Nonlinear Dynamics in the Resonance Lineshape of NbN Superconducting Resonators

In this work we report on unusual nonlinear dynamics measured in the resonance response of NbN superconducting microwave resonators. The nonlinear dynamics, occurring at relatively low input powers (2-4 orders of magnitude lower than Nb), and which include among others, jumps in the resonance lineshape, hysteresis loops changing direction and resonance frequency shift, are measured herein using varying input power, applied magnetic field, white noise and rapid frequency sweeps. Based on these measurement results, we consider a hypothesis according to which local heating of weak links forming at the boundaries of the NbN grains are responsible for the observed behavior, and we show that most of the experimental results are qualitatively consistent with such hypothesis.Comment: Updated version (of cond-mat/0504582), 16 figure

Thermal effects on lattice strain in hcp Fe under pressure

We compute the c/a lattice strain versus temperature for nonmagnetic hcp iron at high pressures using both first-principles linear response quasiharmonic calculations based on the full potential linear-muffin-tin-orbital (LMTO) method and the particle-in-cell (PIC) model for the vibrational partition function using a tight-binding total-energy method. The tight-binding model shows excellent agreement with the all-electron LMTO method. When hcp structure is stable, the calculated geometric mean frequency and Helmholtz free energy of hcp Fe from PIC and linear response lattice dynamics agree very well, as does the axial ratio as a function of temperature and pressure. On-site anharmonicity proves to be small up to the melting temperature, and PIC gives a good estimate of its sign and magnitude. At low pressures, hcp Fe becomes dynamically unstable at large c/a ratios, and the PIC model might fail where the structure approaches lattice instability. The PIC approximation describes well the vibrational behavior away from the instability, and thus is a reasonable approach to compute high temperature properties of materials. Our results show significant differences from earlier PIC studies, which gave much larger axial ratio increases with increasing temperature, or reported large differences between PIC and lattice dynamics results.Comment: 9 figure

Evolution of the proton sd states in neutron-rich Ca isotopes

We analyze the evolution with increasing isospin asymmetry of the proton single-particle states 2s1/2 and 1d3/2 in Ca isotopes, using non-relativistic and relativistic mean field approaches. Both models give similar trends and it is shown that this evolution is sensitive to the neutron shell structure, the two states becoming more or less close depending on the neutron orbitals which are filled. In the regions where the states get closer some parametrizations predict an inversion between them. This inversion occurs near $^{48}$Ca as well as very far from stability where the two states systematically cross each other if the drip line predicted in the model is located far enough. We study in detail the modification of the two single-particle energies by using the equivalent potential in the Schroedinger-like Skyrme-Hartree-Fock equations. The role played by central, kinetic and spin-orbit contributions is discussed. We finally show that the effect of a tensor component in the effective interaction considerably favors the inversion of the two proton states in $^{48}$Ca.Comment: 7 figure

Multi-Component Dark Matter Systems and Their Observation Prospects

Conversions and semi-annihilations of dark matter (DM) particles in addition to the standard DM annihilations are considered in a three-component DM system. We find that the relic abundance of DM can be very sensitive to these non-standard DM annihilation processes, which has been recently found for two-component DM systems. To consider a concrete model of a three-component DM system, we extend the radiative seesaw model of Ma by adding a Majorana fermion \chi and a real scalar boson \phi, to obtain a Z_2 \times Z'_2 DM stabilizing symmetry, where we assume that the DM particles are the inert Higgs boson, \chi and \phi. It is shown how the allowed parameter space, obtained previously in the absence of \chi and \phi, changes. The semi-annihilation process in this model produces monochromatic neutrinos. The observation rate of these monochromatic neutrinos from the Sun at IceCube is estimated. Observations of high energy monochromatic neutrinos from the Sun may indicate a multi-component DM system.Comment: 27 pages, 11 figure

Levinson's theorem for the Schr\"{o}dinger equation in two dimensions

Levinson's theorem for the Schr\"{o}dinger equation with a cylindrically symmetric potential in two dimensions is re-established by the Sturm-Liouville theorem. The critical case, where the Schr\"{o}dinger equation has a finite zero-energy solution, is analyzed in detail. It is shown that, in comparison with Levinson's theorem in non-critical case, the half bound state for $P$ wave, in which the wave function for the zero-energy solution does not decay fast enough at infinity to be square integrable, will cause the phase shift of $P$ wave at zero energy to increase an additional $\pi$.Comment: Latex 11 pages, no figure and accepted by P.R.A (in August); Email: [email protected], [email protected]

Polarity of the fermionic condensation in the pp-wave Kitaev model on a square lattice

In a $p$-wave Kitaev model, the nearest neighbor pairing term results in the formation of the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) pair in the ground state. In this work, we study the fermionic condensation of real-space pairs in a $p$-wave Kitaev model on a square lattice with a uniform phase gradient pairing term along both directions. The exact solution shows that the ground state can be expressed in a coherent-state-like form, indicating the condensation of a collective pairing mode, which is the superposition of different configurations of pairs in real space. The amplitudes of each configuration depend not only on the size but also on the orientation of the pair. We employ three quantities to characterize the ground state in the thermodynamic limit. (i) A BCS-pair order parameter is introduced to characterize the phase diagram, consisting of gapful and topological gapless phases. (ii) The particle-particle correlation length is obtained to reveal the polarity of the pair condensation. In addition, (iii) a pair-pair correlator is analytically derived to indicate the possessing of off-diagonal long-range order. Our work proposes an alternative method for understanding fermionic condensation

The Relativistic Levinson Theorem in Two Dimensions

In the light of the generalized Sturm-Liouville theorem, the Levinson theorem for the Dirac equation in two dimensions is established as a relation between the total number $n_{j}$ of the bound states and the sum of the phase shifts $\eta_{j}(\pm M)$ of the scattering states with the angular momentum $j$: $$\eta_{j}(M)+\eta_{j}(-M)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ \~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~$$ $$~~~=\left\{\begin{array}{ll} (n_{j}+1)\pi &{\rm when~a~half~bound~state~occurs~at}~E=M ~~{\rm and}~~ j=3/2~{\rm or}~-1/2\\ (n_{j}+1)\pi &{\rm when~a~half~bound~state~occurs~at}~E=-M~~{\rm and}~~ j=1/2~{\rm or}~-3/2\\ n_{j}\pi~&{\rm the~rest~cases} . \end{array} \right.$$ \noindent The critical case, where the Dirac equation has a finite zero-momentum solution, is analyzed in detail. A zero-momentum solution is called a half bound state if its wave function is finite but does not decay fast enough at infinity to be square integrable.Comment: Latex 14 pages, no figure, submitted to Phys.Rev.A; Email: [email protected], [email protected]

Production of Sodium Bose--Einstein condensates in an optical dimple trap

We report on the realization of a sodium Bose--Einstein condensate (BEC) in a combined red-detuned optical dipole trap, formed by two beams crossing in a horizontal plane and a third, tightly focused dimple trap propagating vertically. We produce a BEC in three main steps: loading of the crossed dipole trap from laser-cooled atoms, an intermediate evaporative cooling stage which results in efficient loading of the auxiliary dimple trap, and a final evaporative cooling stage in the dimple trap. Our protocol is implemented in a compact setup and allows us to reach quantum degeneracy even with relatively modest initial atom numbers and available laser power

Health professionals' perceptions of cultural influences on stroke experiences and rehabilitation in Kuwait

This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published article is available from the link below. Copyright @ 2012 Informa UK Ltd.Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the perceptions of health professionals who treat stroke patients in Kuwait regarding cultural influences on the experience of stroke and rehabilitation in Kuwait. Health professionals interviewed were from a variety of cultural backgrounds thus providing an opportunity to investigate how they perceived the influence of culture on stroke recovery and rehabilitation in Kuwait. Method: Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 12 health professionals with current/recent stroke rehabilitation experience in Kuwait, followed by thematic analysis of the verbatim transcripts. Results: The health professionals identified several features of the Kuwaiti culture that they believed affected the experiences of stroke patients. These were religious beliefs, family involvement, limited education and public information about stroke, prevailing negative attitudes toward stroke, access to finances for private treatment, social stigma and the public invisibility of disabled people, difficulties identifying meaningful goals for rehabilitation, and an acceptance of dependency linked with the widespread presence of maids and other paid assistants in most Kuwaiti homes. Conclusion: To offer culturally sensitive care, these issues should be taken into account during the rehabilitation of Kuwaiti stroke patients in their home country and elsewhere

Levinson's Theorem for the Klein-Gordon Equation in Two Dimensions

The two-dimensional Levinson theorem for the Klein-Gordon equation with a cylindrically symmetric potential $V(r)$ is established. It is shown that $N_{m}\pi=\pi (n_{m}^{+}-n_{m}^{-})= [\delta_{m}(M)+\beta_{1}]-[\delta_{m}(-M)+\beta_{2}]$, where $N_{m}$ denotes the difference between the number of bound states of the particle $n_{m}^{+}$ and the ones of antiparticle $n_{m}^{-}$ with a fixed angular momentum $m$, and the $\delta_{m}$ is named phase shifts. The constants $\beta_{1}$ and $\beta_{2}$ are introduced to symbol the critical cases where the half bound states occur at $E=\pm M$.Comment: Revtex file 14 pages, submitted to Phys. Rev.