5,617 research outputs found
Dynamical transitions and sliding friction in the two-dimensional Frenkel-Kontorova model
The nonlinear response of an adsorbed layer on a periodic substrate to an
external force is studied via a two dimensional uniaxial Frenkel-Kontorova
model. The nonequlibrium properties of the model are simulated by Brownian
molecular dynamics. Dynamical phase transitions between pinned solid, sliding
commensurate and incommensurate solids and hysteresis effects are found that
are qualitatively similar to the results for a Lennard-Jones model, thus
demonstrating the universal nature of these features.Comment: 11 pages, 12 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.
Friction Laws for Elastic Nano-Scale Contacts
The effect of surface curvature on the law relating frictional forces F with
normal load L is investigated by molecular dynamics simulations as a function
of surface symmetry, adhesion, and contamination. Curved, non-adhering, dry,
commensurate surfaces show a linear dependency, F proportional to L, similar to
dry flat commensurate or amorphous surfaces and macroscopic surfaces. In
contrast, curved, non-adhering, dry, amorphous surfaces show F proportional to
L^(2/3) similar to friction force microscopes. In our model, adhesive effects
are most adequately described by the Hertz plus offset model, as the
simulations are confined to small contact radii. Curved lubricated or
contaminated surfaces show again different behavior; details depend on how much
of the contaminant gets squeezed out of the contact. Also, it is seen that the
friction force in the lubricated case is mainly due to atoms at the entrance of
the tip.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Europhys. Let
Transverse thermal depinning and nonlinear sliding friction of an adsorbed monolayer
We study the response of an adsorbed monolayer under a driving force as a
model of sliding friction phenomena between two crystalline surfaces with a
boundary lubrication layer. Using Langevin-dynamics simulation, we determine
the nonlinear response in the direction transverse to a high symmetry direction
along which the layer is already sliding. We find that below a finite
transition temperature, there exist a critical depinning force and hysteresis
effects in the transverse response in the dynamical state when the adlayer is
sliding smoothly along the longitudinal direction.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev. Let
Methanol masers reveal the magnetic field of the high-mass protostar IRAS 18089-1732
Context. The importance of the magnetic field in high-mass-star formation is
not yet fully clear and there are still many open questions concerning its role
in the accretion processes and generation of jets and outflows. In the past few
years, masers have been successfully used to probe the magnetic field
morphology and strength at scales of a few au around massive protostars, by
measuring linear polarisation angles and Zeeman splitting. The massive
protostar IRAS 18089-1732 is a well studied high-mass-star forming region,
showing a hot core chemistry and a disc-outflow system. Previous SMA
observations of polarised dust revealed an ordered magnetic field oriented
around the disc of IRAS 18089-1732. Aims. We want to determine the magnetic
field in the dense region probed by 6.7 GHz methanol maser observations and
compare it with observations in dust continuum polarisation, to investigate how
the magnetic field in the compact maser region relates to the large-scale field
around massive protostars. Methods. We reduced MERLIN observations at 6.7 GHz
of IRAS 18089-1732 and we analysed the polarised emission by methanol masers.
Results. Our MERLIN observations show that the magnetic field in the 6.7 GHz
methanol maser region is consistent with the magnetic field constrained by the
SMA dust polarisation observations. A tentative detection of circularly
polarised line emission is also presented. Conclusions. We found that the
magnetic field in the maser region has the same orientation as in the disk.
Thus the large-scale field component, even at the au scale of the masers,
dominates over any small-scale field fluctuations. We obtained, from the
circular polarisation tentative detection, a field strength along the line of
sight of 5.5 mG which appeared to be consistent with the previous estimates.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in A&
Dynamics of Phononic Dissipation at the Atomic Scale: Dependence on Internal Degrees of Freedom
Dynamics of dissipation of a local phonon distribution to the substrate is a
key issue in friction between sliding surfaces as well as in boundary
lubrication. We consider a model system consisting of an excited nano-particle
which is weakly coupled with a substrate. Using three different methods we
solve the dynamics of energy dissipation for different types of coupling
between the nano-particle and the substrate, where different types of
dimensionality and phonon densities of states were also considered for the
substrate. In this paper, we present our analysis of transient properties of
energy dissipation via phonon discharge in the microscopic level towards the
substrate. Our theoretical analysis can be extended to treat realistic
lubricant molecules or asperities, and also substrates with more complex
densities of states. We found that the decay rate of the nano-particle phonons
increases as the square of the interaction constant in the harmonic
approximation.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Element specific characterization of heterogeneous magnetism in (Ga,Fe)N films
We employ x-ray spectroscopy to characterize the distribution and magnetism
of particular alloy constituents in (Ga,Fe)N films grown by metal organic vapor
phase epitaxy. Furthermore, photoelectron microscopy gives direct evidence for
the aggregation of Fe ions, leading to the formation of Fe-rich nanoregions
adjacent to the samples surface. A sizable x-ray magnetic circular dichroism
(XMCD) signal at the Fe L-edges in remanence and at moderate magnetic fields at
300 K links the high temperature ferromagnetism with the Fe(3d) states. The
XMCD response at the N K-edge highlights that the N(2p) states carry
considerable spin polarization. We conclude that FeN{\delta} nanocrystals, with
\delta > 0.25, stabilize the ferromagnetic response of the films.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl
Detection of a dense clump in a filament interacting with W51e2
In the framework of the Herschel/PRISMAS Guaranteed Time Key Program, the
line of sight to the distant ultracompact HII region W51e2 has been observed
using several selected molecular species. Most of the detected absorption
features are not associated with the background high-mass star-forming region
and probe the diffuse matter along the line of sight. We present here the
detection of an additional narrow absorption feature at ~70 km/s in the
observed spectra of HDO, NH3 and C3. The 70 km/s feature is not uniquely
identifiable with the dynamic components (the main cloud and the large-scale
foreground filament) so-far identified toward this region. The narrow
absorption feature is similar to the one found toward low-mass protostars,
which is characteristic of the presence of a cold external envelope. The
far-infrared spectroscopic data were combined with existing ground-based
observations of 12CO, 13CO, CCH, CN, and C3H2 to characterize the 70 km/s
component. Using a non-LTE analysis of multiple transitions of NH3 and CN, we
estimated the density (n(H2) (1-5)x10^5 cm^-3) and temperature (10-30 K) for
this narrow feature. We used a gas-grain warm-up based chemical model with
physical parameters derived from the NH3 data to explain the observed
abundances of the different chemical species. We propose that the 70 km/s
narrow feature arises in a dense and cold clump that probably is undergoing
collapse to form a low-mass protostar, formed on the trailing side of the
high-velocity filament, which is thought to be interacting with the W51 main
cloud. While the fortuitous coincidence of the dense clump along the line of
sight with the continuum-bright W51e2 compact HII region has contributed to its
non-detection in the continuum images, this same attribute makes it an
appropriate source for absorption studies and in particular for ice studies of
star-forming regions.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&
Phonon-affected steady-state transport through molecular quantum dots
We consider transport through a vibrating molecular quantum dot contacted to
macroscopic leads acting as charge reservoirs. In the equilibrium and
nonequilibrium regime, we study the formation of a polaron-like transient state
at the quantum dot for all ratios of the dot-lead coupling to the energy of the
local phonon mode. We show that the polaronic renormalization of the dot-lead
coupling is a possible mechanism for negative differential conductance.
Moreover, the effective dot level follows one of the lead chemical potentials
to enhance resonant transport, causing novel features in the inelastic
tunneling signal. In the linear response regime, we investigate the impact of
the electron-phonon interaction on the thermoelectrical properties of the
quantum dot device.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, FQMT11 Proceeding
Dynamical frictional phenomena in an incommensurate two-chain model
Dynamical frictional phenomena are studied theoretically in a two-chain model
with incommensurate structure. A perturbation theory with respect to the
interchain interaction reveals the contributions from phonons excited in each
chain to the kinetic frictional force. The validity of the theory is verified
in the case of weak interaction by comparing with numerical simulation. The
velocity and the interchain interaction dependences of the lattice structure
are also investigated. It is shown that peculiar breaking of analyticity states
appear, which is characteristic to the two-chain model. The range of the
parameters in which the two-chain model is reduced to the Frenkel-Kontorova
model is also discussed.Comment: RevTex, 9 pages, 7 PostScript figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.
On the nature of surface roughness with application to contact mechanics, sealing, rubber friction and adhesion
Surface roughness has a huge impact on many important phenomena. The most
important property of rough surfaces is the surface roughness power spectrum
C(q). We present surface roughness power spectra of many surfaces of practical
importance, obtained from the surface height profile measured using optical
methods and the Atomic Force Microscope. We show how the power spectrum
determines the contact area between two solids. We also present applications to
sealing, rubber friction and adhesion for rough surfaces, where the power
spectrum enters as an important input.Comment: Topical review; 82 pages, 61 figures; Format: Latex (iopart). Some
figures are in Postscript Level
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