708 research outputs found
Enhanced molecular yield from a cryogenic buffer gas beam source via excited state chemistry
We use narrow-band laser excitation of Yb atoms to substantially enhance the brightness of a cold beam of YbOH, a polyatomic molecule with high sensitivity to physics beyond the standard model (BSM). By exciting atomic Yb to the metastable ³P₁ state in a cryogenic environment, we significantly increase the chemical reaction cross-section for collisions of Yb with reactants. We characterize the dependence of the enhancement on the properties of the laser light, and study the final state distribution of the YbOH products. The resulting bright, cold YbOH beam can be used to increase the statistical sensitivity in searches for new physics utilizing YbOH, such as electron electric dipole moment and nuclear magnetic quadrupole moment experiments. We also perform new quantum chemical calculations that confirm the enhanced reactivity observed in our experiment and compare reaction pathways of Yb(³P) with the reactants H₂O and H₂O₂. More generally, our work presents a broad approach for improving experiments that use cryogenic molecular beams for laser cooling and precision measurement searches of BSM physics
Signatures of Dark Matter Scattering Inelastically Off Nuclei
Direct dark matter detection focuses on elastic scattering of dark matter
particles off nuclei. In this study, we explore inelastic scattering where the
nucleus is excited to a low-lying state of 10-100 keV, with subsequent prompt
de-excitation. We calculate the inelastic structure factors for the odd-mass
xenon isotopes based on state-of-the-art large-scale shell-model calculations
with chiral effective field theory WIMP-nucleon currents. For these cases, we
find that the inelastic channel is comparable to or can dominate the elastic
channel for momentum transfers around 150 MeV. We calculate the inelastic
recoil spectra in the standard halo model, compare these to the elastic case,
and discuss the expected signatures in a xenon detector, along with
implications for existing and future experiments. The combined information from
elastic and inelastic scattering will allow to determine the dominant
interaction channel within one experiment. In addition, the two channels probe
different regions of the dark matter velocity distribution and can provide
insight into the dark halo structure. The allowed recoil energy domain and the
recoil energy at which the integrated inelastic rates start to dominate the
elastic channel depend on the mass of the dark matter particle, thus providing
a potential handle to constrain its mass.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures. Matches resubmitted version to Phys. Rev. D. One
figure added; supplemental material (fits to the structure functions) added
as an Appendi
Calculation of tunnel-couplings in open gate-defined disordered quantum dot systems
Quantum computation based on semiconductor electron-spin qubits requires high
control of tunnel-couplings, both across quantum dots and between the quantum
dot and the reservoir. The tunnel-coupling to the reservoir sets the qubit
detection and initialization bandwidth for energy-resolved spin-to-charge
conversion and is essential to tune single-electron transistors commonly used
as charge detectors. Potential disorder and the increasing complexity of the
two-dimensional gate-defined quantum computing devices sets high demands on the
gate design and the voltage tuning of the tunnel barriers. We present a Green's
formalism approach for the calculation of tunnel-couplings between a quantum
dot and a reservoir. Our method takes into account in full detail the
two-dimensional electrostatic potential of the quantum dot, the tunnel barrier
and reservoir. A Markov approximation is only employed far away from the tunnel
barrier region where the density of states is sufficiently large. We calculate
the tunnel-coupling including potential disorder effects, which become
increasingly important for large-scale silicon-based spin-qubit devices.
Studying the tunnel-couplings of a single-electron transistor in Si/SiGe as a
showcase, we find that charged defects are the dominant source of disorder
leading to variations in the tunnel-coupling of four orders of magnitude.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure
Enhanced molecular yield from a cryogenic buffer gas beam source via excited state chemistry
We use narrow-band laser excitation of Yb atoms to substantially enhance the brightness of a cold beam of YbOH, a polyatomic molecule with high sensitivity to physics beyond the standard model (BSM). By exciting atomic Yb to the metastable ³P₁ state in a cryogenic environment, we significantly increase the chemical reaction cross-section for collisions of Yb with reactants. We characterize the dependence of the enhancement on the properties of the laser light, and study the final state distribution of the YbOH products. The resulting bright, cold YbOH beam can be used to increase the statistical sensitivity in searches for new physics utilizing YbOH, such as electron electric dipole moment and nuclear magnetic quadrupole moment experiments. We also perform new quantum chemical calculations that confirm the enhanced reactivity observed in our experiment and compare reaction pathways of Yb(³P) with the reactants H₂O and H₂O₂. More generally, our work presents a broad approach for improving experiments that use cryogenic molecular beams for laser cooling and precision measurement searches of BSM physics
Laboratory Headphone Studies of Human Response to Low-Amplitude Sonic Booms and Rattle Heard Indoors
Human response to sonic booms heard indoors is affected by the generation of contact-induced rattle noise. The annoyance caused by sonic boom-induced rattle noise was studied in a series of psychoacoustics tests. Stimuli were divided into three categories and presented in three different studies: isolated rattles at the same calculated Perceived Level (PL), sonic booms combined with rattles with the mixed sound at a single PL, and sonic booms combined with rattles with the mixed sound at three different PL. Subjects listened to sounds over headphones and were asked to report their annoyance. Annoyance to different rattles was shown to vary significantly according to rattle object size. In addition, the combination of low-amplitude sonic booms and rattles can be more annoying than the sonic boom alone. Correlations and regression analyses for the combined sonic boom and rattle sounds identified the Moore and Glasberg Stationary Loudness (MGSL) metric as a primary predictor of annoyance for the tested sounds. Multiple linear regression models were developed to describe annoyance to the tested sounds, and simplifications for applicability to a wider range of sounds are presented
OH+ in astrophysical media: state-to-state formation rates, Einstein coefficients and inelastic collision rates with He
The rate constants required to model the OH observations in different
regions of the interstellar medium have been determined using state of the art
quantum methods.
First, state-to-state rate constants for the H+ O()
H + OH reaction have been obtained using
a quantum wave packet method. The calculations have been compared with
time-independent results to asses the accuracy of reaction probabilities at
collision energies of about 1 meV. The good agreement between the simulations
and the existing experimental cross sections in the 1 eV energy range
shows the quality of the results.
The calculated state-to-state rate constants have been fitted to an
analytical form. Second, the Einstein coefficients of OH have been obtained
for all astronomically significant ro-vibrational bands involving the
and/or electronic states.
For this purpose the potential energy curves and electric dipole transition
moments for seven electronic states of OH are calculated with {\it ab
initio} methods at the highest level and including spin-orbit terms, and the
rovibrational levels have been calculated including the empirical spin-rotation
and spin-spin terms. Third, the state-to-state rate constants for inelastic
collisions between He and OH have been calculated using a
time-independent close coupling method on a new potential energy surface. All
these rates have been implemented in detailed chemical and radiative transfer
models. Applications of these models to various astronomical sources show that
inelastic collisions dominate the excitation of the rotational levels of
OH. In the models considered the excitation resulting from the chemical
formation of OH increases the line fluxes by about 10 % or less depending
on the density of the gas
Information on antiprotonic atoms and the nuclear periphery from the PS209 experiment
In the PS209 experiments at CERN two kinds of measurements were performed:
the in-beam measurement of X-rays from antiprotonic atoms and the
radiochemical, off-line determination of the yield of annihilation products
with mass number A_t -1 (less by 1 than the target mass). Both methods give
observables which allows to study the peripheral matter density composition and
distribution.Comment: LaTeX (espcrc1 style), 6 pages, 3 EPS figures, 1 table, Proceedings
of the Sixth Biennal Conference on Low-Energy Antiproton Physics LEAP 2000,
Venice, Ital
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