531 research outputs found
Creating long-lived neutral-atom traps in a cryogenic environment
We describe techniques for creating long-lived magneto-optical and magnetostatic traps for neutral atoms. These traps exist in a sealed cryogenic environment with a temperature near 4 K, where the background gas pressure can be extremely low. To date we have observed cesium magneto-optical traps with background-limited lifetimes in excess of 1 h, and magnetostatic traps with lifetimes of nearly 10 min. From these observations we use the known He-Cs van der Waals collision cross section to infer typical background gas pressures in our apparatus below 4×10^(-12) Torr. With hardware improvements we expect this pressure can be made much lower, extending the magnetostatic-trap lifetimes one to two orders of magnitude. Furthermore, with a cryogenic system one can use superconducting magnets and SQUID detectors to trap and to nondestructively sense spin-polarized atoms. With superconducting microstructures one can achieve very large magnetic-field gradients and curvatures, as high as ∼10^6 G/cm and ∼10^9 G/cm^2, respectively, for use in magnetic and magneto-optical traps
Stability of Magneto-optical Traps with Large Field Gradients: Limits on the Tight Confinement of Single Atoms
We report measurements of the stability of magneto-optical traps (MOTs) for neutral atoms in the limit of tight confinement of a single atom. For quadrupole magnetic field gradients at the trap center greater than ∼1 kG/cm, we find that stochastic diffusion of atoms out of the trapping volume becomes the dominant particle loss mechanism, ultimately limiting the MOT size to greater than ∼5 μm. We measured and modeled the diffusive loss rate as a function of laser power, detuning, and field gradient for trapped cesium atoms. In addition, for as few as two atoms, the collisional loss rates become very high for tightly confined traps, allowing the direct observation of isolated two-body atomic collisions in a MOT
Integrated semantic math I/O in ActiveMath: an evaluation
The ActiveMath system is a web-based learning environment that
integrates static mathematical content and interactive exercises with evaluated
mathematical input from learners. Mathematical formulæ in ActiveMath
are encoded in OpenMath and presented with regional notations.
Users can input formulæ using the same notations via a formula
editor or using plain-text input. Input to the editor is assisted by allowing
users to copy formulæ from other parts of ActiveMath.
In this paper we will describe how all these components are integrated
and work within the system. We will then discuss recent evaluations
of the formulæ input methods run within the LeActiveMath project
in Malaga and Edinburgh. The results indicate that, even though the
assisted input methods provided by the Formula Editor and copy-andpaste
are appreciated by users the most popular input method remains
the plain text input fields. Proposals are made for how direct input of
text can be facilitated and assisted in future formulæ input systems
Search Interfaces for Mathematicians
Access to mathematical knowledge has changed dramatically in recent years,
therefore changing mathematical search practices. Our aim with this study is to
scrutinize professional mathematicians' search behavior. With this
understanding we want to be able to reason why mathematicians use which tool
for what search problem in what phase of the search process. To gain these
insights we conducted 24 repertory grid interviews with mathematically inclined
people (ranging from senior professional mathematicians to non-mathematicians).
From the interview data we elicited patterns for the user group
"mathematicians" that can be applied when understanding design issues or
creating new designs for mathematical search interfaces.Comment: conference article "CICM'14: International Conference on Computer
Mathematics 2014", DML-Track: Digital Math Libraries 17 page
Gravitational Helioseismology?
The magnitudes of the external gravitational perturbations associated with
the normal modes of the Sun are evaluated to determine whether these solar
oscillations could be observed with the proposed Laser Interferometer Space
Antenna (LISA), a network of satellites designed to detect gravitational
radiation. The modes of relevance to LISA---the , low-order , and
-modes---have not been conclusively observed to date. We find that the
energy in these modes must be greater than about in order
to be observable above the LISA detector noise. These mode energies are larger
than generally expected, but are much smaller than the current observational
upper limits. LISA may be confusion-limited at the relevant frequencies due to
the galactic background from short-period white dwarf binaries. Present
estimates of the number of these binaries would require the solar modes to have
energies above about to be observable by LISA.Comment: 8 pages; prepared with REVTEX 3.0 LaTeX macro
A Survey on Retrieval of Mathematical Knowledge
We present a short survey of the literature on indexing and retrieval of
mathematical knowledge, with pointers to 72 papers and tentative taxonomies of
both retrieval problems and recurring techniques.Comment: CICM 2015, 20 page
The freedom to extend OpenMath and its utility
This version is made available in accordance with publisher policies. Please cite only the published version using the reference above
Teaching physics with 670 nm diode lasers—construction of stabilized lasers and lithium cells
We describe the construction and operation of stabilized 670 nm diode lasers for use in undergraduate teaching labs. Because they emit low‐power visible radiation, 670 nm lasers are safe and aesthetically pleasing, and thus are an attractive alternative to near‐infrared diode lasers in the undergraduate laboratory. We also describe the fabrication of a robust and reliable lithium atomic vapor cell, which can be used with the 670 nm diode lasers to perform a variety of atomic physics experiments
Core properties of alpha Cen A using asteroseismology
A set of long and nearly continuous observations of alpha Centauri A should
allow us to derive an accurate set of asteroseismic constraints to compare to
models, and make inferences on the internal structure of our closest stellar
neighbour. We intend to improve the knowledge of the interior of alpha Centauri
A by determining the nature of its core. We combined the radial velocity time
series obtained in May 2001 with three spectrographs in Chile and Australia:
CORALIE, UVES, and UCLES. The resulting combined time series has a length of
12.45 days and contains over 10,000 data points and allows to greatly reduce
the daily alias peaks in the power spectral window. We detected 44 frequencies
that are in good overall agreement with previous studies, and found that 14 of
these show possible rotational splittings. New values for the large and small
separations have been derived. A comparison with stellar models indicates that
the asteroseismic constraints determined in this study allows us to set an
upper limit to the amount of convective-core overshooting needed to model stars
of mass and metallicity similar to those of alpha Cen A.Comment: 8 pages, 11 figures, A&A accepte
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