Cold Water Vapor in the Barnard 5 Molecular Cloud

Science.gov (United States)

Wirstrom, E. S.; Charnley, S. B.; Persson, C. M.; Buckle, J. V.; Cordiner, M. A.; Takakuwa, S.

2014-01-01

After more than 30 yr of investigations, the nature of gas-grain interactions at low temperatures remains an unresolved issue in astrochemistry. Water ice is the dominant ice found in cold molecular clouds; however, there is only one region where cold ((is) approximately 10 K) water vapor has been detected-L1544. This study aims to shed light on ice desorption mechanisms under cold cloud conditions by expanding the sample. The clumpy distribution of methanol in dark clouds testifies to transient desorption processes at work-likely to also disrupt water ice mantles. Therefore, the Herschel HIFI instrument was used to search for cold water in a small sample of prominent methanol emission peaks. We report detections of the ground-state transition of o-H2O (J = 110-101) at 556.9360 GHz toward two positions in the cold molecular cloud, Barnard 5. The relative abundances of methanol and water gas support a desorption mechanism which disrupts the outer ice mantle layers, rather than causing complete mantle removal.

COLD WATER VAPOR IN THE BARNARD 5 MOLECULAR CLOUD

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wirström, E. S.; Persson, C. M. [Department of Earth and Space Sciences, Chalmers University of Technology, Onsala Space Observatory, SE-439 92 Onsala (Sweden); Charnley, S. B.; Cordiner, M. A. [Astrochemistry Laboratory and The Goddard Center for Astrobiology, Mailstop 691, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20770 (United States); Buckle, J. V. [Astrophysics Group, Cavendish Laboratory, J. J. Thomson Avenue, Cambridge CB3 0HE (United Kingdom); Takakuwa, S., E-mail: eva.wirstrom@chalmers.se [Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Academia Sinica, P.O. Box 23-141, Taipei 106, Taiwan (China)

2014-06-20

After more than 30 yr of investigations, the nature of gas-grain interactions at low temperatures remains an unresolved issue in astrochemistry. Water ice is the dominant ice found in cold molecular clouds; however, there is only one region where cold (∼10 K) water vapor has been detected—L1544. This study aims to shed light on ice desorption mechanisms under cold cloud conditions by expanding the sample. The clumpy distribution of methanol in dark clouds testifies to transient desorption processes at work—likely to also disrupt water ice mantles. Therefore, the Herschel HIFI instrument was used to search for cold water in a small sample of prominent methanol emission peaks. We report detections of the ground-state transition of o-H{sub 2}O (J = 1{sub 10}-1{sub 01}) at 556.9360 GHz toward two positions in the cold molecular cloud, Barnard 5. The relative abundances of methanol and water gas support a desorption mechanism which disrupts the outer ice mantle layers, rather than causing complete mantle removal.

Observation of modified radiative properties of cold atoms in vacuum near a dielectric surface

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ivanov, V V; Cornelussen, R A; Heuvell, H B van Linden van den; Spreeuw, R J C

2004-01-01

We have observed a distance-dependent absorption linewidth of cold 87 Rb atoms close to a dielectric-vacuum interface. This is the first observation of modified radiative properties in vacuum near a dielectric surface. A cloud of cold atoms was created using a magneto-optical trap (MOT) and optical molasses cooling. Evanescent waves (EW) were used to observe the behaviour of the atoms near the surface. We observed an increase of the absorption linewidth by up to 25% with respect to the free-space value. Approximately half the broadening can be explained by cavity quantum electrodynamics (CQED) as an increase of the natural linewidth and inhomogeneous broadening. The remainder we attribute to local Stark shifts near the surface. By varying the characteristic EW length we have observed a distance dependence characteristic for CQED

Cold H I clouds near the supernova remnant W44

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sato, F.

1986-01-01

The cold H I clouds near the supernova remnant W44 are investigated by the use of the Maryland-Green Bank Survey (Westerhout 1973). Several clouds with a mean diameter of about 20 pc are distributed in the region. They do not seem to make a shell around W44, contrary to the suggestion by Knapp and Kerr (1974) based on the low-resolution data at coarse grids. Some of them form a chain, about 100 pc in length, extending approximately along the galactic equator. It resembles the cold H I cloud near W3 and W4. The major constituent of the clouds is probably the hydrogen molecule, and the total mass of the entire complex amounts to 25,000 81,000 solar masses. The estimated Jeans mass indicates that they will contract to dense molecular clouds. Therefore, it may safely be concluded that the cold H1 cloud complex near W44 is a giant molecular cloud at an early evolutionary stage. 14 references

Gauss Sum Factorization with Cold Atoms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gilowski, M.; Wendrich, T.; Mueller, T.; Ertmer, W.; Rasel, E. M.; Jentsch, Ch.; Schleich, W. P.

2008-01-01

We report the first implementation of a Gauss sum factorization algorithm by an internal state Ramsey interferometer using cold atoms. A sequence of appropriately designed light pulses interacts with an ensemble of cold rubidium atoms. The final population in the involved atomic levels determines a Gauss sum. With this technique we factor the number N=263193

Experiments with cold hydrogen atoms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leonas, V.B.

1981-01-01

Numerous investigations of atomic processes in Waseous phase on the surface with participation of ''cold'' hydrogen atoms, made during the last years, are considered. The term ''cold atom'' means the range of relative collision energies E<10 MeV (respectively 'ultracold ' atoms at E< or approximately 1 MeV) which corresponds to the range of temperatures in tens (units) of K degrees. Three main ranges of investigations where extensive experimental programs are realized are considered: study of collisional processes with hydrogen atom participation, hydrogen atoms being of astrophysical interest; study of elastic atom-molecular scattering at superlow energies and studies on the problem of condensed hydrogen. Hydrogen atoms production is realized at dissociation in non-electrode high-frequency or superhigh-frequency discharge. A method of hydrogen quantum generator and of its modifications appeared to be rather an effective means to study collisional changes of spin state of hydrogen atoms. First important results on storage and stabilization of the gas of polarized hydrogen atoms are received

Generation of a cold pulsed beam of Rb atoms by transfer from a 3D magneto-optic trap

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chanu, Sapam Ranjita; Rathod, Ketan D.; Natarajan, Vasant, E-mail: vasant@physics.iisc.ernet.in

2016-08-26

We demonstrate a technique for producing a cold pulsed beam of atoms by transferring a cloud of atoms trapped in a three dimensional magneto-optic trap (MOT). The MOT is loaded by heating a getter source of Rb atoms. We show that it is advantageous to transfer with two beams (with a small angle between them) compared to a single beam, because the atoms stop interacting with the beams in the two-beam technique, which results in a Gaussian velocity distribution. The atoms are further cooled in optical molasses by turning off the MOT magnetic field before the transfer beams are turned on. - Highlights: • Getter-source loaded magneto-optic trap (MOT). • Cold atomic beam generated by deflection from the MOT. • Use of two inclined beams for deflection.

IRAS constraints on a cold cloud around the solar system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aumann, H.H.; Good, J.C.

1990-01-01

IRAS 60- and 100-micron observations of G-stars in the solar neighborhood indicate that the typical G star is surrounded by a cold cloud. The assumption that the sun is archetypical requires that a cloud of typical G star extent and temperature surrounds our solar system. IRAS ecliptic plane scans, which are dominated by a 40-deg wide band of zodiacal dust, asteroid debris trails, and the Galactic plane, are consistent with a larger than typical G star cold cloud. Consistency with the typical G star and the direct observations constrain the width of the cold cloud perpendicular to the ecliptic plane to be larger than 5 deg. The 100-150 AU radius of this cloud is larger, but not inconsistent with the inner boundary of a cloud of comets, postulated previously at a radius of 50 AU based on Neptune orbital perturbations and models of short period comets. 17 refs

The detection of cold antihydrogen atoms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Zhongdong

2007-01-01

The ATRAP experiment at CERN's antiproton decelerator (AD) aims for a test of CPT violation and Lorentz invariance by a comparison of hydrogen to antihydrogen atom spectroscopy and a measurement of the gravitational force on antimatter atoms. The experiment is divided into two parts: ATRAP-I, where successfully antihydrogen atoms were produced and intensive studies on the charged clouds of positrons and antiprotons were performed, and ATRAP-II which was commissioned during the beam-time 2006. ATRAP-II includes a much larger superconducting solenoid bore allowing the installation of an extended detection system as well as an optimized combined Penning-Ioffe trap. Another essential part is a new positron accumulator and delivery system which will increase the ATRAP-II efficiency drastically. Thus ATRAP-II now allows for much larger flexibility, increased performance, higher robustness, and better efficiency for the production and storage of cold antihydrogen atoms. A general overview of the experimental setup for the second phase of the ATRAP experiment will be presented in this thesis. The antiproton annihilation detector system, consisting of several layers of scintillating fibers, counts the antihydrogen atoms and determines the annihilation vertex of the atoms. This diagnostic element will allow to optimize the production of cold antihydrogen sufficiently to permit optical observations and measurements. Extensive Monte Carlo simulations concerning the track fitting and vertex reconstruction have been developed during the planned interruption of antiproton production at AD in the year 2005. Different event generators, magnetic field distributions as well as data reconstruction algorithms on simulated data were established and the results were compared to data in 2006. To improve the detector position resolution, a constraint-fit procedure was adopted. Further possible improvements, by applying certain cuts on the data, were investigated. Real-time measurements

Destructive Interference in Coherent Backscattering of Light by an Ensemble of Cold Atoms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kupriyanov, D.V.; Larionov, N.V.; Sokolov, I.M.; Havey, M.D.

2005-01-01

The coherent backscattering of light by an ensemble of cold atoms located in a magneto-optical trap is investigated theoretically. The dependence of the gain coefficient on the probe frequency is analyzed in a wide spectral range covering the entire hyperfine structure of the excited state. The calculation is performed for 85 Rb atoms. It is found that destructive interference can be observed at certain frequencies, which results in gain coefficients smaller than unity. The angular distribution of scattered light is investigated for corresponding frequencies and the dependence of the shape of the cone of destructive interference on the size of the atomic cloud and its optical thickness is analyzed

Temporal interference with frequency-controllable long photons from independent cold atomic sources

Science.gov (United States)

Qian, Peng; Gu, Zhenjie; Wen, Rong; Zhang, Weiping; Chen, J. F.

2018-01-01

The interference of single photons from independent sources is an essential tool in quantum information processing. However, the interfering of photons with long temporal states in a time-resolved manner has rarely been studied. This is because without transmitting spectral filters or coupling to a cavity mode single photons generated in traditional nonlinear crystals suffer from a short temporal profile below 1 ns. With spectral correlation maintained in the biphotons generated from spontaneous four-wave mixing process in cold atom clouds, here we demonstrate the temporal interference of two frequency-tunable long photons from two independent cold atomic sources. We observe and analyze the interference of frequency-mismatched photons, where the phenomenon of the quantum beat at megahertz separation is displayed. Our paper provides more details for the quantum beat of two independent narrow-band single photons, which may find potential application in frequency-encoded photonic qubits in quantum information processing.

Generation of a cold pulsed beam of Rb atoms by transfer from a 3D magneto-optic trap

OpenAIRE

Chanu, Sapam Ranjita; Rathod, Ketan D.; Natarajan, Vasant

2016-01-01

We demonstrate a technique for producing a cold pulsed beam of atoms by transferring a cloud of atoms trapped in a three dimensional magneto-optic trap (MOT). The MOT is loaded by heating a getter source of Rb atoms. We show that it is advantageous to transfer with two beams (with a small angle between them) compared to a single beam, because the atoms stop interacting with the beams in the two-beam technique, which results in a Gaussian velocity distribution. The atoms are further cooled in ...

Fast Neutral reactions in cold interstellar clouds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Graff, M.M.

1989-01-01

The dynamics of exothermic neutral reactions between radical species have been examined, with particular attention to reactivity at the very low energies characteristic of cold interstellar clouds. Long-range interactions (electrostatic and spin-orbit) were considered within in the adiabatic capture-infinite order sudden approximation (ACIOSA). Analytic expressions have been developed for cross sections and rate constants of exothermic reactions between atoms and dipolar radicals at low temperatures. A method for approximating the adiabatic potential surface for the reactive state will be presented. The reaction systems O+OH and O+CH are both predicted to be fast at low temperatures. The systems C+CH and C+OH are expected to be nonreactive at low temperatures, and upper limits of rate constants for these reactions have been estimated. General predictions are made for other reaction systems. Implications for interstellar chemistry will be discussed

Sub-Doppler temperature measurements of laser-cooled atoms using optical nanofibres

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Russell, Laura; Daly, Mark J; Chormaic, Síle Nic; Deasy, Kieran; Morrissey, Michael J

2012-01-01

We present a method for measuring the average temperature of a cloud of cold 85 Rb atoms in a magneto-optical trap using an optical nanofibre. A periodic spatial variation is applied to the magnetic fields generated by the trapping coils and this causes the trap centre to oscillate, which, in turn, causes the cloud of cold atoms to oscillate. The optical nanofibre is used to collect the fluorescence emitted by the cold atoms, and the frequency response between the motion of the centre of the oscillating trap and the cloud of atoms is determined. This allows us to make measurements of cloud temperature both above and below the Doppler limit, thereby paving the way for nanofibres to be integrated with ultracold atoms for hybrid quantum devices

Formation of cold molecules through the photo-association of cold atoms of Cesium. Existence of long range forces between between cold excited atoms of Cesium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Comparat, D.

1999-09-01

This thesis deals with the experimental study and the theoretical interpretation of the processes involved in photo-association and the formation of cold caesium molecules. It also presents a study of the dipolar forces between a pair of cold excited caesium atoms. We present here the first photo-association experiment on cold caesium atoms: two cold atoms absorb a photon to form an excited electronically excited molecules in a rotation-vibration level. The first production of cold molecules which was realised experimentally, after the spontaneous deexcitation of the photo-associated molecules, is described, stressing the role of the potential well of the molecular states O g - (6s+6p 3/2 ) or 1 u (6s+6p 3/2 ) of caesium. The detection of the formed caesium molecules is based on a two-photons resonant ionisation that creates Cs 2 + ions, afterwards selectively detected. Temperatures around 20-200 μK have been measured. The photo-associative spectroscopy is described on the theoretical point of view: a detailed theoretical study allows to calculate precisely the asymptotic parts of the potential curves. On the experimental point of view, we present the spectroscopy of the extern potential well of the caesium state O g - (6s+6p 3/2 ) and the construction of an effective potential curve of the RKR type. A unified theory of photo-association in weak field, considered as a collision assisted by laser, is developed. The cold atoms experiments allow to study and control the collision between two atoms whose mutual interaction is of the dipole-dipole type. Two different physical systems are studied: a sample of Rydberg atoms, and the photo-association process which is a laser-assisted collision. A modification of the motion of one pair of atoms makes it possible to control the bipolar forces and to choose the atoms relative speeds. (author)

State-selective imaging of cold atoms

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sheludko, D.V.; Bell, S.C.; Anderson, R.; Hofmann, C.S.; Vredenbregt, E.J.D.; Scholten, R.E.

2008-01-01

Atomic coherence phenomena are usually investigated using single beam techniques without spatial resolution. Here we demonstrate state-selective imaging of cold 85Rb atoms in a three-level ladder system, where the atomic refractive index is sensitive to the quantum coherence state of the atoms. We

Do the Herschel cold clouds in the Galactic halo embody its dark matter?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nieuwenhuizen, T.M.; van Heusden, E.F.G.; Liska, M.T.P.

2012-01-01

Recent Herschel/SPIRE (Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver) maps of the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds (SMC, LMC) exhibit, in each, thousands of clouds. Observed at 250 μm, they must be cold, T ~ 15 K, hence the name 'Herschel cold clouds' (HCCs). From the observed rotational velocity

Dynamic of cold-atom tips in anharmonic potentials

Science.gov (United States)

Menold, Tobias; Federsel, Peter; Rogulj, Carola; Hölscher, Hendrik; Fortágh, József

2016-01-01

Background: Understanding the dynamics of ultracold quantum gases in an anharmonic potential is essential for applications in the new field of cold-atom scanning probe microscopy. Therein, cold atomic ensembles are used as sensitive probe tips to investigate nanostructured surfaces and surface-near potentials, which typically cause anharmonic tip motion. Results: Besides a theoretical description of this anharmonic tip motion, we introduce a novel method for detecting the cold-atom tip dynamics in situ and real time. In agreement with theory, the first measurements show that particle interactions and anharmonic motion have a significant impact on the tip dynamics. Conclusion: Our findings will be crucial for the realization of high-sensitivity force spectroscopy with cold-atom tips and could possibly allow for the development of advanced spectroscopic techniques such as Q-control. PMID:28144505

Cold atoms close to surfaces

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Krüger, Peter; Wildermuth, Stephan; Hofferberth, Sebastian

2005-01-01

Microscopic atom optical devices integrated on atom chips allow to precisely control and manipulate ultra-cold (T atoms and Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) close to surfaces. The relevant energy scale of a BEC is extremely small (down to ... be utilized as a sensor for variations of the potential energy of the atoms close to the surface. Here we describe how to use trapped atoms as a measurement device and analyze the performance and flexibility of the field sensor. We demonstrate microscopic magnetic imaging with simultaneous high spatial...

NARROW Na AND K ABSORPTION LINES TOWARD T TAURI STARS: TRACING THE ATOMIC ENVELOPE OF MOLECULAR CLOUDS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pascucci, I.; Simon, M. N. [Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States); Edwards, S. [Five College Astronomy Department, Smith College, Northampton, MA 01063 (United States); Heyer, M. [Department of Astronomy, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003-9305 (United States); Rigliaco, E. [Institute for Astronomy, ETH Zurich, Wolfgang-Pauli-Strasse 27, CH-8093 Zurich (Switzerland); Hillenbrand, L. [Department of Astronomy, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States); Gorti, U.; Hollenbach, D., E-mail: pascucci@lpl.arizona.edu [SETI Institute, Mountain View, CA 94043 (United States)

2015-11-20

We present a detailed analysis of narrow Na i and K i absorption resonance lines toward nearly 40 T Tauri stars in Taurus with the goal of clarifying their origin. The Na i λ5889.95 line is detected toward all but one source, while the weaker K i λ7698.96 line is detected in about two-thirds of the sample. The similarity in their peak centroids and the significant positive correlation between their equivalent widths demonstrate that these transitions trace the same atomic gas. The absorption lines are present toward both disk and diskless young stellar objects, which excludes cold gas within the circumstellar disk as the absorbing material. A comparison of Na i and CO detections and peak centroids demonstrates that the atomic gas and molecular gas are not co-located, the atomic gas being more extended than the molecular gas. The width of the atomic lines corroborates this finding and points to atomic gas about an order of magnitude warmer than the molecular gas. The distribution of Na i radial velocities shows a clear spatial gradient along the length of the Taurus molecular cloud filaments. This suggests that absorption is associated with the Taurus molecular cloud. Assuming that the gradient is due to cloud rotation, the rotation of the atomic gas is consistent with differential galactic rotation, whereas the rotation of the molecular gas, although with the same rotation axis, is retrograde. Our analysis shows that narrow Na i and K i absorption resonance lines are useful tracers of the atomic envelope of molecular clouds. In line with recent findings from giant molecular clouds, our results demonstrate that the velocity fields of the atomic and molecular gas are misaligned. The angular momentum of a molecular cloud is not simply inherited from the rotating Galactic disk from which it formed but may be redistributed by cloud–cloud interactions.

NARROW Na AND K ABSORPTION LINES TOWARD T TAURI STARS: TRACING THE ATOMIC ENVELOPE OF MOLECULAR CLOUDS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pascucci, I.; Simon, M. N.; Edwards, S.; Heyer, M.; Rigliaco, E.; Hillenbrand, L.; Gorti, U.; Hollenbach, D.

2015-01-01

We present a detailed analysis of narrow Na i and K i absorption resonance lines toward nearly 40 T Tauri stars in Taurus with the goal of clarifying their origin. The Na i λ5889.95 line is detected toward all but one source, while the weaker K i λ7698.96 line is detected in about two-thirds of the sample. The similarity in their peak centroids and the significant positive correlation between their equivalent widths demonstrate that these transitions trace the same atomic gas. The absorption lines are present toward both disk and diskless young stellar objects, which excludes cold gas within the circumstellar disk as the absorbing material. A comparison of Na i and CO detections and peak centroids demonstrates that the atomic gas and molecular gas are not co-located, the atomic gas being more extended than the molecular gas. The width of the atomic lines corroborates this finding and points to atomic gas about an order of magnitude warmer than the molecular gas. The distribution of Na i radial velocities shows a clear spatial gradient along the length of the Taurus molecular cloud filaments. This suggests that absorption is associated with the Taurus molecular cloud. Assuming that the gradient is due to cloud rotation, the rotation of the atomic gas is consistent with differential galactic rotation, whereas the rotation of the molecular gas, although with the same rotation axis, is retrograde. Our analysis shows that narrow Na i and K i absorption resonance lines are useful tracers of the atomic envelope of molecular clouds. In line with recent findings from giant molecular clouds, our results demonstrate that the velocity fields of the atomic and molecular gas are misaligned. The angular momentum of a molecular cloud is not simply inherited from the rotating Galactic disk from which it formed but may be redistributed by cloud–cloud interactions

Experiments with a laser cooled cloud of atoms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Natarajan, Vasant; Banerjee, Ayan; Rapol, Umakant

1999-01-01

We discuss two experiments that can be performed using a cloud of laser-cooled and trapped atoms, namely Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) and search for a permanent Electric Dipole Moment (EDM). BEC can be observed in Rb atoms in a magnetic trap by using forced evaporative cooling to continuously lower the temperature below the condensation limit. The cloud is cooled by preferentially ejecting the hottest atoms from a magnetic trap. The magnetic trap is loaded with laser-cooled atoms from a magneto-optic trap. The EDM experiment can be performed with a laser-cooled cloud of Yb atoms. The atoms are spin polarized and the precession of the spin is measured in the presence of a strong electric field applied perpendicular to the spin direction. The use of laser-cooled atoms should greatly enhance the sensitivity of the experiment. (author)

A Compact, High-Flux Cold Atom Beam Source

Science.gov (United States)

Kellogg, James R.; Kohel, James M.; Thompson, Robert J.; Aveline, David C.; Yu, Nan; Schlippert, Dennis

2012-01-01

The performance of cold atom experiments relying on three-dimensional magneto-optical trap techniques can be greatly enhanced by employing a highflux cold atom beam to obtain high atom loading rates while maintaining low background pressures in the UHV MOT (ultra-high vacuum magneto-optical trap) regions. Several techniques exist for generating slow beams of cold atoms. However, one of the technically simplest approaches is a two-dimensional (2D) MOT. Such an atom source typically employs at least two orthogonal trapping beams, plus an additional longitudinal "push" beam to yield maximum atomic flux. A 2D atom source was created with angled trapping collimators that not only traps atoms in two orthogonal directions, but also provides a longitudinal pushing component that eliminates the need for an additional push beam. This development reduces the overall package size, which in turn, makes the 2D trap simpler, and requires less total optical power. The atom source is more compact than a previously published effort, and has greater than an order of magnitude improved loading performance.

Sympathetic cooling of nanospheres with cold atoms

Science.gov (United States)

Montoya, Cris; Witherspoon, Apryl; Ranjit, Gambhir; Casey, Kirsten; Kitching, John; Geraci, Andrew

2016-05-01

Ground state cooling of mesoscopic mechanical structures could enable new hybrid quantum systems where mechanical oscillators act as transducers. Such systems could provide coupling between photons, spins and charges via phonons. It has recently been shown theoretically that optically trapped dielectric nanospheres could reach the ground state via sympathetic cooling with trapped cold atoms. This technique can be beneficial in cases where cryogenic operation of the oscillator is not practical. We describe experimental advances towards coupling an optically levitated dielectric nanosphere to a gas of cold Rubidium atoms. The sphere and the cold atoms are in separate vacuum chambers and are coupled using a one-dimensional optical lattice. This work is partially supported by NSF, Grant Nos. PHY-1205994,PHY-1506431.

SEEDING THE FORMATION OF COLD GASEOUS CLOUDS IN MILKY WAY-SIZE HALOS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Keres, Dusan; Hernquist, Lars

2009-01-01

We use one of the highest resolution cosmological smoothed particle hydrodynamic simulations to date to demonstrate that cold gaseous clouds form around Milky Way-size galaxies. We further explore mechanisms responsible for their formation and show that a large fraction of clouds originate as a consequence of late-time filamentary 'cold mode' accretion. Here, filaments that are still colder and denser than the surrounding halo gas are not able to connect directly to galaxies, as they do at high redshift, but are instead susceptible to the combined action of cooling and Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities at intermediate radii within the halo leading to the production of cold, dense pressure-confined clouds, without an associated dark matter component. This process is aided through the compression of the incoming filaments by the hot halo gas and expanding shocks during the halo buildup. Our mechanism directly seeds clouds from gas with substantial local overdensity, unlike in previous models, and provides a channel for the origin of cloud complexes. These clouds can later 'rain' onto galaxies, delivering fuel for star formation. Owing to the relatively large cross-section of filaments and the net angular momentum carried by the gas, the clouds will be distributed in a modestly flattened region around a galaxy.

Preparation of Ultracold Atom Clouds at the Shot Noise Level

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gajdacz, M.; Hilliard, A. J.; Kristensen, Mick

2016-01-01

We prepare number stabilized ultracold atom clouds through the real-time analysis of nondestructive images and the application of feedback. In our experiments, the atom number N∼10^6 is determined by high precision Faraday imaging with uncertainty ΔN below the shot noise level, i.e., ΔN... on this measurement, feedback is applied to reduce the atom number to a user-defined target, whereupon a second imaging series probes the number stabilized cloud. By this method, we show that the atom number in ultracold clouds can be prepared below the shot noise level....

Generation and storage of quantum states using cold atoms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dantan, Aurelien Romain; Josse, Vincent; Cviklinski, Jean

2006-01-01

Cold cesium or rubidium atomic samples have a good potential both for generation and storage of nonclassical states of light. Generation of nonclassical states of light is possible through the high non-linearity of cold atomic samples excited close to a resonance line. Quadrature squeezing, polar...

Laser guiding of cold atoms in photonic crystals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tarasishin, A V; Magnitskiy, Sergey A; Shuvaev, V A; Zheltikov, Aleksei M

2000-01-01

The possibility of using photonic crystals with a lattice defect for the laser guiding of cold atoms is analysed. We have found a configuration of a photonic-crystal lattice and a defect ensuring the distribution of a potential in the defect mode of the photonic crystal allowing the guiding of cold atoms along the defect due to the dipole force acting on atoms. Based on quantitative estimates, we have demonstrated that photonic crystals with a lattice defect permit the guiding of atoms with much higher transverse temperatures and a much higher transverse localisation degree than in the case of hollow-core fibres. (laser applications and other topics in quantum electronics)

Point source atom interferometry with a cloud of finite size

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hoth, Gregory W., E-mail: gregory.hoth@nist.gov; Pelle, Bruno; Riedl, Stefan; Kitching, John; Donley, Elizabeth A. [National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, Colorado 80305 (United States)

2016-08-15

We demonstrate a two axis gyroscope by the use of light pulse atom interferometry with an expanding cloud of atoms in the regime where the cloud has expanded by 1.1–5 times its initial size during the interrogation. Rotations are measured by analyzing spatial fringe patterns in the atom population obtained by imaging the final cloud. The fringes arise from a correlation between an atom's initial velocity and its final position. This correlation is naturally created by the expansion of the cloud, but it also depends on the initial atomic distribution. We show that the frequency and contrast of these spatial fringes depend on the details of the initial distribution and develop an analytical model to explain this dependence. We also discuss several challenges that must be overcome to realize a high-performance gyroscope with this technique.

Photoassociation of cold metastable helium atoms

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Woestenenk, G.R.

2001-01-01

During the last decades the study of cold atoms has grown in a great measure. Research in this field has been made possible due to the development of laser cooling and trapping techniques. We use laser cooling to cool helium atoms down to a temperature of 1 mK and we are able to

Atom chips: mesoscopic physics with cold atoms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krueger, P.; Wildermuth, S.; Hofferberth, S.; Haller, E.; GAllego Garcia, D.; Schmiedmayer, J.

2005-01-01

Full text: Cold neutral atoms can be controlled and manipulated in microscopic potentials near surfaces of atom chips. These integrated micro-devices combine the known techniques of atom optics with the capabilities of well established micro- and nanofabrication technology. In analogy to electronic microchips and integrated fiber optics, the concept of atom chips is suitable to explore the domain of mesoscopic physics with matter waves. We use current and charge carrying structures to form complex potentials with high spatial resolution only microns from the surface. In particular, atoms can be confined to an essentially one-dimensional motion. In this talk, we will give an overview of our experiments studying the manipulation of both thermal atoms and BECs on atom chips. First experiments in the quasi one-dimensional regime will be presented. These experiments profit from strongly reduced residual disorder potentials caused by imperfections of the chip fabrication with respect to previously published experiments. This is due to our purely lithographic fabrication technique that proves to be advantageous over electroplating. We have used one dimensionally confined BECs as an ultra-sensitive probe to characterize these potentials. These smooth potentials allow us to explore various aspects of the physics of degenerate quantum gases in low dimensions. (author)

Cold atoms in a cryogenic environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haslinger, S.

2011-01-01

The idea of quantum information processing attracts increasingly interest, where a complex collection of quantum objects and quantum bits are employed to find the ideal building blocks for quantum information systems. Hybrid quantum systems are therefore promising objects as they countervail the particular drawbacks of single quantum objects. Based on superconducting resonator technology, microwave coplanar waveguides provide a well suited interconnection for photons and solid-state quantum bits (qubits), extensively investigated in recent years. Since a quantum memory is presently missing in those electrical accessible circuit cavity quantum devices, connecting the fast processing in a solid sate device to the exceptional long coherence times in atomic ensembles, the presented work is focused to establish the technological foundations for the hybridization of such quantum systems. The microwave photons stored in a superconducting high finesse microwave resonator are therefore an ideal connection between the atom and the solid state quantum world. In the last decade, the miniaturization and integration of quantum optics and atomic physics manipulation techniques on to a single chip was successfully established. Such atom chips are capable of detailed quantum manipulation of ultra-cold atoms and provide a versatile platform to combine the manipulation techniques from atomic physics with the capability of nano-fabrication. In recent years several experiments succeeded in realization of superconducting atom chips in cryogenic environments which opens the road for integrating super-conductive microwave resonators to magnetically couple an atomic ensemble to photons stored in the coplanar high finesse cavity. This thesis presents the concept, design and experimental setup of two approaches to establish an atomic ensemble of rubidium atoms inside a cryogenic environment, based on an Electron beam driven alkali metal atom source for loading a magneto optical trap in a

A high resolution ion microscope for cold atoms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stecker, Markus; Schefzyk, Hannah; Fortágh, József; Günther, Andreas

2017-01-01

We report on an ion-optical system that serves as a microscope for ultracold ground state and Rydberg atoms. The system is designed to achieve a magnification of up to 1000 and a spatial resolution in the 100 nm range, thereby surpassing many standard imaging techniques for cold atoms. The microscope consists of four electrostatic lenses and a microchannel plate in conjunction with a delay line detector in order to achieve single particle sensitivity with high temporal and spatial resolution. We describe the design process of the microscope including ion-optical simulations of the imaging system and characterize aberrations and the resolution limit. Furthermore, we present the experimental realization of the microscope in a cold atom setup and investigate its performance by patterned ionization with a structure size down to 2.7 μ m. The microscope meets the requirements for studying various many-body effects, ranging from correlations in cold quantum gases up to Rydberg molecule formation. (paper)

Comparing and contrasting nuclei and cold atomic gases

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zinner, Nikolaj Thomas; Jensen, Aksel Stenholm

2013-01-01

The experimental revolution in ultracold atomic gas physics over the past decades has brought tremendous amounts of new insight to the world of degenerate quantum systems. Here we compare and contrast the developments of cold atomic gases with the physics of nuclei since many concepts, techniques......, and nomenclatures are common to both fields. However, nuclei are finite systems with interactions that are typically much more complicated than those of ultracold atomic gases. The similarities and differences must therefore be carefully addressed for a meaningful comparison and to facilitate fruitful......, interactions, and relevant length and energy scales of cold atoms and nuclei. Next we address some attempts in nuclear physics to transfer the concepts of condensates in nuclei that can in principle be built from bosonic alpha-particle constituents. We also consider Efimov physics, a prime example of nuclear...

Thermoelectric transport and Peltier cooling of cold atomic gases

Science.gov (United States)

Grenier, Charles; Kollath, Corinna; Georges, Antoine

2016-12-01

This brief review presents the emerging field of mesoscopic physics with cold atoms, with an emphasis on thermal and 'thermoelectric' transport, i.e. coupled transport of particles and entropy. We review in particular the comparison between theoretically predicted and experimentally observed thermoelectric effects in such systems. We also show how combining well-designed transport properties and evaporative cooling leads to an equivalent of the Peltier effect with cold atoms, which can be used as a new cooling procedure with improved cooling power and efficiency compared to the evaporative cooling currently used in atomic gases. This could lead to a new generation of experiments probing strong correlation effects of ultracold fermionic atoms at low temperatures.

Temperature and phase-space density of a cold atom cloud in a quadrupole magnetic trap

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ram, S. P.; Mishra, S. R.; Tiwari, S. K.; Rawat, H. S. [Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology, Indore (India)

2014-08-15

We present studies on modifications in the temperature, number density and phase-space density when a laser-cooled atom cloud from optical molasses is trapped in a quadrupole magnetic trap. Theoretically, for a given temperature and size of the cloud from the molasses, the phase-space density in the magnetic trap is shown first to increase with increasing magnetic field gradient and then to decrease with it after attaining a maximum value at an optimum value of the magnetic-field gradient. The experimentally-measured variation in the phase-space density in the magnetic trap with changing magnetic field gradient is shown to exhibit a similar trend. However, the experimentally-measured values of the number density and the phase-space density are much lower than the theoretically-predicted values. This is attributed to the experimentally-observed temperature in the magnetic trap being higher than the theoretically-predicted temperature. Nevertheless, these studies can be useful for setting a higher phase-space density in the trap by establishing an optimal value of the field gradient for a quadrupole magnetic trap.

Cold Atom Interferometers Used In Space (CAIUS) for Measuring the Earth's Gravity Field

Science.gov (United States)

Carraz, O.; Luca, M.; Siemes, C.; Haagmans, R.; Silvestrin, P.

2016-12-01

In the past decades, it has been shown that atomic quantum sensors are a newly emerging technology that can be used for measuring the Earth's gravity field. There are two ways of making use of that technology: One is a gravity gradiometer concept and the other is in a low-low satellite-to-satellite ranging concept. Whereas classical accelerometers typically suffer from high noise at low frequencies, Cold Atom Interferometers are highly accurate over the entire frequency range. We recently proposed a concept using cold atom interferometers for measuring all diagonal elements of the gravity gradient tensor and the full spacecraft angular velocity in order to achieve better performance than the GOCE gradiometer over a larger part of the spectrum, with the ultimate goals of determining the fine structures in the gravity field better than today. This concept relies on a high common mode rejection, which relaxes the drag free control compare to GOCE mission, and benefits from a long interaction time with the free falling clouds of atoms due to the micro gravity environment in space as opposed to the 1-g environment on-ground. Other concept is also being studied in the frame of NGGM, which relies on the hybridization between quantum and classical techniques to improve the performance of accelerometers. This could be achieved as it is realized in frequency measurements where quartz oscillators are phase locked on atomic or optical clocks. This technique could correct the spectrally colored noise of the electrostatic accelerometers in the lower frequencies. In both cases, estimation of the Earth gravity field model from the instruments has to be evaluated taking into account different system parameters such as attitude control, altitude of the satellite, time duration of the mission, etc. Miniaturization, lower consumptions and upgrading Technical Readiness Level are the key engineering challenges that have to be faced for these space quantum technologie.

Cold atomic beams of high brightness

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rozhdestvensky, Yu V

2004-01-01

The possibility is studied for obtaining intense cold atomic beams by using the Renyi entropy to optimise the laser cooling process. It is shown in the case of a Gaussian velocity distribution of atoms, the Renyi entropy coincides with the density of particles in the phase space. The optimisation procedure for cooling atoms by resonance optical radiation is described, which is based on the thermodynamic law of increasing the Renyi entropy in time. Our method is compared with the known methods for increasing the laser cooling efficiency such as the tuning of a laser frequency in time and a change of the atomic transition frequency in an inhomogeneous transverse field of a magnetic solenoid. (laser cooling)

Laser cooling of a magnetically guided ultra cold atom beam

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aghajani-Talesh, Anoush

2014-07-01

This thesis examines two complimentary methods for the laser cooling of a magnetically guided ultra-cold atom beam. If combined, these methods could serve as a starting point for high-through put and possibly even continuous production of Bose-Einstein condensates. First, a mechanism is outlined to harvest ultra cold atoms from a magnetically guided atom beam into an optical dipole trap. A continuous loading scheme is described that dissipates the directed kinetic energy of a captured atom via deceleration by a magnetic potential barrier followed by optical pumping to the energetically lowest Zeeman sublevel. The application of this scheme to the transfer of ultra cold chromium atoms from a magnetically guided atom beam into a deep optical dipole trap is investigated via numerical simulations of the loading process. Based on the results of the theoretical studies the feasibility and the efficiency of our loading scheme, including the realisation of a suitable magnetic field configuration, are analysed. Second, experiments were conducted on the transverse laser cooling of a magnetically guided beam of ultra cold chromium atoms. Radial compression by a tapering of the guide is employed to adiabatically heat the beam. Inside the tapered section heat is extracted from the atom beam by a two-dimensional optical molasses perpendicular to it, resulting in a significant increase of atomic phase space density. A magnetic offset field is applied to prevent optical pumping to untrapped states. Our results demonstrate that by a suitable choice of the magnetic offset field, the cooling beam intensity and detuning, atom losses and longitudinal heating can be avoided. Final temperatures below 65 μK have been achieved, corresponding to an increase of phase space density in the guided beam by more than a factor of 30.

Laser cooling of a magnetically guided ultra cold atom beam

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aghajani-Talesh, Anoush

2014-01-01

This thesis examines two complimentary methods for the laser cooling of a magnetically guided ultra-cold atom beam. If combined, these methods could serve as a starting point for high-through put and possibly even continuous production of Bose-Einstein condensates. First, a mechanism is outlined to harvest ultra cold atoms from a magnetically guided atom beam into an optical dipole trap. A continuous loading scheme is described that dissipates the directed kinetic energy of a captured atom via deceleration by a magnetic potential barrier followed by optical pumping to the energetically lowest Zeeman sublevel. The application of this scheme to the transfer of ultra cold chromium atoms from a magnetically guided atom beam into a deep optical dipole trap is investigated via numerical simulations of the loading process. Based on the results of the theoretical studies the feasibility and the efficiency of our loading scheme, including the realisation of a suitable magnetic field configuration, are analysed. Second, experiments were conducted on the transverse laser cooling of a magnetically guided beam of ultra cold chromium atoms. Radial compression by a tapering of the guide is employed to adiabatically heat the beam. Inside the tapered section heat is extracted from the atom beam by a two-dimensional optical molasses perpendicular to it, resulting in a significant increase of atomic phase space density. A magnetic offset field is applied to prevent optical pumping to untrapped states. Our results demonstrate that by a suitable choice of the magnetic offset field, the cooling beam intensity and detuning, atom losses and longitudinal heating can be avoided. Final temperatures below 65 μK have been achieved, corresponding to an increase of phase space density in the guided beam by more than a factor of 30.

Note: A versatile radio-frequency source for cold atom experiments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li, Na; Wu, Yu-Ping; Min, Hao; Yang, Tao; Jiang, Xiao, E-mail: jiangx@ustc.edu.cn [Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale and Department of Modern Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026 (China); CAS Center for Excellence and Synergetic Innovation Center in Quantum Information and Quantum Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026 (China)

2016-08-15

A radio-frequency (RF) source designed for cold atom experiments is presented. The source uses AD9858, a direct digital synthesizer, to generate the sine wave directly, up to 400 MHz, with sub-Hz resolution. An amplitude control circuit consisting of wideband variable gain amplifier and high speed digital to analog converter is integrated into the source, capable of 70 dB off isolation and 4 ns on-off keying. A field programmable gate array is used to implement a versatile frequency and amplitude co-sweep logic. Owing to modular design, the RF sources have been used on many cold atom experiments to generate various complicated RF sequences, enriching the operation schemes of cold atoms, which cannot be done by standard RF source instruments.

Light localization in cold and dense atomic ensemble

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sokolov, Igor

2017-01-01

We report on results of theoretical analysis of possibilities of light strong (Anderson) localization in a cold atomic ensemble. We predict appearance of localization in dense atomic systems in strong magnetic field. We prove that in absence of the field the light localization is impossible. (paper)

AtomPy: A Cloud Atomic-data Service for Astrophysical Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Mendoza, Claudio; Boswell, J. S.; Bautista, M.

2013-06-01

Apart from our long-term commitment to the computing of accurate atomic data for astrophysical applications, we have also been interested in the problems of data access and dissemination. In this respect, one of us took part in the developments of TIPTOPbase [1, 2, 3], the astrophysical opacity server referred to as OPserver [4, 5], and, more recently, of the Virtual Atomic and Molecular Data Center [6, 7]. Our present effort is now with the establishment of a cloud atomic data web service, AtomPy, implemented by means of SOAP web services, Google Drive spreadsheets and Python modules. In the present poster we will describe the outline of this ambitious project, illustrated with some prototypes that are already operational.

Coherent Radiation in Atomic Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Sutherland, Robert Tyler

Over the last century, quantum mechanics has dramatically altered our understanding of light and matter. Impressively, exploring the relationship between the two continues to provide important insights into the physics of many-body systems. In this thesis, we add to this still growing field of study. Specifically, we discuss superradiant line-broadening and cooperative dipole-dipole interactions for cold atom clouds in the linear-optics regime. We then discuss how coherent radiation changes both the photon scattering properties and the excitation distribution of atomic arrays. After that, we explore the nature of superradiance in initially inverted clouds of multi-level atoms. Finally, we explore the physics of clouds with degenerate Zeeman ground states, and show that this creates quantum effects that fundamentally change the photon scattering of atomic ensembles.

Velocity selection for ultra-cold atoms using bimodal mazer cavity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Irshad, A.; Qamar, S.

2009-04-01

In this paper, we discuss the velocity selection of ultra-cold three-level atoms in Λ configuration using a micromazer. Our model is the same as discussed by Arun et al., for mazer action in a bimodal cavity. We have shown that significantly narrowed velocity distribution of ultra-cold atoms can be obtained in this system due to the presence of dark states. (author)

Cold atoms near superconductors: atomic spin coherence beyond the Johnson noise limit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kasch, B; Hattermann, H; Cano, D; Judd, T E; Zimmermann, C; Kleiner, R; Koelle, D; Fortagh, J; Scheel, S

2010-01-01

We report on the measurement of atomic spin coherence near the surface of a superconducting niobium wire. As compared to normal conducting metal surfaces, the atomic spin coherence is maintained for time periods beyond the Johnson noise limit. The result provides experimental evidence that magnetic near-field noise near the superconductor is strongly suppressed. Such long atomic spin coherence times near superconductors open the way towards the development of coherently coupled cold atom/solid state hybrid quantum systems with potential applications in quantum information processing and precision force sensing.

Anisotropic Interactions between Cold Rydberg Atoms

Science.gov (United States)

2015-09-28

AFRL-AFOSR-CL-TR-2015-0002 Anisotropic interactions between cold Rydberg atoms Luis Marcassa INSTITUTO DE FISICA DE SAO CARLOS Final Report 09/28...problem with the report +551633739806 Organization / Institution name Instituto de Fisica de Sao Carlos Grant/Contract Title The full title of the

Corona-producing ice clouds: A case study of a cold mid-latitude cirrus layer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sassen, K.; Mace, G.G.; Hallett, J.; Poellot, M.R.

1998-01-01

A high (14.0-km), cold (-71.0thinsp degree C) cirrus cloud was studied by ground-based polarization lidar and millimeter radar and aircraft probes on the night of 19 April 1994 from the Cloud and Radiation Testbed site in northern Oklahoma. A rare cirrus cloud lunar corona was generated by this 1 - 2-km-deep cloud, thus providing an opportunity to measure the composition in situ, which had previously been assumed only on the basis of lidar depolarization data and simple diffraction theory for spheres. In this case, corona ring analysis indicated an effective particle diameter of ∼22 μm. A variety of in situ data corroborates the approximate ice-particle size derived from the passive retrieval method, especially near the cloud top, where impacted cloud samples show simple solid crystals. The homogeneous freezing of sulfuric acid droplets of stratospheric origin is assumed to be the dominant ice-particle nucleation mode acting in corona-producing cirrus clouds. It is speculated that this process results in a previously unrecognized mode of acid-contaminated ice-particle growth and that such small-particle cold cirrus clouds are potentially a radiatively distinct type of cloud. copyright 1998 Optical Society of America

Formation of cold molecules through the photo-association of cold atoms of Cesium. Existence of long range forces between between cold excited atoms of Cesium; Formation de molecules froides par photoassociation d'atomes froids de cesium. Mise en evidence de forces a longue portee entre atomes froids excites de cesium

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Comparat, D

1999-09-01

This thesis deals with the experimental study and the theoretical interpretation of the processes involved in photo-association and the formation of cold caesium molecules. It also presents a study of the dipolar forces between a pair of cold excited caesium atoms. We present here the first photo-association experiment on cold caesium atoms: two cold atoms absorb a photon to form an excited electronically excited molecules in a rotation-vibration level. The first production of cold molecules which was realised experimentally, after the spontaneous deexcitation of the photo-associated molecules, is described, stressing the role of the potential well of the molecular states O{sub g}{sup -}(6s+6p{sub 3/2}) or 1{sub u} (6s+6p{sub 3/2}) of caesium. The detection of the formed caesium molecules is based on a two-photons resonant ionisation that creates Cs{sub 2}{sup +} ions, afterwards selectively detected. Temperatures around 20-200 {mu}K have been measured. The photo-associative spectroscopy is described on the theoretical point of view: a detailed theoretical study allows to calculate precisely the asymptotic parts of the potential curves. On the experimental point of view, we present the spectroscopy of the extern potential well of the caesium state O{sub g}{sup -}(6s+6p{sub 3/2}) and the construction of an effective potential curve of the RKR type. A unified theory of photo-association in weak field, considered as a collision assisted by laser, is developed. The cold atoms experiments allow to study and control the collision between two atoms whose mutual interaction is of the dipole-dipole type. Two different physical systems are studied: a sample of Rydberg atoms, and the photo-association process which is a laser-assisted collision. A modification of the motion of one pair of atoms makes it possible to control the bipolar forces and to choose the atoms relative speeds. (author)

Satellite-observed cold-ring-shaped features atop deep convective clouds

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Setvák, M.; Lindsey, D. T.; Novák, P.; Wang, P. K.; Radová, Michaela; Kerkmann, J.; Grasso, L.; Su, S.-H.; Rabin, R. M.; Šťástka, J.; Charvát, Z.

2010-01-01

Roč. 97, 1-2 (2010), s. 80-96 ISSN 0169-8095 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA205/07/0905; GA MŠk ME09033 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z30420517 Keywords : convective storm * storm top * cloud top height * cold-ring shape * cold-U shape * enhanced-V feature * overshooting top * lower stratosphere * Meteosat second generation Subject RIV: DG - Athmosphere Sciences, Meteorology Impact factor: 1.597, year: 2010 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016980951000058X

Measurement of Local Gravity via a Cold Atom Interferometer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou Lin; Xiong Zong-Yuan; Yang Wei; Tang Biao; Peng Wen-Cui; Wang Yi-Bo; Xu Peng; Wang Jin; Zhan Ming-Sheng

2011-01-01

We demonstrate a precision measurement of local gravity acceleration g in Wuhan by a compact cold atom interferometer. The atom interferometer is in vertical Mach—Zehnder configuration realized using a π/2 - π - π/2 Raman pulse sequence. Cold atoms were prepared in a magneto-optical trap, launched upward to form an atom fountain, and then coherently manipulated to interfere by stimulated Raman transition. Population signal vs Raman laser phase was recorded as interference fringes, and the local gravity was deduced from the interference signal. We have obtained a resolution of 7 × 10 −9 g after an integration time of 236s under the best vibrational environment conditions. The absolute g value was derived from the chirp rate with a difference of 1.5 × 10 −7 g compared to the gravity reference value. The tidal phenomenon was observed by continuously monitoring the local gravity over 123 h. (atomic and molecular physics)

Matterwave interferometric velocimetry of cold Rb atoms

Science.gov (United States)

Carey, Max; Belal, Mohammad; Himsworth, Matthew; Bateman, James; Freegarde, Tim

2018-03-01

We consider the matterwave interferometric measurement of atomic velocities, which forms a building block for all matterwave inertial measurements. A theoretical analysis, addressing both the laboratory and atomic frames and accounting for residual Doppler sensitivity in the beamsplitter and recombiner pulses, is followed by an experimental demonstration, with measurements of the velocity distribution within a 20 ?K cloud of rubidium atoms. Our experiments use Raman transitions between the long-lived ground hyperfine states, and allow quadrature measurements that yield the full complex interferometer signal and hence discriminate between positive and negative velocities. The technique is most suitable for measurement of colder samples.

Manipulating beams of ultra-cold atoms with a static magnetic field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rowlands, W.J.; Lau, D.C.; Opat, G.I.; Sidorov, A.I.; McLean, R.J.; Hannaford, P.

1996-01-01

The preliminary results on the deflection of a beam of ultra-cold atoms by a static magnetic field are presented. Caesium atoms trapped in a magneto-optical trap (MOT) are cooled using optical molasses, and then fall freely under gravity to form a beam of ultra-cold atoms. The atoms pass through a static inhomogeneous magnetic field produced by a single current-carrying wire, and are deflected by a force dependent on the magnetic substate of the atom. A schematical diagram of the experimental layout for laser trapping and cooling of cesium atom is given. The population of atoms in various magnetic substates can be altered by using resonant laser radiation to optically pump the atoms. The single-wire deflection experiment described can be considered as atomic reflexion from a cylindrical magnetic mirror; the underlying principles and techniques being relevant to the production of atomic mirrors and diffraction gratings. 16 refs., 10 figs

Feshbach resonances in cold collisions of potassium atoms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bambini, A.; Geltman, S.

2002-01-01

In this paper we briefly review the basic steps that allow the calculation of the scattering length in the collision of two alkali-metal atoms in a well defined magnetic polarization state, and in the presence of a static magnetic field. Calculations are actually done for the low-field seeking state F=1, μ F =-1 of bosonic potassium atoms. The electrostatic potentials obtained through Rydberg-Klein-Rees data are connected to a dispersive, long range tail in which the dominant dipole-dipole C 6 term may take different values within a specified range. We show the occurrence of Feshbach resonances in the ultra cold collision of two identical atoms, belonging either to the bosonic species 39 K or 41 K. Our results demonstrate that there is a range of C 6 values for which the collision of two 39 K atoms displays a single resonance, while for other values of C 6 no resonance occurs. On the other hand, Feshbach resonances are present in the collision of two 41 K atoms for almost all values of the dispersion coefficient C 6 in that range. We also show the origin of the different types of Feshbach resonances that occur in the cold collision of two 41 K atoms. The detection of such resonances can help establish the actual value of the dispersive coefficient

Quantum ratchets for periodically kicked cold atoms and Bose-Einstein condensates

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Casati, Giulio [Center for Nonlinear and Complex Systems, Universita degli Studi dell' Insubria and Istituto Nazionale per la Fisica della Materia, Unita di Como, Via Valleggio 11, 22100 Como (Italy); Poletti, Dario [Center for Nonlinear and Complex Systems, Universita degli Studi dell' Insubria and Istituto Nazionale per la Fisica della Materia, Unita di Como, Via Valleggio 11, 22100 Como (Italy)

2007-05-15

We study cold atoms and Bose-Einstein condensates exposed to time-dependent standing waves of light. We first discuss a quantum chaotic dissipative ratchet using the method of quantum trajectories. This system is characterized by directed transport emerging from a quantum strange attractor. We then present a very simple model of directed transport with cold atoms in a pair of periodically flashed optical lattices. Finally we study the dynamics of a dilute Bose-Einstein condensate confined in a toroidal trap and exposed to a pair of periodically flashed optical lattices. We show that the many-body atom-atom interactions, treated within the mean-field approximation, can generate directed transport.

Cold collisions in dissipative optical lattices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Piilo, J; Suominen, K-A

2005-01-01

The invention of laser cooling methods for neutral atoms allows optical and magnetic trapping of cold atomic clouds in the temperature regime below 1 mK. In the past, light-assisted cold collisions between laser cooled atoms have been widely studied in magneto-optical atom traps (MOTs). We describe here theoretical studies of dynamical interactions, specifically cold collisions, between atoms trapped in near-resonant, dissipative optical lattices. The extension of collision studies to the regime of optical lattices introduces several complicating factors. For the lattice studies, one has to account for the internal substates of atoms, position-dependent matter-light coupling, and position-dependent couplings between the atoms, in addition to the spontaneous decay of electronically excited atomic states. The developed one-dimensional quantum-mechanical model combines atomic cooling and collision dynamics in a single framework. The model is based on Monte Carlo wavefunction simulations and is applied when the lattice-creating lasers have frequencies both below (red-detuned lattice) and above (blue-detuned lattice) the atomic resonance frequency. It turns out that the radiative heating mechanism affects the dynamics of atomic cloud in a red-detuned lattice in a way that is not directly expected from the MOT studies. The optical lattice and position-dependent light-matter coupling introduces selectivity of collision partners. The atoms which are most mobile and energetic are strongly favoured to participate in collisions, and are more often ejected from the lattice, than the slow ones in the laser parameter region selected for study. Consequently, the atoms remaining in the lattice have a smaller average kinetic energy per atom than in the case of non-interacting atoms. For blue-detuned lattices, we study how optical shielding emerges as a natural part of the lattice and look for ways to optimize the effect. We find that the cooling and shielding dynamics do not mix

Manipulating cold atoms for quantum information processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Knight, P.

2005-01-01

Full text: I will describe how cold atoms can be manipulated to realize arrays of addressable qbits as prototype quantum registers, focussing on how atom chips can be used in combination with cavity qed techniques to form such an array. I will discuss how the array can be generated and steered using optical lattices and the Mott transition, and describe the sources of noise and how these place limits on the use of such chips in quantum information processing. (author)

Surface Plasmon Polaritons Probed with Cold Atoms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kawalec, Tomasz; Sierant, Aleksandra; Panas, Roman

2017-01-01

We report on an optical mirror for cold rubidium atoms based on a repulsive dipole potential created by means of a modified recordable digital versatile disc. Using the mirror, we have determined the absolute value of the surface plasmon polariton (SPP) intensity, reaching 90 times the intensity...

Nitric acid particles in cold thick ice clouds observed at global scale: Link with lightning, temperature, and upper tropospheric water vapor

Science.gov (United States)

Chepfer, H.; Minnis, P.; Dubuisson, P.; Chiriaco, M.; Sun-Mack, S.; RivièRe, E. D.

2007-03-01

Signatures of nitric acid particles (NAP) in cold thick ice clouds have been derived from satellite observations. Most NAP are detected in the tropics (9 to 20% of clouds with T < 202.5 K). Higher occurrences were found in the rare midlatitudes very cold clouds. NAP occurrence increases as cloud temperature decreases, and NAP are more numerous in January than July. Comparisons of NAP and lightning distributions show that lightning seems to be the main source of the NOx, which forms NAP in cold clouds over continents. Qualitative comparisons of NAP with upper tropospheric humidity distributions suggest that NAP may play a role in the dehydration of the upper troposphere when the tropopause is colder than 195 K.

Cold atoms near surfaces: designing potentials by sculpturing wires

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Della Pietra, Leonardo; Aigner, Simon; Hagen, Christoph vom; Lezec, Henri J; Schmiedmayer, Joerg

2005-01-01

The magnetic trapping potentials for atoms on atom chips are determined by the current flow pattern in the chip wires. By modifying the wire shape using focused ion beam nano-machining we can design specialized current flow patterns and therefore micro-design the magnetic trapping potentials. We give designs for a barrier, a quantum dot, and a double well or double barrier and show preliminary experiments with ultra cold atoms in these designed potentials

Storage ring to investigate cold unidimensional atomic collisions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marcassa, L. G.; Caires, A. R. L.; Nascimento, V. A.; Dulieu, O.; Weiner, J.; Bagnato, V. S.

2005-01-01

In this paper we employ a circulating ring of trapped atoms, that we have named the atomotron, to study cold collisions. The atomotron is obtained from a conventional magneto-optical trap when the two pairs of normally retroreflecting Gaussian laser beams in the x-y plane are slightly offset. Circulating stable atomic orbits then form a racetrack geometry in this plane. The circulating atom flux behaves similarly to an atomic beam with an average tangential velocity much greater than the transverse components, and is therefore suitable for one-dimensional atomic collision studies. Using the atomotron, we have investigated the polarization dependence of ultracold photoassociation collisions between Rb atoms circulating in the racetrack. The ability to investigate collisions in ultracold circulating atomic rings reveals alignment and orientation properties that are averaged away in ordinary three-dimensional magneto-optical trap collision processes

Atomic hydrogen in and around the giant molecular cloud near W3 and W4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hasegawa, T.; Sato, F.; Fukui, Y.

1980-01-01

Cold HI gas appears as self-absorption dips in the 21-cm line profiles in and around the giant molecular cloud near W3 and W4. The cold HI cloud is approximately 150 pc long and extends along the galactic plane. It consists of several fragments, each of which is typically approximately 25 pc in diameter and (1 - 4) X 10 4 solar masses. The [H 2 ]/[HI] ratio is estimated to be 15 - 50. The mass of the entire HI cloud amounts to approximately 10 5 solar masses which is comparable to that observed in CO emission. (Auth.)

Dynamics of bad-cavity-enhanced interaction with cold Sr atoms for laser stabilization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schäffer, S. A.; Christensen, B. T.R.; Henriksen, M. R.

2017-01-01

Hybrid systems of cold atoms and optical cavities are promising systems for increasing the stability of laser oscillators used in quantum metrology and atomic clocks. In this paper we map out the atom-cavity dynamics in such a system and demonstrate limitations as well as robustness of the approach....... We investigate the phase response of an ensemble of cold Sr88 atoms inside an optical cavity for use as an error signal in laser frequency stabilization. With this system we realize a regime where the high atomic phase shift limits the dynamical locking range. The limitation is caused by the cavity...

H2, CO, and dust absorption through cold molecular clouds

Science.gov (United States)

Lacy, John H.; Sneden, Chris; Kim, Hwihyun; Jaffe, Daniel Thomas

2017-06-01

We have made observations with IGRINS on the Harlan J. Smith telescope at McDonald Observatory of near-infrared absorption by H2, CO, and dust toward stars behind molecular clouds, primarily the TMC. Prior to these observations, the abundance of H2 in molecular clouds, relative to the commonly used tracer CO, had only been measured toward a few embedded stars, which may be surrounded by atypical gas. The new observations provide a representative sample of these molecules in cold molecular gas. We find N(H2)/Av ~ 0.9e+21, N(CO)/Av ~ 1.6e+17, and H2/CO ~ 6000. The measured H2/CO ratio is consistent with that measured toward embedded stars in various molecular clouds, but half that derived from mm-wave observations of CO emission and star counts or other determinations of Av.

Suppression of Zeeman relaxation in cold collisions of 2P1/2 atoms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tscherbul, T. V.; Dalgarno, A.; Buchachenko, A. A.; Lu, M.-J.; Weinstein, J. D.

2009-01-01

We present a combined experimental and theoretical study of angular momentum depolarization in cold collisions of 2 P atoms in the presence of an external magnetic field. We show that collision-induced Zeeman relaxation of Ga( 2 P 1/2 ) and In( 2 P 1/2 ) atoms in cold 4 He gas is dramatically suppressed compared to atoms in 2 P 3/2 states. Using rigorous quantum-scattering calculations based on ab initio interaction potentials, we demonstrate that Zeeman transitions in collisions of atoms in 2 P 1/2 electronic states occur via couplings to the 2 P 3/2 state induced by the anisotropy of the interaction potential. Our results suggest the feasibility of sympathetic cooling and magnetic trapping of 2 P 1/2 -state atoms, such as halogens, thereby opening up exciting areas of research in precision spectroscopy and cold-controlled chemistry.

The Effects of Ram Pressure on the Cold Clouds in the Centers of Galaxy Clusters

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yuan; Ruszkowski, Mateusz; Tremblay, Grant

2018-02-01

We discuss the effect of ram pressure on the cold clouds in the centers of cool-core galaxy clusters, and in particular, how it reduces cloud velocity and sometimes causes an offset between the cold gas and young stars. The velocities of the molecular gas in both observations and our simulations fall in the range of 100–400 km s‑1, which is much lower than expected if they fall from a few tens of kiloparsecs ballistically. If the intracluster medium (ICM) is at rest, the ram pressure of the ICM only slightly reduces the velocity of the clouds. When we assume that the clouds are actually “fluffier” because they are co-moving with a warm-hot layer, the velocity becomes smaller. If we also consider the active galactic nucleus wind in the cluster center by adding a wind profile measured from the simulation, the clouds are further slowed down at small radii, and the resulting velocities are in general agreement with the observations and simulations. Because ram pressure only affects gas but not stars, it can cause a separation between a filament and young stars that formed in the filament as they move through the ICM together. This separation has been observed in Perseus and also exists in our simulations. We show that the star-filament offset, combined with line-of-sight velocity measurements, can help determine the true motion of the cold gas, and thus distinguish between inflows and outflows.

Optical coupling of cold atoms to a levitated nanosphere

Science.gov (United States)

Montoya, Cris; Witherspoon, Apryl; Fausett, Jacob; Lim, Jason; Kitching, John; Geraci, Andrew

2017-04-01

Cooling mechanical oscillators to their quantum ground state enables the study of quantum phenomena at macroscopic levels. In many cases, the temperature required to cool a mechanical mode to the ground state is below what current cryogenic systems can achieve. As an alternative to cooling via cryogenic systems, it has been shown theoretically that optically trapped nanospheres could reach the ground state by sympathetically cooling the spheres via cold atoms. Such cooled spheres can be used in quantum limited sensing and matter-wave interferometry, and could also enable new hybrid quantum systems where mechanical oscillators act as transducers. In our setup, optical fields are used to couple a sample of cold Rubidium atoms to a nanosphere. The sphere is optically levitated in a separate vacuum chamber, while the atoms are trapped in a 1-D optical lattice and cooled using optical molasses. This work is partially supported by NSF, Grant No. PHY-1506431.

Transporting, splitting and merging of atomic ensembles in a chip trap

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hommelhoff, P; Haensel, W; Steinmetz, T; Haensch, T W; Reichel, J

2005-01-01

We present a toolbox for cold atom manipulation with time-dependent magnetic fields generated by an atom chip. Wire layouts, detailed experimental procedures and results are presented for the following experiments: use of a magnetic conveyor belt for positioning of cold atoms and Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) with a potential resolution of 2 nm; splitting of thermal clouds and BECs in adjustable magnetic double-well potentials; and controlled splitting of a cold reservoir. The devices that enable these manipulations can be combined with each other. We demonstrate this by combining reservoir splitter and conveyor belt to obtain a cold atom dispenser. We discuss the importance of these devices for quantum information processing, atom interferometry and Josephson junction physics on the chip. For all devices, absorption-image video sequences are provided to demonstrate their time-dependent behaviour

Nitric acid particles in cold thick ice clouds observed at global scale: Link with lightning, temperature, and upper tropospheric water vapor

OpenAIRE

Chepfer , H.; Minnis , P.; Dubuisson , P.; Chiriaco , Marjolaine; Sun-Mack , S.; Rivière , E.D.

2007-01-01

International audience; Signatures of nitric acid particles (NAP) in cold thick ice clouds have been derived from satellite observations. Most NAP are detected in the tropics (9 to 20% of clouds with T < 202.5 K). Higher occurrences were found in the rare midlatitudes very cold clouds. NAP occurrence increases as cloud temperature decreases, and NAP are more numerous in January than July. Comparisons of NAP and lightning distributions show that lightning seems to be the main source of the NOx...

Mott-insulating phases in unidimensional multi-components fermionic cold atoms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nonne, Heloise

2011-01-01

This thesis is devoted to the investigation of the Mott insulating phases arising in one-dimensional multicomponent fermionic cold atoms systems. The first part of this work is the study of a model with alkaline-earth cold atoms with nuclear spin I = 1/2. Those atoms enjoy an additional orbital degree of freedom, due to the presence of a metastable excited state; they thus have a total of four components. Our investigation is carried at half-filling, at strong and at weak couplings by means of analytic methods (conformal theory, bosonization, refermionization, renormalisation group). We found that the zero temperature phase diagram of the system is very rich: it contains seven Mott insulating phases, among which three are particularly interesting, since they display a hidden order, related to the Haldane physics of the antiferromagnetic spin-1 Heisenberg chain. Our conclusions are checked against numerical simulations, that were carried out with the density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) algorithm for intermediate couplings. The comparison shows an adiabatic continuity between the different regimes. A similar study for a model of cold atoms with hyperfine spin-3/2 highlights the Haldane physics in the charge sector of the degrees of freedom, with an effective model given by an antiferromagnetic pseudo-spin-1 chain. This analysis provides us an opportunity to investigate the zero temperature properties of the SO(5) bilinear-bi-quadratic Heisenberg chain. We show the presence of two gapped phases: one is dimerized, the other has a hidden symmetry (Z 2 x Z 2 ) 2 and spin-3/2 edge states, and they are separated by a critical point that belongs to the SO(5) 1 universality class. Finally, we investigate half-integer hyperfine spin cold atoms systems with 2N components which generalized the results obtained for the hyperfine spin-3/2 model. This leads us to find an even/odd effect according to the parity of N, very similar to the even/odd effect of spin chains

Cold atoms in optical cavities and lattices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Horak, P.

1996-11-01

The thesis is organized in three chapters covering different aspects of the interaction of atoms and light in the framework of theoretical quantum optics. In chapter 1 a special case of a microscopic laser where one or two atoms interact with several quantized cavity modes is discussed. In particular I investigate the properties of the light field created in one of the cavity modes. It is shown that a single-atom model already predicts average photon numbers in agreement with a semiclassical many-atom theory. The two-atom model exhibits additional collective features, such as superradiance and subradiance. In chapter 2 effects of the photon recoil on cold atoms in the limit of long-lived atomic transitions are investigated. First, I demonstrate that, in principle, relying on this scheme, a continuous-wave laser in the ultraviolet frequency domain could be established. Second, the splitting of an atomic beam into two coherent subbeams is discussed within the same scheme. Such beamsplitters play an important role in high-precision measurements using atomic interferometers. Finally, chapter 3 deals with cooling and trapping of atoms by the interaction with laser light. I discuss the properties and the light scattering of atoms trapped in a new light field configuration, a so-called dark optical superlattice. In principle, such systems allow the trapping of more than one atom in the ground state of a single optical potential well. This could give rise to the observation of e.g. atom-atom interactions and quantum statistical effects. (author)

Production and detection of cold antihydrogen atoms

CERN Multimedia

Amoretti, M; Bonomi, G; Bouchta, A; Bowe, P; Carraro, C; Cesar, C L; Charlton, M; Collier, M; Doser, Michael; Filippini, V; Fine, K S; Fontana, A; Fujiwara, M C; Funakoshi, R; Genova, P; Hangst, J S; Hayano, R S; Holzscheiter, M H; Jørgensen, L V; Lagomarsino, V; Landua, Rolf; Landua, Rolf; Lindelöf, D; Lodi-Rizzini, E; Macri, M; Madsen, N; Manuzio, G; Marchesotti, M; Montagna, P; Pruys, H S; Regenfus, C; Riedler, P; Rochet, J; Rotondi, A; Rouleau, G; Testera, G; Van der Werf, D P; Variola, A; Watson, T L; CERN. Geneva

2002-01-01

A theoretical underpinning of the standard model of fundamental particles and interactions is CPT invariance, which requires that the laws of physics be invariant under the combined discrete operations of charge conjugation, parity and time reversal. Antimatter, the existence of which was predicted by Dirac, can be used to test the CPT theorem experimental investigations involving comparisons of particles with antiparticles are numerous. Cold atoms and anti-atoms, such as hydrogen and anti-hydrogen, could form the basis of a new precise test, as CPT invariance implies that they must have the same spectrum. Observations of antihydrogen in small quantities and at high energies have been reported at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and at Fermilab, but were not suited to precision comparison measurements. Here we demonstrate the production of antihydrogen atoms at very low energy by mixing trapped antiprotons and positrons in a cryogenic environment. The neutral anti-atoms have been detected...

The Dominant Snow-forming Process in Warm and Cold Mixed-phase Orographic Clouds: Effects of Cloud Condensation Nuclei and Ice Nuclei

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, J.; Rosenfeld, D.; Leung, L. R.; DeMott, P. J.

2014-12-01

Mineral dust aerosols often observed over California in winter and spring from long-range transport can be efficient ice nuclei (IN) and enhance snow precipitation in mixed-phase orographic clouds. On the other hand, local pollution particles can serve as good CCN and suppress warm rain, but their impacts on cold rain processes are uncertain. The main snow-forming mechanism in warm and cold mixed-phase orographic clouds (refer to as WMOC and CMOC, respectively) could be very different, leading to different precipitation response to CCN and IN. We have conducted 1-km resolution model simulations using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model coupled with a spectral-bin cloud microphysical model for WMOC and CMOC cases from CalWater2011. We investigated the response of cloud microphysical processes and precipitation to CCN and IN with extremely low to extremely high concentrations using ice nucleation parameterizations that connect with dust and implemented based on observational evidences. We find that riming is the dominant process for producing snow in WMOC while deposition plays a more important role than riming in CMOC. Increasing IN leads to much more snow precipitation mainly due to an increase of deposition in CMOC and increased rimming in WMOC. Increasing CCN decreases precipitation in WMOC by efficiently suppressing warm rain, although snow is increased. In CMOC where cold rain dominates, increasing CCN significantly increases snow, leading to a net increase in precipitation. The sensitivity of supercooled liquid to CCN and IN has also been analyzed. The mechanism for the increased snow by CCN and caveats due to uncertainties in ice nucleation parameterizations will be discussed.

Velocity-resolved [{\\rm{C}}\\,{\\rm{II}}] Emission from Cold Diffuse Clouds in the Interstellar Medium

Science.gov (United States)

Goldsmith, Paul F.; Pineda, Jorge L.; Neufeld, David A.; Wolfire, Mark G.; Risacher, Christophe; Simon, Robert

2018-04-01

We have combined emission from the 158 μm fine structure transition of C+ observed with the GREAT and upGREAT instruments on SOFIA with 21 cm absorption spectra and visual extinction to characterize the diffuse interstellar clouds found along the lines of sight. The weak [C II] emission is consistent in velocity and line width with the strongest H I component produced by the cold neutral medium. The H I column density and kinetic temperature are known from the 21 cm data and, assuming a fractional abundance of ionized carbon, we calculate the volume density and thermal pressure of each source, which vary considerably, with 27 {cm}}-3≤slant n({{{H}}}0) ≤slant 210 cm‑3 considering only the atomic hydrogen along the lines of sight to be responsible for the C+, while 13 {cm}}-3≤slant n({{{H}}}0+{{{H}}}2)≤slant 190 cm‑3 including the hydrogen in both forms. The thermal pressure varies widely with 1970 cm‑3 K ≤slant {P}th}/k≤slant 10,440 cm‑3 K for H0 alone and 750 cm‑3 K ≤ P th/k ≤ 9360 cm‑3 K including both H0 and H2. The molecular hydrogen fraction varies between 0.10 and 0.67. Photoelectric heating is the dominant heating source, supplemented by a moderately enhanced cosmic ray ionization rate, constrained by the relatively low 45 K to 73 K gas temperatures of the clouds. The resulting thermal balance for the two lower-density clouds is satisfactory, but for the two higher-density clouds, the combined heating rate is insufficient to balance the observed C+ cooling.

Cold experiment of slag centrifugal granulation by rotary atomizer: Effect of atomizer configuration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu, Jun-Jun; Wang, Hong; Zhu, Xun; Liao, Qiang; Li, Kai

2017-01-01

Centrifugal granulation has recently been employed to produce small blast furnace slag particles, so as to recover the waste heat from the high-temperature molten blast furnace slag. An appropriate atomizer enables centrifugal granulation to become a better cost-effective process for particle production. Thus, increasing emphasis has been placed on influence of atomizer configuration on granulation. In present study, three groups of atomizers were specially designed and the granulation performance of each atomizer was experimentally tested during cold experiments. The influences of atomizer configuration on granulation modes and droplet characteristics were investigated visually. Two modified correlations were proposed to predict the granulating droplet size by means of data fitting. The results indicated that the rotary cup atomizers can inhibit the film formation in contrast to rotary disc atomizer. Moreover, atomizers with outer angle of 90° was capable of producing smaller droplets. The revised correlation as well as the newly-developed correlation including the influence of atomizer configurations, presented in good agreement with the experiment data. In addition, an analysis on atomizer design was conducted to provide a good insight for industrialization. It was recommended to adopt cup-like atomizer in granulation for its ability to produce fine particles with smaller atomizer size.

Nanophotonic Optical Isolator Controlled by the Internal State of Cold Atoms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Clément Sayrin

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The realization of nanophotonic optical isolators with high optical isolation even at ultralow light levels and low optical losses is an open problem. Here, we employ the link between the local polarization of strongly confined light and its direction of propagation to realize low-loss nonreciprocal transmission through a silica nanofiber at the single-photon level. The direction of the resulting optical isolator is controlled by the spin state of cold atoms. We perform our experiment in two qualitatively different regimes, i.e., with an ensemble of cold atoms where each atom is weakly coupled to the waveguide and with a single atom strongly coupled to the waveguide mode. In both cases, we observe simultaneously high isolation and high forward transmission. The isolator concept constitutes a nanoscale quantum optical analog of microwave ferrite resonance isolators, can be implemented with all kinds of optical waveguides and emitters, and might enable novel integrated optical devices for fiber-based classical and quantum networks.

Physical replicas and the Bose glass in cold atomic gases

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morrison, S; Kantian, A; Daley, A J; Zoller, P; Katzgraber, H G; Lewenstein, M; Buechler, H P

2008-01-01

We study cold atomic gases in a disorder potential and analyse the correlations between different systems subjected to the same disorder landscape. Such independent copies with the same disorder landscape are known as replicas. While, in general, these are not accessible experimentally in condensed matter systems, they can be realized using standard tools for controlling cold atomic gases in an optical lattice. Of special interest is the overlap function which represents a natural order parameter for disordered systems and is a correlation function between the atoms of two independent replicas with the same disorder. We demonstrate an efficient measurement scheme for the determination of this disorder-induced correlation function. As an application, we focus on the disordered Bose-Hubbard model and determine the overlap function within the perturbation theory and a numerical analysis. We find that the measurement of the overlap function allows for the identification of the Bose-glass phase in certain parameter regimes

Physical replicas and the Bose glass in cold atomic gases

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Morrison, S; Kantian, A; Daley, A J; Zoller, P [Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Innsbruck, Technikerstr. 25, A-6020 Innsbruck (Austria); Katzgraber, H G [Theoretische Physik, ETH Zurich, CH-8093 Zuerich (Switzerland); Lewenstein, M [ICAO-Institut de Ciencies Fotoniques, Parc Mediterrani de la Tecnologia, E-08860 Castelldefels, Barcelona (Spain); Buechler, H P [Institute for Theoretical Physics III, University of Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, 70550 Stuttgart (Germany)], E-mail: sarah.morrison@uibk.ac.at

2008-07-15

We study cold atomic gases in a disorder potential and analyse the correlations between different systems subjected to the same disorder landscape. Such independent copies with the same disorder landscape are known as replicas. While, in general, these are not accessible experimentally in condensed matter systems, they can be realized using standard tools for controlling cold atomic gases in an optical lattice. Of special interest is the overlap function which represents a natural order parameter for disordered systems and is a correlation function between the atoms of two independent replicas with the same disorder. We demonstrate an efficient measurement scheme for the determination of this disorder-induced correlation function. As an application, we focus on the disordered Bose-Hubbard model and determine the overlap function within the perturbation theory and a numerical analysis. We find that the measurement of the overlap function allows for the identification of the Bose-glass phase in certain parameter regimes.

Optimization of transfer of laser-cooled atom cloud to a quadrupole ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

2014-02-08

Feb 8, 2014 ... We present here our experimental results on transfer of laser-cooled atom cloud to a quadrupole magnetic trap. We show that by choosing appropriately the ratio of potential energy in magnetic trap to kinetic energy of cloud in molasses, we can obtain the maximum phase-space density in the magnetic trap.

The electromagnetic virtual cloud of the ground-state hydrogen atom - a quantum field theory approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Radozycki, T.

1990-01-01

The properties of the virtual cloud around the hydrogen atom in the ground state are studied with the use of quantum field theory methods. The relativistic expression for the electromagnetic energy density around the atom, with the electron spin taken into account, is obtained. The distribution of the angular momentum contained in the cloud and the self-interaction kernel for the electrons bound in atom are also investigated. (author)

Cold pressor test on atomic bomb survivors, Nagasaki

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sasaki, Tomoyoshi; Sweedler, D R; Okamoto, Akira

1964-03-12

Cold pressor test was performed on a sample of 1156 atomic bomb survivors and other persons (ages ranging between 15 to 81 years) residing in Nagasaki City. Response values differed according to such factors as age, sex, blood pressure and month of examination. The response in systolic pressure increased with age but no evidence was found to support an acceleration of aging by irradiation. The response in diastolic blood pressure showed no change with age, but differed between Comparison Groups during the summer months. However, this was apparently due to some other cause than exposure to the atomic bomb. 25 references, 8 tables.

Spatially distributed multipartite entanglement enables EPR steering of atomic clouds

Science.gov (United States)

Kunkel, Philipp; Prüfer, Maximilian; Strobel, Helmut; Linnemann, Daniel; Frölian, Anika; Gasenzer, Thomas; Gärttner, Martin; Oberthaler, Markus K.

2018-04-01

A key resource for distributed quantum-enhanced protocols is entanglement between spatially separated modes. However, the robust generation and detection of entanglement between spatially separated regions of an ultracold atomic system remain a challenge. We used spin mixing in a tightly confined Bose-Einstein condensate to generate an entangled state of indistinguishable particles in a single spatial mode. We show experimentally that this entanglement can be spatially distributed by self-similar expansion of the atomic cloud. We used spatially resolved spin read-out to reveal a particularly strong form of quantum correlations known as Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) steering between distinct parts of the expanded cloud. Based on the strength of EPR steering, we constructed a witness, which confirmed genuine 5-partite entanglement.

Development of the Science Data System for the International Space Station Cold Atom Lab

Science.gov (United States)

van Harmelen, Chris; Soriano, Melissa A.

2015-01-01

Cold Atom Laboratory (CAL) is a facility that will enable scientists to study ultra-cold quantum gases in a microgravity environment on the International Space Station (ISS) beginning in 2016. The primary science data for each experiment consists of two images taken in quick succession. The first image is of the trapped cold atoms and the second image is of the background. The two images are subtracted to obtain optical density. These raw Level 0 atom and background images are processed into the Level 1 optical density data product, and then into the Level 2 data products: atom number, Magneto-Optical Trap (MOT) lifetime, magnetic chip-trap atom lifetime, and condensate fraction. These products can also be used as diagnostics of the instrument health. With experiments being conducted for 8 hours every day, the amount of data being generated poses many technical challenges, such as downlinking and managing the required data volume. A parallel processing design is described, implemented, and benchmarked. In addition to optimizing the data pipeline, accuracy and speed in producing the Level 1 and 2 data products is key. Algorithms for feature recognition are explored, facilitating image cropping and accurate atom number calculations.

Some applications of the Faddeev-Yakubovsky equations to the cold-atom physics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carbonell, J.; Deltuva, A.; Lazauskas, R.

2011-01-01

We present some recent applications of the Faddeev-Yakubovsky equations in describing atomic bound and scattering problems. We consider the scattering of a charged particle X by atomic hydrogen with special interest in X = p,e ± , systems of cold bosonic molecules and the bound and scattering properties of N=3 and N=4 atomic 4 He multimers. (authors)

Atomic Oxygen Abundance in Molecular Clouds: Absorption Toward Sagittarius B2

Science.gov (United States)

Lis, D. C.; Keene, Jocelyn; Phillips, T. G.; Schilke, P.; Werner, M. W.; Zmuidzinas, J.

2001-01-01

We have obtained high-resolution (approximately 35 km/s) spectra toward the molecular cloud Sgr B2 at 63 micrometers, the wavelength of the ground-state fine-structure line of atomic oxygen (O(I)), using the ISO-LWS instrument. Four separate velocity components are seen in the deconvolved spectrum, in absorption against the dust continuum emission of Sgr B2. Three of these components, corresponding to foreground clouds, are used to study the O(I) content of the cool molecular gas along the line of sight. In principle, the atomic oxygen that produces a particular velocity component could exist in any, or all, of three physically distinct regions: inside a dense molecular cloud, in the UV illuminated surface layer (PDR) of a cloud, and in an atomic (H(I)) gas halo. For each of the three foreground clouds, we estimate, and subtract from the observed O(I) column density, the oxygen content of the H(I) halo gas, by scaling from a published high-resolution 21 cm spectrum. We find that the remaining O(I) column density is correlated with the observed (13)CO column density. From the slope of this correlation, an average [O(I)]/[(13)CO] ratio of 270 +/- 120 (3-sigma) is derived, which corresponds to [O(I)]/[(13)CO] = 9 for a CO to (13)CO abundance ratio of 30. Assuming a (13)CO abundance of 1x10(exp -6) with respect to H nuclei, we derive an atomic oxygen abundance of 2.7x10(exp -4) in the dense gas phase, corresponding to a 15% oxygen depletion compared to the diffuse ISM in our Galactic neighborhood. The presence of multiple, spectrally resolved velocity components in the Sgr B2 absorption spectrum allows, for the first time, a direct determination of the PDR contribution to the O(I) column density. The PDR regions should contain O(I) but not (13)CO, and would thus be expected to produce an offset in the O(I)-(13)CO correlation. Our data do not show such an offset, suggesting that within our beam O(I) is spatially coexistent with the molecular gas, as traced by (13)CO

Formation of molecules in interstellar clouds from singly and multiply ionized atoms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Langer, W.D.; and NASA, Institute for Space Studies, Goddard Space Flight Center, New York)

1978-01-01

Soft X-ray and cosmic rays produce multiply ionized atoms which may initiate molecule production in interstellar clouds. This molecule production can occur via ion-molecule reactions with H 2 , either directly from the multiply ionized atom (e.g.,C ++ + H 2 →CH + + H + ), or indirectly from the singly ionized atoms (e.g., N + + H 2 →NH + + H) that are formed from the recombination or charge transfer of the highly ionized atom (e.g., N ++ + e→N + + hv). We investigate the contribution of these reactions to the abundances of carbon-, nitrogen-, and oxygen-bearing molecules in isobaric models of diffuse clouds. In the presence of the average flux estimated for the diffuse soft X-ray background, multiply ionized atoms contribute only minimally (a few percent) to carbon-bearing molecules such as CH. In the neighborhood of diffuse structures or discrete sources, however, where the X-ray flux is enhanced, multiple ionization is considerably more important for molecule production

Structure and characteristics of diffuse interstellar clouds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arshutkin, L.N.; Kolesnik, I.G.

1978-01-01

The results of model calculations for spherically symmetrical interstellar clouds being under external pressure are given. Thermal balance of gas clouds is considered. Ultraviolet radiation fields in clouds and equilibrium for chemical elements are calculated for this purpose. Calculations were carried out in the case when cooling is under way mainly by carbon atoms and ions. The clouds with mass up to 700 Msub(sun) under external pressure from 800 to 3000 K cm -3 are considered. In typical for Galactic disk conditions, clouds have dense n > or approximately 200 cm -3 , and cold T approximately 20-30 K state clouds depending on external pressure is given. The critical mass for clouds at the Galactic disk is approximately 500-600 Msub(sun). It is less than the isothermal solution by a factor of approximately 1.5. The massive gas-dust cloud formation problem is discussed

Cold, clumpy accretion onto an active supermassive black hole.

Science.gov (United States)

Tremblay, Grant R; Oonk, J B Raymond; Combes, Françoise; Salomé, Philippe; O'Dea, Christopher P; Baum, Stefi A; Voit, G Mark; Donahue, Megan; McNamara, Brian R; Davis, Timothy A; McDonald, Michael A; Edge, Alastair C; Clarke, Tracy E; Galván-Madrid, Roberto; Bremer, Malcolm N; Edwards, Louise O V; Fabian, Andrew C; Hamer, Stephen; Li, Yuan; Maury, Anaëlle; Russell, Helen R; Quillen, Alice C; Urry, C Megan; Sanders, Jeremy S; Wise, Michael W

2016-06-09

Supermassive black holes in galaxy centres can grow by the accretion of gas, liberating energy that might regulate star formation on galaxy-wide scales. The nature of the gaseous fuel reservoirs that power black hole growth is nevertheless largely unconstrained by observations, and is instead routinely simplified as a smooth, spherical inflow of very hot gas. Recent theory and simulations instead predict that accretion can be dominated by a stochastic, clumpy distribution of very cold molecular clouds--a departure from the 'hot mode' accretion model--although unambiguous observational support for this prediction remains elusive. Here we report observations that reveal a cold, clumpy accretion flow towards a supermassive black hole fuel reservoir in the nucleus of the Abell 2597 Brightest Cluster Galaxy (BCG), a nearby (redshift z = 0.0821) giant elliptical galaxy surrounded by a dense halo of hot plasma. Under the right conditions, thermal instabilities produce a rain of cold clouds that fall towards the galaxy's centre, sustaining star formation amid a kiloparsec-scale molecular nebula that is found at its core. The observations show that these cold clouds also fuel black hole accretion, revealing 'shadows' cast by the molecular clouds as they move inward at about 300 kilometres per second towards the active supermassive black hole, which serves as a bright backlight. Corroborating evidence from prior observations of warmer atomic gas at extremely high spatial resolution, along with simple arguments based on geometry and probability, indicate that these clouds are within the innermost hundred parsecs of the black hole, and falling closer towards it.

Electron Cloud Simulations of a Proton Storage Ring Using Cold Proton Bunches

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sato, Y.; Holmes, Jeffrey A.; Lee, S.Y.; Macek, R.

2008-01-01

Using the ORBIT code we study the sensitivity of electron cloud properties with respect to different proton beam profiles, the secondary electron yield (SEY) parameter, and the proton loss rate. Our model uses a cold proton bunch to generate primary electrons and electromagnetic field for electron cloud dynamics. We study the dependence of the prompt and swept electron signals vs the bunch charge and the recovery of electron clouds after sweeping on the beam loss rate and the SEY. The simulation results are compared with the experimental data measured at the proton storage ring at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Our simulations indicate that the fractional proton loss rate in the field-free straight section may be an exponential function of proton beam charge and may also be lower than the averaged fractional proton loss rate over the whole ring.

Bichromatic electromagnetically induced transparency in cold rubidium atoms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, J.; Jiang, K.J.; Zhan, M.S.; Zhu Yifu

2003-01-01

In a three-level atomic system coupled by two equal-amplitude laser fields with a frequency separation 2δ, a weak probe field exhibits a multiple-peaked absorption spectrum with a constant peak separation δ. The corresponding probe dispersion exhibits steep normal dispersion near the minimum absorption between the multiple absorption peaks, which leads to simultaneous slow group velocities for probe photons at multiple frequencies separated by δ. We report an experimental study in such a bichromatically coupled three-level Λ system in cold 87 Rb atoms. The multiple-peaked probe absorption spectra under various experimental conditions have been observed and compared with the theoretical calculations

Classical and quantum analysis of one-dimensional velocity selection for ultracold atoms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fox, J K; Kim, H A; Mishra, S R; Myrskog, S H; Jofre, A M; Segal, L R; Kim, J B; Steinberg, A M

2005-01-01

We discuss a velocity selection technique for obtaining cold atoms, in which all atoms below a certain energy are spatially selected from the surrounding atom cloud. Velocity selection can in some cases be more efficient than other cooling techniques for the preparation of ultracold atom clouds in one dimension. With quantum mechanical and classical simulations and theory we present a scheme using a dipole force barrier to select the coldest atoms from a magnetically trapped atom cloud. The dipole and magnetic potentials create a local minimum which traps the coldest atoms. A unique advantage of this technique is the sharp cut-off in the velocity distribution of the sample of selected atoms. Such a non-thermal distribution should prove useful for a variety of experiments, including proposed studies of atomic tunnelling and scattering from quantum potentials. We show that when the rms size of the atom cloud is smaller than the local minimum in which the selected atoms are trapped, the velocity selection technique can be more efficient in one dimension than some common techniques such as evaporative cooling. For example, one simulation shows nearly 6% of the atoms retained at a temperature 100 times lower than the starting condition

Generalized Rashba-Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling for cold atoms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Juzeliunas, Gediminas; Ruseckas, Julius; Dalibard, Jean

2010-01-01

We study the possibility for generating a new type of spin-orbit coupling for the center-of-mass motion of cold atoms, using laser beams that resonantly couple N atomic internal ground states to an extra state. After a general analysis of the scheme, we concentrate on the tetrapod setup (N=4) where the atomic state can be described by a three-component spinor, evolving under the action of a Rashba-Dresselhaus-type spin-orbit coupling for a spin 1 particle. We illustrate a consequence of this coupling by studying the negative refraction of atoms at a potential step and show that the amplitude of the refracted beam is significantly increased in comparison to the known case of spin 1/2 Rashba-Dresselhaus coupling. Finally, we explore a possible implementation of this tetrapod setup, using stimulated Raman couplings between Zeeman sublevels of the ground state of alkali-metal atoms.

A Molecular Dynamics of Cold Neutral Atoms Captured by Carbon Nanotube Under Electric Field and Thermal Effect as a Selective Atoms Sensor.

Science.gov (United States)

Santos, Elson C; Neto, Abel F G; Maneschy, Carlos E; Chen, James; Ramalho, Teodorico C; Neto, A M J C

2015-05-01

Here we analyzed several physical behaviors through computational simulation of systems consisting of a zig-zag type carbon nanotube and relaxed cold atoms (Rb, Au, Si and Ar). These atoms were chosen due to their different chemical properties. The atoms individually were relaxed on the outside of the nanotube during the simulations. Each system was found under the influence of a uniform electric field parallel to the carbon nanotube and under the thermal effect of the initial temperature at the simulations. Because of the electric field, the cold atoms orbited the carbon nanotube while increasing the initial temperature allowed the variation of the radius of the orbiting atoms. We calculated the following quantities: kinetic energy, potential energy and total energy and in situ temperature, molar entropy variation and average radius of the orbit of the atoms. Our data suggest that only the action of electric field is enough to generate the attractive potential and this system could be used as a selected atoms sensor.

Determination of trace elements in atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Study of the atomic cloud and atom generator. Application to the measurement of physical quantities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hircq, Bernard.

1976-06-01

After the description of the absorption cell the principal parameters are studied: argon flow rate in the cell, atomization temperature, cell geometry etc. The technique is applied to the measurement of impurities in uranium after deposition on a carbon filament. The atomic concentration distribution and the dimensions of the cloud generated by a graphite filament are then studied along the axes parallel to the filament and as a function of the various experimental parameters. From the determination of the cloud elevation rate it is possible to calculate the absolute atomic concentration, which allows certain physical quantities to be evaluated: oscillator force, Lorentz Widening, diffusion coefficient... The size and penetration depth of the deposit are then determined with an ionic microprobe and the distribution with a Castaing microprobe. The chemical transformations undergone by the uranium matrix during the heat cycles are studied by the X-ray method [fr

Cold-atom gravimetry with a Bose-Einstein condensate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Debs, J. E.; Altin, P. A.; Barter, T. H.; Doering, D.; Dennis, G. R.; McDonald, G.; Close, J. D.; Robins, N. P.; Anderson, R. P.

2011-01-01

We present a cold-atom gravimeter operating with a sample of Bose-condensed 87 Rb atoms. Using a Mach-Zehnder configuration with the two arms separated by a two-photon Bragg transition, we observe interference fringes with a visibility of (83±6)% at T=3 ms. We exploit large momentum transfer (LMT) beam splitting to increase the enclosed space-time area of the interferometer using higher-order Bragg transitions and Bloch oscillations. We also compare fringes from condensed and thermal sources and observe a reduced visibility of (58±4)% for the thermal source. We suspect the loss in visibility is caused partly by wave-front aberrations, to which the thermal source is more susceptible due to its larger transverse momentum spread. Finally, we discuss briefly the potential advantages of using a coherent atomic source for LMT, and we present a simple mean-field model to demonstrate that with currently available experimental parameters, interaction-induced dephasing will not limit the sensitivity of inertial measurements using freely falling, coherent atomic sources.

Decoherence for a quantum memory in an ensemble of cold atoms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Riedmatten, H. de; Chou, C.W.; Felinto, D.; Plyakov, S.; Kimble, H.J.

2005-01-01

Full text: Atomic ensembles are a promising candidate for various applications in quantum information science. In particular, Duan, Lukin Cirac and Zoller (DLCZ) have proposed a protocol allowing scalable long distance quantum communication using atomic ensembles and linear optics. The DLCZ protocol is a probabilistic scheme based upon the entanglement of atomic ensembles via the detection of single photons. The detection of a single photon in the forward scattered direction is uniquely correlated with a collective atomic excitation in the sample, due to a collective enhancement effect. This collective excitation can be in principle stored for a time up to the coherence time of the system, and then released by conversion into a photon. This quantum memory is mandatory for the DLCZ scheme to be scalable. Hence, the coherence time is a critical parameter for this system. Our initial steps towards the realization of the DLCZ protocol have been by way of observations of non-classical correlations between the emitted single photons and the collective atomic excitations. However, in all the experiments reported so far using cold atomic ensembles, the coherence times were extremely short (of the order of 100 ns), thus preventing to take advantage of the quantum memory. In this contribution we explore the cause of this rather fast decoherence process and present an experimental scheme to overcome this problem. First results show an improvement of more than one order of magnitude in the coherence time. Future work includes the entanglement of two spatially separated cold atomic ensembles. (author)

Effective field theory for cold atoms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hammer, H.-W.

2005-01-01

Effective Field Theory (EFT) provides a powerful framework that exploits a separation of scales in physical systems to perform systematically improvable, model-independent calculations. Particularly interesting are few-body systems with short-range interactions and large two-body scattering length. Such systems display remarkable universal features. In systems with more than two particles, a three-body force with limit cycle behavior is required for consistent renormalization already at leading order. We will review this EFT and some of its applications in the physics of cold atoms. Recent extensions of this approach to the four-body system and N-boson droplets in two spatial dimensions will also be discussed

Non-destructive Faraday imaging of dynamically controlled ultracold atoms

Science.gov (United States)

Gajdacz, Miroslav; Pedersen, Poul; Mørch, Troels; Hilliard, Andrew; Arlt, Jan; Sherson, Jacob

2013-05-01

We investigate non-destructive measurements of ultra-cold atomic clouds based on dark field imaging of spatially resolved Faraday rotation. In particular, we pursue applications to dynamically controlled ultracold atoms. The dependence of the Faraday signal on laser detuning, atomic density and temperature is characterized in a detailed comparison with theory. In particular the destructivity per measurement is extremely low and we illustrate this by imaging the same cloud up to 2000 times. The technique is applied to avoid the effect of shot-to-shot fluctuations in atom number calibration. Adding dynamic changes to system parameters, we demonstrate single-run vector magnetic field imaging and single-run spatial imaging of the system's dynamic behavior. The method can be implemented particularly easily in standard imaging systems by the insertion of an extra polarizing beam splitter. These results are steps towards quantum state engineering using feedback control of ultracold atoms.

Theory of a Quantum Scanning Microscope for Cold Atoms.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, D; Laflamme, C; Vasilyev, D V; Baranov, M A; Zoller, P

2018-03-30

We propose and analyze a scanning microscope to monitor "live" the quantum dynamics of cold atoms in a cavity QED setup. The microscope measures the atomic density with subwavelength resolution via dispersive couplings to a cavity and homodyne detection within the framework of continuous measurement theory. We analyze two modes of operation. First, for a fixed focal point the microscope records the wave packet dynamics of atoms with time resolution set by the cavity lifetime. Second, a spatial scan of the microscope acts to map out the spatial density of stationary quantum states. Remarkably, in the latter case, for a good cavity limit, the microscope becomes an effective quantum nondemolition device, such that the spatial distribution of motional eigenstates can be measured backaction free in single scans, as an emergent quantum nondemolition measurement.

Many-body physics using cold atoms

Science.gov (United States)

Sundar, Bhuvanesh

Advances in experiments on dilute ultracold atomic gases have given us access to highly tunable quantum systems. In particular, there have been substantial improvements in achieving different kinds of interaction between atoms. As a result, utracold atomic gases oer an ideal platform to simulate many-body phenomena in condensed matter physics, and engineer other novel phenomena that are a result of the exotic interactions produced between atoms. In this dissertation, I present a series of studies that explore the physics of dilute ultracold atomic gases in different settings. In each setting, I explore a different form of the inter-particle interaction. Motivated by experiments which induce artificial spin-orbit coupling for cold fermions, I explore this system in my first project. In this project, I propose a method to perform universal quantum computation using the excitations of interacting spin-orbit coupled fermions, in which effective p-wave interactions lead to the formation of a topological superfluid. Motivated by experiments which explore the physics of exotic interactions between atoms trapped inside optical cavities, I explore this system in a second project. I calculate the phase diagram of lattice bosons trapped in an optical cavity, where the cavity modes mediates effective global range checkerboard interactions between the atoms. I compare this phase diagram with one that was recently measured experimentally. In two other projects, I explore quantum simulation of condensed matter phenomena due to spin-dependent interactions between particles. I propose a method to produce tunable spin-dependent interactions between atoms, using an optical Feshbach resonance. In one project, I use these spin-dependent interactions in an ultracold Bose-Fermi system, and propose a method to produce the Kondo model. I propose an experiment to directly observe the Kondo effect in this system. In another project, I propose using lattice bosons with a large hyperfine spin

Fundamental symmetries studies with cold trapped francium atoms at ISAC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gwinner, G.; Gomez, E.; Orozco, L. A.; Perez Galvan, A.; Sheng, D.; Zhao, Y.; Sprouse, G. D.; Behr, J. A.; Jackson, K. P.; Pearson, M. R.; Aubin, S.; Flambaum, V. V.

2006-01-01

Francium combines a heavy nucleus (Z = 87) with the simple atomic structure of alkalis and is a very promising candidate for precision tests of fundamental symmetries such as atomic parity non-conservation measurements. Fr has no stable isotopes, and the ISAC radioactive beam facility at TRIUMF, equipped with an actinide target, promises to provide record quantities of Fr atoms, up to 10 10 /s for some isotopes. We discuss our plans for a Fr on-line laser trapping facility at ISAC and experiments with samples of cold Fr atoms. We outline our plans for a measurement of the nuclear anapole moment - a parity non-conserving, time-reversal conserving moment that arises from weak interactions between nucleons - in a chain of Fr isotopes. Its measurement is a unique probe for neutral weak interactions inside the nucleus.

Cold atomic gas in the inner Galaxy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garwood, R.W.; Dickey, J.M.

1989-01-01

A new set of 21 cm H I absorption spectra were obtained toward 21 compact continuum sources in the Galactic plane is presented. The 21 cm line velocity-averaged absorption coefficient as a function of Galactocentric distance is calculated. The result for distances within 2 kpc of the sun agrees with the local value found from absorption toward pulsars of 5-7 km/s/kpc. Overall, the absorption coefficient decreases to about half of its local value inside a Galactocentric radius of about 4 kpc. This decrease is shown to be primarily due to an increase in the mean line-of-sight distance between absorbing atomic clouds. Thus, the cool phase of the atomic gas is less abundant in the inner Galaxy than at the solar circle. The absorption spectra are similar in appearance to existing (C-12)O spectra. The spectral regions which show H I absorption also show CO emission. 43 references

INFRARED DARK CLOUDS IN THE SMALL MAGELLANIC CLOUD?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Min-Young; Stanimirovic, Snezana; Devine, Kathryn E.; Ott, Juergen; Van Loon, Jacco Th.; Oliveira, Joana M.; Bolatto, Alberto D.; Jones, Paul A.; Cunningham, Maria R.

2009-01-01

We have applied the unsharp-masking technique to the 24 μm image of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), obtained with the Spitzer Space Telescope, to search for high-extinction regions. This technique has been used to locate very dense and cold interstellar clouds in the Galaxy, particularly infrared dark clouds (IRDCs). Fifty-five candidate regions of high extinction, namely, high-contrast regions (HCRs), have been identified from the generated decremental contrast image of the SMC. Most HCRs are located in the southern bar region and mainly distributed in the outskirts of CO clouds, but most likely contain a significant amount of H 2 . HCRs have a peak contrast at 24 μm of 2%-2.5% and a size of 8-14 pc. This corresponds to the size of typical and large Galactic IRDCs, but Galactic IRDCs are 2-3 times darker at 24 μm than our HCRs. To constrain the physical properties of the HCRs, we have performed NH 3 , N 2 H + , HNC, HCO + , and HCN observations toward one of the HCRs, HCR LIRS36-east, using the Australia Telescope Compact Array and the Mopra single-dish radio telescope. We did not detect any molecular line emission, however, our upper limits to the column densities of molecular species suggest that HCRs are most likely moderately dense with n ∼ 10 3 cm -3 . This volume density is in agreement with predictions for the cool atomic phase in low-metallicity environments. We suggest that HCRs may be tracing clouds at the transition from atomic to molecule-dominated medium, and could be a powerful way to study early stages of gas condensation in low-metallicity galaxies. Alternatively, if made up of dense molecular clumps <0.5 pc in size, HCRs could be counterparts of Galactic IRDCs, and/or regions with highly unusual abundance of very small dust grains.

Cold atoms as a coolant for levitated optomechanical systems

Science.gov (United States)

Ranjit, Gambhir; Montoya, Cris; Geraci, Andrew A.

2015-01-01

Optically trapped dielectric objects are well suited for reaching the quantum regime of their center-of-mass motion in an ultrahigh-vacuum environment. We show that ground-state cooling of an optically trapped nanosphere is achievable when starting at room temperature, by sympathetic cooling of a cold-atomic gas optically coupled to the nanoparticle. Unlike cavity cooling in the resolved-sideband limit, this system requires only a modest cavity finesse and it allows the cooling to be turned off, permitting subsequent observation of strongly coupled dynamics between the atoms and sphere. Nanospheres cooled to their quantum ground state could have applications in quantum information science or in precision sensing.

Arbitrarily shaped high-coherence electron bunches from cold atoms

Science.gov (United States)

McCulloch, A. J.; Sheludko, D. V.; Saliba, S. D.; Bell, S. C.; Junker, M.; Nugent, K. A.; Scholten, R. E.

2011-10-01

Ultrafast electron diffractive imaging of nanoscale objects such as biological molecules and defects in solid-state devices provides crucial information on structure and dynamic processes: for example, determination of the form and function of membrane proteins, vital for many key goals in modern biological science, including rational drug design. High brightness and high coherence are required to achieve the necessary spatial and temporal resolution, but have been limited by the thermal nature of conventional electron sources and by divergence due to repulsive interactions between the electrons, known as the Coulomb explosion. It has been shown that, if the electrons are shaped into ellipsoidal bunches with uniform density, the Coulomb explosion can be reversed using conventional optics, to deliver the maximum possible brightness at the target. Here we demonstrate arbitrary and real-time control of the shape of cold electron bunches extracted from laser-cooled atoms. The ability to dynamically shape the electron source itself and to observe this shape in the propagated electron bunch provides a remarkable experimental demonstration of the intrinsically high spatial coherence of a cold-atom electron source, and the potential for alleviation of electron-source brightness limitations due to Coulomb explosion.

Quantum control of ultra-cold atoms: uncovering a novel connection between two paradigms of quantum nonlinear dynamics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wang, Jiao; Mouritzen, Anders Sørrig; Gong, Jiangbin

2009-01-01

Controlling the translational motion of cold atoms using optical lattice potentials is of both theoretical and experimental interest. By designing two on-resonance time sequences of kicking optical lattice potentials, a novel connection between two paradigms of nonlinear mapping systems, i.e. the...... sequences of control fields. Extensions of this study are also discussed. The results are intended to open up a new generation of cold-atom experiments of quantum nonlinear dynamics.......Controlling the translational motion of cold atoms using optical lattice potentials is of both theoretical and experimental interest. By designing two on-resonance time sequences of kicking optical lattice potentials, a novel connection between two paradigms of nonlinear mapping systems, i...

Water and complex organic chemistry in the cold dark cloud Barnard 5: Observations and Models

Science.gov (United States)

Wirström, Eva; Charnley, Steven B.; Taquet, Vianney; Persson, Carina M.

2015-08-01

Studies of complex organic molecule (COM) formation have traditionally been focused on hot cores in regions of massive star formation, where chemistry is driven by the elevated temperatures - evaporating ices and allowing for endothermic reactions in the gas-phase. As more sensitive instruments have become available, the types of objects known to harbour COMs like acetaldehyde (CH3CHO), dimethyl ether (CH3OCH3), methyl formate (CH3OCHO), and ketene (CH2CO) have expanded to include low mass protostars and, recently, even pre-stellar cores. We here report on the first in a new category of objects harbouring COMs: the cold dark cloud Barnard 5 where non-thermal ice desorption induce complex organic chemistry entirely unrelated to local star-formation.Methanol, which only forms efficiently on the surfaces of dust grains, provide evidence of efficient non-thermal desorption of ices in the form of prominent emission peaks offset from protostellar activity and high density tracers in cold molecular clouds. A study with Herschel targeting such methanol emission peaks resulted in the first ever detection of gas-phase water offset from protostellar activity in a dark cloud, at the so called methanol hotspot in Barnard 5.To model the effect a transient injection of ices into the gas-phase has on the chemistry of a cold, dark cloud we have included gas-grain interactions in an existing gas-phase chemical model and connected it to a chemical reaction network updated and expanded to include the formation and destruction paths of the most common COMs. Results from this model will be presented.Ground-based follow-up studies toward the methanol hotspot in B5 have resulted in the detection of a number of COMs, including CH2CO, CH3CHO, CH3OCH3, and CH3OCHO, as well as deuterated methanol (CH2DOH). Observations have also confirmed that COM emission is extended and not localised to a core structure. The implications of these observational and theoretical studies of B5 will be discussed

Photoionization and cold collision studies using trapped atoms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gould, P.L.

1996-01-01

The authors have used laser cooling and trapping techniques to investigate photoionization and cold collisions. With laser-trapped Rb, they have measured the photoionization cross section from the first excited (5P) level by observing the photoionization-induced loss rate of neutral atoms from the trap. This technique has the advantage that it directly measures the photoionization rate per atom. Knowing the ionizing laser intensity and the excited-state fraction, the measured loss rate gives the absolute cross section. Using this technique, the Rb 5P photoionization cross section at ∼400 nm has been determined with an uncertainty of 9%. The authors are currently attempting to extend this method to the 5D level. Using time-ordered pulses of diode-laser light (similar to the STIRAP technique), they have performed very efficient two-photon excitation of trapped Rb atoms to 5D. Finally, they will present results from a recent collaboration which combines measurements form conventional molecular spectroscopy (single photon and double resonance) with photoassociation collisions of ultracold Na atoms to yield a precise (≤1 ppm) value for the dissociation energy of the X Σ g+ ground state of the Na 2 molecule

Dynamics and Thermodynamics of Many Particle Cold Atom Systems

Science.gov (United States)

2016-05-05

simulate their dynamics far from equilibrium . It is likely that these ideas will find many applications in many areas of physics, quantum chemistry and...focus of this proposal was theoretical research on various non- equilibrium phenomena in isolated quantum systems and applications to experimental setups...theoretical research on various non- equilibrium phenomena in isolated quantum systems and applications to experimental setups largely to cold atoms

Dimensional crossover and cold-atom realization of topological Mott insulators

Science.gov (United States)

Scheurer, Mathias S.; Rachel, Stephan; Orth, Peter P.

2015-02-01

Interacting cold-atomic gases in optical lattices offer an experimental approach to outstanding problems of many body physics. One important example is the interplay of interaction and topology which promises to generate a variety of exotic phases such as the fractionalized Chern insulator or the topological Mott insulator. Both theoretically understanding these states of matter and finding suitable systems that host them have proven to be challenging problems. Here we propose a cold-atom setup where Hubbard on-site interactions give rise to spin liquid-like phases: weak and strong topological Mott insulators. They represent the celebrated paradigm of an interacting and topological quantum state with fractionalized spinon excitations that inherit the topology of the non-interacting system. Our proposal shall help to pave the way for a controlled experimental investigation of this exotic state of matter in optical lattices. Furthermore, it allows for the investigation of a dimensional crossover from a two-dimensional quantum spin Hall insulating phase to a three-dimensional strong topological insulator by tuning the hopping between the layers.

Dissipative Double-Well Potential for Cold Atoms: Kramers Rate and Stochastic Resonance.

Science.gov (United States)

Stroescu, Ion; Hume, David B; Oberthaler, Markus K

2016-12-09

We experimentally study particle exchange in a dissipative double-well potential using laser-cooled atoms in a hybrid trap. We measure the particle hopping rate as a function of barrier height, temperature, and atom number. Single-particle resolution allows us to measure rates over more than 4 orders of magnitude and distinguish the effects of loss and hopping. Deviations from the Arrhenius-law scaling at high barrier heights occur due to cold collisions between atoms within a well. By driving the system periodically, we characterize the phenomenon of stochastic resonance in the system response.

Tunable atom-light beam splitter using electromagnetically induced transparency

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Xinyu; Wen, Rong; Chen, J. F.

2018-06-01

With electromagnetically induced transmission (EIT), an optical field can be converted into collective atomic excitation and stored in the atomic medium through switching off the strong-coupling field adiabatically. By varying the power of the coupling pulse, we can control the ratio between the transmitted optical field and the stored atomic mode. We use a cloud of cold 85Rb atoms prepared in magneto-optical trap as the experimental platform. Based on a model of EIT dark-state polariton, we consider the real case where the atomic medium has a finite length. The theoretical calculation gives numerical results that agree well with the experimental data. The results show that the ratio can be changed approximately from 0 to 100%, when the maximum power of the coupling pulse (the pulse length is 100 ns) varies from 0 to 20 mW, in the cold atomic ensemble with an optical depth of 40. This process can be used to achieve an atom-light hybrid beam splitter with tunable splitting ratio and thus find potential application in interferometric measurement and quantum information processing.

The atomic hydrogen cloud in the saturnian system

Science.gov (United States)

Tseng, W.-L.; Johnson, R. E.; Ip, W.-H.

2013-09-01

The importance of Titan's H torus shaped by solar radiation pressure and of hydrogen atoms flowing out of Saturn's atmosphere in forming the broad hydrogen cloud in Saturn's magnetosphere is still debated. Since the Saturnian system also contains a water product torus which originates from the Enceladus plumes, the icy ring particles, and the inner icy satellites, as well as Titan's H2 torus, we have carried out a global investigation of the atomic hydrogen cloud taking into account all sources. We show that the velocity and angle distributions of the hot H ejected from Saturn's atmosphere following electron-impact dissociation of H2 are modified by collisions with the ambient atmospheric H2 and H. This in turn affects the morphology of the escaping hydrogen from Saturn, as does the morphology of the ionospheric electron distribution. Although an exact agreement with the Cassini observations is not obtained, our simulations show that H directly escaping from Titan is the dominant contributor in the outer magnetosphere. Of the total number of H observed by Cassini from 1 to 5RS, ∼5.7×1034, our simulations suggest ∼20% is from dissociation in the Enceladus torus, ∼5-10% is from dissociation of H2 in the atmosphere of the main rings, and ∼50% is from Titan's H torus, implying that ∼20% comes from Saturn atmosphere.

Subthermal linewidths in photoassociation spectra of cold alkaline-earth-metal atoms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Machholm, Mette; Julienne, Paul S.; Suominen, Kalle-Antti

2002-01-01

Narrow s-wave features with subthermal widths are predicted for the 1 Π g photoassociation spectra of cold alkaline-earth-metal atoms. The phenomenon is explained by numerical and analytical calculations. These show that only a small subthermal range of collision energies near threshold contributes to the s-wave features that are excited when the atoms are very far apart. The resonances survive thermal averaging, and may be detectable for Ca cooled near the Doppler cooling temperature of the 4 1 P 1 S laser-cooling transition

Optimization of transfer of laser-cooled atom cloud to a quadrupole ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

2014-02-08

Feb 8, 2014 ... Laser Physics Applications Section, Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology,. Indore 452 013 ... Laser cooling; optical molasses; double-MOT; magnetic trapping; phase-space density. PACS Nos 52.55. ... this method, the transfer of laser-cooled atom cloud to magnetic trap is an important step,.

Evaporative cooling of cold atoms in a surface trap

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hammes, M.; Rychtarik, D.; Grimm, R.

2001-01-01

Full text: Trapping cold atom close to a surface is a promising route for attaining a two-dimensional quantum gas. We present our gravito-optical surface trap (LOST), which consists of a horizontal evanescent-wave atom mirror in combination with a blue-detuned hollow beam for transverse confinement. Optical pre-cooling based on inelastic reflections from the evanescent wave provides good starting conditions for subsequent evaporative cooling, which can be realized by ramping down the optical potentials of the trap. Already our preliminary experiments (performed at the MPI fuer Kernphysik in Heidelberg) show a 100-fold increase in phase-space density and temperature reduction to 300 nK. Substantial further improvements can be expected in our greatly improved set-up after the recent transfer of the experiment to Innsbruck. By eliminating heating processes, optimizing the evaporation ramp, polarizing the atoms and by using an additional far red-detuned laser beam we expect to soon reach the conditions of quantum degeneracy and/or two-dimensionality. (author)

Calibrating the HISA temperature: Measuring the temperature of the Riegel-Crutcher cloud

Science.gov (United States)

Dénes, H.; McClure-Griffiths, N. M.; Dickey, J. M.; Dawson, J. R.; Murray, C. E.

2018-06-01

H I self absorption (HISA) clouds are clumps of cold neutral hydrogen (H I) visible in front of warm background gas, which makes them ideal places to study the properties of the cold atomic component of the interstellar medium (ISM). The Riegel-Crutcher (R-C) cloud is the most striking HISA feature in the Galaxy. It is one of the closest HISA clouds to us and is located in the direction of the Galactic Centre, which provides a bright background. High-resolution interferometric measurements have revealed the filamentary structure of this cloud, however it is difficult to accurately determine the temperature and the density of the gas without optical depth measurements. In this paper we present new H I absorption observations with the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) against 46 continuum sources behind the Riegel-Crutcher cloud to directly measure the optical depth of the cloud. We decompose the complex H I absorption spectra into Gaussian components using an automated machine learning algorithm. We find 300 Gaussian components, from which 67 are associated with the R-C cloud (0 temperature and find it to be between 20 and 80 K. Our measurements uncover a temperature gradient across the cloud with spin temperatures decreasing towards positive Galactic latitudes. We also find three new OH absorption lines associated with the cloud, which support the presence of molecular gas.

Atom chips in the real world: the effects of wire corrugation

Science.gov (United States)

Schumm, T.; Estève, J.; Figl, C.; Trebbia, J.-B.; Aussibal, C.; Nguyen, H.; Mailly, D.; Bouchoule, I.; Westbrook, C. I.; Aspect, A.

2005-02-01

We present a detailed model describing the effects of wire corrugation on the trapping potential experienced by a cloud of atoms above a current carrying micro wire. We calculate the distortion of the current distribution due to corrugation and then derive the corresponding roughness in the magnetic field above the wire. Scaling laws are derived for the roughness as a function of height above a ribbon shaped wire. We also present experimental data on micro wire traps using cold atoms which complement some previously published measurements [CITE] and which demonstrate that wire corrugation can satisfactorily explain our observations of atom cloud fragmentation above electroplated gold wires. Finally, we present measurements of the corrugation of new wires fabricated by electron beam lithography and evaporation of gold. These wires appear to be substantially smoother than electroplated wires.

Symmetry breaking in small rotating clouds of trapped ultracold Bose atoms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dagnino, D.; Barberan, N.; Riera, A.; Osterloh, K.; Lewenstein, M.

2007-01-01

We study the signatures of rotational and phase symmetry breaking in small rotating clouds of trapped ultracold Bose atoms by looking at rigorously defined condensate wave function. Rotational symmetry breaking occurs in narrow frequency windows, where energy degeneracy between the lowest energy states of different total angular momentum takes place. This leads to a complex condensate wave function that exhibits vortices clearly seen as holes in the density, as well as characteristic local phase patterns, reflecting the appearance of vorticities. Phase symmetry (or gauge symmetry) breaking, on the other hand, is clearly manifested in the interference of two independent rotating clouds

Self-alignment of a compact large-area atomic Sagnac interferometer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tackmann, G; Berg, P; Schubert, C; Abend, S; Gilowski, M; Ertmer, W; Rasel, E M

2012-01-01

We report on the realization of a compact atomic Mach-Zehnder-type Sagnac interferometer of 13.7 cm length, which covers an area of 19 mm 2 previously reported only for large thermal beam interferometers. According to Sagnac's formula, which holds for both light and atoms, the sensitivity for rotation rates increases linearly with the area enclosed by the interferometer. The use of cold atoms instead of thermal atoms enables miniaturization of Sagnac interferometers without sacrificing large areas. In comparison with thermal beams, slow atoms offer better matching of the initial beam velocity and the velocity with which the matter waves separate. In our case, the area is spanned by a cold atomic beam of 2.79 m s -1 , which is split, deflected and combined by driving a Raman transition between the two hyperfine ground states of 87 Rb in three spatially separated light zones. The use of cold atoms requires a precise angular alignment and high wave front quality of the three independent light zones over the cloud envelope. We present a procedure for mutually aligning the beam splitters at the microradian level by making use of the atom interferometer itself in different configurations. With this method, we currently achieve a sensitivity of 6.1×10 -7 rad s -1 Hz -1/2 . (paper)

Simple atom trap in a conical hollow mirror: Numerical analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, J. A.; Lee, K. I.; Nha, H.; Noh, H. R.; Yoo, S. H.; Jhe, W

1996-01-01

We analyze the trap dynamic in a conical hollow (axicon) mirror system. Atom's trajectory is ring shaped if we move the coil (magnetic field) axis off the mirror axis and if we overlap these two axes trap cloud is ball shaped and it is consistent with experiment. We also make a simple comparison between 6-beam MOT and axicon MOT in the ball shaped case, and it shows that at low velocity limit the axicon MOT and typical 6-beam MOT have nearly same trap properties. The axicon trap may be useful as precooled atom source for many other atomic physics experiments such as cold atomic beam, atom funnel, and atom waveguide.

On-line Incorporation of Cloud Point Extraction in Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometric Determination of Silver

OpenAIRE

DALALI, Nasser; JAVADI, Nasrin; AGRAWAL, Yadvendra KUMAR

2008-01-01

A cloud point extraction method was incorporated into a flow injection system, coupled with flame atomic absorption spectrometry, for determination of trace amounts of silver. The analyte in the aqueous solution was acidified with 0.2 mol L-1 sulfuric acid and complexed with dithizone. The cloud point extraction was performed using the non-ionic surfactant Triton X-114. After obtaining the cloud point, the surfactant-rich phase containing the dithizonate complex was collected in a m...

First-principles many-body theory for ultra-cold atoms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Drummond, Peter D.; Hu Hui; Liu Xiaji

2010-01-01

Recent breakthroughs in the creation of ultra-cold atoms in the laboratory have ushered in unprecedented changes in physical science. These enormous changes in the coldest temperatures available in the laboratory mean that many novel experiments are possible. There is unprecedented control and simplicity in these novel systems, meaning that quantum many-body theory is now facing severe challenges in quantitatively understanding these new results. We discuss some of the new experiments and recently developed theoretical techniques required to predict the results obtained.

Atomic collisions under extreme conditions in space

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Itikawa, Yukikazu

1987-01-01

In space, atoms and molecules are often placed under the extreme conditions which are very difficult to be realized on Earth. For instance, extremely hot and dense plasmas are found in and around various stellar objects (e.g., neutron stars) on one hand and extremely cold and diffuse gases prevail in interstellar space on the other. There is so strong a magnetic field that electron clouds in atoms and molecules are distorted. The study of atomic collisions under the extreme conditions is not only helpful in understanding the astrophysical environment but also reveals new aspects of the physics of atoms and molecules. This paper is an invitation to the study. (References are not exhaustive but only provide a clue with which more details can be found.) (author)

Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Entanglement of Narrowband Photons from Cold Atoms

OpenAIRE

Lee, Jong-Chan; Park, Kwang-Kyoon; Zhao, Tian-Ming; Kim, Yoon-Ho

2016-01-01

Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) entanglement introduced in 1935 deals with two particles that are entangled in their positions and momenta. Here we report the first experimental demonstration of EPR position-momentum entanglement of narrowband photon pairs generated from cold atoms. By using two-photon quantum ghost imaging and ghost interference, we demonstrate explicitly that the narrowband photon pairs violate the separability criterion, confirming EPR entanglement. We further demonstrate co...

Polarization-dependent spectra in the photoassociative ionization of cold atoms in a bright sodium beam

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ramirez-Serrano, Jaime; DeGraffenreid, William; Weiner, John

2002-01-01

We report measurements of cold photoassociative ionization (PAI) spectra obtained from collisions within a slow, bright Na atomic beam. A high-brightness atom flux, obtained by optical cooling and focusing of the atom beam, permits a high degree of alignment and orientation of binary collisions with respect to the laboratory atom-beam axis. The results reveal features of PAI spectra not accessible in conventional magneto-optical trap studies. We take advantage of this high degree of alignment to selectively excite autoionizing doubly excited states of specific symmetry

Optimized coupling of cold atoms into a fiber using a blue-detuned hollow-beam funnel

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Poulin, Jerome; Light, Philip S.; Kashyap, Raman; Luiten, Andre N. [Frequency Standards and Metrology Group, School of Physics, University of Western Australia, Western Australia 6009, Perth (Australia); Department of Engineering Physics, Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3C 3A7 (Canada); Frequency Standards and Metrology, School of Physics, University of Western Australia, Western Australia 6009, Perth (Australia)

2011-11-15

We theoretically investigate the process of coupling cold atoms into the core of a hollow-core photonic-crystal optical fiber using a blue-detuned Laguerre-Gaussian beam. In contrast to the use of a red-detuned Gaussian beam to couple the atoms, the blue-detuned hollow beam can confine cold atoms to the darkest regions of the beam, thereby minimizing shifts in the internal states and making the guide highly robust to heating effects. This single optical beam is used as both a funnel and a guide to maximize the number of atoms into the fiber. In the proposed experiment, Rb atoms are loaded into a magneto-optical trap (MOT) above a vertically oriented optical fiber. We observe a gravito-optical trapping effect for atoms with high orbital momentum around the trap axis, which prevents atoms from coupling to the fiber: these atoms lack the kinetic energy to escape the potential and are thus trapped in the laser funnel indefinitely. We find that by reducing the dipolar force to the point at which the trapping effect just vanishes, it is possible to optimize the coupling of atoms into the fiber. Our simulations predict that by using a low-power (2.5 mW) and far-detuned (300 GHz) Laguerre-Gaussian beam with a 20-{mu}m-radius core hollow fiber, it is possible to couple 11% of the atoms from a MOT 9 mm away from the fiber. When the MOT is positioned farther away, coupling efficiencies over 50% can be achieved with larger core fibers.

Intense source of cold cesium atoms based on a two-dimensional magneto–optical trap with independent axial cooling and pushing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang Jia-Qiang; Wu Chen-Fei; Wang Li-Jun; Yan Xue-Shu; Zhang Jian-Wei

2016-01-01

We report our studies on an intense source of cold cesium atoms based on a two-dimensional (2D) magneto–optical trap (MOT) with independent axial cooling and pushing. The new-designed source, proposed as 2D-HP MOT, uses hollow laser beams for axial cooling and a thin pushing laser beam to extract a cold atomic beam. With the independent pushing beam, the atomic flux can be substantially optimized. The total atomic flux maximum obtained in the 2D-HP MOT is 4.02 × 10 10 atoms/s, increased by 60 percent compared to the traditional 2D + MOT in our experiment. Moreover, with the pushing power 10 μW and detuning 0 Γ , the 2D-HP MOT can generate a rather intense atomic beam with the concomitant light shift suppressed by a factor of 20. The axial velocity distribution of the cold cesium beams centers at 6.8 m/s with an FMHW of about 2.8 m/s. The dependences of the atomic flux on the pushing power and detuning are studied in detail. The experimental results are in good agreement with the theoretical model. (paper)

Detection of cold gas releases in space via low energy neutral atom imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McComas, D.J.; Funsten, H.O.; Moore, K.R.; Scime, E.E.; Thomsen, M.F.

1993-01-01

Low energy neutral atoms (LENAs) are produced in space plasmas by charge exchange between the ambient magnetospheric plasma ions and cold neutral atoms. Under normal conditions these cold neutrals come from the terrestrial geocorona, a shroud of few-eV hydrogen atoms surrounding the Earth. As a consequence of this charge exchange, it has become possible to remotely image many regions of the magnetosphere for the first time utilizing recently developed LENA imaging technology. In addition to the natural hydrogen geocorona, conventional explosions and maneuvering thruster firings can also introduce large amounts of cold gas into the space environment. In this paper the authors examine whether such potentially clandestine activities could also be remotely observed for the first time via LENA imaging. First, they examine the fluxes of LENAs produced in the space environment from a conventional explosion. Then they review the present state of the art in the emerging field of LENA detection and imaging. Recent work has shown that LENAs can be imaged by first converting the neutrals to ions with ultra-thin (10s of angstrom) foils and then electrostatically analyzing these newly created ions to reject the large (> 10 10 cm -2 s -1 ) UV background to which the low energy detectors are sensitive. They conclude that the sensitivities for present LENA imager designs may be just adequate for detecting some man-made releases. With additional improvements in LENA detection capabilities, this technique could become an important new method for monitoring for conventional explosions, as well as other man-made neutral releases, in the space environment

Simulation and detection of massive Dirac fermions with cold atoms in one-dimensional optical lattice

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yu Yafei, E-mail: yfyuks@hotmail.com [Laboratory of Nanophotonic Functional Materials and Devices, LQIT and SIPSE, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006 (China); Shan Chuanjia [Laboratory of Nanophotonic Functional Materials and Devices, LQIT and SIPSE, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006 (China); College of Physics and Electronic Science, Hubei Normal University, Huangshi 435002 (China); Mei Feng; Zhang Zhiming [Laboratory of Nanophotonic Functional Materials and Devices, LQIT and SIPSE, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006 (China)

2012-09-15

We propose a simple but feasible experimental scheme to simulate and detect Dirac fermions with cold atoms trapped in one-dimensional optical lattice. In our scheme, through tuning the laser intensity, the one-dimensional optical lattice can have two sites in each unit cell and the atoms around the low energy behave as massive Dirac fermions. Furthermore, we show that these relativistic quasiparticles can be detected experimentally by using atomic density profile measurements and Bragg scattering.

Exciton induced directed motion of unconstrained atoms in an ultracold gas

Science.gov (United States)

Leonhardt, K.; Wüster, S.; Rost, J. M.

2017-03-01

We demonstrate that through localised Rydberg excitation in a three-dimensional cold atom cloud atomic motion can be rendered directed and nearly confined to a plane, without spatial constraints for the motion of individual atoms. This enables creation and observation of non-adiabatic electronic Rydberg dynamics in atoms accelerated by dipole-dipole interactions under natural conditions. Using the full l = 0, 1 m=0,+/- 1 angular momentum state space, our simulations show that conical intersection crossings are clearly evident, both in atomic position information and excited state spectra of the Rydberg system. Hence, flexible Rydberg aggregates suggest themselves for probing quantum chemical effects in experiments on length scales much inflated as compared to a standard molecular situation.

Cold beam of isotopically pure Yb atoms by deflection using 1D ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Cold atoms [1], with their long measurement times, promise to revolutionize the field of precision measurements. In this respect, laser-cooled Yb constitutes a useful species because its spin-zero ground state obviates the need for a second re-pumping laser, as is required for laser cooling of the more common spin-half ...

Three Dimensional Imaging of Cold Atoms in a Magneto Optical Trap with a Light Field Microscope

Science.gov (United States)

2017-09-14

with a Light Field Microscope Gordon E. Lott Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.afit.edu/etd Part of the Atomic, Molecular and......https://scholar.afit.edu/etd/774 THREE-DIMENSIONAL IMAGING OF COLD ATOMS IN A MAGNETO-OPTICAL TRAP WITH A LIGHT FIELD MICROSCOPE DISSERTATION Gordon E

Theory of the time orbiting potential (TOP) quadrupole magnetic trap for cold atoms

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Minogin, V.G.; Richmond, J.A.; Opat, G.I.

1997-12-31

An analytical theory of the time orbiting potential (TOP) quadrupole magnetic trap for cold atoms is developed. It is shown that the rotating magnetic filed used to create the time-average harmonic potential is responsible for the formation of quasi-energy states of an atom in the trap. It is found that the motion of an atom near the origin of the trap can be represented as consisting of slow motion in the effective potential and fast oscillations with small amplitude. Dipole, quadrupole and higher order atomic transitions between quasi-energy states are shown to be responsible for an additional effective potential for slow atomic motion which is proportional to the fourth power of the atomic co-ordinate. Eigenstates and eigenfunctions are used to calculate the co-ordinate distribution for a single atom. It is concluded that at low temperature the quantum statistical co-ordinate distribution for a single atom exhibits a narrow central peak due to the ground state population, together with relatively broad wings due to the excited state population. (authors). 20 refs., 1 tab., 6 figs.

A Lagrangian Analysis of Cold Cloud Clusters and Their Life Cycles With Satellite Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Esmaili, Rebekah Bradley; Tian, Yudong; Vila, Daniel Alejandro; Kim, Kyu-Myong

2016-01-01

Cloud movement and evolution signify the complex water and energy transport in the atmosphere-ocean-land system. Detecting, clustering, and tracking clouds as semi coherent cluster objects enables study of their evolution which can complement climate model simulations and enhance satellite retrieval algorithms, where there are large gaps between overpasses. Using an area-overlap cluster tracking algorithm, in this study we examine the trajectories, horizontal extent, and brightness temperature variations of millions of individual cloud clusters over their lifespan, from infrared satellite observations at 30-minute, 4-km resolution, for a period of 11 years. We found that the majority of cold clouds were both small and short-lived and that their frequency and location are influenced by El Nino. More importantly, this large sample of individually tracked clouds shows their horizontal size and temperature evolution. Longer lived clusters tended to achieve their temperature and size maturity milestones at different times, while these stages often occurred simultaneously in shorter lived clusters. On average, clusters with this lag also exhibited a greater rainfall contribution than those where minimum temperature and maximum size stages occurred simultaneously. Furthermore, by examining the diurnal cycle of cluster development over Africa and the Indian subcontinent, we observed differences in the local timing of the maximum occurrence at different life cycle stages. Over land there was a strong diurnal peak in the afternoon while over the ocean there was a semi-diurnal peak composed of longer-lived clusters in the early morning hours and shorter-lived clusters in the afternoon. Building on regional specific work, this study provides a long-term, high-resolution, and global survey of object-based cloud characteristics.

Hybrid Systems: Cold Atoms Coupled to Micro Mechanical Oscillators =

Science.gov (United States)

Montoya Monge, Cris A.

Micro mechanical oscillators can serve as probes in precision measurements, as transducers to mediate photon-phonon interactions, and when functionalized with magnetic material, as tools to manipulate spins in quantum systems. This dissertation includes two projects where the interactions between cold atoms and mechanical oscillators are studied. In one of the experiments, we have manipulated the Zeeman state of magnetically trapped Rubidium atoms with a magnetic micro cantilever. The results show a spatially localized effect produced by the cantilever that agrees with Landau-Zener theory. In the future, such a scalable system with highly localized interactions and the potential for single-spin sensitivity could be useful for applications in quantum information science or quantum simulation. In a second experiment, work is in progress to couple a sample of optically trapped Rubidium atoms to a levitated nanosphere via an optical lattice. This coupling enables the cooling of the center-of-mass motion of the nanosphere by laser cooling the atoms. In this system, the atoms are trapped in the optical lattice while the sphere is levitated in a separate vacuum chamber by a single-beam optical tweezer. Theoretical analysis of such a system has determined that cooling the center-of-mass motion of the sphere to its quantum ground state is possible, even when starting at room temperature, due to the excellent environmental decoupling achievable in this setup. Nanospheres cooled to the quantum regime can provide new tests of quantum behavior at mesoscopic scales and have novel applications in precision sensing.

High-flux cold rubidium atomic beam for strongly-coupled cavity QED

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Roy, Basudev [Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata (India); University of Maryland, MD (United States); Scholten, Michael [University of Maryland, MD (United States)

2012-08-15

This paper presents a setup capable of producing a high-flux continuous beam of cold rubidium atoms for cavity quantum electrodynamics experiments in the region of strong coupling. A 2D{sup +} magneto-optical trap (MOT), loaded with rubidium getters in a dry-film-coated vapor cell, fed a secondary moving-molasses MOT (MM-MOT) at a rate greater than 2 x 10{sup 10} atoms/s. The MM-MOT provided a continuous beam with a tunable velocity. This beam was then directed through the waist of a cavity with a length of 280 μm, resulting in a vacuum Rabi splitting of more than ±10 MHz. The presence of a sufficient number of atoms in the cavity mode also enabled splitting in the polarization perpendicular to the input. The cavity was in the strong coupling region, with an atom-photon dipole coupling coefficient g of 7 MHz, a cavity mode decay rate κ of 3 MHz, and a spontaneous emission decay rate γ of 6 MHz.

Deep convective clouds at the tropopause

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. H. Aumann

2011-02-01

Full Text Available Data from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS on the EOS Aqua spacecraft each day show tens of thousands of Cold Clouds (CC in the tropical oceans with 10 μm window channel brightness temperatures colder than 225 K. These clouds represent a mix of cold anvil clouds and Deep Convective Clouds (DCC. This mix can be separated by computing the difference between two channels, a window channel and a channel with strong CO₂ absorption: for some cold clouds this difference is negative, i.e. the spectra for some cold clouds are inverted. We refer to cold clouds with spectra which are more than 2 K inverted as DCCi2. Associated with DCCi2 is a very high rain rate and a local upward displacement of the tropopause, a cold "bulge", which can be seen directly in the brightness temperatures of AIRS and Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU temperature sounding channels in the lower stratosphere. The very high rain rate and the local distortion of the tropopause indicate that DCCi2 objects are associated with severe storms. Significant long-term trends in the statistical properties of DCCi2 could be interesting indicators of climate change. While the analysis of the nature and physical conditions related to DCCi2 requires hyperspectral infrared and microwave data, the identification of DCCi2 requires only one good window channel and one strong CO₂ sounding channel. This suggests that improved identification of severe storms with future advanced geostationary satellites could be accomplished with the addition of one or two narrow band channels.

Gas-grain chemistry in cold interstellar cloud cores with a microscopic Monte Carlo approach to surface chemistry

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Q.; Cuppen, H. M.; Herbst, E.

2007-07-01

Aims:We have recently developed a microscopic Monte Carlo approach to study surface chemistry on interstellar grains and the morphology of ice mantles. The method is designed to eliminate the problems inherent in the rate-equation formalism to surface chemistry. Here we report the first use of this method in a chemical model of cold interstellar cloud cores that includes both gas-phase and surface chemistry. The surface chemical network consists of a small number of diffusive reactions that can produce molecular oxygen, water, carbon dioxide, formaldehyde, methanol and assorted radicals. Methods: The simulation is started by running a gas-phase model including accretion onto grains but no surface chemistry or evaporation. The starting surface consists of either flat or rough olivine. We introduce the surface chemistry of the three species H, O and CO in an iterative manner using our stochastic technique. Under the conditions of the simulation, only atomic hydrogen can evaporate to a significant extent. Although it has little effect on other gas-phase species, the evaporation of atomic hydrogen changes its gas-phase abundance, which in turn changes the flux of atomic hydrogen onto grains. The effect on the surface chemistry is treated until convergence occurs. We neglect all non-thermal desorptive processes. Results: We determine the mantle abundances of assorted molecules as a function of time through 2 × 105 yr. Our method also allows determination of the abundance of each molecule in specific monolayers. The mantle results can be compared with observations of water, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and methanol ices in the sources W33A and Elias 16. Other than a slight underproduction of mantle CO, our results are in very good agreement with observations.

Quantum Phase Transition in a Cold Atomic Spin-Boson Mixture

Science.gov (United States)

Orth, Peter P.; Stanic, Ivan; Le Hur, Karyn

2008-03-01

We theoretically implement a spin array in a tunable bosonic environment using cold bosonic atoms with two (hyperfine) ground states, trapped by different potentials [1]. The first specie lies in a deep optical lattice with tightly confining wells and forms a spin array; spin-up/down corresponds to occupation by one/no atom at each site. The second specie forms a superfluid reservoir. Different species are coupled coherently via laser transitions and collisions. Whereas the laser coupling mimics a transverse field for the spins, the coupling to the reservoir phonons (sound modes) induces a ferromagnetic (Ising) coupling as well as dissipation. This results in a peculiar ferro-paramagnetic quantum phase transition where the effect of dissipation can be studied in a controllable manner. [1] Peter P. Orth, Ivan Stanic, and Karyn Le Hur, arXiv:0711.2309 [cond-mat.other].

Topological Fractional Pumping with Alkaline-Earth-Like Atoms in Synthetic Lattices

Science.gov (United States)

Taddia, Luca; Cornfeld, Eyal; Rossini, Davide; Mazza, Leonardo; Sela, Eran; Fazio, Rosario

2017-06-01

Alkaline-earth(-like) atoms, trapped in optical lattices and in the presence of an external gauge field, can form insulating states at given fractional fillings. We will show that, by exploiting these properties, it is possible to realize a topological fractional pump. Our analysis is based on a many-body adiabatic expansion, on simulations with time-dependent matrix product states, and, for a specific form of atom-atom interaction, on an exactly solvable model of fractional pump. The numerical simulations allow us to consider a realistic setup amenable of an experimental realization. As a further consequence, the measure of the center-of-mass shift of the atomic cloud would constitute the first measurement of a many-body Chern number in a cold-atom experiment.

Determination of Cd in urine by cloud point extraction-tungsten coil atomic absorption spectrometry.

Science.gov (United States)

Donati, George L; Pharr, Kathryn E; Calloway, Clifton P; Nóbrega, Joaquim A; Jones, Bradley T

2008-09-15

Cadmium concentrations in human urine are typically at or below the 1 microgL(-1) level, so only a handful of techniques may be appropriate for this application. These include sophisticated methods such as graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. While tungsten coil atomic absorption spectrometry is a simpler and less expensive technique, its practical detection limits often prohibit the detection of Cd in normal urine samples. In addition, the nature of the urine matrix often necessitates accurate background correction techniques, which would add expense and complexity to the tungsten coil instrument. This manuscript describes a cloud point extraction method that reduces matrix interference while preconcentrating Cd by a factor of 15. Ammonium pyrrolidinedithiocarbamate and Triton X-114 are used as complexing agent and surfactant, respectively, in the extraction procedure. Triton X-114 forms an extractant coacervate surfactant-rich phase that is denser than water, so the aqueous supernatant is easily removed leaving the metal-containing surfactant layer intact. A 25 microL aliquot of this preconcentrated sample is placed directly onto the tungsten coil for analysis. The cloud point extraction procedure allows for simple background correction based either on the measurement of absorption at a nearby wavelength, or measurement of absorption at a time in the atomization step immediately prior to the onset of the Cd signal. Seven human urine samples are analyzed by this technique and the results are compared to those found by the inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry analysis of the same samples performed at a different institution. The limit of detection for Cd in urine is 5 ngL(-1) for cloud point extraction tungsten coil atomic absorption spectrometry. The accuracy of the method is determined with a standard reference material (toxic metals in freeze-dried urine) and the determined values agree with

Large, cold, and unusual molecular cloud in Monoceros

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maddalena, R.J.; Thaddeus, P.; and Columbia University)

1985-01-01

Observations of the J = 1 → 0 rotational transition of CO near the galactic plane in Monoceros (lroughly-equal216 0 ) reveal a molecular cloud with unusually low peak CO temperatures (T/sub R/ -1 ) typical of much warmer clouds. At the assumed distance of 3 kpc, the cloud is large (250 x 100 pc), has a mass of 7-11 x 10 5 M/sub sun/, and is well removed from the galactic midplane (130 pc). Except for a possible H II region, all the signs of star formation usually shown by clouds of comparable mass are missing. The cloud, unlike cloud complexes of similar size, is a single, continuous object that apparently has not been torn apart by star formation. Clouds with such properties are rare in the Galaxy; only one or two similar objects have been found. We discuss the possibility that the cloud is young and not yet forming stars but will evolve into a typical cloud complex once star formation begins

Electromagnetically Induced Absorption (EIA) and a ``Twist'' on Nonlinear Magneto-optical Rotation (NMOR) with Cold Atoms

Science.gov (United States)

Kunz, Paul; Meyer, David; Quraishi, Qudsia

2015-05-01

Within the class of nonlinear optical effects that exhibit sub-natural linewidth features, electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) and nonlinear magneto-optical rotation (NMOR) stand out as having made dramatic impacts on various applications including atomic clocks, magnetometry, and single photon storage. A related effect, known as electromagnetically induced absorption (EIA), has received less attention in the literature. Here, we report on the first observation of EIA in cold atoms using the Hanle configuration, where a single laser beam is used to both pump and probe the atoms while sweeping a magnetic field through zero along the beam direction. We find that, associated with the EIA peak, a ``twist'' appears in the corresponding NMOR signal. A similar twist has been previously noted by Budker et al., in the context of warm vapor optical magnetometry, and was ascribed to optical pumping through nearby hyperfine levels. By studying this feature through numerical simulations and cold atom experiments, thus rendering the hyperfine levels well resolved, we enhance the understanding of the optical pumping mechanism behind it, and elucidate its relation to EIA. Finally, we demonstrate a useful application of these studies through a simple and rapid method for nulling background magnetic fields within our atom chip apparatus.

Cosmic ray processing of N2-containing interstellar ice analogues at dark cloud conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Fedoseev, G.; Scirè, C.; Baratta, G. A.; Palumbo, M. E.

2018-04-01

N2 is believed to lock considerable part of nitrogen elemental budget and, therefore, to be one of the most abundant ice constituent in cold dark clouds. This laboratory-based research utilizes high energetic processing of N2 containing interstellar ice analogues using 200 keV H+ and He+ ions that mimics cosmic ray processing of the interstellar icy grains. It aims to investigate the formation of (iso)cyanates and cyanides in the ice mantles at the conditions typical for cold dark clouds and prestellar cores. Investigation of cosmic ray processing as a chemical trigger mechanism is explained by the high stability of N2 molecules that are chemically inert in most of the atom- and radical-addition reactions and cannot be efficiently dissociated by cosmic ray induced UV-field. Two sets of experiments are performed to closer address solid-state chemistry occurring in two distinct layers of the ice formed at different stages of dark cloud evolution, i.e. `H2O-rich' and `CO-rich' ice layers. Formation of HNCO and OCN- is discussed in all of the performed experiments. Corresponding kinetic curves for HNCO and OCN- are obtained. Furthermore, a feature around 2092 cm-1 assigned to the contributions of 13CO, CN-, and HCN is analysed. The kinetic curves for the combined HCN/CN- abundance are derived. In turn, normalized formation yields are evaluated by interpolation of the obtained results to the low irradiation doses relevant to dark cloud stage. The obtained values can be used to interpret future observations towards cold dark clouds using James Webb Space Telescope.

Two-body loss rates for reactive collisions of cold atoms

Science.gov (United States)

Cop, C.; Walser, R.

2018-01-01

We present an effective two-channel model for reactive collisions of cold atoms. It augments elastic molecular channels with an irreversible, inelastic loss channel. Scattering is studied with the distorted-wave Born approximation and yields general expressions for angular momentum resolved cross sections as well as two-body loss rates. Explicit expressions are obtained for piecewise constant potentials. A pole expansion reveals simple universal shape functions for cross sections and two-body loss rates in agreement with the Wigner threshold laws. This is applied to collisions of metastable 20Ne and 21Ne atoms, which decay primarily through exothermic Penning or associative ionization processes. From a numerical solution of the multichannel Schrödinger equation using the best currently available molecular potentials, we have obtained synthetic scattering data. Using the two-body loss shape functions derived in this paper, we can match these scattering data very well.

Do the Herschel cold clouds in the Galactic halo embody its dark matter?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nieuwenhuizen, Theo M; Heusden, Erik F G van; Liska, Matthew T P

2012-01-01

Recent Herschel/SPIRE (Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver) maps of the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds (SMC, LMC) exhibit, in each, thousands of clouds. Observed at 250 μm, they must be cold, T ∼ 15 K, hence the name ‘Herschel cold clouds’ (HCCs). From the observed rotational velocity profile of the Galaxy and the assumption of spherical symmetry, its mass density is modeled in a form close to that of an isothermal sphere. If the HCCs constitute a certain fraction of it, their angular size distribution has a specified shape. A fit to the data deduced from the SMC/LMC maps supports this and yields 1.7 pc for their average radius. There are so many HCCs that they will make up all the missing Halo mass density if there is spherical symmetry and their average mass is of the order of 10 000M ⊙ . This compares with the Jeans mass of about 40 000M ⊙ and puts forward that the HCCs are, in fact, Jeans clusters, constituting all the Galactic dark matter and many of its missing baryons, a conclusion deduced before from a different field of the sky (Nieuwenhuizen et al 2011 J. Cosmol. 15 6017-29). A preliminary analysis of the intensities yields that the Jeans clusters themselves may consist of some billion MACHOs of a few dozen Earth masses. With a size of dozens of solar radii, they would mostly not lens, but cause occultation of stars in the LMC, SMC and toward the Galactic center, and may thus have been overlooked in microlensing.

Cold atoms in microscopic traps: from wires to chips

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cassettari, D.

2000-05-01

This thesis reports on the experimental demonstration of magnetic guides, traps and beam splitters for neutral atoms using current carrying wires. A straight wire allows to create two basic guide configurations: the magnetic field generated by the wire alone produces a guide where atoms in a strong field seeking state perform orbits around the wire (Kepler guide); by adding an external magnetic field, atoms in a weak field seeking state are guided at the location where the external field and the field generated by the wire cancel out (side guide). Furthermore, bending the wire in various shapes allows to modify the side guide potential and hence to create a large variety of three dimensional traps. A relevant property of these potentials is that higher trapping gradients are obtained by decreasing the current flowing in the wires. As the trap is compressed, it also moves closer to the wire. This feature has allowed us to create microscopic potentials by using thin wires designed on a surface (atom chip) by means of high resolution microfabrication techniques. Wires mounted on a surface have the advantage of being more robust and able to sustain larger currents due to their thermal coupling with the substrate. In our experiment we have developed methods to load these traps and guides with laser cooled atoms. Our first investigations have been performed with free standing wires which we have used to study the Kepler guide, the side guide and a three dimensional Ioffe-Pritchard trap. In the latter we have achieved the trapping parameters required in the experiments with Bose-Einstein condensates with much reduced power consumption. In a second time we have replaced the free standing wires with an atom chip, which we have used to compress the atomic cloud in potentials with trap frequencies above 100 kHz and ground state sizes below 100 nm. Such potentials are especially interesting for quantum information proposals of performing quantum gate operations with controlled

A comparison of ground and satellite observations of cloud cover to saturation pressure differences during a cold air outbreak

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Alliss, R.J.; Raman, S. [North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC (United States)

1996-04-01

The role of clouds in the atmospheric general circulation and the global climate is twofold. First, clouds owe their origin to large-scale dynamical forcing, radiative cooling in the atmosphere, and turbulent transfer at the surface. In addition, they provide one of the most important mechanisms for the vertical redistribution of momentum and sensible and latent heat for the large scale, and they influence the coupling between the atmosphere and the surface as well as the radiative and dynamical-hydrological balance. In existing diagnostic cloudiness parameterization schemes, relative humidity is the most frequently used variable for estimating total cloud amount or stratiform cloud amount. However, the prediction of relative humidity in general circulation models (GCMs) is usually poor. Even for the most comprehensive GCMs, the predicted relative humidity may deviate greatly from that observed, as far as the frequency distribution of relative humidity is concerned. Recently, there has been an increased effort to improve the representation of clouds and cloud-radiation feedback in GCMs, but the verification of cloudiness parameterization schemes remains a severe problem because of the lack of observational data sets. In this study, saturation pressure differences (as opposed to relative humidity) and satellite-derived cloud heights and amounts are compared with ground determinations of cloud cover over the Gulf Stream Locale (GSL) during a cold air outbreak.

Geneva University: Exploring Flatland with cold atoms

CERN Document Server

Université de Genève

2012-01-01

GENEVA UNIVERSITY École de physique Département de physique nucléaire et corspusculaire 24, quai Ernest-Ansermet 1211 Genève 4 Tél.: (022) 379 62 73 Fax: (022) 379 69 92   Lundi 12 mars 2012 17h00 - Ecole de Physique, Auditoire Stueckelberg « Exploring Flatland with cold atoms » Prof. Jean Dalibard Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, CNRS, Physics Department of Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris In his world-famous novel "Flatland" published in 1884, the English writer Edwin Abbott imagined a social life in a two-dimensional world. With a very original use of geometrical notions, E. Abbott produced a unique satire of his own society. Long after Abbott's visionary allegory, Microscopic Physics has provided a practical path for the exploration of low-dimensional worlds. With the realization of quantum wells for example, it has been possible to produce two-dimensional gases of electrons. The prope...

Green method for ultrasensitive determination of Hg in natural waters by electrothermal-atomic absorption spectrometry following sono-induced cold vapor generation and 'in-atomizer trapping'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gil, Sandra; Lavilla, Isela; Bendicho, Carlos

2007-01-01

Sono-induced cold vapor generation (SI-CVG) has been used for the first time in combination with a graphite furnace atomizer for determination of Hg in natural waters by electrothermal-atomic absorption spectrometry after in situ trapping onto a noble metal-pretreated platform (Pd, Pt or Rh) inserted into a graphite tube. The system allows 'in-atomizer trapping' of Hg without the use of conventional reduction reactions based on sodium borohydride or tin chloride in acid medium for cold vapor generation. The sono-induced reaction is accomplished by applying ultrasound irradiation to the sample solution containing Hg(II) in the presence of an organic compound such as formic acid. As this organic acid is partly degraded upon ultrasound irradiation to yield CO, CO 2 , H 2 and H 2 O, the amount of lab wastes is minimized and a green methodology is achieved. For this purpose, experimental variables influencing the generation/trapping process are fully investigated. The limit of detection for a 10 min trapping time and 10 mL sample volume was 0.03 μg L -1 (Integrated absorbance) and the repeatability expressed as relative standard deviation was about 3%. Carbonates and chlorides at 100 mg L -1 level caused a signal depression by 20-30%. The enhanced trapping efficiency observed with the sono-induced cold vapor generation as compared with 'in-atomizer trapping' methods employing chemical vapor generation is discussed. A reaction pathway for SI-CVG is proposed on the basis of the current knowledge for synthesis of noble metal nanoparticles by ultrasound

Calculations of recombination rates for cold 4He atoms from atom-dimer phase shifts and determination of universal scaling functions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shepard, J. R.

2007-01-01

Three-body recombination rates for cold 4 He are calculated with a method which exploits the simple relationship between the imaginary part of the atom-dimer elastic scattering phase shift and the S-matrix for recombination. The elastic phase shifts are computed above breakup threshold by solving a three-body Faddeev equation in momentum space with inputs based on a variety of modern atom-atom potentials. Recombination coefficients for the HFD-B3-FCII potential agree very well with the only previously published results. Since the elastic scattering and recombination processes for 4 He are governed by 'Efimov physics', they depend on universal functions of a scaling variable. The computed recombination coefficients for potentials other than HFD-B3-FCII make it possible to determine these universal functions

Charge breeding investigation in EBIS/T and collision study of ions with cold atoms for HITRAP

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sokolov, Alexey

2010-01-29

Highly charged ions (HCI) at low velocities or at rest are interesting systems for various atomic physics experiments. For investigations on HCI of heavy stable or radioactive nuclides the HITRAP (Highly charged Ion TRAP) decelerator facility has been set up at GSI to deliver cooled beams of HCI at an energy of 5 keV/q. The HCI are produced in a stripper foil at relativistic energies and are decelerated in several steps at ESR storage ring and HITRAP before they are delivered to experimental setups. One of the experiments is the investigation of multi-electron charge exchange in collisions of heavy HCI with cold atoms using novel MOTRIMS technique. Collision experiments on light ions from an ECR ion source colliding with cold atoms in a MOT have been performed and the results are described. An electron beam ion trap (EBIT) has been tested and optimized for commissioning of the HITRAP physics experiments. The process of charge breeding in the EBIT has been successfully studied with gaseous elements and with an alkaline element injected from an external ion source. (orig.)

Charge breeding investigation in EBIS/T and collision study of ions with cold atoms for HITRAP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sokolov, Alexey

2010-01-01

Highly charged ions (HCI) at low velocities or at rest are interesting systems for various atomic physics experiments. For investigations on HCI of heavy stable or radioactive nuclides the HITRAP (Highly charged Ion TRAP) decelerator facility has been set up at GSI to deliver cooled beams of HCI at an energy of 5 keV/q. The HCI are produced in a stripper foil at relativistic energies and are decelerated in several steps at ESR storage ring and HITRAP before they are delivered to experimental setups. One of the experiments is the investigation of multi-electron charge exchange in collisions of heavy HCI with cold atoms using novel MOTRIMS technique. Collision experiments on light ions from an ECR ion source colliding with cold atoms in a MOT have been performed and the results are described. An electron beam ion trap (EBIT) has been tested and optimized for commissioning of the HITRAP physics experiments. The process of charge breeding in the EBIT has been successfully studied with gaseous elements and with an alkaline element injected from an external ion source. (orig.)

Fifteen years of cold matter on the atom chip: promise, realizations, and prospects

Science.gov (United States)

Keil, Mark; Amit, Omer; Zhou, Shuyu; Groswasser, David; Japha, Yonathan; Folman, Ron

2016-01-01

Here we review the field of atom chips in the context of Bose–Einstein Condensates (BEC) as well as cold matter in general. Twenty years after the first realization of the BEC and 15 years after the realization of the atom chip, the latter has been found to enable extraordinary feats: from producing BECs at a rate of several per second, through the realization of matter-wave interferometry, and all the way to novel probing of surfaces and new forces. In addition, technological applications are also being intensively pursued. This review will describe these developments and more, including new ideas which have not yet been realized. PMID:27499585

Nonlinear effects in optical pumping of a cold and slow atomic beam

KAUST Repository

Porfido, N.

2015-10-12

By photoionizing hyperfine (HF) levels of the Cs state 62P3/2 in a slow and cold atom beam, we find how their population depends on the excitation laser power. The long time (around 180μs) spent by the slow atoms inside the resonant laser beam is large enough to enable exploration of a unique atom-light interaction regime heavily affected by time-dependent optical pumping. We demonstrate that, under such conditions, the onset of nonlinear effects in the population dynamics and optical pumping occurs at excitation laser intensities much smaller than the conventional respective saturation values. The evolution of population within the HF structure is calculated by numerical integration of the multilevel optical Bloch equations. The agreement between numerical results and experiment outcomes is excellent. All main features in the experimental findings are explained by the occurrence of “dark” and “bright” resonances leading to power-dependent branching coefficients.

Additive manufacturing of magnetic shielding and ultra-high vacuum flange for cold atom sensors.

Science.gov (United States)

Vovrosh, Jamie; Voulazeris, Georgios; Petrov, Plamen G; Zou, Ji; Gaber, Youssef; Benn, Laura; Woolger, David; Attallah, Moataz M; Boyer, Vincent; Bongs, Kai; Holynski, Michael

2018-01-31

Recent advances in the understanding and control of quantum technologies, such as those based on cold atoms, have resulted in devices with extraordinary metrological performance. To realise this potential outside of a lab environment the size, weight and power consumption need to be reduced. Here we demonstrate the use of laser powder bed fusion, an additive manufacturing technique, as a production technique relevant to the manufacture of quantum sensors. As a demonstration we have constructed two key components using additive manufacturing, namely magnetic shielding and vacuum chambers. The initial prototypes for magnetic shields show shielding factors within a factor of 3 of conventional approaches. The vacuum demonstrator device shows that 3D-printed titanium structures are suitable for use as vacuum chambers, with the test system reaching base pressures of 5 ± 0.5 × 10 -10 mbar. These demonstrations show considerable promise for the use of additive manufacturing for cold atom based quantum technologies, in future enabling improved integrated structures, allowing for the reduction in size, weight and assembly complexity.

Nambu-Goldstone Fermion Mode in Quark-Gluon Plasma and Bose-Fermi Cold Atom System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Satow, D.

2015-01-01

It was suggested that supersymmetry (SUSY) is broken at finite temperature, and as a result of the symmetry breaking, a Nambu-Goldstone fermion (goldstino) related to SUSY breaking appears. Since dispersion relations of quarks and gluons are almost degenerate at extremely high temperature, quasi-zero energy quark excitation was suggested to exist in quark-gluon plasma (QGP), though QCD does not have exact SUSY. On the other hand, in condensed matter system, a setup of cold atom system in which the Hamiltonian has SUSY was proposed, the goldstino was suggested to exist, and the dispersion relation of that mode at zero temperature was obtained recently. In this presentation, we obtain the expressions for the dispersion relation of the goldstino in cold atom system at finite temperature, and compare it with the dispersion of the quasi zero-mode in QGP. Furthermore, we show that the form of the dispersion relation of the goldstino can be understood by using an analogy with a magnon in ferromagnet. We also discuss on how the dispersion relation of the goldstino is reflected in observable quantities in experiment. (author)

A compact micro-wave synthesizer for transportable cold-atom interferometers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lautier, J.; Lours, M.; Landragin, A., E-mail: arnaud.landragin@obspm.fr [LNE-SYRTE, Observatoire de Paris, CNRS, UPMC, 61 avenue de l’Observatoire, 75014 Paris (France)

2014-06-15

We present the realization of a compact micro-wave frequency synthesizer for an atom interferometer based on stimulated Raman transitions, applied to transportable inertial sensing. Our set-up is intended to address the hyperfine transitions of {sup 87}Rb at 6.8 GHz. The prototype is evaluated both in the time and the frequency domain by comparison with state-of-the-art frequency references developed at Laboratoire national de métrologie et d'essais−Systémes de référence temps espace (LNE-SYRTE). In free-running mode, it features a residual phase noise level of −65 dB rad{sup 2} Hz{sup −1} at 10 Hz offset frequency and a white phase noise level in the order of −120 dB rad{sup 2} Hz{sup −1} for Fourier frequencies above 10 kHz. The phase noise effect on the sensitivity of the atomic interferometer is evaluated for diverse values of cycling time, interrogation time, and Raman pulse duration. To our knowledge, the resulting contribution is well below the sensitivity of any demonstrated cold atom inertial sensors based on stimulated Raman transitions. The drastic improvement in terms of size, simplicity, and power consumption paves the way towards field and mobile operations.

Saturation spectroscopy of calcium atomic vapor in hot quartz cells with cold windows

Science.gov (United States)

Vilshanskaya, E. V.; Saakyan, S. A.; Sautenkov, V. A.; Murashkin, D. A.; Zelener, B. B.; Zelener, B. V.

2018-01-01

Saturation spectroscopy of calcium atomic vapor was performed in hot quartz cells with cold windows. The Doppler-free absorption resonances with spectral width near 50 MHz were observed. For these experiments and future applications long-lived quartz cells with buffer gas were designed and made. A cooling laser for calcium magneto-optical trap will be frequency locked to the saturation resonances in the long-lived cells.

Transport and interaction blockade of cold bosonic atoms in a triple-well potential

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schlagheck, P; Malet, F; Cremon, J C; Reimann, S M

2010-01-01

We theoretically investigate the transport properties of cold bosonic atoms in a quasi-one-dimensional (1D) triple-well potential that consists of two large outer wells, which act as microscopic source and drain reservoirs, and a small inner well, which represents a quantum-dot-like scattering region. Bias and gate 'voltages' introduce a time-dependent tilt of the triple-well configuration, and are used to shift the energetic level of the inner well with respect to the outer ones. By means of exact diagonalization considering a total number of six atoms in the triple-well potential, we find diamond-like structures for the occurrence of single-atom transport in the parameter space spanned by the bias and gate voltages. We discuss the analogy with Coulomb blockade in electronic quantum dots, and point out how one can infer the interaction energy in the central well from the distance between the diamonds.

Strong enhancement of Penning ionization for asymmetric atom pairs in cold Rydberg gases: the Tom and Jerry effect

KAUST Repository

Efimov, D K

2016-05-18

We consider Penning ionization of Rydberg atom pairs as an Auger-type process induced by the dipole-dipole interaction and employ semiclassical formulae for dipole transitions to calculate the autoionization width as a function of the principal quantum numbers, n d, n i, of both atoms. While for symmetric atom pairs with the well-known increase of the autoionization width with increasing n 0 is obtained, the result for asymmetric pairs is counterintuitive - for a fixed n i of the ionizing atom of the pair, the autoionization width strongly increases with decreasing n d of the de-excited atom. For H Rydberg atoms this increase reaches two orders of magnitude at the maximum of the n d dependence, and the same type of counterintuitive behavior is exhibited also by Na, Rb and Cs atoms. This is a purely quantum-mechanical effect, which points towards existence of optimal (we call them \\'Tom\\' and \\'Jerry\\' for \\'big\\' and \\'small\\') pairs of Rydberg atoms with respect to autoionization efficiency. Building on the model of population redistribution in cold Rydberg gases proposed in [1], we demonstrate that population evolution following the initial laser excitation of Rydberg atoms in state n 0 would eventually lead to the formation of such Tom-Jerry pairs with which feature autoionization widths that are enhanced by several orders of magnitude compared to that of two atoms in the initial laser-excited state n 0. We also show that in the high-density regime of cold Rydberg gas experiments the ionization rate of Tom-Jerry pairs can be substantially larger than the blackbody radiation-induced photoionization rate. © 2016 IOP Publishing Ltd.

CrossRef Large numbers of cold positronium atoms created in laser-selected Rydberg states using resonant charge exchange

CERN Document Server

McConnell, R; Kolthammer, WS; Richerme, P; Müllers, A; Walz, J; Grzonka, D; Zielinski, M; Fitzakerley, D; George, MC; Hessels, EA; Storry, CH; Weel, M

2016-01-01

Lasers are used to control the production of highly excited positronium atoms (Ps*). The laser light excites Cs atoms to Rydberg states that have a large cross section for resonant charge-exchange collisions with cold trapped positrons. For each trial with 30 million trapped positrons, more than 700 000 of the created Ps* have trajectories near the axis of the apparatus, and are detected using Stark ionization. This number of Ps* is 500 times higher than realized in an earlier proof-of-principle demonstration (2004 Phys. Lett. B 597 257). A second charge exchange of these near-axis Ps* with trapped antiprotons could be used to produce cold antihydrogen, and this antihydrogen production is expected to be increased by a similar factor.

Observation and measurement of interaction-induced dispersive optical nonlinearities in an ensemble of cold rydberg atoms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Parigi, V.; Bimbard, E.; Stanojevic, J.

2012-01-01

We observe and measure dispersive optical nonlinearities in an ensemble of cold Rydberg atoms placed inside an optical cavity. The experimental results are in agreement with a simple model where the optical nonlinearities are due to the progressive appearance of a Rydberg blockaded volume within...

Electrochemical generation of mercury cold vapor and its in-situ trapping in gold-covered graphite tube atomizers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cerveny, Vaclav; Rychlovsky, Petr; Netolicka, Jarmila; Sima, Jan

2007-01-01

The combination of more efficient flow-through electrochemical mercury cold vapor generation with its in-situ trapping in a graphite tube atomizer is described. This coupled technique has been optimized to attain the maximum sensitivity for Hg determination and to minimize the limits of detection and determination. A laboratory constructed thin-layer flow-through cell with a platinum cathode served as the cold vapor generator. Various cathode arrangements with different active surface areas were tested. Automated sampling equipment for the graphite atomizer with an untreated fused silica capillary was used for the introduction of the mercury vapor. The inner surface of the graphite tube was covered with a gold foil placed against the sampling hole. The results attained for the electrochemical mercury cold vapor generation (an absolute limit of detection of 80 pg; peak absorbance, 3σ criterion) were compared with the traditional vapor generation using NaBH 4 as the reducing agent (an absolute limit of detection of 124 pg; peak absorbance, 3σ criterion). The repeatability at the 5 ng ml -1 level was better than 4.1% (RSD) for electrochemical mercury vapor generation and better than 5.6% for the chemical cold vapor generation. The proposed method was applied to the determination the of Hg contents in a certified reference material and in spiked river water samples

Diffuse interstellar clouds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Black, J.H.

1987-01-01

The author defines and discusses the nature of diffuse interstellar clouds. He discusses how they contribute to the general extinction of starlight. The atomic and molecular species that have been identified in the ultraviolet, visible, and near infrared regions of the spectrum of a diffuse cloud are presented. The author illustrates some of the practical considerations that affect absorption line observations of interstellar atoms and molecules. Various aspects of the theoretical description of diffuse clouds required for a full interpretation of the observations are discussed

px+ipy Superfluid from s-Wave Interactions of Fermionic Cold Atoms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Chuanwei; Tewari, Sumanta; Lutchyn, Roman M.; Das Sarma, S.

2008-01-01

Two-dimensional (p x +ip y ) superfluids or superconductors offer a playground for studying intriguing physics such as quantum teleportation, non-Abelian statistics, and topological quantum computation. Creating such a superfluid in cold fermionic atom optical traps using p-wave Feshbach resonance is turning out to be challenging. Here we propose a method to create a p x +ip y superfluid directly from an s-wave interaction making use of a topological Berry phase, which can be artificially generated. We discuss ways to detect the spontaneous Hall mass current, which acts as a diagnostic for the chiral p-wave superfluid

Ionized carbon atomic ISM explorer (ICE)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kulkarni, S.R.; Watson, D.M.

1987-01-01

An Explorer-class satellite for an all-sky survey in the forbidden C II 157.7-micron line at low angular resolution (4 arcmin) and high spectral resolution (0.3 km/s) with complete Galactic velocity coverage (+ or - 300 km/s) is proposed. The C II line is as ubiquitous as the H I 21-cm line and the 2.6-mm line of CO and in addition provides crucial information complementary to the 21-cm and 2.6-mm data. Such a survey will map the large-scale Galactic distribution of the three phases of the atomic component as well as identify photoionized edges of star-forming regions. In particular, it will cleanly separate the cold, diffuse clouds and the intercloud H I along every line of sight. It will map the large-scale distribution of the warm, ionized medium, as well as the pressure in diffuse clouds. 15 references

Preparation of cold Mg+ion clouds for sympathetic cooling of highly charged ions at SPECTRAP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cazan, Radu Mircea

2012-02-01

The bound electrons in hydrogen-like or lithium-like heavy ions experience extremely strong electric and magnetic fields in the surrounding of the nucleus. Laser spectroscopy of the ground-state hyperfine splitting in the lead region provides a sensitive tool to test strong-field quantum electro dynamics (QED), especially in the magnetic sector. Previous measurements on hydrogen-like systems performed in an electron-beam ion trap (EBIT) or at the experimental storage ring (ESR) were experimentally limited in accuracy due to statistics, the large Doppler broadening and the ion energy. The full potential of the QED test can only be exploited if measurements for hydrogen- and lithium-like ions are performed with accuracy improved by 2-3 orders of magnitude. Therefore, the new Penning trap setup SPECTRAP - dedicated for laser spectroscopy on trapped and cooled highly charged ions - is currently commissioned at GSI Darmstadt. Heavy highly charged ions will be delivered to this trap by the HITRAP facility in the future. SPECTRAP is a cylindrical Penning trap with axial access for external ion injection and radial optical access mounted inside a cold-bore superconducting Helmholtz-type split-coil magnet. To reach the targeted accuracy in laser spectroscopy, an efficient and fast cooling process for the highly charged ions must be employed. This can be realized by sympathetic cooling with a cloud of laser-cooled light ions. Within this thesis work, a laser system and an ion source for the production of such a 24 Mg + ion cloud was developed and commissioned at SPECTRAP. An all-solid-state laser system for the generation of 279.6 nm light was designed and built. It consists of a fiber laser at 1118.5 nm followed by frequency quadrupling using two successive second-harmonic generation stages with actively stabilized ring resonators and nonlinear crystals. The laser system can deliver more than 15 mW of UV laser power under optimal conditions and requires little maintenance

Spectroscopy, Manipulation and Trapping of Neutral Atoms, Molecules, and Other Particles Using Optical Nanofibers: A Review

Science.gov (United States)

Morrissey, Michael J.; Deasy, Kieran; Frawley, Mary; Kumar, Ravi; Prel, Eugen; Russell, Laura; Truong, Viet Giang; Chormaic, Síle Nic

2013-01-01

The use of tapered optical fibers, i.e., optical nanofibers, for spectroscopy and the detection of small numbers of particles, such as neutral atoms or molecules, has been gaining interest in recent years. In this review, we briefly introduce the optical nanofiber, its fabrication, and optical mode propagation within. We discuss recent progress on the integration of optical nanofibers into laser-cooled atom and vapor systems, paying particular attention to spectroscopy, cold atom cloud characterization, and optical trapping schemes. Next, a natural extension of this work to molecules is introduced. Finally, we consider several alternatives to optical nanofibers that display some advantages for specific applications. PMID:23945738

Direct excitation in heavy atom collisions: A propensity rule for charge cloud orientation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andersen, N.; Aarhus Univ.; Nielsen, S.E.; Royal Danish School of Pharmacy, Copenhagen)

1985-01-01

The Massey Criterion prescribes maximum electronic excitation of atoms in heavy particle collisions for collision velocities v where Δε a/ℎv ≅ π. Here Δε is the energy defect and a is the effective interaction length. Experiments with planar symmetry have revealed a preferred way of rotation of the excited charge cloud in this velocity region. We demonstrate by analysis of a simple, yet realistic model why excitation favors states with a specific orientation. A general propensity rule is derived and its validity evaluated for a specific case, the Na-He system. Implications for future experiments are pointed out. In particular, the propensity rule predicts very different collisions behaviors of oppositely oriented atoms, as prepared e.g. by circular polarized laser light. (orig.)

ARECIBO MULTI-EPOCH H I ABSORPTION MEASUREMENTS AGAINST PULSARS: TINY-SCALE ATOMIC STRUCTURE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stanimirovic, S.; Weisberg, J. M.; Pei, Z.; Tuttle, K.; Green, J. T.

2010-01-01

We present results from multi-epoch neutral hydrogen (H I) absorption observations of six bright pulsars with the Arecibo telescope. Moving through the interstellar medium (ISM) with transverse velocities of 10-150 AU yr -1 , these pulsars have swept across 1-200 AU over the course of our experiment, allowing us to probe the existence and properties of the tiny-scale atomic structure (TSAS) in the cold neutral medium (CNM). While most of the observed pulsars show no significant change in their H I absorption spectra, we have identified at least two clear TSAS-induced opacity variations in the direction of B1929+10. These observations require strong spatial inhomogeneities in either the TSAS clouds' physical properties themselves or else in the clouds' galactic distribution. While TSAS is occasionally detected on spatial scales down to 10 AU, it is too rare to be characterized by a spectrum of turbulent CNM fluctuations on scales of 10 1 -10 3 AU, as previously suggested by some work. In the direction of B1929+10, an apparent correlation between TSAS and interstellar clouds inside the warm Local Bubble (LB) indicates that TSAS may be tracing the fragmentation of the LB wall via hydrodynamic instabilities. While similar fragmentation events occur frequently throughout the ISM, the warm medium surrounding these cold cloudlets induces a natural selection effect wherein small TSAS clouds evaporate quickly and are rare, while large clouds survive longer and become a general property of the ISM.

Boson-fermion demixing in a cloud of lithium atoms in a pancake trap

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Akdeniz, Z.; Vignolo, P.; Tosi, M.P.

2004-01-01

We evaluate the equilibrium state of a mixture of 7 Li and 6 Li atoms with repulsive interactions, confined inside a pancake-shaped trap under conditions such that the thickness of the bosonic and fermionic clouds is approaching the values of the s-wave scattering lengths. In this regime the effective couplings depend on the axial confinement and full demixing can become observable by merely squeezing the trap, without enhancing the scattering lengths through recourse to a Feshbach resonance

Dependence of irradiation creep on temperature and atom displacements in 20% cold worked type 316 stainless steel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gilbert, E.R.

1976-04-01

Irradiation creep studies with pressurized tubes of 20 percent cold worked Type 316 stainless steel were conducted in EBR-2. Results showed that as atom displacements are extended above 5 dpa and temperatures are increased above 375 0 C, the irradiation induced creep rate increases with both increasing atom displacements and increasing temperature. The stress exponent for irradiation induced creep remained near unity. Irradiation-induced effective creep strains up to 1.8 percent were observed without specimen failure. 13 figures

Precision polarization measurements of atoms in a far-off-resonance optical dipole trap

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fang, F.; Vieira, D. J.; Zhao, X.

2011-01-01

Precision measurement of atomic and nuclear polarization is an essential step for beta-asymmetry measurement of radioactive atoms. In this paper, we report the polarization measurement of Rb atoms in an yttrium-aluminum-garnet (YAG) far-off-resonance optical dipole trap. We have prepared a cold cloud of polarized Rb atoms in the YAG dipole trap by optical pumping and achieved an initial nuclear polarization of up to 97.2(5)%. The initial atom distribution in different Zeeman levels is measured by using a combination of microwave excitation, laser pushing, and atomic retrap techniques. The nuclear-spin polarization is further purified to 99.2(2)% in 10 s and maintained above 99% because the two-body collision loss rate between atoms in mixed spin states is greater than the one-body trap loss rate. Systematic effects on the nuclear polarization, including the off-resonance Raman scattering, magnetic field gradient, and background gas collisions, are discussed.

Celluloid mushroom clouds: Hollywood and the atomic bomb

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Evans-Karastamatis, J.A.

1993-01-01

This dissertation investigates the development of the imagery associated with atomic technology found in Hollywood film produced and distributed between 1948 and 1964. Based upon a content and thematic analysis of a sample of 90 Hollywood produced films, the research examines the construction of nuclear images, their transformation throughout the fifteen year period, and the specific socio-political context and conditions of production which helped determine their selection. From the early experimentation with the issue, in searching for a profitable way to present atomic subjects, to the development of a science fiction genre which capitalized upon the public's anxiety over uncontrollable transmutational properties of nuclear energy, Hollywood filmmakers chose to perpetuate certain images and ignore others. These films provided the audience with a specific set of representations for constructing a view of atomic technology and all that it entailed. The industry's production practices and economic structure, prevailing ideologies, political pressure, and the social and cultural context helped determine what representations reached the screen. The findings illustrate how texts of popular culture are constructed, as a result of often contradictory determinants which include economic practices, signifying practices, and more general social conflict. Film content consists of texts composed on the basis of stylized conventions and codes, drawing on familiar or latent cultural myths and images. Film content can capitalize upon popular anxieties through use of metaphor and selection of genres. Hollywood selectively incorporated residual themes within the culture to exploit the fears and anxieties of audiences, and to allow a venue for questioning the wisdom of official government agenda. These potentially oppositional sentiments were defused, and governmental criticism and pressure avoided by holding the images within the margins of cold war ideology.

A Simplified Digestion Protocol for the Analysis of Hg in Fish by Cold Vapor Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Kristian, Kathleen E.; Friedbauer, Scott; Kabashi, Donika; Ferencz, Kristen M.; Barajas, Jennifer C.; O'Brien, Kelly

2015-01-01

Analysis of mercury in fish is an interesting problem with the potential to motivate students in chemistry laboratory courses. The recommended method for mercury analysis in fish is cold vapor atomic absorption spectroscopy (CVAAS), which requires homogeneous analyte solutions, typically prepared by acid digestion. Previously published digestion…

BEAM TRANSPORT AND STORAGE WITH COLD NEUTRAL ATOMS AND MOLECULES

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Walstrom, Peter L. [Los Alamos National Laboratory

2012-05-15

A large class of cold neutral atoms and molecules is subject to magnetic field-gradient forces. In the presence of a field, hyperfine atomic states are split into several Zeeman levels. The slopes of these curves vs. field are the effective magnetic moments. By means of optical pumping in a field, Zeeman states of neutral lithium atoms and CaH molecules with effective magnetic moments of nearly {+-} one Bohr magneton can be selected. Particles in Zeeman states for which the energy increases with field are repelled by increasing fields; particles in states for which the energy decreases with field are attracted to increasing fields. For stable magnetic confinement, field-repelled states are required. Neutral-particle velocities in the present study are on the order of tens to hundreds of m/s and the magnetic fields needed for transport and injection are on the order of in the range of 0.01-1T. Many of the general concepts of charged-particle beam transport carry over into neutral particle spin-force optics, but with important differences. In general, the role of bending dipoles in charged particle optics is played by quadrupoles in neutral particle optics; the role of quadrupoles is played by sextupoles. The neutralparticle analog of charge-exchange injection into storage rings is the use of lasers to flip the state of particles from field-seeking to field-repelled. Preliminary tracking results for two neutral atom/molecule storage ring configurations are presented. It was found that orbit instabilities limit the confinment time in a racetrack-shaped ring with discrete magnetic elements with drift spaces between them; stable behavior was observed in a toroidal ring with a continuous sextupole field. An alternative concept using a linear sextupole or octupole channel with solenoids on the ends is presently being considered.

Dimensional crossover and cold-atom realization of gapless and semi-metallic Mott insulating phases

Science.gov (United States)

Orth, Peter P.; Scheurer, Mathias; Rachel, Stephan

2014-03-01

We propose a realistic cold-atom setup which allows for a dimensional crossover from a two-dimensional quantum spin Hall insulating phase to a three-dimensional strong topological insulator phase by simply tuning the hopping between the layers. We further employ cluster slave-rotor mean-field theory to study the effect of additional Hubbard onsite interactions that give rise to various spin liquid-like phases such as gapless and semi-metallic Mott insulating states.

The Atoms for Peace USIS Films: Spreading the Gospel of the "Blessing" of Atomic Energy in the Early Cold War Era

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuka Tsuchiya

2014-08-01

Full Text Available In 1955, the U.S. Information Service (USIS Tokyo produced a thirty-minute documentary film Blessing of Atomic Energy in commemoration of the tenth anniversary of the Atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The film introduced how the Japanese government, researchers, and companies were using radioisotopes offered by the U.S. Argonne National Laboratory for the “peaceful” purposes in agriculture, medicine, hygiene, industry, and disaster prevention. The film also showed the mechanism of atomic power generation, and explained that it was already put into practice in the U.S. and Europe. The images of Japanese people enjoying the “blessing” of the “peaceful” use of atomic energy, ten years after the traumatic experience of A-bombs, were not only shown all over Japan, but also translated into different languages and shown in many countries, including the UK, Finland, Indonesia, Sudan, and Venezuela. The film was part of some fifty educational and documentary films produced for President Eisenhower’s “Atoms for Peace” campaign – a global information dissemination programs on the U.S. leadership in the civilian use of nuclear energy. This paper will explore the roles USIS films played in disseminating information on the “peaceful” use of nuclear energy in the early Cold War era.

Newly detected molecules in dense interstellar clouds

Science.gov (United States)

Irvine, William M.; Avery, L. W.; Friberg, P.; Matthews, H. E.; Ziurys, L. M.

Several new interstellar molecules have been identified including C2S, C3S, C5H, C6H and (probably) HC2CHO in the cold, dark cloud TMC-1; and the discovery of the first interstellar phosphorus-containing molecule, PN, in the Orion "plateau" source. Further results include the observations of 13C3H2 and C3HD, and the first detection of HCOOH (formic acid) in a cold cloud.

HD 62542: Probing the Bare, Dense Core of an Interstellar Cloud

Science.gov (United States)

Welty, Daniel; Sonnentrucker, Paule G.; Rachford, Brian; Snow, Theodore; York, Donald G.

2018-01-01

We discuss the interstellar absorption from many atomic and molecular species seen in high-resolution HST/STIS UV spectra of the moderately reddened B3-5 V star HD 62542 [E(B-V) ~ 0.35; AV ~ 1.2]. This remarkable sight line exhibits both very steep far-UV extinction and a high fraction of hydrogen in molecular form -- with strong absorption from CH, C2, CN, and CO but weak absorption from CH+ and most of the commonly observed diffuse interstellar bands. Most of the material appears to reside in a single narrow velocity component -- thus offering a rare opportunity to probe the relatively dense, primarily molecular core of a single interstellar cloud, with little associated diffuse atomic gas.Detailed analyses of the absorption-line profiles seen in the UV spectra reveal a number of properties of the main diffuse molecular cloud toward HD 62542:1) The depletions of Mg, Si, and Fe are more severe than those seen in any other sight line, but the depletions of Cl and Kr are very mild; the overall pattern of depletions differs somewhat from those derived from larger samples of Galactic sight lines.2) The rotational excitation of H2 and C2 indicates that the gas is fairly cold (Tk = 40-45 K) and moderately dense (nH > 420 cm-3) somewhat higher densities are suggested by the fine-structure excitation of neutral carbon.3) The excitation temperatures characterizing the rotational populations of both 12CO (11.7 K) and 13CO (7.7 K) are higher than those typically found for Galactic diffuse molecular clouds.4) Carbon is primarily singly ionized -- N(C+) > N(CO) > N(C).5) The relative abundances of various trace neutral atomic species reflect the effects of both the steep far-UV extinction and the severe depletions of some elements.6) Differences in line widths for the various atomic and molecular species are suggestive of differences in spatial distribution within the main cloud.Support for this study was provided by NASA, via STScI grant GO-12277.008-A.

The relationships between precipitation, convective cloud and tropical cyclone intensity change

Science.gov (United States)

Ruan, Z.; Wu, Q.

2017-12-01

Using 16 years precipitation, brightness temperature (IR BT) data and tropical cyclone (TC) information, this study explores the relationship between precipitation, convective cloud and tropical cyclone (TC) intensity change in the Western North Pacific Ocean. It is found that TC intensity has positive relation with TC precipitation. TC precipitation increases with increased TC intensity. Based on the different phase of diurnal cycle, convective TC clouds were divided into very cold deep convective clouds (IR BTs<208K) and cold high clouds (208K

Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Entanglement of Narrow-Band Photons from Cold Atoms

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Jong-Chan; Park, Kwang-Kyoon; Zhao, Tian-Ming; Kim, Yoon-Ho

2016-12-01

Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) entanglement introduced in 1935 deals with two particles that are entangled in their positions and momenta. Here we report the first experimental demonstration of EPR position-momentum entanglement of narrow-band photon pairs generated from cold atoms. By using two-photon quantum ghost imaging and ghost interference, we demonstrate explicitly that the narrow-band photon pairs violate the separability criterion, confirming EPR entanglement. We further demonstrate continuous variable EPR steering for positions and momenta of the two photons. Our new source of EPR-entangled narrow-band photons is expected to play an essential role in spatially multiplexed quantum information processing, such as, storage of quantum correlated images, quantum interface involving hyperentangled photons, etc.

Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Entanglement of Narrow-Band Photons from Cold Atoms.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Jong-Chan; Park, Kwang-Kyoon; Zhao, Tian-Ming; Kim, Yoon-Ho

2016-12-16

Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) entanglement introduced in 1935 deals with two particles that are entangled in their positions and momenta. Here we report the first experimental demonstration of EPR position-momentum entanglement of narrow-band photon pairs generated from cold atoms. By using two-photon quantum ghost imaging and ghost interference, we demonstrate explicitly that the narrow-band photon pairs violate the separability criterion, confirming EPR entanglement. We further demonstrate continuous variable EPR steering for positions and momenta of the two photons. Our new source of EPR-entangled narrow-band photons is expected to play an essential role in spatially multiplexed quantum information processing, such as, storage of quantum correlated images, quantum interface involving hyperentangled photons, etc.

Preparation of cold Mg{sup +}ion clouds for sympathetic cooling of highly charged ions at SPECTRAP

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cazan, Radu Mircea

2012-02-15

The bound electrons in hydrogen-like or lithium-like heavy ions experience extremely strong electric and magnetic fields in the surrounding of the nucleus. Laser spectroscopy of the ground-state hyperfine splitting in the lead region provides a sensitive tool to test strong-field quantum electro dynamics (QED), especially in the magnetic sector. Previous measurements on hydrogen-like systems performed in an electron-beam ion trap (EBIT) or at the experimental storage ring (ESR) were experimentally limited in accuracy due to statistics, the large Doppler broadening and the ion energy. The full potential of the QED test can only be exploited if measurements for hydrogen- and lithium-like ions are performed with accuracy improved by 2-3 orders of magnitude. Therefore, the new Penning trap setup SPECTRAP - dedicated for laser spectroscopy on trapped and cooled highly charged ions - is currently commissioned at GSI Darmstadt. Heavy highly charged ions will be delivered to this trap by the HITRAP facility in the future. SPECTRAP is a cylindrical Penning trap with axial access for external ion injection and radial optical access mounted inside a cold-bore superconducting Helmholtz-type split-coil magnet. To reach the targeted accuracy in laser spectroscopy, an efficient and fast cooling process for the highly charged ions must be employed. This can be realized by sympathetic cooling with a cloud of laser-cooled light ions. Within this thesis work, a laser system and an ion source for the production of such a {sup 24}Mg{sup +} ion cloud was developed and commissioned at SPECTRAP. An all-solid-state laser system for the generation of 279.6 nm light was designed and built. It consists of a fiber laser at 1118.5 nm followed by frequency quadrupling using two successive second-harmonic generation stages with actively stabilized ring resonators and nonlinear crystals. The laser system can deliver more than 15 mW of UV laser power under optimal conditions and requires little

Magnetic atom optics: mirrors, guides, traps, and chips for atoms

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hinds, E.A.; Hughes, I.G. [Sussex Centre for Optical and Atomic Physics, University of Sussex, Brighton (United Kingdom)

1999-09-21

For the last decade it has been possible to cool atoms to microkelvin temperatures ({approx}1 cm s{sup -1}) using a variety of optical techniques. Light beams provide the very strong frictional forces required to slow atoms from room temperature ({approx}500 m s{sup -1}). However, once the atoms are cold, the relatively weak conservative forces of static electric and magnetic fields play an important role. In our group we have been studying the interaction of cold rubidium atoms with periodically magnetized data storage media. Here we review the underlying principles of the forces acting on atoms above a suitably magnetized substrate or near current-carrying wires. We also summarize the status of experiments. These structures can be used as smooth or corrugated reflectors for controlling the trajectories of cold atoms. Alternatively, they may be used to confine atoms to a plane, a line, or a dot and in some cases to reach the quantum limit of confinement. Atoms levitated above a magnetized surface can be guided electrostatically by wires deposited on the surface. The flow and interaction of atoms in such a structure may form the basis of a new technology, 'integrated atom optics' which might ultimately be capable of realizing a quantum computer. (author)

A study of the cool gas in the Large Magellanic Cloud. I. Properties of the cool atomic phase - a third H i absorption survey

Science.gov (United States)

Marx-Zimmer, M.; Herbstmeier, U.; Dickey, J. M.; Zimmer, F.; Staveley-Smith, L.; Mebold, U.

2000-02-01

The cool atomic interstellar medium of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) seems to be quite different from that in the Milky Way. In a series of three papers we study the properties of the cool atomic hydrogen in the LMC (Paper I), its relation to molecular clouds using SEST-CO-observations (Paper II) and the cooling mechanism of the atomic gas based on ISO-[\\CII]-investigations (Paper III). In this paper we present the results of a third 21 cm absorption line survey toward the LMC carried out with the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA). 20 compact continuum sources, which are mainly in the direction of the supergiant shell LMC 4, toward the surroundings of 30 Doradus and toward the eastern steep \\HI\\ boundary, have been chosen from the 1.4 GHz snapshot continuum survey of Marx et al. We have identified 20 absorption features toward nine of the 20 sources. The properties of the cool \\HI\\ clouds are investigated and are compared for the different regions of the LMC taking the results of Dickey et al. (survey 2) into account. We find that the cool \\HI\\ gas in the LMC is either unusually abundant compared to the cool atomic phase of the Milky Way or the gas is clearly colder (\\Tc\\ ~ 30 K) than that in our Galaxy (\\Tc\\ ~ 60 K). The properties of atomic clouds toward 30 Doradus and LMC 4 suggest a higher cooling rate in these regions compared to other parts of the LMC, probably due to an enhanced pressure near the shock fronts of LMC 4 and 30 Doradus. The detected cool atomic gas toward the eastern steep \\HI\\ boundary might be the result of a high compression of gas at the leading edge. The Australia Telescope is funded by the Commonwealth of Australia for operation as a National Facility managed by CSIRO.

Strong enhancement of Penning ionization for asymmetric atom pairs in cold Rydberg gases: the Tom and Jerry effect

KAUST Repository

Efimov, D K; Miculis, K; Bezuglov, N N; Ekers, Aigars

2016-01-01

with which feature autoionization widths that are enhanced by several orders of magnitude compared to that of two atoms in the initial laser-excited state n 0. We also show that in the high-density regime of cold Rydberg gas experiments the ionization rate

STE-QUEST—test of the universality of free fall using cold atom interferometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aguilera, D N; Braxmaier, C; Ahlers, H; Ertmer, W; Gaaloul, N; Hartwig, J; Battelier, B; Bertoldi, A; Bouyer, P; Bawamia, A; Bondarescu, R; Bongs, K; Cacciapuoti, L; Gehler, M; Chaloner, C; Chwalla, M; Gerardi, D; Franz, M; Gesa, L; Gürlebeck, N

2014-01-01

The theory of general relativity describes macroscopic phenomena driven by the influence of gravity while quantum mechanics brilliantly accounts for microscopic effects. Despite their tremendous individual success, a complete unification of fundamental interactions is missing and remains one of the most challenging and important quests in modern theoretical physics. The spacetime explorer and quantum equivalence principle space test satellite mission, proposed as a medium-size mission within the Cosmic Vision program of the European Space Agency (ESA), aims for testing general relativity with high precision in two experiments by performing a measurement of the gravitational redshift of the Sun and the Moon by comparing terrestrial clocks, and by performing a test of the universality of free fall of matter waves in the gravitational field of Earth comparing the trajectory of two Bose–Einstein condensates of 85 Rb and 87 Rb. The two ultracold atom clouds are monitored very precisely thanks to techniques of atom interferometry. This allows to reach down to an uncertainty in the Eötvös parameter of at least 2 × 10 −15 . In this paper, we report about the results of the phase A mission study of the atom interferometer instrument covering the description of the main payload elements, the atomic source concept, and the systematic error sources. (paper)

Quantum incommensurate skyrmion crystals and commensurate to in-commensurate transitions in cold atoms and materials with spin-orbit couplings in a Zeeman field

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Fadi; Ye, Jinwu; Liu, Wu-Ming

2017-08-01

In this work, we study strongly interacting spinor atoms in a lattice subject to a two dimensional (2d) anisotropic Rashba type of spin orbital coupling (SOC) and an Zeeman field. We find the interplay between the Zeeman field and the SOC provides a new platform to host rich and novel classes of quantum commensurate and in-commensurate phases, excitations and phase transitions. These commensurate phases include two collinear states at low and high Zeeman field, two co-planar canted states at mirror reflected SOC parameters respectively. Most importantly, there are non-coplanar incommensurate Skyrmion (IC-SkX) crystal phases surrounded by the four commensurate phases. New excitation spectra above all the five phases, especially on the IC-SKX phase are computed. Three different classes of quantum commensurate to in-commensurate transitions from the IC-SKX to its four neighboring commensurate phases are identified. Finite temperature behaviors and transitions are discussed. The critical temperatures of all the phases can be raised above that reachable by current cold atom cooling techniques simply by tuning the number of atoms N per site. In view of recent impressive experimental advances in generating 2d SOC for cold atoms in optical lattices, these new many-body phenomena can be explored in the current and near future cold atom experiments. Applications to various materials such as MnSi, {Fe}}0.5 {Co}}0.5Si, especially the complex incommensurate magnetic ordering in Li2IrO3 are given.

ANGULAR MOMENTUM IN GIANT MOLECULAR CLOUDS. I. THE MILKY WAY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Imara, Nia; Blitz, Leo

2011-01-01

We present a detailed analysis comparing the velocity fields in molecular clouds and the atomic gas that surrounds them in order to address the origin of the gradients. To that end, we present first-moment intensity-weighted velocity maps of the molecular clouds and surrounding atomic gas. The maps are made from high-resolution 13 CO observations and 21 cm observations from the Leiden/Argentine/Bonn Galactic H I Survey. We find that (1) the atomic gas associated with each molecular cloud has a substantial velocity gradient-ranging from 0.02 to 0.07 km s -1 pc -1 -whether or not the molecular cloud itself has a substantial linear gradient. (2) If the gradients in the molecular and atomic gas were due to rotation, this would imply that the molecular clouds have less specific angular momentum than the surrounding H I by a factor of 1-6. (3) Most importantly, the velocity gradient position angles in the molecular and atomic gas are generally widely separated-by as much as 130 deg. in the case of the Rosette molecular cloud. This result argues against the hypothesis that molecular clouds formed by simple top-down collapse from atomic gas.

MODELING THE ATOMIC-TO-MOLECULAR TRANSITION AND CHEMICAL DISTRIBUTIONS OF TURBULENT STAR-FORMING CLOUDS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Offner, Stella S. R. [Department of Astronomy, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511 (United States); Bisbas, Thomas G.; Viti, Serena [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6B (United Kingdom); Bell, Tom A., E-mail: stella.offner@yale.edu [Centro de Astrobiologia (CSIC-INTA), Carretera de Ajalvir, km 4, E-28850 Madrid (Spain)

2013-06-10

We use 3D-PDR, a three-dimensional astrochemistry code for modeling photodissociation regions (PDRs), to post-process hydrodynamic simulations of turbulent, star-forming clouds. We focus on the transition from atomic to molecular gas, with specific attention to the formation and distribution of H, C{sup +}, C, H{sub 2}, and CO. First, we demonstrate that the details of the cloud chemistry and our conclusions are insensitive to the simulation spatial resolution, to the resolution at the cloud edge, and to the ray angular resolution. We then investigate the effect of geometry and simulation parameters on chemical abundances and find weak dependence on cloud morphology as dictated by gravity and turbulent Mach number. For a uniform external radiation field, we find similar distributions to those derived using a one-dimensional PDR code. However, we demonstrate that a three-dimensional treatment is necessary for a spatially varying external field, and we caution against using one-dimensional treatments for non-symmetric problems. We compare our results with the work of Glover et al., who self-consistently followed the time evolution of molecule formation in hydrodynamic simulations using a reduced chemical network. In general, we find good agreement with this in situ approach for C and CO abundances. However, the temperature and H{sub 2} abundances are discrepant in the boundary regions (A{sub v} {<=} 5), which is due to the different number of rays used by the two approaches.

Magnetic trapping of cold bromine atoms.

Science.gov (United States)

Rennick, C J; Lam, J; Doherty, W G; Softley, T P

2014-01-17

Magnetic trapping of bromine atoms at temperatures in the millikelvin regime is demonstrated for the first time. The atoms are produced by photodissociation of Br2 molecules in a molecular beam. The lab-frame velocity of Br atoms is controlled by the wavelength and polarization of the photodissociation laser. Careful selection of the wavelength results in one of the pair of atoms having sufficient velocity to exactly cancel that of the parent molecule, and it remains stationary in the lab frame. A trap is formed at the null point between two opposing neodymium permanent magnets. Dissociation of molecules at the field minimum results in the slowest fraction of photofragments remaining trapped. After the ballistic escape of the fastest atoms, the trapped slow atoms are lost only by elastic collisions with the chamber background gas. The measured loss rate is consistent with estimates of the total cross section for only those collisions transferring sufficient kinetic energy to overcome the trapping potential.

Clean Floquet Time Crystals: Models and Realizations in Cold Atoms

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Biao; Wu, Ying-Hai; Liu, W. Vincent

2018-03-01

Time crystals, a phase showing spontaneous breaking of time-translation symmetry, has been an intriguing subject for systems far away from equilibrium. Recent experiments found such a phase in both the presence and the absence of localization, while in theories localization by disorder is usually assumed a priori. In this work, we point out that time crystals can generally exist in systems without disorder. A series of clean quasi-one-dimensional models under Floquet driving are proposed to demonstrate this unexpected result in principle. Robust time crystalline orders are found in the strongly interacting regime along with the emergent integrals of motion in the dynamical system, which can be characterized by level statistics and the out-of-time-ordered correlators. We propose two cold atom experimental schemes to realize the clean Floquet time crystals, one by making use of dipolar gases and another by synthetic dimensions.

Improved atom number with a dual color magneto—optical trap

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cao Qiang; Luo Xin-Yu; Gao Kui-Yi; Wang Xiao-Rui; Wang Ru-Quan; Chen Dong-Min

2012-01-01

We demonstrate a novel dual color magneto—optical trap (MOT), which uses two sets of overlapping laser beams to cool and trap 87 Rb atoms. The volume of cold cloud in the dual color MOT is strongly dependent on the frequency difference of the laser beams and can be significantly larger than that in the normal MOT with single frequency MOT beams. Our experiment shows that the dual color MOT has the same loading rate as the normal MOT, but much longer loading time, leading to threefold increase in the number of trapped atoms. This indicates that the larger number is caused by reduced light induced loss. The dual color MOT is very useful in experiments where both high vacuum level and large atom number are required, such as single chamber quantum memory and Bose—Einstein condensation (BEC) experiments. Compared to the popular dark spontaneous-force optical trap (dark SPOT) technique, our approach is technically simpler and more suitable to low power laser systems. (rapid communication)

xGASS: total cold gas scaling relations and molecular-to-atomic gas ratios of galaxies in the local Universe

Science.gov (United States)

Catinella, Barbara; Saintonge, Amélie; Janowiecki, Steven; Cortese, Luca; Davé, Romeel; Lemonias, Jenna J.; Cooper, Andrew P.; Schiminovich, David; Hummels, Cameron B.; Fabello, Silvia; Geréb, Katinka; Kilborn, Virginia; Wang, Jing

2018-05-01

We present the extended GALEX Arecibo SDSS Survey (xGASS), a gas fraction-limited census of the atomic hydrogen (H I) gas content of 1179 galaxies selected only by stellar mass (M⋆ = 109-1011.5 M⊙) and redshift (0.01 new Arecibo observations of 208 galaxies, for which we release catalogues and H I spectra. In addition to extending the GASS H I scaling relations by one decade in stellar mass, we quantify total (atomic+molecular) cold gas fractions and molecular-to-atomic gas mass ratios, Rmol, for the subset of 477 galaxies observed with the IRAM 30 m telescope. We find that atomic gas fractions keep increasing with decreasing stellar mass, with no sign of a plateau down to log M⋆/M⊙ = 9. Total gas reservoirs remain H I-dominated across our full stellar mass range, hence total gas fraction scaling relations closely resemble atomic ones, but with a scatter that strongly correlates with Rmol, especially at fixed specific star formation rate. On average, Rmol weakly increases with stellar mass and stellar surface density μ⋆, but individual values vary by almost two orders of magnitude at fixed M⋆ or μ⋆. We show that, for galaxies on the star-forming sequence, variations of Rmol are mostly driven by changes of the H I reservoirs, with a clear dependence on μ⋆. Establishing if galaxy mass or structure plays the most important role in regulating the cold gas content of galaxies requires an accurate separation of bulge and disc components for the study of gas scaling relations.

A comparison of pulsed and continuous atom transfer between two magneto-optical traps

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ram, S. P.; Tiwari, S. K.; Mishra, S. R.

2010-01-01

We present the experimental results for a comparison between pulsed and continuous transfer of cold 87 Rb atoms between a vapor chamber magneto-optical trap (VC-MOT) and an ultra-high vacuum magneto-optical trap (UHV-MOT) when using a resonant push beam. We find that employing repetitive cycles of a pulsed and unfocused push beam on an unsaturated VC-MOT cloud results in a significantly higher number of atoms transferred to the UHV-MOT than the number obtained with a continuous push beam focused on a continuous VC-MOT. In pulsed transfer, we find that both the VC-MOT loading duration and the push beam duration play important roles in the transfer process and govern the number of atoms transferred to the UHV-MOT. The parameters and processes affecting the transfer have been investigated and are discussed.

Optical trapping of cold neutral atoms using a two-color evanescent light field around a carbon nanotube

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nga, Do Thi; Viet, Nguyen Ai; Nga, Dao Thi Thuy; Lan, Nguyen Thi Phuong

2014-01-01

We suggest a new schema of trapping cold atoms using a two-color evanescent light field around a carbon nanotube. The two light fields circularly polarized sending through a carbon nanotube generates an evanescent wave around this nanotube. By evanescent effect, the wave decays away from the nanotube producing a set of trapping minima of the total potential in the transverse plane as a ring around the nanotube. This schema allows capture of atoms to a cylindrical shell around the nanotube. We consider some possible boundary conditions leading to the non-trivial bound state solution. Our result will be compared to some recent trapping models and our previous trapping models.

Optics With Cold Atoms

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Hau, Lene

2004-01-01

.... And to test the novel atom sensor, we have built a moving-molasses magneto-optical trap in a geometry tailor-suited to the nanotube detector geometry, involving construction of a highly stable laser...

Cold Episodes, Their Precursors and Teleconnections in the Central Peruvian Andes (1958-2009)

Science.gov (United States)

Sulca, J. C.; Vuille, M. F.; Trasmonte, G.; Silva, Y.; Takahashi, K.

2014-12-01

The Mantaro valley (MV) is located in the central Peruvian Andes. Occasionally, cold episodes are observed during the austral summer (January-March), which strongly damage crops. However, little is known about the causes and impacts of such cold episodes in the MV. The main goal of this study is thus to characterize cold episodes in the MV and assess their large-scale circulation and teleconnections over South America (SA) during austral summer. To identify cold events in the MV daily minimum temperature for the period 1958-2009 from Huayao station, located within the MV was used. We defined a cold episode as the period when daily minimum temperature drops below the 10-percentile for at least one day. Several gridded reanalysis and satellite products were used to characterize the large-scale circulation, cloud cover and rainfall over SA associated with these events for same period. Cold episodes in the MV are associated with positive OLR anomalies, which extend over much of the central Andes, indicating reduced convective cloud cover during these extremes, but also affirm the large-scale nature of these events. At the same time, northeastern Brazil (NEB) registers negative OLR anomalies, strong convective activity and enhanced cloud cover because displacement of the South Atlantic Convergence Zone (SACZ) toward the northeast of its climatologic position. Further, it is associated with a weakening of the Bolivian High - Nordeste Low (BH-NL) system at upper levels, but also influenced by a low-level migratory high-pressure center develops at 30°S, 50°W; propagating from mid- to low latitudes as part of an extratropical Rossby wave train. In conclusion, cold episodes in the MV appear to be caused by radiative cooling associated with reduced cloudiness, rather than cold air advection. The reduced cloud cover in turn results from a robust large-scale pattern of westerly wind anomalies over central Peruvian Andes, inhibiting moisture influx, convective activity and

A Versatile Atom Transport Apparatus for Photonics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mussmann, B.O.

2016-01-01

This thesis describes and characterizes a setup to conduct experiments combining the fields of cold atoms and nanophotonics. Furthermore, a series of numerical simulations is employed to deepen of atom transport under experimentally realistic conditions. The study of cold atoms is usually

Hyperfine anomalies of HCN in cold dark clouds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Walmsley, C.M.; Churchwell, E.; Nash, A.; Fitzpatrick, E.; and Physics Department, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)

1982-01-01

We report observations of the J = 1→0 line of HCN measured toward six positions in nearby low-temperature dark clouds. The measured relative intensities of the hyperfine components of the J = 1→0 line are anomalous in that the F = 0→1 transition is stronger than would be expected if all three components (F = 2→1, F = 1→1, F = 0→1) had equal excitation temperatures. Differences of approximately 20% in the populations per sublevel of J = 1 could account for the observations. The results are in contrast to the situation observed in warmer molecular clouds associated with H II regions where the F = 1→1 line is anomalously weak. The apparent overpopulation of J = 1, F = 0 in dark clouds may be related to the phenomenon observed in the J = 1→0 transitions of HCO + and HNC in the same objects where 13 C substituted version of these species is found to be stronger than the 12 C species

''First evaluation of the accuracy of a cesium cold atom fountain, perspectives''

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ghezali, S.

1997-01-01

The present PHD thesis is, at first, a detailed description of the atomic cesium fountain 'FO1' working as a frequency standard since more than three years at the Laboratoire Primaire du Temps et des Frequences. The 'FO1' has been included in the calculation of the TA1 in the CCDS 1996. Then, this manuscript holds on the different effects such as cold collisions, inhomogeneities of the static magnetic field... affecting the fountain's accuracy, limited at 2.10 -15 because of the hydrogen maser (few hours of integration). The traverse velocity selection via stimulated Raman transitions at two dimensions constitute an important part of the present work. The possible improvements are discussed at the end of the manuscript. (author)

Engineering and control of cold molecules. Making manipulating and exploiting ultra-cold polar molecules

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bigelow, N.P.; Haimberger, C.; Kleinert, J.; Tscherneck, M.; Holmes, M.E.

2005-01-01

In the last 12 months several groups have demonstrated the use of photo association to create cold heteronuclear (polar) molecules. We report on the formation of translationally cold NaCs molecules starting from a laser-cooled atomic vapor of Na and Cs atoms. Colliding atoms are transferred into bound molecular states in a two-step photoactivated process. We find a translational temperature of T ≅ 260 mK. To increase the density and number of trapped atoms, dark-spot techniques are used on the MOT and a Zeeman slowed sodium beam is used to load the sodium atoms into the trap. Spectroscopy of these molecules is underway using time-of-flight ion detection and trap-loss. Initial REMPI measurements indicate that both singlet and triplet states are being populated by the spontaneous-decay driven process. We measure a rate constant for molecule formation of K NaCs = 7.43 · 10 15 cm 3 s -1 . (author)

Experiments with Rydberg atoms on a current-carrying atom chip

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cisternas San Martín, N.V.

2018-01-01

On one side, atom-chip experiments have demonstrated to be a versatile tool to study quantum physics in cold atoms systems. On the other side, Rydberg atoms have exaggerated properties that makes them good candidates to study quantum information and quantum simulations protocols. In this thesis both

Cloud Quantum Computing of an Atomic Nucleus

Science.gov (United States)

Dumitrescu, E. F.; McCaskey, A. J.; Hagen, G.; Jansen, G. R.; Morris, T. D.; Papenbrock, T.; Pooser, R. C.; Dean, D. J.; Lougovski, P.

2018-05-01

We report a quantum simulation of the deuteron binding energy on quantum processors accessed via cloud servers. We use a Hamiltonian from pionless effective field theory at leading order. We design a low-depth version of the unitary coupled-cluster ansatz, use the variational quantum eigensolver algorithm, and compute the binding energy to within a few percent. Our work is the first step towards scalable nuclear structure computations on a quantum processor via the cloud, and it sheds light on how to map scientific computing applications onto nascent quantum devices.

Electromagnetically induced transparency in a Zeeman-sublevels Λ-system of cold 87Rb atoms in free space

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jiang Xiaojun; Zhang Haichao; Wang Yuzhu

2016-01-01

We report the experimental investigation of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in a Zeeman-sublevels Λ-type system of cold 87 Rb atoms in free space. We use the Zeeman substates of the hyperfine energy states 5 2 S 1/2 , F = 2 and 5 2 P 3/2 , F′ = 2 of 87 Rb D 2 line to form a Λ-type EIT scheme. The EIT signal is obtained by scanning the probe light over 1 MHz in 4 ms with an 80 MHz arbitrary waveform generator. More than 97% transparency and 100 kHz EIT window are observed. This EIT scheme is suited for an application of pulsed coherent storage atom clock (Yan B, et al. 2009 Phys. Rev. A 79 063820). (paper)

Aerosol Indirect Effect on Warm Clouds over Eastern China Using Combined CALIOP and MODIS Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Jianping; Wang, Fu; Huang, Jingfeng; Li, Xiaowen

2015-04-01

Aerosol, one of key components of the climate system, is highly variable, both temporally and spatially. It often exerts great influences on the cloud-precipitation chain processes by serving as CCN/IN, altering cloud microphysics and its life cycle. Yet, the aerosol indirect effect on clouds remains largely unknown, because the initial changes in clouds due to aerosols may be enhanced or dampened by such feedback processes as modified cloud dynamics, or evaporation of the smaller droplets due to the competition for water vapor. In this study, we attempted to quantify the aerosol effects on warm cloud over eastern China, based on near-simultaneous retrievals from MODIS/AQUA, CALIOP/CALIPSO and CPR/CLOUDSAT during the period 2006 to 2010. The seasonality of aerosol from ground-based PM10 is quite different from that estimated from MODIS AOD. This result is corroborated by lower level profile of aerosol occurrence frequency from CALIOP, indicating the significant role CALIOP could play in aerosol-cloud interaction. The combined use of CALIOP and CPR facilitate the process to exactly determine the (vertical) position of warm cloud relative to aerosol, out of six scenarios in terms of aerosol-cloud mixing status in terms of aerosol-cloud mixing status, which shows as follows: AO (Aerosol only), CO (Cloud only), SASC (Single aerosol-single cloud), SADC (single aerosol-double cloud), DASC (double aerosol-single cloud), and others. Results shows that about 54% of all the cases belong to mixed status, among all the collocated aerosol-cloud cases. Under mixed condition, a boomerang shape is observed, i.e., reduced cloud droplet radius (CDR) is associated with increasing aerosol at moderate aerosol pollution (AODcases. We categorize dataset into warm-season and cold-season subsets to figure out how the boomerang shape varies with season. For moderate aerosol loading (AODMixed" cases is greater during cold season (denoted by a large slope), as compared with that during warm

Helium clusters as cold, liquid matrix for the laser spectroscopy of silver atoms, silver clusters and C60 fullerenes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoffmann, K.

1999-01-01

One of the main obstacles in the study of gas phase metal clusters is their high temperature. Even cooling in a seeded beam is only of limited used, since the condensation continuously releases energy into the system. As a consequence, spectroscopic studies of free metal clusters typically yield broad structures, which are interpreted as plasma resonances of a free electron gas. An experiment on ionic sodium clusters has shown that low temperatures lead to a narrowing of the absorption bands and the appearance of additional structure, that can not be explained within the free electron model. Thus the need for cold clusters is evident. In principle the deposition of metal clusters into inert matrices eliminates the temperature problem but it can also inflict strong changes on the electronic spectra. Droplets of liquid helium serve as a much more gentle matrix that avoids many of the above problems. In this thesis the new technique of helium droplet spectroscopy is presented as a tool for the study of extremely cold metal clusters. Clusters of silver up to a mass greater than 7000 amu have been produced by pickup of single atoms by a beam of helium droplets. The droplets are formed in a supersonic expansion. The cluster's binding energy is removed by evaporative cooling and the system remains at 0.4 K. The doped droplets are probed by laser spectroscopy with a depletion technique or resonant two photon ionization. We were able to measure the first UV absorption spectrum of metal atoms (silver) inside helium droplets. Another experiment shows that a small fraction of the captured silver atoms resides on the surface of the droplet like alkali atoms. In a two photon process previously unobserved s- and d-Rydberg states of the free silver atom (20 left angle n left angle 80) were excited. The silver atoms, initially embedded in the helium droplets, are found to move to the surface and desorb when excited to the broadened 5p level. This is the first result showing laser

Production of cold antihydrogen in a nested trap

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fujiwara, Makoto

2004-01-01

The ATHENA experiment at CERN produced and detected the first cold antihydrogen atoms. Antiprotons and positrons are mixed in a double Penning trap, known as a nested trap. The production of antihydrogen atoms was identified by detecting their annihilations signatures at trap wall. With the ATHENA results subsequently confirmed by another CERN experiment, ATRAP, cold antihydrogen research is entering an exciting era. (author)

Convectively-driven cold layer and its influences on moisture in the UTLS

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, J.; Randel, W. J.; Birner, T.

2016-12-01

Characteristics of the cold anomaly in the tropical tropopause layer (TTL) that is commonly observed with deep convection are examined using CloudSat and Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere and Climate (COSMIC) GPS radio occultation measurements. Deep convection is sampled based on the cloud top height (>17 km) from CloudSat 2B-CLDCLASS, and then temperature profiles from COSMIC are composited around the deep convection. The composite temperature shows anomalously warm troposphere (up to 14 km) and a significantly cold layer near the tropopause (at 16-18 km) in the regions of deep convection. Generally in the tropics, the cold layer has very large horizontal scale (2,000 - 6,000 km) compared to that of mesoscale convective cluster, and it lasts one or two weeks with minimum temperature anomaly of - 2K. The cold layer shows slight but clear eastward-tilted vertical structure in the deep tropics indicating a large-scale Kelvin wave response. Further analyses on circulation patterns suggest that the anomaly can be explained as a part of Gill-type response in the TTL to deep convective heating in the troposphere. Response of moisture to the cold layer is also examined in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere using microwave limb sounder (MLS) measurements. The water vapor anomalies show coherent structures with the temperature and circulation anomalies. A clear dry anomaly is found in the cold layer and its outflow region, implying a large-scale dehydration process due to the convectively driven cold layer in the upper TTL.

The production and investigation of cold antihydrogen atoms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pittner, H.

2005-04-01

This work reports on experiments in which antihydrogen atoms have been produced in cryogenic Penning traps from antiproton and positron plasmas by two different methods and on experiments that have been carried out subsequently in order to investigate the antihydrogen atoms. By the first method antihydrogen atoms have been formed during the process of positron cooling of antiprotons in so called nested Penning traps and detected via a field ionization method. A measurement of the state distribution has revealed that the antihydrogen atoms are formed in highly excited states. This suggests along with the high production rate that the antihydrogen atoms are formed by three-body recombination processes and subsequent collisional deexcitations. However current theory cannot yet account for the measured state distribution. Typical radii of the detected antihydrogen atoms lie in the range between 0.4 μm and 0.15 μm. The deepest bound antihydrogen atoms have radii below 0.1 μm.The kinetic energy of the weakest bound antihydrogen atoms has been measured to about 200 meV. By the second method antihydrogen atoms have been synthesized in charge-exchange processes. Lasers are used to produce a Rydberg cesium beam within the cryogenic Penning trap that collides with trapped positrons so that Rydberg positronium atoms are formed via charge-exchange reactions. The Rydberg positronium atoms that collide with nearby stored antiprotons form antihydrogen atoms in charge-exchange reactions. So far, 14±4 antihydrogen atoms have been detected background-free via a field-ionization method. The antihydrogen atoms produced via the two-step charge-exchange mechanism are expected to have a temperature of 4.2 K, the temperature of the antiprotons from which they are formed

Contribution to coherent atom optics - Design of multiple wave devices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Impens, F.

2008-03-01

The theoretical work presented in this manuscript addresses two complementary issues in coherent atom optics. The first part addresses the perspectives offered by coherent atomic sources through the design of two experiment involving the levitation of a cold atomic sample in a periodic series of light pulses, and for which coherent atomic clouds are particularly well-suited. These systems appear as multiple wave atom interferometers. A striking feature of these experiments is that a unique system performs both the sample trapping and interrogation. To obtain a transverse confinement, a novel atomic lens is proposed, relying on the interaction between an atomic wave with a spherical light wave. The sensitivity of the sample trapping towards the gravitational acceleration and towards the pulse frequencies is exploited to perform the desired measurement. These devices constitute atomic wave resonators in momentum space, which is a novel concept in atom optics. A second part develops new theoretical tools - most of which inspired from optics - well-suited to describe the propagation of coherent atomic sources. A phase-space approach of the propagation, relying on the evolution of moments, is developed and applied to study the low-energy dynamics of Bose-Einstein condensates. The ABCD method of propagation for atomic waves is extended beyond the linear regime to account perturbatively for mean-field atomic interactions in the atom-optical aberration-less approximation. A treatment of the atom laser extraction enabling one to describe aberrations in the atomic beam, developed in collaboration with the Atom Optics group at the Institute of Optics, is exposed. Last, a quality factor suitable for the characterization of diluted matter waves in a general propagation regime has been proposed. (author)

Progress with cold antihydrogen

CERN Document Server

Charlton, M; Amsler, C; Bonomi, G; Bowe, P D; Canali, C; Carraro, C; Cesar, C L; Doser, M; Fontana, A; Fujiwara, M C; Funakoshi, R; Genova, P; Hangst, J S; Hayano, R S; Johnson, I; Jørgensen, L V; Kellerbauer, A G; Lagomarsino, V; Landua, Rolf; Lodi-Rizzini, E; Macri, M; Madsen, N; Manuzio, G; Mitchard, D; Montagna, P; Pruys, H; Regenfus, C; Rotondi, A; Testera, G; Variola, A; Venturelli, L; Van der Werf, D P; Yamazaki, Y; Zurlo, N

2006-01-01

The creation of cold antihydrogen by the ATHENA and ATRAP collaborations, working at CERN's unique Antiproton Decelerator (AD) facility, has ushered in a new era in atomic physics. This contribution will briefly review recent results from the ATHENA experiment. These include discussions of antiproton slowing down in a cold positron gas during antihydrogen formation, information derived on the dependence of the antihydrogen formation rate upon the temperature of the stored positron plasma and, finally, upon the spatial distribution of the emitted anti-atoms. We will discuss the implications of these studies for the major outstanding goal of trapping samples of antihydrogen for precise spectroscopic comparisons with hydrogen. The physics motivations for undertaking these challenging experiments will be briefly recalled.

Applicability of multisyringe chromatography coupled to cold-vapor atomic fluorescence spectrometry for mercury speciation analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guzmán-Mar, J.L.; Hinojosa-Reyes, L.; Serra, A.M.; Hernández-Ramírez, A.; Cerdà, V.

2011-01-01

Graphical abstract: An automatic system, based on the applicability of multisyringe chromatography (MSC) coupled to cold-vapor atomic fluorescence spectrometry (CV/AFS) detection is developed for mercury speciation. Highlights: ► The on-line coupling of MSC to CV/AFS was developed for mercury speciation analysis. ► The speciation of MeHg + , Hg 2+ and EtHg + was achieved on a RP C18 monolithic column. ► The hyphenated system provided higher sample throughput compared to HPLC–CV/AFS. ► The limits of detection for mercury species were comparable or better than those reported by HPLC–CV/AFS. ► The developed method also provided low instrumental and operational costs. - Abstract: In this paper, a novel automatic approach for the speciation of inorganic mercury (Hg 2+ ), methylmercury (MeHg + ) and ethylmercury (EtHg + ) using multisyringe chromatography (MSC) coupled to cold-vapor atomic fluorescence spectrometry (CV/AFS) was developed. For the first time, the separation of mercury species was accomplished on a RP C18 monolithic column using a multi-isocratic elution program. The elution protocol involved the use of 0.005% 2-mercapthoethanol in 240 mM ammonium acetate (pH 6)–acetonitrile (99:1, v/v), followed by 0.005% 2-mercapthoethanol in 240 mM ammonium acetate (pH 6)–acetonitrile (90:10, v/v). The eluted mercury species were then oxidized under post-column UV radiation and reduced using tin(II) chloride in an acidic medium. Subsequently, the generated mercury metal were separated from the reaction mixture and further atomized in the flame atomizer and detected by AFS. Under the optimized experimental conditions, the limits of detection (3σ) were found to be 0.03, 0.11 and 0.09 μg L −1 for MeHg + , Hg 2+ and EtHg + , respectively. The relative standard deviation (RSD, n = 6) of the peak height for 3, 6 and 3 μg L −1 of MeHg + , Hg 2+ and EtHg + (as Hg) ranged from 2.4 to 4.0%. Compared with the conventional HPLC–CV/AFS hyphenated systems

Behavior of explosion debris clouds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1986-01-01

In the normal course of events the behavior of debris clouds created by explosions will be of little concern to the atomic energy industry. However, two situations, one of them actual and one postulated, exist where the rise and spread of explosion clouds can affect site operations. The actual occurrence would be the detonation of nuclear weapons and the resultant release and transport of radioactive debris across the various atomic energy installations. Although the activity of the diffusing cloud is not of biological concern, it may still be sufficiently above background to play havoc with the normal readings of sensitive monitoring instruments. If it were not known that these anomalous readings resulted from explosion debris, considerable time and expense might be required for on-site testing and tracing. Fortunately it is usually possible, with the use of meteorological data and forecasts, to predict when individual sites are affected by nuclear weapon debris effects. The formation rise, and diffusion of weapon clouds will be discussed. The explosion of an atomic reactor is the postulated situation. It is common practice in reactor hazard analysis to assume a combination of circumstances which might result in a nuclear incident with a release of material to the atmosphere. It is not within the scope of this report to examine the manifold plausibilities that might lead to an explosion or the possible methods of release of gaseous and/or particulates from such an occurrence. However, if the information of a cloud is assumed and some idea of its energy content is obtainable, estimates of the cloud behavior in the atmosphere can be made

The mass spectrum of interstellar clouds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dickey, J.M.; Garwood, R.W.

1989-01-01

The abundances of diffuse clouds and molecular clouds in the inner Galaxy and at the solar circle are compared. Using results of recent low-latitude 21 cm absorption studies, the number of diffuse clouds per kiloparsec along the line of sight is derived as a function of the cloud column density, under two assumptions relating cloud densities and temperatures. The density of clouds is derived as a function of cloud mass. The results are consistent with a single, continuous mass spectrum for interstellar clouds from less than 1 solar mass to 1,000,000 solar masses, with perhaps a change of slope at masses where the atomic and molecular mass fractions are roughly equal. 36 refs

Properties of molecular clouds containing Herbig-Haro objects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Loren, R.B.; Evans, N.J. II; Knapp, G.R.

1979-01-01

We have studied the physical conditions in the molecular clouds associated with a large number of Herbig-Haro and related objects. Formaldehyde emission at 2 mm was detected in the direction of approx.15 out of 30 objects observed. Using the 2 mm H 2 CO emission and observations of 2 cm H 2 CO absorption, along the the 2.6 mm CO line, we calculate core densities of these molecular clouds. Dense cores are found near but not necessarily coincident with the HH objects. Known embedded infrared sources are more likely to be at the position of greatest density than are the HH objects themselves. The densities determined for the cloud cores are intermediate between the densities of cold, dark clouds such as L134 N and the hot clouds associated with H II regions. Thus, a continuous spectrum of densities is observed in molecular clouds. The temperature and density of the clouds in this study are not well correlated. The cores associated with HH 29 IR and T Tau are very dense (6 x 10 4 and 9 x 10 4 cm -3 ), yet have temperatures typical of cold dark clouds.The strong inverse correlation between X (H 2 CO) and density found by Wootten et al. is also found in the clouds associated with HH objects. This correlation also holds within a single cloud, indicating that the correlation is not due to differences in cloud age and evolution toward gas-phase chemical equilibrium. The decrease of X (H 2 CO) with density is more rapid than predicted by steady state ion-molecule chemistry and may be the result of increased depletion of molecules onto grain surfaces at higher density

Positron Plasma Control Techniques Applied to Studies of Cold Antihydrogen

CERN Document Server

Funakoshi, Ryo

2003-01-01

In the year 2002, two experiments at CERN succeeded in producing cold antihydrogen atoms, first ATHENA and subsequently ATRAP. Following on these results, it is now feasible to use antihydrogen to study the properties of antimatter. In the ATHENA experiment, the cold antihydrogen atoms are produced by mixing large amounts of antiprotons and positrons in a nested Penning trap. The complicated behaviors of the charged particles are controlled and monitored by plasma manipulation techniques. The antihydrogen events are studied using position sensitive detectors and the evidence of production of antihydrogen atoms is separated out with the help of analysis software. This thesis covers the first production of cold antihydrogen in the first section as well as the further studies of cold antihydrogen performed by using the plasma control techniques in the second section.

Curious behavior of optically trapped neutral atoms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wieman, C.; Walker, T.; Sesko, D.; Monroe, C.

1991-01-01

We have studied the behavior of clouds of neutral atoms contained in a spontaneous force optical trap. Because of the low temperatures of the atoms ( 5 atoms. These include the expansion of the cloud as the number is increased and dramatic changes in the distribution of the atoms at higher numbers. We can explain much of the collective behavior using a simple model that includes a 1/r 2 force between the atoms arising from the multiple scattering of photons. Finally, we discuss the optical trapping of atoms directly from a low pressure vapor in a small glass cell. We have used these optically trapped atoms to load a magnetostatic trap in the same cell. This provided a high density sample of atoms with a temperature of less than 2 μK

Note: Design and implementation of a home-built imaging system with low jitter for cold atom experiments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hachtel, A. J.; Gillette, M. C.; Clements, E. R.; Zhong, S.; Weeks, M. R.; Bali, S., E-mail: balis@miamioh.edu [Department of Physics, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio 45056-1866 (United States)

2016-05-15

A novel home-built system for imaging cold atom samples is presented using a readily available astronomy camera which has the requisite sensitivity but no timing-control. We integrate the camera with LabVIEW achieving fast, low-jitter imaging with a convenient user-defined interface. We show that our system takes precisely timed millisecond exposures and offers significant improvements in terms of system jitter and readout time over previously reported home-built systems. Our system rivals current commercial “black box” systems in performance and user-friendliness.

Delocalization of Relativistic Dirac Particles in Disordered One-Dimensional Systems and Its Implementation with Cold Atoms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhu Shiliang; Zhang Danwei; Wang, Z. D.

2009-01-01

We study theoretically the localization of relativistic particles in disordered one-dimensional chains. It is found that the relativistic particles tend to delocalization in comparison with the nonrelativistic particles with the same disorder strength. More intriguingly, we reveal that the massless Dirac particles are entirely delocalized for any energy due to the inherent chiral symmetry, leading to a well-known result that particles are always localized in one-dimensional systems for arbitrary weak disorders to break down. Furthermore, we propose a feasible scheme to detect the delocalization feature of the Dirac particles with cold atoms in a light-induced gauge field.

Simple and efficient absorption filter for single photons from a cold atom quantum memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Stack, Daniel T; Lee, Patricia J; Quraishi, Qudsia

2015-03-09

The ability to filter unwanted light signals is critical to the operation of quantum memories based on neutral atom ensembles. Here we demonstrate an efficient frequency filter which uses a vapor cell filled with (85)Rb and a buffer gas to attenuate both residual laser light and noise photons by nearly two orders of magnitude with little loss to the single photons associated with our cold (87)Rb quantum memory. This simple, passive filter provides an additional 18 dB attenuation of our pump laser and erroneous spontaneous emissions for every 1 dB loss of the single photon signal. We show that the addition of a frequency filter increases the non-classical correlations and the retrieval efficiency of our quantum memory by ≈ 35%.

The coupling of rapidly synergistic cloud point extraction with thermospray flame furnace atomic absorption spectrometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wen, X.; Deng, Q.; Guo, J.; Zhao, X.; Zhao, Y.; Ji, S.

2012-01-01

Rapidly synergistic cloud point extraction (RS-CPE) was coupled with thermospray flame furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (TS-FF-AAS) to result in new CPE patterns and accelerated (1 min) protocols. It is demonstrated, for the case of copper (II) ion, that TS-FF-AAS improves the sampling efficiency and the sensitivity of FAAS determinations. Problems of nebulization associated with previous methods based on the coupling of FAAS and RS-CPE are overcome. TS-FF-AAS also improves sensitivity and gives a limit of detection for copper of 0.20 μg L -1 , which is better by a factor of 32. Compared to direct FAAS, the factor is 114. (author)

Many-body dynamics with cold atoms and molecules in optical lattices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schachenmayer, J.

2012-01-01

Systems of cold atoms or molecules, trapped in a periodic potential formed from standing waves of laser light, provide an experimental possibility to study strongly correlated many-body lattice models, which are traditionally used in condensed matter physics. Due to the relatively weak energy scales in these ''optical lattices'' (next-neighbor tunneling energies are typically on the order of tens of Hertz), the time-scales of the dynamics in these systems is relatively slow and can be observed in experiments. Furthermore, the microscopic parameters of the models can be very well controlled by lattice laser intensities and external fields. Thus, optical lattices provide an excellent framework to study many-body quantum non-equilibrium dynamics, which on the theoretical level is the topic of this thesis. This thesis contains a study of many-body dynamics in optical lattices for both idealized isolated models and realistic models with imperfections. It is centered around four main topics: The first two topics are studies of coherent many-body dynamics. This contains explicitly: (i) an analysis of the possibility to dynamically prepare crystalline states of Rydberg atoms or polar molecules by adiabatically tuning laser parameters; and (ii) a study of the collapses and revivals of the momentum-distribution of a Bose-Einstein condensate with a fixed number of atoms, which is suddenly loaded into a deep optical lattice. The third main topic is entanglement and specifically the dynamical growth of entanglement between portions of an optical lattice in quench experiments. A method to create and measure large-scale entanglement is presented in this thesis. The fourth main topic addresses classical noise. Specifically, a system of atoms in an optical lattice, which is created from lasers with intensity fluctuations, is analyzed in this work. The noisy evolution of many-body correlation functions is studied and a method to cancel this noise in a realistic experimental setup is

Determination of Hg(II) as a pollutant in Karachi coastal waters by cold vapor atomic absorption spectroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Naqvi, I.I.; Shazli, J.; Ali, S.R.; Mohiuddin, S.; Zehra, I.

2002-01-01

Now a days, environmental monitoring has great importance and mercury is well known for its toxicity. Mercury (which is at trace level) is analyzed by cold vapor atomic absorption spectroscopy with amendments that are appropriate to the present laboratory need. The results are consistent with previous analysis, through other methods, two areas namely Ibrahim Hyderi and Fisheries were found to have mercury levels around 0.193 mu/L and 0.110 mu g/L, respectively. Whereas other areas have mercury levels similar to other places reported earlier. (author)

Coherent Microwave-to-Optical Conversion via Six-Wave Mixing in Rydberg Atoms

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Jingshan; Vogt, Thibault; Gross, Christian; Jaksch, Dieter; Kiffner, Martin; Li, Wenhui

2018-03-01

We present an experimental demonstration of converting a microwave field to an optical field via frequency mixing in a cloud of cold 87Rb atoms, where the microwave field strongly couples to an electric dipole transition between Rydberg states. We show that the conversion allows the phase information of the microwave field to be coherently transferred to the optical field. With the current energy level scheme and experimental geometry, we achieve a photon-conversion efficiency of ˜0.3 % at low microwave intensities and a broad conversion bandwidth of more than 4 MHz. Theoretical simulations agree well with the experimental data, and they indicate that near-unit efficiency is possible in future experiments.

Absolute atomic oxygen and nitrogen densities in radio-frequency driven atmospheric pressure cold plasmas: Synchrotron vacuum ultra-violet high-resolution Fourier-transform absorption measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Niemi, K.; O'Connell, D.; Gans, T.; Oliveira, N. de; Joyeux, D.; Nahon, L.; Booth, J. P.

2013-01-01

Reactive atomic species play a key role in emerging cold atmospheric pressure plasma applications, in particular, in plasma medicine. Absolute densities of atomic oxygen and atomic nitrogen were measured in a radio-frequency driven non-equilibrium plasma operated at atmospheric pressure using vacuum ultra-violet (VUV) absorption spectroscopy. The experiment was conducted on the DESIRS synchrotron beamline using a unique VUV Fourier-transform spectrometer. Measurements were carried out in plasmas operated in helium with air-like N 2 /O 2 (4:1) admixtures. A maximum in the O-atom concentration of (9.1 ± 0.7)×10 20 m −3 was found at admixtures of 0.35 vol. %, while the N-atom concentration exhibits a maximum of (5.7 ± 0.4)×10 19 m −3 at 0.1 vol. %

Development of cold neutron spectrometers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Changhee; Lee, C. H.; So, J. Y.; Park, S.; Han, Y. S.; Cho, S. J.; Moon, M. K.; Choi, Y. H.; Sun, G. M.

2012-03-01

□ Cold Neutron Triple Axsis Spectrometer (Cold-TAS) Development Ο Fabrication and Installation of the Major Cold-TAS Components Ο Performance Test of the Cold-TAS □ Cold Neutron Time-of-Flight Spectrometer(DC-TOF) Development Ο Fabrication of the Major DC-TOF Components Ο Development DC-TOF Data Reduction Software □ Expected Contribution The two world-class inelastic neutron scattering instruments measure atomic or molecular scale dynamics of meV energy range. This unprecedented measurement capability in the country will enable domestic and international scientists to observe new phenomena in their materials research to obtain world class results. Especially those who work in the fields of magnetic properties of superconductors and multiferroics, molecular dynamics, etc. will get more benefit from these two instruments

Measurement of Electron Cloud Effects in SPS

CERN Document Server

Jiménez, J M

2004-01-01

The electron cloud is not a new phenomenon, indeed, it was observed already in other machines like the proton storage rings in BINP Novosibirsk or in the Intersecting Storage Ring (ISR) at CERN. Inside an accelerator beam pipe, the electrons can collectively and coherently interact with the beam potential and degrade the performance of the accelerators operating with intense positively charged bunched beams. In the LHC, electron multipacting is expected to take place in the cold and warm beam pipe due to the presence of the high intensities bunched beams, creating an electron cloud. The additional heat load induced by the electron cloud onto the LHC beam screens of the cold magnets of the LHC bending sections (the arcs represent ~21 km in length) was, and is still, considered as one of the main possible limitation of LHC performances. Since 1997 and in parallel with the SPS studies with LHC-type beams, measurements in other machines or in the laboratory have been made to provide the input parameters required ...

Dusty Cloud Acceleration by Radiation Pressure in Rapidly Star-forming Galaxies

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Dong; Davis, Shane W.; Jiang, Yan-Fei; Stone, James M.

2018-02-01

We perform two-dimensional and three-dimensional radiation hydrodynamic simulations to study cold clouds accelerated by radiation pressure on dust in the environment of rapidly star-forming galaxies dominated by infrared flux. We utilize the reduced speed of light approximation to solve the frequency-averaged, time-dependent radiative transfer equation. We find that radiation pressure is capable of accelerating the clouds to hundreds of kilometers per second while remaining dense and cold, consistent with observations. We compare these results to simulations where acceleration is provided by entrainment in a hot wind, where the momentum injection of the hot flow is comparable to the momentum in the radiation field. We find that the survival time of the cloud accelerated by the radiation field is significantly longer than that of a cloud entrained in a hot outflow. We show that the dynamics of the irradiated cloud depends on the initial optical depth, temperature of the cloud, and intensity of the flux. Additionally, gas pressure from the background may limit cloud acceleration if the density ratio between the cloud and background is ≲ {10}2. In general, a 10 pc-scale optically thin cloud forms a pancake structure elongated perpendicular to the direction of motion, while optically thick clouds form a filamentary structure elongated parallel to the direction of motion. The details of accelerated cloud morphology and geometry can also be affected by other factors, such as the cloud lengthscale, reduced speed of light approximation, spatial resolution, initial cloud structure, and dimensionality of the run, but these have relatively little affect on the cloud velocity or survival time.

Surface modes of ultra-cold atomic clouds with very large number of vortices

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cazalilla, M A [Donostia International Physics Center, Donostia (Spain); [Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste (Italy)

2003-04-01

We study the surface modes of some of the vortex liquids recently found by means of exact diagonalizations in systems of rapidly rotating bosons. In contrast to the surface modes of Bose condensates, we find that the surface waves have a frequency linear in the excitation angular momentum, h-bar l > 0. Furthermore, in analogy with the edge waves of electronic quantum Hall states, these excitations are chiral, that is, they can be excited only for values of l that increase the total angular momentum of the vortex liquid. However, differently from the quantum Hall phenomena for electrons, we also find other excitations that are approximately degenerate in the laboratory frame with the surface modes, and which decrease the total angular momentum by l quanta. The surface modes of the Laughlin, as well as other scalar and vector boson states are analyzed, and their observable properties characterized. We argue that measurement of the response of a vortex liquid to a weak time-dependent potential that imparts angular momentum to the system should provide valuable information to characterize the vortex liquid. In particular, the intensity of the signal of the surface waves in the dynamic structure factor has been studied and found to depend on the type of vortex liquid. We point out that the existence of surface modes has observable consequences on the density profile of the Laughlin state. These features are due to the strongly correlated behavior of atoms in the vortex liquids. We point out that these correlations should be responsible for a remarkable stability of some vortex liquids with respect to three-body losses. (author)

Intercomparison of model simulations of mixed-phase clouds observed during the ARM Mixed-Phase Arctic Cloud Experiment. Part II: Multi-layered cloud

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Morrison, H; McCoy, R B; Klein, S A; Xie, S; Luo, Y; Avramov, A; Chen, M; Cole, J; Falk, M; Foster, M; Genio, A D; Harrington, J; Hoose, C; Khairoutdinov, M; Larson, V; Liu, X; McFarquhar, G; Poellot, M; Shipway, B; Shupe, M; Sud, Y; Turner, D; Veron, D; Walker, G; Wang, Z; Wolf, A; Xu, K; Yang, F; Zhang, G

2008-02-27

Results are presented from an intercomparison of single-column and cloud-resolving model simulations of a deep, multi-layered, mixed-phase cloud system observed during the ARM Mixed-Phase Arctic Cloud Experiment. This cloud system was associated with strong surface turbulent sensible and latent heat fluxes as cold air flowed over the open Arctic Ocean, combined with a low pressure system that supplied moisture at mid-level. The simulations, performed by 13 single-column and 4 cloud-resolving models, generally overestimate the liquid water path and strongly underestimate the ice water path, although there is a large spread among the models. This finding is in contrast with results for the single-layer, low-level mixed-phase stratocumulus case in Part I of this study, as well as previous studies of shallow mixed-phase Arctic clouds, that showed an underprediction of liquid water path. The overestimate of liquid water path and underestimate of ice water path occur primarily when deeper mixed-phase clouds extending into the mid-troposphere were observed. These results suggest important differences in the ability of models to simulate Arctic mixed-phase clouds that are deep and multi-layered versus shallow and single-layered. In general, models with a more sophisticated, two-moment treatment of the cloud microphysics produce a somewhat smaller liquid water path that is closer to observations. The cloud-resolving models tend to produce a larger cloud fraction than the single-column models. The liquid water path and especially the cloud fraction have a large impact on the cloud radiative forcing at the surface, which is dominated by the longwave flux for this case.

Transitions from order to disorder in multiple dark and multiple dark-bright soliton atomic clouds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Wenlong; Kevrekidis, P. G.

2015-01-01

We have performed a systematic study quantifying the variation of solitary wave behavior from that of an ordered cloud resembling a 'crystalline' configuration to that of a disordered state that can be characterized as a soliton 'gas'. As our illustrative examples, we use both one-component, as well as two-component, one-dimensional atomic gases very close to zero temperature, where in the presence of repulsive interatomic interactions and of a parabolic trap, a cloud of dark (dark-bright) solitons can form in the one- (two-) component system. We corroborate our findings through three distinct types of approaches, namely a Gross-Pitaevskii type of partial differential equation, particle-based ordinary differential equations describing the soliton dynamical system, and Monte Carlo simulations for the particle system. In addition, we define an 'empirical' order parameter to characterize the order of the soliton lattices and study how this changes as a function of the strength of the 'thermally' (i.e., kinetically) induced perturbations. As may be anticipated by the one-dimensional nature of our system, the transition from order to disorder is gradual without, apparently, a genuine phase transition ensuing in the intermediate regime

Applicability of multisyringe chromatography coupled to cold-vapor atomic fluorescence spectrometry for mercury speciation analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Guzman-Mar, J.L.; Hinojosa-Reyes, L. [Department of Chemistry Sciences, Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon, Cd. Universitaria, Pedro de Alba s/n, C.P. 66451 San Nicolas de los Garza, Nuevo Leon (Mexico); Serra, A.M. [Department of Chemistry, University of the Balearic Islands, E-07122 Palma de Mallorca (Spain); Hernandez-Ramirez, A. [Department of Chemistry Sciences, Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon, Cd. Universitaria, Pedro de Alba s/n, C.P. 66451 San Nicolas de los Garza, Nuevo Leon (Mexico); Cerda, V., E-mail: victor.cerda@uib.es [Department of Chemistry, University of the Balearic Islands, E-07122 Palma de Mallorca (Spain)

2011-12-05

Graphical abstract: An automatic system, based on the applicability of multisyringe chromatography (MSC) coupled to cold-vapor atomic fluorescence spectrometry (CV/AFS) detection is developed for mercury speciation. Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The on-line coupling of MSC to CV/AFS was developed for mercury speciation analysis. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The speciation of MeHg{sup +}, Hg{sup 2+} and EtHg{sup +} was achieved on a RP C18 monolithic column. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The hyphenated system provided higher sample throughput compared to HPLC-CV/AFS. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The limits of detection for mercury species were comparable or better than those reported by HPLC-CV/AFS. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The developed method also provided low instrumental and operational costs. - Abstract: In this paper, a novel automatic approach for the speciation of inorganic mercury (Hg{sup 2+}), methylmercury (MeHg{sup +}) and ethylmercury (EtHg{sup +}) using multisyringe chromatography (MSC) coupled to cold-vapor atomic fluorescence spectrometry (CV/AFS) was developed. For the first time, the separation of mercury species was accomplished on a RP C18 monolithic column using a multi-isocratic elution program. The elution protocol involved the use of 0.005% 2-mercapthoethanol in 240 mM ammonium acetate (pH 6)-acetonitrile (99:1, v/v), followed by 0.005% 2-mercapthoethanol in 240 mM ammonium acetate (pH 6)-acetonitrile (90:10, v/v). The eluted mercury species were then oxidized under post-column UV radiation and reduced using tin(II) chloride in an acidic medium. Subsequently, the generated mercury metal were separated from the reaction mixture and further atomized in the flame atomizer and detected by AFS. Under the optimized experimental conditions, the limits of detection (3{sigma}) were found to be 0.03, 0.11 and 0.09 {mu}g L{sup -1} for MeHg{sup +}, Hg{sup 2+} and EtHg{sup +}, respectively. The relative standard deviation (RSD, n = 6) of the

Dynamics and applications of excited cold atoms

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Claessens, B.J.

2006-01-01

In a Magneto-Optical Trap (MOT), realized for the first time in 1987, one can trap and cool neutral atoms to temperatures below a mK. The invention of this device caused a revolution in atomic physics. With an MOT collision and spectroscopy experiments could be performed with unprecedented accuracy.

Two atoms scattering at low and cold energies

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

A modified static-exchange model is developed to study the collision of an atom with another atom. It includes the effect of long-range dipole–dipole van der Waals interaction between two atoms in addition to the exact effect of short-range force due to Coulomb exchange between two system electrons. Both these ...

Production and detection of cold anti-hydrogen atoms A first step towards high precision CPT test

CERN Document Server

Variola, A; Bonomi, G; Boutcha, A; Bowe, P; Carraro, C; Cesar, C L; Charlton, M; Doser, Michael; Filippini, V; Fontana, A; Fujiwara, M C; Funakoshi, R; Genova, P; Hangst, J S; Hayano, R S; Jørgensen, L V; Lagomarsino, V; Landua, Rolf; Lindelöf, D; Lodi-Rizzini, E; Macri, M; Madsen, N; Manuzio, G; Montagna, P; Pruys, H S; Regenfus, C; Rotondi, A; Riedler, P; Testera, G; Van der Werf, D P

2003-01-01

Observations of anti-hydrogen in small quantities have been reported at CERN and at FermiLab, but these experiments were not suited to spectroscopy experiments. In 2002 the ATHENA collaboration reported the production and detection of very low energy anti-hydrogen atoms produced in cryogenic environment. This is the first major step in the study of antiatom's internal structure and it can lead to a high precision test of the CPT fundamental symmetry. The method of production and detection of cold anti-hydrogen will be introduced. The absolute rate of anti-hydrogen production and the signal to background ratio in the ATHENA experiment will be discussed. (7 refs) .

Spatially resolved photoionization of ultracold atoms on an atom chip

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kraft, S.; Guenther, A.; Fortagh, J.; Zimmermann, C.

2007-01-01

We report on photoionization of ultracold magnetically trapped Rb atoms on an atom chip. The atoms are trapped at 5 μK in a strongly anisotropic trap. Through a hole in the chip with a diameter of 150 μm, two laser beams are focused onto a fraction of the atomic cloud. A first laser beam with a wavelength of 778 nm excites the atoms via a two-photon transition to the 5D level. With a fiber laser at 1080 nm the excited atoms are photoionized. Ionization leads to depletion of the atomic density distribution observed by absorption imaging. The resonant ionization spectrum is reported. The setup used in this experiment is suitable not only to investigate mixtures of Bose-Einstein condensates and ions but also for single-atom detection on an atom chip

Ultra-cold molecule production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ramirez-Serrano, Jamie; Chandler, David W.; Strecker, Kevin; Rahn, Larry A.

2005-01-01

The production of Ultra-cold molecules is a goal of many laboratories through out the world. Here we are pursuing a unique technique that utilizes the kinematics of atomic and molecular collisions to achieve the goal of producing substantial numbers of sub Kelvin molecules confined in a trap. Here a trap is defined as an apparatus that spatially localizes, in a known location in the laboratory, a sample of molecules whose temperature is below one degree absolute Kelvin. Further, the storage time for the molecules must be sufficient to measure and possibly further cool the molecules. We utilize a technique unique to Sandia to form cold molecules from near mass degenerate collisions between atoms and molecules. This report describes the progress we have made using this novel technique and the further progress towards trapping molecules we have cooled

Absolute Gravity Datum in the Age of Cold Atom Gravimeters

Science.gov (United States)

Childers, V. A.; Eckl, M. C.

2014-12-01

The international gravity datum is defined today by the International Gravity Standardization Net of 1971 (IGSN-71). The data supporting this network was measured in the 1950s and 60s using pendulum and spring-based gravimeter ties (plus some new ballistic absolute meters) to replace the prior protocol of referencing all gravity values to the earlier Potsdam value. Since this time, gravimeter technology has advanced significantly with the development and refinement of the FG-5 (the current standard of the industry) and again with the soon-to-be-available cold atom interferometric absolute gravimeters. This latest development is anticipated to provide improvement in the range of two orders of magnitude as compared to the measurement accuracy of technology utilized to develop ISGN-71. In this presentation, we will explore how the IGSN-71 might best be "modernized" given today's requirements and available instruments and resources. The National Geodetic Survey (NGS), along with other relevant US Government agencies, is concerned about establishing gravity control to establish and maintain high order geodetic networks as part of the nation's essential infrastructure. The need to modernize the nation's geodetic infrastructure was highlighted in "Precise Geodetic Infrastructure, National Requirements for a Shared Resource" National Academy of Science, 2010. The NGS mission, as dictated by Congress, is to establish and maintain the National Spatial Reference System, which includes gravity measurements. Absolute gravimeters measure the total gravity field directly and do not involve ties to other measurements. Periodic "intercomparisons" of multiple absolute gravimeters at reference gravity sites are used to constrain the behavior of the instruments to ensure that each would yield reasonably similar measurements of the same location (i.e. yield a sufficiently consistent datum when measured in disparate locales). New atomic interferometric gravimeters promise a significant

n l -> n' l' transition rates in electron and proton - Rydberg atom collision

Science.gov (United States)

Vrinceanu, Daniel

2017-04-01

Electrons and protons drive the recombination dynamics of highly excited Rydberg atoms in cold rarefied plasmas found in astrophysical conditions such as primordial recombination or star formation in H-II clouds. It has been recognized that collisions induce both energy and angular momentum transitions in Rydberg atoms, although in different proportions, depending on the initial state, temperature and the given species considered in the collision (electron or proton). Most studies focused on one collision type at a time, under the assumption that collision types are independent or their effects are not competing. The classical Monte-Carlo trajectory simulations presented in this work calculate the rates for both energy and angular momentum transfers and show their interdependence. For example, energy transfer with small angular momentum change are more efficient for target states with initial large angular momentum. The author acknowledges support received from the National Science Foundation through a Grant for the Center for Research on Complex Networks (HRD-1137732).

Fast Molecular Cloud Destruction Requires Fast Cloud Formation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mac Low, Mordecai-Mark [American Museum of Natural History, 79th Street at Central Park West, New York, NY 10024 (United States); Burkert, Andreas [Universitäts Sternwarte München, Ludwigs-Maximilian-Universität, D-81679 München (Germany); Ibáñez-Mejía, Juan C., E-mail: mordecai@amnh.org, E-mail: burkert@usm.lmu.de, E-mail: ibanez@ph1.uni-koeln.de [Max-Planck-Institut für Extraterrestrische Physik, D-85748 Garching bei München (Germany)

2017-09-20

A large fraction of the gas in the Galaxy is cold, dense, and molecular. If all this gas collapsed under the influence of gravity and formed stars in a local free-fall time, the star formation rate in the Galaxy would exceed that observed by more than an order of magnitude. Other star-forming galaxies behave similarly. Yet, observations and simulations both suggest that the molecular gas is indeed gravitationally collapsing, albeit hierarchically. Prompt stellar feedback offers a potential solution to the low observed star formation rate if it quickly disrupts star-forming clouds during gravitational collapse. However, this requires that molecular clouds must be short-lived objects, raising the question of how so much gas can be observed in the molecular phase. This can occur only if molecular clouds form as quickly as they are destroyed, maintaining a global equilibrium fraction of dense gas. We therefore examine cloud formation timescales. We first demonstrate that supernova and superbubble sweeping cannot produce dense gas at the rate required to match the cloud destruction rate. On the other hand, Toomre gravitational instability can reach the required production rate. We thus argue that, although dense, star-forming gas may last only around a single global free-fall time; the dense gas in star-forming galaxies can globally exist in a state of dynamic equilibrium between formation by gravitational instability and disruption by stellar feedback. At redshift z ≳ 2, the Toomre instability timescale decreases, resulting in a prediction of higher molecular gas fractions at early times, in agreement with the observations.

Reactor cold neutron source facility, the first in Japan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Utsuro, Masahiko; Maeda, Yutaka; Kawai, Takeshi; Tashiro, Tameyoshi; Sakakibara, Shoji; Katada, Minoru.

1986-01-01

In the Research Reactor Institute, Kyoto University, the first cold neutron source facility for the reactor in Japan was installed, and various tests are carried out outside the reactor. Nippon Sanso K.K. had manufactured it. After the prescribed tests outside the reactor, this facility will be installed soon in the reactor, and its outline is described on this occasion. Cold neutrons are those having very small energy by being cooled to about-250 deg C. Since the wavelength of the material waves of cold neutrons is long, and their energy is small, they are very advantageous as an experimental means for clarifying the structure of living body molecules and polymers, the atom configuration in alloys, and atomic and molecular movements by neutron scattering and neutron diffraction. The basic principle of the cold neutron source facility is to irradiate thermal neutrons on a cold moderator kept around 20 K, and to moderate and cool the neutrons by nuclear scattering to convert to cold neutrons. The preparatory research on cold neutrons and hydrogen liquefaction, the basic design to put the cold neutron source facility in the graphite moderator facility, the safety countermeasures, the manufacture and quality control, the operation outside the reactor and the performance are reported. The cold neutron source facility comprises a cold moderator tank and other main parts, a deuterium gas tank, a helium refrigerator and instrumentation. (Kako, I.)

Coherent generation and dynamic manipulation of double stationary light pulses in a five-level double-tripod system of cold atoms

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bao Qianqian; Zhang Xiaohang; Gao Junyan; Zhang Yan; Cui Cuili; Wu Jinhui [College of Physics, Jilin University, Changchun 130012 (China)

2011-12-15

We study a five-level double-tripod system of cold atoms for efficiently manipulating the dynamic propagation and evolution of a quantum probe field by modulating four classical control fields. Our numerical results show that it is viable to transform the quantum probe field into a pair of two-color stationary light pulses mutually coupled through two wave packets of atomic spin coherence. The pair of stationary light pulses can be released either from the sample entrance and exit synchronously or just from the sample exit with a controlled time delay. In addition, the two-color stationary light pulses are immune to the fast decay originating from the higher-order Fourier components of atomic spin and optical coherence, and may exhibit the quantum limited beating signals with their characteristic frequency determined by detunings of the four classical control fields. These results could be explored to design novel photonic devices, such as optical routing, beam splitter, and beat generator, for manipulating a quantum light field.

Coherent generation and dynamic manipulation of double stationary light pulses in a five-level double-tripod system of cold atoms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bao Qianqian; Zhang Xiaohang; Gao Junyan; Zhang Yan; Cui Cuili; Wu Jinhui

2011-01-01

We study a five-level double-tripod system of cold atoms for efficiently manipulating the dynamic propagation and evolution of a quantum probe field by modulating four classical control fields. Our numerical results show that it is viable to transform the quantum probe field into a pair of two-color stationary light pulses mutually coupled through two wave packets of atomic spin coherence. The pair of stationary light pulses can be released either from the sample entrance and exit synchronously or just from the sample exit with a controlled time delay. In addition, the two-color stationary light pulses are immune to the fast decay originating from the higher-order Fourier components of atomic spin and optical coherence, and may exhibit the quantum limited beating signals with their characteristic frequency determined by detunings of the four classical control fields. These results could be explored to design novel photonic devices, such as optical routing, beam splitter, and beat generator, for manipulating a quantum light field.

Atomic carbon in an infrared dark cloud

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ossenkopf, Volker; Ormel, Chris W.; Simon, Robert; Sun, Kefeng; Stutzki, Jürgen

2010-01-01

Infrared dark clouds (IRDCs) are potential sites of massive star formation, dark in the near-infrared, but in many cases already with indications of active star-formation from far-infrared and submm observations. They are an ideal test bed to study the role of internal and external heating on the

Ionization Spectroscopic Measurement of nP Rydberg Levels of 87Rb Cold Atoms

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yufan; Zaheeruddin, Syed; Zhao, Dongmei; Ma, Xinwen; Yang, Jie

2018-05-01

We created an ultracold plasma via the spontaneous ionization of cold dense Rydberg atoms of 87Rb in a magneto-optical trap (MOT), and measured the nS1/2 (n = 50-80), nP1/2 (n = 16-23), nP3/2 (n = 16-98), and nD5/2 (n = 49-96) Rydberg levels by detecting the electrons in the ultracold plasma. By fitting the energy levels of Rydberg states, the first ionization potential of 33690.950(11) cm-1 and the quantum defects of S, P, and D orbitals were obtained. The absolute transition energies of nS1/2 (n = 66-80), nP1/2 (n = 16-23), nP3/2 (n = 16-98), and nD5/2 (n = 58-96) states of 87Rb, as well as the quantum defects for p1/2 and p3/2 series, are given for the first time.

Clouds in the Martian Atmosphere

Science.gov (United States)

Määttänen, Anni; Montmessin, Franck

2018-01-01

Although resembling an extremely dry desert, planet Mars hosts clouds in its atmosphere. Every day somewhere on the planet a part of the tiny amount of water vapor held by the atmosphere can condense as ice crystals to form cirrus-type clouds. The existence of water ice clouds has been known for a long time, and they have been studied for decades, leading to the establishment of a well-known climatology and understanding of their formation and properties. Despite their thinness, they have a clear impact on the atmospheric temperatures, thus affecting the Martian climate. Another, more exotic type of clouds forms as well on Mars. The atmospheric temperatures can plunge to such frigid values that the major gaseous component of the atmosphere, CO2, condenses as ice crystals. These clouds form in the cold polar night where they also contribute to the formation of the CO2 ice polar cap, and also in the mesosphere at very high altitudes, near the edge of space, analogously to the noctilucent clouds on Earth. The mesospheric clouds are a fairly recent discovery and have put our understanding of the Martian atmosphere to a test. On Mars, cloud crystals form on ice nuclei, mostly provided by the omnipresent dust. Thus, the clouds link the three major climatic cycles: those of the two major volatiles, H2O and CO2; and that of dust, which is a major climatic agent itself.

Observations of a cold front with strong vertical undulations during the ARM RCS-IOP

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Starr, D.O`C.; Whiteman, D.N. [Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD (United States); Melfi, S.H. [Univ. of Maryland, Baltimore, MD (United States)] [and others

1996-04-01

Passage of a cold front was observed on the night of April 14-15, 1994, during the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Remote Cloud Sensing (RCS) Intensive Observatios Period (IOP) at the Southern Great Plains Cloud and Radiation Testbed (CART) site near Lamont, Oklahoma. The observations are described.

The tropical Atlantic surface wind divergence belt and its effect on clouds

OpenAIRE

Y. Tubul; I. Koren; O. Altaratz

2015-01-01

A well-defined surface wind divergence (SWD) belt with distinct cloud properties forms over the equatorial Atlantic during the boreal summer months. This belt separates the deep convective clouds of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) from the shallow marine stratocumulus cloud decks forming over the cold-water subtropical region of the southern Hadley cell. Using the QuikSCAT-SeaWinds and Aqua-MODIS instruments, we examined the large-scale spatiotemporal ...

Development of asymptotic methods for the study of interactions between cold atoms: determination of scattering lengths of sodium and cesium; Developpement de methodes asymptotiques pour l'etude des interactions entre atomes froids: determination de longueurs de diffusion du sodium et du cesium

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

T' Jampens, B

2002-12-15

Precise knowledge of cold-atom collision properties is essential for the studies of Bose-Einstein condensation or cold molecule formation. In such experiments, the interaction mainly occurs at rather large interatomic distance, in the so-called asymptotic region. We have developed a purely asymptotic method which allows us to fully describe the collision properties of cold alkali atoms without using the inner part of the molecular potentials, which is often known with a poor precision. The key point of the method is the setting of nodal lines, which are the lines connecting the nodes of successive radial wavefunctions near the ground state threshold. Within the framework of Born-Oppenheimer approximation, computing such nodal lines, by numerical integration of the radial Schroedinger equation in the asymptotic region only, provides a very simple way to derive scattering lengths from observed bound level positions. The method has been extended to the multichannel case and appears now as a genuine parametric method, in which a few parameters (some chosen nodal lines) replace the inner part of the potentials. These nodal lines are used as fitting parameters, which are adjusted on experimental results. Once these parameters have been determined, any collision property such as scattering lengths, clock shifts or magnetic field induced Feshbach resonances can be deduced in principle. This method has been applied to obtain the collision properties of ultracold sodium and cesium atoms. (author)

Precision spectroscopy of the 2S-4P{sub 1/2} transition in atomic hydrogen on a cold thermal beam of optically excited 2S atoms

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Beyer, Axel; Kolachevsky, Nikolai; Alnis, Janis; Yost, Dylan C.; Matveev, Arthur; Parthey, Christian G.; Pohl, Randolf; Udem, Thomas [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Quantenoptik, 85748 Garching (Germany); Khabarova, Ksenia [FSUE ' VNIIFTRI' , 141570 Moscow (Russian Federation); Haensch, Theodor W. [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Quantenoptik, 85748 Garching (Germany); Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet, 80799 Muenchen (Germany)

2013-07-01

The 'proton size puzzle', i.e. the discrepancy between the values for the proton r.m.s. charge radius deduced from precision spectroscopy of atomic hydrogen and electron-proton-scattering on one side and the value deduced from muonic hydrogen spectroscopy on the other side, has been persisting for more than two years now. Although huge efforts have been put into trying to resolve this discrepancy from experimental and theoretical side, no convincing argument could be found so far. In this talk, we report on a unique precision spectroscopy experiment on atomic hydrogen, which is aiming to bring some light to the hydrogen part of the puzzle: In contrast to any previous high resolution experiment probing a transition frequency between the meta-stable 2S state and a higher lying nL state (n=3,4,6,8,12, L=S,P,D), our measurement of the 2S-4P{sub 1/2} transition frequency is the first experiment being performed on a cold thermal beam of hydrogen atoms optically excited to the 2S state. We will discuss how this helps to efficiently suppresses leading systematic effects of previous measurements and present the preliminary results we obtained so far.

Study on the performances of an absolute atomic gravimeter: limit sensitivity and preliminary accuracy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Le Gouet, J.

2008-02-01

Atom interferometry is applied to absolute measurement of gravity acceleration g, to provide an accurate value for the realization of the LNE watt balance. The atomic source is obtained from a cloud of cold 87 Rubidium atoms. Two vertical counter-propagating are used to generate stimulated Raman transitions, that separate the wave-packets and make them interfere. During the transitions, the phase difference between the beams is printed on the phase of the free-falling atoms. Then the atomic phase shift between the two vertical paths becomes sensitive to the atom acceleration and allows obtaining an accurate value of g. A part of this manuscript is dedicated to the study of noise sources which deteriorate the measurement sensitivity. In particular, we detail the vibrations contribution, which we are able to reduce by a factor of 3 to 10, depending on the configurations, thanks to the measurement of a seismometer and to its analog processing. The best reported sensitivity, in optimal environment, is 1.4*10 -8 g/Hz 1/2 . The study of the measurement accuracy also represents an important part of this work. Although the vacuum chamber was only temporary, we started to list the systematic shifts. According to two comparisons with well-known absolute gravimeters based on optical interferometry, our measurement shows a residual bias of 16*10 -9 g. (author)

Graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometric determination of vanadium after cloud point extraction in the presence of graphene oxide

Science.gov (United States)

López-García, Ignacio; Marín-Hernández, Juan José; Hernández-Córdoba, Manuel

2018-05-01

Vanadium (V) and vanadium (IV) in the presence of a small concentration of graphene oxide (0.05 mg mL-1) are quantitatively transferred to the coacervate obtained with Triton X-114 in a cloud point microextraction process. The surfactant-rich phase is directly injected into the graphite atomizer of an atomic absorption spectrometer. Using a 10-mL aliquot sample and 150 μL of a 15% Triton X-114 solution, the enrichment factor for the analyte is 103, which results in a detection limit of 0.02 μg L-1 vanadium. The separation of V(V) and V(IV) using an ion-exchanger allows speciation of the element at low concentrations. Data for seven reference water samples with certified vanadium contents confirm the reliability of the procedure. Several beer samples are also analyzed, those supplied as canned drinks showing low levels of tetravalent vanadium.

Control and manipulation of cold atoms in optical tweezers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Muldoon, Cecilia; Brandt, Lukas; Dong Jian; Stuart, Dustin; Brainis, Edouard; Himsworth, Matthew; Kuhn, Axel

2012-01-01

Neutral atoms trapped by laser light are among the most promising candidates for storing and processing information in a quantum computer or simulator. The application certainly calls for a scalable and flexible scheme for addressing and manipulating the atoms. We have now made this a reality by implementing a fast and versatile method to dynamically control the position of neutral atoms trapped in optical tweezers. The tweezers result from a spatial light modulator (SLM) controlling and shaping a large number of optical dipole-force traps. Trapped atoms adapt to any change in the potential landscape, such that one can rearrange and randomly access individual sites within atom-trap arrays. (paper)

THE EVOLUTION OF GAS CLOUDS FALLING IN THE MAGNETIZED GALACTIC HALO: HIGH-VELOCITY CLOUDS (HVCs) ORIGINATED IN THE GALACTIC FOUNTAIN

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kwak, Kyujin; Shelton, Robin L.; Raley, Elizabeth A.

2009-01-01

In the Galactic fountain scenario, supernovae and/or stellar winds propel material into the Galactic halo. As the material cools, it condenses into clouds. By using FLASH three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations, we model and study the dynamical evolution of these gas clouds after they form and begin to fall toward the Galactic plane. In our simulations, we assume that the gas clouds form at a height of z = 5 kpc above the Galactic midplane, then begin to fall from rest. We investigate how the cloud's evolution, dynamics, and interaction with the interstellar medium (ISM) are affected by the initial mass of the cloud. We find that clouds with sufficiently large initial densities (n ≥ 0.1 H atoms cm -3 ) accelerate sufficiently and maintain sufficiently large column densities as to be observed and identified as high-velocity clouds (HVCs) even if the ISM is weakly magnetized (1.3 μG). However, the ISM can provide noticeable resistance to the motion of a low-density cloud (n ≤ 0.01 H atoms cm -3 ) thus making it more probable that a low-density cloud will attain the speed of an intermediate-velocity cloud rather than the speed of an HVC. We also investigate the effects of various possible magnetic field configurations. As expected, the ISM's resistance is greatest when the magnetic field is strong and perpendicular to the motion of the cloud. The trajectory of the cloud is guided by the magnetic field lines in cases where the magnetic field is oriented diagonal to the Galactic plane. The model cloud simulations show that the interactions between the cloud and the ISM can be understood via analogy to the shock tube problem which involves shock and rarefaction waves. We also discuss accelerated ambient gas, streamers of material ablated from the clouds, and the cloud's evolution from a sphere-shaped to a disk- or cigar-shaped object.

Marine low cloud sensitivity to an idealized climate change : The CGILS LES intercomparison

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Blossey, P.N.; Bretherton, C.S.; Zhang, M.; Cheng, A.; Endo, S.; Heus, T.; Liu, Y.; Lock, A.P.; De Roode, S.R.; Xu, K.M.

2013-01-01

Subtropical marine low cloud sensitivity to an idealized climate change is compared in six large-eddy simulation (LES) models as part of CGILS. July cloud cover is simulated at three locations over the subtropical northeast Pacific Ocean, which are typified by cold sea surface temperatures (SSTs)

A hybrid filtering approach for storage optimization in main-memory cloud database

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ghada M. Afify

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Enterprises and cloud service providers face dramatic increase in the amount of data stored in private and public clouds. Thus, data storage costs are growing hastily because they use only one single high-performance storage tier for storing all cloud data. There’s considerable potential to reduce cloud costs by classifying data into active (hot and inactive (cold. In the main-memory databases research, recent works focus on approaches to identify hot/cold data. Most of these approaches track tuple accesses to identify hot/cold tuples. In contrast, we introduce a novel Hybrid Filtering Approach (HFA that tracks both tuples and columns accesses in main-memory databases. Our objective is to enhance the performance in terms of three dimensions: storage space, query elapsed time and CPU time. In order to validate the effectiveness of our approach, we realized its concrete implementation on Hekaton, a SQL’s server memory-optimized engine using the well-known TPC-H benchmark. Experimental results show that the proposed HFA outperforms Hekaton approach in respect of all performance dimensions. In specific, HFA reduces the storage space by average of 44–96%, reduces the query elapsed time by average of 25–93% and reduces the CPU time by average of 31–97% compared to the traditional database approach.

A quantum trampoline for ultra-cold atoms

Science.gov (United States)

Robert-de-Saint-Vincent, M.; Brantut, J.-P.; Bordé, Ch. J.; Aspect, A.; Bourdel, T.; Bouyer, P.

2010-01-01

We have observed the interferometric suspension of a free-falling Bose-Einstein condensate periodically submitted to multiple-order diffraction by a vertical 1D standing wave. This scheme permits simultaneously the compensation of gravity and coherent splitting/recombination of the matter waves. It results in high-contrast interference in the number of atoms detected at constant height. For long suspension times, multiple-wave interference is revealed through a sharpening of the fringes. We characterize our atom interferometer and use it to measure the acceleration of gravity.

Optical lattice clock with strontium atoms: a second generation of cold atom clocks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Le Targat, R.

2007-07-01

Atomic fountains, based on a microwave transition of Cesium or Rubidium, constitute the state of the art atomic clocks, with a relative accuracy close to 10 -16 . It nevertheless appears today that it will be difficult to go significantly beyond this level with this kind of device. The use of an optical transition, the other parameters being unchanged, gives hope for a 4 or 5 orders of magnitude improvement of the stability and of the relative uncertainty on most systematic effects. As for motional effects on the atoms, they can be controlled on a very different manner if they are trapped in an optical lattice instead of experiencing a free ballistic flight stage, characteristic of fountains. The key point of this approach lies in the fact that the trap can be operated in such a way that a well chosen, weakly allowed, J=0 → J=0 clock transition can be free from light shift effects. In this respect, the strontium atom is one of the most promising candidate, the 1S 0 → 3P 0 transition has a natural width of 1 mHz, and several other easily accessible transitions can be used to efficiently laser cool atoms down to 10 μK. This thesis demonstrates the experimental feasibility of an optical lattice clock based on the strontium atom, and reports on a preliminary evaluation of the relative accuracy with the fermionic isotope 87 Sr, at a level of a few 10 -15 . (author)

Precombination Cloud Collapse and Baryonic Dark Matter

Science.gov (United States)

Hogan, Craig J.

1993-01-01

A simple spherical model of dense baryon clouds in the hot big bang 'strongly nonlinear primordial isocurvature baryon fluctuations' is reviewed and used to describe the dependence of cloud behavior on the model parameters, baryon mass, and initial over-density. Gravitational collapse of clouds before and during recombination is considered including radiation diffusion and trapping, remnant type and mass, and effects on linear large-scale fluctuation modes. Sufficiently dense clouds collapse early into black holes with a minimum mass of approx. 1 solar mass, which behave dynamically like collisionless cold dark matter. Clouds below a critical over-density, however, delay collapse until recombination, remaining until then dynamically coupled to the radiation like ordinary diffuse baryons, and possibly producing remnants of other kinds and lower mass. The mean density in either type of baryonic remnant is unconstrained by observed element abundances. However, mixed or unmixed spatial variations in abundance may survive in the diffuse baryon and produce observable departures from standard predictions.

The tropical Atlantic surface wind divergence belt and its effect on clouds

OpenAIRE

Y. Tubul; I. Koren; O. Altaratz

2015-01-01

A well-defined surface wind divergence (SWD) belt with distinct cloud properties forms over the equatorial Atlantic during the boreal summer months. This belt separates the deep convective clouds of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) from the shallow marine stratocumulus cloud decks forming over the cold-water subtropical region of the southern branch of the Hadley cell in the Atlantic. Using the QuikSCAT-SeaWinds and Aqua-MODIS instruments, we examined the large-scal...

Planck early results. XXIII. The first all-sky survey of Galactic cold clumps

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Poutanen, T.; Natoli, P.; Polenta, G.

2011-01-01

We present the statistical properties of the Cold Clump Catalogue of Planck Objects (C3PO), the first all-sky catalogue of cold objects, in terms of their spatial distribution, dust temperature, distance, mass, and morphology. We have combined Planck and IRAS data to extract 10342 cold sources...... dark clouds where the latter have been catalogued. These cold clumps are not isolated but clustered in groups. Dust temperature and emissivity spectral index values are derived from their spectral energy distributions using both Planck and IRAS data. The temperatures range from 7K to 19K...

Cold episodes in the Peruvian Central Andes: Composites, Types, and their Impacts over South America (1958-2014)

Science.gov (United States)

Sulca, J. C.; Vuille, M. F.; Roundy, P. E.; Trasmonte, G.; Silva, Y.; Takahashi, K.

2015-12-01

The Mantaro basin (MB) is located in the central Peruvian Andes. Occasionally, cold episodes are observed during austral summer (January-March), that strongly damage crops. However, little is known about the causes and impacts of such cold episodes. The main goal of this study is thus to characterize cold episodes in the MB and assess their large-scale circulation and teleconnections over South America (SA) during austral summer. To identify cold events in the MB daily minimum temperature (Tmin) for the period 1958-2014 from Huayao station, located within the MB was used. A cold episode is defined when daily minimum temperature drops below its 10-percentile for at least one day. Additionally, to study the sensitivity between physical mechanisms associated with cold episodes and temperature, cold episodes are classified in three groups: Weak cold episodes (7.5 ≤ Tmin ≤ 10 percentile), strong cold episodes (Tmin ≤ 2.5 percentile), but excluding the 9 coldest events (Tmin ≤ 0 ͦ C), henceforth referred to as extraordinary cold episodes. Several gridded reanalysis were used to characterize the large-scale circulation, cloud cover and rainfall over SA associated with these events. Weak and strong cold episodes in the MB are mainly associated with a weakening of the Bolivian High-Nordeste Low system by tropical-extratropical interactions. Both types of cold episodes are associated with westerly wind anomalies at mid- and upper-tropospheric levels aloft the Peruvian Central Andes, which inhibit the influx of humid air masses from the lowlands to the east and hence limit the development of cloud cover (e.g., positive OLR anomalies over MB). The resulting clear sky conditions cause nighttime temperatures to drop, leading to cold extremes below 10-percentile. Simultaneously, northeastern Brazil (NEB) registers negative OLR anomalies, strong convection and enhanced cloud cover because displacement of the South Atlantic Convergence Zone (SACZ) toward the northeast of

A minimalistic and optimized conveyor belt for neutral atoms.

Science.gov (United States)

Roy, Ritayan; Condylis, Paul C; Prakash, Vindhiya; Sahagun, Daniel; Hessmo, Björn

2017-10-20

Here we report of a design and the performance of an optimized micro-fabricated conveyor belt for precise and adiabatic transportation of cold atoms. A theoretical model is presented to determine optimal currents in conductors used for the transportation. We experimentally demonstrate a fast adiabatic transportation of Rubidium ( 87 Rb) cold atoms with minimal loss and heating with as few as three conveyor belt conductors. This novel design of a multilayered conveyor belt structure is fabricated in aluminium nitride (AlN) because of its outstanding thermal and electrical properties. This demonstration would pave a way for a compact and portable quantum device required for quantum information processing and sensors, where precise positioning of cold atoms is desirable.

Two cold-season derechoes in Europe

Science.gov (United States)

Gatzen, Christoph; Púčik, Tomas; Ryva, David

2011-06-01

In this study, we apply for the first time the definition of a derecho (Johns and Hirt, 1987) to European cold-season convective storm systems. These occurred on 18 January 2007 and 1 March 2008, respectively, and they are shown to fulfill the criteria of a derecho. Damaging winds were reported over a distance of 1500 km and locally reached F3 intensity. Synoptic analysis for the events reveal strongly forced situations that have been described for cold-season derechoes in the United States. A comparison of swaths of damaging winds, radar structures, detected lightning, cold pool development, and cloud-top temperatures indicates that both derechoes formed along cold fronts that were affected by strong quasi-geostrophic forcing. It seems that the overlap of the cold front position with the strong differential cyclonic vorticity advection at the cyclonic flank of mid-level jet streaks favoured intense convection and high winds. The movement and path width of the two derechoes seemed to be related to this overlap. The wind gust intensity that was also different for both events is discussed and could be related to the component of the mid-level winds perpendicular to the gust fronts.

Cloud-Resolving Model Simulations of Aerosol-Cloud Interactions Triggered by Strong Aerosol Emissions in the Arctic

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, H.; Kravitz, B.; Rasch, P. J.; Morrison, H.; Solomon, A.

2014-12-01

Previous process-oriented modeling studies have highlighted the dependence of effectiveness of cloud brightening by aerosols on cloud regimes in warm marine boundary layer. Cloud microphysical processes in clouds that contain ice, and hence the mechanisms that drive aerosol-cloud interactions, are more complicated than in warm clouds. Interactions between ice particles and liquid drops add additional levels of complexity to aerosol effects. A cloud-resolving model is used to study aerosol-cloud interactions in the Arctic triggered by strong aerosol emissions, through either geoengineering injection or concentrated sources such as shipping and fires. An updated cloud microphysical scheme with prognostic aerosol and cloud particle numbers is employed. Model simulations are performed in pure super-cooled liquid and mixed-phase clouds, separately, with or without an injection of aerosols into either a clean or a more polluted Arctic boundary layer. Vertical mixing and cloud scavenging of particles injected from the surface is still quite efficient in the less turbulent cold environment. Overall, the injection of aerosols into the Arctic boundary layer can delay the collapse of the boundary layer and increase low-cloud albedo. The pure liquid clouds are more susceptible to the increase in aerosol number concentration than the mixed-phase clouds. Rain production processes are more effectively suppressed by aerosol injection, whereas ice precipitation (snow) is affected less; thus the effectiveness of brightening mixed-phase clouds is lower than for liquid-only clouds. Aerosol injection into a clean boundary layer results in a greater cloud albedo increase than injection into a polluted one, consistent with current knowledge about aerosol-cloud interactions. Unlike previous studies investigating warm clouds, the impact of dynamical feedback due to precipitation changes is small. According to these results, which are dependent upon the representation of ice nucleation

Consequences of the Solar System passage through dense interstellar clouds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. G. Yeghikyan

2003-06-01

Full Text Available Several consequences of the passage of the solar system through dense interstellar molecular clouds are discussed. These clouds, dense (more than 100 cm-3, cold (10–50 K and extended (larger than 1 pc, are characterized by a gas-to-dust mass ratio of about 100, by a specific power grain size spectrum (grain radii usually cover the range 0.001–3 micron and by an average dust-to-gas number density ratio of about 10-12. Frequently these clouds contain small-scale (10–100 AU condensations with gas concentrations ranging up to 10 5 cm-3. At their casual passage over the solar system they exert pressures very much enhanced with respect to today’s standards. Under these conditions it will occur that the Earth is exposed directly to the interstellar flow. It is shown first that even close to the Sun, at 1 AU, the cloud’s matter is only partly ionized and should mainly interact with the solar wind by charge exchange processes. Dust particles of the cloud serve as a source of neutrals, generated by the solar UV irradiation of dust grains, causing the evaporation of icy materials. The release of neutral atoms from dust grains is then followed by strong influences on the solar wind plasma flow. The behavior of the neutral gas inflow parameters is investigated by a 2-D hydrodynamic approach to model the interaction processes. Because of a reduction of the heliospheric dimension down to 1 AU, direct influence of the cloud’s matter to the terrestrial environment and atmosphere could be envisaged.Key words. Interplanetary physics (heliopause and solar wind termination; interplanetary dust; interstellar gas

Consequences of the Solar System passage through dense interstellar clouds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. G. Yeghikyan

Full Text Available Several consequences of the passage of the solar system through dense interstellar molecular clouds are discussed. These clouds, dense (more than 100 cm^-3, cold (10–50 K and extended (larger than 1 pc, are characterized by a gas-to-dust mass ratio of about 100, by a specific power grain size spectrum (grain radii usually cover the range 0.001–3 micron and by an average dust-to-gas number density ratio of about 10^-12. Frequently these clouds contain small-scale (10–100 AU condensations with gas concentrations ranging up to 10 5 cm^-3. At their casual passage over the solar system they exert pressures very much enhanced with respect to today’s standards. Under these conditions it will occur that the Earth is exposed directly to the interstellar flow. It is shown first that even close to the Sun, at 1 AU, the cloud’s matter is only partly ionized and should mainly interact with the solar wind by charge exchange processes. Dust particles of the cloud serve as a source of neutrals, generated by the solar UV irradiation of dust grains, causing the evaporation of icy materials. The release of neutral atoms from dust grains is then followed by strong influences on the solar wind plasma flow. The behavior of the neutral gas inflow parameters is investigated by a 2-D hydrodynamic approach to model the interaction processes. Because of a reduction of the heliospheric dimension down to 1 AU, direct influence of the cloud’s matter to the terrestrial environment and atmosphere could be envisaged.

Key words. Interplanetary physics (heliopause and solar wind termination; interplanetary dust; interstellar gas

OH radiation from the interstellar cloud medium

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nguyen-Q-Rieu,; Winnberg, A [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Radioastronomie, Bonn (F.R. Germany); Guibert, J [Observatoire de Paris, Section de Meudon, 92 (France); Lepine, J R.D. [Universidade Mackenzie, Sao Paulo (Brazil). Centro de Radio-Astronomia et Astrofisica; Johansson, L E.B. [Rymdobservatoriet, Onsala (Sweden); Goss, W M [Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Epping (Australia). Div. of Radiophysics

1976-02-01

We have detected OH in the direction of about 50% of the continuum sources investigated. The OH abundance is one order of magnitude less than usually found in dust clouds. Most of the OH features have HI counterparts. This suggests that the OH radiation arises from the HI interstellar cold clouds. Our observations allowed in some cases the determination of the excitation temperatures in all four lines. A pumping model involving far-infrared radiation and collisions with neutral and charged particles has been proposed. It explains the observed excitation temperatures.

On the distribution of relative humidity in cirrus clouds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. Spichtinger

2004-01-01

Full Text Available We have analysed relative humidity statistics from measurements in cirrus clouds taken unintentionally during the Measurement of OZone by Airbus In-service airCraft project (MOZAIC. The shapes of the in-cloud humidity distributions change from nearly symmetric in relatively warm cirrus (warmer than −40°C to considerably positively skew (i.e. towards high humidities in colder clouds. These results are in agreement to findings obtained recently from the INterhemispheric differences in Cirrus properties from Anthropogenic emissions (INCA campaign (Ovarlez et al., 2002. We interprete the temperature dependence of the shapes of the humidity distributions as an effect of the length of time a cirrus cloud needs from formation to a mature equilibrium stage, where the humidity is close to saturation. The duration of this transitional period increases with decreasing temperature. Hence cold cirrus clouds are more often met in the transitional stage than warm clouds.

Determination of ultra-trace aluminum in human albumin by cloud point extraction and graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sun Mei; Wu Qianghua

2010-01-01

A cloud point extraction (CPE) method for the preconcentration of ultra-trace aluminum in human albumin prior to its determination by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS) had been developed in this paper. The CPE method was based on the complex of Al(III) with 1-(2-pyridylazo)-2-naphthol (PAN) and Triton X-114 was used as non-ionic surfactant. The main factors affecting cloud point extraction efficiency, such as pH of solution, concentration and kind of complexing agent, concentration of non-ionic surfactant, equilibration temperature and time, were investigated in detail. An enrichment factor of 34.8 was obtained for the preconcentration of Al(III) with 10 mL solution. Under the optimal conditions, the detection limit of Al(III) was 0.06 ng mL -1 . The relative standard deviation (n = 7) of sample was 3.6%, values of recovery of aluminum were changed from 92.3% to 94.7% for three samples. This method is simple, accurate, sensitive and can be applied to the determination of ultra-trace aluminum in human albumin.

Determination of ultra-trace aluminum in human albumin by cloud point extraction and graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sun Mei, E-mail: sunmei@ustc.edu.cn [Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences on Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China, No. 96, Jinzhai Road, Hefei 230026 (China); Wu Qianghua [Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026 (China)

2010-04-15

A cloud point extraction (CPE) method for the preconcentration of ultra-trace aluminum in human albumin prior to its determination by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS) had been developed in this paper. The CPE method was based on the complex of Al(III) with 1-(2-pyridylazo)-2-naphthol (PAN) and Triton X-114 was used as non-ionic surfactant. The main factors affecting cloud point extraction efficiency, such as pH of solution, concentration and kind of complexing agent, concentration of non-ionic surfactant, equilibration temperature and time, were investigated in detail. An enrichment factor of 34.8 was obtained for the preconcentration of Al(III) with 10 mL solution. Under the optimal conditions, the detection limit of Al(III) was 0.06 ng mL{sup -1}. The relative standard deviation (n = 7) of sample was 3.6%, values of recovery of aluminum were changed from 92.3% to 94.7% for three samples. This method is simple, accurate, sensitive and can be applied to the determination of ultra-trace aluminum in human albumin.

THE GALFA-H I COMPACT CLOUD CATALOG

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Saul, Destry R.; Peek, J. E. G.; Grcevich, J.; Putman, M. E.; Brown, A. R. H.; Hamden, E. T. [Department of Astronomy, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027 (United States); Douglas, K. A. [Physics and Astronomy, University of Calgary/Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory, P.O. Box 248, Penticton, BC V2A 6J9 (Canada); Korpela, E. J. [Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Stanimirovic, S.; Lee, M.; Burkhart, B.; Pingel, N. M. [Department of Astronomy, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 475 N Charter St, Madison, WI 53703 (United States); Heiles, C. [Radio Astronomy Lab, UC Berkeley, 601 Campbell Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Gibson, S. J. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY 42101 (United States); Begum, A. [Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, ITI Campus (Gas Rahat) Building, Govindpura, Bhopal-23 (India); Tonnesen, S. [Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States)

2012-10-10

We present a catalog of 1964 isolated, compact neutral hydrogen clouds from the Galactic Arecibo L-Band Feed Array Survey Data Release One. The clouds were identified by a custom machine-vision algorithm utilizing the difference of Gaussian kernels to search for clouds smaller than 20'. The clouds have velocities typically between |V{sub LSR}| =20 and 400 km s{sup -1}, line widths of 2.5-35 km s{sup -1}, and column densities ranging from 1 to 35 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 18} cm{sup -2}. The distances to the clouds in this catalog may cover several orders of magnitude, so the masses may range from less than a solar mass for clouds within the Galactic disk, to greater than 10{sup 4} M{sub Sun} for high-velocity clouds (HVCs) at the tip of the Magellanic Stream. To search for trends, we separate the catalog into five populations based on position, velocity, and line width: HVCs; galaxy candidates; cold low-velocity clouds (LVCs); warm, low positive-velocity clouds in the third Galactic quadrant; and the remaining warm LVCs. The observed HVCs are found to be associated with previously identified HVC complexes. We do not observe a large population of isolated clouds at high velocities as some models predict. We see evidence for distinct histories at low velocities in detecting populations of clouds corotating with the Galactic disk and a set of clouds that is not corotating.

ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR CARBON AS A TRACER OF TRANSLUCENT CLOUDS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burgh, Eric B.; France, Kevin; Jenkins, Edward B.

2010-01-01

Using archival, high-resolution far-ultraviolet Hubble Space Telescope/Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph spectra of 34 Galactic O and B stars, we measure C I column densities and compare them with measurements from the literature of CO and H 2 with regard to understanding the presence of translucent clouds along the line of sight. We find that the CO/H 2 and CO/C I ratios provide good discriminators for the presence of translucent material, and both increase as a function of molecular fraction, f N = 2N(H 2 )/N(H). We suggest that sightlines with values below CO/H 2 ∼10 -6 and CO/C I ∼1 contain mostly diffuse molecular clouds, while those with values above sample clouds in the transition region between diffuse and dark. These discriminating values are also consistent with the change in slope of the CO versus H 2 correlation near the column density at which CO shielding becomes important, as evidenced by the change in photochemistry regime studied by Sheffer et al. Based on the lack of correlation of the presence of translucent material with traditional measures of extinction, we recommend defining 'translucent clouds' based on the molecular content rather than line-of-sight extinction properties.

Key technologies and applications of laser cooling and trapping "8"7Rb atomic system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ru, Ning; Zhang, Li; Wang, Yu; Fan, Shangchun

2016-01-01

Atom Interferometry is proved to be a potential method for measuring the acceleration of atoms due to Gravity, we are now building a feasible system of cold atom gravimeter. In this paper development and the important applications of laser cooling and trapping atoms are introduced, some key techniques which are used to obtain "8"7Rb cold atoms in our experiments are also discussed.

Determination of cadmium in real water samples by flame atomic absorption spectrometry after cloud point extraction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Naeemullah, A.; Kazi, T.G.

2011-01-01

Water pollution is a global threat and it is the leading world wide cause of death and diseases. The awareness of the potential danger posed by heavy metals to the ecosystems and in particular to human health has grown tremendously in the past decades. Separation and preconcentration procedures are considered of great importance in analytical and environmental chemistry. Cloud point is one of the most reliable and sophisticated separation methods for determination of traces quantities of heavy metals. Cloud point methodology was successfully employed for preconcentration of trace quantities of cadmium prior to their determination by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS). The metals react with 8-hydroxquinoline in a surfactant Triton X-114 medium. The following parameters such as pH, concentration of the reagent and Triton X-114, equilibrating temperature and centrifuging time were evaluated and optimized to enhance the sensitivity and extraction efficiency of the proposed method. Dilution of the surfactant-rich phase with acidified ethanol was performed after phase separation and the cadmium content was measured by FAAS. The validation of the procedure was carried out by spiking addition methods. The method was applied for determination of Cd in water samples of different ecosystems (lake and river). (author)

Intercomparison of model simulations of mixed-phase clouds observed during the ARM Mixed-Phase Arctic Cloud Experiment. Part I: Single layer cloud

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Klein, Stephen A.; McCoy, Renata B.; Morrison, Hugh; Ackerman, Andrew S.; Avramov, Alexander; de Boer, Gijs; Chen, Mingxuan; Cole, Jason N.S.; Del Genio, Anthony D.; Falk, Michael; Foster, Michael J.; Fridlind, Ann; Golaz, Jean-Christophe; Hashino, Tempei; Harrington, Jerry Y.; Hoose, Corinna; Khairoutdinov, Marat F.; Larson, Vincent E.; Liu, Xiaohong; Luo, Yali; McFarquhar, Greg M.; Menon, Surabi; Neggers, Roel A. J.; Park, Sungsu; Poellot, Michael R.; Schmidt, Jerome M.; Sednev, Igor; Shipway, Ben J.; Shupe, Matthew D.; Spangenberg, Douglas A.; Sud, Yogesh C.; Turner, David D.; Veron, Dana E.; von Salzen, Knut; Walker, Gregory K.; Wang, Zhien; Wolf, Audrey B.; Xie, Shaocheng; Xu, Kuan-Man; Yang, Fanglin; Zhang, Gong

2009-02-02

Results are presented from an intercomparison of single-column and cloud-resolving model simulations of a cold-air outbreak mixed-phase stratocumulus cloud observed during the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) program's Mixed-Phase Arctic Cloud Experiment. The observed cloud occurred in a well-mixed boundary layer with a cloud top temperature of -15 C. The observed average liquid water path of around 160 g m{sup -2} was about two-thirds of the adiabatic value and much greater than the average mass of ice crystal precipitation which when integrated from the surface to cloud top was around 15 g m{sup -2}. The simulations were performed by seventeen single-column models (SCMs) and nine cloud-resolving models (CRMs). While the simulated ice water path is generally consistent with the observed values, the median SCM and CRM liquid water path is a factor of three smaller than observed. Results from a sensitivity study in which models removed ice microphysics suggest that in many models the interaction between liquid and ice-phase microphysics is responsible for the large model underestimate of liquid water path. Despite this general underestimate, the simulated liquid and ice water paths of several models are consistent with the observed values. Furthermore, there is evidence that models with more sophisticated microphysics simulate liquid and ice water paths that are in better agreement with the observed values, although considerable scatter is also present. Although no single factor guarantees a good simulation, these results emphasize the need for improvement in the model representation of mixed-phase microphysics.

Stimulated cold fusion by positronium atoms, cross sections, and wall interactions in plasmas, used to diagnostics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Emami, Z.

2005-01-01

Because of the technical complexities, involved in the controlled thermonuclear, reactions, a simple vicegerent agent cold plasma, stimulated by positronium atoms (achieved through a ring storage) as stimulus, introduced by this author in ITC 12 conference. In the present paper, the interaction between γ rays emitted through positronium atoms annihilation (in the forms of doublet and triplet electromagnetic photonic radiation) with plasma particles (including electrons, ions and neutral particles) investigated. Proper lifetime of singlet γ rays τs are about 100 ns and from that of triplet γ rays, i.e τt about 100 fems, reside in the following transition times in Ne and Argon elements in He-Ne and Ar lasers respectively: Ne*(3S2) [transition time τ = 105 ns] -> Ne*(2P4); Ar+*(3P4 4S) [transition time τ = 105 fems] -> Ar+(3P5). Then the interactions of γ rays with mater in plasma could follow up as treated from that of the laser and mater in one extreme while the comparison of this situation with normal plasmas in other extreme could serve as diagnostics key role in magnetically confined plasmas reactors. Collisions between charge and neutral species in plasma with electromagnetic radiation (γ photonic radiation) including the energy loss and scattering lead to different consequences. Light electrons can take up appreciably amounts of energy from the incident rays, lead to heating cold plasma, whereas massive ions absorb very little energy. Thus loss of incident energy in radiation occurs almost entirely in collisions with electrons , which, referred to the γ rays energy this would led to plasma heating about thermonuclear reaction ( Eγ = hν = 0.5 MeV). The heavy ions and neutral species in interaction with electromagnetic γ radiation, result on the other hand in scattering, in turn may increase the ionization level of the cold plasma, toward fully ionized plasma. Although all the essential features of these different interaction cross sections deduced

Limit Cycles and Chaos via Quasi-periodicity in Two Coupled Ensembles of Ultra-cold Atoms.

Science.gov (United States)

Patra, Aniket; Yuzbashyan, Emil; Altshuler, Boris

We study the dynamics of two mesoscopic ensembles of ultra-cold two level atoms, which are collectively coupled to an optical cavity and are being pumped incoherently to the excited state. Whereas the time independent steady states are well understood, little is known about the time dependent ones. We explore and categorize various time dependent steady states, e.g. limit cycles and chaotic behavior. We draw a non-equilibrium phase diagram indicating different steady-state behaviors in different parts of the parameter space. We discuss the synchronization of the two ensembles in the time dependent steady states. We also show the onset of chaos via quasi-periodicity. The rich time dependent steady-state behavior, especially the existence of chaos, opens up possibilities for several engineering applications. Supported in part by the University and Louis Bevier Graduate Fellowship.

Speciation of methylmercury and ethylmercury by gas chromatography cold vapor atomic fluresence spectroscopy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Boggess, A. [Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States). Savannah River National Lab. (SRNL)

2017-09-28

Existing models and simulants of tank disposition media at SRS have presumed the presence of high concentrations of inorganic mercury. However, recent quarterly tank analyses show that mercury is present as organomercurial species at concentrations that may present challenges to remediation and disposition and may exceed the Saltstone Waste Acceptance Criteria (WAC). To-date, methylmercury analysis for Savannah River Remediation (SRR) has been performed off-site by Eurofins Scientific (Lancaster, PA). A series of optimization and validation experiments has been performed at SRNL, which has resulted in the development of on-site organomercury speciation capabilities using purge and trap gas chromatography coupled with thermal desorption cold vapor atomic fluorescence spectroscopy (P&T GC/CVAFS). Speciation has been achieved for methylmercury, with a method reporting limit (MRL) values of 1.42 pg for methylmercury. Results obtained by SRNL from the analysis of past quarterly samples from tanks 21, 40, and 50 have demonstrated statistically indistinguishable concentration values compared with the concentration data obtained from Eurofins, while the data from SRNL has demonstrated significantly improved precision and processing time.

Observation of atomic arrangement by using photoelectron holography and atomic stereo-photograph

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matsushita, Tomohiro; Guo, Fang Zhun; Agui, Akane; Matsui, Fumihiko; Daimon, Hiroshi

2006-01-01

Both a photoelectron holography and atomic stereo-photograph are the atomic structure analysis methods on the basis of photoelectron diffraction. They have six special features such as 1) direct determination of atomic structure, 2) measurement of three dimensional atomic arrangements surrounding of specific element in the sample, 3) determination of position of atom in spite of electron cloud, 4) unnecessary of perfect periodic structure, 5) good sensitivity of structure in the neighborhood of surface and 6) information of electron structure. Photoelectron diffraction, the principle and measurement system of photoelectron holography and atomic stereo-photograph is explained. As application examples of atomic stereo-photograph, the single crystal of cupper and graphite are indicated. For examples of photoelectron holography, Si(001)2p and Ge(001)3s are explained. (S.Y.)

A metastable helium trap for atomic collision physics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Colla, M.; Gulley, R.; Uhlmann, L.; Hoogerland, M.D.; Baldwin, K.G.H.; Buckman, S.J.

1999-01-01

Full text: Metastable helium in the 2 3 S state is an important species for atom optics and atomic collision physics. Because of its large internal energy (20eV), long lifetime (∼8000s) and large collision cross section for a range of processes, metastable helium plays an important role in atmospheric physics, plasma discharges and gas laser physics. We have embarked on a program of studies on atom-atom and electron-atom collision processes involving cold metastable helium. We confine metastable helium atoms in a magneto-optic trap (MOT), which is loaded by a transversely collimated, slowed and 2-D focussed atomic beam. We employ diode laser tuned to the 1083 nm (2 3 S 1 - 2 3 P2 1 ) transition to generate laser cooling forces in both the loading beam and the trap. Approximately 10 million helium atoms are trapped at temperatures of ∼ 1mK. We use phase modulation spectroscopy to measure the trapped atomic density. The cold, trapped atoms can collide to produce either atomic He + or molecular He 2 + ions by Penning Ionisation (PI) or Associative Ionisation (AI). The rate of formation of these ions is dependant upon the detuning of the trapping laser from resonance. A further laser can be used to connect the 2 3 S 1 state to another higher lying excited state, and variation of the probe laser detuning used to measure interatomic collision potential. Electron-atom collision processes are studied using a monochromatic electron beam with a well defined spatial current distribution. The total trap loss due to electron collisions is measured as a function of electron energy. Results will be presented for these atomic collision physics measurements involving cold, trapped metastable helium atoms. Copyright (1999) Australian Optical Society

Design of fresh food sensory perceptual system for cold chain logistics

OpenAIRE

Zhang Ying; Cheng Ruqi; Chen Shaohui

2018-01-01

According to the present stage low-level information of China's cold chain preservation, designed a kind of fresh food sensory perceptual system for cold chain logistics based on Internet of things. This system highly integrated applied many technologies such as the Internet of things technology, forecasting technology for fruits and vegetables preservation period, RFID and Planar bar code technology, big data and cloud computing technology and so on.Designed as a four-layer structure includi...

All-optical 3D atomic loops generated with Bessel light fields

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Volke-Sepulveda, Karen; Jauregui, RocIo

2009-01-01

The propagation invariance of Bessel beams as well as their transversal structure is used to perform a comparative analysis of their effect on cold atoms for four different configurations and combinations thereof. We show that, even at temperatures for which the classical description of the atom's centre-of-mass motion is valid, the interchange of momentum, energy and orbital angular momentum between light and atoms yields efficient tools for all-optical trapping, transporting and, in general, manipulating the state of motion of cold atoms.

Evidence linking coronal mass ejections with interplanetary magnetic clouds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wilson, R.M.; Hildner, E.

1983-12-01

Using proxy data for the occurrence of those mass ejections from the solar corona which are directed earthward, we investigate the association between the post-1970 interplanetary magnetic clouds of Klein and Burlaga and coronal mass ejections. The evidence linking magnetic clouds following shocks with coronal mass ejections is striking. Six of nine clouds observed at Earth were preceded an appropriate time earlier by meter-wave type II radio bursts indicative of coronal shock waves and coronal mass ejections occurring near central meridian. During the selected periods when no clouds were detected near Earth, the only type II bursts reported were associated with solar activity near the limbs. Where the proxy solar data to be sought are not so clearly suggested, that is, for clouds preceding interaction regions and clouds within cold magnetic enhancements, the evidence linking the clouds and coronal mass ejections is not as clear proxy data usually suggest many candidate mass-ejection events for each cloud. Overall, the data are consistent with and support the hypothesis suggested by Klein and Burlaga that magnetic clouds observed with spacecraft at 1 AU are manifestations of solar coronal mass ejection transients

Herschel HIFI GOT C+ Survey: CII, HI, and CO Emissions in a Sample of Transition Clouds and Star-Forming regions in the Inner Galaxy

Science.gov (United States)

Pineda, Jorge; Velusamy, Thangasamy; Langer, William D.; Goldsmith, Paul; Li, Di; Yorke, Harold

The GOT C+ a HIFI Herschel Key Project, studies the diffuse ISM throughout the Galactic Plane, using C+ as cloud tracer. The C+ line at 1.9 THz traces a so-far poorly studied stage in ISM cloud evolution -the transitional clouds going from atomic HI to molecular H2. This transition cloud phase, which is difficult to observe in HI and CO alone, may be best characterized via CII emission or absorption. The C+ line is also an excellent tracer of the warm diffuse gas and the warm, dense gas in the Photon Dominated Regions (PDRs). We can, therefore, use the CII emission as a probe to understand the effects of star formation on their interstellar environment. We present our first results on the transition between dense and hot gas (traced by CII) and dense and cold gas (traced by 12CO and 13CO) along a few representative lines of sight in the inner Galaxy from longitude 325 degrees to 25 degrees, taken during the HIFI Priority Science Phase. Comparisons of the high spectral resolution ( 1 km/s) HIFI data on C+ with HI, 12CO, and 13CO spectra allow us to separate out the different ISM components along each line of sight. Our results provide detailed information about the transition of diffuse atomic to molecular gas clouds needed to understand star formation and the lifecycle of the interstellar gas. These observations are being carried out with the Herschel Space Observatory, which is an ESA cornerstone mission, with contributions from NASA. This research was conducted at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. JLP was supported under the NASA Postdoctoral Program at JPL, Caltech, administered by Oak Ridge Associated Universities through a contract with NASA, and is currently supported as a Caltech-JPL Postdoctoral associate.

Second CERN group produces cold atoms of antihydrogen

CERN Document Server

Levi-Goss, Barbara

2003-01-01

A new experiment, by CERN's ATRAP collaboration, which introduced a technique for determining the quantum state in which antihydrogen atoms are formed was discussed. To make antihydrogen, antiprotons were taken from CERN's Antiproton Decelerator, further slowed down, and trapped with a configuration of electric fields. The evidence gathered confirmed that the H over bar atoms formed in the experiment occupy highly excited Rydberg states. (Edited abstract) 5 Refs.

Intercomparison of model simulations of mixed-phase clouds observed during the ARM Mixed-Phase Arctic Cloud Experiment. Part I: Single layer cloud

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Klein, S A; McCoy, R B; Morrison, H; Ackerman, A; Avramov, A; deBoer, G; Chen, M; Cole, J; DelGenio, A; Golaz, J; Hashino, T; Harrington, J; Hoose, C; Khairoutdinov, M; Larson, V; Liu, X; Luo, Y; McFarquhar, G; Menon, S; Neggers, R; Park, S; Poellot, M; von Salzen, K; Schmidt, J; Sednev, I; Shipway, B; Shupe, M; Spangenberg, D; Sud, Y; Turner, D; Veron, D; Falk, M; Foster, M; Fridlind, A; Walker, G; Wang, Z; Wolf, A; Xie, S; Xu, K; Yang, F; Zhang, G

2008-02-27

Results are presented from an intercomparison of single-column and cloud-resolving model simulations of a cold-air outbreak mixed-phase stratocumulus cloud observed during the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) program's Mixed-Phase Arctic Cloud Experiment. The observed cloud occurred in a well-mixed boundary layer with a cloud top temperature of -15 C. The observed liquid water path of around 160 g m{sup -2} was about two-thirds of the adiabatic value and much greater than the mass of ice crystal precipitation which when integrated from the surface to cloud top was around 15 g m{sup -2}. The simulations were performed by seventeen single-column models (SCMs) and nine cloud-resolving models (CRMs). While the simulated ice water path is generally consistent with the observed values, the median SCM and CRM liquid water path is a factor of three smaller than observed. Results from a sensitivity study in which models removed ice microphysics indicate that in many models the interaction between liquid and ice-phase microphysics is responsible for the large model underestimate of liquid water path. Despite this general underestimate, the simulated liquid and ice water paths of several models are consistent with the observed values. Furthermore, there is some evidence that models with more sophisticated microphysics simulate liquid and ice water paths that are in better agreement with the observed values, although considerable scatter is also present. Although no single factor guarantees a good simulation, these results emphasize the need for improvement in the model representation of mixed-phase microphysics. This case study, which has been well observed from both aircraft and ground-based remote sensors, could be a benchmark for model simulations of mixed-phase clouds.

Mercury determination in non- and biodegradable materials by cold vapor capacitively coupled plasma microtorch atomic emission spectrometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frentiu, Tiberiu; Mihaltan, Alin I.; Ponta, Michaela; Darvasi, Eugen; Frentiu, Maria; Cordos, Emil

2011-01-01

Highlights: → Use of a miniaturized analytical system with microtorch plasma for Hg determination. → Determination of Hg in non- and biodegradable materials using cold vapor generation. → Figures of merit and advantages of the miniaturized system for Hg determination. - Abstract: A new analytical system consisting of a low power capacitively coupled plasma microtorch (20 W, 13.56 MHz, 150 ml min -1 Ar) and a microspectrometer was investigated for the Hg determination in non- and biodegradable materials by cold-vapor generation, using SnCl 2 reductant, and atomic emission spectrometry. The investigated miniaturized system was used for Hg determination in recyclable plastics from electronic equipments and biodegradable materials (shopping bags of 98% biodegradable polyethylene and corn starch) with the advantages of easy operation and low analysis costs. Samples were mineralized in HNO 3 -H 2 SO 4 mixture in a high-pressure microwave system. The detection limits of 0.05 ng ml -1 or 0.08 μg g -1 in solid sample were compared with those reported for other analytical systems. The method precision was 1.5-9.4% for Hg levels of 1.37-13.9 mg kg -1 , while recovery in two polyethylene certified reference materials in the range 98.7 ± 4.5% (95% confidence level).

Transfer of energy in an atom

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chemin, J.F.

2001-01-01

In most cases the nucleus does not interact with the electron cloud because its energy range is far higher, but in some rare cases electrons from the electron cloud and the nucleus may exchange energy: an electron may de-excite by transferring a part of its energy to the nucleus that becomes itself excited (nuclear excitation by electronic transfer or NEET), conversely electrons can receive energy from the nucleus (bound internal conversion or BIC). For the first time both energy transfers have been observed: a BIC process on a tellurium-125 atom by a French team and a NEET process on a gold-197 atom by a Japanese team. (A.C.)

High-latitude molecular clouds and infrared cirrus

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vries, H.W. de.

1988-01-01

The high-latitude infrared cirrus detected by IRAS is identified with atomic and molecular clouds. These clouds are small (usually less than 1 sq. deg.) and show weak CO emission. On the basis of a distance of 100 pc they are characterized by a mass of a few solar masses and a radius of about 1 pc. Thermal radiation by dust as a results of heating by the diffuse interstellar radiation field is the most-plausible origin of the cirrus emission at far-infrared wavelengths. On the basis of plausible assumptions regarding the uniformity of both the gas-to-dust ratio and the heating and cooling of the dust, the flux density at 100 μm from regions with low visual extinction should be a good tracer of the gas column density. Indeed, the data show an approximately linear proportionality between N(HI), obtained from 21-cm observations, and I 100 (HI), the flux density from dust associated with HI. If the ratio of column density to flux density in high-latitude molecular clouds is equal to the corresponding relation in atomic ones, a value for the ratio of H 2 column density to CO velocity-integrated radiation temperature may be obtained. Although low-mass clouds may be large in number, the fraction of the Galactic molecular mass in the form of these clouds is probably no more than 1%

Cooperative fluorescence from a strongly driven dilute cloud of atoms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ott, Johan Raunkjær; Wubs, Martijn; Lodahl, Peter

2013-01-01

We investigate cooperative fluorescence in a dilute cloud of strongly driven two-level emitters. Starting from the Heisenberg equations of motion, we compute the first-order scattering corrections to the saturation of the excited-state population and to the resonance-fluorescence spectrum, which...... both require going beyond the state-of-the-art linear-optics approach to describe collective phenomena. A dipole blockade is observed due to long-range dipole-dipole coupling that vanishes at stronger driving fields. Furthermore, we compute the inelastic component of the light scattered by a cloud...

Cold molecules: formation, trapping and spectroscopy. - Piling up of cesium dimers in a quadrupolar magnetic trap. - Spectroscopy by lack of photo-association

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vanhaecke, N.

2003-10-01

This thesis deals with the study of cold molecules obtained through the cold atom photo-association technique. Our study is focused both on manipulating external degrees of freedom of these Cs 2 molecules and on studying their internal interactions. A quadrupolar magnetic trap of about 2.10 5 cold Cs 2 molecules is demonstrated. The trap lifetime is on the order of 600 ms, mainly limited by the background gas pressure. The trapped molecules are identified, which allows the determination of the trapped molecule cloud temperature, which is about 35 μK. A dipolar trap is set up by the use of a focused CO 2 laser beam. Moreover, this thesis describes a two-photon photo-association spectroscopy. We report the first study of two-photon photo-association line shapes, which exhibit typical Fano profiles. Taking advantage of the detailed understanding of these line shapes, we measure over one hundred high-lying level energies with an accuracy on the order of 10 MHz. Then we interpret theoretically these energies. The huge hyperfine structure of the Cesium atom binds us to solve a coupled channel Schroedinger equation for internuclear distances above 15 a 0 . Hence we use an asymptotic theory to fit the potential parameters of the Cs 2 dimer. We adjust those parameters by the mean of both evolutionary strategies and deterministic optimum seeking. This is followed by a careful statistics study, which leads to a very accurate determination of the Vander Waals coefficient. Moreover we report the first experimental determination of the exchange interaction amplitude. (author)

Instantaneous Linkages between Clouds and Large-Scale Meteorology over the Southern Ocean in Observations and a Climate Model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wall, Casey J. [Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington; Hartmann, Dennis L. [Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington; Ma, Po-Lun [Atmospheric Sciences and Global Change Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington

2017-12-01

Instantaneous, coincident, footprint-level satellite observations of cloud properties and radiation taken during austral summer over the Southern Ocean are used to study relationships between clouds and large-scale meteorology. Cloud properties are very sensitive to the strength of vertical motion in the middle-troposphere, and low-cloud properties are sensitive to estimated inversion strength, low-level temperature advection, and sea surface temperature. These relationships are quantified. An index for the meteorological anomalies associated with midlatitude cyclones is presented, and it is used to reveal the sensitivity of clouds to the meteorology within the warm- and cold-sector of cyclones. The observed relationships between clouds and meteorology are compared to those in the Community Atmosphere Model version 5 (CAM5) using satellite simulators. Low-clouds simulated by CAM5 are too few, too bright, and contain too much ice, and low-clouds located in the cold-sector of cyclones are too sensitive to variations in the meteorology. The latter two biases are dramatically reduced when CAM5 is coupled with an updated boundary layer parameterization know as Cloud Layers Unified by Binormals (CLUBB). More generally, this study demonstrates that examining the instantaneous timescale is a powerful approach to understanding the physical processes that control clouds and how they are represented in climate models. Such an evaluation goes beyond the cloud climatology and exposes model bias under various meteorological conditions.

The Properties of Planck Galactic Cold Clumps in the L1495 Dark Cloud

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Mengyao; Liu, Tie; Qin, Sheng-Li; Kim, Kee-Tae; Wu, Yuefang; Tatematsu, Ken’ichi; Yuan, Jinghua; Wang, Ke; Parsons, Harriet; Koch, Patrick M.; Sanhueza, Patricio; Ward-Thompson, D.; Tóth, L. Viktor; Soam, Archana; Lee, Chang Won; Eden, David; Di Francesco, James; Rawlings, Jonathan; Rawlings, Mark G.; Montillaud, Julien; Zhang, Chuan-Peng; Cunningham, M. R.

2018-04-01

Planck Galactic Cold Clumps (PGCCs) possibly represent the early stages of star formation. To understand better the properties of PGCCs, we studied 16 PGCCs in the L1495 cloud with molecular lines and continuum data from Herschel, JCMT/SCUBA-2, and the PMO 13.7 m telescope. Thirty dense cores were identified in 16 PGCCs from 2D Gaussian fitting. The dense cores have dust temperatures of T d = 11–14 K, and H2 column densities of {N}{{{H}}2} = (0.36–2.5) × 1022 cm‑2. We found that not all PGCCs contain prestellar objects. In general, the dense cores in PGCCs are usually at their earliest evolutionary stages. All the dense cores have non-thermal velocity dispersions larger than the thermal velocity dispersions from molecular line data, suggesting that the dense cores may be turbulence-dominated. We have calculated the virial parameter α and found that 14 of the dense cores have α 2. This suggests that some of the dense cores are not bound in the absence of external pressure and magnetic fields. The column density profiles of dense cores were fitted. The sizes of the flat regions and core radii decrease with the evolution of dense cores. CO depletion was found to occur in all the dense cores, but is more significant in prestellar core candidates than in protostellar or starless cores. The protostellar cores inside the PGCCs are still at a very early evolutionary stage, sharing similar physical and chemical properties with the prestellar core candidates.

CYANOMETHANIMINE ISOMERS IN COLD INTERSTELLAR CLOUDS: INSIGHTS FROM ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE AND KINETIC CALCULATIONS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vazart, Fanny; Latouche, Camille; Skouteris, Dimitrios; Barone, Vincenzo [Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, I-56125 Pisa (Italy); Balucani, Nadia [Dipartimento di Chimica, Biologia e Biotecnologie, Universitá degli Studi di Perugia, Via Elce di Sotto 8, I-06123 Perugia (Italy)

2015-09-10

New insights into the formation of interstellar cyanomethanimine, a species of great relevance in prebiotic chemistry, are provided by electronic structure and kinetic calculations for the reaction CN + CH{sub 2} = NH. This reaction is a facile formation route of Z,E-C-cyanomethanimine, even under the extreme conditions of density and temperature typical of cold interstellar clouds. E-C-cyanomethanimine has been recently identified in Sgr B2(N) in the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) PRIMOS survey by P. Zaleski et al. and no efficient formation routes have been envisaged so far. The rate coefficient expression for the reaction channel leading to the observed isomer E-C-cyanomethanimine is 3.15 × 10-10 × (T/300){sup 0.152} × e{sup (−0.0948/T)}. According to the present study, the more stable Z-C-cyanomethanimine isomer is formed with a slightly larger yield (4.59 × 10{sup −10} × (T/300){sup 0.153} × e{sup (−0.0871/T)}. As the detection of E-isomer is favored due to its larger dipole moment, the missing detection of the Z-isomer can be due to the sensitivity limit of the GBT PRIMOS survey and the detection of the Z-isomer should be attempted with more sensitive instrumentation. The CN + CH{sub 2} = NH reaction can also play a role in the chemistry of the upper atmosphere of Titan where the cyanomethanimine products can contribute to the buildup of the observed nitrogen-rich organic aerosols that cover the moon.

Prognostic cloud water in the Los Alamos general circulation model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kristjansson, J.E.; Kao, C.Y.J.

1993-01-01

Most of today's general circulation models (GCMS) have a greatly simplified treatment of condensation and clouds. Recent observational studies of the earth's radiation budget have suggested cloud-related feedback mechanisms to be of tremendous importance for the issue of global change. Thus, there has arisen an urgent need for improvements in the treatment of clouds in GCMS, especially as the clouds relate to radiation. In the present paper, we investigate the effects of introducing pregnostic cloud water into the Los Alamos GCM. The cloud water field, produced by both stratiform and convective condensation, is subject to 3-dimensional advection and vertical diffusion. The cloud water enters the radiation calculations through the long wave emissivity calculations. Results from several sensitivity simulations show that realistic cloud water and precipitation fields can be obtained with the applied method. Comparisons with observations show that the most realistic results are obtained when more sophisticated schemes for moist convection are introduced at the same time. The model's cold bias is reduced and the zonal winds become stronger, due to more realistic tropical convection

Deuterium fractionation in dense interstellar clouds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Millar, T.J.; Bennett, A.; Herbst, E.

1989-01-01

The time-dependent gas-phase chemistry of deuterium fractionation in dense interstellar clouds ranging in temperature between 10 and 70 K was investigated using a pseudo-time-dependent model similar to that of Brown and Rice (1986). The present approach, however, considers much more complex species, uses more deuterium fractionation reactions, and includes the use of new branching ratios for dissociative recombinations reactions. Results indicate that, in cold clouds, the major and most global source of deuterium fractionation is H2D(+) and ions derived from it, such as DCO(+) and H2DO(+). In warmer clouds, reactions of CH2D(+), C2HD(+), and associated species lead to significant fractionation even at 70 K, which is the assumed Orion temperature. The deuterium abundance ratios calculated at 10 K are consistent with those observed in TMC-1 for most species. However, a comparison between theory and observatiom for Orion, indicates that, for species in the ambient molecular cloud, the early-time results obtained with the old dissociative recombination branching ratios are superior if a temperature of 70 K is utilized. 60 refs

Deuterium fractionation in dense interstellar clouds

Science.gov (United States)

Millar, T. J.; Bennett, A.; Herbst, Eric

1989-05-01

The time-dependent gas-phase chemistry of deuterium fractionation in dense interstellar clouds ranging in temperature between 10 and 70 K was investigated using a pseudo-time-dependent model similar to that of Brown and Rice (1986). The present approach, however, considers much more complex species, uses more deuterium fractionation reactions, and includes the use of new branching ratios for dissociative recombinations reactions. Results indicate that, in cold clouds, the major and most global source of deuterium fractionation is H2D(+) and ions derived from it, such as DCO(+) and H2DO(+). In warmer clouds, reactions of CH2D(+), C2HD(+), and associated species lead to significant fractionation even at 70 K, which is the assumed Orion temperature. The deuterium abundance ratios calculated at 10 K are consistent with those observed in TMC-1 for most species. However, a comparison between theory and observatiom for Orion, indicates that, for species in the ambient molecular cloud, the early-time results obtained with the old dissociative recombination branching ratios are superior if a temperature of 70 K is utilized.

Determination of ultra-trace aluminum in human albumin by cloud point extraction and graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Mei; Wu, Qianghua

2010-04-15

A cloud point extraction (CPE) method for the preconcentration of ultra-trace aluminum in human albumin prior to its determination by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS) had been developed in this paper. The CPE method was based on the complex of Al(III) with 1-(2-pyridylazo)-2-naphthol (PAN) and Triton X-114 was used as non-ionic surfactant. The main factors affecting cloud point extraction efficiency, such as pH of solution, concentration and kind of complexing agent, concentration of non-ionic surfactant, equilibration temperature and time, were investigated in detail. An enrichment factor of 34.8 was obtained for the preconcentration of Al(III) with 10 mL solution. Under the optimal conditions, the detection limit of Al(III) was 0.06 ng mL(-1). The relative standard deviation (n=7) of sample was 3.6%, values of recovery of aluminum were changed from 92.3% to 94.7% for three samples. This method is simple, accurate, sensitive and can be applied to the determination of ultra-trace aluminum in human albumin. 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Demonstration of spatial-light-modulation-based four-wave mixing in cold atoms

Science.gov (United States)

Juo, Jz-Yuan; Lin, Jia-Kang; Cheng, Chin-Yao; Liu, Zi-Yu; Yu, Ite A.; Chen, Yong-Fan

2018-05-01

Long-distance quantum optical communications usually require efficient wave-mixing processes to convert the wavelengths of single photons. Many quantum applications based on electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) have been proposed and demonstrated at the single-photon level, such as quantum memories, all-optical transistors, and cross-phase modulations. However, EIT-based four-wave mixing (FWM) in a resonant double-Λ configuration has a maximum conversion efficiency (CE) of 25% because of absorptive loss due to spontaneous emission. An improved scheme using spatially modulated intensities of two control fields has been theoretically proposed to overcome this conversion limit. In this study, we first demonstrate wavelength conversion from 780 to 795 nm with a 43% CE by using this scheme at an optical density (OD) of 19 in cold 87Rb atoms. According to the theoretical model, the CE in the proposed scheme can further increase to 96% at an OD of 240 under ideal conditions, thereby attaining an identical CE to that of the previous nonresonant double-Λ scheme at half the OD. This spatial-light-modulation-based FWM scheme can achieve a near-unity CE, thus providing an easy method of implementing an efficient quantum wavelength converter for all-optical quantum information processing.

Levitation of atoms by interference and Two-dimensional transport in the presence of disorder

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Robert De Saint Vincent, M.

2010-12-01

This thesis presents two experiments of atomic physics, realized on an ultra-cold sample of Rubidium 87. We tackle the topics of atom interferometry, and of the transport properties in disordered medium. In the first experiment, we demonstrate a technique for suspending atoms against gravity, which could help increase the interrogation time of atom interferometers. The atoms are periodically diffracted on a light standing wave, used as Bragg mirror to reflect the atoms and thus prevent their fall. However, when getting close to the thin grating limit, the matter wave-packet is split into many trajectories that periodically recombine. We show that the interference between these multiple components can be used to cancel the losses towards falling channels. This original interferometer could be an interesting alternative to suspend an inertial sensor or an atom clock in a limited volume, whilst allowing simultaneous measurement of the forces acting on the atoms. The second experiment is devoted to the study of the transport properties in a 2-dimensional (2D) disordered medium. In particular, matter wave interference can prevent the transport - a phenomenon known as Anderson Localization. The atoms are confined between two repulsive sheets of light, and the disorder is generated by a speckle pattern shined onto the cloud. We observe a diffusive expansion in these potentials, and extract diffusion coefficients in agreement with a numerical simulation. We then explore the dynamic at lower energies, where sub-diffusion, classical trapping under the percolation threshold, and Anderson Localization may be observed. Finally, the study of the interplay between disorder and the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition in 2D is now within reach. (author)

Ice nucleation active particles are efficiently removed by precipitating clouds

OpenAIRE

Emiliano Stopelli; Franz Conen; Cindy E. Morris; Erik Herrmann; Nicolas Bukowiecki; Christine Alewell

2015-01-01

Ice nucleation in cold clouds is a decisive step in the formation of rain and snow. Observations and modelling suggest that variations in the concentrations of ice nucleating particles (INPs) affect timing, location and amount of precipitation. A quantitative description of the abundance and variability of INPs is crucial to assess and predict their influence on precipitation. Here we used the hydrological indicator δ(18)O to derive the fraction of water vapour lost from precipitating clouds ...

Trace mercury determination in drinking and natural water after preconcentration and separation by DLLME-SFO method coupled with cold vapor atomic absorption spectrometry

OpenAIRE

Abdollahi Atousa; Amirkavehei Mooud; Gheisari Mohammad Mehdi; Tadayon Fariba

2014-01-01

A novel dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction based on solidification of floating organic drop (DLLME-SFO) for simultaneous separation/preconcentration of ultra trace amounts of mercury was used. A method based on amalgamation was used for collection of gaseous mercury on gold coated sand (Gold trap). The concentration of mercury was determined by cold vapor atomic absorption spectrometry (CV-AAS). The DLLME-SFO behavior of mercury by using dithizone as complexing agent was systematically ...

A Search for O2 in CO-Depleted Molecular Cloud Cores With Herschel

Science.gov (United States)

Wirstroem, Eva S.; Charnley, Steven B.; Cordiner, Martin; Ceccarelli, Cecilia

2016-01-01

The general lack of molecular oxygen in molecular clouds is an outstanding problem in astrochemistry. Extensive searches with the Submillimeter Astronomical Satellite, Odin, and Herschel have only produced two detections; upper limits to the O2 abundance in the remaining sources observed are about 1000 times lower than predicted by chemical models. Previous atomic oxygen observations and inferences from observations of other molecules indicated that high abundances of O atoms might be present in dense cores exhibiting large amounts of CO depletion. Theoretical arguments concerning the oxygen gas-grain interaction in cold dense cores suggested that, if O atoms could survive in the gas after most of the rest of the heavy molecular material has frozen out onto dust, then O2 could be formed efficiently in the gas. Using Herschel HIFI, we searched a small sample of four depletion cores-L1544, L694-2, L429, and Oph D-for emission in the low excitation O2 N(sub J)?=?3(sub 3)-1(sub 2) line at 487.249 GHz. Molecular oxygen was not detected and we derive upper limits to its abundance in the range of N(O2)/N (H2) approx. = (0.6-1.6) x10(exp -7). We discuss the absence of O2 in the light of recent laboratory and observational studies.

Matter-wave localization in disordered cold atom lattices.

Science.gov (United States)

Gavish, Uri; Castin, Yvan

2005-07-08

We propose to observe Anderson localization of ultracold atoms in the presence of a random potential made of atoms of another species or spin state and trapped at the nodes of an optical lattice, with a filling factor less than unity. Such systems enable a nearly perfect experimental control of the disorder, while the possibility of modeling the scattering potentials by a set of pointlike ones allows an exact theoretical analysis. This is illustrated by a detailed analysis of the one-dimensional case.

Do atoms and anti-atoms obey the same laws of physics?

CERN Multimedia

Jeffrey Hangst

2010-01-01

ALPHA physicists have recently succeeded in trapping anti-atoms for the first time. Being able to hold on to the simplest atoms of antimatter is an important step towards the collaboration’s ultimate goal: precision spectroscopic comparison of hydrogen and antihydrogen. The question they are seeking to answer: do atoms and anti-atoms obey the same laws of physics? The Standard Model says that they must.   The ALPHA Collaboration celebrates the successful results. The ALPHA collaboration has taken it up a gear and trapped 38 atoms of antihydrogen for the first time. Antihydrogen atoms have been mass-produced at the Antiproton Decelerator (AD) since 2002, when ATHENA (ALPHA’s predecessor) and ATRAP learned how to mix clouds of antiprotons and positrons at cryogenic temperatures. However, these anti-atoms were not confined, and flew off in a few microseconds to meet their fate: annihilation with matter in the walls of the experiment. ALPHA uses antiprotons produced at...

Design and Construction of an Atomic Clock on an Atom Chip

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reinhard, Friedemann

2009-01-01

We describe the design and construction of an atomic clock on an atom chip, intended as a secondary standard, with a stability in the range of few 10 -13 at 1 s. This clock is based on a two-photon transition between the hyperfine states |F = 1; m F = -1> and |2; 1> of the electronic ground state of the 87 Rb atom. This transition is interrogated using a Ramsey scheme, operating on either a cloud of thermal atoms or a Bose-Einstein condensate. In contrast to atomic fountain clocks, this clock is magnetically trapped on an atom chip. We describe a theoretical model of the clock stability and the design and construction of a dedicated apparatus. It is able to control the magnetic field at the relative 10 -5 level and features a hybrid atom chip, containing DC conductors as well as a microwave transmission line for the clock interrogation. (author)

CERN experiment provides first glimpse inside cold antihydrogen

CERN Multimedia

2002-01-01

"The ATRAP experiment at the Antiproton Decelerator at CERN has detected and measured large numbers of cold antihydrogen atoms. Relying on ionization of the cold antiatoms when they pass through a strong electric field gradient, the ATRAP measurement provides the first glimpse inside an antiatom, and the first information about the physics of antihydrogen. The results have been accepted for publication in Physical Review Letters" (1 page).

Radio frequency acceleration and manipulation of ultra-cold electron bunches

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Franssen, J.G.H.; Vredenbregt, E.J.D.; Luiten, O.J.

2016-01-01

We are developing an ultra-fast and ultra-cold electron source based on a grating magneto optical trap, RF acceleration and RF (de-) compression techniques. The electrons will be created by near-threshold, femtosecond photoionization of a laser-cooled and trapped gas. The electron cloud is extracted

Enhancement of phase space density by increasing trap anisotropy in a magneto-optical trap with a large number of atoms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vengalattore, M.; Conroy, R.S.; Prentiss, M.G.

2004-01-01

The phase space density of dense, cylindrical clouds of atoms in a 2D magneto-optic trap is investigated. For a large number of trapped atoms (>10 8 ), the density of a spherical cloud is limited by photon reabsorption. However, as the atom cloud is deformed to reduce the radial optical density, the temperature of the atoms decreases due to the suppression of multiple scattering leading to an increase in the phase space density. A density of 2x10 -4 has been achieved in a magneto-optic trap containing 2x10 8 atoms

Cosmic rays, gas and dust in nearby anticentre clouds. I. CO-to-H2 conversion factors and dust opacities

Science.gov (United States)

Remy, Q.; Grenier, I. A.; Marshall, D. J.; Casandjian, J. M.

2017-05-01

Aims: We aim to explore the capabilities of dust emission and γ rays for probing the properties of the interstellar medium in the nearby anti-centre region, using γ-ray observations with the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT), and the thermal dust optical depth inferred from Planck and IRAS observations. We also aim to study massive star-forming clouds including the well known Taurus, Auriga, Perseus, and California molecular clouds, as well as a more diffuse structure which we refer to as Cetus. In particular, we aim at quantifying potential variations in cosmic-ray density and dust properties per gas nucleon across the different gas phases and different clouds, and at measuring the CO-to-H2 conversion factor, XCO, in different environments. Methods: We have separated six nearby anti-centre clouds that are coherent in velocities and distances, from the Galactic-disc background in H I 21-cm and 12CO 2.6-mm line emission. We have jointly modelled the γ-ray intensity recorded between 0.4 and 100 GeV, and the dust optical depth τ353 at 353 GHz as a combination of H I-bright, CO-bright, and ionised gas components. The complementary information from dust emission and γ rays was used to reveal the gas not seen, or poorly traced, by H I, free-free, and 12CO emissions, namely (I) the opaque H iand diffuse H2 present in the Dark Neutral Medium at the atomic-molecular transition, and (II) the dense H2 to be added where 12CO lines saturate. Results: The measured interstellar γ-ray spectra support a uniform penetration of the cosmic rays with energies above a few GeV through the clouds, from the atomic envelopes to the 12CO-bright cores, and with a small ± 9% cloud-to-cloud dispersion in particle flux. We detect the ionised gas from the H iiregion NGC 1499 in the dust and γ-ray emissions and measure its mean electron density and temperature. We find a gradual increase in grain opacity as the gas (atomic or molecular) becomes more dense. The increase reaches a factor of

Determination of mercury in rice by cold vapor atomic fluorescence spectrometry after microwave-assisted digestion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Silva, Maria Jose da [Department of Analytical Chemistry, Edificio de Investigacion, University of Valencia, 50 Dr. Moliner Street, E-46100 Burjassot, Valencia (Spain); Departamento de Quimica Fundamental, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Cidade Universitaria, 50740-550 Recife, PE (Brazil); Paim, Ana Paula S. [Departamento de Quimica Fundamental, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Cidade Universitaria, 50740-550 Recife, PE (Brazil); Pimentel, Maria Fernanda [Departamento de Engenharia Quimica, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, PE (Brazil); Cervera, M. Luisa, E-mail: m.luisa.cervera@uv.es [Department of Analytical Chemistry, Edificio de Investigacion, University of Valencia, 50 Dr. Moliner Street, E-46100 Burjassot, Valencia (Spain); Guardia, Miguel de la [Department of Analytical Chemistry, Edificio de Investigacion, University of Valencia, 50 Dr. Moliner Street, E-46100 Burjassot, Valencia (Spain)

2010-05-14

A cold vapor atomic fluorescence spectrometry method (CV-AFS) has been developed for the determination of Hg in rice samples at a few ng g{sup -1} concentration level. The method is based on the previous digestion of samples in a microwave oven with HNO{sub 3} and H{sub 2}O{sub 2} followed by dilution with water containing KBr/KBrO{sub 3} and hydroxylamine and reduction with SnCl{sub 2} in HCl using external calibration. The matrix interferences and the effect of nitrogen oxide vapors have been evaluated and the method validated using a certified reference material. The limit of detection of the method was 0.9 ng g{sup -1} with a recovery percentage of 95 {+-} 4% at an added concentration of 5 ng g{sup -1}. The concentration level of Hg found in 24 natural rice samples from different origin ranged between 1.3 and 7.8 ng g{sup -1}.

Convective Cold Pool Structure and Boundary Layer Recovery in DYNAMO

Science.gov (United States)

Savarin, A.; Chen, S. S.; Kerns, B. W.; Lee, C.; Jorgensen, D. P.

2012-12-01

One of the key factors controlling convective cloud systems in the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) over the tropical Indian Ocean is the property of the atmospheric boundary layer. Convective downdrafts and precipitation from the cloud systems produce cold pools in the boundary layer, which can inhibit subsequent development of convection. The recovery time is the time it takes for the boundary layer to return to pre convective conditions. It may affect the variability of the convection on various time scales during the initiation of MJO. This study examines the convective cold pool structure and boundary layer recovery using the NOAA WP-3D aircraft observations, include the flight-level, Doppler radar, and GPS dropsonde data, collected during the Dynamics of MJO (DYNAMO) field campaign from November-December 2011. The depth and strength of convective cold pools are defined by the negative buoyancy, which can be computed from the dropsonde data. Convective downdraft can be affected by environmental water vapor due to entrainment. Mid-level dry air observed during the convectively suppressed phase of MJO seems to enhance convective downdraft, making the cold pools stronger and deeper. Recovery of the cold pools in the boundary layer is determined by the strength and depth of the cold pools and also the air-sea heat and moisture fluxes. Given that the water vapor and surface winds are distinct for the convectively active and suppressed phases of MJO over the Indian Ocean, the aircraft data are stratified by the two different large-scale regimes of MJO. Preliminary results show that the strength and depth of the cold pools are inversely correlated with the surrounding mid-level moisture. During the convectively suppressed phase, the recovery time is ~5-20 hours in relative weak wind condition with small air-sea fluxes. The recovery time is generally less than 6 hours during the active phase of MJO with moist mid-levels and stronger surface wind and air-sea fluxes.

Microfabricated Waveguide Atom Traps.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jau, Yuan-Yu [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

2017-09-01

A nanoscale , microfabricated waveguide structure can in - principle be used to trap atoms in well - defined locations and enable strong photon-atom interactions . A neutral - atom platform based on this microfabrication technology will be prealigned , which is especially important for quantum - control applications. At present, there is still no reported demonstration of evanescent - field atom trapping using a microfabricated waveguide structure. We described the capabilities established by our team for future development of the waveguide atom - trapping technology at SNL and report our studies to overcome the technical challenges of loading cold atoms into the waveguide atom traps, efficient and broadband optical coupling to a waveguide, and the waveguide material for high - power optical transmission. From the atomic - physics and the waveguide modeling, w e have shown that a square nano-waveguide can be utilized t o achieve better atomic spin squeezing than using a nanofiber for first time.

Prognostic cloud water in the Los Alamos general circulation model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kristjansson, J.E.; Kao, C.Y.J.

1994-01-01

Most of today's general circulation models (GCMs) have a greatly simplified treatment of condensation and clouds. Recent observational studies of the earth's radiation budget have suggested cloud-related feedback mechanisms to be of tremendous importance for the issue of global change. Thus, an urgent need for improvements in the treatment of clouds in GCMs has arisen, especially as the clouds relate to radiation. In this paper, we investigate the effects of introducing prognostic cloud water into the Los Alamos GCM. The cloud water field, produced by both stratiform and convective condensation, is subject to 3-dimensional advection and vertical diffusion. The cloud water enters the radiation calculations through the longwave emissivity calculations. Results from several sensitivity simulations show that realistic water and precipitation fields can be obtained with the applied method. Comparisons with observations show that the most realistic results are obtained when more sophisticated schemes for moist convection are introduced at the same time. The model's cold bias is reduced and the zonal winds becomes stronger because of more realistic tropical convection

Laser-cooling and electromagnetic trapping of neutral atoms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Phillips, W.D.; Migdall, A.L.; Metcalf, H.J.

1986-01-01

Until recently it has been impossible to confine and trap neutral atoms using electromagnetic fields. While many proposals for such traps exist, the small potential energy depth of the traps and the high kinetic energy of available atoms prevented trapping. We review various schemes for atom trapping, the advances in laser cooling of atomic beams which have now made trapping possible, and the successful magnetic trapping of cold sodium atoms

Cluster analysis of midlatitude oceanic cloud regimes: mean properties and temperature sensitivity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. D. Gordon

2010-07-01

Full Text Available Clouds play an important role in the climate system by reducing the amount of shortwave radiation reaching the surface and the amount of longwave radiation escaping to space. Accurate simulation of clouds in computer models remains elusive, however, pointing to a lack of understanding of the connection between large-scale dynamics and cloud properties. This study uses a k-means clustering algorithm to group 21 years of satellite cloud data over midlatitude oceans into seven clusters, and demonstrates that the cloud clusters are associated with distinct large-scale dynamical conditions. Three clusters correspond to low-level cloud regimes with different cloud fraction and cumuliform or stratiform characteristics, but all occur under large-scale descent and a relatively dry free troposphere. Three clusters correspond to vertically extensive cloud regimes with tops in the middle or upper troposphere, and they differ according to the strength of large-scale ascent and enhancement of tropospheric temperature and humidity. The final cluster is associated with a lower troposphere that is dry and an upper troposphere that is moist and experiencing weak ascent and horizontal moist advection.

Since the present balance of reflection of shortwave and absorption of longwave radiation by clouds could change as the atmosphere warms from increasing anthropogenic greenhouse gases, we must also better understand how increasing temperature modifies cloud and radiative properties. We therefore undertake an observational analysis of how midlatitude oceanic clouds change with temperature when dynamical processes are held constant (i.e., partial derivative with respect to temperature. For each of the seven cloud regimes, we examine the difference in cloud and radiative properties between warm and cold subsets. To avoid misinterpreting a cloud response to large-scale dynamical forcing as a cloud response to temperature, we require horizontal and vertical

Modulational Instability and Quantum Discrete Breather States of Cold Bosonic Atoms in a Zig-Zag Optical Lattice

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Xia; Xie, Jiayu; Wu, Tianle; Tang, Bing

2018-07-01

A theoretical study on modulational instability and quantum discrete breather states in a system of cold bosonic atoms in zig-zag optical lattices is presented in this work. The time-dependent Hartree approximation is employed to deal with the multiple body problem. By means of a linear stability analysis, we analytically study the modulational instability, and estimate existence conditions of the bright stationary localized solutions for different values of the second-neighbor hopping constant. On the other hand, we get analytical bright stationary localized solutions, and analyze the influence of the second-neighbor hopping on their existence conditions. The predictions of the modulational instability analysis are shown to be reliable. Using these stationary localized single-boson wave functions, the quantum breather states corresponding to the system with different types of nonlinearities are constructed.

Modulational Instability and Quantum Discrete Breather States of Cold Bosonic Atoms in a Zig-Zag Optical Lattice

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Xia; Xie, Jiayu; Wu, Tianle; Tang, Bing

2018-04-01

A theoretical study on modulational instability and quantum discrete breather states in a system of cold bosonic atoms in zig-zag optical lattices is presented in this work. The time-dependent Hartree approximation is employed to deal with the multiple body problem. By means of a linear stability analysis, we analytically study the modulational instability, and estimate existence conditions of the bright stationary localized solutions for different values of the second-neighbor hopping constant. On the other hand, we get analytical bright stationary localized solutions, and analyze the influence of the second-neighbor hopping on their existence conditions. The predictions of the modulational instability analysis are shown to be reliable. Using these stationary localized single-boson wave functions, the quantum breather states corresponding to the system with different types of nonlinearities are constructed.

Role of visualization of nuclear radiation in public education on atomic energy. Visualization of natural nuclear radiation using a cloud chamber

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaneko, Junichi H.; Fujita, Fumiyuki; Narabayashi, Tadashi

2008-01-01

Nuclear radiation is indispensable tool, i.e., medical diagnostic systems and industrial nondestructive measurement systems, for our life. On the other hand, ordinary people sometimes have bad image for nuclear radiation. To improve this undesirable situation, many individuals and groups keep holding public educational meeting on nuclear radiation. For this purpose, visualization of natural nuclear radiation by a cloud chamber is very effective way; participants feel existence of nuclear radiation directly. In this talk, public educational activity of Hokkaido University and Japan Atomic Energy Society Hokkaido branch will be reported. (author)

The Cold War legacy of regulatory risk analysis: The Atomic Energy Commission and radiation safety

Science.gov (United States)

Boland, Joseph B.

From its inception in 1946 the Atomic Energy Commission pioneered the use of risk analysis as a mode of regulatory rationality and political rhetoric, yet historical treatments of risk analysis nearly always overlook the important role it played in the administration of atomic energy during the early Cold War. How this absence from history has been achieved and why it characterizes most historical accounts are the subjects of Chapter II. From there, this study goes on to develop the thesis that the advent of the atomic bomb was a world-shattering event that forced the Truman administration to choose between two novel alternatives: (1) movement towards global governance based initially on cooperative control of atomic energy or (2) unsparing pursuit of nuclear superiority. I refer to these as nuclear internationalism and nuclear nationalism, respectively. Each defined a social risk hierarchy. With the triumph of nuclear nationalism, nuclear annihilation was designated the greatest risk and a strong nuclear defense the primary means of prevention. The AEC's mission in the 1950s consisted of the rapid development of a nuclear arsenal, continual improvements in weapons technologies, and the promotion of nuclear power. The agency developed a risk-based regulatory framework through its dominant position within the National Committee on Radiation Protection. It embraced a technocratic model of risk analysis whose articulation and application it controlled, largely in secret. It used this to undergird a public rhetoric of reassurance and risk minimization. In practice, safety officials adjusted exposure levels within often wide parameters and with considerable fluidity in order to prevent safety concerns from interfering with operations. Secrecy, the political climate of the time, and a lack of accountability enabled the agency to meld technical assessments with social value judgments in a manner reflective of nuclear nationalism's risk hierarchy. In the late fifties

THE 1.1 mm CONTINUUM SURVEY OF THE SMALL MAGELLANIC CLOUD: PHYSICAL PROPERTIES AND EVOLUTION OF THE DUST-SELECTED CLOUDS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Takekoshi, Tatsuya; Minamidani, Tetsuhiro; Sorai, Kazuo [Department of Cosmosciences, Graduate School of Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-0810 (Japan); Komugi, Shinya; Muller, Erik; Mizuno, Norikazu; Kawamura, Akiko; Ezawa, Hajime [Chile Observatory, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ), National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS), 2-21-1, Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588 (Japan); Kohno, Kotaro [Institute of Astronomy, The University of Tokyo, 2-21-1, Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-0015 (Japan); Tosaki, Tomoka [Joetsu University of Education, Joetsu, Niigata 943-8512 (Japan); Onishi, Toshikazu [Department of Physical Science, Osaka Prefecture University, Gakuen 1-1, Sakai, Osaka 599-8531 (Japan); Fukui, Yasuo [Department of Astrophysics, Nagoya University, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8602 (Japan); Oshima, Tai; Kawabe, Ryohei [Nobeyama Radio Observatory, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ), National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS), 462-2, Nobeyama, Minamimaki, Minamisaku, Nagano 384-1305 (Japan); Scott, Kimberly S.; Austermann, Jason E.; Wilson, Grant W. [Department of Astronomy, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003 (United States); Matsuo, Hiroshi [Department of Astronomical Science, School of Physical Science, SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies), 2-21-1, Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588 (Japan); Aretxaga, Itziar; Hughes, David H. [Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Óptica y Electrónica (INAOE), 72000 Puebla (Mexico); and others

2017-01-20

The first 1.1 mm continuum survey toward the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) was performed using the AzTEC instrument installed on the ASTE 10 m telescope. This survey covered 4.5 deg{sup 2} of the SMC with 1 σ noise levels of 5–12 mJy beam{sup −1}, and 44 extended objects were identified. The 1.1 mm extended emission has good spatial correlation with Herschel 160 μ m, indicating that the origin of the 1.1 mm extended emission is thermal emission from a cold dust component. We estimated physical properties using the 1.1 mm and filtered Herschel data (100, 160, 250, 350, and 500 μ m). The 1.1 mm objects show dust temperatures of 17–45 K and gas masses of 4 × 10{sup 3}–3 × 10{sup 5} M {sub ⊙}, assuming single-temperature thermal emission from the cold dust with an emissivity index, β , of 1.2 and a gas-to-dust ratio of 1000. These physical properties are very similar to those of giant molecular clouds (GMCs) in our galaxy and the Large Magellanic Cloud. The 1.1 mm objects also displayed good spatial correlation with the Spitzer 24 μ m and CO emission, suggesting that the 1.1 mm objects trace the dense gas regions as sites of massive star formation. The dust temperature of the 1.1 mm objects also demonstrated good correlation with the 24 μ m flux connected to massive star formation. This supports the hypothesis that the heating source of the cold dust is mainly local star-formation activity in the 1.1 mm objects. The classification of the 1.1 mm objects based on the existence of star-formation activity reveals the differences in the dust temperature, gas mass, and radius, which reflects the evolution sequence of GMCs.

Ultra-trace determination of methylmercuy in seafood by atomic fluorescence spectrometry coupled with electrochemical cold vapor generation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zu, Wenchuan, E-mail: zuhongshuai@126.com [Beijing Institute of Technology, College of Chemistry, Beijing 100081 (China); Beijing Center for Physical & Chemical Analysis, Beijing 100089 (China); Wang, Zhenghao [Beijing Normal University, College of Chemistry, Beijing 100875 (China)

2016-03-05

Highlights: • Methylmercury detection by ECVG-AFS without pre-separation by HPLC is proposed. • Methylmercury is atomized by direct electrochemical reduction with no reductant. • Remarkably better sensitivity is obtained than the traditional HPLC-UV-AFS method. • Glassy carbon is the best cathode material to generate Hg vapor from methylmercury. - Abstract: A homemade electrochemical flow cell was adopted for the determination of methylmercury. The cold vapor of mercury atoms was generated from the surface of glassycarbon cathode through the method of electrolytic reduction and detected by atomic fluorescence spectroscopy subsequently. The operating conditions were optimized with 2 ng mL{sup −1} methylmercury standard solution. The caliberation curve was favorably linear when the concentrations of standard HgCH{sub 3}{sup +} solutions were in the range of 0.2–5 ng mL{sup −1}(as Hg). Under the optimized conditions, the limit of detection (LOD) for methylmercury was 1.88 × 10{sup −3} ng mL{sup −1} and the precision evaluated by relative standard deviation was 2.0% for six times 2 ng mL{sup −1} standard solution replicates. The terminal analytical results of seafood samples, available from local market, showed that the methylmercury content ranged within 3.7–45.8 ng g{sup −1}. The recoveries for methylmercury spiked samples were found to be in the range of 87.6–103.6% and the relative standard deviations below 5% (n = 6)were acquired, which showed this method was feasible for real sample analysis.

Lead preconcentration in synthetic samples with triton x-114 in the cloud point extraction and analysis by atomic absorption (EAAF)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zegarra Pisconti, Marixa; Cjuno Huanca, Jesus

2015-01-01

A methodology was developed about lead preconcentration in water samples that were added dithizone as complexing agent, previously dissolved in the nonionic surfactant Triton X-114, until the formation of the critical micelle concentration and the cloud point temperature. The centrifuged system gave a precipitate with high concentrations of Pb (II) that was measured by atomic absorption spectroscopy with flame (EAAF). The method has proved feasible to be implemented as a method of preconcentration and analysis of Pb in aqueous samples with concentrations less than 1 ppm. Several parameters were evaluated to obtain a percentage recovery of 89.8%. (author)

Mercury determination in non- and biodegradable materials by cold vapor capacitively coupled plasma microtorch atomic emission spectrometry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Frentiu, Tiberiu, E-mail: ftibi@chem.ubbcluj.ro [Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Babes-Bolyai University, Arany Janos 11, 400028 Cluj-Napoca (Romania); Mihaltan, Alin I., E-mail: alinblaj2005@yahoo.com [National Institute for Research and Development of Optoelectronics Bucharest - Research Institute for Analytical Instrumentation, Donath 67, 400293 Cluj-Napoca (Romania); Ponta, Michaela, E-mail: mponta@chem.ubbcluj.ro [Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Babes-Bolyai University, Arany Janos 11, 400028 Cluj-Napoca (Romania); Darvasi, Eugen, E-mail: edarvasi@chem.ubbcluj.ro [Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Babes-Bolyai University, Arany Janos 11, 400028 Cluj-Napoca (Romania); Frentiu, Maria, E-mail: frentiu.maria@yahoo.com [National Institute for Research and Development of Optoelectronics Bucharest - Research Institute for Analytical Instrumentation, Donath 67, 400293 Cluj-Napoca (Romania); Cordos, Emil, E-mail: emilcordos@gmail.com [National Institute for Research and Development of Optoelectronics Bucharest - Research Institute for Analytical Instrumentation, Donath 67, 400293 Cluj-Napoca (Romania)

2011-10-15

Highlights: {yields} Use of a miniaturized analytical system with microtorch plasma for Hg determination. {yields} Determination of Hg in non- and biodegradable materials using cold vapor generation. {yields} Figures of merit and advantages of the miniaturized system for Hg determination. - Abstract: A new analytical system consisting of a low power capacitively coupled plasma microtorch (20 W, 13.56 MHz, 150 ml min{sup -1} Ar) and a microspectrometer was investigated for the Hg determination in non- and biodegradable materials by cold-vapor generation, using SnCl{sub 2} reductant, and atomic emission spectrometry. The investigated miniaturized system was used for Hg determination in recyclable plastics from electronic equipments and biodegradable materials (shopping bags of 98% biodegradable polyethylene and corn starch) with the advantages of easy operation and low analysis costs. Samples were mineralized in HNO{sub 3}-H{sub 2}SO{sub 4} mixture in a high-pressure microwave system. The detection limits of 0.05 ng ml{sup -1} or 0.08 {mu}g g{sup -1} in solid sample were compared with those reported for other analytical systems. The method precision was 1.5-9.4% for Hg levels of 1.37-13.9 mg kg{sup -1}, while recovery in two polyethylene certified reference materials in the range 98.7 {+-} 4.5% (95% confidence level).

INFERENCE OF INHOMOGENEOUS CLOUDS IN AN EXOPLANET ATMOSPHERE

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Demory, Brice-Olivier; De Wit, Julien; Lewis, Nikole; Zsom, Andras; Seager, Sara [Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States); Fortney, Jonathan [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 (United States); Knutson, Heather; Desert, Jean-Michel [Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States); Heng, Kevin [Center for Space and Habitability, University of Bern, Sidlerstrasse 5, CH-3012, Bern (Switzerland); Madhusudhan, Nikku [Department of Physics and Department of Astronomy, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520 (United States); Gillon, Michael [Institut d' Astrophysique et de Géophysique, Université de Liège, Allée du 6 Août, 17, Bat. B5C, B-4000 Liège 1 (Belgium); Barclay, Thomas [NASA Ames Research Center, M/S 244-30, Moffett Field, CA 94035 (United States); Parmentier, Vivien [Laboratoire J.-L. Lagrange, UMR 7293, Université de Nice-Sophia Antipolis, CNRS, Observatoire de la Côte d' Azur B.P. 4229, F-06304 Nice Cedex 4 (France); Cowan, Nicolas B., E-mail: demory@mit.edu [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, F165, Evanston, IL 60208 (United States)

2013-10-20

We present new visible and infrared observations of the hot Jupiter Kepler-7b to determine its atmospheric properties. Our analysis allows us to (1) refine Kepler-7b's relatively large geometric albedo of Ag = 0.35 ± 0.02, (2) place upper limits on Kepler-7b thermal emission that remains undetected in both Spitzer bandpasses and (3) report a westward shift in the Kepler optical phase curve. We argue that Kepler-7b's visible flux cannot be due to thermal emission or Rayleigh scattering from H{sub 2} molecules. We therefore conclude that high altitude, optically reflective clouds located west from the substellar point are present in its atmosphere. We find that a silicate-based cloud composition is a possible candidate. Kepler-7b exhibits several properties that may make it particularly amenable to cloud formation in its upper atmosphere. These include a hot deep atmosphere that avoids a cloud cold trap, very low surface gravity to suppress cloud sedimentation, and a planetary equilibrium temperature in a range that allows for silicate clouds to potentially form in the visible atmosphere probed by Kepler. Our analysis does not only present evidence of optically thick clouds on Kepler-7b but also yields the first map of clouds in an exoplanet atmosphere.

Carbon Isotope Chemistry in Molecular Clouds

Science.gov (United States)

Robertson, Amy N.; Willacy, Karen

2012-01-01

Few details of carbon isotope chemistry are known, especially the chemical processes that occur in astronomical environments like molecular clouds. Observational evidence shows that the C-12/C-13 abundance ratios vary due to the location of the C-13 atom within the molecular structure. The different abundances are a result of the diverse formation pathways that can occur. Modeling can be used to explore the production pathways of carbon molecules in an effort to understand and explain the chemical evolution of molecular clouds.

All-Sky Cataloging and Analysis of Interstellar Clouds

Science.gov (United States)

Hojaev, Alisher S.

2015-08-01

Recent quick instrumental progress provides possibilities to careful study the interstellar medium (ISM) in the Galaxy and in the nearest galaxies (M31, LMC, SMC, etc.). Significant enough baryon mass of the galactic and extragalactic ISM is concentrated in the clouds with molecular content in the densest parts. The molecular clouds (MoC) are closely related to cold dust-gas clouds, particularly HI ones and should play a key-role in the star forming processes as well as in the dynamics of the Galaxy. These arguments show the importance of counting and surveying of the MoC populations. In order to attempt to solve at least some problems of the physics and evolution of the MoC system in the Galaxy (as well as in other galaxies), its impact on the dynamics and evolution of the Galaxy itself, and to extend the results to the MoC systems in other galaxies we drafted a consolidated composite catalog of molecular and dust-gas clouds based on the recent data. Online data banks and services such as VizieR, SIMBAD at CDS as well as original publications were used. In our Galaxy there are about 200 large molecular clouds, more than 2500 smaller cold dark clouds (including clumps and cores this value exceeds approximately 5000 objects) observed in 11 kpc Solar neighborhood. The general catalog has been divided into 3 sub-catalogs: 1)large and giant MoC; 2) MoC with moderate masses and sizes; 3) small MoC including the clumps and cores. All main catalogs and subcatalogs contain the coordinates, sizes, distances, masses and other physical parameters (density, temperature, radial velocity, etc.) that are available for the different clouds. Statistical and correlation analyses of the data has been performed, the spatial distribution is drawn and the total number is estimated, the dynamic model of formation and evolution of MoC system is proposed. Our results are compared and discussed with data of other investigations as well as the ways to complete and improve the catalog data

The Galactic fountain as an origin for the Smith Cloud

OpenAIRE

Marasco, A.; Fraternali, F.

2017-01-01

The recent discovery of an enriched metallicity for the Smith high-velocity H I Cloud (SC) lends support to a Galactic origin for this system. We use a dynamical model of the galactic fountain to reproduce the observed properties of the SC. In our model, fountain clouds are ejected from the region of the disc spiral arms and move through the halo interacting with a pre-existing hot corona. We find that a simple model where cold gas outflows vertically from the Perseus spiral arm reproduces th...

The Impact of Aerosols on Cloud and Precipitation Processes: Cloud-Resolving Model Simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Tao, Wei-Kuo; Li, Xiaowen; Khain, Alexander; Matsui, Toshihisa; Lang, Stephen; Simpson, Joanne

2008-01-01

Aerosols and especially their effect on clouds are one of the key components of the climate system and the hydrological cycle [Ramanathan et al., 2001]. Yet, the aerosol effect on clouds remains largely unknown and the processes involved not well understood. A recent report published by the National Academy of Science states "The greatest uncertainty about the aerosol climate forcing - indeed, the largest of all the uncertainties about global climate forcing - is probably the indirect effect of aerosols on clouds [NRC, 2001]." The aerosol effect on clouds is often categorized into the traditional "first indirect (i.e., Twomey)" effect on the cloud droplet sizes for a constant liquid water path [Twomey, 1977] and the "semi-direct" effect on cloud coverage [e.g., Ackerman et al ., 2001]." Enhanced aerosol concentrations can also suppress warm rain processes by producing a narrow droplet spectrum that inhibits collision and coalescence processes [e.g., Squires and Twomey, 1961; Warner and Twomey, 1967; Warner, 1968; Rosenfeld, 19991. The aerosol effect on precipitation processes, also known as the second type of aerosol indirect effect [Albrecht, 1989], is even more complex, especially for mixed-phase convective clouds. Table 1 summarizes the key observational studies identifying the microphysical properties, cloud characteristics, thermodynamics and dynamics associated with cloud systems from high-aerosol continental environments. For example, atmospheric aerosol concentrations can influence cloud droplet size distributions, warm-rain process, cold-rain process, cloud-top height, the depth of the mixed phase region, and occurrence of lightning. In addition, high aerosol concentrations in urban environments could affect precipitation variability by providing an enhanced source of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). Hypotheses have been developed to explain the effect of urban regions on convection and precipitation [van den Heever and Cotton, 2007 and Shepherd, 2005

ATOMIC HYDROGEN IN A GALACTIC CENTER OUTFLOW

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McClure-Griffiths, N. M.; Green, J. A.; Hill, A. S. [Australia Telescope National Facility, CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science, Marsfield, NSW 2122 (Australia); Lockman, F. J. [National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Green Bank, WV 24944 (United States); Dickey, J. M. [School of Physics and Mathematics, University of Tasmania, TAS 7001 (Australia); Gaensler, B. M.; Green, A. J., E-mail: naomi.mcclure-griffiths@csiro.au [Sydney Institute for Astronomy, School of Physics, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006 (Australia)

2013-06-10

We describe a population of small, high-velocity, atomic hydrogen clouds, loops, and filaments found above and below the disk near the Galactic center. The objects have a mean radius of 15 pc, velocity widths of {approx}14 km s{sup -1}, and are observed at |z| heights up to 700 pc. The velocity distribution of the clouds shows no signature of Galactic rotation. We propose a scenario where the clouds are associated with an outflow from a central star-forming region at the Galactic center. We discuss the clouds as entrained material traveling at {approx}200 km s{sup -1} in a Galactic wind.

ATOMIC HYDROGEN IN A GALACTIC CENTER OUTFLOW

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McClure-Griffiths, N. M.; Green, J. A.; Hill, A. S.; Lockman, F. J.; Dickey, J. M.; Gaensler, B. M.; Green, A. J.

2013-01-01

We describe a population of small, high-velocity, atomic hydrogen clouds, loops, and filaments found above and below the disk near the Galactic center. The objects have a mean radius of 15 pc, velocity widths of ∼14 km s –1 , and are observed at |z| heights up to 700 pc. The velocity distribution of the clouds shows no signature of Galactic rotation. We propose a scenario where the clouds are associated with an outflow from a central star-forming region at the Galactic center. We discuss the clouds as entrained material traveling at ∼200 km s –1 in a Galactic wind.

Molecular line observations of infrared dark clouds in the galaxy

Science.gov (United States)

Finn, Susanna C.

Although massive stars play many important roles in the universe, their formation is poorly understood. Recently, a class of interstellar clouds known as Infrared Dark Clouds (IRDCs) has been identified as likely progenitors of massive stars and clusters. These clouds are dense (nH 2 > 105 cm--3), cold (T Nessie Nebula," an extreme case of a filamentary IRDC, with predictions from the theory of the fluid instability and then expand the sample to other filamentary IRDCs. The observations are consistent with theoretical predictions of clump spacing, clump masses, and linear mass density. Fragmentation of filaments due to the sausage instability might be the dominant mode of star formation in the Universe.

Are interplanetary magnetic clouds manifestations of coronal transients at 1 AU

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wilson, R.M.; Hildner, E.

1984-01-01

Using proxy data for the occurrence of those mass ejections from the solar corona which are directed earthward, we investigate the association between the post-1970 interplanetary magnetic clouds of Klein and Burlaga (1982) and coronal mass ejections. The evidence linking magnetic clouds following shocks with coronal mass ejections is striking; six of nine clouds observed at Earth were preceded an appropriate time earlier by meter-wave type II radio bursts indicative of coronal shock waves and coronal mass ejections occurring near central meridian. During the selected control periods when no clouds were detected near Earth, the only type II bursts reported were associated with solar activity near the limbs. Where the proxy solar data to be sought are not so clearly suggested, that is, for clouds preceding interaction regions and clouds within cold magnetic enhancements, the evidence linking the clouds and coronal mass ejections is not as clear; proxy data usually suggest many candidate mass-ejection events for each cloud. Overall, the data are consistent with and support the hypothesis suggested by Klein and Burlaga that magnetic clouds observed with spacecraft at 1 AU are manifestations of solar coronal mass ejection transients. (orig.)

Cold Rydberg molecules

Science.gov (United States)

Raithel, Georg; Zhao, Jianming

2017-04-01

Cold atomic systems have opened new frontiers at the interface of atomic and molecular physics. These include research on novel types of Rydberg molecules. Three types of molecules will be reviewed. Long-range, homonuclear Rydberg molecules, first predicted in [1] and observed in [2], are formed via low-energy electron scattering of the Rydberg electron from a ground-state atom within the Rydberg atom's volume. The binding mostly arises from S- and P-wave triplet scattering. We use a Fermi model that includes S-wave and P-wave singlet and triplet scattering, the fine structure coupling of the Rydberg atom and the hyperfine structure coupling of the 5S1/2 atom (in rubidium [3]). The hyperfine structure gives rise to mixed singlet-triplet potentials for both low-L and high-L Rydberg molecules [3]. A classification into Hund's cases [3, 4, 5] will be discussed. The talk further includes results on adiabatic potentials and adiabatic states of Rydberg-Rydberg molecules in Rb and Cs. These molecules, which have even larger bonding length than Rydberg-ground molecules, are formed via electrostatic multipole interactions. The leading interaction term of neutral Rydberg-Rydberg molecules is between two dipoles, while for ionic Rydberg molecules it is between a dipole and a monopole. NSF (PHY-1506093), NNSF of China (61475123).

Quantum phases of low-dimensional ultra-cold atom systems

Science.gov (United States)

Mathey, Ludwig G.

2007-06-01

In this thesis we derive and explore the quantum phases of various types of ultracold atom systems, as well as their experimental signature. The technology of cooling, trapping and manipulating ultracold atoms has advanced in an amazing fashion during the last decade, which has led to the study of many-body effects of atomic ensembles. We first consider atomic mixtures in one dimension, which show a rich structure of phases, using a Luttinger liquid description. We then go on to consider how noise correlations in time-of-flight images of one-dimensional systems can be used to draw conclusions about the many-body state that they're in. Thirdly, we consider the quantum phases of Bose-Fermi mixtures in optical lattices, either square lattices or triangular lattices, using the powerful method of functional renormalization group analysis. Lastly, we study the phases of two-coupled quasi-superfluids in two dimensions, which shows unusual phases, and which could be used to realize the Kibble-Zurek mechanism, i.e. the generation of topological defects by ramping across a phase transition, first proposed in the context of an early universe scenario.

Hybrid quantum systems of ions and atoms

OpenAIRE

Sias, Carlo; Köhl, Michael

2014-01-01

In this chapter we review the progress in experiments with hybrid systems of trapped ions and ultracold neutral atoms. We give a theoretical overview over the atom-ion interactions in the cold regime and give a summary of the most important experimental results. We conclude with an overview of remaining open challenges and possible applications in hybrid quantum systems of ions and neutral atoms.

Cloud phase identification of Arctic boundary-layer clouds from airborne spectral reflection measurements: test of three approaches

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Ehrlich

2008-12-01

Full Text Available Arctic boundary-layer clouds were investigated with remote sensing and in situ instruments during the Arctic Study of Tropospheric Aerosol, Clouds and Radiation (ASTAR campaign in March and April 2007. The clouds formed in a cold air outbreak over the open Greenland Sea. Beside the predominant mixed-phase clouds pure liquid water and ice clouds were observed. Utilizing measurements of solar radiation reflected by the clouds three methods to retrieve the thermodynamic phase of the cloud are introduced and compared. Two ice indices I_S and I_P were obtained by analyzing the spectral pattern of the cloud top reflectance in the near infrared (1500–1800 nm wavelength spectral range which is characterized by ice and water absorption. While I_S analyzes the spectral slope of the reflectance in this wavelength range, I_S utilizes a principle component analysis (PCA of the spectral reflectance. A third ice index I_A is based on the different side scattering of spherical liquid water particles and nonspherical ice crystals which was recorded in simultaneous measurements of spectral cloud albedo and reflectance.

Radiative transfer simulations show that I_S, I_P and I_A range between 5 to 80, 0 to 8 and 1 to 1.25 respectively with lowest values indicating pure liquid water clouds and highest values pure ice clouds. The spectral slope ice index I_S and the PCA ice index I_P are found to be strongly sensitive to the effective diameter of the ice crystals present in the cloud. Therefore, the identification of mixed-phase clouds requires a priori knowledge of the ice crystal dimension. The reflectance-albedo ice index I_A is mainly dominated by the uppermost cloud layer (τ<1.5. Therefore, typical boundary-layer mixed-phase clouds with a liquid cloud top layer will

Design of fresh food sensory perceptual system for cold chain logistics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhang Ying

2018-01-01

Full Text Available According to the present stage low-level information of China's cold chain preservation, designed a kind of fresh food sensory perceptual system for cold chain logistics based on Internet of things. This system highly integrated applied many technologies such as the Internet of things technology, forecasting technology for fruits and vegetables preservation period, RFID and Planar bar code technology, big data and cloud computing technology and so on.Designed as a four-layer structure including sensing layer, network layer, control layer and user layer. The system can implement the real-time temperature and humidity environment parameters monitoring and early warning of the whole cold chain logistics for fresh agricultural products from picking, storage, transportation and processing link. It greatly improved the information level of cold chain circulation in our country and has a strong marketing value.

Three-body recombination of cold fermionic atoms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suno, H; Esry, B D; Greene, Chris H

2003-01-01

Recombination of identical, spin-polarized fermions in cold three-body collisions is investigated. We parametrize the mechanisms for recombination in terms of the 'scattering volume' V p and another length scale r 0 . Model two-body interactions were used within the framework of the adiabatic hyperspherical representation. We examine the recombination rate K 3 as a function of the collision energy E for various values of V p . Not only do we consider the dominant J Π = 1 + case, but also the next-leading order contributions from J Π = 1 - and 3 - . We discuss the behaviour near a two-body resonance and the expected universality of fermionic recombination. Comparisons with boson recombination are considered in detail

A transitioning Arctic surface energy budget: the impacts of solar zenith angle, surface albedo and cloud radiative forcing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sedlar, Joseph; Tjernstroem, Michael; Leck, Caroline [Stockholm University, Department of Meteorology, Stockholm (Sweden); Mauritsen, Thorsten [Max-Planck-Institute for Meteorology, Hamburg (Germany); Shupe, Matthew D.; Persson, P.O.G. [University of Colorado, NOAA-ESRL-PSD, Boulder, CO (United States); Brooks, Ian M.; Birch, Cathryn E. [University of Leeds, School of Earth and Environment, Leeds (United Kingdom); Sirevaag, Anders [University of Bergen, Bjerknes Center for Climate Research, Bergen (Norway); Nicolaus, Marcel [Norwegian Polar Institute, Tromsoe (Norway); Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven (Germany)

2011-10-15

Snow surface and sea-ice energy budgets were measured near 87.5 N during the Arctic Summer Cloud Ocean Study (ASCOS), from August to early September 2008. Surface temperature indicated four distinct temperature regimes, characterized by varying cloud, thermodynamic and solar properties. An initial warm, melt-season regime was interrupted by a 3-day cold regime where temperatures dropped from near zero to -7 C. Subsequently mean energy budget residuals remained small and near zero for 1 week until once again temperatures dropped rapidly and the energy budget residuals became negative. Energy budget transitions were dominated by the net radiative fluxes, largely controlled by the cloudiness. Variable heat, moisture and cloud distributions were associated with changing air-masses. Surface cloud radiative forcing, the net radiative effect of clouds on the surface relative to clear skies, is estimated. Shortwave cloud forcing ranged between -50 W m{sup -2} and zero and varied significantly with surface albedo, solar zenith angle and cloud liquid water. Longwave cloud forcing was larger and generally ranged between 65 and 85 W m{sup -2}, except when the cloud fraction was tenuous or contained little liquid water; thus the net effect of the clouds was to warm the surface. Both cold periods occurred under tenuous, or altogether absent, low-level clouds containing little liquid water, effectively reducing the cloud greenhouse effect. Freeze-up progression was enhanced by a combination of increasing solar zenith angles and surface albedo, while inhibited by a large, positive surface cloud forcing until a new air-mass with considerably less cloudiness advected over the experiment area. (orig.)

Coexistence of photonic and atomic Bose-Einstein condensates in ideal atomic gases

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. Boichenko

2015-12-01

Full Text Available We have studied conditions of photon Bose-Einstein condensate formation that is in thermodynamic equilibrium with ideal gas of two-level Bose atoms below the degeneracy temperature. Equations describing thermodynamic equilibrium in the system were formulated; critical temperatures and densities of photonic and atomic gas subsystems were obtained analytically. Coexistence conditions of these photonic and atomic Bose-Einstein condensates were found. There was predicted the possibility of an abrupt type of photon condensation in the presence of Bose condensate of ground-state atoms: it was shown that the slightest decrease of the temperature could cause a significant gathering of photons in the condensate. This case could be treated as a simple model of the situation known as "stopped light" in cold atomic gas. We also showed how population inversion of atomic levels can be created by lowering the temperature. The latter situation looks promising for light accumulation in atomic vapor at very low temperatures.

Laser Cooling and Trapping of Atoms and Particles

Science.gov (United States)

1992-01-16

magnitude. The creation of an atom trampoline , where cold atoms were dropped onto a evanescent wave of light extending out of a totally internally reflected...Staff, Electromagnetic Phenomena Research Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, 1978-1983 Head , Quantum Electronics Research Department AT&T Bell

Theoretical atomic physics

CERN Document Server

Friedrich, Harald

2017-01-01

This expanded and updated well-established textbook contains an advanced presentation of quantum mechanics adapted to the requirements of modern atomic physics. It includes topics of current interest such as semiclassical theory, chaos, atom optics and Bose-Einstein condensation in atomic gases. In order to facilitate the consolidation of the material covered, various problems are included, together with complete solutions. The emphasis on theory enables the reader to appreciate the fundamental assumptions underlying standard theoretical constructs and to embark on independent research projects. The fourth edition of Theoretical Atomic Physics contains an updated treatment of the sections involving scattering theory and near-threshold phenomena manifest in the behaviour of cold atoms (and molecules). Special attention is given to the quantization of weakly bound states just below the continuum threshold and to low-energy scattering and quantum reflection just above. Particular emphasis is laid on the fundamen...

Aerosol microphysical and radiative effects on continental cloud ensembles

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yuan; Vogel, Jonathan M.; Lin, Yun; Pan, Bowen; Hu, Jiaxi; Liu, Yangang; Dong, Xiquan; Jiang, Jonathan H.; Yung, Yuk L.; Zhang, Renyi

2018-02-01

Aerosol-cloud-radiation interactions represent one of the largest uncertainties in the current climate assessment. Much of the complexity arises from the non-monotonic responses of clouds, precipitation and radiative fluxes to aerosol perturbations under various meteorological conditions. In this study, an aerosol-aware WRF model is used to investigate the microphysical and radiative effects of aerosols in three weather systems during the March 2000 Cloud Intensive Observational Period campaign at the US Southern Great Plains. Three simulated cloud ensembles include a low-pressure deep convective cloud system, a collection of less-precipitating stratus and shallow cumulus, and a cold frontal passage. The WRF simulations are evaluated by several ground-based measurements. The microphysical properties of cloud hydrometeors, such as their mass and number concentrations, generally show monotonic trends as a function of cloud condensation nuclei concentrations. Aerosol radiative effects do not influence the trends of cloud microphysics, except for the stratus and shallow cumulus cases where aerosol semi-direct effects are identified. The precipitation changes by aerosols vary with the cloud types and their evolving stages, with a prominent aerosol invigoration effect and associated enhanced precipitation from the convective sources. The simulated aerosol direct effect suppresses precipitation in all three cases but does not overturn the aerosol indirect effect. Cloud fraction exhibits much smaller sensitivity (typically less than 2%) to aerosol perturbations, and the responses vary with aerosol concentrations and cloud regimes. The surface shortwave radiation shows a monotonic decrease by increasing aerosols, while the magnitude of the decrease depends on the cloud type.

Formation of Silicate and Titanium Clouds on Hot Jupiters

Science.gov (United States)

Powell, Diana; Zhang, Xi; Gao, Peter; Parmentier, Vivien

2018-06-01

We present the first application of a bin-scheme microphysical and vertical transport model to determine the size distribution of titanium and silicate cloud particles in the atmospheres of hot Jupiters. We predict particle size distributions from first principles for a grid of planets at four representative equatorial longitudes, and investigate how observed cloud properties depend on the atmospheric thermal structure and vertical mixing. The predicted size distributions are frequently bimodal and irregular in shape. There is a negative correlation between the total cloud mass and equilibrium temperature as well as a positive correlation between the total cloud mass and atmospheric mixing. The cloud properties on the east and west limbs show distinct differences that increase with increasing equilibrium temperature. Cloud opacities are roughly constant across a broad wavelength range, with the exception of features in the mid-infrared. Forward-scattering is found to be important across the same wavelength range. Using the fully resolved size distribution of cloud particles as opposed to a mean particle size has a distinct impact on the resultant cloud opacities. The particle size that contributes the most to the cloud opacity depends strongly on the cloud particle size distribution. We predict that it is unlikely that silicate or titanium clouds are responsible for the optical Rayleigh scattering slope seen in many hot Jupiters. We suggest that cloud opacities in emission may serve as sensitive tracers of the thermal state of a planet’s deep interior through the existence or lack of a cold trap in the deep atmosphere.

ISM-induced erosion and gas-dynamical drag in the Oort Cloud

Science.gov (United States)

Stern, S. Alan

1990-01-01

The model presently used to examine the physical interactions between the ISM and the Oort Cloud can account for sputtering, sticking, and grain-impact erosion, as well as gas drag, by envisioning the ISM as a multiphase medium with distinct atomic and molecular cloud-phase regimes and coronal and warm/ambient gas-phase regimes. Erosion, which reduces the effectiveness of the thermal and radiation-damage processes acting on cometary surfaces in the Oort cloud, is found to be the dominant ISM interaction; ISM drag effects were found to efficiently remove submicron particles from the Cloud.

Generation of Exotic Quantum States of a Cold Atomic Ensemble

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Stefan Lund

Over the last decades quantum effects have become more and more controllable, leading to the implementations of various quantum information protocols. These protocols are all based on utilizing quantum correlation. In this thesis we consider how states of an atomic ensemble with such correlations...... can be created and characterized. First we consider a spin-squeezed state. This state is generated by performing quantum non-demolition measurements of the atomic population difference. We show a spectroscopically relevant noise reduction of -1.7dB, the ensemble is in a many-body entangled state...... — a nanofiber based light-atom interface. Using a dual-frequency probing method we measure and prepare an ensemble with a sub-Poissonian atom number distribution. This is a first step towards the implementation of more exotic quantum states....

Storage of Quantum Variables in Atomic Media

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cviklinski, J.; Ortalo, J.; Josse, V.

2007-01-01

Storage and read-out of non classical states of light is a critical element for quantum information networks. Simultaneous storage of two non-commuting variables carried by light and subsequent read-out is shown to be possible in atomic ensembles. Interaction of light fields with three-level syst......-level systems allows direct mapping the quantum state of light into long lived coherences in the atomic ground state. We show that excess noise linked to atomic transitions can be made negligible. Experimental developments are discussed for atomic vapours and cold atoms....

The mixing of particle clouds plunging into water

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Angelini, S.; Theofanous, T.G.; Yuen, W.W. [Univ. of California, Santa Barbara, CA (United States)

1995-09-01

This work addresses certain fundamental aspects of the premixing phase of steam explosions, At issue are the multifield interaction aspects under highly transient, multidimensional conditions, and in presence of strong phase changes. They are addressed in an experiment (the MAGICO-2000) involving well-characterized particle clouds mixing with water, and detailed measurements on both external and internal characteristics of the mixing zone. Both cold and hot (up to 1500{degrees}C) particle clouds are considered in conjunction with saturated and subcooled water pools. The PMALPHA code is used as an aid in interpreting the experimental results, and the exercise reveals good predictive capabilities for it.

Cloud point extraction of palladium in water samples and alloy mixtures using new synthesized reagent with flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Priya, B. Krishna; Subrahmanayam, P.; Suvardhan, K.; Kumar, K. Suresh; Rekha, D.; Rao, A. Venkata; Rao, G.C.; Chiranjeevi, P.

2007-01-01

The present paper outlines novel, simple and sensitive method for the determination of palladium by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) after separation and preconcentration by cloud point extraction (CPE). The cloud point methodology was successfully applied for palladium determination by using new reagent 4-(2-naphthalenyl)thiozol-2yl azo chromotropic acid (NTACA) and hydrophobic ligand Triton X-114 as chelating agent and nonionic surfactant respectively in the water samples and alloys. The following parameters such as pH, concentration of the reagent and Triton X-114, equilibrating temperature and centrifuging time were evaluated and optimized to enhance the sensitivity and extraction efficiency of the proposed method. The preconcentration factor was found to be (50-fold) for 250 ml of water sample. Under optimum condition the detection limit was found as 0.067 ng ml -1 for palladium in various environmental matrices. The present method was applied for the determination of palladium in various water samples, alloys and the result shows good agreement with reported method and the recoveries are in the range of 96.7-99.4%

Trapped atoms along nanophotonic resonators

Science.gov (United States)

Fields, Brian; Kim, May; Chang, Tzu-Han; Hung, Chen-Lung

2017-04-01

Many-body systems subject to long-range interactions have remained a very challenging topic experimentally. Ultracold atoms trapped in extreme proximity to the surface of nanophotonic structures provides a dynamic system combining the strong atom-atom interactions mediated by guided mode photons with the exquisite control implemented with trapped atom systems. The hybrid system promises pair-wise tunability of long-range interactions between atomic pseudo spins, allowing studies of quantum magnetism extending far beyond nearest neighbor interactions. In this talk, we will discuss our current status developing high quality nanophotonic ring resonators, engineered on CMOS compatible optical chips with integrated nanostructures that, in combination with a side illuminating beam, can realize stable atom traps approximately 100nm above the surface. We will report on our progress towards loading arrays of cold atoms near the surface of these structures and studying atom-atom interaction mediated by photons with high cooperativity.

Determination of mercury by multisyringe flow injection system with cold-vapor atomic absorption spectrometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leal, L.O.; Elsholz, O.; Forteza, R.; Cerda, V.

2006-01-01

A new software-controlled time-based multisyringe flow injection system for mercury determination by cold-vapor atomic absorption spectrometry is proposed. Precise known volumes of sample, reducing agent (1.1% SnCl 2 in 3% HCl) and carrier (3% HCl) are dispensed into a gas-liquid separation cell with a multisyringe burette coupled with one three-way solenoid valve. An argon flow delivers the reduced mercury to the spectrometer. The optimization of the system was carried out testing reaction coils and gas-liquid separators of different design as well as changing parameters, such as sample and reagents volumes, reagent concentrations and carrier gas flow rate, among others. The analytical curves were obtained within the range 50-5000 ng L -1 . The detection limit (3σ b /S) achieved is 5 ng L -1 . The relative standard deviation (R.S.D.) was 1.4%, evaluated from 16 successive injections of 250 ng L -1 Hg standard solution. The injection and sample throughput per hour were 44 and 11, respectively. This technique was validated by means of solid and water reference materials with good agreement with the certified values and was successfully applied to fish samples

Atomic hydrogen in the Orion star-forming region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chromey, F.R.; Elmegreen, B.G.; Elmegreen, D.M.

1989-01-01

A large-scale survey of atomic hydrogen in Orion reveals low-density material with a total mass comparable to that in dense molecular clouds. The atomic gas is sufficiently dense that it can shield the molecular material from photodissociative radiation and provide a pressure link to the low-density intercloud medium. An excess of H I emission comes from photodissociation fronts near the bright stars and from a giant shell in the Orion Belt region. This shell may have caused the apparent bifurcation between the Orion A and B clouds, and the associated pressures may have induced peculiar motions and star formation in NGC 2023 and 2024. 49 refs

Primordial Molecular Cloud Material in Metal-Rich Carbonaceous Chondrites

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, G. J.

2016-03-01

The menagerie of objects that make up our Solar System reflects the composition of the huge molecular cloud in which the Sun formed, a late addition of short-lived isotopes from an exploding supernova or stellar winds from a neighboring massive star, heating and/or alteration by water in growing planetesimals that modified and segregated the primordial components, and mixing throughout the Solar System. Outer Solar System objects, such as comets, have always been cold, hence minimizing the changes experienced by more processed objects. They are thought to preserve information about the molecular cloud. Elishevah Van Kooten (Natural History Museum of Denmark and the University of Copenhagen) and co-authors in Denmark and at the University of Hawai'i, measured the isotopic compositions of magnesium and chromium in metal-rich carbonaceous chondrites. They found that the meteorites preserve an isotopic signature of primordial molecular cloud materials, providing a potentially detailed record of the molecular cloud's composition and of materials that formed in the outer Solar System.

Radio recombination lines from H+ regions and cold interstellar clouds: computation of the bsub(n) factors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brocklehurst, M.; Salem, M.

1977-01-01

Emission lines produced by the recombination of hydrogen and hydrogenic ions are observed from many astronomical sources; maser amplification is frequently present. The recombination line spectrum depends upon the populations of the energy levels of the emitting species. The present program computes the ratio, bsub(n), of the population of energy level n to the (known) population in thermodynamic equilibrium for given values of electron temperature and density. A background radiation field may be present. The results are accurate for the range of temperatures and densities associated with cold clouds, H + regions, and planetary nebulae (10-20000 K, 10 -4 -10 6 cm -3 ). The method is that described by Brocklehurst but with the collision cross-sections of Gee et al. In statistical equilibrium, the rates of population and depopulation of each of the infinitely many energy levels must be equal. The infinite system of linear algebraic equations thus defined is truncated, and correction terms are added to compensate for the omitted levels. The resulting system is condensed to a smaller size and solved. The equations of radiative transfer must in principle be solved simultaneously with the population equations. In practice it is uaually sufficient to consider the optical depth for each line to be either zero (no absorption) or infinite (on-the-spot absorption). (Auth.)

Reflection-type hologram for atoms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shimizu, Fujio; Fujita, Jun-ichi

2002-01-01

A cold metastable neon atomic beam was manipulated with a reflective amplitude hologram that was encoded on a silicon surface. A black-and-white pattern of atoms was reconstructed on a microchannel plate detector. The hologram used the enhanced quantum reflection developed by authors and was made of a two-dimensional array of rectangular low and high reflective cells. The surface of the high reflective cell was composed of regularly spaced roof-shaped ridges, while the low reflective cell was simply a flat surface. The hologram was the first demonstration of reflective atom-optical elements that used universal interaction between a neutral atom and solid surface

Magnetic-field-driven localization of light in a cold-atom gas.

Science.gov (United States)

Skipetrov, S E; Sokolov, I M

2015-02-06

We discover a transition from extended to localized quasimodes for light in a gas of immobile two-level atoms in a magnetic field. The transition takes place either upon increasing the number density of atoms in a strong field or upon increasing the field at a high enough density. It has many characteristic features of a disorder-driven (Anderson) transition but is strongly influenced by near-field interactions between atoms and the anisotropy of the atomic medium induced by the magnetic field.

Jupiter's Multi-level Clouds

Science.gov (United States)

1997-01-01

Clouds and hazes at various altitudes within the dynamic Jovian atmosphere are revealed by multi-color imaging taken by the Near-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (NIMS) onboard the Galileo spacecraft. These images were taken during the second orbit (G2) on September 5, 1996 from an early-morning vantage point 2.1 million kilometers (1.3 million miles) above Jupiter. They show the planet's appearance as viewed at various near-infrared wavelengths, with distinct differences due primarily to variations in the altitudes and opacities of the cloud systems. The top left and right images, taken at 1.61 microns and 2.73 microns respectively, show relatively clear views of the deep atmosphere, with clouds down to a level about three times the atmospheric pressure at the Earth's surface.By contrast, the middle image in top row, taken at 2.17 microns, shows only the highest altitude clouds and hazes. This wavelength is severely affected by the absorption of light by hydrogen gas, the main constituent of Jupiter's atmosphere. Therefore, only the Great Red Spot, the highest equatorial clouds, a small feature at mid-northern latitudes, and thin, high photochemical polar hazes can be seen. In the lower left image, at 3.01 microns, deeper clouds can be seen dimly against gaseous ammonia and methane absorption. In the lower middle image, at 4.99 microns, the light observed is the planet's own indigenous heat from the deep, warm atmosphere.The false color image (lower right) succinctly shows various cloud and haze levels seen in the Jovian atmosphere. This image indicates the temperature and altitude at which the light being observed is produced. Thermally-rich red areas denote high temperatures from photons in the deep atmosphere leaking through minimal cloud cover; green denotes cool temperatures of the tropospheric clouds; blue denotes cold of the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. The polar regions appear purplish, because small-particle hazes allow leakage and reflectivity

Optical atomic phase reference and timing

Science.gov (United States)

Hollberg, L.; Cornell, E. H.; Abdelrahmann, A.

2017-06-01

Atomic clocks based on laser-cooled atoms have made tremendous advances in both accuracy and stability. However, advanced clocks have not found their way into widespread use because there has been little need for such high performance in real-world/commercial applications. The drive in the commercial world favours smaller, lower-power, more robust compact atomic clocks that function well in real-world non-laboratory environments. Although the high-performance atomic frequency references are useful to test Einstein's special relativity more precisely, there are not compelling scientific arguments to expect a breakdown in special relativity. On the other hand, the dynamics of gravity, evidenced by the recent spectacular results in experimental detection of gravity waves by the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, shows dramatically that there is new physics to be seen and understood in space-time science. Those systems require strain measurements at less than or equal to 10-20. As we discuss here, cold atom optical frequency references are still many orders of magnitude away from the frequency stability that should be achievable with narrow-linewidth quantum transitions and large numbers of very cold atoms, and they may be able to achieve levels of phase stability, ΔΦ/Φtotal ≤ 10-20, that could make an important impact in gravity wave science. This article is part of the themed issue 'Quantum technology for the 21st century'.

EDITORIAL: Focus on Cold and Ultracold Molecules FOCUS ON COLD AND ULTRACOLD MOLECULES

Science.gov (United States)

Carr, Lincoln D.; Ye, Jun

2009-05-01

Cold and ultracold molecules are the next wave of ultracold physics, giving rise to an exciting array of scientific opportunities, including many body physics for novel quantum phase transitions, new states of matter, and quantum information processing. Precision tests of fundamental physical laws benefit from the existence of molecular internal structure with exquisite control. The study of novel collision and reaction dynamics will open a new chapter of quantum chemistry. Cold molecules bring together researchers from a variety of fields, including atomic, molecular, and optical physics, chemistry and chemical physics, quantum information science and quantum simulations, condensed matter physics, nuclear physics, and astrophysics, a truly remarkable synergy of scientific explorations. For the past decade there have been steady advances in direct cooling techniques, from buffer-gas cooling to cold molecular beams to electro- and magneto-molecular decelerators. These techniques have allowed a large variety of molecules to be cooled for pioneering studies. Recent amazing advances in experimental techniques combining the ultracold and the ultraprecise have furthermore brought molecules to the point of quantum degeneracy. These latter indirect cooling techniques magnetically associate atoms from a Bose-Einstein condensate and/or a quantum degenerate Fermi gas, transferring at 90% efficiency highly excited Fano-Feshbach molecules, which are on the order of 10 000 Bohr radii in size, to absolute ground state molecules just a few Bohr across. It was this latter advance, together with significant breakthroughs in internal state manipulations, which inspired us to coordinate this focus issue now, and is the reason why we say the next wave of ultracold physics has now arrived. Whether directly or indirectly cooled, heteronuclear polar molecules offer distinct new features in comparison to cold atoms, while sharing all of their advantages (purity, high coherence

Condensed-phase biogenic-anthropogenic interactions with implications for cold cloud formation.

Science.gov (United States)

Charnawskas, Joseph C; Alpert, Peter A; Lambe, Andrew T; Berkemeier, Thomas; O'Brien, Rachel E; Massoli, Paola; Onasch, Timothy B; Shiraiwa, Manabu; Moffet, Ryan C; Gilles, Mary K; Davidovits, Paul; Worsnop, Douglas R; Knopf, Daniel A

2017-08-24

Anthropogenic and biogenic gas emissions contribute to the formation of secondary organic aerosol (SOA). When present, soot particles from fossil fuel combustion can acquire a coating of SOA. We investigate SOA-soot biogenic-anthropogenic interactions and their impact on ice nucleation in relation to the particles' organic phase state. SOA particles were generated from the OH oxidation of naphthalene, α-pinene, longifolene, or isoprene, with or without the presence of sulfate or soot particles. Corresponding particle glass transition (T g ) and full deliquescence relative humidity (FDRH) were estimated using a numerical diffusion model. Longifolene SOA particles are solid-like and all biogenic SOA sulfate mixtures exhibit a core-shell configuration (i.e. a sulfate-rich core coated with SOA). Biogenic SOA with or without sulfate formed ice at conditions expected for homogeneous ice nucleation, in agreement with respective T g and FDRH. α-pinene SOA coated soot particles nucleated ice above the homogeneous freezing temperature with soot acting as ice nuclei (IN). At lower temperatures the α-pinene SOA coating can be semisolid, inducing ice nucleation. Naphthalene SOA coated soot particles acted as ice nuclei above and below the homogeneous freezing limit, which can be explained by the presence of a highly viscous SOA phase. Our results suggest that biogenic SOA does not play a significant role in mixed-phase cloud formation and the presence of sulfate renders this even less likely. However, anthropogenic SOA may have an enhancing effect on cloud glaciation under mixed-phase and cirrus cloud conditions compared to biogenic SOA that dominate during pre-industrial times or in pristine areas.

How do changes in warm-phase microphysics affect deep convective clouds?

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Qian; Koren, Ilan; Altaratz, Orit; Heiblum, Reuven H.; Dagan, Guy; Pinto, Lital

2017-08-01

Understanding aerosol effects on deep convective clouds and the derived effects on the radiation budget and rain patterns can largely contribute to estimations of climate uncertainties. The challenge is difficult in part because key microphysical processes in the mixed and cold phases are still not well understood. For deep convective clouds with a warm base, understanding aerosol effects on the warm processes is extremely important as they set the initial and boundary conditions for the cold processes. Therefore, the focus of this study is the warm phase, which can be better resolved. The main question is: How do aerosol-derived changes in the warm phase affect the properties of deep convective cloud systems? To explore this question, we used a weather research and forecasting (WRF) model with spectral bin microphysics to simulate a deep convective cloud system over the Marshall Islands during the Kwajalein Experiment (KWAJEX). The model results were validated against observations, showing similarities in the vertical profile of radar reflectivity and the surface rain rate. Simulations with larger aerosol loading resulted in a larger total cloud mass, a larger cloud fraction in the upper levels, and a larger frequency of strong updrafts and rain rates. Enlarged mass both below and above the zero temperature level (ZTL) contributed to the increase in cloud total mass (water and ice) in the polluted runs. Increased condensation efficiency of cloud droplets governed the gain in mass below the ZTL, while both enhanced condensational and depositional growth led to increased mass above it. The enhanced mass loading above the ZTL acted to reduce the cloud buoyancy, while the thermal buoyancy (driven by the enhanced latent heat release) increased in the polluted runs. The overall effect showed an increased upward transport (across the ZTL) of liquid water driven by both larger updrafts and larger droplet mobility. These aerosol effects were reflected in the larger ratio

How do changes in warm-phase microphysics affect deep convective clouds?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Q. Chen

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Understanding aerosol effects on deep convective clouds and the derived effects on the radiation budget and rain patterns can largely contribute to estimations of climate uncertainties. The challenge is difficult in part because key microphysical processes in the mixed and cold phases are still not well understood. For deep convective clouds with a warm base, understanding aerosol effects on the warm processes is extremely important as they set the initial and boundary conditions for the cold processes. Therefore, the focus of this study is the warm phase, which can be better resolved. The main question is: How do aerosol-derived changes in the warm phase affect the properties of deep convective cloud systems? To explore this question, we used a weather research and forecasting (WRF model with spectral bin microphysics to simulate a deep convective cloud system over the Marshall Islands during the Kwajalein Experiment (KWAJEX. The model results were validated against observations, showing similarities in the vertical profile of radar reflectivity and the surface rain rate. Simulations with larger aerosol loading resulted in a larger total cloud mass, a larger cloud fraction in the upper levels, and a larger frequency of strong updrafts and rain rates. Enlarged mass both below and above the zero temperature level (ZTL contributed to the increase in cloud total mass (water and ice in the polluted runs. Increased condensation efficiency of cloud droplets governed the gain in mass below the ZTL, while both enhanced condensational and depositional growth led to increased mass above it. The enhanced mass loading above the ZTL acted to reduce the cloud buoyancy, while the thermal buoyancy (driven by the enhanced latent heat release increased in the polluted runs. The overall effect showed an increased upward transport (across the ZTL of liquid water driven by both larger updrafts and larger droplet mobility. These aerosol effects were reflected in the

Observed microphysical structure of nimbostratus in northeast cold vortex over China

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Zhen; Lei, Hengchi

2014-06-01

Airborne measurements were collected during a stepwise ascent within a nimbostratus cloud associated with a northeast cold vortex in Jilin Province over China on 20 June 2005 to study cloud structure and ice particle spectra. The microphysical structure of the nimbostratus was elucidated by King liquid water probe and Particle Measuring Systems (PMS) probes aboard the research aircraft. The PMS 2D images provide detailed information on crystal habits. A thick layer of supercooled cloud is observed and Hallett-Mossop ice multiplication process is used to explain very high ice particle concentrations in the temperature region between - 3 °C and - 6 °C. From near cloud top to melting layer, ice crystals shape in the form of columns, needles, aggregations and plates. In addition, significant horizontal variability was evident on the scale of few hundred meters. Ice particle spectra in this cloud were adequately described by exponential relationships. Relationship between the intercept (N0) and slope (λ) parameters of an exponential size distribution was well characterized by a power law.

Highly versatile atomic micro traps generated by multifrequency magnetic field modulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Courteille, Ph W; Deh, B; Fortagh, J; Guenther, A; Kraft, S; Marzok, C; Slama, S; Zimmermann, C

2006-01-01

We propose the realization of custom-designed adiabatic potentials for cold atoms based on multimode radio frequency radiation in combination with static inhomogeneous magnetic fields. For example, the use of radio frequency combs gives rise to periodic potentials acting as gratings for cold atoms. In strong magnetic field gradients, the lattice constant can be well below 1 μm. By changing the frequencies of the comb in time the gratings can easily be propagated in space, which may prove useful for Bragg scattering atomic matter waves. Furthermore, almost arbitrarily shaped potentials are possible such as disordered potentials on a scale of several 100 nm or lattices with a spatially varying lattice constant. The potentials can be made state selective and, in the case of atomic mixtures, also species selective. This opens new perspectives for generating tailored quantum systems based on ultracold single atoms or degenerate atomic and molecular quantum gases

A Survey of Precipitation-Induced Atmospheric Cold Pools over Oceans and Their Interactions with the Larger-Scale Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Zuidema, Paquita; Torri, Giuseppe; Muller, Caroline; Chandra, Arunchandra

2017-11-01

Pools of air cooled by partial rain evaporation span up to several hundreds of kilometers in nature and typically last less than 1 day, ultimately losing their identity to the large-scale flow. These fundamentally differ in character from the radiatively-driven dry pools defining convective aggregation. Advancement in remote sensing and in computer capabilities has promoted exploration of how precipitation-induced cold pool processes modify the convective spectrum and life cycle. This contribution surveys current understanding of such cold pools over the tropical and subtropical oceans. In shallow convection with low rain rates, the cold pools moisten, preserving the near-surface equivalent potential temperature or increasing it if the surface moisture fluxes cannot ventilate beyond the new surface layer; both conditions indicate downdraft origin air from within the boundary layer. When rain rates exceed ˜ 2 mm h^{-1}, convective-scale downdrafts can bring down drier air of lower equivalent potential temperature from above the boundary layer. The resulting density currents facilitate the lifting of locally thermodynamically favorable air and can impose an arc-shaped mesoscale cloud organization. This organization allows clouds capable of reaching 4-5 km within otherwise dry environments. These are more commonly observed in the northern hemisphere trade wind regime, where the flow to the intertropical convergence zone is unimpeded by the equator. Their near-surface air properties share much with those shown from cold pools sampled in the equatorial Indian Ocean. Cold pools are most effective at influencing the mesoscale organization when the atmosphere is moist in the lower free troposphere and dry above, suggesting an optimal range of water vapor paths. Outstanding questions on the relationship between cold pools, their accompanying moisture distribution and cloud cover are detailed further. Near-surface water vapor rings are documented in one model inside but

Analysis of off-axis solenoid fields using the magnetic scalar potential: An application to a Zeeman-slower for cold atoms

Science.gov (United States)

Muniz, Sérgio R.; Bagnato, Vanderlei S.; Bhattacharya, M.

2015-06-01

In a region free of currents, magnetostatics can be described by the Laplace equation of a scalar magnetic potential, and one can apply the same methods commonly used in electrostatics. Here, we show how to calculate the general vector field inside a real (finite) solenoid, using only the magnitude of the field along the symmetry axis. Our method does not require integration or knowledge of the current distribution and is presented through practical examples, including a nonuniform finite solenoid used to produce cold atomic beams via laser cooling. These examples allow educators to discuss the nontrivial calculation of fields off-axis using concepts familiar to most students, while offering the opportunity to introduce themes of current modern research.

Thousands of cold anti-atoms produced at CERN

CERN Multimedia

2002-01-01

The antimatter factory delivers its first major results. ATHENA has just produced thousands of anti-atoms. This is the result of techniques developed by ATRAP and ATHENA, the two collaborations aiming to study antihydrogen.

Optimal control of complex atomic quantum systems.

Science.gov (United States)

van Frank, S; Bonneau, M; Schmiedmayer, J; Hild, S; Gross, C; Cheneau, M; Bloch, I; Pichler, T; Negretti, A; Calarco, T; Montangero, S

2016-10-11

Quantum technologies will ultimately require manipulating many-body quantum systems with high precision. Cold atom experiments represent a stepping stone in that direction: a high degree of control has been achieved on systems of increasing complexity. However, this control is still sub-optimal. In many scenarios, achieving a fast transformation is crucial to fight against decoherence and imperfection effects. Optimal control theory is believed to be the ideal candidate to bridge the gap between early stage proof-of-principle demonstrations and experimental protocols suitable for practical applications. Indeed, it can engineer protocols at the quantum speed limit - the fastest achievable timescale of the transformation. Here, we demonstrate such potential by computing theoretically and verifying experimentally the optimal transformations in two very different interacting systems: the coherent manipulation of motional states of an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate and the crossing of a quantum phase transition in small systems of cold atoms in optical lattices. We also show that such processes are robust with respect to perturbations, including temperature and atom number fluctuations.

ISM-induced erosion and gas-dynamical drag in the Oort Cloud

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stern, S.A.

1990-01-01

The model presently used to examine the physical interactions between the ISM and the Oort Cloud can account for sputtering, sticking, and grain-impact erosion, as well as gas drag, by envisioning the ISM as a multiphase medium with distinct atomic and molecular cloud-phase regimes and coronal and warm/ambient gas-phase regimes. Erosion, which reduces the effectiveness of the thermal and radiation-damage processes acting on cometary surfaces in the Oort cloud, is found to be the dominant ISM interaction; ISM drag effects were found to efficiently remove submicron particles from the Cloud. 67 refs

Two atoms scattering at low and cold energies

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

terms exactly with exchange/antisymmetry between the system electrons. ... Figure 1a presents the picture of two atoms with nuclei A and B attached with electrons ..... Physical Chemistry Dept. of IACS, Kolkata, India, Private Communication.

EPA Method 245.2: Mercury (Automated Cold Vapor Technique)

Science.gov (United States)

Method 245.2 describes procedures for preparation and analysis of drinking water samples for analysis of mercury using acid digestion and cold vapor atomic absorption. Samples are prepared using an acid digestion technique.

Trapping hydrogen atoms from a neon-gas matrix: a theoretical simulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Bovino, S; Zhang, P; Kharchenko, V; Dalgarno, A

2009-08-07

Hydrogen is of critical importance in atomic and molecular physics and the development of a simple and efficient technique for trapping cold and ultracold hydrogen atoms would be a significant advance. In this study we simulate a recently proposed trap-loading mechanism for trapping hydrogen atoms released from a neon matrix. Accurate ab initio quantum calculations are reported of the neon-hydrogen interaction potential and the energy- and angular-dependent elastic scattering cross sections that control the energy transfer of initially cold atoms are obtained. They are then used to construct the Boltzmann kinetic equation, describing the energy relaxation process. Numerical solutions of the Boltzmann equation predict the time evolution of the hydrogen energy distribution function. Based on the simulations we discuss the prospects of the technique.

An A-Train Climatology of Extratropical Cyclone Clouds

Science.gov (United States)

Posselt, Derek J.; van den Heever, Susan C.; Booth, James F.; Del Genio, Anthony D.; Kahn, Brian; Bauer, Mike

2016-01-01

Extratropical cyclones (ETCs) are the main purveyors of precipitation in the mid-latitudes, especially in winter, and have a significant radiative impact through the clouds they generate. However, general circulation models (GCMs) have trouble representing precipitation and clouds in ETCs, and this might partly explain why current GCMs disagree on to the evolution of these systems in a warming climate. Collectively, the A-train observations of MODIS, CloudSat, CALIPSO, AIRS and AMSR-E have given us a unique perspective on ETCs: over the past 10 years these observations have allowed us to construct a climatology of clouds and precipitation associated with these storms. This has proved very useful for model evaluation as well in studies aimed at improving understanding of moist processes in these dynamically active conditions. Using the A-train observational suite and an objective cyclone and front identification algorithm we have constructed cyclone centric datasets that consist of an observation-based characterization of clouds and precipitation in ETCs and their sensitivity to large scale environments. In this presentation, we will summarize the advances in our knowledge of the climatological properties of cloud and precipitation in ETCs acquired with this unique dataset. In particular, we will present what we have learned about southern ocean ETCs, for which the A-train observations have filled a gap in this data sparse region. In addition, CloudSat and CALIPSO have for the first time provided information on the vertical distribution of clouds in ETCs and across warm and cold fronts. We will also discuss how these observations have helped identify key areas for improvement in moist processes in recent GCMs. Recently, we have begun to explore the interaction between aerosol and cloud cover in ETCs using MODIS, CloudSat and CALIPSO. We will show how aerosols are climatologically distributed within northern hemisphere ETCs, and how this relates to cloud cover.

The Brazilian time and frequency atomic standards program

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mushtaq Ahmed

2008-06-01

Full Text Available Cesium atomic beam clocks have been the workhorse for many demanding applications in science and technology for the past four decades. Tests of the fundamental laws of physics and the search for minute changes in fundamental constants, the synchronization of telecommunication networks, and realization of the satellite-based global positioning system would not be possible without atomic clocks. The adoption of optical cooling and trapping techniques, has produced a major advance in atomic clock precision. Cold-atom fountain and compact cold-atom clocks have also been developed. Measurement precision of a few parts in 10(15 has been demonstrated for a cold-atom fountain clock. We present here an overview of the time and frequency metrology program based on cesium atoms under development at USP São Carlos. This activity consists of construction and characterization of atomic-beam, and several variations of cold-atom clocks. We discuss the basic working principles, construction, evaluation, and important applications of atomic clocks in the Brazilian program.Relógios atômicos de feixe de Césio têm sido a base para diversas aplicações em ciência e tecnologia nas últimas quatro décadas. Testes de leis fundamentais de física, buscas por mínimas variações em constantes fundamentais, sincronização de redes de telecomunicações e o funcionamento do sistema de posicionamento global, baseado em satélites de navegação, não seriam possíveis sem os relógios atômicos. A adoção de técnicas de aprisionamento e resfriamento ópticos tem permitido um grande avanço na precisão dos relógios atômicos. Chafarizes de átomos frios e relógios compactos de átomos frios também têm sido desenvolvidos. Precisões de medida de algumas partes em 1015 foram demonstradas para relógios do tipo chafariz de átomos frios. Apresentamos uma visão geral do programa de metrologia de tempo e freqüência baseado em átomos de césio, em

Forward and backward scattering experiments in ultra-cold Rubidium atoms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kampel, Nir Shlomo

project, we have studied coherent forward scattering in the form of a memory experiment. In such an experiment we convert the input light pulse to an atomic excitation, and at a later time convert back the atomic excitation into the retrieved light pulse. In the first project, we investigate the source...

Laser-filamentation-induced condensation and snow formation in a cloud chamber.

Science.gov (United States)

Ju, Jingjing; Liu, Jiansheng; Wang, Cheng; Sun, Haiyi; Wang, Wentao; Ge, Xiaochun; Li, Chuang; Chin, See Leang; Li, Ruxin; Xu, Zhizhan

2012-04-01

Using 1 kHz, 9 mJ femtosecond laser pulses, we demonstrate laser-filamentation-induced spectacular snow formation in a cloud chamber. An intense updraft of warm moist air is generated owing to the continuous heating by the high-repetition filamentation. As it encounters the cold air above, water condensation and large-sized particles spread unevenly across the whole cloud chamber via convection and cyclone like action on a macroscopic scale. This indicates that high-repetition filamentation plays a significant role in macroscopic laser-induced water condensation and snow formation.

Magnetohydrodynamic shocks in molecular clouds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chernoff, D.F.

1985-01-01

Part one develops the mathematical and physical theory of one-dimensional, time-independent subalfvenic flow in partially ionized gas with magnetic fields, for application to shocks in molecular clouds. Unlike normal gas-dynamic shocks, the neutral flow may be continuous and cool if the gas radiates efficiently and does not self-ionize. Analytic solutions are given in the limit that the neutral gas is either adiabatic or isothermal (cold). Numerical techniques are developed and applied to find the neutral flow under general circumstances. Part two extends the theory and results of part one in three ways: (1) to faster, superalfvenic flow, (2) to complex gases containing heavy charged particles (grains) in addition to ions, containing heavy charged particles (grains) in addition to ions, electrons and neutrals, and (3) to the entire range in (Omega tau), the ratio of charged particle damping time to gyroperiod, expected in gas flows in molecular clouds

Advances in atomic, molecular, and optical physics

CERN Document Server

Berman, Paul R; Arimondo, Ennio

2006-01-01

Volume 54 of the Advances Series contains ten contributions, covering a diversity of subject areas in atomic, molecular and optical physics. The article by Regal and Jin reviews the properties of a Fermi degenerate gas of cold potassium atoms in the crossover regime between the Bose-Einstein condensation of molecules and the condensation of fermionic atom pairs. The transition between the two regions can be probed by varying an external magnetic field. Sherson, Julsgaard and Polzik explore the manner in which light and atoms can be entangled, with applications to quantum information processing

Continuous loading of cold atoms into a Ioffe-Pritchard magnetic trap

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schmidt, Piet O; Hensler, Sven; Werner, Joerg; Binhammer, Thomas; Goerlitz, Axel; Pfau, Tilman

2003-01-01

We present a robust continuous optical loading scheme for a Ioffe-Pritchard (IP) type magnetic trap (MT). Chromium atoms are cooled and trapped in a modified magneto-optical trap (MOT) consisting of a conventional 2D-MOT in the radial direction and an axial molasses. The MOT and IP trap share the same magnetic field configuration. Continuous loading of atoms into the IP trap is provided by radiative leakage from the MOT to a metastable level which is magnetically trapped and decoupled from the MOT light. We are able to accumulate 30 times more atoms in the MT than in the MOT. The absolute number of 2 x 10 8 atoms is limited by inelastic collisions. A model based on rate equations shows good agreement with the data. Our scheme can also be applied to other atoms with similar level structure like alkaline earth metals

AtomPy: an open atomic-data curation environment

Science.gov (United States)

Bautista, Manuel; Mendoza, Claudio; Boswell, Josiah S; Ajoku, Chukwuemeka

2014-06-01

We present a cloud-computing environment for atomic data curation, networking among atomic data providers and users, teaching-and-learning, and interfacing with spectral modeling software. The system is based on Google-Drive Sheets, Pandas (Python Data Analysis Library) DataFrames, and IPython Notebooks for open community-driven curation of atomic data for scientific and technological applications. The atomic model for each ionic species is contained in a multi-sheet Google-Drive workbook, where the atomic parameters from all known public sources are progressively stored. Metadata (provenance, community discussion, etc.) accompanying every entry in the database are stored through Notebooks. Education tools on the physics of atomic processes as well as their relevance to plasma and spectral modeling are based on IPython Notebooks that integrate written material, images, videos, and active computer-tool workflows. Data processing workflows and collaborative software developments are encouraged and managed through the GitHub social network. Relevant issues this platform intends to address are: (i) data quality by allowing open access to both data producers and users in order to attain completeness, accuracy, consistency, provenance and currentness; (ii) comparisons of different datasets to facilitate accuracy assessment; (iii) downloading to local data structures (i.e. Pandas DataFrames) for further manipulation and analysis by prospective users; and (iv) data preservation by avoiding the discard of outdated sets.

Chemical complexity induced by efficient ice evaporation in the Barnard 5 molecular cloud

OpenAIRE

Taquet, Vianney; Wirström, Eva; Charnley, Steven B.; Faure, Alexandre; López-Sepulcre, Ana; Persson, Carina M.

2017-01-01

Cold gas-phase water has recently been detected in a cold dark cloud, Barnard 5 located in the Perseus complex, by targeting methanol peaks as signposts for ice mantle evaporation. Observed morphology and abundances of methanol and water are consistent with a transient non-thermal evaporation process only affecting the outermost ice mantle layers, possibly triggering a more complex chemistry. We present the detection of the Complex Organic Molecules (COMs) acetaldehyde and methyl formate as w...

GOT C+ Survey of Transition Clouds in the Inner Galaxy

Science.gov (United States)

Velusamy, Thangasamy; Langer, W. D.; Pineda, J. L.; Goldsmith, P. F.; Li, D.; Yorke, H. W.

2010-05-01

To understand star formation and the lifecycle of the interstellar gas we need detailed information about the transition of diffuse atomic to molecular clouds. The C+ line at 1.9 THz traces a so-far poorly studied stage in cloud evolution - the transitional clouds going from atomic HI to molecular H2 The transition cloud phase, which is difficult to observe in HI and CO alone, may be best characterized via CII emission or absorption. Here we present the first results on transition clouds along a few representative lines of sight in the inner Galaxy from longitude 325 degrees to 10 degrees, observed under the GOT C+ program, a HIFI Herschel Key Project to study the diffuse ISM. We can separate out the different ISM components along each line of sight by comparisons of the high spectral resolution ( 1 km/s) and high sensitivity (rms 0.1 K to 0.2 K) HIFI data on C+ with HI, 12CO, and 13CO spectra. These observations are being carried out with the Herschel Space Observatory. This research was conducted at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. JLP is supported under the NASA Postdoctoral Program at JPL, Caltech, administered by Oak Ridge Associated Universities through a contract with NASA.

Planck 2015 results. XXVIII. The Planck Catalogue of Galactic Cold Clumps

CERN Document Server

Ade, P.A.R.; Arnaud, M.; Ashdown, M.; Aumont, J.; Baccigalupi, C.; Banday, A.J.; Barreiro, R.B.; Bartolo, N.; Battaner, E.; Benabed, K.; Benoît, A.; Benoit-Lévy, A.; Bernard, J.-P.; Bersanelli, M.; Bielewicz, P.; Bonaldi, A.; Bonavera, L.; Bond, J.R.; Borrill, J.; Bouchet, F.R.; Boulanger, F.; Bucher, M.; Burigana, C.; Butler, R.C.; Calabrese, E.; Catalano, A.; Chamballu, A.; Chiang, H.C.; Christensen, P.R.; Clements, D.L.; Colombi, S.; Colombo, L.P.L.; Combet, C.; Couchot, F.; Coulais, A.; Crill, B.P.; Curto, A.; Cuttaia, F.; Danese, L.; Davies, R.D.; Davis, R.J.; de Bernardis, P.; de Rosa, A.; de Zotti, G.; Delabrouille, J.; Désert, F.-X.; Dickinson, C.; Diego, J.M.; Dole, H.; Donzelli, S.; Doré, O.; Douspis, M.; Ducout, A.; Dupac, X.; Efstathiou, G.; Elsner, F.; Enßlin, T.A.; Eriksen, H.K.; Falgarone, E.; Fergusson, J.; Finelli, F.; Forni, O.; Frailis, M.; Fraisse, A.A.; Franceschi, E.; Frejsel, A.; Galeotta, S.; Galli, S.; Ganga, K.; Giard, M.; Giraud-Héraud, Y.; Gjerløw, E.; González-Nuevo, J.; Górski, K.M.; Gratton, S.; Gregorio, A.; Gruppuso, A.; Gudmundsson, J.E.; Hansen, F.K.; Hanson, D.; Harrison, D.L.; Helou, G.; Henrot-Versillé, S.; Hernández-Monteagudo, C.; Herranz, D.; Hildebrandt, S.R.; Hivon, E.; Hobson, M.; Holmes, W.A.; Hornstrup, A.; Hovest, W.; Huffenberger, K.M.; Hurier, G.; Jaffe, A.H.; Jaffe, T.R.; Jones, W.C.; Juvela, M.; Keihänen, E.; Keskitalo, R.; Kisner, T.S.; Knoche, J.; Kunz, M.; Kurki-Suonio, H.; Lagache, G.; Lamarre, J.-M.; Lasenby, A.; Lattanzi, M.; Lawrence, C.R.; Leonardi, R.; Lesgourgues, J.; Levrier, F.; Liguori, M.; Lilje, P.B.; Linden-Vørnle, M.; López-Caniego, M.; Lubin, P.M.; Macías-Pérez, J.F.; Maggio, G.; Maino, D.; Mandolesi, N.; Mangilli, A.; Marshall, D.J.; Martin, P.G.; Martínez-González, E.; Masi, S.; Matarrese, S.; Mazzotta, P.; McGehee, P.; Melchiorri, A.; Mendes, L.; Mennella, A.; Migliaccio, M.; Mitra, S.; Miville-Deschênes, M.-A.; Moneti, A.; Morgante, G.; Mortlock, D.; Moss, A.; Munshi, D.; Murphy, J.A.; Naselsky, P.; Nati, F.; Natoli, P.; Netterfield, C.B.; Nørgaard-Nielsen, H.U.; Noviello, F.; Novikov, D.; Novikov, I.; Oxborrow, C.A.; Paci, F.; Pagano, L.; Pajot, F.; Paladini, R.; Paoletti, D.; Pasian, F.; Patanchon, G.; Pearson, T.J.; Pelkonen, V.-M.; Perdereau, O.; Perotto, L.; Perrotta, F.; Pettorino, V.; Piacentini, F.; Piat, M.; Pierpaoli, E.; Pietrobon, D.; Plaszczynski, S.; Pointecouteau, E.; Polenta, G.; Pratt, G.W.; Prézeau, G.; Prunet, S.; Puget, J.-L.; Rachen, J.P.; Reach, W.T.; Rebolo, R.; Reinecke, M.; Remazeilles, M.; Renault, C.; Renzi, A.; Ristorcelli, I.; Rocha, G.; Rosset, C.; Rossetti, M.; Roudier, G.; Rubiño-Martín, J.A.; Rusholme, B.; Sandri, M.; Santos, D.; Savelainen, M.; Savini, G.; Scott, D.; Seiffert, M.D.; Shellard, E.P.S.; Spencer, L.D.; Stolyarov, V.; Sudiwala, R.; Sunyaev, R.; Sutton, D.; Suur-Uski, A.-S.; Sygnet, J.-F.; Tauber, J.A.; Terenzi, L.; Toffolatti, L.; Tomasi, M.; Tristram, M.; Tucci, M.; Tuovinen, J.; Umana, G.; Valenziano, L.; Valiviita, J.; Van Tent, B.; Vielva, P.; Villa, F.; Wade, L.A.; Wandelt, B.D.; Wehus, I.K.; Yvon, D.; Zacchei, A.

2016-01-01

We present the Planck Catalogue of Galactic Cold Clumps (PGCC), an all-sky catalogue of Galactic cold clump candidates detected by Planck. This catalogue is the full version of the Early Cold Core (ECC) catalogue, which was made available in 2011 with the Early Release Compact Source Catalogue (ERCSC) and contained 915 high S/N sources. It is based on the Planck 48 months mission data that are currently being released to the astronomical community. The PGCC catalogue is an observational catalogue consisting exclusively of Galactic cold sources. The three highest Planck bands (857, 545, 353 GHz) have been combined with IRAS data at 3 THz to perform a multi-frequency detection of sources colder than their local environment. After rejection of possible extragalactic contaminants, the PGCC catalogue contains 13188 Galactic sources spread across the whole sky, i.e., from the Galactic plane to high latitudes, following the spatial distribution of the main molecular cloud complexes. The median temperature of PGCC so...

GAMMA-CLOUD: a computer code for calculating gamma-exposure due to a radioactive cloud released from a point source

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sugimoto, O [Chugoku Electric Power Co. Inc., Hiroshima (Japan); Sawaguchi, Y; Kaneko, M

1979-03-01

A computer code, designated GAMMA-CLOUD, has been developed by specialists of electric power companies to meet requests from the companies to have a unified means of calculating annual external doses from routine releases of radioactive gaseous effluents from nuclear power plants, based on the Japan Atomic Energy Commission's guides for environmental dose evaluation. GAMMA-CLOUD is written in FORTRAN language and its required capacity is less than 100 kilobytes. The average ..gamma..-exposure at an observation point can be calculated within a few minutes with comparable precision to other existing codes.

Optical atomic phase reference and timing.

Science.gov (United States)

Hollberg, L; Cornell, E H; Abdelrahmann, A

2017-08-06

Atomic clocks based on laser-cooled atoms have made tremendous advances in both accuracy and stability. However, advanced clocks have not found their way into widespread use because there has been little need for such high performance in real-world/commercial applications. The drive in the commercial world favours smaller, lower-power, more robust compact atomic clocks that function well in real-world non-laboratory environments. Although the high-performance atomic frequency references are useful to test Einstein's special relativity more precisely, there are not compelling scientific arguments to expect a breakdown in special relativity. On the other hand, the dynamics of gravity, evidenced by the recent spectacular results in experimental detection of gravity waves by the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, shows dramatically that there is new physics to be seen and understood in space-time science. Those systems require strain measurements at less than or equal to 10 -20 As we discuss here, cold atom optical frequency references are still many orders of magnitude away from the frequency stability that should be achievable with narrow-linewidth quantum transitions and large numbers of very cold atoms, and they may be able to achieve levels of phase stability, Δ Φ / Φ total  ≤ 10 -20 , that could make an important impact in gravity wave science.This article is part of the themed issue 'Quantum technology for the 21st century'. © 2017 The Author(s).

REVISITING THE SCATTERING GREENHOUSE EFFECT OF CO2 ICE CLOUDS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kitzmann, D.

2016-01-01

Carbon dioxide ice clouds are thought to play an important role for cold terrestrial planets with thick CO 2 dominated atmospheres. Various previous studies showed that a scattering greenhouse effect by carbon dioxide ice clouds could result in a massive warming of the planetary surface. However, all of these studies only employed simplified two-stream radiative transfer schemes to describe the anisotropic scattering. Using accurate radiative transfer models with a general discrete ordinate method, this study revisits this important effect and shows that the positive climatic impact of carbon dioxide clouds was strongly overestimated in the past. The revised scattering greenhouse effect can have important implications for the early Mars, but also for planets like the early Earth or the position of the outer boundary of the habitable zone

Meteorological explanation of wake clouds at Horns Rev wind farm

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Emeis, S. [Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Germany). Inst. for Meteorology and Climate Research

2010-08-15

The occurrence of wake clouds at Horns Rev wind farm is explained as mixing fog. Mixing fog forms when two nearly saturated air masses with different temperature are mixed. Due to the non-linearity of the dependence of the saturation water vapour pressure on temperature, the mixed air mass is over-saturated and condensation sets in. On the day in February 2008, when the wake clouds were observed at Horns Rev, cold and very humid air was advected from the nearby land over the warmer North Sea and led to the formation of a shallow layer with sea smoke or fog close above the sea surface. The turbines mixed a much deeper layer and thus provoked the formation of cloud trails in the wakes of the turbines. (orig.)

Carbon pellet cloud striations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parks, P.B.

1989-01-01

Fine scale striations, with alternating rows of bright and dark zones, have been observed in the ablation clouds of carbon pellets injected into the TEXT tokamak. The striations extend along the magnetic field for about 1 cm with quite regular cross-field variations characterized by a wavelength of a few mm. Their potential as a diagnostic tool for measuring q-profiles in tokamaks provides motivation for investigating the origin of the striations. The authors propose that the striations are not due to a sequence of high and low ablation rates because of the finite thermal magnetic islands localized at rational surfaces, q = m/n, would be responsible for reducing the electron flux to the pellet region; the length of the closed field line which forms the local magnetic axis of the island is too long to prevent a depletion of plasma electrons in a flux tube intercepting the pellet for the duration 2 rp / vp . Instead, they propose that striations are the manifestation of the saturated state of growing fluctuations inside the cloud. The instability is generated by E x B rotation of the ablation cloud. The outward centrifugal force points down the ablation density gradient inducing the Rayleigh-Taylor instability. The instability is not present for wave numbers along the field lines, which may explain why the striations are long and uniform in that direction. The E field develops inside the ablation cloud as a result of cold electron return currents which are induced to cancel the incoming hot plasma electron current streaming along the field lines

Investigations in atomic physics by heavy ion projectiles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berenyi, D.

1983-01-01

The utilization of heavy ion reactions in atomic physics is surveyed. The basic collision mechanisms and their consequences in atomic physics are summarized. The atomic and electronic processes during and after heavy ion collisions are reviewed as functions of the projectile energy. The main detection and measuring methods are described. Reviews of new information about the structure of electronic cloud and about fundamental processes based on the analysis of heavy ion reaction data are given. (D.Gy.)

Observational characteristics of cloud radiative effects over three arid regions in the Northern Hemisphere

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Jiandong; Wang, Tianhe; Habib, Ammara

2017-08-01

Cloud-radiation processes play an important role in regional energy budgets and surface temperature changes over arid regions. Cloud radiative effects (CREs) are used to quantitatively measure the aforementioned climatic role. This study investigates the characteristics of CREs and their temporal variations over three arid regions in central Asia (CA), East Asia (EA), and North America (NA), based on recent satellite datasets. Our results show that the annual mean shortwave (SW) and net CREs (SWCRE and NCRE) over the three arid regions are weaker than those in the same latitudinal zone of the Northern Hemisphere. In most cold months (November-March), the longwave (LW) CRE is stronger than the SWCRE over the three arid regions, leading to a positive NCRE and radiative warming in the regional atmosphere-land surface system. The cold-season mean NCRE at the top of the atmosphere (TOA) averaged over EA is 4.1 W m-2, with a positive NCRE from November to March, and the intensity and duration of the positive NCRE is larger than that over CA and NA. The CREs over the arid regions of EA exhibit remarkable annual cycles due to the influence of the monsoon in the south. The TOA LWCRE over arid regions is closely related to the high-cloud fraction, and the SWCRE relates well to the total cloud fraction. In addition, the relationship between the SWCRE and the low-cloud fraction is good over NA because of the considerable occurrence of low cloud. Further results show that the interannual variation of TOA CREs is small over the arid regions of CA and EA, but their surface LWCREs show certain decreasing trends that correspond well to their decreasing total cloud fraction. It is suggested that combined studies of more observational cloud properties and meteorological elements are needed for indepth understanding of cloud-radiation processes over arid regions of the Northern Hemisphere.

AtomPy: An Open Atomic Data Curation Environment for Astrophysical Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Claudio Mendoza

2014-05-01

Full Text Available We present a cloud-computing environment, referred to as AtomPy, based on Google-Drive Sheets and Pandas (Python Data Analysis Library DataFrames to promote community-driven curation of atomic data for astrophysical applications, a stage beyond database development. The atomic model for each ionic species is contained in a multi-sheet workbook, tabulating representative sets of energy levels, A-values and electron impact effective collision strengths from different sources. The relevant issues that AtomPy intends to address are: (i data quality by allowing open access to both data producers and users; (ii comparisons of different datasets to facilitate accuracy assessments; (iii downloading to local data structures (i.e., Pandas DataFrames for further manipulation and analysis by prospective users; and (iv data preservation by avoiding the discard of outdated sets. Data processing workflows are implemented by means of IPython Notebooks, and collaborative software developments are encouraged and managed within the GitHub social network. The facilities of AtomPy are illustrated with the critical assessment of the transition probabilities for ions in the hydrogen and helium isoelectronic sequences with atomic number Z ≤ 10.

Contribution to coherent atom optics - Design of multiple wave devices; Contribution a l'optique des ondes atomiques coherentes - Conception de dispositifs multi-ondes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Impens, F

2008-03-15

The theoretical work presented in this manuscript addresses two complementary issues in coherent atom optics. The first part addresses the perspectives offered by coherent atomic sources through the design of two experiment involving the levitation of a cold atomic sample in a periodic series of light pulses, and for which coherent atomic clouds are particularly well-suited. These systems appear as multiple wave atom interferometers. A striking feature of these experiments is that a unique system performs both the sample trapping and interrogation. To obtain a transverse confinement, a novel atomic lens is proposed, relying on the interaction between an atomic wave with a spherical light wave. The sensitivity of the sample trapping towards the gravitational acceleration and towards the pulse frequencies is exploited to perform the desired measurement. These devices constitute atomic wave resonators in momentum space, which is a novel concept in atom optics. A second part develops new theoretical tools - most of which inspired from optics - well-suited to describe the propagation of coherent atomic sources. A phase-space approach of the propagation, relying on the evolution of moments, is developed and applied to study the low-energy dynamics of Bose-Einstein condensates. The ABCD method of propagation for atomic waves is extended beyond the linear regime to account perturbatively for mean-field atomic interactions in the atom-optical aberration-less approximation. A treatment of the atom laser extraction enabling one to describe aberrations in the atomic beam, developed in collaboration with the Atom Optics group at the Institute of Optics, is exposed. Last, a quality factor suitable for the characterization of diluted matter waves in a general propagation regime has been proposed. (author)

Superconducting microtraps for ultracold atoms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hufnagel, C.

2011-01-01

Atom chips are integrated devices in which atoms and atomic clouds are stored and manipulated in miniaturized magnetic traps. State of the art fabrication technologies allow for a flexible design of the trapping potentials and consequently provide extraordinary control over atomic samples, which leads to a promising role of atom chips in the engineering and investigation of quantum mechanical systems. Naturally, for quantum mechanical applications, the atomic coherence has to be preserved. Using room temperature circuits, the coherence time of atoms close to the surface was found to be drastically limited by thermal current fluctuations in the conductors. Superconductors offer an elegant way to circumvent thermal noise and therefore present a promising option for the coherent manipulation of atomic quantum states. In this thesis trapping and manipulation of ultracold Rubidium atoms in superconducting microtraps is demonstrated. In this connection the unique properties of superconductors are used to build traps based on persistent currents, the Meissner effect and remanent magnetization. In experiment it is shown, that in superconducting atom chips, thermal magnetic field noise is significantly reduced. Furthermore it is demonstrated, that atomic samples can be employed to probe the properties of superconducting materials. (author) [de