Fe/V and Fe/Co (001) superlattices: growth, anisotropy, magnetisation and magnetoresistance

Some physical properties of bcc Fe/V and Fe/Co (001) superlattices are reviewed. The dependence of the magnetic anisotropy on the in-plane strain introduced by the lattice mismatch between Fe and V is measured and compared to a theoretical derivation. The dependence of the magnetic anisotropy (and saturation magnetisation) on the layer thickness ratio Fe/Co is measured and a value for the anisotropy of bcc Co is derived from extrapolation. The interlayer exchange coupling of Fe/V superlattices is studied as a function of the layer thickness V (constant Fe thickness) and layer thickness of Fe (constant V thickness). A region of antiferromagnetic coupling and GMR is found for V thicknesses 12-14 monolayers. However, surprisingly, a 'cutoff' of the antiferromagnetic coupling and GMR is found when the iron layer thickness exceeds about 10 monolayers.Comment: Proceedings of the International Symposium on Advanced Magnetic Materials (ISAMM'02), October 2-4, 2002, Halong Bay, Vietnam. REVTeX style; 4 pages, 5 figure

Nuclear prolate-shape dominance with the Woods-Saxon potential

We study the prolate-shape predominance of the nuclear ground-state deformation by calculating the masses of more than two thousand even-even nuclei using the Strutinsky method, modified by Kruppa, and improved by us. The influences of the surface thickness of the single-particle potentials, the strength of the spin-orbit potential, and the pairing correlations are investigated by varying the parameters of the Woods-Saxon potential and the pairing interaction. The strong interference between the effects of the surface thickness and the spin-orbit potential is confirmed to persist for six sets of the Woods-Saxon potential parameters. The observed behavior of the ratios of prolate, oblate, and spherical nuclei versus potential parameters are rather different in different mass regions. It is also found that the ratio of spherical nuclei increases for weakly bound unstable nuclei. Differences of the results from the calculations with the Nilsson potential are described in detail.Comment: 16 pages, 17 figure

Constraining dark energy fluctuations with supernova correlations

We investigate constraints on dark energy fluctuations using type Ia supernovae. If dark energy is not in the form of a cosmological constant, that is if the equation of state is not equal to -1, we expect not only temporal, but also spatial variations in the energy density. Such fluctuations would cause local variations in the universal expansion rate and directional dependences in the redshift-distance relation. We present a scheme for relating a power spectrum of dark energy fluctuations to an angular covariance function of standard candle magnitude fluctuations. The predictions for a phenomenological model of dark energy fluctuations are compared to observational data in the form of the measured angular covariance of Hubble diagram magnitude residuals for type Ia supernovae in the Union2 compilation. The observational result is consistent with zero dark energy fluctuations. However, due to the limitations in statistics, current data still allow for quite general dark energy fluctuations as long as they are in the linear regime.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figures, matches the published versio

Dehydrogenation from 3d-transition-metal-doped NaAlH4: Prediction of catalysts

A fundamental understanding of the role of catalysts in improving the kinetics and thermodynamics of hydrogen sorption in NaAlH4 is the key for using this material in hydrogen storage. The authors present a systematic theoretical study of energies needed to desorb hydrogen in 3dtransition metal (Sc–Cu)-doped NaAlH4. They show that Cr and Fe atoms can be far more effective catalysts than Ti in desorbing hydrogen. The role of the 3d metal atoms in improving the thermodynamics of dehydrogenation is attributed to a significant shortening of the bond length with neighboring Al atoms

Relativity and the lead-acid battery

The energies of the solid reactants in the lead-acid battery are calculated ab initio using two different basis sets at non-relativistic, scalar relativistic, and fully relativistic levels, and using several exchange-correlation potentials. The average calculated standard voltage is 2.13 V, compared with the experimental value of 2.11 V. All calculations agree in that 1.7-1.8 V of this standard voltage arise from relativistic effects, mainly from PbO2 but also from PbSO4

A measurement of the axial form factor of the nucleon by the p(e,e'pi+)n reaction at W=1125 MeV

The reaction p(e,e'pi+)n was measured at the Mainz Microtron MAMI at an invariant mass of W=1125 MeV and four-momentum transfers of Q^2=0.117, 0.195 and 0.273 (GeV/c)^2. For each value of Q^2, a Rosenbluth separation of the transverse and longitudinal cross sections was performed. An effective Lagrangian model was used to extract the `axial mass' from experimental data. We find a value of M_A=(1.077+-0.039) GeV which is (0.051+-0.044) GeV larger than the axial mass known from neutrino scattering experiments. This is consistent with recent calculations in chiral perturbation theory.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, uses elsart.cl

Microscopic Origin of Quantum Chaos in Rotational Damping

The rotational spectrum of $^{168}$Yb is calculated diagonalizing different effective interactions within the basis of unperturbed rotational bands provided by the cranked shell model. A transition between order and chaos taking place in the energy region between 1 and 2 MeV above the yrast line is observed, associated with the onset of rotational damping. It can be related to the higher multipole components of the force acting among the unperturbed rotational bands.Comment: 7 pages, plain TEX, YITP/K-99