1,125 research outputs found
The merger of vertically offset quasi-geostrophic vortices
We examine the critical merging distance between two equal-volume, equal-potential-vorticity quasi-geostrophic vortices. We focus on how this distance depends on the vertical offset between the two vortices, each having a unit mean height-to-width aspect ratio. The vertical direction is special in the quasi-geostrophic model (used to capture the leading-order dynamical features of stably stratified and rapidly rotating geophysical flows) since vertical advection is absent. Nevertheless vortex merger may still occur by horizontal advection. In this paper, we first investigate the equilibrium states for the two vortices as a function of their vertical and horizontal separation. We examine their basic properties together with their linear stability. These findings are next compared to numerical simulations of the nonlinear evolution of two spheres of potential vorticity. Three different regimes of interaction are identified, depending on the vertical offset. For a small offset, the interaction differs little from the case when the two vortices are horizontally aligned. On the other hand, when the vertical offset is comparable to the mean vortex radius, strong interaction occurs for greater horizontal gaps than in the horizontally aligned case, and therefore at significantly greater full separation distances. This perhaps surprising result is consistent with the linear stability analysis and appears to be a consequence of the anisotropy of the quasi-geostrophic equations. Finally, for large vertical offsets, vortex merger results in the formation of a metastable tilted dumbbell vortex.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe
QND measurement of a superconducting qubit in the weakly projective regime
Quantum state detectors based on switching of hysteretic Josephson junctions
biased close to their critical current are simple to use but have strong
back-action. We show that the back-action of a DC-switching detector can be
considerably reduced by limiting the switching voltage and using a fast
cryogenic amplifier, such that a single readout can be completed within 25 ns
at a repetition rate of 1 MHz without loss of contrast. Based on a sequence of
two successive readouts we show that the measurement has a clear quantum
non-demolition character, with a QND fidelity of 75 %.Comment: submitted to PR
Superconductor-insulator transition in nanowires and nanowire arrays
Superconducting nanowires are the dual elements to Josephson junctions, with
quantum phase-slip processes replacing the tunneling of Cooper pairs. When the
quantum phase-slip amplitude ES is much smaller than the inductive energy EL,
the nanowire responds as a superconducting inductor. When the inductive energy
is small, the response is capacitive. The crossover at low temperatures as a
function of ES/EL is discussed and compared with earlier experimental results.
For one-dimensional and two-dimensional arrays of nanowires quantum phase
transitions are expected as a function of ES/EL. They can be tuned by a
homogeneous magnetic frustration.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figure
Josephson squelch filter for quantum nanocircuits
We fabricated and tested a squelch circuit consisting of a copper powder
filter with an embedded Josephson junction connected to ground. For small
signals (squelch-ON), the small junction inductance attenuates strongly from DC
to at least 1 GHz, while for higher frequencies dissipation in the copper
powder increases the attenuation exponentially with frequency. For large
signals (squelch-OFF) the circuit behaves as a regular metal powder filter. The
measured ON/OFF ratio is larger than 50dB up to 50 MHz. This squelch can be
applied in low temperature measurement and control circuitry for quantum
nanostructures such as superconducting qubits and quantum dots.Comment: Corrected and completed references 6,7,8. Updated some minor details
in figure
Replica symmetry breaking in the `small world' spin glass
We apply the cavity method to a spin glass model on a `small world' lattice,
a random bond graph super-imposed upon a 1-dimensional ferromagnetic ring. We
show the correspondence with a replicated transfer matrix approach, up to the
level of one step replica symmetry breaking (1RSB). Using the scheme developed
by M\'ezard & Parisi for the Bethe lattice, we evaluate observables for a model
with fixed connectivity and long range bonds. Our results agree with
numerical simulations significantly better than the replica symmetric (RS)
theory.Comment: 21 pages, 3 figure
Aluminium-oxide wires for superconducting high kinetic inductance circuits
We investigate thin films of conducting aluminium-oxide, also known as
granular aluminium, as a material for superconducting high quality, high
kinetic inductance circuits. The films are deposited by an optimised reactive
DC magnetron sputter process and characterised using microwave measurement
techniques at milli-Kelvin temperatures. We show that, by precise control of
the reactive sputter conditions, a high room temperature sheet resistance and
therefore high kinetic inductance at low temperatures can be obtained. For a
coplanar waveguide resonator with 1.5\,k sheet resistance and a kinetic
inductance fraction close to unity, we measure a quality factor in the order of
700\,000 at 20\,mK. Furthermore, we observe a sheet resistance reduction by
gentle heat treatment in air. This behaviour is exploited to study the kinetic
inductance change using the microwave response of a coplanar wave guide
resonator. We find the correlation between the kinetic inductance and the sheet
resistance to be in good agreement with theoretical expectations.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figure
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