The improvement of thin polymer film properties through plasma immersion ion implantation and deposition technique

Thin polymer films were deposited from acetylene and argon mixtures by plasma immersion ion implantation and deposition. The effect of the pulse frequency, v, on molecular structure, optical gap, contact angle and hardness of the films was investigated. It was observed progressive dehydrogenation of the samples and increment in the concentration of unsaturated carbon bonds as the pulse frequency was increased. Film hardness and contact angle increased and optical gap decreased with v. These results are interpreted in terms of the chain unsaturation and crosslinking.

Free expansion of attractive and repulsive Bose-Einstein condensed vortex states

A numerical study of the time-dependent Gross-Pitaevskii equation for an axially symmetric trap to obtain insight into the free expansion of vortex states of BEC is presented. As such, the ratio of vortex-core radius to radia rms radius xc/xrms(<1) is found to play an interesting role in the free expansion of condensed vortex states. the larger this ratio, the more prominent is the vortex core and the easier is the possibility of experimental detection of vortex states.

Mean-field description of collapsing and exploding Bose-Einstein condensates

Numerical simulations based on the time-dependent mean-field Gross-Pitaevskii equation was performed to explain the dynamics of collapsing and exploding Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) of 85Rb atoms. The atomic interaction was manipulated by an external magnetic field via a Feshbach resonance. On changing the scattering length of atomic interaction from a positive to a large negative value, the condensate collapsed and ejected atoms via explosion.

Dynamics of a collapsing and exploding Bose-Einstein condensed vortex state

The dynamics of small repulsive Bose-Einstein condensed vortex states of 85Rb atoms in a cylindrical traps with low angular momentum was studied. The time-dependent mean-field Gross-Pitaevskii equation was used for the study. The condensates collapsed and atoms ejected via explosion and a remnant condensate with a smaller number of atoms emerges that survived for a long time.

Weakly bound atomic trimers in ultracold traps

The scaling dependence of the recombination parameter as a function of the ratio between the energies of the atomic dimer and the most excited trimer states was derived. The scaling function tends to a unversal function in the limit of zero-range interaction or infinite scattering length. This paper reports on how one can obtain the trimer binding energy of a trapped atomic system, from the three-body recombination rate and the corresponding two-body scattering length.

Search for squarks and gluinos in events with jets and missing transverse energy in p(p)over-bar collisions at root s-=1.96 TeV

The results of a search for squarks and gluinos using data from p over(p, ̄) collisions recorded at a center-of-mass energy of 1.96 TeV by the DØ detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider are reported. The topologies analyzed consist of acoplanar-jet and multijet events with large missing transverse energy. No evidence for the production of squarks or gluinos was found in a data sample of 310 pb-1. Lower limits of 325 and 241 GeV were derived at the 95% C.L. on the squark and gluino masses, respectively, within the framework of minimal supergravity with tan β = 3, A0 = 0, and μ < 0. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effects of Plasma Immersion Ion Implantation (PIII) of nitrogen on hardness, composition and corrosion resistance of Ti-6Al-4V alloy

Ti-6Al-4V samples have been treated by PHI processing at different temperatures (400-800°C), treatment time (30-150 min) and plasma potential (100 and 420 V). Hardness measurements results showed an enhancement of the hardness for all implanted samples. XRD results detected the Ti 2N phase and the best corrosion resistance was found for the samples processed at higher temperature and lower PIII time.

One-dimensional superfluid Bose-Fermi mixture: Mixing, demixing, and bright solitons

We study an ultracold and dilute superfluid Bose-Fermi mixture confined in a strictly one-dimensional (1D) atomic waveguide by using a set of coupled nonlinear mean-field equations obtained from the Lieb-Liniger energy density for bosons and the Gaudin-Yang energy density for fermions. We consider a finite Bose-Fermi interatomic strength gbf and both periodic and open boundary conditions. We find that with periodic boundary conditions-i.e., in a quasi-1D ring-a uniform Bose-Fermi mixture is stable only with a large fermionic density. We predict that at small fermionic densities the ground state of the system displays demixing if gbf >0 and may become a localized Bose-Fermi bright soliton for gbf <0. Finally, we show, using variational and numerical solutions of the mean-field equations, that with open boundary conditions-i.e., in a quasi-1D cylinder-the Bose-Fermi bright soliton is the unique ground state of the system with a finite number of particles, which could exhibit a partial mixing-demixing transition. In this case the bright solitons are demonstrated to be dynamically stable. The experimental realization of these Bose-Fermi bright solitons seems possible with present setups. © 2007 The American Physical Society.

Z gamma production and limits on anomalous ZZ gamma and Z gamma gamma couplings in pp collisions at root s=1.96 TeV

We present a study of eeγ and μμγ events using 1109 (1009) pb-1 of data in the electron (muon) channel, respectively. These data were collected with the DØ detector at the Fermilab Tevatron p over(p, ̄) collider at sqrt(s) = 1.96   TeV. Having observed 453 (515) candidates in the eeγ (μμγ) final state, we measure the Zγ production cross section for a photon with transverse energy ET > 7   GeV, separation between the photon and leptons Δ Rℓ γ > 0.7, and invariant mass of the di-lepton pair Mℓ ℓ > 30   GeV / c2, to be 4.96 ± 0.30 (stat . + syst .) ± 0.30 (lumi .)   pb, in agreement with the Standard Model prediction of 4.74 ± 0.22   pb. This is the most precise Zγ cross section measurement at a hadron collider. We set limits on anomalous trilinear Zγγ and ZZγ gauge boson couplings of - 0.085 < h30 γ < 0.084, - 0.0053 < h40 γ < 0.0054 and - 0.083 < h30 Z < 0.082, - 0.0053 < h40 Z < 0.0054 at the 95% C.L. for the form-factor scale Λ = 1.2   TeV.

Measurement of angular correlations of jets at s=1.96 TeV and determination of the strong coupling at high momentum transfers

We present a measurement of the average value of a new observable at hadron colliders that is sensitive to QCD dynamics and to the strong coupling constant, while being only weakly sensitive to parton distribution functions. The observable measures the angular correlations of jets and is defined as the number of neighboring jets above a given transverse momentum threshold which accompany a given jet within a given distance δR in the plane of rapidity and azimuthal angle. The ensemble average over all jets in an inclusive jet sample is measured and the results are presented as a function of transverse momentum of the inclusive jets, in different regions of δR and for different transverse momentum requirements for the neighboring jets. The measurement is based on a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 0.7 fb -1 collected with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider in pp- collisions at s=1.96 TeV. The results are well described by a perturbative QCD calculation in next-to-leading order in the strong coupling constant, corrected for non-perturbative effects. From these results, we extract the strong coupling and test the QCD predictions for its running over a range of momentum transfers of 50-400 GeV. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.

Studies of jet quenching using isolated-photon+jet correlations in PbPb and pp collisions at sNN=2.76TeV

Results from the first study of isolated-photon+jet correlations in relativistic heavy ion collisions are reported. The analysis uses data from PbPb collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 2.76TeV per nucleon pair corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 150μb-1 recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC. For events containing an isolated photon with transverse momentum pTγ>60GeV/c and an associated jet with pTJet>30GeV/c, the photon+jet pT imbalance is studied as a function of collision centrality and compared to pp data and pythia calculations at the same collision energy. Using the pTγ of the isolated photon as an estimate of the momentum of the associated parton at production, this measurement allows an unbiased characterisation of the in-medium parton energy loss. For more central PbPb collisions, a significant decrease in the ratio pTJet/pTγ relative to that in the pythia reference is observed. Furthermore, significantly more pTγ>60GeV/c photons in PbPb are observed not to have an associated pTJet>30GeV/c jet, compared to the reference. However, no significant broadening of the photon+jet azimuthal correlation is observed. © 2012 CERN.

Search for a W' boson decaying to a bottom quark and a top quark in pp collisions at s=7TeV

Results are presented from a search for a W' boson using a dataset corresponding to 5.0fb-1 of integrated luminosity collected during 2011 by the CMS experiment at the LHC in pp collisions at s=7TeV. The W' boson is modeled as a heavy W boson, but different scenarios for the couplings to fermions are considered, involving both left-handed and right-handed chiral projections of the fermions, as well as an arbitrary mixture of the two. The search is performed in the decay channel W'→tb, leading to a final state signature with a single electron or muon, missing transverse energy, and jets, at least one of which is identified as a b-jet. A W' boson that couples to the right-handed (left-handed) chiral projections of the fermions with the same coupling constants as the W is excluded for masses below 1.85 (1.51) TeV at the 95% confidence level. For the first time using LHC data, constraints on the W' gauge couplings for a set of left- and right-handed coupling combinations have been placed. These results represent a significant improvement over previously published limits. © 2012 CERN.

Unfolding physics from the algebraic classification of spinor fields

After reviewing the Lounesto spinor field classification, according to the bilinear covariants associated to a spinor field, we call attention and unravel some prominent features involving unexpected properties about spinor fields under such classification. In particular, we pithily focus on the new aspects - as well as current concrete possibilities. They mainly arise when we deal with some non-standard spinor fields concerning, in particular, their applications in physics. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.

Search for supersymmetry in events with photons and low missing transverse energy in pp collisions at √s=7TeV

Many models of new physics, including versions of supersymmetry (SUSY), predict production of events with low missing transverse energy, electroweak gauge bosons, and many energetic final-state particles. The stealth SUSY model yields this signature while conserving R-parity by means of a new hidden sector in which SUSY is approximately conserved. The results of a general search for new physics, with no requirement on missing transverse energy, in events with two photons and four or more hadronic jets are reported. The study is based on a sample of proton-proton collisions at s=7TeV corresponding to 4.96fb-1 of integrated luminosity collected with the CMS detector in 2011. Based on good agreement between the data and the standard model expectation, the data are used to determine model-independent cross-section limits and a limit on the squark mass in the framework of stealth SUSY. With this first study of its kind, squark masses less than 1430 GeV are excluded at the 95% confidence level. © 2012 CERN.

Self-trapping of Fermi and Bose gases under spatially modulated repulsive nonlinearity and transverse confinement

We show that self-localized ground states can be created in the spin-balanced gas of fermions with repulsion between the spin components, whose strength grows from the center to periphery, in combination with the harmonic-oscillator (HO) trapping potential acting in one or two transverse directions. We also consider the ground state in the noninteracting Fermi gas under the action of the spatially growing tightness of the one- or two-dimensional (1D or 2D) HO confinement. These settings are considered in the framework of the Thomas-Fermi-von Weizsäcker (TF-vW) density functional. It is found that the vW correction to the simple TF approximation (the gradient term) is nearly negligible in all situations. The properties of the ground state under the action of the 2D and 1D HO confinement with the tightness growing in the transverse directions are investigated too for the Bose-Einstein condensate with the self-repulsive nonlinearity. © 2013 American Physical Society.