Higher-Order Band Topology in Twisted Moiré Superlattice

The two-dimensional (2D) twisted bilayer materials with van der Waals coupling have ignited great research interests, paving a new way to explore the emergent quantum phenomena by twist degree of freedom. Generally, with the decreasing of twist angle, the enhanced interlayer coupling will gradually flatten the low-energy bands and isolate them by two high-energy gaps at zero and full filling, respectively. Although the correlation and topological physics in the low-energy flat bands have been intensively studied, little information is available for these two emerging gaps. In this Letter, we predict a 2D second-order topological insulator (SOTI) for twisted bilayer graphene and twisted bilayer boron nitride in both zero and full filling gaps. Employing a tight-binding Hamiltonian based on first-principles calculations, three unique fingerprints of 2D SOTI are identified, that is, nonzero bulk topological index, gapped topological edge state, and in-gap topological corner state. Most remarkably, the 2D SOTI exists in a wide range of commensurate twist angles, which is robust to microscopic structure disorder and twist center, greatly facilitating the possible experimental measurement. Our results not only extend the higher-order band topology to massless and massive twisted moiré superlattice, but also demonstrate the importance of high-energy bands for fully understanding the nontrivial electronics

Metamorphic testing for web services: Framework and a case study

Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) has become a major application development paradigm. As a basic unit of SOA applications, Web services significantly affect the quality of the applications constructed from them. Since the development and consumption of Web services are completely separated under SOA environment, the consumers are normally provided with limited knowledge of the services and thus have little information about test oracles. The lack of source code and the restricted control of Web services limit the testability of Web services. To address the prominent oracle problem when testing Web services, we propose a metamorphic testing framework for Web services taking into account the unique features of SOA. We conduct a case study where the new metamorphic testing framework is employed to test a Web service that implements the electronic payment. The results of case study show the feasibility of the framework for web services, and also the efficiency of metamorphic testing. The work presented in the paper alleviates the test oracle problem when testing Web services under SOA

A metamorphic relation-based approach to testing web services without oracles

Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) has become a major application development paradigm. As a basic unit of SOA applications, Web services significantly affect the quality of the applications constructed from them. In the context of SOA, the specification and implementation of Web services are completely separated. The lack of source code and the restricted control of Web services limit the testability of Web services, and make the oracle problem prominent. In this context, can one alleviate the test oracle problem, or effectively and efficiently test such Web services even without oracles? It is an important issue which has not been yet adequately addressed. To address the challenge of testing Web services, the authors propose a metamorphic relation-based approach to testing Web services without oracles. The proposed approach leverages so-called metamorphic relations to generate test cases and evaluate test results. To make the proposed approach practical and effective, the authors proposed a framework taking into account the unique features of SOA, and developed a prototype which partially automates the framework. Three case studies are conducted to validate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed approach. The work presented in the paper not only alleviates the test oracle problem of testing Web services, but also delivers an effective and efficient test technique without oracles

Structural study on hole-doped superconductors Pr1-xSrxFeAsO

The structural details in Pr1-xSrxFeAsO (1111) superconducting system are analyzed using data obtained from synchrotron X-ray diffraction and the structural parameters are carefully studied as the system is moving from non-superconducting to hole-doped superconducting with the Sr concentration. Superconductivity emerges when the Sr doping amount reaches 0.221. The linear increase of the lattice constants proves that Sr is successfully introduced into the system and its concentration can accurately be determined by the electron density analyses. The evolution of structural parameters with Sr concentration in Pr1-xSrxFeAsO and their comparison to other similar structural parameters of the related Fe-based superconductors suggest that the interlayer space between the conducting As-Fe-As layer and the insulating Pr-O-Pr layer is important for improving Tc in the hole-doped (1111) superconductors, which seems to be different from electron-doped systems.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures, 1 tabl

Fermion Masses and Mixing and CP-Violation in SO(10) Models with Family Symmetries

Several ideas for solving the problem of fermion mass hierarchy and mixing and specific supersymmetric models that realize it are reviewed. In particular, we discuss many models based on SO(10) in four dimensions combined with a family symmetry to accommodate fermion mass hierarchy and mixing, including the case of neutrinos. These models are compared and various tests that can be used to distinguish these models are suggested. We also include a discussion of a few SO(10) models in higher space-time dimensions.Comment: 66 pages; 5 figures; Submitted to International Journal of Modern Physics A; v2: a few references added; some changes in tex

Insights into the Anaerobic Biodegradation Pathway of n-Alkanes in Oil Reservoirs by Detection of Signature Metabolites

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Anti-Stokes Excitation of Solid-State Quantum Emitters for Nanoscale Thermometry

© 2019 The Author(s) 2019 OSA. We report the first demonstration of Anti-Stokes excitation on a single solid-state quantum emitter-namely the germanium-vacancy center in diamond and its application as a high-sensitive nanoscale thermal sensor

Possible high temperature superconductivity in Ti-doped A-Sc-Fe-As-O (A= Ca, Sr) system

We report a systematic study on the effect of partial substitution of Sc$^{3+}$ by Ti$^{4+}$ in Sr$_{2}$ScFeAsO$_{3}$, Ca$_{2}$ScFeAsO$_{3}$ and Sr$_{3}$Sc$_{2}$Fe$_{2}$As$_{2}$O$_{5}$ on their electrical properties. High level of doping results in an increased carrier concentration and leads to the appearance of superconductivity with the onset of T$_{c}$ up to 45 K.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, 2 new figure

A Robust Registration Method for Multi-view SAR Images based on Best Buddy Similarity

Due to the influence of imaging angle and terrain undulation, multi-view synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images are difficult to be directly registered by traditional methods. Although feature matching solves the issue of image rotation and maintains scale invariance, these methods often lead to non-uniformity of interest points and may not achieve subpixel accuracy. The traditional template matching method makes it difficult to generate correct matches for multi-view SAR oblique images. In this paper, a multi-view SAR image template matching method based on Best Buddy Similarity (BBS) is proposed to solve the traditional methods' problem. Firstly, the initial correspondences between images are established according to the Range-Doppler model of SAR images. Secondly, a sliding window search is performed on the established correspondence, the BBS is calculated, and the subpixel locations of the peaks on the similarity map are estimated to achieve a fine match. In the calculation process of BBS, the SAR-ROEWA operator is used to suppress the speckle noise of SAR images. The experiment demonstrated that SAR-BBS can accurately match SAR images with large rotation angle. The peak value on the search window is significant. The registration accuracy of SAR-BBS outperforms the other state-of-the-art methods

Preparation of intergrown P/O-type biphasic layered oxides as high-performance cathodes for sodium ion batteries

This study reports on the solid-state synthesis and characterization of novel quaternary P/O intergrown biphasic Na$_{0.8}$MnyNi$_{0.8-y}$Fe$_{0.1}$Ti$_{0.1}$O$_{2}$ (y = 0.6, 0.55, 0.5, 0.45) cathode materials. Electrochemical tests reveal superior performance of the P/O biphasic materials in a sodium ion battery compared to the single P2 or O3 phases, proving the beneficial effect of the intergrowth of P2 and O3 materials. The nature of the P/O interface was studied by transmission electron microscopy. The analysis shows a semi-coherent interface grown along the a/b and c axes with local differences in the transition metal concentration along the interface between the two phases. EDX and EELS characterization revealed a charge compensation mechanism across the phase boundary based on variation of the transition element distribution, balancing the different sodium contents in the P and O phases. The results reported in this study provide a better understanding of P/O biphasic materials