5,781 research outputs found
Micrometeorological processes driving snow ablation in an Alpine catchment
Mountain snow covers typically become patchy over the course of a melting season. The snow pattern during melt is mainly governed by the end of winter snow depth distribution and the local energy balance. The objective of this study is to investigate micrometeorological processes driving snow ablation in an Alpine catchment. For this purpose we combine a meteorological model (ARPS) with a fully distributed energy balance model (Alpine3D). Turbulent fluxes above melting snow are further investigated by using data from eddy-correlation systems. We compare modelled snow ablation to measured ablation rates as obtained from a series of Terrestrial Laser Scanning campaigns covering a complete ablation season. The measured ablation rates indicate that the advection of sensible heat causes locally increased ablation rates at the upwind edges of the snow patches. The effect, however, appears to be active over rather short distances except for very strong wind conditions. Neglecting this effect, the model is able to capture the mean ablation rates for early ablation periods but strongly overestimates snow ablation once the fraction of snow coverage is below a critical value. While radiation dominates snow ablation early in the season, the turbulent flux contribution becomes important late in the season. Simulation results indicate that the air temperatures appear to overestimate the local air temperature above snow patches once the snow coverage is below a critical value. Measured turbulent fluxes support these findings by suggesting a stable internal boundary layer close to the snow surface causing a strong decrease of the sensible heat flux towards the snow cover. Thus, the existence of a stable internal boundary layer above a patchy snow cover exerts a dominant control on the timing and magnitude of snow ablation for patchy snow covers.<br/
Ferromagnetic imprinting of spin polarization in a semiconductor
We present a theory of the imprinting of the electron spin coherence and
population in an n-doped semiconductor which forms a junction with a
ferromagnet. The reflection of non-equilibrium semiconductor electrons at the
interface provides a mechanism to manipulate the spin polarization vector. In
the case of unpolarized excitation, this ballistic effect produces spontaneous
electron spin coherence and nuclear polarization in the semiconductor, as
recently observed by time-resolved Faraday rotation experiments. We investigate
the dependence of the spin reflection on the Schottky barrier height and the
doping concentration in the semiconductor and suggest control mechanisms for
possible device applications.Comment: 4 pages with 2 figure
The two-atom energy spectrum in a harmonic trap near a Feshbach resonance at higher partial waves
Two atoms in an optical lattice may be made to interact strongly at higher
partial waves near a Feshbach resonance. These atoms, under appropriate
constraints, could be bosonic or fermionic. The universal energy spectrum
for such a system, with a caveat, is presented in this paper, and checked with
the spectrum obtained by direct numerical integration of the Schr\"odinger
equation. The results reported here extend those of Yip for p-wave resonance
(Phys. Rev. A {\bf 78}, 013612 (2008)), while exploring the limitations of a
universal expression for the spectrum for the higher partial waves.Comment: To be published in Physical Review
Pressure effects in the triangular layered cobaltites NaxCoO2
We have measured transport properties as a function of temperature and
pressure up to 30GPa in the NaxCoO2 system. For the x=0.5 sample the transition
temperature at 53K increases with pressure, while paradoxically the sample
passes from an insulating to a metallic ground state. A similar transition is
observed in the x=0.31 sample under pressure. Compression on the x=0.75 sample
transforms the sample from a metallic to an insulating state. We discuss our
results in terms of interactions between band structure effects and Na+ order.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figure
Doping Dependence of Polaron Hopping Energies in La(1-x)Ca(x)MnO(3) (0<= x<= 0.15)
Measurements of the low-frequency (f<= 100 kHz) permittivity at T<= 160 K and
dc resistivity (T<= 430 K) are reported for La(1-x)Ca(x)MnO(3) (0<= x<= 0.15).
Static dielectric constants are determined from the low-T limiting behavior of
the permittivity. The estimated polarizability for bound holes ~ 10^{-22}
cm^{-3} implies a radius comparable to the interatomic spacing, consistent with
the small polaron picture established from prior transport studies near room
temperature and above on nearby compositions. Relaxation peaks in the
dielectric loss associated with charge-carrier hopping yield activation
energies in good agreement with low-T hopping energies determined from
variable-range hopping fits of the dc resistivity. The doping dependence of
these energies suggests that the orthorhombic, canted antiferromagnetic ground
state tends toward an insulator-metal transition that is not realized due to
the formation of the ferromagnetic insulating state near Mn(4+) concentration ~
0.13.Comment: PRB in press, 5 pages, 6 figure
An economic evaluation of alternative methods of beef production in the prairie area of Mississippi
Spin-dependent electron-impurity scattering in two-dimensional electron systems
We present a theoretical study of elastic spin-dependent electron scattering
caused by a charged impurity in the vicinity of a two-dimensional electron gas.
We find that the symmetry properties of the spin-dependent differential
scattering cross section are different for an impurity located in the plane of
the electron gas and for one at a finite distance from the plane. We show that
in the latter case asymmetric (`skew') scattering can arise if the polarization
of the incident electron has a finite projection on the plane spanned by the
normal vector of the two-dimensional electron gas and the initial propagation
direction. In specially preparated samples this scattering mechanism may give
rise to a Hall-like effect in the presence of an in-plane magnetic field.Comment: 4.1 pages, 2 figure
Interplay of Peltier and Seebeck effects in nanoscale nonlocal spin valves
We have experimentally studied the role of thermoelectric effects in
nanoscale nonlocal spin valve devices. A finite element thermoelectric model is
developed to calculate the generated Seebeck voltages due to Peltier and Joule
heating in the devices. By measuring the first, second and third harmonic
voltage response non locally, the model is experimentally examined. The results
indicate that the combination of Peltier and Seebeck effects contributes
significantly to the nonlocal baseline resistance. Moreover, we found that the
second and third harmonic response signals can be attributed to Joule heating
and temperature dependencies of both Seebeck coefficient and resistivity.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Coulomb corrections to the extrinsic spin-Hall effect of a two-dimensional electron gas
We develop the microscopic theory of the extrinsic spin Hall conductivity of
a two-dimensional electron gas, including skew-scattering, side-jump, and
Coulomb interaction effects. We find that while the spin-Hall conductivity
connected with the side-jump is independent of the strength of
electron-electron interactions, the skew-scattering term is reduced by the
spin-Coulomb drag, so the total spin current and the total spin-Hall
conductivity are reduced for typical experimental mobilities. Further, we
predict that in paramagnetic systems the spin-Coulomb drag reduces the spin
accumulations in two different ways: (i) directly through the reduction of the
skew-scattering contribution (ii) indirectly through the reduction of the spin
diffusion length. Explicit expressions for the various contributions to the
spin Hall conductivity are obtained using an exactly solvable model of the
skew-scattering.Comment: The Coulomb corrections to the spin-Hall conductivity and spin
accumulations to first order in strength of spin-orbit coupling and
electron-electron interactions are include
Thermoelectric phenomena in a quantum dot asymmetrically coupled to external leads
We study thermoelectric phenomena in a system consisting of strongly
correlated quantum dot coupled to external leads in the Kondo regime. We
calculate linear and nonlinear electrical and thermal conductance and
thermopower of the quantum dot and discuss the role of asymmetry in the
couplings to external electrodes. In the linear regime electrical and thermal
conductances are modified, while thermopower remains unchanged. In the
nonlinear regime the Kondo resonance in differential conductance develops at
non-zero source-drain voltage, which has important consequences on
thermoelectric properties of the system and the thermopower starts to depend on
the asymmetry. We also discuss Wiedemann-Franz relation, thermoelectric figure
of merit and validity of the Mott formula for thermopower.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figure
- …