1,443 research outputs found
Variational quantum Monte Carlo calculations for solid surfaces
Quantum Monte Carlo methods have proven to predict atomic and bulk properties
of light and non-light elements with high accuracy. Here we report on the first
variational quantum Monte Carlo (VMC) calculations for solid surfaces. Taking
the boundary condition for the simulation from a finite layer geometry, the
Hamiltonian, including a nonlocal pseudopotential, is cast in a layer resolved
form and evaluated with a two-dimensional Ewald summation technique. The exact
cancellation of all Jellium contributions to the Hamiltonian is ensured. The
many-body trial wave function consists of a Slater determinant with
parameterized localized orbitals and a Jastrow factor with a common two-body
term plus a new confinement term representing further variational freedom to
take into account the existence of the surface. We present results for the
ideal (110) surface of Galliumarsenide for different system sizes. With the
optimized trial wave function, we determine some properties related to a solid
surface to illustrate that VMC techniques provide standard results under full
inclusion of many-body effects at solid surfaces.Comment: 9 pages with 2 figures (eps) included, Latex 2.09, uses REVTEX style,
submitted to Phys. Rev.
Theoretical evidences for enhanced superconducting transition temperature of CaSi in a high-pressure AlB phase
By means of first-principles calculations, we studied stable lattice
structures and estimated superconducting transition temperature of CaSi at
high pressure. Our simulation showed stability of the AlB structure in a
pressure range above 17 GPa. In this structure, doubly degenerated optical
phonon modes, in which the neighboring silicon atoms oscillate alternately in a
silicon plane, show prominently strong interaction with the conduction
electrons. In addition there exists a softened optical mode (out-of-plan motion
of silicon atoms), whose strength of the electron-phonon interaction is nearly
the same as the above mode. The density of states at the Fermi level in the
AlB structure is higher than that in the trigonal structure. These findings
and the estimation of the transition temperature strongly suggest that higher
is expected in the AlB structure than the trigonal structures
which are known so far.Comment: 6 pages and 11 figure
Correlation effects in a quantum dot at high magnetic fields
We investigate the effects of electron correlations on the ground state
energy and the chemical potential of a droplet confined by a parabolic
potential at high magnetic fields. We demonstrate the importance of
correlations in estimating the transition field at which the first edge
reconstruction of the maximum density droplet occurs in the spin polarized
regime.Comment: 11 pages (revtex) 3 postscript figures are included at the end of the
tex file. To appear in Phys. Rev.
Do schizophrenic patients who managed to get to university have a non-neurodevelopmental form of illness?
Background. Many people who develop schizophrenia have impairments in intellectual and social functioning that are detectable from early childhood. However, some patients do not exhibit such deficits, and this suggests that they may have suffered less neurodevelopmental damage. We hypothesized that the aetiology and form of schizophrenia may differ in such patients. We therefore studied a group of schizophrenic patients who were functioning well enough to enter university prior to illness onset. Methods. The casenotes of 46 university-educated patients and 48 non-university-educated patients were rated on several schedules including the OPCRIT checklist, and the two groups were compared using univariate statistical techniques. Principal components analysis was then performed using data from all patients, and the factor scores for each principal component were compared between groups. Results. Univariate analyses showed the university-educated patients had an excess of depressive symptoms, and a paucity of core schizophrenic symptoms. Four principal components emerged in the principal components analysis: mania, biological depression, schizophrenic symptoms, and a reactive depression. University-educated patients scored significantly higher on the reactive depression principal component, and lower on the schizophrenic symptoms principal component, than the non-university-educated patients. Conclusions. University-educated patients may have a non-developmental subtype of schizophrenia.link_to_subscribed_fulltex
Correlation effects in MgO and CaO: Cohesive energies and lattice constants
A recently proposed computational scheme based on local increments has been
applied to the calculation of correlation contributions to the cohesive energy
of the CaO crystal. Using ab-initio quantum chemical methods for evaluating
individual increments, we obtain 80% of the difference between the experimental
and Hartree-Fock cohesive energies. Lattice constants corrected for correlation
effects deviate by less than 1% from experimental values, in the case of MgO
and CaO.Comment: LaTeX, 4 figure
Recovery of Injured Giant Barrel Sponges, Xestospongia muta, Offshore Southeast Florida
Giant barrel sponges, Xestospongia muta, are abundant and important components of the southeast Florida reef system, and are frequently injured from anthropogenic and natural disturbances. There is limited information on the capacity of X. muta to recover from injury and on methods to reattach X. muta fragments. In late 2002, hundreds of barrel sponges offshore southeast Florida (Broward County) were accidentally injured during an authorized dredging operation. In early 2003, two to three months post-injury, 93% of 656 assessed injured sponges appeared to be recovering. In 2006, three years post-injury, nearly 90% of 114 monitored sponges continued to show signs of recovery. Growth rates were estimated by measuring sponge height above visual injury scars and ranged from 0.7 cm yr- ¹ to 6.0 cm yr- ¹. Information on the artificially reattached fragments is limited but did show that X. muta fragments can reattach. This study provides evidence that X. muta in southeast Florida can naturally recover. Details on sponge size class associated recovery processes and growth were not collected due to event associated legal issues limiting the study. Studies to determine detailed growth rates and recovery success for different injury and restoration scenarios will further facilitate restoration decision making by resource managers
Measuring scattering distributions in scanning helium microscopy
A scanning helium microscope typically utilises a thermal energy helium atom
beam, with an energy and wavelength (<100 meV, ~0.05 nm) particularly sensitive
to surface structure. An angular detector stage for a scanning helium
microscope is presented that facilitates the in-situ measurement of scattering
distributions from a sample. We begin by demonstrating typical elastic and
inelastic scattering from ordered surfaces. We then go on to show the role of
topography in diffuse scattering from disordered surfaces, observing deviations
from simple cosine scattering. In total, these studies demonstrate the wealth
of information that is encoded into the scattering distributions obtained with
the technique.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figure
Quantum Monte Carlo calculations of the one-body density matrix and excitation energies of silicon
Quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) techniques are used to calculate the one-body
density matrix and excitation energies for the valence electrons of bulk
silicon. The one-body density matrix and energies are obtained from a
Slater-Jastrow wave function with a determinant of local density approximation
(LDA) orbitals. The QMC density matrix evaluated in a basis of LDA orbitals is
strongly diagonally dominant. The natural orbitals obtained by diagonalizing
the QMC density matrix resemble the LDA orbitals very closely. Replacing the
determinant of LDA orbitals in the wave function by a determinant of natural
orbitals makes no significant difference to the quality of the wave function's
nodal surface, leaving the diffusion Monte Carlo energy unchanged. The Extended
Koopmans' Theorem for correlated wave functions is used to calculate excitation
energies for silicon, which are in reasonable agreement with the available
experimental data. A diagonal approximation to the theorem, evaluated in the
basis of LDA orbitals, works quite well for both the quasihole and
quasielectron states. We have found that this approximation has an advantageous
scaling with system size, allowing more efficient studies of larger systems.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures. To appear in Phys. Rev.
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