Structure and magnetic order in Fe2+xV1-xAl

We present a detailed structural investigation via neutron diffraction of differently heat treated samples Fe2VAl and Fe2+xV1-xAl. Moreover, the magnetic behaviour of these materials is studied by means of mSR and Mossbauer-experiments. Our structural investigation indicates that quenched Fe2VAl, exhibiting the previously reported "Kondo insulating like" behaviour, is off-stoichiometric (6%) in its Al content. Slowly cooled Fe2VAl is structurally better ordered and stoichiometric, and the microscopic magnetic probes establish long range ferromagnetic order below TC = 13K, consistent with results from bulk experiments. The magnetic state can be modelled as being generated by diluted magnetic ions in a non-magnetic matrix. Quantitatively, the required number of magnetic ions is too large as to be explained by a model of Fe/V site exchange. We discuss the implications of our findings for the ground state properties of Fe2VAl, in particular with respect to the role of crystallographic disorder.Comment: accepted for publication in J. Phys.: Condens. Matte

Electronic Structure, Local Moments and Transport in Fe_2VAl

Local spin density approximation calculations are used to elucidate electronic and magnetic properties of Heusler structure Fe_2VAl. The compound is found to be a low carrier density semimetal. The Fermi surface has small hole pockets derived from a triply degenerate Fe derived state at Gamma compensated by an V derived electron pocket at the X point. The ideal compound is found to be stable against ferromagnetism. Fe impurities on V sites, however, behave as local moments. Because of the separation of the hole and electron pockets the RKKY interaction between such local moments should be rapidly oscillating on the scale of its decay, leading to the likelihood of spin-glass behavior for moderate concentrations of Fe on V sites. These features are discussed in relation to experimental observations of an unusual insulating state in this compound.Comment: 16 pages, RevTeX, 5 figure

Invariant higher-order variational problems II

Motivated by applications in computational anatomy, we consider a second-order problem in the calculus of variations on object manifolds that are acted upon by Lie groups of smooth invertible transformations. This problem leads to solution curves known as Riemannian cubics on object manifolds that are endowed with normal metrics. The prime examples of such object manifolds are the symmetric spaces. We characterize the class of cubics on object manifolds that can be lifted horizontally to cubics on the group of transformations. Conversely, we show that certain types of non-horizontal geodesics on the group of transformations project to cubics. Finally, we apply second-order Lagrange--Poincar\'e reduction to the problem of Riemannian cubics on the group of transformations. This leads to a reduced form of the equations that reveals the obstruction for the projection of a cubic on a transformation group to again be a cubic on its object manifold.Comment: 40 pages, 1 figure. First version -- comments welcome

Integrated modeling and validation for phase change with natural convection

Water-ice systems undergoing melting develop complex spatio-temporal interface dynamics and a non-trivial temperature field. In this contribution, we present computational aspects of a recently conducted validation study that aims at investigating the role of natural convection for cryo-interface dynamics of water-ice. We will present a fixed grid model known as the enthalpy porosity method. It is based on introducing a phase field and employs mixture theory. The resulting PDEs are solved using a finite volume discretization. The second part is devoted to experiments that have been conducted for model validation. The evolving water-ice interface is tracked based on optical images that shows both the water and the ice phase. To segment the phases, we use a binary Mumford Shah method, which yields a piece-wise constant approximation of the imaging data. Its jump set is the reconstruction of the measured phase interface. Our combined simulation and segmentation effort finally enables us to compare the modeled and measured phase interfaces continuously. We conclude with a discussion of our findings

NMR and Mossbauer study of spin dynamics and electronic structure of Fe{2+x}V{1-x}Al and Fe2VGa

In order to assess the magnetic ordering process in Fe2VAl and the related material Fe2VGa, we have carried out nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and Mossbauer studies. 27Al NMR relaxation measurements covered the temperature range 4 -- 500 K in Fe(2+x)V(1-x)Al samples. We found a peak in the NMR spin-lattice relaxation rate, 27T1^-1, corresponding to the magnetic transitions in each of these samples. These peaks appear at 125 K, 17 K, and 165 K for x = 0.10, 0, and - 0.05 respectively, and we connect these features with critical slowing down of the localized antisite defects. Mossbauer measurements for Fe2VAl and Fe2VGa showed lines with no hyperfine splitting, and isomer shifts nearly identical to those of the corresponding sites in Fe3Al and Fe3Ga, respectively. We show that a model in which local band filling leads to magnetic regions in the samples, in addition to the localized antisite defects, can account for the observed magnetic ordering behavior.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Lack of observational evidence for quantum structure of space-time at Plank scales

It has been noted (Lieu & Hillmann, 2002) that the cumulative affect of Planck-scale phenomenology, or the structure of space-time at extremely small scales, can be lead to the loss of phase of radiation emitted at large distances from the observer. We elaborate on such an approach and demonstrate that such an effect would lead to an apparent blurring of distant point-sources. Evidence of the diffraction pattern from the HST observations of SN 1994D and the unresolved appearance of a Hubble Deep Field galaxy at z=5.34 lead us to put stringent limits on the effects of Planck-scale phenomenology.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, accepter for ApJ

Common Features at the Start of the Neurodegeneration Cascade

A single-molecule study reveals that neurotoxic proteins share common structural features that may trigger neurodegeneration, thus identifying new targets for therapy and diagnosis