9,005 research outputs found

    Spatial separation of anaerobic ammonium oxidation and nitrite-dependent anaerobic methane oxidation in permeable riverbeds.

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    Anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) and nitrite-dependent anaerobic methane oxidation (n-damo) play important roles in nitrogen and carbon cycling in fresh waters but we do not know how these two processes compete for their common electron acceptor, nitrite. Here, we investigated the spatial distribution of anammox and n-damo across a range of permeable riverbed sediments. Anammox activity and gene abundance were detected in both gravel and sandy riverbeds and showed a simple, common vertical distribution pattern, while the patterns in n-damo were more complex and n-damo activity was confined to the more reduced, sandy riverbeds. Anammox was most active in surficial sediment (0-2cm), coincident with a peak in hzsA gene abundance and nitrite. In contrast, n-damo activity peaked deeper down (4-8cm) in the sandy riverbeds, coincident with a peak in n-damo 16S rRNA gene abundance and higher methane concentration. Pore water nitrite, methane and oxygen were key factors influencing the distribution of these two processes in permeable riverbeds. Furthermore, both anammox- and n-damo- activity were positively correlated with denitrification activity, suggesting a role for denitrification in supplying both processes with nitrite. Our data reveal spatial separation between anammox and n-damo in permeable riverbed sediments that potentially avoids them competing for nitrite. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

    Delegating Quantum Computation in the Quantum Random Oracle Model

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    A delegation scheme allows a computationally weak client to use a server's resources to help it evaluate a complex circuit without leaking any information about the input (other than its length) to the server. In this paper, we consider delegation schemes for quantum circuits, where we try to minimize the quantum operations needed by the client. We construct a new scheme for delegating a large circuit family, which we call "C+P circuits". "C+P" circuits are the circuits composed of Toffoli gates and diagonal gates. Our scheme is non-interactive, requires very little quantum computation from the client (proportional to input length but independent of the circuit size), and can be proved secure in the quantum random oracle model, without relying on additional assumptions, such as the existence of fully homomorphic encryption. In practice the random oracle can be replaced by an appropriate hash function or block cipher, for example, SHA-3, AES. This protocol allows a client to delegate the most expensive part of some quantum algorithms, for example, Shor's algorithm. The previous protocols that are powerful enough to delegate Shor's algorithm require either many rounds of interactions or the existence of FHE. The protocol requires asymptotically fewer quantum gates on the client side compared to running Shor's algorithm locally. To hide the inputs, our scheme uses an encoding that maps one input qubit to multiple qubits. We then provide a novel generalization of classical garbled circuits ("reversible garbled circuits") to allow the computation of Toffoli circuits on this encoding. We also give a technique that can support the computation of phase gates on this encoding. To prove the security of this protocol, we study key dependent message(KDM) security in the quantum random oracle model. KDM security was not previously studied in quantum settings.Comment: 41 pages, 1 figures. Update to be consistent with the proceeding versio

    Vacuum Polarization and Screening of Supercritical Impurities in Graphene

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    Screening of charge impurities in graphene is analyzed using the exact solution for vacuum polarization obtained from the massless Dirac-Kepler problem. For the impurity charge below certain critical value no density perturbation is found away from the impurity, in agreement with the linear response theory result. For supercritical charge, however, the polarization distribution is shown to have a power law profile, leading to screening of the excess charge at large distances. The Dirac-Kepler scattering states give rise to standing wave oscillations in the local density of states which appear and become prominent in the supercritical regime.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure

    Penta-Hepta Defect Motion in Hexagonal Patterns

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    Structure and dynamics of penta-hepta defects in hexagonal patterns is studied in the framework of coupled amplitude equations for underlying plane waves. Analytical solution for phase field of moving PHD is found in the far field, which generalizes the static solution due to Pismen and Nepomnyashchy (1993). The mobility tensor of PHD is calculated using combined analytical and numerical approach. The results for the velocity of PHD climbing in slightly non-optimal hexagonal patterns are compared with numerical simulations of amplitude equations. Interaction of penta-hepta defects in optimal hexagonal patterns is also considered.Comment: 4 pages, Postscript (submitted to PRL

    Computational Study of Tunneling Transistor Based on Graphene Nanoribbon

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    Tunneling field-effect transistors (FETs) have been intensely explored recently due to its potential to address power concerns in nanoelectronics. The recently discovered graphene nanoribbon (GNR) is ideal for tunneling FETs due to its symmetric bandstructure, light effective mass, and monolayer-thin body. In this work, we examine the device physics of p-i-n GNR tunneling FETs using atomistic quantum transport simulations. The important role of the edge bond relaxation in the device characteristics is identified. The device, however, has ambipolar I-V characteristics, which are not preferred for digital electronics applications. We suggest that using either an asymmetric source-drain doping or a properly designed gate underlap can effectively suppress the ambipolar I-V. A subthreshold slope of 14mV/dec and a significantly improved on-off ratio can be obtained by the p-i-n GNR tunneling FETs

    Gauge field for edge state in graphene

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    By considering the continuous model for graphene, we analytically study a special gauge field for the edge state. The gauge field explains the properties of the edge state such as the existence only on the zigzag edge, the partial appearance in the kk-space, and the energy position around the Fermi energy. It is demonstrated utilizing the gauge field that the edge state is robust for surface reconstruction, and the next nearest-neighbor interaction which breaks the particle-hole symmetry stabilizes the edge state.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure

    Electrically Driven Light Emission from Individual CdSe Nanowires

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    We report electroluminescence (EL) measurements carried out on three-terminal devices incorporating individual n-type CdSe nanowires. Simultaneous optical and electrical measurements reveal that EL occurs near the contact between the nanowire and a positively biased electrode or drain. The surface potential profile, obtained by using Kelvin probe microscopy, shows an abrupt potential drop near the position of the EL spot, while the band profile obtained from scanning photocurrent microscopy indicates the existence of an n-type Schottky barrier at the interface. These observations indicate that light emission occurs through a hole leakage or an inelastic scattering induced by the rapid potential drop at the nanowire-electrode interface.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure

    Emergence of Order in Textured Patterns

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    A characterization of textured patterns, referred to as the disorder function \bar\delta(\beta), is used to study properties of patterns generated in the Swift-Hohenberg equation (SHE). It is shown to be an intensive, configuration-independent measure. The evolution of random initial states under the SHE exhibits two stages of relaxation. The initial phase, where local striped domains emerge from a noisy background, is quantified by a power law decay \bar\delta(\beta) \sim t^{-{1/2} \beta}. Beyond a sharp transition a slower power law decay of \bar\delta(\beta), which corresponds to the coarsening of striped domains, is observed. The transition between the phases advances as the system is driven further from the onset of patterns, and suitable scaling of time and \bar\delta(\beta) leads to the collapse of distinct curves. The decay of δˉ(β)\bar\delta(\beta) during the initial phase remains unchanged when nonvariational terms are added to the underlying equations, suggesting the possibility of observing it in experimental systems. In contrast, the rate of relaxation during domain coarsening increases with the coefficient of the nonvariational term.Comment: 9 Pages, 8 Postscript Figures, 3 gif Figure

    Breathing Spots in a Reaction-Diffusion System

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    A quasi-2-dimensional stationary spot in a disk-shaped chemical reactor is observed to bifurcate to an oscillating spot when a control parameter is increased beyond a critical value. Further increase of the control parameter leads to the collapse and disappearance of the spot. Analysis of a bistable activator-inhibitor model indicates that the observed behavior is a consequence of interaction of the front with the boundary near a parity breaking front bifurcation.Comment: 4 pages RevTeX, see also http://chaos.ph.utexas.edu/ and http://t7.lanl.gov/People/Aric

    Tunable nano Peltier cooling device from geometric effects using a single graphene nanoribbon

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    Based on the phenomenon of curvature-induced doping in graphene we propose a class of Peltier cooling devices, produced by geometrical effects, without gating. We show how a graphene nanorib- bon laid on an array of curved nano cylinders can be used to create a targeted and tunable cooling device. Using two different approaches, the Nonequlibrium Green's Function (NEGF) method and experimental inputs, we predict that the cooling power of such a device can approach the order of kW/cm2, on par with the best known techniques using standard superlattice structures. The struc- ture proposed here helps pave the way toward designing graphene electronics which use geometry rather than gating to control devices.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure
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