arXiv subjects

N. G. Kelkar

Publications and source records attributed to N. G. Kelkar.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2017

Electric fields at finite temperature

Partial differential equations for the electric potential at finite temperature, taking into account the thermal Euler-Heisenberg contribution to the electromagnetic Lagrangian are derived. This complete temperature dependence introduces quantum corrections to several well known equations such as the Thomas-Fermi and the Poisson-Boltzmann equation. Our unified approach allows at the same time to derive other similar equations which take into account the effect of the surrounding heat bath on electric fields. We vary our approach by considering a neutral plasma as well as the screening caused by electrons only. The effects of changing the statistics from Fermi-Dirac to the Tsallis statistics and including the presence of a magnetic field are also investigated. Some useful applications of the above formalism are presented.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2017

Electron tunneling times

Tunneling is one of the most bizarre phenomena in quantum mechanics. An attempt to understand it led to the next natural question of how long does a particle need to tunnel a barrier. The latter gave rise to several definitions such as the phase, dwell, Larmor and traversal times among others. A short review of the evolution of these time concepts, followed by an account of experiments involving field-induced tunnel ionization and electron tunneling in a solid state junction is presented here. Whereas the former experiments use sophisticated techniques involving femtosecond laser pulses and determine the tunneling time by mapping the angle of rotation of the field vector to time, like the hands of a watch, the latter provides a simpler method through the measurement of current-voltage characteristics of the junction.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Deuteron properties from muonic atom spectroscopy

Leading order ($α^4$) finite size corrections in muonic deuterium are evaluated within a few body formalism for the $μ^- p n$ system in muonic deuterium and found to be sensitive to the input of the deuteron wave function. We show that this sensitivity, taken along with the precise deuteron charge radius determined from muonic atom spectroscopy can be used to determine the elusive deuteron D-state probability, $P_D$, for a given model of the nucleon-nucleon (NN) potential. The radius calculated with a $P_D$ of 4.3\% in the chiral NN models and about 5.7\% in the high precision NN potentials is favoured most by the $μ^-d$ data.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2017

Time in dissipative tunneling: subtleties and applications

Characteristic features of tunneling times for dissipative tunneling of a particle through a rectangular barrier are studied within a semiclassical model involving dissipation in the form of a velocity dependent frictional force. The average dwell time and traversal time with dissipation are found to be less than those without dissipation. This counter-intuitive behaviour is reversed if one evaluates the physically relevant transmission dwell time. Apart from these observations, we find that the percentage of energy lost by the tunneling particle is higher for smaller energies. The above observations are tested and confirmed in a realistic case by applying the dissipation model to study the current-voltage data in a Al/Al$_2$O$_3$/Al solid state junction at various temperatures. The friction coefficient for Al$_2$O$_3$ as a function of temperature is presented. It is found to decrease with increasing temperature.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2016

Search for eta-mesic 4He in the dd->3He n pi0 and dd->3He p pi- reactions with the WASA-at-COSY facility

The search for 4He-eta bound states was performed with the WASA-at-COSY facility via the measurement of the excitation function for the dd->3He n pi0 and dd->3He p pi- processes. The beam momentum was varied continuously between 2.127 GeV/c and 2.422 GeV/c, corresponding to the excess energy for the dd->4He eta reaction ranging from Q=-70 MeV to Q=30 MeV. The luminosity was determined based on the dd->3He n reaction and quasi-free proton-proton scattering via dd->pp n_spectator n_spectator reactions. The excitation functions determined independently for the measured reactions do not reveal a structure which could be interpreted as a narrow mesic nucleus. Therefore, the upper limits of the total cross sections for the bound state production and decay in dd->(4He-eta)_bound->3He n pi0 and dd->(4He-eta)_bound->3He p pi- processes were determined taking into account the isospin relation between both the channels considered. The results of the analysis depend on the assumptions of the N* momentum distribution in the anticipated mesic-4He. Assuming as in the previous works, that this is identical with the distribution of nucleons bound with 20 MeV in 4He, we determined that (for the mesic bound state width in the range from 5 MeV to 50 MeV) the upper limits at 90% confidence level are about 3 nb and about 6 nb for npi0 and ppi- channels, respectively. However, based on the recent theoretical findings of the N*(1535) momentum distribution in the N*-3He nucleus bound by 3.6 MeV, we find that the WASA-at-COSY detector acceptance decreases and hence the corresponding upper limits are 5 nb and 10 nb for npi0 and ppi- channels respectively.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2016

Signature of the N=126 shell closure in dwell times of alpha-particle tunneling

Characteristic quantities such as the penetration and preformation probabilities, assault frequency and tunneling times in the tunneling description of alpha decay of heavy nuclei are explored to reveal their sensitivity to neutron numbers in the vicinity of the magic neutron number $N$ = 126. Using realistic nuclear potentials, the sensitivity of these quantities to the parameters of the theoretical approach is also tested. An investigation of the region from $N=116$ to $N=132$ in Po nuclei reveals that the tunneling $α$ particle spends the least amount of time with an $N=126$ magic daughter nucleus. The shell closure at $N=126$ seems to affect the behaviour of the dwell times of the tunneling alpha particles and this occurs through the influence of the $Q$-values involved.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2016

Momentum distribution of N$^*$ in nuclei

Due to its dominance in the low energy eta-nucleon interaction, the S11 N$^*$(1535) resonance enters as an important ingredient in the analyses of experiments aimed at finding evidence for the existence of eta-mesic nuclei. The static properties of the resonance get modified inside the nucleus and its momentum distribution is used in deciding these properties as well as the kinematics in the analyses. Here we show that given the possibility for the existence of an N$^*$-$^3$He quasibound state, the relative momentum distribution of an N$^*$ and $^3$He inside such a $^4$He is narrower than that of neutron-$^3$He in $^4$He. Results for the N$^*$-$^{24}$Mg system are also presented. The present exploratory work could be useful in motivating searches of exotic N$^*$-nucleus quasibound states as well as in performing analyses of eta meson production data.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2016

Extraction of the proton charge radius from experiments

Static properties of hadrons such as their radii and other moments of the electric and magnetic distributions can only be extracted using theoretical methods and not directly measured from experiments. As a result, discrepancies between the extracted values from different precision measurements can exist. The proton charge radius, $r_p$, which is either extracted from electron proton elastic scattering data or from hydrogen atom spectroscopy seems to be no exception. The value $r_p = 0.84087(39)$ fm extracted from muonic hydrogen spectroscopy is about 4% smaller than that obtained from electron proton scattering or standard hydrogen spectroscopy. The resolution of this so called proton radius puzzle has been attempted in many different ways over the past six years. The present article reviews these attempts with a focus on the methods of extracting the radius.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2016

Inside the Hydrogen Atom

We apply the non-linear Euler-Heisenberg theory to calculate the electric field inside the hydrogen atom. We will demonstrate that the electric field calculated in the Euler-Heisenberg theory can be much smaller than the corresponding field emerging from the Maxwellian theory. In the hydrogen atom this happens only at very small distances. This effect reduces the large electric field inside the hydrogen atom calculated from the electromagnetic form-factors via the Maxwell equations. The energy content of the field is below the pair production threshold.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2016

Experimental determination of tunneling characteristics and dwell times from temperature dependence of Al/Al$_2$O$_3$/Al junctions

Measurements of current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of a high quality Al/Al$_2$O$_3$/Al junction at temperatures ranging from 3.5 K to 300 K have been used to extract the barrier properties. Fitting results using Simmons' model led to a constant value of barrier width $s$$\sim$20.8~$\textrmÅ$ and a continuous increase in the barrier height with decreasing temperature. The latter is used to determine the energy band gap temperature dependence and average phonon frequency $ω$ = 2.05 $\times$ 10$^{13}$ sec$^{-1}$ in Al$_2$O$_3$, which adds confidence to the precision of our measurements. The barrier parameters are used to extract the temperature dependent dwell times in tunneling ($τ_D$ = 3.6 $\times$ 10$^{-16}$ sec at mid-barrier energies) and locate resonances above the barrier.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2015

On Quasibound N* Nuclei

The possibility for the existence of unstable bound states of the S11 nucleon resonance N$^*$(1535) and nuclei is investigated. These quasibound states are speculated to be closely related to the existence of the quasibound states of the eta mesons and nuclei. Within a simple model for the N N$^*$ interaction involving a pion and eta meson exchange, N$^*$-nucleus potentials for N*-$^3$He and N*-$^{24}$Mg are evaluated and found to be of a Woods-Saxon like form which supports two to three bound states. In case of N*-$^3$He, one state bound by only a few keV and another by 4 MeV is found. The results are however quite sensitive to the N N$^*$ $π$ and N N$^*$ $η$ vertex parameters. A rough estimate of the width of these states, based on the mean free path of the exchanged mesons in the nuclei leads to very broad states with $Γ\sim$ 80 and 110 MeV for N*-$^3$He and N*-$^{24}$Mg respectively.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2015

Lorentz Contracted Proton

The proton charge and magnetization density distributions can be related to the well known Sachs electromagnetic form factors $G_{E,M}({\bm q}^{2})$ through Fourier transforms, only in the Breit frame. The Breit frame however moves with relativistic velocities in the Lab and a Lorentz boost must be applied to the form factors before extracting the static properties of the proton from the corresponding densities. Apart from this, the Fourier transform relating the densities and form factors is inherently a non-relativistic expression. We show that the relativistic corrections to it can be obtained by extending the standard Breit equation to higher orders in its $1/c^2$ expansion. We find that the inclusion of the above corrections reduces the size of the proton determined from electron proton scattering data. Indeed the central value of the latest proton radius of $r_p = 0.879$ fm as determined from e-p scattering changes to $r_p = 0.8404$ fm after applying corrections.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2015

Unresolved issues in the search for eta-mesic nuclei

Even if the theoretical definition of an unstable state is straightforward, its experimental identification often depends on the method used in the analysis and extraction of data. A good example is the case of eta mesic nuclei where strong hints of their existence led to about three decades of extensive theoretical and experimental searches. Considering the still undecided status of these states and the limitations in the understanding of the eta-nucleon as well as the eta-nucleus interaction, the present article tries to look back at some unresolved problems in the production mechanism and final state interaction of the eta mesons and nuclei. An unconventional perspective which provides a physical insight into the nature of the eta-nucleus interaction is also presented using quantum time concepts.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2014

Tunneling times and bremsstrahlung in alpha decay

A semi-classical model based on quantum time concepts is presented for the evaluation of bremsstrahlung emission probabilities in alpha decay of nuclei. The contribution to the bremsstrahlung emission from the different regions in tunneling is investigated using realistic double folded nuclear and Coulomb potentials. Within this model, the contribution from the radiation emitted in front of the barrier before tunneling is much larger than that while leaving the barrier. A comparison with the data on $^{210}$Po shows that the results are sensitive to the nuclear potential and the rectangular well used in many of the quantum mechanical approaches can even give qualitatively different results.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2013

Interaction of eta mesons with nuclei

Back in the mid eighties, a new branch of investigation which was related to the interaction of eta mesons with nuclei came into existence. It started with the theoretical prediction of possible exotic states of eta mesons and nuclei bound by the strong interaction and later developed into an extensive experimental program to search for such unstable states as well as understand the underlying interaction via eta meson producing reactions. The vast literature of experimental as well as theoretical works which studied various aspects of eta producing reactions such as the $π^+$ $n$ $\to ηp$, $p d \to ^3$He $η$, $p \,^6$Li $\to ^7$Be $η$ and $γ^3$He $\to η$ X, to name a few, had but one objective in mind: to understand the eta - nucleon ($ηN$) and hence the $η$-nucleus interaction which could explain the production data and confirm the existence of some $η$-mesic nuclei. In spite of these efforts, there remain uncertainties in the knowledge of the $ηN$ and hence the $η$-nucleus interaction. The present review is hence an attempt to bind together the findings in these works and draw some global and specific conclusions which can be useful for future explorations.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2012

Orbiting phenomena in black hole scattering

Rainbow, glory and orbiting scattering are usually described by the properties of the classical deflection function related to the real part of the quantum mechanical scattering phase shift or by the diffractive pattern of the quantum mechanical cross sections. Here we show that the case of orbiting scattering of massless spin 0, 1 and 2 particles from Schwarzschild black holes can be characterized by a sudden rise in $|R_l|^2$ at a critical angular momentum $l_C$, which we show corresponds to the unstable circular orbits of these particles. For the cases, $s =0, 2$, we attempt a new interpretation of the Regge-Wheeler potential by identifying the quantum mechanical corrections to the effective potential of massless particles. We probe into the black hole scattering by using numerical and semi-analytical methods which give very good agreements with the exact numerical results. The limitations of previously used approximations as compared to the exact and semi-analytical results are discussed.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2012

Determining the size of the proton

A measurement of the Lamb shift of 49,881.88(76) GHz in muonic hydrogen in conjunction with theoretical estimates of the proton structure effects was recently used to deduce an accurate but rather small radius of the proton. Such an important shift in the understanding of fundamental values needs reconfirmation. Using a different approach with electromagnetic form factors of the proton, we obtain a new expression for the transition energy, $Δ= E_{2P_{{3}/{2}}}^{f=2} - E_{2S_{{1}/{2}}}^{f=1}$, in muonic hydrogen and deduce a proton radius, $r_p = 0.831$ fm.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2011

On Born approximation in black hole scattering

A massless field propagating on spherically symmetric black hole metrics such as the Schwarzschild, Reissner-Nordström and Reissner-Nordström-de Sitter backgrounds is considered. In particular, explicit formulae in terms of transcendental functions for the scattering of massless scalar particles off black holes are derived within a Born approximation. It is shown that the conditions on the existence of the Born integral forbid a straightforward extraction of the quasi normal modes using the Born approximation for the scattering amplitude. Such a method has been used in literature. We suggest a novel, well defined method, to extract the large imaginary part of quasinormal modes via the Coulomb-like phase shift. Furthermore, we compare the numerically evaluated exact scattering amplitude with the Born one to find that the approximation is not very useful for the scattering of massless scalar, electromagnetic as well as gravitational waves from black holes.

gr-qc↗