Fermi Liquids and the Luttinger Integral

The Luttinger Theorem, which relates the electron density to the volume of the Fermi surface in an itinerant electron system, is taken to be one of the essential features of a Fermi liquid. The microscopic derivation of this result depends on the vanishing of a certain integral, the Luttinger integral $I_{\rm L}$, which is also the basis of the Friedel sum rule for impurity models, relating the impurity occupation number to the scattering phase shift of the conduction electrons. It is known that non-zero values of $I_{\rm L}$ with $I_{\rm L}=\pm\pi/2$, occur in impurity models in phases with non-analytic low energy scattering, classified as singular Fermi liquids. Here we show the same values, $I_{\rm L}=\pm\pi/2$, occur in an impurity model in phases with regular low energy Fermi liquid behavior. Consequently the Luttinger integral can be taken to characterize these phases, and the quantum critical points separating them interpreted as topological.Comment: 5 pages 7 figure

Cu/Ag EAM Potential Optimized for Heteroepitaxial Diffusion from ab initio Data

A binary embedded-atom method (EAM) potential is optimized for Cu on Ag(111) by fitting to ab initio data. The fitting database consists of DFT calculations of Cu monomers and dimers on Ag(111), specifically their relative energies, adatom heights, and dimer separations. We start from the Mishin Cu-Ag EAM potential and first modify the Cu-Ag pair potential to match the FCC/HCP site energy difference then include Cu-Cu pair potential optimization for the entire database. The optimized EAM potential reproduce DFT monomer and dimer relative energies and geometries correctly. In trimer calculations, the potential produces the DFT relative energy between FCC and HCP trimers, though a different ground state is predicted. We use the optimized potential to calculate diffusion barriers for Cu monomers, dimers, and trimers. The predicted monomer barrier is the same as DFT, while experimental barriers for monomers and dimers are both lower than predicted here. We attribute the difference with experiment to the overestimation of surface adsorption energies by DFT and a simple correction is presented. Our results show that the optimized Cu-Ag EAM can be applied in the study of larger Cu islands on Ag(111).Comment: 15 pages, 7 figure

Weighted-density approximation for general nonuniform fluid mixtures

In order to construct a general density-functional theory for nonuniform fluid mixtures, we propose an extension to multicomponent systems of the weighted-density approximation (WDA) of Curtin and Ashcroft [Phys. Rev. A 32, 2909 (1985)]. This extension corrects a deficiency in a similar extension proposed earlier by Denton and Ashcroft [Phys. Rev. A 42, 7312 (1990)], in that that functional cannot be applied to the multi-component nonuniform fluid systems with spatially varying composition, such as solid-fluid interfaces. As a test of the accuracy of our new functional, we apply it to the calculation of the freezing phase diagram of a binary hard-sphere fluid, and compare the results to simulation and the Denton-Ashcroft extension.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev. E as Brief Repor

Bursts in a fiber bundle model with continuous damage

We study the constitutive behaviour, the damage process, and the properties of bursts in the continuous damage fiber bundle model introduced recently. Depending on its two parameters, the model provides various types of constitutive behaviours including also macroscopic plasticity. Analytic results are obtained to characterize the damage process along the plastic plateau under strain controlled loading, furthermore, for stress controlled experiments we develop a simulation technique and explore numerically the distribution of bursts of fiber breaks assuming infinite range of interaction. Simulations revealed that under certain conditions power law distribution of bursts arises with an exponent significantly different from the mean field exponent 5/2. A phase diagram of the model characterizing the possible burst distributions is constructed.Comment: 9 pages, 11 figures, APS style, submitted for publicatio

Modelling Heat Transfer of Carbon Nanotubes

Modelling heat transfer of carbon nanotubes is important for the thermal management of nanotube-based composites and nanoelectronic device. By using a finite element method for three-dimensional anisotropic heat transfer, we have simulated the heat conduction and temperature variations of a single nanotube, a nanotube array and a part of nanotube-based composite surface with heat generation. The thermal conductivity used is obtained from the upscaled value from the molecular simulations or experiments. Simulations show that nanotube arrays have unique cooling characteristics due to its anisotropic thermal conductivity.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure

Differential effects of the poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor NU1025 on topoisomerase I and II inhibitor cytotoxicity in L1210 cells in vitro

The potent novel poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor, NU1025, enhances the cytotoxicity of DNA-methylating agents and ionizing radiation by inhibiting DNA repair. We report here an investigation of the role of PARP in the cellular responses to inhibitors of topoisomerase I and II using NU1025. The cytotoxicity of the topoisomerase I inhibitor, camptothecin, was increased 2.6-fold in L1210 cells by co-incubation with NU1025. Camptothecin-induced DNA strand breaks were also increased 2.5-fold by NU1025 and exposure to camptothecin-activated PARP. In contrast, NU1025 did not increase the DNA strand breakage or cytotoxicity caused by the topoisomerase II inhibitor etoposide. Exposure to etoposide did not activate PARP even at concentrations that caused significant levels of apoptosis. Taken together, these data suggest that potentiation of camptothecin cytotoxicity by NU1025 is a direct result of increased DNA strand breakage, and that activation of PARP by camptothecin-induced DNA damage contributes to its repair and consequently cell survival. However, in L1210 cells at least, it would appear that PARP is not involved in the cellular response to etoposide-mediated DNA damage. On the basis of these data, PARP inhibitors may be potentially useful in combination with topoisomerase I inhibitor anticancer chemotherapy. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaign http://www.bjcancer.co