Mechanism of magnetostructural transformation in multifunctional Mn3_3GaC

Mn$_3$GaC undergoes a ferromagnetic to antiferromagnetic, volume discontinuous cubic-cubic phase transition as a function of temperature, pressure and magnetic field. Through a series of temperature dependent x-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy experiments at the Mn K and Ga K edge, it is shown that the first order magnetic transformation in Mn$_3$GaC is entirely due to distortions in Mn sub-lattice and with a very little role for Mn-C interactions. The distortion in Mn sub-lattice results in long and short Mn-Mn bonds with the longer Mn-Mn bonds favoring ferromagnetic interactions and the shorter Mn-Mn bonds favoring antiferromagnetic interactions. At the first order transition, the shorter Mn-Mn bonds exhibit an abrupt decrease in their length resulting in an antiferromagnetic ground state and a strained lattice.Comment: Accepted in J. Appl. Phys. Please contact authors for supplementary informatio

Local Runup Amplification By Resonant Wave Interactions

Until now the analysis of long wave runup on a plane beach has been focused on finding its maximum value, failing to capture the existence of resonant regimes. One-dimensional numerical simulations in the framework of the Nonlinear Shallow Water Equations (NSWE) are used to investigate the Boundary Value Problem (BVP) for plane and non-trivial beaches. Monochromatic waves, as well as virtual wave-gage recordings from real tsunami simulations, are used as forcing conditions to the BVP. Resonant phenomena between the incident wavelength and the beach slope are found to occur, which result in enhanced runup of non-leading waves. The evolution of energy reveals the existence of a quasi-periodic state for the case of sinusoidal waves, the energy level of which, as well as the time required to reach that state, depend on the incident wavelength for a given beach slope. Dispersion is found to slightly reduce the value of maximum runup, but not to change the overall picture. Runup amplification occurs for both leading elevation and depression waves.Comment: 10 pages, 7 Figures. Accepted to Physical Review Letters. Other author's papers can be downloaded at http://www.lama.univ-savoie.fr/~dutykh

Thin-shell wormholes in d-dimensional general relativity: Solutions, properties, and stability

We construct thin-shell electrically charged wormholes in d-dimensional general relativity with a cosmological constant. The wormholes constructed can have different throat geometries, namely, spherical, planar and hyperbolic. Unlike the spherical geometry, the planar and hyperbolic geometries allow for different topologies and in addition can be interpreted as higher-dimensional domain walls or branes connecting two universes. In the construction we use the cut-and-paste procedure by joining together two identical vacuum spacetime solutions. Properties such as the null energy condition and geodesics are studied. A linear stability analysis around the static solutions is carried out. A general result for stability is obtained from which previous results are recovered.Comment: 16 pages, 1 figur

Rotating Dilaton Solutions in 2+1 Dimensions

We report a three parameter family of solutions for dilaton gravity in 2+1 dimensions with finite mass and finite angular momentum. These solutions are obtained by a compactification of vacuum solutions in 3+1 dimensions with cylindrical symmetry. One class of solutions corresponds to conical singularities and the other leads to curvature singularities.Comment: Accepted to be published in Gen. Rel. Grav., added reference

Properties of Solutions in 2+1 Dimensions

We solve the Einstein equations for the 2+1 dimensions with and without scalar fields. We calculate the entropy, Hawking temperature and the emission probabilities for these cases. We also compute the Newman-Penrose coefficients for different solutions and compare them.Comment: 16 pages, 1 figures, PlainTeX, Dedicated to Prof. Yavuz Nutku on his 60th birthday. References adde

Inter-cultural differences in response to a computer-based anti-bullying intervention

Background and purpose: Many holistic anti-bullying interventions have been attempted, with mixed success, while little work has been done to promote a 'self-help' approach to victimisation. The rise of the ICT curriculum and computer support in schools now allows for approaches that benefit from technology to be implemented. This study evaluates the cross-cultural effects of a computer-based anti-bullying intervention on primary school-aged children's knowledge about bullying and relevant coping strategies. Programme description: FearNot! is an interactive computer-based virtual learning environment designed for use as an anti-bullying intervention. It includes interactive virtual agents who assume the most common participant roles found in episodes of bullying. FearNot! was used by children over three consecutive weeks to allow its effectiveness to be evaluated in a longitudinal in situ programme. Sample: Two comparable samples were drawn from the UK and Germany. In the UK, 651 participants (aged 8-11) were recruited from primary schools in Hertfordshire, Coventry and Warwickshire, whereas the 535 German participants (aged 7-10) were sourced from Grundschulen in the Bayern and Hessen regions. Because of lack of parental consent, late joiners and absences/missing responses, data from 908 participants (UK 493; Germany 415) were analysed. Design and methods: A quasi-experimental, pre/post-tests control group design employed pre-published and bespoke questionnaires to collect data. Descriptive and inferential analyses were conducted. Results: UK students possessed higher coping strategy knowledge scores than German participants, but German children's scores improved over time and as a result of the FearNot! intervention. Conclusions: Overall, while not effective at increasing children's coping strategy knowledge in this study, the FearNot! intervention could prove a useful classroom tool to approach the issue of bullying as part of a wider initiative. Cultural differences at baseline and reactions to the intervention are discussed