65 research outputs found
Structural and elastic characterization of Cu-implanted SiO₂ films on Si(100) substrates
Cu-implanted SiO₂ films on Si(100) have been studied and compared to unimplanted SiO₂ on Si(100) using x-ray methods, transmission electron microscopy, Rutherford backscattering, and Brillouin spectroscopy. The x-ray results indicate the preferred orientation of Cu {111} planes parallel to the Si substrate surface without any directional orientation for Cu-implanted SiO₂∕Si(100) and for Cu-implanted and annealedSiO₂∕Si(100). In the latter case, transmission electron microscopy reveals the presence of spherical nanocrystallites with an average size of ∼2.5 nm. Rutherford backscattering shows that these crystallites (and the Cu in the as-implanted film) are largely confined to depths of 0.4−1.2 μm below the film surface. Brillouin spectra contain peaks due to surface, film-guided and bulk acoustic modes. Surface (longitudinal) acoustic wave velocities for the implanted films were ∼7% lower (∼2% higher) than for unimplanted SiO₂∕Si(100). Elastic constants were estimated from the acoustic wave velocities and film densities. C₁₁ (C₄₄) for the implanted films was ∼10% higher (lower) than that for the unimplanted film. The differences in acoustic velocities and elastic moduli are ascribed to implantation-induced compaction and/or the presence of Cu in the SiO₂ film.B.J. and M.C.R. are grateful for financial support from
the Australian Synchrotron Research Program, funded by the
Commonwealth of Australia. M.C.R. would also like to
thank the Australian Research Council for their financial support. The financial support of the Natural Sciences and Engineering
Research Council of Canada NSERC is gratefully
acknowledged by G.T.A. and J.S
Horizon energy and angular momentum from a Hamiltonian perspective
Classical black holes and event horizons are highly non-local objects,
defined in terms of the causal past of future null infinity. Alternative,
(quasi)local definitions are often used in mathematical, quantum, and numerical
relativity. These include apparent, trapping, isolated, and dynamical horizons,
all of which are closely associated to two-surfaces of zero outward null
expansion. In this paper we show that three-surfaces which can be foliated with
such two-surfaces are suitable boundaries in both a quasilocal action and a
phase space formulation of general relativity. The resulting formalism provides
expressions for the quasilocal energy and angular momentum associated with the
horizon. The values of the energy and angular momentum are in agreement with
those derived from the isolated and dynamical horizon frameworks.Comment: 39 pages, 3 figures, Final Version : content essentially unchanged
but many small improvements made in response to referees, a few references
adde
Nonperturbative renormalization group approach to frustrated magnets
This article is devoted to the study of the critical properties of classical
XY and Heisenberg frustrated magnets in three dimensions. We first analyze the
experimental and numerical situations. We show that the unusual behaviors
encountered in these systems, typically nonuniversal scaling, are hardly
compatible with the hypothesis of a second order phase transition. We then
review the various perturbative and early nonperturbative approaches used to
investigate these systems. We argue that none of them provides a completely
satisfactory description of the three-dimensional critical behavior. We then
recall the principles of the nonperturbative approach - the effective average
action method - that we have used to investigate the physics of frustrated
magnets. First, we recall the treatment of the unfrustrated - O(N) - case with
this method. This allows to introduce its technical aspects. Then, we show how
this method unables to clarify most of the problems encountered in the previous
theoretical descriptions of frustrated magnets. Firstly, we get an explanation
of the long-standing mismatch between different perturbative approaches which
consists in a nonperturbative mechanism of annihilation of fixed points between
two and three dimensions. Secondly, we get a coherent picture of the physics of
frustrated magnets in qualitative and (semi-) quantitative agreement with the
numerical and experimental results. The central feature that emerges from our
approach is the existence of scaling behaviors without fixed or pseudo-fixed
point and that relies on a slowing-down of the renormalization group flow in a
whole region in the coupling constants space. This phenomenon allows to explain
the occurence of generic weak first order behaviors and to understand the
absence of universality in the critical behavior of frustrated magnets.Comment: 58 pages, 15 PS figure
The Chiral MagnetoHydroDynamics of QCD fluid at RHIC and LHC
The experimental results on heavy ion collisions at RHIC and LHC indicate
that QCD plasma behaves as a nearly perfect fluid described by relativistic
hydrodynamics. Hydrodynamics is an effective low-energy Theory Of Everything
stating that the response of a system to external perturbations is dictated by
conservation laws that are a consequence of the symmetries of the underlying
theory. In the case of QCD fluid produced in heavy ion collisions, this theory
possesses anomalies, so some of the apparent classical symmetries are broken by
quantum effects. Even though the anomalies appear as a result of UV
regularization and so look like a short distance phenomenon, it has been
realized recently that they also affect the large distance, macroscopic
behavior in hydrodynamics. One of the manifestations of anomalies in
relativistic hydrodynamics is the Chiral Magnetic Effect (CME). At this
conference, a number of evidences for CME have been presented, including i) the
disappearance of charge asymmetry fluctuations in the low-energy RHIC data
where the energy density is thought to be below the critical one for
deconfinement; ii) the observation of charge asymmetry fluctuations in Pb-Pb
collisions at the LHC. Here I give a three-page summary of some of the recent
theoretical and experimental developments and of the future tests that may
allow to establish (or to refute) the CME as the origin of the observed charge
asymmetry fluctuations.Comment: 4 pages, talk at Quark Matter 2011 Conference, Annecy, France, 23-28
May 201
Holographic Gravitational Anomaly and Chiral Vortical Effect
We analyze a holographic model with a pure gauge and a mixed
gauge-gravitational Chern-Simons term in the action. These are the holographic
implementations of the usual chiral and the mixed gauge-gravitational anomalies
in four dimensional field theories with chiral fermions. We discuss the
holographic renormalization and show that the gauge-gravitational Chern-Simons
term does not induce new divergences. In order to cancel contributions from the
extrinsic curvature at a boundary at finite distance a new type of counterterm
has to be added however. This counterterm can also serve to make the Dirichlet
problem well defined in case the gauge field strength vanishes on the boundary.
A charged asymptotically AdS black hole is a solution to the theory and as an
application we compute the chiral magnetic and chiral vortical conductivities
via Kubo formulas. We find that the characteristic term proportional to T^2 is
present also at strong coupling and that its numerical value is not
renormalized compared to the weak coupling result.Comment: 27 pages, no figure
A Chiral Magnetic Effect from AdS/CFT with Flavor
For (3+1)-dimensional fermions, a net axial charge and external magnetic
field can lead to a current parallel to the magnetic field. This is the chiral
magnetic effect. We use gauge-gravity duality to study the chiral magnetic
effect in large-Nc, strongly-coupled N=4 supersymmetric SU(Nc) Yang-Mills
theory coupled to a number Nf << Nc of N=2 hypermultiplets in the Nc
representation of SU(Nc), i.e. flavor fields. Specifically, we introduce an
external magnetic field and a time-dependent phase for the mass of the flavor
fields, which is equivalent to an axial chemical potential for the flavor
fermions, and we compute holographically the resulting chiral magnetic current.
For massless flavors we find that the current takes the value determined by the
axial anomaly. For massive flavors the current appears only in the presence of
a condensate of pseudo-scalar mesons, and has a smaller value than for massless
flavors, dropping to zero for sufficiently large mass or magnetic field. The
axial symmetry in our system is part of the R-symmetry, and the states we study
involve a net flow of axial charge to the adjoint sector from an external
source coupled to the flavors. We compute the time rate of change of axial
charge and of energy both in field theory and from holography, with perfect
agreement. In contrast to previous holographic models of the chiral magnetic
effect, in our system the vector current is conserved and gauge-invariant
without any special counterterms.Comment: 54 pages, 18 eps files in 6 figure
The 1.28 GHz MeerKAT DEEP2 Image
We present the confusion-limited 1.28 GHz MeerKAT DEEP2 image covering one qb » ¢ 68 FWHM primarybeam area with θ = 7 6 FWHM resolution and s = m - n 0.55 0.01 Jy beam 1 rms noise. Its J2000 center position
α = 04h 13m 26 4, δ = −80° 00′ 00″ was selected to minimize artifacts caused by bright sources. We introduce
the new 64-element MeerKAT array and describe commissioning observations to measure the primary-beam
attenuation pattern, estimate telescope pointing errors, and pinpoint (u, v) coordinate errors caused by offsets in
frequency or time. We constructed a 1.4 GHz differential source count by combining a power-law count fit to the
DEEP2 confusion P(D) distribution from 0.25 to 10 μJy with counts of individual DEEP2 sources between 10 μJy
and 2.5 mJy. Most sources fainter than S ∼ 100 μJy are distant star-forming galaxies (SFGs) obeying the far-IR/
radio correlation, and sources stronger than 0.25 μJy account for ∼93% of the radio background produced by
SFGs. For the first time, the DEEP2 source count has reached the depth needed to reveal the majority of the star
formation history of the universe. A pure luminosity evolution of the 1.4 GHz local luminosity function consistent
with the Madau & Dickinson model for the evolution of SFGs based on UV and infrared data underpredicts our
1.4 GHz source count in the range -5 log Jy 4 [ ( )] S
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Air
Policiklički aromatski ugljikovodici (PAU) spojevi su koji se sastoje od dva ili više kondenziranih aromatskih prstenova. Nastaju prilikom nepotpunog izgaranja ili pirolize organskih tvari. Dokazano je da neki PAU imaju kancerogena, a neki mutagena svojstva, pa je stoga potrebno kontinuirano pratiti koncentracije PAU u zraku, vodi i tlu, te pokušati sanirati izvore PAU. PAU s dva ili tri aromatska prstena postojani su u plinovitoj fazi, dok se PAU s više aromatskih prstenova nalaze u zraku uglavnom vezani na čestice. Visoke koncentracije PAU prisutne su u atmosferi urbanih područja, a najviše su zimi kada su pojačane emisije iz kućnih ložišta. U ljetno doba koncentracije su niže jer je većina policikličkih aromatskih ugljikovodika nestabilna na visokim temperaturama, a osim toga dolazi do njihove oksidacije i fotooksidacije. Metode mjerenja PAU u zraku uključuju uzorkovanje prosisavanjem na filterski papir ili kruti adsorbens, ekstrakciju i kromatografsku analizu. U ovom radu prikazani su rezultati mjerenja benzo[a]pirena (BaP) kao glavnog predstavnika PAU na nekim lokacijama u svijetu. Razine BaP u svijetu uspoređene su s rezultatima mjerenja provedenim do sada u Hrvatskoj.Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a large group of organic compounds consisting of two or more condense aromatic rings. They are products of incomplete combustion or pyrolysis of organic matter. Because some PAHs such as Benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) are proven carcinogens and mutagens, it is necessary to continuously monitor their concentrations in the air, water, and soil. PAHs with two or three aromatic rings are stable in the gas phase, while most PAHs with five or more aromatic rings bond to particles. Higher concentrations of PAHs are present in the atmosphere of urban areas, mostly in the winter, due to heating. In the summer, these concentrations drop because most PAHs are unstable at high temperatures and break down by oxidation and photooxidation. Measurements of PAHs in the air include sampling on the filter paper or solid adsorbent, extraction, and chromatographic analysis. This review presents the measurements of BaP in some locations in the world and compares them with the findings in Croatia
South African Paediatric Surgical Outcomes Study : a 14-day prospective, observational cohort study of paediatric surgical patients
BACKGROUND : Children comprise a large proportion of the population in sub-Saharan Africa. The burden of paediatric surgical disease exceeds available resources in Africa, potentially increasing morbidity and mortality. There are few prospective paediatric perioperative outcomes studies, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
METHODS : We conducted a 14-day multicentre, prospective, observational cohort study of paediatric patients (aged <16 yrs) undergoing surgery in 43 government-funded hospitals in South Africa. The primary outcome was the incidence of in-hospital postoperative complications.
RESULTS : We recruited 2024 patients at 43 hospitals. The overall incidence of postoperative complications was 9.7% [95% confidence interval (CI): 8.4–11.0]. The most common postoperative complications were infective (7.3%; 95% CI: 6.2–8.4%). In-hospital mortality rate was 1.1% (95% CI: 0.6–1.5), of which nine of the deaths (41%) were in ASA physical status 1 and 2 patients. The preoperative risk factors independently associated with postoperative complications were ASA physcial status, urgency of surgery, severity of surgery, and an infective indication for surgery.
CONCLUSIONS : The risk factors, frequency, and type of complications after paediatric surgery differ between LMICs and high-income countries. The in-hospital mortality is 10 times greater than in high-income countries. These findings should be used to develop strategies to improve paediatric surgical outcomes in LMICs, and support the need for larger prospective, observational paediatric surgical outcomes research in LMICs.
CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION : NCT03367832.Jan Pretorius Research Fund; Discipline of Anaesthesiology and Critical Care, Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal; Department of Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine, Groote Schuur Hospital and University of Cape Town; Department of Anaesthesia, University of the Witwatersrand; and the Paediatric Anaesthesia Community of South Africa (PACSA).https://bjanaesthesia.org2020-02-01gl2019Anaesthesiolog
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