30,169 research outputs found
Quantum behaviour of open pumped and damped Bose-Hubbard trimers
We propose and analyse analogs of optical cavities for atoms using three-well
inline Bose-Hubbard models with pumping and losses. With one well pumped and
one damped, we find that both the mean-field dynamics and the quantum
statistics show a qualitative dependence on the choice of damped well. The
systems we analyse remain far from equilibrium, although most do enter a
steady-state regime. We find quadrature squeezing, bipartite and tripartite
inseparability and entanglement, and states exhibiting the EPR paradox,
depending on the parameter regimes. We also discover situations where the
mean-field solutions of our models are noticeably different from the quantum
solutions for the mean fields. Due to recent experimental advances, it should
be possible to demonstrate the effects we predict and investigate in this
article.Comment: 20 pages, 8 figures, theoretica
Building a Sample of Distant Clusters of Galaxies
Candidate clusters of galaxies drawn from the sample identified from the
moderately deep I-band data of the ESO Imaging Survey (EIS), have been used for
follow-up optical/infrared imaging and spectroscopic observations. The
observations were conducted to assess the nature of these candidates over a
large range of redshifts. Currently, 163 EIS candidates have (V-I) colors, 15
have (I-K) and 65 cluster fields have been observed spectroscopically. From a
preliminary analysis of these data, we find that > 65% of the candidates
studied show strong evidence of being real physical associations, over the
redshift range 0.2<z<1.1. The evidence in some cases comes directly from
spectroscopic measurements, in others indirectly from the detection of
overdensities of objects with either the same color or the same photometric
redshift, or from a combination of color and spectroscopic information.
Preliminary results also suggest that the redshift derived from the
matched-filter algorithm is a reasonable measure of the cluster's redshift,
possibly overestimating it by Delta z ~0.1, at least for systems at z<0.7.
Overdensities of red objects have been detected in over 100 candidates, 38 of
which with estimated redshifts >0.6, and six candidates in the interval
0.45<z<0.81 have either been identified directly from measured redshifts or
have been confirmed by the measurement of at least one redshift for galaxies
located along a red-sequence typical of cluster early-type galaxies. Lastly,
five candidates among those already observed in the infrared have (I-Ks) colors
consistent with them being in the redshift interval 0.8<z<1.1. The sample of
"confirmed" clusters, already the largest of its kind in the southern
hemisphere, will be further enlarged by ongoing observations.Comment: To appear in "Large Scale Structure in the X-ray Universe", ed. M.
Plionis and I. Georgantopoulos (Paris: Editions Frontieres), in pres
Bright tripartite entanglement in triply concurrent parametric oscillation
We show that a novel optical parametric oscillator, based on concurrent
nonlinearities, can produce, above threshold, bright output beams
of macroscopic intensities which exhibit strong tripartite continuous-variable
entanglement. We also show that there are {\em two} ways that the system can
exhibit a new three-mode form of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox, and
calculate the extra-cavity fluctuation spectra that may be measured to verify
our predictions.Comment: title change, expanded intro and discussion of experimental aspects,
1 new figure. Conclusions unaltere
Global surface-ocean pCO2 and sea–air CO2 flux variability from an observation-driven ocean mixed-layer scheme
A temporally and spatially resolved estimate of the global surface-ocean CO<sub>2</sub> partial pressure field and the sea–air CO<sub>2</sub> flux is presented, obtained by fitting a simple data-driven diagnostic model of ocean mixed-layer biogeochemistry to surface-ocean CO<sub>2</sub> partial pressure data from the SOCAT v1.5 database. Results include seasonal, interannual, and short-term (daily) variations. In most regions, estimated seasonality is well constrained from the data, and compares well to the widely used monthly climatology by Takahashi et al. (2009). Comparison to independent data tentatively supports the slightly higher seasonal variations in our estimates in some areas. We also fitted the diagnostic model to atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> data. The results of this are less robust, but in those areas where atmospheric signals are not strongly influenced by land flux variability, their seasonality is nevertheless consistent with the results based on surface-ocean data. From a comparison with an independent seasonal climatology of surface-ocean nutrient concentration, the diagnostic model is shown to capture relevant surface-ocean biogeochemical processes reasonably well. Estimated interannual variations will be presented and discussed in a companion paper
The lost sunspot cycle: New support from Be10 measurements
It has been suggested that the deficit in the number of spots on the surface
of the Sun between 1790 and 1830, known as the Dalton minimum, contained an
extra cycle that was not identified in the original sunspot record by Wolf.
Though this cycle would be shorter and weaker than the average solar cycle, it
would shift the magnetic parity of the solar magnetic field of the earlier
cycles. This extra cycle is sometimes referred to as the 'lost solar cycle' or
'cycle 4b'. Here we reanalyse Be10 measurements with annual resolution from the
NGRIP ice core in Greenland in order to investigate if the hypothesis regarding
a lost sunspot cycle is supported by these measurements. Specifically, we make
use of the fact that the Galactic cosmic rays, responsible for forming Be10 in
the Earth's atmosphere, are affected differently by the open solar magnetic
field during even and odd solar cycles. This fact enables us to evaluate if the
numbering of cycles earlier than cycle 5 is correct. For the evaluation, we use
Bayesian analysis, which reveals that the lost sunspot cycle hypothesis is
likely to be correct. We also discuss if this cycle 4b is a real cycle, or a
phase catastrophe, and what implications this has for our understanding of
stellar activity cycles in general.Comment: accepted for publication in A&
Entanglement properties of degenerate four-wave mixing of matter-waves in a periodic potential
In a recent experiment Campbell et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 020406 (2006)]
observed degenerate four-wave mixing of matter-waves in a one-dimensional
optical lattice, a process with potential for generating entanglement among
atoms. We analyse the essential quantum features of the experiment to show that
entanglement is created between the quadratures of the two scattered atomic
clouds and is a true many-body (rather than two-body) effect. We demonstrate a
significant violation of entanglement inequalities that is robust to a moderate
level of coherent seeding. The system is thus a promising candididate for
generating macroscopically entangled atomic samples.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Urban environmental health applications of remote sensing
An urban area was studied through the use of the inventory-by-surrogate method rather than by direct interpretation of photographic imagery. Prior uses of remote sensing in urban and public research are examined. The effects of crowding, poor housing conditions, air pollution, and street conditions on public health are considered. Color infrared photography was used to categorize land use features and the grid method was used in photo interpretation analysis. The incidence of shigella and salmonella, hepatitis, meningitis, tuberculosis, myocardial infarction and veneral disease were studied, together with mortality and morbidity rates. Sample census data were randomly collected and validated. The hypothesis that land use and residential quality are associated with and act as an influence upon health and physical well-being was studied and confirmed
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