785 research outputs found
Electronic States of Graphene Nanoribbons
We study the electronic states of narrow graphene ribbons (``nanoribbons'')
with zigzag and armchair edges. The finite width of these systems breaks the
spectrum into an infinite set of bands, which we demonstrate can be
quantitatively understood using the Dirac equation with appropriate boundary
conditions. For the zigzag nanoribbon we demonstrate that the boundary
condition allows a particle- and a hole-like band with evanescent wavefunctions
confined to the surfaces, which continuously turn into the well-known zero
energy surface states as the width gets large. For armchair edges, we show that
the boundary condition leads to admixing of valley states, and the band
structure is metallic when the width of the sample in lattice constant units is
divisible by 3, and insulating otherwise. A comparison of the wavefunctions and
energies from tight-binding calculations and solutions of the Dirac equations
yields quantitative agreement for all but the narrowest ribbons.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figure
Hydrodynamic modes, Green-Kubo relations, and velocity correlations in dilute granular gases
It is shown that the hydrodynamic modes of a dilute granular gas of inelastic
hard spheres can be identified, and calculated in the long wavelength limit.
Assuming they dominate at long times, formal expressions for the Navier-Stokes
transport coefficients are derived. They can be expressed in a form that
generalizes the Green-Kubo relations for molecular systems, and it is shown
that they can also be evaluated by means of -particle simulation methods.
The form of the hydrodynamic modes to zeroth order in the gradients is used to
detect the presence of inherent velocity correlations in the homogeneous
cooling state, even in the low density limit. They manifest themselves in the
fluctuations of the total energy of the system. The theoretical predictions are
shown to be in agreement with molecular dynamics simulations. Relevant related
questions deserving further attention are pointed out
Diffusion in a Granular Fluid - Theory
Many important properties of granular fluids can be represented by a system
of hard spheres with inelastic collisions. Traditional methods of
nonequilibrium statistical mechanics are effective for analysis and description
of the inelastic case as well. This is illustrated here for diffusion of an
impurity particle in a fluid undergoing homogeneous cooling. An appropriate
scaling of the Liouville equation is described such that the homogeneous
cooling ensemble and associated time correlation functions map to those of a
stationary state. In this form the familiar methods of linear response can be
applied, leading to Green - Kubo and Einstein representations of diffusion in
terms of the velocity and mean square displacement correlation functions. These
correlation functions are evaluated approximately using a cumulant expansion
and from kinetic theory, providing the diffusion coefficient as a function of
the density and the restitution coefficients. Comparisons with results from
molecular dynamics simulation are given in the following companion paper
Navier-Stokes transport coefficients of -dimensional granular binary mixtures at low density
The Navier-Stokes transport coefficients for binary mixtures of smooth
inelastic hard disks or spheres under gravity are determined from the Boltzmann
kinetic theory by application of the Chapman-Enskog method for states near the
local homogeneous cooling state. It is shown that the Navier-Stokes transport
coefficients are not affected by the presence of gravity. As in the elastic
case, the transport coefficients of the mixture verify a set of coupled linear
integral equations that are approximately solved by using the leading terms in
a Sonine polynomial expansion. The results reported here extend previous
calculations [V. Garz\'o and J. W. Dufty, Phys. Fluids {\bf 14}, 1476 (2002)]
to an arbitrary number of dimensions. To check the accuracy of the
Chapman-Enskog results, the inelastic Boltzmann equation is also numerically
solved by means of the direct simulation Monte Carlo method to evaluate the
diffusion and shear viscosity coefficients for hard disks. The comparison shows
a good agreement over a wide range of values of the coefficients of restitution
and the parameters of the mixture (masses and sizes).Comment: 6 figures, to be published in J. Stat. Phy
Numerical Evidence for Divergent Burnett Coefficients
In previous papers [Phys. Rev. A {\bf 41}, 4501 (1990), Phys. Rev. E {\bf
18}, 3178 (1993)], simple equilibrium expressions were obtained for nonlinear
Burnett coefficients. A preliminary calculation of a 32 particle Lennard-Jones
fluid was presented in the previous paper. Now, sufficient resources have
become available to address the question of whether nonlinear Burnett
coefficients are finite for soft spheres. The hard sphere case is known to have
infinite nonlinear Burnett coefficients (ie a nonanalytic constitutive
relation) from mode coupling theory. This paper reports a molecular dynamics
caclulation of the third order nonlinear Burnett coefficient of a Lennard-Jones
fluid undergoing colour flow, which indicates that this term is diverges in the
thermodynamic limit.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figure
Andreev reflection and Klein tunneling in graphene
This is a colloquium-style introduction to two electronic processes in a
carbon monolayer (graphene), each having an analogue in relativistic quantum
mechanics. Both processes couple electron-like and hole-like states, through
the action of either a superconducting pair potential or an electrostatic
potential. The first process, Andreev reflection, is the electron-to-hole
conversion at the interface with a superconductor. The second process, Klein
tunneling, is the tunneling through a p-n junction. Existing and proposed
experiments on Josephson junctions and bipolar junctions in graphene are
discussed from a unified perspective.
CONTENTS:
I. INTRODUCTION
II. BASIC PHYSICS OF GRAPHENE (Dirac equation; Time reversal symmetry;
Boundary conditions; Pseudo-diffusive dynamics)
III. ANDREEV REFLECTION (Electron-hole conversion; Retro-reflection vs.
specular reflection; Dirac-Bogoliubov-de Gennes equation; Josephson junctions;
Further reading)
IV. KLEIN TUNNELING (Absence of backscattering; Bipolar junctions; Magnetic
field effects; Further reading)
V. ANALOGIES (Mapping between NS and p-n junction; Retro-reflection vs.
negative refraction; Valley-isospin dependent quantum Hall effect;
Pseudo-superconductivity)Comment: 20 pages, 28 figures; "Colloquium" for Reviews of Modern Physic
Diffusion of impurities in a granular gas
Diffusion of impurities in a granular gas undergoing homogeneous cooling
state is studied. The results are obtained by solving the Boltzmann--Lorentz
equation by means of the Chapman--Enskog method. In the first order in the
density gradient of impurities, the diffusion coefficient is determined as
the solution of a linear integral equation which is approximately solved by
making an expansion in Sonine polynomials. In this paper, we evaluate up to
the second order in the Sonine expansion and get explicit expressions for
in terms of the restitution coefficients for the impurity--gas and gas--gas
collisions as well as the ratios of mass and particle sizes. To check the
reliability of the Sonine polynomial solution, analytical results are compared
with those obtained from numerical solutions of the Boltzmann equation by means
of the direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method. In the simulations, the
diffusion coefficient is measured via the mean square displacement of
impurities. The comparison between theory and simulation shows in general an
excellent agreement, except for the cases in which the gas particles are much
heavier and/or much larger than impurities. In theses cases, the second Sonine
approximation to improves significantly the qualitative predictions made
from the first Sonine approximation. A discussion on the convergence of the
Sonine polynomial expansion is also carried out.Comment: 9 figures. to appear in Phys. Rev.
Collective Modes of Soliton-Lattice States in Double-Quantum-Well Systems
In strong perpendicular magnetic fields double-quantum-well systems can
sometimes occur in unusual broken symmetry states which have interwell phase
coherence in the absence of interwell hopping. When hopping is present in such
systems and the magnetic field is tilted away from the normal to the quantum
well planes, a related soliton-lattice state can occur which has kinks in the
dependence of the relative phase between electrons in opposite layers on the
coordinate perpendicular to the in-plane component of the magnetic field. In
this article we evaluate the collective modes of this soliton-lattice state in
the generalized random-phase aproximation. We find that, in addition to the
Goldstone modes associated with the broken translational symmetry of the
soliton-lattice state, higher energy collective modes occur which are closely
related to the Goldstone modes present in the spontaneously phase-coherent
state. We study the evolution of these collective modes as a function of the
strength of the in-plane magnetic field and comment on the possibility of using
the in-plane field to generate a finite wave probe of the spontaneously
phase-coherent state.Comment: REVTEX, 37 pages (text) and 15 uuencoded postscript figure
Molecular dynamics simulations of vibrated granular gases
We present molecular dynamics simulations of mono- or bidisperse inelastic
granular gases driven by vibrating walls, in two dimensions (without gravity).
Because of the energy injection at the boundaries, a situation often met
experimentally, density and temperature fields display heterogeneous profiles
in the direction perpendicular to the walls. A general equation of state for an
arbitrary mixture of fluidized inelastic hard spheres is derived and
successfully tested against numerical data. Single-particle velocity
distribution functions with non-Gaussian features are also obtained, and the
influence of various parameters (inelasticity coefficients, density...)
analyzed. The validity of a recently proposed Random Restitution Coefficient
model is assessed through the study of projected collisions onto the direction
perpendicular to that of energy injection. For the binary mixture, the
non-equipartition of translational kinetic energy is studied and compared both
to experimental data and to the case of homogeneous energy injection
(``stochastic thermostat''). The rescaled velocity distribution functions are
found to be very similar for both species
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