33,504 research outputs found
Resonant States in the Electronic Structure of the High Performance Thermoelectrics AgPb_{2+m}$ ; The Role of Ag-Sb Microstructures
Ab initio electronic structure calculations based on gradient corrected
density functional theory were performed on a class of novel quaternary
compounds AgPb_{2+m}$, which were found to be excellent high
temperature thermoelctrics with large figure of merit ZT ~2.2 at 800K. We find
that resonant states appear near the top of the valence and bottom of the
conduction bands of bulk PbTe when Ag and Sb replace Pb. These states can be
understood in terms of modified Te-Ag(Sb) bonds. Electronic structure near the
gap depends sensitively on the microstructural arrangements of Ag-Sb atoms,
suggesting that large ZT values may originate from the nature of these ordering
arrangements.Comment: Accepted in Physical Review Letter
Holographic dark energy model with non-minimal coupling
We find that holographic dark energy model with non-minimally coupled scalar
field gives rise to an accelerating universe by choosing Hubble scale as IR
cutoff. We show viable range of a non-minimal coupling parameter in the
framework of this model.Comment: 7 pages, no figure, corrected some typos, to be published in
Europhys. Let
Effective interactions between star polymers
We study numerically the effective pair potential between star polymers with
equal arm lengths and equal number of arms. The simulations were done for
the soft core Domb-Joyce model on the simple cubic lattice, to minimize
corrections to scaling and to allow for an unlimited number of arms. For the
sampling, we used the pruned-enriched Rosenbluth method (PERM). We find that
the potential is much less soft than claimed in previous papers, in particular
for . While we verify the logarithmic divergence of , with
being the distance between the two cores, predicted by Witten and Pincus, we
find for that the Mayer function is hardly distinguishable from that for
a Gaussian potential.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure
Experimental study of ion heating and acceleration during magnetic reconnection
Ion heating and acceleration has been studied in the well-characterized reconnection layer of the Magnetic Reconnection Experiment [M. Yamada , Phys. Plasmas 4, 1936 (1997)]. Ion temperature in the layer rises substantially during null-helicity reconnection in which reconnecting field lines are anti-parallel. The plasma outflow is sub-Alfvenic due to a downstream back pressure. An ion energy balance calculation based on the data and including classical viscous heating indicates that ions are heated largely via nonclassical mechanisms. The T-i rise is much smaller during co-helicity reconnection in which field lines reconnect obliquely. This is consistent with a slower reconnection rate and a smaller resistivity enhancement over the Spitzer value. These observations show that nonclassical dissipation mechanisms can play an important role both in heating the ions and in facilitating the reconnection process
Grand unification through gravitational effects
We systematically study the unification of gauge couplings in the presence of
(one or more) effective dimension-5 operators cHGG/4MPl, induced into the grand
unified theory by gravitational interactions at the Planck scale MPl. These
operators alter the usual condition for gauge coupling unification, which can,
depending on the Higgs content H and vacuum expectation value, result in
unification at scales MX significantly different than naively expected. We find
non-supersymmetric models of SU(5) and SO(10) unification, with natural Wilson
coefficients c, that easily satisfy the constraints from proton decay.
Furthermore, gauge coupling unification at scales as high as the Planck scale
seems feasible, possibly hinting at simultaneous unification of gauge and
gravitational interactions. In the Appendix we work out the group theoretical
aspects of this scenario for SU(5) and SO(10) unified groups in detail; this
material is also relevant in the analysis of non-universal gaugino masses
obtained from supergravity.Comment: 27 pages, 5 figures, 8 tables, 1 appendix, revtex; v2: introduction
and conclusion expanded, references added, minor changes, version published
in PR
Thermal gravity, black holes and cosmological entropy
Taking seriously the interpretation of black hole entropy as the logarithm of
the number of microstates, we argue that thermal gravitons may undergo a phase
transition to a kind of black hole condensate. The phase transition proceeds
via nucleation of black holes at a rate governed by a saddlepoint configuration
whose free energy is of order the inverse temperature in Planck units. Whether
the universe remains in a low entropy state as opposed to the high entropy
black hole condensate depends sensitively on its thermal history. Our results
may clarify an old observation of Penrose regarding the very low entropy state
of the universe.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, RevTex. v4: to appear in Phys. Rev.
Experimental Identification of the Kink Instability as a Poloidal Flux Amplification Mechanism for Coaxial Gun Spheromak Formation
The magnetohydrodynamic kink instability is observed and identified
experimentally as a poloidal flux amplification mechanism for coaxial gun
spheromak formation. Plasmas in this experiment fall into three distinct
regimes which depend on the peak gun current to magnetic flux ratio, with (I)
low values resulting in a straight plasma column with helical magnetic field,
(II) intermediate values leading to kinking of the column axis, and (III) high
values leading immediately to a detached plasma. Onset of column kinking agrees
quantitatively with the Kruskal-Shafranov limit, and the kink acts as a dynamo
which converts toroidal to poloidal flux. Regime II clearly leads to both
poloidal flux amplification and the development of a spheromak configuration.Comment: accepted for publication in Physical Review Letter
Collapsed 2-Dimensional Polymers on a Cylinder
Single partially confined collapsed polymers are studied in two dimensions.
They are described by self-avoiding random walks with nearest-neighbour
attractions below the -point, on the surface of an infinitely long
cylinder. For the simulations we employ the pruned-enriched-Rosenbluth method
(PERM). The same model had previously been studied for free polymers (infinite
lattice, no boundaries) and for polymers on finite lattices with periodic
boundary conditions. We verify the previous estimates of bulk densities, bulk
free energies, and surface tensions. We find that the free energy of a polymer
with fixed length has, for , a minimum at a finite cylinder
radius which diverges as . Furthermore, the surface
tension vanishes roughly as for with
. The density in the interior of a globule scales as
with .Comment: 4 pages, 8 figure
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