13,166 research outputs found
Comparing omnidirectional reflection from periodic and quasiperiodic one-dimensional photonic crystals
We determine the range of thicknesses and refractive indices for which
omnidirectional reflection from quasiperiodic multilayers occurs. By resorting
to the notion of area under the transmittance curve, we assess in a systematic
way the performance of the different quasiperiodic Fibonacci multilayers.Comment: 5 pages, 4 color figures. Comments welcome
Three different approaches to the same interaction: the Yukawa model in nuclear physics
After a brief discussion of the meaning of the potential in quantum
mechanics, we examine the results of the Yukawa model (scalar meson exchange)
for the nucleon-nucleon interaction in three different dynamical frameworks:
the non-relativistic dynamics of the Schrodinger equation, the relativistic
quantum mechanics of the Bethe-Salpeter and Light-Front equations and the
lattice solution of the Quantum Field Theory, obtained in the quenched
approximation.Comment: 17 pages, 9 figures. Dedicated to Professor Henryk Witala at the
occasion of his 60th birthday. Submitted in Few-Body System
Measuring the Radiative Histories of QSOs with the Transverse Proximity Effect
Since the photons that stream from QSOs alter the ionization state of the gas
they traverse, any changes to a QSO's luminosity will produce
outward-propagating ionization gradients in the surrounding intergalactic gas.
This paper shows that at redshift z~3 the gradients will alter the gas's
Lyman-alpha absorption opacity enough to produce a detectable signature in the
spectra of faint background galaxies. By obtaining noisy (S:N~4) low-resolution
(~7A) spectra of a several dozen background galaxies in an R~20' field
surrounding an isotropically radiating 18th magnitude QSO at z=3, it should be
possible to detect any order-of-magnitude changes to the QSO's luminosity over
the previous 50--100 Myr and to measure the time t_Q since the onset of the
QSO's current luminous outburst with an accuracy of ~5 Myr for t_Q<~50 Myr.
Smaller fields-of-view are acceptable for shorter QSO lifetimes. The major
uncertainty, aside from cosmic variance, will be the shape and orientation of
the QSO's ionization cone. This can be determined from the data if the number
of background sources is increased by a factor of a few. The method will then
provide a direct test of unification models for AGN.Comment: Accepted for publication in the ApJ. 16 page
The transfer matrix: a geometrical perspective
We present a comprehensive and self-contained discussion of the use of the
transfer matrix to study propagation in one-dimensional lossless systems,
including a variety of examples, such as superlattices, photonic crystals, and
optical resonators. In all these cases, the transfer matrix has the same
algebraic properties as the Lorentz group in a (2+1)-dimensional spacetime, as
well as the group of unimodular real matrices underlying the structure of the
abcd law, which explains many subtle details. We elaborate on the geometrical
interpretation of the transfer-matrix action as a mapping on the unit disk and
apply a simple trace criterion to classify the systems into three types with
very different geometrical and physical properties. This approach is applied to
some practical examples and, in particular, an alternative framework to deal
with periodic (and quasiperiodic) systems is proposed.Comment: 50 pages, 24 figure
Tomography of high-redshift clusters with OSIRIS
High-redshift clusters of galaxies are amongst the largest cosmic structures.
Their properties and evolution are key ingredients to our understanding of
cosmology: to study the growth of structure from the inhomogeneities of the
cosmic microwave background; the processes of galaxy formation, evolution, and
differentiation; and to measure the cosmological parameters (through their
interaction with the geometry of the universe, the age estimates of their
component galaxies, or the measurement of the amount of matter locked in their
potential wells). However, not much is yet known about the properties of
clusters at redshifts of cosmological interest. We propose here a radically new
method to study large samples of cluster galaxies using microslits to perform
spectroscopy of huge numbers of objects in single fields in a narrow spectral
range-chosen to fit an emission line at the cluster redshift. Our objective is
to obtain spectroscopy in a very restricted wavelength range (~100 A in width)
of several thousands of objects for each single 8x8 square arcmin field.
Approximately 100 of them will be identified as cluster emission-line objects
and will yield basic measurements of the dynamics and the star formation in the
cluster (that figure applies to a cluster at z~0.50, and becomes ~40 and ~20
for clusters at z~0.75 and z~1.00 respectively). This is a pioneering approach
that, once proven, will be followed in combination with photometric redshift
techniques and applied to other astrophysical problems.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures. Proceedings of "Science with the GTC", Granada
(Spain), February 2002, RMxAA in pres
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