552 research outputs found
Structure and dynamics of the interface between a binary hard-sphere crystal of NaCl type and its coexisting binary fluid
Molecular dynamics simulations are performed to study the [100] and [111]
orientations of the crystal-melt interface between an ordered two-component
hard sphere with a NaCl structure and its coexisting binary hard-sphere fluid.
The diameter ratio of the two types of hard spheres making up the mixture is
taken to be 0.414. This work complements our earlier interface simulations [J.
Chem. Phys.116, 3410] for the same diameter ratio at lower pressures where the
smaller component is immiscible in the solid and the fluid mixture coexists
with a pure FCC crystal of large particles. Density profiles and diffusion
coefficient profiles are presented for the AB interfacial system. We find that
for this system, the transition from crystal-like to fluid-like behavior of
both the density and diffusion constant profiles occurs over a narrower region
than that seen in our previous studies [J. Chem. Phys. 116, 3410] of the
FCC/binary fluid system. But similar to what was found in the FCC/binary fluid
interface the transition region for the large particle diffusion constant is
shifted about the size of the large particles toward the fluid phase relative
to that for the small particles.Comment: 8 page
Environmental Benefits of Biochar
Understanding and improving environmental quality by reducing soil nutrient leaching losses, reducing bioavailability of environmental contaminants, sequestering C, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and enhancing crop productivity in highly weathered or degraded soils, has been the goal of agroecosystem researchers and producers for years. Biochar, produced by pyrolysis of biomass, may help attain these goals. The desire to advance understanding of the environmental and agronomic implication of biochar utilization led to the organization of the 2010 ASA-CSSA-SSSA Environmental Quality Division session entitled Biochar Effects on the Environment and Agricultural Productivity (Long Beach, CA; Oct. 31-Nov. 3). Twenty-five presentations from this session, and sessions at the 2010 U.S. Biochar Initiative Conference (Ames, IA; June 27-30) and Biochar Symposium 2010 (organized by Dr. Bruno Glaser; University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany, July 8-9), make up a special collection of review and technical research papers focused on biochar creation and utilization. Individual contributions deal with improvement of the biochar knowledge base, current information gaps, and future biochar research needs. The prospect of biochar utilization is promising, as biochars may be custom designed for specific environmental applications
Adjusting the melting point of a model system via Gibbs-Duhem integration: application to a model of Aluminum
Model interaction potentials for real materials are generally optimized with
respect to only those experimental properties that are easily evaluated as
mechanical averages (e.g., elastic constants (at T=0 K), static lattice
energies and liquid structure). For such potentials, agreement with experiment
for the non-mechanical properties, such as the melting point, is not guaranteed
and such values can deviate significantly from experiment. We present a method
for re-parameterizing any model interaction potential of a real material to
adjust its melting temperature to a value that is closer to its experimental
melting temperature. This is done without significantly affecting the
mechanical properties for which the potential was modeled. This method is an
application of Gibbs-Duhem integration [D. Kofke, Mol. Phys.78, 1331 (1993)].
As a test we apply the method to an embedded atom model of aluminum [J. Mei and
J.W. Davenport, Phys. Rev. B 46, 21 (1992)] for which the melting temperature
for the thermodynamic limit is 826.4 +/- 1.3K - somewhat below the experimental
value of 933K. After re-parameterization, the melting temperature of the
modified potential is found to be 931.5K +/- 1.5K.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, 4 table
Interaction of quasilocal harmonic modes and boson peak in glasses
The direct proportionality relation between the boson peak maximum in
glasses, , and the Ioffe-Regel crossover frequency for phonons,
, is established. For several investigated materials . At the frequency the mean free path of the
phonons becomes equal to their wavelength because of strong resonant
scattering on quasilocal harmonic oscillators. Above this frequency phonons
cease to exist. We prove that the established correlation between
and holds in the general case and is a direct consequence of
bilinear coupling of quasilocal oscillators with the strain field.Comment: RevTex, 4 pages, 1 figur
Sensitive Radio-Frequency Measurements of a Quantum Dot by Tuning to Perfect Impedance Matching
Electrical readout of spin qubits requires fast and sensitive measurements, which are hindered by poor impedance matching to the device. We demonstrate perfect impedance matching in a radio-frequency readout circuit, using voltage-tunable varactors to cancel out parasitic capacitances. An optimized capacitance sensitivity of
1.6
aF
/
√
Hz
is achieved at a maximum source-drain bias of
170
−
μ
V
root-mean-square and with a bandwidth of 18 MHz. Coulomb blockade in a quantum-dot is measured in both conductance and capacitance, and the two contributions are found to be proportional as expected from a quasistatic tunneling model. We benchmark our results against the requirements for single-shot qubit readout using quantum capacitance, a goal that has so far been elusive
Maximum likelihood kernel density estimation: On the potential of convolution sieves
Methods for improving the basic kernel density estimator include variable locations, variable bandwidths and variable weights. Typically these methods are implemented separately and via pilot estimation of variation functions derived from asymptotic considerations. The starting point here is a simple maximum likelihood procedure which allows (in its greatest generality) variation of all these quantities at once, bypassing asymptotics and explicit pilot estimation. One special case of this approach is the density estimator associated with nonparametric maximum likelihood estimation (NPMLE) in a normal location mixture model. Another, closely associated with the NPMLE, is a kernel convolution sieve estimator proposed in 1982 but little used in practice to date. Simple algorithms are utilised, a simulation study is reported on, a method for bandwidth selection is investigated and an illustrative example is given. The simulations and other considerations suggest that the kernel convolution sieve provides an especially promising framework for further practical utilisation and development. And the method has a further advantage: it automatically reduces, where appropriate, to a few-component mixture model which indicates and initialises parametric mixture modelling of the data
Cross section measurements of the 3He(alpha, gamma) 7Be reaction using DRAGON at TRIUMF.
4 pags., 2 figs. -- Nuclear Physics in Astrophysics V 3–8 April 2011, Eilat, IsraelWe present our initial efforts with the DRAGON separator at TRIUMF facility towards obtaining the energy dependence of the astrophysical S-factor for 3He(¿, ¿)7Be reaction in the energy range of Ecm = 2 to 3 MeV that was recommended by the recent evaluations. A comparison between the existing data and our new complementary Madrid data, together with the recent theoretical calculations, is also given in the context of our ongoing work.This work has been supported by the UK STFC
Towards Machine Wald
The past century has seen a steady increase in the need of estimating and
predicting complex systems and making (possibly critical) decisions with
limited information. Although computers have made possible the numerical
evaluation of sophisticated statistical models, these models are still designed
\emph{by humans} because there is currently no known recipe or algorithm for
dividing the design of a statistical model into a sequence of arithmetic
operations. Indeed enabling computers to \emph{think} as \emph{humans} have the
ability to do when faced with uncertainty is challenging in several major ways:
(1) Finding optimal statistical models remains to be formulated as a well posed
problem when information on the system of interest is incomplete and comes in
the form of a complex combination of sample data, partial knowledge of
constitutive relations and a limited description of the distribution of input
random variables. (2) The space of admissible scenarios along with the space of
relevant information, assumptions, and/or beliefs, tend to be infinite
dimensional, whereas calculus on a computer is necessarily discrete and finite.
With this purpose, this paper explores the foundations of a rigorous framework
for the scientific computation of optimal statistical estimators/models and
reviews their connections with Decision Theory, Machine Learning, Bayesian
Inference, Stochastic Optimization, Robust Optimization, Optimal Uncertainty
Quantification and Information Based Complexity.Comment: 37 page
First Observation of Coherent Production in Neutrino Nucleus Interactions with 2 GeV
The MiniBooNE experiment at Fermilab has amassed the largest sample to date
of s produced in neutral current (NC) neutrino-nucleus interactions at
low energy. This paper reports a measurement of the momentum distribution of
s produced in mineral oil (CH) and the first observation of coherent
production below 2 GeV. In the forward direction, the yield of events
observed above the expectation for resonant production is attributed primarily
to coherent production off carbon, but may also include a small contribution
from diffractive production on hydrogen. Integrated over the MiniBooNE neutrino
flux, the sum of the NC coherent and diffractive modes is found to be (19.5
1.1 (stat) 2.5 (sys))% of all exclusive NC production at
MiniBooNE. These measurements are of immediate utility because they quantify an
important background to MiniBooNE's search for
oscillations.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Lett.
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