Permutation-invariant distance between atomic configurations

We present a permutation-invariant distance between atomic configurations, defined through a functional representation of atomic positions. This distance enables to directly compare different atomic environments with an arbitrary number of particles, without going through a space of reduced dimensionality (i.e. fingerprints) as an intermediate step. Moreover, this distance is naturally invariant through permutations of atoms, avoiding the time consuming associated minimization required by other common criteria (like the Root Mean Square Distance). Finally, the invariance through global rotations is accounted for by a minimization procedure in the space of rotations solved by Monte Carlo simulated annealing. A formal framework is also introduced, showing that the distance we propose verifies the property of a metric on the space of atomic configurations. Two examples of applications are proposed. The first one consists in evaluating faithfulness of some fingerprints (or descriptors), i.e. their capacity to represent the structural information of a configuration. The second application concerns structural analysis, where our distance proves to be efficient in discriminating different local structures and even classifying their degree of similarity

Surface-induced near-field scaling in the Knudsen layer of a rarefied gas

We report on experiments performed within the Knudsen boundary layer of a low-pressure gas. The non-invasive probe we use is a suspended nano-electro-mechanical string (NEMS), which interacts with $^4$He gas at cryogenic temperatures. When the pressure $P$ is decreased, a reduction of the damping force below molecular friction $\propto P$ had been first reported in Phys. Rev. Lett. Vol 113, 136101 (2014) and never reproduced since. We demonstrate that this effect is independent of geometry, but dependent on temperature. Within the framework of kinetic theory, this reduction is interpreted as a rarefaction phenomenon, carried through the boundary layer by a deviation from the usual Maxwell-Boltzmann equilibrium distribution induced by surface scattering. Adsorbed atoms are shown to play a key role in the process, which explains why room temperature data fail to reproduce it.Comment: Article plus supplementary materia

Representation of Indigenous peoples in climate change reporting

This article examines how newspapers reporting on climate change have covered and framed Indigenous peoples. Focusing on eight newspapers in Canada, the USA, Australia, and New Zealand, we examine articles published from 1995 to 2015, and analyze them using content and framing analyses. The impacts of climate change are portrayed as having severe ecological, sociocultural, and health/safety impacts for Indigenous peoples, who are often framed as victims and “harbingers” of climate change. There is a strong focus on stories reporting on the Arctic. The lack of substantive discussion of colonialism or marginalization in the reviewed stories limits media portrayal of the structural roots of vulnerability, rendering climate change as a problem for, rather than of society. Indigenous and traditional knowledge is widely discussed, but principally as a means of corroborating scientific knowledge, or in accordance with romanticized portrayals of Indigenous peoples. Widespread disparities in the volume, content, and framing of coverage are also observed across the four nations

On the thermodynamic limit of form factors in the massless XXZ Heisenberg chain

We consider the problem of computing form factors of the massless XXZ Heisenberg spin-1/2 chain in a magnetic field in the (thermodynamic) limit where the size M of the chain becomes large. For that purpose, we take the particular example of the matrix element of the third component of spin between the ground state and an excited state with one particle and one hole located at the opposite ends of the Fermi interval (umklapp-type term). We exhibit its power-law decrease in terms of the size of the chain M, and compute the corresponding exponent and amplitude. As a consequence, we show that this form factor is directly related to the amplitude of the leading oscillating term in the long-distance asymptotic expansion of the two-point correlation function of the third component of spin.Comment: 28 page

Large distance asymptotic behavior of the emptiness formation probability of the XXZ spin-1/2 Heisenberg chain

Using its multiple integral representation, we compute the large distance asymptotic behavior of the emptiness formation probability of the XXZ spin-1/2 Heisenberg chain in the massless regime.Comment: LPENSL-TH-10, 8 page

Domain wall partition functions and KP

We observe that the partition function of the six vertex model on a finite square lattice with domain wall boundary conditions is (a restriction of) a KP tau function and express it as an expectation value of charged free fermions (up to an overall normalization).Comment: 16 pages, LaTeX2

The R-matrix structure of the Euler-Calogero-Moser model

We construct the $r$-matrix for the generalization of the Calogero-Moser system introduced by Gibbons and Hermsen. By reduction procedures we obtain the $r$-matrix for the $O(N)$ Euler-Calogero-Moser model and for the standard $A_N$ Calogero-Moser model.Comment: 7 page

Computation of dynamical correlation functions of Heisenberg chains in a field

We compute the momentum- and frequency-dependent longitudinal spin structure factor for the one-dimensional spin-1/2 $XXZ$ Heisenberg spin chain in a magnetic field, using exact determinant representations for form factors on the lattice. Multiparticle contributions are computed numerically throughout the Brillouin zone, yielding saturation of the sum rule to high precision.Comment: 4 pages, 14 figure