372 research outputs found
Smooth vortex precession in superfluid 4He
We have measured a precessing superfluid vortex line, stretched from a wire
to the wall of a cylindrical cell. By contrast to previous experiments with a
similar geometry, the motion along the wall is smooth. The key difference is
probably that our wire is substantially off center. We verify several numerical
predictions about the motion, including an asymmetry in the precession
signature, the behavior of pinning events, and the temperature dependence of
the precession.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figure
Depinning of a superfluid vortex line by Kelvin waves
We measure the interaction of a single superfluid vortex with surface
irregularities. While vortex pinning in superconductors usually becomes weaker
at higher temperatures, we find the opposite behavior. The pinning steadily
increases throughout our measurement range, from 0.15Tc to over 0.5Tc. We also
find that moving the other end of the vortex decreases the pinning, so we
propose Kelvin waves along the vortex as a depinning mechanism.Comment: 5 figures; substantial revision including 2 new figure
Energy Loss from a Moving Vortex in Superfluid Helium
We present measurements on both energy loss and pinning for a vortex
terminating on the curved surface of a cylindrical container. We vary surface
roughness, cell diameter, fluid velocity, and temperature. Although energy loss
and pinning both arise from interactions between the vortex and the surface,
their dependences on the experimental parameters differ, suggesting that
different mechanisms govern the two effects. We propose that the energy loss
stems from reconnections with a mesh of microscopic vortices that covers the
cell wall, while pinning is dominated by other influences such as the local
fluid velocity.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure
Curves of every genus with many points, II: Asymptotically good families
We resolve a 1983 question of Serre by constructing curves with many points
of every genus over every finite field. More precisely, we show that for every
prime power q there is a positive constant c_q with the following property: for
every non-negative integer g, there is a genus-g curve over F_q with at least
c_q * g rational points over F_q. Moreover, we show that there exists a
positive constant d such that for every q we can choose c_q = d * (log q). We
show also that there is a constant c > 0 such that for every q and every n > 0,
and for every sufficiently large g, there is a genus-g curve over F_q that has
at least c*g/n rational points and whose Jacobian contains a subgroup of
rational points isomorphic to (Z/nZ)^r for some r > c*g/n.Comment: LaTeX, 18 page
Packing Fractions and Maximum Angles of Stability of Granular Materials
In two-dimensional rotating drum experiments, we find two separate influences
of the packing fraction of a granular heap on its stability. For a fixed grain
shape, the stability increases with packing fraction. However, in determining
the relative stability of different grain shapes, those with the lowest average
packing fractions tend to form the most stable heaps. We also show that only
the configuration close to the surface of the pile figures prominently.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Pressure and linear heat capacity in the superconducting state of thoriated UBe13
Even well below Tc, the heavy-fermion superconductor (U,Th)Be13 has a large
linear term in its specific heat. We show that under uniaxial pressure, the
linear heat capacity increases in magnitude by more than a factor of two. The
change is reversible and suggests that the linear term is an intrinsic property
of the material. In addition, we find no evidence of hysteresis or of latent
heat in the low-temperature and low-pressure portion of the phase diagram,
showing that all transitions in this region are second order.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
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