Analysis of the measurements of anisotropic a.c. vortex resistivity in tilted magnetic fields

Measurements of the high-frequency complex resistivity in superconductors are a tool often used to obtain the vortex parameters, such as the vortex viscosity, the pinning constant and the depinning frequency. In anisotropic superconductors, the extraction of these quantities from the measurements faces new difficulties due to the tensor nature of the electromagnetic problem. The problem is specifically intricate when the magnetic field is tilted with respect to the crystallographic axes. Partial solutions exist in the free-flux-flow (no pinning) and Campbell (pinning dominated) regimes. In this paper we develop a full tensor model for the vortex motion complex resistivity, including flux-flow, pinning, and creep. We give explicit expressions for the tensors involved. We obtain that, despite the complexity of the physics, some parameters remain scalar in nature. We show that under specific circumstances the directly measured quantities do not reflect the true vortex parameters, and we give procedures to derive the true vortex parameters from measurements taken with arbitrary field orientations. Finally, we discuss the applicability of the angular scaling properties to the measured and transformed vortex parameters and we exploit these properties as a tool to unveil the existence of directional pinning.Comment: 21 pages, 3 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1402.316

Towards establishing Lepton Flavour Universality violation in Bˉ→Kˉ∗ℓ+ℓ−\bar{B}\to \bar{K}^*\ell^+\ell^- decays

Rare semileptonic $b \to s \ell^+ \ell^-$ transitions provide some of the most promising frameworks to search for new physics effects. Recent analyses of these decays have indicated an anomalous behaviour in measurements of angular distributions of the decay $B^0\to K^*\mu^+\mu^-$ and lepton-flavour-universality observables. Unambiguously establishing if these deviations have a common nature is of paramount importance in order to understand the observed pattern. We propose a novel approach to independently and complementary probe this hypothesis by performing a simultaneous amplitude analysis of $\bar{B}^0 \to \bar{K}^{*0} \mu^+\mu^-$ and $\bar{B}^0 \to \bar{K}^{*0} e^+e^-$ decays. This method enables the direct determination of observables that encode potential non-equal couplings of muons and electrons, and are found to be insensitive to nonperturbative QCD effects. If current hints of new physics are confirmed, our approach could allow an early discovery of physics beyond the standard model with LHCb run II data sets.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures. Matching the journal versio

zfit: scalable pythonic fitting

Statistical modeling is a key element in many scientific fields and especially in High-Energy Physics (HEP) analysis. The standard framework to perform this task in HEP is the C++ ROOT/RooFit toolkit; with Python bindings that are only loosely integrated into the scientific Python ecosystem. In this paper, zfit, a new alternative to RooFit written in pure Python, is presented. Most of all, zfit provides a well defined high-level API and workflow for advanced model building and fitting, together with an implementation on top of TensorFlow, allowing a transparent usage of CPUs and GPUs. It is designed to be extendable in a very simple fashion, allowing the usage of cutting-edge developments from the scientific Python ecosystem in a transparent way. The main features of zfit are introduced, and its extension to data analysis, especially in the context of HEP experiments, is discussed.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figure

Optimisation of Low-Thrust and Hybrid Earth-Moon Transfers

This paper presents an optimization procedure to generate fast and low-∆v Earth-Moon transfer trajectories, by exploiting the multi-body dynamics of the Sun-Earth-Moon system. Ideal (first-guess) trajectories are generated at first, using two coupled planar circular restricted three-body problems, one representing the Earth-Moon system, and one representing the Sun-Earth. The trajectories consist of a first ballistic arc in the Sun-Earth system, and a second ballistic arc in the Earth-Moon system. The two are connected at a patching point at one end (with an instantaneous ∆v), and they are bounded at Earth and Moon respectively at the other end. Families of these trajectories are found by means of an evolutionary optimization method. Subsequently, they are used as first-guess for solving an optimal control problem, in which the full three-dimensional 4-body problem is introduced and the patching point is set free. The objective of the optimisation is to reduce the total ∆v, and the time of flight, together with introducing the constraints on the transfer boundary conditions and of the considered propulsion technology. Sets of different optimal trajectories are presented, which represents trade-off options between ∆v and time of flight. These optimal transfers include conventional solar-electric low-thrust and hybrid chemical/solar-electric high/low-thrust, envisaging future spacecraft that can carry both systems. A final comparison is made between the optimal transfers found and only chemical high-thrust optimal solutions retrieved from literature

PROJECT ÉVORA 3D: RESEARCH, METHODOLOGY, RECONSTRUCTION AND VISUALIZATION

The Évora 3D project was born from the collaboration between the Municipality and the University of Évora, through the two research centres of CIDEHUS1 and CHAIA2, with the objective of completing a virtual reconstruction of the city in a longtime frame. In the national and international context, the use of new technologies has led to the diversification of this type of proposal, both at the urban level and in the reconstruction of concrete spaces. The application of this same model to Évora, contemplating several chronological layers, seems to impose itself in a city that, in the medieval and modern periods, was one of the most important of the kingdom, as Court city, and that today is classified as World Heritage Site

Vortex pinning and flux flow microwave studies of coated conductors

Demanding microwave applications in a magnetic field require the material optimization not only in zero-field but, more important, in the in-field flux motion dominated regime. However, the effect of artificial pinning centers (APC) remains unclear at high frequency. Moreover, in coated conductors the evaluation of the high frequency material properties is difficult due to the complicated electromagnetic problem of a thin superconducting film on a buffered metal substrate. In this paper we present an experimental study at 48 GHz of 150-200 nm YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-x}$ coated conductors, with and without APCs, on buffered Ni-5at%W tapes. By properly addressing the electromagnetic problem of the extraction of the superconductor parameters from the measured overall surface impedance $Z$, we are able to extract and to comment on the London penetration depth, the flux flow resistivity and the pinning constant, highlighting the effect of artificial pinning centers in these samples.Comment: 5 pages, IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond., accepted for publication (2019

Surface impedance measurements on Nb3_{3}Sn at high magnetic fields

Nb$_{3}$Sn is a superconductor of great relevance for perspective RF applications. We present for the first time surface impedance $Z_s$ measurements at 15 GHz and low RF field amplitude on Nb$_{3}$Sn in high magnetic fields up to 12 T, with the aim of increasing the knowledge of Nb$_{3}$Sn behavior in such conditions. $Z_s$ is a fundamental material parameter that directly gives useful information about the dissipative and reactive phenomena when the superconductor is subjected to high-frequency excitations. Therefore, we present an analysis of the measured $Z_s$ with the aim of extracting interesting data about pinning in Nb$_{3}$Sn at high frequencies. From $Z_s$ we extract the vortex motion complex resistivity to obtain the $r$-parameter and the depinning frequency $\nu_p$ in high magnetic fields. The comparison of the results with the literature shows that the measured $\nu_p$ on bulk Nb$_{3}$Sn is several times greater than that of pure Nb. This demonstrates how Nb$_{3}$Sn can be a good candidate for RF technological applications, also in high magnetic fields.Comment: ASC 2018 conference, accepted in IEEE Trans Appl Supercon

Measurements of microwave vortex response in dc magnetic fields in Tl2_2Ba2_2CaCu2_2O8+x_{8+x} films

There is a renewed interest in superconductors for high-frequency applications, leading to a reconsideration of already known low-$T_c$ and high-$T_c$ materials. In this view, we present an experimental investigation of the millimeter-wave response in moderate magnetic fields of Tl$_2$Ba$_2$CaCu$_2$O$_{8+x}$ superconducting films with the aim of identifying the mechanisms of the vortex-motion-induced response. We measure the dc magnetic-field-dependent change of the surface impedance, $\Delta Z_s(H) = \Delta R_s(H) + i\Delta X_s(H)$ at 48 GHz by means of the dielectric resonator method. We find that the overall response is made up of several contributions, with different weights depending on the temperature and field: a possible contribution from Josephson or Abrikosov-Josephson fluxons at low fields; a seemingly conventional vortex dynamics at higher fields; a significant pair breaking in the temperature region close to $T_c$. We extract the vortex motion depinning frequency $f_p$, which attains surprisingly high values. However, by exploiting the generalized model for relaxational dynamics we show that this result come from a combination of a pinning constant $k_p$ arising from moderate pinning, and a vortex viscosity $\eta$ with anomalously small values. This latter fact, implying large dissipation, is likely a result from a peculiar microscopic structure and thus poses severe limits to the application of Tl$_2$Ba$_2$CaCu$_2$O$_{8+x}$ in a magnetic field.Comment: Presented at Applied Superconductivity Conference, Seattle (US) 2018. Accepted for publication on IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercon

Frequency span optimization for asymmetric resonance curve fitting

The wide application of the modern resonant measurement techniques makes all the steps of the measuring process, including data acquisition more efficient and reliable. Here we investigate the multidimensional space of the parameters to determine the optimum span for resonant measurements. The study concentrated on experimental systems with standard performance and capabilities. We determine the range of the optimum span for the resonant frequency and quality factor by simulating and fitting resonant curves with different levels of asymmetry.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, Accepted to IEEE I2MTC 2021 conferenc

Types, equations, dimensions and the Pi theorem

The languages of mathematical physics and modelling are endowed with a rich "grammar of dimensions" that common abstractions of programming languages fail to represent. We propose a dependently typed domain-specific language (embedded in Idris) that captures this grammar. We apply it to explain basic notions of dimensional analysis and Buckingham's Pi theorem. We hope that the language makes mathematical physics more accessible to computer scientists and functional programming more palatable to modelers and physicists.Comment: Submitted for publication in the "Journal of Functional Programming" in August 202