544 research outputs found
Semiclassical Tunneling of Wavepackets with Real Trajectories
Semiclassical approximations for tunneling processes usually involve complex
trajectories or complex times. In this paper we use a previously derived
approximation involving only real trajectories propagating in real time to
describe the scattering of a Gaussian wavepacket by a finite square potential
barrier. We show that the approximation describes both tunneling and
interferences very accurately in the limit of small Plank's constant. We use
these results to estimate the tunneling time of the wavepacket and find that,
for high energies, the barrier slows down the wavepacket but that it speeds it
up at energies comparable to the barrier height.Comment: 23 pages, 7 figures Revised text and figure
Random site dilution properties of frustrated magnets on a hierarchical lattice
We present a method to analyze magnetic properties of frustrated Ising spin
models on specific hierarchical lattices with random dilution. Disorder is
induced by dilution and geometrical frustration rather than randomness in the
internal couplings of the original Hamiltonian. The two-dimensional model
presented here possesses a macroscopic entropy at zero temperature in the large
size limit, very close to the Pauling estimate for spin-ice on pyrochlore
lattice, and a crossover towards a paramagnetic phase. The disorder due to
dilution is taken into account by considering a replicated version of the
recursion equations between partition functions at different lattice sizes. An
analysis at first order in replica number allows for a systematic
reorganization of the disorder configurations, leading to a recurrence scheme.
This method is numerically implemented to evaluate the thermodynamical
quantities such as specific heat and susceptibility in an external field.Comment: 26 pages, 11 figure
Semiclassical Propagation of Wavepackets with Real and Complex Trajectories
We consider a semiclassical approximation for the time evolution of an
originally gaussian wave packet in terms of complex trajectories. We also
derive additional approximations replacing the complex trajectories by real
ones. These yield three different semiclassical formulae involving different
real trajectories. One of these formulae is Heller's thawed gaussian
approximation. The other approximations are non-gaussian and may involve
several trajectories determined by mixed initial-final conditions. These
different formulae are tested for the cases of scattering by a hard wall,
scattering by an attractive gaussian potential, and bound motion in a quartic
oscillator. The formula with complex trajectories gives good results in all
cases. The non-gaussian approximations with real trajectories work well in some
cases, whereas the thawed gaussian works only in very simple situations.Comment: revised text, 24 pages, 6 figure
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Reducing Interanalyst Variability in Photovoltaic Degradation Rate Assessments
The economic return on investment of a commercial photovoltaic system depends greatly on its performance over the long term and, hence, its degradation rate. Many methods have been proposed for assessing system degradation rates from outdoor performance data. However, comparing reported values from one analyst and research group to another requires a common baseline of performance; consistency between methods and analysts can be a challenge. An interlaboratory study was conducted involving different volunteer analysts reporting on the same photovoltaic performance data using different methodologies. Initial variability of the reported degradation rates was so high that analysts could not come to a consensus whether a system degraded or not. More consistent values are received when written guidance is provided to each analyst. Further improvements in analyst variance was accomplished by using the free open-source software RdTools, allowing a reduction in variance between analysts by more than two orders of magnitude over the first round, where multiple analysis methods are allowed. This article highlights many pitfalls in conducting 'routine' degradation analysis, and it addresses some of the factors that must be considered when comparing degradation results reported by different analysts or methods
Scaffolding School Pupils’ Scientific Argumentation with Evidence-Based Dialogue Maps
This chapter reports pilot work investigating the potential of Evidence-based Dialogue Mapping to scaffold young teenagers’ scientific argumentation. Our research objective is to better understand pupils’ usage of dialogue maps created in Compendium to write scientific ex-planations. The participants were 20 pupils, 12-13 years old, in a summer science course for “gifted and talented” children in the UK. Through qualitative analysis of three case studies, we investigate the value of dialogue mapping as a mediating tool in the scientific reasoning process during a set of learning activities. These activities were published in an online learning envi-ronment to foster collaborative learning. Pupils mapped their discussions in pairs, shared maps via the online forum and in plenary discussions, and wrote essays based on their dialogue maps. This study draws on these multiple data sources: pupils’ maps in Compendium, writings in science and reflective comments about the uses of mapping for writing. Our analysis highlights the diversity of ways, both successful and unsuccessful, in which dialogue mapping was used by these young teenagers
From chiral spin liquids to skyrmion fluids and crystals, and their interplay with itinerant electrons
We present an in-depth study of the competition between skyrmions and a
chiral spin liquid in a model on the kagome lattice that was recently proposed
by some of the authors [H. D. Rosales, et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 130, 106703
(2023)]. We present an analytical overview of the low-energy states using the
Luttinger-Tisza approximation. Then we add thermal fluctuations thanks to
large-scale Monte-Carlo simulations, and explore the entire parameter space
with a magnetic field , in-plane and out-of-plane
Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions, using the ferromagnetic strength as unit of
energy. While skyrmions and the chiral spin liquid live in different regions of
parameter space, we show how to bring them together, stabilizing a skyrmion
fluid in between; a region where the density of well-defined skyrmions can be
tuned from quasi-zero (gas) to saturated (liquid) before ordering of the
skyrmions (solid). In particular, we investigate the two-dimensional melting of
the skyrmion solid. Our analysis also brings to light a long-range ordered
phase with Z symmetry. To conclude, when conduction electrons are coupled
to the local spins, different chiral magnetic textures stabilized in this model
(skyrmion solid, liquid and gas \& chiral spin liquid) induce anomalous Quantum
Hall effect in the magnetically disordered skyrmion liquid for specific
band-filling fractions. Landau levels persist even in the skyrmion-liquid
regime in absence of broken translational symmetry and gradually disappear as
the skyrmion density decreases to form a gas.Comment: 18 pages, 16 figure
Growth of a dynamical correlation length in an aging superspin glass
We report on zero field cooled magnetization relaxation experiments on a
concen- trated frozen ferrofluid exhibiting a low temperature superspin glass
transition. With a method initially developed for spin glasses, we investigate
the field dependence of the relaxations that take place after different aging
times. We extract the typical number of correlated spins involved in the aging
dynamics. This brings important insights into the dynamical correlation length
and its time growth. Our results, consistent with expressions obtained for spin
glasses, extend the generality of these behaviours to the class of superspin
glasses. Since the typical flipping time is much larger for superspins than for
atomic spins, our experiments probe a time regime much closer to that of
numerical simulations
Neonicotinoid binding, toxicity and expression of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunits in the aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum
Neonicotinoid insecticides act on nicotinic acetylcholine receptor and are particularly effective against sucking pests. They are widely used in crops protection to fight against aphids, which cause severe damage. In the present study we evaluated the susceptibility of the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum to the commonly used neonicotinoid insecticides imidacloprid (IMI), thiamethoxam (TMX) and clothianidin (CLT). Binding studies on aphid membrane preparations revealed the existence of high and low-affinity binding sites for [3H]-IMI (Kd of 0.16 ± 0.04 nM and 41.7 ± 5.9 nM) and for the nicotinic antagonist [125I]-α-bungarotoxin (Kd of 0.008 ± 0.002 nM and 1.135 ± 0.213 nM). Competitive binding experiments demonstrated that TMX displayed a higher affinity than IMI for [125I]-α-bungarotoxin binding sites while CLT affinity was similar for both [125I]-α-bungarotoxin and [3H]-IMI binding sites. Interestingly, toxicological studies revealed that at 48 h, IMI (LC50 = 0.038 µg/ml) and TMX (LC50 = 0.034 µg/ml) were more toxic than CLT (LC50 = 0.118 µg/ml). The effect of TMX could be associated to its metabolite CLT as demonstrated by HPLC/MS analysis. In addition, we found that aphid larvae treated either with IMI, TMX or CLT showed a strong variation of nAChR subunit expression. Using semi-quantitative PCR experiments, we detected for all insecticides an increase of Apisumα10 and Apisumβ1 expressions levels, whereas Apisumβ2 expression decreased. Moreover, some other receptor subunits seemed to be differently regulated according to the insecticide used. Finally, we also demonstrated that nAChR subunit expression differed during pea aphid development. Altogether these results highlight species specificity that should be taken into account in pest management strategies
Toxicological effect of neonicotinoid insecticides and molecular analysis of their target in pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum
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