3,866 research outputs found
Nonadiabatic transitions in a Stark decelerator
In a Stark decelerator, polar molecules are slowed down and focussed by an
inhomogeneous electric field which switches between two configurations. For the
decelerator to work, it is essential that the molecules follow the changing
electric field adiabatically. When the decelerator switches from one
configuration to the other, the electric field changes in magnitude and
direction, and this can cause molecules to change state. In places where the
field is weak, the rotation of the electric field vector during the switch may
be too rapid for the molecules to maintain their orientation relative to the
field. Molecules that are at these places when the field switches may be lost
from the decelerator as they are transferred into states that are not focussed.
We calculate the probability of nonadiabatic transitions as a function of
position in the periodic decelerator structure and find that for the
decelerated group of molecules the loss is typically small, while for the
un-decelerated group of molecules the loss can be very high. This loss can be
eliminated using a bias field to ensure that the electric field magnitude is
always large enough. We demonstrate our findings by comparing the results of
experiments and simulations for the Stark deceleration of LiH and CaF
molecules. We present a simple method for calculating the transition
probabilities which can easily be applied to other molecules of interest.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, minor revisions following referee suggestion
Prospects of searches for long-lived charged particles with MoEDAL
We study the prospects of searches for exotic long-lived particles with the
MoEDAL detector at the LHC, assuming the integrated luminosity of 30 fb
that is expected at the end of Run 3. MoEDAL incorporates nuclear track
detectors deployed a few metres away from the interaction point, which are
sensitive to any highly-ionizing particles. Hence MoEDAL is able to detect
singly- or doubly-charged particles with low velocities or , respectively, and lifetimes larger than . We
examine the MoEDAL sensitivity to various singly-charged supersymmetric
particles with long lifetimes and to several types of doubly-charged long-lived
particles with different spins and SU(2) charges. We compare the prospective
MoEDAL mass reaches to current limits from ATLAS and CMS, which involve
auxiliary analysis assumptions. MoEDAL searches for doubly-charged fermions are
particularly competitive.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figure
A 43-GHz Survey in the ELAIS N2 Area
We describe a survey in the ELAIS N2 region with the VLA at 43.4 GHz, carried
out with 1627 independent snapshot observations in D-configuration and covering
about 0.5 square degrees. One certain source is detected, a
previously-catalogued flat-spectrum QSO at z=2.2. A few (<5) other sources may
be present at about the 3sigma level, as determined from positions of
source-like deflections coinciding with blue stellar objects, or with sources
from lower-frequency surveys. Independently we show how all the source-like
detections identified in the data can be used with a maximum-likelihood
technique to constrain the 43-GHz source counts at a level of ~7 mJy. Previous
estimates of the counts at 43 GHz, based on lower-frequency counts and spectral
measurements, are consistent with these constraints, although the present
results are suggestive of somewhat higher surface densities at the 7 mJy level.
They do not provide direct evidence of intrusion of a previously unknown source
population, although the several candidate sources need examination before such
a population can be ruled out.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures, 1 table; accepted for publication in Mon. Not
R. Astr. So
Radio Properties of z>4 Optically-Selected Quasars
We report on two programs to address differential evolution between the
radio-loud and radio-quiet quasar populations at high (z>4) redshift. Both
programs entail studying the radio properties of optically-selected quasars.
First, we have observed 32 optically-selected, high-redshift (z>4) quasars with
the VLA at 6 cm (5 GHz). These sources comprise a statistically complete and
well-understood sample. We detect four quasars above our 3-sigma limit of ~0.15
mJy, which is sufficiently sensitive to detect all radio-loud quasars at the
probed redshift range. Second, we have correlated 134 z>4 quasars, comprising
all such sources that we are aware of as of mid-1999, with FIRST and NVSS.
These two recent 1.4 GHz VLA sky surveys reach 3-sigma limits of approximately
0.6 mJy and 1.4 mJy respectively. We identify a total of 15 z>4 quasars, of
which six were not previously known to be radio-loud. The depth of these
surveys does not reach the radio-loud/radio-quiet demarcation luminosity
density (L(1.4 GHz) = 10^32.5 h(50)^(-2) ergs/s/Hz) at the redshift range
considered; this correlation therefore only provides a lower limit to the
radio-loud fraction of quasars at high-redshift. The two programs together
identify eight new radio-loud quasars at z>4, a significant increase over the
seven currently in the published literature. We find no evidence for radio-loud
fraction depending on optical luminosity for -25 > M_B > -28 at z~2, or for
-26>M_B>-28 at z>4. Our results also show no evolution in the radio-loud
fraction between z~2 and z>4 (-26>M_B>-28).Comment: 19 pages, 7 figures; to appear in The Astronomical Journal (April
2000
The final two redshifts for radio sources from the equatorial BRL sample
Best, Rottgering and Lehnert (1999, 2000a) defined a new sample of powerful
radio sources from the Molonglo Reference Catalogue, for which redshifts were
compiled or measured for 177 of the 178 objects. For the final object,
MRC1059-010 (3C249), the host galaxy is here identified using near-infrared
imaging, and the redshift is determined from VLT spectroscopy. For one other
object in the sample, MRC0320+053 (4C05.14), the literature redshift has been
questioned: new spectroscopic observations of this object are presented,
deriving a corrected redshift. With these two results, the spectroscopic
completeness of this sample is now 100%.
New redshifts are also presented for PKS0742+10 from the Wall & Peacock 2.7
GHz catalogue, and PKS1336+003 from the Parkes Selected Regions. PKS0742+10
shows a strong neutral hydrogen absorption feature in its Lyman-alpha emission
profile.Comment: 4 pages. LaTeX. Accepted for publication in MNRA
Semiclassical time--dependent propagation in three dimensions: How accurate is it for a Coulomb potential?
A unified semiclassical time propagator is used to calculate the
semiclassical time-correlation function in three cartesian dimensions for a
particle moving in an attractive Coulomb potential. It is demonstrated that
under these conditions the singularity of the potential does not cause any
difficulties and the Coulomb interaction can be treated as any other
non-singular potential. Moreover, by virtue of our three-dimensional
calculation, we can explain the discrepancies between previous semiclassical
and quantum results obtained for the one-dimensional radial Coulomb problem.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures (EPS
Phase Transitions of Single Semi-stiff Polymer Chains
We study numerically a lattice model of semiflexible homopolymers with
nearest neighbor attraction and energetic preference for straight joints
between bonded monomers. For this we use a new algorithm, the "Pruned-Enriched
Rosenbluth Method" (PERM). It is very efficient both for relatively open
configurations at high temperatures and for compact and frozen-in low-T states.
This allows us to study in detail the phase diagram as a function of
nn-attraction epsilon and stiffness x. It shows a theta-collapse line with a
transition from open coils to molten compact globules (large epsilon) and a
freezing transition toward a state with orientational global order (large
stiffness x). Qualitatively this is similar to a recently studied mean field
theory (Doniach et al. (1996), J. Chem. Phys. 105, 1601), but there are
important differences. In contrast to the mean field theory, the
theta-temperature increases with stiffness x. The freezing temperature
increases even faster, and reaches the theta-line at a finite value of x. For
even stiffer chains, the freezing transition takes place directly without the
formation of an intermediate globule state. Although being in contrast with
mean filed theory, the latter has been conjectured already by Doniach et al. on
the basis of low statistics Monte Carlo simulations. Finally, we discuss the
relevance of the present model as a very crude model for protein folding.Comment: 11 pages, Latex, 8 figure
Theoretical model for ultracold molecule formation via adaptive feedback control
We investigate pump-dump photoassociation of ultracold molecules with
amplitude- and phase-modulated femtosecond laser pulses. For this purpose a
perturbative model for the light-matter interaction is developed and combined
with a genetic algorithm for adaptive feedback control of the laser pulse
shapes. The model is applied to the formation of 85Rb2 molecules in a
magneto-optical trap. We find for optimized pulse shapes an improvement for the
formation of ground state molecules by more than a factor of 10 compared to
unshaped pulses at the same pump-dump delay time, and by 40% compared to
unshaped pulses at the respective optimal pump-dump delay time. Since our model
yields directly the spectral amplitudes and phases of the optimized pulses, the
results are directly applicable in pulse shaping experiments
A crise social desenhada pelas crianças: imaginação e conhecimento social
A crise social e económica que tem atingido o mundo desde 2008, com efeitos especialmente sentidos nos países do Sul da Europa, causou impactos fortes e visíveis na infância, como o aumento das taxas efetivas e de risco de pobreza e a vulnerabilidade e a exposição a fatores de risco social e de perda consistente de direitos. A análise dessas incidências tem vindo a ser trabalhada num conjunto de relatórios nacionais e internacionais, de ONG’s e estudos académicos. No entanto, poucos estudos têm dedicado atenção ao modo como a interpretação das representações das crianças sobre a crise é feita e sobre as expressões específicas que estas assumem na sua vida quotidiana. As crianças são capazes de observar os modos como a crise impacta o seu próprio grupo geracional, bem como os adultos que mais lhe são próximos. Da mesma forma, promovem interpretações económicas sobre os fenómenos, sejam elas mais “ingénuas” ou mais complexas. Este artigo incide sobre as representações das crianças sobre a crise social e económica em Portugal. São especialmente analisadas narrativas gráficas produzidas por crianças oriundas de classes trabalhadoras, com idades compreendidas entre os 6 e os 10 anos de idade. Por meio dessas narrativas, as crianças constroem formas visuais a partir da sua imaginação sobre a sua condição. Assim, a imaginação das crianças é um modo de acesso ao conhecimento na sociedade onde se inserem e aos seus modos próprios de compreensão de realidades complexas.The social and economic crisis that has hit the world since 2008, with effects
strongly felt in the countries of Southern Europe, has had fierce and
visible impacts in childhood with the increase of the effective rates, the risk
of poverty and vulnerability, and the exposure to factors of social risk and
consistent loss of rights. The analysis of these incidents has been worked on
in a series of national and international reports from NGOs and academic
studies. However, few studies have devoted attention to the way in which
the interpretation of the representations of children about the crisis is made
and the specific expressions that they assume in their daily lives. Children
are able to observe the ways in which the crisis affects their own generational
group as well as the adults closest to them. In the same way, they promote
economic interpretations of phenomena, whether “naïve” or more complex.
This article focuses on the representations of children about the social and
economic crisis in Portugal. Graphical narratives produced by children from
working classes, aged between 6 and 10 years old, are given focus. From
these narratives, children construct visual forms from their imagination about
their social condition. Thus, the child’s imagination is a way of accessing
knowledge in the society they belong to and their own way of understanding
complex realities.CIEC - Centro de Investigação em Estudos da Criança, IE, UMinho (UI 317 da FCT), Portugalinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Canonical Melnikov theory for diffeomorphisms
We study perturbations of diffeomorphisms that have a saddle connection
between a pair of normally hyperbolic invariant manifolds. We develop a
first-order deformation calculus for invariant manifolds and show that a
generalized Melnikov function or Melnikov displacement can be written in a
canonical way. This function is defined to be a section of the normal bundle of
the saddle connection.
We show how our definition reproduces the classical methods of Poincar\'{e}
and Melnikov and specializes to methods previously used for exact symplectic
and volume-preserving maps. We use the method to detect the transverse
intersection of stable and unstable manifolds and relate this intersection to
the set of zeros of the Melnikov displacement.Comment: laTeX, 31 pages, 3 figure
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