From Dumb Wireless Sensors to Smart Networks using Network Coding

The vision of wireless sensor networks is one of a smart collection of tiny, dumb devices. These motes may be individually cheap, unintelligent, imprecise, and unreliable. Yet they are able to derive strength from numbers, rendering the whole to be strong, reliable and robust. Our approach is to adopt a distributed and randomized mindset and rely on in network processing and network coding. Our general abstraction is that nodes should act only locally and independently, and the desired global behavior should arise as a collective property of the network. We summarize our work and present how these ideas can be applied for communication and storage in sensor networks.Comment: To be presented at the Inaugural Workshop of the Center for Information Theory and Its Applications, University of California - San Diego, La Jolla, CA, February 6 - 10, 200

Anisotropy in magnetic and transport properties of Fe1-xCoxSb2

Anisotropic magnetic and electronic transport measurements were carried out on large single crystals of Fe1-xCoxSb2 (0<= x <=1). The semiconducting state of FeSb2 evolves into metallic and weakly ferromagnetic by substitution of Fe with Co for x<0.5. Further doping induces structural transformation from orthorhombic Pnnm structure of FeSb2 to monoclinic P21/c structure of CoSb2 where semiconducting and diamagnetic ground state is restored again. Large magnetoresistance and anisotropy in electronic transport were observed.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure

Spin Fluctuation Induced Superconductivity Controlled by Orbital Fluctuation

A microscopic Hamiltonian reflecting the correct symmetry of $f$-orbitals is proposed to discuss superconductivity in heavy fermion systems. In the orbitally degenerate region in which not only spin fluctuations but also orbital fluctuations develop considerably, cancellation between spin and orbital fluctuations destabilizes $d_{x^{2}-y^{2}}$-wave superconductivity. Entering the non-degenerate region by increasing the crystalline electric field, $d_{x^{2}-y^{2}}$-wave superconductivity mediated by antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations emerges out of the suppression of orbital fluctuations. We argue that the present scenario can be applied to recently discovered superconductors CeTIn$_{5}$ (T=Ir, Rh, and Co).Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

On the origin of the zero-resistance anomaly in heavy fermion superconducting Ir: a clue from magnetic field and Rh-doping studies

We present the results of the specific heat and AC magnetic susceptibility measurements of $CeIr_{1-x}Rh_xIn_5$ for x from 0 to 0.5. As x is increased from 0 both quantities reflect the competition between two effects. The first is a suppression of superconductivity below the bulk transition temperature of T$_c = 0.4$ K, which is due to the pair breaking effect of Rh impurities. The second is an increase in the volume fraction of the superconducting regions above T$_c$, which we attribute to defect-induced strain. Analysis of the H-T phase diagram for CeIrIn$_5$obtained from the bulk probes and resistance measurements points to the filamentary origin of the inhomogeneous superconductivity at T$_\rho \approx 1.2$ K, where the resistance drops to zero. The identical anisotropies in the magnetic field dependence of the specific heat and the resistance anomalies in CeIrIn$_5$ indicate that the filamentary superconductivity is intrinsic, involving electrons from the part of the Fermi surface responsible for bulk superconductivity.Comment: 4 page

Light elements in massive single and binary stars

We highlight the role of the light elements (Li, Be, B) in the evolution of massive single and binary stars, which is largely restricted to a diagnostic value, and foremost so for the element boron. However, we show that the boron surface abundance in massive early type stars contains key information about their foregoing evolution which is not obtainable otherwise. In particular, it allows to constrain internal mixing processes and potential previous mass transfer event for binary stars (even if the companion has disappeared). It may also help solving the mystery of the slowly rotating nitrogen-rich massive main sequence stars.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, to appear in proc. IAU-Symp. 268. C. Charbonnel et al., eds