8,525 research outputs found
Total energy global optimizations using non orthogonal localized orbitals
An energy functional for orbital based calculations is proposed, which
depends on a number of non orthogonal, localized orbitals larger than the
number of occupied states in the system, and on a parameter, the electronic
chemical potential, determining the number of electrons. We show that the
minimization of the functional with respect to overlapping localized orbitals
can be performed so as to attain directly the ground state energy, without
being trapped at local minima. The present approach overcomes the multiple
minima problem present within the original formulation of orbital based
methods; it therefore makes it possible to perform calculations for an
arbitrary system, without including any information about the system bonding
properties in the construction of the input wavefunctions. Furthermore, while
retaining the same computational cost as the original approach, our formulation
allows one to improve the variational estimate of the ground state energy, and
the energy conservation during a molecular dynamics run. Several numerical
examples for surfaces, bulk systems and clusters are presented and discussed.Comment: 24 pages, RevTex file, 5 figures available upon reques
Evidence of breakdown of the spin symmetry in diluted 2D electron gases
Recent claims of an experimental demonstration of spontaneous spin
polarisation in dilute electron gases \cite{young99} revived long standing
theoretical discussions \cite{ceper99,bloch}. In two dimensions, the
stabilisation of a ferromagnetic fluid might be hindered by the occurrence of
the metal-insulator transition at low densities \cite{abra79}. To circumvent
localisation in the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) we investigated the low
populated second electron subband, where the disorder potential is mainly
screened by the high density of the first subband. This letter reports on the
breakdown of the spin symmetry in a 2DEG, revealed by the abrupt enhancement of
the exchange and correlation terms of the Coulomb interaction, as determined
from the energies of the collective charge and spin excitations. Inelastic
light scattering experiments and calculations within the time-dependent local
spin-density approximation give strong evidence for the existence of a
ferromagnetic ground state in the diluted regime.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, Revte
Optical beam guidance in monolithic polymer chips for miniaturized colorimetric assays
For the first time, we present a simple and robust optical concept to enable precise and sensitive read-out of colorimetric assays in flat lab-on-a-chip devices. The optical guidance of the probe beam through an incorporated measurement chamber to the detector is based on the total internal reflection at V-grooves in the polymer chip. This way, the optical path length through the flat measurement chamber and thus the performance of the measurements are massively enhanced compared to direct (perpendicular) beam incidence. This is demonstrated by a chip-based, colorimetric glucose-assay on serum. Outstanding features are an excellent reproducibility (CV= 1.91 %), a competitive lower limit of detection (cmin = 124 μM), and a high degree of linearity (R2 = 0.998) within a working range extending over nearly three orders of magnitude
Repeated games for eikonal equations, integral curvature flows and non-linear parabolic integro-differential equations
The main purpose of this paper is to approximate several non-local evolution
equations by zero-sum repeated games in the spirit of the previous works of
Kohn and the second author (2006 and 2009): general fully non-linear parabolic
integro-differential equations on the one hand, and the integral curvature flow
of an interface (Imbert, 2008) on the other hand. In order to do so, we start
by constructing such a game for eikonal equations whose speed has a
non-constant sign. This provides a (discrete) deterministic control
interpretation of these evolution equations. In all our games, two players
choose positions successively, and their final payoff is determined by their
positions and additional parameters of choice. Because of the non-locality of
the problems approximated, by contrast with local problems, their choices have
to "collect" information far from their current position. For integral
curvature flows, players choose hypersurfaces in the whole space and positions
on these hypersurfaces. For parabolic integro-differential equations, players
choose smooth functions on the whole space
Degenerate ground states and nonunique potentials: breakdown and restoration of density functionals
The Hohenberg-Kohn (HK) theorem is one of the most fundamental theorems of
quantum mechanics, and constitutes the basis for the very successful
density-functional approach to inhomogeneous interacting many-particle systems.
Here we show that in formulations of density-functional theory (DFT) that
employ more than one density variable, applied to systems with a degenerate
ground state, there is a subtle loophole in the HK theorem, as all mappings
between densities, wave functions and potentials can break down. Two weaker
theorems which we prove here, the joint-degeneracy theorem and the
internal-energy theorem, restore the internal, total and exchange-correlation
energy functionals to the extent needed in applications of DFT to atomic,
molecular and solid-state physics and quantum chemistry. The joint-degeneracy
theorem constrains the nature of possible degeneracies in general many-body
systems
Finite Size Analysis of Luttinger Liquids with a source of 2k_f Scattering
Numerical analysis of the spectrum of large finite size Luttinger liquids
(g<1) in the presence of a single source of 2k_f scattering has been made
possible thanks to an effective integration of high degrees of freedom.
Presence of irrelevant operators and their manifestation in transport are
issues treated independently. We confirm the existence of two irrelevant
operators: particle hopping and charge oscillations, with regions of dominance
separated by g=1/2. Temperature dependence of conductance is shown to be
dominated by hopping alone. Frequency dependence is affected by both irrelevant
operators.Comment: 4 pages, LaTex (RevTex), 3 PostScript figures appende
Charge qubits in semiconductor quantum computer architectures: Tunnel coupling and decoherence
We consider charge qubits based on shallow donor electron states in silicon
and coupled quantum dots in GaAs. Specifically, we study the feasibility of
P charge qubits in Si, focusing on single qubit properties in terms of
tunnel coupling between the two phosphorus donors and qubit decoherence caused
by electron-phonon interaction. By taking into consideration the multi-valley
structure of the Si conduction band, we show that inter-valley quantum
interference has important consequences for single-qubit operations of P
charge qubits. In particular, the valley interference leads to a
tunnel-coupling strength distribution centered around zero. On the other hand,
we find that the Si bandstructure does not dramatically affect the
electron-phonon coupling and consequently, qubit coherence. We also critically
compare charge qubit properties for Si:P and GaAs double quantum dot
quantum computer architectures.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure
Strain in epitaxial MnSi films on Si(111) in the thick film limit studied by polarization-dependent extended x-ray absorption fine structure
We report a study of the strain state of epitaxial MnSi films on Si(111)
substrates in the thick film limit (100-500~\AA) as a function of film
thickness using polarization-dependent extended x-ray absorption fine structure
(EXAFS). All films investigated are phase-pure and of high quality with a sharp
interface between MnSi and Si. The investigated MnSi films are in a thickness
regime where the magnetic transition temperature assumes a
thickness-independent enhanced value of 43~K as compared with that of
bulk MnSi, where . A detailed refinement of
the EXAFS data reveals that the Mn positions are unchanged, whereas the Si
positions vary along the out-of-plane [111]-direction, alternating in
orientation from unit cell to unit cell. Thus, for thick MnSi films, the unit
cell volume is essentially that of bulk MnSi --- except in the vicinity of the
interface with the Si substrate (thin film limit). In view of the enhanced
magnetic transition temperature we conclude that the mere presence of the
interface, and its specific characteristics, strongly affects the magnetic
properties of the entire MnSi film, even far from the interface. Our analysis
provides invaluable information about the local strain at the MnSi/Si(111)
interface. The presented methodology of polarization dependent EXAFS can also
be employed to investigate the local structure of other interesting interfaces.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figure
Variable Selection and Model Averaging in Semiparametric Overdispersed Generalized Linear Models
We express the mean and variance terms in a double exponential regression
model as additive functions of the predictors and use Bayesian variable
selection to determine which predictors enter the model, and whether they enter
linearly or flexibly. When the variance term is null we obtain a generalized
additive model, which becomes a generalized linear model if the predictors
enter the mean linearly. The model is estimated using Markov chain Monte Carlo
simulation and the methodology is illustrated using real and simulated data
sets.Comment: 8 graphs 35 page
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