10,643 research outputs found
Experimental and computational study of the effect of temperature on the electro-polymerization process of Thiophene
Temperature effect on the nucleation and growth mechanisms (NGM) of poly(thiophene) (PTh) was investigated through experimental and computational tools. The computational simulation method was based on a kinetic Monte Carlo algorithm. It reproduced key processes such as diffusion, oligomerization, and the precipitation of oligomers onto the electrode surface. Electrochemical synthesis conditions at temperatures between 263 and 303 K were optimized. The deconvolution of the i-t transients reflected two contributions: a progressive nucleation with three-dimensional growth controlled by diffusion and the other by charge transfer, PN3Ddif and PN3Dct, respectively. As temperature decreased, a diminution of the charge associated to each contribution was observed and the nucleation induction time increased. Experimental and computational evidence indicated that temperature does not change the nucleation and growth mechanism (NGM). This effect was ascribed to kinetic factors rather than to film conductivity. This work contrasts simulation and experimental evidence and demonstrates how computational simulations can help to understand the electrochemical process of conducting polymers formation.Fil: Camarada, María Belén. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile; Chile. Universidad de Talca; ChileFil: Romero, M.. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile; ChileFil: Gimenez, Maria Cecilia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola; ArgentinaFil: Schmickler, Wolfgang. Universitat Ulm; AlemaniaFil: del Valle, M. A.. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile; Chil
Production and decays of supersymmetric Higgs bosons in spontaneously broken R-parity
We study the mass spectra, production and decay properties of the lightest
supersymmetric CP-even and CP-odd Higgs bosons in models with spontaneously
broken R-parity (SBRP). We compare the resulting mass spectra with expectations
of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM), stressing that the model
obeys the upper bound on the lightest CP-even Higgs boson mass. We discuss how
the presence of the additional scalar singlet states affects the Higgs
production cross sections, both for the Bjorken process and the "associated
production". The main phenomenological novelty with respect to the MSSM comes
from the fact that the spontaneous breaking of lepton number leads to the
existence of the majoron, denoted J, which opens new decay channels for
supersymmetric Higgs bosons. We find that the invisible decays of CP-even
Higgses can be dominant, while those of the CP-odd bosons may also be sizeable.Comment: 21 pages, 8 figures; minor changes, final version for publicatio
Superconducting/magnetic three state nanodevice for memory and reading applications
We present a simple nanodevice that can operate in two modes: i) three-state
memory and ii) reading device. The nanodevice is fabricated with an array of
ordered triangular-shaped nanomagnets embedded in a superconducting thin film.
The input signal is ac current and the output signal is dc voltage. Vortex
ratchet effect in combination with out of plane magnetic anisotropy of the
nanomagnets is the background physics which governs the nanodevice performance.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure
Effective penetration length and interstitial vortex pinning in superconducting films with regular arrays of defects
In order to compare magnetic and non-magnetic pinning we have nanostructured
two superconducting films with regular arrays of pinning centers: Cu
(non-magnetic) dots in one case, and Py (magnetic) dots in the other. For low
applied magnetic fields, when all the vortices are pinned in the artificial
inclusions, magnetic dots prove to be better pinning centers, as has been
generally accepted. Unexpectedly, when the magnetic field is increased and
interstitial vortices appear, the results are very different: we show how the
stray field generated by the magnetic dots can produce an effective reduction
of the penetration length. This results in strong consequences in the transport
properties, which, depending on the dot separation, can lead to an enhancement
or worsening of the transport characteristics. Therefore, the election of the
magnetic or non-magnetic character of the pinning sites for an effective
reduction of dissipation will depend on the range of the applied magnetic
field.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure
Predicting Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay
We give predictions for the neutrinoless double beta decay rate in a simple
variant of the A_4 family symmetry model. We show that there is a lower bound
for the neutrinoless double beta decay amplitude even in the case of normal
hierarchical neutrino masses, corresponding to an effective mass parameter
|m_{ee}| >= 0.17 \sqrt{\Delta m^2_{ATM}}. This result holds both for the CP
conserving and CP violating cases. In the latter case we show explicitly that
the lower bound on |m_{ee}| is sensitive to the value of the Majorana phase. We
conclude therefore that in our scheme, neutrinoless double beta decay may be
accessible to the next generation of high sensitivity experiments.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, 1 tabl
On the spectroscopy of quantum dots in microcavities
At the occasion of the OECS conference in Madrid, we give a succinct account
of some recent predictions in the spectroscopy of a quantum dot in a
microcavity that remain to be observed experimentally, sometimes within the
reach of the current state of the art.Comment: OECS11 Conference proceedings, in editor style. 4 pages, 1 figure.
Animations provided separatel
Two-photon spectra of quantum emitters
We apply our recently developed theory of frequency-filtered and
time-resolved N-photon correlations to study the two-photon spectra of a
variety of systems of increasing complexity: single mode emitters with two
limiting statistics (one harmonic oscillator or a two-level system) and the
various combinations that arise from their coupling. We consider both the
linear and nonlinear regimes under incoherent excitation. We find that even the
simplest systems display a rich dynamics of emission, not accessible by simple
single photon spectroscopy. In the strong coupling regime, novel two-photon
emission processes involving virtual states are revealed. Furthermore, two
general results are unraveled by two-photon correlations with narrow linewidth
detectors: i) filtering induced bunching and ii) breakdown of the
semi-classical theory. We show how to overcome this shortcoming in a
fully-quantized picture.Comment: 27 pages, 8 figure
Degenerate neutrinos from a supersymmetric A_4 model
We investigate the supersymmetric A_4 model recently proposed by Babu, Ma and
Valle. The model naturally gives quasi-degenerate neutrinos that are bi-largely
mixed, in agreement with observations. Furthermore, the mixings in the quark
sector are constrained to be small, making it a complete model of the flavor
structure. Moreover, it has the interesting property that CP-violation in the
leptonic sector is maximal (unless vanishing). The model exhibit a close
relation between the slepton and lepton sectors and we derive the slepton
spectra that are compatible with neutrino data and the present bounds on
flavor-violating charged lepton decays. The prediction for the branching ratio
of the decay tau -> mu gamma has a lower limit of 10^{-9}. In addition, the
overall neutrino mass scale is constrained to be larger than 0.3 eV. Thus, the
model will be tested in the very near future.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures. Talk given at the International Workshop on
Astroparticle and High Energy Physics (AHEP), Valencia, Spain, 14-18 Oct.
200
Minimal supergravity radiative effects on the tri-bimaximal neutrino mixing pattern
We study the stability of the Harrison-Perkins-Scott (HPS) mixing pattern,
assumed to hold at some high energy scale, against supersymmetric radiative
corrections. We work in the framework of a reference minimal supergravity model
(mSUGRA) where supersymmetry breaking is universal and flavor-blind at
unification. The radiative corrections considered include both RGE running as
well as threshold effects. We find that in this case the solar mixing angle can
only increase with respect to the HPS reference value, while the atmospheric
and reactor mixing angles remain essentially stable. Deviations from the solar
angle HPS prediction towards lower values would signal novel contributions from
physics beyond the simplest mSUGRA model.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures; added reference; final version for publicatio
- …