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At least 361 records · Page 20

Detecting single gravitons with quantum sensing

The quantization of gravity is widely believed to result in gravitons – particles of discrete energy that form gravitational waves. But their detection has so far been considered impossible. Here we show that signatures of single graviton exchange can be observed in laboratory experiments. We show that stimulated and spontaneous single-graviton processes can become relevant for massive quantum acoustic resonators and that stimulated absorption can be resolved through continuous sensing of quantum jumps. We analyze the feasibility of observing the exchange of single energy quanta between matter and gravitational waves. Our results show that single graviton signatures are within reach of experiments. In analogy to the discovery of the photo-electric effect for photons, such signatures can provide the first experimental clue of the quantization of gravity.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Stringent constraints on neutron-star radii from multimessenger observations and nuclear theory

The properties of neutron stars are determined by the nature of the matter that they contain. These properties can be constrained by measurements of the star’s size. We obtain stringent constraints on neutron-star radii by combining multimessenger observations of the binary neutron-star merger GW170817 with nuclear theory that best accounts for density-dependent uncertainties in the equation of state. We construct equations of state constrained by chiral effective field theory and marginalize over these using the gravitational-wave observations. Combining this with the electromagnetic observations of the merger remnant that imply the presence of a short-lived hypermassive neutron star, we find that the radius of a 1.4 M⊙ neutron star is $R_{1.4M_⊙} = 11.0^{+0.9}_{-0.6} km$ (90% credible interval). Finally, using this constraint, we show that neutron stars are unlikely to be disrupted in neutron star–black hole mergers; subsequently, such events will not produce observable electromagnetic emission.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Cosmology at the end of the world

In the last two decades the anti-de Sitter/conformal field theory (AdS/CFT) correspondence has emerged as a focal point of many research interests. In particular, it functions as a stepping stone to a still-missing full quantum theory of gravity. In this context, a pivotal question is if and how cosmological physics can be studied using AdS/CFT. Motivated by string theory, braneworld cosmologies propose that our universe is a four-dimensional membrane embedded in a bulk five-dimensional AdS spacetime. We show how such a scenario can be microscopically realized in AdS/CFT using special field theory states dual to an ‘end-of-the-world brane’ moving in a charged black hole spacetime. Observers on the brane experience cosmological physics and approximately four-dimensional gravity, at least locally in spacetime. Finally, this result opens a path towards a description of quantum cosmology and the simulation of cosmology on quantum machines.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

A new magnesium sheet alloy with high tensile properties and room-temperature formability

Lightweight sheet alloys with superior mechanical performance such as high strength, ductility and formability at room temperature (RT) are desirable for high volume automotive applications. However, ductility or formability of metallic alloys at RT are generally inversely related to strength, thereby making it difficult to optimize all three simultaneously. Here we design a new magnesium sheet alloy-ZAXME11100 (Mg-1.0Zn-1.0Al-0.5Ca-0.4Mn-0.2Ce, wt. pct.) via CALPHAD (CALculation of PHAse Diagram) modeling and experimental validation. This new sheet alloy offers an excellent RT formability with a high Index Erichsen (I.E.) value of 7.8 mm in a solution-treated condition (T4), due to its weak and split basal texture and fine grain structure. The new ZAXME 11100 alloy also shows a rapid age-hardening response during post-forming artificial aging treatment at 210 °C for 1hour (T6), resulting in a significant increase of yield strength from 159 MPa (T4) to 270 MPa (T6). The excellent combination of T4 ductility (31%), T4 formability (7.8 mm) and T6 yield strength (270 MPa) in this new magnesium alloy is comparable to that of common 6xxx series aluminum sheet alloys. Thus, this new magnesium sheet alloy is highly attractive for sheet applications in automotive and other industries.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Trajectory of a flying plasma mirror traversing a target with density gradient

It has been proposed that laser-induced relativistic plasma mirror can accelerate if the plasma has a properly tailored density profile. Such accelerating plasma mirrors can serve as analog black holes to investigate Hawking evaporation and the associated information loss paradox. Here we reexamine the underlying dynamics of mirror motion in a graded-density plasma to provide an explicit trajectory as a function of the plasma density and its gradient. Specifically, a decreasing plasma density profile (down-ramp) along the direction of laser propagation would in general accelerate the mirror. In particular, a constant-plus-exponential density profile would generate the Davies–Fulling trajectory with a well-defined analog Hawking temperature, which is sensitive to the plasma density gradient but not to the density itself. Furthermore, we show that without invoking nano-fabricated thin-films, a much lower density gas target at, for example, ~1 × 10 17 cm -3 , would be able to induce an analog Hawking temperature, k B T H ~3.1 × 10 -2 eV, in the far-infrared region. We hope that this would help to better realize the experiment proposed by Chen and Mourou.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Detection of photon statistics and multimode field correlations by Raman processes

Glauber’s g (2) -function provides a common measure of quantum field statistics through two-photon coincidence counting in Hanbury Brown–Twiss measurements. Here, we propose to use nonlinear optical signals as a tool for the characterization of quantum light. In particular, we show that Raman measurements provide an alternative direct probe for a different component of the four-point correlation function underlying the g (2) -function. We illustrate this capacity for a specific quantum state obtained from a frequency conversion process. Our work points out how the analysis of controlled optical nonlinear processes can provide an alternative window toward the analysis of quantum light sources.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Einstein–Rosen waves and the Geroch group

Under the action of the Geroch group, the Minkowski metric can be transformed into any vacuum metric with two commuting Killing vectors. In principle, this reduces the problem of deriving vacuum metrics with two commuting Killing vectors to pure algebra. In this short note, we use these facts to give a purely algebraic derivation of the Einstein-Rosen metric, which describes a cylindrical gravitational wave. Furthermore, our derivation has a straightforward extension to gravitational pulse waves.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Nonlinear quantum interferometric spectroscopy with entangled photon pairs

Here, we develop closed expressions for a time-resolved photon counting signal induced by an entangled photon pair in an interferometric spectroscopy setup. Superoperator expressions in Liouville-space are derived that can account for relaxation and dephasing induced by coupling to a bath. Interferometric setups mix matter and light variables non-trivially, which complicates their interpretation. We provide an intuitive modular framework for this setup that simplifies its description. Based on the separation between the detection stage and the light–matter interaction processes, we show that the pair entanglement time and the interferometric time-variables control the observed physics time scale. Only a few processes contribute in the limiting case of small entanglement time with respect to the sample response, and specific contributions can be singled out.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Partial-ionization deconfinement effect in magnetized plasma

In partially ionized plasma, where ions can be in different ionization states, each charge state can be described as a different fluid for the purpose of multi-ion collisional transport. In the case of two charge states, transport pushes plasma toward equilibrium, which is found to be a combination of local charge-state equilibrium and generalized pinch relations between ion fluids representing different charge states. Combined, these conditions lead to a dramatic deconfinement of ions. This deconfinement happens on the timescale similar but not identical to the multi-ion cross-field transport timescale, as opposed to electron–ion transport timescale in fully ionized plasma. Deconfinement occurs because local charge-state equilibration enforces the disparity in diamagnetic drift velocities of ion fluid components, which in turn leads to the cross-field transport due to ion–ion friction.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Decorating chromatin for enhanced genome editing using CRISPR-Cas9

CRISPR-associated (Cas) enzymes have revolutionized biology by enabling RNA-guided genome editing. Homology-directed repair (HDR) in the presence of donor templates is currently the most versatile method to introduce precise edits following CRISPR-Cas-induced double-stranded DNA cuts, but HDR efficiency is generally low relative to end-joining pathways that lead to insertions and deletions (indels). We tested the hypothesis that HDR could be increased using a Cas9 construct fused to PRDM9, a chromatin remodeling factor that deposits histone methylations H3K36me3 and H3K4me3 to mediate homologous recombination in human cells. Our results show that the fusion protein contacts chromatin specifically at the Cas9 cut site in the genome to increase the observed HDR efficiency by threefold and HDR:indel ratio by fivefold compared with that induced by unmodified Cas9. HDR enhancement occurred in multiple cell lines with no increase in off-target genome editing. These findings underscore the importance of chromatin features for the balance between DNA repair mechanisms during CRISPR-Cas genome editing and provide a strategy to increase HDR efficiency.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Verification and validation of detonation-shock-dynamics relations for explosives described by general equation of state and chemical reaction models

Detonation shock dynamics is a powerful method to model the behaviour of High Explosives (HE). However in order to use this method, the underlying relationship between the local radius of curvature and the detonation speed must be known. Previous work has developed methods to calculate this effect using simple, single-step Arrhenius and polytropic gas, models for the chemical reaction and the equation of state, respectively. In recent years, more complex models for both reaction rates and equations of state have been developed which show better agreement with experimental data than these simple models, especially when considering condensed phase explosives.. This work presents the governing equations for solving these problems in a way that is generalised to use arbitrary equations of state as well as reaction models which may have more than a single step and multiple product species. This implementation is verified against exact solutions, demonstrating that the equations were implemented properly. The verified algorithm is then validated against experimental data and high fidelity simulations, showing that it is able to make accurate predictions in a regime where the underlying assumptions of the governing equations are valid. Importantly, this approach has many applications: from creating equivalent detonation shock dynamics models for existing reactive burn calibrations for HE; to developing new functional forms and calibrations of reactive burn models for condensed phase high explosives.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Gauge invariants of linearized gravity with a general background metric

In linearized gravity with distributed matter, the background metric has no generic symmetries, and decomposition of the metric perturbation into global normal modes is generally impractical. This complicates the identification of the gauge-invariant part of the perturbation, which is a concern, for example, in the theory of dispersive gravitational waves (GWs) whose energy–momentum must be gauge-invariant. Here, we propose how to identify the gauge-invariant part of the metric perturbation and the six independent gauge invariants per se for an arbitrary background metric. For the Minkowski background, the operator that projects the metric perturbation on the invariant subspace is proportional to the well-known dispersion operator of linear GWs in vacuum. For a general background, this operator is expressed in terms of the Green’s operator of the vacuum wave equation. Further, if the background is smooth, it can be found asymptotically using the inverse scale of the background metric as a small parameter.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Gauge-invariant gravitational waves in matter beyond linearized gravity

Modeling the propagation of gravitational waves (GWs) in media other than vacuum is complicated by the gauge freedom of linearized gravity in that, once nonlinearities are taken into consideration, gauge artifacts can cause spurious acceleration of the matter. To eliminate these artifacts, we propose how to keep the theory of dispersive GWs gauge-invariant beyond the linear approximation and, in particular, obtain an unambiguous gauge-invariant expression for the energy–momentum of a GW in a dispersive medium. Using analytic tools from plasma physics, we propose an exactly gauge-invariant 'quasilinear' theory, in which GWs are governed by linear equations and also affect the background metric on scales large compared to their wavelength. As a corollary, the gauge-invariant geometrical optics of linear dispersive GWs in a general background is formulated. As an example, we show how the well-known properties of vacuum GWs are naturally and concisely yielded by our theory in a manifestly gauge-invariant form. We also show how the gauge invariance can be maintained within a given accuracy to an arbitrary order in the GW amplitude. These results are intended to form a physically meaningful framework for studying dispersive GWs in matter.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Reaction–drift–diffusion models from master equations: application to material defects

We present a general method to produce well-conditioned continuum reaction–drift–diffusion equations directly from master equations on a discrete, periodic state space. We assume the underlying data to be kinetic Monte Carlo models (i.e. continuous-time Markov chains) produced from atomic sampling of point defects in locally periodic environments, such as perfect lattices, ordered surface structures or dislocation cores, possibly under the influence of a slowly varying external field. Our approach also applies to any discrete, periodic Markov chain. Here, the analysis identifies a previously omitted non-equilibrium drift term, present even in the absence of external forces, which can compete in magnitude with the reaction rates, thus being essential to correctly capture the kinetics. To remove fast modes which hinder time integration, we use a generalized Bloch relation to efficiently calculate the eigenspectrum of the master equation. A well conditioned continuum equation then emerges by searching for spectral gaps in the long wavelength limit, using an established kinetic clustering algorithm to define a proper reduced, Markovian state space.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Cold-hot coupled waves in a flowing magnetized plasma

Abstract Nonlinear coupling of cold and hot waves in a flowing magnetized plasma is analyzed with the Vlasov equation. An analytical solution is obtained for cold waves of a small amplitude (weak flow) and a long wavelength. The distribution function is obtained by integrating the kinetic equation along a perturbed phase-space trajectory for a time-varying plasma flow. The kinetic description presents a generalized dispersion relation that involves resonances depending on cold and hot wave dispersions. Coherent fluid motion leads to radiation peaks in addition to the cyclotron harmonics, where the wavenumber of the cold wave determines the peak frequencies. The peaks appear narrow when the wave propagates perpendicular to the time-averaged flow while they become broad due to the Doppler effect when the wave propagates parallel to the flow. Fully kinetic particle-in-cell simulations corroborate the theoretical predictions. The dispersion relation and resulting wave spectra provide information about plasma parameters and flow properties.

Physics↗

Radiation GRMHD simulations of M87: funnel properties and prospects for gap acceleration

Here, we use the public code EBHLIGHT to carry out 3D radiative general relativistic magnetohydrodynamics (GRMHD) simulations of accretion on to the supermassive black hole in M87. The simulations self-consistently evolve a frequency-dependent Monte Carlo description of the radiation field produced by the accretion flow. We explore two limits of accumulated magnetic flux at the black hole (SANE and MAD), each coupled to several subgrid prescriptions for electron heating that are motivated by models of turbulence and magnetic reconnection. We present convergence studies for the radiation field and study its properties. We find that the near-horizon photon energy density is an order of magnitude higher than is predicted by simple isotropic estimates from the observed luminosity. The radially dependent photon momentum distribution is anisotropic and can be modeled by a set of point-sources near the equatorial plane. We draw properties of the radiation and magnetic field from the simulation and feed them into an analytic model of gap acceleration to estimate the very high energy (VHE) γ-ray luminosity from the magnetized jet funnel, assuming that a gap is able to form. We find luminosities of $\rm \sim 10^{41} \, erg \, s^{-1}$ for MAD models and $\rm \sim 2\times 10^{40} \, erg \, s^{-1}$ for SANE models, which are comparable to measurements of M87’s VHE flares. The time-dependence seen in our calculations is insufficient to explain the flaring behaviour. Our results provide a step towards bridging theoretical models of near-horizon properties seen in black hole images with the VHE activity of M87.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

The Origin Symphony: Probing Baryogenesis with Gravitational Waves

Affleck-Dine (AD) baryogenesis is compelling yet challenging to probe because of the high energy physics involved. We demonstrate that this mechanism can be realized generically with low-energy new physics without supersymmetry while producing detectable gravitational waves (GWs) sourced by parametric resonance of a light scalar field. In viable benchmark models, the scalar has a mass of ${\cal O}(0.1-10)$ GeV, yielding GWs with peak frequencies of ${\cal O}(10-100)$ Hz. This study further reveals a new complementarity between upcoming LIGO-frequency GW detectors and laboratory searches across multiple frontiers of particle physics.

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.C↗