Island formation without attractive interactions

We show that adsorbates on surfaces can form islands even if there are no attractive interactions. Instead strong repulsion between adsorbates at short distances can lead to islands, because such islands increase the entropy of the adsorbates that are not part of the islands. We suggest that this mechanism cause the observed island formation in O/Pt(111), but it may be important for many other systems as well.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure

3D-2D crossover in the naturally layered superconductor (LaSe)1.14(NbSe2)

The temperature and angular dependencies of the resistive upper critical magnetic field $B_{c2}$ reveal a dimensional crossover of the superconducting state in the highly anisotropic misfit-layer single crystal of (LaSe)$_{1.14}$(NbSe$_2$) with the critical temperature $T_c$ of 1.23 K. The temperature dependence of the upper critical field $B_{c2\parallel ab}(T)$ for a field orientation along the conducting $(ab)$-planes displays a characteristic upturn at 1.1 K and below this temperature the angular dependence of $B_{c2}$ has a cusp around the parallel field orientation. Both these typical features are observed for the first time in a naturally crystalline layered system.Comment: 7 pages incl. 3 figure

Bond breaking in vibrationally excited methane on transition metal catalysts

The role of vibrational excitation of a single mode in the scattering of methane is studied by wave packet simulations of oriented CH4 and CD4 molecules from a flat surface. All nine internal vibrations are included. In the translational energy range from 32 up to 128 kJ/mol we find that initial vibrational excitations enhance the transfer of translational energy towards vibrational energy and increase the accessibility of the entrance channel for dissociation. Our simulations predict that initial vibrational excitations of the asymmetrical stretch (nu_3) and especially the symmetrical stretch (nu_1) modes will give the highest enhancement of the dissociation probability of methane.Comment: 4 pages REVTeX, 2 figures (eps), to be published in Phys. Rev. B. (See also arXiv:physics.chem-ph/0003031). Journal version at http://publish.aps.org/abstract/PRB/v61/p1565

The XMM-Newton EPIC Background and the production of Background Blank Sky Event Files

We describe in detail the nature of XMM-Newton EPIC background and its various complex components, summarising the new findings of the XMM-Newton EPIC background working group, and provide XMM-Newton background blank sky event files for use in the data analysis of diffuse and extended sources. Blank sky event file data sets are produced from the stacking of data, taken from 189 observations resulting from the Second XMM-Newton Serendipitous Source Catalogue (2XMMp) reprocessing. The data underwent several filtering steps, using a revised and improved method over previous work, which we describe in detail. We investigate several properties of the final blank sky data sets. The user is directed to the location of the final data sets. There is a final data set for each EPIC instrument-filter-mode combination.Comment: Paper accepted by A&A 22 December 2006. 14 pages, 8 figures. Paper can also be found at http://www.star.le.ac.uk/~jac48/publications

Domain wall structure in magnetic bilayers with perpendicular anisotropy

We study the magnetic domain wall structure in magnetic bilayers (two ultrathin ferromagnetic layers separated by a non magnetic spacer) with perpendicular magnetization. Combining magnetic force and ballistic electron emission microscopies, we are able to reveal the details of the magnetic structure of the wall with a high spatial accuracy. In these layers, we show that the classical Bloch wall observed in single layers transforms into superposed N\'eel walls due to the magnetic coupling between the ferromagnetic layers. Quantitative agreement with micromagnetic calculations is achieved.Comment: Author adresses AB, SR, JM and AT: Laboratoire de Physique des Solides, CNRS, Universit\'e Paris Sud, UMR 8502, 91405 Orsay Cedex, France ML : Laboratoire PMTM, Institut Galil\'ee, CNRS, Universit\'e Paris-13, UPR 9001, 93430 Villetaneuse, Franc

The H-alpha and Infrared Star Formation Rates for the Nearby Field Galaxy Survey

We investigate the H-alpha and infrared star formation rate (SFR) diagnostics for galaxies in the Nearby Field Galaxy Survey (NFGS). For the 81 galaxies in our sample, we derive H-alpha fluxes (included here) from integrated spectra. There is a strong correlation between the ratio of far-infrared to optical luminosities L(FIR)/L(H-alpha) and the extinction E(B-V) measured with the Balmer decrement. Before reddening correction, the SFR(IR) and SFR(H-alpha) are related to each other by a power-law. Correction of the SFR(H-alpha) for extinction using the Balmer decrement and a classical reddening curve both reduces the scatter in the SFR(IR)-SFR(H-alpha) correlation and results in a much closer agreement (within ~10%) between the two SFR indicators. This SFR relationship spans 4 orders of magnitude and holds for all Hubble types with IRAS detections in the NFGS. A constant ratio between the SFR(IR) and SFR(H-alpha) for all Hubble types, including early types (S0-Sab), suggests that the IR emission in all of these objects results from a young stellar population.Comment: 23 pages, 5 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journal. V2: Important changes: IRAS fluxes updated. Only moderate and good quality IRAS FIR fluxes are now used, resulting in slight changes to the equations and figures. The IR and H-alpha SFRs now agree to within ~10%, rather than ~30% as quoted previousl