6,712 research outputs found
Super-poissonian noise, negative differential conductance, and relaxation effects in transport through molecules, quantum dots and nanotubes
We consider charge transport through a nanoscopic object, e.g. single
molecules, short nanotubes, or quantum dots, that is weakly coupled to metallic
electrodes. We account for several levels of the molecule/quantum dot with
level-dependent coupling strengths, and allow for relaxation of the excited
states. The current-voltage characteristics as well as the current noise are
calculated within first-order perturbation expansion in the coupling strengths.
For the case of asymmetric coupling to the leads we predict
negative-differential-conductance accompanied with super-poissonian noise. Both
effects are destroyed by fast relaxation processes. The non-monotonic behavior
of the shot noise as a function of bias and relaxation rate reflects the
details of the electronic structure and level-dependent coupling strengths.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. B, added reference
Network Evolution Based on Centrality
We study the evolution of networks when the creation and decay of links are
based on the position of nodes in the network measured by their centrality. We
show that the same network dynamics arises under various centrality measures,
and solve analytically the network evolution. During the complete evolution,
the network is characterized by nestedness: the neighbourhood of a node is
contained in the neighbourhood of the nodes with larger degree. We find a
discontinuous transition in the network density between hierarchical and
homogeneous networks, depending on the rate of link decay. We also show that
this evolution mechanism leads to double power-law degree distributions, with
interrelated exponents.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure
Efficient and spectrally bright source of polarization-entangled photons
We demonstrate an efficient fiber-coupled source of nondegenerate
polarization entangled photons at 795 and 1609 nm using bidirectionally pumped
parametric down-conversion in bulk periodically poled lithium niobate. The
single-mode source has an inferred bandwidth of 50 GHz and a spectral
brightness of 300 pairs/s/GHz/mW of pump power that is suitable for narrowband
applications such as entanglement transfer from photonic to atomic qubits.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Contribution of Scalar Loops to the Three-Photon Decay of the Z
I corrected 3 mistakes from the first version: that were an omitted Feynman
integration in the function f^3_{ij}, a factor of 2 in front of log f^3_{ij} in
eq.2 and an overall factor of 2 in Fig.1 c). The final result is changed
drastically. Doing an expansion in the Higgs mass I show that the matrix
element is identically 0 in the order (MZ/MH)^2, which is due to gauge
invariance. Left with an amplitude of the order (MZ/MH)^4 the final result is
that the scalar contribution to this decay rate is several orders of magnitude
smaller than those of the W boson and fermions.Comment: 6 pages, plain Tex, 1 figure available under request via fax or mail,
OCIP/C-93-5, UQAM-PHE-93/0
External Control of a Metal-Insulator Transition in GaMnAs Wires
Quantum transport in disordered ferromagnetic (III,Mn)V semiconductors is
studied theoretically. Mesoscopic wires exhibit an Anderson disorder-induced
metal-insulator transition that can be controlled by a weak external magnetic
field. This metal-insulator transition should also occur in other materials
with large anisotropic magneto resistance effects. The transition can be useful
for studies of zero-temperature quantum critical phase transitions and
fundamental material properties.Comment: Major revised final versio
Economic analysis of a target diameter harvesting system in radiata pine
Target diameter harvesting (TDH) is a forest management system in which all stems above a set minimum diameter are harvested on a periodic basis. There is evidence in the literature that TDH can achieve a rate of return on a similar scale to a clearfelling regime, with added benefits of regular cash flow from partial harvests, and preservation of non-timber values.
Economic analysis was carried out on 12 years of TDH using permanent sample plot (PSP) data from Woodside Forest, a 30ha plantation of radiata pine (Pinus radiata). The Woodside Forest management regime has a target diameter of 60cm, and a harvest cycle of two years. Economic analysis considered the option to partial harvest or clearfell every two years, and compared the outcome of each option in terms of land expectation value (LEV). Comparisons are made between regimes with different numbers of partial harvests, assessing the effect of TDH on stand LEV.
Results show that in three of four applicable stands, LEV reached a maximum at ages 30 – 32, (near the time when partial harvesting commenced), and reduced slowy with increased numbers of partial harvests. This shows there is a small opportunity cost associated with choosing TDH over a clearfell system. The effect of revenue from early partial harvesting operations on LEV was small as the majority of stand value is still in the standing crop. This limited the conclusions that can be drawn form this study due to the short time frame analyzed.
The study was limited by a small dataset which did not accurately represent average stand values. Because of this, no attempt to quantify the value of the opportunity costs was made. Despite this, the results support the notion that TDH can achieve economic returns similar to clearfelling in radiata pine forests
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Optical Coherence Tomography – Variations on a Theme
This paper was presented at the 4th Micro and Nano Flows Conference (MNF2014), which was held at University College, London, UK. The conference was organised by Brunel University and supported by the Italian Union of Thermofluiddynamics, IPEM, the Process Intensification Network, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the Heat Transfer Society, HEXAG - the Heat Exchange Action Group, and the Energy Institute, ASME Press, LCN London Centre for Nanotechnology, UCL University College London, UCL Engineering, the International NanoScience Community, www.nanopaprika.eu.Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) has developed extensively over the last 23 years. This paper reviews some of the imaging techniques based on OCT with particular reference to the trade-offs between lateral and axial resolution, working distance, imaging depth, acquisition speed (enabling real time observation and 3D imaging), imaged area/volume, contrast enhancement – including velocity measurement, and system complexity – including detectors, light sources and the optical path. The majority of applications of OCT are biomedical, especially ophthalmology, endoscopy and intravascular imaging. However, some industrial applications are emerging particularly for non-destructive testing and quality control, such as in the production of MEMS devices, or the non-destructive detection of sub-surface strain fields in injected moulded polymer parts
Disorder, spin-orbit, and interaction effects in dilute
We derive an effective Hamiltonian for in
the dilute limit, where can be described in
terms of spin polarons hopping between the {\rm Mn} sites and coupled
to the local {\rm Mn} spins. We determine the parameters of our model from
microscopic calculations using both a variational method and an exact
diagonalization within the so-called spherical approximation. Our approach
treats the extremely large Coulomb interaction in a non-perturbative way, and
captures the effects of strong spin-orbit coupling and Mn positional disorder.
We study the effective Hamiltonian in a mean field and variational calculation,
including the effects of interactions between the holes at both zero and finite
temperature. We study the resulting magnetic properties, such as the
magnetization and spin disorder manifest in the generically non-collinear
magnetic state. We find a well formed impurity band fairly well separated from
the valence band up to for which finite size
scaling studies of the participation ratios indicate a localization transition,
even in the presence of strong on-site interactions, where is the fraction of magnetically active Mn. We study the
localization transition as a function of hole concentration, Mn positional
disorder, and interaction strength between the holes.Comment: 15 pages, 12 figure
Citizen science and Post-Normal Science's extended peer community: Identifying overlaps by mapping typologies
At first sight, citizen science – the opening of scientific enterprise to a wider group of people, many of whom are not professionally engaged in research institutions, seems to align well with the concept of an extended peer community of the framework of Post-Normal Science (PNS). PNS is concerned with the social robustness of applied science, science-based professional consultancy, and scientific advice for policy in situations of high stakes, high uncertainties, and contested values. Creating opportunities for engagement of citizens in science seems an obvious fit – but is that true for all diverse forms that citizen science can take? Current citizen science includes many types of activities and practices. As a result, the role of the participants within a given scientific knowledge production practice and their relation to scientists vary. This paper leverages the PNS framework to gain a more in-depth understanding of different ways in which diverse citizen science initiatives can contribute to improving the science-policy interface and provide tool sets and approaches for extended peer review, or not. For this purpose, this paper develops an analytic framework drawing on several widely used typologies of citizen science. The twenty four activities and practices of citizen science that they cover are mapped onto different zones of problem solving strategies – applied science, professional consultancy, and post-normal science, which are presented in the literature on PNS in terms of uncertainty and decision stakes while also noticing their value conflicts and urgency. The analysis shows that each of the four zones of scientific activities can be associated with citizen science initiatives. We deduce that citizen science is not automatically imbued with transformative potential, but that this potential depends on the purpose and design of the citizen science initiative. Certain types of citizen science activities and approaches are more relevant to researchers and practitioners with an interest in PNS who are actively seeking to reconfigure the science-policy-practice interface than others. This analytic framework and consequent mapping can support PNS practitioners in identifying the type of citizen science activities and designing fit-for-purpose initiatives. Moreover, the mapping exercise conveys a more nuanced understanding of different possible dimensions, merits, and limitations of the extended peer community concept. Similarly, for citizen science researchers and practitioners, the mapping of typologies within the three zones of problem solving strategies can allow a better selection of citizen science activities for those purposes
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