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Yuki Nakamura

Publications and source records attributed to Yuki Nakamura.

31 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Self-Shielding Enhanced Organics Synthesis in an Early Reduced Earth's Atmosphere

Earth is expected to have acquired a reduced proto-atmosphere enriched in H2 and CH4 through the accretion of building blocks that contain metallic Fe and/or the gravitational trapping of surrounding nebula gas. Such an early, wet, reduced atmosphere that covers a proto-ocean would then ultimately evolve toward oxidized chemical compositions through photochemical processes that involve reactions with H2O-derived oxidant radicals and the selective escape of hydrogen to space. During this time, atmospheric CH4 could be photochemically reprocessed to generate not only C-bearing oxides but also organics. However, the branching ratio between organic matter formation and oxidation remains unknown despite its significance on the abiotic chemical evolution of early Earth. Here, we show via numerical analyses that UV absorptions by gaseous hydrocarbons such as C2H2 and C3H4 significantly suppress H2O photolysis subsequent CH4 oxidation during the photochemical evolution of a wet proto-atmosphere enriched in H2 and CH4. As a result, nearly half of the initial CH4 converted to heavier organics along with the deposition of prebiotically essential molecules such as HCN and H2CO on the surface of a primordial ocean for a geological timescale order of 10-100 Myr. Our results suggest that the accumulation of organics and prebiotically important molecules in the proto-ocean could produce a soup enriched in various organics, which might have eventually led to the emergence of living organisms.

astro-ph.EP↗

Theory for Planar Hall Effect in Organic Dirac Fermion System

In a recent experiment on the interlayer magnetoresistance in the quasi-two-dimensional organic salt, $α$-(BEDT-TTF)$_2$I$_3$, it has been observed that at low temperatures, interlayer tunneling attains phase coherence, leading to the emergence of a three-dimensional electronic structure. Theoretically and experimentally it has been suggested that the system exhibits characteristics of a three-dimensional Dirac semimetal as a consequence of broken time-reversal symmetry and inversion symmetry. Here, we perform a theoretical calculation of the magnetoconductivity under an in-plane magnetic field and demonstrate that the system displays a planar Hall effect. Our calculations are based on a realistic model for $α$-(BEDT-TTF)$_2$I$_3$ incorporating interlayer tunneling and the tilt of the Dirac cone. Given that the planar Hall effect is anticipated as a consequence of chiral anomaly, our findings provide support for the classification of $α$-(BEDT-TTF)$_2$I$_3$ as a three-dimensional Dirac semimetal.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Exploring the Robustness of Large Language Models for Solving Programming Problems

Using large language models (LLMs) for source code has recently gained attention. LLMs, such as Transformer-based models like Codex and ChatGPT, have been shown to be highly capable of solving a wide range of programming problems. However, the extent to which LLMs understand problem descriptions and generate programs accordingly or just retrieve source code from the most relevant problem in training data based on superficial cues has not been discovered yet. To explore this research question, we conduct experiments to understand the robustness of several popular LLMs, CodeGen and GPT-3.5 series models, capable of tackling code generation tasks in introductory programming problems. Our experimental results show that CodeGen and Codex are sensitive to the superficial modifications of problem descriptions and significantly impact code generation performance. Furthermore, we observe that Codex relies on variable names, as randomized variables decrease the solved rate significantly. However, the state-of-the-art (SOTA) models, such as InstructGPT and ChatGPT, show higher robustness to superficial modifications and have an outstanding capability for solving programming problems. This highlights the fact that slight modifications to the prompts given to the LLMs can greatly affect code generation performance, and careful formatting of prompts is essential for high-quality code generation, while the SOTA models are becoming more robust to perturbations.

cs.CL↗

Magnetic field imaging by hBN quantum sensor nanoarray

Placing a sensor close to the target at the nano-level is a central challenge in quantum sensing. We demonstrate high-spatial-resolution magnetic field imaging with a boron vacancy (V$_\text{B}^-$) defects array in hexagonal boron nitride with a few 10 nm thickness. V$_\text{B}^-$ sensor spots with a size of (100 nm)$^2$ are arranged periodically with nanoscale precision using a helium ion microscope and attached tightly to a gold wire. The sensor array allows us to visualize the magnetic field induced by the current in the wire with a spatial resolution beyond the diffraction limit. Each sensor exhibits a practical sensitivity of $73.6~μ\text{T/Hz}^{0.5}$, suitable for quantum materials research. Our technique of arranging V$_\text{B}^-$ quantum sensors periodically and tightly on measurement targets will maximize their potential.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Demonstration of geometric diabatic control of quantum states

Geometric effects can play a pivotal role in streamlining quantum manipulation. We demonstrate a geometric diabatic control, that is, perfect tunneling between spin states in a diamond by a quadratic sweep of a driving field. The field sweep speed for the perfect tunneling is determined by the geometric amplitude factor and can be tuned arbitrarily. Our results are obtained by testing a quadratic version of Berry's twisted Landau-Zener model. This geometric tuning is robust over a wide parameter range. Our work provides a basis for quantum control in various systems, including condensed matter physics, quantum computation, and nuclear magnetic resonance.

quant-ph↗

Strong depletion of $^{13}$C in CO induced by photolysis of CO$_{2}$ in the Martian atmosphere calculated by a photochemical model

The isotopic signature of atmospheric carbon offers a unique tracer for the history of the Martian atmosphere and the origin of organic matter on Mars. Photolysis of CO$_{2}$ is known to induce strong isotopic fractionation of carbon between CO$_{2}$ and CO. However, its effect on the carbon isotopic compositions in the Martian atmosphere remains uncertain. Here we develop a 1-D photochemical model considering isotopic fractionation via photolysis of CO$_{2}$ to estimate the vertical profiles of the carbon isotopic compositions of CO and CO$_{2}$ in the Martian atmosphere. We find that CO is depleted in $^{13}$C compared with CO$_{2}$ at each altitude due to the fractionation via CO$_{2}$ photolysis: the minimum value of $δ^{13}$C in CO is about $-170$ per mil under the standard eddy diffusion setting. This result supports the hypothesis that fractionated atmospheric CO is responsible for the production of the $^{13}$C-depleted organic carbon in Martian sediments detected by Curiosity Rover through the conversion of CO into organic materials and their deposition on the surface. The photolysis and transport-induced fractionation of CO we report here leads to a $\sim 15$ % decrease in the amount of inferred atmospheric loss when combined with the present-day fractionation of the atmosphere and previous studies of carbon escape to space. The fractionated isotopic composition of CO in the Martian atmosphere may be observed by ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) and ground-based telescopes, and escaping ion species produced by the fractionated carbon-bearing species may be detected by Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) in the future.

astro-ph.EP↗

Photochemical and RadiatiOn Transport model for Extensive USe (PROTEUS)

We introduce a new flexible one-dimensional photochemical model named Photochemical and RadiatiOn Transport model for Extensive USe (PROTEUS), which consists of a Python graphical user interface (GUI) program and Fortran 90 modules. PROTEUS is designed for adaptability to many planetary atmospheres, for flexibility to deal with thousands of or more chemical reactions with high efficiency, and for intuitive operation with GUI. Chemical reactions can be easily implemented into the Python GUI program in a simple string format, and users can intuitively select a planet and chemical reactions on GUI. Chemical reactions selected on GUI are automatically analyzed by string parsing functions in the Python GUI program, then applied to the Fortran 90 modules to simulate with the selected chemical reactions on a selected planet. PROTEUS can significantly save the time for those who need to develop a new photochemical model; users just need to write chemical reactions in the Python GUI program and just select them on GUI to run a new photochemical model.

astro-ph.IM↗

Machine learning application to Fermi-LAT data: sharpening all-sky map and emphasizing variable sources

A novel application of machine-learning (ML) based image processing algorithms is proposed to analyze an all-sky map (ASM) obtained using the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. An attempt was made to simulate a one-year ASM from a short-exposure ASM generated from one-week observation by applying three ML based image processing algorithms: dictionary learning, U-net, and Noise2Noise. Although the inference based on ML is less clear compared to standard likelihood analysis, the quality of the ASM was generally improved. In particular, the complicated diffuse emission associated with the galactic plane was successfully reproduced only from one-week observation data to mimic a ground truth (GT) generated from a one-year observation. Such ML algorithms can be implemented relatively easily to provide sharper images without various assumptions of emission models. In contrast, large deviations between simulated ML maps and GT map were found, which are attributed to the significant temporal variability of blazar-type active galactic nuclei (AGNs) over a year. Thus, the proposed ML methods are viable not only to improve the image quality of an ASM, but also to detect variable sources, such as AGNs, algorithmically, i.e., without human bias. Moreover, we argue that this approach is widely applicable to ASMs obtained by various other missions; thus, it has the potential to examine giant structures and transient events, both of which are rarely found in pointing observations.

astro-ph.HE↗

Origin of Galactic Spurs: New Insight from Radio/X-ray All-sky Maps

In this study, we analyze giant Galactic spurs seen in both radio and X-ray all-sky maps to reveal their origins. We discuss two types of giant spurs: one is the brightest diffuse emission near the map's center, which is likely to be related to Fermi bubbles (NPSs/SPSs, north/south polar spurs, respectively), and the other is weaker spurs that coincide positionally with local spiral arms in our Galaxy (LAS, local arm spur). Our analysis finds that the X-ray emissions, not only from the NPS but from the SPS are closer to the Galactic center by ~5 deg compared with the corresponding radio emission. Furthermore, larger offsets of 10-20 deg are observed in the LASs; however, they are attributed to different physical origins. Moreover, the temperature of the X-ray emission is kT ~ 0.2 keV for the LAS, which is systematically lower than those of the NPS and SPS (kT ~ 0.3 keV) but consistent with the typical temperature of Galactic halo gas. We argue that the radio/X-ray offset and the slightly higher temperature of the NPS/SPS X-ray gas are due to the shock compression/heating of halo gas during a significant Galactic explosion in the past, whereas the enhanced X-ray emission from the LAS may be due to the weak condensation of halo gas in the arm potential or star formation activity without shock heating.

astro-ph.HE↗

Characterization of SiPM Optical Crosstalk and its Dependence on the Protection-Window Thickness

Owing to their high photon detection efficiency, compactness, and low operating voltage, silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) have found widespread application in many fields, including medical imaging, particle physics, and high-energy astrophysics. However, the so-called optical crosstalk (OCT) phenomenon of SiPMs is a major drawback to their adoption. Secondary infrared photons are emitted inside the silicon substrate spontaneously after the avalanche process caused by the primary incident photons, and they can be detected by the surrounding photodiodes. As a result large output pulses that are equivalent to multiple photoelectrons are observed with a certain probability (OCT rate), even for single-photon events, making the charge resolution worse and increasing the rate of accidental triggers by single-photon events in applications such as atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes. In our previous study, we found that the OCT rates of single-channel SiPMs was dependent on the thickness of their protection resin window, which may be explained by photon propagation inside the resin. In the present study, we measured the OCT rate of a multichannel SiPM and those of neighboring channels caused by photon propagation. Both OCT rates were found to be dependent on the protection-window thickness. We report our OCT measurements of a multichannel SiPM and comparisons with a ray-tracing simulation.

astro-ph.IM↗

Development of a UV-transparent Lens Array for Enlarging the Effective Area of Multichannel SiPMs

We developed a UV-transparent lens array that can increase the photon detection efficiency of a silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) array comprising of 64 pixels ($3\times3$ mm$^2$ each) and 0.2-mm gaps. Through the plano-convex spherical lens on each $3.2\times3.2$ mm$^2$ region, we showed that the loss of photon detection efficiency due to the pixel gaps could be recovered as the incident photons get concentrated on the sensitive regions of the SiPM array. By using a prototype lens array, we achieved approximately 10%-30% relative increase in photon detection efficiency in our target angles of incidence of 30-60 deg.

astro-ph.IM↗

Characterization of the distribution of the Llyαemitters in the 53W002 field at z = 2.4

We present the results of our wide-field narrow band imaging of the field around the radio galaxy 53W002 at z = 2.390 with Subaru/Suprime-Cam. A custom made filter NB413 centered at 4140 Å with the width of 83 Å is used to observe the 31' x 24' area around the radio galaxy. We detected 204 Lyαemitters (LAEs) at z = 2.4 with a rest frame equivalent width larger than 25 Å to the depth of 26 AB mag (in NB413). The entire LAE population in the 53W002 field has an average number density and distributions of equivalent width and size that are similar to those of other fields at z ~ 2. We identify a significant high density region (53W002F-HDR) that spreads over ~ 5' x 4' near 53W002 where the LAE number density is nearly four times as large as the average of the entire field. Using the probability distribution function of density fluctuation, we evaluate the rareness probability of the 53W002F-HDR to be 0.9^{+2.4}_{-0.62}%, which corresponds to a moderately rich structure. No notable environmental dependency at the comoving scale of 10 Mpc is found for the distributions of the Lyαequivalent width and luminosity in the field. We also detected 4 Lyαblobs (LABs), one of which is newly discovered. They are all found to be located in the rims of high density regions. The biased location and unique morphologies in Lyαsuggest that galaxy interaction play a key role in their formation.

astro-ph.CO↗

A Keck/DEIMOS Spectroscopy of Lyman Alpha Blobs at Redshift z=3.1

We present the results of an intermediate resolution (~2 angstrom) spectroscopy of a sample of 37 candidate Lyman alpha blobs and emitters at redshift z=3.1 using the DEIMOS spectrograph on the 10 m Keck telescope. The emission lines are detected for all the 37 objects and have variety in their line profiles. The Lyman alpha velocity widths (FWHM) of the 28 objects with higher quality spectra, measured by fitting a single Gaussian profile, are in the range of 150 - 1700 km/s and correlate with the Lyman alpha spatial extents. All the 12 Lyman alpha blobs (>16 arcsec^2) have large velocity widths of > 500 km/s. While there are several possible physical interpretations of the Lyman alpha velocity widths (motion of gravitationally-bound gas clouds, inflows, merging of clumps, or outflows from superwinds), the large velocity widths of the Lyman alpha blobs suggest that they are the sites of massive galaxy formation. If we assume gravitationally-bound gas clouds, the dynamical masses of the Lyman alpha blobs are estimated to be ~10^12 - 10^13 Msun. Even for the case of outflows, the outflow velocities are likely to be the same order of the rotation velocities as inferred from the observational evidence for local starburst galaxies.

astro-ph↗