7,032 research outputs found
Aspects of meson properties in dense nuclear matter
We investigate the modification of meson spectral densities in dense nuclear
matter at zero temperature. These effects are studied in a fully relativistic
mean field model which goes beyond the linear density approximation and also
includes baryon resonances. In particular, the role of N*(1520) and N*(1720) on
the rho meson spectral density is highlighted. Even though the nucleon-nucleon
loop and the nucleon-resonance loop contribute with the opposite sign, an
overall reduction of rho meson mass is still observed at high density.
Importantly, it is shown that the resonances cause substantial broadening of
the rho meson spectral density in matter and also induces non-trivial momentum
dependence. The spectral density of the a0 meson is also shown. We study the
dispersion relations and collective oscillations induced by the rho meson
propagation in nuclear matter together with the influence of the mixing of rho
with the a0 meson. The relevant expression for the plasma frequency is also
recovered analytically in the appropriate limit.Comment: 19 pages, 17 figure
Low Energy Electron Point Projection Microscopy of Suspended Graphene, the Ultimate "Microscope Slide"
Point Projection Microscopy (PPM) is used to image suspended graphene using
low-energy electrons (100-200eV). Because of the low energies used, the
graphene is neither damaged or contaminated by the electron beam. The
transparency of graphene is measured to be 74%, equivalent to electron
transmission through a sheet as thick as twice the covalent radius of
sp^2-bonded carbon. Also observed is rippling in the structure of the suspended
graphene, with a wavelength of approximately 26 nm. The interference of the
electron beam due to the diffraction off the edge of a graphene knife edge is
observed and used to calculate a virtual source size of 4.7 +/- 0.6 Angstroms
for the electron emitter. It is demonstrated that graphene can be used as both
anode and substrate in PPM in order to avoid distortions due to strong field
gradients around nano-scale objects. Graphene can be used to image objects
suspended on the sheet using PPM, and in the future, electron holography
Theory of solvation in polar nematics
We develop a linear response theory of solvation of ionic and dipolar solutes
in anisotropic, axially symmetric polar solvents. The theory is applied to
solvation in polar nematic liquid crystals. The formal theory constructs the
solvation response function from projections of the solvent dipolar
susceptibility on rotational invariants. These projections are obtained from
Monte Carlo simulations of a fluid of dipolar spherocylinders which can exist
both in the isotropic and nematic phase. Based on the properties of the solvent
susceptibility from simulations and the formal solution, we have obtained a
formula for the solvation free energy which incorporates experimentally
available properties of nematics and the length of correlation between the
dipoles in the liquid crystal. Illustrative calculations are presented for the
Stokes shift and Stokes shift correlation function of coumarin-153 in
4-n-pentyl-4'-cyanobiphenyl (5CB) and 4,4-n-heptyl-cyanopiphenyl (7CB) solvents
as a function of temperature in both the nematic and isotropic phase.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figure
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Identification of deficiencies in seasonal rainfall simulated by CMIP5 climate models
An objective technique for analysing seasonality, in terms of regime, progression and timing of the wet seasons, is applied in the evaluation of CMIP5 simulations across continental Africa. Atmosphere-only and coupled integrations capture the gross observed patterns of seasonal progression and give mean onset/cessation dates within 18 days of the observational dates for 11 of the 13 regions considered. Accurate representation of seasonality over central-southern Africa and West Africa (excluding southern coastline) adds credence for future projected changes in seasonality here. However, coupled simulations exhibit timing biases over the Horn of Africa, with the long rains 20 days late on average. Although both sets of simulations detect biannual rainfall seasonal cycles for East and Central Africa, coupled simulations fail to capture the biannual regime over the southern West African coastline. This is linked with errors in the Gulf of Guinea sea surface temperature (SST) and deficient representation of the SST/rainfall relationship
Statefinder diagnosis and the interacting ghost model of dark energy
A new model of dark energy namely "ghost dark energy model" has recently been
suggested to interpret the positive acceleration of cosmic expansion. The
energy density of ghost dark energy is proportional to the hubble parameter. In
this paper we perform the statefinder diagnostic tool for this model both in
flat and non-flat universe. We discuss the dependency of the evolutionary
trajectories in and planes on the interaction parameter between
dark matter and dark energy as well as the spatial curvature parameter of the
universe. Eventually, in the light of SNe+BAO+OHD+CMB observational data, we
plot the evolutionary trajectories in and planes for the best fit
values of the cosmological parameters and compare the interacting ghost model
with other dynamical dark energy models. We show that the evolutionary
trajectory of ghost dark energy in statefinder diagram is similar to
holographic dark energy model. It has been shown that the statefinder location
of CDM is in good agreement with observation and therefore the dark
energy models whose current statefinder values are far from the CDM
point can be ruled out.Comment: 23 pages, 6 figure
A scalable quantum computer with an ultranarrow optical transition of ultracold neutral atoms in an optical lattice
We propose a new quantum-computing scheme using ultracold neutral ytterbium
atoms in an optical lattice. The nuclear Zeeman sublevels define a qubit. This
choice avoids the natural phase evolution due to the magnetic dipole
interaction between qubits. The Zeeman sublevels with large magnetic moments in
the long-lived metastable state are also exploited to address individual atoms
and to construct a controlled-multiqubit gate. Estimated parameters required
for this scheme show that this proposal is scalable and experimentally
feasible.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure
Urban agriculture: a global analysis of the space constraint to meet urban vegetable demand
Urban agriculture (UA) has been drawing a lot of attention recently for several reasons: the majority of the world population has shifted from living in rural to urban areas; the environmental impact of agriculture is a matter of rising concern; and food insecurity, especially the accessibility of food, remains a major challenge. UA has often been proposed as a solution to some of these issues, for example by producing food in places where population density is highest, reducing transportation costs, connecting people directly to food systems and using urban areas efficiently. However, to date no study has examined how much food could actually be produced in urban areas at the global scale. Here we use a simple approach, based on different global-scale datasets, to assess to what extent UA is constrained by the existing amount of urban space. Our results suggest that UA would require roughly one third of the total global urban area to meet the global vegetable consumption of urban dwellers. This estimate does not consider how much urban area may actually be suitable and available for UA, which likely varies substantially around the world and according to the type of UA performed. Further, this global average value masks variations of more than two orders of magnitude among individual countries. The variations in the space required across countries derive mostly from variations in urban population density, and much less from variations in yields or per capita consumption. Overall, the space required is regrettably the highest where UA is most needed, i.e., in more food insecure countries. We also show that smaller urban clusters (i.e., <100 km2 each) together represent about two thirds of the global urban extent; thus UA discourse and policies should not focus on large cities exclusively, but should also target smaller urban areas that offer the greatest potential in terms of physical space
Observation of coherent many-body Rabi oscillations
A two-level quantum system coherently driven by a resonant electromagnetic
field oscillates sinusoidally between the two levels at frequency
which is proportional to the field amplitude [1]. This phenomenon, known as the
Rabi oscillation, has been at the heart of atomic, molecular and optical
physics since the seminal work of its namesake and coauthors [2]. Notably, Rabi
oscillations in isolated single atoms or dilute gases form the basis for
metrological applications such as atomic clocks and precision measurements of
physical constants [3]. Both inhomogeneous distribution of coupling strength to
the field and interactions between individual atoms reduce the visibility of
the oscillation and may even suppress it completely. A remarkable
transformation takes place in the limit where only a single excitation can be
present in the sample due to either initial conditions or atomic interactions:
there arises a collective, many-body Rabi oscillation at a frequency
involving all N >> 1 atoms in the sample [4]. This is true even
for inhomogeneous atom-field coupling distributions, where single-atom Rabi
oscillations may be invisible. When one of the two levels is a strongly
interacting Rydberg level, many-body Rabi oscillations emerge as a consequence
of the Rydberg excitation blockade. Lukin and coauthors outlined an approach to
quantum information processing based on this effect [5]. Here we report initial
observations of coherent many-body Rabi oscillations between the ground level
and a Rydberg level using several hundred cold rubidium atoms. The strongly
pronounced oscillations indicate a nearly complete excitation blockade of the
entire mesoscopic ensemble by a single excited atom. The results pave the way
towards quantum computation and simulation using ensembles of atoms
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