25,601 research outputs found
Measuring thermodynamic length
Thermodynamic length is a metric distance between equilibrium thermodynamic
states. Among other interesting properties, this metric asymptotically bounds
the dissipation induced by a finite time transformation of a thermodynamic
system. It is also connected to the Jensen-Shannon divergence, Fisher
information and Rao's entropy differential metric. Therefore, thermodynamic
length is of central interest in understanding matter out-of-equilibrium. In
this paper, we will consider how to define thermodynamic length for a small
system described by equilibrium statistical mechanics and how to measure
thermodynamic length within a computer simulation. Surprisingly, Bennett's
classic acceptance ratio method for measuring free energy differences also
measures thermodynamic length.Comment: 4 pages; Typos correcte
Bringing E-Government into the Classroom: A Case of E-Commerce Education
The paper discusses a novel educational initiative in e-commerce pedagogy where students work on an e-government project. The paper describes a two-semester joint e-government project conducted by the town of Amherst, NY, and the State University of New York at Buffalo. During the first semester, students in a graduate e-commerce course in the School of Management were instructed to identify and analyze management issues valuable for small or middle size local government. In the second semester graduate students from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering designed and implemented prototypes of three e-government portals: an on-line action site for governmental procurement (E-Procurement), a portal for reservation of community recreation facilities (E-Recreation), and a portal for online dog registration (E-DogRegistration) combining a central registry of dog owners with distributed veterinarian databases. The objective of this initiative is twofold. First, it saves the local government resources by eliminating duplication of services and by using students as developers. Second, it provides students with real life hands-on experience. The paper discusses both the technical issues involved in the implementation of the project, and the management issues that need to be taken into account to enhance the e-commerce experience for the ordinary citizen and local governments
Solid-state metathesis reactions under pressure: A rapid route to crystalline gallium nitride
High pressure chemistry has traditionally involved applying pressure and increasing temperature until conditions become thermodynamically favorable for phase transitions or reactions to occur. Here, high pressure alone is used as a starting point for carrying out rapid, self-propagating metathesis reactions. By initiating chemical reactions under pressure, crystalline phases, such as gallium nitride, can be synthesized which are inaccessible when initiated from ambient conditions. The single-phase gallium nitride made by metathesis reactions under pressure displays significant photoluminescence intensity in the blue/ultraviolet region. The absence of size or surface-state effects in the photoluminescence spectra show that the crystallites are of micron dimensions. The narrow lines of the x-ray diffraction patterns and scanning electron microscopy confirm this conclusion. Brightly luminescent thin films can be readily grown using pulsed laser deposition
On the origin of the various types of radio emission in GRS 1915+105
We investigate the association between the radio ``plateau'' states and the
large superluminal flares in GRS 1915+105 and propose a qualitative scenario to
explain this association. We identify several candidate superluminal flare
events from available monitoring data on this source and analyze the
contemporaneous RXTE pointed observations. We detect a strong correlation
between the average X-ray flux during the ``plateau'' state and the total
energy emitted in radio during the subsequent radio flare. We find that the
sequence of events is similar for all large radio flares with a fast rise and
exponential decay morphology. Based on these results, we propose a qualitative
scenario in which the separating ejecta during the superluminal flares are
observed due to the interaction of the matter blob ejected during the X-ray
soft dips, with the steady jet already established during the ``plateau''
state. This picture can explain all types of radio emission observed from this
source in terms of its X-ray emission characteristics.Comment: Corrected typo in the author names, contents unchanged, accepted in
Ap
Coulomb Interactions and Nanoscale Electronic Inhomogeneities in Manganites
We address the issue of endemic electronic inhomogeneities in manganites
using extensive simulations on a new model with Coulomb interactions amongst
two electronic fluids, one localized (polaronic), the other extended
(band-like), and dopant ions. The long range Coulomb interactions frustrate
phase separation induced by the strong on site repulsion between the fluids. A
single quantum phase ensues which is intrinsically and strongly inhomogeneous
at a nano-scale, but homogeneous on meso-scales, with many characteristics
(including colossal responses)that agree with experiments. This, we argue, is
the origin of nanoscale inhomogeneities in manganites, rather than phase
competition and disorder related effects as often proposed.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
New species of the parasites of the Rhodes - grass scale from the Indian union
This article does not have an abstract
Inelastic Neutron scattering in CeSi_{2-x}Ga_x ferromagnetic Kondo lattice compounds
Inelastic neutron scattering investigation on ferromagnetic Kondo lattice
compounds belonging to CeSi_{2-x}Ga_{x}, x = 0.7, 1.0 and 1.3, system is
reported. The thermal evolution of the quasielastic response shows that the
Kondo interactions dominate over the RKKY interactions with increase in Ga
concentration from 0.7 to 1.3. This is related to the increase in k-f
hybridization with increasing Ga concentration. The high energy response
indicates the ground state to be split by crystal field in all three compounds.
Using the experimental results we have calculated the crystal field parameters
in all three compounds studied here.Comment: 12 Pages Revtex, 2 eps figures
Heterosis and heterobeltiosis in bell pepper (Capsicum annuum var. grossum) for growth and yield parameters
The magnitude of heterosis over commercial check and better parent was estimated to identify best crosses for growth and yield traits in bell pepper. Experimental material included 21 F1 hybrids developed by crossing seven diverse parents in half diallel mating design. The findings revealed that Arka Mohini X CW308 showed best heterotic cross combinations, recorded significantly higher heterosis and high per se value over commercial check with respect to number of primary branches, number of secondary branches, plant height, days to 50% flowering, days to first harvest, fruit length, fruit width, number of lobes per fruit, number of fruits per plant and average fruit weight. The cross Arka Mohini X CW308 also showed high heterobeltiosis for traits like fruit length, number of fruits per plant, average fruit weight and average yield per plant. Hence, this hybrid with high per se value and heterosis can be utilized to obtain desirable segregates for development of superior genotype for improvement of horticultural traits in bell pepper
Relations between structural distortions and transport properties in NdCaMnO strained thin films
Strained thin films of charge/orbital ordered (CO/OO)
(NCMO) with various thickness have grown on (100)-SrTiO and (100)-LaAlO
substrates, by using the Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) technique. The thickness
of the films influences drastically the transport properties. As the thickness
decreases, the CO transition increases while at the same time the
insulator-to-metal transition temperature decreases under application of a 7T
magnetic field. Clear relationships between the structural distortions and the
transport properties are established. They are explained on the basis of the
elongation and the compression of the Mn-O-Mn and Mn-O bond angles and
distances of the \QTR{it}{Pnma} structure, which modify the bandwidth and the
Jahn-Teller distortion in these materialsComment: 11 pages, 6 figures. to be published in Journal Physics: Condensed
Matte
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