Quadrupole transitions near interface: general theory and application to atom inside a planar cavity

Quadrupole radiation of an atom in an arbitrary environment is investigated within classical as well as quantum electrodynamical approaches. Analytical expressions for decay rates are obtained in terms of Green function of Maxwell equations. The equivalence of both approaches is shown. General expressions are applied to analyze the quadrupole decay rate of an atom placed between two half spaces with arbitrary dielectric constant. It is shown that in the case when the atom is close to the surface, the total decay rate is inversely proportional to the fifth power of distance between an atom and a plane interface.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figure

Gender, war and militarism: making and questioning the links

The gender dynamics of militarism have traditionally been seen as straightforward, given the cultural mythologies of warfare and the disciplining of ‘masculinity’ that occurs in the training and use of men's capacity for violence in the armed services. However, women's relation to both war and peace has been varied and complex. It is women who have often been most prominent in working for peace, although there are no necessary links between women and opposition to militarism. In addition, more women than ever are serving in many of today's armies, with feminists rather uncertain on how to relate to this phenomenon. In this article, I explore some of the complexities of applying gender analyses to militarism and peace work in sites of conflict today, looking most closely at the Israeli feminist group, New Profile, and their insistence upon the costs of the militarized nature of Israeli society. They expose the very permeable boundaries between the military and civil society, as violence seeps into the fears and practices of everyday life in Israel. I place their work in the context of broader feminist analysis offered by researchers such as Cynthia Enloe and Cynthia Cockburn, who have for decades been writing about the ‘masculinist’ postures and practices of warfare, as well as the situation of women caught up in them. Finally, I suggest that rethinking the gendered nature of warfare must also encompass the costs of war to men, whose fundamental vulnerability to psychological abuse and physical injury is often downplayed, whether in mainstream accounts of warfare or in more specific gender analysis. Feminists need to pay careful attention to masculinity and its fragmentations in addressing the topic of gender, war and militarism

Mechanisms of Manganese-Assisted Nonradiative Recombination in Cd(Mn)Se/Zn(Mn)Se Quantum Dots

Mechanisms of nonradiative recombination of electron-hole complexes in Cd(Mn)Se/Zn(Mn)Se quantum dots accompanied by interconfigurational excitations of Mn$^{2+}$ ions are analyzed within the framework of single electron model of deep {\it 3d}-levels in semiconductors. In addition to the mechanisms caused by Coulomb and exchange interactions, which are related because of the Pauli principle, another mechanism due to {\it sp-d} mixing is considered. It is shown that the Coulomb mechanism reduces to long-range dipole-dipole energy transfer from photoexcited quantum dots to Mn$^{2+}$ ions. The recombination due to the Coulomb mechanism is allowed for any states of Mn$^{2+}$ ions and {\it e-h} complexes. In contrast, short-range exchange and ${\it sp-d}$ recombinations are subject to spin selection rules, which are the result of strong {\it lh-hh} splitting of hole states in quantum dots. Estimates show that efficiency of the {\it sp-d} mechanism can considerably exceed that of the Coulomb mechanism. The phonon-assisted recombination and processes involving upper excited states of Mn$^{2+}$ ions are studied. The increase in PL intensity of an ensemble of quantum dots in a magnetic field perpendicular to the sample growth plane observed earlier is analyzed as a possible manifestation of the spin-dependent recombination.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figure

Theory of laser-induced demagnetization at high temperatures

Laser-induced demagnetization is theoretically studied by explicitly taking into account interactions among electrons, spins and lattice. Assuming that the demagnetization processes take place during the thermalization of the sub-systems, the temperature dynamics is given by the energy transfer between the thermalized interacting baths. These energy transfers are accounted for explicitly through electron-magnons and electron-phonons interaction, which govern the demagnetization time scale. By properly treating the spin system in a self-consistent random phase approximation, we derive magnetization dynamic equations for a broad range of temperature. The dependence of demagnetization on the temperature and pumping laser intensity is calculated in detail. In particular, we show several salient features for understanding magnetization dynamics near the Curie temperature. While the critical slowdown in dynamics occurs, we find that an external magnetic field can restore the fast dynamics. We discuss the implication of the fast dynamics in the application of heat assisted magnetic recording.Comment: 11 Pages, 7 Figure

Andreev Reflection and Spin Injection into s−s- and d−d-wave Superconductors

We study the effect of spin injection into $s-$ and $d-$wave superconductors, with an emphasis on the interplay between boundary and bulk spin transport properties. The quantities of interest include the amount of non-equilibrium magnetization ($m$), as well as the induced spin-dependent current ($I_s$) and boundary voltage ($V_s$). In general, the Andreev reflection makes each of the three quantities depend on a different combination of the boundary and bulk contributions. The situation simplifies either for half-metallic ferromagnets or in the strong barrier limit, where both $V_s$ and $m$ depend solely on the bulk spin transport/relaxation properties. The implications of our results for the on-going spin injection experiments in high $T_c$ cuprates are discussed.Comment: 4 pages, REVTEX, 1 figure included; typos correcte

Directed self-organization of graphene nanoribbons on SiC

Realization of post-CMOS graphene electronics requires production of semiconducting graphene, which has been a labor-intensive process. We present tailoring of silicon carbide crystals via conventional photolithography and microelectronics processing to enable templated graphene growth on 4H-SiC{1-10n} (n = 8) crystal facets rather than the customary {0001} planes. This allows self-organized growth of graphene nanoribbons with dimensions defined by those of the facet. Preferential growth is confirmed by Raman spectroscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) measurements, and electrical characterization of prototypic graphene devices is presented. Fabrication of > 10,000 top-gated graphene transistors on a 0.24 cm2 SiC chip demonstrates scalability of this process and represents the highest density of graphene devices reported to date.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figure

The Computational Complexity of Knot and Link Problems

We consider the problem of deciding whether a polygonal knot in 3-dimensional Euclidean space is unknotted, capable of being continuously deformed without self-intersection so that it lies in a plane. We show that this problem, {\sc unknotting problem} is in {\bf NP}. We also consider the problem, {\sc unknotting problem} of determining whether two or more such polygons can be split, or continuously deformed without self-intersection so that they occupy both sides of a plane without intersecting it. We show that it also is in NP. Finally, we show that the problem of determining the genus of a polygonal knot (a generalization of the problem of determining whether it is unknotted) is in {\bf PSPACE}. We also give exponential worst-case running time bounds for deterministic algorithms to solve each of these problems. These algorithms are based on the use of normal surfaces and decision procedures due to W. Haken, with recent extensions by W. Jaco and J. L. Tollefson.Comment: 32 pages, 1 figur