14,216 research outputs found
Image Ellipticity from Atmospheric Aberrations
We investigate the ellipticity of the point-spread function (PSF) produced by
imaging an unresolved source with a telescope, subject to the effects of
atmospheric turbulence. It is important to quantify these effects in order to
understand the errors in shape measurements of astronomical objects, such as
those used to study weak gravitational lensing of field galaxies. The PSF
modeling involves either a Fourier transform of the phase information in the
pupil plane or a ray-tracing approach, which has the advantage of requiring
fewer computations than the Fourier transform. Using a standard method,
involving the Gaussian weighted second moments of intensity, we then calculate
the ellipticity of the PSF patterns. We find significant ellipticity for the
instantaneous patterns (up to more than 10%). Longer exposures, which we
approximate by combining multiple (N) images from uncorrelated atmospheric
realizations, yield progressively lower ellipticity (as 1 / sqrt(N)). We also
verify that the measured ellipticity does not depend on the sampling interval
in the pupil plane using the Fourier method. However, we find that the results
using the ray-tracing technique do depend on the pupil sampling interval,
representing a gradual breakdown of the geometric approximation at high spatial
frequencies. Therefore, ray tracing is generally not an accurate method of
modeling PSF ellipticity induced by atmospheric turbulence unless some
additional procedure is implemented to correctly account for the effects of
high spatial frequency aberrations. The Fourier method, however, can be used
directly to accurately model PSF ellipticity, which can give insights into
errors in the statistics of field galaxy shapes used in studies of weak
gravitational lensing.Comment: 9 pages, 5 color figures (some reduced in size). Accepted for
publication in the Astrophysical Journa
Ab initio theory of Fano resonances in plasmonic nanostructures and metamaterials
An ab initio theory for Fano resonances in plasmonic nanostructures and
metamaterials is developed using Feshbach formalism. It reveals the role played
by the electromagnetic modes and material losses in the system, and enables the
engineering of Fano resonances in arbitrary geometries. A general formula for
the asymmetric resonance in a non-conservative system is derived. The influence
of the electromagnetic interactions on the resonance line shape is discussed
and it is shown that intrinsic losses drive the resonance contrast, while its
width is mostly determined by the coupling strength between the non-radiative
mode and the continuum. The analytical model is in perfect agreement with
numerical simulations.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figure
First experimental demonstration of temporal hypertelescope operation with a laboratory prototype
In this paper, we report the first experimental demonstration of a Temporal
HyperTelescope (THT). Our breadboard including 8 telescopes is firstly tested
in a manual cophasing configuration on a 1D object. The Point Spread Function
(PSF) is measured and exhibits a dynamics in the range of 300. A quantitative
analysis of the potential biases demonstrates that this limitation is related
to the residual phase fluctuation on each interferometric arm. Secondly, an
unbalanced binary star is imaged demonstrating the imaging capability of THT.
In addition, 2D PSF is recorded even if the telescope array is not optimized
for this purpose.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. 11 pages, 25 figure
Photonic crystal fibre source of photon pairs for quantum information processing
We demonstrate two key components for optical quantum information processing:
a bright source of heralded single photons; and a bright source of entangled
photon pairs. A pair of pump photons produces a correlated pair of photons at
widely spaced wavelengths (583 nm and 900 nm), via a four-wave
mixing process. We demonstrate a non-classical interference between heralded
photons from independent sources with a visibility of 95%, and an entangled
photon pair source, with a fidelity of 89% with a Bell state.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Factorization of finite temperature graphs in thermal QED
We extend our previous analysis of gauge and Dirac fields in the presence of
a chemical potential. We consider an alternate thermal operator which relates
in a simple way the Feynman graphs in QED at finite temperature and charge
density to those at zero temperature but non-zero chemical potential. Several
interesting features of such a factorization are discussed in the context of
the thermal photon and fermion self-energies.Comment: 4 page
Thermal Operator and Cutting Rules at Finite Temperature and Chemical Potential
In the context of scalar field theories, both real and complex, we derive the
cutting description at finite temperature (with zero/finite chemical potential)
from the cutting rules at zero temperature through the action of a simple
thermal operator. We give an alternative algebraic proof of the largest time
equation which brings out the underlying physics of such a relation. As an
application of the cutting description, we calculate the imaginary part of the
one loop retarded self-energy at zero/finite temperature and finite chemical
potential and show how this description can be used to calculate the dispersion
relation as well as the full physical self-energy of thermal particles.Comment: 17 pages, 13 figures. Added references, version to appear in Physical
Review
Will spin-relaxation times in molecular magnets permit quantum information processing?
Using X-band pulsed electron spin resonance, we report the intrinsic
spin-lattice () and phase coherence () relaxation times in molecular
nanomagnets for the first time. In Cr heterometallic wheels, with = Ni
and Mn, phase coherence relaxation is dominated by the coupling of the electron
spin to protons within the molecule. In deuterated samples reaches 3
s at low temperatures, which is several orders of magnitude longer than
the duration of spin manipulations, satisfying a prerequisite for the
deployment of molecular nanomagnets in quantum information applications.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, in press at Physical Review Letter
Thermal Operator Representation of Finite Temperature Graphs
Using the mixed space representation (t,p) in the context of scalar field
theories, we prove in a simple manner that the Feynman graphs at finite
temperature are related to the corresponding zero temperature diagrams through
a simple thermal operator, both in the imaginary time as well as in the real
time formalisms. This result is generalized to the case when there is a
nontrivial chemical potential present. Several interesting properties of the
thermal operator are also discussed.Comment: 20 pages, seven figure
The Dual Origin Of The Nitrogen Deficiency In Comets: Selective Volatile Trapping In The Nebula And Postaccretion Radiogenic Heating
We propose a scenario that explains the apparent nitrogen deficiency in comets in away that is consistent with the fact that the surfaces of Pluto and Triton are dominated by nitrogen-rich ice. We use a statistical thermodynamic model to investigate the composition of the successive multiple guest clathrates that may have formed during the cooling of the primordial nebula from the most abundant volatiles present in the gas phase. These clathrates agglomerated with the other ices (pure condensates or stoichiometric hydrates) and formed the building blocks of comets. We report that molecular nitrogen is a poor clathrate former, when we consider a plausible gas-phase composition of the primordial nebula. This implies that its trapping into cometesimals requires a low disk temperature (similar to 20 K) in order to allow the formation of its pure condensate. We find that it is possible to explain the lack of molecular nitrogen in comets as a consequence of their postformation internal heating engendered by the decay of short-lived radiogenic nuclides. This scenario is found to be consistent with the presence of nitrogen-rich ice covers on Pluto and Triton. Our model predicts that comets should present xenon-to-water and krypton-to-water ratios close to solar xenon-to-oxygen and krypton-to-oxygen ratios, respectively. In contrast, the argon-to-water ratio is predicted to be depleted by a factor of similar to 300 in comets compared to solar argon-to-oxygen, as a consequence of poor trapping efficiency and radiogenic heating.CNESJPLAstronom
Moving walls accelerate mixing
Mixing in viscous fluids is challenging, but chaotic advection in principle
allows efficient mixing. In the best possible scenario,the decay rate of the
concentration profile of a passive scalar should be exponential in time. In
practice, several authors have found that the no-slip boundary condition at the
walls of a vessel can slow down mixing considerably, turning an exponential
decay into a power law. This slowdown affects the whole mixing region, and not
just the vicinity of the wall. The reason is that when the chaotic mixing
region extends to the wall, a separatrix connects to it. The approach to the
wall along that separatrix is polynomial in time and dominates the long-time
decay. However, if the walls are moved or rotated, closed orbits appear,
separated from the central mixing region by a hyperbolic fixed point with a
homoclinic orbit. The long-time approach to the fixed point is exponential, so
an overall exponential decay is recovered, albeit with a thin unmixed region
near the wall.Comment: 17 pages, 13 figures. PDFLaTeX with RevTeX 4-1 styl
- …