245 research outputs found
The case for new rural centralities in agricultural enclaves: three scenarios for Muggiano
Agricultural enclaves represent for cities both a challenge, they have to deal with connectivity and development
issues, and an opportunity, they can be considered as resources for achieving major policy objectives such as better
environmental protection or increased local food production.
Among European metropolises, Milan\u2019s case is quite original since it presents unique institutional arrangements and
chiefly its agricultural park (Parco Agricolo Sud Milano \u2013 PASM).
The territory of Muggiano is part of the PASM, at the fringe of the municipal territory, cut out from both the rest of
the city and the rest of the park, it is undergoing a slow decline both in its agricultural and urban functions.
Yet, field exploration revealed a more complex territory than expected, carrying a strong latent potential and
presenting different challenges than expected.
In a prospective effort, we elaborated 3 scenarios for the development of Muggiano: from a fully agricultural
production one to another extreme one, focusing on residential uses.
Our exploration led us to concluding that the \u201crural centrality\u201d scenario, investing fully on agriculture but not only
for its productive function, and spatially balancing the development along a \u201cbackbone\u201d, was the best option
Muggiano could go for
Bimagnon studies in cuprates with Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering at the O K edge. I - An assessment on La2CuO4 and a comparison with the excitation at Cu L3 and Cu K edges
We assess the capabilities of magnetic Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering
(RIXS) at the O edge in undoped cuprates by taking La_{2}CuO_{4} as a
benchmark case, based on a series of RIXS measurements that we present here. By
combining the experimental results with basic theory we point out the
fingerprints of bimagnon in the O edge RIXS spectra. These are a dominant
peak around 450 meV, the almost complete absence of dispersion both with
and polarization and the almost constant intensity vs. the transferred
momentum with polarization. This behavior is quite different from Cu
edge RIXS giving a strongly dispersing bimagnon tending to zero at the
center of the Brillouin zone. This is clearly shown by RIXS measurements at the
Cu edge that we present. The Cu bimagnon spectra and those at Cu
edge - both from the literature and from our data - however, have the same
shape. These similarities and differences are understood in terms of different
sampling of the bimagnon continuum. This panorama points out the unique
possibilities offered by O RIXS in the study of magnetic excitations in
cuprates near the center of the BZ
The case for new rural centralities in agricultural enclaves: three scenarios for Muggiano
Agricultural enclaves represent for cities both a challenge, they have to deal with connectivity and development
issues, and an opportunity, they can be considered as resources for achieving major policy objectives such as better
environmental protection or increased local food production.
Among European metropolises, Milan’s case is quite original since it presents unique institutional arrangements and
chiefly its agricultural park (Parco Agricolo Sud Milano – PASM).
The territory of Muggiano is part of the PASM, at the fringe of the municipal territory, cut out from both the rest of
the city and the rest of the park, it is undergoing a slow decline both in its agricultural and urban functions.
Yet, field exploration revealed a more complex territory than expected, carrying a strong latent potential and
presenting different challenges than expected.
In a prospective effort, we elaborated 3 scenarios for the development of Muggiano: from a fully agricultural
production one to another extreme one, focusing on residential uses.
Our exploration led us to concluding that the “rural centrality” scenario, investing fully on agriculture but not only
for its productive function, and spatially balancing the development along a “backbone”, was the best option
Muggiano could go for
Momentum-dependent charge correlations in YBaCuO superconductors probed by resonant x-ray scattering: Evidence for three competing phases
We have used resonant x-ray scattering to determine the momentum dependent
charge correlations in YBaCuO samples with highly ordered
chain arrays of oxygen acceptors (ortho-II structure). The results reveal
nearly critical, biaxial charge density wave (CDW) correlations at in-plane
wave vectors (0.315, 0) and (0, 0.325). The corresponding scattering intensity
exhibits a strong uniaxial anisotropy. The CDW amplitude and correlation length
are enhanced as superconductivity is weakened by an external magnetic field.
Analogous experiments were carried out on a YBaCuO crystal with
a dilute concentration of spinless (Zn) impurities, which had earlier been
shown to nucleate incommensurate magnetic order. Compared to pristine crystals
with the same doping level, the CDW amplitude and correlation length were found
to be strongly reduced. These results indicate a three-phase competition
between spin-modulated, charge-modulated, and superconducting states in
underdoped YBaCuO.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures revised version, to appear in Phys. Rev. Let
Orbital occupancies and the putative jeff = 1/2 groundstate in Ba2IrO4: a combined oxygen K edge XAS and RIXS study
The nature of the electronic groundstate of Ba2IrO4 has been addressed using
soft X-ray absorption and inelastic scattering techniques in the vicinity of
the oxygen K edge. From the polarization and angular dependence of XAS we
deduce an approximately equal superposition of xy, yz and zx Ir4+ 5d orbitals.
By combining the measured orbital occupancies, with the value of the spin-orbit
coupling provided by RIXS, we estimate the crystal field splitting associated
with the tetragonal distortion of the IrO6 octahedra to be small, \Delta=50(50)
meV. We thus conclude definitively that Ba2IrO4 is a close realization of a
spin-orbit Mott insulator with a jeff = 1/2 groundstate, thereby overcoming
ambiguities in this assignment associated with the interpretation of X-ray
resonant scattering experiments.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure
Dispersion, damping, and intensity of spin excitations in the single-layer (Bi,Pb)(Sr,La)CuO cuprate superconductor family
Using Cu- edge resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) we measured
the dispersion and damping of spin excitations (magnons and paramagnons) in the
high- superconductor (Bi,Pb)(Sr,La)CuO
(Bi2201), for a large doping range across the phase diagram (). Selected measurements with full polarization analysis
unambiguously demonstrate the spin-flip character of these excitations, even in
the overdoped sample. We find that the undamped frequencies increase slightly
with doping for all accessible momenta, while the damping grows rapidly, faster
in the (0,0)(0.5,0.5) nodal direction than in the
(0,0)(0.5,0) antinodal direction. We compare the experimental
results to numerically exact determinant quantum Monte Carlo (DQMC)
calculations that provide the spin dynamical structure factor
of the three-band Hubbard model. The theory reproduces
well the momentum and doping dependence of the dispersions and spectral weights
of magnetic excitations. These results provide compelling evidence that
paramagnons, although increasingly damped, persist across the superconducting
dome of the cuprate phase diagram; this implies that long range
antiferromagnetic correlations are quickly washed away, while short range
magnetic interactions are little affected by doping.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figure
Evaluating anemometer drift: A statistical approach to correct biases in wind speed measurement
Recent studies on observed wind variability have revealed a decline (termed “stilling”) of near-surface wind speed during the last 30–50 years over many mid-latitude terrestrial regions, particularly in the Northern Hemisphere. The well-known impact of cup anemometer drift (i.e., wear on the bearings) on the observed weakening of wind speed has been mentioned as a potential contributor to the declining trend. However, to date, no research has quantified its contribution to stilling based on measurements, which is most likely due to lack of quantification of the ageing effect. In this study, a 3-year field experiment (2014–2016) with 10-minute paired wind speed measurements from one new and one malfunctioned (i.e., old bearings) SEAC SV5 cup anemometer which has been used by the Spanish Meteorological Agency in automatic weather stations since mid-1980s, was developed for assessing for the first time the role of anemometer drift on wind speed measurement. The results showed a statistical significant impact of anemometer drift on wind speed measurements, with the old anemometer measuring lower wind speeds than the new one. Biases show a marked temporal pattern and clear dependency on wind speed, with both weak and strong winds causing significant biases. This pioneering quantification of biases has allowed us to define two regression models that correct up to 37% of the artificial bias in wind speed due to measurement with an old anemometer
High-energy spin and charge excitations in electron-doped copper oxide superconductors
The evolution of electronic (spin and charge) excitations upon carrier doping
is an extremely important issue in superconducting layered cuprates and the
knowledge of its asymmetry between electron- and hole-dopings is still
fragmentary. Here we combine x-ray and neutron inelastic scattering
measurements to track the doping dependence of both spin and charge excitations
in electron-doped materials. Copper L3 resonant inelastic x-ray scattering
spectra show that magnetic excitations shift to higher energy upon doping.
Their dispersion becomes steeper near the magnetic zone center and deeply mix
with charge excitations, indicating that electrons acquire a highly itinerant
character in the doped metallic state. Moreover, above the magnetic
excitations, an additional dispersing feature is observed near the
{\Gamma}-point, and we ascribe it to particle-hole charge excitations. These
properties are in stark contrast with the more localized spin-excitations
(paramagnons) recently observed in hole-doped compounds even at high
doping-levels.Comment: 20 page
Magnetic excitations in stripe-ordered LaBaCuO studied using resonant inelastic x-ray scattering
The charge and spin correlations in LaBaCuO (LBCO
1/8) are studied using Cu edge resonant inelastic x-ray scattering
(RIXS). The static charge order (CO) is observed at a wavevector of
and its charge nature confirmed by measuring the dependence of this peak on the
incident x-ray polarization. The paramagnon excitation in LBCO 1/8 is then
measured as it disperses through the CO wavevector. Within the experimental
uncertainty no changes are observed in the paramagnon due to the static CO, and
the paramagnon seems to be similar to that measured in other cuprates, which
have no static CO. Given that the stripe correlation modulates both the charge
and spin degrees of freedom, it is likely that subtle changes do occur in the
paramagnon due to CO. Consequently, we propose that future RIXS measurements,
realized with higher energy resolution and sensitivity, should be performed to
test for these effects.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Collective nature of spin excitations in superconducting cuprates probed by resonant inelastic x-ray scattering
We used resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) with and without analysis
of the scattered photon polarization, to study dispersive spin excitations in
the high temperature superconductor YBa2Cu3O6+x over a wide range of doping
levels (0.1 < x < 1). The excitation profiles were carefully monitored as the
incident photon energy was detuned from the resonant condition, and the spin
excitation energy was found to be independent of detuning for all x. These
findings demonstrate that the largest fraction of the spin-flip RIXS profiles
in doped cuprates arises from magnetic collective modes, rather than from
incoherent particle-hole excitations as recently suggested theoretically
[Benjamin et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 247002(2014)]. Implications for the
theoretical description of the electron system in the cuprates are discussed.Comment: Supplementary materials are available upon reques
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