24,194 research outputs found
Reconstruction of potential energy profiles from multiple rupture time distributions
We explore the mathematical and numerical aspects of reconstructing a
potential energy profile of a molecular bond from its rupture time
distribution. While reliable reconstruction of gross attributes, such as the
height and the width of an energy barrier, can be easily extracted from a
single first passage time (FPT) distribution, the reconstruction of finer
structure is ill-conditioned. More careful analysis shows the existence of
optimal bond potential amplitudes (represented by an effective Peclet number)
and initial bond configurations that yield the most efficient numerical
reconstruction of simple potentials. Furthermore, we show that reconstruction
of more complex potentials containing multiple minima can be achieved by
simultaneously using two or more measured FPT distributions, obtained under
different physical conditions. For example, by changing the effective potential
energy surface by known amounts, additional measured FPT distributions improve
the reconstruction. We demonstrate the possibility of reconstructing potentials
with multiple minima, motivate heuristic rules-of-thumb for optimizing the
reconstruction, and discuss further applications and extensions.Comment: 20 pages, 9 figure
Spin-Wave Lifetimes Throughout the Brillouin Zone
We use a neutron spin-echo method with eV resolution to determine the
lifetimes of spin waves in the prototypical antiferromagnet MnF over the
entire Brillouin zone. A theory based on the interaction of magnons with
longitudinal spin fluctuations provides an excellent, parameter-free
description of the data, except at the lowest momenta and temperatures. This is
surprising, given the prominence of alternative theories based on magnon-magnon
interactions in the literature. The results and technique open up a new avenue
for the investigation of fundamental concepts in magnetism. The technique also
allows measurement of the lifetimes of other elementary excitations (such as
lattice vibrations) throughout the Brillouin zone.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure
Momentum-resolved electron-phonon interaction in lead determined by neutron resonance spin-echo spectroscopy
Neutron resonance spin-echo spectroscopy was used to monitor the temperature
evolution of the linewidths of transverse acoustic phonons in lead across the
superconducting transition temperature, , over an extended range of the
Brillouin zone. For phonons with energies below the superconducting energy gap,
a linewidth reduction of maximum amplitude eV was observed below
. The electron-phonon contribution to the phonon lifetime extracted from
these data is in satisfactory overall agreement with {\it ab-initio}
lattice-dynamical calculations, but significant deviations are found
Energy Gaps and Kohn Anomalies in Elemental Superconductors
The momentum and temperature dependence of the lifetimes of acoustic phonons
in the elemental superconductors Pb and Nb was determined by resonant spin-echo
spectroscopy with neutrons. In both elements, the superconducting energy gap
extracted from these measurements was found to converge with sharp anomalies
originating from Fermi-surface nesting (Kohn anomalies) at low temperatures.
The results indicate electron many-body correlations beyond the standard
theoretical framework for conventional superconductivity. A possible mechanism
is the interplay between superconductivity and spin- or charge-density-wave
fluctuations, which may induce dynamical nesting of the Fermi surface
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User interface development and software environments : the Chiron-1 system
User interface development systems for software environments have to cope with the broad, extensible and dynamic character of such environments, must support internal and external integration, and should enable various software development strategies. The Chiron-1 system adapts and extends key ideas from current research in user interface development systems to address the particular demands of software environments. Important Chiron-1 concepts are: separation of concerns, dynamism, and open architecture. We discuss the requirements on such user interface development systems, present the Chiron-1 architecture and a scenario of its usage, detail the concepts it embodies, and report on its design and prototype implementation
Time-dependent correlations in quantum magnets at finite temperature
In this article we investigate the time dependence of the gap mode of copper
nitrate at various temperatures. We combine state-of-the-art theoretical
calculations with high precision neutron resonance spin-echo measurements to
understand the anomalous decoherence effects found previously in this material.
It is shown that the time domain offers a complementary view on this
phenomenon, which allows us to directly compare experimental data and
theoretical predictions without the need of further intensive data analysis,
such as (de)convolution.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure
Neutron spin-echo study of the critical dynamics of spin-5/2 antiferromagnets in two and three dimensions
We report a neutron spin-echo study of the critical dynamics in the
antiferromagnets MnF and RbMnF with three-dimensional (3D) and
two-dimensional (2D) spin systems, respectively, in zero external field. Both
compounds are Heisenberg antiferromagnets with a small uniaxial anisotropy
resulting from dipolar spin-spin interactions, which leads to a crossover in
the critical dynamics close to the N\'eel temperature, . By taking
advantage of the energy resolution of the spin-echo
spectrometer, we have determined the dynamical critical exponents for both
longitudinal and transverse fluctuations. In MnF, both the characteristic
temperature for crossover from 3D Heisenberg to 3D Ising behavior and the
exponents in both regimes are consistent with predictions from the
dynamical scaling theory. The amplitude ratio of longitudinal and transverse
fluctuations also agrees with predictions. In RbMnF, the critical
dynamics crosses over from the expected 2D Heisenberg behavior for
to a scaling regime with exponent , which has not been predicted
by theory and may indicate the influence of long-range dipolar interactions
Chaotic features in classical scattering processes between ions and atoms
A numerical study has been done of collisions between protons and hydrogen
atoms, treated as classical particles, at low impact velocities. The presence
of chaos has been looked for by investigating the processes with standard
techniques of the chaotic--scattering theory. The evidence of a sharp
transition from nearly regular scattering to fully developed chaos has been
found at the lower velocities.Comment: 10 pages, Latex, 3 figures (available upon request to the authors),
submitted to Journal of Physics
Observation of plaquette fluctuations in the spin-1/2 honeycomb lattice
Quantum spin liquids are materials that feature quantum entangled spin
correlations and avoid magnetic long-range order at T = 0 K. Particularly
interesting are two-dimensional honeycomb spin lattices where a plethora of
exotic quantum spin liquids have been predicted. Here, we experimentally study
an effective S=1/2 Heisenberg honeycomb lattice with competing nearest and
next-nearest neighbor interactions. We demonstrate that YbBr avoids order
down to at least T=100 mK and features a dynamic spin-spin correlation function
with broad continuum scattering typical of quantum spin liquids near a quantum
critical point. The continuum in the spin spectrum is consistent with plaquette
type fluctuations predicted by theory. Our study is the experimental
demonstration that strong quantum fluctuations can exist on the honeycomb
lattice even in the absence of Kitaev-type interactions, and opens a new
perspective on quantum spin liquids.Comment: 32 pages, 7 Figure
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