5,327 research outputs found
Frequency shifting of pulsed narrow-band laser light in a multipass Raman cell
A multipass cell is described which allows efficient stimulated Raman frequency shifting for low pump laser intensities and low gas pressures. The latter is important for Raman shifting of narrow-band Fourier-transform limited light pulses (Δv=75 MHz). It is shown that frequency broadening of the Raman shifted light can be largely avoided in the Dicke narrowing regime at low pressures. For 75 MHz pump pulses and an H2 density of 2.5 amagat we found a negligible broadening to 90 MHz of the stimulated Stokes light. This is far below the value of 250 MHz expected from spontaneous emission. The narrow-band Stokes pulses achieved in CO2 enabled us to measure the pressure shift coefficient (-0.71×10-2 cm-1/amagat) of this gas. It is demonstrated, for the example of benzene, that our technique provides a very practical light source for high resolution molecular spectroscopy
Star formation in clusters: a survey of compact mm-wave sources in the Serpens core
We report the results of a millimeter interferometric survey of compact 3 mm
continuum sources in the inner 5.5'x5.5' region of the Serpens core. We detect
32 discrete sources above 4.0 mJy/beam, 21 of which are new detections at
millimeter wavelengths. By comparing our data with published infrared surveys,
we estimate that 26 sources are probably protostellar condensations and derive
their mass assuming optically thin thermal emission from dust grains. The mass
spectrum of the clumps, dN/dM~M^(-2.1), is consistent with the stellar initial
mass function, supporting the idea that the stellar masses in young clusters
are determined by the fragmentation of turbulent cloud cores.Comment: To be published on The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 11 pages, 4
figures, aastex macros neede
Randomized controlled trial of artesunate or artemether in Vietnamese adults with severe falciparum malaria
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Both artemether and artesunate have been shown to be superior to quinine for the treatment of severe falciparum malaria in Southeast Asian adults, although the magnitude of the superiority has been greater for artesunate than artemether. These two artemisinin derivatives had not been compared in a randomized trial.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A randomized double blind trial in 370 adults with severe falciparum malaria; 186 received intramuscular artesunate (2.4 mg/kg immediately followed by 1.2 mg/kg at 12 hours then 24 hours then daily) and 184 received intramuscular artemether (3.6 mg per kilogram immediately followed by 1.8 mg per kilogram daily) was conducted in Viet Nam. Both drugs were given for a minimum of 72 hours.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There were 13 deaths in the artesunate group (7 percent) and 24 in the artemether group (13 percent); P = 0.052; relative risk of death in the patients given artesunate, 0.54; (95 percent confidence interval 0.28-1.02). Parasitaemia declined more rapidly in the artesunate group. Both drugs were very well tolerated.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Intramuscular artesunate may be superior to intramuscular artemether for the treatment of severe malaria in adults.</p
The secret world of shrimps: polarisation vision at its best
Animal vision spans a great range of complexity, with systems evolving to
detect variations in optical intensity, distribution, colour, and polarisation.
Polarisation vision systems studied to date detect one to four channels of
linear polarisation, combining them in opponent pairs to provide
intensity-independent operation. Circular polarisation vision has never been
seen, and is widely believed to play no part in animal vision. Polarisation is
fully measured via Stokes' parameters--obtained by combined linear and circular
polarisation measurements. Optimal polarisation vision is the ability to see
Stokes' parameters: here we show that the crustacean \emph{Gonodactylus
smithii} measures the exact components required. This vision provides optimal
contrast-enhancement, and precise determination of polarisation with no
confusion-states or neutral-points--significant advantages. We emphasise that
linear and circular polarisation vision are not different modalities--both are
necessary for optimal polarisation vision, regardless of the presence of
strongly linear or circularly polarised features in the animal's environment.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, 2 table
Evolution of dust and ice features around FU Orionis objects
(abridged) We present spectroscopy data for a sample of 14 FUors and 2 TTauri
stars observed with the Spitzer Space Telescope or with the Infrared Space
Observatory (ISO). Based on the appearance of the 10 micron silicate feature we
define 2 categories of FUors. Objects showing the silicate feature in
absorption (Category 1) are still embedded in a dusty and icy envelope. The
shape of the 10 micron silicate absorption bands is compared to typical dust
compositions of the interstellar medium and found to be in general agreement.
Only one object (RNO 1B) appears to be too rich in amorphous pyroxene dust, but
a superposed emission feature can explain the observed shape. We derive optical
depths and extinction values from the silicate band and additional ice bands at
6.0, 6.8 and 15.2 micron. In particular the analysis of the CO_2 ice band at
15.2 micron allows us to search for evidence for ice processing and constrains
whether the absorbing material is physically linked to the central object or in
the foreground. For objects showing the silicate feature in emission (Category
2), we argue that the emission comes from the surface layer of accretion disks.
Analyzing the dust composition reveals that significant grain growth has
already taken place within the accretion disks, but no clear indications for
crystallization are present. We discuss how these observational results can be
explained in the picture of a young, and highly active accretion disk. Finally,
a framework is proposed as to how the two categories of FUors can be understood
in a general paradigm of the evolution of young, low-mass stars. Only one
object (Parsamian 21) shows PAH emission features. Their shapes, however, are
often seen toward evolved stars and we question the object's status as a FUor
and discuss other possible classifications.Comment: accepted for publication in ApJ; 63 pages preprint style including 8
tables and 24 figure
Variable accretion as a mechanism for brightness variations in T Tau S
(Note: this is a shortened version of the original A&A-style structured
abstract). The physical nature of the strong photometric variability of T Tau
Sa, the more massive member of the Southern "infrared companion" to T Tau, has
long been debated. Intrinsic luminosity variations due to variable accretion
were originally proposed but later challenged in favor of apparent fluctuations
due to time-variable foreground extinction. In this paper we use the timescale
of the variability as a diagnostic for the underlying physical mechanism.
Because the IR emission emerging from Sa is dominantly thermal emission from
circumstellar dust at <=1500K, we can derive a minimum size of the region
responsible for the time-variable emission. In the context of the variable
foreground extinction scenario, this region must be (un-) covered within the
variability timescale, which implies a minimum velocity for the obscuring
foreground material. If this velocity supercedes the local Kepler velocity we
can reject foreground extinction as a valid variability mechanism. The variable
accretion scenario allows for shorter variability timescales since the
variations in luminosity occur on much smaller scales, essentially at the
surface of the star, and the disk surface can react almost instantly on the
changing irradiation with a higher or lower dust temperature and according
brightness. We have detected substantial variations at long wavelengths in T
Tau S: +26% within four days at 12.8 micron. We show that this short-term
variability cannot be due to variable extinction and instead must be due to
variable accretion. Using a radiative transfer model of the Sa disk we show
that variable accretion can in principle also account for the much larger
(several magnitude) variations observed on timescales of several years. For the
long-term variability, however, also variable foreground extinction is a viable
mechanism.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures, Accepted for publication in Astronomy and
Astrophysic
Variational and DMRG studies of the Frustrated Antiferromagnetic Heisenberg S=1 Quantum Spin Chain
We study a frustrated antiferromagnetic isotropic Heisenberg chain
using a variational ansatz and the DMRG. At , there is a
disorder point of the second kind, marking the onset of incommensurate
correlations in the chain. At there is a Lifshitz point,
at which the excitation spectrum develops a doubly degenerate structure. These
points are the quantum remnants of the transition from antiferromagnetic to
spiral order in the classical frustrated chain. At there
is a first order phase transition from an AKLT phase to a next-nearest neighbor
generalization of the AKLT model. At the transition, the string order parameter
shows a discontinuous jump of 0.085 to 0; the correlation length and the gap
are both finite at the transition. The problem of edge states in open
frustrated chains is discussed at length.Comment: 37 pages, 14 figures, submitted to Phys.Rev.
A Quantum Monte Carlo algorithm for non-local corrections to the Dynamical Mean-Field Approximation
We present the algorithmic details of the dynamical cluster approximation
(DCA), with a quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) method used to solve the effective
cluster problem. The DCA is a fully-causal approach which systematically
restores non-local correlations to the dynamical mean field approximation
(DMFA) while preserving the lattice symmetries. The DCA becomes exact for an
infinite cluster size, while reducing to the DMFA for a cluster size of unity.
We present a generalization of the Hirsch-Fye QMC algorithm for the solution of
the embedded cluster problem. We use the two-dimensional Hubbard model to
illustrate the performance of the DCA technique. At half-filling, we show that
the DCA drives the spurious finite-temperature antiferromagnetic transition
found in the DMFA slowly towards zero temperature as the cluster size
increases, in conformity with the Mermin-Wagner theorem. Moreover, we find that
there is a finite temperature metal to insulator transition which persists into
the weak-coupling regime. This suggests that the magnetism of the model is
Heisenberg like for all non-zero interactions. Away from half-filling, we find
that the sign problem that arises in QMC simulations is significantly less
severe in the context of DCA. Hence, we were able to obtain good statistics for
small clusters. For these clusters, the DCA results show evidence of non-Fermi
liquid behavior and superconductivity near half-filling.Comment: 25 pages, 15 figure
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