7,219 research outputs found
Plasmon Evolution and Charge-Density Wave Suppression in Potassium Intercalated Tantalum Diselenide
We have investigated the influence of potassium intercalation on the
formation of the charge-density wave (CDW) instability in 2H-tantalum
diselenide by means of Electron Energy-Loss Spectroscopy and density functional
theory. Our observations are consistent with a filling of the conduction band
as indicated by a substantial decrease of the plasma frequency in experiment
and theory. In addition, elastic scattering clearly points to a destruction of
the CDW upon intercalation as can be seen by a vanishing of the corresponding
superstructures. This is accompanied by a new superstructure, which can be
attributed to the intercalated potassium. Based on the behavior of the c-axis
upon intercalation we argue in favor of interlayer-sites for the alkali-metal
and that the lattice remains in the 2H-modification
Semi-Automated SVG Programming via Direct Manipulation
Direct manipulation interfaces provide intuitive and interactive features to
a broad range of users, but they often exhibit two limitations: the built-in
features cannot possibly cover all use cases, and the internal representation
of the content is not readily exposed. We believe that if direct manipulation
interfaces were to (a) use general-purpose programs as the representation
format, and (b) expose those programs to the user, then experts could customize
these systems in powerful new ways and non-experts could enjoy some of the
benefits of programmable systems.
In recent work, we presented a prototype SVG editor called Sketch-n-Sketch
that offered a step towards this vision. In that system, the user wrote a
program in a general-purpose lambda-calculus to generate a graphic design and
could then directly manipulate the output to indirectly change design
parameters (i.e. constant literals) in the program in real-time during the
manipulation. Unfortunately, the burden of programming the desired
relationships rested entirely on the user.
In this paper, we design and implement new features for Sketch-n-Sketch that
assist in the programming process itself. Like typical direct manipulation
systems, our extended Sketch-n-Sketch now provides GUI-based tools for drawing
shapes, relating shapes to each other, and grouping shapes together. Unlike
typical systems, however, each tool carries out the user's intention by
transforming their general-purpose program. This novel, semi-automated
programming workflow allows the user to rapidly create high-level, reusable
abstractions in the program while at the same time retaining direct
manipulation capabilities. In future work, our approach may be extended with
more graphic design features or realized for other application domains.Comment: In 29th ACM User Interface Software and Technology Symposium (UIST
2016
Avalanches in a Bose-Einstein condensate
Collisional avalanches are identified to be responsible for an 8-fold
increase of the initial loss rate of a large 87-Rb condensate. We show that the
collisional opacity of an ultra-cold gas exhibits a critical value. When
exceeded, losses due to inelastic collisions are substantially enhanced. Under
these circumstances, reaching the hydrodynamic regime in conventional BEC
experiments is highly questionable.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, 1 tabl
Caby Photometry of the Hyades: Comparisons to the Field Stars
Intermediate-band photometry of the Hyades cluster on the Caby system is
presented for dwarf stars ranging from spectral type A through late K. A mean
hk, b-y relation is constructed using only single stars without anomalous
atmospheres and compared to the field stars of the solar neighborhood. For the
F dwarfs, the Hyades relation defines an approximate LOWER bound in the
two-color diagram, consistent with an [Fe/H] between +0.10 and +0.15. These
index-color diagrams follow the common convention of presenting stars with
highest abundance at the bottom of the plot although the index values for the
metal-rich stars are numerically larger. For field F dwarfs in the range [Fe/H]
between +0.4 and -1.0, [Fe/H] = -5.6 delta-hk + 0.125, with no evidence for a
color dependence in the slope. For the G and K dwarfs, the Hyades mean relation
crosses the field star distribution in the two-color diagram, defining an
approximate UPPER bound for the local disk stars. Stars found above the Hyades
stars fall in at least one of three categories: [Fe/H] below -0.7, [Fe/H] above
that of the Hyades, or chromospherically active. It is concluded that, contrary
to the predictions of model atmospheres, the hk index for cool dwarfs at a
given color hits a maximum value for stars below solar composition and, with
increasing [Fe/H] above some critical value, declines. This trend is
consistent, however, with the predictions from synthetic indices based upon
much narrower Ca filters where the crossover is caused by the metallicity
sensitivity of b-y.Comment: 13 pages, 9 eps figures, 1 tex table, 1 ascii tabl
Kernel Sequential Monte Carlo
We propose kernel sequential Monte Carlo (KSMC), a framework for sampling from static target densities. KSMC is a family of sequential Monte Carlo algorithms that are based on building emulator models of the current particle system in a reproducing kernel Hilbert space. We here focus on modelling nonlinear covariance structure and gradients of the target. The emulator's geometry is adaptively updated and subsequently used to inform local proposals. Unlike in adaptive Markov chain Monte Carlo, continuous adaptation does not compromise convergence of the sampler. KSMC combines the strengths of sequental Monte Carlo and kernel methods: superior performance for multimodal targets and the ability to estimate model evidence as compared to Markov chain Monte Carlo, and the emulator's ability to represent targets that exhibit high degrees of nonlinearity. As KSMC does not require access to target gradients, it is particularly applicable on targets whose gradients are unknown or prohibitively expensive. We describe necessary tuning details and demonstrate the benefits of the the proposed methodology on a series of challenging synthetic and real-world examples
Characterisation of an n-type segmented BEGe detector
A four-fold segmented n-type point-contact "Broad Energy" high-purity
germanium detector, SegBEGe, has been characterised at the Max-Planck-Institut
f\"ur Physik in Munich. The main characteristics of the detector are described
and first measurements concerning the detector properties are presented. The
possibility to use mirror pulses to determine source positions is discussed as
well as charge losses observed close to the core contact
Possible Stellar Metallicity Enhancements from the Accretion of Planets
A number of recently discovered extrasolar planet candidates have
surprisingly small orbits, which may indicate that considerable orbital
migration takes place in protoplanetary systems. A natural consequence of
orbital migration is for a series of planets to be accreted, destroyed, and
then thoroughly mixed into the convective envelope of the central star. We
study the ramifications of planet accretion for the final main sequence
metallicity of the star. If maximum disk lifetimes are on the order of 10 Myr,
stars with masses near 1 solar mass are predicted to have virtually no
metallicity enhancement. On the other hand, early F and late A type stars with
masses of 1.5--2.0 solar masses can experience significant metallicity
enhancements due to their considerably smaller convection zones during the
first 10 Myr of pre-main-sequence evolution. We show that the metallicities of
an aggregate of unevolved F stars are consistent with an average star accreting
about 2 Jupiter-mass planets from a protoplanetary disk having a 10 Myr
dispersal time.Comment: 14 pages, AAS LaTeX, 3 figures, accepted to ApJ Letter
The large scale dynamics of the outer heliosphere and the long-term modulation of galactic cosmic rays
The network of cosmic ray observatories reaching across the heliosphere has given new insight into the process of solar modulation, establishing that the decreases occur principally in the outer heliosphere and are produced by interplanetary flow systems; that the hysteresis effects appear to be produced by changes in the rigidity dependence of the diffusion coefficient and that the predicted effects on the cosmic ray gradients associated with the reversal of the solar magnetic field polarity are not observed
Computer modeling of large asteroid impacts into continental and oceanic sites: Atmospheric, cratering, and ejecta dynamics
Numerous impact cratering events have occurred on the Earth during the last several billion years that have seriously affected our planet and its atmosphere. The largest cratering events, which were caused by asteroids and comets with kinetic energies equivalent to tens of millions of megatons of TNT, have distributed substantial quantities of terrestrial and extraterrestrial material over much or all of the Earth. In order to study a large-scale impact event in detail, computer simulations were completed that model the passage of a 10 km-diameter asteroid through the Earth's atmosphere and the subsequent cratering and ejecta dynamics associated with impact of the asteroid into two different targets, i.e., an oceanic site and a continental site. The calcuations were designed to broadly represent giant impact events that have occurred on the Earth since its formation and specifically represent an impact cratering event proposed to have occurred at the end of Cretaceous time. Calculation of the passage of the asteroid through a U.S. Standard Atmosphere showed development of a strong bow shock that expanded radially outward. Behind the shock front was a region of highly shock compressed and intensely heated air. Behind the asteroid, rapid expansion of this shocked air created a large region of very low density that also expanded away from the impact area. Calculations of the cratering events in both the continental and oceanic targets were carried to 120 s. Despite geologic differences, impacts in both targets developed comparable dynamic flow fields, and by approx. 29 s similar-sized transient craters approx. 39 km deep and approx. 62 km across had formed. For all practical purposes, the atmosphere was nearly completely removed from the impact area for tens of seconds, i.e., air pressures were less than fractions of a bar out to ranges of over 50 km. Consequently, much of the asteroid and target materials were ejected upward into a near vacuum. Effects of secondary volcanism and return of the ocean over hot oceanic crater floor could also be expected to add substantial solid and vaporized material to the atmosphere, but these conditions were not studied
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