7,901 research outputs found
Functionality in single-molecule devices: Model calculations and applications of the inelastic electron tunneling signal in molecular junctions
We analyze how functionality could be obtained within single-molecule devices
by using a combination of non-equilibrium Green's functions and ab-initio
calculations to study the inelastic transport properties of single-molecule
junctions. First we apply a full non-equilibrium Green's function technique to
a model system with electron-vibration coupling. We show that the features in
the inelastic electron tunneling spectra (IETS) of the molecular junctions are
virtually independent of the nature of the molecule-lead contacts. Since the
contacts are not easily reproducible from one device to another, this is a very
useful property. The IETS signal is much more robust versus modifications at
the contacts and hence can be used to build functional nanodevices. Second, we
consider a realistic model of a organic conjugated molecule. We use ab-initio
calculations to study how the vibronic properties of the molecule can be
controlled by an external electric field which acts as a gate voltage. The
control, through the gate voltage, of the vibron frequencies and (more
importantly) of the electron-vibron coupling enables the construction of
functionality: non-linear amplification and/or switching is obtained from the
IETS signal within a single-molecule device.Comment: Accepted for publication in Journal of Chemical Physic
Near-earth thermal environmental criteria study
A study was made to determine improved values and definitions to be used for thermal environmental design parameters for a spacecraft in near-earth orbit. An algorithm was used to derive a total earth thermal radiation based on a mathematical relationship. Several albedo and earth thermal radiation grid maps were produced on seven track digital magnetic tape. Each map contained the values obtained during a 24 hour period over the entire earth. The output statistics are summarized, and the data processing program is described
Wall jet analysis for circulation control aerodynamics. Part 1: Fundamental CFD and turbulence modeling concepts
An overview of parabolic and PNS (Parabolized Navier-Stokes) methodology developed to treat highly curved sub and supersonic wall jets is presented. The fundamental data base to which these models were applied is discussed in detail. The analysis of strong curvature effects was found to require a semi-elliptic extension of the parabolic modeling to account for turbulent contributions to the normal pressure variations, as well as an extension to the turbulence models utilized, to account for the highly enhanced mixing rates observed in situations with large convex curvature. A noniterative, pressure split procedure is shown to extend parabolic models to account for such normal pressure variations in an efficient manner, requiring minimal additional run time over a standard parabolic approach. A new PNS methodology is presented to solve this problem which extends parabolic methodology via the addition of a characteristic base wave solver. Applications of this approach to analyze the interaction of wave and turbulence processes in wall jets is presented
Spin precession and inverted Hanle effect in a semiconductor near a finite-roughness ferromagnetic interface
Although the creation of spin polarization in various non-magnetic media via
electrical spin injection from a ferromagnetic tunnel contact has been
demonstrated, much of the basic behavior is heavily debated. It is reported
here for semiconductor/Al2O3/ferromagnet tunnel structures based on Si or GaAs
that local magnetostatic fields arising from interface roughness dramatically
alter and even dominate the accumulation and dynamics of spins in the
semiconductor. Spin precession in the inhomogeneous magnetic fields is shown to
reduce the spin accumulation up to tenfold, and causes it to be inhomogeneous
and non-collinear with the injector magnetization. The inverted Hanle effect
serves as experimental signature. This interaction needs to be taken into
account in the analysis of experimental data, particularly in extracting the
spin lifetime and its variation with different parameters (temperature, doping
concentration). It produces a broadening of the standard Hanle curve and
thereby an apparent reduction of the spin lifetime. For heavily doped n-type Si
at room temperature it is shown that the spin lifetime is larger than
previously determined, and a new lower bound of 0.29 ns is obtained. The
results are expected to be general and occur for spins near a magnetic
interface not only in semiconductors but also in metals, organic and
carbon-based materials including graphene, and in various spintronic device
structures.Comment: Final version, with text restructured and appendices added (25 pages,
9 figures). To appear in Phys. Rev.
The ART of IAM: The Winning Strategy for the 2006 Competition
In many dynamic open systems, agents have to interact with one another to achieve their goals. Here, agents may be self-interested, and when trusted to perform an action for others, may betray that trust by not performing the actions as required. In addition, due to the size of such systems, agents will often interact with other agents with which they have little or no past experience. This situation has led to the development of a number of trust and reputation models, which aim to facilitate an agent's decision making in the face of uncertainty regarding the behaviour of its peers. However, these multifarious models employ a variety of different representations of trust between agents, and measure performance in many different ways. This has made it hard to adequately evaluate the relative properties of different models, raising the need for a common platform on which to compare competing mechanisms. To this end, the ART Testbed Competition has been proposed, in which agents using different trust models compete against each other to provide services in an open marketplace. In this paper, we present the winning strategy for this competition in 2006, provide an analysis of the factors that led to this success, and discuss lessons learnt from the competition about issues of trust in multiagent systems in general. Our strategy, IAM, is Intelligent (using statistical models for opponent modelling), Abstemious (spending its money parsimoniously based on its trust model) and Moral (providing fair and honest feedback to those that request it)
Generalized information entropies depending only on the probability distribution
Systems with a long-term stationary state that possess as a spatio-temporally
fluctuation quantity can be described by a superposition of several
statistics, a "super statistics". We consider first, the Gamma, log-normal and
-distributions of . It is assumed that they depend only on , the
probability associated with the microscopic configuration of the system. For
each of the three distributions we calculate the Boltzmann factors and
show that they coincide for small variance of the fluctuations. For the Gamma
distribution it is possible to calculate the entropy in a closed form,
depending on , and to obtain then an equation relating with . We also propose, as other examples, new entropies close related with the
Kaniadakis and two possible Sharma-Mittal entropies. The entropies presented in
this work do not depend on a constant parameter but on . For the
-Gamma distribution and its corresponding Boltzmann factor
and the associated entropy, we show the validity of the saddle-point
approximation. We also briefly discuss the generalization of one of the four
Khinchin axioms to get this proposed entropy.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figure
Non-Collinear Ferromagnetic Luttinger Liquids
The presence of electron-electron interactions in one dimension profoundly
changes the properties of a system. The separation of charge and spin degrees
of freedom is just one example. We consider what happens when a system
consisting of a ferromagnetic region of non-collinearity, i.e. a domain wall,
is coupled to interacting electrons in one-dimension (more specifically a
Luttinger liquid). The ferromagnetism breaks spin charge separation and the
presence of the domain wall introduces a spin dependent scatterer into the
problem. The absence of spin charge separation and the effects of the electron
correlations results in very different behaviour for the excitations in the
system and for spin-transfer-torque effects in this model.Comment: 6 pages, submitted to Journal of Physics: Conference Series for JEMS
201
Does Luttinger liquid behaviour survive in an atomic wire on a surface?
We form a highly simplified model of an atomic wire on a surface by the
coupling of two one-dimensional chains, one with electron-electron interactions
to represent the wire and and one with no electron-electron interactions to
represent the surface. We use exact diagonalization techniques to calculate the
eigenstates and response functions of our model, in order to determine both the
nature of the coupling and to what extent the coupling affects the Luttinger
liquid properties we would expect in a purely one-dimensional system. We find
that while there are indeed Luttinger liquid indicators present, some residual
Fermi liquid characteristics remain.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures. Submitted to J Phys
Challenges to pre-migration interventions to prevent human trafficking: Results from a before-and-after learning assessment of training for prospective female migrants in Odisha, India
Background: Awareness-raising and pre-migration training are popular strategies to prevent human trafficking. Programmatic theories assume that when prospective migrants are equipped with information about risks, they will make more-informed choices, ultimately resulting in safe migration. In 2016, India was estimated to have 8 million people in modern slavery, including those who migrate internally for work. Work in Freedom (WiF) was a community-based trafficking prevention intervention. This study evaluated WiF’s pre-migration knowledge-building activities for female migrants in Odisha to prevent future labour-related exploitation. /
Methods: Pre- and post- training questionnaires were administered to women (N = 347) who participated in a two-day pre-migration training session. Descriptive analysis and unadjusted analyses (paired t-tests, McNemar’s tests, Wilcoxon signed ranks tests) examined differences in women’s knowledge scores before and after training. Adjusted analyses used mixed effects models to explore whether receiving information on workers’ rights or working away from home prior to the training was associated with changes in scores. Additionally, we used data from a household survey (N = 4,671) and survey of female migrants (N = 112) from a population sample in the same district to evaluate the intervention’s rationale and implementation strategy. /
Results: Female participants were on average 37.3 years-old (SD 11) and most (67.9%) had no formal education. Only 11 participants (3.2%) had previous migration experience. Most participants (90.5%) had previously received information or advice on workers’ rights or working away from home. Compared to female migrants in the population, training participants were different in age, caste and religion. Awareness about migration risks, rights and collective bargaining was very low initially and remained low post-training, e.g. of 13 possible migration risks, before the training, participants named an average of 1.2 risks, which increased only slightly to 2.1 risks after the training (T(346) = -11.64, p<0.001). Changes were modest for attitudes about safe and risky migration practices, earnings and savings. Before the training, only 34 women (10.4%) considered migrating, which reduced to 25 women (7.7%) post-training (X2 = 1.88, p = 0.169)—consistent with the low prevalence (7% of households) of female migration locally. Women’s attitudes remained relatively fixed about the shame associated with paid domestic work. Survey data indicated focusing on domestic work did not correspond to regional migration trends, where women migrate primarily for construction or agriculture work. /
Conclusion: The apparent low effectiveness of the WiF short-duration migration training may be linked to the assumption that individual changes in knowledge will lead to shifts in social norms. The narrow focus on such individual-level interventions may overestimate an individual’s agency. Findings indicate the importance of intervention development research to ensure activities are conducted in the right locations, target the right populations, and have relevant content. Absent intervention development research, this intervention suffered from operating in a site that had very few migrant women and a very small proportion migrating for domestic work—the focus of the training. To promote better development investments, interventions should be informed by local evidence and subjected to rigorous theory-based evaluation to ensure interventions achieve the most robust design to foster safe labour migration for women
Mechanisms for electron transport in atomic-scale one-dimensional wires: soliton and polaron effects
We study one-electron tunneling through atomic-scale one-dimensional wires in
the presence of coherent electron-phonon (e-ph) coupling. We use a full quantum
model for the e-ph interaction within the wire with open boundary conditions.
We illustrate the mechanisms of transport in the context of molecular wires
subject to boundary conditions imposing the presence of a soliton defect in the
molecule. Competition between polarons and solitons in the coherent transport
is examined. The transport mechanisms proposed are generally applicable to
other one-dimensional nanoscale systems with strong e-ph coupling.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Europhys. Let
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