Universal relationship between crystallinity and irreversibility field of MgB2

The relationship between irreversibility field, Hirr, and crystallinity of MgB2 bulks including carbon substituted samples was studied. The Hirr was found to increase with an increase of FWHM of MgB2 (110) peak, which corresponds to distortion of honeycomb boron sheet, and their universal correlation was discovered even including carbon substituted samples. Excellent Jc characteristics under high magnetic fields were observed in samples with large FWHM of (110) due to the enhanced intraband scattering and strengthened grain boundary flux pinning. The relationship between crystallinity and Hirr can explain the large variation of Hirr for MgB2 bulks, tapes, single crystals and thin films.Comment: 3 pages, 4 figures, to be published in Appl. Phys. Lett. (in press

Exact supersymmetry in the relativistic hydrogen atom in general dimensions -- supercharge and the generalized Johnson-Lippmann operator

A Dirac particle in general dimensions moving in a 1/r potential is shown to have an exact N = 2 supersymmetry, for which the two supercharge operators are obtained in terms of (a D-dimensional generalization of) the Johnson-Lippmann operator, an extension of the Runge-Lenz-Pauli vector that relativistically incorporates spin degrees of freedom. So the extra symmetry (S(2))in the quantum Kepler problem, which determines the degeneracy of the levels, is so robust as to accommodate the relativistic case in arbitrary dimensions.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur

Thermodynamics of the anisotropic Heisenberg chain calculated by the density matrix renormalization group method

The density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) method is applied to the anisotropic Heisenberg chain at finite temperatures. The free energy of the system is obtained using the quantum transfer matrix which is iteratively enlarged in the imaginary time direction. The magnetic susceptibility and the specific heat are calculated down to T=0.01J and compared with the Bethe ansatz results. The agreement including the logarithmic correction in the magnetic susceptibility at the isotropic point is fairly good.Comment: 4 pages, 3 Postscript figures, REVTeX, to appear in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. Vol.66 No.8 (1997

Method of constructing exactly solvable chaos

We present a new systematic method of constructing rational mappings as ergordic transformations with nonuniform invariant measures on the unit interval [0,1]. As a result, we obtain a two-parameter family of rational mappings that have a special property in that their invariant measures can be explicitly written in terms of algebraic functions of parameters and a dynamical variable. Furthermore, it is shown here that this family is the most generalized class of rational mappings possessing the property of exactly solvable chaos on the unit interval, including the Ulam=Neumann map y=4x(1-x). Based on the present method, we can produce a series of rational mappings resembling the asymmetric shape of the experimentally obtained first return maps of the Beloussof-Zhabotinski chemical reaction, and we can match some rational functions with other experimentally obtained first return maps in a systematic manner.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures, REVTEX. Title was changed. Generalized Chebyshev maps including the precise form of two-parameter generalized cubic maps were added. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. E(1997

Dynamical magneto-electric coupling in helical magnets

Collective mode dynamics of the helical magnets coupled to electric polarization via spin-orbit interaction is studied theoretically. The soft modes associated with the ferroelectricity are not the transverse optical phonons, as expected from the Lyddane-Sachs-Teller relation, but are the spin waves hybridized with the electric polarization. This leads to the Drude-like dielectric function $\epsilon(\omega)$ in the limit of zero magnetic anisotropy. There are two more low-lying modes; phason of the spiral and rotation of helical plane along the polarization axis. The roles of these soft modes in the neutron scattering and antiferromagnetic resonance are revealed, and a novel experiment to detect the dynamical magneto-electric coupling is proposed.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figur

Rigorous Analysis of Singularities and Absence of Analytic Continuation at First Order Phase Transition Points in Lattice Spin Models

We report about two new rigorous results on the non-analytic properties of thermodynamic potentials at first order phase transition. The first one is valid for lattice models ($d\geq 2$) with arbitrary finite state space, and finite-range interactions which have two ground states. Under the only assumption that the Peierls Condition is satisfied for the ground states and that the temperature is sufficiently low, we prove that the pressure has no analytic continuation at the first order phase transition point. The second result concerns Ising spins with Kac potentials $J_\gamma(x)=\gamma^d\phi(\gamma x)$, where $0<\gamma<1$ is a small scaling parameter, and $\phi$ a fixed finite range potential. In this framework, we relate the non-analytic behaviour of the pressure at the transition point to the range of interaction, which equals $\gamma^{-1}$. Our analysis exhibits a crossover between the non-analytic behaviour of finite range models ($\gamma>0$) and analyticity in the mean field limit ($\gamma\searrow 0$). In general, the basic mechanism responsible for the appearance of a singularity blocking the analytic continuation is that arbitrarily large droplets of the other phase become stable at the transition point.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Experimental analysis of vacuum pressure and gas flow rate in structured-core transparent vacuum insulation panels

The notion that modern buildings should strive to be net-zero energy buildings (NZEBs) is widely accepted. One of the causes leading to high energy usage for space heating, resulting in avoidable carbon emissions, is heat loss via building windows. In order to improve window’s insulation in existing buildings, structured-core transparent vacuum insulation panels (TVIPs) are proposed. TVIPs mainly consist of the structured core material, the low-emissivity film, and the transparent gas barrier envelope. TVIPs have high insulation performance and are inexpensive to manufacture and can be easily installed. Therefore, TVIPs have the potential to improve window’s insulation in existing buildings at a low cost. However, it is necessary to overcome the issue of preventing the pressure rise inside TVIP after vacuum sealing. The authors constructed an experimental setup to quantify the effect of reduction of gas flow rate in TVIP after evacuation by applying the pressure-rate-of-rise-method. In this experiment, a gas barrier film with a straw was used as the vacuum chamber. This could reproduce the pressure increase in the TVIP after sealing and the gas flow rate in the TVIP is evaluated. The experimental result shows that the coated core material and the enclosing getter agent lowered the pressure rise and gas flow rate in TVIP by combining concurrent evacuation and heating. Furthermore, after extending the simultaneous vacuuming and heating period to 8 h and applying the coated core material, and enclosing the getter agent, the internal pressure in TVIP may be lowered to around 1 Pa after 30 min after halting vacuuming. It was confirmed that this pressure satisfied the performance required for TVIPs, and the result was much closer to the realization of TVIPs

Analysis of indoor environment and performance of net-zero energy building with vacuum glazed windows

The total energy and indoor thermal environment of an office building, which aims at the net-zero energy building, were measured and analysed. The annual total primary energy consumption of ‘Measurement’ was smaller than the value of ‘Calculation’ at design phase and achieved net-zero. The result of analysis of the thermal environment shows that the comfortable thermal environment was maintained. Also, the insulation performance and heat balance of the vacuum glazed windows in winter was evaluated. The overall heat transfer coefficients calculated by using the monitoring data were almost equal to the rated overall heat transfer coefficient and the high insulation performance of vacuum glazed windows was maintained even in the second year’s operation. In addition, the amount of heat gain due to solar radiation on the window surface was much larger than the amount of heat loss due to transmission. The vacuum glazed windows with high thermal insulation performance on the south side can reduce the heating load and contribute to the achievement of net-zero in the buildings

Analysis of indoor environment and insulation performance of residential house with double envelope vacuum insulation panels

Double envelope vacuum insulation panels (VIPs) have a possibility to significantly increase the service lifetime. In this paper, double envelope VIPs were produced and installed in the residential house. The performance of installed VIPs was evaluated by using the measuring data of heat flux meter. In addition, the total energy, the heating load and the indoor thermal environment of this house were measured and analysed. The average heating load and the average temperature difference between room temperature and ambient air temperature on the representative day was 2.49 kW and 29.9 oC, respectively. The heat loss coefficient per floor area was estimated as 0.69 W/(m2K) and it was almost the same as the value calculated at the time of design. The result of indoor environment measurement showed that the room temperature was maintained at around 20 oC and PMV was -0.5 oC or higher although the outside air temperature fluctuated between -5 oC and -10 oC. The effective thermal conductivities of double envelop VIPs were all estimated as 0.01 W/(mK) or less. It is considered that the insulation performance of the vacuum insulation panels is maintained