Search

We present two uniformly observed spectroscopic samples of Ly-alpha emitters (LAEs) (127 at z = 5.7 and 82 at z = 6.6), which we use to investigate the evolution of the LAE population at these redshifts. The observations cover a large field (44 sq. deg) in the North Ecliptic Pole (HEROES), as well as several smaller fields. We have a small number of exotic LAEs in the samples: double-peaked Ly-alpha profiles; very extended red wings; and one impressive lensed LAE cross. We also find three broad-line AGNs. We compare the Ly-alpha line width measurements at the two redshifts, finding that the lower-luminosity LAEs show a strong evolution of decreasing line width with increasing redshift, while the high-luminosity LAEs do not, with a transition luminosity of log L(Ly-alpha) = 43.25 erg s-1 . Thus, at z = 6.6, the high-luminosity LAEs may be producing large ionized bubbles themselves, or they may be residing in overdense galaxy sites that are producing such bubbles. In order to avoid losses in the red wing, the radius of the ionized bubble must be larger than 1 pMpc. The double-peaked LAEs also require transmission on the blue side. For the four at z = 6.6, we use models to estimate the proximity radii, Ra , where the ionizing flux of the galaxy is sufficient to make the surroundings have a low enough neutral fraction to pass the blue light. Since the required Ra are large, multiple ionizing sources in the vicinity may be needed., Comment: 22 pages, 16 figures, 3 tables. Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal. Table 3 available at https://zenodo.org/records/12693647?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzUxMiJ9.eyJpZCI6IjlhOThiNGFmLTY4NWUtNDQ3NS1hMTAyLTY5ZGI3NTYxN2ZjZiIsImRhdGEiOnt9LCJyYW5kb20iOiI0MTY4ZDA3MzA0ZDk5MmU5NzMxNDA0MTFkOTlhNzQ0YyJ9.85LDgYQl5ZOfjvAXzGZONlvzmuPz-Sb12fiuNq_Q6xtsg1WRHNKOE0JdFT3uo68LMz7EI1SOeukdkmvE3wN2dA

We present a seven band (g, r, i, z, y, NB816, NB921) catalog derived from a Subaru Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) imaging survey of the North Ecliptic Pole (NEP). The survey, known as HEROES, consists of 44 sq. deg of contiguous imaging reaching median 5-sigma depths of g: 26.5, r: 26.2, i: 25.7, z: 25.1, y: 23.9, NB816: 24.4, NB921: 24.4 mag. We reduced these data with the HSC pipeline software hscPipe, and produced a resulting multiband catalog containing over 25 million objects. We provide the catalog in three formats: (1) a collection of hscPipe format forced photometry catalogs, (2) a single combined catalog containing every object in that dataset with selected useful columns, and (3) a smaller variation of the combined catalog with only essential columns for basic analysis or low memory machines. The catalog uses all the available HSC data on the NEP and may serve as the primary optical catalog for current and future NEP deep fields from instruments and observatories such as SCUBA-2, eROSITA, Spitzer, Euclid, and JWST., Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables. Submitted to ApJS. v2: 11 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables. Accepted to ApJS

Recent evidence suggests that high-redshift Ly-alpha emitting galaxies (LAEs) with logL(Ly-alpha) > 43.5 erg/s, referred to as ultraluminous LAEs (ULLAEs), may show less evolution than lower-luminosity LAEs in the redshift range z=5.7-6.6. Here we explore the redshift evolution of the velocity widths of the Ly-alpha emission lines in LAEs over this redshift interval. We use new wide-field, narrowband observations from Subaru/Hyper Suprime-Cam to provide a sample of 24 z=6.6 and 12 z=5.7 LAEs with log L(Ly-alpha) > 43 erg/s, all of which have follow-up spectroscopy from Keck/DEIMOS. Combining with archival lower-luminosity data, we find a significant narrowing of the Ly-alpha lines in LAEs at logL(Ly-alpha) < 43.25 erg/s -- somewhat lower than the usual ULLAE definition -- at z = 6.6 relative to those at z = 5.7, but we do not see this in higher-luminosity LAEs. As we move to higher redshifts, the increasing neutrality of the intergalactic medium should increase the scattering of the Ly-alpha lines, making them narrower. The absence of this effect in the higher-luminosity LAEs suggests they may lie in more highly ionized regions, self-shielding from the scattering effects of the intergalactic medium., Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in ApJ

The North-Ecliptic Pole is an important region for extragalactic surveys. Deep/wide contiguous surveys are being performed by several space observatories. We analyse all ROSAT pointed and survey observations within 40 deg2 around the NEP, restricting the field-of-view to the inner 30' radius. We obtain an X-ray catalogue of 805 sources with 0.5-2 keV fluxes >2.9E-15 cgs, a factor of three deeper than the ROSAT All-Sky Survey in this field. The sensitivity and angular resolution of our data are comparable to the eROSITA All-Sky Survey expectations. We use HEROES optical and near-infrared imaging photometry from Subaru and CFHT telescopes together with literature catalogues and a new deep and wide Spitzer survey in the field to identify X-ray sources and calculate photometric redshifts for the candidate counterparts. In particular we utilize mid-IR colours to identify AGN X-ray counterparts. Despite relatively large error circles and faint counterparts, confusion and systematic errors, we obtain a rather reliable catalogue of 766 optical counterparts, redshifts and optical classifications. We find a new population of luminous absorbed X-ray AGN at large redshifts, not recognized in previous X-ray surveys, but identified in our work due to the unique combination of survey solid angle, X-ray sensitivity and multiwavelength photometry. We also use the WISE and Spitzer photometry to identify a sample of 185 AGN selected purely through mid-IR colours, most of which are not detected by ROSAT. Their redshifts and upper limits to X-ray luminosity and X-ray to optical flux ratios are even higher than for the new class of X-ray selected luminous AGN2. This unique dataset is important as reference for future deep surveys in the NEP region. Most of the absorbed distant AGN should be readily picked up by eROSITA, but they require sensitive mid-IR imaging to be recognized as optical counterparts., Comment: 22 pages, 15 figures, 4 tables; accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics

Silicon carbide has recently been developed as a platform for optically addressable spin defects. In particular, the neutral divacancy in the 4H polytype displays an optically addressable spin-1 ground state and near-infrared optical emission. Here, we present the Purcell enhancement of a single neutral divacancy coupled to a photonic crystal cavity. We utilize a combination of nanolithographic techniques and a dopant-selective photoelectrochemical etch to produce suspended cavities with quality factors exceeding 5,000. Subsequent coupling to a single divacancy leads to a Purcell factor of ~50, which manifests as increased photoluminescence into the zero-phonon line and a shortened excited-state lifetime. Additionally, we measure coherent control of the divacancy ground state spin inside the cavity nanostructure and demonstrate extended coherence through dynamical decoupling. This spin-cavity system represents an advance towards scalable long-distance entanglement protocols using silicon carbide that require the interference of indistinguishable photons from spatially separated single qubits., Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures

We introduce a microwave-assisted spectroscopy technique to determine the relative concentrations of nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers in diamond that are negatively-charged (NV${}^-$) and neutrally-charged (NV${}^0$), and present its application to studying spin-dependent ionization in NV ensembles and enhancing NV-magnetometer sensitivity. Our technique is based on selectively modulating the NV${}^-$ fluorescence with a spin-state-resonant microwave drive to isolate, in-situ, the spectral shape of the NV${}^-$ and NV${}^0$ contributions to an NV-ensemble sample's fluorescence. As well as serving as a reliable means to characterize charge state ratio, the method can be used as a tool to study spin-dependent ionization in NV ensembles. As an example, we applied the microwave technique to a high-NV-density diamond sample and found evidence for a new spin-dependent ionization pathway, which we present here alongside a rate-equation model of the data. We further show that our method can be used to enhance the contrast of optically-detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) on NV ensembles and may lead to significant sensitivity gains in NV magnetometers dominated by technical noise sources, especially where the NV${}^0$ population is large. With the high-NV-density diamond sample investigated here, we demonstrate up to a 4.8-fold enhancement in ODMR contrast. The techniques presented here may also be applied to other solid-state defects whose fluorescence can be selectively modulated by means of a microwave drive. We demonstrate this utility by applying our method to isolate room-temperature spectral signatures of the V2-type silicon vacancy from an ensemble of V1 and V2 silicon vacancies in 4H silicon carbide., Comment: Significantly expanded; new "Applications" section. 21 pages, 11 figures

We use deep F275W imaging from the $Hubble$ Deep UV Legacy Survey (HDUV) and G280 grism spectroscopy from $HST$/WFC3, along with new and archival optical spectra from Keck/DEIMOS, to search for candidate ionizing sources in the GOODS-N field at z ~ 2.5 - 3. Spectroscopic identification of our UV-selected sources are 99% complete to F275W = 25.5 in the region of the UV imaging, and we identify 6 potential ionizing galaxies or AGNs at z ~ 3. By far the brightest of these is a z = 2.583 AGN that totally dominates the ionizing flux in the region, with a specific ionizing volume emissivity at $912~ \AA$ of $\epsilon_{912}$ = $8.3^{27}_{1.4} \times 10^{24}$ erg s$^{-1}$ Hz$^{-1}$ Mpc$^{-3}$. Based on our spectroscopic data, we find four candidates are contaminated by foreground galaxies at z ~ 0.5 - 0.7. At $\epsilon_{912}$ = $2.2^{7.2}_{0.4} \times 10^{23}$ erg s$^{-1}$ Hz$^{-1}$ Mpc$^{-3}$, the remaining candidate galaxy's contribution to the ionizing background lies well below the flux required to ionize the intergalactic medium at z ~ 2.5 - 3, consistent with previous observations that show AGNs provide the bulk of the ionizing background at these redshifts., Comment: 14 pages, 11 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ

Dust-enshrouded, starbursting, submillimeter galaxies (SMGs) at $z \geq 3$ have been proposed as progenitors of $z \geq 2$ compact quiescent galaxies (cQGs). To test this connection, we present a detailed spatially resolved study of the stars, dust and stellar mass in a sample of six submillimeter-bright starburst galaxies at $z \sim 4.5$. The stellar UV emission probed by HST is extended, irregular and shows evidence of multiple components. Informed by HST, we deblend Spitzer/IRAC data at rest-frame optical finding that the systems are undergoing minor mergers, with a typical stellar mass ratio of 1:6.5. The FIR dust continuum emission traced by ALMA locates the bulk of star formation in extremely compact regions (median $r_{\rm{e}} = 0.70 \pm 0.29$ kpc) and it is in all cases associated with the most massive component of the mergers (median $\log (M_{*}/M_{\odot}) = 10.49 \pm 0.32$). We compare spatially resolved UV slope ($\beta$) maps with the FIR dust continuum to study the infrared excess ($\rm{IRX} = L_{\rm{IR}}/L_{\rm{UV}}$)-$\beta$ relation. The SMGs display systematically higher $\rm{IRX}$ values than expected from the nominal trend, demonstrating that the FIR and UV emissions are spatially disconnected. Finally, we show that the SMGs fall on the mass-size plane at smaller stellar masses and sizes than cQGs at $z = 2$. Taking into account the expected evolution in stellar mass and size between $z = 4.5$ and $z = 2$ due to the ongoing starburst and mergers with minor companions, this is in agreement with a direct evolutionary connection between the two populations., Comment: Accepted by ApJ. 25 pages, 6 figures

We report the detection of the most luminous high-redshift Lyman Alpha Emitting galaxy (LAE) yet seen, with log L(Ly alpha) = 43.9 ergs/s. The galaxy -- COSMOS Lyman alpha 1, or COLA1 -- was detected in a search for ultra-luminous LAEs with Hyper Suprime-Cam on the Subaru telescope. It was confirmed to lie at z = 6.593 based on a Lyman alpha line detection obtained from followup spectroscopy with the DEIMOS spectrograph on Keck2. COLA1 is the first very high-redshift LAE to show a multi-component Lyman alpha line profile with a blue wing, which suggests that it could lie in a highly ionized region of the intergalactic medium and could have significant infall. If this interpretation is correct, then ultra-luminous LAEs like COLA1 offer a unique opportunity to determine the properties of the HII regions around these galaxies which will help in understanding the ionization of the z ~ 7 intergalactic medium., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in ApJ Letters

We present an atlas of 88 z~5.7 and 30 z~6.5 Ly alpha emitters obtained from a wide-field narrowband survey. We combined deep narrowband imaging in 120A bandpass filters centered at 8150A and 9140A with deep BVRIz broadband imaging to select high-redshift galaxy candidates over an area of 4180 square arcmin. The goal was to obtain a uniform selection of comparable depth over the 7 targeted fields in the two filters. For the GOODS-N region of the HDF-N field, we also selected candidates using a 120A filter centered at 9210A. We made spectroscopic observations with Keck DEIMOS of nearly all the candidates to obtain the final sample of Ly alpha emitters. At the 3.3A resolution of the DEIMOS observations the asymmetric profile for Ly alpha emission with its steep blue fall-off can be clearly seen in the spectra of nearly all the galaxies. We show that the spectral profiles are surprisingly similar for many of the galaxies and that the composite spectral profiles are nearly identical at z=5.7 and z=6.5. We analyze the distributions of line widths and Ly alpha equivalent widths and find that the lines are marginally narrower at the higher redshift, with median values of 0.77A at z=6.5 and 0.92A at z=5.7. The line widths have a dependence on the Ly alpha luminosity of the form L(L alpha)^(0.3). We compare the surface densities and the luminosity functions at the two redshifts and find that there is a multiplicative factor of 2 decrease in the number density of bright Ly alpha emitters from z=5.7 to z=6.5, while the characteristic luminosity is unchanged., Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal

We construct a sample of low-redshift Ly-alpha emission-line selected sources from GALEX grism spectroscopy of nine deep fields to study the role of Ly-alpha emission in galaxy populations with cosmic time. Our final sample consists of 119 (141) sources selected in the redshift interval z=0.195-0.44 (z=0.65-1.25) from the FUV (NUV) channel. We classify the Ly-alpha sources as AGNs if high-ionization emission lines are present in their UV spectra and as possible star-forming galaxies otherwise. We classify additional sources as AGNs using line widths for our Ly-alpha emitter (LAE) analysis. These classifications are broadly supported by comparisons with X-ray and optical spectroscopic observations. Defining the GALEX LAE sample in the same way as high-redshift LAE samples, we show that LAEs constitute only about 5% of NUV-continuum selected galaxies at z~0.3. We also show that they are less common at z~0.3 than they are at z~3. We find that the z~0.3 optically-confirmed Ly-alpha galaxies lie below the metallicity-luminosity relation of the z~0.3 NUV-continuum selected galaxies but have similar H-alpha velocity widths at similar luminosities, suggesting that they also lie below the metallicity-mass relation of the NUV-continuum selected galaxies. We show that, on average, the Ly-alpha galaxies have bluer colors, lower extinctions as measured from the Balmer line ratios, and more compact morphologies than the NUV-continuum selected galaxies. Finally, we confirm that the z~2 Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) have relatively low metallicities for their luminosities, and we find that they lie in the same metallicity range as the z~0.3 Ly-alpha galaxies., Comment: version now matches that accepted by The Astrophysical Journal

The quality factors of modes in nearly identical GaAs and Al_{0.18}Ga_{0.82}As microdisks are tracked over three wavelength ranges centered at 980 nm, 1460 nm, and 1600 nm, with quality factors measured as high as 6.62x10^5 in the 1600-nm band. After accounting for surface scattering, the remaining loss is due to sub-bandgap absorption in the bulk and on the surfaces. We observe the absorption is, on average, 80 percent greater in AlGaAs than in GaAs and in both materials is 540 percent higher at 980 nm than at 1600nm., Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, 1 table, minor changes to disucssion of Qrad and Urbach tail

Cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED) studies the interaction between a quantum emitter and a single radiation-field mode. When an atom is in strong coupling with a cavity mode1,2, it is possible to realize key quantum information processing (QIP) tasks, such as controlled coherent coupling and entanglement of distinguishable quantum systems. Realizing these tasks in the solid state is clearly desirable, and coupling semiconductor self-assembled quantum dots (QDs) to monolithic optical cavities is a promising route to this end. However, validating the efficacy of QDs in QIP applications requires confirmation of the quantum nature of the QD-cavity system in the strong coupling regime. Here we find a confirmation by observing quantum correlations in photoluminescence (PL) from a photonic crystal (PC) nanocavity3-5 interacting with one, and only one, QD located precisely at the cavity electric field maximum. When off-resonance, photon emission from the cavity mode and QD excitons is anti-correlated at the level of single quanta, proving that the mode is driven solely by the QD despite an energy mis-match between cavity and excitons. When tuned into resonance, the exciton and photon enter the strong-coupling regime of cavity-QED and the QD lifetime reduces by a factor of 120. The photon stream from the cavity becomes anti-bunched, proving that the coupled exciton/photon system is in the quantum anharmonic regime. Our observations unequivocally show that QIP tasks requiring the quantum nonlinear regime are achievable in the solid state., Comment: 14 pages 4 figures

We demonstrate that very few (1 to 3) quantum dots as a gain medium are sufficient to realize a photonic crystal laser based on a high-quality nanocavity. Photon correlation measurements show a transition from a thermal to a coherent light state proving that lasing action occurs at ultra-low thresholds. Observation of lasing is unexpected since the cavity mode is in general not resonant with the discrete quantum dot states and emission at those frequencies is suppressed. In this situation, the quasi-continuous quantum dot states become crucial since they provide an energy-transfer channel into the lasing mode, effectively leading to a self-tuned resonance for the gain medium., Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev

We use time-resolved Faraday rotation to measure coherent spin dynamics in colloidal CdSe quantum dots charged in an electrochemical cell at room temperature. Filling of the 1Se electron level is demonstrated by the bleaching of the 1Se-1S3/2 absorption peak. One of the two Lande g-factors observed in uncharged quantum dots disappears upon filling of the 1Se electron state. The transverse spin coherence time, which is over 1 ns and is limited by inhomogeneous dephasing, also appears to increase with charging voltage. The amplitude of the spin precession signal peaks near the half-filling potential. Its evolution at charging potentials without any observable bleaching of the 1Se-1S3/2 transition suggests that the spin dynamics are influenced by low-energy surface states., Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures

We report the results of an extensive spectroscopic survey of galaxies in the roughly 160 square arcminute ACS-GOODS region surrounding the HDF-N. We have identified 787 galaxies or stars with z'<24, R<24.5, or B<25 lying in the region. The spectra were obtained with either the DEIMOS or LRIS spectrographs on the Keck 10m telescopes. The results are compared with photometric redshift estimates and with redshifts from the literature, as well as with the redshifts of a parallel effort led by a group at Keck. Our sample, when combined with the literature data, provides identifications for 1180 sources. We use our results to determine the redshift distributions with magnitude, to analyze the rest-frame color distributions with redshift and spectral type, and to investigate the dependence of the X-ray galaxy properties on the local galaxy density in the redshift interval z=0-1.5. We find the rather surprising result that the galaxy X-ray properties are not strongly dependent on the local galaxy density for galaxies in the same luminosity range., Comment: Submitted to the Astronomical Journal

We have conducted a deep multi-color imaging survey of 0.2 degrees^2 centered on the Hubble Deep Field North (HDF-N). We shall refer to this region as the Hawaii-HDF-N. Deep data were collected in U, B, V, R, I, and z' bands over the central 0.2 degrees^2 and in HK' over a smaller region covering the Chandra Deep Field North (CDF-N). The data were reduced to have accurate relative photometry and astrometry across the entire field to facilitate photometric redshifts and spectroscopic followup. We have compiled a catalog of 48,858 objects in the central 0.2 degrees^2 detected at 5 sigma significance in a 3" aperture in either R or z' band. Number counts and color-magnitude diagrams are presented and shown to be consistent with previous observations. Using color selection we have measured the density of objects at 35.5 using the Lyman break technique suffer from more contamination by low redshift objects than suggested by previous studies., Comment: 57 pages, 24 figures, 14 tables Accepted by AJ, data and catalogs available at http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/~capak/hdf/

Luminescence intensity autocorrelation (LIA) is employed to investigate coupling dynamics between (In,Ga)As QDs and a high-Q (~7000) resonator with ultrafast time resolution (150 fs), below and above the lasing threshold at T = 5 K. For QDs resonant and non-resonant with the cavity we observe both a six-fold enhancement and a 0.77 times reduction of the spontaneous emission rate, respectively. In addition, LIA spectroscopy reveals the onset of coherent coupling at the lasing threshold through qualitative changes in the dynamic behavior and a tripling of the resonant QD emission rate., Comment: Accepted for publication, Phys. Rev. B Rapid Communications, 11 pages, 4 figures

We report photon correlation measurements that allow us to observe unique signatures of biexcitons in a single self-assembled InAs quantum dot. Photon correlation measurements of biexciton emission exhibit both bunching and antibunching under continuous-wave excitation while only antibunching is observed under pulsed excitation. Cross-correlation between biexciton and single-exciton peaks reveal highly asymmetric features, demonstrating that biexciton and exciton emissions have strong correlations due to cascaded emission. The anticipated correlation between the polarization of exciton and biexciton emissions however, is absent under our excitation conditions. Photon correlation measurements also provide evidence for the identification of the charged exciton emission.

We present far-ultraviolet spectroscopy of the cores of the massive cooling flow clusters Abell 1795 and 2597 obtained with FUSE. As the intracluster gas cools through 3x10^5 K, it should emit strongly in the OVI 1032,1038 resonance lines. We report the detection of OVI 1032 emission in A2597, with a line flux of 1.35 +/- 0.35x10^-15 erg/cm2/s, as well as detection of emission from CIII 977. A marginal detection of CIII 977 emission is also reported for A1795. These observations provide evidence for a direct link between the hot (10^7 K) cooling flow gas and the cool (10^4 K) gas in the optical emission line fients. Assuming simple cooling flow models, the OVI line flux in A2597 corresponds to a mass deposition rate of ~40 Msun/yr within the central 36 kpc. Emission from OVI 1032 was not detected in A1795, with an upper limit of 1.5x10^-15 erg/cm2/s, corresponding to a limit on the mass cooling flow rate of Mdot(28 kpc) < 28 Msun/yr. We have considered several explanations for the lack of detection of OVI emission in A1795 and the weaker than expected flux in A2597, including extinction by dust in the outer cluster, and quenching of thermal conduction by magnetic fields. We conclude that a turbulent mixing model, with some dust extinction, could explain our OVI results while also accounting for the puzzling lack of emission by FeXVII in cluster cooling flows., Comment: 19 pages, 5 postscript figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal, June 14, 2001

We combine deep Subaru near-infrared images of the massive lensing clusters A2390 and A370 with Keck optical data to map the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of Chandra X-ray sources lying behind the clusters. The three sources behind A2390 are found to have extremely red colors with SEDs consistent with evolved galaxies at redshifts z>1.4. One source has extremely anomalous colors, which we interpret as evidence for a type Sa SED at a redshift around 2.5. The photometric redshift of another source has been confirmed at z=1.467 from near-infrared spectroscopy using the CISCO spectrograph on Subaru. Mapping of optically faint hard X-ray sources may prove to be an extremely efficient way to locate luminous evolved galaxies at high redshifts., Comment: 5 pages, ApJ Letters, in press

Microwave irradiation of Nb-InAs-Nb junctions reveals frequency-doubled Josephson currents which persist to high temperatures, in the absence of a critical current. A nonequilibrium dynamical model, based on time-dependent Andreev bound states, successfully accounts for the resulting half-integer Shapiro step and an enhancement in the conductance near zero bias., Comment: 4 pages, 4 embedded figures, to be published in Phys. Rev. Lett. An HTML presentation of these results is available at http://www.qi.ucsb.edu/Konrad/summary/summary.htm

We present the results of an HK' wide-field survey encompassing the Hubble Deep Field and its Flanking Fields. Our wide-field survey provides uniform coverage of an area 61.8 square arcmin to a depth equivalent to K=20.1 at 5-sigma. We have also imaged the Hubble Deep Field in HK', providing uniform coverage of an area 7.8 square arcmin to a depth equivalent to K=21.2 at 5-sigma. Using these data in combination with new deep UH 8K V and I imaging obtained on the CFHT, we find only a small population of objects with colors redder than an equivalent I-K=4, the color expected for an evolved elliptical at z>1. We infer that only a fraction of the local field elliptical population with M_K<-23.4 could have formed in single bursts at high redshift., Comment: 20 pages, to appear in the Jan 1999 issue of The Astronomical Journal

We have studied the current-voltage characteristics of superconducting weak links in which the coupling medium is the 2-D electron gas in InAs-based semiconductor quantum wells, with relatively large (typically 0.5 micron) separations between niobium electrodes. The devices exhibit Josephson-like current-voltage characteristics; however, the falloff of the differential resistance with decreasing temperature is thermally activated, and is orders of magnitude slower than for more conventional weak links. Most unexpectedly, the thermal activation energies are found to be proportional to the width of the device, taken perpendicular to the current flow. This behavior falls outside the range of established theories; we propose that it is a fluctuation effect caused by giant shot noise associated with multiple Andreev reflections. The possibility of non-equilibrium effects is discussed., Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, PDF format, submitted to PRB