1,457 research outputs found
All-Optical Production of a Degenerate Fermi Gas
We achieve degeneracy in a mixture of the two lowest hyperfine states of
Li by direct evaporation in a CO laser trap, yielding the first
all-optically produced degenerate Fermi gas. More than atoms are
confined at temperatures below K at full trap depth, where the Fermi
temperature for each state is K. This degenerate two-component mixture
is ideal for exploring mechanisms of superconductivity ranging from Cooper
pairing to Bose condensation of strongly bound pairs.Comment: 4 pgs RevTeX with 2 eps figs, to be published in Phys. Rev. Let
The ecology of seamounts: structure, function, and human impacts.
In this review of seamount ecology, we address a number of key scientific issues concerning the structure and function of benthic communities, human impacts, and seamount management and conservation. We consider whether community composition and diversity differ between seamounts and continental slopes, how important dispersal capabilities are in seamount connectivity, what environmental factors drive species composition and diversity, whether seamounts are centers of enhanced biological productivity, and whether they have unique trophic architecture. We discuss how vulnerable seamount communities are to fishing and mining, and how we can balance exploitation of resources and conservation of habitat. Despite considerable advances in recent years, there remain many questions about seamount ecosystems that need closer integration of molecular, oceanographic, and ecological research
The Cooperative Participatory Evaluation of Renewable Technologies on Ecosystem Services (CORPORATES)
Publisher PD
Neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin: its response to hypoxia and association with acute mountain sickness.
Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) is a common clinical challenge at high altitude (HA). A point-of-care biochemical marker for AMS could have widespread utility. Neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) rises in response to renal injury, inflammation and oxidative stress. We investigated whether NGAL rises with HA and if this rise was related to AMS, hypoxia or exercise. NGAL was assayed in a cohort (n = 22) undertaking 6 hours exercise at near sea-level (SL); a cohort (n = 14) during 3 hours of normobaric hypoxia (FiO2 11.6%) and on two trekking expeditions (n = 52) to over 5000 m. NGAL did not change with exercise at SL or following normobaric hypoxia. During the trekking expeditions NGAL levels (ng/ml, mean ± sd, range) rose significantly (P < 0.001) from 68 ± 14 (60-102) at 1300 m to 183 ± 107 (65-519); 143 ± 66 (60-315) and 150 ± 71 (60-357) at 3400 m, 4270 m and 5150 m respectively. At 5150 m there was a significant difference in NGAL between those with severe AMS (n = 7), mild AMS (n = 16) or no AMS (n = 23): 201 ± 34 versus 171 ± 19 versus 124 ± 12 respectively (P = 0.009 for severe versus no AMS; P = 0.026 for mild versus no AMS). In summary, NGAL rises in response to prolonged hypobaric hypoxia and demonstrates a relationship to the presence and severity of AMS
Creation of ultracold molecules from a Fermi gas of atoms
Since the realization of Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) in atomic gases an
experimental challenge has been the production of molecular gases in the
quantum regime. A promising approach is to create the molecular gas directly
from an ultracold atomic gas; for example, atoms in a BEC have been coupled to
electronic ground-state molecules through photoassociation as well as through a
magnetic-field Feshbach resonance. The availability of atomic Fermi gases
provides the exciting prospect of coupling fermionic atoms to bosonic
molecules, and thus altering the quantum statistics of the system. This
Fermi-Bose coupling is closely related to the pairing mechanism for a novel
fermionic superfluid proposed to occur near a Feshbach resonance. Here we
report the creation and quantitative characterization of exotic, ultracold
K molecules. Starting with a quantum degenerate Fermi gas of atoms
at T < 150 nanoKelvin we scan over a Feshbach resonance to adiabatically create
over a quarter million trapped molecules, which we can convert back to atoms by
reversing the scan. The small binding energy of the molecules is controlled by
detuning from the Feshbach resonance and can be varied over a wide range. We
directly detect these weakly bound molecules through rf photodissociation
spectra that probe the molecular wavefunction and yield binding energies that
are consistent with theory
Ultrastable CO2 Laser Trapping of Lithium Fermions
We demonstrate an ultrastable CO2 laser trap that provides tight confinement
of neutral atoms with negligible optical scattering and minimal laser-noise-
induced heating. Using this method, fermionic 6Li atoms are stored in a 0.4 mK
deep well with a 1/e trap lifetime of 300 sec, consistent with a background
pressure of 10^(-11) Torr. To our knowledge, this is the longest storage time
ever achieved with an all-optical trap, comparable to the best reported
magnetic traps.Comment: 4 pages using REVTeX, 1 eps figur
Resonant control of elastic collisions in an optically trapped Fermi gas of atoms
We have loaded an ultracold gas of fermionic atoms into a far off resonance
optical dipole trap and precisely controlled the spin composition of the
trapped gas. We have measured a magnetic-field Feshbach resonance between atoms
in the two lowest energy spin-states, |9/2, -9/2> and |9/2, -7/2>. The
resonance peaks at a magnetic field of 201.5 plus or minus 1.4 G and has a
width of 8.0 plus or minus 1.1 G. Using this resonance we have changed the
elastic collision cross section in the gas by nearly 3 orders of magnitude.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
All Optical Formation of an Atomic Bose-Einstein Condensate
We have created a Bose-Einstein condensate of 87Rb atoms directly in an
optical trap. We employ a quasi-electrostatic dipole force trap formed by two
crossed CO_2 laser beams. Loading directly from a sub-doppler laser-cooled
cloud of atoms results in initial phase space densities of ~1/200.
Evaporatively cooling through the BEC transition is achieved by lowering the
power in the trapping beams over ~ 2 s. The resulting condensates are F=1
spinors with 3.5 x 10^4 atoms distributed between the m_F = (-1,0,1) states.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev. Let
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