Recent advances in the understanding of mid-ocean ridge tectonics and volcanism using swath-mapping tools

New swath mapping sonar systems have revealed the structure of the mid-ocean ridge (MOR) and sunounding deep ocean floor with unprecedent clarity. These images show that the MOR is partitioned into segments by a variety of offsets such as transform faults, overlapping spreading centers and very fine scale discontinuities which are barely detectable. The smallest scale segments are the fundamental building blocks for creation of new oceanic crust. They are only 2-20 km long and are active, distinct units for only =100-10,000 years. At fast spreading centers, the axial neovolcanic zone is a persistent 300-400 m high elevation produced by the bouyancy of hot rock and magma; it is not a volcanic construction (most of the time and in most plac e ~ )so there is almost no vestige of it off-axis. Along ~60%of its length, the spreading center is characterized by an axial summit caldera produced by volcanic inflation and collapse. The size and shape of the axial high are very sensitive indicators of a relatively steady and robust magma supply at fast-spreading ndges, and have been used successfuliy to predict the location of magma chambers and to forecast recent volcanic emptions including one witnessed from ALVIN in March-Apnl 1991. At intermediate spreading rates, the axial region cools sufficiently for a volcanic constructional edifice to develop episodically and for normal faulting to occur along an axial graben. Under these conditions axial volcanoes are split in two by the axial graben and rernnants can be found on the flanks of spreading centers. At slow-spreading ridges, the magma budget is relatively starved as indicated by a persistent axial nft valley and a highly discontinuous neovolcanic zone, and strong asymmetry in profiles along and across the strike of the ridge

Quantitative secondary electron imaging for work function extraction at atomic level and layer identification of graphene

Two-dimensional (2D) materials usually have a layer-dependent work function, which require fast and accurate detection for the evaluation of their device performance. A detection technique with high throughput and high spatial resolution has not yet been explored. Using a scanning electron microscope, we have developed and implemented a quantitative analytical technique which allows effective extraction of the work function of graphene. This technique uses the secondary electron contrast and has nanometre-resolved layer information. The measurement of few-layer graphene flakes shows the variation of work function between graphene layers with a precision of less than 10meV. It is expected that this technique will prove extremely useful for researchers in a broad range of fields due to its revolutionary throughput and accuracy

Modification of threat-processing in non-anxious individuals: a preliminary, behavioral and ERP study

Background and objectives: Previous research suggests that attention bias toward threat contributes to the development and maintenance of anxiety. The current study extends this work by mapping the neural correlates of experimentally-induced changes in attention bias. The study examines both behavioral and psychophysiological changes associated with experimentally-induced changes in threat bias. Methods: Thirty-four non-anxious female adults were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: training attention toward threat or placebo control. Attention bias was assessed and trained via a modified dot-probe task. Participants completed pre- and post-training assessments of attention bias and stress reactivity. As well, EEG was collected during pre- and post-test assessment of attention bias using the dot-probe task. Results: Training induced significant changes in attention bias, though findings were complicated by group differences in baseline threat-bias scores. Compared to controls, those in the training group showed greater depression vulnerability to a post-training stressor and increased P2 amplitude, an ERP component associated with attention toward threat, during the dot-probe task. Limitations: Although participants were randomly assigned to groups, there were still group differences in pre-training bias scores. Also, while the use of a stress task before the initial assessment of attention bias was used to control for initial differences in stress vulnerability, this may have altered pre-bias scores since participants completed this task immediately after being stressed. Conclusions: These findings demonstrate training-induced changes in behavior and neural response patterns relevant to work on attention bias modification

Updated tests of scaling and universality for the spin-spin correlations in the 2D and 3D spin-S Ising models using high-temperature expansions

We have extended, from order 12 through order 25, the high-temperature series expansions (in zero magnetic field) for the spin-spin correlations of the spin-S Ising models on the square, simple-cubic and body-centered-cubic lattices. On the basis of this large set of data, we confirm accurately the validity of the scaling and universality hypotheses by resuming several tests which involve the correlation function, its moments and the exponential or the second-moment correlation-lengths.Comment: 21 pages, 8 figure

Systematics of proton emission

A very simple formula is presented that relates the logarithm of the half-life, corrected by the centrifugal barrier, with the Coulomb parameter in proton decay processes. The corresponding experimental data lie on two straight lines which appear as a result of a sudden change in the nuclear shape marking two regions of deformation independently of the angular momentum of the outgoing proton. This feature provides a powerful tool to assign experimentally quantum numbers in proton emitters.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Matrix-isolation FTIR study of azidoacetone and azidoacetonitrile

Azidoacetonitrile (N₃CH₂CN) and azidoacetone (N₃CH₂COCH₃) were studied by matrix-isolation FTIR spectroscopy in solid neon, argon and nitrogen. The IR spectra calculated using the density fuctional theoretical method are discussed in comparison with the experimental data. Significant broadening of the recorded azide bands indicate an awkward fit of these compounds into the solid environment. The strongest absorption is observed for both compounds in the regions of asymmetric and symmetric stretches of the N₃ azide group. Strong band splittings in the N₃ asymmetric stretch region can be most likely explained by very strong Fermi resonances with the CN stretch and combinations and overtones of the numerous lower frequency vibrational modes

Leptonic and Semileptonic Decays of Charm and Bottom Hadrons

We review the experimental measurements and theoretical descriptions of leptonic and semileptonic decays of particles containing a single heavy quark, either charm or bottom. Measurements of bottom semileptonic decays are used to determine the magnitudes of two fundamental parameters of the standard model, the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix elements $V_{cb}$ and $V_{ub}$. These parameters are connected with the physics of quark flavor and mass, and they have important implications for the breakdown of CP symmetry. To extract precise values of $|V_{cb}|$ and $|V_{ub}|$ from measurements, however, requires a good understanding of the decay dynamics. Measurements of both charm and bottom decay distributions provide information on the interactions governing these processes. The underlying weak transition in each case is relatively simple, but the strong interactions that bind the quarks into hadrons introduce complications. We also discuss new theoretical approaches, especially heavy-quark effective theory and lattice QCD, which are providing insights and predictions now being tested by experiment. An international effort at many laboratories will rapidly advance knowledge of this physics during the next decade.Comment: This review article will be published in Reviews of Modern Physics in the fall, 1995. This file contains only the abstract and the table of contents. The full 168-page document including 47 figures is available at http://charm.physics.ucsb.edu/papers/slrevtex.p

Heavy Quarks and Heavy Quarkonia as Tests of Thermalization

We present here a brief summary of new results on heavy quarks and heavy quarkonia from the PHENIX experiment as presented at the "Quark Gluon Plasma Thermalization" Workshop in Vienna, Austria in August 2005, directly following the International Quark Matter Conference in Hungary.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, Quark Gluon Plasma Thermalization Workshop (Vienna August 2005) Proceeding