Closed forms and multi-moment maps

We extend the notion of multi-moment map to geometries defined by closed forms of arbitrary degree. We give fundamental existence and uniqueness results and discuss a number of essential examples, including geometries related to special holonomy. For forms of degree four, multi-moment maps are guaranteed to exist and are unique when the symmetry group is (3,4)-trivial, meaning that the group is connected and the third and fourth Lie algebra Betti numbers vanish. We give a structural description of some classes of (3,4)-trivial algebras and provide a number of examples.Comment: 36 page

Isochronal annealing effects on local structure, crystalline fraction, and undamaged region size of radiation damage in Ga-stabilized δ\delta-Pu

The effects on the local structure due to self-irradiation damage of Ga stabilized $\delta$-Pu stored at cryogenic temperatures have been examined using extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) experiments. Extensive damage, seen as a loss of local order, was evident after 72 days of storage below 15 K. The effect was observed from both the Pu and Ga sites, although less pronounced around Ga. Isochronal annealing was performed on this sample to study the annealing processes that occur between cryogenic and room temperature storage conditions, where damage is mostly reversed. Damage fractions at various points along the annealing curve have been determined using an amplitude-ratio method, standard EXAFS fitting, and a spherical crystallite model, and provide information complementary to previous electrical resistivity- and susceptibility-based isochronal annealing studies. The use of a spherical crystallite model accounts for the changes in EXAFS spectra using just two parameters, namely, the crystalline fraction and the particle radius. Together, these results are discussed in terms of changes to the local structure around Ga and Pu throughout the annealing process and highlight the unusual role of Ga in the behavior of the lowest temperature anneals.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figure

Thermodynamics and electrodynamics of unusual narrow-gap semiconductors

This is the final report of a three-year, Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) project at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) that has led to a fully funded DOE program to continue this work. The project was directed toward exploring the Ettingshausen effect, which is the direct extension of the familiar Peltier-effect refrigerator (the process used in popular coolers that run off automotive electrical power) in which a magnetic field is used to enhance refrigeration effects at temperatures well below room temperature. Such refrigeration processes are all-solid-state and are of potentially great commercial importance, but essentially no work has been done since the early 1970s. Using modern experimental and theoretical techniques, the authors have advanced the state-of-the-art significantly, laying the groundwork for commercial cryogenic solid-state refrigeration

New approaches to thermoelectric cooling effects in magnetic fields

The authors review thermoelectric effects in a magnetic field at a phenomenological level. Discussions of the limiting performance and problems with its computation for both Peltier and Ettingshausen coolers are presented. New principles are discussed to guide the materials scientist in the search for better Ettingshausen materials, and a brief review of the subtle measurement problems is presented