14,954 research outputs found
Stacked clusters of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon molecules
Clusters of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) molecules are modelled
using explicit all-atom potentials using a rigid body approximation. The PAH's
considered range from pyrene (C10H8) to circumcoronene (C54H18), and clusters
containing between 2 and 32 molecules are investigated. In addition to the
usual repulsion-dispersion interactions, electrostatic point-charge
interactions are incorporated, as obtained from density functional theory
calculations. The general electrostatic distribution in neutral or singly
charged PAH's is reproduced well using a fluctuating charges analysis, which
provides an adequate description of the multipolar distribution. Global
optimization is performed using a variety of methods, including basin-hopping
and parallel tempering Monte Carlo. We find evidence that stacking the PAH
molecules generally yields the most stable motif. A structural transition
between one-dimensional stacks and three-dimensional shapes built from mutiple
stacks is observed at larger sizes, and the threshold for this transition
increases with the size of the monomer. Larger aggregates seem to evolve toward
the packing observed for benzene in bulk.Difficulties met in optimizing these
clusters are analysed in terms of the strong anisotropy of the molecules. We
also discuss segregation in heterogeneous clusters and vibrational properties
in the context of astrophysical observations.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figure
Mapping the structural diversity of C60 carbon clusters and their infrared spectra
The current debate about the nature of the carbonaceous material carrying the
infrared (IR) emission spectra of planetary and proto-planetary nebulae,
including the broad plateaus, calls for further studies on the interplay
between structure and spectroscopy of carbon-based compounds of astrophysical
interest. The recent observation of C60 buckminsterfullerene in space suggests
that carbon clusters of similar size may also be relevant. In the present work,
broad statistical samples of C60 isomers were computationally determined
without any bias using a reactive force field, their IR spectra being
subsequently obtained following local optimization with the
density-functional-based tight-binding theory. Structural analysis reveals four
main structural families identified as cages, planar polycyclic aromatics,
pretzels, and branched. Comparison with available astronomical spectra
indicates that only the cage family could contribute to the plateau observed in
the 6-9 micron region. The present framework shows great promise to explore and
relate structural and spectroscopic features in more diverse and possibly
hydrogenated carbonaceous compounds, in relation with astronomical
observations
Enhancing single-parameter quantum charge pumping in carbon-based devices
We present a theoretical study of quantum charge pumping with a single ac
gate applied to graphene nanoribbons and carbon nanotubes operating with low
resistance contacts. By combining Floquet theory with Green's function
formalism, we show that the pumped current can be tuned and enhanced by up to
two orders of magnitude by an appropriate choice of device length, gate voltage
intensity and driving frequency and amplitude. These results offer a promising
alternative for enhancing the pumped currents in these carbon-based devices.Comment: 3.5 pages, 2 figure
Theoretical study of finite temperature spectroscopy in van der Waals clusters. I. Probing phase changes in CaAr_n
The photoabsorption spectra of calcium-doped argon clusters CaAr_n are
investigated at thermal equilibrium using a variety of theoretical and
numerical tools. The influence of temperature on the absorption spectra is
estimated using the quantum superposition method for a variety of cluster sizes
in the range 6<=n<=146. At the harmonic level of approximation, the absorption
intensity is calculated through an extension of the Gaussian theory by Wadi and
Pollak [J. Chem. Phys. vol 110, 11890 (1999)]. This theory is tested on simple,
few-atom systems in both the classical and quantum regimes for which highly
accurate Monte Carlo data can be obtained. By incorporating quantum anharmonic
corrections to the partition functions and respective weights of the isomers,
we show that the superposition method can correctly describe the
finite-temperature spectroscopic properties of CaAr_n systems. The use of the
absorption spectrum as a possible probe of isomerization or phase changes in
the argon cluster is discussed at the light of finite-size effects.Comment: 17 pages, 9 figure
Dual branes in topological sigma models over Lie groups. BF-theory and non-factorizable Lie bialgebras
We complete the study of the Poisson-Sigma model over Poisson-Lie groups.
Firstly, we solve the models with targets and (the dual group of the
Poisson-Lie group ) corresponding to a triangular -matrix and show that
the model over is always equivalent to BF-theory. Then, given an
arbitrary -matrix, we address the problem of finding D-branes preserving the
duality between the models. We identify a broad class of dual branes which are
subgroups of and , but not necessarily Poisson-Lie subgroups. In
particular, they are not coisotropic submanifolds in the general case and what
is more, we show that by means of duality transformations one can go from
coisotropic to non-coisotropic branes. This fact makes clear that
non-coisotropic branes are natural boundary conditions for the Poisson-Sigma
model.Comment: 24 pages; JHEP style; Final versio
Uniform non-stoichiometric titanium nitride thin films for improved kinetic inductance detector array
We describe the fabrication of homogeneous sub-stoichiometric titanium
nitride films for microwave kinetic inductance detector (mKID) arrays. Using a
6 inch sputtering target and a homogeneous nitrogen inlet, the variation of the
critical temperature over a 2 inch wafer was reduced to <25 %. Measurements of
a 132-pixel mKID array from these films reveal a sensitivity of 16 kHz/pW in
the 100 GHz band, comparable to the best aluminium mKIDs. We measured a noise
equivalent power of NEP = 3.6e-15 W/Hz^(1/2). Finally, we describe possible
routes to further improve the performance of these TiN mKID arrays.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Journal of low temperature physics,
Proceedings of LTD-1
Coherence Resonance in Chaotic Systems
We show that it is possible for chaotic systems to display the main features
of coherence resonance. In particular, we show that a Chua model, operating in
a chaotic regime and in the presence of noise, can exhibit oscillations whose
regularity is optimal for some intermediate value of the noise intensity. We
find that the power spectrum of the signal develops a peak at finite frequency
at intermediate values of the noise. These are all signatures of coherence
resonance. We also experimentally study a Chua circuit and corroborate the
above simulation results. Finally, we analyze a simple model composed of two
separate limit cycles which still exhibits coherence resonance, and show that
its behavior is qualitatively similar to that of the chaotic Chua systemComment: 4 pages (including 4 figures) LaTeX fil
Wetting to Non-wetting Transition in Sodium-Coated C_60
Based on ab initi and density-functional theory calculations, an empirical
potential is proposed to model the interaction between a fullerene molecule and
many sodium atoms. This model predicts homogeneous coverage of C_60 below 8 Na
atoms, and a progressive droplet formation above this size. The effects of
ionization, temperature, and external electric field indicate that the various,
and apparently contradictory, experimental results can indeed be put into
agreement.Comment: 4 pages, 4 postscript figure
Floquet interface states in illuminated three-dimensional topological insulators
Recent experiments showed that the surface of a three dimensional topological
insulator develops gaps in the Floquet-Bloch band spectrum when illuminated
with a circularly polarized laser. These Floquet-Bloch bands are characterized
by non-trivial Chern numbers which only depend on the helicity of the
polarization of the radiation field. Here we propose a setup consisting of a
pair of counter-rotating lasers, and show that one-dimensional chiral states
emerge at the interface between the two lasers. These interface states turn out
to be spin-polarized and may trigger interesting applications in the field of
optoelectronics and spintronics.Comment: 5 pages with 3 figures + supplemental materia
Optimal partial-arcs in VMAT treatment planning
Purpose: To improve the delivery efficiency of VMAT by extending the recently
published VMAT treatment planning algorithm vmerge to automatically generate
optimal partial-arc plans.
Methods and materials: A high-quality initial plan is created by solving a
convex multicriteria optimization problem using 180 equi-spaced beams. This
initial plan is used to form a set of dose constraints, and a set of
partial-arc plans is created by searching the space of all possible partial-arc
plans that satisfy these constraints. For each partial-arc, an iterative
fluence map merging and sequencing algorithm (vmerge) is used to improve the
delivery efficiency. Merging continues as long as the dose quality is
maintained above a user-defined threshold. The final plan is selected as the
partial arc with the lowest treatment time. The complete algorithm is called
pmerge.
Results: Partial-arc plans are created using pmerge for a lung, liver and
prostate case, with final treatment times of 127, 245 and 147 seconds.
Treatment times using full arcs with vmerge are 211, 357 and 178 seconds. Dose
quality is maintained across the initial, vmerge, and pmerge plans to within 5%
of the mean doses to the critical organs-at-risk and with target coverage above
98%. Additionally, we find that the angular distribution of fluence in the
initial plans is predictive of the start and end angles of the optimal
partial-arc.
Conclusions: The pmerge algorithm is an extension to vmerge that
automatically finds the partial-arc plan that minimizes the treatment time.
VMAT delivery efficiency can be improved by employing partial-arcs without
compromising dose quality. Partial arcs are most applicable to cases with
non-centralized targets, where the time savings is greatest
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