New constraints on R-parity violation from proton stability

We derive stringent upper bounds on all the $(\lambda''_{ijk} \mu_l)$-type combinations from the consideration of proton stability, where $\lambda''_{ijk}$ are baryon-number-violating trilinear couplings and $\mu_l$ are lepton-number-violating bilinear mass parameters in a R-parity-violating supersymmetric theory.Comment: 4 pages, Latex, uses axodraw.sty (in the revised version all combinations of the form $\lambda"_{ijk}\mu_l$ have been constrained, using one-loop graphs) To appear in Phys. Lett.

Cobb-Douglas Based Firm Production Model under Fuzzy Environment and its Solution using Geometric Programming

In this paper, we consider Cobb-Douglas production function based model in a firm under fuzzy environment, and its solution technique by making use of geometric programming. A firm may use many finite inputs such as labour, capital, coal, iron etc. to produce one single output. It is well known that the primary intention of using production function is to determine maximum output for any given combination of inputs. Also, the firm may gain competitive advantages if it can buy and sell in any quantities at exogenously given prices, independent of initial production decisions. On the other hand, in reality, constraints and/or objective functions in an optimization model may not be crisp quantities. These are usually imprecise in nature and are better represented by using fuzzy sets. Again, geometric programming has many advantages over other optimization techniques. In this paper, Cobb-Douglas production function based models are solved by applying geometric programming technique under fuzzy environment. Illustrative numerical examples further demonstrates the feasibility and efficiency of proposed model under fuzzy environment. Conclusions are drawn at last

Epitaxial Perovskite Superlattices For Voltage Tunable Device Applications

Perovskite based artificial superlattices has recently been extensively investigated due to the immense promise in various device applications. The major applications include non-volatile random access memories, microwave devices, phase shifters voltage tunable capacitor applications etc. In this thesis we have taken up the investigation of two different types of symmetric superlattices, viz. BaZrO3/BaTiO3 and SrTiO3/BaZrO3, with possible applicability to voltage tunable devices. Chapter 1 deals with the introduction to the perovskite based functional oxides. Their various applications and the specific requirements for voltage tunable device applications has also been discussed in detail. The basic properties of BaTiO3 and SrTiO3, which are well documented in the literature, have been reviewed. The fundamental physics of interfacial interactions that influence the properties of superlattices is also discussed using existing models. The reason behind the choice of constructing artificial superlattices of BaZrO3/BaTiO3 and SrTiO3/BaZrO3 and the motivation behind this thesis is outlined. Chapter 2 gives a brief description of the basic characterization techniques that has been employed for studying the thin films. These include pulsed laser deposition of oxide thin films, structural characterization using X-Ray Diffraction and Atomic Force Microscope and electrical characterization of thin film metal-insulator-metal structures. The basic principle behind the techniques has also been included in various sections of this chapter. Chapter 3 introduces the reader to basic properties of the less studied perovskite material BaZrO3, one of the parent components of Ba(Zr,Ti)O3 based ceramics for high frequency applications. BaZrO3 is the common material in both the types of superlattices studied in this thesis. Initially the growth of polycrystalline BaZrO3 on (111)Pt/TiO2/SiO2/Si has been elaborated in this chapter. After characterizing the crystalline quality of the films and optimizing the growth conditions, epitaxial BaZrO3 films has been grown on (001) SrTiO3 substates. Dielectric properties of epitaxial BaZrO3 film have been measured as a function of temperature and frequencies. The electric field tunability of BaZrO3 films has been calculated from capacitance-voltage data for comparison with superlattice structures. Chapter 4 deals with the basic considerations involving growth of artificial superlattices and multilayers using pulsed laser ablation technique. The fundamental differences between formation of multilayers and superlattices have also been discussed, and the basic considerations for optimizing growth parameters are analyzed in this chapter. X-ray θ-2θ and φ-scans have been performed to investigate crystal quality of superlattices. The growth rates calculated from the satellite reflections in X-ray θ-2θ scans indicate fair degree of control over the growth and φ-scans confirms epitaxial cube-on cube growth of both types of superlattices. Atomic Force microscopy has been used to hcaracterize the film quality and surface morphology of superlattice structures and it has been found that the films have a very smooth surface with rms roughness of the order of few nanometres. Chapter5 deals with the detailed electrical characterization of both types of superlattices structures. Dielectric response showed nearly temperature invariance for both types of superlattices. Polarization measurements show that the heterostructures are in paraelectric state. Even for paraelectric/ferroelectric BaZrO3/BaTiO3 superlattices, stress induced stabilization of the paraelectric state is exhibited in low period superlattices. Paraelectric/paraelectric-SrTiO3/BaZrO3 superlattices exhibited a tunability of ~20% at intermediate modulation periods and an extremely stable dissipation factor with respect to temperature which is very attractive for device application point of view. A maximum tunability of ~40% has been observed for lowest period BaZrO3/BaTiO3 superlattice. Relatively high Quality Factors has been observed for both type of superlattices and their dependence on the modulation periods has been analyzed. Dielectric relaxation data showed that Maxwell-Wanger type of behaviour is exhibited but the presence of a conductance component G had to be realized in the equivalent circuit representation, which originates from the observation of a square law dependence of the alternating current on the frequency. Finally DC electrical characteristics were investigated as a function of temperature to determine the type of conduction mechanism that is involoved. The data has been analyzed using existing theories of high field conduction in thin dielectric films and it has been found that at different temperature ranges, the conduction mechanism varied from bulk limited Poole-Frenkel to Space Charge limited conduction. The activation energy calculation indicate that the physical processes responsible for dielectric relaxation and dc conduction are identical

GPTCloneBench: A comprehensive benchmark of semantic clones and cross-language clones using GPT-3 model and SemanticCloneBench

With the emergence of Machine Learning, there has been a surge in leveraging its capabilities for problem-solving across various domains. In the code clone realm, the identification of type-4 or semantic clones has emerged as a crucial yet challenging task. Researchers aim to utilize Machine Learning to tackle this challenge, often relying on the BigCloneBench dataset. However, it's worth noting that BigCloneBench, originally not designed for semantic clone detection, presents several limitations that hinder its suitability as a comprehensive training dataset for this specific purpose. Furthermore, CLCDSA dataset suffers from a lack of reusable examples aligning with real-world software systems, rendering it inadequate for cross-language clone detection approaches. In this work, we present a comprehensive semantic clone and cross-language clone benchmark, GPTCloneBench by exploiting SemanticCloneBench and OpenAI's GPT-3 model. In particular, using code fragments from SemanticCloneBench as sample inputs along with appropriate prompt engineering for GPT-3 model, we generate semantic and cross-language clones for these specific fragments and then conduct a combination of extensive manual analysis, tool-assisted filtering, functionality testing and automated validation in building the benchmark. From 79,928 clone pairs of GPT-3 output, we created a benchmark with 37,149 true semantic clone pairs, 19,288 false semantic pairs(Type-1/Type-2), and 20,770 cross-language clones across four languages (Java, C, C#, and Python). Our benchmark is 15-fold larger than SemanticCloneBench, has more functional code examples for software systems and programming language support than CLCDSA, and overcomes BigCloneBench's qualities, quantification, and language variety limitations.Comment: Accepted in 39th IEEE International Conference on Software Maintenance and Evolution(ICSME 2023

Quantum phase transition in few-layer NbSe2_2 probed through quantized conductance fluctuations

We present the first observation of dynamically modulated quantum phase transition (QPT) between two distinct charge density wave (CDW) phases in 2-dimensional 2H-NbSe$_2$. There is recent spectroscopic evidence for the presence of these two quantum phases, but its evidence in bulk measurements remained elusive. We studied suspended, ultra-thin \nbse devices fabricated on piezoelectric substrates - with tunable flakes thickness, disorder level and strain. We find a surprising evolution of the conductance fluctuation spectra across the CDW temperature: the conductance fluctuates between two precise values, separated by a quantum of conductance. These quantized fluctuations disappear for disordered and on-substrate devices. With the help of mean-field calculations, these observations can be explained as to arise from dynamical phase transition between the two CDW states. To affirm this idea, we vary the lateral strain across the device via piezoelectric medium and map out the phase diagram near the quantum critical point (QCP). The results resolve a long-standing mystery of the anomalously large spectroscopic gap in NbSe$_2$

Understanding the phase stability in multi-principal-component AlCuFeMn alloy

Method(s) that can reliably predict phase evolution across thermodynamic parameter space, especially in complex systems are of critical significance in academia as well as in the manufacturing industry. In the present work, phase stability in equimolar AlCuFeMn multi-principal-component alloy (MPCA) was predicted using complementary first-principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations, and ab-initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations. Temperature evolution of completely disordered, partially ordered, and completely ordered phases was examined based on Gibbs free energy. Configurational, electronic, vibrational, and lattice mismatch entropies were considered to compute the Gibbs free energy of the competing phases. Additionally, elemental segregation was studied using ab-initio molecular dynamics (AIMD). The predicted results at 300K align well with room-temperature experimental observations using x-ray diffraction, scanning and transmission electron microscopy on a sample prepared using commercially available pure elements. The adopted method could help in predicting plausible phases in other MPCA systems with complex phase stability

Terahertz sensing of reduced graphene oxide nanosheets using sub-wavelength dipole cavities

Because of extraordinary optoelectronic properties, two-dimensional (2D) materials are the subject of intense study in recent times. Hence, we investigate sub-wavelength dipole cavities (hole array) as a sensing platform for the detection of 2D reduced graphene oxide (r-GO) using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS). The r-GO is obtained by reducing graphene oxide (GO) via Hummer's method. Its structural characteristics are verified using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy. We also assessed the morphology and chemistry of r-GO nanosheets by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDAX), and Fourier Transformed Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Further, we studied the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) characteristics of r-GO nanosheets hybridized dipole cavities using THz-TDS by varying the r-GO thickness on top of the dipole cavities, since these cavities are well known for sustaining strong SPRs. Based on these, we experimentally obtained a sensitivity of 12 GHz/mu m for the porous r-GO film. Thus, a modification in SPR characteristics can be employed towards the identification and quantification of r-GO by suitably embedding it on an array of dipole cavities. Moreover, we have adopted a generic approach that can be expanded to sense other 2D materials like Boron Nitride (BN), phosphorene, MoS2, etc., leading to the development of novel THz nanophotonic sensing devices

Momentum-dependent contributions to the gravitational coupling of neutrinos in a medium

When neutrinos travel through a normal matter medium, the electron neutrinos couple differently to gravity compared to the other neutrinos, due to the presence of electrons in the medium and the absence of the other charged leptons. We calculate the momentum-dependent part of the matter-induced gravitational couplings of the neutrinos under such conditions, which arise at order $g^2/M^4_W$, and determine their contribution to the neutrino dispersion relation in the presence of a gravitational potential $\phi^{\mathrm{ext}}$. These new contributions vanish for the muon and tau neutrinos. For electron neutrinos with momentum $K$, they are of the order of the usual Wolfenstein term times the factor $(K^2/M^2_W)\phi^{\mathrm{ext}}$, for high energy neutrinos. In environments where the gravitational potential is substantial, such as those in the vicinity of Active Galactic Nuclei, they could be the dominant term in the neutrino dispersion relation. They must also be taken into account in the analysis of possible violations of the Equivalence Principle in the neutrino sector, in experimental settings involving high energy neutrinos traveling through a matter background.Comment: Minor corrections in the references; one reference adde

Determination of Apposite Plant Regeneration Protocol for Several Cucurbits through Direct and Indirect Organogenesis

A competent and reproducible practice for the invitro shoot regeneration of Cucurbita maxima,C.pepo and Cucumissativus was developed from various explants through direct and indirect organogenesis.InC. maxima, between cotyledon and leaf segment, cotyledon was found to be most responsive for callus induction in MS medium augmented with 0.5 mg·L-1 2,4 dichlorophenoxy acetic acid (2,4-D) plus 100 mg·L-1 casein hydrolysate and 0.5 mg·L-1 2,4-D plus 15% coconut water and for leaf segment it was on MS medium containing 2.5 mg·L-1 2,4-D. Comparing the 2 explants it was found that leaf segment was most suitable for callus induction in C. maxima. For massive multiplication of C. pepomericlones shoot tip and nodal cutting were used. MS medium containing 3.0 mg·L-1 6-benzyl aminopurine plus 0.5 mg·L-1gibberellic acid (GA3) was found most effective for shoot regeneration and 1.0 mg·L-1 IBA was found most effective for rooting. In this trait cv. Bulum was more responsive than cv. Rumbo. On the other hand, to generate virus free plantlets of C. sativus, different concentrations of kinetin were used, and 1.5 mg·L-1 KIN shown the best performance for primary culture establishment. For shoot multiplication, 1.0 mg·L-1 BAP and 2.0 mg·L-1 BAP plus 0.5 mg·L-1 KIN containing medium shown best result. Subsequently, 2.0 mg·L-1 BAP plus 0.5 mg·L-1 KIN was best composition for root induction. Our report demonstrated comprehensive protocols and variability in explants, growth regulator response in shoot regeneration potential of in different cucurbit plants