5,410 research outputs found
Mathmatical modeling for diffractive optics
We consider a 'diffractive optic' to be a biperiodic surface separating two half-spaces, each having constant constitutive parameters; within a unit cell of the periodic surface and across the transition zone between the two half-spaces, the constitutive parameters can be a continuous, complex-valued function. Mathematical models for diffractive optics have been developed, and implemented as numerical codes, both for the 'direct' problem and for the 'inverse' problem. In problems of the 'direct' class, the diffractive optic is specified, and the full set of Maxwell's equations is cast in a variational form and solved numerically by a finite element approach. This approach is well-posed in the sense that existence and uniqueness of the solution can be proved and specific convergence conditions can be derived. An example of a metallic grating at a Wood anomaly is presented as a case where other approaches are known to have convergence problems. In problems of the 'inverse' class, some information about the diffracted field (e.g., the far-field intensity) is given, and the problem is to find the periodic structure in some optimal sense. Two approaches are described: phase reconstruction in the far-field approximation; and relaxed optimal design based on the Helmholtz equation. Practical examples are discussed for each approach to the inverse problem, including array generators in the far-field case and antireflective structures for the relaxed optimal design
Unlocking the Keyhole - H2 and PAH emission from molecular clumps in the Keyhole Nebula
To better understand the environment surrounding CO emission clumps in the
Keyhole Nebula, we have made images of the region in H2 1-0 S(1) (2.122 um)
emission and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission at 3.29 um. Our
results show that the H2 and PAH emission regions are morphologically similar,
existing as several clumps, all of which correspond to CO emission clumps and
dark optical features. The emission confirms the existence of photodissociation
regions (PDRs) on the surface of the clumps. By comparing the velocity range of
the CO emission with the optical appearance of the H2 and PAH emission, we
present a model of the Keyhole Nebula in which the most negative velocity
clumps are in front of the ionization region, the clumps at intermediate
velocities are in it, and those which have the least negative velocities are at
the far side. It may be that these clumps, which appear to have been swept up
from molecular gas by the stellar winds from eta Car, are now being over-run by
the ionization region and forming PDRs on their surfaces. These clumps comprise
the last remnants of the ambient molecular cloud around eta Car.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, to be published in MNRA
Small Energy Scale for Mixed-Valent Uranium Materials
We investigate a two-channel Anderson impurity model with a magnetic
and a quadrupolar ground doublet, and a excited triplet. Using
the numerical renormalization group method, we find a crossover to a non-Fermi
liquid state below a temperature varying as the triplet-doublet
splitting to the 7/2 power. To within numerical accuracy, the non-linear
magnetic susceptibility and the contribution to the linear
susceptibility are given by universal one-parameter scaling functions. These
results may explain UBe as mixed valent with a small crossover scale
.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, REVTeX, to appear in Phys. Rev. Let
Theory of One-Channel vs. Multi-Channel Kondo Effects for Ce Impurities
We introduce a model for Ce impurities in cubic metals which exhibits
competition between the Fermi-liquid fixed point of the single channel Kondo
model and the non-Fermi-liquid fixed point of the two- and three-channel Kondo
models. Using the non-crossing approximation and scaling theory, we find: (i) A
possible three-channel Kondo effect between the one- and two-channel regimes in
parameter space. (ii) The sign of the thermopower is a fixed point diagnostic.
(iii) Our results will likely survive the introduction of additional and
conduction states. We apply this model to interpret the non-Fermi liquid alloy
LaCeCuSi.Comment: 13 pages, Revtex, To appear in Phys. Rev. Let
Cognitive Information Processing
Contains reports on three research projects.Joint Services Electronics Program (Contract DAAB07-74-C-0630)National Science Foundation (Grant GK-33736X2
Black Holes in Galaxy Mergers: Evolution of Quasars
Based on numerical simulations of gas-rich galaxy mergers, we discuss a model
in which quasar activity is tied to the self-regulated growth of supermassive
black holes in galaxies. Nuclear inflow of gas attending a galaxy collision
triggers a starburst and feeds black hole growth, but for most of the duration
of the starburst, the black hole is heavily obscured by surrounding gas and
dust which limits the visibility of the quasar, especially at optical and UV
wavelengths. Eventually, feedback energy from accretion heats the gas and
expels it in a powerful wind, leaving a 'dead quasar'. Between buried and dead
phases there is a window during which the galaxy would be seen as a luminous
quasar. Because the black hole mass, radiative output, and distribution of
obscuring gas and dust all evolve strongly with time, the duration of this
phase of observable quasar activity depends on both the waveband and imposed
luminosity threshold. We determine the observed and intrinsic lifetimes as a
function of luminosity and frequency, and calculate observable lifetimes ~10
Myr for bright quasars in the optical B-band, in good agreement with empirical
estimates and much smaller than the black hole growth timescales ~100 Myr,
naturally producing a substantial population of 'buried' quasars. However,
observed and intrinsic energy outputs converge in the IR and hard X-ray bands
as attenuation becomes weaker and chances of observation greatly increase. We
obtain the distribution of column densities along sightlines in which the
quasar is seen above a given luminosity, and find that our result agrees
remarkably well with observed estimates of the column density distribution from
the SDSS for appropriate luminosity thresholds. (Abridged)Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ (September
2005). Replacement with minor revisions from referee repor
Topological (Sliced) Doping of a 3D Peierls System: Predicted Structure of Doped BaBiO3
At hole concentrations below x=0.4, Ba_(1-x)K_xBiO_3 is non-metallic. At x=0,
pure BaBiO3 is a Peierls insulator. Very dilute holes create bipolaronic point
defects in the Peierls order parameter. Here we find that the Rice-Sneddon
version of Peierls theory predicts that more concentrated holes should form
stacking faults (two-dimensional topological defects, called slices) in the
Peierls order parameter. However, the long-range Coulomb interaction, left out
of the Rice-Sneddon model, destabilizes slices in favor of point bipolarons at
low concentrations, leaving a window near 30% doping where the sliced state is
marginally stable.Comment: 6 pages with 5 embedded postscript figure
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Pu 4f XPS spectra analyzed in the Anderson impurity model
X-ray photoemission spectra of the {alpha},{beta},{gamma}, and {delta} phases of Pu have been analyzed using the Gunnarsson-Schonhammer implementation of the Anderson impurity model. Changes in the relative intensities of the two spectral features representing mixed f{sup 5} and f{sup 6} final states are in reasonable agreement with the model`s predictions. The coulomb terms, U{sub ff} and U{sub fc}, are quite consistent with those derived from atomic and LDA calculations. Multiplet structure, which agrees with atomic calculations for 4f{sup 13}5f{sup 5}, strongly suggests 5f localization in the final state
A Chandra study of particle acceleration in the multiple hotspots of nearby radio galaxies
We present Chandra observations of a small sample of nearby classical double
radio galaxies which have more than one radio hotspot in at least one of their
lobes. The X-ray emission from the hotspots of these comparatively low-power
objects is expected to be synchrotron in origin, and therefore to provide
information about the locations of high-energy particle acceleration. In some
models of the relationship between the jet and hotspot the hotspots that are
not the current jet termination point should be detached from the energy supply
from the active nucleus and therefore not capable of accelerating particles to
high energies. We find that in fact some secondary hotspots are X-ray sources,
and thus probably locations for high-energy particle acceleration after the
initial jet termination shock. In detail, though, we show that the spatial
structures seen in X-ray are not consistent with naive expectations from a
simple shock model: the current locations of the acceleration of the
highest-energy observable particles in powerful radio galaxies need not be
coincident with the peaks of radio or even optical emission.Comment: Accepted for ApJ. 33 pages, 8 figures inc. 2 in colo
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