Fabrication of large addition energy quantum dots in graphene

We present a simple technique to fabricate graphene quantum dots in a cryostat. It relies upon the controlled rupture of a suspended graphene sheet subjected to the application of a large electron current. This results in the in-situ formation of a clean and ultra-narrow constriction, which hosts one quantum dot, and occasionally a few quantum dots in series. Conductance spectroscopy indicates that individual quantum dots can possess an addition energy as large as 180 meV and a level spacing as large as 25 meV. Our technique has several assets: (i) the dot is suspended, thus the electrostatic influence of the substrate is reduced, and (ii) contamination is minimized, since the edges of the dot have only been exposed to the vacuum in the cryostat.Comment: Improved version. To appear in Applied Physics Letter

Disordered hyperuniformity in two-component non-additive hard disk plasmas

We study the behavior of a two-component plasma made up of non-additive hard disks with a logarithmic Coulomb interaction. Due to the Coulomb repulsion, long-wavelength total density fluctuations are suppressed and the system is globally hyperuniform. Short-range volume effects lead to phase separation or to hetero-coordination for positive or negative non-additivities, respectively. These effects compete with the hidden long-range order imposed by hyperuniformity. As a result, the critical behavior of the mixture is modified, with long-wavelength concentration fluctuations partially damped when the system is charged. It is also shown that the decrease of configurational entropy due to hyperuniformity originates from contributions beyond the two-particle level. Finally, despite global hyperuniformity, we show that in our system, the spatial configuration associated with each component separately is not hyperuniform, i.e., the system is not "multihyperuniform.

High velocity structures in, and the X-ray emission from the LBV nebula around Eta Carinae

The Luminous Blue Variable star Eta Carinae is one of the most massive stars known. It underwent a giant eruption in 1843 in which the Homunculus nebula was created. ROSAT and ASCA data indicate the existence of a hard and a soft X-ray component which appear to be spatially distinct: a softer diffuse shell of the nebula around Eta Carinae and a harder point-like source centered on the star Eta Car. Astonishingly the morphology of the X-ray emission is very different from the optical appearance of the nebula. We present a comparative analysis of optical morphology, the kinematics, and the diffuse soft X-ray structure of the nebula around Eta Carinae. Our kinematic analysis of the nebula shows extremely high expansion velocities. We find a strong correlation between the X-ray emission and the knots in the nebula and the largest velocities, i.e. the X-ray morphology of the nebula around Eta Carinae is determined by the interaction between material streaming away from Eta Car and the ambient medium.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures, A&A in press, same paper with images at full resolution available from http://www.ita.uni-heidelberg.de/~kweis/publications.htm

Outflow or galactic wind: The fate of ionized gas in the halos of dwarf galaxies

Context: H\alpha images of star bursting irregular galaxies reveal a large amount of extended ionized gas structures, in some cases at kpc-distance away from any place of current star forming activity. A kinematic analysis of especially the faint structures in the halo of dwarf galaxies allows insights into the properties and the origin of this gas component. This is important for the chemical evolution of galaxies, the enrichment of the intergalactic medium, and for the understanding of the formation of galaxies in the early universe. Aims: We want to investigate whether the ionized gas detected in two irregular dwarf galaxies (NGC 2366 and NGC 4861) stays gravitationally bound to the host galaxy or can escape from it by becoming a freely flowing wind. Methods: Very deep H\alpha images of NGC 2366 and NGC 4861 were obtained to detect and catalog both small and large scale ionized gas structures down to very low surface brightnesses. Subsequently, high-resolution long-slit echelle spectroscopy of the H\alpha line was performed for a detailed kinematic analysis of the most prominent filaments and shells. To calculate the escape velocity of both galaxies and to compare it with the derived expansion velocities of the detected filaments and shells, we used dark matter halo models. Results: We detected a huge amount of both small scale (up to a few hundred pc) and large scale (about 1-2 kpc of diameter or length) ionized gas structures on our H\alpha images. Many of the fainter ones are new detections. The echelle spectra reveal outflows and expanding bubbles/shells with velocities between 20 and 110 km/s. Several of these structures are in accordance with filaments in the H\alpha images. A comparison with the escape velocities of the galaxies derived from the NFW dark matter halo model shows that all gas features stay gravitationally bound.Comment: 15 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in A&

On the Connection Between 2d Topological Gravity and the Reduced Hermitian Matrix Model

We discuss how concepts such as geodesic length and the volume of space-time can appear in 2d topological gravity. We then construct a detailed mapping between the reduced Hermitian matrix model and 2d topological gravity at genus zero. This leads to a complete solution of the counting problem for planar graphs with vertices of even coordination number. The connection between multi-critical matrix models and multi-critical topological gravity at genus zero is studied in some detail.Comment: 29 pages, LaTe