1,598 research outputs found
Capillary Condensation and Interface Structure of a Model Colloid-Polymer Mixture in a Porous Medium
We consider the Asakura-Oosawa model of hard sphere colloids and ideal
polymers in contact with a porous matrix modeled by immobilized configurations
of hard spheres. For this ternary mixture a fundamental measure density
functional theory is employed, where the matrix particles are quenched and the
colloids and polymers are annealed, i.e. allowed to equilibrate. We study
capillary condensation of the mixture in a tiny sample of matrix as well as
demixing and the fluid-fluid interface inside a bulk matrix. Density profiles
normal to the interface and surface tensions are calculated and compared to the
case without matrix. Two kinds of matrices are considered: (i) colloid-sized
matrix particles at low packing fractions and (ii) large matrix particles at
high packing fractions. These two cases show fundamentally different behavior
and should both be experimentally realizable. Furthermore, we argue that
capillary condensation of a colloidal suspension could be experimentally
accessible. We find that in case (ii), even at high packing fractions, the main
effect of the matrix is to exclude volume and, to high accuracy, the results
can be mapped onto those of the same system without matrix via a simple
rescaling.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, submitted to PR
First-principles Calculation of the Formation Energy in MgO-CaO Solid Solutions
The electronic structure and total energy were calculated for ordered and
disordered MgO-CaO solid solutions within the multiple scattering theory in
real space and the local density approximation. Based on the dependence of the
total energy on the unit cell volume the equilibrium lattice parameter and
formation energy were determined for different solution compositions. The
formation energy of the solid solutions is found to be positive that is in
agreement with the experimental phase diagram, which shows a miscibility gap.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figure
Concerning the quark condensate
A continuum expression for the trace of the massive dressed-quark propagator
is used to explicate a connection between the infrared limit of the QCD Dirac
operator's spectrum and the quark condensate appearing in the operator product
expansion, and the connection is verified via comparison with a lattice-QCD
simulation. The pseudoscalar vacuum polarisation provides a good approximation
to the condensate over a larger range of current-quark masses.Comment: 7 pages, LaTeX2e, revtex
Elastic Scattering by Deterministic and Random Fractals: Self-Affinity of the Diffraction Spectrum
The diffraction spectrum of coherent waves scattered from fractal supports is
calculated exactly. The fractals considered are of the class generated
iteratively by successive dilations and translations, and include
generalizations of the Cantor set and Sierpinski carpet as special cases. Also
randomized versions of these fractals are treated. The general result is that
the diffraction intensities obey a strict recursion relation, and become
self-affine in the limit of large iteration number, with a self-affinity
exponent related directly to the fractal dimension of the scattering object.
Applications include neutron scattering, x-rays, optical diffraction, magnetic
resonance imaging, electron diffraction, and He scattering, which all display
the same universal scaling.Comment: 20 pages, 11 figures. Phys. Rev. E, in press. More info available at
http://www.fh.huji.ac.il/~dani
Hydrogen-Helium Mixtures at High Pressure
The properties of hydrogen-helium mixtures at high pressure are crucial to
address important questions about the interior of Giant planets e.g. whether
Jupiter has a rocky core and did it emerge via core accretion? Using path
integral Monte Carlo simulations, we study the properties of these mixtures as
a function of temperature, density and composition. The equation of state is
calculated and compared to chemical models. We probe the accuracy of the ideal
mixing approximation commonly used in such models. Finally, we discuss the
structure of the liquid in terms of pair correlation functions.Comment: Proceedings article of the 5th Conference on Cryocrystals and Quantum
Crystals in Wroclaw, Poland, submitted to J. Low. Temp. Phys. (2004
Kaluza-Klein Type Robertson Walker Cosmological Model With Dynamical Cosmological Term
In this paper we have analyzed the Kaluza-Klein type Robertson Walker (RW)
cosmological models by considering three different forms of variable :
, and
. It is found that, the connecting free parameters of the
models with cosmic matter and vacuum energy density parameters are equivalent,
in the context of higher dimensional space time. The expression for the look
back time, luminosity distance and angular diameter distance are also derived.
This work has thus generalized to higher dimensions the well-known results in
four dimensional space time. It is found that there may be significant
difference in principle at least, from the analogous situation in four
dimensional space time.Comment: 16 pages, no figur
The Persistence Length of a Strongly Charged, Rod-like, Polyelectrolyte in the Presence of Salt
The persistence length of a single, intrinsically rigid polyelectrolyte
chain, above the Manning condensation threshold is investigated theoretically
in presence of added salt. Using a loop expansion method, the partition
function is consistently calculated, taking into account corrections to
mean-field theory. Within a mean-field approximation, the well-known results of
Odijk, Skolnick and Fixman are reproduced. Beyond mean-field, it is found that
density correlations between counterions and thermal fluctuations reduce the
stiffness of the chain, indicating an effective attraction between monomers for
highly charged chains and multivalent counterions. This attraction results in a
possible mechanical instability (collapse), alluding to the phenomenon of DNA
condensation. In addition, we find that more counterions condense on slightly
bent conformations of the chain than predicted by the Manning model for the
case of an infinite cylinder. Finally, our results are compared with previous
models and experiments.Comment: 13 pages, 2 ps figure
Biochar-based fertilizer: Supercharging root membrane potential and biomass yield of rice
Biochar-based compound fertilizers (BCF) and amendments have proven to enhance crop yields and modify soil properties (pH, nutrients, organic matter, structure etc.) and are now in commercial production in China. While there is a good understanding of the changes in soil properties following biochar addition, the interactions within the rhizosphere remain largely unstudied, with benefits to yield observed beyond the changes in soil properties alone. We investigated the rhizosphere interactions following the addition of an activated wheat straw BCF at an application rates of 0.25% (g·g−1 soil), which could potentially explain the increase of plant biomass (by 67%), herbage N (by 40%) and P (by 46%) uptake in the rice plants grown in the BCF-treated soil, compared to the rice plants grown in the soil with conventional fertilizer alone. Examination of the roots revealed that micron and submicron-sized biochar were embedded in the plaque layer. BCF increased soil Eh by 85 mV and increased the potential difference between the rhizosphere soil and the root membrane by 65 mV. This increased potential difference lowered the free energy required for root nutrient accumulation, potentially explaining greater plant nutrient content and biomass. We also demonstrate an increased abundance of plant-growth promoting bacteria and fungi in the rhizosphere. We suggest that the redox properties of the biochar cause major changes in electron status of rhizosphere soils that drive the observed agronomic benefits
Cosmology at the Millennium
One hundred years ago we did not know how stars generate energy, the age of
the Universe was thought to be only millions of years, and our Milky Way galaxy
was the only galaxy known. Today, we know that we live in an evolving and
expanding Universe comprising billions of galaxies, all held together by dark
matter. With the hot big-bang model, we can trace the evolution of the Universe
from the hot soup of quarks and leptons that existed a fraction of a second
after the beginning to the formation of galaxies a few billion years later, and
finally to the Universe we see today 13 billion years after the big bang, with
its clusters of galaxies, superclusters, voids, and great walls. The attractive
force of gravity acting on tiny primeval inhomogeneities in the distribution of
matter gave rise to all the structure seen today. A paradigm based upon deep
connections between cosmology and elementary particle physics -- inflation +
cold dark matter -- holds the promise of extending our understanding to an even
more fundamental level and much earlier times, as well as shedding light on the
unification of the forces and particles of nature. As we enter the 21st
century, a flood of observations is testing this paradigm.Comment: 44 pages LaTeX with 14 eps figures. To be published in the Centennial
Volume of Reviews of Modern Physic
Constraining the dark energy with galaxy clusters X-ray data
The equation of state characterizing the dark energy component is constrained
by combining Chandra observations of the X-ray luminosity of galaxy clusters
with independent measurements of the baryonic matter density and the latest
measurements of the Hubble parameter as given by the HST key project. By
assuming a spatially flat scenario driven by a "quintessence" component with an
equation of state we place the following limits on the
cosmological parameters and : (i) and (1) if the
equation of state of the dark energy is restricted to the interval (\emph{usual} quintessence) and (ii) and
() if violates the null energy condition and assume values (\emph{extended} quintessence or ``phantom'' energy). These results are in
good agreement with independent studies based on supernovae observations,
large-scale structure and the anisotropies of the cosmic background radiation.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, LaTe
- …