Electron Correlation and Charge Transfer Instability in Bilayered Two Dimensional Electron Gas

We prove that the predicted charge transfer state in symmetric bilayers of two dimensional electron gases is always unstable at zero bias voltage, due to interlayer correlation and/or tunneling. This is most easily seen by resorting to a pseudospin formalism and considering coherent states obtained from the charge transfer state through rotations of the pseudospins. Evidently, the charge transfer state is stabilized by a sufficiently strong gate voltage, as found in recent experiments. We show that a simple model, in which the layers are strictly two dimensional, is able to account quantitatively for such experimental findings, when correlation is properly included.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures. Subm. to Europhys. Let

Cross-spectral modelling of the black hole X-ray binary XTEJ1550-564: challenges to the propagating fluctuations paradigm

Timing properties of black hole X-ray binaries in outburst can be modeled with mass accretion rate fluctuations propagating towards the black hole. Such models predict time lags between energy bands due to propagation delays. First application of a propagating fluctuations model to black hole power spectra showed good agreement with the data. Indeed, hard lags observed from these systems appear to be in agreement with this generic prediction. Our PROPFLUC code allows to simultaneously predict power spectra, time lags, and coherence of the variability as a function of energy. This was successfully applied to Swift data on the black hole MAXIJ1659-152, fitting jointly the power spectra in two energy bands and the cross-spectrum between these two bands. In the current work, we attempt to to model two high signal to noise Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) observations of the black hole XTE J1550-564. We find that neither observation can be adequately explained by the model even when considering, additionally to previous PROPFLUC versions, different propagation speeds of the fluctuations. After extensive exploration of model extensions, we tentatively conclude that the quantitative and qualitative discrepancy between model predictions and data is generic to the propagating fluctuations paradigm. This result encourages further investigation of the fundamental hypotheses of the propagating fluctuations model. We discuss some of these hypotheses with an eye to future works.Comment: 14 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

Evolution of the hot flow of MAXI J1543-564

We present a spectral and timing analysis of the black hole candidate MAXI J1543-564 during its 2011 outburst. As shown in previous work, the source follows the standard evolution of a black hole outburst. During the rising phase of the outburst we detect an abrupt change in timing behavior associated with the occurrence of a type-B quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO). This QPO and the simultaneously detected radio emission mark the transition between hard and soft intermediate state. We fit power spectra from the rising phase of the outburst using the recently proposed model propfluc. This assumes a truncated disc / hot inner flow geometry, with mass accretion rate fluctuations propagating through a precessing inner flow. We link the propfluc physical parameters to the phenomenological multi-Lorentzian fit parameters. The physical parameter dominating the QPO frequency is the truncation radius, while broad band noise characteristics are also influenced by the radial surface density and emissivity profiles of the flow. In the outburst rise we found that the truncation radius decreases from $r_o \sim 24$ to $10 R_g$, and the surface density increases faster than the mass accretion rate, as previously reported for XTE J1550-564. Two soft intermediate state observations could not be fitted with propfluc, and we suggest that they are coincident with the ejection of material from the inner regions of the flow in a jet or accretion of these regions into the BH horizon, explaining the drop in QPO frequency and suppression of broad band variability preferentially at high energy bands coincident with a radio flare.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures, 2 table

Effects of thickness on the spin susceptibility of the 2D electron gas

Using available quantum Monte Carlo predictions for a strictly 2D electron gas, we have estimated the spin susceptibility of electrons in actual devices taking into account the effect of the finite transverse thickness and finding a very good agreement with experiments. A weak disorder, as found in very clean devices and/or at densities not too low, just brings about a minor enhancement of the susceptibility.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Chaos in the thermodynamic limit

We study chaos in the Hamiltonian Mean Field model (HMF), a system with many degrees of freedom in which $N$ classical rotators are fully coupled. We review the most important results on the dynamics and the thermodynamics of the HMF, and in particular we focus on the chaotic properties.We study the Lyapunov exponents and the Kolmogorov--Sinai entropy, namely their dependence on the number of degrees of freedom and on energy density, both for the ferromagnetic and the antiferromagnetic case.Comment: 10 pages, Latex, 4 figures included, invited talk to the Int. school/Conf. on "Let's face Chaos Through Nonlinear Dynamics" Maribor (Slovenia) 27 june - 11 july 1999, submitted to Prog. Theor. Physics supp

High precision locations of long-period events at La Fossa Crater (Vulcano Island, Italy)

Since the last eruption in 1888-90, the volcanic activity on Vulcano Island (Aeolian Archipelago, Italy) has been limited to fumarolic degassing. Fumaroles are mainly concentred at the active cone of La Fossa in the northern sector of the island and are periodically characterized by increases in the temperature as well as in the amount of both CO2 and He .Seismic background activity at Vulcano is dominated by micro-seismicity originating at shallow depth (<1-1.5 km) under La Fossa cone. This seismicity is related to geothermal system processes and comprises long period (LP) events. LPs are generally considered as the resonance of a fluid-filled volume in response to a trigger. We analyzed LP events recorded during an anomalous degassing period (August-October 2006) applying a high precision technique to define the shape of the trigger source. Absolute and high precision locations suggest that LP events recorded at Vulcano, during 2006, were produced by a shallow focal zone ca. 200 m long, 40 m wide and N30-40E oriented. Their occurrence is linked to magmatic fluid inputs that by modifying the hydrothermal system cause excitation of a fluid-filled cavity

Riprogettazione e ristrutturazione della stazione video di Stromboli e nuovo sistema di acquisizione e trasferimento immagini da Vulcano

La sorveglianza visiva dei vulcani attivi siciliani è una delle attività dell’unità funzionale monitoraggio Sistema Poseidon dell’INGV di Catania e consiste nel monitoraggio video continuo di detti vulcani mediante stazioni permanenti. In questo lavoro è stata rappresentata l’opera di riprogettazione e ristrutturazione della stazione video di Stromboli posta in località “Il Pizzo Sopra la Fossa” in cima al vulcano Stromboli. Tale ristrutturazione è stata necessaria poiché il materiale della stazione video, ormai obsoleto e mal funzionante, non garantiva un servizio continuo, affidabile e qualitativamente accettabile. Contemporaneamente è stato progettato e messo in opera al Centro Marcello Carapezza di Vulcano un nuovo sistema automatico di acquisizione, digitalizzazione, salvataggio su memoria di massa e trasferimento in internet ed in intranet delle immagini dei vulcani Stromboli e Vulcano. Ciò è stato effettuato utilizzando un software appositamente realizzato ed una linea trasmissione dati dedicata che hanno permesso di superare i continui inconvenienti nel trasferimento di tali immagini da Lipari