Conductance of a molecular wire attached to mesoscopic leads: contact effects

We study linear electron transport through a molecular wire sandwiched between nanotube leads. We show that the presence of such electrodes strongly influences the calculated conductance. We find that depending on the quality and geometry of the contacts between the molecule and the tubular reservoirs, linear transport can be tuned between an effective Newns spectral behavior and a more structured one. The latter strongly depends on the topology of the leads. We also provide analytical evidence for an anomalous behavior of the conductance as a function of the contact strength.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, to appear in Acta Physica Polonica

Optical counterparts of ROSAT X-ray sources in two selected fields at low vs. high Galactic latitudes

The optical identification of large number of X-ray sources such as those from the ROSAT All-Sky Survey is challenging with conventional spectroscopic follow-up observations. We investigate two ROSAT All-Sky Survey fields of size 10 * 10 degrees each, one at galactic latitude b = 83 deg (Com), the other at b = -5 deg (Sge), in order to optically identify the majority of sources. We used optical variability, among other more standard methods, as a means of identifying a large number of ROSAT All-Sky Survey sources. All objects fainter than about 12 mag and brighter than about 17 mag, in or near the error circle of the ROSAT positions, were tested for optical variability on hundreds of archival plates of the Sonneberg field patrol. The present paper contains probable optical identifications of altogether 256 of the 370 ROSAT sources analysed. In particular, we found 126 AGN (some of them may be misclassified CVs), 17 likely clusters of galaxies, 16 eruptive double stars (mostly CVs), 43 chromospherically active stars, 65 stars brighter than about 13 mag, 7 UV Cet stars, 3 semiregular resp. slow irregular variable stars of late spectral type, 2 DA white dwarfs, 1 Am star, 1 supernova remnant and 1 planetary nebula. X-ray emission is, expectedly, tightly correlated with optical variability, and thus our new method for optically identifying X-ray sources is demonstrated to be feasible.Comment: 92 pages, 521 figures, A&A (accepted

Proven, long-life hydrogen/oxygen thrust chambers for space station propulsion

The development of the manned space station has necessitated the development of technology related to an onboard auxiliary propulsion system (APS) required to provide for various space station attitude control, orbit positioning, and docking maneuvers. A key component of this onboard APS is the thrust chamber design. To develop the required thrust chamber technology to support the Space Station Program, the NASA Lewis Research Center has sponsored development programs under contracts with Aerojet TechSystems Company and with Bell Aerospace Textron Division of Textron, Inc. During the NASA Lewis sponsored program with Aerojet TechSystems, a 25 lb sub f hydrogen/oxygen thruster has been developed and proven as a viable candidate to meet the needs of the Space Station Program. Likewise, during the development program with Bell Aerospace, a 50 lb sub f hydrogen/oxygen Thrust Chamber has been developed and has demonstrated reliable, long-life expectancy at anticipated space station operating conditions. Both these thrust chambers were based on design criteria developed in previous thruster programs and successfully verified in experimental test programs. Extensive thermal analyses and models were used to design the thrusters to achieve total impulse goals of 2 x 10 to the 6th power lb sub f-sec. Test data for each thruster will be compared to the analytical predictions for the performance and heat transfer characteristics. Also, the results of thrust chamber life verification tests will be presented

Green's function theory of quasi-two-dimensional spin-half Heisenberg ferromagnets: stacked square versus stacked kagom\'e lattice

We consider the thermodynamic properties of the quasi-two-dimensional spin-half Heisenberg ferromagnet on the stacked square and the stacked kagom\'e lattices by using the spin-rotation-invariant Green's function method. We calculate the critical temperature $T_C$, the uniform static susceptibility $\chi$, the correlation lengths $\xi_\nu$ and the magnetization $M$ and investigate the short-range order above $T_C$. We find that $T_C$ and $M$ at $T>0$ are smaller for the stacked kagom\'e lattice which we attribute to frustration effects becoming relevant at finite temperatures.Comment: shortened version as published in PR

Modeling specific action potentials in the human atria based on a minimal reaction-diffusion model

We present an effective method to model empirical action potentials of specific patients in the human atria based on the minimal model of Bueno-Orovio, Cherry and Fenton adapted to atrial electrophysiology. In this model, three ionic are currents introduced, where each of it is governed by a characteristic time scale. By applying a nonlinear optimization procedure, a best combination of the respective time scales is determined, which allows one to reproduce specific action potentials with a given amplitude, width and shape. Possible applications for supporting clinical diagnosis are pointed out.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figure

Semiclassical Theory of Chaotic Quantum Transport

We present a refined semiclassical approach to the Landauer conductance and Kubo conductivity of clean chaotic mesoscopic systems. We demonstrate for systems with uniformly hyperbolic dynamics that including off-diagonal contributions to double sums over classical paths gives a weak-localization correction in quantitative agreement with results from random matrix theory. We further discuss the magnetic field dependence. This semiclassical treatment accounts for current conservation.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur

Local physics of magnetization plateaux in the Shastry-Sutherland model

We address the physical mechanism responsible for the emergence of magnetization plateaux in the Shastry-Sutherland model. By using a hierarchical mean-field approach we demonstrate that a plateau is stabilized in a certain {\it spin pattern}, satisfying {\it local} commensurability conditions derived from our formalism. Our results provide evidence in favor of a robust local physics nature of the plateaux states, and are in agreement with recent NMR experiments on \scbo.Comment: 4 pages, LaTeX 2