Shear viscosity to entropy density ratio in nuclear multifragmentation

Nuclear multifragmentation in intermediate energy heavy ion collisions has long been associated with liquid-gas phase transition. We calculate the shear viscosity to entropy density ratio eta/s for an equilibrated system of nucleons and fragments produced in multifragmentation within an extended statistical multifragmentation model. The temperature dependence of eta/s exhibits surprisingly similar behavior as that for water. In the coexistence phase of fragments and light particles, the ratio eta/s reaches a minimum of comparable depth as that for water in the vicinity of the critical temperature for liquid-gas phase transition. The effects of freeze-out volume and surface symmetry energy on eta/s in multifragmentation are studied.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, to appear in PR

Resistivity of non-Galilean-invariant Fermi- and non-Fermi liquids

While it is well-known that the electron-electron (\emph{ee}) interaction cannot affect the resistivity of a Galilean-invariant Fermi liquid (FL), the reverse statement is not necessarily true: the resistivity of a non-Galilean-invariant FL does not necessarily follow a T^2 behavior. The T^2 behavior is guaranteed only if Umklapp processes are allowed; however, if the Fermi surface (FS) is small or the electron-electron interaction is of a very long range, Umklapps are suppressed. In this case, a T^2 term can result only from a combined--but distinct from quantum-interference corrections-- effect of the electron-impurity and \emph{ee} interactions. Whether the T^2 term is present depends on 1) dimensionality (two dimensions (2D) vs three dimensions (3D)), 2) topology (simply- vs multiply-connected), and 3) shape (convex vs concave) of the FS. In particular, the T^2 term is absent for any quadratic (but not necessarily isotropic) spectrum both in 2D and 3D. The T^2 term is also absent for a convex and simply-connected but otherwise arbitrarily anisotropic FS in 2D. The origin of this nullification is approximate integrability of the electron motion on a 2D FS, where the energy and momentum conservation laws do not allow for current relaxation to leading --second--order in T/E_F (E_F is the Fermi energy). If the T^2 term is nullified by the conservation law, the first non-zero term behaves as T^4. The same applies to a quantum-critical metal in the vicinity of a Pomeranchuk instability, with a proviso that the leading (first non-zero) term in the resistivity scales as T^{\frac{D+2}{3}} (T^{\frac{D+8}{3}}). We discuss a number of situations when integrability is weakly broken, e.g., by inter-plane hopping in a quasi-2D metal or by warping of the FS as in the surface states of Bi_2Te_3 family of topological insulators.Comment: Submitted to a special issue of the Lithuanian Journal of Physics dedicated to the memory of Y. B. Levinso

Three-axis attitude determination via Kalman filtering of magnetometer data

A three-axis Magnetometer/Kalman Filter attitude determination system for a spacecraft in low-altitude Earth orbit is developed, analyzed, and simulation tested. The motivation for developing this system is to achieve light weight and low cost for an attitude determination system. The extended Kalman filter estimates the attitude, attitude rates, and constant disturbance torques. Accuracy near that of the International Geomagnetic Reference Field model is achieved. Covariance computation and simulation testing demonstrate the filter's accuracy. One test case, a gravity-gradient stabilized spacecraft with a pitch momentum wheel and a magnetically-anchored damper, is a real satellite on which this attitude determination system will be used. The application to a nadir pointing satellite and the estimation of disturbance torques represent the significant extensions contributed by this paper. Beyond its usefulness purely for attitude determination, this system could be used as part of a low-cost three-axis attitude stabilization system

Landau level splitting due to graphene superlattices

The Landau level spectrum of graphene superlattices is studied using a tight-binding approach. We consider non-interacting particles moving on a hexagonal lattice with an additional one-dimensional superlattice made up of periodic square potential barriers, which are oriented along the zig-zag or along the arm-chair directions of graphene. In the presence of a perpendicular magnetic field, such systems can be described by a set of one-dimensional tight-binding equations, the Harper equations. The qualitative behavior of the energy spectrum with respect to the strength of the superlattice potential depends on the relation between the superlattice period and the magnetic length. When the potential barriers are oriented along the arm-chair direction of graphene, we find for strong magnetic fields that the zeroth Landau level of graphene splits into two well separated sublevels, if the width of the barriers is smaller than the magnetic length. In this situation, which persists even in the presence of disorder, a plateau with zero Hall conductivity can be observed around the Dirac point. This Landau level splitting is a true lattice effect that cannot be obtained from the generally used continuum Dirac-fermion model.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figure