Inverse magnetic catalysis and regularization in the quark-meson model

Motivated by recent work on inverse magnetic catalysis at finite temperature, we study the quark-meson model using both dimensional regularization and a sharp cutoff. We calculate the critical temperature for the chiral transition as a function of the Yukawa coupling in the mean-field approximation varying the renormalization scale and the value of the ultraviolet cutoff. We show that the results depend sensitively on how one treats the fermionic vacuum fluctuations in the model and in particular on the regulator used. Finally, we explore a $B$-dependent transition temperature for the Polyakov loop potential $T_0(B)$ using the functional renormalization group. These results show that even arbitrary freedom in the function $T_0(B)$ does not allow for a decreasing chiral transition temperature as a function of $B$. This is in agreement with previous mean-field calculations.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figure

Chiral and deconfinement transitions in a magnetic background using the functional renormalization group with the Polyakov loop

We use the Polyakov loop coupled quark-meson model to approximate low energy QCD and present results for the chiral and deconfinement transitions in the presence of a constant magnetic background $B$ at finite temperature $T$ and baryon chemical potential $\mu_B$. We investigate effects of various gluoni potentials on the deconfinement transition with and without a fermionic backreaction at finite $B$. Additionally we investigate the effect of the Polyakov loop on the chiral phase transition, finding that magnetic catalysis at low $\mu_B$ is present, but weakened by the Polyakov loop.Comment: 17 pages and 8 figs. v2: added ref

Eskimos, Reindeer, and Land

The following report is based on an interdisciplinary research study undertaken to investigate the social, economic, and cultural aspects of reindeer herding in northwestern Alaska. The primary purpose of the research project was to gather data on the past and present reindeer herding practices of the region, but also to seek information on herding and land uses, the future potential of this essentially Native industry, and its impacts on the people and economy of the area.National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, and carried out by staff of the University of Alaska, Fairbanks

Reconnection in Marginally Collisionless Accretion Disk Coronae

We point out that a conventional construction placed upon observations of accreting black holes, in which their nonthermal X-ray spectra are produced by inverse comptonization in a coronal plasma, suggests that the plasma is marginally collisionless. Recent developments in plasma physics indicate that fast reconnection takes place only in collisionless plasmas. As has recently been suggested for the Sun's corona, such marginal states may result from a combination of energy balance and the requirements of fast magnetic reconnection.Comment: Revised in response to referee. Accepted ApJ. 11 pp., no figures. Uses aastex 5.0

Subband adaptive filtering for acoustic echo control using allpass polyphase IIR filterbanks

Published versio

Dipolar atomic spin ensembles in a double-well potential

We experimentally study the spin dynamics of mesoscopic ensembles of ultracold magnetic spin-3 atoms located in two separated wells of an optical dipole trap. We use a radio-frequency sweep to selectively flip the spin of the atoms in one of the wells, which produces two separated spin domains of opposite polarization. We observe that these engineered spin domains are metastable with respect to the long-range magnetic dipolar interactions between the two ensembles. The absence of inter-cloud dipolar spin-exchange processes reveals a classical behavior, in contrast to previous results with atoms loaded in an optical lattice. When we merge the two subsystems, we observe spin-exchange dynamics due to contact interactions which enable the first determination of the s-wave scattering length of 52Cr atoms in the S=0 molecular channel a_0=13.5^{+11}_{-10.5}a_B (where a_B is the Bohr radius).Comment: 9 pages, 7 figure

Three Additional Quiescent Low-Mass X-ray Binary Candidates in 47 Tucanae

We identify through their X-ray spectra one certain (W37) and two probable (W17 and X4) quiescent low-mass X-ray binaries (qLMXBs) containing neutron stars in a long Chandra X-ray exposure of the globular cluster 47 Tucanae, in addition to the two previously known qLMXBs. W37's spectrum is dominated by a blackbody-like component consistent with radiation from the hydrogen atmosphere of a 10 km neutron star. W37's lightcurve shows strong X-ray variability which we attribute to variations in its absorbing column depth, and eclipses with a probable 3.087 hour period. For most of our exposures, W37's blackbody-like emission (assumed to be from the neutron star surface) is almost completely obscured, yet some soft X-rays (of uncertain origin) remain. Two additional candidates, W17 and X4, present X-ray spectra dominated by a harder component, fit by a power-law of photon index ~1.6-3. An additional soft component is required for both W17 and X4, which can be fit with a 10 km hydrogen-atmosphere neutron star model. X4 shows significant variability, which may arise from either its power-law or hydrogen-atmosphere spectral component. Both W17 and X4 show rather low X-ray luminosities, Lx(0.5-10 keV)~5*10^{31} ergs/s. All three candidate qLMXBs would be difficult to identify in other globular clusters, suggesting an additional reservoir of fainter qLMXBs in globular clusters that may be of similar numbers as the group of previously identified objects. The number of millisecond pulsars inferred to exist in 47 Tuc is less than 10 times larger than the number of qLMXBs in 47 Tuc, indicating that for typical inferred lifetimes of 10 and 1 Gyr respectively, their birthrates are comparable.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. 13 pages, 7 figures (2 color