Computer-aided classification for remote sensing in agriculture and forestry in Northern Italy

A set of results concerning the processing and analysis of data from LANDSAT satellite and airborne scanner is presented. The possibility of performing inventories of irrigated crops-rice, planted groves-poplars, and natural forests in the mountians-beeches and chestnuts, is investigated in the Po valley and in an alphine site of Northern Italy. Accuracies around 95% or better, 70% and 60% respectively are achieved by using LANDSAT data and supervised classification. Discrimination of rice varieties is proved with 8 channels data from airborne scanner, processed after correction of the atmospheric effect due to the scanning angle, with and without linear feature selection of the data. The accuracies achieved range from 65% to more than 80%. The best results are obtained with the maximum likelihood classifier for normal parameters but rather close results are derived by using a modified version of the weighted euclidian distance between points, with consequent decrease in computing time around a factor 3

Origin of Superconductivity in Boron-doped Diamond

Superconductivity of boron-doped diamond, reported recently at T_c=4 K, is investigated exploiting its electronic and vibrational analogies to MgB2. The deformation potential of the hole states arising from the C-C bond stretch mode is 60% larger than the corresponding quantity in MgB2 that drives its high Tc, leading to very large electron-phonon matrix elements. The calculated coupling strength \lambda ~ 0.5 leads to T_c in the 5-10 K range and makes phonon coupling the likely mechanism. Higher doping should increase T_c somewhat, but effects of three dimensionality primarily on the density of states keep doped diamond from having a T_c closer to that of MgB2.Comment: Four pages with two embedded figures, corrected fig1. (To appear in Physical Review Letters(2004)

Pressure Dependence of the Elastic Moduli in Aluminum Rich Al-Li Compounds

I have carried out numerical first principles calculations of the pressure dependence of the elastic moduli for several ordered structures in the Aluminum-Lithium system, specifically FCC Al, FCC and BCC Li, L1_2 Al_3Li, and an ordered FCC Al_7Li supercell. The calculations were performed using the full potential linear augmented plane wave method (LAPW) to calculate the total energy as a function of strain, after which the data was fit to a polynomial function of the strain to determine the modulus. A procedure for estimating the errors in this process is also given. The predicted equilibrium lattice parameters are slightly smaller than found experimentally, consistent with other LDA calculations. The computed elastic moduli are within approximately 10% of the experimentally measured moduli, provided the calculations are carried out at the experimental lattice constant. The LDA equilibrium shear modulus C11-C12 increases from 59.3 GPa in Al, to 76.0 GPa in Al_7Li, to 106.2 GPa in Al_3Li. The modulus C_44 increases from 38.4 GPa in Al to 46.1 GPa in Al_7Li, then falls to 40.7 GPa in Al_3Li. All of the calculated elastic moduli increase with pressure with the exception of BCC Li, which becomes elastically unstable at about 2 GPa, where C_11-C_12 vanishes.Comment: 17 pages (REVTEX) + 7 postscript figure

Dynamical properties of Au from tight-binding molecular-dynamics simulations

We studied the dynamical properties of Au using our previously developed tight-binding method. Phonon-dispersion and density-of-states curves at T=0 K were determined by computing the dynamical-matrix using a supercell approach. In addition, we performed molecular-dynamics simulations at various temperatures to obtain the temperature dependence of the lattice constant and of the atomic mean-square-displacement, as well as the phonon density-of-states and phonon-dispersion curves at finite temperature. We further tested the transferability of the model to different atomic environments by simulating liquid gold. Whenever possible we compared these results to experimental values.Comment: 7 pages, 9 encapsulated Postscript figures, submitted to Physical Review

Stacking-fault energies for Ag, Cu, and Ni from empirical tight-binding potentials

The intrinsic stacking-fault energies and free energies for Ag, Cu, and Ni are derived from molecular-dynamics simulations using the empirical tight-binding potentials of Cleri and Rosato [Phys. Rev. B 48, 22 (1993)]. While the results show significant deviations from experimental data, the general trend between the elements remains correct. This allows to use the potentials for qualitative comparisons between metals with high and low stacking-fault energies. Moreover, the effect of stacking faults on the local vibrational properties near the fault is examined. It turns out that the stacking fault has the strongest effect on modes in the center of the transverse peak and its effect is localized in a region of approximately eight monolayers around the defect.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Chemical Kinetic Models for HCCI and Diesel Combustion

Predictive engine simulation models are needed to make rapid progress towards DOE's goals of increasing combustion engine efficiency and reducing pollutant emissions. These engine simulation models require chemical kinetic submodels to allow the prediction of the effect of fuel composition on engine performance and emissions. Chemical kinetic models for conventional and next-generation transportation fuels need to be developed so that engine simulation tools can predict fuel effects. The objectives are to: (1) Develop detailed chemical kinetic models for fuel components used in surrogate fuels for diesel and HCCI engines; (2) Develop surrogate fuel models to represent real fuels and model low temperature combustion strategies in HCCI and diesel engines that lead to low emissions and high efficiency; and (3) Characterize the role of fuel composition on low temperature combustion modes of advanced combustion engines

Second harmonic light scattering induced by defects in the twist-bend nematic phase of liquid crystal dimers

The nematic twist-bend (NTB) phase, exhibited by certain thermotropic liquid crystalline (LC) dimers, represents a new orientationally ordered mesophase -- the first distinct nematic variant discovered in many years. The NTB phase is distinguished by a heliconical winding of the average molecular long axis (director) with a remarkably short (nanoscale) pitch and, in systems of achiral dimers, with an equal probability to form right- and left-handed domains. The NTB structure thus provides another fascinating example of spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking in nature. The order parameter driving the formation of the heliconical state has been theoretically conjectured to be a polarization field, deriving from the bent conformation of the dimers, that rotates helically with the same nanoscale pitch as the director field. It therefore presents a significant challenge for experimental detection. Here we report a second harmonic light scattering (SHLS) study on two achiral, NTB-forming LCs, which is sensitive to the polarization field due to micron-scale distortion of the helical structure associated with naturally-occurring textural defects. These defects are parabolic focal conics of smectic-like ``pseudo-layers", defined by planes of equivalent phase in a coarse-grained description of the NTB state. Our SHLS data are explained by a coarse-grained free energy density that combines a Landau-deGennes expansion of the polarization field, the elastic energy of a nematic, and a linear coupling between the two