180 research outputs found
Reply to discussion on 'A high-precision U-Pb age constraint on the Rhynie Chert Konservat-Lagerstatte: time scale and other implications': Journal, 168, 863-872
We welcome the opportunity to address the points raised by Mark et al. in their discussion of the chemical abrasion isotope dilution thermal ionization mass spectrometry (CAâIDâTIMS) UâPb age constraint on the Rhynie Chert Konservat-LagerstĂ€tte presented by Parry et al. (2011) and also to make some further observations of our own. We begin by briefly providing some context for the benefit of the wider readership. Two radio-isotopic age constraints on the Rhynie Chert Konservat-LagerstĂ€tte and, by corollary, its parental hydrothermal (hot-spring) system have recently been published. The first of these is a weighted mean 40Ar/39Ar plateau age of 403.9 ± 2.1 Ma (2Ï) derived from the analysis of two samples of vein-hosted hydrothermal K-feldspar and a single sample of hydrothermally altered andesite (Mark et al. 2011). In order to account for systematic uncertainties associated with the 40Ar/39Ar geochronometer, Mark et al. (2011) recalculated their individual sample ages with reference to the Fish Canyon Tuff sanidine (FCs) age of 28.201 Ma (Kuiper et al. 2008), thereby producing a âUâPb comparableâ mean age of 407.1 ± 2.2 Ma (2Ï). An alternative âpreferred ageâ for the Rhynie hot-spring activity (407.6 ± 2.2 Ma (2Ï)) has now been produced from the ârawâ data using the optimization model of Renne et al. (2010, 2011) (this discussion). The 40Ar/39Ar system calibrations on which these various ages are based are summarized in Table 1. The second radio-isotopic age constraint in question is a weighted mean 206Pb/238U zircon age of 411.5 ± 1.3 Ma (2Ï, including decay constant- and tracer calibration-related uncertainties; MSWD = 0.12, n = 4) yielded by the Milton of Noth Andesite, a moderately altered basaltic andesite lava flow (cum near-surface sill?) that lies along the northwestern margin of the Rhynie Outlier (Parry et al. 2011). UâPb titanite data corroborate the zircon data, and c. 411.5 Ma is interpreted as the crystallization-eruption age of the Milton of Noth Andesite. Lavas and tuffs of andesitic composition occur elsewhere within the northern half of the Rhynie Outlier (Rice & Ashcroft 2004) and a holistic view of the available evidence would suggest that these volcanic rocks represent the surficial expression of the thermal drive for the Rhynie hot-spring system. Parry et al. (2011) therefore concluded that that the UâPb zircon age yielded by the Milton of Noth Andesite dates the Rhynie hydrothermal activity within error [our italics]
The low-lying excitations of polydiacetylene
The Pariser-Parr-Pople Hamiltonian is used to calculate and identify the
nature of the low-lying vertical transition energies of polydiacetylene. The
model is solved using the density matrix renormalisation group method for a
fixed acetylenic geometry for chains of up to 102 atoms. The non-linear optical
properties of polydiacetylene are considered, which are determined by the
third-order susceptibility. The experimental 1Bu data of Giesa and Schultz are
used as the geometric model for the calculation. For short chains, the
calculated E(1Bu) agrees with the experimental value, within solvation effects
(ca. 0.3 eV). The charge gap is used to characterise bound and unbound states.
The nBu is above the charge gap and hence a continuum state; the 1Bu, 2Ag and
mAg are not and hence are bound excitons. For large chain lengths, the nBu
tends towards the charge gap as expected, strongly suggesting that the nBu is
the conduction band edge. The conduction band edge for PDA is agreed in the
literature to be ca. 3.0 eV. Accounting for the strong polarisation effects of
the medium and polaron formation gives our calculated E(nBu) ca. 3.6 eV, with
an exciton binding energy of ca. 1.0 eV. The 2Ag state is found to be above the
1Bu, which does not agree with relaxed transition experimental data. However,
this could be resolved by including explicit lattice relaxation in the Pariser-
Parr-Pople-Peierls model. Particle-hole separation data further suggest that
the 1Bu, 2Ag and mAg are bound excitons, and that the nBu is an unbound
exciton.Comment: LaTeX, 23 pages, 4 postscript tables and 8 postscript figure
The Steady State Fluctuation Relation for the Dissipation Function
We give a proof of transient fluctuation relations for the entropy production
(dissipation function) in nonequilibrium systems, which is valid for most time
reversible dynamics. We then consider the conditions under which a transient
fluctuation relation yields a steady state fluctuation relation for driven
nonequilibrium systems whose transients relax, producing a unique
nonequilibrium steady state. Although the necessary and sufficient conditions
for the production of a unique nonequilibrium steady state are unknown, if such
a steady state exists, the generation of the steady state fluctuation relation
from the transient relation is shown to be very general. It is essentially a
consequence of time reversibility and of a form of decay of correlations in the
dissipation, which is needed also for, e.g., the existence of transport
coefficients. Because of this generality the resulting steady state fluctuation
relation has the same degree of robustness as do equilibrium thermodynamic
equalities. The steady state fluctuation relation for the dissipation stands in
contrast with the one for the phase space compression factor, whose convergence
is problematic, for systems close to equilibrium. We examine some model
dynamics that have been considered previously, and show how they are described
in the context of this work.Comment: 30 pages, 1 figur
On the Fluctuation Relation for Nose-Hoover Boundary Thermostated Systems
We discuss the transient and steady state fluctuation relation for a
mechanical system in contact with two deterministic thermostats at different
temperatures. The system is a modified Lorentz gas in which the fixed
scatterers exchange energy with the gas of particles, and the thermostats are
modelled by two Nos\'e-Hoover thermostats applied at the boundaries of the
system. The transient fluctuation relation, which holds only for a precise
choice of the initial ensemble, is verified at all times, as expected. Times
longer than the mesoscopic scale, needed for local equilibrium to be settled,
are required if a different initial ensemble is considered. This shows how the
transient fluctuation relation asymptotically leads to the steady state
relation when, as explicitly checked in our systems, the condition found in
[D.J. Searles, {\em et al.}, J. Stat. Phys. 128, 1337 (2007)], for the validity
of the steady state fluctuation relation, is verified. For the steady state
fluctuations of the phase space contraction rate \zL and of the dissipation
function \zW, a similar relaxation regime at shorter averaging times is
found. The quantity \zW satisfies with good accuracy the fluctuation relation
for times larger than the mesoscopic time scale; the quantity \zL appears to
begin a monotonic convergence after such times. This is consistent with the
fact that \zW and \zL differ by a total time derivative, and that the tails
of the probability distribution function of \zL are Gaussian.Comment: Major revision. Fig.10 was added. Version to appear in Journal of
Statistical Physic
Extended free-form deformation : a sculpturing tool for 3D geometric modeling
Projet SYNTIMCurrent research efforts focus on providing more efficient and effective design methods for 3D modeling systems. In this paper a new deformation technique is presented. Among other things, arbitrarily shaped bump can be designed and surfaces can be bent along arbitrarily shaped curves. The purpose of this research is to define a highly interactive and intuitive modeling technique for designers and stylists. A natural way of thinking is to mimic traditional trades, such as sculpturing and moulding. Furthermore, with this deformation technique, the modeling tool paradigm is introduced. The object is deformed with a user-defined deformation tool. This method is an extension of the Free-Form Deformation (FFD) technique proposed by Sederberg and Parry
Supersymmetry beyond minimal flavour violation
We review the sources and phenomenology of non-minimal flavour violation in
the MSSM. We discuss in some detail the most important theoretical and
experimental constraints, as well as promising observables to look for
supersymmetric effects at the LHC and in the future. We emphasize the
sensitivity of flavour physics to the mechanism of supersymmetry breaking and
to new degrees of freedom present at fundamental scales, such as the grand
unification scale. We include a discussion of present data that may hint at
departures from the Standard Model.Comment: 23pp. Version to appear in the EPJC special volume "Supersymmetry on
the Eve of the LHC", dedicated to the memory of Julius Wess. References and
brief discussion on collider signatures adde
A search for the decay
We search for the rare flavor-changing neutral-current decay in a data sample of 82 fb collected with the {\sl BABAR}
detector at the PEP-II B-factory. Signal events are selected by examining the
properties of the system recoiling against either a reconstructed hadronic or
semileptonic charged-B decay. Using these two independent samples we obtain a
combined limit of
at the 90% confidence level. In addition, by selecting for pions rather than
kaons, we obtain a limit of using only the hadronic B reconstruction method.Comment: 7 pages, 8 postscript figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
High-reflectivity broadband distributed Bragg reflector lattice matched to ZnTe
We report on the realization of a high quality distributed Bragg reflector
with both high and low refractive index layers lattice matched to ZnTe. Our
structure is grown by molecular beam epitaxy and is based on binary compounds
only. The high refractive index layer is made of ZnTe, while the low index
material is made of a short period triple superlattice containing MgSe, MgTe,
and ZnTe. The high refractive index step of Delta_n=0.5 in the structure
results in a broad stopband and the reflectivity coefficient exceeding 99% for
only 15 Bragg pairs.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
EuFeAs under high pressure: an antiferromagnetic bulk superconductor
We report the ac magnetic susceptibility and resistivity
measurements of EuFeAs under high pressure . By observing nearly
100% superconducting shielding and zero resistivity at = 28 kbar, we
establish that -induced superconductivity occurs at ~30 K in
EuFeAs. shows an anomalous nearly linear temperature dependence
from room temperature down to at the same . indicates that
an antiferromagnetic order of Eu moments with ~20 K persists
in the superconducting phase. The temperature dependence of the upper critical
field is also determined.Comment: To appear in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn., Vol. 78 No.
- âŠ