22,044 research outputs found
Caging phenomena in reactions: Femtosecond observation of coherent, collisional confinement
We report striking observations of coherent caging of iodine, above the B state dissociation threshold, by single collisions with rare gas atoms at room-temperature. Despite the random nature of the solute–solvent interaction, the caged population retains coherence of the initially prepared unbound wave packet. We discuss some new concepts regarding dynamical coherent caging and the one-atom cage effect
Universality and properties of neutron star type I critical collapses
We study the neutron star axisymmetric critical solution previously found in
the numerical studies of neutron star mergers. Using neutron star-like initial
data and performing similar merger simulations, we demonstrate that the
solution is indeed a semi-attractor on the threshold plane separating the basin
of a neutron star and the basin of a black hole in the solution space of the
Einstein equations. In order to explore the extent of the attraction basin of
the neutron star semiattractor, we construct initial data phase spaces for
these neutron star-like initial data. From these phase spaces, we also observe
several interesting dynamical scenarios where the merged object is supported
from prompt collapse. The properties of the critical index of the solution, in
particular, its dependence on conserved quantities, are then studied. From the
study, it is found that a family of neutron star semi-attractors exist that can
be classified by both their rest masses and ADM masses.Comment: 13 pages, 12 figures, 1 new reference adde
Inclusive Production of Four Charm Hadrons in e^+ e^- Annihilation at B Factories
Measurements by the Belle Collaboration of the exclusive production of two
charmonia in e^+ e^- annihilation differ substantially from theoretical
predictions. Till now, no conclusive explanation for this remarkable
discrepancy has been provided. Even the origin of the discrepancy is not
identified, yet. We suggest that the measurement of four-charm events in Belle
data must provide a strong constraint in identifying the origin of this large
discrepancy. Our prediction of the cross section for e^+e^- -> c c-bar c c-bar,
in lowest order in strong coupling constant, at sqrt{s}=10.6 GeV is about 0.1
pb. If measured four-charm cross section is compatible with the prediction
based on perturbative QCD, it is very likely that factorization of
hadronization process from perturbative part may be significantly violated or
there exists a new production mechanism. If the cross section for the
four-charm event is also larger than the prediction like that for the exclusive
J/psi+eta_c production, perturbative QCD expansion itself will be proved to be
unreliable and loses predictive power.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, version published in Phys. Rev. D as a Rapid
Communicatio
Theory of the "honeycomb chain-channel" reconstruction of Si(111)3x1
First-principles electronic-structure methods are used to study a structural
model for Ag/Si(111)3x1 recently proposed on the basis of transmission electron
diffraction data. The fully relaxed geometry for this model is far more
energetically favorable than any previously proposed, partly due to the unusual
formation of a Si double bond in the surface layer. The calculated electronic
properties of this model are in complete agreement with data from
angle-resolved photoemission and scanning tunneling microscopy.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett (the ugly postscript
error on page 4 has now been repaired
Time-varying Learning and Content Analytics via Sparse Factor Analysis
We propose SPARFA-Trace, a new machine learning-based framework for
time-varying learning and content analytics for education applications. We
develop a novel message passing-based, blind, approximate Kalman filter for
sparse factor analysis (SPARFA), that jointly (i) traces learner concept
knowledge over time, (ii) analyzes learner concept knowledge state transitions
(induced by interacting with learning resources, such as textbook sections,
lecture videos, etc, or the forgetting effect), and (iii) estimates the content
organization and intrinsic difficulty of the assessment questions. These
quantities are estimated solely from binary-valued (correct/incorrect) graded
learner response data and a summary of the specific actions each learner
performs (e.g., answering a question or studying a learning resource) at each
time instance. Experimental results on two online course datasets demonstrate
that SPARFA-Trace is capable of tracing each learner's concept knowledge
evolution over time, as well as analyzing the quality and content organization
of learning resources, the question-concept associations, and the question
intrinsic difficulties. Moreover, we show that SPARFA-Trace achieves comparable
or better performance in predicting unobserved learner responses than existing
collaborative filtering and knowledge tracing approaches for personalized
education
Scattering of positrons and electrons by alkali atoms
Absolute total scattering cross sections (Q sub T's) were measured for positrons and electrons colliding with sodium, potassium, and rubidium in the 1 to 102 eV range, using the same apparatus and experimental approach (a beam transmission technique) for both projectiles. The present results for positron-sodium and -rubidium collisions represent the first Q sub T measurements reported for these collision systems. Features which distinguish the present comparisons between positron- and electron-alkali atom Q sub T's from those for other atoms and molecules (room-temperature gases) which have been used as targets for positrons and electrons are the proximity of the corresponding positron- and electron-alkali atom Q sub T's over the entire energy range of overlap, with an indication of a merging or near-merging of the corresponding positron and electron Q sub T's near (and above) the relatively low energy of about 40 eV, and a general tendency for the positron-alkali atom Q sub T's to be higher than the corresponding electron values as the projectile energy is decreased below about 40 eV
Quantum linear amplifier enhanced by photon subtraction and addition
A deterministic quantum amplifier inevitably adds noise to an amplified
signal due to the uncertainty principle in quantum physics. We here investigate
how a quantum-noise-limited amplifier can be improved by additionally employing
the photon subtraction, the photon addition, and a coherent superposition of
the two, thereby making a probabilistic, heralded, quantum amplifier. We show
that these operations can enhance the performance in amplifying a coherent
state in terms of intensity gain, fidelity, and phase uncertainty. In
particular, the photon subtraction turns out to be optimal for the fidelity and
the phase concentration among these elementary operations, while the photon
addition also provides a significant reduction in the phase uncertainty with
the largest gain effect.Comment: published version, 7 pages, 9 figure
A New Non-Abelian Topological Phase of Cold Fermi Gases in Anisotropic and Spin-Dependent Optical Lattices
To realize non-Abelian s-wave topological superfluid (TS) of cold Fermi
gases, generally a Zeeman magnetic field larger than superfluid pairing gap is
necessary. In this paper we find that using an anisotropic and spin-dependent
optical lattice (ASDOL) to trap gases, a new non-Abelian TS phase appears, in
contrast to an isotropic and spin-independent optical lattice. A characteristic
of this new non-Abelian TS is that Zeeman magnetic field can be smaller than
the superfluid pairing gap. By self-consistently solving pairing gap equation
and considering the competition against normal state and phase separation, this
new phase is also stable. Thus an ASDOL supplies a convenient route to realize
TS. We also investigate edge states and the effects of a harmonic trap
potential
Phonon Life-times from first principles self consistent lattice dynamics
Phonon lifetime calculations from first principles usually rely on time
consuming molecular dynamics calculations, or density functional perturbation
theory (DFPT) where the zero temperature crystal structure is assumed to be
dynamically stable. Here a new and effective method for calculating phonon
lifetimes from first principles is presented, not limited to crystal structures
stable at 0 K, and potentially much more effective than most corresponding
molecular dynamics calculations. The method is based on the recently developed
self consistent lattice dynamical method and is here tested by calculating the
bcc phase phonon lifetimes of Li, Na, Ti and Zr, as representative examples.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figur
- …