1,152 research outputs found
Alpha Clustering and the stellar nucleosynthesis of carbon
The astrophysical S--factor and reaction rates for the triple--alpha process
are calculated in the direct--capture model. It is shown that the stellar
carbon production is extremely sensitive to small variations in the N--N
interaction.Comment: 2 pages LaTe
Conditions for detecting CP violation via neutrinoless double beta decay
Neutrinoless double beta decay data together with information on the absolute
neutrino masses obtained from the future KATRIN experiment and/or astrophysical
measurements give a chance to find CP violation in the lepton sector with
Majorana neutrinos. We derive and discuss necessary conditions which make
discovery of such CP violation possible for the future neutrino oscillation and
mass measurements data.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures, RevTe
Nuclear signatures in high-harmonic generation from laser-driven muonic atoms
High-harmonic generation from muonic atoms exposed to intense laser fields is
considered. Our particular interest lies in effects arising from the finite
nuclear mass and size. We numerically perform a fully quantum mechanical
treatment of the muon-nucleus dynamics by employing modified soft-core and
hard-core potentials. It is shown that the position of the high-energy cutoff
of the harmonic spectrum depends on the nuclear mass, while the height of the
spectral plateau is sensitive to the nuclear radius. We also demonstrate that
-ray harmonics can be generated from muonic atoms in ultrastrong VUV
fields, which have potential to induce photo-nuclear reactions.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
A solid state light-matter interface at the single photon level
Coherent and reversible mapping of quantum information between light and
matter is an important experimental challenge in quantum information science.
In particular, it is a decisive milestone for the implementation of quantum
networks and quantum repeaters. So far, quantum interfaces between light and
atoms have been demonstrated with atomic gases, and with single trapped atoms
in cavities. Here we demonstrate the coherent and reversible mapping of a light
field with less than one photon per pulse onto an ensemble of 10 millions atoms
naturally trapped in a solid. This is achieved by coherently absorbing the
light field in a suitably prepared solid state atomic medium. The state of the
light is mapped onto collective atomic excitations on an optical transition and
stored for a pre-programmed time up of to 1 mu s before being released in a
well defined spatio-temporal mode as a result of a collective interference. The
coherence of the process is verified by performing an interference experiment
with two stored weak pulses with a variable phase relation. Visibilities of
more than 95% are obtained, which demonstrates the high coherence of the
mapping process at the single photon level. In addition, we show experimentally
that our interface allows one to store and retrieve light fields in multiple
temporal modes. Our results represent the first observation of collective
enhancement at the single photon level in a solid and open the way to multimode
solid state quantum memories as a promising alternative to atomic gases.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, version submitted on June 27 200
The impact of free convection on late morning ozone decreases on an Alpine foreland mountain summit
Exceptional patterns in the diurnal course of ozone mixing ratio at a mountain top site (998 m a.s.l.) were observed during a field experiment (September 2005). They manifested themselves as strong and sudden decreases of ozone mixing ratio with a subsequent return to previous levels. The evaluation of corresponding long-term time series (2000–2005) revealed that such events occur mainly during summer, and affect the mountain top site on about 18% of the summer days. Combining (a) surface layer measurements at mountain summit and at the foot of the mountain, (b) in-situ (tethered balloon) and remote sensing (SODAR-RASS) measurements within the atmospheric boundary layer, the origin of these events of sudden ozone decrease could be attributed to free convection. The free convection was triggered by a rather frequently occurring wind speed minimum around the location of the mountain
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