31,606 research outputs found
Stability of Satellites in Closely Packed Planetary Systems
We perform numerical integrations of four-body (star, planet, planet,
satellite) systems to investigate the stability of satellites in planetary
Systems with Tightly-packed Inner Planets (STIPs). We find that the majority of
closely-spaced stable two-planet systems can stably support satellites across a
range of parameter-space which is only slightly decreased compared to that seen
for the single-planet case. In particular, circular prograde satellites remain
stable out to (where is the Hill Radius) as opposed to
in the single-planet case. A similarly small restriction in the
stable parameter-space for retrograde satellites is observed, where planetary
close approaches in the range 2.5 to 4.5 mutual Hill radii destabilize most
satellites orbits only if . In very close planetary pairs (e.g.
the 12:11 resonance) the addition of a satellite frequently destabilizes the
entire system, causing extreme close-approaches and the loss of satellites over
a range of circumplanetary semi-major axes. The majority of systems
investigated stably harbored satellites over a wide parameter-space, suggesting
that STIPs can generally offer a dynamically stable home for satellites, albeit
with a slightly smaller stable parameter-space than the single-planet case. As
we demonstrate that multi-planet systems are not a priori poor candidates for
hosting satellites, future measurements of satellite occurrence rates in
multi-planet systems versus single-planet systems could be used to constrain
either satellite formation or past periods of strong dynamical interaction
between planets.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for publication, ApJ
A procedure for implanting a spinal chamber for longitudinal in vivo imaging of the mouse spinal cord.
Studies in the mammalian neocortex have enabled unprecedented resolution of cortical structure, activity, and response to neurodegenerative insults by repeated, time-lapse in vivo imaging in live rodents. These studies were made possible by straightforward surgical procedures, which enabled optical access for a prolonged period of time without repeat surgical procedures. In contrast, analogous studies of the spinal cord have been previously limited to only a few imaging sessions, each of which required an invasive surgery. As previously described, we have developed a spinal chamber that enables continuous optical access for upwards of 8 weeks, preserves mechanical stability of the spinal column, is easily stabilized externally during imaging, and requires only a single surgery. Here, the design of the spinal chamber with its associated surgical implements is reviewed and the surgical procedure is demonstrated in detail. Briefly, this video will demonstrate the preparation of the surgical area and mouse for surgery, exposure of the spinal vertebra and appropriate tissue debridement, the delivery of the implant and vertebral clamping, the completion of the chamber, the removal of the delivery system, sealing of the skin, and finally, post-operative care. The procedure for chronic in vivo imaging using nonlinear microscopy will also be demonstrated. Finally, outcomes, limitations, typical variability, and a guide for troubleshooting are discussed
An Analysis of Jitter and Transit Timing Variations in the HAT-P-13 System
If the two planets in the HAT-P-13 system are coplanar, the orbital states
provide a probe of the internal planetary structure. Previous analyses of
radial velocity and transit timing data of the system suggested that the
observational constraints on the orbital states were rather small. We reanalyze
the available data, treating the jitter as an unknown MCMC parameter, and find
that a wide range of jitter values are plausible, hence the system parameters
are less well constrained than previously suggested. For slightly increased
levels of jitter () the eccentricity of the inner planet
can be in the range , the period and eccentricity of the
outer planet can be days and
respectively, while the relative pericenter alignment, , of the planets
can take essentially any value . It is
therefore difficult to determine whether and have evolved to
a fixed-point state or a limit cycle, or to use to probe the
internal planetary structure. We perform various transit timing variation (TTV)
analyses, demonstrating that current constraints merely restrict
, and rule out relative planetary inclinations within of , but that future observations could
significantly tighten the restriction on both these parameters. We demonstrate
that TTV profiles can readily distinguish the theoretically favored
inclinations of i_{rel}=0^{\circ}\,&\,45^{\circ}, provided that sufficiently
precise and frequent transit timing observations of HAT-P-13b can be made close
to the pericenter passage of HAT-P-13c. We note the relatively high probability
that HAT-P-13c transits and suggest observational dates and strategies.Comment: Published in Ap
Using Transit Timing Observations to Search for Trojans of Transiting Extrasolar Planets
Theoretical studies predict that Trojans are likely a frequent byproduct of
planet formation and evolution. We examine the sensitivity of transit timing
observations for detecting Trojan companions to transiting extrasolar planets.
We demonstrate that this method offers the potential to detect terrestrial-mass
Trojans using existing ground-based observatories. We compare the transit
timing variation (TTV) method with other techniques for detecting extrasolar
Trojans and outline the future prospects for this method.Comment: submitted to ApJL, 12 pages, 2 figure
Tri-Dirac Surface Modes in Topological Superconductors
We propose a new type of topological surface modes having cubic dispersion in
three-dimensional topological superconductors. Lower order dispersions are
prohibited by the threefold rotational symmetry and time-reversal symmetry.
Cooper pairing in the bulk changes sign under improper rotations, akin
toHe-B. The surface manifestations are a divergent surface density of
states at the Fermi level and isospins that rotate three times as they circle
the origin in momentum space. We propose that Heusler alloys with band
inversion are candidate materials to harbor the novel topological
superconductivity.Comment: Five-page main text plus five-page supplementary materials; three
figure
Entanglement Spectrum Classification of -invariant Noninteracting Topological Insulators in Two Dimensions
We study the single particle entanglement spectrum in 2D topological
insulators which possess -fold rotation symmetry. By defining a series of
special choices of subsystems on which the entanglement is calculated, or real
space cuts, we find that the number of protected in-gap states for each type of
these real space cuts is a quantum number indexing (if any) non-trivial
topology in these insulators. We explicitly show the number of protected in-gap
states is determined by a -index, , where is the
number of occupied states that transform according to -th one-dimensional
representation of the point group. We find that the entanglement spectrum
contains in-gap states pinned in an interval of entanglement eigenvalues
. We determine the number of such in-gap states for an exhaustive
variety of cuts, in terms of the quantum numbers. Furthermore, we show
that in a homogeneous system, the index can be determined through an
evaluation of the eigenvalues of point group symmetry operators at all
high-symmetry points in the Brillouin zone. When disordered -fold
rotationally symmetric systems are considered, we find that the number of
protected in-gap states is identical to that in the clean limit as long as the
disorder preserves the underlying point group symmetry and does not close the
bulk insulating gap.Comment: 14.2 pages for main text, 4.8 pages for Appendices, four figures and
two table
Large Chern Number Quantum Anomalous Hall Effect In Thin-film Topological Crystalline Insulators
Quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) insulators are two-dimensional (2D) insulating
states exhibiting properties similar to those of quantum Hall states but
without external magnetic field. They have quantized Hall conductance
, where integer is called the Chern number, and represents
the number of gapless edge modes. Recent experiments demonstrated that chromium
doped thin-film (Bi,Sb)Te is a QAH insulator with Chern number
. Here we theoretically predict that thin-film topological crystalline
insulators (TCI) can host various QAH phases, when doped by ferromagnetically
ordered dopants. Any Chern number between can, in principle, be reached
as a result of the interplay between (a) the induced Zeeman field, depending on
the magnetic doping concentration, (b) the structural distortion, either
intrinsic or induced by a piezoelectric material through proximity effect and
(c) the thickness of the thin film. The tunable Chern numbers found in TCI
possess significant potential for ultra-low power information processing
applications.Comment: References update
New class of topological superconductors protected by magnetic group symmetries
We study a new type of three-dimensional topological superconductors that
exhibit Majorana zero modes (MZM) protected by a magnetic group symmetry, a
combined antiunitary symmetry composed of a mirror reflection and
time-reversal. This new symmetry enhances the noninteracting topological
classification of a superconducting vortex from to , indicating that
multiple MZMs can coexist at the end of one magnetic vortex of unit flux.
Specially, we show that a vortex binding two MZMs can be realized on the
-surface of a topological crystalline insulator SnTe with proximity
induced BCS Cooper pairing, or in bulk superconductor InSnTe.Comment: Accepted version to appear in PRL: 4-page text plus 4-page
supplementary materials, two figure
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