14,225 research outputs found
Journey of water in pine cones
Pine cones fold their scales when it rains to prevent seeds from short-distance dispersal. Given that the scales of pine cones consist of nothing but dead cells, this folding motion is evidently related to structural changes. In this study, the structural characteristics of pine cones are studied on micro-/macro-scale using various imaging instruments. Raindrops fall along the outer scales to the three layers (bract scales, fibers and innermost lignified structure) of inner pine cones. However, not all the layers but only the bract scales get wet and then, most raindrops move to the inner scales. These systems reduce the amount of water used and minimize the time spent on structural changes. The result shows that the pine cones have structural advantages that could influence the efficient motion of pine cones. This study provides new insights to understand the motion of pine cones and would be used to design a novel water transport system.119Ysciescopu
Non-monotonic temperature dependent transport in graphene grown by Chemical Vapor Deposition
Temperature-dependent resistivity of graphene grown by chemical vapor
deposition (CVD) is investigated. We observe in low mobility CVD graphene
device a strong insulating behavior at low temperatures and a metallic behavior
at high temperatures manifesting a non-monotonic in the temperature dependent
resistivity.This feature is strongly affected by carrier density modulation. To
understand this anomalous temperature dependence, we introduce thermal
activation of charge carriers in electron-hole puddles induced by randomly
distributed charged impurities. Observed temperature evolution of resistivity
is then understood from the competition among thermal activation of charge
carriers, temperature-dependent screening and phonon scattering effects. Our
results imply that the transport property of transferred CVD-grown graphene is
strongly influenced by the details of the environmentComment: 7 pages, 3 figure
Novel water filtration of saline water in the outermost layer of mangrove roots
The scarcity of fresh water is a global challenge faced at present. Several desalination methods have been suggested to secure fresh water from sea water. However, conventional methods suffer from technical limitations, such as high power consumption, expensive operating costs, and limited system durability. In this study, we examined the feasibility of using halophytes as a novel technology of desalinating high-concentration saline water for long periods. This study investigated the biophysical characteristics of sea water filtration in the roots of the mangrove Rhizophora stylosa from a plant hydrodynamic point of view. R. stylosa can grow even in saline water, and the salt level in its roots is regulated within a certain threshold value through filtration. The root possesses a hierarchical, triple layered pore structure in the epidermis, and most Na+ ions are filtered at the first sublayer of the outermost layer. The high blockage of Na+ ions is attributed to the high surface zeta potential of the first layer. The second layer, which is composed of macroporous structures, also facilitates Na+ ion filtration. This study provides insights into the mechanism underlying water filtration through halophyte roots and serves as a basis for the development of a novel bio-inspired desalination method.117Ysciescopu
Finite-temperature phase transitions in quasi-one-dimensional molecular conductors
Phase transitions in 1/4-filled quasi-one-dimensional molecular conductors
are studied theoretically on the basis of extended Hubbard chains including
electron-lattice interactions coupled by interchain Coulomb repulsion. We apply
the numerical quantum transfer-matrix method to an effective one-dimensional
model, treating the interchain term within mean-field approximation.
Finite-temperature properties are investigated for the charge ordering, the
"dimer Mott" transition (bond dimerization), and the spin-Peierls transition
(bond tetramerization). A coexistent state of charge order and bond
dimerization exhibiting dielectricity is predicted in a certain parameter
range, even when intrinsic dimerization is absent.Comment: to be published in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn., Vol. 76 (2007) No. 1 (5 pages,
4 figures); typo correcte
Frustrated Spin System in theta-(BEDT-TTF)_2RbZn(SCN)_4
The origin of the spin gap behavior in the low-temperature dimerized phase of
theta-(BEDT-TTF)_2RbZn(SCN)_4 has been theoretically studied based on the
Hartree-Fock approximation for the on-site Coulomb interaction at absolute
zero. Calculations show that, in the parameter region considered to be relevant
to this compound, antiferromagnetic ordering is stabilized between dimers
consisting of pairs of molecules coupled with the largest transfer integral.
Based on this result an effective localized spin 1/2 model is constructed which
indicates the existence of the frustration among spins. This frustration may
result in the formation of spin gap.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, to be published in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 67 (1998)
no.
Comments on Baryon Melting in Quark Gluon Plasma with Gluon Condensation
We consider a black hole solution with a non-trivial dilaton from IIB super
gravity which is expected to describe a strongly coupled hot gauge plasma with
non-vanishing gluon condensation present. We construct a rotating and moving
baryon to probe the screening and phases of the plasma. Melting of the baryons
in hot plasma in this background had been studied previously, however, we show
that baryons melt much lower temperature than has been suggested previously.Comment: 3 figures, 12 page
Charge Fluctuations in Geometrically Frustrated Charge Ordering System
Effects of geometrical frustration in low-dimensional charge ordering systems
are theoretically studied, mainly focusing on dynamical properties. We treat
extended Hubbard models at quarter-filling, where the frustration arises from
competing charge ordered patterns favored by different intersite Coulomb
interactions, which are effective models for various charge transfer-type
molecular conductors and transition metal oxides. Two different lattice
structures are considered: (a) one-dimensional chain with intersite Coulomb
interaction of nearest neighbor V_1 and that of next-nearest neighbor V_2, and
(b) two-dimensional square lattice with V_1 along the squares and V_2 along one
of the diagonals. From previous studies, charge ordered insulating states are
known to be unstable in the frustrated region, i.e., V_1 \simeq 2V_2 for case
(a) and V_1 \simeq V_2 for case (b), resulting in a robust metallic phase even
when the interaction strenghs are strong. By applying the Lanczos exact
diagonalization to finite-size clusters, we have found that fluctuations of
different charge order patterns exist in the frustration-induced metallic
phase, showing up as characteristic low energy modes in dynamical correlation
functions. Comparison of such features between the two models are discussed,
whose difference will be ascribed to the dimensionality effect. We also point
out incommensurate correlation in the charge sector due to the frustration,
found in one-dimensional clusters.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figure
Jahn-Teller distortions and phase separation in doped manganites
A "minimal model" of the Kondo-lattice type is used to describe a competition
between the localization and metallicity in doped manganites and related
magnetic oxides with Jahn-Teller ions. It is shown that the number of itinerant
charge carriers can be significantly lower than that implied by the doping
level x. A strong tendency to the phase separation is demonstrated for a wide
range of intermediate doping concentrations vanishing at low and high doping.
The phase diagram of the model in the x-T plane is constructed. At low
temperatures, the system is in a state with a long-range magnetic order:
antiferromagnetic (AF), ferromagnetic (FM), or AF-FM phase separated (PS)
state. At high temperatures, there can exist two types of the paramagnetic (PM)
state with zero and nonzero density of the itinerant electrons. In the
intermediate temperature range, the phase diagram includes different kinds of
the PS states: AF-FM, FM-PM, and PM with different content of itinerant
electrons. The applied magnetic field changes the phase diagram favoring the FM
ordering. It is shown that the variation of temperature or magnetic field can
induce the metal-insulator transition in a certain range of doping levels.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. B.; v.2 contains the
changes introduced according to comments of the PRB Referees; in v. 3, some
misprints are correcte
Singlet superfield extension of the minimal supersymmetric standard model with Peccei-Quinn symmetry and a light pseudoscalar Higgs boson at the LHC
Motivated by the mu-problem and the axion solution to the strong CP-problem,
we extend the MSSM with one more chiral singlet field . The underlying
PQ-symmetry allows only one more term in the superpotential. The
spectrum of the Higgs system includes a light pseudoscalar (in addition
to the standard CP-even Higgs boson), predominantly decaying to two photons:
. Both Higgs bosons might be in the range accessible to
current LHC experiments.Comment: 5 pages with 3 figure
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