4,574 research outputs found
Adhesion and electronic structure of graphene on hexagonal boron nitride substrates
We investigate the adsorption of graphene sheets on h-BN substrates by means
of first-principles calculations in the framework of adiabatic connection
fluctuation-dissipation theory in the random phase approximation. We obtain
adhesion energies for different crystallographic stacking configurations and
show that the interlayer bonding is due to long-range van der Waals forces. The
interplay of elastic and adhesion energies is shown to lead to stacking
disorder and moir\'e structures. Band structure calculations reveal substrate
induced mass terms in graphene which change their sign with the stacking
configuration. The dispersion, absolute band gaps and the real space shape of
the low energy electronic states in the moir\'e structures are discussed. We
find that the absolute band gaps in the moir\'e structures are at least an
order of magnitude smaller than the maximum local values of the mass term. Our
results are in agreement with recent STM experiments.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures, revised and extended version, to appear in Phys.
Rev.
A new unattached sediment sampler
An improved sediment sampler that is used without winch or wire has been developed, tested, and used at sea. The device employs an expendable iron-ballast, steel-casing combination and a recoverable glass-float, plastic-liner assembly. Of 50 samplers launched in deep water under a variety of conditions, 46 instruments were recovered. Forty-one of these contained samples...
IMF stabilization programs
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Home Energy Displays: Consumer Adoption and Response
The focus of this project was to investigate the factors influencing consumer adoption of Home Energy Displays (HEDs) and to evaluate electricity consumption in households with basic HEDs versus enhanced feedback methods - web portals or alerts. We hypothesized that providing flexible and relatable information to users, in addition to a basic HED, would make feedback more effective and achieve persistent energy savings. In Phase I, we conducted three user research studies and found preferences for aesthetically pleasing, easy to understand feedback that is accessible through multiple media and offered free of charge. The deployment of HEDs in 150 households planned for Phase II encountered major recruitment and HED field deployment problems. First, after extensive outreach campaigns to apartment complexes with 760 units, only 8% of building's tenants elected to receive a free HED in their homes as part of the field study. Second, the HED used, a leading market model, had a spectrum of problems, including gateway miscommunications, failure to post to a data-hosting third party, and display malfunctions. In light of these challenges, we are pursuing a modified study investigating the energy savings of a web portal versus alert-based energy feedback instead of a physical HED
GRB Sky Distribution Puzzles
We analyze the randomness of the sky distribution of cosmic gamma-ray bursts.
These events are associated with massive galaxies, spiral or elliptical, and
therefore their positions should trace the large-scale structure, which, in
turn, could show up in the sky distribution of fluctuations of the cosmic
microwave background (CMB). We test this hypothesis by mosaic correlation
mapping of the distributions of CMB peaks and burst positions, find the
distribution of these two signals to be correlated, and interpret this
correlation as a possible systematic effect.Comment: 12 pages, 16 figures, 1 tabl
Perspective on gravitational self-force analyses
A point particle of mass moving on a geodesic creates a perturbation
, of the spacetime metric , that diverges at the particle.
Simple expressions are given for the singular part of and its
distortion caused by the spacetime. This singular part h^\SS_{ab} is
described in different coordinate systems and in different gauges. Subtracting
h^\SS_{ab} from leaves a regular remainder . The
self-force on the particle from its own gravitational field adjusts the world
line at \Or(\mu) to be a geodesic of ; this adjustment
includes all of the effects of radiation reaction. For the case that the
particle is a small non-rotating black hole, we give a uniformly valid
approximation to a solution of the Einstein equations, with a remainder of
\Or(\mu^2) as .
An example presents the actual steps involved in a self-force calculation.
Gauge freedom introduces ambiguity in perturbation analysis. However,
physically interesting problems avoid this ambiguity.Comment: 40 pages, to appear in a special issue of CQG on radiation reaction,
contains additional references, improved notation for tensor harmonic
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