1,302 research outputs found
Determination of the superconducting gap in near optimally doped Bi_2Sr_{2-x}La_xCuO_{6+\delta} (x ~ 0.4) from low-temperature specific heat
Low-temperature specific heat of the monolayer high-Tc superconductor
Bi_2Sr_{2-x}La_xCuO_{6+\delta} has been measured close to the optimal doping
point (x ~ 0.4) in different magnetic fields. The identification of both a T^2
term in zero field and a \sqrt{H} dependence of the specific heat in fields is
shown to follow the theoretical prediction for d-wave pairing, which enables us
to extract the slope of the superconducting gap in the vicinity of the nodes
(v_{\Delta}, which is proportional to the superconducting gap \Delta_0 at the
antinodes according to the standard d_{x^2-y^2} gap function). The v_{\Delta}
or \Delta_0 (~ 12 meV) determined from this bulk measurement shows close
agreement with that obtained from spectroscopy or tunneling measurements, which
confirms the simple d-wave form of the superconducting gap.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, 1 tabl
Reverse Doppler Effect of Sound
We report observation of reverse Doppler effect in a double negative acoustic
metamaterial. The metamaterial exhibited negative phase velocity and positive
group velocity. The dispersion relation is such that the wavelength
corresponding to higher frequency is longer. We observed that the frequency was
down-shifted for the approaching source, and up-shifted when the source
receded
Strong quantum fluctuation of vortices in the new superconductor
By using transport and magnetic measurement, the upper critical field
and the irreversibility line has been determined. A
big separation between and has been found showing the
existence of a quantum vortex liquid state induced by quantum fluctuation of
vortices in the new superconductor . Further investigation on the
magnetic relaxation shows that both the quantum tunneling and the thermally
activated flux creep weakly depends on temperature. But when the melting field
is approached, a drastic rising of the relaxation rate is observed.
This may imply that the melting of the vortex matter at a finite temperature is
also induced by the quantum fluctuation of vortices.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Highly Enhanced Concentration and Stability of Reactive Ce^3+ on Doped CeO_2 Surface Revealed In Operando
Trivalent cerium ions in CeO_2 are the key active species in a wide range of catalytic and electro-catalytic reactions. We employed ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy to quantify simultaneously the concentration of the reactive Ce^3+ species on the surface and in the bulk of Sm-doped CeO_2(100) in hundreds of millitorr of H2–H2O gas mixtures. Under relatively oxidizing conditions, when the bulk cerium is almost entirely in the 4+ oxidation state, the surface concentration of the reduced Ce^3+ species can be over 180 times the bulk concentration. Furthermore, in stark contrast to the bulk, the surface’s 3+ oxidation state is also highly stable, with concentration almost independent of temperature and oxygen partial pressure. Our thermodynamic measurements reveal that the difference between the bulk and surface partial molar entropies plays a key role in this stabilization. The high concentration and stability of reactive surface Ce^3+ over wide ranges of temperature and oxygen partial pressure may be responsible for the high activity of doped ceria in many pollution-control and energy-conversion reactions, under conditions at which Ce^3+ is not abundant in the bulk
Research Article
Pseudo almost automorphic and weighted pseudo almost automorphic mild solutions to a partial functional differential equation in Banach space
Magneto-optical properties of Co/ZnO multilayer films
Multilayer films of ZnO with Co were deposited on glass substrates then
annealed in a vacuum. The magnetisation of the films increased with annealing
but not the magnitude of the magneto-optical signals. The dielectric functions
for the films were calculated using the MCD spectra. A Maxwell Garnett theory
of a metallic Co/ZnO mixture is presented. The extent to which this explains
the MCD spectra taken on the films is discussed.Comment: This paper was presented at ICM (2009) and is accepted in this form
for the proceeding
An Efficient Viologen-Based Electron Donor to Nitrogenase
Nitrogenase catalyzes the reduction of N2 to NH3, supporting all biological nitrogen fixation. Electron donors to this enzyme are ferredoxin or flavodoxin (in vivo) and sodium dithionite (in vitro). Features of these electron donors put a limit on spectrophotometric studies and electrocatalytic applications of nitrogenase. Although it is common to use methyl viologen as an electron donor for many low-potential oxidoreductases, decreased nitrogenase activity is observed with an increasing concentration of methyl viologen, limiting its utility under many circumstances. In this work, we suggest that this concentration-dependent decrease in activity can be explained by the formation of a dimer of the radical cation of methyl viologen (Me2V•+)2 at higher methyl viologen concentrations. In addition, viologens functionalized with positively and negatively charged groups were synthesized and studied using spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry. A sulfonated viologen derivative, 1,1′-bis(3-sulfonatopropyl)-4,4′-bipyridinium radical {[(SPr)2V•]−}, was found to support full nitrogenase activity up to a mediator concentration of 3 mM, while the positively charged viologen derivative was not an efficient reductant of nitrogenase due to the high standard redox potential. The utility of [(SPr)2V•]− as an electron donor for nitrogenase was demonstrated by a simple, sensitive spectrophotometric assay for nitrogenase activity that can provide accurate values for the specific activity and turnover rate constant under argon. Under N2, the formation of ammonia was confirmed. Because of the observed full activity of nitrogenase and low overpotential, [(SPr)2V•]− should also prove to be valuable for nitrogenase electrocatalysis, including bioelectrosynthetic N2 reduction
Evidence That the P\u3csub\u3ei\u3c/sub\u3e Release Event Is the Rate-Limiting Step in the Nitrogenase Catalytic Cycle
Nitrogenase reduction of dinitrogen (N2) to ammonia (NH3) involves a sequence of events that occur upon the transient association of the reduced Fe protein containing two ATP molecules with the MoFe protein that includes electron transfer, ATP hydrolysis, Pi release, and dissociation of the oxidized, ADP-containing Fe protein from the reduced MoFe protein. Numerous kinetic studies using the nonphysiological electron donor dithionite have suggested that the rate-limiting step in this reaction cycle is the dissociation of the Fe protein from the MoFe protein. Here, we have established the rate constants for each of the key steps in the catalytic cycle using the physiological reductant flavodoxin protein in its hydroquinone state. The findings indicate that with this reductant, the rate-limiting step in the reaction cycle is not protein–protein dissociation or reduction of the oxidized Fe protein, but rather events associated with the Pi release step. Further, it is demonstrated that (i) Fe protein transfers only one electron to MoFe protein in each Fe protein cycle coupled with hydrolysis of two ATP molecules, (ii) the oxidized Fe protein is not reduced when bound to MoFe protein, and (iii) the Fe protein interacts with flavodoxin using the same binding interface that is used with the MoFe protein. These findings allow a revision of the rate-limiting step in the nitrogenase Fe protein cycle
Note on Generalized Janus Configurations
We study several aspects of generalized Janus configuration, which includes a
theta term. We investigate the vacuum structure of the theory and find that
unlike the Janus configuration without theta term there is no nontrivial
vacuum. We also discuss BPS soliton configuration both by supersymmetry
analysis and from energy functional. The half BPS configurations could be
realized by introducing transverse (p,q)-strings in original brane
configuration corresponding to generalized Janus configuration. It turns out
the BPS soliton could be taken as modified dyon. We discuss the solution of
half BPS equations for the sharp interface case. Moreover we construct less
supersymmetric Janus configuration with theta term.Comment: 27 pages; References adde
Experimental Free-Space Distribution of Entangled Photon Pairs over a Noisy Ground Atmosphere of 13km
We report free-space distribution of entangled photon pairs over a noisy
ground atmosphere of 13km. It is shown that the desired entanglement can still
survive after the two entangled photons have passed through the noisy ground
atmosphere. This is confirmed by observing a space-like separated violation of
Bell inequality of . On this basis, we exploit the distributed
entangled photon source to demonstrate the BB84 quantum cryptography scheme.
The distribution distance of entangled photon pairs achieved in the experiment
is for the first time well beyond the effective thickness of the aerosphere,
hence presenting a significant step towards satellite-based global quantum
communication.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
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