459 research outputs found
Possible indicators for low dimensional superconductivity in the quasi-1D carbide Sc3CoC4
The transition metal carbide Sc3CoC4 consists of a quasi-one-dimensional (1D)
structure with [CoC4]_{\inft} polyanionic chains embedded in a scandium
matrix. At ambient temperatures Sc3CoC4 displays metallic behavior. At lower
temperatures, however, charge density wave formation has been observed around
143K which is followed by a structural phase transition at 72K. Below T^onset_c
= 4.5K the polycrystalline sample becomes superconductive. From Hc1(0) and
Hc2(0) values we could estimate the London penetration depth ({\lambda}_L ~=
9750 Angstroem) and the Ginsburg-Landau (GL) coherence length ({\xi}_GL ~= 187
Angstroem). The resulting GL-parameter ({\kappa} ~= 52) classifies Sc3CoC4 as a
type II superconductor. Here we compare the puzzling superconducting features
of Sc3CoC4, such as the unusual temperature dependence i) of the specific heat
anomaly and ii) of the upper critical field H_c2(T) at T_c, and iii) the
magnetic hysteresis curve, with various related low dimensional
superconductors: e.g., the quasi-1D superconductor (SN)_x or the 2D
transition-metal dichalcogenides. Our results identify Sc3CoC4 as a new
candidate for a quasi-1D superconductor.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
Ordinal patterns in epileptic brains: Analysis of intracranial EEG and simultaneous EEG-fMRI
Epileptic seizures are associated with high behavioral stereotypy of the patients. In the EEG of epilepsy patients characteristic signal patterns can be found during and between seizures. Here we use ordinal patterns to analyze EEGs of epilepsy patients and quantify the degree of signal determinism. Besides relative signal redundancy and the fraction of forbidden patterns we introduce the fraction of under-represented patterns as a new measure. Using the logistic map, parameter scans are performed to explore the sensitivity of the measures to signal determinism. Thereafter, application is made to two types of EEGs recorded in two epilepsy patients. Intracranial EEG shows pronounced determinism peaks during seizures. Finally, we demonstrate that ordinal patterns may be useful for improving analysis of non-invasive simultaneous EEG-fMR
Refactoring, reengineering and evolution: paths to Geant4 uncertainty quantification and performance improvement
Ongoing investigations for the improvement of Geant4 accuracy and
computational performance resulting by refactoring and reengineering parts of
the code are discussed. Issues in refactoring that are specific to the domain
of physics simulation are identified and their impact is elucidated.
Preliminary quantitative results are reported.Comment: To be published in the Proc. CHEP (Computing in High Energy Physics)
201
Research in Geant4 electromagnetic physics design, and its effects on computational performance and quality assurance
The Geant4 toolkit offers a rich variety of electromagnetic physics models;
so far the evaluation of this Geant4 domain has been mostly focused on its
physics functionality, while the features of its design and their impact on
simulation accuracy, computational performance and facilities for verification
and validation have not been the object of comparable attention yet, despite
the critical role they play in many experimental applications. A new project is
in progress to study the application of new design concepts and software
techniques in Geant4 electromagnetic physics, and to evaluate how they can
improve on the current simulation capabilities. The application of a
policy-based class design is investigated as a means to achieve the objective
of granular decomposition of processes; this design technique offers various
advantages in terms of flexibility of configuration and computational
performance. The current Geant4 physics models have been re-implemented
according to the new design as a pilot project. The main features of the new
design and first results of performance improvement and testing simplification
are presented; they are relevant to many Geant4 applications, where
computational speed and the containment of resources invested in simulation
production and quality assurance play a critical role.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures and images, to appear in proceedings of the
Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference 2009, Orland
Quantifying the unknown: issues in simulation validation and their experimental impact
The assessment of the reliability of Monte Carlo simulations is discussed,
with emphasis on uncertainty quantification and the related impact on
experimental results. Methods and techniques to account for epistemic
uncertainties, i.e. for intrinsic knowledge gaps in physics modeling, are
discussed with the support of applications to concrete experimental scenarios.
Ongoing projects regarding the investigation of epistemic uncertainties in the
Geant4 simulation toolkit are reported.Comment: To be published in the Proceedings of the 13th ICATPP Conference on
Astroparticle, Particle, Space Physics and Detectors for Physics
Applications, Villa Olmo, Como, 3-7 October 201
Geant4-related R&D for new particle transport methods
A R&D project has been launched in 2009 to address fundamental methods in
radiation transport simulation and revisit Geant4 kernel design to cope with
new experimental requirements. The project focuses on simulation at different
scales in the same experimental environment: this set of problems requires new
methods across the current boundaries of condensed-random-walk and discrete
transport schemes. An exploration is also foreseen about exploiting and
extending already existing Geant4 features to apply Monte Carlo and
deterministic transport methods in the same simulation environment. An overview
of this new R&D associated with Geant4 is presented, together with the first
developments in progress.Comment: 4 pages, to appear in proceedings of the Nuclear Science Symposium
and Medical Imaging Conference 2009, Orland
Neuroimaging of Epilepsy: Lesions, Networks, Oscillations
While analysis and interpretation of structural epileptogenic lesion is an essential task for the neuroradiologist in clinical practice, a substantial body of epilepsy research has shown that focal lesions influence brain areas beyond the epileptogenic lesion, across ensembles of functionally and anatomically connected brain areas. In this review article, we aim to provide an overview about altered network compositions in epilepsy, as measured with current advanced neuroimaging techniques to characterize the initiation and spread of epileptic activity in the brain with multimodal noninvasive imaging techniques. We focus on resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and simultaneous electroencephalography/fMRI, and oppose the findings in idiopathic generalized versus focal epilepsies. These data indicate that circumscribed epileptogenic lesions can have extended effects on many brain systems. Although epileptic seizures may involve various brain areas, seizure activity does not spread diffusely throughout the brain but propagates along specific anatomic pathways that characterize the underlying epilepsy syndrome. Such a functionally oriented approach may help to better understand a range of clinical phenomena such as the type of cognitive impairment, the development of pharmacoresistance, the propagation pathways of seizures, or the success of epilepsy surgery
Integrated Detector Control and Calibration Processing at the European XFEL
The European X-ray Free Electron Laser is a high-intensity X-ray light source
currently being constructed in the area of Hamburg, that will provide spatially
coherent X-rays in the energy range between and
. The machine will deliver ,
consisting of up to , with a
repetition rate. The LPD, DSSC and AGIPD detectors are being developed to
provide high dynamic-range Mpixel imaging capabilities at the mentioned
repetition rates. A consequence of these detector characteristics is that they
generate raw data volumes of up to . In addition the
detector's on-sensor memory-cell and multi-/non-linear gain architectures pose
unique challenges in data correction and calibration, requiring online access
to operating conditions and control settings. We present how these challenges
are addressed within XFEL's control and analysis framework Karabo, which
integrates access to hardware conditions, acquisition settings (also using
macros) and distributed computing. Implementation of control and calibration
software is mainly in Python, using self-optimizing (py) CUDA code, numpy and
iPython parallels to achieve near-real time performance for calibration
application.Comment: Proceeding ICALEPS 201
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