Roughness of stylolites: a stress-induced instability with non local interactions

We study the roughness of stylolite surfaces (i.e. natural pressure-dissolution surfaces in sedimentary rocks) from profiler measurements at laboratory scales. The roughness is shown to be nicely described by a self-affine scaling invariance. At large scales, the roughness exponent is $\zeta_1 \approx 0.5$ and very different from that at small scales where $\zeta_2 \approx 1.1$. A cross-over length scale at around $\lambda_c =1$mm is well characterized and interpreted as a possible fossil stress measurement if related to the Asaro-Tiller-Grinfeld stress-induced instability. Measurements are consistent with a Langevin equation that describes the growth of stylolite surfaces in a quenched disordered material with long range elastic correlations.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

A single chain analysis of doped quasi one dimensional spin 1 compounds: paramagnetic versus spin 1/2 doping

We present a numerical study of single chain models of doped spin 1 compounds. We use low energy effective one-dimensional models for both the cases of paramagnetic and spin-1/2 doping. In the case of paramagnetic doping, the effective model is equivalent to the bond disordered spin-1/2 chain model recently analyzed by means of real space renormalization group by Hyman and Yang. By means of exact diagonalizations in the XX limit, we confirm the stability of the Haldane phase for weak disorder. Above a critical amount of disorder, the effective model flows to the so called random singlet fixed point. In the case of spin-1/2 doping, we argue that the Haldane phase should be destabilized even for weak disorder. This picture is not in contradiction with existing experimental data. We also discuss the possible occurrence of (unobserved) antiferromagnetically ordered phases.Comment: 13 pages, 7 included figure

Designing III-V Multijunction Solar Cells on Silicon

Single junction Si solar cells dominate photovoltaics but are close to their efficiency limits. This paper presents ideal limiting efficiencies for tandem and triple junction multijunction solar cells subject only to the constraint of the Si bandgap and therefore recommending optimum cell structures departing from the single junction ideal. The use of III-V materials is considered, using a novel growth method capable of yielding low defect density III-V layers on Si. In order to evaluate the real potential of these proposed multijunction designs, a quantitative model is presented, the strength of which is the joint modelling of external quantum efficiency and current-voltage characteristics using the same parameters. The method yields a single parameter fit in terms of the Shockley-Read-Hall lifetime. This model is validated by fitting experimental data of external quantum efficiency, dark current, and conversion efficiency of world record tandem and triple junction cells under terrestrial solar spectra without concentration. We apply this quantitative model to the design of tandem and triple junction solar cells, yielding cell designs capable of reaching efficiencies without concentration of 32% for the best tandem cell and 36% for the best triple junction cell. This demonstrates that efficiencies within a few percent of world records are realistically achievable without the use of concentrating optics, with growth methods being developed for multijunction cells combining III-V and Si materials.Comment: Preprint of the paper submitted to the journal Progress in Photovoltaics, selected by the Executive Committee of the 28th EU PVSEC 2013 for submission to Progress in Photovoltaics. 10 pages, 7 figure

The heavy neutral Higgs signature in the gamma gamma to Z Z process

If the Standard Model (SM) Higgs particle is sufficiently heavy, then its contribution to gamma gamma to Z Z should be largely imaginary, interfering with the also predominantly imaginary SM "background" generated by the W-loop. For standard model Higgs masses in the region 200 \lsim m_H \lsim 500 GeV, this interference is found to be constructive and increasing the Higgs signal. In the minimal SUSY case an interference effect should also appear for the contribution of the heavier CP-even neutral Higgs boson H^0, provided it is sufficiently heavy. The effect is somewhat reduced though, by the smallness of the H^0 width and the gamma gamma and ZZ branching ratios. The interference is again found to be constructive for part of the parameter space corresponding to sfermion masses at the TeV scale and maximal stop mixing. For both the SM and SUSY cases, regions of the parameter space exist though, where the interference may be destructive. It is therefore essential to take these effects into account when searching for possible scalar Higgs-like candidates. To this aim, we present the complete analytic expressions for both resonance and background amplitudes.Comment: version submitted to EPJC; 34 pages and 6 figures. e-mail: [email protected]

The gamma gamma to Z Z process and the search for virtual SUSY effects at a gamma gamma Collider

We study the helicity amplitudes of the process gamma gamma to ZZ in the Standard Model at high energy. These amplitudes receive contributions from the W and charged quark and lepton loops, analogous to those encountered in the gamma gamma to gamma gamma, gamma Z cases studied before. But gamma gamma to ZZ also receives contributions from the Higgs s-channel poles involving the effective Higgs-gamma gamma vertex. At energies of about 300 GeV, the amplitudes in all three processes are mainly helicity-conserving and almost purely imaginary; which renders them a very useful tool in searching for New Physics. As an example, a SUSY case is studied, and the signatures due to the virtual effects induced by a chargino-, charged slepton- or a lightest stop-loop in gamma gamma to ZZ, are explored. These signatures, combined with the analogous ones in gamma gamma to gamma gamma and gamma gamma to gamma Z, should help identifying the nature of possible New Physics particles.Comment: 28 pages and 6 figures; version to appear in E.P.J.C e-mail: [email protected]