26,146 research outputs found
Two-component mixture of charged particles confined in a channel: melting
The melting of a binary system of charged particles confined in a {\it
quasi}-one-dimensional parabolic channel is studied through Monte Carlo
simulations. At zero temperature the particles are ordered in parallel chains.
The melting is anisotropic and different melting temperatures are obtained
according to the spatial direction, and the different types of particles
present in the system. Melting is very different for the single-, two- and
four-chain configurations. A temperature induced structural phase transition is
found between two different four chain ordered states which is absent in the
mono-disperse system. In the mixed regime, where the two types of particles are
only slightly different, melting is almost isotropic and a thermally induced
homogeneous distribution of the distinct types of charges is observed.Comment: To appear in Journal of Physics: condensed matter ; (13 pages, 12
figures
A computationally efficient method for calculating the maximum conductance of disordered networks: Application to 1-dimensional conductors
Random networks of carbon nanotubes and metallic nanowires have shown to be
very useful in the production of transparent, conducting films. The electronic
transport on the film depends considerably on the network properties, and on
the inter-wire coupling. Here we present a simple, computationally efficient
method for the calculation of conductance on random nanostructured networks.
The method is implemented on metallic nanowire networks, which are described
within a single-orbital tight binding Hamiltonian, and the conductance is
calculated with the Kubo formula. We show how the network conductance depends
on the average number of connections per wire, and on the number of wires
connected to the electrodes. We also show the effect of the inter-/intra-wire
hopping ratio on the conductance through the network. Furthermore, we argue
that this type of calculation is easily extendable to account for the upper
conductivity of realistic films spanned by tunneling networks. When compared to
experimental measurements, this quantity provides a clear indication of how
much room is available for improving the film conductivity.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure
Spherical Scalar Field Halo in Galaxies
We study a spherically symmetric fluctuation of scalar dark matter in the
cosmos and show that it could be the dark matter in galaxies, provided that the
scalar field has an exponential potential whose overall sign is negative and
whose exponent is constrained observationally by the rotation velocities of
galaxies. The local space-time of the fluctuation contains a three dimensional
space-like hypersurface with surplus of angle.Comment: 5 REVTeX pages, no figures. Contains important suggestions provided
by the referee. Final version, to appear in Phys. Rev.
The Genesis of Cosmological Tracker Fields
The role of the quintessence field as a probable candidate for the repulsive
dark energy, the conditions for tracking and the requisites for tracker fields
are examined. The concept of `integrated tracking' is introduced and a new
criterion for the existence of tracker potentials is derived assuming monotonic
increase in the scalar energy density parameter \Omega_\phi with the evolution
of the universe as suggested by the astrophysical constraints. It provides a
technique to investigate generic potentials of the tracker fields. The general
properties of the tracker fields are discussed and their behaviour with respect
to tracking parameter \epsilon is analyzed. It is shown that the tracker fields
around the limiting value \epsilon \simeq \frac 23 give the best fit with the
observational constraints.Comment: 8 pages, Latex file, 1 figure, comments adde
Absorption lines from magnetically-driven winds in X-ray binaries
High resolution X-ray spectra of black hole X-ray binaries (BHBs) show
blueshifted absorption lines from disk winds which seem to be equatorial. Winds
occur in the Softer (disk-dominated) states of the outburst and are less
prominent or absent in the Harder (power-law dominated) states. We use
self-similar magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) accretion-ejection models to explain
the disk winds in BHBs. In our models, the density at the base of the outflow
from the accretion disk is not a free parameter, but is determined by solving
the full set of dynamical MHD equations. Thus the physical properties of the
outflow are controlled by the global structure of the disk. We studied
different MHD solutions characterized by different values of (a) the disk
aspect ratio () and (b) the ejection efficiency (). We use two
kinds of MHD solutions depending on the absence (cold solution) or presence
(warm solution) of heating at the disk surface. Such heating could be from e.g.
dissipation of energy due to MHD turbulence in the disk or from illumination.
We use each of these MHD solutions to predict the physical parameters of an
outflow; put limits on the ionization parameter (), column density and
timescales, motivated by observational results; and thus select regions within
the outflow which are consistent with the observed winds. The cold MHD
solutions cannot account for winds due to their low ejection efficiency. But
warm solutions can explain the observed physical quantities in the wind because
they can have sufficiently high values of (, implying larger
mass loading at the base of the outflow). Further from our thermodynamic
equilibrium curve analysis for the outflowing gas, we found that in the Hard
state a range of is thermodynamically unstable, and had to be excluded.
This constrain made it impossible to have any wind at all, in the Hard state.Comment: 16 Pages, 10 figures in the main body and 4 figures in the appendix.
Accepted for publication in A&
Hydrogen-enhanced local plasticity in aluminum: an ab initio study
Dislocation core properties of Al with and without H impurities are studied
using the Peierls-Nabarro model with parameters determined by ab initio
calculations. We find that H not only facilitates dislocation emission from the
crack tip but also enhances dislocation mobility dramatically, leading to
macroscopically softening and thinning of the material ahead of the crack tip.
We observe strong binding between H and dislocation cores, with the binding
energy depending on dislocation character. This dependence can directly affect
the mechanical properties of Al by inhibiting dislocation cross-slip and
developing slip planarity.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Structural and dynamical properties of a quasi-one-dimensional classical binary system
The ground state configurations and the \lq{}\lq{}normal\rq{}\rq{} mode
spectra of a -one-dimensional (Q1D) binary system of charged particles
interacting through a screened Coulomb potential are presented. The minimum
energy configurations were obtained analytically and independently through
molecular dynamic simulations. A rich variety of ordered structures were found
as a function of the screening parameter, the particle density, and the ratio
between the charges of the distinct types of particles. Continuous and
discontinuous structural transitions, as well as an unexpected symmetry
breaking in the charge distribution are observed when the density of the system
is changed. For near equal charges we found a disordered phase where a mixing
of the two types of particles occurs. The phonon dispersion curves were
calculated within the harmonic approximation for the one- and two-chain
structures.Comment: 11 pages, 11 fig
Electron transfer driven decomposition of adenine and selected analogs as probed by experimental and theoretical methods
We report on a combined experimental and theoretical study of electron transfer induced decomposition of adenine and a selection of analogue molecules in collisions with potassium atoms (K). Time-of-flight negative ion mass spectra have been obtained in a wide collision energy range (6–68 eV in the centre-of-mass frame), providing a comprehensive investigation of the fragmentation patterns of purine, adenine, 9-methyl adenine, 6-dimethyl adenine and 2-D adenine. Following our recent communication about selective hydrogen loss from the transient negative ions (TNI) produced in these collisions [T. Dunha et al. J. Chem. Phys. 148, 021101 (2018)], this work focuses on the production of smaller fragment anions. In the low-energy part of the present range, several dissociation channels that are accessible in free electron attachment experiments are absent from the present mass spectra, notably NH2 loss from adenine and 9-methyl adenine. This can be understood in terms of a relatively long transit time of the K+ cation in the vicinity of the TNI tending to enhance the likelihood of intramolecular electron transfer. In this case, the excess energy can be redistributed through the available degrees of freedom inhibiting fragmentation pathways. Ab initio theoretical calculations were performed for 9-methyl adenine (9-mAd) and adenine (Ad) in the presence of a potassium atom and provided a strong basis for the assignment the lowest unoccupied molecular orbitals accessed in the collision process
Morphological transition between diffusion-limited and ballistic aggregation growth patterns
In this work, the transition between diffusion-limited and ballistic
aggregation models was revisited using a model in which biased random walks
simulate the particle trajectories. The bias is controlled by a parameter
, which assumes the value (1) for ballistic
(diffusion-limited) aggregation model. Patterns growing from a single seed were
considered. In order to simulate large clusters, a new efficient algorithm was
developed. For , the patterns are fractal on the small length
scales, but homogeneous on the large ones. We evaluated the mean density of
particles in the region defined by a circle of radius centered
at the initial seed. As a function of , reaches the asymptotic
value following a power law
with a universal exponent , independent of . The
asymptotic value has the behavior , where . The characteristic crossover length that determines the transition
from DLA- to BA-like scaling regimes is given by ,
where , while the cluster mass at the crossover follows a power
law , where . We deduce the
scaling relations \beta=\n u\gamma and between these
exponents.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figure
- …