47,792 research outputs found
Work distribution for the driven harmonic oscillator with time-dependent strength: Exact solution and slow driving
We study the work distribution of a single particle moving in a harmonic
oscillator with time-dependent strength. This simple system has a non-Gaussian
work distribution with exponential tails. The time evolution of the
corresponding moment generating function is given by two coupled ordinary
differential equations that are solved numerically. Based on this result we
study the behavior of the work distribution in the limit of slow but finite
driving and show that it approaches a Gaussian distribution arbitrarily well
Design and construction of a point-contact spectroscopy rig with lateral scanning capability
The design and realization of a cryogenic rig for point-contact spectroscopy
measurements in the needle-anvil configuration is presented. Thanks to the use
of two piezoelectric nano-positioners, the tip can move along the vertical
() and horizontal () direction and thus the rig is suitable to probe
different regions of a sample \textit{in situ}. Moreover, it can also form
double point-contacts on different facets of a single crystal for achieving,
e.g., an interferometer configuration for phase-sensitive measurements. For the
latter purpose, the sample holder can also host a Helmholtz coil for applying a
small transverse magnetic field to the junction. A semi-rigid coaxial cable can
be easily added for studying the behavior of Josephson junctions under
microwave irradiation. The rig can be detached from the probe and thus used
with different cryostats. The performance of this new probe has been tested in
a Quantum Design PPMS system by conducting point-contact Andreev reflection
measurements on Nb thin films over large areas as a function of temperature and
magnetic field.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures, published in Rev. Sci. Instru
DC spin generation by junctions with AC driven spin-orbit interaction
An unbiased one-dimensional weak link between two terminals, subjected to the
Rashba spin-orbit interaction caused by an AC electric field which rotates
periodically in the plane perpendicular to the link, is shown to inject
spin-polarized electrons into the terminals. The injected spin-polarization has
a DC component along the link and a rotating transverse component in the
perpendicular plane. In the adiabatic, low rotation-frequency regime, these
polarization components are proportional to the frequency. The DC component of
the polarization vanishes for a linearly-polarized electric field.Comment: published versio
Influences of an impurity on the transport properties of one-dimensional antisymmetric spin filter
The influences of an impurity on the spin and the charge transport of
one-dimensional antisymmetric spin filter are investigated using bosonization
and Keldysh formulation and the results are highlighted against those of
spinful Luttinger liquids. Due to the dependence of the electron spin
orientation on wave number the spin transport is not affected by the impurity,
while the charge transport is essentially identical with that of spinless
one-dimensional Luttinger liquid.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures. To appear in Physical Review
Mechanically Induced Thermal Breakdown in Magnetic Shuttle Structures
A theory of a thermally induced single-electron "shuttling" instability in a
magnetic nanomechanical device subject to an external magnetic field is
presented in the Coulomb blockade regime of electron transport. The model
magnetic shuttle device considered comprises a movable metallic grain suspended
between two magnetic leads, which are kept at different temperatures and
assumed to be fully spin polarized with antiparallel magnetizations. For a
given temperature difference shuttling is found to occur for a region of
external magnetic fields between a lower and an upper critical field strength,
which separate the shuttling regime from normal small-amplitude "vibronic"
regimes. We find that (i) the upper critical magnetic field saturates to a
constant value in the high temperature limit and that the shuttle instability
domain expands with a decrease of the temperature, (ii) the lower critical
magnetic field depends not only on the temperature independent phenomenological
friction coefficient used in the model but also on intrinsic friction (which
vanishes in the high temperature limit) caused by magnetic exchange forces and
electron tunneling between the quantum dot and the leads. The feasibility of
using thermally driven magnetic shuttle systems to harvest thermal breakdown
phenomena is discussed.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figure
Subwavelength localization and toroidal dipole moment of spoof surface plasmon polaritons
We experimentally and theoretically demonstrate subwavelength scale localization of spoof surface plasmon polaritons at a point defect in a two-dimensional groove metal array. An analytical expression for dispersion relation of spoof surface plasmon polaritons substantiates the existence of a band gap where a defect mode can be introduced. A waveguide coupling method allows us to excite localized spoof surface plasmon polariton modes and measure their resonance frequencies. Numerical calculations confirm that localized modes can have a very small modal volume and a high Q factor both of which are essential in enhancing light-matter interactions. Interestingly, we find that the localized spoof surface plasmon polariton has a significant toroidal dipole moment, which is responsible for the high Q factor, as well as an electric quadrupole moment. In addition, the dispersion properties of spoof surface plasmon polaritons are analyzed using a modal expansion method and numerical calculations
Cosmic Mach Number as a Function of Overdensity and Galaxy Age
We carry out an extensive study of the cosmic Mach number (\mach) on scales
of R=5, 10 and 20h^-1Mpc using an LCDM hydrodynamical simulation. We
particularly put emphasis on the environmental dependence of \mach on
overdensity, galaxy mass, and galaxy age. We start by discussing the difference
in the resulting \mach according to different definitions of \mach and
different methods of calculation. The simulated Mach numbers are slightly lower
than the linear theory predictions even when a non-linear power spectrum was
used in the calculation, reflecting the non-linear evolution in the simulation.
We find that the observed \mach is higher than the simulated mean by more than
2-standard deviations, which suggests either that the Local Group is in a
relatively low-density region or that the true value of \Omega_m is ~ 0.2,
significantly lower than the simulated value of 0.37. We show from our
simulation that the Mach number is a weakly decreasing function of overdensity.
We also investigate the correlations between galaxy age, overdensity and \mach
for two different samples of galaxies --- DWARFs and GIANTs. Older systems
cluster in higher density regions with lower \mach, while younger ones tend to
reside in lower density regions with larger \mach, as expected from the
hierarchical structure formation scenario. However, for DWARFs, the correlation
is weakened by the fact that some of the oldest DWARFs are left over in
low-density regions during the structure formation history. For giant systems,
one expects blue-selected samples to have higher \mach than red-selected ones.
We briefly comment on the effect of the warm dark matter on the expected Mach
number.Comment: 43 pages, including 15 figures. Accepted version in ApJ. Included
correlation function of different samples of galaxies, and the cumulative
number fraction distribution as a fcn. of overdensity. Reorganized figures
and added some reference
Modèle de référence pour évaluer différentes stratégies de contrôle dans des usines de traitement des eaux usées
Dans la majorité des pays, il existe des lois strictes pour réglementer la qualité de l'eau provenant des systèmes de traitement d'eaux usées. Ces spécifications légales sont essentiellement influencées par des questions telles que la santé publique, l'environnement et les facteurs économiques.Les objectifs fondamentaux des procédés de traitement des eaux usées sont d'atteindre, avec l'utilisation d'énergie et à des coûts opérationnels minimaux, une concentration de matière biodégradable et de nutriments suffisamment basse dans les effluents et une production minimale de boues.Les systèmes de traitement des eaux usées sont de grandes dimensions et complexes. Ils sont aussi sujets à des variations importantes dans le flux d'entrée et dans la composition de l'eau à l'entrée, qui ne sont pas bien connues. Le procédé est multivariable, avec beaucoup de couplages croisés et nonlinéarités importantes. La dynamique dépend de la variabilité des flux d'entrée et de la complexité des phénomènes physico-chimiques et biochimiques. Le comportement dynamique démontre une énorme variation de temps de réponse (de quelques minutes jusqu'à plusieurs jours). Ces problèmes, combinés aux objectifs les plus importants du traitement des eaux usées, donnent lieu à une demande de techniques de commande avancées, qui peuvent conduire à une réduction du volume à traiter, une diminution importante dans l'utilisation des produits chimiques, et une possibilité d'économie d'énergie et une diminution des coûts d'opération.Dans ce travail, un " benchmark " (modèle de référence) d'un système complet de traitement des eaux usées a été développé, pour évaluer, à partir de simulations, la performance des différentes stratégies de commande proposées, y compris les techniques de respirométrie ("respirometry"). Ce travail s'aparente au Programme Européen d'Action COST (COST 624), et au projet "Respirometry in Control of the Activated Sludge Process (IWA Respirometry Task Group").Le "Benchmark" représente un procédé de prédénitrification de la boue activée pour éliminer la matière organique et l'azote des effluents domestiques. Le simulateur est basé sur des modèles largement acceptés par la communauté internationale et il a été implanté dans un environnement Matlab/Simulink. La topologie du système et le développement complet du simulateur sont présentés dans ce travail. L'effet des conditions initiales et des caractéristiques du flux d'entrée (valeurs moyennes) sont analysés, aussi bien qu'un test en boucle ouverte. Les stratégies suivantes ont été sélectionnées en guise d'illustration de l'application de la commande automatique dans le "benchmark" (seulement avec commande proportionnel-intégral monovariable): commande basée sur la concentration d'oxygène dissous ("DO concentration-based control"), commande par respirométrie (commande par biomasse active et commande par taux de respiration bactérienne), et commande par concentration de nitrate (commande par dosage externe de carbone et recyclage du flux interne). Le "benchmark" est continuellement mis a jour et sa prochaine version va incorporer des fonctions d'optimisation en temps réel (on line) pour le procédé.This paper presents a benchmark for a plant for biological treatment of wastewater, in order to evaluate, through simulations, different strategies of control. The benchmark represents the process of activated sludge in a configuration with pre-denitrification, for the treatment of domestic effluents, by removal of organic matter and nitrogen. It is based on models widely accepted by the international community and it is implemented in the Matlab/Simulink environment. The techniques of control here presented are typically used to control the process, such as: dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration-based control, respirometry-sbased control and nitrate concentration-based control, employing the classical proportional-integral (PI) controller
Magnetic Anisotropy of Isolated Cobalt Nanoplatelets
Motivated in part by experiments performed by M.H. Pan et al. (nanoletters,
v.5, p 83, 2005), we have undertaken a theoretical study of the the magnetic
properties of two-monolayer thick Co nanoplatelets with an equilateral
triangular shape. The analysis is carried out using a microscopic Slater-Koster
tight-binding model with atomic exchange and spin-orbit interactions designed
to realistically capture the salient magnetic features of large nanoclusters
containing up to 350 atoms. Two different truncations of the FCC lattice are
studied, in which the nanoplatelet surface is aligned parallel to the FCC (111)
and (001)crystal planes respectively. We find that the higher coordination
number in the (111) truncated crystal is more likely to reproduce the
perpendicular easy direction found in experiment. Qualitatively, the most
important parameter governing the anisotropy of the model is found to be the
value of the intra-atomic exchange integral J. If we set the value of J near
the bulk value in order to reproduce the experimentally observed magnitude of
the magnetic moments, we find both quasi-easy-planes and perpendicular easy
directions. At larger values of J we find that the easy-axis of magnetization
is perpendicular to the surface, and the value of the magnetic anisotropy
energy per atom is larger. The possible role of hybridization with substrate
surface states in the experimental systems is discussed.Comment: 15 pages, 13 figure
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