1,835 research outputs found
Magnetization of nanomagnet assemblies: Effects of anisotropy and dipolar interactions
We investigate the effect of anisotropy and weak dipolar interactions on the
magnetization of an assembly of nanoparticles with distributed magnetic
moments, i.e., assembly of magnetic nanoparticles in the one-spin
approximation, with textured or random anisotropy.
The magnetization of a free particle is obtained either by a numerical
calculation of the partition function or analytically in the low and high field
regimes, using perturbation theory and the steepest-descent approximation,
respectively. The magnetization of an interacting assembly is computed
analytically in the range of low and high field, and numerically using the
Monte Carlo technique.
Approximate analytical expressions for the assembly magnetization are
provided which take account of the dipolar interactions, temperature, magnetic
field, and anisotropy. The effect of anisotropy and dipolar interactions are
discussed and the deviations from the Langevin law they entail are
investigated, and illustrated for realistic assemblies with the lognormal
moment distribution.Comment: 21 pages, 5 eps figure
Geometric Aspects of the Dipolar Interaction in Lattices of Small Particles
The hysteresis curves of systems composed of small interacting magnetic
particles, regularly placed on stacked layers, are obtained with Monte Carlo
simulations. The remanence as a function of temperature, in interacting
systems, presents a peak that separates two different magnetic states. At low
temperatures, small values of remanence are a consequence of antiferromagnetic
order due to the dipolar interaction. At higher values of temperature the
increase of the component normal to the lattice plane is responsible for the
small values of remanence. The effect of the number of layers, coordination
number and distance between particles are investigated.Comment: 5 pages, 7 figure
Phase transition in nanomagnetite
Recently, the application of nanosized magnetite particles became an area of growing interest for
their potential practical applications. Nanosized magnetite samples of 36 and 9 nm sizes were
synthesized. Special care was taken on the right stoichiometry of the magnetite particles. Mössbauer
spectroscopy measurements were made in 4.2–300 K temperature range. The temperature
dependence of the intensities of the spectral components indicated size dependent transition taking
place in a broad temperature range. For nanosized samples, the hyperfine interaction values and their
relative intensities changed above the Verwey transition temperature value of bulk megnetite. The
continuous transition indicated the formation of dendritelike granular assemblies formed during the
preparation of the samples
Micro-SQUID technique for studying the temperature dependence of switching fields of single nanoparticles
An improved micro-SQUID technique is presented allowing us to measure the
temperature dependence of the magnetisation switching fields of single
nanoparticles well above the critical superconducting temperature of the SQUID.
Our first measurements on 3 nm cobalt nanoparticle embedded in a niobium matrix
are compared to the Neel Brown model describing the magnetisation reversal by
thermal activation over a single anisotropy barrier.Comment: 3 pages, 4 figures; conference proceeding: 1st Joint European
Magnetic Symposia (JEMS'01), Grenoble (France), 28th August - 1st September,
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The influence of floral traits on specialisation and modularity of plant-pollinator networks in a biodiversity hotspot in the Peruvian Andes
Background and Aims: Modularity is a ubiquitous and important structural property of ecological networks which describes the relative strengths of sets of interacting species and gives insights into the dynamics of ecological communities. However, this has rarely been studied in species-rich, tropical plant–pollinator networks. Working in a biodiversity hotspot in the Peruvian Andes we assessed the structure of quantitative plant–pollinator networks in nine valleys, quantifying modularity among networks, defining the topological roles of species and the influence of floral traits on specialization. Methods: A total of 90 transects were surveyed for plants and pollinators at different altitudes and across different life zones. Quantitative modularity (QuanBiMo) was used to detect modularity and six indices were used to quantify specialization. Key Results: All networks were highly structured, moderately specialized and significantly modular regardless of size. The strongest hubs were Baccharis plants, Apis mellifera, Bombus funebris and Diptera spp., which were the most ubiquitous and abundant species with the longest phenologies. Species strength showed a strong association with the modular structure of plant–pollinator networks. Hubs and connectors were the most centralized participants in the networks and were ranked highest (high generalization) when quantifying specialization with most indices. However, complementary specialization d' quantified hubs and connectors as moderately specialized. Specialization and topological roles of species were remarkably constant across some sites, but highly variable in others. Networks were dominated by ecologically and functionally generalist plant species with open access flowers which are closely related taxonomically with similar morphology and rewards. Plants associated with hummingbirds had the highest level of complementary specialization and exclusivity in modules (functional specialists) and the longest corollas. Conclusions: We have demonstrated that the topology of networks in this tropical montane environment was non-random and highly organized. Our findings underline that specialization indices convey different concepts of specialization and hence quantify different aspects, and that measuring specialization requires careful consideration of what defines a specialist
Geometric diagnostics of complex patterns: Spiral defect chaos
Motivated by the observation of spiral patterns in a wide range of physical, chemical, and biological systems, we present an automated approach that aims at characterizing quantitatively spiral-like elements in complex stripelike patterns. The approach provides the location of the spiral tip and the size of the spiral arms in terms of their arc length and their winding number. In addition, it yields the number of pattern components (Betti number of order 1), as well as their size and certain aspects of their shape. We apply the method to spiral defect chaos in thermally driven Rayleigh- Bénard convection and find that the arc length of spirals decreases monotonically with decreasing Prandtl number of the fluid and increasing heating. By contrast, the winding number of the spirals is nonmonotonic in the heating. The distribution function for the number of spirals is significantly narrower than a Poisson distribution. The distribution function for the winding number shows approximately an exponential decay. It depends only weakly on the heating, but strongly on the Prandtl number. Large spirals arise only for larger Prandtl numbers. In this regime the joint distribution for the spiral length and the winding number exhibits a three-peak structure, indicating the dominance of Archimedean spirals of opposite sign and relatively straight sections. For small Prandtl numbers the distribution function reveals a large number of small compact pattern components
Magnetic relaxation in finite two-dimensional nanoparticle ensembles
We study the slow phase of thermally activated magnetic relaxation in finite
two-dimensional ensembles of dipolar interacting ferromagnetic nanoparticles
whose easy axes of magnetization are perpendicular to the distribution plane.
We develop a method to numerically simulate the magnetic relaxation for the
case that the smallest heights of the potential barriers between the
equilibrium directions of the nanoparticle magnetic moments are much larger
than the thermal energy. Within this framework, we analyze in detail the role
that the correlations of the nanoparticle magnetic moments and the finite size
of the nanoparticle ensemble play in magnetic relaxation.Comment: 21 pages, 4 figure
Brain serotonin critically contributes to the biological effects of electroconvulsive seizures
Compounds targeting serotonin (5-HT) are widely used as antidepressants. However, the role of 5-HT in mediating the effects of electroconvulsive seizure (ECS) therapy remains undefined. Using Tph2(-/-) mice depleted of brain 5-HT, we studied the effects of ECS on behavior and neurobiology. ECS significantly prolonged the start latency in the elevated O-Maze test, an effect that was abolished in Tph2(-/-) mice. Furthermore, in the absence of 5-HT, the ECS-induced increase in adult neurogenesis and in brain-derived neurotrophic factor signaling in the hippocampus were significantly reduced. Our results indicate that brain 5-HT critically contributes to the neurobiological responses to ECS
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