10,679 research outputs found
Landau Ginzburg Theory and Nuclear Matter at Finite Temperature
Based on recent studies of the temperature dependence of the energy and
specific heat of liquid nuclear matter, a phase transition is suggested at a
temperature MeV. We apply Landau Ginzburg theory to this transition
and determine the behaviour of the energy and specific heat close to the
critical temperature in the condensed phase.Comment: 10 pages, Revte
Acoustic charge transport in n-i-n three terminal device
We present an unconventional approach to realize acoustic charge transport
devices that takes advantage from an original input region geometry in place of
standard Ohmic input contacts. Our scheme is based on a n-i-n lateral junction
as electron injector, an etched intrinsic channel, a standard Ohmic output
contact and a pair of in-plane gates. We show that surface acoustic waves are
able to pick up electrons from a current flowing through the n-i-n junction and
steer them toward the output contact. Acoustic charge transport was studied as
a function of the injector current and bias, the SAW power and at various
temperatures. The possibility to modulate the acoustoelectric current by means
of lateral in-plane gates is also discussed. The main advantage of our approach
relies on the possibility to drive the n-i-n injector by means of both voltage
or current sources, thus allowing to sample and process voltage and current
signals as well.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures. Submitted to Applied Physics Letter
An ALMA 3mm continuum census of Westerlund 1
Context. Massive stars play an important role in both cluster and galactic evolution and the rate at which they lose mass is a key driver of both their own evolution and their interaction with the environment up to and including their terminal SNe explosions. Young massive clusters provide an ideal opportunity to study a co-eval population of massive stars, where both their individual properties and the interaction with their environment can be studied in detail.
Aims. We aim to study the constituent stars of the Galactic cluster Westerlund 1 in order to determine mass-loss rates for the diverse post-main sequence population of massive stars.
Methods. To accomplish this we made 3mm continuum observations with the Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array.
Results. We detected emission from 50 stars in Westerlund 1, comprising all 21 Wolf-Rayets within the field of view, plus eight cool and 21 OB super-/hypergiants. Emission nebulae were associated with a number of the cool hypergiants while, unexpectedly, a number of hot stars also appear spatially resolved.
Conclusions. We were able to measure the mass-loss rates for a unique population of massive post-main sequence stars at every stage of evolution, confirming a significant increase as stars transitioned from OB supergiant to WR states via LBV and/or cool hypergiant phases. Fortuitously, the range of spectral types exhibited by the OB supergiants provides a critical test of radiatively-driven wind theory and in particular the reality of the bi-stability jump. The extreme mass-loss rate inferred for the interacting binary Wd1-9 in comparison to other cluster members confirmed the key role binarity plays in massive stellar evolution. The presence of compact nebulae around a number of OB and WR stars is unexpected; by analogy to the cool super-/hypergiants we attribute this to confinement and sculpting of the stellar wind via interaction with the intra-cluster medium/wind. Given the morphology of core collapse SNe depend on the nature of the pre-explosion circumstellar environment, if this hypothesis is correct then the properties of the explosion depend not just on the progenitor, but also the environment in which it is located
Improved fidelity of triggered entangled photons from single quantum dots
We demonstrate the on-demand emission of polarisation-entangled photon pairs
from the biexciton cascade of a single InAs quantum dot embedded in a GaAs/AlAs
planar microcavity. Improvements in the sample design blue shifts the wetting
layer to reduce the contribution of background light in the measurements.
Results presented show that >70% of the detected photon pairs are entangled.
The high fidelity of the (|HxxHx>+|VxxVx>)/2^0.5 state that we determine is
sufficient to satisfy numerous tests for entanglement. The improved quality of
entanglement represents a significant step towards the realisation of a
practical quantum dot source compatible with applications in quantum
information.Comment: 9 pages. Paper is available free of charge at
http://www.iop.org/EJ/abstract/1367-2630/8/2/029/, see also 'A semiconductor
source of triggered entangled photon pairs', R. M. Stevenson et al., Nature
439, 179 (2006
Effects of Zeeman spin splitting on the modular symmetry in the quantum Hall effect
Magnetic-field-induced phase transitions in the integer quantum Hall effect
are studied under the formation of paired Landau bands arising from Zeeman spin
splitting. By investigating features of modular symmetry, we showed that
modifications to the particle-hole transformation should be considered under
the coupling between the paired Landau bands. Our study indicates that such a
transformation should be modified either when the Zeeman gap is much smaller
than the cyclotron gap, or when these two gaps are comparable.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure
Epidemiology and integrated control of Potato Late Blight in Europe
Phytophthora infestans, the causal agent of late blight, is a major threat to potato production in northwestern Europe. Before 1980, the worldwide population of P. infestans outside Mexico appeared to be asexual and to consist of a single clonal lineage of A1 mating type characterized by a single genotype. It is widely believed that new strains migrated into Europe in 1976 and that this led to subsequent population changes including the introduction of the A2 mating type. The population characteristics of recently collected isolates in NW Europe show a diverse population including both mating types, sexual reproduction and oospores, although differences are observed between regions. Although it is difficult to find direct evidence that new strains are more aggressive, there are several indications from experiments and field epidemics that the aggressiveness of P. infestans has increased in the past 20 years. The relative importance of the different primary inoculum sources and specific measures for reducing their role, such as covering dumps with plastic and preventing seed tubers from becoming infected, is described for the different regions. In NW Europe, varieties with greater resistance tend not to be grown on a large scale. From the grower’s perspective, the savings in fungicide input that can be achieved with these varieties are not compensated by the higher (perceived) risk of blight. Fungicides play a crucial role in the integrated control of late blight. The spray strategies in NW Europe and a table of the specific attributes of the most important fungicides in Europe are presented. The development and use of decision support systems (DSSs) in NW Europe are described. In The Netherlands, it is estimated that almost 40% of potato growers use recommendations based on commercially available DSS. In the Nordic countries, a new DSS concept with a fixed 7-day spray interval and a variable dose rate is being tested. In the UK, commercially available DSSs are used for c. 8% of the area. The validity of Smith Periods for the new population of P. infestans in the UK is currently being evaluated
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