Controlling Silver Nanoparticle Size and Morphology with Photostimulated Synthesis

Photo-induced synthesis and control over the size and shape of colloidal silver nanoparticles is investigated in contrast to photo-stimulated aggregation of small nanoparticles into large fractal-type structures. The feasibility of light-driven nanoengineering which enables manipulation of the sizes and shapes of the isolated nanoparticles is studied by varying the amount and type of the stabilizing agent and the type of optical irradiation.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, 11 image

To Tax or Not to Tax - That is the Question in the Midst of Murphy v. I.R.S.

This note examines § 104(a)(2) and the D.C. Circuit decision in Murphy v. I.R.S. focusing on the need for further guidance on taxation of personal damages. Part II inspects the background of taxation generally and § 104(a)(2) specifically. Additionally, Part II looks at the cases that shaped taxation of personal injury awards and Congress\u27s interpretation of this taxation. Part III discusses the background and judicial response to Murphy\u27s complaint, including the Secretary of Labor\u27s findings, Administrative Law Judge\u27s recommendations, the District Court decision, and the D.C. Circuit arguments and decision. Part IV assesses the reasoning of the D.C. Circuit\u27s decision, advocating that it is the correct path for the taxation of personal injury awards. Furthermore, Part IV looks to the future of § 104(a)(2) and provides recommendations to plaintiffs and their attorneys. The last section of Part IV returns to Emily\u27s hypothetical and discusses what taxation options exist for the child. Finally, Part V calls for more analysis and guidance in applying § 104(a)(2) and further for a decision supporting the original Murphy ruling

Universality in Glassy Low-Temperature Physics

We propose a microscopic translationally invariant glass model which exhibits two level tunneling systems with a broad range of asymmetries and barrier heights in its glassy phase. Their distribution is qualitatively different from what is commonly assumed in phenomenological models, in that symmetric tunneling systems are systematically suppressed. Still, the model exhibits the usual glassy low-temperature anomalies. Universality is due to the collective origin of the glassy potential energy landscape. We obtain a simple explanation also for the mysterious {\em quantitative} universality expressed in the unusually narrow universal glassy range of values for the internal friction plateau.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, uses RevTeX

Local anisotropy and giant enhancement of local electromagnetic fields in fractal aggregates of metal nanoparticles

We have shown within the quasistatic approximation that the giant fluctuations of local electromagnetic field in random fractal aggregates of silver nanospheres are strongly correlated with a local anisotropy factor S which is defined in this paper. The latter is a purely geometrical parameter which characterizes the deviation of local environment of a given nanosphere in an aggregate from spherical symmetry. Therefore, it is possible to predict the sites with anomalously large local fields in an aggregate without explicitly solving the electromagnetic problem. We have also demonstrated that the average (over nanospheres) value of S does not depend noticeably on the fractal dimension D, except when D approaches the trivial limit D=3. In this case, as one can expect, the average local environment becomes spherically symmetrical and S approaches zero. This corresponds to the well-known fact that in trivial aggregates fluctuations of local electromagnetic fields are much weaker than in fractal aggregates. Thus, we find that, within the quasistatics, the large-scale geometry does not have a significant impact on local electromagnetic responses in nanoaggregates in a wide range of fractal dimensions. However, this prediction is expected to be not correct in aggregates which are sufficiently large for the intermediate- and radiation-zone interaction of individual nanospheres to become important.Comment: 9 pages 9 figures. No revisions from previous version; only figure layout is change

Observation of the onset of strong scattering on high frequency acoustic phonons in densified silica glass

The linewidth of longitudinal acoustic waves in densified silica glass is obtained by inelastic x-ray scattering. It increases with a high power alpha of the frequency up to a crossover where the waves experience strong scattering. We find that \alpha is at least 4, and probably larger. Resonance and hybridization of acoustic waves with the boson-peak modes seems to be a more likely explanation for these findings than Rayleigh scattering from disorder.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev. Letter

Gyroscope deviation from geodesic motion: quasiresonant oscillations on a circular orbit

General relativistic spin-orbit interaction leads to the quasiresonant oscillation of the gyroscope mass center along the orbital normal. The beating amplitude does not include the speed of light and equals the ratio of the intrinsic momentum of the gyroscope to its orbital momentum. The modulation frequency equals the angular velocity of the geodetic precession that prevents the oscillation from resonance. The oscillation represents the precession of the gyroscope orbital momentum. Within an acceptable time the oscillation amplitude reaches the values that are amenable to being analyzed experimentally. Taking into account the source oblateness decreases the beating amplitude and increases the modulation frequency by the factor that is equal to the ratio of the quadrupole precession velocity to the geodetic precession velocity. The period of the quadrupole precession turns out to be a quite sufficient time to form a measurable amplitude of the oscillation.Comment: 5 pages, LaTeX2e, 1 eps figure, to appear in J. Exp. Theor. Phy

Muon and Tau Neutrinos Spectra from Solar Flares

Solar neutrino flares and mixing are considered. Most power-full solar flare as the ones occurred on 23th February 1956, September 29th 1989, 28th October and on 2nd-4th November 2003 are sources of cosmic rays, X, gamma and neutrino bursts. These flares took place both on front or in the edge and in the hidden solar disk. The observed and estimated total flare energy should be a source of a prompt secondary neutrino burst originated, by proton-proton-pion production on the sun itself; a more delayed and spread neutrino flux signal arise by the solar charged flare particles reaching the terrestrial atmosphere. Our first estimates of neutrino signals in largest underground detectors hint for few events in correlation with, gamma,radio onser. Our approximated spectra for muons and taus from these rare solar eruption are shown over the most common background. The muon and tau signature is very peculiar and characteristic over electron and anti-electron neutrino fluxes. The rise of muon neutrinos will be detectable above the minimal muon threshold of 113 MeV. The rarest tau appearence will be possible only for hardest solar neutrino energies above 3.471 GeVComment: 14 pages, 4 figures, Vulcano Conference 200

The Digital Flynn Effect: Complexity of Posts on Social Media Increases over Time

Parents and teachers often express concern about the extensive use of social media by youngsters. Some of them see emoticons, undecipherable initialisms and loose grammar typical for social media as evidence of language degradation. In this paper, we use a simple measure of text complexity to investigate how the complexity of public posts on a popular social networking site changes over time. We analyze a unique dataset that contains texts posted by 942, 336 users from a large European city across nine years. We show that the chosen complexity measure is correlated with the academic performance of users: users from high-performing schools produce more complex texts than users from low-performing schools. We also find that complexity of posts increases with age. Finally, we demonstrate that overall language complexity of posts on the social networking site is constantly increasing. We call this phenomenon the digital Flynn effect. Our results may suggest that the worries about language degradation are not warranted

The Boson Peak and its Relation with Acoustic Attenuation in Glasses

Experimental results on the density of states and on the acoustic modes of glasses in the THz region are compared to the predictions of two categories of models. A recent one, solely based on an elastic instability, does not account for most observations. Good agreement without adjustable parameters is obtained with models including the existence of non-acoustic vibrational modes at THz frequency, providing in many cases a comprehensive picture for a range of glass anomalies.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, Physical Review Letters in pres