The Redshift-Space Cluster-Galaxy Cross-Correlation Function: I. Modeling Galaxy Infall onto Millennium Simulation Clusters and SDSS Groups

The large scale infall of galaxies around massive clusters provides a potentially powerful diagnostic of structure growth, dark energy, and cosmological deviations from General Relativity. We develop and test a method to recover galaxy infall kinematics (GIK) from measurements of the redshift-space cluster-galaxy cross-correlation function \xi_{cg}(r_p,r_\pi). Using galaxy and halo samples from the Millennium simulation, we calibrate an analytic model of the galaxy kinematic profiles comprised of a virialized component with an isotropic Gaussian velocity distribution and an infall component described by a skewed 2D t-distribution with a characteristic infall velocity v_r and separate radial and tangential dispersions. We show that convolving the real-space cross-correlation function with this velocity distribution accurately predicts the redshift-space \xi_{cg}, and we show that measurements of \xi_{cg} can be inverted to recover the four distinct elements of the GIK profiles. These in turn provide diagnostics of cluster mass profiles, and we expect the characteristic infall velocity v_r(r) in particular to be insensitive to galaxy formation physics that can affect velocity dispersions within halos. As a proof of concept we measure \xi_{cg} for rich galaxy groups in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and recover GIK profiles for groups in two bins of central galaxy stellar mass. The higher mass bin has a v_r(r) curve very similar to that of 10^{14} Msun halos in the Millennium simulation, and the recovered kinematics follow the expected trends with mass. GIK modeling of cluster-galaxy cross-correlations can be a valuable complement to stacked weak lensing analyses, allowing novel tests of modified gravity theories that seek to explain cosmic acceleration.Comment: Matched to the published version (adding one figure illustrating the position and velocity vectors). For a brief video explaining the key result of this paper, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RB49odfSGo, or http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNDcxMDY3MTQ0.html in countries where YouTube is not accessibl

Nodes and Spin Windings for Topological Transitions in Light-Matter Interactions: \\ Anisotropic Quantum Rabi Model as a Born Abstract Artist

By extracting different levels of topological information a new light is shed on the energy spectrum of the anisotropic quantum Rabi model (QRM) which is the fundamental model of light-matter interactions with indispensable counter-rotating terms in ultra-strong couplings. Besides conventional topological transitions (TTs) at gap closing, abundant unconventional TTs including a particular one universal for different energy levels are unveiled underlying level anticrossings without gap closing by tracking the wave-function nodes. On the other hand, it is found that the nodes have a correspondence to spin windings, which not only endows the nodes a more explicit topological character in supporting single-qubit TTs but also turns the topological information physically detectable. Furthermore, hidden small-spin-knot transitions are exposed for the ground state, while more kinds of spin-knot transitions emerge in excited states including unmatched node numbers and spin winding numbers. As a surprise, frequently the spin windings produce portraits in high spiritual similarity with abstract artistic works, which demonstrates that the anisotropic QRM may be the Picasso of physical models. This signifies that art is joining the dialogue between mathematics and physics which was triggered by the milestone work of revealing integrability of the QRM.Comment: 17 pages, 12 figure

Designing Electron Spin Textures and Spin Interferometers by Shape Deformations

We demonstrate that the spin orientation of an electron propagating in a one-dimensional nanostructure with Rashba spin-orbit (SO) coupling can be manipulated on demand by changing the geometry of the nanosystem. Shape deformations that result in a non-uniform curvature give rise to complex three-dimensional spin textures in space. We employ the paradigmatic example of an elliptically deformed quantum ring to unveil the way to get an all-geometrical and all-electrical control of the spin orientation. The resulting spin textures exhibit a tunable topological character with windings around the radial and the out-of-plane directions. We show that these topologically non trivial spin patterns affect the spin interference effect in the deformed ring, thereby resulting in different geometry-driven ballistic electronic transport behaviors. Our results establish a deep connection between electronic spin textures, spin transport and the nanoscale shape of the system.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure