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Multiple exciton generation (MEG) is a widely studied phenomenon in semiconductor nanocrystals and quantum dots, aimed at improving the energy conversion efficiency of solar cells. MEG is the process wherein incident photon energy is significantly larger than the band gap, and the resulting photoexcited carriers relax by generating additional electron-hole pairs, rather than decaying by heat dissipation. Here, we present an experimental demonstration of MEG in a prototype strongly correlated material, VO2, through photocurrent spectroscopy and ultrafast transient reflectivity measurements, both of which are considered the most prominent ways for detecting MEG in working devices. The key result of this paper is the observation of MEG at room temperature (in a correlated insulating phase of VO2), and the estimated threshold for MEG is 3Eg. We demonstrate an escalated photocurrent due to MEG in VO2, and quantum efficiency is found to exceed 100%. Our studies suggest that this phenomenon is a manifestation of expeditious impact ionization due to stronger electron correlations and could be exploited in a large number of strongly correlated materials., Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, Physical Review B

The TeV extragalactic sky is dominated by blazars, radio-loud active galactic nuclei with a relativistic jet pointing towards the Earth. Blazars show variability that can be quite exceptional both in terms of flux (orders of magnitude of brightening) and time (down to the minute timescale). This bright flaring activity contains key information on the physics of particle acceleration and photon production in the emitting region, as well as the structure and physical properties of the jet itself. The TeV band is accessed from the ground by Cherenkov telescopes that image the pair cascade triggered by the interaction of the gamma ray with the Earth's atmosphere. The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) represents the upcoming generation of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes, with a significantly higher sensitivity and larger energy coverage with respect to current instruments. It will thus provide us with unprecedented statistics on blazar light-curves and spectra. In this contribution we present the results from realistic simulations of CTA observations of bright blazar flares, taking as input state-of-the-art numerical simulations of blazar emission models and including all relevant observational constraints., Comment: Presented at the 38th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC 2023), 2023 (arXiv:2309.08219)

Ramsey interferometry is a widely used tool for precisely measuring transition frequencies between two energy levels of a quantum system, with applications in time-keeping, precision spectroscopy, quantum optics, and quantum information. Often, the coherence time of the quantum system surpasses the one of the oscillator probing the system, thereby limiting the interrogation time and associated spectral resolution. Correlation spectroscopy overcomes this limitation by probing two quantum systems with the same noisy oscillator for a measurement of their transition frequency difference; this technique has enabled very precise comparisons of atomic clocks. Here, we extend correlation spectroscopy to the case of multiple quantum systems undergoing strong correlated dephasing. We model Ramsey correlation spectroscopy with $N$ particles as a multi-parameter phase estimation problem and demonstrate that multiparticle quantum correlations can assist in reducing the measurement uncertainties even in the absence of entanglement. We derive precision limits and optimal sensing techniques for this problem and compare the performance of probe states and measurement with and without entanglement. Using one- and two-dimensional ion Coulomb crystals with up to 91 qubits, we experimentally demonstrate the advantage of measuring multi-particle quantum correlations for reducing phase uncertainties, and apply correlation spectroscopy to measure ion-ion distances, transition frequency shifts, laser-ion detunings, and path-length fluctuations. Our method can be straightforwardly implemented in experimental setups with globally-coherent qubit control and qubit-resolved single-shot read-out and is thus applicable to other physical systems such as neutral atoms in tweezer arrays., Comment: 22 pages, 12 figures

Identifying universal properties of non-equilibrium quantum states is a major challenge in modern physics. A fascinating prediction is that classical hydrodynamics emerges universally in the evolution of any interacting quantum system. Here, we experimentally probe the quantum dynamics of 51 individually controlled ions, realizing a long-range interacting spin chain. By measuring space-time resolved correlation functions in an infinite temperature state, we observe a whole family of hydrodynamic universality classes, ranging from normal diffusion to anomalous superdiffusion, that are described by L\'evy flights. We extract the transport coefficients of the hydrodynamic theory, reflecting the microscopic properties of the system. Our observations demonstrate the potential for engineered quantum systems to provide key insights into universal properties of non-equilibrium states of quantum matter., Comment: Note added: During the completion of this manuscript, we became aware of related work demonstrating superdiffusive transport in an integrable Heisenberg chain with nearest-neighbor superexchange interactions (D. Wei et. al, Quantum gas microscopy of Kardar-Parisi-Zhang superdiffusion, to appear in the same arXiv posting)

We present experiments on polarization gradient cooling of Ca$^+$ multi-ion Coulomb crystals in a linear Paul trap. Polarization gradient cooling of the collective modes of motion whose eigenvectors have overlap with the symmetry axis of the trap is achieved by two counter-propagating laser beams with mutually orthogonal linear polarizations that are blue-detuned from the S$_{1/2}$ to P$_{1/2}$ transition. We demonstrate cooling of linear chains of up to 51 ions and 2D-crystals in zig-zag configuration with 22 ions. The cooling results are compared with numerical simulations and the predictions of a simple model of cooling in a moving polarization gradient.

We report on a multi-band variability and correlation study of the TeV blazar Mrk 421 during an exceptional flaring activity observed from 2013 April 11 to 2013 April 19. The study uses, among others, data from GASP-WEBT, Swift, NuSTAR, Fermi-LAT, VERITAS, and MAGIC. The large blazar activity, and the 43 hours of simultaneous NuSTAR and MAGIC/VERITAS observations, permitted variability studies on 15 minute time bins, and over three X-ray bands (3-7 keV, 7-30 keV and 30-80 keV) and three very-high-energy (>0.1 TeV, hereafter VHE) gamma-ray bands (0.2-0.4 TeV, 0.4-0.8 TeV and >0.8 TeV). We detected substantial flux variations on multi-hour and sub-hour timescales in all the X-ray and VHE gamma-ray bands. The characteristics of the sub-hour flux variations are essentially energy-independent, while the multi-hour flux variations can have a strong dependence on the energy of the X-ray and the VHE gamma rays. The three VHE bands and the three X-ray bands are positively correlated with no time-lag, but the strength and the characteristics of the correlation changes substantially over time and across energy bands. Our findings favour multi-zone scenarios for explaining the achromatic/chromatic variability of the fast/slow components of the light curves, as well as the changes in the flux-flux correlation on day-long timescales. We interpret these results within a magnetic reconnection scenario, where the multi-hour flux variations are dominated by the combined emission from various plasmoids of different sizes and velocities, while the sub-hour flux variations are dominated by the emission from a single small plasmoid moving across the magnetic reconnection layer., Comment: 46 pages, 17 figures, 9 tables, accepted for publication in ApJ Supplements

We report the results of decade-long (2008-2018) $\gamma$-ray to 1 GHz radio monitoring of the blazar 3C 279, including GASP/WEBT, $\it{Fermi}$ and $\it{Swift}$ data, as well as polarimetric and spectroscopic data. The X-ray and $\gamma$-ray light curves correlate well, with no delay > 3 hours, implying general co-spatiality of the emission regions. The $\gamma$-ray-optical flux-flux relation changes with activity state, ranging from a linear to a more complex dependence. The behaviour of the Stokes parameters at optical and radio wavelengths, including 43 GHz VLBA images, supports either a predominantly helical magnetic field or motion of the radiating plasma along a spiral path. Apparent speeds of emission knots range from 10 to 37c, with the highest values requiring bulk Lorentz factors close to those needed to explain $\gamma$-ray variability on very short time scales. The Mg II emission line flux in the `blue' and `red' wings correlates with the optical synchrotron continuum flux density, possibly providing a variable source of seed photons for inverse Compton scattering. In the radio bands we find progressive delays of the most prominent light curve maxima with decreasing frequency, as expected from the frequency dependence of the $\tau=1$ surface of synchrotron self-absorption. The global maximum in the 86 GHz light curve becomes less prominent at lower frequencies, while a local maximum, appearing in 2014, strengthens toward decreasing frequencies, becoming pronounced at $\sim5$ GHz. These tendencies suggest different Doppler boosting of stratified radio-emitting zones in the jet., Comment: 21 pages, 18 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

We present a multiwavelength study of the flat-spectrum radio quasar CTA 102 during 2013-2017. We use radio-to-optical data obtained by the Whole Earth Blazar Telescope, 15 GHz data from the Owens Valley Radio Observatory, 91 and 103 GHz data from the Atacama Large Millimeter Array, near-infrared data from the Rapid Eye Monitor telescope, as well as data from the Swift (optical-UV and X-rays) and Fermi ($\gamma$ rays) satellites to study flux and spectral variability and the correlation between flux changes at different wavelengths. Unprecedented $\gamma$-ray flaring activity was observed during 2016 November-2017 February, with four major outbursts. A peak flux of (2158 $\pm$ 63)$\times$10$^{-8}$ ph cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$, corresponding to a luminosity of (2.2 $\pm$ 0.1)$\times$10$^{50}$ erg s$^{-1}$, was reached on 2016 December 28. These four $\gamma$-ray outbursts have corresponding events in the near-infrared, optical, and UV bands, with the peaks observed at the same time. A general agreement between X-ray and $\gamma$-ray activity is found. The $\gamma$-ray flux variations show a general, strong correlation with the optical ones with no time lag between the two bands and a comparable variability amplitude. This $\gamma$-ray/optical relationship is in agreement with the geometrical model that has successfully explained the low-energy flux and spectral behaviour, suggesting that the long-term flux variations are mainly due to changes in the Doppler factor produced by variations of the viewing angle of the emitting regions. The difference in behaviour between radio and higher energy emission would be ascribed to different viewing angles of the jet regions producing their emission., Comment: 24 pages, 18 figures, and 4 tables. Accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

Doppler and sideband cooling are long standing techniques that have been used together to prepare trapped atomic ions in their ground state of motion. In this paper we study how these techniques can be extended to cool both radial modes of motion of a single ion in a Penning trap. We numerically explore the prerequisite experimental parameters for efficient Doppler cooling in the presence of an additional oscillating electric field to resonantly couple the radial modes. The simulations are supported by experimental data for a single $^{40}$Ca$^+$ ion Doppler cooled to $\sim$100 phonons in both modes at a magnetron frequency of 52 kHz and a modified cyclotron frequency of 677 kHz. For these frequencies, we then show that mean phonon numbers of $0.35(5)$ for the modified cyclotron and $1.7(2)$ for the magnetron motions are achieved after 68 ms of sideband cooling.

We present the results of extensive modeling of the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of the closest blazar (z=0.031) Markarian 421 (Mrk 421) during a giant outburst in February 2010. The source underwent rapid flux variations in both X-rays and very high energy (VHE) gamma-rays as it evolved from a low-flux state on 2010 February 13-15 to a high-flux state on 2010 February 17. During this period, the source exhibited significant spectral hardening from X-rays to VHE gamma-rays while exhibiting a "harder when brighter" behavior in these energy bands. We reproduce the broadband SED using a time-dependent multi-zone leptonic jet model with radiation feedback. We find that an injection of the leptonic particle population with a single power-law energy distribution at shock fronts followed by energy losses in an inhomogeneous emission region is suitable for explaining the evolution of Mrk 421 from low- to high-flux state in February 2010. The spectral states are successfully reproduced by a combination of a few key physical parameters, such as the maximum $\&$ minimum cutoffs and power-law slope of the electron injection energies, magnetic field strength, and bulk Lorentz factor of the emission region. The simulated light curves and spectral evolution of Mrk 421 during this period imply an almost linear correlation between X-ray flux at 1-10 keV energies and VHE gamma-ray flux above 200 GeV, as has been previously exhibited by this source. Through this study, a general trend that has emerged for the role of physical parameters is that, as the flare evolves from a low- to a high-flux state, higher bulk kinetic energy is injected into the system with a harder particle population and a lower magnetic field strength., Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

We present the results of simulations of optical sideband cooling of atomic ions in a trap with a shallow potential well. In such traps, an ion cannot be Doppler cooled near to the Lamb-Dicke regime ($\eta^2(2n+1) \ll 1$). Outside the Lamb-Dicke regime, the sideband cooling dynamics are altered by the existence of various Fock states where the cooling becomes very slow. A calcium ion trapped in our Penning trap realises such a situation, hence single stage cooling is inefficient to prepare the ion in the motional ground state. For these systems, it is necessary to study the cooling dynamics in detail and we show that it is possible to implement an optimised cooling sequence to achieve efficient ground state cooling. We also present the simulated cooling dynamics of two ions trapped in a Penning trap, where the presence of an additional motional mode requires a complicated cooling sequence in order to cool both axial modes to the ground state simultaneously. Additionally we investigate sideband heating of a single ion in a Penning trap.

We present the results of a study of the time-averaged spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of eight flat spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) present in the second catalog of high energy sources detected beyond 50 GeV by the {\it Fermi}-Large Area Telescope (2FHL). Both leptonic and hadronic scenarios are adopted to explain the multi-wavelength SEDs and we find them to be marginally consistent with the 2FHL spectra above 50 GeV. We derive the expected degree of X-ray and $\gamma$-ray polarizations both for the average and elevated activity states and note that: (i) a hadronic radiative model consistently predicts a higher degree of high energy polarization compared to leptonic ones, and (ii) the X-ray polarization degree is higher than the $\gamma$-ray polarization in the leptonic scenario, but similar to the $\gamma$-ray polarization if the observed radiation is powered by hadronic processes. From the leptonic modeling, the location of the $\gamma$-ray emitting region is found to be at the outer edge of the broad line region (BLR) and is consistent with the $\gamma\gamma$ opacity estimates for the $\gamma$-ray absorption by the BLR. We conclude that a majority of the FSRQs could be detected by the upcoming Cherenkov Telescope Array, though future high energy polarimeters will be able to detect them only during elevated activity states, which could provide supportive evidence for the hadronic origin of the X-ray and $\gamma$-ray emission., Comment: 20 pages, 7 figures, 5 tables, to appear in the Astrophysical journal

We present the results of a multi-frequency, time-averaged analysis of blazars included in the Candidate Gamma-ray Blazar Survey catalog. Our sample consists of 324 $\gamma$-ray detected ($\gamma$-ray loud) and 191 non $\gamma$-ray detected ($\gamma$-ray quiet) blazars, and we consider all the data up to 2016 April 1. We find that both the $\gamma$-ray loud and the $\gamma$-ray quiet blazar populations occupy similar regions in the WISE color-color diagram, and in the radio and X-ray bands $\gamma$-ray loud sources are brighter. A simple one-zone synchrotron inverse-Compton emission model is applied to derive the physical properties of both populations. We find that the central black hole mass and the accretion disk luminosity ($L_{\rm disk}$) computed from the modeling of the optical-UV emission with a Shakura-Sunyaev disk reasonably matches with that estimated from the optical spectroscopic emission-line information. A significantly larger Doppler boosting in the $\gamma$-ray loud blazars is noted, and their jets are more radiatively efficient. On the other hand, the $\gamma$-ray quiet objects are more MeV-peaked, thus could be potential targets for next-generation MeV missions. Our results confirm the earlier findings about the accretion-jet connection in blazars; however, many of the $\gamma$-ray quiet blazars tend to deviate from the recent claim that the jet power exceeds $L_{\rm disk}$ in blazars. A broadband study, considering a larger set of $\gamma$-ray quiet objects and also including BL Lacs, will be needed to confirm/reject this hypothesis and also to verify the evolution of the powerful high-redshift blazars into their low-power nearby counterparts., Comment: 28 pages, 16 figures, 10 tables. To appear in the Astrophysical journal. Full tables and figures will be available with the published version

We have recently demonstrated the laser cooling of a single $^{40}$Ca$^+$ ion to the motional ground state in a Penning trap using the resolved-sideband cooling technique on the electric quadrupole transition S$_{1/2} \leftrightarrow$ D$_{5/2}$. Here we report on the extension of this technique to small ion Coulomb crystals made of two or three $^{40}$Ca$^+$ ions. Efficient cooling of the axial motion is achieved outside the Lamb-Dicke regime on a two-ion string along the magnetic field axis as well as on two- and three-ion planar crystals. Complex sideband cooling sequences are required in order to cool both axial degrees of freedom simultaneously. We measure a mean excitation after cooling of $\bar n_\text{COM}=0.30(4)$ for the centre of mass mode and $\bar n_\text{B}=0.07(3)$ for the breathing mode of the two-ion string with corresponding heating rates of 11(2) s$^{-1}$ and 1(1) s$^{-1}$ at a trap frequency of 162 kHz. The ground state occupation of the axial modes is above 75% for the two-ion planar crystal and the associated heating rates 0.8(5) s$^{-1}$ at a trap frequency of 355 kHz., Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures

Over the past few years, several occasions of large, continuous rotations of the electric vector position angle (EVPA) of linearly polarized optical emission from blazars have been reported. These events are often coincident with high energy gamma-ray flares and they have attracted considerable attention, as they could allow one to probe the magnetic field structure in the gamma-ray emitting region of the jet. The flat-spectrum radio quasar 3C279 is one of the most prominent examples showing this behaviour. Our goal is to study the observed EVPA rotations and to distinguish between a stochastic and a deterministic origin of the polarization variability. We have combined multiple data sets of R-band photometry and optical polarimetry measurements of 3C279, yielding exceptionally well-sampled flux density and polarization curves that cover a period of 2008-2012. Several large EVPA rotations are identified in the data. We introduce a quantitative measure for the EVPA curve smoothness, which is then used to test a set of simple random walk polarization variability models against the data. 3C279 shows different polarization variation characteristics during an optical low-flux state and a flaring state. The polarization variation during the flaring state, especially the smooth approx. 360 degrees rotation of the EVPA in mid-2011, is not consistent with the tested stochastic processes. We conclude that during the two different optical flux states, two different processes govern the polarization variation, possibly a stochastic process during the low-brightness state and a deterministic process during the flaring activity., Comment: 19 pages, 15 figures, 6 tables

We present coordinated multiwavelength observations of the bright, nearby BL Lac object Mrk 421 taken in 2013 January-March, involving GASP-WEBT, Swift, NuSTAR, Fermi-LAT, MAGIC, VERITAS, and other collaborations and instruments, providing data from radio to very-high-energy (VHE) gamma-ray bands. NuSTAR yielded previously unattainable sensitivity in the 3-79 keV range, revealing that the spectrum softens when the source is dimmer until the X-ray spectral shape saturates into a steep power law with a photon index of approximately 3, with no evidence for an exponential cutoff or additional hard components up to about 80 keV. For the first time, we observed both the synchrotron and the inverse-Compton peaks of the spectral energy distribution (SED) simultaneously shifted to frequencies below the typical quiescent state by an order of magnitude. The fractional variability as a function of photon energy shows a double-bump structure which relates to the two bumps of the broadband SED. In each bump, the variability increases with energy which, in the framework of the synchrotron self-Compton model, implies that the electrons with higher energies are more variable. The measured multi-band variability, the significant X-ray-to-VHE correlation down to some of the lowest fluxes ever observed in both bands, the lack of correlation between optical/UV and X-ray flux, the low degree of polarization and its significant (random) variations, the short estimated electron cooling time, and the significantly longer variability timescale observed in the NuSTAR light curves point toward in-situ electron acceleration, and suggest that there are multiple compact regions contributing to the broadband emission of Mrk 421 during low-activity states., Comment: 32 pages, 14 figures; accepted for publication in ApJ

We report on simultaneous broadband observations of the TeV-emitting blazar Markarian 501 between 1 April and 10 August 2013, including the first detailed characterization of the synchrotron peak with Swift and NuSTAR. During the campaign, the nearby BL Lac object was observed in both a quiescent and an elevated state. The broadband campaign includes observations with NuSTAR, MAGIC, VERITAS, the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT), Swift X-ray Telescope and UV Optical Telescope, various ground-based optical instruments, including the GASP-WEBT program, as well as radio observations by OVRO, Mets\"ahovi and the F-Gamma consortium. Some of the MAGIC observations were affected by a sand layer from the Saharan desert, and had to be corrected using event-by-event corrections derived with a LIDAR (LIght Detection And Ranging) facility. This is the first time that LIDAR information is used to produce a physics result with Cherenkov Telescope data taken during adverse atmospheric conditions, and hence sets a precedent for the current and future ground-based gamma-ray instruments. The NuSTAR instrument provides unprecedented sensitivity in hard X-rays, showing the source to display a spectral energy distribution between 3 and 79 keV consistent with a log-parabolic spectrum and hard X-ray variability on hour timescales. None (of the four extended NuSTAR observations) shows evidence of the onset of inverse-Compton emission at hard X-ray energies. We apply a single-zone equilibrium synchrotron self-Compton model to five simultaneous broadband spectral energy distributions. We find that the synchrotron self-Compton model can reproduce the observed broadband states through a decrease in the magnetic field strength coinciding with an increase in the luminosity and hardness of the relativistic leptons responsible for the high-energy emission., Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ

Intermediate frequency range (511 - 514 cm-1) Si phonons in Si-SiO2 nanocomposites are shown to have contribution from both core1 and surface/interface1 Si phonons, where, ratio of contribution of the two depends on the size of a Si nanocrystal. Further, laser heating experiment shows that contribution of the core phonon increases due to increase in size of a nanocrystal. Wavelength dependent Raman mapping reveals that interface phonons are observable due to Resonance Raman scattering. This can well be corroborated with the absorption spectra. This understanding can be gainfully used to manipulate and characterize Si-SiO2 nanocomposite, simultaneously for photovoltaic device applications.

Si-SiO2 multilayer nanocomposite (NCp) films, grown using pulsed laser deposition with varying Si deposition time are investigated using Raman spectroscopy/mapping for studying the variation of Si phonon frequency observed in these NCps. The lower frequency (LF) phonons (~ 495 - 510 cm-1) and higher frequency (HF) phonons (~ 515 - 519 cm-1) observed in Raman mapping data (Fig. 1A) in all samples studied are attributed to have originated from surface (Si-SiO2 interface) and core of Si nanocrystals, respectively. The consistent picture of this understanding is developed using Raman spectroscopy monitored laser heating/annealing and cooling (LHC) experiment at the site of a desired frequency chosen with the help of Raman mapping, which brings out clear difference between core and surface (interface) phonons of Si nanocrystals. In order to further support our attribution of LF being surface (interface) phonons, Raman spectra calculations for Si41 cluster with oxygen termination are performed which shows strong Si phonon frequency at 512 cm-1 corresponding to the surface Si atoms. This can be considered analogous to the observed phonon frequencies in the range 495 - 510 cm-1 originating at the Si-SiO2 interface (extended). These results along with XPS data show that nature of interface (oxygen bonding) in turn depends on the size of nanocrystals and thus LF phonons originate at the surface of smaller Si nanocrystals. The understanding developed can be extended to explain large variation observed in Si phonon frequencies of Si-SiO2 nanocomposites reported in the literature, especially lower frequencies.

We present the results of optical (R band) photometric and polarimetric monitoring and Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) imaging of the blazar S4 0954+658, along with Fermi and gamma;-ray data during a multi-waveband outburst in 2011 March-April. After a faint state with a brightness level R ~17.6 mag registered in the first half of January 2011, the optical brightness of the source started to rise and reached ~14.8 mag during the middle of March, showing flare-like behavior. The most spectacular case of intranight variability was observed during the night of 2011 March 9, when the blazar brightened by ~0.7 mag within ~7 hours. During the rise of the flux the position angle of optical polarization rotated smoothly over more than 300$\deg$. At the same time, within 1$\sigma$ uncertainty a new superluminal knot appeared with an apparent speed of 19.0$\pm$0.3 c. We have very strong evidence for association of this knot with the multi-waveband outburst in 2011 March-April. We also analyze the multi-frequency behavior of S4 0954+658 during a number of minor outbursts from August 2008 to April 2012. We find some evidence of connections between at least two more superluminal ejecta and near-simultaneous optical flares., Comment: 9 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journal

Quasar 3C 279 is known to exhibit episodes of optical polarization angle rotation. We present new, well-sampled optical polarization data for 3C 279 and introduce a method to distinguish between random and deterministic electric vector position angle (EVPA) variations. We observe EVPA rotations in both directions with different amplitudes and find that the EVPA variation shows characteristics of both random and deterministic cases. Our analysis indicates that the EVPA variation is likely dominated by a random process in the low brightness state of the jet and by a deterministic process in the flaring state., Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, 4 tables, proceeding to appear on EPJ Web of Conferences "The Innermost Regions of Relativistic Jets and their Magnetic Fields (Granada, Spain,10-14 June 2013)"

The influence of film morphology induced carrier diffusion on the broadening of the time-of-flight transient photo-current pulse was investigated using Monte Carlo simulation in organic thin films. Assuming the Gaussian Disorder Model for the charge transport the simulation of the time-of-flight photo-current pulse shape was carried out for homogeneous and inhomogeneous films by varying the overall energetic disorder of the system. In the case of homogeneous system, the value of the tail broadening parameter (W) of the photocurrent pulse is found to decrease upon decreasing the energetic disorder. The observed behavior is explained by using the temporal evolution of carrier diffusion coefficient. In case of the inhomogeneous system, upon decreasing the overall energetic disorder of the system the value of W initially attained a maximum before it started to decrease. This is attributed to the morphology dependent carrier diffusion in the latter case. This study elicits the importance of the influence of the film morphology induced carrier diffusion on the experimentally measured shape of the time-of-flight transient photo-current pulses, which is found to be generally ignored.

Monte Carlo simulation was carried out to understand the influence of morphological inhomogeneity on carrier diffusion in organic thin films. The morphological inhomogeneity was considered in the simulation by incorporating the regions of low energetic disorder in a host lattice of high energetic disorder which decreases the overall energetic disorder of the system. For the homogeneous films, the carrier diffusion was found to decrease upon decreasing the energetic disorder. In contrast to this, in the case of inhomogeneous films the carrier diffusion enhanced upon decreasing the overall energetic disorder, up to an optimum value and beyond which the carrier diffusion decreased. Through our simulation, we observed that the behavior of carrier diffusion in the inhomogeneous case is due to the morphology dependent carrier spreading, which acts in addition to the thermal and non-thermal field assisted diffusion mechanisms. This morphological dependence of carrier spreading arises due to the generation of packets of carriers with different jump rates, which is after effect of slow relaxation of the carriers generated in the less disordered regions of inhomogeneous system. Our simulation of morphology dependent carrier spreading and its influence on the basic diffusion process provide deeper insight into the charge transport mechanisms in organic thin films., Comment: Journal of Physical Chemistry C 2013

The quasar-type blazar 4C 38.41 (B3 1633+382) experienced a large outburst in 2011, which was detected throughout the entire electromagnetic spectrum. We present the results of low-energy multifrequency monitoring by the GASP project of the WEBT consortium and collaborators, as well as those of spectropolarimetric/spectrophotometric monitoring at the Steward Observatory. We also analyse high-energy observations of the Swift and Fermi satellites. In the optical-UV band, several results indicate that there is a contribution from a QSO-like emission component, in addition to both variable and polarised jet emission. The unpolarised emission component is likely thermal radiation from the accretion disc that dilutes the jet polarisation. We estimate its brightness to be R(QSO) ~ 17.85 - 18 and derive the intrinsic jet polarisation degree. We find no clear correlation between the optical and radio light curves, while the correlation between the optical and \gamma-ray flux apparently fades in time, likely because of an increasing optical to \gamma-ray flux ratio. As suggested for other blazars, the long-term variability of 4C 38.41 can be interpreted in terms of an inhomogeneous bent jet, where different emitting regions can change their alignment with respect to the line of sight, leading to variations in the Doppler factor \delta. Under the hypothesis that in the period 2008-2011 all the \gamma-ray and optical variability on a one-week timescale were due to changes in \delta, this would range between ~ 7 and ~ 21. If the variability were caused by changes in the viewing angle \theta\ only, then \theta\ would go from ~ 2.6 degr to ~ 5 degr. Variations in the viewing angle would also account for the dependence of the polarisation degree on the source brightness in the framework of a shock-in-jet model., Comment: 19 pages, 23 figures, in press for Astronomy and Astrophysics

We present time-resolved broad-band observations of the quasar 3C 279 obtained from multi-wavelength campaigns conducted during the first two years of the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope mission. While investigating the previously reported gamma-ray/optical flare accompanied by a change in optical polarization, we found that the optical emission appears delayed with respect to the gamma-ray emission by about 10 days. X-ray observations reveal a pair of `isolated' flares separated by ~90 days, with only weak gamma-ray/optical counterparts. The spectral structure measured by Spitzer reveals a synchrotron component peaking in the mid-infrared band with a sharp break at the far-infrared band during the gamma-ray flare, while the peak appears in the mm/sub-mm band in the low state. Selected spectral energy distributions are fitted with leptonic models including Comptonization of external radiation produced in a dusty torus or the broad-line region. Adopting the interpretation of the polarization swing involving propagation of the emitting region along a curved trajectory, we can explain the evolution of the broad-band spectra during the gamma-ray flaring event by a shift of its location from ~ 1 pc to ~ 4 pc from the central black hole. On the other hand, if the gamma-ray flare is generated instead at sub-pc distance from the central black hole, the far-infrared break can be explained by synchrotron self-absorption. We also model the low spectral state, dominated by the mm/sub-mm peaking synchrotron component, and suggest that the corresponding inverse-Compton component explains the steady X-ray emission., Comment: 23 pages, 18 figures 5 tables, Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal

We analyze total and polarized intensity images of the quasar 3C 454.3 obtained monthly with the VLBA at 43 GHz within the ongoing Boston U. monitoring program of gamma-ray blazars started in June 2007. The data are supplemented by VLBA observations performed during intense campaigns of 2 week duration when the quasar was observed 3 times per campaign. We find a strong increase of activity in the parsec-scale jet of the quasar during high gamma-ray states in December 2009, April 2010, and November 2010. We detect new superluminal knots, K09 and K10, associated with the autumn 2009 and 2010 outbursts, respectively, and compare their kinematic parameters. We analyze optical polarimetric behavior along with polarization parameters of the parsec-scale jet and outline similarities and differences in polarization properties across wavelengths. The results of the analysis support the conclusions that the optical polarized emission is produced in a region located in the vicinity of the mm-wave core of the jet of the quasar, and that the gamma-ray outbursts occur when a superluminal disturbance passes through the core., Comment: 2012 Fermi & Jansky Proceedings - eConf C1111101

M-stars comprise 80% of main-sequence stars, and so their planetary systems provide the best chance for finding habitable planets, i.e.: those with surface liquid water. We have modelled the broadband albedo or reflectivity of water ice and snow for simulated planetary surfaces orbiting two observed red dwarf stars (or M-stars) using spectrally resolved data of the Earth's cryosphere. The gradual reduction of the albedos of snow and ice at wavelengths greater than 1 ?m, combined with M-stars emitting a significant fraction of their radiation at these same longer wavelengths, mean that the albedos of ice and snow on planets orbiting M-stars are much lower than their values on Earth. Our results imply that the ice/snow albedo climate feedback is significantly weaker for planets orbiting M-stars than for planets orbiting G-type stars such as the Sun. In addition, planets with significant ice and snow cover will have significantly higher surface temperatures for a given stellar flux if the spectral variation of cryospheric albedo is considered, which in turn implies that the outer edge of the habitable zone around M-stars may be 10-30% further away from the parent star than previously thought., Comment: Final accepted by Astrobiology, 20 pages (double spaced), 3 figures included