We discuss the classic theorem according to which a gravitational lens always produces at least one image with a magnification greater than unity. This theorem seems to contradict the conservation of total flux from a lensed source. The standard solution to this paradox is based on the exact definition of the reference ‘unlensed’ situation, in which the lens mass can either be removed or smooth...

In low-density or high-temperature plasmas, Compton scattering is the dominant process responsible for energy transport. Kompaneets in 1957 derived a non-linear degenerate parabolic equation for the photon energy distribution. In this paper we consider a simplified model obtained by neglecting diffusion of the photon number density in a particular way. We obtain a non-linear hyperbolic PDE with...

We demonstrate a robust fiber-optics-based fluorescence detector, fully integrated on an atom chip, which detects single atoms propagating in a guide with 66% efficiency. We characterize the detector performance and the atom flux by analyzing the photon statistics. Near-perfect photon antibunching proves that single atoms are detected, and allows us to study the second-order intensity correlati...

We have developed a quantitative theory of resonant tunneling of magnetic flux between discrete macroscopically distinct quantum states in superconducting quantum interference device systems. The theory is based on the standard density-matrix approach. Its elements include the discussion of the two different relaxation mechanisms that exist for the double-well potential, and description of the ...

A pre-focused X-ray beam at 12 keV and 9 keV has been used to illuminate a single-bounce capillary in order to generate a high-flux X-ray microbeam. The BioCAT undulator X-ray beamline 18ID at the Advanced Photon Source was used to generate the pre-focused beam containing 1.2 x 10(13) photons s(-1) using a sagittal-focusing double-crystal monochromator and a bimorph mirror. The capillary entran...

We study the flux tube profile in the baryonic system in full QCD at finite temperature on Nt = 8 lattice. We fix the maximally Abelian gauge and measure the monopole and the photon parts of the Abelian action density, the color electric field and the monopole current on both sides of the finite temperature transition. We demonstrate the disappearance of the flux tube in the high temperature ph...

We examine the 0.1 to 10.0 keV X-ray spectrum of the bright nuclear LINER galaxy NGC 1052, one of two elliptical galaxies known to contain a luminous H 2 O maser. The observed 2.0 − 10.0 keV spectrum is unusually flat (photon index Γ ∼ 0.2) and best described as intrinsically power-law shaped nuclear flux that is either (1) attenuated by a complex absorber with ∼ 70% of the nuclear flux absorbe...