136 research outputs found
Influence of ENSO on the QBO: Results from an ensemble of idealized simulations
The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) changes convection in the tropics and therefore the excitation of equatorial waves. Equatorial waves propagate from the troposphere upward where they drive the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) in the stratosphere. In this work, we analyze the effect of ENSO on the QBO utilizing an atmospheric general circulation model in a comprehensive experimental setup. We construct two ensembles of different QBO initial conditions, with the onset of a westerly (QBOW) and easterly (QBOE) jet at 10-hPa. In the course of an 18-months simulation period, the two sets of initial conditions experience each El Niño (EL) and La Niña (LA) boundary conditions. Due to the increased tropospheric temperatures during EL conditions compared to LA conditions, the experiments show an increase in tropospheric wave activity which increases QBO forcing in the stratosphere in EL. The underlying easterly jet in QBOW is weaker during EL compared to LA, while the underlying westerly jet in QBOE is stronger during EL compared to LA. On one hand, the weaker underlying jet in QBOW and the increase in QBO forcing due to waves cause a faster downward propagation for the westerly jet in QBOW during EL. On the other hand, the stronger underlying jet in QBOE opposes the increased QBO forcing due to waves for QBOE during EL. Therefore, the downward propagation speed of the easterly jet in QBOE is similar during EL and LA conditions. Changes in stratospheric tropical upwelling associated with EL and LA do not affect QBO properties in the simulation. Key Points ENSO modifies wave activity in the troposphere ENSO changes QBO amplitude ENSO changes QBO downward progressio
Spin Fluctuation-Induced Superconductivity in Organic Compounds
Spin fluctuation-induced superconductivity in two-dimensional organic
compounds such as \kappa-(ET)_2-X is investigated by using a simplified dimer
Hubbard model with right-angled isosceles triangular lattice (transfer matrices
-\tau, -\tau^\prime). The dynamical susceptiblity and the self-energy are
calculated self-consistently within the fluctuation exchange approximation and
the value for T_c as obtained by solving the linearized Eliashberg-type
equations is in good agreement with experiment. The pairing symmetry is of
d_{x^2-y^2} type. The calculated (U/\tau)-dependence of T_c compares
qualitatively well with the observed pressure dependence of T_c. Varying the
value for \tau^\prime/\tau from 0 to 1 we interpolate between the square
lattice and the regular triangular lattice and find firstly that values of T_c
for \kappa-(ET)_2-X and cuprates scale well and secondly that T_c tends to
decrease with increasing \tau^\prime/\tau and no superconductivity is found for
\tau^\prime/\tau=1, the regular triangular lattice.Comment: 4 pages, 6 eps figures, uses jpsj.st
Faint AGN and the Ionizing Background
We determine the evolution of the faint, high-redshift, optical luminosity
function (LF) of AGN implied by several observationally-motivated models of the
ionizing background. Our results depend crucially on whether we use the total
ionizing rate measured by the proximity effect technique or the lower
determination from the flux decrement distribution of Ly alpha forest lines.
Assuming a faint-end LF slope of 1.58 and the SDSS estimates of the bright-end
slope and normalization, we find that the LF must break at M_B*=-24.2,-22.3,
-20.8 at z=3,4, 5 if we adopt the lower ionization rate and assume no stellar
contribution to the background. The break must occur at M_B*=-20.6,-18.7, -18.7
for the proximity effect background estimate. These values brighten by as much
as ~2 mag if high-z galaxies contribute to the background with an escape
fraction of ionizing photons consistent with recent estimates: f_e=0.16. By
comparing to faint AGN searches, we find that the typically-quoted proximity
effect estimates of the background imply an over-abundance of faint AGN (even
with f_e=1). Even adopting the lower bound on proximity effect measurements,
the stellar escape fraction must be high: f_e>0.2. Conversely, the lower flux-
decrement-derived background requires a limited stellar contribution: f_e<0.05.
Our derived LFs together with the locally-estimated black hole density suggest
that the efficiency of converting mass to light in optically-unobscured AGN is
somewhat lower than expected, <0.05. Comparison with similar estimates based on
X-ray counts suggests that more than half of all AGN are obscured in the
UV/optical. We also derive lower limits on typical AGN lifetimes and obtain
>10^7 yrs for favored cases.Comment: 19 pages, 16 figures. Accepted by Astrophysical Journa
Relaxation Effects in the Transition Temperature of Superconducting HgBa2CuO4+delta
In previous studies on a number of under- and overdoped high temperature
superconductors, including YBa_{2}Cu_{3}O_{7-y} and Tl_{2}Ba_{2}CuO_{6+\delta},
the transition temperature T_c has been found to change with time in a manner
which depends on the sample's detailed temperature and pressure history. This
relaxation behavior in T_c is believed to originate from rearrangements within
the oxygen sublattice. In the present high-pressure studies on
HgBa_{2}CuO_{4+\delta} to 0.8 GPa we find clear evidence for weak relaxation
effects in strongly under- and overdoped samples () with
an activation energy . For overdoped
HgBa_{2}CuO_{4+\delta} E_{A} increases under pressure more rapidly than
previously observed for YBa_{2}Cu_{3}O_{6.41}, yielding an activation volume of
+11 \pm 5 cm^{3}; the dependence of T_c on pressure is markedly nonlinear, an
anomalous result for high-T_c superconductors in the present pressure range,
giving evidence for a change in the electronic and/or structural properties
near 0.4 GPa
Magnetic Phase Diagram and Metal-Insulator Transition of NiS2-xSex
Magnetic phase diagram of NiS2-xSex has been reexamined by systematic studies
of electrical resistivity, uniform magnetic susceptibility and neutron
diffraction using single crystals grown by a chemical transport method. The
electrical resistivity and the uniform magnetic susceptibility exhibit the same
feature of temperature dependence over a wide Se concentration. A distinct
first order metal-insulator (M-I) transition accompanied by a volume change was
observed only in the antiferromagnetic ordered phase for 0.50<x<0.59. In this
region, the M-I transition makes substantial effects to the thermal evolution
of staggered moments. In the paramagnetic phase, the M-I transition becomes
broad; both the electrical resistivity and the uniform magnetic susceptibility
exhibit a broad maximum around the temperatures on the M-I transition-line
extrapolated to the paramagnetic phase.Comment: 6 pages, 8 figures, corrected EPS fil
Evidence for structural and electronic instabilities at intermediate temperatures in -(BEDT-TTF)X for X=Cu[N(CN)]Cl, Cu[N(CN)]Br and Cu(NCS): Implications for the phase diagram of these quasi-2D organic superconductors
We present high-resolution measurements of the coefficient of thermal
expansion of the quasi-twodimensional
(quasi-2D) salts -(BEDT-TTF)X with X = Cu(NCS), Cu[N(CN)]Br
and Cu[N(CN)]Cl. At intermediate temperatures (B), distinct anomalies
reminiscent of second-order phase transitions have been found at
K and 45 K for the superconducting X = Cu(NCS) and Cu[N(CN)]Br salts,
respectively. Most interestingly, we find that the signs of the uniaxial
pressure coefficients of are strictly anticorrelated with those of
. We propose that marks the transition to a spin-density-wave
(SDW) state forming on minor, quasi-1D parts of the Fermi surface. Our results
are compatible with two competing order parameters that form on disjunct
portions of the Fermi surface. At elevated temperatures (C), all compounds show
anomalies that can be identified with a kinetic, glass-like
transition where, below a characteristic temperature , disorder in the
orientational degrees of freedom of the terminal ethylene groups becomes frozen
in. We argue that the degree of disorder increases on going from the X =
Cu(NCS) to Cu[N(CN)]Br and the Cu[N(CN)]Cl salt. Our results
provide a natural explanation for the unusual time- and cooling-rate
dependencies of the ground-state properties in the hydrogenated and deuterated
Cu[N(CN)]Br salts reported in the literature.Comment: 22 pages, 7 figure
Glimpsing through the high redshift neutral hydrogen fog
We analyze the transmitted flux in a sample of 17 QSOs spectra at
5.74<zem<6.42 to obtain tighter constraints on the volume-averaged neutral
hydrogen fraction, xHI, at z~6. We study separately the narrow transmission
windows (peaks) and the wide dark portions (gaps) in the observed absorption
spectra. By comparing the statistics of these spectral features with Lyalpha
forest simulations, we conclude that xHI evolves smoothly from 10^{-4.4} at
z=5.3 to 10^{-4.2} at z=5.6, with a robust upper limit xHI<0.36 at z=6.3. The
frequency and physical sizes of the peaks imply an origin in cosmic underdense
regions and/or in HII regions around faint quasars or galaxies. In one case
(the intervening HII region of the faint quasar RD J1148+5253 at z=5.70 along
the LOS of SDSS J1148+5251 at z=6.42) the increase of the peak spectral density
is explained by the first-ever detected transverse proximity effect in the HI
Lyalpha forest; this indicates that at least some peaks result from a locally
enhanced radiation field. We then obtain a strong lower limit on the foreground
QSO lifetime of tQ>11 Myr. The observed widths of the peaks are found to be
systematically larger than the simulated ones. Reasons for such discrepancy
might reside either in the photoionization equilibrium assumption or in
radiative transfer effects.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, revised to match the accepted version including
a detailed analysis of the foreground QSO redshift and of the relativistic
effects on the HII region shape; MNRAS in pres
GeV Gamma-Ray Attenuation and the High-Redshift UV Background
We present new calculations of the evolving UV background out to the epoch of
cosmological reionization and make predictions for the amount of GeV gamma-ray
attenuation by electron-positron pair production. Our results are based on
recent semi-analytic models of galaxy formation, which provide predictions of
the dust-extinguished UV radiation field due to starlight, and empirical
estimates of the contribution due to quasars. We account for the reprocessing
of ionizing photons by the intergalactic medium. We test whether our models can
reproduce estimates of the ionizing background at high redshift from flux
decrement analysis and proximity effect measurements from quasar spectra, and
identify a range of models that can satisfy these constraints. Pair-production
against soft diffuse photons leads to a spectral cutoff feature for gamma rays
observed between 10 and 100 GeV. This cutoff varies with redshift and the
assumed star formation and quasar evolution models. We find only negligible
amounts of absorption for gamma rays observed below 10 GeV for any emission
redshift. With observations of high-redshift sources in sufficient numbers by
the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and new ground-based instruments it should
be possible to constrain the extragalactic background light in the UV and
optical portion of the spectrum.Comment: 19 pages, 12 figures, Accepted for publication in MNRAS, this version
includes minor correction
The Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey: Constraints on the Lyman Continuum Escape Fraction Distribution of Lyman--Break Galaxies at 3.4<z<4.5
We use ultra-deep ultraviolet VLT/VIMOS intermediate-band and VLT/FORS1
narrow-band imaging in the GOODS Southern field to derive limits on the
distribution of the escape fraction (f_esc) of ionizing radiation for L >~
L*(z=3) Lyman Break Galaxies (LBGs) at redshift 3.4--4.5. Only one LBG, at
redshift z=3.795, is detected in its Lyman continuum (LyC; S/N~5.5), the
highest redshift galaxy currently known with a direct detection. Its
ultraviolet morphology is quite compact (R_eff=0.8, kpc physical). Three out of
seven AGN are also detected in their LyC, including one at redshift z=3.951 and
z850 = 26.1. From stacked data (LBGs) we set an upper limit to the average
f_esc in the range 5%--20%, depending on the how the data are selected (e.g.,
by magnitude and/or redshift). We undertake extensive Monte Carlo simulations
that take into account intergalactic attenuation, stellar population synthesis
models, dust extinction and photometric noise in order to explore the moments
of the distribution of the escaping radiation. Various distributions
(exponential, log-normal and Gaussian) are explored. We find that the median
f_esc is lower than ~6% with an 84% percentile limit not larger than 20%. If
this result remains valid for fainter LBGs down to current observational
limits, then the LBG population might be not sufficient to account for the
entire photoionization budget at the redshifts considered here, with the exact
details dependent upon the assumed ionizing background and QSO contribution
thereto. It is possible that f_esc depends on the UV luminosity of the
galaxies, with fainter galaxies having higher f_esc, and estimates of f_esc
from a sample of faint LBG from the HUDF (i775<28.5) are in broad quantitative
agreement with such a scenario.Comment: 58 pages, 23 figures; submitted to ApJ, revised version in response
to referee's comment
Interplay of structural and electronic phase separation in single crystalline La(2)CuO(4.05) studied by neutron and Raman scattering
We report a neutron and Raman scattering study of a single-crystal of
La(2)CuO(4.05) prepared by high temperature electrochemical oxidation. Elastic
neutron scattering measurements show the presence of two phases, corresponding
to the two edges of the first miscibility gap, all the way up to 300 K. An
additional oxygen redistribution, driven by electronic energies, is identified
at 250 K in Raman scattering (RS) experiments by the simultaneous onset of
two-phonon and two-magnon scattering, which are fingerprints of the insulating
phase. Elastic neutron scattering measurements show directly an
antiferromagnetic ordering below a N\'eel temperature of T_N =210K. The opening
of the superconducting gap manifests itself as a redistribution of electronic
Raman scattering below the superconducting transition temperature, T_c = 24K. A
pronounced temperature-dependent suppression of the intensity of the (100)
magnetic Bragg peak has been detected below T_c. We ascribe this phenomenon to
a change of relative volume fraction of superconducting and antiferromagnetic
phases with decreasing temperature caused by a form of a superconducting
proximity effect.Comment: 9 pages, including 9 eps figures, submitted to PR
- …