3,322 research outputs found
Bounded LTL Model Checking with Stable Models
In this paper bounded model checking of asynchronous concurrent systems is
introduced as a promising application area for answer set programming. As the
model of asynchronous systems a generalisation of communicating automata,
1-safe Petri nets, are used. It is shown how a 1-safe Petri net and a
requirement on the behaviour of the net can be translated into a logic program
such that the bounded model checking problem for the net can be solved by
computing stable models of the corresponding program. The use of the stable
model semantics leads to compact encodings of bounded reachability and deadlock
detection tasks as well as the more general problem of bounded model checking
of linear temporal logic. Correctness proofs of the devised translations are
given, and some experimental results using the translation and the Smodels
system are presented.Comment: 32 pages, to appear in Theory and Practice of Logic Programmin
Multifrequency VLA observations of the FR I radio galaxy 3C 31: morphology, spectrum and magnetic field
We present high-quality VLA images of the FR I radio galaxy 3C 31 in the
frequency range 1365 to 8440 MHz with angular resolutions from 0.25 to 40
arcsec. Our new images reveal complex, well resolved filamentary substructure
in the radio jets and tails. We also use these images to explore the spectral
structure of 3C 31 on large and small scales. We infer the apparent magnetic
field structure by correcting for Faraday rotation. Some of the intensity
substructure in the jets is clearly related to structure in their apparent
magnetic field: there are arcs of emission where the degree of linear
polarization increases, with the apparent magnetic field parallel to the ridges
of the arcs. The spectral indices are significantly steeper (0.62) within 7
arcsec of the nucleus than between 7 and 50 arcsec (0.52 - 0.57). The spectra
of the jet edges are also slightly flatter than the average for their
surroundings. At larger distances, the jets are clearly delimited from
surrounding larger-scale emission both by their flatter radio spectra and by
sharp brightness gradients. The spectral index of 0.62 in the first 7 arcsec of
3C 31's jets is very close to that found in other FR I galaxies where their
jets first brighten in the radio and where X-ray synchrotron emission is most
prominent. Farther from the nucleus, where the spectra flatten, X-ray emission
is fainter relative to the radio. The brightest X-ray emission from FR I jets
is therefore not associated with the flattest radio spectra, but with a
particle-acceleration process whose characteristic energy index is 2.24. The
spectral flattening with distance from the nucleus occurs where our
relativistic jet models require deceleration, and the flatter-spectra at the
jet edges may be associated with transverse velocity shear. (Slightly abridged)Comment: 17 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
Correlated metallic state of vanadium dioxide
The metal-insulator transition and unconventional metallic transport in
vanadium dioxide (VO) are investigated with a combination of spectroscopic
ellipsometry and reflectance measurements. The data indicates that electronic
correlations, not electron-phonon interactions, govern charge dynamics in the
metallic state of VO. This study focuses on the frequency and temperature
dependence of the conductivity in the regime of extremely short mean free path
violating the Ioffe-Regel-Mott limit of metallic transport. The standard
quasiparticle picture of charge conduction is found to be untenable in metallic
VO.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
The XMM-Newton Detection of Diffuse Inverse Compton X-rays from Lobes of the FR-II Radio Galaxy 3C98
The XMM-Newton observation of the nearby FR-II radio galaxy 3C 98 is
reported. In two exposures on the target, faint diffuse X-ray emission
associated with the radio lobes was significantly detected, together with a
bright X-ray active nucleus, of which the 2 -- 10 keV intrinsic luminosity is
(4 -- 8) \times 10^{42} erg s-1. The EPIC spectra of the northern and southern
lobes are reproduced by a single power law model modified by the Galactic
absorption, with a photon index of 2.2-0.5+0.6 and 1.7-0.6+0.7 respectively.
These indices are consistent with that of the radio synchrotron spectrum, 1.73
+- 0.01 The luminosity of the northern and southern lobes are measured to be
8.3-2.6+3.3 \times 10^{40} erg s-1 and 9.2-4.3+5.7 \times 10^{40} erg s-1,
respectively, in the 0.7 -- 7 keV range. The diffuse X-ray emission is
interpreted as an inverse-Compton emission, produced when the
synchrotron-emitting energetic electrons in the lobes scatter off the cosmic
microwave background photons. The magnetic field in the lobes is calculated to
be about 1.7 \mu G, which is about 2.5 times lower than the value estimated
under the minimum energy condition. The energy density of the electrons is
inferred to exceed that in the magnetic fields by a factor of 40 -- 50.Comment: 23 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical
Journa
Andreev Reflection without Fermi surface alignment in High T-Topological heterostructures
We address the controversy over the proximity effect between topological
materials and high T superconductors. Junctions are produced between
BiSrCaCuO and materials with different Fermi
surfaces (BiTe \& graphite). Both cases reveal tunneling spectra
consistent with Andreev reflection. This is confirmed by magnetic field that
shifts features via the Doppler effect. This is modeled with a single parameter
that accounts for tunneling into a screening supercurrent. Thus the tunneling
involves Cooper pairs crossing the heterostructure, showing the Fermi surface
mis-match does not hinder the ability to form transparent interfaces, which is
accounted for by the extended Brillouin zone and different lattice symmetries
Evidence for a New Excitation at the Interface Between a High-Tc Superconductor and a Topological Insulator
High-temperature superconductors exhibit a wide variety of novel excitations.
If contacted with a topological insulator, the lifting of spin rotation
symmetry in the surface states can lead to the emergence of unconventional
superconductivity and novel particles. In pursuit of this possibility, we
fabricated high critical-temperature (Tc ~ 85 K) superconductor/topological
insulator (Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+delta/Bi2Te2Se) junctions. Below 75 K, a zero-bias
conductance peak (ZBCP) emerges in the differential conductance spectra of this
junction. The magnitude of the ZBCP is suppressed at the same rate for magnetic
fields applied parallel or perpendicular to the junction. Furthermore, it can
still be observed and does not split up to at least 8.5 T. The temperature and
magnetic field dependence of the excitation we observe appears to fall outside
the known paradigms for a ZBCP
Electrodynamics of the vanadium oxides VO2 and V2O3
The optical/infrared properties of films of vanadium dioxide (VO2) and
vanadium sesquioxide (V2O3) have been investigated via ellipsometry and
near-normal incidence reflectance measurements from far infrared to ultraviolet
frequencies. Significant changes occur in the optical conductivity of both VO2
and V2O3 across the metal-insulator transitions at least up to (and possibly
beyond) 6 eV. We argue that such changes in optical conductivity and electronic
spectral weight over a broad frequency range is evidence of the important role
of electronic correlations to the metal-insulator transitions in both of these
vanadium oxides. We observe a sharp optical transition with possible final
state (exciton) effects in the insulating phase of VO2. This sharp optical
transition occurs between narrow a1g bands that arise from the
quasi-one-dimensional chains of vanadium dimers. Electronic correlations in the
metallic phases of both VO2 and V2O3 lead to reduction of the kinetic energy of
the charge carriers compared to band theory values, with paramagnetic metallic
V2O3 showing evidence of stronger correlations compared to rutile metallic VO2.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figure
The Missing Link: Magnetism and Superconductivity
The effect of magnetic moments on superconductivity has long been a
controversial subject in condensed matter physics. While Matthias and
collaborators experimentally demonstrated the destruction of superconductivity
in La by the addition of magnetic moments (Gd), it has since been suggested
that magnetic fluctuations are in fact responsible for the development of
superconducting order in other systems. Currently this debate is focused on
several families of unconventional superconductors including high-Tc cuprates,
borocarbides as well as heavy fermion systems where magnetism and
superconductivity are known to coexist. Here we report a novel aspect of
competition and coexistence of these two competing orders in an interesting
class of heavy fermion compounds, namely the 1-1-5 series: CeTIn5 where T=Co,
Ir, or Rh. Our optical experiments indicate the existence of regions in
momentum space where local moments remain unscreened. The extent of these
regions in momentum space appears to control both the normal and
superconducting state properties in the 1-1-5 family of heavy fermion (HF)
superconductors.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure
- …