148 research outputs found
Hanbury Brown-Twiss effect and thermal light ghost imaging
We show that the essential physics of the Hanbury Brown-Twiss (HBT) and the
thermal light ghost imaging experiments is the same, i.e., due to the intensity
fluctuations of the thermal light. However, in the ghost imaging experiments, a
large number of bits information needs to be treated together, whereas in the
HBT there is only one bit information required to be obtained. In the HBT
experiment far field is used for the purpose of easy detection, while in the
ghost image experiment near (or not-far) field is used for good quality image.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure
A Direct Measurement of the IGM Opacity to HI Ionizing Photons
We present a new method to directly measure the opacity from HI Lyman limit
(LL) absorption k_LL along quasar sightlines by the intergalactic medium (IGM).
The approach analyzes the average (``stacked'') spectrum of an ensemble of
quasars at a common redshift to infer the mean free path (MFP) to ionizing
radiation. We apply this technique to 1800 quasars at z=3.50-4.34 drawn from
the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), giving the most precise measurements on
k_LL at any redshift. From z=3.6 to 4.3, the opacity increases steadily as
expected and is well parameterized by MFP = (48.4 +/- 2.1) - (38.0 +/-
5.3)*(z-3.6) h^-1 Mpc (proper distance). The relatively high MFP values
indicate that the incidence of systems which dominate k_LL evolves less
strongly at z>3 than that of the Lya forest. We infer a mean free path three
times higher than some previous estimates, a result which has important
implications for the photo-ionization rate derived from the emissivity of star
forming galaxies and quasars. Finally, our analysis reveals a previously
unreported, systematic bias in the SDSS quasar sample related to the survey's
color targeting criteria. This bias potentially affects all z~3 IGM studies
using the SDSS database.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures; Accepted to ApJ
Evidence for structural and electronic instabilities at intermediate temperatures in -(BEDT-TTF)X for X=Cu[N(CN)]Cl, Cu[N(CN)]Br and Cu(NCS): Implications for the phase diagram of these quasi-2D organic superconductors
We present high-resolution measurements of the coefficient of thermal
expansion of the quasi-twodimensional
(quasi-2D) salts -(BEDT-TTF)X with X = Cu(NCS), Cu[N(CN)]Br
and Cu[N(CN)]Cl. At intermediate temperatures (B), distinct anomalies
reminiscent of second-order phase transitions have been found at
K and 45 K for the superconducting X = Cu(NCS) and Cu[N(CN)]Br salts,
respectively. Most interestingly, we find that the signs of the uniaxial
pressure coefficients of are strictly anticorrelated with those of
. We propose that marks the transition to a spin-density-wave
(SDW) state forming on minor, quasi-1D parts of the Fermi surface. Our results
are compatible with two competing order parameters that form on disjunct
portions of the Fermi surface. At elevated temperatures (C), all compounds show
anomalies that can be identified with a kinetic, glass-like
transition where, below a characteristic temperature , disorder in the
orientational degrees of freedom of the terminal ethylene groups becomes frozen
in. We argue that the degree of disorder increases on going from the X =
Cu(NCS) to Cu[N(CN)]Br and the Cu[N(CN)]Cl salt. Our results
provide a natural explanation for the unusual time- and cooling-rate
dependencies of the ground-state properties in the hydrogenated and deuterated
Cu[N(CN)]Br salts reported in the literature.Comment: 22 pages, 7 figure
Faint AGN and the Ionizing Background
We determine the evolution of the faint, high-redshift, optical luminosity
function (LF) of AGN implied by several observationally-motivated models of the
ionizing background. Our results depend crucially on whether we use the total
ionizing rate measured by the proximity effect technique or the lower
determination from the flux decrement distribution of Ly alpha forest lines.
Assuming a faint-end LF slope of 1.58 and the SDSS estimates of the bright-end
slope and normalization, we find that the LF must break at M_B*=-24.2,-22.3,
-20.8 at z=3,4, 5 if we adopt the lower ionization rate and assume no stellar
contribution to the background. The break must occur at M_B*=-20.6,-18.7, -18.7
for the proximity effect background estimate. These values brighten by as much
as ~2 mag if high-z galaxies contribute to the background with an escape
fraction of ionizing photons consistent with recent estimates: f_e=0.16. By
comparing to faint AGN searches, we find that the typically-quoted proximity
effect estimates of the background imply an over-abundance of faint AGN (even
with f_e=1). Even adopting the lower bound on proximity effect measurements,
the stellar escape fraction must be high: f_e>0.2. Conversely, the lower flux-
decrement-derived background requires a limited stellar contribution: f_e<0.05.
Our derived LFs together with the locally-estimated black hole density suggest
that the efficiency of converting mass to light in optically-unobscured AGN is
somewhat lower than expected, <0.05. Comparison with similar estimates based on
X-ray counts suggests that more than half of all AGN are obscured in the
UV/optical. We also derive lower limits on typical AGN lifetimes and obtain
>10^7 yrs for favored cases.Comment: 19 pages, 16 figures. Accepted by Astrophysical Journa
Spin Fluctuation-Induced Superconductivity in Organic Compounds
Spin fluctuation-induced superconductivity in two-dimensional organic
compounds such as \kappa-(ET)_2-X is investigated by using a simplified dimer
Hubbard model with right-angled isosceles triangular lattice (transfer matrices
-\tau, -\tau^\prime). The dynamical susceptiblity and the self-energy are
calculated self-consistently within the fluctuation exchange approximation and
the value for T_c as obtained by solving the linearized Eliashberg-type
equations is in good agreement with experiment. The pairing symmetry is of
d_{x^2-y^2} type. The calculated (U/\tau)-dependence of T_c compares
qualitatively well with the observed pressure dependence of T_c. Varying the
value for \tau^\prime/\tau from 0 to 1 we interpolate between the square
lattice and the regular triangular lattice and find firstly that values of T_c
for \kappa-(ET)_2-X and cuprates scale well and secondly that T_c tends to
decrease with increasing \tau^\prime/\tau and no superconductivity is found for
\tau^\prime/\tau=1, the regular triangular lattice.Comment: 4 pages, 6 eps figures, uses jpsj.st
Relaxation Effects in the Transition Temperature of Superconducting HgBa2CuO4+delta
In previous studies on a number of under- and overdoped high temperature
superconductors, including YBa_{2}Cu_{3}O_{7-y} and Tl_{2}Ba_{2}CuO_{6+\delta},
the transition temperature T_c has been found to change with time in a manner
which depends on the sample's detailed temperature and pressure history. This
relaxation behavior in T_c is believed to originate from rearrangements within
the oxygen sublattice. In the present high-pressure studies on
HgBa_{2}CuO_{4+\delta} to 0.8 GPa we find clear evidence for weak relaxation
effects in strongly under- and overdoped samples () with
an activation energy . For overdoped
HgBa_{2}CuO_{4+\delta} E_{A} increases under pressure more rapidly than
previously observed for YBa_{2}Cu_{3}O_{6.41}, yielding an activation volume of
+11 \pm 5 cm^{3}; the dependence of T_c on pressure is markedly nonlinear, an
anomalous result for high-T_c superconductors in the present pressure range,
giving evidence for a change in the electronic and/or structural properties
near 0.4 GPa
Magnetic Phase Diagram and Metal-Insulator Transition of NiS2-xSex
Magnetic phase diagram of NiS2-xSex has been reexamined by systematic studies
of electrical resistivity, uniform magnetic susceptibility and neutron
diffraction using single crystals grown by a chemical transport method. The
electrical resistivity and the uniform magnetic susceptibility exhibit the same
feature of temperature dependence over a wide Se concentration. A distinct
first order metal-insulator (M-I) transition accompanied by a volume change was
observed only in the antiferromagnetic ordered phase for 0.50<x<0.59. In this
region, the M-I transition makes substantial effects to the thermal evolution
of staggered moments. In the paramagnetic phase, the M-I transition becomes
broad; both the electrical resistivity and the uniform magnetic susceptibility
exhibit a broad maximum around the temperatures on the M-I transition-line
extrapolated to the paramagnetic phase.Comment: 6 pages, 8 figures, corrected EPS fil
The Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey: Constraints on the Lyman Continuum Escape Fraction Distribution of Lyman--Break Galaxies at 3.4<z<4.5
We use ultra-deep ultraviolet VLT/VIMOS intermediate-band and VLT/FORS1
narrow-band imaging in the GOODS Southern field to derive limits on the
distribution of the escape fraction (f_esc) of ionizing radiation for L >~
L*(z=3) Lyman Break Galaxies (LBGs) at redshift 3.4--4.5. Only one LBG, at
redshift z=3.795, is detected in its Lyman continuum (LyC; S/N~5.5), the
highest redshift galaxy currently known with a direct detection. Its
ultraviolet morphology is quite compact (R_eff=0.8, kpc physical). Three out of
seven AGN are also detected in their LyC, including one at redshift z=3.951 and
z850 = 26.1. From stacked data (LBGs) we set an upper limit to the average
f_esc in the range 5%--20%, depending on the how the data are selected (e.g.,
by magnitude and/or redshift). We undertake extensive Monte Carlo simulations
that take into account intergalactic attenuation, stellar population synthesis
models, dust extinction and photometric noise in order to explore the moments
of the distribution of the escaping radiation. Various distributions
(exponential, log-normal and Gaussian) are explored. We find that the median
f_esc is lower than ~6% with an 84% percentile limit not larger than 20%. If
this result remains valid for fainter LBGs down to current observational
limits, then the LBG population might be not sufficient to account for the
entire photoionization budget at the redshifts considered here, with the exact
details dependent upon the assumed ionizing background and QSO contribution
thereto. It is possible that f_esc depends on the UV luminosity of the
galaxies, with fainter galaxies having higher f_esc, and estimates of f_esc
from a sample of faint LBG from the HUDF (i775<28.5) are in broad quantitative
agreement with such a scenario.Comment: 58 pages, 23 figures; submitted to ApJ, revised version in response
to referee's comment
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