Impact of DM direct searches and the LHC analyses on branon phenomenology

Dark Matter direct detection experiments are able to exclude interesting parameter space regions of particle models which predict an important amount of thermal relics. We use recent data to constrain the branon model and to compute the region that is favored by CDMS measurements. Within this work, we also update present colliders constraints with new studies coming from the LHC. Despite the present low luminosity, it is remarkable that for heavy branons, CMS and ATLAS measurements are already more constraining than previous analyses performed with TEVATRON and LEP data.Comment: 17 pages, 2 figure

Periodic orbit bifurcations and scattering time delay fluctuations

We study fluctuations of the Wigner time delay for open (scattering) systems which exhibit mixed dynamics in the classical limit. It is shown that in the semiclassical limit the time delay fluctuations have a distribution that differs markedly from those which describe fully chaotic (or strongly disordered) systems: their moments have a power law dependence on a semiclassical parameter, with exponents that are rational fractions. These exponents are obtained from bifurcating periodic orbits trapped in the system. They are universal in situations where sufficiently long orbits contribute. We illustrate the influence of bifurcations on the time delay numerically using an open quantum map.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, contribution to QMC200

High coercivity induced by mechanical milling in cobalt ferrite powders

In this work we report a study of the magnetic behavior of ferrimagnetic oxide CoFe2O4 treated by mechanical milling with different grinding balls. The cobalt ferrite nanoparticles were prepared using a simple hydrothermal method and annealed at 500oC. The non-milled sample presented coercivity of about 1.9 kOe, saturation magnetization of 69.5 emu/g, and a remanence ratio of 0.42. After milling, two samples attained coercivity of 4.2 and 4.1 kOe, and saturation magnetization of 67.0 and 71.4 emu/g respectively. The remanence ratio MR/MS for these samples increase to 0.49 and 0.51, respectively. To investigate the influence of the microstructure on the magnetic behavior of these samples, we used X-ray powder diffraction (XPD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM). The XPD analysis by the Williamson-Hall plot was used to estimate the average crystallite size and strain induced by mechanical milling in the samples

High-temperature phase transitions in SrBi_2Ta_2O_9 film: a study by THz spectroscopy

Time-domain THz transmission experiment was performed on a $\rm SrBi_2Ta_2O_9$ film deposited on sapphire substrate. Temperatures between 300 and 923 K were investigated and complex permittivity spectra of the film were determined. The lowest frequency optic phonon near 28 cm$^{-1}$ reveals a slow monotonic decrease in frequency on heating with no significant anomaly near the phase transitions. We show that the dielectric anomaly near the ferroelectric phase transition can be explained by slowing down of a relaxational mode, observed in the THz spectra. A second harmonic generation signal observed in a single crystal confirms a loss of center of symmetry in the ferroelectric phase and a presence of polar clusters in the intermediate ferroelastic phase.Comment: subm. to J. Phys.: Condens. Matte

An optimisation approach for the e-grocery order picking and delivery problem

[EN] Traditional supermarket chains that are adopting an omni-channel approach must now carry out the order picking and delivery processes to serve online orders, previously done by the customer. The complexity of the logistics processes has increased, therefore modelling and optimising e-grocery operations becomes definitely important. Since there are few studies modelling order picking and delivery processes, we propose an approach that simultaneously optimises the decision variables of different functions which have traditionally been treated separately. In this study, we present a linear programming model for store-based e-fulfilment strategies with multiple picking locations. The proposed model optimises the allocation of online orders to stores, based on the e-fulfilment costs. As well as minimising the picking and delivery costs, the proposed approach consolidates workloads in order to avoid idle times and reduce the amount of resources required. A weighted sum method is applied to compute the solution, integrating parameters that represent different store features such as the product range, sales mode and physical store activities. The proposed model has been tested on one of the largest grocery sellers, showing that substantial savings can be achieved by reallocating orders to different stores, time windows and delivery vehicles. By focusing on optimising e-fulfilment resources, this approach serves as a guide for traditional grocery sellers to redesign their supply chains and to facilitate decision-making at a managerial level.Funding was provided by Universidade de Vigo.Vazquez-Noguerol, M.; Comesaña-Benavides, J.; Poler, R.; Prado-Prado, JC. (2022). An optimisation approach for the e-grocery order picking and delivery problem. Central European Journal of Operations Research. 30(3):961-990. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10100-020-00710-9S96199030

Alcohol-Induced Histone Acetylation Reveals a Gene Network Involved in Alcohol Tolerance

Alfredo Ghezzi, Harish R. Krishnan, Linda Lew, Francisco J. Prado III, Darryl S. Ong, Nigel S. Atkinson, Section of Neurobiology and Waggoner Center for Alcohol and Addiction Research, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, United States of AmericaSustained or repeated exposure to sedating drugs, such as alcohol, triggers homeostatic adaptations in the brain that lead to the development of drug tolerance and dependence. These adaptations involve long-term changes in the transcription of drug-responsive genes as well as an epigenetic restructuring of chromosomal regions that is thought to signal and maintain the altered transcriptional state. Alcohol-induced epigenetic changes have been shown to be important in the long-term adaptation that leads to alcohol tolerance and dependence endophenotypes. A major constraint impeding progress is that alcohol produces a surfeit of changes in gene expression, most of which may not make any meaningful contribution to the ethanol response under study. Here we used a novel genomic epigenetic approach to find genes relevant for functional alcohol tolerance by exploiting the commonalities of two chemically distinct alcohols. In Drosophila melanogaster, ethanol and benzyl alcohol induce mutual cross-tolerance, indicating that they share a common mechanism for producing tolerance. We surveyed the genome-wide changes in histone acetylation that occur in response to these drugs. Each drug induces modifications in a large number of genes. The genes that respond similarly to either treatment, however, represent a subgroup enriched for genes important for the common tolerance response. Genes were functionally tested for behavioral tolerance to the sedative effects of ethanol and benzyl alcohol using mutant and inducible RNAi stocks. We identified a network of genes that are essential for the development of tolerance to sedation by alcohol.This work was supported by National Institute of Health grant R01 AA018037 to NSA (http://www.nih.gov/). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.NeuroscienceWaggoner Center for Alcohol and Addiction ResearchEmail: [email protected] (AG)Email: [email protected] (NSA

Topological defects and misfit strain in magnetic stripe domains of lateral multilayers with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy

Stripe domains are studied in perpendicular magnetic anisotropy films nanostructured with a periodic thickness modulation that induces the lateral modulation of both stripe periods and inplane magnetization. The resulting system is the 2D equivalent of a strained superlattice with properties controlled by interfacial misfit strain within the magnetic stripe structure and shape anisotropy. This allows us to observe, experimentally for the first time, the continuous structural transformation of a grain boundary in this 2D magnetic crystal in the whole angular range. The magnetization reversal process can be tailored through the effect of misfit strain due to the coupling between disclinations in the magnetic stripe pattern and domain walls in the in-plane magnetization configuration

Controlled nucleation of topological defects in the stripe domain patterns of Lateral multilayers with Perpendicular Magnetic Anisotropy: competition between magnetostatic, exchange and misfit interactions

Magnetic lateral multilayers have been fabricated on weak perpendicular magnetic anisotropy amorphous Nd-Co films in order to perform a systematic study on the conditions for controlled nucleation of topological defects within their magnetic stripe domain pattern. A lateral thickness modulation of period $w$ is defined on the nanostructured samples that, in turn, induces a lateral modulation of both magnetic stripe domain periods $\lambda$ and average in-plane magnetization component $M_{inplane}$. Depending on lateral multilayer period and in-plane applied field, thin and thick regions switch independently during in-plane magnetization reversal and domain walls are created within the in-plane magnetization configuration coupled to variable angle grain boundaries and disclinations within the magnetic stripe domain patterns. This process is mainly driven by the competition between rotatable anisotropy (that couples the magnetic stripe pattern to in-plane magnetization) and in-plane shape anisotropy induced by the periodic thickness modulation. However, as the structural period $w$ becomes comparable to magnetic stripe period $\lambda$, the nucleation of topological defects at the interfaces between thin and thick regions is hindered by a size effect and stripe domains in the different thickness regions become strongly coupled.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Physical Review

Superscars in the LiNC=LiCN isomerization reaction

We demonstrate the existence of superscarring in the LiNC=LiCN isomerization reaction described by a realistic potential interaction in the range of readily attainable experimental energies. This phenomenon arises as the effect of two periodic orbits appearing "out of the blue"in a saddle--node bifurcation taking place in the dynamics of the system. Potential practical consequences of this superlocalization in the corresponding wave functions are also considered.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures. to appear in EP