Coulomb blockade in graphene nanoribbons

We propose that recent transport experiments revealing the existence of an energy gap in graphene nanoribbons may be understood in terms of Coulomb blockade. Electron interactions play a decisive role at the quantum dots which form due to the presence of necks arising from the roughness of the graphene edge. With the average transmission as the only fitting parameter, our theory shows good agreement with the experimental data.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Copper and Barium Abundances in the Ursa Major Moving Group

We present Cu and Ba abundances for 7 G-K dwarf stars, members of the solar-metallicity, 0.3 Gyr old Ursa Major Moving Group. All analyzed member stars show [Ba/Fe] excesses of +0.3-plus, associated with [Cu/Fe] deficiencies of up to -0.23 dex. The present results suggest that there is an anti-correlation between the abundances of Cu and the heavy elements produced by the main component of the neutron capture s-process. Other possible anomalies are Na and C deficiencies with respect to normal solar-metallicity stars. The new data do not confirm the recent claim that the group member HR6094 is a Ba dwarf star.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, accepted to MNRA

Restrictions on the coherence of the ultrafast optical emission from an electron-hole pairs condensate

We report on the transfer of coherence from a quantum-well electron-hole condensate to the light it emits. As a function of density, the coherence of the electron-hole pair system evolves from being full for the low density Bose-Einstein condensate to a chaotic behavior for a high density BCS-like state. This degree of coherence is transfered to the light emitted in a damped oscillatory way in the ultrafast regime. Additionally, the photon field exhibits squeezing properties during the transfer time. We analyze the effect of light frequency and separation between electron and hole layers on the optical coherence. Our results suggest new type of ultrafast experiments for detecting electron-hole pair condensation.Comment: 4 pages,3 figures, to be published in Physical Review Letters. Minor change

Challenging the status quo: women's experiences of opting for a home birth in Andalucia, Spain

Objective To explore the perceptions, beliefs and attitudes of women who opted for a home birth in Andalusia (Spain). Background Home birth is currently an unusual choice among Spanish women. It is not an option covered by the Spanish National Health Service and women who opt for a home birth have to pay for an independent midwife. Design A qualitative study with a phenomenological approach was adopted. All participants who took part in this study had chosen to have a home birth and given written consent to take part in the study. Methods Data collection was conducted in 2015–16. Face-to-face, semi-structured interviews were undertaken with women who chose a home birth in the last 5 years. Findings The sample consisted of thirteen women. Seven themes were created through analysis: 1. Getting informed about home birth; 2. Home birth as a choice, despite feeling unsupported; 3. The best way to have a personalized and a physiological birth; 4. Seeking a healing and empowering experience 5. The need for emotional safety, establishing a relationship and trusting the midwife; 6. Preparing for birth and working on fears; 7. Inequality of access (because of financial implications). Conclusions Women opted to plan birth at home because they wanted a personalised birth and control over their decision-making in labour, which they felt would not have been afforded to them in hospital settings. Andalusian maternity care leaders should strive to ensure that all pregnant women receive respectful and high-quality personalised care, by appropriately trained staff, both in the hospital and in the community

Effect of external conditions on the structure of scrolled graphene edges

Characteristic dimensions of carbon nanoscrolls - "buckyrolls" - are calculated by analyzing the competition between elastic, van der Waals, and electrostatic energies for representative models of suspended and substrate-deposited graphene samples. The results are consistent with both atomistic simulations and experimental observations of scrolled graphene edges. Electrostatic control of the wrapping is shown to be practically feasible and its possible device applications are indicated.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Fermion localization on branes with generalized dynamics

In this letter we consider a specific model of braneworld with nonstandard dynamics diffused in the literature, specifically we focus our attention on the matter energy density, the energy of system, the Ricci scalar and the thin brane limit. As the model is classically stable and capable of localize gravity, as a natural extension we address the issue of fermion localization of fermions on a thick brane constructed out from one scalar field with nonstandard kinetic terms coupled with gravity. The contribution of the nonstandard kinetic terms in the problem of fermion localization is analyzed. It is found that the simplest Yukawa coupling $\eta\bar{\Psi}\phi\Psi$ support the localization of fermions on the thick brane. It is shown that the zero mode for left-handed can be localized on the thick brane depending on the values for the coupling constant $\eta$.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure

Turning waves and breakdown for incompressible flows

We consider the evolution of an interface generated between two immiscible incompressible and irrotational fluids. Specifically we study the Muskat and water wave problems. We show that starting with a family of initial data given by (\al,f_0(\al)), the interface reaches a regime in finite time in which is no longer a graph. Therefore there exists a time $t^*$ where the solution of the free boundary problem parameterized as (\al,f(\al,t)) blows-up: \|\da f\|_{L^\infty}(t^*)=\infty. In particular, for the Muskat problem, this result allows us to reach an unstable regime, for which the Rayleigh-Taylor condition changes sign and the solution breaks down.Comment: 15 page