2,808 research outputs found
The SoLid anti-neutrino detector's readout system
The SoLid collaboration have developed an intelligent readout system to
reduce their 3200 silicon photomultiplier detector's data rate by a factor of
10000 whilst maintaining high efficiency for storing data from anti-neutrino
interactions. The system employs an FPGA-level waveform characterisation to
trigger on neutron signals. Following a trigger, data from a space time region
of interest around the neutron will be read out using the IPbus protocol. In
these proceedings the design of the readout system is explained and results
showing the performance of a prototype version of the system are presented
Topologically Massive Gauge Theory: A Lorentzian Solution
We obtain a lorentzian solution for the topologically massive non-abelian
gauge theory on AdS space by means of a SU(1, 1) gauge transformation of the
previously found abelian solution. There exists a natural scale of length which
is determined by the inverse topological mass. The topological mass is
proportional to the square of the gauge coupling constant. In the topologically
massive electrodynamics the field strength locally determines the gauge
potential up to a closed 1-form via the (anti-)self-duality equation. We
introduce a transformation of the gauge potential using the dual field strength
which can be identified with an abelian gauge transformation. Then we present
the map from the AdS space to the pseudo-sphere including the topological mass.
This is the lorentzian analog of the Hopf map. This map yields a global
decomposition of the AdS space as a trivial circle bundle over the upper
portion of the pseudo-sphere which is the Hyperboloid model for the Lobachevski
geometry. This leads to a reduction of the abelian field equation onto the
pseudo-sphere using a global section of the solution on the AdS space. Then we
discuss the integration of the field equation using the Archimedes map from the
pseudo-sphere to the cylinder over the ideal Poincare circle. We also present a
brief discussion of the holonomy of the gauge potential and the dual-field
strength on the upper portion of the pseudo-sphere.Comment: 23 pages, 1 postscript figur
The ultraluminous X-ray source NGC 1313 X-2 - Its optical counterpart and environment
NGC 1313 X-2 is one of the brightest ultraluminous X-ray sources in the sky,
at both X-ray and optical wavelengths; therefore, quite a few studies of
available ESO VLT and HST data have appeared in the literature. Here, we
present our analysis of VLT/FORS1 and HST/ACS photometric data, confirming the
identification of the B ~ 23 mag blue optical counterpart. We show that the
system is part of a poor cluster with an age of 20 Myr, leading to an upper
mass limit of some 12 M_sun for the mass donor. We attribute the different
results with respect to earlier studies to the use of isochrones in the F435W
and F555W HST/ACS photometric system that appear to be incompatible with the
corresponding Johnson B and V isochrones. The counterpart exhibits significant
photometric variability of about 0.2 mag amplitude, both between the two HST
observations and during the one month of monitoring with the VLT. This includes
variability within one night and suggests that the light is dominated by the
accretion disk in the system and not by the mass donor.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy &
Astrophysic
Potential formulation of the dispersion relation for a uniform, magnetized plasma with stationary ions in terms of a vector phasor
The derivation of the helicon dispersion relation for a uniform plasma with
stationary ions subject to a constant background magnetic field is reexamined
in terms of the potential formulation of electrodynamics. Under the same
conditions considered by the standard derivation, the nonlinear self-coupling
between the perturbed electron flow and the potential it generates is
addressed. The plane wave solution for general propagation vector is determined
for all frequencies and expressed in terms of a vector phasor. The behavior of
the solution as described in vacuum units depends upon the ratio of
conductivity to the magnitude of the background field. Only at low conductivity
and below the cyclotron frequency can significant propagation occur as
determined by the ratio of skin depth to wavelength.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, major revision, final version, to appear in Po
Comment on "Plasma ionization by annularly bounded helicon waves" [Phys . Plasmas 13, 063501 (2006)]
The neoclassical calculation of the helicon wave theory contains a
fundamental flaw. Use is made of a proportional relationship between the
magnetic field and its curl to derive the Helmholtz equation describing helicon
wave propagation; however, by the fundamental theorem of Stokes, the curl of
the magnetic field must be perpendicular to that portion of the field
contributing to the local curl. Reexamination of the equations of motion
indicates that only electromagnetic waves propagate through a stationary region
of constant pressure in a fully ionized, neutral medium.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, to be published in Phys. Plasmas,
http://link.aip.org/link/?PHPAEN/16/054701/
Casimir force in the presence of a magnetodielectric medium
In this article we investigate the Casimir effect in the presence of a medium
by quantizing the Electromagnetic (EM) field in the presence of a
magnetodielectric medium by using the path integral formalism. For a given
medium with definite electric and magnetic susceptibilities, explicit
expressions for the Casimir force are obtained which are in agree with the
original Casimir force between two conducting parallel plates immersed in the
quantum electromagnetic vacuum.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figur
UNSWIRF: A Tunable Imaging Spectrometer for the Near-Infrared
We describe the specifications, characteristics, calibration, and analysis of
data from the University of New South Wales Infrared Fabry-Perot (UNSWIRF)
etalon. UNSWIRF is a near-infrared tunable imaging spectrometer, used primarily
in conjunction with IRIS on the AAT, but suitable for use as a visitor
instrument at other telescopes. The etalon delivers a resolving power in excess
of 4000 (corresponding to a velocity resolution ~75 km/s), and allows imaging
of fields up to 100" in diameter on the AAT at any wavelength between 1.5 and
2.4 microns for which suitable blocking filters are available.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figures, uses psfig.sty and html.sty (included). To
appear in Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australi
Massless interacting particles
We show that classical electrodynamics of massless charged particles and the
Yang--Mills theory of massless quarks do not experience rearranging their
initial degrees of freedom into dressed particles and radiation. Massless
particles do not radiate. We consider a version of the direct interparticle
action theory for these systems following the general strategy of Wheeler and
Feynman.Comment: LaTeX; 20 pages; V4: discussion is slightly modified to clarify some
important points, relevant references are adde
Quantum gravitational optics: the induced phase
The geometrical approximation of the extended Maxwell equation in curved
spacetime incorporating interactions induced by the vacuum polarization effects
is considered. Taking into account these QED interactions and employing the
analogy between eikonal equation in geometrical optics and Hamilton-Jacobi
equation for the particle motion, we study the phase structure of the modified
theory. There is a complicated, local induced phase which is believed to be
responsible for the modification of the classical picture of light ray. The
main features of QGO could be obtained through the study of this induced phase.
We discuss initial principles in conventional and modified geometrical optics
and compare the results.Comment: 10 pages, REVTex forma
BATSE Gamma-Ray Burst Line Search: IV. Line Candidates from the Visual Search
We evaluate the significance of the line candidates identified by a visual
search of burst spectra from BATSE's Spectroscopy Detectors. None of the
candidates satisfy our detection criteria: an F-test probability less than
10^-4 for a feature in one detector and consistency among the detectors which
viewed the burst. Most of the candidates are not very significant, and are
likely to be fluctuations. Because of the expectation of finding absorption
lines, the search was biased towards absorption features. We do not have a
quantitative measure of the completeness of the search which would enable a
comparison with previous missions. Therefore a more objective computerized
search has begun.Comment: 18 pages AASTEX 4.0; 4 POSTSCRIPT figures on request from
[email protected]
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