Snowballs of radioactive ions — nuclear spin polarization of core ions

Short-lived ions¹²B (beta-radioactive, T_1/2=20.3 ms) sustaining nuclear spin polarization were introduced into superfluid helium at 1.7 K. It was found that the¹²B ions were transported as charged entities under a static electric field and that the nuclear polarization was maintained throughout the lifetime of¹²B nuclei. Polarization of¹²B was determined through beta-NMR method. Snowball, a singly charged microcluster of helium atoms formed around an impurity ion, is responsible for the behaviour and thus constitutes a suitable environment for preserving nuclear polarization of the core ions¹²B. In a separate experiment snowballs were produced by implanting⁸Li (T_1/2=830 ms) into liquid helium and detected by means of alpha particles from the core ions to guarantee that the snowballs survive longer than the lifetime of¹²B.     

Measurement of intense microwave field patterns using a neon glow indicator lamp

A novel method using small neon glow lamps with electrodes is developed for measuring intense microwave field patterns. When the lamp axis coincide with the electric field direction, the lamp discharge starts at the feeblest microwave electric field strength. Therefore, the lamp axis shows the field direction and the discharge starting indicates the field strength. The field strength for starting the microwave discharge is less than the strength for AC discharge, because of its low loss discharge mechanism. In the experiments using a microwave oven, it has been demonstrated again comparing with the simulated results that the method is able to use for measuring the intense electric field strength and direction.     

Analysis ofK→3Π decays in chiral perturbation theory

Using the recently proposed higher-order chiral Lagrangians determined from the integration of nontopological chiral anomalies, we calculate corrections to the current-algebra analysis ofK→3Π decay amplitudes expanded in powers of the Dalitz variables. Effects of quartic-derivative weak chiral Lagrangians are determined through the use of short-distance effective weak Hamiltonian and the factorization method. We find that (1) the constant and linear terms in the amplitude for ΔI=1/2K→3Π are in excellent agreement with experiment; the previous discrepancy of (20–35)% between current algebra and data is thus accounted for by the higher-order effective Lagrangians, (2) the penguin interaction does not play an essential role in the ΔI=1/2 rule, for otherwise it will lead to a large disagreement for the constant and linear terms, (3) one of the two quadratic terms in the ΔI=1/2 process, which arise from the quartic chiral Lagrangians, is in accord with data within experimental errors, while the other is off by four standard deviations, (4) the linear term in the ΔI=3/2 transitions is in good agreement with experiment and contributions from quadratic terms are sizable.     

Experimental study of the inclusiveη-spectrum fromp \bar p annihilations at rest in liquid hydrogen

The inclusive η-momentum spectrum from \(\bar p\) annihilations at rest in liquid hydrogen was measured at LEAR. Branching ratios were obtained for $$\begin{gathered} p\bar p \to \eta \omega \left( {1.04_{ - 0.10}^{ + 0.09} } \right)\% ,\eta \rho ^0 \left( {0.53_{ - 0.08}^{ + 0.20} } \right)\% , \hfill \\ \pi a_2 \left( {8.49_{ - 1.10}^{ + 1.05} } \right)\% ,\eta \pi ^0 \left( {1.33 \pm 0.27} \right) \times 10^{ - 4} , \hfill \\ \end{gathered} $$ , and ηη(8.1±3.1)×10^?5. An upper limit for \(p\bar p \to \eta \eta '\) of 1.8×10^?4 at 95% CL was found. The ratio of the branching ratios is BR(η?)/BR(ηω)=0.51 _?0.06 ^+0.20 . For the ratio of branching ratios into two pseudoscalar mesons, we have BR(ηπ⁰)/BR(π⁰π⁰)=0.65±0.14, BR(ηη)/BR(π⁰π⁰), BR(η η ^′ )/BR(π⁰π⁰) at 95% CL, and BR(ηη)/BR(ηπ⁰).     

CP violation and the widthZ→b \bar b

We discuss the effect of CP-violatingZb $\bar b$ Zb $\bar b$ G andZb $\bar b$ γ couplings on the width Γ(Z→b $\bar b$ X). The presence of such couplings leads in a natural way to an increase of this width relative to the prediction of the standard model. Various strategies of a direct search for such CP-violating couplings by using CP-odd observables are outlined. The number ofZ bosons required to obtain significant information on the couplings in this way is well within the reach of present LEP experiments.     

Coherent and incoherent dynamics of excitons in semiconductor microcavities

Il Nuovo Cimento D - We have investigated the dynamics of impulsively excited planar microcavities in the strongly couple regime. With resonant, coherent excitation, the emitted light shows...     

Single-detector polarization-sensitive optical frequency domain imaging using high-speed intra A-line polarization modulation

We demonstrate a novel high-speed polarization-sensitive optical frequency domain imaging system employing high-speed polarization modulation. Rapid and continuous polarization modulation of light prior to illumination of the sample is accomplished by shifting the frequency of one polarization eigenstate by an amount equal to one quarter of the digitization sampling frequency. This approach enables polarization-sensitive imaging with a single detection channel and overcomes artifacts that may arise from temporal variations of the birefringence in fiber-optic imaging probes and spatial variation of birefringence in the sample.     

Degradation of high-power semiconductor quantum-well lasers

A mechanism of degradation of semiconductor quantum-well lasers with a stripe contact more than 50 µm wide is proposed. This mechanism implies formation of several lasing channels at a carrier ambipolar diffusion length smaller than the contact width. The carrier diffusion length decreases with time due to the increase in the number of defects; as a result, the number of lasing channels increases and lasing spectrum is filled. The shape of the lasing spectrum can be used to predict the laser service life.     

Competing ferromagnetism and superconductivity on FeAs layers in EuFe2(As0.73P0.27)2

We have measured the spin-polarized electron momentum density distributions of EuFe2(As0.73P0.27)2 by magnetic Compton scattering (MCS) measurements. For the first time, we show direct evidence of competing ferromagnetism and superconductivity (SC) on FeAs layers in this iron pnictide system. The MCS orbitalwise decomposition of the density distributions reveals that between 16 and 19 K, the spin-polarized Fe-3d character is enhanced (as the ferromagnetic character supersedes superconducting character), where the resistivity shows a maximum, reentrant SC-like peak, at 18 K. The spin polarization of the Fe-3d orbital, enhanced by ferromagnetic Eu ions, suppresses the SC around 18 K, while at other temperatures the system indeed exhibits SC where the Fe-3d spin polarization is suppressed or collapses.     

Observation of a centrality-dependent dijet asymmetry in lead-lead collisions at sqrt[S(NN)] =2.76 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

By using the ATLAS detector, observations have been made of a centrality-dependent dijet asymmetry in the collisions of lead ions at the Large Hadron Collider. In a sample of lead-lead events with a per-nucleon center of mass energy of 2.76 TeV, selected with a minimum bias trigger, jets are reconstructed in fine-grained, longitudinally segmented electromagnetic and hadronic calorimeters. The transverse energies of dijets in opposite hemispheres are observed to become systematically more unbalanced with increasing event centrality leading to a large number of events which contain highly asymmetric dijets. This is the first observation of an enhancement of events with such large dijet asymmetries, not observed in proton-proton collisions, which may point to an interpretation in terms of strong jet energy loss in a hot, dense medium.