Discovery of X-ray pulsations from "next Geminga" - PSR J1836+5925

We report the X-ray pulsation of ~173.3 ms for the "next Geminga", PSR J1836+5925, with recent XMM-Newton investigations. The X-ray periodicity is consistent wtih the gamma-ray ephemeris at the same epoch. The X-ray folded light curve has a sinusoidal structure which is different from the double-peaked gamma-ray pulse profile. We have also analysed the X-ray phase-averaged spectra which shows the X-ray emission from PSR J1836+5925 is thermal dominant. This suggests the X-ray pulsation mainly originates from the modulated hot spot on the stellar surface.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in ApJ Lette

Progress towards quantum simulating the classical O(2) model

We connect explicitly the classical $O(2)$ model in 1+1 dimensions, a model sharing important features with $U(1)$ lattice gauge theory, to physical models potentially implementable on optical lattices and evolving at physical time. Using the tensor renormalization group formulation, we take the time continuum limit and check that finite dimensional projections used in recent proposals for quantum simulators provide controllable approximations of the original model. We propose two-species Bose-Hubbard models corresponding to these finite dimensional projections at strong coupling and discuss their possible implementations on optical lattices using a $^{87}$Rb and $^{41}$K Bose-Bose mixture.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, uses revtex, new material and one author added, as to appear in Phys. Rev.

A simple high-sensitivity technique for purity analysis of xenon gas

We report on the development and performance of a high-sensitivity purity-analysis technique for gaseous xenon. The gas is sampled at macroscopic pressure from the system of interest using a UHV leak valve. The xenon present in the sample is removed with a liquid-nitrogen cold trap, and the remaining impurities are observed with a standard vacuum mass-spectroscopy device. Using calibrated samples of xenon gas spiked with known levels of impurities, we find that the minimum detectable levels of N2, O2, and methane are 1 ppb, 160 ppt, and 60 ppt respectively. This represents an improvement of about a factor of 10,000 compared to measurements performed without a coldtrap.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figure

Multi-spin dynamics of the solid-state NMR Free Induction Decay

We present a new experimental investigation of the NMR free induction decay (FID) in a lattice of spin-1/2 nuclei in a strong Zeeman field. Following a pi/2 pulse, evolution under the secular dipolar Hamiltonian preserves coherence number in the Zeeman eigenbasis, but changes the number of correlated spins in the state. The observed signal is seen to decay as single-spin, single-quantum coherences evolve into multiple-spin coherences under the action of the dipolar Hamiltonian. In order to probe the multiple-spin dynamics during the FID, we measured the growth of coherence orders in a basis other than the usual Zeeman eigenbasis. This measurement provides the first direct experimental observation of the growth of coherent multiple-spin correlations during the FID. Experiments were performed with a cubic lattice of spins (19F in calcium fluoride) and a linear spin chain (19F in fluorapatite). It is seen that the geometrical arrangement of the spins plays a significant role in the development of higher order correlations. The results are discussed in light of existing theoretical models.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure

Non-magnetic left-handed material

We develop a new approach to build a material with negative refraction index. In contrast to conventional designs which make use of a resonant behavior to achieve a non-zero magnetic response, our material is intrinsically non-magnetic and relies on an anisotropic dielectric constant to provide a left-handed response in waveguide geometry. We demonstrate that the proposed material can support surface (polariton) waves, and show the connection between polaritons and the enhancement of evanescent fields, also referred to as super-lensing