A molecular dynamics computer simulation study of room-temperature ionic liquids. I. Equilibrium solvation structure and free energetics

Solvation in 1-ethyl-3-methylmidazolium chloride and in 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate near equilibrium is investigated via molecular dynamics computer simulations with diatomic and benzenelike molecules employed as probe solutes. It is found that electrostriction plays an important role in both solvation structure and free energetics. The angular and radial distributions of cations and anions become more structured and their densities near the solute become enhanced as the solute charge separation grows. Due to the enhancement in structural rigidity induced by electrostriction, the force constant associated with solvent configuration fluctuations relevant to charge shift and transfer processes is also found to increase. The effective polarity and reorganization free energies of these ionic liquids are analyzed and compared with those of highly polar acetonitrile. Their screening behavior of electric charges is also investigated.Comment: 12 page

Kinematic variations due to changes in pace during men's and women's 5 km road running

The purpose of this study was to investigate variations in kinematic parameters in men's and women's 5 km road racing. Athletes often vary their pace and changes particularly tend to occur towards the end of a race due to fatigue and sprint finishes. Twenty competitive distance runners (10 male, 10 female) were videoed as they completed the English National 5 km championships. Three-dimensional kinematic data were analysed using motion analysis software (SIMI, Munich). Data were recorded at 950 m, 2,400 m and 3,850 m. Repeated measures ANOVA showed significant decreases in speed due to reduced step length and cadence in both men and women. These decreases predominantly occurred between the first two measurement points. The hip, knee, ankle and shoulder angles at both initial contact and toe-off did not change significantly, but there were significant reductions in the elbow angle for both men (at initial contact) and women (at toe-off)

Analytic study of the urn model for separation of sand

We present an analytic study of the urn model for separation of sand recently introduced by Lipowski and Droz (Phys. Rev. E 65, 031307 (2002)). We solve analytically the master equation and the first-passage problem. The analytic results confirm the numerical results obtained by Lipowski and Droz. We find that the stationary probability distribution and the shortest one among the characteristic times are governed by the same free energy. We also analytically derive the form of the critical probability distribution on the critical line, which supports their results obtained by numerically calculating Binder cumulants (cond-mat/0201472).Comment: 6 pages including 3 figures, RevTe

Analytic study of the three-urn model for separation of sand

We present an analytic study of the three-urn model for separation of sand. We solve analytically the master equation and the first-passage problem. We find that the stationary probability distribution obeys the detailed balance and is governed by the {\it free energy}. We find that the characteristic lifetime of a cluster diverges algebraically with exponent 1/3 at the limit of stability.Comment: 5pages, 4 figures include

Anisotropic Dirac fermions in a Bi square net of SrMnBi2

We report the highly anisotropic Dirac fermions in a Bi square net of SrMnBi2, based on a first principle calculation, angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy, and quantum oscillations for high-quality single crystals. We found that the Dirac dispersion is generally induced in the (SrBi)+ layer containing a double-sized Bi square net. In contrast to the commonly observed isotropic Dirac cone, the Dirac cone in SrMnBi2 is highly anisotropic with a large momentum-dependent disparity of Fermi velocities of ~ 8. These findings demonstrate that a Bi square net, a common building block of various layered pnictides, provide a new platform that hosts highly anisotropic Dirac fermions.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Fragility, Stokes-Einstein violation, and correlated local excitations in a coarse-grained model of an ionic liquid

Dynamics of a coarse-grained model for the room-temperature ionic liquid, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate, couched in the united-atom site representation are studied via molecular dynamics simulations. The dynamically heterogeneous behavior of the model resembles that of fragile supercooled liquids. At or close to room temperature, the model ionic liquid exhibits slow dynamics, characterized by nonexponential structural relaxation and subdiffusive behavior. The structural relaxation time, closely related to the viscosity, shows a super-Arrhenius behavior. Local excitations, defined as displacement of an ion exceeding a threshold distance, are found to be mainly responsible for structural relaxation in the alternating structure of cations and anions. As the temperature is lowered, excitations become progressively more correlated. This results in the decoupling of exchange and persistence times, reflecting a violation of the Stokes-Einstein relation.Comment: Published on the Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. websit

PRE- AND POST-IMPACT BALL AND RACQUET CHARACTERISTICS DURING TENNIS SERVES PERFORMED BY ELITE MALE AND FEMALE PLAYERS

This study quantified the pre- and post-impad 3-D kinematics of a tennis ball and racquet. Data were collected during the tennis competition of the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games using two high-speed cameras (200 Hz). Two first serves were analysed for each subject. A one-way ANOVA for the factor of sex (p < .05) was performed for each parameter. The results indicate that, regardless of sex, the ball travelled forward and to the lefl during the flight phase before impact and the ball was hit near the peak height of the racquet. The males had significantly higher height of ball impact, greater pre-impad racquet velocity and greater post-impact ball velocity than their female counterparts. It is not certain whether the techniques used by males and females contributed to the differences in racquet speed observed

Disturbance Observer

Disturbance observer is an inner-loop output-feedback controller whose role is to reject external disturbances and to make the outer-loop baseline controller robust against plant's uncertainties. Therefore, the closed-loop system with the DOB approximates the nominal closed-loop by the baseline controller and the nominal plant model with no disturbances. This article presents how the disturbance observer works under what conditions, and how one can design a disturbance observer to guarantee robust stability and to recover the nominal performance not only in the steady-state but also for the transient response under large uncertainty and disturbance

Phenomenological Impacts of the CP-odd Rephase-Invariant Phase of the Chargino Mass Matrix in the Production of Light Chargino-Pair in e+e−e^+e^- Collisions

One CP--odd rephase-invariant phase appears in the chargino mass matrix in the minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model. We investigate in detail the phenomenological impacts of the CP-odd complex phase in the production of light charginos in $e^+e^-$ annihilation. The values of the chargino masses and the mixing angles, determining the size of the wino and higgsino components in the chargino wave functions, are so sensitive to the CP-odd phase that the constraints on the supersymmetric parameters based on the conventional assumptions for the parameters are recommended to be re-evaluated including the CP-odd phase.Comment: 9 pages, latex with 3 eps figur