472 research outputs found
Stochastic Ergodicity Breaking: a Random Walk Approach
The continuous time random walk (CTRW) model exhibits a non-ergodic phase
when the average waiting time diverges. Using an analytical approach for the
non-biased and the uniformly biased CTRWs, and numerical simulations for the
CTRW in a potential field, we obtain the non-ergodic properties of the random
walk which show strong deviations from Boltzmann--Gibbs theory. We derive the
distribution function of occupation times in a bounded region of space which,
in the ergodic phase recovers the Boltzmann--Gibbs theory, while in the
non-ergodic phase yields a generalized non-ergodic statistical law.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Stabilization of tetragonal/cubic phase in Fe doped Zirconia grown by atomic layer deposition
Achieving high temperature ferromagnetism by doping transition metals thin
films is seen as a viable approach to integrate spin-based elements in
innovative spintronic devices. In this work we investigated the effect of Fe
doping on structural properties of ZrO2 grown by atomic layer deposition (ALD)
using Zr(TMHD)4 for Zr and Fe(TMHD)3 for Fe precursors and ozone as oxygen
source. The temperature during the growth process was fixed at 350{\deg}C. The
ALD process was tuned to obtain Fe doped ZrO2 films with uniform chemical
composition, as seen by time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry. The
control of Fe content was effectively reached, by controlling the ALD precursor
pulse ratio, as checked by X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS) and
spectroscopic ellipsometry. From XPS, Fe was found in Fe3+ chemical state,
which maximizes the magnetization per atom. We also found, by grazing incidence
X-ray diffraction, that the inclusion of Fe impurities in ZrO2 induces
amorphization in thin ZrO2 films, while stabilizes the high temperature
crystalline tetragonal/cubic phase after rapid thermal annealing at 600{\deg}C.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, 1 Tabl
Laser-Based Primary Thermometry: A Review
Laser-based primary thermometry was initiated almost 15 years ago by the proposal to determine the absolute temperature of a gas at thermodynamic equilibrium through the Doppler width of an associated absorption transition, exploiting the potentially very accurate measurement of an optical frequency to infer the elusive thermal energy of a molecular or atomic absorber. This approach, commonly referred to as Doppler broadening thermometry, has benefited across the years from substantial improvements, of both technical and fundamental nature, eventually reaching an accuracy of about 10 ppm on the temperature determination in the best cases. This is sufficient for Doppler broadening thermometry to play a significant role in the practical realization of the new kelvin, which follows the 2019's redefinition from a fixed value of the Boltzmann constant, and to tackle the challenge, among others, to quantify and possibly fix systematic uncertainties of the international temperature scale of 1990. This paper reviews and comparatively analyzes methods and results achieved so far in the field of laser-based primary thermometry, also including spectroscopic approaches that leverage the temperature-dependent distribution of line intensities and related absorbances across the rovibrational band of a molecular sample. Although at an early stage of development, these approaches show a promising degree of robustness with respect to the choice of the line-shape model adopted for the fitting of the absorption spectra, which is a delicate aspect for all laser-based thermometers. We conclude by identifying possible technical and scientific evolution axes of the current scenario.& nbsp;Published by AIP Publishing on behalf of the National Institute of Standards and Technology
Dual random fragmentation and coagulation and an application to the genealogy of Yule processes
The purpose of this work is to describe a duality between a fragmentation
associated to certain Dirichlet distributions and a natural random coagulation.
The dual fragmentation and coalescent chains arising in this setting appear in
the description of the genealogy of Yule processes.Comment: 14 page
Risk-Informed design process of the IRIS reactor
Westinghouse is currently conducting the pre-application licensing of the International Reactor Innovative and
Secure (IRIS). The design philosophy of the IRIS has been based on the concept of Safety-by-DesignTM and within this
framework the PSA is being used as an integral part of the design process. The basis for the PSA contribution to the design
phase of the reactor is the close iteration between the PSA team and the design and safety analysis team. In this process the
design team is not only involved in the initial phase of providing system information to the PSA team, allowing in this way the
identification of the high risk scenarios, but it is also receiving feedback from the PSA team that suggests design modification
aimed at reaching risk-related goals.
During the first iteration of this process, the design modifications proposed by the PSA team allowed reducing the initial
estimate of Core Damage Frequency (CDF) due to internal events from 2E-6/ry to 2E-8/ry. Since the IRIS design is still in a
development phase, a number of assumptions have to be confirmed when the design is finalized.
Among key assumptions are the success criteria for both the accident sequences analyzed and the systems involved in the
mitigation strategies. The PSA team developed the initial accident sequence event trees according to the information from
the preliminary analysis and feasibility studies. A recent coupling between the RELAP and GOTHIC codes made possible the
actual simulation of all LOCA sequences identified in the first draft of the Event Trees. Working in close coordination, the
PSA and the safety analysis teams developed a matrix case of sequences not only with the purpose of testing the assumed
success criteria, but also with the perspective of identifying alternative sequences developed mainly by relaxing the extremely
conservative assumptions previously made.
The results of these simulations, bounded themselves with conservative assumptions on the Core Damage definition,
suggested two new versions of the LOCA Event Tree with two possible configurations of the Automatic Depressurization
System. The new CDF has been evaluated for both configurations and the design team has been provided with an additional
and risk-related perspective that will help choosing the design alternative to be implemented
A Stimulated Raman Loss spectrometer for metrological studies of quadrupole lines of hydrogen isotopologues
We discuss layout and performance of a high-resolution Stimulated Raman Loss
spectrometer that has been newly developed for accurate studies of spectral
lineshapes and line center frequencies of hydrogen isotopologues and in general
of Raman active transitions. Thanks to the frequency comb calibration of the
detuning between pump and Stokes lasers and to an active alignment of the two
beams, the frequency accuracy is well below 100 kHz. Over the vertical axis the
spectrometer benefits from shot-noise limited detection, signal enhancement via
multipass cell, active flattening of the spectral baseline and measurement
times of few seconds over spectral spans larger than 10 GHz. Under these
conditions an efficient averaging of Raman spectra is possible over long
measurement times with minimal distortion of spectral lineshapes. By changing
the pump laser, transitions can be covered in a very broad frequency span, from
50 to 5000 , including both vibrational and rotational bands.
The spectrometer has been developed for studies of fundamental and collisional
physics of hydrogen isotopologues and has been recently applied to the
metrology of the Q(1) 1-0 line of
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