Two tone response of radiofrequency signals using the voltage output of a Superconducting Quantum Interference Filter

In the presence of weak time harmonic electromagnetic fields, Superconducting Quantum Interference Filters (SQIFs) show the typical behavior of non linear mixers. The SQIFs are manufactured from high-T_c grain boundary Josephson junctions and operated in active microcooler. The dependence of dc voltage output V_dc vs. static external magnetic field B is non-periodic and consists of a well pronounced unique dip at zero field, with marginal side modulations at higher fields. We have successfully exploited the parabolic shape of the voltage dip around B=0 to mix quadratically two external time harmonic rf-signals, at frequencies f_1 and f_2 below the Josephson frequency f_J, and detect the corresponding mixing signal at f_1-f_2. When the mixing takes place on the SQIF current-voltage characteristics the component at 2f_2 - f_1 is present. The experiments suggest potential applications of a SQIF as a non-linear mixing device, capable to operate at frequencies from dc to few GHz with a large dynamic range.Comment: 10 pages, 3 Figures, submitted to J. Supercond. (as proceeding of the HTSHFF Symposium, June 2006, Cardiff

The Emergence of Complex Silver Metallurgy in the Americas: A Case Study from the Lake Titicaca Basin of Southern Peru

This paper discusses the emergence of silver metallurgy some two millennia ago in the south central Andes. It is argued that the availability of multiple abundant resources and a high population density were instrumental in the development of this complex technology. The potential for such resource-rich environments to stimulate and sustain innovation is briefly discussed, particularly for prestige goods in societies engaged in socially competitive networks. The Puno Bay area of Lake Titicaca and its hinterland is shown to be one such resource-rich region, which may have contributed to its role in developing a complex and labour-intensive silver metallurgy as part of a larger mining-metallurgical landscape

Coherent control for the spherical symmetric box potential in short and intensive XUV laser fields

Coherent control calculations are presented for a spherically symmetric box potential for non-resonant two photon transition probabilities. With the help of a genetic algorithm (GA) the population of the excited states are maximized and minimized. The external driving field is a superposition of three intensive extreme ultraviolet (XUV) linearly polarized laser pulses with different frequencies in the femtosecond duration range. We solved the quantum mechanical problem within the dipole approximation. Our investigation clearly shows that the dynamics of the electron current has a strong correlation with the optimized and neutralizing pulse shape.Comment: 11 Pages 3 Figure

The Influence of Length of Storage of Bovine Semen on Conception Rate under Field Conditions

It is the purpose of this study to determine whether under conditions of routine handling in artificial breeding associations there is a decline in semen fertility from day to day and also to determine the magnitude of this decline. Tabulation of such data will not only be of value in determining the effect of frequent semen collection on the over-all artificial breeding results but will also serve as a basis of comparison in investigational work directed toward increasing the efficiency of artificial breeding

Two-phonon scattering of magnetorotons in fractional quantum Hall liquids

We study the phonon-assisted process of dissociation of a magnetoroton, in a fractional quantum Hall liquid, into an unbound pair of quasiparticles. Whilst the dissociation is forbidden to first order in the electron-phonon interaction, it can occur as a two-phonon process. Depending on the value of final separation between the quasiparticles, the dissociation is either a single event involving absorption of one phonon and emission of another phonon of similar energy, or a two-phonon diffusion of a quasiexciton in momentum space. The dependence of the magnetoroton dissociation time on the filling factor of the incompressible liquid is found.Comment: 4 pages, no figure

Four-Hundred-and-Ninety-Million-Year Record of Bacteriogenic Iron Oxide Precipitation at Sea-Floor Hydrothermal Vents

Fe oxide deposits are commonly found at hydrothermal vent sites at mid-ocean ridge and back-arc sea floor spreading centers, seamounts associated with these spreading centers, and intra-plate seamounts, and can cover extensive areas of the seafloor. These deposits can be attributed to several abiogenic processes and commonly contain micron-scale filamentous textures. Some filaments are cylindrical casts of Fe oxyhydroxides formed around bacterial cells and are thus unquestionably biogenic. The filaments have distinctive morphologies very like structures formed by neutrophilic Fe oxidizing bacteria. It is becoming increasingly apparent that Fe oxidizing bacteria have a significant role in the formation of Fe oxide deposits at marine hydrothermal vents. The presence of Fe oxide filaments in Fe oxides is thus of great potential as a biomarker for Fe oxidizing bacteria in modern and ancient marine hydrothermal vent deposits. The ancient analogues of modern deep-sea hydrothermal Fe oxide deposits are jaspers. A number of jaspers, ranging in age from the early Ordovician to late Eocene, contain abundant Fe oxide filamentous textures with a wide variety of morphologies. Some of these filaments are like structures formed by modern Fe oxidizing bacteria. Together with new data from the modern TAG site, we show that there is direct evidence for bacteriogenic Fe oxide precipitation at marine hydrothermal vent sites for at least the last 490 Ma of the Phanerozoic