Electronic Processes at the Breakdown of the Quantum Hall Effect

Microscopic processes giving the energy gain and loss of a two-dimensional electron system in long-range potential fluctuations are studied theoretically at the breakdown of the quantum Hall effect in the case of even-integer filling factors. The Coulomb scattering within a broadened Landau level is proposed to give the gain, while the phonon scattering to give the loss. The energy balance equation shows that the electron temperature T_e and the diagonal conductivity sigma_{xx} exhibit a bistability above the lower critical electric field E_{c1}. Calculated values of E_{c1} as well as T_e and sigma_{xx} at E_{c1} are in agreement with the observed values in their orders of magnitude.Comment: 4 pages, 2 Postscript figures, submitted to the Journal of the Physical Society of Japa

Scanned Potential Microscopy of Edge and Bulk Currents in the Quantum Hall Regime

Using an atomic force microscope as a local voltmeter, we measure the Hall voltage profile in a 2D electron gas in the quantum Hall (QH) regime. We observe a linear profile in the bulk of the sample in the transition regions between QH plateaus and a distinctly nonlinear profile on the plateaus. In addition, localized voltage drops are observed at the sample edges in the transition regions. We interpret these results in terms of theories of edge and bulk currents in the QH regime.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Magnetometry of low-dimensional electron and hole systems

Copyright © 2009 Institute of PhysicsThe high-magnetic-field, low-temperature magnetic properties of low-dimensional electron and hole systems reveal a wealth of fundamental information. Quantum oscillations of the thermodynamic equilibrium magnetization yield the total density of states, a central quantity in understanding the quantum Hall effect in 2D systems. The magnetization arising from non-equilibrium circulating currents reveals details, not accessible with traditional measurements, of the vanishingly small longitudinal resistance in the quantum Hall regime. We review how the technique of magnetometry has been applied to these systems, the most important discoveries that have been made, and their theoretical significance

Quantum Hall fluctuations and evidence for charging in the quantum Hall effect

We find that mesoscopic conductance fluctuations in the quantum Hall regime in silicon MOSFETs display simple and striking patterns. The fluctuations fall into distinct groups which move along lines parallel to loci of integer filling factor in the gate voltage-magnetic field plane. Also, a relationship appears between the fluctuations on quantum Hall transitions and those found at low densities in zero magnetic field. These phenomena are most naturally attributed to charging effects. We argue that they are the first unambiguous manifestation of interactions in dc transport in the integer quantum Hall effect.Comment: 4 pages RevTeX including 4 postscript bitmapped figure

УЧЕТ ЭЛЕКТРОДИНАМИЧЕСКОГО ДЕЙСТВИЯ ТОКОВ КОРОТКОГО ЗАМЫКАНИЯ ПРИ ПРОЕКТИРОВАНИИ ГИБКИХ ТОКОПРОВОДОВ 6−10 кВ СИСТЕМ ЭЛЕКТРОСНАБЖЕНИЯ

The paper shows a vital importance of electrodynamic affect account in respect of relatively small short-circuit-currents on flexible current-conducting wires of electric supply systems at long short-circuit duration. Insufficient electrodynamic stability of flexible current-conducting wires of type design has been revealed. While using simplified and numerical methods for calculation of wire dynamics optimum parameters of flexible current-conducting wires have been determined.Показана актуальность учета электродинамического действия сравнительно небольших токов короткого замыкания на гибкие токопроводы систем электроснабжения при больших продолжительностях КЗ. Выявлена недостаточная электродинамическая стойкость типовых конструкций гибких токопроводов. С использованием упрощенных и численных методов расчета динамики проводов определены оптимальные параметры гибких токопроводов

Thermodynamic Selection of Steric Zipper Patterns in the Amyloid Cross-β Spine

At the core of amyloid fibrils is the cross-β spine, a long tape of β-sheets formed by the constituent proteins. Recent high-resolution x-ray studies show that the unit of this filamentous structure is a β-sheet bilayer with side chains within the bilayer forming a tightly interdigitating “steric zipper” interface. However, for a given peptide, different bilayer patterns are possible, and no quantitative explanation exists regarding which pattern is selected or under what condition there can be more than one pattern observed, exhibiting molecular polymorphism. We address the structural selection mechanism by performing molecular dynamics simulations to calculate the free energy of incorporating a peptide monomer into a β-sheet bilayer. We test filaments formed by several types of peptides including GNNQQNY, NNQQ, VEALYL, KLVFFAE and STVIIE, and find that the patterns with the lowest binding free energy correspond to available atomistic structures with high accuracy. Molecular polymorphism, as exhibited by NNQQ, is likely because there are more than one most stable structures whose binding free energies differ by less than the thermal energy. Detailed analysis of individual energy terms reveals that these short peptides are not strained nor do they lose much conformational entropy upon incorporating into a β-sheet bilayer. The selection of a bilayer pattern is determined mainly by the van der Waals and hydrophobic forces as a quantitative measure of shape complementarity among side chains between the β-sheets. The requirement for self-complementary steric zipper formation supports that amyloid fibrils form more easily among similar or same sequences, and it also makes parallel β-sheets generally preferred over anti-parallel ones. But the presence of charged side chains appears to kinetically drive anti-parallel β-sheets to form at early stages of assembly, after which the bilayer formation is likely driven by energetics

Factors That Drive Peptide Assembly and Fibril Formation: Experimental and Theoretical Analysis of Sup35 NNQQNY Mutants

Residue mutations have substantial effects on aggregation kinetics and propensities of amyloid peptides and their aggregate morphologies. Such effects are attributed to conformational transitions accessed by various types of oligomers such as steric zipper or single β-sheet. We have studied the aggregation propensities of six NNQQNY mutants: NVVVVY, NNVVNV, NNVVNY, VIQVVY, NVVQIY, and NVQVVY in water using a combination of ion-mobility mass spectrometry, transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and all-atom molecular dynamics simulations. Our data show a strong correlation between the tendency to form early β-sheet oligomers and the subsequent aggregation propensity. Our molecular dynamics simulations indicate that the stability of a steric zipper structure can enhance the propensity for fibril formation. Such stability can be attained by either hydrophobic interactions in the mutant peptide or polar side-chain interdigitations in the wild-type peptide. The overall results display only modest agreement with the aggregation propensity prediction methods such as PASTA, Zyggregator, and RosettaProfile, suggesting the need for better parametrization and model peptides for these algorithms

Experimental investigations and mathematical modeling of the dynamics of thermal decomposition of carbon composites

The thermolysis of carbon compositions of leading enterprises of the electrode branch of industry is experimentally investigated by methods of differential thermal and gravimetric analysis in a temperature range of 200-900°C using a Setsys Evolution 1750 derivatograph. The samples of "green" billets differed in the granulometric composition of carbon of the filling agent and the type of the binding agent (pitch). They were heated at a rate of 15 K/min in the inert medium. The data on the isolation of volatiles were processed by mathematical modeling in the Mathcad-11 medium by one- and two-component diagrams of computation of the kinetics of the thermolysis process. Mathematical models adequately describing these experimental data were constructed. The constants or the reaction rate and activation energies of decomposition of the binder of carbon composites for both diagrams of the computations were established. An example of the computation of thermolysis for industrial conditions of roasting the graphitized electrode of the EG Ø200 mm grade is presented