2,879 research outputs found
Attack of the Flying Snakes : Formation of Isolated HI Clouds By Fragmentation of Long Streams
The existence of long (> 100 kpc) HI streams and small (< 20 kpc)
free-floating HI clouds is well-known. While the formation of the streams has
been investigated extensively, and the isolated clouds are often purported to
be interaction debris, little research has been done on the formation of
optically dark HI clouds that are not part of a larger stream. One possibility
is that such features result from the fragmentation of more extended streams,
while another idea is that they are primordial, optically dark galaxies. We
test the validity of the fragmentation scenario (via harassment) using
numerical simulations. In order to compare our numerical models with
observations, we present catalogues of both the known long HI streams (42
objects) and free-floating HI clouds suggested as dark galaxy candidates (51
objects). In particular, we investigate whether it is possible to form compact
features with high velocity widths (> 100 km/s), similar to observed clouds
which are otherwise intriguing dark galaxy candidates. We find that producing
such features is possible but extremely unlikely, occurring no more than 0.2%
of the time in our simulations. In contrast, we find that genuine dark galaxies
could be extremely stable to harassment and remain detectable even after 5 Gyr
in the cluster environment (with the important caveat that our simulations only
explore harassment and do not yet include the intracluster medium, heating and
cooling, or star formation). We also discuss the possibility that such objects
could be the progenitors of recently discovered ultra diffuse galaxies.Comment: 46 pages, 27 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
Friction force on slow charges moving over supported graphene
We provide a theoretical model that describes the dielectric coupling of a 2D
layer of graphene, represented by a polarization function in the Random Phase
Approximation, and a semi-infinite 3D substrate, represented by a surface
response function in a non-local formulation. We concentrate on the role of the
dynamic response of the substrate for low-frequency excitations of the combined
graphene-substrate system, which give rise to the stopping force on slowly
moving charges above graphene. A comparison of the dielectric loss function
with experimental HREELS data for graphene on a SiC substrate is used to
estimate the damping rate in graphene and to reveal the importance of phonon
excitations in an insulating substrate. A signature of the hybridization
between graphene's pi plasmon and the substrate's phonon is found in the
stopping force. A friction coefficient that is calculated for slow charges
moving above graphene on a metallic substrate shows an interplay between the
low-energy single-particle excitations in both systems.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Nanotechnology for a special issue
related to the NGC 2009 conference (http://asdn.net/ngc2009/index.shtml
The effect of sublattice symmetry breaking on the electronic properties of a doped graphene
Motivated by a number of recent experimental studies, we have carried out the
microscopic calculation of the quasiparticle self-energy and spectral function
in a doped graphene when a symmetry breaking of the sublattices is occurred.
Our systematic study is based on the many-body GW approach that is
established on the random phase approximation and on graphene's massive Dirac
equation continuum model. We report extensive calculations of both the real and
imaginary parts of the quasiparticle self-energy in the presence of a gap
opening. We also present results for spectral function, renormalized Fermi
velocity and band gap renormalization of massive Dirac Fermions over a broad
range of electron densities. We further show that the mass generating in
graphene washes out the plasmaron peak in spectral weight.Comment: 22 Pages, 10 Figure
A Goldilocks principle for modelling radial velocity noise
F. Feng, M. Tuomi, H. R. A. Jones, R. P. Butler, and S. Vogt, 'A Goldilocks principle for modelling radial velocity noise', MNRAS, Vol. 461 (3): 2440-2452, first published online on 20 June 2016, the version of record is available online at doi: 10.1093/mnras/stw1478. © 2016 The Authors. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society.The doppler measurements of stars are diluted and distorted by stellar activity noise. Different choices of noise models and statistical methods have led to much controversy in the confirmation of exoplanet candidates obtained through analysing radial velocity data. To quantify the limitation of various models and methods, we compare different noise models and signal detection criteria for various simulated and real data sets in the Bayesian framework. According to our analyses, the white noise model tend to interpret noise as signal, leading to false positives. On the other hand, the red noise models are likely to interprete signal as noise, resulting in false negatives. We find that the Bayesian information criterion combined with a Bayes factor threshold of 150 can efficiently rule out false positives and confirm true detections. We further propose a Goldilocks principle aimed at modeling radial velocity noise to avoid too many false positives and too many false negatives. We propose that the noise model with RHK-dependent jitter is used in combination with the moving average model to detect planetary signals for M dwarfs. Our work may also shed light on the noise modeling for hotter stars, and provide a valid approach for finding similar principles in other disciplines.Peer reviewe
Abyssal Atlantic circulation during the Last Glacial Maximum: Constraining the ratio between transport and vertical mixing
The ocean’s role in regulating atmospheric carbon dioxide on glacial‐interglacial timescales remains an
unresolved issue in paleoclimatology. Reduced mixing between deep water masses may have aided oceanic
storage of atmospheric CO_2 during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), but data supporting this idea have
remained elusive. The δ^(13)C of benthic foraminifera indicate the Atlantic Ocean was more chemically
stratified during the LGM, but the nonconservative nature of δ^(13)C complicates interpretation of the LGM
signal. Here we use benthic foraminiferal δ^(18)O as a conservative tracer to constrain the ratio of meridional
transport to vertical diffusivity in the deep Atlantic. Our calculations suggest that the ratio was at least twice
as large at the LGM. We speculate that the primary cause was reduced mixing between northern and
southern component waters, associated with movement of this water mass boundary away from the zone of
intense mixing near the seafloor. The shallower water mass boundary yields an order of magnitude increase
in the volume of southern component water, suggesting its residence time may have increased substantially.
Our analysis supports the idea that an expanded volume of Antarctic Bottom Water and limited vertical
mixing enhanced the abyssal ocean’s ability to trap carbon during glacial times
Optical Self Energy in Graphene due to Correlations
In highly correlated systems one can define an optical self energy in analogy
to its quasiparticle (QP) self energy counterpart. This quantity provides
useful information on the nature of the excitations involved in inelastic
scattering processes. Here we calculate the self energy of the intraband
optical transitions in graphene originating in the electron-electron
interaction (EEI) as well as electron-phonon interaction (EPI). Although optics
involves an average over all momenta () of the charge carriers, the
structure in the optical self energy is nevertheless found to mirror mainly
that of the corresponding quasiparticles for equal to or near the Fermi
momentum . Consequently plasmaronic structures which are associated with
momenta near the Dirac point at are not important in the intraband
optical response. While the structure of the electron-phonon interaction (EPI)
reflects the sharp peaks of the phonon density of states, the excitation
spectrum associated with the electron-electron interaction is in comparison
structureless and flat and extends over an energy range which scales linearly
with the value of the chemical potential. Modulations seen on the edge of the
interband optical conductivity as it rises towards its universal background
value are traced to structure in the quasiparticle self energies around
of the lower Dirac cone associated with the occupied states.Comment: 30 pages, 10 figure
HIFI spectroscopy of low-level water transitions in M82
We present observations of the rotational ortho-water ground transition, the
two lowest para-water transitions, and the ground transition of ionised
ortho-water in the archetypal starburst galaxy M82, performed with the HIFI
instrument on the Herschel Space Observatory. These observations are the first
detections of the para-H2O(111-000) (1113\,GHz) and ortho-H2O+(111-000)
(1115\,GHz) lines in an extragalactic source. All three water lines show
different spectral line profiles, underlining the need for high spectral
resolution in interpreting line formation processes. Using the line shape of
the para-H2O(111-000) and ortho-H2O+(111-000) absorption profile in conjunction
with high spatial resolution CO observations, we show that the (ionised) water
absorption arises from a ~2000 pc^2 region within the HIFI beam located about
~50 pc east of the dynamical centre of the galaxy. This region does not
coincide with any of the known line emission peaks that have been identified in
other molecular tracers, with the exception of HCO. Our data suggest that water
and ionised water within this region have high (up to 75%) area-covering
factors of the underlying continuum. This indicates that water is not
associated with small, dense cores within the ISM of M82 but arises from a more
widespread diffuse gas component.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in A&
The geometry of a vorticity model equation
We provide rigorous evidence of the fact that the modified
Constantin-Lax-Majda equation modeling vortex and quasi-geostrophic dynamics
describes the geodesic flow on the subgroup of orientation-preserving
diffeomorphisms fixing one point, with respect to right-invariant metric
induced by the homogeneous Sobolev norm and show the local existence
of the geodesics in the extended group of diffeomorphisms of Sobolev class
with .Comment: 24 page
Bottom dissipation of subinertial currents at the Atlantic zonal boundaries
Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90515/1/jgr_bbldiss_wrightetal_2012.pd
A valley-spin qubit in a carbon nanotube
Although electron spins in III-V semiconductor quantum dots have shown great
promise as qubits, a major challenge is the unavoidable hyperfine decoherence
in these materials. In group IV semiconductors, the dominant nuclear species
are spinless, allowing for qubit coherence times that have been extended up to
seconds in diamond and silicon. Carbon nanotubes are a particularly attractive
host material, because the spin-orbit interaction with the valley degree of
freedom allows for electrical manipulation of the qubit. In this work, we
realise such a qubit in a nanotube double quantum dot. The qubit is encoded in
two valley-spin states, with coherent manipulation via electrically driven spin
resonance (EDSR) mediated by a bend in the nanotube. Readout is performed by
measuring the current in Pauli blockade. Arbitrary qubit rotations are
demonstrated, and the coherence time is measured via Hahn echo. Although the
measured decoherence time is only 65 ns in our current device, this work offers
the possibility of creating a qubit for which hyperfine interaction can be
virtually eliminated
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