822 research outputs found
Far infrared properties of the rare-earth scandate DyScO3
We present reflectance measurements in the infrared region on a single
crystal the rare earth scandate DyScO3. Measurements performed between room
temperature and 10 K allow to determine the frequency of the infrared-active
phonons, never investigated experimentally, and to get information on their
temperature dependence. A comparison with the phonon peak frequency resulting
from ab-initio computations is also provided. We finally report detailed data
on the frequency dependence of the complex refractive index of DyScO3 in the
terahertz region, which is important in the analysis of terahertz measurements
on thin films deposited on DyScO3
Spatial clustering of mental disorders and associated characteristics of the neighbourhood context in Malmö, Sweden, in 2001
Study objective: Previous research provides preliminary evidence of spatial variations of mental disorders and associations between neighbourhood social context and mental health. This study expands past literature by (1) using spatial techniques, rather than multilevel models, to compare the spatial distributions of two groups of mental disorders (that is, disorders due to psychoactive substance use, and neurotic, stress related, and somatoform disorders); and (2) investigating the independent impact of contextual deprivation and neighbourhood social disorganisation on mental health, while assessing both the magnitude and the spatial scale of these effects.
Design: Using different spatial techniques, the study investigated mental disorders due to psychoactive substance use, and neurotic disorders.
Participants: All 89 285 persons aged 40–69 years residing in Malmö, Sweden, in 2001, geolocated to their place of residence.
Main results: The spatial scan statistic identified a large cluster of increased prevalence in a similar location for the two mental disorders in the northern part of Malmö. However, hierarchical geostatistical models showed that the two groups of disorders exhibited a different spatial distribution, in terms of both magnitude and spatial scale. Mental disorders due to substance consumption showed larger neighbourhood variations, and varied in space on a larger scale, than neurotic disorders. After adjustment for individual factors, the risk of substance related disorders increased with neighbourhood deprivation and neighbourhood social disorganisation. The risk of neurotic disorders only increased with contextual deprivation. Measuring contextual factors across continuous space, it was found that these associations operated on a local scale.
Conclusions: Taking space into account in the analyses permitted deeper insight into the contextual determinants of mental disorders
Strain analysis of multiferroic BiFeO3-CoFe2O4 nanostructures by Raman scattering
We report a Raman scattering investigation of columnar BiFeO3-CoFe2O4
(BFO-CFO) epitaxial thin film nanostructures, where BFO pillars are embedded in
a CFO matrix. The feasibility of a strain analysis is illustrated through an
investigation of two nanostructures with different BFO-CFO ratios. We show that
the CFO matrix presents the same strain state in both nanostructures, while the
strain state of the BFO pillars depends on the BFO/CFO ratio with an increasing
tensile strain along the out-of-plane direction with decreasing BFO content.
Our results demonstrate that Raman scattering allows monitoring strain states
in complex 3D multiferroic pillar/matrix composites.Comment: revised version submitted to Appl. Phys. Let
Self-consistent solution for the polarized vacuum in a no-photon QED model
We study the Bogoliubov-Dirac-Fock model introduced by Chaix and Iracane
({\it J. Phys. B.}, 22, 3791--3814, 1989) which is a mean-field theory deduced
from no-photon QED. The associated functional is bounded from below. In the
presence of an external field, a minimizer, if it exists, is interpreted as the
polarized vacuum and it solves a self-consistent equation.
In a recent paper math-ph/0403005, we proved the convergence of the iterative
fixed-point scheme naturally associated with this equation to a global
minimizer of the BDF functional, under some restrictive conditions on the
external potential, the ultraviolet cut-off and the bare fine
structure constant . In the present work, we improve this result by
showing the existence of the minimizer by a variational method, for any cut-off
and without any constraint on the external field.
We also study the behaviour of the minimizer as goes to infinity
and show that the theory is "nullified" in that limit, as predicted first by
Landau: the vacuum totally kills the external potential. Therefore the limit
case of an infinite cut-off makes no sense both from a physical and
mathematical point of view.
Finally, we perform a charge and density renormalization scheme applying
simultaneously to all orders of the fine structure constant , on a
simplified model where the exchange term is neglected.Comment: Final version, to appear in J. Phys. A: Math. Ge
Directly characterizing the relative strength and momentum dependence of electron-phonon coupling using resonant inelastic x-ray scattering
The coupling between lattice and charge degrees of freedom in condensed
matter materials is ubiquitous and can often result in interesting properties
and ordered phases, including conventional superconductivity, charge density
wave order, and metal-insulator transitions. Angle-resolved photoemission
spectroscopy and both neutron and non-resonant x-ray scattering serve as
effective probes for determining the behavior of appropriate, individual
degrees of freedom -- the electronic structure and lattice excitation, or
phonon dispersion, respectively. However, each provides less direct information
about the mutual coupling between the degrees of freedom, usual through
self-energy effects, which tend to renormalize and broaden spectral features
precisely where the coupling is strong, impacting ones ability to quantitively
characterize the coupling. Here we demonstrate that resonant inelastic x-ray
scattering, or RIXS, can be an effective tool to directly determine the
relative strength and momentum dependence of the electron-phonon coupling in
condensed matter systems. Using a diagrammatic approach for an 8-band model of
copper oxides, we study the contributions from the lowest order diagrams to the
full RIXS intensity for a realistic scattering geometry, accounting for matrix
element effects in the scattering cross-section as well as the momentum
dependence of the electron-phonon coupling vertex. A detailed examination of
these maps offers a unique perspective into the characteristics of
electron-phonon coupling, which complements both neutron and non-resonant x-ray
scattering, as well as Raman and infrared conductivity.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figure
Magnetic properties of the honeycomb oxide NaCoTeO
We have studied the magnetic properties of NaCoTeO, which
features a honeycomb lattice of magnetic Co ions, through macroscopic
characterization and neutron diffraction on a powder sample. We have shown that
this material orders in a zig-zag antiferromagnetic structure. In addition to
allowing a linear magnetoelectric coupling, this magnetic arrangement displays
very peculiar spatial magnetic correlations, larger in the honeycomb planes
than between the planes, which do not evolve with the temperature. We have
investigated this behavior by Monte Carlo calculations using the
-- model on a honeycomb lattice with a small interplane
interaction. Our model reproduces the experimental neutron structure factor,
although its absence of temperature evolution must be due to additional
ingredients, such as chemical disorder or quantum fluctuations enhanced by the
proximity to a phase boundary.Comment: 9 pages, 13 figure
Phonons in the multiferroic langasite BaNbFeSiO : evidences for symmetry breaking
The chiral langasite BaNbFeSiO is a multiferroic
compound. While its magnetic order below T=27 K is now well characterised,
its polar order is still controversial. We thus looked at the phonon spectrum
and its temperature dependence to unravel possible crystal symmetry breaking.
We combined optical measurements (both infrared and Raman spectroscopy) with ab
initio calculations and show that signatures of a polar state are clearly
present in the phonon spectrum even at room temperature. An additional symmetry
lowering occurs below 120~K as seen from emergence of softer phonon modes in
the THz range. These results confirm the multiferroic nature of this langasite
and open new routes to understand the origin of the polar state
Lattice and spin excitations in multiferroic h-YMnO3
We used Raman and terahertz spectroscopies to investigate lattice and
magnetic excitations and their cross-coupling in the hexagonal YMnO3
multiferroic. Two phonon modes are strongly affected by the magnetic order.
Magnon excitations have been identified thanks to comparison with neutron
measurements and spin wave calculations but no electromagnon has been observed.
In addition, we evidenced two additional Raman active peaks. We have compared
this observation with the anti-crossing between magnon and acoustic phonon
branches measured by neutron. These optical measurements underly the unusual
strong spin-phonon coupling
Study by X-Ray microtomography of the horizontal vibration effects on sand densification
International audienceX ray microtomography experiments were performed in order to evaluate the densification of silica sand submitted to horizontal sinusoidal vibrations carried out at constant frequency (50 Hz) with controlled acceleration and deceleration Γ. Packing homogeneity was characterized using relative density distribution through 3D images of the relaxed samples. Information obtained from the images allowed us to evaluate data at grain scale: porosity and pore size distribution, number of contacts per particle, particle shape and size distribution were evaluated and linked to the densification process. Based on the internal analysis of samples, the results confirm and extend the conclusions of previous works regarding the 3-layer densification under vibration and the proposed optimized vibration cycle to get dense and homogeneous samples. They extend them to different initial packings. Additionally, significant correlations are found between density and local particle packing characteristics such as pores size distribution, or the number of contacts per particle
Correction of moisture effects on near infrared calibration for the analysis of phenol content in eucalyptus wood extracts
Les méthodes basées sur la spectroscopie proche infrarouge pour estimer les propriétés du bois sont sensibles aux variations des paramètres physiques (température, granulométrie. . . ). Le bois étant un matériau hygroscopique sensible, l'influence de l'humidité sur l'absorbance et l'étalonnage proche infrarouge a été étudiée afin de mieux considérer les possibilités d'applications dans des conditions réelles.Un étalonnage de référence de la quantité de polyphénols présents dans les extraits a été établi à partir de spectres d'une collection de bois d'hybrides d'Eucalyptus urophylla × E. grandis à humidité constante fixée. D'autres spectres ont été obtenus sur des échantillons de même provenance mais à 8 teneurs en eau couvrant une large plage de variation. L'influence de l'humidité sur l'absorbance proche infrarouge puis sur l'estimation par le modèle de référence a été analysée. / Methods based on near infrared spectroscopy used to assess wood properties are susceptible to variations in physical parameters (temperature, grain size, etc). As wood is a hygroscopically sensitive material, we studied the effects of moisure on near infrared absorbance and calibration to accurately determine the application potential of this technique under routine. A collection of Eucalyptus urophylla x E. grandis hybrid wood pieces were analysed to obtain reference calibration of polyphenol contents in wood extracts via NIR spectra acquired under constant moisture conditions.Others specimens from the same source were assessed to obtain spectra for eight moisture contents spanning a broad variation range. The effects of moisture on absorption and on estimates based on a reference model were analysed. An increase in moisture content prompteda rise in near infrared absorption over the entire spectrum and the water O-H absorption bands. The polyphenol content estimates obtained by assessing specimens against the reference calibration at variable moisture contents revealed prediction bias. Five correction methods were then tested on enhance the robustness relative to moisture. In-depth calibration and external parameter orthogonalization were found to be the most efficient methods for offsetting this factor
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