Effective collision strengths for electron impact excitation of Si VIII

Effective collision strengths for electron-impact excitation of the nitrogen-like ion Si VIII are presented over the wide range of electron temperatures log T(K) = 4.0-6.5. All 231 fine- structure transitions among the 22 fine-structure levels arising from the lowest 11 LS target states (2s(2)2p(3), 2s2p(4), 2p(5), and 2s(2)2p(2)3s) are considered in the tabulation. The collision strengths are evaluated in a multi- channel R-matrix approach, and the corresponding effective collision strengths are obtained by averaging these over a Maxwellian distribution of electron velocities. Comparisons are made with recent distorted-wave results at high incident electron energies. Differences of up to 20% are found, particularly for some allowed transitions. (C) 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Dynamical and steady-state requirements for effective entanglement transfer

Entanglement transfer processes from a continuous-variable (CV) to a qubit system have primary importance in quantum information processing due to some practical implications in the realization of a quantum network. A CV system can propagate entanglement while a qubit system is easy to manipulate. We study conditions to entangle two atomic qubits with a two-mode squeezed field driving two cavities containing the atoms.

Geometry- and diffraction-independent ionization probabilities in intense laser fields: Probing atomic ionization mechanisms with effective intensity matching

We report an experimental technique for the comparison of ionization processes in ultrafast laser pulses irrespective of pulse ellipticity. Multiple ionization of xenon by 50 fs 790 nm, linearly and circularly polarized laser pulses is observed over the intensity range 10 TW/cm(2) to 10 PW/cm(2) using effective intensity matching (EIM), which is coupled with intensity selective scanning (ISS) to recover the geometry-independent probability of ionization. Such measurements, made possible by quantifying diffraction effects in the laser focus, are compared directly to theoretical predictions of multiphoton, tunnel and field ionization, and a remarkable agreement demonstrated. EIM-ISS allows the straightforward quantification of the probability of recollision ionization in a linearly polarized laser pulse. Furthermore, the probability of ionization is discussed in terms of the Keldysh adiabaticity parameter gamma, and the influence of the precursor ionic states present in recollision ionization is observed.

The VLT-FLAMES survey of massive stars: evolution of surface N abundances and effective temperature scales in the Galaxy and Magellanic Clouds

We present an analysis of high resolution VLT-FLAMES spectra of 61 B-type stars with relatively narrow-lined spectra located in 4 fields centered on the Milky Way clusters; NGC 3293 and NGC 4755 and the Large and Small Magellanic cloud clusters; NGC 2004 and NGC 330. For each object a quantitative analysis was carried out using the non-LTE model atmosphere code TLUSTY; resulting in the determination of their atmospheric parameters and photospheric abundances of the dominant metal species (C, N, O, Mg, Si, Fe). The results are discussed in relation to our earlier work on 3 younger clusters in these galaxies; NGC 6611, N11 and NGC 346 paying particular attention to the nitrogen abundances which are an important probe of the role of rotation in the evolution of stars. This work along with that of the younger clusters provides a consistent dataset of abundances and atmospheric parameters for over 100 B-type stars in the three galaxies. We provide effective temperature scales for B-type dwarfs in all three galaxies and for giants and supergiants in the SMC and LMC. In each galaxy a dependence on luminosity is found between the three classes with the unevolved dwarf objects having significantly higher effective temperatures. A metallicity dependence is present between the SMC and Galactic dwarf objects, and whilst the LMC stars are only slightly cooler than the SMC stars, they are significantly hotter than their Galactic counterparts.