89 research outputs found
Demography, Morphometrics, and Stomach Contents of Common Ravens Examined as a Result of Controlled Take
Common ravens (Corvus corax; ravens) are known nest predators that have the ability to negatively impact nesting birds, including imperiled species of seabirds and shorebirds. We conducted systematic necropsies of ravens that were lethally controlled in Monterey Bay, California, USA during 2013–2015, in or near western snowy plover (Charadrius nivosus nivosus) nesting areas, in an effort to better understand body condition, overall health, and diet of individual ravens. Raven predation of snowy plover nests has increased over the years in the Monterey Bay study area, and lethal removal of ravens has been employed to reduce predation. Most ravens examined in this study were in moderate to excellent body condition and also exhibited good organ health. There were statistically significant differences between male and female morphometrics (mass, culmen length, and wing length; P \u3c 0.05). Stomach content analysis indicated a varied diet with consumption of animal remains and eggshell fragments, and anthropogenic sources of food (e.g., human food items and human-produced non-food items). Our study provides evidence that lethal control of ravens targeted some individual ravens that were responsible for depredating snowy plover nest
Atomic clock measurements of quantum scattering phase shifts spanning Feshbach resonances at ultralow fields
We use an atomic fountain clock to measure quantum scattering phase shifts precisely through a series of narrow, low-field Feshbach resonances at average collision energies below 1 μK. Our low spread in collision energy yields phase variations of order π=2 for target atoms in several F, mF states.We compare them to a theoretical model and establish the accuracy of the measurements and the theoretical uncertainties from the fitted potential.We find overall excellent agreement, with small statistically significant differences that remain unexplained
A Quantum Scattering Interferometer
The collision of two ultra-cold atoms results in a quantum-mechanical
superposition of two outcomes: each atom continues without scattering and each
atom scatters as a spherically outgoing wave with an s-wave phase shift. The
magnitude of the s-wave phase shift depends very sensitively on the interaction
between the atoms. Quantum scattering and the underlying phase shifts are
vitally important in many areas of contemporary atomic physics, including
Bose-Einstein condensates, degenerate Fermi gases, frequency shifts in atomic
clocks, and magnetically-tuned Feshbach resonances. Precise measurements of
quantum scattering phase shifts have not been possible until now because, in
scattering experiments, the number of scattered atoms depends on the s-wave
phase shifts as well as the atomic density, which cannot be measured precisely.
Here we demonstrate a fundamentally new type of scattering experiment that
interferometrically detects the quantum scattering phase shifts of individual
atoms. By performing an atomic clock measurement using only the scattered part
of each atom, we directly and precisely measure the difference of the s-wave
phase shifts for the two clock states in a density independent manner. Our
method will give the most direct and precise measurements of ultracold
atom-atom interactions and will place stringent limits on the time variations
of fundamental constants.Comment: Corrected formatting and typo
Progress in Atomic Fountains at LNE-SYRTE
We give an overview of the work done with the Laboratoire National de
M\'etrologie et d'Essais-Syst\`emes de R\'ef\'erence Temps-Espace (LNE-SYRTE)
fountain ensemble during the last five years. After a description of the clock
ensemble, comprising three fountains, FO1, FO2, and FOM, and the newest
developments, we review recent studies of several systematic frequency shifts.
This includes the distributed cavity phase shift, which we evaluate for the FO1
and FOM fountains, applying the techniques of our recent work on FO2. We also
report calculations of the microwave lensing frequency shift for the three
fountains, review the status of the blackbody radiation shift, and summarize
recent experimental work to control microwave leakage and spurious phase
perturbations. We give current accuracy budgets. We also describe several
applications in time and frequency metrology: fountain comparisons,
calibrations of the international atomic time, secondary representation of the
SI second based on the 87Rb hyperfine frequency, absolute measurements of
optical frequencies, tests of the T2L2 satellite laser link, and review
fundamental physics applications of the LNE-SYRTE fountain ensemble. Finally,
we give a summary of the tests of the PHARAO cold atom space clock performed
using the FOM transportable fountain.Comment: 19 pages, 12 figures, 5 tables, 126 reference
Towards a Mg lattice clock: Observation of the transition and determination of the magic wavelength
We optically excite the electronic state in Mg atoms,
laser-cooled and trapped in a magic-wavelength lattice. An applied magnetic
field enhances the coupling of the light to the otherwise strictly forbidden
transition. We determine the magic wavelength, the quadratic magnetic Zeeman
shift and the transition frequency to be 468.463(207)nm,
-206.6(2.0)MHz/T and 655 058 646 691(101)kHz, respectively. These
are compared with theoretical predictions and results from complementary
experiments. We also developed a high-precision relativistic structure model
for magnesium, give an improved theoretical value for the blackbody radiation
shift and discuss a clock based on bosonic magnesium.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Magneto-optical Trapping of Cadmium
We report the laser-cooling and confinement of Cd atoms in a magneto-optical
trap, and characterize the loading process from the background Cd vapor. The
trapping laser drives the 1S0-1P1 transition at 229 nm in this two-electron
atom and also photoionizes atoms directly from the 1P1 state. This
photoionization overwhelms the other loss mechanisms and allows a direct
measurement of the photoionization cross section, which we measure to be
2(1)x10^(-16)cm^(2) from the 1P1 state. When combined with nearby laser-cooled
and trapped Cd^(+) ions, this apparatus could facilitate studies in ultracold
interactions between atoms and ions.Comment: 8 pages, 11 figure
Pauli Blocking of Collisions in a Quantum Degenerate Atomic Fermi Gas
We have produced an interacting quantum degenerate Fermi gas of atoms
composed of two spin-states of magnetically trapped K. The relative
Fermi energies are adjusted by controlling the population in each spin-state.
Measurements of the thermodynamics reveal the resulting imbalance in the mean
energy per particle between the two species, which is as large as a factor of
1.4 at our lowest temperature. This imbalance of energy comes from a
suppression of collisions between atoms in the gas due to the Pauli exclusion
principle. Through measurements of the thermal relaxation rate we have directly
observed this Pauli blocking as a factor of two reduction in the effective
collision cross-section in the quantum degenerate regime.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure
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