Experimental study of cluster formation in binary mixture of H2O and H2SO4 vapors in the presence of an ionizing radiation source

Molecular clusters formed in pure nitrogen containing H2O and H2SO4 vapors and exposed to a 3 mCi Ni63 beta source were studied in the mass range 50 to 780 amu using a quadrupole mass spectrometer. Measurements were made under several combinations of relative humidity and relative acidity ranging from 0.7 to 7.5 percent and 0.00047 to 0.06333 percent, respectively. The number of H2SO4 molecules in the clusters observed ranged from 1 to 7 whereas the number of H2O molecules ranged from 1 to 16. The experimental cluster spectra differ considerably from those calculated using the classical nucleation theory. First order calculations using modified surface tension values and including the effects of multipole moments of the nucleating molecules indicate that these effects may be enough to explain the difference between the measured and the calculated spectra

Finite-temperature effects on the number fluctuation of ultracold atoms across the Superfluid to Mott-insulator transition

We study the thermodynamics of ultracold Bose atoms in optical lattices by numerically diagonalizing the mean-field Hamiltonian of the Bose-Hubbard model. This method well describes the behavior of long-range correlations and therefore is valid deep in the superfluid phase. For the homogeneous Bose-Hubbard model, we draw the finite-temperature phase diagram and calculate the superfluid density at unity filling. We evaluate the finite-temperature effects in a recent experiment probing number fluctuation [Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{96}, 090401 (2006)], and find that our finite-temperature curves give a better fitting to the experimental data, implying non-negligible temperature effects in this experiment.Comment: 7 pages,7 figures, final version for publicatio

Probing Topcolor-Assisted Technicolor from Like-sign Top Pair Production at LHC

The topcolor-assisted technicolor (TC2) theory predicts tree-level flavor-changing neutral-current (FCNC) top quark Yukawa couplings with top-pions. Such FCNC interactions will induce like-sign top quark pair productions at CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC). While these rare productions are far below the observable level in the Standard Model and other popular new physics models such as the Minimal Supersymmetric Model, we find that in a sound part of parameter space the TC2 model can enhance the production cross sections to several tens of fb and thus may be observable at the LHC due to rather low backgrounds. Searching for these productions at the LHC will serve as an excellent probe for the TC2 model.Comment: 10 pages, 6 fig

Technological innovations at the onset of the Mid-Pleistocene Climate Transition in high-latitude East Asia

The interplay between Pleistocene climatic variability and hominin adaptations to diverse terrestrial ecosystems is a key topic in human evolutionary studies. Early and Middle Pleistocene environmental change and its relation to hominin behavioural responses has been a subject of great interest in Africa and Europe, though little information is available for other key regions of the Old World, particularly from Eastern Asia. Here we examine key Early Pleistocene sites of the Nihewan Basin, in high-latitude northern China, dating between ∼1.4 to 1.0 million years ago (Ma). We compare stone tool assemblages from three Early Pleistocene sites in the Nihewan Basin, including detailed assessment of stone tool refitting sequences at the ∼1.1 Ma-old site of Cenjiawan. Increased toolmaking skills and technological innovations are evident in the Nihewan Basin at the onset of the Mid-Pleistocene Climate Transition (MPT). Examination of the lithic technology of the Nihewan sites, together with an assessment of other key Palaeolithic sites of China, indicates that toolkits show increasing diversity at the outset of the MPT and in its aftermath. The overall evidence indicates the adaptive flexibility of early hominins to ecosystem changes since the MPT, though regional abandonments are also apparent in high-latitudes, likely owing to cold and oscillating environmental conditions. The view presented here sharply contrasts with traditional arguments that stone tool technologies of China are homogeneous and continuous over the course of the Early Pleistocene.Introduction Results - Stone-tool-knapping skills recorded in the Cenjiawan assemblage - Technological comparisons of the Nihewan Basin assemblages Discussio

Maximally Symmetric Minimal Unification Model SO(32) with Three Families in Ten Dimensional Space-time

Based on a maximally symmetric minimal unification hypothesis and a quantum charge-dimension correspondence principle, it is demonstrated that each family of quarks and leptons belongs to the Majorana-Weyl spinor representation of 14-dimensions that relate to quantum spin-isospin-color charges. Families of quarks and leptons attribute to a spinor structure of extra 6-dimensions that relate to quantum family charges. Of particular, it is shown that 10-dimensions relating to quantum spin-family charges form a motional 10-dimensional quantum space-time with a generalized Lorentz symmetry SO(1,9), and 10-dimensions relating to quantum isospin-color charges become a motionless 10-dimensional quantum intrinsic space. Its corresponding 32-component fermions in the spinor representation possess a maximal gauge symmetry SO(32). As a consequence, a maximally symmetric minimal unification model SO(32) containing three families in ten dimensional quantum space-time is naturally obtained by choosing a suitable Majorana-Weyl spinor structure into which quarks and leptons are directly embedded. Both resulting symmetry and dimensions coincide with the ones of type I string and heterotic string SO(32) in string theory.Comment: 17 pages, RevTex, published version with minor typos correcte

Self-consistent tilted-axis-cranking study of triaxial strongly deformed bands in 158^{158}Er at ultrahigh spin

Stimulated by recent experimental discoveries, triaxial strongly deformed (TSD) states in $^{158}$Er at ultrahigh spins have been studied by means of the Skyrme-Hartree-Fock model and the tilted-axis-cranking method. Restricting the rotational axis to one of the principal axes -- as done in previous cranking calculations -- two well-defined TSD minima in the total Routhian surface are found for a given configuration: one with positive and another with negative triaxial deformation $\gamma$. By allowing the rotational axis to change direction, the higher-energy minimum is shown to be a saddle point. This resolves the long-standing question of the physical interpretation of the two triaxial minima at a very similar quadrupole shape obtained in the principal axis cranking approach. Several TSD configurations have been predicted, including a highly deformed band expected to cross lesser elongated TSD bands at the highest spins. Its transitional quadrupole moment $Q_t \approx 10.5$\,eb is close to the measured value of $\sim$11\,eb; hence, it is a candidate for the structure observed in experiment.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Interaction broadening of Wannier functions and Mott transitions in atomic BEC

Superfluid to Mott-insulator transitions in atomic BEC in optical lattices are investigated for the case of number of atoms per site larger than one. To account for mean field repulsion between the atoms in each well, we construct an orthogonal set of Wannier functions. The resulting hopping amplitude and on-site interaction may be substantially different from those calculated with single-atom Wannier functions. As illustrations of the approach we consider lattices of various dimensionality and different mean occupations. We find that in three-dimensional optical lattices the correction to the critical lattice depth is significant to be measured experimentally even for small number of atoms. Finally, we discuss validity of the single band model.Comment: A co-author(AMD) added, paper lengthened (7 pages, 8 figures now) to extend the description of the method and add discussion of its validit