Investigating the intrinsic noise limit of Dayem bridge NanoSQUIDs

NanoSQUIDs made from Nb thin films have been produced with nanometre loop sizes down to 200 nm, using weak-link junctions with dimensions less than 60 nm. These composite (W/Nb) single layer thin film devices, patterned by FIB milling, show extremely good low-noise performance ∼170 nΦ0 at temperatures between 5 and 8.5 K and can operate in rather high magnetic fields (at least up to 1 T). The devices produced so far have a limited operating temperature range, typically only 1–2 K. We have the goal of achieving operation at 4.2 K, to be compatible with the best SQUID series array (SSA) preamplifier available. Using the SSA to readout the nanoSQUIDs provides us with a means of investigating the intrinsic noise of the former. In this paper we report improved white noise levels of these nanoSQUIDs, enabling potential detection of a single electronic spin flip in a 1-Hz bandwidth. At low frequencies the noise performance is already limited by SSA preamplifier noise

Bodyspace at the pub: sexual orientations and organizational space

In this article we argue that sexuality is not only an undercurrent of service environments, but is integral to the way that these workspaces are experienced and negotiated. Through drawing on Sara Ahmed’s (2006a) ‘orientation’ thesis, we develop a concept of ‘bodyspace’ to suggest that individuals understand, shape and make meaning of work spaces through complex sexually-orientated negotiations. Presenting analysis from a study of UK pubs, we explore bodyspace in the lived experience of workplace sexuality through three elements of orientation: background; bodily dwelling; and lines of directionality. Our findings show how organizational spaces afford or mitigate possibilities for particular bodies, which simultaneously shape expectations and experiences of sexuality at work. Bodyspace therefore provides one way of exposing the connection between sexual ‘orientation’ and the lived experience of service sector work

Comparison of optical model results from a microscopic Schr\"odinger approach to nucleon-nucleus elastic scattering with those from a global Dirac phenomenology

Comparisons are made between results of calculations for intermediate energy nucleon-nucleus scattering for 12C, 16O, 40Ca, 90Zr, and 208Pb, using optical potentials obtained from global Dirac phenomenology and from a microscopic Schr\"odinger model. Differential cross sections and spin observables for scattering from the set of five nuclei at 65 MeV and 200 MeV have been studied to assess the relative merits of each approach. Total reaction cross sections from proton-nucleus and total cross sections from neutron-nucleus scattering have been evaluated and compared with data for those five targets in the energy range 20 MeV to 800 MeV. The methods of analyses give results that compare well with experimental data in those energy regimes for which the procedures are suited.Comment: 22 pages, 12 figure

Scaling at the OTOC Wavefront: Integrable versus chaotic models

Out of time ordered correlators (OTOCs) are useful tools for investigating foundational questions such as thermalization in closed quantum systems because they can potentially distinguish between integrable and nonintegrable dynamics. Here we discuss the properties of wavefronts of OTOCs by focusing on the region around the main wavefront at $x=v_{B}t$, where $v_{B}$ is the butterfly velocity. Using a Heisenberg spin model as an example, we find that a propagating Gaussian with the argument $-m(x)\left( x-v_B t \right)^2 +b(x)t$ gives an excellent fit for both the integrable case and the chaotic case. However, the scaling in these two regimes is very different: in the integrable case the coefficients $m(x)$ and $b(x)$ have an inverse power law dependence on $x$ whereas in the chaotic case they decay exponentially. In fact, the wavefront in the integrable case is a rainbow caustic and catastrophe theory can be invoked to assert that power law scaling holds rigorously in that case. Thus, we conjecture that exponential scaling of the OTOC wavefront is a robust signature of a nonintegrable dynamics.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure

Absolute parameters for AI Phoenicis using WASP photometry

Context. AI Phe is a double-lined, detached eclipsing binary, in which a K-type sub-giant star totally eclipses its main-sequence companion every 24.6 days. This configuration makes AI Phe ideal for testing stellar evolutionary models. Difficulties in obtaining a complete lightcurve mean the precision of existing radii measurements could be improved. Aims. Our aim is to improve the precision of the radius measurements for the stars in AI Phe using high-precision photometry from the Wide Angle Search for Planets (WASP), and use these improved radius measurements together with estimates of the masses, temperatures and composition of the stars to place constraints on the mixing length, helium abundance and age of the system. Methods. A best-fit EBOP model is used to obtain lightcurve parameters, with their standard errors calculated using a prayer-bead algorithm. These were combined with previously published spectroscopic orbit results, to obtain masses and radii. A Bayesian method is used to estimate the age of the system for model grids with different mixing lengths and helium abundances. Results. The radii are found to be R1 = 1.835 ± 0.014 RO, R2 = 2.912 ± 0.014 RO and the masses M1 = 1.1973 ± 0.0037 Mo, M2 = 1.2473 ± 0.0039 MO. From the best-fit stellar models we infer a mixing length of 1.78, a helium abundance of YAI = 0.26+0.02−0.01 and an age of 4.39 ± 0.32 Gyr. Times of primary minimum show the period of AI Phe is not constant. Currently, there are insufficient data to determine the cause of this variation. Conclusions. Improved precision in the masses and radii have improved the age estimate, and allowed the mixing length and helium abundance to be constrained. The eccentricity is now the largest source of uncertainty in calculating the masses. Further work is needed to characterise the orbit of AI Phe. Obtaining more binaries with parameters measured to a similar level of precision would allow us to test for relationships between helium abundance and mixing length

Impact of D0-D0bar mixing on the experimental determination of gamma

Several methods have been devised to measure the weak phase gamma using decays of the type B+- --> D K+-, where it is assumed that there is no mixing in the D0-D0bar system. However, when using these methods to uncover new physics, one must entertain the real possibility that the measurements are affected by new physics effects in the D0-D0bar system. We show that even values of x_D and/or y_D around 10^{-2} can have a significant impact in the measurement of sin^2{gamma}. We discuss the errors incurred in neglecting this effect, how the effect can be checked, and how to include it in the analysis.Comment: 18 pages, Latex with epsfig, 8 figure