5,316 research outputs found
Computer simulation of macrosegregation in directionally solidified circular ingots
The formulation and employment of a computer code designed to simulate the directional solidification of lead-rich Pb-Sn alloys in the form of an ingot with a uniform and circular cross-section are described. The formulation is for steady-state solidification in which convection in the all-liquid zone is ignored. Particular attention was given to designing a code to simulate the effect of a subtle variation of temperature in the radial direction. This is important because a very small temperature difference between the center and the surface of the ingot (e.g., less than 0.5 C ) is enough to cause substantial convection within the mushy-zone when the solidification rate is approximately 0.001 to 0.0001 cm/s
Practical quantum realization of the ampere from the electron charge
One major change of the future revision of the International System of Units
(SI) is a new definition of the ampere based on the elementary charge \emph{e}.
Replacing the former definition based on Amp\`ere's force law will allow one to
fully benefit from quantum physics to realize the ampere. However, a quantum
realization of the ampere from \emph{e}, accurate to within in
relative value and fulfilling traceability needs, is still missing despite many
efforts have been spent for the development of single-electron tunneling
devices. Starting again with Ohm's law, applied here in a quantum circuit
combining the quantum Hall resistance and Josephson voltage standards with a
superconducting cryogenic amplifier, we report on a practical and universal
programmable quantum current generator. We demonstrate that currents generated
in the milliampere range are quantized in terms of
( is the Josephson frequency) with a measurement uncertainty of
. This new quantum current source, able to deliver such accurate
currents down to the microampere range, can greatly improve the current
measurement traceability, as demonstrated with the calibrations of digital
ammeters. Beyond, it opens the way to further developments in metrology and in
fundamental physics, such as a quantum multimeter or new accurate comparisons
to single electron pumps.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figure
Quantum Hall effect in exfoliated graphene affected by charged impurities: metrological measurements
Metrological investigations of the quantum Hall effect (QHE) completed by
transport measurements at low magnetic field are carried out in
a-few--wide Hall bars made of monolayer (ML) or bilayer (BL)
exfoliated graphene transferred on substrate. From the
charge carrier density dependence of the conductivity and from the measurement
of the quantum corrections at low magnetic field, we deduce that transport
properties in these devices are mainly governed by the Coulomb interaction of
carriers with a large concentration of charged impurities. In the QHE regime,
at high magnetic field and low temperature (), the Hall
resistance is measured by comparison with a GaAs based quantum resistance
standard using a cryogenic current comparator. In the low dissipation limit, it
is found quantized within 5 parts in (one standard deviation, ) at the expected rational fractions of the von Klitzing constant,
respectively and in the ML and BL
devices. These results constitute the most accurate QHE quantization tests to
date in monolayer and bilayer exfoliated graphene. It turns out that a main
limitation to the quantization accuracy, which is found well above the
accuracy usually achieved in GaAs, is the low value of the QHE
breakdown current being no more than . The current dependence
of the longitudinal conductivity investigated in the BL Hall bar shows that
dissipation occurs through quasi-elastic inter-Landau level scattering,
assisted by large local electric fields. We propose that charged impurities are
responsible for an enhancement of such inter-Landau level transition rate and
cause small breakdown currents.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figure
Memory strategies mediate the relationships between memory and judgment
In the literature, the nature of the relationships between
memory processes and summary evaluations is still a debate.
According to some theoretical approaches (e.g., “two-memory
hypothesis”; Anderson, 1989) retrospective evaluations are
based on the impression formed while attending to the to-be assessed stimuli (on-line judgment) – no functional
dependence between information retrieval and judgment is
implied. Conversely, several theories entail that judgment
must depend, at least in part, on memory processes (e.g.,
Dougherty, Gettys, & Ogden, 1999; Schwarz, 1998; Tversky
& Kahneman, 1973). The present study contributes to this
debate by addressing two important issues. First, it shows
how more comprehensive memory measures than those used
previously (e.g., Hastie & Park, 1986) are necessary in order
to detect a relationship between memory and retrospective
evaluations. Secondly, it demonstrates how memory strategies
influence the relationship between memory and judgment.
Participants recalled lists of words, after having assessed each of them for their pleasantness. Results showed a clear
association between memory and judgment, which was
mediated by the individual strategies participants used to
recall the items
Retrospective evaluations of sequences: Testing the predictions of a memory-based analysis
Retrospective evaluation (RE) of event sequences is known to be biased in various ways. The present paper presents a series of studies that examined the suggestion that the moments that are the most accessible in memory at the point of RE contribute to these biases. As predicted by this memory-based analysis, Experiment 1 showed that pleasantness ratings of word lists were biased by the presentation position of a negative item and by how easy the negative information was to retrieve. Experiment 2 ruled out the hypothesis that these findings were due to the dual nature of the task called upon. Experiment 3 further manipulated the memorability of the negative items – and corresponding changes in RE were as predicted. Finally, Experiment 4 extended the findings to more complex stimuli involving event narratives. Overall, the results suggest that assessments were adjusted based on the retrieval of the most readily available information
An efficient numerical quadrature for the calculation of the potential energy of wavefunctions expressed in the Daubechies wavelet basis
An efficient numerical quadrature is proposed for the approximate calculation
of the potential energy in the context of pseudo potential electronic structure
calculations with Daubechies wavelet and scaling function basis sets. Our
quadrature is also applicable in the case of adaptive spatial resolution. Our
theoretical error estimates are confirmed by numerical test calculations of the
ground state energy and wave function of the harmonic oscillator in one
dimension with and without adaptive resolution. As a byproduct we derive a
filter, which, upon application on the scaling function coefficients of a
smooth function, renders the approximate grid values of this function. This
also allows for a fast calculation of the charge density from the wave
function.Comment: 35 pages, 9 figures. Submitted to: Journal of Computational Physic
Heating process in the pre-Breakdown regime of the Quantum Hall Efect : a size dependent effect
Our study presents experimental measurements of the contact and longitudinal
voltage drops in Hall bars, as a function of the current amplitude. We are
interested in the heating phenomenon which takes place before the breakdown of
the quantum Hall effect, i.e. the pre-breakdown regime. Two types of samples
has been investigated, at low temperature (4.2 and 1.5K) and high magnetic
field (up to 13 T). The Hall bars have several different widths, and our
observations clearly demonstrate that the size of the sample influences the
heating phenomenon. By measuring the critical currents of both contact and
longitudinal voltages, as a function of the filling factor (around ), we
highlight the presence of a high electric field domain near the source contact,
which is observable only in samples whose width is smaller than 400 microns.Comment: 4 pages, 5 igures, 7th International Symposium of Research in High
Magnetic Fields, to be published in physica
Distributions of secondary muons at sea level from cosmic gamma rays below 10 TeV
The FLUKA Monte Carlo program is used to predict the distributions of the
muons which originate from primary cosmic gamma rays and reach sea level. The
main result is the angular distribution of muons produced by vertical gamma
rays which is necessary to predict the inherent angular resolution of any
instrument utilizing muons to infer properties of gamma ray primaries.
Furthermore, various physical effects are discussed which affect these
distributions in differing proportions.Comment: 36 pages, 13 figures, minor revision, new layou
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