15,938 research outputs found
Failure Probabilities and Tough-Brittle Crossover of Heterogeneous Materials with Continuous Disorder
The failure probabilities or the strength distributions of heterogeneous 1D
systems with continuous local strength distribution and local load sharing have
been studied using a simple, exact, recursive method. The fracture behavior
depends on the local bond-strength distribution, the system size, and the
applied stress, and crossovers occur as system size or stress changes. In the
brittle region, systems with continuous disorders have a failure probability of
the modified-Gumbel form, similar to that for systems with percolation
disorder. The modified-Gumbel form is of special significance in weak-stress
situations. This new recursive method has also been generalized to calculate
exactly the failure probabilities under various boundary conditions, thereby
illustrating the important effect of surfaces in the fracture process.Comment: 9 pages, revtex, 7 figure
Optical Control of Topological Quantum Transport in Semiconductors
Intense coherent laser radiation red-detuned from absorption edge can
reactively activate sizable Hall type charge and spin transport in n-doped
paramagnetic semiconductors as a consequence of k-space Berry curvature
transferred from valence band to photon-dressed conduction band. In the
presence of disorder, the optically induced Hall conductance can change sign
with laser intensity.Comment: to appear in Phys. Rev. Let
Quantization and Corrections of Adiabatic Particle Transport in a Periodic Ratchet Potential
We study the transport of an overdamped particle adiabatically driven by an
asymmetric potential which is periodic in both space and time. We develop an
adiabatic perturbation theory after transforming the Fokker-Planck equation
into a time-dependent hermitian problem, and reveal an analogy with quantum
adiabatic particle transport. An analytical expression is obtained for the
ensemble average of the particle velocity in terms of the Berry phase of the
Bloch states. Its time average is shown to be quantized as a Chern number in
the deterministic or tight-binding limit, with exponentially small corrections.
In the opposite limit, where the thermal energy dominates the ratchet
potential, a formula for the average velocity is also obtained, showing a
second order dependence on the potential.Comment: 8 page
An analytical model of transducer array arrangement for guided wave excitation and propagation on cylindrical structures
Ultrasonic guided wave (GW) inspection is one of the non-destructive testing (NDT) techniques available for the engineering structures. Compared with other NDT techniques, guided waves can propagate a long distance with a relatively high sensitivity to defects in the structure. In order to increase the performance for pipe inspections to meet higher requirements under different conditions, the optimisation of piezoelectric transducer array design is still a need, as the technique is currently subject to a complex analysis due to wide number of guided wave modes generated. This can be done by optimising the transducer array design. In this paper, it is described an analytical mode of a set of piezoelectric transducer arrays upon torsional wave mode T(0,1) excitation in a tubular structure. The proposed analytical model for predicting signal propagation is validated by using finite element analysis in ABAQUS and three-dimensional laser vibrometer experiments for transducer array characterisations. The proposed analytical model works well and very fast for simulating transducer excitation and wave propagation along cylindrical structures. This will significantly reduce the complexity of guided wave analysis, enhancing effectively the structural health of structures and subsequently reducing the industry maintenance cost
Topological Crystalline Insulator and Quantum Anomalous Hall States in IV-VI based Monolayers and their Quantum Wells
Different from the two-dimensional (2D) topological insulator, the 2D
topological crystalline insulator (TCI) phase disappears when the mirror
symmetry is broken, e.g., upon placing on a substrate. Here, based on a new
family of 2D TCIs - SnTe and PbTe monolayers - we theoretically predict the
realization of the quantum anomalous Hall effect with Chern number C = 2 even
when the mirror symmetry is broken. Remarkably, we also demonstrate that the
considered materials retain their large-gap topological properties in quantum
well structures obtained by sandwiching the monolayers between NaCl layers. Our
results demonstrate that the TCIs can serve as a seed for observing robust
topologically non-trivial phases.Comment: 5 pages, submitted on 27th Feb 201
Berry phase effect in anomalous thermoelectric transport
We develop a theory of Berry phase effect in anomalous transport in
ferromagnets driven by statistical forces such as the gradient of temperature
or chemical potential. Here a charge Hall current arises from the Berry phase
correction to the orbital magnetization rather than from the anomalous velocity
which does not exist in the absence of a mechanical force. A finite-temperature
formula for the orbital magnetization is derived, which enables us to provide
an explicit expression for the off-diagonal thermoelectric conductivity, to
establish the Mott relation between the anomalous Nernst and Hall effects, and
to reaffirm the Onsager relations between reciprocal thermoelectric
conductivities. A first-principles evaluation of our expression is carried out
for the material CuCrSeBr, obtaining quantitative agreement
with a recent experiment.Comment: Published version in PR
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