2,136 research outputs found
Wigner model for quantum transport in graphene
The single graphene layer is a novel material consisting of a flat monolayer
of carbon atoms packed in a two-dimensional honeycomb-lattice, in which the
electron dynamics is governed by the Dirac equation. A pseudo-spin phase-space
approach based on the Wigner-Weyl formalism is used to describe the transport
of electrons in graphene including quantum effects. Our full-quantum mechanical
representation of the particles reveals itself to be particularly close to the
classical description of the particle motion. We analyze the Klein tunneling
and the correction to the total current in graphene induced by this phenomenon.
The equations of motion are analytically investigated and some numerical tests
are presented. The temporal evolution of the electron-hole pairs in the
presence of an external electric field and a rigid potential step is
investigated. The connection of our formalism with the Barry-phase approach is
also discussed
Alternative Structures and Bihamiltonian Systems
In the study of bi-Hamiltonian systems (both classical and quantum) one
starts with a given dynamics and looks for all alternative Hamiltonian
descriptions it admits.In this paper we start with two compatible Hermitian
structures (the quantum analog of two compatible classical Poisson brackets)
and look for all the dynamical systems which turn out to be bi-Hamiltonian with
respect to them.Comment: 18 page
Performance analysis of an interacting quantum dot thermoelectric system
We analyze the nanocaloritronic performance of an interacting quantum dot
that is subject to an applied bias and an applied temperature gradient. It is
now well known that, in the absence of phonon contribution, a weakly coupled
non-interacting quantum dot can operate at thermoelectric efficiencies
approaching the Carnot limit. However, it has also been recently pointed out
that such peak efficiencies can only be achieved when operated in the
reversible limit, with a vanishing current and hence a vanishing power output.
In this paper, we point out three fundamental results affecting the
thermoelectric performance due to the inclusion of Coulomb interactions: a) The
reversible operating point carries zero efficiency, b) operation at finite
power output is possible even at peak efficiencies approaching the Carnot
value, and c) the evaluated trends of the the maximum efficiency deviate
considerably from the conventional {\it{figure of merit}} based result.
Finally, we also analyze our system for thermoelectric operation at maximum
power output.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, Resubmission- to be published in Phys. Rev.
Recurrent deficit irrigation and fruit harvest affect tree water relations and fruitlet growth in ‘Valencia’ orange
Background. Partial rootzone drying is an irrigation strategy known for increasing water use efficiency without significantly affecting tree water status. ‘Valencia’ oranges have a very long development period and nearly mature fruit and new fruitlets may be present at the same time on the tree, competing for water and assimilates. Objectives. The present study investigates the effect of recurrent deficit irrigation and fruit harvest on tree water status and fruitlet growth of ‘Valencia’ orange. Methods. Forty-eight adult trees were exposed to three irrigation treatments for seven years (2007-2013): irrigation with 100% of ETc (CI), continuous deficit irrigation (DI, 50% of CI) and partial root-zone drying (PRD, 50% of CI on alternated sides of the root-zone). In spring 2014, stem water potential (Ψstem) and continuous measurements of sap flow and fruitlet growth were recorded before (May) and after (June) the harvest of mature fruit. Results. No differences in Ψstem were found among irrigation treatments, while Ψstem was lower in June than in May at midday. In both May and June, sap flow density (not sap flow per tree) was higher in DI than in CI and PRD trees suggesting more efficient water uptake/transport in the former. In May, DI and PRD fruit showed lower daily relative growth rate (RGR) than CI fruit due to a possible shortage of carbon and nutrients. After removing mature fruits, differences among irrigation treatments were canceled. Sap flow was directly related to fruit RGR at low sap flow rates, but inversely related to RGR at high sap flow rates. Conclusions. Our data show that the presence of maturing fruit does not impact the water status of ‘Valencia’ trees, while it may transiently limit fruitlet growth (by source limitation) in deficit irrigated trees
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The role of negative maternal affective states and infant temperament in early interactions between infants with cleft lip and their mothers
OBJECTIVES: The study examined the early interaction between mothers and their infants with cleft lip, assessing the role of maternal affective state and expressiveness and differences in infant temperament.
METHODS: Mother-infant interactions were assessed in 25 2-month-old infants with cleft lip and 25 age-matched healthy infants. Self-report and behavioral observations were used to assess maternal depressive symptoms and expressions. Mothers rated infant temperament.
RESULTS: Infants with cleft lip were less engaged and their mothers showed more difficulty in interaction than control group dyads. Mothers of infants with cleft lip displayed more negative affectivity, but did not report more self-rated depressive symptoms than control group mothers. No group differences were found in infant temperament.
CONCLUSIONS: In order to support the mother's experience and facilitate her ongoing parental role, findings highlight the importance of identifying maternal negative affectivity during early interactions, even when they seem have little awareness of their depressive symptoms
3D Modeling of the Magnetization of Superconducting Rectangular-Based Bulks and Tape Stacks
In recent years, numerical models have become popular and powerful tools to
investigate the electromagnetic behavior of superconductors. One domain where
this advances are most necessary is the 3D modeling of the electromagnetic
behavior of superconductors. For this purpose, a benchmark problem consisting
of superconducting cube subjected to an AC magnetic field perpendicular to one
of its faces has been recently defined and successfully solved. In this work, a
situation more relevant for applications is investigated: a superconducting
parallelepiped bulk with the magnetic field parallel to two of its faces and
making an angle with the other one without and with a further constraint on the
possible directions of the current. The latter constraint can be used to model
the magnetization of a stack of high-temperature superconductor tapes, which
are electrically insulated in one direction. For the present study three
different numerical approaches are used: the Minimum Electro-Magnetic Entropy
Production (MEMEP) method, the -formulation of Maxwell's equations and the
Volume Integral Method (VIM) for 3D eddy currents computation. The results in
terms of current density profiles and energy dissipation are compared, and the
differences in the two situations of unconstrained and constrained current flow
are pointed out. In addition, various technical issues related to the 3D
modeling of superconductors are discussed and information about the
computational effort required by each model is provided. This works constitutes
a concrete result of the collaborative effort taking place within the HTS
numerical modeling community and will hopefully serve as a stepping stone for
future joint investigations
Topological Protection and Quantum Noiseless Subsystems
Encoding and manipulation of quantum information by means of topological
degrees of freedom provides a promising way to achieve natural fault-tolerance
that is built-in at the physical level. We show that this topological approach
to quantum information processing is a particular instance of the notion of
computation in a noiseless quantum subsystem. The latter then provide the most
general conceptual framework for stabilizing quantum information and for
preserving quantum coherence in topological and geometric systems.Comment: 4 Pages LaTeX. Published versio
Looking for a time independent Hamiltonian of a dynamical system
In this paper we introduce a method for finding a time independent
Hamiltonian of a given dynamical system by canonoid transformation. We also
find a condition that the system should satisfy to have an equivalent time
independent formulation. We study the example of damped oscillator and give the
new time independent Hamiltonian for it, which has the property of tending to
the standard Hamiltonian of the harmonic oscillator as damping goes to zero.Comment: Some references added, LATEX fixing
Acquisition models in intraoperative positron surface imaging
PURPOSE: Intraoperative imaging aims at identifying residual tumor during surgery. Positron Surface Imaging (PSI) is one of the solutions to help surgeons in a better detection of resection margins of brain tumor, leading to an improved patient outcome. This system relies on a tracked freehand beta probe, using [Formula: see text]F-based radiotracer. Some acquisition models have been proposed in the literature in order to enhance image quality, but no comparative validation study has been performed for PSI. METHODS: In this study, we investigated the performance of different acquisition models by considering validation criteria and normalized metrics. We proposed a reference-based validation framework to perform the comparative study between acquisition models and a basic method. We estimated the performance of several acquisition models in light of four validation criteria: efficiency, computational speed, spatial accuracy and tumor contrast. RESULTS: Selected acquisition models outperformed the basic method, albeit with the real-time aspect compromised. One acquisition model yielded the best performance among all according to the validation criteria: efficiency (1-Spe: 0.1, Se: 0.94), spatial accuracy (max Dice: 0.77) and tumor contrast (max T/B: 5.2). We also found out that above a minimum threshold value of the sampling rate, the reconstruction quality does not vary significantly. CONCLUSION: Our method allowed the comparison of different acquisition models and highlighted one of them according to our validation criteria. This novel approach can be extended to 3D datasets, for validation of future acquisition models dedicated to intraoperative guidance of brain surgery
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