature, and
asymptotic spatial properties. We divide scalar curvature singularities into
two classes: so-called asymptotically silent singularities and non-generic
singularities that break asymptotic silence. The emphasis in this paper is on
the latter class which have not been previously discussed. We illustrate the
above aspects and concepts by describing the singularities of a number of
representative explicit perfect fluid solutions.Comment: 25 pages, 6 figure
Herschel spectral-mapping of the Helix Nebula (NGC 7293): Extended CO photodissociation and OH+ emission
The Helix Nebula (NGC 7293) is the closest planetary nebulae. Therefore, it
is an ideal template for photochemical studies at small spatial scales in
planetary nebulae. We aim to study the spatial distribution of the atomic and
the molecular gas, and the structure of the photodissociation region along the
western rims of the Helix Nebula as seen in the submillimeter range with
Herschel. We use 5 SPIRE FTS pointing observations to make atomic and molecular
spectral maps. We analyze the molecular gas by modeling the CO rotational lines
using a non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (non-LTE) radiative transfer model.
For the first time, we have detected extended OH+ emission in a planetary
nebula. The spectra towards the Helix Nebula also show CO emission lines (from
J= 4 to 8), [NII] at 1461 GHz from ionized gas, and [CI] (2-1), which together
with the OH+ lines, trace extended CO photodissociation regions along the rims.
The estimated OH+ column density is (1-10)x1e12 cm-2. The CH+ (1-0) line was
not detected at the sensitivity of our observations. Non-LTE models of the CO
excitation were used to constrain the average gas density (n(H2)=(1-5)x1e5
cm-3) and the gas temperature (Tk= 20-40 K). The SPIRE spectral-maps suggest
that CO arises from dense and shielded clumps in the western rims of the Helix
Nebula whereas OH+ and [CI] lines trace the diffuse gas and the UV and X-ray
illuminated clumps surface where molecules reform after CO photodissociation.
[NII] traces a more diffuse ionized gas component in the interclump medium.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic
The Domain Chaos Puzzle and the Calculation of the Structure Factor and Its Half-Width
The disagreement of the scaling of the correlation length xi between
experiment and the Ginzburg-Landau (GL) model for domain chaos was resolved.
The Swift-Hohenberg (SH) domain-chaos model was integrated numerically to
acquire test images to study the effect of a finite image-size on the
extraction of xi from the structure factor (SF). The finite image size had a
significant effect on the SF determined with the Fourier-transform (FT) method.
The maximum entropy method (MEM) was able to overcome this finite image-size
problem and produced fairly accurate SFs for the relatively small image sizes
provided by experiments.
Correlation lengths often have been determined from the second moment of the
SF of chaotic patterns because the functional form of the SF is not known.
Integration of several test functions provided analytic results indicating that
this may not be a reliable method of extracting xi. For both a Gaussian and a
squared SH form, the correlation length xibar=1/sigma, determined from the
variance sigma^2 of the SF, has the same dependence on the control parameter
epsilon as the length xi contained explicitly in the functional forms. However,
for the SH and the Lorentzian forms we find xibar ~ xi^1/2.
Results for xi determined from new experimental data by fitting the
functional forms directly to the experimental SF yielded xi ~ epsilon^-nu} with
nu ~= 1/4 for all four functions in the case of the FT method, but nu ~= 1/2,
in agreement with the GL prediction, in the the case of the MEM. Over a wide
range of epsilon and wave number k, the experimental SFs collapsed onto a
unique curve when appropriately scaled by xi.Comment: 15 pages, 26 figures, 1 tabl
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