74,355 research outputs found
Universal nonequilibrium signatures of Majorana zero modes in quench dynamics
The quantum evolution after a metallic lead is suddenly connected to an
electron system contains information about the excitation spectrum of the
combined system. We exploit this type of "quantum quench" to probe the presence
of Majorana fermions at the ends of a topological superconducting wire. We
obtain an algebraically decaying overlap (Loschmidt echo) for large times after the quench, with
a universal critical exponent =1/4 that is found to be remarkably
robust against details of the setup, such as interactions in the normal lead,
the existence of additional lead channels or the presence of bound levels
between the lead and the superconductor. As in recent quantum dot experiments,
this exponent could be measured by optical absorption, offering a new signature
of Majorana zero modes that is distinct from interferometry and tunneling
spectroscopy.Comment: 9 pages + appendices, 4 figures. v3: published versio
Chern-Simons Number Diffusion and Hard Thermal Loops on the Lattice
We develop a discrete lattice implementation of the hard thermal loop
effective action by the method of added auxiliary fields. We use the resulting
model to measure the sphaleron rate (topological susceptibility) of Yang-Mills
theory at weak coupling. Our results give parametric behavior in accord with
the arguments of Arnold, Son, and Yaffe, and are in quantitative agreement with
the results of Moore, Hu, and Muller.Comment: 43 pages, 6 figure
Completion of evaluation of manufacturing processes for B/Al composites containing 0.2mm diameter boron fibers
Four fabricators produced a total of 54 B/1100 Al, B/6061 Al, and B/2024 Al panels for evaluation. The 8 ply unidirectional, 45 to 50 volume percent, panels were made using 0.20 mm diameter boron fibers which were obtained from a single supplier. Hot press consolidation was carried out in vacuum except for one set of dry woven tape panels which were hot pressed in air. A single testing contractor conducted nondestructive inspection, metallography, fractography and mechanical property tests. The mechanical property tests included 21 and 260 C tensile tests and 21 C shear tests. Panel quality, as measured by nondestructive evaluation, was generally good as were the 21 C tensile properties. The panels hot pressed in air delaminated in the shear tests. Shear strength values were lower in these panels. But tensile strengths were not affected by the delaminations because of the relation between the tensile loading direction and the delaminations. Composite tensile strength was found to be proportional to the volume percent boron and the aluminum matrix rather than to the tape used or fabrication technique. Suitability of these composites for 260 C service was confirmed by tensile tests
Classical Sphaleron Rate on Fine Lattices
We measure the sphaleron rate for hot, classical Yang-Mills theory on the
lattice, in order to study its dependence on lattice spacing. By using a
topological definition of Chern-Simons number and going to extremely fine
lattices (up to beta=32, or lattice spacing a = 1 / (8 g^2 T)) we demonstrate
nontrivial scaling. The topological susceptibility, converted to physical
units, falls with lattice spacing on fine lattices in a way which is consistent
with linear dependence on (the Arnold-Son-Yaffe scaling relation) and
strongly disfavors a nonzero continuum limit. We also explain some unusual
behavior of the rate in small volumes, reported by Ambjorn and Krasnitz.Comment: 14 pages, includes 5 figure
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