3,313 research outputs found
The emergence of superconductivity in BaNi2(Ge1-xPx)2 at a structural instability
The physical properties and structural evolution of the 122-type solid
solution BaNi2(Ge1-xPx)2 are reported. The in-plane X-X (X = Ge1-xPx) dimer
formation present in the end member BaNi2Ge2, which results in a structural
transition to orthorhombic symmetry, is completely suppressed to zero
temperature on P substitution near x = 0.7, and a dome-shape superconducting
phase with a maximum Tc = 2.9 K emerges. Clear indications of phonon softening
and enhanced electron-phonon coupling are observed at the composition of the
structural instability. Our findings show that dimer breaking offers new
possibilities as a tuning parameter of superconductivity.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figure
Correlation potentials for molecular bond dissociation within the self-consistent random phase approximation
Self-consistent correlation potentials for H and LiH for various
inter-atomic separations are obtained within the random phase approximation
(RPA) of density functional theory. The RPA correlation potential shows a peak
at the bond midpoint, which is an exact feature of the true correlation
potential, but lacks another exact feature: the step important to preserve
integer charge on the atomic fragments in the dissociation limit. An analysis
of the RPA energy functional in terms of fractional charge is given which
confirms these observations. We find that the RPA misses the derivative
discontinuity at odd integer particle numbers but explicitly eliminates the
fractional spin error in the exact-exchange functional. The latter finding
explains the accurate total energy in the dissociation limit.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figure
Experimental and computational analyses reveal that environmental restrictions shape HIV-1 spread in 3D cultures
Here, using an integrative experimental and computational approach, Imle et al. show how cell motility and density affect HIV cell-associated transmission in a three-dimensional tissue-like culture system of CD4+ T cells and collagen, and how different collagen matrices restrict infection by cell-free virions
Ion and polymer dynamics in polymer electrolytes PPO-LiClO4: II. 2H and 7Li NMR stimulated-echo experiment
We use 2H NMR stimulated-echo spectroscopy to measure two-time correlation
functions characterizing the polymer segmental motion in polymer electrolytes
PPO-LiClO4 near the glass transition temperature Tg. To investigate effects of
the salt on the polymer dynamics, we compare results for different ether oxygen
to lithium ratios, namely, 6:1, 15:1, 30:1 and infinity. For all compositions,
we find nonexponential correlation functions, which can be described by a
Kohlrausch function. The mean correlation times show quantitatively that an
increase of the salt concentration results in a strong slowing down of the
segmental motion. Consistently, for the high 6:1 salt concentration, a high
apparent activation energy E_a=4.1eV characterizes the temperature dependence
of the mean correlation times at Tg < T< 1.1T_g, while smaller values E_a=2.5eV
are observed for moderate salt contents. The correlation functions are most
nonexponential for 15:1 PPO-LiClO4, whereas the stretching is reduced for
higher and lower salt concentrations. A similar dependence of the correlation
functions on the evolution time in the presence and in the absence of ions
indicates that addition of salt hardly affects the reorientational mechanism.
For all compositions, mean jump angles of about 15 degree characterize the
segmental reorientation. In addition, comparison of results from 2H and 7Li NMR
stimulated-echo experiments suggests a coupling of ion and polymer dynamics in
15:1 PPO-LiClO4.Comment: 14 pages, 12 figure
First Demonstration of a Pixelated Charge Readout for Single-Phase Liquid Argon Time Projection Chambers
Liquid Argon Time Projection Chambers (LArTPCs) have been selected for the
future long-baseline Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE). To allow
LArTPCs to operate in the high-multiplicity near detector environment of DUNE,
a new charge readout technology is required. Traditional charge readout
technologies introduce intrinsic ambiguities, combined with a slow detector
response, these ambiguities have limited the performance of LArTPCs, until now.
Here, we present a novel pixelated charge readout that enables the full 3D
tracking capabilities of LArTPCs. We characterise the signal to noise ratio of
charge readout chain, to be about 14, and demonstrate track reconstruction on
3D space points produced by the pixel readout. This pixelated charge readout
makes LArTPCs a viable option for the DUNE near detector complex.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figure
Human Intent Prediction Using Markov Decision Processes
Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/97080/1/AIAA2012-2445.pd
Pressure tuning of structure, superconductivity and novel magnetic order in the Ce-underdoped electron-doped cuprate T'-Pr_1.3-xLa_0.7Ce_xCuO_4 (x = 0.1)
High-pressure neutron powder diffraction, muon-spin rotation and
magnetization studies of the structural, magnetic and the superconducting
properties of the Ce-underdoped superconducting (SC) electron-doped cuprate
system T'-Pr_1.3-xLa_0.7Ce_xCuO_4 with x = 0.1 are reported. A strong reduction
of the lattice constants a and c is observed under pressure. However, no
indication of any pressure induced phase transition from T' to T structure is
observed up to the maximum applied pressure of p = 11 GPa. Large and non-linear
increase of the short-range magnetic order temperature T_so in
T'-Pr_1.3-xLa_0.7Ce_xCuO_4 (x = 0.1) was observed under pressure.
Simultaneously pressure causes a non-linear decrease of the SC transition
temperature T_c. All these experiments establish the short-range magnetic order
as an intrinsic and a new competing phase in SC T'-Pr_1.2La_0.7Ce_0.1CuO_4. The
observed pressure effects may be interpreted in terms of the improved nesting
conditions through the reduction of the in-plane and out-of-plane lattice
constants upon hydrostatic pressure.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figure
Practical Implementations of Twirl Operations
Twirl operations, which convert impure singlet states into Werner states,
play an important role in many schemes for entanglement purification. In this
paper we describe strategies for implementing twirl operations, with an
emphasis on methods suitable for ensemble quantum information processors such
as nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) quantum computers. We implement our twirl
operation on a general two-spin mixed state using liquid state NMR techniques,
demonstrating that we can obtain the singlet Werner state with high fidelity.Comment: 6 pages RevTex4 including 2 figures (fig 1 low quality to save space
Persist or Produce: A Community Trade-Off Tuned by Species Evenness
Understanding the effects of biodiversity on community persistence and productivity is key to managing both natural and production systems. Because rare species face greater danger of extinction, species evenness, a measure of how similar abundances are across species in a community, is seen as a key component of biodiversity. However, previous studies have failed to find a consistent association of species evenness with species survival and biomass production. Here we provide a theoretical framework for the relationship among these three elements. We demonstrate that the lack of consistent outcomes is not an idiosyncratic artifact of different studies but can be unified under one common framework. Applying a niche theory approach, we confirm that under demographic stochasticity evenness is a general indicator of the risk of future species extinctions in a community, in accordance with the majority of empirical studies. In contrast, evenness cannot be used as a direct indicator of the level of biomass production in a community. When a single species dominates, as expressed by the constraints imposed by the population dynamics, biomass production depends on the niche position of the dominating species and can increase or decrease with evenness. We demonstrate that high species evenness and an intermediate level of biomass production is the configuration that maximizes the average species survival probability in response to demographic stochasticity
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