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At least 73 records · Page 4

Precision spectroscopy and laser-cooling scheme of a radium-containing molecule

Molecules containing heavy radioactive nuclei are predicted to be extremely sensitive to violations of the fundamental symmetries of nature. The nuclear octupole deformation of certain radium isotopes massively boosts the sensitivity of radium monofluoride molecules to symmetry-violating nuclear properties. Moreover, these molecules are predicted to be laser coolable. In this article, we report measurements of the rovibronic structure of radium monofluoride molecules, which allow the determination of their laser cooling scheme. We demonstrate an improvement in resolution of more than two orders of magnitude compared to the state of the art. Our developments allowed measurements of minuscule amounts of hot molecules, with only a few hundred per second produced in a particular rotational state. The combined precision and sensitivity achieved in this work offer opportunities for studies of radioactive molecules of interest in fundamental physics, chemistry and astrophysics.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Interacting dark sector and precision cosmology

We consider a recently proposed model in which dark matter interacts with a thermal background of dark radiation. Dark radiation consists of relativistic degrees of freedom which allow larger values of the expansion rate of the universe today to be consistent with CMB data (H 0 -problem). Scattering between dark matter and radiation suppresses the matter power spectrum at small scales and can explain the apparent discrepancies between ΛCDM predictions of the matter power spectrum and direct measurements of Large Scale Structure LSS (σ 8 -problem). We go beyond previous work in two ways: 1. we enlarge the parameter space of our previous model and allow for an arbitrary fraction of the dark matter to be interacting and 2. we update the data sets used in our fits, most importantly we include LSS data with full k-dependence to explore the sensitivity of current data to the shape of the matter power spectrum. We find that LSS data prefer models with overall suppressed matter clustering due to dark matter - dark radiation interactions over ΛCDM at 3-4 σ. However recent weak lensing measurements of the power spectrum are not yet precise enough to clearly distinguish two limits of the model with different predicted shapes for the linear matter power spectrum. In two Appendices we give a derivation of the coupled dark matter and dark radiation perturbation equations from the Boltzmann equation in order to clarify a confusion in the recent literature, and we derive analytic approximations to the solutions of the perturbation equations in the two physically interesting limits of all dark matter weakly interacting or a small fraction of dark matter strongly interacting.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Precision measurement of the top-quark mass in lepton+jets final states

We measure the mass of the top quark in lepton$+$jets final states using the full sample of $p\bar{p}$ collision data collected by the D0 experiment in Run II of the Fermilab Tevatron Collider at $\sqrt s=1.96 $TeV, corresponding to $9.7 {\rm fb}^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity. We use a matrix element technique that calculates the probabilities for each event to result from $t\bar t$ production or background. The overall jet energy scale is constrained in situ by the mass of the $W$ boson. We measure $m_t=174.98\pm0.76$ GeV. In conclusion, this constitutes the most precise single measurement of the top-quark mass.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

High-precision measurements of the compressibility and the electrical resistivity of bulk g-As{sub 2}Te{sub 3} glasses at a hydrostatic pressure up to 8.5 GPa

High-precision studies of the volume and the electrical resistivity of g-As{sub 2}Te{sub 3} glasses at a high hydrostatic pressure up to 8.5 GPa at room temperature are performed. The glasses exhibit elastic behavior in compression only at a pressure up to 1 GPa, and a diffuse structural transformation and inelastic density relaxation (logarithmic in time) begin at higher pressures. When the pressure increases further, the relaxation rate passes through a sharp maximum at 2.5 GPa, which is accompanied by softening the relaxing bulk modulus, and then decreases, being noticeable up to the maximum pressure. When pressure is relieved, an unusual inflection point is observed in the baric dependence of the bulk modulus near 4 GPa. The polyamorphic transformation is only partly reversible and the residual densification after pressure release is 2%. In compression, the electrical resistivity of the g-As{sub 2}Te{sub 3} glasses decreases exponentially with increasing pressure (at a pressure up to 2 GPa); then, it decreases faster by almost three orders of magnitude in the pressure range 2–3.5 GPa. At a pressure of 5 GPa, the electrical resistivity reaches 10{sup –3} Ω cm, which is characteristic of a metallic state; this resistivity continues to decrease with increasing pressure and reaches 1.7 × 10{sup –4} Ω cm at 8.1 GPa. The reverse metal–semiconductor transition occurs at a pressure of 3 GPa when pressure is relieved. When the pressure is decreased to atmospheric pressure, the electrical resistivity of the glasses is below the initial pressure by two–three orders of magnitude. Under normal conditions, both the volume and the electrical resistivity relax to quasi-equilibrium values in several months. Comparative structural and Raman spectroscopy investigations demonstrate that the glasses subjected to high pressure have the maximum chemical order. The glasses with a higher order have a lower electrical resistivity. The polyamorphism in the As{sub 2}Te{sub 3} glasses is caused by both structural changes and chemical ordering. The g-As{sub 2}Te{sub 3} compound is the first example of glasses, where the reversible metallization under pressure has been studied under hydrostatic conditions.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

A High-Precision Instrument for Mapping of Rotational Errors in Rotary Stages

A rotational stage is a key component of every X-ray instrument capable of providing tomographic or diffraction measurements. To perform accurate three-dimensional reconstructions, runout errors due to imperfect rotation (e.g. circle of confusion) must be quantified and corrected. A dedicated instrument capable of full characterization and circle of confusion mapping in rotary stages down to the sub-10 nm level has been developed. A high-stability design, with an array of five capacitive sensors, allows simultaneous measurements of wobble, radial and axial displacements. The developed instrument has been used for characterization of two mechanical stages which are part of an X-ray microscope.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗