1,246 research outputs found
Observation of the onset of strong scattering on high frequency acoustic phonons in densified silica glass
The linewidth of longitudinal acoustic waves in densified silica glass is
obtained by inelastic x-ray scattering. It increases with a high power alpha of
the frequency up to a crossover where the waves experience strong scattering.
We find that \alpha is at least 4, and probably larger. Resonance and
hybridization of acoustic waves with the boson-peak modes seems to be a more
likely explanation for these findings than Rayleigh scattering from disorder.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev. Letter
Universal behavior of internal friction in glasses below T : anharmonicity vs relaxation
Comparison of the internal friction at hypersonic frequencies between a few K
and the glass transition temperature Tg for various glasses brings out general
features. At low temperature, internal friction is only weakly dependent on the
material. At high temperature but still below Tg the internal friction for
strong glasses shows a T-independent plateau in a very wide domain of
temperature; in contrast, for fragile glass, a nearly linear variation of
internal friction with T is observed. Anharmonicity appears dominant over
thermally activated relaxational processes at high temperature.Comment: accepted in Physical Review
Scaling the Temperature-dependent Boson Peak of Vitreous Silica with the high-frequency Bulk Modulus derived from Brillouin Scattering Data
The position and strength of the boson peak in silica glass vary considerably
with temperature . Such variations cannot be explained solely with changes
in the Debye energy. New Brillouin scattering measurements are presented which
allow determining the -dependence of unrelaxed acoustic velocities. Using a
velocity based on the bulk modulus, scaling exponents are found which agree
with the soft-potential model. The unrelaxed bulk modulus thus appears to be a
good measure for the structural evolution of silica with and to set the
energy scale for the soft potentials.Comment: Accepted for publication in Physical Review Letter
The Boson Peak and its Relation with Acoustic Attenuation in Glasses
Experimental results on the density of states and on the acoustic modes of
glasses in the THz region are compared to the predictions of two categories of
models. A recent one, solely based on an elastic instability, does not account
for most observations. Good agreement without adjustable parameters is obtained
with models including the existence of non-acoustic vibrational modes at THz
frequency, providing in many cases a comprehensive picture for a range of glass
anomalies.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, Physical Review Letters in pres
Brahim ag Abakada, Amghar des Ajjers
Brahim ag Abakada, plus connu chez les Français sous le nom de Caïd Brahim, est né vers 1885 à Ghat. Son père était un. Oghaghen de la fraction des Kel-Imirho et sa mère une toubbou nommée Mia. Pendant toute sa jeunesse, du fait de l’origine de sa mère, il ne fut pas traité avec considération par son oncle Boubaker ag Legoui et son cousin Khoussini. Aussi, dès qu’il le put, Brahim s’empressa de quitter Ghat pour s’installer dans le Tassili, près de ses imrads, partageant sa vie entre l’Oued I..
Charge migration engineered by localisation: electron-nuclear dynamics in polyenes and glycine
We demonstrate that charge migration can be ‘engineered’ in arbitrary molecular systems if a single localised orbital – that diabatically follows nuclear displacements – is ionised. Specifically, we describe the use of natural bonding orbitals in Complete Active Space Configuration Interaction (CASCI) calculations to form cationic states with localised charge, providing consistently well-defined initial conditions across a zero point energy vibrational ensemble of molecular geometries. In Ehrenfest dynamics simulations following localised ionisation of -electrons in model polyenes (hexatriene and decapentaene) and -electrons in glycine, oscillatory charge migration can be observed for several femtoseconds before dephasing. Including nuclear motion leads to slower dephasing compared to fixed-geometry electron-only dynamics results. For future work, we discuss the possibility of designing laser pulses that would lead to charge migration that is experimentally observable, based on the proposed diabatic orbital approach
Utility of DNA methylation as a biomarker in ageing and Alzheimer’s disease
Epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation have been implicated in a number of diseases including cancer, heart disease, autoimmune disorders, and neurodegenerative diseases. While it is recognized that DNA methylation is tissue-specific, a limitation for many studies is the ability to sample the tissue of interest, which is why there is a need for a proxy tissue such as blood, that is reflective of the methylation state of the target tissue. In the last decade, DNA methylation has been utilized in the design of epigenetic clocks, which aim to predict an individual’s biological age based on an algorithmically defined set of CpGs. A number of studies have found associations between disease and/or disease risk with increased biological age, adding weight to the theory of increased biological age being linked with disease processes. Hence, this review takes a closer look at the utility of DNA methylation as a biomarker in aging and disease, with a particular focus on Alzheimer’s disease
Electron dynamics following photoionization: decoherence due to the nuclear-wave-packet width
The advent of attosecond techniques opens up the possibility to observe experimentally electron dynamics following ionization of molecules. Theoretical studies of pure electron dynamics at single fixed nuclear geometries in molecules have demonstrated oscillatory charge migration at a well-defined frequency but often neglecting the natural width of the nuclear wave packet. The effect on electron dynamics of the spatial delocalization of the nuclei is an outstanding question. Here, we show how the inherent distribution of nuclear geometries leads to dephasing. Using a simple analytical model, we demonstrate that the conditions for a long-lived electronic coherence are a narrow nuclear wave packet and almost parallel potential-energy surfaces of the states involved. We demonstrate with numerical simulations the decoherence of electron dynamics for two real molecular systems (paraxylene and polycyclic norbornadiene), which exhibit different decoherence time scales. To represent the quantum distribution of geometries of the nuclear wave packet, the Wigner distribution function is used. The electron dynamics decoherence result has significant implications for the interpretation of attosecond spectroscopy experiments since one no longer expects long-lived oscillations
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