4,980 research outputs found
Space-charge mechanism of aging in ferroelectrics: an exactly solvable two-dimensional model
A mechanism of point defect migration triggered by local depolarization
fields is shown to explain some still inexplicable features of aging in
acceptor doped ferroelectrics. A drift-diffusion model of the coupled charged
defect transport and electrostatic field relaxation within a two-dimensional
domain configuration is treated numerically and analytically. Numerical results
are given for the emerging internal bias field of about 1 kV/mm which levels
off at dopant concentrations well below 1 mol%; the fact, long ago known
experimentally but still not explained. For higher defect concentrations a
closed solution of the model equations in the drift approximation as well as an
explicit formula for the internal bias field is derived revealing the plausible
time, temperature and concentration dependencies of aging. The results are
compared to those due to the mechanism of orientational reordering of defect
dipoles.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures. accepted to Physical Review
Electronic structure of periodic curved surfaces -- topological band structure
Electronic band structure for electrons bound on periodic minimal surfaces is
differential-geometrically formulated and numerically calculated. We focus on
minimal surfaces because they are not only mathematically elegant (with the
surface characterized completely in terms of "navels") but represent the
topology of real systems such as zeolites and negative-curvature fullerene. The
band structure turns out to be primarily determined by the topology of the
surface, i.e., how the wavefunction interferes on a multiply-connected surface,
so that the bands are little affected by the way in which we confine the
electrons on the surface (thin-slab limit or zero thickness from the outset).
Another curiosity is that different minimal surfaces connected by the Bonnet
transformation (such as Schwarz's P- and D-surfaces) possess one-to-one
correspondence in their band energies at Brillouin zone boundaries.Comment: 6 pages, 8 figures, eps files will be sent on request to
[email protected]
Referral from secondary care and to aftercare in a tertiary care university hospital in Japan
BACKGROUND: In Japan, all citizens are covered by the national insurance system in which universal free access to healthcare services is promised to everybody. There are no general physicians or gatekeepers in the Japanese healthcare system. METHODS: We studied the pattern of referral of inpatients from secondary care hospitals to a tertiary care university hospital and the reverse referral under the situations using a geographic information system (GIS), taking paediatric inpatients as an example. RESULTS: The results showed that 61.2% of the patients were directly admitted to the hospital without referral from other hospitals or clinics and that 82.8% of the inpatients were referred to the outpatient department of the hospital to which they had been admitted. GIS analysis for the inpatients service area showed the hospital functions as both a secondary care hospital and tertiary care hospital. Patients who lived near the hospital tended to be admitted directly to the hospital, and patients who lived far from the hospital tended to utilize the hospital as a tertiary care provider. There were territorial disputes with other secondary care hospitals. To estimate spatial differences in referral to aftercare, we analyzed the spatial distribution of inpatients with focus on their length of hospital stay (LOS). GIS analysis revealed apparent foci of patients with long LOS and those with low LOS. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that the function of university hospital in Japan is unspecialized and that the referral route from the university hospital to aftercare is also unequipped
Observation of the decay mode K_L -> pi^+ pi^- e^+ e^-
We report on results of an experimental search for the K_L -> pi^+ pi^- e^+
e^- decay mode. We found 13.5 +- 4.0 events and determined its branching ratio
to be (4.4 +- 1.3(stat) +- 0.5(syst))*10^{-7}. The result agrees well with the
theoretical prediction.Comment: 9 pages, 6 eps-figures, LaTeX2e, graphicx package, submitted to
Physics Letters
A quantum Monte Carlo algorithm realizing an intrinsic relaxation
We propose a new quantum Monte Carlo algorithm which realizes a relaxation
intrinsic to the original quantum system. The Monte Carlo dynamics satisfies
the dynamic scaling relation and is independent of the Trotter
number. Finiteness of the Trotter number just appears as the finite-size
effect. An infinite Trotter number version of the algorithm is also formulated,
which enables us to observe a true relaxation of the original system. The
strategy of the algorithm is a compromise between the conventional worldline
local flip and the modern cluster loop flip. It is a local flip in the
real-space direction and is a cluster flip in the Trotter direction. The new
algorithm is tested by the transverse-field Ising model in two dimensions. An
accurate phase diagram is obtained.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure
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