Final Spin Research Articles

Gating Classical Information Flow via Equilibrium Quantum Phase Transitions.

The development of communication channels at the ultimate size limit of atomic scale physical dimensions will make the use of quantum entities an imperative. In this regime, quantum fluctuations naturally become prominent and are generally considered to be detrimental. Here, we show that for spin-based information processing, these fluctuations can be uniquely exploited to gate the flow of classical binary information across a magnetic chain in thermal equilibrium. Moreover, this information flow can be controlled with a modest external magnetic field that drives the system through different many-body quantum phases in which the orientation of the final spin does or does not reflect the orientation of the initial input. Our results are general for a wide class of anisotropic spin chains that act as magnetic cellular automata and suggest that quantum phase transitions play a unique role in driving classical information flow at the atomic scale.

Hierarchical data-driven approach to fitting numerical relativity data for nonprecessing binary black holes with an application to final spin and radiated energy

Numerical relativity is an essential tool in studying the coalescence of binary black holes (BBHs). It is still computationally prohibitive to cover the BBH parameter space exhaustively, making phenomenological fitting formulas for BBH waveforms and final-state properties important for practical applications. We describe a general hierarchical bottom-up fitting methodology to design and calibrate fits to numerical relativity simulations for the three-dimensional parameter space of quasicircular nonprecessing merging BBHs, spanned by mass ratio and by the individual spin components orthogonal to the orbital plane. Particular attention is paid to incorporating the extreme-mass-ratio limit and to the subdominant unequal-spin effects. As an illustration of the method, we provide two applications, to the final spin and final mass (or equivalently: radiated energy) of the remnant black hole. Fitting to 427 numerical relativity simulations, we obtain results broadly consistent with previously published fits, but improving in overall accuracy and particularly in the approach to extremal limits and for unequal-spin configurations. We also discuss the importance of data quality studies when combining simulations from diverse sources, how detailed error budgets will be necessary for further improvements of these already highly accurate fits, and how this first detailed study of unequal-spin effects helps in choosing the most informative parameters for future numerical relativity runs.

Explaining the MoVO4- photoelectron spectrum: Rationalization of geometric and electronic structure.

Attempts to reconcile simulated photoelectron spectra of MoVO4- clusters are complicated by the presence of very low energy barriers in the potential energy surfaces (PESs) of the lowest energy spin states and isomers. Transition state structures associated with the inversion of terminal oxygen ligands are found to lie below, or close to, the zero point energy of associated modes, which themselves are found to be of low frequency and thus likely to be significantly populated in the experimental characterization. Our simulations make use of Boltzmann averaging over low-energy coordinates and full mapping of the PES to obtain simulations in good agreement with experimental spectra. Furthermore, molecular orbital analysis of accessible final spin states reveals the existence of low energy two-electron transitions in which the final state is obtained from a finite excitation of an electron along with the main photodetachment event. Two-electron transitions are then used to justify the large difference in intensity between different bands present in the photoelectron spectrum. Owing to the general presence of terminal ligands in metal oxide clusters, this study identifies and proposes a solution to issues that are generally encountered when attempting to simulate transition metal cluster photoelectron spectroscopy.

Remnant of binary black-hole mergers: New simulations and peak luminosity studies

We present the results of 61 new simulations of nonprecessing spinning black hole binaries with mass ratios $q={m}_{1}/{m}_{2}$ in the range $1/3\ensuremath{\le}q\ensuremath{\le}1$ and individual spins covering the parameter space $\ensuremath{-}0.85\ensuremath{\le}{\ensuremath{\alpha}}_{1,2}\ensuremath{\le}0.85$. We additionally perform ten new simulations of nonspinning black hole binaries with mass ratios covering the range $1/6\ensuremath{\le}q<1$. We follow the evolution for typically the last ten orbits before merger down to the formation of the final remnant black hole. This allows for assessment of the accuracy of our previous empirical formulas for relating the binary parameters to the remnant final black hole mass, spin and recoil. We use the new simulation to improve the fit to the above remnant formulas and add a formula for the peak luminosity of gravitational waves, produced around the merger of the two horizons into one. We find excellent agreement (typical errors $\ensuremath{\sim}0.1%--0.2%$) for the mass and spin, and within $\ensuremath{\sim}5%$ for the recoil and peak luminosity. These formulas have direct application to parameter estimation techniques applied to LIGO observations of gravitational waves from binary black hole mergers.

Electron spin-flip correlations due to nuclear dynamics in driven GaAs double dots

We present experimental data and associated theory for correlations in a series of experiments involving repeated Landau-Zener sweeps through the crossing point of a singlet state and a spin aligned triplet state in a GaAs double quantum dot containing two conduction electrons, which are loaded in the singlet state before each sweep, and the final spin is recorded after each sweep. The experiments reported here measure correlations on time scales from 4 $\mu$s to 2 ms. When the magnetic field is aligned in a direction such that spin-orbit coupling cannot cause spin flips, the correlation spectrum has prominent peaks centered at zero frequency and at the differences of the Larmor frequencies of the nuclei, on top of a frequency-independent background. When the spin-orbit field is relevant, there are additional peaks, centered at the frequencies of the individual species. A theoretical model which neglects the effects of high-frequency charge noise correctly predicts the positions of the observed peaks, and gives a reasonably accurate prediction of the size of the frequency-independent background, but gives peak areas that are larger than the observed areas by a factor of two or more. The observed peak widths are roughly consistent with predictions based on nuclear dephasing times of the order of 60 $\mu$s. However, there is extra weight at the lowest observed frequencies, which suggests the existence of residual correlations on the scale of 2 ms. We speculate on the source of these discrepancies.

Study of single-spin asymmetries with polarized target at the SPASCHARM experiment at U70 accelerator

The new SPASCHARM experiment for systematic studies of polarization phenomena in strong interactions is under construction now at IHEP, Protvino. The technical beam runs for the experiment first stage are planned for the Fall 2016 and Spring 2017. At this stage, the polarization measurements will be carried out with unpolarized hadronic beams of various compositions (π±, K±, p, antiprotons), using the polarized target. The universal large acceptance experimental set-up is capable detecting and identification most charged and neutral particles and reconstructing a large number of resonances produced in beam interactions at polarized proton target, and later on at the second stage, in collisions of polarized proton and antiproton beams with fixed targets of various materials. The large acceptance and wide data acquisition bandwidth would provide the capabilities for simultaneous data accumulation for a number of physics analyses from the measurements of single-spin asymmetries in inclusive and exclusive reactions to reconstructions of final state hyperon polarizations and spin density matrix elements for vector mesons in a wide range of kinematic variables (pT, xF).

Cyclotron resonant scattering feature simulations

Electron cyclotron resonant scattering features (CRSFs) are observed as absorption-like lines in the spectra of X-ray pulsars. A significant fraction of the computing time for Monte Carlo simulations of these quantum mechanical features is spent on the calculation of the mean free path for each individual photon before scattering, since it involves a complex numerical integration over the scattering cross section and the (thermal) velocity distribution of the scattering electrons. We aim to numerically calculate interpolation tables which can be used in CRSF simulations to sample the mean free path of the scattering photon and the momentum of the scattering electron. The tables also contain all the information required for sampling the scattering electron's final spin. The tables were calculated using an adaptive Simpson integration scheme. The energy and angle grids were refined until a prescribed accuracy is reached. The tables are used by our simulation code to produce artificial CRSF spectra. The electron momenta sampled during these simulations were analyzed and justified using theoretically determined boundaries. We present a complete set of tables suited for mean free path calculations of Monte Carlo simulations of the cyclotron scattering process for conditions expected in typical X-ray pulsar accretion columns (0.01<B/B_{crit}<=0.12, where B_{crit}=4.413x10^{13} G and 3keV<=kT<15keV). The sampling of the tables is chosen such that the results have an estimated relative error of at most 1/15 for all points in the grid. The tables are available online at http://www.sternwarte.uni-erlangen.de/research/cyclo.

Relativistic effects in double ionization of helium via Compton scattering

In this article we present the relativistic calculations, based on the QED theory, for double ionization of helium by the Compton scattering. In particular, we calculate the contribution of the spin–flip amplitude to the total cross section. Due to this amplitude the final triplet spin state of the ejected electrons is possible. In the calculations based on the non–relativistic A2 term of the electron–photon interaction only the singlet spin state for the final electrons is allowed. We further assume the shake-off mechanism for process of double ionization. For the ground state of helium we use both the non–correlated and highly correlated wave function. We also discuss a degree of the scattered photon polarization in correlation with the formation of spin triplet state. Our calculations cover the photon impact energy range from 150 to 1000keV.

Tunable entanglement resource in elastic electron-exchange collisions out of chaotic spin systems

Elastic collisions between initially unpolarized electrons and hydrogenlike atoms are discussed aiming to analyze the entanglement properties of the correlated final spin system. Explicit spin-dependent interactions are neglected and electron exchange only is taken into account. We show the final spin system to be completely characterized by a single spin correlation parameter depending on scattering angle and energy. Its numerical value identifies the final spins of the collision partners to be either in the separable, entangled, or Bell correlated regions. The symmetry of the scattering process allows for the construction of explicit examples applying methods of classical communication and local operations for illustrating the concepts of nonlocality versus separability. It is shown that strong correlations can be produced violating Bell's inequalities significantly. Furthermore, the degree of entanglement can be continuously varied simply by changing either the scattering angle and/or energy. This allows for the generation of tunable spin pairs with any desired degree of entanglement. It is suggested to use such nonlocally entangled spin pairs as a resource for further experiments, for example in quantum information processes.

Directly comparing GW150914 with numerical solutions of Einstein’s equations for binary black hole coalescence

We compare GW150914 directly to simulations of coalescing binary black holes in full general relativity, accounting for all the spin-weighted quadrupolar modes, and separately accounting for all the quadrupolar and octopolar modes. Consistent with the posterior distributions reported in LVC_PE[1] (at 90% confidence), we find the data are compatible with a wide range of nonprecessing and precessing simulations. Followup simulations performed using previously-estimated binary parameters most resemble the data. Comparisons including only the quadrupolar modes constrain the total redshifted mass Mz \in [64 - 82M_\odot], mass ratio q = m2/m1 \in [0.6,1], and effective aligned spin \chi_eff \in [-0.3, 0.2], where \chi_{eff} = (S1/m1 + S2/m2) \cdot\hat{L} /M. Including both quadrupolar and octopolar modes, we find the mass ratio is even more tightly constrained. Simulations with extreme mass ratios and effective spins are highly inconsistent with the data, at any mass. Several nonprecessing and precessing simulations with similar mass ratio and \chi_{eff} are consistent with the data. Though correlated, the components' spins (both in magnitude and directions) are not significantly constrained by the data. For nonprecessing binaries, interpolating between simulations, we reconstruct a posterior distribution consistent with previous results. The final black hole's redshifted mass is consistent with Mf,z between 64.0 - 73.5M_\odot and the final black hole's dimensionless spin parameter is consistent with af = 0.62 - 0.73. As our approach invokes no intermediate approximations to general relativity and can strongly reject binaries whose radiation is inconsistent with the data, our analysis provides a valuable complement to LVC_PE[1].

Relativistic proton-impact excitation of hydrogen atom in the presence of intense laser field

A theoretical treatment, using the first Born approximation, is presented to analyse the results of relativistic laser-assisted proton – hydrogen atom scattering. Specific calculations are carried out for excitation of hydrogen atoms from 1s1/2 to 2s1/2 states by proton impact. We work in an approximation in which the incoming proton may be described by Dirac–Volkov states in the presence of a laser field. Semi-relativistic Darwin wave functions are used to describe the hydrogen atom in its initial and final states, while relativistic, spin, and laser interaction effects are also accounted for. The results presented in this paper show that the differential cross section for this process depends not only upon the energy of the incident proton, but also upon its interaction with the laser field through intensity and frequency.

THE FINAL SPIN FROM BINARY BLACK HOLES IN QUASI-CIRCULAR ORBITS

We revisit the problem of predicting the spin magnitude and direction of the black hole resulting from the merger of two black holes with arbitrary masses and spins inspiralling in quasi-circular orbits. We do this by analyzing a catalog of 619 recent numerical-relativity simulations collected from the literature and spanning a large variety of initial conditions. By combining information from the post-Newtonian approximation, the extreme mass-ratio limit and perturbative calculations, we improve our previously proposed phenomenological formulae for the final remnant spin. In contrast with alternative suggestions in the literature, and in analogy with our previous expressions, the new formula is a simple algebraic function of the initial system parameters and is not restricted to binaries with spins aligned/anti-aligned with the orbital angular momentum, but can be employed for fully generic binaries. The accuracy of the new expression is significantly improved, especially for almost extremal progenitor spins and for small mass ratios, yielding a root-mean-square error $\sigma\approx0.002$ for aligned/anti-aligned binaries and $\sigma\approx0.006$ for generic binaries. Our new formula is suitable for cosmological applications and can be employed robustly in the analysis of the gravitational waveforms from advanced interferometric detectors.

Semiclassical Quantization of Spinning Quasiparticles in Ballistic Josephson Junctions.

A Josephson junction made of a generic magnetic material sandwiched between two conventional superconductors is studied in the ballistic semiclassic limit. The spectrum of Andreev bound states is obtained from the single valuedness of a particle-hole spinor over closed orbits generated by electron-hole reflections at the interfaces between superconducting and normal materials. The semiclassical quantization condition is shown to depend only on the angle mismatch between initial and final spin directions along such closed trajectories. For the demonstration, an Andreev-Wilson loop in the composite position-particle-hole-spin space is constructed and shown to depend on only two parameters, namely, a magnetic phase shift and a local precession axis for the spin. The details of the Andreev-Wilson loop can be extracted via measuring the spin-resolved density of states. A Josephson junction can thus be viewed as an analog computer of closed-path-ordered exponentials.

Tests of General Relativity with GW150914.

The LIGO detection of GW150914 provides an unprecedented opportunity to study the two-body motion of a compact-object binary in the large-velocity, highly nonlinear regime, and to witness the final merger of the binary and the excitation of uniquely relativistic modes of the gravitational field. We carry out several investigations to determine whether GW150914 is consistent with a binary black-hole merger in general relativity. We find that the final remnant's mass and spin, as determined from the low-frequency (inspiral) and high-frequency (postinspiral) phases of the signal, are mutually consistent with the binary black-hole solution in general relativity. Furthermore, the data following the peak of GW150914 are consistent with the least-damped quasinormal mode inferred from the mass and spin of the remnant black hole. By using waveform models that allow for parametrized general-relativity violations during the inspiral and merger phases, we perform quantitative tests on the gravitational-wave phase in the dynamical regime and we determine the first empirical bounds on several high-order post-Newtonian coefficients. We constrain the graviton Compton wavelength, assuming that gravitons are dispersed in vacuum in the same way as particles with mass, obtaining a 90%-confidence lower bound of 10^{13} km. In conclusion, within our statistical uncertainties, we find no evidence for violations of general relativity in the genuinely strong-field regime of gravity.

Creating full-Bloch Bose–Einstein condensates with Raman q-plates

A coherent two-photon optical Raman interaction in a pseudo-spin-1/2 Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC) serves as a q-plate for atoms, converting spin to orbital angular momentum. This Raman q-plate has a singular pattern in its polarization distribution in analogy to the singular birefringent q-plates used in singular optics. The vortex winding direction and magnitude as well as the final spin state of the BEC depend on the initial spin state and the topology of the optical Raman q-plate beams. Drawing on the mathematical and geometric foundations of singular optics, we derive the equivalent Jones matrix for this Raman q-plate and use it to create and characterize atomic spin singularities in the BEC that are analogous to optical C-point singularities in polarization. By tuning the optical Raman parameters, we can generate a coreless vortex spin texture which contains every possible superposition in a two-state system. We identify this spin texture as a full-Bloch BEC since every point on the Bloch sphere is represented at some point in the cross section of the atomic cloud. This spin–orbit interaction and the spin textures it generates may allow for the observation of interesting geometric phases in matter waves and lead to schemes for topological quantum computation with spinor BECs.

Possible confirmation of the existence of the ergoregion by the Kerr quasinormal mode in gravitational waves from a Population III massive black hole binary

The existence of the ergoregion of the Kerr space-time has not been confirmed observationally yet. We show that the confirmation would be possible by observing the quasinormal mode in gravitational waves. As an example, using the recent population synthesis results of Pop III binary black holes, we find that the peak of the final merger mass ($M_f$) is about $50~\rm M_{\odot}$, while the fraction of the final spin $q_f = a_f/M_f > 0.7$ needed for the confirmation of a part of ergoregion is $\sim 77\%$. To confirm the frequency of the quasinormal mode, ${\rm SNR} > 35$ is needed. The standard model of Pop III population synthesis tells us that the event rate for the confirmation of more than $50\%$ of the ergoregion by the second generation gravitational wave detectors is $\sim 2.3$ ${\rm events\ yr^{-1}\ (SFR_p/(10^{-2.5}\ M_\odot yr^{-1}\ Mpc^{-3}))} \cdot (\rm [f_b/(1+f_b)]/0.33)$ where ${\rm SFR_p}$ and ${\rm f_b}$ are the peak value of the Pop III star formation rate and the fraction of binaries, respectively.

Frequency-domain gravitational waves from nonprecessing black-hole binaries. I. New numerical waveforms and anatomy of the signal

In this paper we discuss the anatomy of frequency-domain gravitational-wave signals from non-precessing black-hole coalescences with the goal of constructing accurate phenomenological waveform models. We first present new numerical-relativity simulations for mass ratios up to 18 including spins. From a comparison of different post-Newtonian approximants with numerical-relativity data we select the uncalibrated SEOBNRv2 model as the most appropriate for the purpose of constructing hybrid post-Newtonian/numerical-relativity waveforms, and we discuss how we prepare time-domain and frequency-domain hybrid data sets. We then use our data together with results in the literature to calibrate simple explicit expressions for the final spin and radiated energy. Equipped with our prediction for the final state we then develop a simple and accurate merger-ringdown-model based on modified Lorentzians in the gravitational wave amplitude and phase, and we discuss a simple method to represent the low frequency signal augmenting the TaylorF2 post-Newtonian approximant with terms corresponding to higher orders in the post-Newtonian expansion. We finally discuss different options for modelling the small intermediate frequency regime between inspiral and merger-ringdown. A complete phenomenological model based on the present work is presented in a companion paper.

Entanglement and Bell Correlation in Electron-Exchange Collisions.

Elastic collisions between initially unpolarized electrons and hydrogenlike atoms are discussed, aiming to analyze the entanglement properties of the correlated final spin system. Explicit spin-dependent interactions are neglected and electron exchange only is taken into account. We show the final spin system to be completely characterized by a single spin correlation parameter depending on scattering angle and energy. Its numerical value identifies the final spins of the collision partners to be either in the separable, entangled, or Bell correlated regions. We emphasize explicit examples for the mixed spin system in order to illustrate the abstract concepts. The analysis of published experimental and numerical data reveals the possibility to create tunable pairs of collision partners with any desired degree of spin entanglement.

Cassini states for black hole binaries

Abstract Cassini states correspond to the equilibria of the spin axis of a body when its orbit is perturbed. They were initially described for planetary satellites, but the spin axes of black hole binaries also present this kind of equilibria. In previous works, Cassini states were reported as spin-orbit resonances, but actually the spin of black hole binaries is in circulation and there is no resonant motion. Here we provide a general description of the spin dynamics of black hole binary systems based on a Hamiltonian formalism. In absence of dissipation, the problem is integrable and it is easy to identify all possible trajectories for the spin for a given value of the total angular momentum. As the system collapses due to radiation reaction, the Cassini states are shifted to different positions, which modifies the dynamics around them. This is why the final spin distribution may differ from the initial one. Our method provides a simple way of predicting the distribution of the spin of black hole binaries at the end of the inspiral phase.

Spin and Heat Transport in Ferromagnetic Insulators (FI)/Normal Metal (NM) Mesoscopic Devices — A Boltzmann Approach

We build self-consistent spin-dependent Boltzmann equation in ferromagnetic insulator (FI) and metal layers. The effect of temperature gradient is considered. In this theoretical framework, we focus on the transport phenomena in FI/normal metal (NM) layers, including spin Seebeck effect (SSE). A temperature gradient can generate magnon current in FI layer, and it can converse to the spin current in NM layer through the interaction between magnon and electron at the interface. We also study the different factors of spin-dependent scattering at the interface, regarded as the boundary conditions. By adjusting the FI/NM interface parameters and a temperature gradient, we also obtain influence of diffusion length and [Formula: see text] on the final spin currents.