5,388 research outputs found
Energy loss mechanism for suspended micro- and nanoresonators due to the Casimir force
A so far not considered energy loss mechanism in suspended micro- and
nanoresonators due to noncontact acoustical energy loss is investigated
theoretically. The mechanism consists on the conversion of the mechanical
energy from the vibratory motion of the resonator into acoustic waves on large
nearby structures, such as the substrate, due to the coupling between the
resonator and those structures resulting from the Casimir force acting over the
separation gaps. Analytical expressions for the resulting quality factor Q for
cantilever and bridge micro- and nanoresonators in close proximity to an
underlying substrate are derived and the relevance of the mechanism is
investigated, demonstrating its importance when nanometric gaps are involved
Critical wetting of a class of nonequilibrium interfaces: A mean-field picture
A self-consistent mean-field method is used to study critical wetting
transitions under nonequilibrium conditions by analyzing Kardar-Parisi-Zhang
(KPZ) interfaces in the presence of a bounding substrate. In the case of
positive KPZ nonlinearity a single (Gaussian) regime is found. On the contrary,
interfaces corresponding to negative nonlinearities lead to three different
regimes of critical behavior for the surface order-parameter: (i) a trivial
Gaussian regime, (ii) a weak-fluctuation regime with a trivially located
critical point and nontrivial exponents, and (iii) a highly non-trivial
strong-fluctuation regime, for which we provide a full solution by finding the
zeros of parabolic-cylinder functions. These analytical results are also
verified by solving numerically the self-consistent equation in each case.
Analogies with and differences from equilibrium critical wetting as well as
nonequilibrium complete wetting are also discussed.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figure
Pulsar Prospects for the Cherenkov Telescope Array
In the last few years, the Fermi-LAT telescope has discovered over a 100
pulsars at energies above 100 MeV, increasing the number of known gamma-ray
pulsars by an order of magnitude. In parallel, imaging Cherenkov telescopes,
such as MAGIC and VERITAS, have detected for the first time VHE pulsed
gamma-rays from the Crab pulsar. Such detections have revealed that the Crab
VHE spectrum follows a power-law up to at least 400 GeV, challenging most
theoretical models, and opening wide possibilities of detecting more pulsars
from the ground with the future Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). In this
contribution, we study the capabilities of CTA for detecting Fermi pulsars. For
this, we extrapolate their spectra with "Crab-like" power-law tails in the VHE
range, as suggested by the latest MAGIC and VERITAS results.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures. In Proceedings of the 2012 Heidelberg Symposium
on High Energy Gamma-Ray Astronomy. All CTA contributions at arXiv:1211.184
Stochastic theory of non-equilibrium wetting
We study a Langevin equation describing non-equilibrium depinning and wetting
transitions. Attention is focused on short-ranged attractive
substrate-interface potentials. We confirm the existence of first order
depinning transitions, in the temperature-chemical potential diagram, and a
tricritical point beyond which the transition becomes a non-equilibrium
complete wetting transition. The coexistence of pinned and depinned interfaces
occurs over a finite area, in line with other non-equilibrium systems that
exhibit first order transitions. In addition, we find two types of phase
coexistence, one of which is characterized by spatio-temporal intermittency
(STI). A finite size analysis of the depinning time is used to characterize the
different coexisting regimes. Finally, a stationary distribution of
characteristic triangles or facets was shown to be responsible for the
structure of the STI phase.Comment: To appear in Europhys. Lett. // 3 figure
Nonequilibrium wetting transitions with short range forces
We analyze within mean-field theory as well as numerically a KPZ equation
that describes nonequilibrium wetting. Both complete and critical wettitng
transitions were found and characterized in detail. For one-dimensional
substrates the critical wetting temperature is depressed by fluctuations. In
addition, we have investigated a region in the space of parameters (temperature
and chemical potential) where the wet and nonwet phases coexist. Finite-size
scaling analysis of the interfacial detaching times indicates that the finite
coexistence region survives in the thermodynamic limit. Within this region we
have observed (stable or very long-lived) structures related to spatio-temporal
intermittency in other systems. In the interfacial representation these
structures exhibit perfect triangular (pyramidal) patterns in one (two
dimensions), that are characterized by their slope and size distribution.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures. To appear in Physical Review
Dirac fermions in a power-law-correlated random vector potential
We study localization properties of two-dimensional Dirac fermions subject to
a power-law-correlated random vector potential describing, e.g., the effect of
"ripples" in graphene. By using a variety of techniques (low-order perturbation
theory, self-consistent Born approximation, replicas, and supersymmetry) we
make a case for a possible complete localization of all the electronic states
and compute the density of states.Comment: Latex, 4+ page
Quantification of segregation dynamics in ice mixtures
(Abridged) The observed presence of pure CO2 ice in protostellar envelopes is
attributed to thermally induced ice segregation, but a lack of quantitative
experimental data has prevented its use as a temperature probe. Quantitative
segregation studies are also needed to characterize diffusion in ices, which
underpins all ice dynamics and ice chemistry. This study aims to quantify the
segregation mechanism and barriers in different H2O:CO2 and H2O:CO ice mixtures
covering a range of astrophysically relevant ice thicknesses and mixture
ratios. The ices are deposited at 16-50 K under (ultra-)high vacuum conditions.
Segregation is then monitored at 23-70 K as a function of time, through
infrared spectroscopy. Thin (8-37 ML) H2O:CO2/CO ice mixtures segregate
sequentially through surface processes, followed by an order of magnitude
slower bulk diffusion. Thicker ices (>100 ML) segregate through a fast bulk
process. The thick ices must therefore be either more porous or segregate
through a different mechanism, e.g. a phase transition. The segregation
dynamics of thin ices are reproduced qualitatively in Monte Carlo simulations
of surface hopping and pair swapping. The experimentally determined
surface-segregation rates for all mixture ratios follow the Ahrrenius law with
a barrier of 1080[190] K for H2O:CO2 and 300[100] K for H2O:CO mixtures. During
low-mass star formation H2O:CO2 segregation will be important already at 30[5]
K. Both surface and bulk segregation is proposed to be a general feature of ice
mixtures when the average bond strengths of the mixture constituents in pure
ice exceeds the average bond strength in the ice mixture.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. 25 pages, including 13 figure
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