Close binary evolution. III. Impact of tides, wind magnetic braking, and internal angular momentum transport

Massive stars with solar metallicity lose important amounts of rotational angular momentum through their winds. When a magnetic field is present at the surface of a star, efficient angular momentum losses can still be achieved even when the mass-loss rate is very modest, at lower metallicities, or for lower-initial-mass stars. In a close binary system, the effect of wind magnetic braking also interacts with the influence of tides, resulting in a complex evolution of rotation. We study the interactions between the process of wind magnetic braking and tides in close binary systems. We discuss the evolution of a 10 M$_\odot$ star in a close binary system with a 7 M$_\odot$ companion using the Geneva stellar evolution code. The initial orbital period is 1.2 days. The 10 M$_\odot$ star has a surface magnetic field of 1 kG. Various initial rotations are considered. We use two different approaches for the internal angular momentum transport. In one of them, angular momentum is transported by shear and meridional currents. In the other, a strong internal magnetic field imposes nearly perfect solid-body rotation. The evolution of the primary is computed until the first mass-transfer episode occurs. The cases of different values for the magnetic fields and for various orbital periods and mass ratios are briefly discussed. We show that, independently of the initial rotation rate of the primary and the efficiency of the internal angular momentum transport, the surface rotation of the primary will converge, in a time that is short with respect to the main-sequence lifetime, towards a slowly evolving velocity that is different from the synchronization velocity. (abridged).Comment: 11 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic

Control of Multi-level Voltage States in a Hysteretic SQUID Ring-Resonator System

In this paper we study numerical solutions to the quasi-classical equations of motion for a SQUID ring-radio frequency (rf) resonator system in the regime where the ring is highly hysteretic. In line with experiment, we show that for a suitable choice of of ring circuit parameters the solutions to these equations of motion comprise sets of levels in the rf voltage-current dynamics of the coupled system. We further demonstrate that transitions, both up and down, between these levels can be controlled by voltage pulses applied to the system, thus opening up the possibility of high order (e.g. 10 state), multi-level logic and memory.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figure

Coherent spin dynamics of an interwell excitonic gas in GaAs/AlGaAs coupled quantum wells

The spin dynamics of an interwell excitons gas has been investigated in n-i-n GaAs/AlGaAs coupled quantum wells (CQWs). In these heterostructures the electron and the hole are spatially separated in neighboring quantum wells by a narrow AlAs barrier, when an electric field is applied. The time evolution kinetics of the interwell exciton photoluminescence has been measured under resonant excitation of the 1sHH intrawell exciton, using a pulsed tunable laser. The formation of a collective exciton phase in time and the temperature dependence of its spin relaxation rate have been studied. The spin relaxation rate of the interwell excitons is strongly reduced in the collective phase. This observation provides evidence for the coherence of the indirect excitons collective phase at temperatures below a critical $T_c$.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figure

Observed development of the vertical structure of the marine boundary layer during the LASIE experiment in the Ligurian Sea

In the marine environment, complete datasets describing the surface layer and the vertical structure of the Marine Atmospheric Boundary Layer (MABL), through its entire depth, are less frequent than over land, due to the high cost of measuring campaigns. During the seven days of the Ligurian Air-Sea Interaction Experiment (LASIE), organized by the NATO Undersea Research Centre (NURC) in the Mediterranean Sea, extensive in situ and remote sensing measurements were collected from instruments placed on a spar buoy and a ship. Standard surface meteorological measurements were collected by meteorological sensors mounted on the buoy ODAS Italia1 located in the centre of the Gulf of Genoa. The evolution of the height (<I>z<sub>i</sub></I>) of the MABL was monitored using radiosondes and a ceilometer on board of the N/O Urania. <br><br> Here, we present the database and an uncommon case study of the evolution of the vertical structure of the MABL, observed by two independent measuring systems: the ceilometer and radiosondes. Following the changes of surface flow conditions, in a sequence of onshore – offshore – onshore wind direction shifting episodes, during the mid part of the campaign, the overall structure of the MABL changed. Warm and dry air from land advected over a colder sea, induced a stably stratified Internal Boundary Layer (IBL) and a consequent change in the structure of the vertical profiles of potential temperature and relative humidity

Switching between dynamic states in intermediate-length Josephson junctions

The appearance of zero-field steps (ZFS’s) in the current-voltage characteristics of intermediate-length overlap-geometry Josephson tunnel junctions described by a perturbed sine-Gordon equation (PSGE) is associated with the growth of parametrically excited instabilities of the McCumber background curve (MCB). A linear stability analysis of a McCumber solution of the PSGE in the asymptotic linear region of the MCB and in the absence of magnetic field yields a Hill’s equation which predicts how the number, locations, and widths of the instability regions depend on the junction parameters. A numerical integration of the PSGE in terms of truncated series of time-dependent Fourier spatial modes verifies that the parametrically excited instabilities of the MCB evolve into the fluxon oscillations characteristic of the ZFS’s. An approximate analysis of the Fourier mode equations in the presence of a small magnetic field yields a field-dependent Hill’s equation which predicts that the major effect of such a field is to reduce the widths of the instability regions. Experimental measurements on Nb-NbxOy-Pb junctions of intermediate length, performed at different operating temperatures in order to vary the junction parameters and for various magnetic field values, verify the physical existence of switching from the MCB to the ZFS’s. Good qualitative, and in many cases quantitative, agreement between analytic, numerical, and experimental results is obtained

CAPS-1 and CAPS-2 are essential synaptic vesicle priming proteins

SummaryBefore transmitter-filled synaptic vesicles can fuse with the plasma membrane upon stimulation they have to be primed to fusion competence. The regulation of this priming process controls the strength and plasticity of synaptic transmission between neurons, which in turn determines many complex brain functions. We show that CAPS-1 and CAPS-2 are essential components of the synaptic vesicle priming machinery. CAPS-deficient neurons contain no or very few fusion competent synaptic vesicles, which causes a selective impairment of fast phasic transmitter release. Increases in the intracellular Ca2+ levels can transiently revert this defect. Our findings demonstrate that CAPS proteins generate and maintain a highly fusion competent synaptic vesicle pool that supports phasic Ca2+ triggered release of transmitters

Inverse ac Josephson Effect for a Fluxon in a Long Modulated Junction

We analyze motion of a fluxon in a weakly damped ac-driven long Josephson junction with a periodically modulated maximum Josephson current density. We demonstrate both analytically and numerically that a pure {\it ac} bias current can drive the fluxon at a {\it resonant} mean velocity determined by the driving frequency and the spatial period of the modulation, provided that the drive amplitude exceeds a certain threshold value. In the range of strongly ``relativistic'' mean velocities, the agreement between results of a numerical solution of the effective (ODE) fluxon equation of motion and analytical results obtained by means of the harmonic-balance analysis is fairly good; morever, a preliminary PDE result tends to confirm the validity of the collective-coordinate (PDE-ODE) reduction. At nonrelativistic mean velocities, the basin of attraction, in position-velocity space, for phase-locked solutions becomes progressively smaller as the mean velocity is decreased.Comment: 15 pages, 26 kbytes, of text in plain LaTeX. A uuencoded, Z-compressed tar archive, 21 kbytes, containing 3 PostScript, [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

Superconductivity enhanced conductance fluctuations in few layer graphene nanoribbons

We investigate the mesoscopic disorder induced rms conductance variance $\delta G$ in a few layer graphene nanoribbon (FGNR) contacted by two superconducting (S) Ti/Al contacts. By sweeping the back-gate voltage, we observe pronounced conductance fluctuations superimposed on a linear background of the two terminal conductance G. The linear gate-voltage induced response can be modeled by a set of inter-layer and intra-layer capacitances. $\delta G$ depends on temperature T and source-drain voltage $V_{sd}$. $\delta G$ increases with decreasing T and $|V_{sd}|$. When lowering $|V_{sd}|$, a pronounced cross-over at a voltage corresponding to the superconducting energy gap $\Delta$ is observed. For |V_{sd}|\ltequiv \Delta the fluctuations are markedly enhanced. Expressed in the conductance variance $G_{GS}$ of one graphene-superconducutor (G-S) interface, values of 0.58 e^2/h are obtained at the base temperature of 230 mK. The conductance variance in the sub-gap region are larger by up to a factor of 1.4-1.8 compared to the normal state. The observed strong enhancement is due to phase coherent charge transfer caused by Andreev reflection at the nanoribbon-superconductor interface.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figure