A Few Thoughts on “If a Tree Falls in a Roadway . . . .”

This Response to Ian McElhaney’s note examines (1) the background legal context that got us to where we are on falling-tree liability; (2) how this peculiar issue fits into Virginia’s general approach to the law; and (3) presents some thoughts on Mr. McElhaney’s reasoning and ultimate conclusions in urging liability for road maintainers

Phase diagram of an impurity in the spin-1/2 chain: two channel Kondo effect versus Curie law

We consider a magnetic s=1/2 impurity in the antiferromagnetic spin chain as a function of two coupling parameters: the symmetric coupling of the impurity to two sites in the chain $J_1$ and the coupling between the two sites $J_2$. By using field theory arguments and numerical calculations we can identify all possible fixed points and classify the renormalization flow between them, which leads to a non-trivial phase diagram. Depending on the detailed choice of the two (frustrating) coupling strengths, the stable phases correspond either to a decoupled spin with Curie law behavior or to a non-Fermi liquid fixed point with a logarithmically diverging impurity susceptibility as in the two channel Kondo effect. Our results resolve a controversy about the renormalization flow.Comment: 5 pages in revtex format including 4 embedded figures (using epsf). The latest version in PDF format is available from http://fy.chalmers.se/~eggert/papers/phase-diagram.pd

Kiri Karl Morgensternile, Danzig

http://tartu.ester.ee/record=b1778345~S1*es

Attractively bound pairs of atoms in the Bose-Hubbard model and antiferromagnetism

We consider a periodic lattice loaded with pairs of bosonic atoms tightly bound to each other via strong attractive on-site interaction that exceeds the inter-site tunneling rate. An ensemble of such lattice-dimers is accurately described by an effective Hamiltonian of hard core bosons with strong nearest-neighbor repulsion which is equivalent to the $XXZ$ model with Ising-like anisotropy. We calculate the ground-state phase diagram for a one-dimensional system which exhibits incompressible phases, corresponding to an empty and a fully filled lattice (ferromagnetic phases) and a half-filled alternating density crystal (anti-ferromagnetic phase), separated from each other by compressible phases. In a finite lattice the compressible phases show characteristic oscillatory modulations on top of the anti-ferromagnetic density profile and in density-density correlations. We derive a kink model which provides simple quantitative explanation of these features. To describe the long-range correlations of the system we employ the Luttinger liquid theory with the relevant Luttinger parameter $K$ obtained exactly using the Bethe Ansatz solution. We calculate the density-density as well as first-order correlations and find excellent agreement with numerical results obtained with density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) methods. We also present a perturbative treatment of the system in higher dimensions.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figure

Measurement of competing pathways in a shock-induced phase transition in zirconium by femtosecond diffraction

The traditional picture of solid-solid phase transformations assumes an ordered parent phase transforms into an ordered daughter phase via a single unique pathway. Zirconium and its prototypical phase transition from hexagonal close-packed (hcp) to simple hexagonal (hex-3) structure has generated considerable controversy over several decades regarding which mechanism mediates the transformation. However, a lack of in situ measurements over the relevant atomistic timescales has hindered our ability to identify the true pathway. In this study, we exploit femtosecond X-ray diffraction coupled with nanosecond laser compression to give unprecedented insights into the complexities of how materials transform at the lattice level. We observe single-crystal zirconium changing from hcp to a hex-3 structure via not one but three competing pathways simultaneously. Concurrently, we also observe a broad diffuse background underlying the sharp Bragg diffraction during the transition. We corroborate our observation of the diffuse signal with multimillion-atom molecular dynamics simulations using a machine-learned interatomic potential. Our study demonstrates that the traditional mechanistic view of transitions may fail for even an elemental metal and that the mechanisms by which materials transform are far more intricate than generally thought

Peierls transition in the presence of finite-frequency phonons in the one-dimensional extended Peierls-Hubbard model at half-filling

We report quantum Monte Carlo (stochastic series expansion) results for the transition from a Mott insulator to a dimerized Peierls insulating state in a half-filled, 1D extended Hubbard model coupled to optical bond phonons. Using electron-electron (e-e) interaction parameters corresponding approximately to polyacetylene, we show that the Mott-Peierls transition occurs at a finite value of the electron-phonon (e-ph) coupling. We discuss several different criteria for detecting the transition and show that they give consistent results. We calculate the critical e-ph coupling as a function of the bare phonon frequency and also investigate the sensitivity of the critical coupling to the strength of the e-e interaction. In the limit of strong e-e couplings, we map the model to a spin-Peierls chain and compare the phase boundary with previous results for the spin-Peierls transition. We point out effects of a nonlinear spin-phonon coupling neglected in the mapping to the spin-Peierls model.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure

ECAL Front-End Monitoring in the CMS experiment

The CMS detector at LHC is equipped with a high precision lead tungstate crystal electromagnetic calorimeter (ECAL). The front-end boards and the photodetectors are monitored using a network of DCU (Detector Control Unit) chips located on the detector electronics. The DCU data are accessible through token rings controlled by an XDAQ based software component. Relevant parameters are transferred to DCS (Detector Control System) and stored into the Condition DataBase. The operational experience from the ECAL commissioning at the CMS experimental cavern is discussed and summarized

Schistosomiasis in Tone River Area(Kurzfassen)

Amino acid sequence alignment of the ABLIM family which is one of the gene families that was identified as a neighbouring gene family to the PDE6 catalytic subunit gene family. The sequences were aligned using ClustalO with standard settings within the Seaview 4.5.3 program