11,731 research outputs found
Study of alkaline hydrothermal activation of belite cements by thermal analysis
The effect of alkaline hydrothermal activation of class-C fly ash belite cement was studied using thermal analysis (TG/DTG) by determining the increase in the combined water during a period of hydration of 180 days. The results were compared with those obtained for a belite cement hydrothermally activated in water. The two belite cements were fabricated via the hydrothermal-calcination route of class-C fly ash in 1 M NaOH solution (FABC-2-N) or demineralised water (FABC-2-W). From the results, the effect of the alkaline hydrothermal activation of belite cement (FABC-2-N) was clearly differentiated, mainly at early ages of hydration, for which the increase in the combined water was markedly higher than that of the belite cement that was hydrothermally activated in water. Important direct quantitative correlations were obtained among physicochemical parameters, such as the combined water, the BET surface area, the volume of nano-pores, and macro structural engineering properties such as the compressive mechanical strength
The Unusual Distributions of Ionized Material and Molecular Hydrogen in NGC 6881: Signposts of Multiple Events of Bipolar Ejection in a Planetary Nebula
The planetary nebula NGC 6881 displays in the optical a quadrupolar
morphology consisting of two pairs of highly collimated bipolar lobes aligned
along different directions. An additional bipolar ejection is revealed by the
hydrogen molecular emission, but its wide hourglass morphology is very
different from that of the ionized material. To investigate in detail the
spatial distribution of molecular hydrogen and ionized material within NGC
6881, and to determine the prevalent excitation mechanism of the H2 emission,
we have obtained new near-IR Br-gamma and H2 and optical H-alpha and [N II]
images, as well as intermediate resolution JHK spectra. These observations
confirm the association of the H2 bipolar lobes to NGC 6881 and find that the
prevalent excitation mechanism is collisional. The detailed morphology and very
different collimation degree of the H2 and ionized bipolar lobes of NGC 6881
not only imply that multiple bipolar ejections have occurred in this nebula,
but also that the dominant shaping agent is different for each bipolar
ejection: a bipolar stellar wind most likely produced the H2 lobes, while
highly collimated outflows are carving out the ionized lobes into the thick
circumstellar envelope. The asymmetry between the southeast and northwest H2
bipolar lobes suggests the interaction of the nebula with an inhomogeneous
interstellar medium. We find evidence that places NGC 6881 in the H II region
Sh 2-109 along the Orion local spiral arm.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, 4 table
Rings and arcs around evolved stars. II. The Carbon Star AFGL 3068 and the Planetary Nebulae NGC 6543, NGC 7009 and NGC 7027
We present a detailed comparative study of the arcs and fragmented ring-like
features in the haloes of the planetary nebulae (PNe) NGC 6543, NGC 7009, and
NGC 7027 and the spiral pattern around the carbon star AFGL 3068 using
high-quality multi-epoch HST images. This comparison allows us to investigate
the connection and possible evolution between the regular patterns surrounding
AGB stars and the irregular concentric patterns around PNe. The radial proper
motion of these features, ~15 km/s, are found to be consistent with the AGB
wind and their linear sizes and inter-lapse times (500-1900 yr) also agree with
those found around AGB stars, suggesting a common origin. We find evidence
using radiative-hydrodynamic simulations that regular patterns produced at the
end of the AGB phase become highly distorted by their interactions with the
expanding PN and the anisotropic illumination and ionization patterns caused by
shadow instabilities. These processes will disrupt the regular (mostly spiral)
patterns around AGB stars, plausibly becoming the arcs and fragmented rings
observed in the haloes of PNe.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
Quantum autoencoders via quantum adders with genetic algorithms
The quantum autoencoder is a recent paradigm in the field of quantum machine
learning, which may enable an enhanced use of resources in quantum
technologies. To this end, quantum neural networks with less nodes in the inner
than in the outer layers were considered. Here, we propose a useful connection
between approximate quantum adders and quantum autoencoders. Specifically, this
link allows us to employ optimized approximate quantum adders, obtained with
genetic algorithms, for the implementation of quantum autoencoders for a
variety of initial states. Furthermore, we can also directly optimize the
quantum autoencoders via genetic algorithms. Our approach opens a different
path for the design of quantum autoencoders in controllable quantum platforms
Self-similar transmission properties of aperiodic Cantor potentials in gapped graphene
We investigate the transmission properties of quasiperiodic or aperiodic
structures based on graphene arranged according to the Cantor sequence. In
particular, we have found self-similar behaviour in the transmission spectra,
and most importantly, we have calculated the scalability of the spectra. To do
this, we implement and propose scaling rules for each one of the fundamental
parameters: generation number, height of the barriers and length of the system.
With this in mind we have been able to reproduce the reference transmission
spectrum, applying the appropriate scaling rule, by means of the scaled
transmission spectrum. These scaling rules are valid for both normal and
oblique incidence, and as far as we can see the basic ingredients to obtain
self-similar characteristics are: relativistic Dirac electrons, a self-similar
structure and the non-conservation of the pseudo-spin. This constitutes a
reduction of the number of conditions needed to observe self-similarity in
graphene-based structures, see D\'iaz-Guerrero et al. [D. S. D\'iaz-Guerrero,
L. M. Gaggero-Sager, I. Rodr\'iguez-Vargas, and G. G. Naumis,
arXiv:1503.03412v1, 2015]
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