47,399 research outputs found
Domain formation in membranes with quenched protein obstacles: Lateral heterogeneity and the connection to universality classes
We show that lateral fluidity in membranes containing quenched protein
obstacles belongs to the universality class of the two-dimensional random-field
Ising model. The main feature of this class is the absence of a phase
transition: there is no critical point, and macroscopic domain formation does
not occur. Instead, there is only one phase. This phase is highly
heterogeneous, with a structure consisting of micro-domains. The presence of
quenched protein obstacles thus provides a mechanism to stabilize lipid rafts
in equilibrium. Crucial for two-dimensional random-field Ising universality is
that the obstacles are randomly distributed, and have a preferred affinity to
one of the lipid species. When these conditions are not met, standard Ising or
diluted Ising universality apply. In these cases, a critical point does exist,
marking the onset toward macroscopic demixing.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figure
VR/Urban: SMSlingshot
In this paper we describe the concept and design objectives of VR/Urban's media intervention tool SMSlingshot, which was presented at the Riga White Night Arts Festival 2009 for the first time
VR/Urban: spread.gun - design process and challenges in developing a shared encounter for media façades
Designing novel interaction concepts for urban environments is not only a technical challenge in terms of scale, safety, portability and deployment, but also a challenge of designing for social configurations and spatial settings. To outline what it takes to create a consistent and interactive experience in urban space, we describe the concept and multidisciplinary design process of VR/Urban's media intervention tool called Spread.gun, which was created for the Media Façade Festival 2008 in Berlin. Main design aims were the anticipation of urban space, situational system configuration and embodied interaction. This case study also reflects on the specific technical, organizational and infrastructural challenges encountered when developing media façade installations
Fluids with quenched disorder: Scaling of the free energy barrier near critical points
In the context of Monte Carlo simulations, the analysis of the probability
distribution of the order parameter , as obtained in simulation
boxes of finite linear extension , allows for an easy estimation of the
location of the critical point and the critical exponents. For Ising-like
systems without quenched disorder, becomes scale invariant at the
critical point, where it assumes a characteristic bimodal shape featuring two
overlapping peaks. In particular, the ratio between the value of at
the peaks () and the value at the minimum in-between ()
becomes -independent at criticality. However, for Ising-like systems with
quenched random fields, we argue that instead should be observed, where is the
"violation of hyperscaling" exponent. Since is substantially non-zero,
the scaling of with system size should be easily detectable in
simulations. For two fluid models with quenched disorder, versus
was measured, and the expected scaling was confirmed. This provides further
evidence that fluids with quenched disorder belong to the universality class of
the random-field Ising model.Comment: sent to J. Phys. Cond. Mat
Thermal Conductivity of Single Wall Carbon Nanotubes: Diameter and Annealing Dependence
The thermal conductivity, k(T), of bulk single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNT's)
displays a linear temperature dependence at low T that has been attributed to
1D quantization of phonons. To explore this issue further, we have measured the
k(T) of samples with varying average tube diameters. We observe linear k(T) up
to higher temperatures in samples with smaller diameters, in agreement with a
quantization picture. In addition, we have examined the effect of annealing on
k(T). We observe an enhancement in k(T) for annealed samples which we attribute
to healing of defects and removal of impurities. These measurements demonstrate
how the thermal properties of an SWNT material can be controlled by
manipulating its intrinsic nanoscale properties.Comment: Proc. of the XV. Int. Winterschool on Electronic Properties of Novel
Materials, Kirchberg/Tirol, Austria, 200
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