Glassy Aging with Modified Kohlrausch-Williams-Watts Form

In this report we address the question whether aging in the non equilibrium glassy state is controlled by the equilibrium alpha-relaxation process which occur at temperatures above Tg. Recently Lunkenheimer et. al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 055702 (2005)] proposed a model for the glassy aging data of dielectric relaxation using a modified Kohlrausch-Williams-Watts (KWW) form. The aging time dependence of the relaxation time is defined by these authors through a functional relation involving the corresponding frequency but the stretching exponent is same as the alpha-relaxation stretching exponent. We present here an alternative functional form directly involving the relaxation time itself. The proposed model fits the data of Lunkenheimer et. al. perfectly with a stretching exponent different from the alpha-relaxation stretching exponent.Comment: 1 TeX file, 10 eps figure

Computational Investigation of Microstrip Antennas in Plasma Environment

Microstrip antennas are extensively used in spacecraft systems and other applications where they encounter a plasma environment. A detailed computational investigation of change in antenna radiation properties in the presence of plasma has been presented in this paper. The study shows antenna properties such as the resonant frequency, return loss, radiation properties and the different characteristics of the antenna changes when it is surrounded by plasma. Particular focus of the work is to understand the causes behind these changes by correlating the complex propagation constant in the plasma medium, field distribution on the patch and effective dielectric of the antenna substrate with antenna parameter variations. The study also provides important insights to explore the possibilities of designing tunable microstrip antenna where the substrate can be replaced with plasma and important antenna characteristics can be controlled by varying the plasma density.Comment: IEEE AEM

Privatization, Yardstick Competition and Employment Dynamics: Evidence from Bangladesh

We analyze the dynamics of public and private sector employment, using the natural experiment provided by the partial privatization of the Bangladeshi jute industry. A differences-in-differences approach allows us to infer ownership effects. Although the public sector had substantial excess employment of workers initially, this excess was substantially eroded by the end of the period we study. This finding is consistent with the idea that the central authorities, which were increasingly financially constrained, used yardstick competition to reduce public sector managerial rents. The extent of such erosion differs between white-collar and manual worker categories, with excess employment persisting only in the former.

Atomistic Simulations of Magnetic Amorphous Solids: Magnetostriction, Barkhausen noise and novel singularities

We present results of atomistic simulations of a new model of a magnetic amorphous solid subjected to external mechanical strains and magnetic fields. The model employed offers new perspectives on important effects like Barkhausen noise and magnetostriction. It is shown that the plastic response in such systems exhibit singularities characterized by unexpected exponents requiring careful theoretical reasoning. The spatial structure of the plastic events requires a new coarse grained elasto-magnetic theory which is provided here

Shear Transformation Zones: State Determined or Protocol Dependent?

The concept of a Shear Transformation Zone (STZ) refers to a region in an amorphous solid that undergoes a plastic event when the material is put under an external mechanical load. An important question that had accompanied the development of the theory of plasticity in amorphous solids for many years now is whether an STZ is a {\em region} existing in the material (which can be predicted by analyzing the unloaded material), or is it an {\em event} that depends on the loading protocol (i.e., the event cannot be predicted without following the protocol itself). In this Letter we present strong evidence that the latter is the case. Infinitesimal changes of protocol result in macroscopically big jumps in the positions of plastic events, meaning that these can never be predicted from considering the unloaded material.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure