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"Sub-Hertz" Dielectric Spectroscopy
Dielectric spectroscopy measurements below 1 Hz are often dominated by “conduction-like” effects. For this reason, they often appear to be dismissed as being of little interest. In this paper two “sub-hertz” responses are considered that give insights into the insulating sys-tems concerned. The first system is that of cross-linked polyethylene, taken from a power cable system. Measurements at temperatures between 60°C and close to melting at 100°C show a change in characteristic from a percolation process to a “true” DC conduction at close to the melting point. Using DC conductivities, it appears to be possible to show whether the cable has been subjected to thermo-electric ageing. This might give insights into where the conduction and hence the ageing in the XLPE is occurring. The second system is an epoxy composite. By considering the sub-hertz response, it is possible to demonstrate the effect of the interface between the filler and the epoxy matrix. In this system, ageing, resulting in delamination between the glass fiber filler and the epoxy, is clearly detected by sub-hertz dielectric spectroscopy. This process is likely to be facilitated by the presence of water, which is known to lead to mechanical failure in such systems, and which can also be detected by "sub-hertz" dielectric spectroscopy. The implications for nano-dielectrics are then briefly considered
Harmonic Superspace, Minimal Unitary Representations and Quasiconformal Groups
We show that there is a remarkable connection between the harmonic superspace
(HSS) formulation of N=2, d=4 supersymmetric quaternionic Kaehler sigma models
that couple to N=2 supergravity and the minimal unitary representations of
their isometry groups. In particular, for N=2 sigma models with quaternionic
symmetric target spaces of the form G/HXSU(2) we establish a one-to-one mapping
between the Killing potentials that generate the isometry group G under Poisson
brackets in the HSS formulation and the generators of the minimal unitary
representation of G obtained by quantization of its geometric realization as a
quasiconformal group. Quasiconformal extensions of U-duality groups of four
dimensional N=2, d=4 Maxwell-Einstein supergravity theories (MESGT) had been
proposed as spectrum generating symmetry groups earlier. We discuss some of the
implications of our results, in particular, for the BPS black hole spectra of
4d, N=2 MESGTs.Comment: 20 pages; Latex file: references added; minor cosmetic change
Neutrino masses in the Lepton Number Violating MSSM
We consider the most general supersymmetric model with minimal particle
content and an additional discrete Z_3 symmetry (instead of R-parity), which
allows lepton number violating terms and results in non-zero Majorana neutrino
masses. We investigate whether the currently measured values for lepton masses
and mixing can be reproduced. We set up a framework in which Lagrangian
parameters can be initialised without recourse to assumptions concerning
trilinear or bilinear superpotential terms, CP-conservation or
intergenerational mixing and analyse in detail the one loop corrections to the
neutrino masses. We present scenarios in which the experimental data are
reproduced and show the effect varying lepton number violating couplings has on
the predicted atmospheric and solar mass^2 differences. We find that with
bilinear lepton number violating couplings in the superpotential of the order 1
MeV the atmospheric mass scale can be reproduced. Certain trilinear
superpotential couplings, usually, of the order of the electron Yukawa coupling
can give rise to either atmospheric or solar mass scales and bilinear
supersymmetry breaking terms of the order 0.1 GeV^2 can set the solar mass
scale. Further details of our calculation, Lagrangian, Feynman rules and
relevant generic loop diagrams, are presented in three Appendices.Comment: 48 pages, 7 figures, v2 references added, typos corrected, published
versio
Polymer translocation out of confined environments
We consider the dynamics of polymer translocation out of confined
environments. Analytic scaling arguments lead to the prediction that the
translocation time scales like for translocation out of a planar
confinement between two walls with separation into a 3D environment, and
for translocation out of two strips with separation
into a 2D environment. Here, is the chain length, and
are the Flory exponents in 3D and 2D, and is the scaling exponent of
translocation velocity with , whose value for the present choice of
parameters is based on Langevin dynamics simulations. These
scaling exponents improve on earlier predictions.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures. To appear in Phys. Rev.
Quantum Hall effect anomaly and collective modes in the magnetic-field-induced spin-density-wave phases of quasi-one-dimensional conductors
We study the collective modes in the magnetic-field-induced spin-density-wave
(FISDW) phases experimentally observed in organic conductors of the Bechgaard
salts family. In phases that exhibit a sign reversal of the quantum Hall effect
(Ribault anomaly), the coexistence of two spin-density waves gives rise to
additional collective modes besides the Goldstone modes due to spontaneous
translation and rotation symmetry breaking. These modes strongly affect the
charge and spin response functions. We discuss some experimental consequences
for the Bechgaard salts.Comment: Final version (LaTex, 8 pages, no figure), to be published in
Europhys. Let
Spacetime Defects: von K\'arm\'an vortex street like configurations
A special arrangement of spinning strings with dislocations similar to a von
K\'arm\'an vortex street is studied. We numerically solve the geodesic
equations for the special case of a test particle moving along twoinfinite rows
of pure dislocations and also discuss the case of pure spinning defects.Comment: 9 pages, 2figures, CQG in pres
Network synchronization: Optimal and Pessimal Scale-Free Topologies
By employing a recently introduced optimization algorithm we explicitely
design optimally synchronizable (unweighted) networks for any given scale-free
degree distribution. We explore how the optimization process affects
degree-degree correlations and observe a generic tendency towards
disassortativity. Still, we show that there is not a one-to-one correspondence
between synchronizability and disassortativity. On the other hand, we study the
nature of optimally un-synchronizable networks, that is, networks whose
topology minimizes the range of stability of the synchronous state. The
resulting ``pessimal networks'' turn out to have a highly assortative
string-like structure. We also derive a rigorous lower bound for the Laplacian
eigenvalue ratio controlling synchronizability, which helps understanding the
impact of degree correlations on network synchronizability.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figs, submitted to J. Phys. A (proceedings of Complex
Networks 2007
Quantum key distribution using a triggered quantum dot source emitting near 1.3 microns
We report the distribution of a cryptographic key, secure from photon number
splitting attacks, over 35 km of optical fiber using single photons from an
InAs quantum dot emitting ~1.3 microns in a pillar microcavity. Using below
GaAs-bandgap optical excitation, we demonstrate suppression of multiphoton
emission to 10% of the Poissonian level without detector dark count
subtraction. The source is incorporated into a phase encoded interferometric
scheme implementing the BB84 protocol for key distribution over standard
telecommunication optical fiber. We show a transmission distance advantage over
that possible with (length-optimized) uniform intensity weak coherent pulses at
1310 nm in the same system.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
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