2,250 research outputs found
Interplay Between Time-Temperature-Transformation and the Liquid-Liquid Phase Transition in Water
We study the TIP5P water model proposed by Mahoney and Jorgensen, which is
closer to real water than previously-proposed classical pairwise additive
potentials. We simulate the model in a wide range of deeply supercooled states
and find (i) the existence of a non-monotonic ``nose-shaped'' temperature of
maximum density line and a non-reentrant spinodal, (ii) the presence of a low
temperature phase transition, (iii) the free evolution of bulk water to ice,
and (iv) the time-temperature-transformation curves at different densities.Comment: RevTeX4, 4 pages, 4 eps figure
Ice XII in its second regime of metastability
We present neutron powder diffraction results which give unambiguous evidence
for the formation of the recently identified new crystalline ice phase[Lobban
et al.,Nature, 391, 268, (1998)], labeled ice XII, at completely different
conditions. Ice XII is produced here by compressing hexagonal ice I_h at T =
77, 100, 140 and 160 K up to 1.8 GPa. It can be maintained at ambient pressure
in the temperature range 1.5 < T < 135 K. High resolution diffraction is
carried out at T = 1.5 K and ambient pressure on ice XII and accurate
structural properties are obtained from Rietveld refinement. At T = 140 and 160
K additionally ice III/IX is formed. The increasing amount of ice III/IX with
increasing temperature gives an upper limit of T ~ 150 K for the successful
formation of ice XII with the presented procedure.Comment: 3 Pages of RevTeX, 3 tables, 3 figures (submitted to Physical Review
Letters
Locally Preferred Structure and Frustration in Glassforming Liquids: A Clue to Polyamorphism?
We propose that the concept of liquids characterized by a given locally
preferred structure (LPS) could help in understanding the observed phenomenon
of polyamorphism. ``True polyamorphism'' would involve the competition between
two (or more) distinct LPS, one favored at low pressure because of its low
energy and one favored at high pressure because of its small specific volume,
as in tetrahedrally coordinated systems. ``Apparent polyamorphism'' could be
associated with the existence of a poorly crystallized defect-ordered phase
with a large unit cell and small crystallites, which may be illustrated by the
metastable glacial phase of the fragile glassformer triphenylphosphite; the
apparent polyamorphism might result from structural frustration, i. e., a
competition between the tendency to extend the LPS and a global constraint that
prevents tiling of the whole space by the LPS.Comment: 11, 6 figures, Proceedings of the Conference "Horizons in Complex
Systems", Messina; in honor of the 60th birthday of H.E. Stanle
Photometric Calibration of the Swift Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope
We present the photometric calibration of the Swift UltraViolet/Optical
Telescope (UVOT) which includes: optimum photometric and background apertures,
effective area curves, colour transformations, conversion factors for count
rates to flux, and the photometric zero points (which are accurate to better
than 4 per cent) for each of the seven UVOT broadband filters. The calibration
was performed with observations of standard stars and standard star fields that
represent a wide range of spectral star types. The calibration results include
the position dependent uniformity, and instrument response over the 1600-8000A
operational range. Because the UVOT is a photon counting instrument, we also
discuss the effect of coincidence loss on the calibration results. We provide
practical guidelines for using the calibration in UVOT data analysis. The
results presented here supersede previous calibration results.Comment: Minor improvements after referees report. Accepted for publication in
MNRA
Diffusion on random site percolation clusters. Theory and NMR microscopy experiments with model objects
Quasi two-dimensional random site percolation model objects were fabricate
based on computer generated templates. Samples consisting of two compartments,
a reservoir of HO gel attached to a percolation model object which was
initially filled with DO, were examined with NMR (nuclear magnetic
resonance) microscopy for rendering proton spin density maps. The propagating
proton/deuteron inter-diffusion profiles were recorded and evaluated with
respect to anomalous diffusion parameters. The deviation of the concentration
profiles from those expected for unobstructed diffusion directly reflects the
anomaly of the propagator for diffusion on a percolation cluster. The fractal
dimension of the random walk, , evaluated from the diffusion measurements
on the one hand and the fractal dimension, , deduced from the spin density
map of the percolation object on the other permits one to experimentally
compare dynamical and static exponents. Approximate calculations of the
propagator are given on the basis of the fractional diffusion equation.
Furthermore, the ordinary diffusion equation was solved numerically for the
corresponding initial and boundary conditions for comparison. The anomalous
diffusion constant was evaluated and is compared to the Brownian case. Some ad
hoc correction of the propagator is shown to pay tribute to the finiteness of
the system. In this way, anomalous solutions of the fractional diffusion
equation could experimentally be verified for the first time.Comment: REVTeX, 12 figures in GIF forma
The identity of Hemeroblemma lienaris Hübner and a review of the neotropical moths of the pannosa-complex of Epidromia Guenée (Noctuidae, Catocalinae)
Metastable liquid-liquid phase transition in a single-component system with only one crystal phase and no density anomaly
We investigate the phase behavior of a single-component system in 3
dimensions with spherically-symmetric, pairwise-additive, soft-core
interactions with an attractive well at a long distance, a repulsive soft-core
shoulder at an intermediate distance, and a hard-core repulsion at a short
distance, similar to potentials used to describe liquid systems such as
colloids, protein solutions, or liquid metals. We showed [Nature {\bf 409}, 692
(2001)] that, even with no evidences of the density anomaly, the phase diagram
has two first-order fluid-fluid phase transitions, one ending in a
gas--low-density liquid (LDL) critical point, and the other in a
gas--high-density liquid (HDL) critical point, with a LDL-HDL phase transition
at low temperatures. Here we use integral equation calculations to explore the
3-parameter space of the soft-core potential and we perform molecular dynamics
simulations in the interesting region of parameters. For the equilibrium phase
diagram we analyze the structure of the crystal phase and find that, within the
considered range of densities, the structure is independent of the density.
Then, we analyze in detail the fluid metastable phases and, by explicit
thermodynamic calculation in the supercooled phase, we show the absence of the
density anomaly. We suggest that this absence is related to the presence of
only one stable crystal structure.Comment: 15 pages, 21 figure
Polyhedral Cosmic Strings
Quantum field theory is discussed in M\"obius corner kaleidoscopes using the
method of images. The vacuum average of the stress-energy tensor of a free
field is derived and is shown to be a simple sum of straight cosmic string
expressions, the strings running along the edges of the corners. It does not
seem possible to set up a spin-half theory easily.Comment: 15 pages, 4 text figures not include
Crystal-like high frequency phonons in the amorphous phases of solid water
The high frequency dynamics of low- (LDA) and high-density amorphous-ice
(HDA) and of cubic ice (I_c) has been measured by inelastic X-ray Scattering
(IXS) in the 1-15 nm^{-1} momentum transfer (Q) range. Sharp phonon-like
excitations are observed, and the longitudinal acoustic branch is identified up
to Q = 8nm^{-1} in LDA and I_c and up to 5nm^{-1} in HDA. The narrow width of
these excitations is in sharp contrast with the broad features observed in all
amorphous systems studied so far. The "crystal-like" behavior of amorphous
ices, therefore, implies a considerable reduction in the number of decay
channels available to sound-like excitations which is assimilated to low local
disorder.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Coherent, mechanical control of a single electronic spin
The ability to control and manipulate spins via electrical, magnetic and
optical means has generated numerous applications in metrology and quantum
information science in recent years. A promising alternative method for spin
manipulation is the use of mechanical motion, where the oscillation of a
mechanical resonator can be magnetically coupled to a spins magnetic dipole,
which could enable scalable quantum information architectures9 and sensitive
nanoscale magnetometry. To date, however, only population control of spins has
been realized via classical motion of a mechanical resonator. Here, we
demonstrate coherent mechanical control of an individual spin under ambient
conditions using the driven motion of a mechanical resonator that is
magnetically coupled to the electronic spin of a single nitrogen-vacancy (NV)
color center in diamond. Coherent control of this hybrid mechanical/spin system
is achieved by synchronizing pulsed spin-addressing protocols (involving
optical and radiofrequency fields) to the motion of the driven oscillator,
which allows coherent mechanical manipulation of both the population and phase
of the spin via motion-induced Zeeman shifts of the NV spins energy. We
demonstrate applications of this coherent mechanical spin-control technique to
sensitive nanoscale scanning magnetometry.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure
- …