Interatomic potentials for ionic systems with density functional accuracy based on charge densities obtained by a neural network

Based on an analysis of the short range chemical environment of each atom in a system, standard machine learning based approaches to the construction of interatomic potentials aim at determining directly the central quantity which is the total energy. This prevents for instance an accurate description of the energetics of systems where long range charge transfer is important as well as of ionized systems. We propose therefore not to target directly with machine learning methods the total energy but an intermediate physical quantity namely the charge density, which then in turn allows to determine the total energy. By allowing the electronic charge to distribute itself in an optimal way over the system, we can describe not only neutral but also ionized systems with unprecedented accuracy. We demonstrate the power of our approach for both neutral and ionized NaCl clusters where charge redistribution plays a decisive role for the energetics. We are able to obtain chemical accuracy, i.e. errors of less than a milli Hartree per atom compared to the reference density functional results. The introduction of physically motivated quantities which are determined by the short range atomic environment via a neural network leads also to an increased stability of the machine learning process and transferability of the potential.Comment: 4 figure

Unemployment in Latin America and the Caribbean

This study constructs a new data set on unemployment rates in Latin America and the Caribbean and then explores the determinants of unemployment. We compare different countries, finding that unemployment is influenced by the size of the rural population and that the effects of government regulations are generally weak. We also examine large, persistent increases in unemployment over time, finding that they are caused by contractions in aggregate demand. These demand contractions result from either disinflationary monetary policy or the defense of an exchange-rate peg in the face of capital flight. Our evidence supports hysteresis theories in which short-run changes in unemployment influence the natural rate.

Magnetism and domain formation in SU(3)-symmetric multi-species Fermi mixtures

We study the phase diagram of an SU(3)-symmetric mixture of three-component ultracold fermions with attractive interactions in an optical lattice, including the additional effect on the mixture of an effective three-body constraint induced by three-body losses. We address the properties of the system in $D \geq 2$ by using dynamical mean-field theory and variational Monte Carlo techniques. The phase diagram of the model shows a strong interplay between magnetism and superfluidity. In the absence of the three-body constraint (no losses), the system undergoes a phase transition from a color superfluid phase to a trionic phase, which shows additional particle density modulations at half-filling. Away from the particle-hole symmetric point the color superfluid phase is always spontaneously magnetized, leading to the formation of different color superfluid domains in systems where the total number of particles of each species is conserved. This can be seen as the SU(3) symmetric realization of a more general tendency to phase-separation in three-component Fermi mixtures. The three-body constraint strongly disfavors the trionic phase, stabilizing a (fully magnetized) color superfluid also at strong coupling. With increasing temperature we observe a transition to a non-magnetized SU(3) Fermi liquid phase.Comment: 36 pages, 17 figures; Corrected typo

Finite bias Cooper pair splitting

In a device with a superconductor coupled to two parallel quantum dots (QDs) the electrical tunability of the QD levels can be used to exploit non-classical current correlations due to the splitting of Cooper pairs. We experimentally investigate the effect of a finite potential difference across one quantum dot on the conductance through the other completely grounded QD in a Cooper pair splitter fabricated on an InAs nanowire. We demonstrate that the electrical transport through the device can be tuned by electrical means to be dominated either by Cooper pair splitting (CPS), or by elastic co-tunneling (EC). The basic experimental findings can be understood by considering the energy dependent density of states in a QD. The reported experiments add bias-dependent spectroscopy to the investigative tools necessary to develop CPS-based sources of entangled electrons in solid-state devices.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Wet etch methods for InAs nanowire patterning and self-aligned electrical contacts

Advanced synthesis of semiconductor nanowires (NWs) enables their application in diverse fields, notably in chemical and electrical sensing, photovoltaics, or quantum electronic devices. In particular, Indium Arsenide (InAs) NWs are an ideal platform for quantum devices, e.g. they may host topological Majorana states. While the synthesis has been continously perfected, only few techniques were developed to tailor individual NWs after growth. Here we present three wet chemical etch methods for the post-growth morphological engineering of InAs NWs on the sub-100 nm scale. The first two methods allow the formation of self-aligned electrical contacts to etched NWs, while the third method results in conical shaped NW profiles ideal for creating smooth electrical potential gradients and shallow barriers. Low temperature experiments show that NWs with etched segments have stable transport characteristics and can serve as building blocks of quantum electronic devices. As an example we report the formation of a single electrically stable quantum dot between two etched NW segments.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure

Shape Analysis of the Level Spacing Distribution around the Metal Insulator Transition in the Three Dimensional Anderson Model

We present a new method for the numerical treatment of second order phase transitions using the level spacing distribution function $P(s)$. We show that the quantities introduced originally for the shape analysis of eigenvectors can be properly applied for the description of the eigenvalues as well. The position of the metal--insulator transition (MIT) of the three dimensional Anderson model and the critical exponent are evaluated. The shape analysis of $P(s)$ obtained numerically shows that near the MIT $P(s)$ is clearly different from both the Brody distribution and from Izrailev's formula, and the best description is of the form $P(s)=c_1\,s\exp(-c_2\,s^{1+\beta})$, with $\beta\approx 0.2$. This is in good agreement with recent analytical results.Comment: 14 pages in plain TeX, 6 figures upon reques

Reciprocal interactions between the bark beetle-associated yeast Ogataea pini and host plant phytochemistry

Here we report the first experiments testing reciprocal effects between the bark beetle-associated yeast, Ogataea pini, and phytochemicals present in tree tissues (Pinus ponderosa). We tested two hypotheses: (i) tree phytochemicals mediate O. pin,i growth and (ii) O. pini affects chemical composition of plant tissues. We tested six monoterpenes on O. pins biomass growth in vitro and found that most monoterpenes inhibited O. pini growth; however mean O. pini biomass increased 21.5% when treated with myrcene and 75.5% when treated with terpinolene, relative to control. Ogataea pini was grown on phloem tissue ex vivo to determine whether O. pini affected phloem chemistry. Monoterpene concentrations declined in phloem over time, but phloem colonized by O. pini had significantly different concentrations of monoterpenes at two periods than phloem with no yeast. After 7 d, when O. pini was present, concentrations of the monoterpene Delta-3-carene was 42.9% lower than uncolonized phloem and concentrations of the monoterpene terpinolene was 345.0% higher than uncolonized phloem. After 15 d phloem colonized by O. pini had 505.4% higher concentrations of a-pinene than uncolonized phloem. These experiments suggest that O. pini responds to phytochemicals present in host tissues and the presence of O. pini might alter the chemical environment of phloem tissues during the early stages of beetle development. The interactions between O. pini and phytochemicals in pine vascular tissues might have consequences for the bark beetle that vectors O. pini, Dendroctonus brevicomis

Nonequilibrium Spin Dynamics in the Ferromagnetic Kondo Model

Motivated by recent experiments on molecular quantum dots we investigate the relaxation of pure spin states when coupled to metallic leads. Under suitable conditions these systems are well described by a ferromagnetic Kondo model. Using two recently developed theoretical approaches, the time-dependent numerical renormalization group and an extended ow equation method, we calculate the real-time evolution of a Kondo spin into its partially screened steady state. We obtain exact analytical results which agree well with numerical implementations of both methods. Analytical expressions for the steady state magnetization and the dependence of the long-time relaxation on microscopic parameters are established. We find the long-time relaxation process to be much faster in the regime of anisotropic Kondo couplings. The steady state magnetization is found to deviate significantly from its thermal equilibrium value.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, final version as accepted by Physical Review Letter