A Model for Dark Matter Halos

A halo model is presented which possesses a constant phase space density (Q) core followed by a radial CDM-like power law decrease in Q. The motivation for the core is the allowance for a possible primordial phase space density limit such as the Tremaine-Gunn upper bound. The space density profile derived from this model has a constant density core and falls off rapidly beyond. The new model is shown to improve the fits to the observations of LSB galaxy rotation curves, naturally provides a model which has been shown to result in a lengthened dynamical friction time scale for the Fornax dwarf spheroidal galaxy and predicts a flattening of the density profile within the Einstein radius of galaxy clusters. A constant gas entropy floor is predicted whose adiabatic constant provides a lower limit in accord with observed galaxy cluster values. While `observable-sized' cores are not seen in standard cold dark matter (CDM) simulations, phase space considerations suggest that they could appear in warm dark matter (WDM) cosmological simulations and in certain hierarchically consistent SuperWIMP scenarios.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

Understanding delocalization in the Continuous Random Dimer model

We propose an explanation of the bands of extended states appearing in random one dimensional models with correlated disorder, focusing on the Continuous Random Dimer model [A.\ S\'{a}nchez, E.\ Maci\'a, and F.\ Dom\'\i nguez-Adame, Phys.\ Rev.\ B {\bf 49}, 147 (1994)]. We show exactly that the transmission coefficient at the resonant energy is independent of the number of host sites between two consecutive dimers. This allows us to understand why are there bands of extended states for every realization of the model as well as the dependence of the bandwidths on the concentration. We carry out a perturbative calculation that sheds more light on the above results. In the conclusion we discuss generalizations of our results to other models and possible applications which arise from our new insight of this problem.Comment: REVTeX 3.0, 4 pages, 4 figures (hard copy on request from [email protected]), Submitted to Phys Rev

Seeing the sky through Hubble's eye: The COSMOS SkyWalker

Large, high-resolution space-based imaging surveys produce a volume of data that is difficult to present to the public in a comprehensible way. While megapixel-sized images can still be printed out or downloaded via the World Wide Web, this is no longer feasible for images with 10^9 pixels (e.g., the Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera for Surveys [ACS] images of the Galaxy Evolution from Morphology and SEDs [GEMS] project) or even 10^10 pixels (for the ACS Cosmic Evolution Survey [COSMOS]). We present a Web-based utility called the COSMOS SkyWalker that allows viewing of the huge ACS image data set, even through slow Internet connections. Using standard HTML and JavaScript, the application successively loads only those portions of the image at a time that are currently being viewed on the screen. The user can move within the image by using the mouse or interacting with an overview image. Using an astrometrically registered image for the COSMOS SkyWalker allows the display of calibrated world coordinates for use in science. The SkyWalker "technique" can be applied to other data sets. This requires some customization, notably the slicing up of a data set into small (e.g., 256^2 pixel) subimages. An advantage of the SkyWalker is the use of standard Web browser components; thus, it requires no installation of any software and can therefore be viewed by anyone across many operating systems.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in PAS

The half-filled Hubbard chain in the Composite Operator Method: A comparison with Bethe Ansatz

The one-dimensional Hubbard model at half-filling is studied in the framework of the Composite Operator Method using a static approximation. A solution characterized by strong antiferromagnetic correlations and a gap for any nonzero on-site interaction U is found. The corresponding ground-state energy, double occupancy and specific heat are in excellent agreement with those obtained within the Bethe Ansatz. These results show that the Composite Operator Method is an appropriate framework for the half-filled Hubbard chain and can be applied to evaluate properties, like the correlation functions, which cannot be obtained by means of the Bethe Ansatz, except for some limiting cases.Comment: 7 pages, 3 embedded Postscript figures, EuroTeX, submitted to EuroPhysics Letter

Intentionally disordered superlattices with high dc conductance

We study disordered quantum-well-based semiconductor superlattices where the disorder is intentional and short-range correlated. Such systems consist of quantum-wells of two different thicknesses randomly distributed along the growth direction, with the additional constraint that wells of one kind always appears in pairs. Imperfections due to interface roughness are considered by allowing the quantum-well thicknesses to fluctuate around their {\em ideal} values. As particular examples, we consider wide-gap (GaAs-Ga$_{1-x}$Al$_{x}$As) and narrow-gap (InAs-GaSb) superlattices. We show the existence of a band of extended states in perfect correlated disordered superlattices, giving rise to a strong enhancement of their finite-temperature dc conductance as compared to usual random ones whenever the Fermi level matches this band. This feature is seen to survive even if interface roughness is taken into account. Our predictions can be used to demonstrate experimentally that structural correlations inhibit the localization effects of disorder, even in the presence of imperfections. This effect might be the basis of new, filter-like or other specific-purpose electronic devices.Comment: REVTeX 3.0, 20 pages, 7 uuencoded compressed PostScript figures as a separate file. Submitted to IEEE J Quantum Elec