740 research outputs found
Nematicity as a route to a magnetic field-induced spin density wave order; application to the high temperature cuprates
The electronic nematic order characterized by broken rotational symmetry has
been suggested to play an important role in the phase diagram of the high
temperature cuprates. We study the interplay between the electronic nematic
order and a spin density wave order in the presence of a magnetic field. We
show that a cooperation of the nematicity and the magnetic field induces a
finite coupling between the spin density wave and spin-triplet staggered flux
orders. As a consequence of such a coupling, the magnon gap decreases as the
magnetic field increases, and it eventually condenses beyond a critical
magnetic field leading to a field-induced spin density wave order. Both
commensurate and incommensurate orders are studied, and the experimental
implications of our findings are discussed.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Low Temperature Performance of Bio-Derived/Chemical Additives in Warm Mix Asphalt
Corn and soy based bio-derived warm mix asphalt (WMA) additives are currently being developed. In the past, additives with similar properties have been shown to successfully reduce the mixing and compaction temperatures of asphalt by as much as 30°C. Isosorbide distillation bottoms (IDB), a WMA additive, is a co-product from the conversion of sorbitol to isosorbide, where sorbitol is derived by hydrogenating glucose from corn biomass. Past research utilizing IDB at several dosage rates showed there was improvement in low temperature binder performance using the bending beam rheometer (BBR) between dosage rates of 0.5% and 1.0% by weight of the binder. This research investigates whether low temperature improvement occurs with several new bio-derived material additives that have similar properties to materials used in past research, as well as compares their performance to two commercially available/bio-derived WMA additives from the forest products industry. In cold regions of the United States, the main observed distress in asphalt pavements is low temperature cracking. Characterization of binder performance at low temperature is possible with the use of the BBR. For asphalt mixtures, characterization is more challenging at low temperatures due to the response from the aggregate phase of a mixture. To examine low temperature performance of hot mix asphalt (HMA) and WMA, the semi-circular bend (SCB) test was used to characterize the fracture properties. SCB tests showed that additive choice was a statistically significant factor in fracture energy properties but not for stiffness and fracture toughness. All of the new additives were successfully used at reduced mixing and compaction temperatures and did not adversely impact low temperature mix fracture properties of WMA when compared against the control HMA. However, improvement of fracture energy was observed when comparing the epoxidized esterified fatty acid additive to the other five additives used in this work
Aichelburg-Sexl boost of an isolated source in general relativity
A study of the Aichelburg--Sexl boost of the Schwarzschild field is described
in which the emphasis is placed on the field (curvature tensor) with the metric
playing a secondary role. This is motivated by a description of the Coulomb
field of a charged particle viewed by an observer whose speed relative to the
charge approaches the speed of light. Our approach is exemplified by carrying
out an Aichelburg-- Sexl type boost on the Weyl vacuum gravitational field due
to an isolated axially symmetric source. Detailed calculations of the boosts
transverse and parallel to the symmetry axis are given and the results, which
differ significantly, are discussed.Comment: 25 pages, LateX2
Use of Bioadvantaged Materials for Use in Bituminous Modification
AbstractHistorically, the use of “green” materials around the world has been limited due to their higher production costs when compared to petrochemical derived materials. However, due to the recent volatility and increasing price of petroleum derivatives, there is a growing demand for the use of environmentally friendly materials. One of the most commonly used materials for bitumen modification are poly(styrene-block-butadiene-block-styrene) (SBS) type polymers. Recently, Iowa State University Chemical Engineering Department was able to synthetize thermoplastic elastomers using acrylated epoxidized soybean oil (AESO), a bioadvantaged replacement of butadiene, and styrene with the use of controlled radical polymerization techniques. Initial rheological tests conducted on the bitumen-polymer blends have shown that the biopolymers improve the complex shear modulus of the bitumen to a similar and even greater extent as the commercially available SBS polymers
Chaotic dynamics in preheating after inflation
We study chaotic dynamics in preheating after inflation in which an inflaton
is coupled to another scalar field through an interaction
. We first estimate the size of the quasi-homogeneous
field at the beginning of reheating for large-field inflaton potentials
by evaluating the amplitude of the fluctuations on
scales larger than the Hubble radius at the end of inflation. Parametric
excitations of the field during preheating can give rise to chaos
between two dynamical scalar fields. For the quartic potential (,
) chaos actually occurs for in a
linear regime before which the backreaction of created particles becomes
important. This analysis is supported by several different criteria for the
existence of chaos. For the quadratic potential () the signature of chaos
is not found by the time at which the backreaction begins to work, similar to
the case of the quartic potential with .Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures, Version to appear in Classical and Quantum
Gravit
Studying genetics of adaptive variation in model organisms: flowering time variation in Arabidopsis lyrata
Arabidopsis thaliana has emerged as a model organism for plant developmental genetics, but it is also now being widely used for population genetic studies. Outcrossing relatives of A. thaliana are likely to provide suitable additional or alternative species for studies of evolutionary and population genetics. We have examined patterns of adaptive flowering time variation in the outcrossing, perennial A. lyrata. In addition, we examine the distribution of variation at marker genes in populations form North America and Europe. The probability of flowering in this species differs between southern and northern populations. Northern populations are much less likely to flower in short than in long days. A significant daylength by region interaction shows that the northern and southern populations respond differently to the daylength. The timing of flowering also differs between populations, and is made shorter by long days, and in some populations, by vernalization. North American and European populations show consistent genetic differentiation over microsatellite and isozyme loci and alcohol dehydrogenase sequences. Thus, the patterns of variation are quite different from those in A. thaliana, where flowering time differences show little relationship to latitude of origin and the genealogical trees of accessions vary depending on the genomic region studied. The genetic architecture of adaptation can be compared in these species with different life historie
The vacuum bubbles in de Sitter background and black hole pair creation
We study the possible types of the nucleation of vacuum bubbles. We classify
vacuum bubbles in de Sitter background and present some numerical solutions.
The thin-wall approximation is employed to obtain the nucleation rate and the
radius of vacuum bubbles. With careful analysis we confirm that Parke's formula
is also applicable to the large true vacuum bubbles. The nucleation of the
false vacuum bubble in de Sitter background is also evaluated. The tunneling
process in the potential with degenerate vacua is analyzed as the limiting
cases of the large true vacuum bubble and false vacuum bubble. Next, we
consider the pair creation of black holes in the background of bubble
solutions. We obtain static bubble wall solutions of junction equation with
black hole pair. The masses of created black holes are uniquely determined by
the cosmological constant and surface tension on the wall. Finally, we obtain
the rate of pair creation of black holes.Comment: 3 figures, minor including errors and typos corrected, and refs.
adde
SO(4) Theory of Competition between Triplet Superconductivity and Antiferromagnetism in Bechgaard Salts
Motivated by recent experiments with Bechgaard salts, we investigate the
competition between antiferromagnetism and triplet superconductivity in quasi
one-dimensional electron systems. We unify the two orders in an SO(4) symmetric
framework, and demonstrate the existence of such symmetry in one-dimensional
Luttinger liquids. SO(4) symmetry, which strongly constrains the phase diagram,
can explain coexistence regions between antiferromagnetic, superconducting, and
normal phases, as observed in (TMTSF)PF. We predict a sharp neutron
scattering resonance in superconducting samples.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures; Added discussion of applicability of SO(4)
symmetry for strongly anisotropic Fermi liquids; Added reference
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