Effects of ion irradiation on conductivity of CrSi_2 thin films

Electrical resistivity measurements are used to study damage in CrSi_2 thin films induced by Ne, Ar, or Xe ion irradiation over a fluence range of 10^(10)–10^(15) ions cm^(−2). Irradiation produces a factor of 5–12 increase in film conductivity at the higher fluences. The influence of defect generation and recombination is evident. We speculate that formation of a compound defect is a dominant factor enhancing film conductivity. A temperature dependence at low fluences is reported and tentatively identified

Evidence for very strong electron-phonon coupling in YBa_{2}Cu_{3}O_{6}

From the observed oxygen-isotope shift of the mid-infrared two-magnon absorption peak of YBa$_{2}$Cu$_{3}$O$_{6}$, we evaluate the oxygen-isotope effect on the in-plane antiferromagnetic exchange energy $J$. The exchange energy $J$ in YBa$_{2}$Cu$_{3}$O$_{6}$ is found to decrease by about 0.9% upon replacing $^{16}$O by $^{18}$O, which is slightly larger than that (0.6%) in La$_{2}$CuO$_{4}$. From the oxygen-isotope effects, we determine the lower limit of the polaron binding energy, which is about 1.7 eV for YBa$_{2}$Cu$_{3}$O$_{6}$ and 1.5 eV for La$_{2}$CuO$_{4}$, in quantitative agreement with angle-resolved photoemission data, optical conductivity data, and the parameter-free theoretical estimate. The large polaron binding energies in the insulating parent compounds suggest that electron-phonon coupling should also be strong in doped superconducting cuprates and may play an essential role in high-temperature superconductivity.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur

Many-core compiler fuzzing

We address the compiler correctness problem for many-core systems through novel applications of fuzz testing to OpenCL compilers. Focusing on two methods from prior work, random differential testing and testing via equivalence modulo inputs (EMI), we present several strategies for random generation of deterministic, communicating OpenCL kernels, and an injection mechanism that allows EMI testing to be applied to kernels that otherwise exhibit little or no dynamically-dead code. We use these methods to conduct a large, controlled testing campaign with respect to 21 OpenCL (device, compiler) configurations, covering a range of CPU, GPU, accelerator, FPGA and emulator implementations. Our study provides independent validation of claims in prior work related to the effectiveness of random differential testing and EMI testing, proposes novel methods for lifting these techniques to the many-core setting and reveals a significant number of OpenCL compiler bugs in commercial implementations

Inversion of the star transform

We define the star transform as a generalization of the broken ray transform introduced by us in previous work. The advantages of using the star transform include the possibility to reconstruct the absorption and the scattering coefficients of the medium separately and simultaneously (from the same data) and the possibility to utilize scattered radiation which, in the case of the conventional X-ray tomography, is discarded. In this paper, we derive the star transform from physical principles, discuss its mathematical properties and analyze numerical stability of inversion. In particular, it is shown that stable inversion of the star transform can be obtained only for configurations involving odd number of rays. Several computationally-efficient inversion algorithms are derived and tested numerically.Comment: Accepted to Inverse Problems in this for

Three `species' of Schr\"odinger cat states in an infinite-range spin model

We explore a transverse-field Ising model that exhibits both spontaneous symmetry-breaking and eigenstate thermalization. Within its ferromagnetic phase, the exact eigenstates of the Hamiltonian of any large but finite-sized system are all Schr\"odinger cat states: superpositions of states with `up' and `down' spontaneous magnetization. This model exhibits two dynamical phase transitions {\it within} its ferromagnetic phase: In the lowest-temperature phase the magnetization can macroscopically oscillate between up and down. The relaxation of the magnetization is always overdamped in the remainder of the ferromagnetic phase, which is divided in to phases where the system thermally activates itself {\it over} the barrier between the up and down states, and where it quantum tunnels.Comment: 7 pages, added numerical result

The Maximum Optical Depth Towards Bulge Stars From Axisymmetric Models of the Milky Way

It has been known that recent microlensing results towards the bulge imply mass densities that are surprisingly high given dynamical constraints on the Milky Way mass distribution. We derive the maximum optical depth towards the bulge that may be generated by axisymmetric structures in the Milky Way, and show that observations are close to surpassing these limits. This result argues in favor of a bar as a source of significantly enhanced microlensing. Several of the bar models in the literature are discussed.Comment: Latex, 6 pages, 4 figures, uses aas2pp4 and epsf style files. Accepted for publication in ApJ Letter

Multiferroicity in the frustrated spinel cuprate GeCu2_2O4_4

Different from other magnetically frustrated spinel systems, GeCu$_{2}$O$_{4}$ is a strongly tetragonal distorted spinel cuprate in which edge-sharing CuO$_{2}$ ribbons are running along alternating directions perpendicular to the $c$-axis. Here, GeCu$_{2}$O$_{4}$ samples of high quality were prepared via high pressure synthesis (at 4 GPa) and the corresponding magnetic and dielectric properties were investigated. For the first time, we observed a ferroelectric polarization emerging at T$_{N}$ $\sim$ 33~K. Although the ferroelectric polarization is weak in GeCu$_{2}$O$_{4}$ ($P$ $\sim$ 0.2$\mu$C/m$^{2}$), the existence of spin-induced multiferroicity provides a strong constraint on the possible ground state magnetic structures and/or the corresponding theoretical models of multiferroicity for GeCu$_{2}$O$_{4}$.Comment: https://journals.aps.org/prmaterials/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.2.04140

Comparison of wind turbine tower failure modes under seismic and wind loads

This paper studies the structural responses and failure modes of a 1.5-MW horizontal-axis wind turbine under strong ground motions and wind loading. Ground motions were selected and scaled to match the two design response spectra given by the seismic code, and wind loads were generated considering tropical cyclone scenarios. Nonlinear dynamic time-history analyses were conducted and structural performances under wind loads as well as short- and long-period ground motions compared. The results show that under strong wind loads the collapse of the wind turbine tower is driven by the formation of a plastic hinge at the lower section of the tower. This area is also critical when the tower is subject to most ground motions. However, some short-period earthquakes trigger the collapse of the middle and upper parts of the tower due to the increased contribution of high-order vibration modes. Although long-period ground motions tend to result in greater structural responses, short-period earthquakes may cause brittle failure modes in which the full plastic hinge develops quickly in regions of the tower with only a moderate energy dissipation capacity. Based on these results, recommendations for future turbine designs are proposed

Direct Measurement of Quantum Dot Spin Dynamics using Time-Resolved Resonance Fluorescence

We temporally resolve the resonance fluorescence from an electron spin confined to a single self-assembled quantum dot to measure directly the spin's optical initialization and natural relaxation timescales. Our measurements demonstrate that spin initialization occurs on the order of microseconds in the Faraday configuration when a laser resonantly drives the quantum dot transition. We show that the mechanism mediating the optically induced spin-flip changes from electron-nuclei interaction to hole-mixing interaction at 0.6 Tesla external magnetic field. Spin relaxation measurements result in times on the order of milliseconds and suggest that a $B^{-5}$ magnetic field dependence, due to spin-orbit coupling, is sustained all the way down to 2.2 Tesla.Comment: An additional EPAPS file in PDF format is available for download at the publications section of our website http://www.amop.phy.cam.ac.uk/amop-ma

A probabilistic model checking approach to analysing reliability, availability, and maintainability of a single satellite system

Satellites now form a core component for space based systems such as GPS and GLONAS which provide location and timing information for a variety of uses. Such satellites are designed to operate in-orbit and have lifetimes of 10 years or more. Reliability, availability and maintainability (RAM) analysis of these systems has been indispensable in the design phase of satellites in order to achieve minimum failures or to increase mean time between failures (MTBF) and thus to plan maintainability strategies, optimise reliability and maximise availability. In this paper, we present formal modelling of a single satellite and logical specification of its reliability, availability and maintainability properties. The probabilistic model checker PRISM has been used to perform automated quantitative analyses of these properties