Photoelectric emission from the alkali metal doped vacuum-ice interface

The photoelectron photoemission spectra and thresholds for low coverages of Li and K adsorbed on water-ice have been measured, compared with photoionization spectra of the gas-phase atoms, and modeled by quantum chemical calculations. For both alkali metals the threshold for photoemission is dramatically decreased and the cross section increased on adsorption to the water-ice surface. Quantum chemical calculations suggest that the initial state is formed by the metal atoms adsorbed into the water-ice surface, forming a state with a delocalized electron distribution. This state is metastable and decays on the hundreds of seconds time scale at 92 K. The decay is markedly faster for Li than for K, probably due to diffusion into the ice film

The Chandra Detection of Galactic Center X-ray Features G359.89-0.08 and G359.54+0.18

We report on the detection of two elongated X-ray features G359.89-0.08 and G359.54+0.18 in the Galactic center (GC) region using the Chandra X-ray Observatory. G359.89-0.08 is an elongated X-ray feature located $\sim$2\arcmin in projection south of the center of the Galaxy, SgrA$^*$. This X-ray feature source is partially coincident with a slightly curved (``wisp''-like) non-thermal radio source. The X-ray spectrum of G359.89-0.08 can be best characterized as non-thermal, with a photon index of 2. The morphological and spectral characteristics of the X-ray and radio emission associated with G359.89-0.08 are best interpreted as the synchrotron emission from a ram-pressure confined pulsar wind nebula. G359.54+0.18 is one of the most prominent radio non-thermal filaments (NTFs) in the GC region, located $\sim$30\arcmin in projection from SgrA$^*$. A narrow ($\sim$10\arcsec) filament of X-ray emission appears to arise from one of the two strands that comprise the radio NTF. Although the photon statistics are poor for this source, the X-ray emission is also likely to be non-thermal in nature. Several models for the production of X-ray emission in G359.54+0.18 are discussed.Comment: 19 pages with 6 figures included, accepted by A

Elastic bending modulus of monolayer graphene

An analytic formula is derived for the elastic bending modulus of monolayer graphene based on an empirical potential for solid-state carbon atoms. Two physical origins are identified for the non-vanishing bending stiffness of the atomically thin graphene sheet, one due to the bond-angle effect and the other resulting from the bond-order term associated with the dihedral angles. The analytical prediction compares closely with ab initio energy calculations. Pure bending of graphene monolayers into cylindrical tubes is simulated by a molecular mechanics approach, showing slight nonlinearity and anisotropy in the tangent bending modulus as the bending curvature increases. An intrinsic coupling between bending and in-plane strain is noted for graphene monolayers rolled into carbon nanotubes

Endovascular Repair of an Iliac Artery Tuberculous Pseudoaneurysm

AbstractA 63-year-old male presented with recurrent pyrexia, low back pain, and night sweats followed by knee pain and the inability to walk. Computed tomography revealed disintegration of the 4th and 5th lumbar vertebrae, and a laparotomy revealed a large aneurysm. A Medtronic aortic-united-iliac, PTFE-covered stent sealed the orifice of the aneurysm and combined with antituberculous treatment, relieved the patient of primary symptoms

Magnetic control of the pair creation in spatially localized supercritical fields

We examine the impact of a perpendicular magnetic field on the creation mechanism of electron-positron pairs in a supercritical static electric field, where both fields are localized along the direction of the electric field. In the case where the spatial extent of the magnetic field exceeds that of the electric field, quantum field theoretical simulations based on the Dirac equation predict a suppression of pair creation even if the electric field is supercritical. Furthermore, an arbitrarily small magnetic field outside the interaction zone can bring the creation process even to a complete halt, if it is sufficiently extended. The mechanism for this magnetically induced complete shutoff can be associated with a reopening of the mass gap and the emergence of electrically dressed Landau levels

Thermomechanical properties of graphene: valence force field model approach

Using the valence force field model of Perebeinos and Tersoff [Phys. Rev. B {\bf79}, 241409(R) (2009)], different energy modes of suspended graphene subjected to tensile or compressive strain are studied. By carrying out Monte Carlo simulations it is found that: i) only for small strains ($|\varepsilon| \lessapprox 0.02$) the total energy is symmetrical in the strain, while it behaves completely different beyond this threshold; ii) the important energy contributions in stretching experiments are stretching, angle bending, out-of-plane term and a term that provides repulsion against $\pi-\pi$ misalignment; iii) in compressing experiments the two latter terms increase rapidly and beyond the buckling transition stretching and bending energies are found to be constant; iv) from stretching-compressing simulations we calculated the Young modulus at room temperature 350$\pm3.15$\,N/m, which is in good agreement with experimental results (340$\pm50$\,N/m) and with ab-initio results [322-353]\,N/m; v) molar heat capacity is estimated to be 24.64\,J/mol$^{-1}$K$^{-1}$ which is comparable with the Dulong-Petit value, i.e. 24.94\,J/mol$^{-1}$K$^{-1}$ and is almost independent of the strain; vi) non-linear scaling properties are obtained from height-height correlations at finite temperature; vii) the used valence force field model results in a temperature independent bending modulus for graphene, and viii) the Gruneisen parameter is estimated to be 0.64.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures. To appear in J. Phys.: Condens. Matte

Electronic properties of silica nanowires

Thin nanowires of silicon oxide were studied by pseudopotential density functional electronic structure calculations using the generalized gradient approximation. Infinite linear and zigzag Si-O chains were investigated. A wire composed of three-dimensional periodically repeated Si4O8 units was also optimized, but this structure was found to be of limited stability. The geometry, electronic structure, and Hirshfeld charges of these silicon oxide nanowires were computed. The results show that the Si-O chain is metallic, whereas the zigzag chain and the Si4O8 nanowire are insulators

Preasymptotic Convergence of Randomized Kaczmarz Method

Kaczmarz method is one popular iterative method for solving inverse problems, especially in computed tomography. Recently, it was established that a randomized version of the method enjoys an exponential convergence for well-posed problems, and the convergence rate is determined by a variant of the condition number. In this work, we analyze the preasymptotic convergence behavior of the randomized Kaczmarz method, and show that the low-frequency error (with respect to the right singular vectors) decays faster during first iterations than the high-frequency error. Under the assumption that the inverse solution is smooth (e.g., sourcewise representation), the result explains the fast empirical convergence behavior, thereby shedding new insights into the excellent performance of the randomized Kaczmarz method in practice. Further, we propose a simple strategy to stabilize the asymptotic convergence of the iteration by means of variance reduction. We provide extensive numerical experiments to confirm the analysis and to elucidate the behavior of the algorithms.Comment: 20 page