8,767 research outputs found
Three-dimensional Dirac oscillator in a thermal bath
The thermal properties of the three-dimensional Dirac oscillator are
considered. The canonical partition function is determined, and the
high-temperature limit is assessed. The degeneracy of energy levels and their
physical implications on the main thermodynamic functions are analyzed,
revealing that these functions assume values greater than the one-dimensional
case. So that at high temperatures, the limit value of the specific heat is
three times bigger.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures. Text improved, references added. Revised to match
accepted version in Europhysics Letters
Treating some solid state problems with the Dirac equation
The ambiguity involved in the definition of effective-mass Hamiltonians for
nonrelativistic models is resolved using the Dirac equation. The multistep
approximation is extended for relativistic cases allowing the treatment of
arbitrary potential and effective-mass profiles without ordering problems. On
the other hand, if the Schrodinger equation is supposed to be used, our
relativistic approach demonstrate that both results are coincidents if the
BenDaniel and Duke prescription for the kinetic-energy operator is implemented.
Applications for semiconductor heterostructures are discussed.Comment: 06 pages, 5 figure
Análise da precipitação pluviométrica e do número de dias de chuva no município de Igarapé-Açu, PA.
Rainfall Erosivity in Apeú River Watershed, Northeastern State of Pará, in the Brazilian Amazon Region.
Resumo em português: Erosividade das Chuvas na Bacia Hidrográfica do Rio Apeú, Região Nordeste do Estado do Pará
Synchronization of Kuramoto Oscillators in Scale-Free Networks
In this work, we study the synchronization of coupled phase oscillators on
the underlying topology of scale-free networks. In particular, we assume that
each network's component is an oscillator and that each interacts with the
others following the Kuramoto model. We then study the onset of global phase
synchronization and fully characterize the system's dynamics. We also found
that the resynchronization time of a perturbed node decays as a power law of
its connectivity, providing a simple analytical explanation to this interesting
behavior.Comment: 7 pages and 4 eps figures, the text has been slightly modified and
new references have been included. Final version to appear in Europhysics
Letter
Determination of phytoextraction potential of plant speciesfor toxic elements in soils of abandoned sulphide-mining areas
This study has determined contamination levels in soils and plants from the Sa˜o Domingos mining area, Portugal, by k0-INAA. Total concentrations of As, Sb, Cr, Hg, Cu, Zn and Fe in soils were very high, exceeding the maximum limits in Portuguese legislation. Concentrations of toxic elements like As, Sb and Zn were highest in roots of Erica andevalensis, Juncus acutus, Agrostis castellana and Nicotiana glauca. Additionally, As, Br, Cr, Fe, Sb and Zn in all organs of most plants were above toxicity levels.
Those species that accumulated relatively high concentrations of toxic elements in roots (and tops) may be cultivated for phytostabilisation of similar areas
Direct observation of melting in a 2-D superconducting vortex lattice
Topological defects such as dislocations and disclinations are predicted to
determine the twodimensional (2-D) melting transition. In 2-D superconducting
vortex lattices, macroscopic measurements evidence melting close to the
transition to the normal state. However, the direct observation at the scale of
individual vortices of the melting sequence has never been performed. Here we
provide step by step imaging through scanning tunneling spectroscopy of a 2-D
system of vortices up to the melting transition in a focused-ion-beam
nanodeposited W-based superconducting thin film. We show directly the
transition into an isotropic liquid below the superconducting critical
temperature. Before that, we find a hexatic phase, characterized by the
appearance of free dislocations, and a smectic-like phase, possibly originated
through partial disclination unbinding. These results represent a significant
step in the understanding of melting of 2-D systems, with impact across several
research fields, such as liquid crystal molecules, or lipids in membranes.Comment: Submitted to Nature Physic
Neutrinos from Accreting Neutron Stars
The magnetospheres of accreting neutron stars develop electrostatic gaps with
huge potential drops. Protons and ions, accelerated in these gaps along the
dipolar magnetic field lines to energies greater than 100 TeV, can impact onto
a surrounding accretion disc. A proton-induced cascade so develops, and
-emission is produced from charged pion decays. Using GEANT4, a computer
code that tracks particles produced in high energy collisions, we have
calculated the resulting -spectrum with extensive disc shower simulations.
We show that the -spectrum produced out of the proton beam is a power law.
We use this result to propose accretion-powered X-ray binaries (with highly
magnetized neutron stars) as a new population of point-like -sources for
km-scale detectors, such as ICECUBE. As a particular example we discuss the
case of A0535+26. We show that ICECUBE should find A0535+26 to be a periodic
-source: one for which the formation and loss of its accretion disc can be
fully detected. Finally, we briefly comment on the possibility that smaller
telescopes, like AMANDA, could also detect A0535+26 by folding observations
with the orbital period.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures. Updates to match accepted version in Astrophys.
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