Role of Self-Interaction Effects in the Geometry Optimization of Small Metal Clusters

By combining the Self-Interaction Correction (SIC) with pseudopotential perturbation theory, the role of self-interaction errors inherent to the Local Density Approximation (LDA) to Density Functional Theory is estimated in the determination of ground state and low energy isomeric structures of small metallic clusters. Its application to neutral sodium clusters with 8 and 20 atoms shows that the SIC provides sizeable effects in Na_8, leading to a different ordering of the low lying isomeric states compared with ab-initio LDA predictions, whereas for Na_20, the SIC effects are less pronounced, such that a quantitative agreement is achieved between the present method and ab-initio LDA calculations.Comment: RevTeX, 4 pages, 1 figure available from [email protected]

Lorentz invariance for mixed neutrinos

We show that a proper field theoretical treatment of mixed (Dirac) neutrinos leads to non-trivial dispersion relations for the flavor states. We analyze such a situation in the framework of the non-linear relativity schemes recently proposed by Magueijo and Smolin. We finally examine the experimental implications of our theoretical proposals by considering the spectrum and the end-point of beta decay in tritium.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures. Presented at 2nd International Workshop DICE2004: From Decoherence and Emergent Classicality to Emergent Quantum Mechanics, Castello di Piombino, Tuscany, Italy, 1-4 Sep 200