87,156 research outputs found
The Chinese-French SVOM mission for Gamma-Ray Burst studies
We present the Space-based multi-band astronomical Variable Objects Monitor
mission (SVOM) decided by the Chinese National Space Agency (CNSA) and the
French Space Agency (CNES). The mission which is designed to detect about 80
Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) of all known types per year, will carry a very
innovative scientific payload combining a gamma-ray coded mask imagers
sensitive in the range 4 keV to 250 keV, a soft X-ray telescope operating
between 0.5 to 2 keV, a gamma-ray spectro-photometer sensitive in the range 50
keV to 5 MeV, and an optical telescope able to measure the GRB afterglow
emission down to a magnitude limit M with a 300 s exposure. A particular
attention will be also paid to the follow-up in making easy the observation of
the SVOM detected GRB by the largest ground based telescopes.
Scheduled for a launch in 2013, it will provide fast and reliable GRB
positions, will measure the broadband spectral energy distribution and temporal
properties of the prompt emission, and will quickly identify the optical
afterglows of detected GRBs, including those at very high redshift.Comment: Proceedings of the SF2A conference, Paris, 200
Relativistic Spheres
By analyzing the Einstein's equations for the static sphere, we find that
there exists a non-singular static configuration whose radius can approach its
corresponding horizon size arbitrarily.Comment: 8 pages revtex, 1 ps figur
Exactly isochoric deformations of soft solids
Many materials of contemporary interest, such as gels, biological tissues and
elastomers, are easily deformed but essentially incompressible. Traditional
linear theory of elasticity implements incompressibility only to first order
and thus permits some volume changes, which become problematically large even
at very small strains. Using a mixed coordinate transformation originally due
to Gauss, we enforce the constraint of isochoric deformations exactly to
develop a linear theory with perfect volume conservation that remains valid
until strains become geometrically large. We demonstrate the utility of this
approach by calculating the response of an infinite soft isochoric solid to a
point force that leads to a nonlinear generalization of the Kelvin solution.
Our approach naturally generalizes to a range of problems involving
deformations of soft solids and interfaces in 2 dimensional and axisymmetric
geometries, which we exemplify by determining the solution to a distributed
load that mimics muscular contraction within the bulk of a soft solid
RHESSI Observations of a Simple Large X-ray Flare on 11-03-2003
We present data analysis and interpretation of a simple X-class flare
observed with RHESSI on November 3, 2003. In contrast to other X-class flares
observed previously, this flare shows a very simple morphology with well
defined looptop (LT) and footpoint (FP) sources. The almost monotonic upward
motion of the LT source and increase in separation of the two FP sources are
consistent with magnetic reconnection models proposed for solar flares. In
addition, we find that the source motions are relatively slower during the more
active phases of hard X-ray emission; the emission centroid of the LT source
shifts toward higher altitudes with the increase of energy; the separation
between the LT emission centroids at two different photon energies is
anti-correlated with the FP flux. Non-uniformity of the reconnecting magnetic
fields could be a possible explanation of these features.Comment: To appear in the Astrophysical Journal Letters (12 pages, 4 figures
Effect of atmospheric turbulence on propagation properties of optical vortices formed by using coherent laser beam arrays
In this paper, we consider the effect of the atmospheric turbulence on the
propagation of optical vertex formed from the radial coherent laser beam array,
with the initially well-defined phase distribution. The propagation formula of
the radial coherent laser array passing through the turbulent atmosphere is
analytically derived by using the extended Huygens-Fresnel diffraction
integral. Based on the derived formula, the effect of the atmospheric
turbulence on the propagation properties of such laser arrays has been studied
in great detail. Our main results show that the atmospheric turbulence may
result in the prohibition of the formation of the optical vortex or the
disappearance of the formed optical vortex, which are very different from that
in the free space. The formed optical vortex with the higher topological charge
may propagate over a much longer distance in the moderate or weak turbulent
atmosphere. After the sufficient long-distance atmospheric propagation, all the
output beams (even with initially different phase distributions) finally lose
the vortex property and gradually become the Gaussian-shaped beams, and in this
case the output beams actually become incoherent light fields due to the
decoherence effect of the turbulent atmosphere.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure
Dynamic response of exchange bias in graphene nanoribbons
The dynamics of magnetic hysteresis, including the training effect and the
field sweep rate dependence of the exchange bias, is experimentally
investigated in exchange-coupled potassium split graphene nanoribbons (GNRs).
We find that, at low field sweep rate, the pronounced absolute training effect
is present over a large number of cycles. This is reflected in a gradual
decrease of the exchange bias with the sequential field cycling. However, at
high field sweep rate above 0.5 T/min, the training effect is not prominent.
With the increase in field sweep rate, the average value of exchange bias field
grows and is found to follow power law behavior. The response of the exchange
bias field to the field sweep rate variation is linked to the difference in the
time it takes to perform a hysteresis loop measurement compared with the
relaxation time of the anti-ferromagnetically aligned spins. The present
results may broaden our current understanding of magnetism of GNRs and would be
helpful in establishing the GNRs based spintronic devices.Comment: Accepted Applied Physics Letters (In press
Suppression of low-energy Andreev states by a supercurrent in YBa_2Cu_3O_7-delta
We report a coherence-length scale phenomenon related to how the high-Tc
order parameter (OP) evolves under a directly-applied supercurrent. Scanning
tunneling spectroscopy was performed on current-carrying YBa_2Cu_3O_7-delta
thin-film strips at 4.2K. At current levels well below the theoretical
depairing limit, the low-energy Andreev states are suppressed by the
supercurrent, while the gap-like structures remain unchanged. We rule out the
likelihood of various extrinsic effects, and propose instead a model based on
phase fluctuations in the d-wave BTK formalism to explain the suppression. Our
results suggest that a supercurrent could weaken the local phase coherence
while preserving the pairing amplitude. Other possible scenarios which may
cause the observed phenomenon are also discussed.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, to appear in Physical Review
Effect of carbon nanotube doping on critical current density of MgB2 superconductor
The effect of doping MgB2 with carbon nanotubes on transition temperature,
lattice parameters, critical current density and flux pinning was studied for
MgB2-xCx with x = 0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3. The carbon substitution for B was
found to enhance Jc in magnetic fields but depress Tc. The depression of Tc,
which is caused by the carbon substitution for B, increases with increasing
doping level, sintering temperature and duration. By controlling the extent of
the substitution and addition of carbon nanotubes we can achieve the optimal
improvement on critical current density and flux pinning in magnetic fields
while maintaining the minimum reduction in Tc. Under these conditions, Jc was
enhanced by two orders of magnitude at 8T and 5K and 7T and 10K. Jc was more
than 10,000A/cm2 at 20K and 4T and 5K and 8.5T, respectively
- …