Kohn Anomalies in Superconductors

I present the detailed behavior of phonon dispersion curves near momenta which span the electronic Fermi sea in a superconductor. I demonstrate that an anomaly, similar to the metallic Kohn anomaly, exists in a superconductor's dispersion curves when the frequency of the phonon spanning the Fermi sea exceeds twice the superconducting energy gap. This anomaly occurs at approximately the same momentum but is {\it stronger} than the normal-state Kohn anomaly. It also survives at finite temperature, unlike the metallic anomaly. Determination of Fermi surface diameters from the location of these anomalies, therefore, may be more successful in the superconducting phase than in the normal state. However, the superconductor's anomaly fades rapidly with increased phonon frequency and becomes unobservable when the phonon frequency greatly exceeds the gap. This constraint makes these anomalies useful only in high-temperature superconductors such as $\rm La_{1.85}Sr_{.15}CuO_4$.Comment: 18 pages (revtex) + 11 figures (upon request), NSF-ITP-93-7

The Minimally Tuned Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model

The regions in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model with the minimal amount of fine-tuning of electroweak symmetry breaking are presented for general messenger scale. No a priori relations among the soft supersymmetry breaking parameters are assumed and fine-tuning is minimized with respect to all the important parameters which affect electroweak symmetry breaking. The superpartner spectra in the minimally tuned region of parameter space are quite distinctive with large stop mixing at the low scale and negative squark soft masses at the high scale. The minimal amount of tuning increases enormously for a Higgs mass beyond roughly 120 GeV.Comment: 38 pages, including 2 appendices, 8 figure

Vortex phase transformations probed by the local ac response of Bi_{2}Sr_{2}CaCu_{2}O_{8+\delta} single crystals with various doping

The linear ac response of the vortex system is measured locally in Bi-2212 single crystals at various doping, using a miniature two-coil mutual-inductance technique. It was found that a step-like change in the local ac response takes place exactly at the first-order transition (FOT) temperature T_{FOT}(H) determined by a global dc magnetization measurement. The T_{FOT}(H) line in the H-T phase diagram becomes steeper with increasing doping. In the higher-field region where the FOT is not observed, the local ac response still shows a broadened but distinct feature, which can be interpreted to mark the growth of a short-range order in the vortex system.Comment: 4 pages, including 5 eps figure

Dynamics of FitzHugh-Nagumo excitable systems with delayed coupling

Small lattices of $N$ nearest neighbor coupled excitable FitzHugh-Nagumo systems, with time-delayed coupling are studied, and compared with systems of FitzHugh-Nagumo oscillators with the same delayed coupling. Bifurcations of equilibria in N=2 case are studied analytically, and it is then numerically confirmed that the same bifurcations are relevant for the dynamics in the case $N>2$. Bifurcations found include inverse and direct Hopf and fold limit cycle bifurcations. Typical dynamics for different small time-lags and coupling intensities could be excitable with a single globally stable equilibrium, asymptotic oscillatory with symmetric limit cycle, bi-stable with stable equilibrium and a symmetric limit cycle, and again coherent oscillatory but non-symmetric and phase-shifted. For an intermediate range of time-lags inverse sub-critical Hopf and fold limit cycle bifurcations lead to the phenomenon of oscillator death. The phenomenon does not occur in the case of FitzHugh-Nagumo oscillators with the same type of coupling.Comment: accepted by Phys.Rev.

Magnetic-field and current-density distributions in thin-film superconducting rings and disks

We show how to calculate the magnetic-field and sheet-current distributions for a thin-film superconducting annular ring (inner radius a, outer radius b, and thickness d<<a) when either the penetration depth obeys lambda < d/2 or, if lambda > d/2, the two-dimensional screening length obeys Lambda = 2 lambda^2/d << a for the following cases: (a) magnetic flux trapped in the hole in the absence of an applied magnetic field, (b) zero magnetic flux in the hole when the ring is subjected to an applied magnetic field, and (c) focusing of magnetic flux into the hole when a magnetic field is applied but no net current flows around the ring. We use a similar method to calculate the magnetic-field and sheet-current distributions and magnetization loops for a thin, bulk-pinning-free superconducting disk (radius b) containing a dome of magnetic flux of radius a when flux entry is impeded by a geometrical barrier.Comment: 10 pages, 13 figure

Transonic flutter analysis using a fully coupled density based solver for inviscid flow

This paper focuses on the coupling between the high fidelity aerodynamic model for the flow field and the modal analysis of a typical wing section to carry out flutter analysis. This coupled aeroelastic model is implemented in one of the most widely used open source CFD codes called OpenFOAM. The model is designed to calculate the structural displacement in the time domain based on the free vibration modes of the structure by constructing the numerical model directly from the modal analysis. Essentially a second order ordinary differential equation is solved for each mode as a function of the generalised coordinates. A density based solver using central difference scheme of Kurganov and Tadmor is used to model the flow field. Two main cases of transonic flow over NACA 64A010 are modelled for a forced pitching oscillation airfoil and a self-sustained aerofoil respectively. The self-sustained two degrees of freedom case is modelled for three different possibilities covering damped, neutral and divergent oscillations. Predicted results show very good agreement with the numerical and experimental data available in the literature

Single Spin Asymmetry ANA_N in Polarized Proton-Proton Elastic Scattering at s=200\sqrt{s}=200 GeV

We report a high precision measurement of the transverse single spin asymmetry $A_N$ at the center of mass energy $\sqrt{s}=200$ GeV in elastic proton-proton scattering by the STAR experiment at RHIC. The $A_N$ was measured in the four-momentum transfer squared $t$ range $0.003 \leqslant |t| \leqslant 0.035$ \GeVcSq, the region of a significant interference between the electromagnetic and hadronic scattering amplitudes. The measured values of $A_N$ and its $t$-dependence are consistent with a vanishing hadronic spin-flip amplitude, thus providing strong constraints on the ratio of the single spin-flip to the non-flip amplitudes. Since the hadronic amplitude is dominated by the Pomeron amplitude at this $\sqrt{s}$, we conclude that this measurement addresses the question about the presence of a hadronic spin flip due to the Pomeron exchange in polarized proton-proton elastic scattering.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figure

Longitudinal double-spin asymmetry and cross section for inclusive neutral pion production at midrapidity in polarized proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 200 GeV

We report a measurement of the longitudinal double-spin asymmetry A_LL and the differential cross section for inclusive Pi0 production at midrapidity in polarized proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 200 GeV. The cross section was measured over a transverse momentum range of 1 < p_T < 17 GeV/c and found to be in good agreement with a next-to-leading order perturbative QCD calculation. The longitudinal double-spin asymmetry was measured in the range of 3.7 < p_T < 11 GeV/c and excludes a maximal positive gluon polarization in the proton. The mean transverse momentum fraction of Pi0's in their parent jets was found to be around 0.7 for electromagnetically triggered events.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. D (RC

The exposure of the hybrid detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory

The Pierre Auger Observatory is a detector for ultra-high energy cosmic rays. It consists of a surface array to measure secondary particles at ground level and a fluorescence detector to measure the development of air showers in the atmosphere above the array. The "hybrid" detection mode combines the information from the two subsystems. We describe the determination of the hybrid exposure for events observed by the fluorescence telescopes in coincidence with at least one water-Cherenkov detector of the surface array. A detailed knowledge of the time dependence of the detection operations is crucial for an accurate evaluation of the exposure. We discuss the relevance of monitoring data collected during operations, such as the status of the fluorescence detector, background light and atmospheric conditions, that are used in both simulation and reconstruction.Comment: Paper accepted by Astroparticle Physic

Atmospheric effects on extensive air showers observed with the Surface Detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory

Atmospheric parameters, such as pressure (P), temperature (T) and density, affect the development of extensive air showers initiated by energetic cosmic rays. We have studied the impact of atmospheric variations on extensive air showers by means of the surface detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory. The rate of events shows a ~10% seasonal modulation and ~2% diurnal one. We find that the observed behaviour is explained by a model including the effects associated with the variations of pressure and density. The former affects the longitudinal development of air showers while the latter influences the Moliere radius and hence the lateral distribution of the shower particles. The model is validated with full simulations of extensive air showers using atmospheric profiles measured at the site of the Pierre Auger Observatory.Comment: 24 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Astroparticle Physic