Magnetic Field Induced Coherence-Incoherence Crossover in the Interlayer Conductivity of a Layered Organic Metal

The angle-dependent interlayer magnetoresistance of the layered organic metal $\alpha$-(BEDT-TTF)$_2$KHg(SCN)$_4$ is found to undergo a dramatic change from the classical conventional behavior at low magnetic fields to an anomalous one at high fields. This field-induced crossover and its dependence on the sample purity and temperature imply the existence of two parallel channels in the interlayer transport: a classical Boltzmann conductivity $\sigma_{c}$ and an incoherent channel $\sigma_{i}$. We propose a simple model for $\sigma_{i}$ explaining its metallic temperature dependence and low sensitivity to the inplane field component.Comment: 5 page

A Geo Information System (GIS) for circum-arctic coastal dynamics

Coastal erosion forms a major source of the sediment, organic carbon and nutrient flux into the arctic basin. Recent studies indicate that sediment input resulting from the erosion of ice-rich, permafrost-dominated coasts might be equal to or greater than river input. The program Arctic Coastal Dynamics (ACD) has been developed to improve our understanding of circum-arctic coastal dynamics as a function of environmental forcing, coastal geology, geocryology and morphodynamic behavior. Under this framework a circum-arctic Geo Information System (GIS) has been developed, which is applied to display generalized information on coastal characteristics and to analyse coastal material fluxes. The coastal GIS is based on a digital elevation model, which was constructed from the International Bathymetric Chart of the Arctic Ocean, and permafrost parameters adopted from the Circumpolar Active-Layer Permafrost System. A segmentation of the Laptev Sea coastline was performed as a first step towards a GIS-based quantification of the sediment and total organic carbon (TOC) fluxes resulting from coastal erosion

Slow oscillations of magnetoresistance in quasi-two-dimensional metals

Slow oscillations of the interlayer magnetoresistance observed in the layered organic metal $\beta$-(BEDT-TTF)$_2$IBr$_2$ are shown to originate from the slight warping of its Fermi surface rather than from independent small cyclotron orbits. Unlike the usual Shubnikov-de Haas effect, these oscillations are not affected by the temperature smearing of the Fermi distribution and can therefore become dominant at high enough temperatures. We suggest that the slow oscillations are a general feature of clean quasi-two-dimensional metals and discuss possible applications of the phenomenon.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figure

Theory of the Shubnikov-de Haas effect in quasi-two-dimensional metals

The Shubnikov - de Haas effect in quasi-two-dimensional normal metals is studied. The interlayer conductivity is calculated using the Kubo formula. The electron scattering on short-range is considered in the self-consistent Born approximation. The result obtained differs from that derived from the Boltzmann transport equation. This difference is shown to be a general feature of conductivity in magnetic field. A detailed description of the two new qualitative effects -- the field-dependent phase shift of beats and of the slow oscillations of conductivity is provided. The results obtained are applicable to strongly anisotropic organic metals and to other quasi-two-dimensional compounds.Comment: 10 page

Coastal permafrost landscape development since the Late Pleistocene in the western Laptev Sea, Siberia

The palaeoenvironmental development of the western Laptev Sea is understood primarily from investigations of exposed cliffs and surface sediment cores from the shelf. In 2005, a core transect was drilled between the Taymyr Peninsula and the Lena Delta, an area that was part of the westernmost region of the non-glaciated Beringian landmass during the late Quaternary. The transect of five cores, one terrestrial and four marine, taken near Cape Mamontov Klyk reached 12km offshore and 77m below sea level. A multiproxy approach combined cryolithological, sedimentological, geochronological (C-14-AMS, OSL on quartz, IR-OSL on feldspars) and palaeoecological (pollen, diatoms) methods. Our interpretation of the proxies focuses on landscape history and the transition of terrestrial into subsea permafrost. Marine interglacial deposits overlain by relict terrestrial permafrost within the same offshore core were encountered in the western Laptev Sea. Moreover, the marine interglacial deposits lay unexpectedly deep at 64m below modern sea level 12km from the current coastline, while no marine deposits were encountered onshore. This implies that the position of the Eemian coastline presumably was similar to today's. The landscape reconstruction suggests Eemian coastal lagoons and thermokarst lakes, followed by Early to Middle Weichselian fluvially dominated terrestrial deposition. During the Late Weichselian, this fluvial landscape was transformed into a poorly drained accumulation plain, characterized by widespread and broad ice-wedge polygons. Finally, the shelf plain was flooded by the sea during the Holocene, resulting in the inundation and degradation of terrestrial permafrost and its transformation into subsea permafrost

On the expressive power of read-once determinants

We introduce and study the notion of read-$k$ projections of the determinant: a polynomial $f \in \mathbb{F}[x_1, \ldots, x_n]$ is called a {\it read-$k$ projection of determinant} if $f=det(M)$, where entries of matrix $M$ are either field elements or variables such that each variable appears at most $k$ times in $M$. A monomial set $S$ is said to be expressible as read-$k$ projection of determinant if there is a read-$k$ projection of determinant $f$ such that the monomial set of $f$ is equal to $S$. We obtain basic results relating read-$k$ determinantal projections to the well-studied notion of determinantal complexity. We show that for sufficiently large $n$, the $n \times n$ permanent polynomial $Perm_n$ and the elementary symmetric polynomials of degree $d$ on $n$ variables $S_n^d$ for $2 \leq d \leq n-2$ are not expressible as read-once projection of determinant, whereas $mon(Perm_n)$ and $mon(S_n^d)$ are expressible as read-once projections of determinant. We also give examples of monomial sets which are not expressible as read-once projections of determinant

Preparation of Low Friction MoSex/nc-Mo Coatings Containing Spherical Mo Nanoparticles

The possibility of preparation of nanocomposite coatings consisting of a solid lubricant matrix (MoSex) and nanocrystalline metal particles (nc-Mo) was demonstrated using pulsed laser deposition from synthesized target MoSe2.The particles had spherical shapes and their sizes were about 5 - 50 nm. The content of the nc-Mo nanoparticles in the MoSex/nc-Mo coatings was varied by changing the laser irradiation regimes and the conditions of expansion of the laser plume from the target to substrate. It was established that the tribological properties of the nanocomposite coatings MoSex/nc-Mo are depended on the concentration of nanoparticles in the bulk of the coatings as well as on the structure of the coating matrix. The MoSex/nc-Mo coating with increased crystalline order of matrix obtained on a steel substrate reduced the friction coefficient to ~0.04 during steel ball sliding in air of laboratory humidity. Probable mechanisms of nanoparticle formation were proposed and a role of these particles in the wear of the nanocomposite MoSex/nc-Mo coatings was discussed