Fast ignition of fusion targets by laser-driven electrons

We present hybrid PIC simulations of fast electron transport and energy deposition in pre-compressed fusion targets, taking full account of collective magnetic effects and the hydrodynamic response of the background plasma. Results on actual ignition of an imploded fast ignition configuration are shown accounting for the increased beam divergence found in recent experiments [J.S. Green et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 015003 (2008)] and the reduction of the electron kinetic energy due to profile steepening predicted by advanced PIC simulations [B. Chrisman et al. Phys. Plasmas 15, 056309 (2008)]. Target ignition is studied as a function of injected electron energy, distance of cone-tip to dense core, initial divergence and kinetic energy of the relativistic electron beam. We found that beam collimation reduces substantially the ignition energies of the cone-guided fuel configuration assumed here.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures. accepted for publication in Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusio

The frustrated spin-1/2 J1-J2 Heisenberg ferromagnet on the square lattice: Exact diagonalization and Coupled-Cluster study

We investigate the ground-state magnetic order of the spin-1/2 J1-J2 Heisenberg model on the square lattice with ferromagnetic nearest-neighbor exchange J1<0 and frustrating antiferromagnetic next-nearest neighbor exchange J2>0. We use the coupled-cluster method to high orders of approximation and Lanczos exact diagonalization of finite lattices of up to N=40 sites in order to calculate the ground-state energy, the spin-spin correlation functions, and the magnetic order parameter. We find that the transition point at which the ferromagnetic ground state disappears is given by J2^{c1}=0.393|J1| (exact diagonalization) and J2^{c1}=0.394|J1| (coupled-cluster method). We compare our results for ferromagnetic J1 with established results for the spin-1/2 J1-J2 Heisenberg model with antiferromagnetic J1. We find that both models (i.e., ferro- and antiferromagnetic J1) behave similarly for large J2, although significant differences between them are observed for J2/|J1| \lesssim 0.6. Although the semiclassical collinear magnetic long-range order breaks down at J2^{c2} \approx 0.6J1 for antiferromagnetic J1, we do not find a similar breakdown of this kind of long-range order until J2 \sim 0.4|J1| for the model with ferromagnetic J1. Unlike the case for antiferromagnetic J1, if an intermediate disordered phase does occur between the phases exhibiting semiclassical collinear stripe order and ferromagnetic order for ferromagnetic J1 then it is likely to be over a very small range below J2 \sim 0.4|J1|.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures, 2 table

Observers and their notion of spacetime beyond special relativity

It is plausible that quantum gravity effects may lead us to a description of Nature beyond the framework of special relativity. In this case, either the relativity principle is broken or it is maintained. These two scenarios (a violation or a deformation of special relativity) are very different, both conceptually and phenomenologically. We discuss some of their implications on the description of events for different observers and the notion of spacetime.Comment: 10 page

Can intrinsic noise induce various resonant peaks?

We theoretically describe how weak signals may be efficiently transmitted throughout more than one frequency range in noisy excitable media by kind of stochastic multiresonance. This serves us here to reinterpret recent experiments in neuroscience, and to suggest that many other systems in nature might be able to exhibit several resonances. In fact, the observed behavior happens in our (network) model as a result of competition between (1) changes in the transmitted signals as if the units were varying their activation threshold, and (2) adaptive noise realized in the model as rapid activity-dependent fluctuations of the connection intensities. These two conditions are indeed known to characterize heterogeneously networked systems of excitable units, e.g., sets of neurons and synapses in the brain. Our results may find application also in the design of detector devices.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figure