Diffusive versus displacive contact plasticity of nanoscale asperities: Temperature- and velocity-dependent strongest size

We predict a strongest size for the contact strength when asperity radii of curvature decrease below ten nanometers. The reason for such strongest size is found to be correlated with the competition between the dislocation plasticity and surface diffusional plasticity. The essential role of temperature is calculated and illustrated in a comprehensive asperity size-strengthtemperature map taking into account the effect of contact velocity. Such a map should be essential for various phenomena related to nanoscale contacts such as nanowire cold welding, self-assembly of nanoparticles and adhesive nano-pillar arrays, as well as the electrical, thermal and mechanical properties of macroscopic interfaces

Note on Thermodynamics Method of Black Hole/CFT Correspondence

In the paper we further refine the thermodynamics method of black hole/CFT correspondence. We show that one can derive the central charges of different holographic pictures directly from the entropy product $S_+S_-$ if it is mass-independent, for a black hole in the Einstein gravity or the gravity without diffeomorphism anomaly. For a general black hole in the Einstein gravity that admits holographic descriptions, we show that the thermodynamics method and asymptotic symmetry group (ASG) analysis can always give consistent results in the extreme limit. Furthermore, we discuss the relation between black hole thermodynamics and the hidden conformal symmetry. We show that the condition $T_+A_+=T_-A_-$, with $A_\pm$ being the outer and inner horizon areas, is the necessary, but not sufficient, condition for a black hole to have the hidden conformal symmetry. In particular, for the Einstein(-Maxwell) gravity $T_+A_+=T_-A_-$ is just the condition $T_+S_+=T_-S_-$, with $S_\pm$ being the outer and inner horizon entropies, which is the condition for the entropy product $S_+S_-$ being mass-dependent. When there exists the hidden conformal symmetry in the low-frequency scattering off the generic non-extremal black hole, it always leads to the same temperatures of dual CFT as the ones got from the thermodynamics method.Comment: 31 pages, references added, published versio

Quantum ground-state cooling and tripartite entanglement with three-mode optoacoustic interactions

We present a quantum analysis of three-mode optoacoustic parametric interactions in an optical cavity, in which two orthogonal transverse optical-cavity modes are coupled to one acoustic mode through radiation pressure. Due to the optimal frequency matching -- the frequency separation of two cavity modes is equal to the acoustic-mode frequency -- the carrier and sideband fields simultaneously resonate and coherently build up. This mechanism significantly enhances the optoacoustic couplings in the quantum regime. It allows exploration of quantum behavior of optoacoustic interactions in small-scale table-top experiments. We show explicitly that given an experimentally achievable parameter, three-mode scheme can realize quantum ground-state cooling of milligram scale mechanical oscillators and create robust stationary tripartite optoacoustic quantum entanglements.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figure

Observation of enhanced optical spring damping in a macroscopic mechanical resonator and application for parametric instability control in advanced gravitational-wave detectors

We show that optical spring damping in an optomechanical resonator can be enhanced by injecting a phase delay in the laser frequency-locking servo to rotate the real and imaginary components of the optical spring constant. This enhances damping at the expense of optical rigidity. We demonstrate enhanced parametric damping which reduces the Q factor of a 0.1-kg-scale resonator from 1.3×10^5 to 6.5×10^3. By using this technique adequate optical spring damping can be obtained to damp parametric instability predicted for advanced laser interferometer gravitational-wave detectors

Recent trends in vegetation greenness in China significantly altered annual evapotranspiration and water yield

There has been growing evidence that vegetation greenness has been increasing in many parts of the northern middle and high latitudes including China during the last three to four decades. However, the effects of increasing vegetation greenness particularly afforestation on the hydrological cycle have been controversial. We used a process-based ecosystem model and a satellite-derived leaf area index (LAI) dataset to examine how the changes in vegetation greenness affected annual evapotranspiration (ET) and water yield for China over the period from 2000 to 2014. Significant trends in vegetation greenness were observed in 26.1% of China\u27s land area. We used two model simulations driven with original and detrended LAI, respectively, to assess the effects of vegetation \u27greening\u27 and \u27browning\u27 on terrestrial ET and water yield. On a per-pixel basis, vegetation greening increased annual ET and decreased water yield, while vegetation browning reduced ET and increased water yield. At the large river basin and national scales, the greening trends also had positive effects on annual ET and had negative effects on water yield. Our results showed that the effects of the changes in vegetation greenness on the hydrological cycle varied with spatial scale. Afforestation efforts perhaps should focus on southern China with larger water supply given the water crisis in northern China and the negative effects of vegetation greening on water yield. Future studies on the effects of the greenness changes on the hydrological cycle are needed to account for the feedbacks to the climate