Cooper pair sizes in 11Li and in superfluid nuclei: a puzzle?

We point out a strong influence of the pairing force on the size of the two neutron Cooper pair in $^{11}$Li, and to a lesser extent also in $^6$He. It seems that these are quite unique situations, since Cooper pair sizes of stable superfluid nuclei are very little influenced by the intensity of pairing, as recently reported. We explore the difference between $^{11}$Li and heavier superfulid nuclei, and discuss reasons for the exceptional situation in $^{11}$Li.Comment: 9 pages. To be published in J. of Phys. G special issue on Open Problems in Nuclear Structure (OPeNST

Screening Effects on 1S0^1S_0 Pairing in Neutron Matter

The $^1S_0$ superfluidity of neutron matter is studied in the framework of the generalized Gorkov equation. The vertex corrections to the pairing interaction and the self-energy corrections are introduced and approximated on the same footing in the gap equation. A suppression of the pairing gap by more than 50% with respect to the BCS prediction is found, which deeply changes the scenario for the dynamical and thermal evolution of neutron stars.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figres, RevTeX4 styl

On the analysis of sedimentation velocity in the study of protein complexes

Sedimentation velocity analytical ultracentrifugation has experienced a significant transformation, precipitated by the possibility of efficiently fitting Lamm equation solutions to the experimental data. The precision of this approach depends on the ability to account for the imperfections of the experiment, both regarding the sample and the instrument. In the present work, we explore in more detail the relationship between the sedimentation process, its detection, and the model used in the mathematical data analysis. We focus on configurations that produce steep and fast-moving sedimentation boundaries, such as frequently encountered when studying large multi-protein complexes. First, as a computational tool facilitating the analysis of heterogeneous samples, we introduce the strategy of partial boundary modeling. It can simplify the modeling by restricting the direct boundary analysis to species with sedimentation coefficients in a predefined range. Next, we examine factors related to the experimental detection, including the magnitude of optical aberrations generated by out-of-focus solution columns at high protein concentrations, the relationship between the experimentally recorded signature of the meniscus and the meniscus parameter in the data analysis, and the consequences of the limited radial and temporal resolution of the absorbance optical scanning system. Surprisingly, we find that large errors can be caused by the finite scanning speed of the commercial absorbance optics, exceeding the statistical errors in the measured sedimentation coefficients by more than an order of magnitude. We describe how these effects can be computationally accounted for in SEDFIT and SEDPHAT

Enhancement of πA→ππA\pi A \to \pi\pi A Threshold Cross Sections by In-Medium ππ\pi\pi Final State Interactions

We address the problem of pion production in low energy $\pi$-nucleus collisions. For the production mechanism we assume a simple model consisting of a coherent sum of single pion exchange and the excitation---followed by the decay into two pions and a nucleon---of the $N^*(1440)$ resonance. The production amplitude is modified by the final state interaction between the pions calculated using the chirally improved J\"ulich meson exchange model including the polarization of the nuclear medium by the pions. The model reproduces well the experimentally observed $\pi A \to \pi\pi A$ cross sections, especially the enhancement with increasing $A$ of the $\pi^+\pi^-$ mass distribution in the threshold region.Comment: 5 pages RevTeX, 3-eps figure

RPA vs. exact shell-model correlation energies

The random phase approximation (RPA) builds in correlations left out by mean-field theory. In full 0-hbar-omega shell-model spaces we calculate the Hartree-Fock + RPA binding energy, and compare it to exact diagonalization. We find that in general HF+RPA gives a very good approximation to the ``exact'' ground state energy. In those cases where RPA is less satisfactory, however, there is no obvious correlation with properties of the HF state, such as deformation or overlap with the exact ground state wavefunction.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Phys Rev

Resonant interaction of a single atom with single photons from a down-conversion source

We observe the interaction of a single trapped calcium ion with single photons produced by a narrow-band, resonant down-conversion source [A. Haase et al., Opt. Lett. 34, 55 (2009)], employing a quantum jump scheme. Using the temperature dependence of the down-conversion spectrum and the tunability of the narrow source, absorption of the down-conversion photons is quantitatively characterized.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Scalar ground-state observables in the random phase approximation

We calculate the ground-state expectation value of scalar observables in the matrix formulation of the random phase approximation (RPA). Our expression, derived using the quasiboson approximation, is a straightforward generalization of the RPA correlation energy. We test the reliability of our expression by comparing against full diagonalization in 0 h-bar omega shell-model spaces. In general the RPA values are an improvement over mean-field (Hartree-Fock) results, but are not always consistent with shell-model results. We also consider exact symmetries broken in the mean-field state and whether or not they are restored in RPA.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure

Quantum jumps induced by the center-of-mass motion of a trapped atom

We theoretically study the occurrence of quantum jumps in the resonance fluorescence of a trapped atom. Here, the atom is laser cooled in a configuration of level such that the occurrence of a quantum jump is associated to a change of the vibrational center-of-mass motion by one phonon. The statistics of the occurrence of the dark fluorescence period is studied as a function of the physical parameters and the corresponding features in the spectrum of resonance fluorescence are identified. We discuss the information which can be extracted on the atomic motion from the observation of a quantum jump in the considered setup