11,627 research outputs found
Interferometer
A high resolution interferometer is described. The interferometer is insensitive to slight misalignment of its elements, avoids channeling in the spectrum, generates a maximum equal path fringe contrast, produces an even two sided interferogram without critical matching of the wedge angles of the beamsplitter and compensator wedges, and is optically phase tunable. The interferometer includes a mirror along the path of each beam component produced by the beamsplitter, for reflecting the beam component from the beamsplitter, for reflecting the beam component from the beamsplitter to a corresponding retroreflector and for reflecting the beam returned by the retroreflector back to the beamsplitter. A wedge located along each beam component path, is large enough to cover the retroreflector, so that each beam component passes through the wedge during movement towards the retroreflector and away therefrom
Low temperature phase diagram of condensed para-Hydrogen in two dimensions
Extensive Path Integral Monte Carlo simulations of condensed para-Hydrogen in
two dimensions at low temperature have been carried out. In the zero
temperature limit, the system is a crystal at equilibrium, with a triangular
lattice structure. No metastable liquid phase is observed, as the system
remains a solid down to the spinodal density, and breaks down into solid
clusters at lower densities. The equilibrium crystal is found to melt at a
temperature close to 7 K
Implications of surface noise for the motional coherence of trapped ions
Electric noise from metallic surfaces is a major obstacle towards quantum
applications with trapped ions due to motional heating of the ions. Here, we
discuss how the same noise source can also lead to pure dephasing of motional
quantum states. The mechanism is particularly relevant at small ion-surface
distances, thus imposing a new constraint on trap miniaturization. By means of
a free induction decay experiment, we measure the dephasing time of the motion
of a single ion trapped 50~m above a Cu-Al surface. From the dephasing
times we extract the integrated noise below the secular frequency of the ion.
We find that none of the most commonly discussed surface noise models for ion
traps describes both, the observed heating as well as the measured dephasing,
satisfactorily. Thus, our measurements provide a benchmark for future models
for the electric noise emitted by metallic surfaces.Comment: (5 pages, 4 figures
Virgo Galaxies with Long One-Sided HI Tails
In a new HI imaging survey of Virgo galaxies (VIVA: VLA Imaging of Virgo
galaxies in Atomic gas), we find 7 spiral galaxies with long HI tails. The
morphology varies but all the tails are extended well beyond the optical radii
on one side. These galaxies are found in intermediate-low density regions
(0.6-1 Mpc in projection from M87). The tails are all pointing roughly away
from M87, suggesting that these tails may have been created by a global cluster
mechanism. While the tidal effects of the cluster potential are too small, a
rough estimate suggests that simple ram-pressure stripping indeed could have
formed the tails in all but two cases. At least three systems show HI
truncation to within the stellar disk, providing evidence for a gas-gas
interaction. Although most of these galaxies do not appear disturbed optically,
some have close neighbors, suggesting that tidal interactions may have moved
gas outwards making it more susceptible to the ICM ram-pressure or viscosity.
Indeed, a simulation study of one of the tail galaxies, NGC 4654, suggests that
the galaxy is most likely affected by the combined effect of a gravitational
interaction and ram-pressure stripping. We conclude that these one-sided HI
tail galaxies have recently arrived in the cluster, falling in on highly radial
orbits. It appears that galaxies begin to lose their gas already at
intermediate distances from the cluster center through ram-pressure or
turbulent viscous stripping and tidal interactions with neighbours, or a
combination of both.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures (including 1 plate), accepted for accepted for
publication in ApJ Letter (vol. 659, L115), a version with full resolution
Plate 1 is available from
http://www.astro.umass.edu/~achung/astro-ph/viva_tail.pd
Quick X-ray microtomography using a laser-driven betatron source
Laser-driven X-ray sources are an emerging alternative to conventional X-ray
tubes and synchrotron sources. We present results on microtomographic X-ray
imaging of a cancellous human bone sample using synchrotron-like betatron
radiation. The source is driven by a 100-TW-class titanium-sapphire laser
system and delivers over X-ray photons per second. Compared to earlier
studies, the acquisition time for an entire tomographic dataset has been
reduced by more than an order of magnitude. Additionally, the reconstruction
quality benefits from the use of statistical iterative reconstruction
techniques. Depending on the desired resolution, tomographies are thereby
acquired within minutes, which is an important milestone towards real-life
applications of laser-plasma X-ray sources
Narrow-line magneto-optical trap for erbium
We report on the experimental realization of a robust and efficient
magneto-optical trap for erbium atoms, based on a narrow cooling transition at
583nm. We observe up to atoms at a temperature of about
. This simple scheme provides better starting conditions for direct
loading of dipole traps as compared to approaches based on the strong cooling
transition alone, or on a combination of a strong and a narrow kHz transition.
Our results on Er point to a general, simple and efficient approach to laser
cool samples of other lanthanide atoms (Ho, Dy, and Tm) for the production of
quantum-degenerate samples
Dense Cloud Ablation and Ram Pressure Stripping of the Virgo Spiral NGC 4402
We present optical, HI and radio continuum observations of the highly
inclined Virgo Cluster Sc galaxy NGC 4402, which show evidence for ram-pressure
stripping and dense cloud ablation. VLA HI and radio continuum maps show a
truncated gas disk and emission to the northwest of the main disk emission. In
particular, the radio continuum emission is asymmetrically extended to the
north and skewed to the west. The Halpha image shows numerous HII complexes
along the southern edge of the gas disk, possibly indicating star formation
triggered by the ICM pressure. BVR images at 0.5" resolution obtained with the
WIYN Tip-Tilt Imager show a remarkable dust lane morphology: at half the
optical radius, the dust lane of the galaxy curves up and out of the disk,
matching the HI morphology. Large dust plumes extend upward for ~1.5 kpc from
luminous young star clusters at the SE edge of the truncated gas disk. These
star clusters are very blue, indicating very little dust reddening, which
suggests dust blown away by an ICM wind at the leading edge of the interaction.
To the south of the main ridge of interstellar material, where the galaxy is
relatively clean of gas and dust, we have discovered 1 kpc long linear dust
filaments with a position angle that matches the extraplanar radio continuum
tail; we interpret this angle as the projected ICM wind direction. One of the
observed dust filaments has an HII region at its head. We interpret these dust
filaments as large, dense clouds which were initially left behind as the
low-density ISM is stripped, but are then ablated by the ICM wind. These
results provide striking new evidence on the fate of molecular clouds in
stripped cluster galaxies.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in AJ. See
ftp://ftp.astro.yale.edu/pub/hugh/papers/crowl_n4402.ps.gz for a version with
high-resolution figure
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