Detection of H-alpha emission from the Magellanic Stream: evidence for an extended gaseous Galactic halo

We have detected faint, diffuse H$\alpha emission from several points along the Magellanic Stream, using the Rutgers Fabry--Perot Interferometer at the CTIO 1.5-m telescope. At points on the leading edges of the H I clouds MS II, MS III, and MS IV, we detect H$\alpha emission of surface brightness $0.37 \pm 0.02$ Rayleighs, $0.21 \pm 0.04$ R, and $0.20 \pm 0.02$ R respectively, corresponding to emission measures of 1.0 to 0.5 \cmsixpc. We have observed several positions near the MS IV concentration, and find that the strongest emission is on the sharp leading-edge density gradient. There is less emission at points away from the gradient, and halfway between MS III and MS IV the H$\alpha surface brightness is$< 0.04$R. We attribute the H$\alpha emission at cloud leading edges to heating of the Stream clouds by ram pressure from ionized gas in the halo of the Galaxy. These observations suggest that ram pressure from halo gas plays a large role in stripping the Stream out of the Magellanic Clouds. They also suggest the presence of a relatively large density of gas, $n_{\rm H} \sim 10^{-4} cm^{-3}$, in the Galactic halo at $\sim 50$ kpc radius, and far above the Galactic plane, $b \sim -80\deg$. This implies that the Galaxy has a very large baryonic, gaseous extent, and supports models of Lyman-$\alpha and metal-line QSO absorption lines in which the absorption systems reside in extended galactic halos.Comment: 15 pages, aaspp latex, + 1 table & 3 figures. Accepted in A.J. Also available from http://www.physics.rutgers.edu/~bweiner/astro/papers

Infinitesimally Nonlocal Lorentz Violation

We introduce a new Lorentz-violating modification to a scalar quantum field theory. This interaction, while super-renormalizable by power counting, is fundamentally different from the interactions previously considered within the Lorentz-violating standard model extension. The Lagrange density is nonlocal, because of the presence of a Hilbert transform term; however, this nonlocality is also very weak. The theory has reasonable stability and causality properties and, although the Lorentz-violating interaction possesses a single vector index, the theory is nonetheless CPT even. As an application, we analyze the possible effects of this new form of Lorentz violation on neutral meson oscillations. We find that under certain circumstances, the interaction may lead to quite peculiar sidereal modulations in the oscillation frequency.Comment: 10 page

Fully three dimensional breather solitons can be created using Feshbach resonance

We investigate the stability properties of breather solitons in a three-dimensional Bose-Einstein Condensate with Feshbach Resonance Management of the scattering length and con ned only by a one dimensional optical lattice. We compare regions of stability in parameter space obtained from a fully 3D analysis with those from a quasi two-dimensional treatment. For moderate con nement we discover a new island of stability in the 3D case, not present in the quasi 2D treatment. Stable solutions from this region have nontrivial dynamics in the lattice direction, hence they describe fully 3D breather solitons. We demonstrate these solutions in direct numerical simulations and outline a possible way of creating robust 3D solitons in experiments in a Bose Einstein Condensate in a one-dimensional lattice. We point other possible applications.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures; accepted to Physical Review Letter

Phase diagram and aggregation dynamics of a monolayer of paramagnetic colloids

We have developed a tunable colloidal system and a corresponding simulation model for studying the phase behavior of particles assembling under the influence of long-range magnetic interactions. A monolayer of paramagnetic particles is subjected to a spatially uniform magnetic field with a static perpendicular component and rapidly rotating in-plane component. The sign and strength of the interactions vary with the tilt angle $\theta$ of the rotating magnetic field. For a purely in-plane field, $\theta=90^{\circ}$, interactions are attractive and the experimental results agree well with both equilibrium and out-of-equilibrium predictions based on a two-body interaction model. For tilt angles $50^{\circ}\lesssim \theta\lesssim 55^{\circ}$, the two-body interaction gives a short-range attractive and long-range repulsive (SALR) interaction, which predicts the formation of equilibrium microphases. In experiments, however, a different type of assembly is observed. Inclusion of three-body (and higher-order) terms in the model does not resolve the discrepancy. We thus further characterize the anomalous behavior by measuring the time-dependent cluster size distribution.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figure

Multiscale Analysis of Discrete Nonlinear Evolution Equations

The method of multiscale analysis is constructed for dicrete systems of evolution equations for which the problem is that of the far behavior of an input boundary datum. Discrete slow space variables are introduced in a general setting and the related finite differences are constructed. The method is applied to a series of representative examples: the Toda lattice, the nonlinear Klein-Gordon chain, the Takeno system and a discrete version of the Benjamin-Bona-Mahoney equation. Among the resulting limit models we find a discrete nonlinear Schroedinger equation (with reversed space-time), a 3-wave resonant interaction system and a discrete modified Volterra model.Comment: published in J. Phys. A : Math. Gen. 32 (1999) 927-94

Modulational Instability and Complex Dynamics of Confined Matter-Wave Solitons

We study the formation of bright solitons in a Bose-Einstein condensate of $^7$Li atoms induced by a sudden change in the sign of the scattering length from positive to negative, as reported in a recent experiment (Nature {\bf 417}, 150 (2002)). The numerical simulations are performed by using the 3D Gross-Pitaevskii equation (GPE) with a dissipative three-body term. We show that a number of bright solitons is produced and this can be interpreted in terms of the modulational instability of the time-dependent macroscopic wave function of the Bose condensate. In particular, we derive a simple formula for the number of solitons that is in good agreement with the numerical results of 3D GPE. By investigating the long time evolution of the soliton train solving the 1D GPE with three-body dissipation we find that adjacent solitons repel each other due to their phase difference. In addition, we find that during the motion of the soliton train in an axial harmonic potential the number of solitonic peaks changes in time and the density of individual peaks shows an intermittent behavior. Such a complex dynamics explains the ``missing solitons'' frequently found in the experiment.Comment: to be published in Phys. Rev. Let

Androgen Receptor and Vasopressin Receptor (AVPR1a) Genetic Polymorphisms are not associated with Marital Status or Fertility among Ariaal Men of Northern Kenya

A growing body of scholarship implicates testosterone and vasopressin in male reproductive behavior, including in humans. Since hormones exert their effects through their respective receptors, an open question has been whether genetic polymorphisms in the androgen receptor and vasopressin 1a receptor (AVPR1a) impact human male social behavior. Here, we sought to test for associations between polymorphisms in the coding region of the androgen receptor and promoter region of AVPR1a in relation to marital status and fertility among pastoralist Ariaal men of northern Kenya. None of the three polymorphisms were related to marital status (single, monogamously married, polygynously married) or fertility (number of current living children). We discuss these null findings in light of existing data

Crystallization kinetics of binary colloidal monolayers

Experiments and simulations are used to study the kinetics of crystal growth in a mixture of magnetic and nonmagnetic particles suspended in ferrofluid. The growth process is quantified using both a bond order parameter and a mean domain size parameter. The largest single crystals obtained in experiments consist of approximately 1000 particles and form if the area fraction is held between 65-70% and the field strength is kept in the range of 8.5-10.5 Oe. Simulations indicate that much larger single crystals containing as many as 5000 particles can be obtained in impurity-free conditions within a few hours. If our simulations are modified to include impurity concentrations as small as 1-2%, then the results agree quantitatively with the experiments. These findings provide an important step toward developing strategies for growing single crystals that are large enough to enable follow-on investigations across many subdisciplines in condensed matter physics.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figure