15,586 research outputs found
Correlating the interstellar magnetic field with protostellar jets and its sources
This article combines new CCD polarimetric data with previous information
about protostellar objects in a search for correlations involving the
interstellar magnetic field. Specifically, we carried out an optical
polarimetric study of a sample of 28 fields of 10 X 10 arcmin^2 located in the
neighborhood of protostellar jets and randomly spread over the Galaxy. The
polarimetry of a large number of field stars is used to estimate both the
average and dispersion of the interstellar magnetic field (ISMF) direction in
each region. The results of the applied statistical tests are as follows.
Concerning the alignment between the jet direction and the interstellar
magnetic field, the whole sample does not show alignment. There is, however, a
statistically significant alignment for objects of Classes 0 and I. Regarding
the interstellar magnetic field dispersion, our sample presents values slightly
larger for regions containing T Tauri objects than for those harboring younger
protostars. Moreover the ISMF dispersion in regions containing high-mass
objects tends to be larger than in those including only low-mass protostars. In
our sample, the mean interstellar polarization as a function of the average
interstellar extinction in a region reaches a maximum value around 3% for A(V)
= 5, after which it decreases. Our data also show a clear correlation of the
mean value of the interstellar polarization with the dispersion of the
interstellar magnetic field: the larger the dispersion, the smaller the
polarization. Based on a comparison of our and previous results, we suggest
that the dispersion in regions forming stars is larger than in quiescent
regions.Comment: ApJ accepte
Vacuum fluctuations of a scalar field near a reflecting boundary and their effects on the motion of a test particle
The contribution from quantum vacuum fluctuations of a real massless scalar
field to the motion of a test particle that interacts with the field in the
presence of a perfectly reflecting flat boundary is here investigated. There is
no quantum induced dispersions on the motion of the particle when it is alone
in the empty space. However, when a reflecting wall is introduced, dispersions
occur with magnitude dependent on how fast the system evolves between the two
scenarios. A possible way of implementing this process would be by means of an
idealized sudden switching, for which the transition occurs instantaneously.
Although the sudden process is a simple and mathematically convenient
idealization it brings some divergences to the results, particularly at a time
corresponding to a round trip of a light signal between the particle and the
wall. It is shown that the use of smooth switching functions, besides
regularizing such divergences, enables us to better understand the behavior of
the quantum dispersions induced on the motion of the particle. Furthermore, the
action of modifying the vacuum state of the system leads to a change in the
particle energy that depends on how fast the transition between these states is
implemented. Possible implications of these results to the similar case of an
electric charge near a perfectly conducting wall are discussed.Comment: 17 pages, 8 figure
Quantum Conductance in Silver Nanowires: correlation between atomic structure and transport properties
We have analyzed the atomic arrangements and quantum conductance of silver
nanowires generated by mechanical elongation. The surface properties of Ag
induce unexpected structural properties, as for example, predominance of high
aspect ratio rod-like wires. The structural behavior was used to understand the
Ag quantum conductance data and the proposed correlation was confirmed by means
of theoretical calculations. These results emphasize that the conductance of
metal point contacts is determined by the preferred atomic structures and, that
atomistic descriptions are essential to interpret the quantum transport
behavior of metal nanostructures.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
The role of structural evolution on the quantum conductance behavior of gold nanowires during stretching
Gold nanowires generated by mechanical stretching have been shown to adopt
only three kinds of configurations where their atomic arrangements adjust such
that either the [100], [111] or [110] zone axes lie parallel to the elongation
direction. We have analyzed the relationship between structural rearrangements
and electronic transport behavior during the elongation of Au nanowires for
each of the three possibilities. We have used two independent experiments to
tackle this problem, high resolution transmission high resolution electron
microscopy to observe the atomic structure and a mechanically controlled break
junction to measure the transport properties. We have estimated the conductance
of nanowires using a theoretical method based on the extended H\"uckel theory
that takes into account the atom species and their positions. Aided by these
calculations, we have consistently connected both sets of experimental results
and modeled the evolution process of gold nanowires whose conductance lies
within the first and third conductance quanta. We have also presented evidence
that carbon acts as a contaminant, lowering the conductance of one-atom-thick
wires.Comment: 10 page
Irreducible actions and compressible modules
Any finite set of linear operators on an algebra yields an operator
algebra and a module structure on A, whose endomorphism ring is isomorphic
to a subring of certain invariant elements of . We show that if is
a critically compressible left -module, then the dimension of its
self-injective hull over the ring of fractions of is bounded by the
uniform dimension of and the number of linear operators generating .
This extends a known result on irreducible Hopf actions and applies in
particular to weak Hopf action. Furthermore we prove necessary and sufficient
conditions for an algebra A to be critically compressible in the case of group
actions, group gradings and Lie actions
Optimal configuration of microstructure in ferroelectric materials by stochastic optimization
An optimization procedure determining the ideal configuration at the
microstructural level of ferroelectric (FE) materials is applied to maximize
piezoelectricity. Piezoelectricity in ceramic FEs differ significantly from
that of single crystals because of the presence of crystallites (grains)
possessing crystallographic axes aligned imperfectly. The piezoelectric
properties of a polycrystalline (ceramic) FE is inextricably related to the
grain orientation distribution (texture). The set of combination of variables,
known as solution space, which dictates the texture of a ceramic is unlimited
and hence the choice of the optimal solution which maximizes the
piezoelectricity is complicated. Thus a stochastic global optimization combined
with homogenization is employed for the identification of the optimal granular
configuration of the FE ceramic microstructure with optimum piezoelectric
properties. The macroscopic equilibrium piezoelectric properties of
polycrystalline FE is calculated using mathematical homogenization at each
iteration step. The configuration of grains characterised by its orientations
at each iteration is generated using a randomly selected set of orientation
distribution parameters. Apparent enhancement of piezoelectric coefficient
is observed in an optimally oriented BaTiO single crystal. A
configuration of crystallites, simultaneously constraining the orientation
distribution of the c-axis (polar axis) while incorporating ab-plane
randomness, which would multiply the overall piezoelectricity in ceramic
BaTiO is also identified. The orientation distribution of the c-axes is
found to be a narrow Gaussian distribution centred around . The
piezoelectric coefficient in such a ceramic is found to be nearly three times
as that of the single crystal.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figure
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