Strong Coupling Lattice Schwinger Model on Large Spherelike Lattices

The lattice regularized Schwinger model for one fermion flavor and in the strong coupling limit is studied through its equivalent representation as a restricted 8-vertex model. The Monte Carlo simulation on lattices with torus-topology is handicapped by a severe non-ergodicity of the updating algorithm; introducing lattices with spherelike topology avoids this problem. We present a large scale study leading to the identification of a critical point with critical exponent $\nu=1$, in the universality class of the Ising model or, equivalently, the lattice model of free fermions.Comment: 16 pages + 7 figures, gzipped POSTSCRIPT fil

Structural basis of the chiral selectivity of Pseudomonas cepacia lipase

To investigate the enantioselectivity of Pseudomonas cepacia lipase, inhibition studies were performed with SC- and RC-(RP,SP)-1,2-dialkylcarbamoylglycero-3-O-p-nitrophenyl alkylphosphonates of different alkyl chain lengths. P. cepacia lipase was most rapidly inactivated by RC-(RP,SP)-1,2-dioctylcarbamoylglycero-3-O-p-nitrophenyl octylphosphonate (RC-trioctyl) with an inactivation half-time of 75 min, while that for the SC-(RP,SP)-1,2-dioctylcarbamoylglycero-3-O-p-nitrophenyl octyl-phosphonate (SC-trioctyl) compound was 530 min. X-ray structures were obtained of P. cepacia lipase after reaction with RC-trioctyl to 0.29-nm resolution at pH 4 and covalently modified with RC-(RP,SP)-1,2-dibutylcarbamoylglycero-3-O-p-nitrophenyl butyl-phosphonate (RC-tributyl) to 0.175-nm resolution at pH 8.5. The three-dimensional structures reveal that both triacylglycerol analogues had reacted with the active-site Ser87, forming a covalent complex. The bound phosphorus atom shows the same chirality (SP) in both complexes despite the use of a racemic (RP,SP) mixture at the phosphorus atom of the triacylglycerol analogues. In the structure of RC-tributyl-complexed P. cepacia lipase, the diacylglycerol moiety has been lost due to an aging reaction, and only the butyl phosphonate remains visible in the electron density. In the RC-trioctyl complex the complete inhibitor is clearly defined; it adopts a bent tuning fork conformation. Unambiguously, four binding pockets for the triacylglycerol could be detected: an oxyanion hole and three pockets which accommodate the sn-1, sn-2, and sn-3 fatty acid chains. Van der Waals’ interactions are the main forces that keep the radyl groups of the triacylglycerol analogue in position and, in addition, a hydrogen bond to the carbonyl oxygen of the sn-2 chain contributes to fixing the position of the inhibitor.

Evidence for Lattice Effects at the Charge-Ordering Transition in (TMTTF)2_2X

High-resolution thermal expansion measurements have been performed for exploring the mysterious "structureless transition" in (TMTTF)$_{2}$X (X = PF$_{6}$ and AsF$_{6}$), where charge ordering at $T_{CO}$ coincides with the onset of ferroelectric order. Particularly distinct lattice effects are found at $T_{CO}$ in the uniaxial expansivity along the interstack $\textbf{\textit{c*}}$-direction. We propose a scheme involving a charge modulation along the TMTTF stacks and its coupling to displacements of the counteranions X$^{-}$. These anion shifts, which lift the inversion symmetry enabling ferroelectric order to develop, determine the 3D charge pattern without ambiguity. Evidence is found for another anomaly for both materials at $T_{int}$ $\simeq$ 0.6 $\cdot$ $T_{CO}$ indicative of a phase transition related to the charge ordering

Ferromagnetism and superconductivity in P-doped CeFeAsO

We report on superconductivity in CeFeAs1-xPxO and the possible coexistence with Ce- ferromagnetism (FM) in a small homogeneity range around x = 30% with ordering temperatures of T_SC = T_C = 4K. The antiferromagnetic (AFM) ordering temperature of Fe at this critical concentration is suppressed to T^N_Fe ~ 40K and does not shift to lower temperatures with further increase of the P concentration. Therefore, a quantum-critical-point scenario with T^N_Fe -> 0K which is widely discussed for the iron based superconductors can be excluded for this alloy series. Surprisingly, thermal expansion and X-ray powder diffraction indicate the absence of an orthorhombic distortion despite clear evidence for short range AFM Fe-ordering from muon-spin-rotation measurements. Furthermore, we discovered the formation of a sharp electron spin resonance signal unambiguously connected with the emergence of FM ordering.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, published in Phys. Rev. B (Rapid Communication, Editors suggestion

The effect of carrier density gradients on magnetotransport data measured in Hall bar geometry

We have measured magnetotransport of the two-dimensional electron gas in a Hall bar geometry in the presence of small carrier density gradients. We find that the longitudinal resistances measured at both sides of the Hall bar interchange by reversing the polarity of the magnetic field. We offer a simple explanation for this effect and discuss implications for extracting conductivity flow diagrams of the integer quantum Hall effect.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figure

The Holstein Polaron

We describe a variational method to solve the Holstein model for an electron coupled to dynamical, quantum phonons on an infinite lattice. The variational space can be systematically expanded to achieve high accuracy with modest computational resources (12-digit accuracy for the 1d polaron energy at intermediate coupling). We compute ground and low-lying excited state properties of the model at continuous values of the wavevector $k$ in essentially all parameter regimes. Our results for the polaron energy band, effective mass and correlation functions compare favorably with those of other numerical techniques including DMRG, Global Local and exact diagonalization. We find a phase transition for the first excited state between a bound and unbound system of a polaron and an additional phonon excitation. The phase transition is also treated in strong coupling perturbation theory.Comment: 24 pages, 11 figures submitted to PR

A variational approach to the optimized phonon technique for electron-phonon problems

An optimized phonon approach for the numerical diagonalization of interacting electron-phonon systems is proposed. The variational method is based on an expansion in coherent states that leads to a dramatic truncation in the phonon space. The reliability of the approach is demonstrated for the extended Holstein model showing that different types of lattice distortions are present at intermediate electron-phonon couplings as observed in strongly correlated systems. The connection with the density matrix renormalization group is discussed.Comment: 4 figures; submitted to Phys. Rev.

The PreAmplifier ShAper for the ALICE TPC-Detector

In this paper the PreAmplifier ShAper (PASA) for the Time Projection Chamber (TPC) of the ALICE experiment at LHC is presented. The ALICE TPC PASA is an ASIC that integrates 16 identical channels, each consisting of Charge Sensitive Amplifiers (CSA) followed by a Pole-Zero network, self-adaptive bias network, two second-order bridged-T filters, two non-inverting level shifters and a start-up circuit. The circuit is optimized for a detector capacitance of 18-25 pF. For an input capacitance of 25 pF, the PASA features a conversion gain of 12.74 mV/fC, a peaking time of 160 ns, a FWHM of 190 ns, a power consumption of 11.65 mW/ch and an equivalent noise charge of 244e + 17e/pF. The circuit recovers smoothly to the baseline in about 600 ns. An integral non-linearity of 0.19% with an output swing of about 2.1 V is also achieved. The total area of the chip is 18 mm$^2$ and is implemented in AMS's C35B3C1 0.35 micron CMOS technology. Detailed characterization test were performed on about 48000 PASA circuits before mounting them on the ALICE TPC front-end cards. After more than two years of operation of the ALICE TPC with p-p and Pb-Pb collisions, the PASA has demonstrated to fulfill all requirements

Improving Requirements Engineering within the European Space Industry

International audienceThe Next Generation Requirements Engineering (NextGenRE) (ESA/ESTEC Contract 4000101353/10/NL/SFe) project seeks to identify possibilities to improve the requirements engineering process within the European Space industry in connection with Model-based System Engineering (MBSE)

Ground-state dispersion and density of states from path-integral Monte Carlo. Application to the lattice polaron

A formula is derived that relates the ground-state dispersion of a many-body system with the end-to-end distribution of paths with open boundary conditions in imaginary time. The formula does not involve the energy estimator. It allows direct measurement of the ground-state dispersion by quantum Monte Carlo methods without analytical continuation or auxiliary fitting. The formula is applied to the lattice polaron problem. The exact polaron spectrum and density of states are calculated for several models in one, two, and three dimensions. In the adiabatic regime of the Holstein model, the polaron density of states deviates spectacularly from the free-particle shape.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figure