On the Dynamics of Bianchi IX cosmological models

A cosmological description of the universe is proposed in the context of Hamiltonian formulation of a Bianchi IX cosmology minimally coupled to a massless scalar field. The classical and quantum results are studied with special attention to the case of closed Friedmann-Robertson-Walker model.Comment: 11 pages, 1 figur

Colossal dielectric constants in transition-metal oxides

Many transition-metal oxides show very large ("colossal") magnitudes of the dielectric constant and thus have immense potential for applications in modern microelectronics and for the development of new capacitance-based energy-storage devices. In the present work, we thoroughly discuss the mechanisms that can lead to colossal values of the dielectric constant, especially emphasising effects generated by external and internal interfaces, including electronic phase separation. In addition, we provide a detailed overview and discussion of the dielectric properties of CaCu3Ti4O12 and related systems, which is today's most investigated material with colossal dielectric constant. Also a variety of further transition-metal oxides with large dielectric constants are treated in detail, among them the system La2-xSrxNiO4 where electronic phase separation may play a role in the generation of a colossal dielectric constant.Comment: 31 pages, 18 figures, submitted to Eur. Phys. J. for publication in the Special Topics volume "Cooperative Phenomena in Solids: Metal-Insulator Transitions and Ordering of Microscopic Degrees of Freedom

Grain Surface Models and Data for Astrochemistry

AbstractThe cross-disciplinary field of astrochemistry exists to understand the formation, destruction, and survival of molecules in astrophysical environments. Molecules in space are synthesized via a large variety of gas-phase reactions, and reactions on dust-grain surfaces, where the surface acts as a catalyst. A broad consensus has been reached in the astrochemistry community on how to suitably treat gas-phase processes in models, and also on how to present the necessary reaction data in databases; however, no such consensus has yet been reached for grain-surface processes. A team of ∼25 experts covering observational, laboratory and theoretical (astro)chemistry met in summer of 2014 at the Lorentz Center in Leiden with the aim to provide solutions for this problem and to review the current state-of-the-art of grain surface models, both in terms of technical implementation into models as well as the most up-to-date information available from experiments and chemical computations. This review builds on the results of this workshop and gives an outlook for future directions

Estratificação ambiental e otimização de rede de ensaios de genótipos de soja no Cerrado

O objetivo deste trabalho foi estabelecer uma estratificação ambiental consistente, para a recomendação e a avaliação de linhagens experimentais e cultivares de soja na região do Cerrado, a partir de análises da interação entre genótipos e ambientes (GxA) quanto à produtividade de grãos, além de avaliar a atual rede de ensaios de valor de cultivo e uso (VCU) para sua otimização. Os dados provieram de 559 ensaios de competição de linhagens de soja, realizados em 57 localidades, durante sete safras agrícolas (2002/2003 a 2008/2009). Realizaram-se análises conjuntas de variância, pelo modelo AMMI ("additive main effects and multiplicative interaction"), e de estratificação ambiental, pela abordagem correlata de "genótipos vencedores". A interação GxA foi sempre significativa, como resultado da resposta diferencial dos genótipos à variação ambiental. Os locais de teste se agruparam de modo diferente de acordo com os grupos de maturação. Observou-se redundância em 20% dos locais, o que indica a possibilidade de otimização da rede de ensaios, via eliminação ou substituição dessas localidades. A região-alvo deve receber estratificações distintas, congêneres a cada grupo de maturação, e pode ser dividida em 22 (ciclo precoce), 23 (ciclo médio) e 21 (ciclo tardio) estratos ambientais