Structure Formation, Melting, and the Optical Properties of Gold/DNA Nanocomposites: Effects of Relaxation Time

We present a model for structure formation, melting, and optical properties of gold/DNA nanocomposites. These composites consist of a collection of gold nanoparticles (of radius 50 nm or less) which are bound together by links made up of DNA strands. In our structural model, the nanocomposite forms from a series of Monte Carlo steps, each involving reaction-limited cluster-cluster aggregation (RLCA) followed by dehybridization of the DNA links. These links form with a probability $p_{eff}$ which depends on temperature and particle radius $a$. The final structure depends on the number of monomers (i. e. gold nanoparticles) $N_m$, $T$, and the relaxation time. At low temperature, the model results in an RLCA cluster. But after a long enough relaxation time, the nanocomposite reduces to a compact, non-fractal cluster. We calculate the optical properties of the resulting aggregates using the Discrete Dipole Approximation. Despite the restructuring, the melting transition (as seen in the extinction coefficient at wavelength 520 nm) remains sharp, and the melting temperature $T_M$ increases with increasing $a$ as found in our previous percolation model. However, restructuring increases the corresponding link fraction at melting to a value well above the percolation threshold. Our calculated extinction cross section agrees qualitatively with experiments on gold/DNA composites. It also shows a characteristic ``rebound effect,'' resulting from incomplete relaxation, which has also been seen in some experiments. We discuss briefly how our results relate to a possible sol-gel transition in these aggregates.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figure

Delegation of Obligations and Responsibility

Part 6: Policy Compliance and ObligationsInternational audienceIn this paper, we discuss the issue of responsibilities related to the fulfillment and the violation of obligations. We propose to formally define the different aspects of responsibility, namely causal responsibility, functional responsibility, liability as well as sanctions, and to examine how delegation influences these concepts. Our main aim is to identify the responsibility of each agent that is involved in the delegation of obligations. More precisely, we try to answer to the following questions: who is responsible for the obligation fulfillment? When a violation occurs, which agents are causally responsible for this violation? Who is liable for this violation and to whom? And finally, who must be sanctioned

Gamma-ray Observations Under Bright Moonlight with VERITAS

Imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes (IACTs) are equipped with sensitive photomultiplier tube (PMT) cameras. Exposure to high levels of background illumination degrades the efficiency of and potentially destroys these photo-detectors over time, so IACTs cannot be operated in the same configuration in the presence of bright moonlight as under dark skies. Since September 2012, observations have been carried out with the VERITAS IACTs under bright moonlight (defined as about three times the night-sky-background (NSB) of a dark extragalactic field, typically occurring when Moon illumination > 35%) in two observing modes, firstly by reducing the voltage applied to the PMTs and, secondly, with the addition of ultra-violet (UV) bandpass filters to the cameras. This has allowed observations at up to about 30 times previous NSB levels (around 80% Moon illumination), resulting in 30% more observing time between the two modes over the course of a year. These additional observations have already allowed for the detection of a flare from the 1ES 1727+502 and for an observing program targeting a measurement of the cosmic-ray positron fraction. We provide details of these new observing modes and their performance relative to the standard VERITAS observations

The Saffman-Taylor problem on a sphere

The Saffman-Taylor problem addresses the morphological instability of an interface separating two immiscible, viscous fluids when they move in a narrow gap between two flat parallel plates (Hele-Shaw cell). In this work, we extend the classic Saffman-Taylor situation, by considering the flow between two curved, closely spaced, concentric spheres (spherical Hele-Shaw cell). We derive the mode-coupling differential equation for the interface perturbation amplitudes and study both linear and nonlinear flow regimes. The effect of the spherical cell (positive) spatial curvature on the shape of the interfacial patterns is investigated. We show that stability properties of the fluid-fluid interface are sensitive to the curvature of the surface. In particular, it is found that positive spatial curvature inhibits finger tip-splitting. Hele-Shaw flow on weakly negative, curved surfaces is briefly discussed.Comment: 26 pages, 4 figures, RevTex, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Temperature-dependent magnetization in diluted magnetic semiconductors

We calculate magnetization in magnetically doped semiconductors assuming a local exchange model of carrier-mediated ferromagnetic mechanism and using a number of complementary theoretical approaches. In general, we find that the results of our mean-field calculations, particularly the dynamical mean field theory results, give excellent qualitative agreement with the experimentally observed magnetization in systems with itinerant charge carriers, such as Ga_{1-x}Mn_xAs with 0.03 < x < 0.07, whereas our percolation-theory-based calculations agree well with the existing data in strongly insulating materials, such as Ge_{1-x}Mn_x. We comment on the issue of non-mean-field like magnetization curves and on the observed incomplete saturation magnetization values in diluted magnetic semiconductors from our theoretical perspective. In agreement with experimental observations, we find the carrier density to be the crucial parameter determining the magnetization behavior. Our calculated dependence of magnetization on external magnetic field is also in excellent agreement with the existing experimental data.Comment: 17 pages, 15 figure

The COSINE-100 liquid scintillator veto system

This paper describes the liquid scintillator veto system for the COSINE-100 dark matter experiment and its performance. The COSINE-100 detector consists of eight NaI(Tl) crystals immersed in 2200 L of linear alkylbenzene-based liquid scintillator. The liquid scintillator tags between 65 and 75% of the internal 40K background in the 2–6 keV energy region. We also describe the background model for the liquid scintillator, which is primarily used to assess its energy calibration and threshold

Group Formation

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68807/2/10.1177_104649647300400206.pd

Search for TeV Scale Physics in Heavy Flavour Decays

The subject of heavy flavour decays as probes for physics beyond the TeV scale is covered from the experimental perspective. Emphasis is placed on the more traditional Beyond the Standard Model topics that have potential for impact in the short term, with the physics explained. We do unabashedly promote our own phemonenology work.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures (now fixed); Submitted for the SUSY07 proceeding

Transfer Matrices and Partition-Function Zeros for Antiferromagnetic Potts Models. V. Further Results for the Square-Lattice Chromatic Polynomial

We derive some new structural results for the transfer matrix of square-lattice Potts models with free and cylindrical boundary conditions. In particular, we obtain explicit closed-form expressions for the dominant (at large |q|) diagonal entry in the transfer matrix, for arbitrary widths m, as the solution of a special one-dimensional polymer model. We also obtain the large-q expansion of the bulk and surface (resp. corner) free energies for the zero-temperature antiferromagnet (= chromatic polynomial) through order q^{-47} (resp. q^{-46}). Finally, we compute chromatic roots for strips of widths 9 <= m <= 12 with free boundary conditions and locate roughly the limiting curves.Comment: 111 pages (LaTeX2e). Includes tex file, three sty files, and 19 Postscript figures. Also included are Mathematica files data_CYL.m and data_FREE.m. Many changes from version 1: new material on series expansions and their analysis, and several proofs of previously conjectured results. Final version to be published in J. Stat. Phy