Evaluation of the synoptic and mesoscale predictive capabilities of a mesoscale atmospheric simulation system

The overall performance characteristics of a limited area, hydrostatic, fine (52 km) mesh, primitive equation, numerical weather prediction model are determined in anticipation of satellite data assimilations with the model. The synoptic and mesoscale predictive capabilities of version 2.0 of this model, the Mesoscale Atmospheric Simulation System (MASS 2.0), were evaluated. The two part study is based on a sample of approximately thirty 12h and 24h forecasts of atmospheric flow patterns during spring and early summer. The synoptic scale evaluation results benchmark the performance of MASS 2.0 against that of an operational, synoptic scale weather prediction model, the Limited area Fine Mesh (LFM). The large sample allows for the calculation of statistically significant measures of forecast accuracy and the determination of systematic model errors. The synoptic scale benchmark is required before unsmoothed mesoscale forecast fields can be seriously considered

Multi-photon transitions between energy levels in a current-biased Josephson tunnel junction

The escape of a small current-biased Josephson tunnel junction from the zero voltage state in the presence of weak microwave radiation is investigated experimentally at low temperatures. The measurements of the junction switching current distribution indicate the macroscopic quantum tunneling of the phase below a cross-over temperature of $T^{\star} \approx 280 \rm{mK}$. At temperatures below $T^{\star}$ we observe both single-photon and \emph{multi-photon} transitions between the junction energy levels by applying microwave radiation in the frequency range between $10 \rm{GHz}$ and $38 \rm{GHz}$ to the junction. These observations reflect the anharmonicity of the junction potential containing only a small number of levels.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Multiply-connected Bose-Einstein condensed alkali gases: Current-carrying states and their decay

The ability to support metastable current-carrying states in multiply-connected settings is one of the prime signatures of superfluidity. Such states are investigated theoretically for the case of trapped Bose condensed alkali gases, particularly with regard to the rate at which they decay via thermal fluctuations. The lifetimes of metastable currents can be either longer or shorter than experimental time-scales. A scheme for the experimental detection of metastable states is sketched.Comment: 4 pages, including 1 figure (REVTEX

Mode-Locking in Quantum-Hall-Effect Point Contacts

We study the effect of an ac drive on the current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of a tunnel junction between two fractional Quantum Hall fluids at filling $\nu ^{-1}$ an odd integer. Within the chiral Luttinger liquid model of edge states, the point contact dynamics is described by a driven damped quantum mechanical pendulum. In a semi-classical limit which ignores electron tunnelling, this model exhibits mode-locking, which corresponds to current plateaus in the I-V curve at integer multiples of $I= e\omega /2\pi$, with $\omega$ the ac drive angular frequency. By analyzing the full quantum model at non-zero $\nu$ using perturbative and exact methods, we study the effect of quantum fluctuation on the mode-locked plateaus. For $\nu=1$ quantum fluctuations smear completely the plateaus, leaving no trace of the ac drive. For $\nu \ge 1/2$ smeared plateaus remain in the I-V curve, but are not centered at the currents $I=n e \omega /2\pi$. For $\nu < 1/2$ rounded plateaus centered around the quantized current values are found. The possibility of using mode locking in FQHE point contacts as a current-to-frequency standard is discussed.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures, minor change

Novel Bose-Einstein Interference in the Passage of a Fast Particle in a Dense Medium

When an energetic particle collides coherently with many medium particles at high energies, the Bose-Einstein symmetry with respect to the interchange of the exchanged virtual bosons leads to a destructive interference of the Feynman amplitudes in most regions of the phase space but a constructive interference in some other regions of the phase space. As a consequence, the recoiling medium particles have a tendency to come out collectively along the direction of the incident fast particle, each carrying a substantial fraction of the incident longitudinal momentum. Such an interference appearing as collective recoils of scatterers along the incident particle direction may have been observed in angular correlations of hadrons associated with a high-$p_T$ trigger in high-energy AuAu collisions at RHIC.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures, invited talk presented at the 35th Symposium on Nuclear Physics, Cocoyoc, Mexico, January 3, 2012, to be published in IOP Conference Serie

Voltage rectification by a SQUID ratchet

We argue that the phase across an asymmetric dc SQUID threaded by a magnetic flux can experience an effective ratchet (periodic and asymmetric) potential. Under an external ac current, a rocking ratchet mechanism operates whereby one sign of the time derivative of the phase is favored. We show that there exists a range of parameters in which a fixed sign (and, in a narrower range, even a fixed value) of the average voltage across the ring occurs, regardless of the sign of the external current dc component.Comment: 4 pages, 4 EPS figures, uses psfig.sty. Revised version, to appear in Physical Review Letters (26 August 1996

Effect of granularity on the insulator-superconductor transition in ultrathin Bi films

We have studied the insulator-superconductor transition (IST) by tuning the thickness in quench-condensed $Bi$ films. The resistive transitions of the superconducting films are smooth and can be considered to represent "homogeneous" films. The observation of an IST very close to the quantum resistance for pairs, $R_{\Box}^N \sim h/4e^2$ on several substrates supports this idea. The relevant length scales here are the localization length, and the coherence length. However, at the transition, the localization length is much higher than the superconducting coherence length, contrary to expectation for a "homogeneous" transition. This suggests the invalidity of a purely fermionic model for the transition. Furthermore, the current-voltage characteristics of the superconducting films are hysteretic, and show the films to be granular. The relevant energy scales here are the Josephson coupling energy and the charging energy. However, Josephson coupling energies ($E_J$) and the charging energies ($E_c$) at the IST, they are found to obey the relation $E_J < E_c$. This is again contrary to expectation, for the IST in a granular or inhomogeneous, system. Hence, a purely bosonic picture of the transition is also inconsistent with our observations. We conclude that the IST observed in our experiments may be either an intermediate case between the fermioinc and bosonic mechanisms, or in a regime of charge and vortex dynamics for which a quantitative analysis has not yet been done.Comment: accepted in Physical Review

Single-vortex-induced voltage steps in Josephson-junction arrays

We have numerically and analytically studied ac+dc driven Josephson-junction arrays with a single vortex or with a single vortex-antivortex pair present. We find single-vortex steps in the voltage versus current characteristics (I-V) of the array. They correspond microscopically to a single vortex phase-locked to move a fixed number of plaquettes per period of the ac driving current. In underdamped arrays we find vortex motion period doubling on the steps. We observe subharmonic steps in both underdamped and overdamped arrays. We successfully compare these results with a phenomenological model of vortex motion with a nonlinear viscosity. The I-V of an array with a vortex-antivortex pair displays fractional voltage steps. A possible connection of these results to present day experiments is also discussed.Comment: 10 pages double sided with figures included in the text. To appear in Journal of Physics, Condensed Matte

Diffusion controlled initial recombination

This work addresses nucleation rates in systems with strong initial recombination. Initial (or `geminate') recombination is a process where a dissociated structure (anion, vortex, kink etc.) recombines with its twin brother (cation, anti-vortex, anti-kink) generated in the same nucleation event. Initial recombination is important if there is an asymptotically vanishing interaction force instead of a generic saddle-type activation barrier. At low temperatures, initial recombination strongly dominates homogeneous recombination. In a first part, we discuss the effect in one-, two-, and three-dimensional diffusion controlled systems with spherical symmetry. Since there is no well-defined saddle, we introduce a threshold which is to some extent arbitrary but which is restricted by physically reasonable conditions. We show that the dependence of the nucleation rate on the specific choice of this threshold is strongest for one-dimensional systems and decreases in higher dimensions. We discuss also the influence of a weak driving force and show that the transport current is directly determined by the imbalance of the activation rate in the direction of the field and the rate against this direction. In a second part, we apply the results to the overdamped sine-Gordon system at equilibrium. It turns out that diffusive initial recombination is the essential mechanism which governs the equilibrium kink nucleation rate. We emphasize analogies between the single particle problem with initial recombination and the multi-dimensional kink-antikink nucleation problem.Comment: LaTeX, 11 pages, 1 ps-figures Extended versio