11,182 research outputs found
Mechanisms of kinetic trapping in self-assembly and phase transformation
In self-assembly processes, kinetic trapping effects often hinder the
formation of thermodynamically stable ordered states. In a model of viral
capsid assembly and in the phase transformation of a lattice gas, we show how
simulations in a self-assembling steady state can be used to identify two
distinct mechanisms of kinetic trapping. We argue that one of these mechanisms
can be adequately captured by kinetic rate equations, while the other involves
a breakdown of theories that rely on cluster size as a reaction coordinate. We
discuss how these observations might be useful in designing and optimising
self-assembly reactions
A first--order irreversible thermodynamic approach to a simple energy converter
Several authors have shown that dissipative thermal cycle models based on
Finite-Time Thermodynamics exhibit loop-shaped curves of power output versus
efficiency, such as it occurs with actual dissipative thermal engines. Within
the context of First-Order Irreversible Thermodynamics (FOIT), in this work we
show that for an energy converter consisting of two coupled fluxes it is also
possible to find loop-shaped curves of both power output and the so-called
ecological function against efficiency. In a previous work Stucki [J.W. Stucki,
Eur. J. Biochem. vol. 109, 269 (1980)] used a FOIT-approach to describe the
modes of thermodynamic performance of oxidative phosphorylation involved in
ATP-synthesis within mithochondrias. In that work the author did not use the
mentioned loop-shaped curves and he proposed that oxidative phosphorylation
operates in a steady state simultaneously at minimum entropy production and
maximum efficiency, by means of a conductance matching condition between
extreme states of zero and infinite conductances respectively. In the present
work we show that all Stucki's results about the oxidative phosphorylation
energetics can be obtained without the so-called conductance matching
condition. On the other hand, we also show that the minimum entropy production
state implies both null power output and efficiency and therefore this state is
not fulfilled by the oxidative phosphorylation performance. Our results suggest
that actual efficiency values of oxidative phosphorylation performance are
better described by a mode of operation consisting in the simultaneous
maximization of the so-called ecological function and the efficiency.Comment: 20 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Investigating the interstellar dust through the Fe K-edge
The chemical and physical properties of interstellar dust in the densest
regions of the Galaxy are still not well understood. X-rays provide a powerful
probe since they can penetrate gas and dust over a wide range of column
densities (up to ). The interaction (scattering and
absorption) with the medium imprints spectral signatures that reflect the
individual atoms which constitute the gas, molecule, or solid. In this work we
investigate the ability of high resolution X-ray spectroscopy to probe the
properties of cosmic grains containing iron. Although iron is heavily depleted
into interstellar dust, the nature of the Fe-bearing grains is still largely
uncertain. In our analysis we use iron K-edge synchrotron data of minerals
likely present in the ISM dust taken at the European Synchrotron Radiation
Facility. We explore the prospects of determining the chemical composition and
the size of astrophysical dust in the Galactic centre and in molecular clouds
with future X-ray missions. The energy resolution and the effective area of the
present X-ray telescopes are not sufficient to detect and study the Fe K-edge,
even for bright X-ray sources. From the analysis of the extinction cross
sections of our dust models implemented in the spectral fitting program SPEX,
the Fe K-edge is promising for investigating both the chemistry and the size
distribution of the interstellar dust. We find that the chemical composition
regulates the X-ray absorption fine structures in the post edge region, whereas
the scattering feature in the pre-edge is sensitive to the mean grain size.
Finally, we note that the Fe K-edge is insensitive to other dust properties,
such as the porosity and the geometry of the dust.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy and
Astrophysic
Effective description of brane terms in extra dimensions
We study how theories defined in (extra-dimensional) spaces with localized
defects can be described perturbatively by effective field theories in which
the width of the defects vanishes. These effective theories must incorporate a
``classical'' renormalization, and we propose a renormalization prescription a
la dimensional regularization for codimension 1, which can be easily used in
phenomenological applications. As a check of the validity of this setting, we
compare some general predictions of the renormalized effective theory with
those obtained in a particular ultraviolet completion based on deconstruction.Comment: 28 page
Collision Thermalization of Nucleons in Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collisions
We consider a possible mechanism of thermalization of nucleons in
relativistic heavy-ion collisions. Our model belongs, to a certain degree, to
the transport ones; we investigate the evolution of the system created in
nucleus-nucleus collision, but we parametrize this development by the number of
collisions of every particle during evolution rather than by the time variable.
We based on the assumption that the nucleon momentum transfer after several
nucleon-nucleon (-hadron) elastic and inelastic collisions becomes a random
quantity driven by a proper distribution. This randomization results in a
smearing of the nucleon momenta about their initial values and, as a
consequence, in their partial isotropization and thermalization. The trial
evaluation is made in the framework of a toy model. We show that the proposed
scheme can be used for extraction of the physical information from experimental
data on nucleon rapidity distribution.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figure
Energy and entropy of relativistic diffusing particles
We discuss energy-momentum tensor and the second law of thermodynamics for a
system of relativistic diffusing particles. We calculate the energy and entropy
flow in this system. We obtain an exact time dependence of energy, entropy and
free energy of a beam of photons in a reservoir of a fixed temperature.Comment: 14 pages,some formulas correcte
Inelastic X-ray Scattering by Electronic Excitations in Solids at High Pressure
Investigating electronic structure and excitations under extreme conditions
gives access to a rich variety of phenomena. High pressure typically induces
behavior such as magnetic collapse and the insulator-metal transition in 3d
transition metals compounds, valence fluctuations or Kondo-like characteristics
in -electron systems, and coordination and bonding changes in molecular
solids and glasses. This article reviews research concerning electronic
excitations in materials under extreme conditions using inelastic x-ray
scattering (IXS). IXS is a spectroscopic probe of choice for this study because
of its chemical and orbital selectivity and the richness of information it
provides. Being an all-photon technique, IXS has a penetration depth compatible
with high pressure requirements. Electronic transitions under pressure in 3d
transition metals compounds and -electron systems, most of them strongly
correlated, are reviewed. Implications for geophysics are mentioned. Since the
incident X-ray energy can easily be tuned to absorption edges, resonant IXS,
often employed, is discussed at length. Finally studies involving local
structure changes and electronic transitions under pressure in materials
containing light elements are briefly reviewed.Comment: submitted to Rev. Mod. Phy
Two-Spinon and Orbital Excitations of the Spin-Peierls System TiOCl
We combine high-resolution resonant inelastic x-ray scattering with cluster
calculations utilizing a recently derived effective magnetic scattering
operator to analyze the polarization, excitation energy, and momentum dependent
excitation spectrum of the low-dimensional quantum magnet TiOCl in the range
expected for orbital and magnetic excitations (0 - 2.5 eV). Ti 3d orbital
excitations yield complete information on the temperature-dependent
crystal-field splitting. In the spin-Peierls phase we observe a dispersive
two-spinon excitation and estimate the inter- and intra-dimer magnetic exchange
coupling from a comparison to cluster calculations
Doping Dependence of the Electronic Structure of Ba_{1-x}K_{x}BiO_{3} Studied by X-Ray Absorption Spectroscopy
We have performed x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and x-ray photoemission
spectroscopy (XPS) studies of single crystal Ba_{1-x}K_{x}BiO_{3} (BKBO)
covering the whole composition range . Several features in
the oxygen 1\textit{s} core XAS spectra show systematic changes with .
Spectral weight around the absorption threshold increases with hole doping and
shows a finite jump between and 0.40, which signals the
metal-insulator transition. We have compared the obtained results with
band-structure calculations. Comparison with the XAS results of
BaPb_{1-x}Bi_{x}O_{3} has revealed quite different doping dependences between
BKBO and BPBO. We have also observed systematic core-level shifts in the XPS
spectra as well as in the XAS threshold as functions of , which can be
attributed to a chemical potential shift accompanying the hole doping. The
observed chemical potential shift is found to be slower than that predicted by
the rigid band model based on the band-structure calculations.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures include
Dressing Technique for Intermediate Hierarchies
A generalized AKNS systems introduced and discussed recently in \cite{dGHM}
are considered. It was shown that the dressing technique both in matrix
pseudo-differential operators and formal series with respect to the spectral
parameter can be developed for these hierarchies.Comment: 16 pages, LaTeX Report/no: DFTUZ/94/2
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