12,750 research outputs found
Low work function of the (1000) Ca2N surface
Polymer diodes require cathodes that do not corrode the polymer but do have
low work function to minimize the electron injection barrier. First-principles
calculations demonstrate that the work function of the (1000) surface of the
compound Ca2N is half an eV lower than that of the elemental metal Ca (2.35 vs.
2.87 eV). Moreover its reactivity is expected to be smaller. This makes Ca2N an
interesting candidate to replace calcium as cathode material for polymer light
emitting diode devices.Comment: 3 pages, 4 figures, accepted by J. Appl. Phy
Non-equilibrium Thermodynamics of Spacetime
It has previously been shown that the Einstein equation can be derived from
the requirement that the Clausius relation dS = dQ/T hold for all local
acceleration horizons through each spacetime point, where dS is one quarter the
horizon area change in Planck units, and dQ and T are the energy flux across
the horizon and Unruh temperature seen by an accelerating observer just inside
the horizon. Here we show that a curvature correction to the entropy that is
polynomial in the Ricci scalar requires a non-equilibrium treatment. The
corresponding field equation is derived from the entropy balance relation dS
=dQ/T+dS_i, where dS_i is a bulk viscosity entropy production term that we
determine by imposing energy-momentum conservation. Entropy production can also
be included in pure Einstein theory by allowing for shear viscosity of the
horizon.Comment: 4 pages. Dedicated to Rafael Sorkin on the occasion of his 60th
birthda
Momentum of an electromagnetic wave in dielectric media
Almost a hundred years ago, two different expressions were proposed for the
energy--momentum tensor of an electromagnetic wave in a dielectric. Minkowski's
tensor predicted an increase in the linear momentum of the wave on entering a
dielectric medium, whereas Abraham's tensor predicted its decrease. Theoretical
arguments were advanced in favour of both sides, and experiments proved
incapable of distinguishing between the two. Yet more forms were proposed, each
with their advocates who considered the form that they were proposing to be the
one true tensor. This paper reviews the debate and its eventual conclusion:
that no electromagnetic wave energy--momentum tensor is complete on its own.
When the appropriate accompanying energy--momentum tensor for the material
medium is also considered, experimental predictions of all the various proposed
tensors will always be the same, and the preferred form is therefore
effectively a matter of personal choice.Comment: 23 pages, 3 figures, RevTeX 4. Removed erroneous factor of mu/mu_0
from Eq.(44
Shear flow, viscous heating, and entropy balance from dynamical systems
A consistent description of a shear flow, the accompanied viscous heating,
and the associated entropy balance is given in the framework of a deterministic
dynamical system, where a multibaker dynamics drives two fields: the velocity
and the temperature distributions. In an appropriate macroscopic limit their
transport equations go over into the Navier-Stokes and the heat conduction
equation of viscous flows. The inclusion of an artificial heat sink can
stabilize steady states with constant temperatures. It mimics a thermostating
algorithm used in non-equilibrium molecular-dynamics simulations.Comment: LaTeX 2e (epl.cls + sty-files for Europhys Lett included); 7 pages +
1 eps-figur
Dissipative hydrodynamics in 2+1 dimension
In 2+1 dimension, we have simulated the hydrodynamic evolution of QGP fluid
with dissipation due to shear viscosity. Comparison of evolution of ideal and
viscous fluid, both initialised under the same conditions e.g. same
equilibration time, energy density and velocity profile, reveal that the
dissipative fluid evolves slowly, cooling at a slower rate. Cooling get still
slower for higher viscosity. The fluid velocities on the otherhand evolve
faster in a dissipative fluid than in an ideal fluid. The transverse expansion
is also enhanced in dissipative evolution. For the same decoupling temperature,
freeze-out surface for a dissipative fluid is more extended than an ideal
fluid. Dissipation produces entropy as a result of which particle production is
increased. Particle production is increased due to (i) extension of the
freeze-out surface and (ii) change of the equilibrium distribution function to
a non-equilibrium one, the last effect being prominent at large transverse
momentum. Compared to ideal fluid, transverse momentum distribution of pion
production is considerably enhanced. Enhancement is more at high than at
low . Pion production also increases with viscosity, larger the viscosity,
more is the pion production. Dissipation also modifies the elliptic flow.
Elliptic flow is reduced in viscous dynamics. Also, contrary to ideal dynamics
where elliptic flow continues to increase with transverse momentum, in viscous
dynamics, elliptic flow tends to saturate at large transverse momentum. The
analysis suggest that initial conditions of the hot, dense matter produced in
Au+Au collisions at RHIC, as extracted from ideal fluid analysis can be changed
significantly if the QGP fluid is viscous.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures (revised). In the revised version, calculations
are redone with ADS/CFT and perurbative estimate of viscosity. Comments on
the unphysical effects like early reheating of the fluid, in 1st order
dissipative theories are added. The particle spectra calculations are redone
with modified programm
Polarity patterns of stress fibers
Stress fibers are contractile actomyosin bundles commonly observed in the
cytoskeleton of metazoan cells. The spatial profile of the polarity of actin
filaments inside contractile actomyosin bundles is either monotonic (graded) or
periodic (alternating). In the framework of linear irreversible thermodynamics,
we write the constitutive equations for a polar, active, elastic
one-dimensional medium. An analysis of the resulting equations for the dynamics
of polarity shows that the transition from graded to alternating polarity
patterns is a nonequilibrium Lifshitz point. Active contractility is a
necessary condition for the emergence of sarcomeric, alternating polarity
patterns.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
The Mechanics and Statistics of Active Matter
Active particles contain internal degrees of freedom with the ability to take
in and dissipate energy and, in the process, execute systematic movement.
Examples include all living organisms and their motile constituents such as
molecular motors. This article reviews recent progress in applying the
principles of nonequilibrium statistical mechanics and hydrodynamics to form a
systematic theory of the behaviour of collections of active particles -- active
matter -- with only minimal regard to microscopic details. A unified view of
the many kinds of active matter is presented, encompassing not only living
systems but inanimate analogues. Theory and experiment are discussed side by
side.Comment: This review is to appear in volume 1 of the Annual Review of
Condensed Matter Physics in July 2010 and is posted here with permission from
that journa
Transport in a highly asymmetric binary fluid mixture
We present molecular dynamics calculations of the thermal conductivity and
viscosities of a model colloidal suspension with colloidal particles roughly
one order of magnitude larger than the suspending liquid molecules. The results
are compared with estimates based on the Enskog transport theory and effective
medium theories (EMT) for thermal and viscous transport. We find, in
particular, that EMT remains well applicable for predicting both the shear
viscosity and thermal conductivity of such suspensions when the colloidal
particles have a ``typical'' mass, i.e. much larger than the liquid molecules.
Very light colloidal particles on the other hand yield higher thermal
conductivities, in disagreement with EMT. We also discuss the consequences of
these results to some proposed mechanisms for thermal conduction in
nanocolloidal suspensions.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures, to appear in Physical Review E (2007
Assessing Human Error Against a Benchmark of Perfection
An increasing number of domains are providing us with detailed trace data on
human decisions in settings where we can evaluate the quality of these
decisions via an algorithm. Motivated by this development, an emerging line of
work has begun to consider whether we can characterize and predict the kinds of
decisions where people are likely to make errors.
To investigate what a general framework for human error prediction might look
like, we focus on a model system with a rich history in the behavioral
sciences: the decisions made by chess players as they select moves in a game.
We carry out our analysis at a large scale, employing datasets with several
million recorded games, and using chess tablebases to acquire a form of ground
truth for a subset of chess positions that have been completely solved by
computers but remain challenging even for the best players in the world.
We organize our analysis around three categories of features that we argue
are present in most settings where the analysis of human error is applicable:
the skill of the decision-maker, the time available to make the decision, and
the inherent difficulty of the decision. We identify rich structure in all
three of these categories of features, and find strong evidence that in our
domain, features describing the inherent difficulty of an instance are
significantly more powerful than features based on skill or time.Comment: KDD 2016; 10 page
Energy and entropy of relativistic diffusing particles
We discuss energy-momentum tensor and the second law of thermodynamics for a
system of relativistic diffusing particles. We calculate the energy and entropy
flow in this system. We obtain an exact time dependence of energy, entropy and
free energy of a beam of photons in a reservoir of a fixed temperature.Comment: 14 pages,some formulas correcte
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