16,316 research outputs found
Ferroelectricity from spin supercurrents in LiCuVO4
We have studied the magnetic structure of the ferroelectric frustrated
spin-1/2 chain material LiCuVO4 in applied electric and magnetic fields using
polarized neutrons. A symmetry and mean-field analysis of the data rules out
the presence of static Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction, while exchange
striction is shown to be negligible by our specific-heat measurements. The
experimentally observed magnetoelectric coupling is in excellent agreement with
the predictions of a purely electronic mechanism based on spin supercurrents.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, final versio
Well-Posedness And Accuracy Of The Ensemble Kalman Filter In Discrete And Continuous Time
The ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) is a method for combining a dynamical model
with data in a sequential fashion. Despite its widespread use, there has been
little analysis of its theoretical properties. Many of the algorithmic
innovations associated with the filter, which are required to make a useable
algorithm in practice, are derived in an ad hoc fashion. The aim of this paper
is to initiate the development of a systematic analysis of the EnKF, in
particular to do so in the small ensemble size limit. The perspective is to
view the method as a state estimator, and not as an algorithm which
approximates the true filtering distribution. The perturbed observation version
of the algorithm is studied, without and with variance inflation. Without
variance inflation well-posedness of the filter is established; with variance
inflation accuracy of the filter, with resepct to the true signal underlying
the data, is established. The algorithm is considered in discrete time, and
also for a continuous time limit arising when observations are frequent and
subject to large noise. The underlying dynamical model, and assumptions about
it, is sufficiently general to include the Lorenz '63 and '96 models, together
with the incompressible Navier-Stokes equation on a two-dimensional torus. The
analysis is limited to the case of complete observation of the signal with
additive white noise. Numerical results are presented for the Navier-Stokes
equation on a two-dimensional torus for both complete and partial observations
of the signal with additive white noise
Field Induced Magnetic Ordering and Single-ion Anisotropy in the Quasi-1D Haldane Chain Compound SrNi2V2O8: A Single Crystal investigation
Field-induced magnetic ordering in the Haldane chain compound
SrNiVO and effect of anisotropy have been investigated using
single crystals. Static susceptibility, inelastic neutron scattering,
high-field magnetization, and low temperature heat-capacity studies confirm a
non-magnetic spin-singlet ground state and a gap between the singlet ground
state and triplet excited states. The intra-chain exchange interaction is
estimated to be 0.1 meV. Splitting of the dispersions into two
modes with minimum energies 1.57 and 2.58 meV confirms the existence of
single-ion anisotropy . The value of {\it D} is estimated to be
meV and the easy axis is found to be along the
crystallographic {\it c}-axis. Field-induced magnetic ordering has been found
with two critical fields [0.2 T and
0.5 T at 4.2 K]. Field-induced
three-dimensional magnetic ordering above the critical fields is evident from
the heat-capacity, susceptibility, and high-field magnetization study. The
Phase diagram in the {\it H-T} plane has been obtained from the high-field
magnetization. The observed results are discussed in the light of theoretical
predictions as well as earlier experimental reports on Haldane chain compounds
Towards practice-based studies of HRM: an actor-network and communities of practice informed approach
HRM may have become co-terminus with the new managerialism in the rhetorical orthodoxies of the HRM textbooks and other platforms for its professional claims. However, we have detailed case-study data showing that HR practices can be much more complicated, nuanced and indeed resistive toward management within organizational settings.
Our study is based on ethnographic research, informed by actor-network theory and community of practice theory conducted by one of the authors over an 18-month period. Using actor-network theory in a descriptive and critical way, we analyse practices of managerial resistance, enrolment and counter-enrolment through which an unofficial network of managers used a formal HRM practice to successfully counteract the official strategy of the firm, which was to close parts of a production site. As a consequence, this network of middle managers effectively changed top management strategy and did so through official HRM practices, coupled with other actor-network building processes, arguably for the ultimate benefit of the organization, though against the initial views of the top management.
The research reported here, may be characterized as a situated study of HRM-in-practice and we draw conclusions which problematize the concept of HRM in contemporary management literature
The golden circle: A way of arguing and acting about technology in the London ambulance service
This paper analyses the way in which the London Ambulance Service recovered from the events of October 1992, when it implemented a computer-aided despatch system (LASCAD) that remained in service for less than two weeks. It examines the enactment of a programme of long-term organizational change, focusing on the implementation of an alternative computer system in 1996. The analysis in this paper is informed by actor-network theory, both by an early statement of this approach developed by Callon in the sociology of translation, and also by concepts and ideas from Latour’s more recent restatement of his own position. The paper examines how alternative interests emerged and were stabilized over time, in a way of arguing and acting among key players in the change programme, christened the Golden Circle. The story traces four years in the history of the London Ambulance Service, from the aftermath of October 1992 through the birth of the Golden Circle to the achievement of National Health Service (NHS) trust status. LASCAD was the beginning of the story, this is the middle, an end lies in the future, when the remaining elements of the change programme are enacted beyond the Golden Circle
Cost comparison of asthma treatments in 12-week study : caution about matching and short observational follow-up
This review was funded by Observational and Pragmatic Research Institute Pte Ltd.Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Evidence of a bond-nematic phase in LiCuVO4
Polarized and unpolarized neutron scattering experiments on the frustrated
ferromagnetic spin-1/2 chain LiCuVO4 show that the phase transition at HQ of 8
Tesla is driven by quadrupolar fluctuations and that dipolar correlations are
short-range with moments parallel to the applied magnetic field in the
high-field phase. Heat-capacity measurements evidence a phase transition into
this high-field phase, with an anomaly clearly different from that at low
magnetic fields. Our experimental data are consistent with a picture where the
ground state above HQ has a next-nearest neighbour bond-nematic order along the
chains with a fluid-like coherence between weakly coupled chains.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures. To appear in Phys. Rev. Let
Climatic versus biotic constraints on carbon and water fluxes in seasonally drought-affected ponderosa pine ecosystems
We investigated the relative importance of climatic versus biotic controls on gross primary production (GPP) and water vapor fluxes in seasonally drought-affected ponderosa pine forests. The study was conducted in young (YS), mature (MS), and old stands (OS) over 4 years at the AmeriFlux Metolius sites. Model simulations showed that interannual variation of GPP did not follow the same trends as precipitation, and effects of climatic variation were smallest at the OS (50%), and intermediate at the YS (<20%). In the young, developing stand, interannual variation in leaf area has larger effects on fluxes than climate, although leaf area is a function of climate in that climate can interact with age-related shifts in carbon allocation and affect whole-tree hydraulic conductance. Older forests, with well-established root systems, appear to be better buffered from effects of seasonal drought and interannual climatic variation. Interannual variation of net ecosystem exchange (NEE) was also lowest at the OS, where NEE is controlled more by interannual variation of ecosystem respiration, 70% of which is from soil, than by the variation of GPP, whereas variation in GPP is the primary reason for interannual changes in NEE at the YS and MS. Across spatially heterogeneous landscapes with high frequency of younger stands resulting from natural and anthropogenic disturbances, interannual climatic variation and change in leaf area are likely to result in large interannual variation in GPP and NEE
de-Broglie Wave-Front Engineering
We propose a simple method for the deterministic generation of an arbitrary
continuous quantum state of the center-of-mass of an atom. The method's spatial
resolution gradually increases with the interaction time with no apparent
fundamental limitations. Such de-Broglie Wave-Front Engineering of the atomic
density can find applications in Atom Lithography, and we discuss possible
implementations of our scheme in atomic beam experiments.Comment: The figures' quality was improved, the text remains intact. 5 pages,
3 figures; submitted to PR
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