1,005 research outputs found
Fermi Surface Measurements on the Low Carrier Density Ferromagnet Ca1-xLaxB6 and SrB6
Recently it has been discovered that weak ferromagnetism of a dilute 3D
electron gas develops on the energy scale of the Fermi temperature in some of
the hexaborides; that is, the Curie temperature approximately equals the Fermi
temperature. We report the results of de Haas-van Alphen experiments on two
concentrations of La-doped CaB6 as well as Ca-deficient Ca1-dB6 and
Sr-deficient Sr1-dB6. The results show that a Fermi surface exists in each case
and that there are significant electron-electron interactions in the low
density electron gas.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, submitted to PR
Theory of High \tc Ferromagnetism in family: A case of Doped Spin-1 Mott insulator in a Valence Bond Solid Phase
Doped divalent hexaborides such as exhibit high \tc
ferromagnetism. We isolate a degenerate pair of -orbitals of boron with two
valence electrons, invoke electron correlation and Hund coupling, to suggest
that the undoped state is better viewed as a spin-1 Mott insulator; it is
predicted to be a type of 3d Haldane gap phase with a spin gap ,
much smaller than the charge gap of seen in ARPES. The
experimentally seen high \tc `ferromagnetism' is argued to be a complex
magnetic order in disguise - either a canted 6-sublattice AFM ()
order or its quantum melted version, a chiral spin liquid state, arising from a
type of double exchange mechanism.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures; minor corrections, references adde
Relations between macroscopic and microscopic adhesion of Streptococcus mitis strains to surfaces
Application of physico-chemical models to describe bacterial adhesion to surfaces has hitherto only been partly successful due to the structural and chemical heterogeneities of bacterial surfaces, which remain largely unaccounted for in macroscopic physico-chemical characterizations of the cell surfaces. In this study, the authors attempted to correlate microscopic adhesion of a collection of nine Streptococcus mitis strains to the negatively charged, hydrophilic silicon nitride tip of an atomic force microscope (AFM) with macroscopic adhesion of the strains to a negatively charged, hydrophilic glass in a parallel-plate flow chamber. The repulsive force probed by AFM upon approach of the tip to a bacterial cell surface ranged from 1·7 to 7·7 nN depending on the strain considered and was found to correspond to an activation barrier, governing initial, macroscopic adhesion of the organisms to the glass surface. Moreover, maximum distances at which attractive forces were probed by the AFM upon retraction of the tip (120 to 1186 nm) were related to the area blocked by an adhering bacterium, i.e. the distance kept between adhering bacteria. Bacterial desorption could not be related to adhesive forces as probed by the AFM, possibly due to the distinct nature of the desorption process occurring in the parallel-plate flow chamber and the forced detachment in AFM
Dynamical mean-field theory of spiking neuron ensembles: response to a single spike with independent noises
Dynamics of an ensemble of -unit FitzHugh-Nagumo (FN) neurons subject to
white noises has been studied by using a semi-analytical dynamical mean-field
(DMF) theory in which the original -dimensional {\it stochastic}
differential equations are replaced by 8-dimensional {\it deterministic}
differential equations expressed in terms of moments of local and global
variables. Our DMF theory, which assumes weak noises and the Gaussian
distribution of state variables, goes beyond weak couplings among constituent
neurons. By using the expression for the firing probability due to an applied
single spike, we have discussed effects of noises, synaptic couplings and the
size of the ensemble on the spike timing precision, which is shown to be
improved by increasing the size of the neuron ensemble, even when there are no
couplings among neurons. When the coupling is introduced, neurons in ensembles
respond to an input spike with a partial synchronization. DMF theory is
extended to a large cluster which can be divided into multiple sub-clusters
according to their functions. A model calculation has shown that when the noise
intensity is moderate, the spike propagation with a fairly precise timing is
possible among noisy sub-clusters with feed-forward couplings, as in the
synfire chain. Results calculated by our DMF theory are nicely compared to
those obtained by direct simulations. A comparison of DMF theory with the
conventional moment method is also discussed.Comment: 29 pages, 2 figures; augmented the text and added Appendice
Three-body structure of low-lying 18Ne states
We investigate to what extent 18Ne can be descibed as a three-body system
made of an inert 16O-core and two protons. We compare to experimental data and
occasionally to shell model results. We obtain three-body wave functions with
the hyperspherical adiabatic expansion method. We study the spectrum of 18Ne,
the structure of the different states and the predominant transition strengths.
Two 0+, two 2+, and one 4+ bound states are found where they are all known
experimentally. Also one 3+ close to threshold is found and several negative
parity states, 1-, 3-, 0-, 2-, most of them bound with respect to the 16O
excited 3- state. The structures are extracted as partial wave components, as
spatial sizes of matter and charge, and as probability distributions.
Electromagnetic decay rates are calculated for these states. The dominating
decay mode for the bound states is E2 and occasionally also M1.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures (version to appear in EPJA
FCNC Top Quark Decays in Extra Dimensions
The flavor changing neutral top quark decay t -> c X is computed, where X is
a neutral standard model particle, in a extended model with a single extra
dimension. The cases for the photon, X= \gammaR_\xi gauge. We find that
the branching ratios can be enhanced by the dynamics originated in the extra
dimension. In the limit where 1/R >> ->, we have found Br(t -> c \gamma) \simeq
10^{-10} for 1/R = 0.5 TeV. For the decay t -> c H, we have found Br(t -> cH)
\simeq 10^{-10} for a low Higgs mass value. The branching ratios go to zero
when 1/R -> \infty.Comment: Accepted to be published in the Europ. Phys. Jour. C; 16 pages, 2
figure
Update on the correlation of the highest energy cosmic rays with nearby extragalactic matter
Data collected by the Pierre Auger Observatory through 31 August 2007 showed
evidence for anisotropy in the arrival directions of cosmic rays above the
Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuz'min energy threshold, \nobreak{eV}. The
anisotropy was measured by the fraction of arrival directions that are less
than from the position of an active galactic nucleus within 75 Mpc
(using the V\'eron-Cetty and V\'eron catalog). An updated
measurement of this fraction is reported here using the arrival directions of
cosmic rays recorded above the same energy threshold through 31 December 2009.
The number of arrival directions has increased from 27 to 69, allowing a more
precise measurement. The correlating fraction is , compared
with expected for isotropic cosmic rays. This is down from the early
estimate of . The enlarged set of arrival directions is
examined also in relation to other populations of nearby extragalactic objects:
galaxies in the 2 Microns All Sky Survey and active galactic nuclei detected in
hard X-rays by the Swift Burst Alert Telescope. A celestial region around the
position of the radiogalaxy Cen A has the largest excess of arrival directions
relative to isotropic expectations. The 2-point autocorrelation function is
shown for the enlarged set of arrival directions and compared to the isotropic
expectation.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astroparticle Physics on 31 August 201
Anisotropy studies around the galactic centre at EeV energies with the Auger Observatory
Data from the Pierre Auger Observatory are analyzed to search for
anisotropies near the direction of the Galactic Centre at EeV energies. The
exposure of the surface array in this part of the sky is already significantly
larger than that of the fore-runner experiments. Our results do not support
previous findings of localized excesses in the AGASA and SUGAR data. We set an
upper bound on a point-like flux of cosmic rays arriving from the Galactic
Centre which excludes several scenarios predicting sources of EeV neutrons from
Sagittarius . Also the events detected simultaneously by the surface and
fluorescence detectors (the `hybrid' data set), which have better pointing
accuracy but are less numerous than those of the surface array alone, do not
show any significant localized excess from this direction.Comment: Matches published versio
The Fluorescence Detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory
The Pierre Auger Observatory is a hybrid detector for ultra-high energy
cosmic rays. It combines a surface array to measure secondary particles at
ground level together with a fluorescence detector to measure the development
of air showers in the atmosphere above the array. The fluorescence detector
comprises 24 large telescopes specialized for measuring the nitrogen
fluorescence caused by charged particles of cosmic ray air showers. In this
paper we describe the components of the fluorescence detector including its
optical system, the design of the camera, the electronics, and the systems for
relative and absolute calibration. We also discuss the operation and the
monitoring of the detector. Finally, we evaluate the detector performance and
precision of shower reconstructions.Comment: 53 pages. Submitted to Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics
Research Section
Advanced functionality for radio analysis in the Offline software framework of the Pierre Auger Observatory
The advent of the Auger Engineering Radio Array (AERA) necessitates the
development of a powerful framework for the analysis of radio measurements of
cosmic ray air showers. As AERA performs "radio-hybrid" measurements of air
shower radio emission in coincidence with the surface particle detectors and
fluorescence telescopes of the Pierre Auger Observatory, the radio analysis
functionality had to be incorporated in the existing hybrid analysis solutions
for fluoresence and surface detector data. This goal has been achieved in a
natural way by extending the existing Auger Offline software framework with
radio functionality. In this article, we lay out the design, highlights and
features of the radio extension implemented in the Auger Offline framework. Its
functionality has achieved a high degree of sophistication and offers advanced
features such as vectorial reconstruction of the electric field, advanced
signal processing algorithms, a transparent and efficient handling of FFTs, a
very detailed simulation of detector effects, and the read-in of multiple data
formats including data from various radio simulation codes. The source code of
this radio functionality can be made available to interested parties on
request.Comment: accepted for publication in NIM A, 13 pages, minor corrections to
author list and references in v
- âŠ