1,907 research outputs found
Electronic and thermal sequential transport in metallic and superconducting two-junction arrays
The description of transport phenomena in devices consisting of arrays of
tunnel junctions, and the experimental confirmation of these predictions is one
of the great successes of mesoscopic physics. The aim of this paper is to give
a self-consistent review of sequential transport processes in such devices,
based on the so-called "orthodox" model. We calculate numerically the
current-voltage (I-V) curves, the conductance versus bias voltage (G-V) curves,
and the associated thermal transport in symmetric and asymmetric two-junction
arrays such as Coulomb-blockade thermometers (CBTs),
superconducting-insulator-normal-insulator-superconducting (SINIS) structures,
and superconducting single-electron transistors (SETs). We investigate the
behavior of these systems at the singularity-matching bias points, the
dependence of microrefrigeration effects on the charging energy of the island,
and the effect of a finite superconducting gap on Coulomb-blockade thermometry.Comment: 23 pages, 12 figures; Berlin (ISBN: 978-3-642-12069-5
Reducing the health effect of particles from agriculture
This autumn, the European Union (EU) Parliament will have a crucial vote on the future of air pollution policy in Europe. For discussion is a commission proposal for new national emission ceilings, as amended by the European Parliament Environment Committee in July, 2015. The proposed emission ceilings cover not only emissions of primary, directly emitted particulate matter but also emissions from precursor gases. These gases include ammonia, sulphur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides, which react in the atmosphere to form solid (particulate) ammonium sulphates and nitrates
Quantum dots with two electrons: Singlet-triplet transitions
The magnetic character of the ground-state of two electrons on a double
quantum dot, connected in series to left and right single-channel leads, is
considered. By solving exactly for the spectrum of the two interacting
electrons, it is found that the coupling to the continuum of propagating states
on the leads, in conjunction with the electron-electron interactions, may
result in a delocalization of the bound state of the two electrons. This, in
turn, reduces significantly the range of the Coulomb interaction parameters
over which singlet-triplet transitions can be realized. It is also found that
the coupling to the leads favors the singlet ground-state.Comment: 8 pages, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Interlayer Exchange Coupling Mediated by Valence Band Electrons
The interlayer exchange coupling mediated by valence band electrons in
all-semiconductor IV-VI magnetic/nonmagnetic superlattices is studied
theoretically. A 3D tight-binding model, accounting for the band and magnetic
structure of the constituent superlattice components is used to calculate the
spin-dependent part of the total electronic energy. The antiferromagnetic
coupling between ferromagnetic layers in EuS/PbS superlattices is obtained, in
agreement with the experimental evidences. The results obtained for the
coupling between antiferromagnetic layers in EuTe/PbTe superlattices are also
presented.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, to be submitted to Phys.Rev.
In-Frame and Unmarked Gene Deletions in Burkholderia cenocepacia via an Allelic Exchange System Compatible with Gateway Technology
Burkholderia cenocepacia is an emerging opportunistic pathogen causing life-threatening infections in immunocompromised individuals and in patients with cystic fibrosis, which are often difficult, if not impossible, to treat. Understanding the genetic basis of virulence in this emerging pathogen is important for the development of novel treatment regimes. Generating deletion mutations in genes predicted to encode virulence determinants is fundamental to investigating the mechanisms of pathogenesis. However, there is a lack of appropriate selectable and counter-selectable markers for use in B. cenocepacia, making its genetic manipulation problematic. Here we describe a Gateway-compatible allelic exchange system based on the counter-selectable pheS gene and I-SceI homing endonuclease. The system provides efficiency in cloning homology regions of target genes, and allows the generation of precise and unmarked gene deletions in B. cenocepacia. As a proof of concept, we demonstrate its utility by deleting the Bcam1349 gene, encoding a c-di-GMP responsive regulator protein important for biofilm formation
Dynamics of systems with isotropic competing interactions in an external field: a Langevin approach
We study the Langevin dynamics of a ferromagnetic Ginzburg-Landau Hamiltonian
with a competing long-range repulsive term in the presence of an external
magnetic field. The model is analytically solved within the self consistent
Hartree approximation for two different initial conditions: disordered or zero
field cooled (ZFC), and fully magnetized or field cooled (FC). To test the
predictions of the approximation we develop a suitable numerical scheme to
ensure the isotropic nature of the interactions. Both the analytical approach
and the numerical simulations of two-dimensional finite systems confirm a
simple aging scenario at zero temperature and zero field. At zero temperature a
critical field is found below which the initial conditions are relevant
for the long time dynamics of the system. For a logarithmic growth of
modulated domains is found in the numerical simulations but this behavior is
not captured by the analytical approach which predicts a growth law at
Dynamics of Excited Electrons in Copper and Ferromagnetic Transition Metals: Theory and Experiment
Both theoretical and experimental results for the dynamics of photoexcited
electrons at surfaces of Cu and the ferromagnetic transition metals Fe, Co, and
Ni are presented. A model for the dynamics of excited electrons is developed,
which is based on the Boltzmann equation and includes effects of
photoexcitation, electron-electron scattering, secondary electrons (cascade and
Auger electrons), and transport of excited carriers out of the detection
region. From this we determine the time-resolved two-photon photoemission
(TR-2PPE). Thus a direct comparison of calculated relaxation times with
experimental results by means of TR-2PPE becomes possible. The comparison
indicates that the magnitudes of the spin-averaged relaxation time \tau and of
the ratio \tau_\uparrow/\tau_\downarrow of majority and minority relaxation
times for the different ferromagnetic transition metals result not only from
density-of-states effects, but also from different Coulomb matrix elements M.
Taking M_Fe > M_Cu > M_Ni = M_Co we get reasonable agreement with experiments.Comment: 23 pages, 11 figures, added a figure and an appendix, updated
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Measurement of the seasonal and annual variability of total column aerosol in a northeastern U.S. network
A network of multi-filter rotating shadowband radiometers has operated since late 1991 in the northeastern US. The data acquired are simultaneous measurements of total and diffuse horizontal irradiances in six narrowband filtered detectors and one broadband shortwave detector. The direct normal irradiances are calculated from these measurements. These direct data are corrected for cosine response and used to calculate extraterrestrial irradiance (I{sub o}) using the Langley method of regressing the natural logarithm of direct irradiance versus air mass. With frequent determinations of I{sub o}, changes in I{sub o} caused by soiling and filter degradation, for example, can be tracked. Using these I{sub o}`s, total optical depth is calculated for every clear 30-minute period in the record. Consequently, total optical depth may be obtained on a fair number of days throughout the year. Using daily average total optical depth the authors have calculated aerosol optical depths for five wavelengths by subtracting Rayleigh scattering optical depths and Chappuis ozone absorption optical depths at each wavelength. The aerosol pattern at nearly every site is an annual cycle superimposed on a decaying stratospheric loading associated with the Mount Pinatubo volcanic eruption. An attempt is made to remove the volcanic signal using data from another site
Grain boundary pinning and glassy dynamics in stripe phases
We study numerically and analytically the coarsening of stripe phases in two
spatial dimensions, and show that transient configurations do not achieve long
ranged orientational order but rather evolve into glassy configurations with
very slow dynamics. In the absence of thermal fluctuations, defects such as
grain boundaries become pinned in an effective periodic potential that is
induced by the underlying periodicity of the stripe pattern itself. Pinning
arises without quenched disorder from the non-adiabatic coupling between the
slowly varying envelope of the order parameter around a defect, and its fast
variation over the stripe wavelength. The characteristic size of ordered
domains asymptotes to a finite value $R_g \sim \lambda_0\
\epsilon^{-1/2}\exp(|a|/\sqrt{\epsilon})\epsilon\ll 1\lambda_0a$ a constant of order unity. Random fluctuations allow defect motion to
resume until a new characteristic scale is reached, function of the intensity
of the fluctuations. We finally discuss the relationship between defect pinning
and the coarsening laws obtained in the intermediate time regime.Comment: 17 pages, 8 figures. Corrected version with one new figur
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