5,352 research outputs found
Kinetic pathways of multi-phase surfactant systems
The relaxation following a temperature quench of two-phase (lamellar and
sponge phase) and three-phase (lamellar, sponge and micellar phase) samples,
has been studied in an SDS/octanol/brine system. In the three-phase case we
have observed samples that are initially mainly sponge phase with lamellar and
micellar phase on the top and bottom respectively. Upon decreasing temperature
most of the volume of the sponge phase is replaced by lamellar phase. During
the equilibriation we have observed three regimes of behaviour within the
sponge phase: (i) disruption in the sponge texture, then (ii) after the sponge
phase homogenises there is a lamellar nucleation regime and finally (iii) a
bizarre plume connects the lamellar phase with the micellar phase. The
relaxation of the two-phase sample proceeds instead in two stages. First
lamellar drops nucleate in the sponge phase forming a onion `gel' structure.
Over time the lamellar structure compacts while equilibriating into a two phase
lamellar/sponge phase sample. We offer possible explanatioins for some of these
observations in the context of a general theory for phase kinetics in systems
with one fast and one slow variable.Comment: 1 textfile, 20 figures (jpg), to appear in PR
High-harmonic generation from arbitrarily oriented diatomic molecules including nuclear motion and field-free alignment
We present a theoretical model of high-harmonic generation from diatomic
molecules. The theory includes effects of alignment as well as nuclear motion
and is used to predict results for N, O, H and D. The results
show that the alignment dependence of high-harmonics is governed by the
symmetry of the highest occupied molecular orbital and that the inclusion of
the nuclear motion in the theoretical description generally reduces the
intensity of the harmonic radiation. We compare our model with experimental
results on N and O, and obtain very good agreement.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures, 2 tables; legends revised on Figs. 1,3,4,6 and
A New Perspective on Path Integral Quantum Mechanics in Curved Space-Time
A fundamentally different approach to path integral quantum mechanics in
curved space-time is presented, as compared to the standard approaches
currently available in the literature. Within the context of scalar particle
propagation in a locally curved background, such as described by Fermi or
Riemann normal co-ordinates, this approach requires use of a constructed
operator to rotate the initial, intermediate, and final position ket vectors
onto their respective local tangent spaces, defined at each local time step
along some arbitrary classical reference worldline. Local time translation is
described using a quantum mechanical representation of Lie transport, that
while strictly non-unitary in operator form, nevertheless correctly recovers
the free-particle Lagrangian in curved space-time, along with new
contributions. This propagator yields the prediction that all probability
violating terms due to curvature contribute to a quantum violation of the weak
equivalence principle, while the remaining terms that conserve probability also
correspondingly satisfy the weak equivalence principle, at least to
leading-order in the particle's Compton wavelength. Furthermore, this
propagator possesses an overall curvature-dependent and gauge-invariant phase
factor that can be interpreted as the gravitational Aharonov-Bohm effect and
Berry's phase.Comment: 14 pages, 1 figure; major additions and revisions introduced; main
conclusions are unchanged; new affiliation adde
Theory of preparation and relaxation of a p-orbital atomic Mott insulator
We develop a theoretical framework to understand the preparation and
relaxation of a metastable Mott insulator state within the first excited band
of a 1D optical lattice. The state is loaded by "lifting" atoms from the ground
to the first excited band by means of a stimulated Raman transition. We
determine the effect of pulse duration on the accuracy of the state preparation
for the case of a Gaussian pulse shape. Relaxation of the prepared state occurs
in two major stages: double-occupied sites occurring due to quantum
fluctuations initially lead to interband transitions followed by a spreading of
particles in the trap and thermalization. We find the characteristic relaxation
times at the earliest stage and at asymptotically long times approaching
equilibrium. Our theory is applicable to recent experiments performed with 1D
optical lattices [T. M\"uller, S. F\"olling, A. Widera, and I. Bloch, Phys.
Rev. Lett. \textbf{99}, 200405 (2007)].Comment: 27 pages, 23 figures: Edited figures, added reference
JUMP HEIGHT IN LADIES SINGLE FIGURE SKATING IN THE 18TH WINTER OLYMPIC GAMES IN NAGANO 1998
As a part of the IOC Olympic Biomechanics Research Projects conducted at the 1998 Nagano Olympic Winter Games, jump height was examined for the free program session of ladies single figure skating. Jump height varied according to the number of rotations and the type of jump. Jumps using toe-picks, such as Lutz, Flip and Toe-Loop tended to be higher than jumps involving a swinging free leg style such as the Axel, Loop and Salchow. There was no remarkable difference for the maximum jumping height among groups with different competition ranking. Though jump height tended to decrease in the latter half of the performance, the decrease was smaller in skaters with a higher standing in the competition
Lagrange-mesh calculations in momentum space
The Lagrange-mesh method is a powerful method to solve eigenequations written
in configuration space. It is very easy to implement and very accurate. Using a
Gauss quadrature rule, the method requires only the evaluation of the potential
at some mesh points. The eigenfunctions are expanded in terms of regularized
Lagrange functions which vanish at all mesh points except one. It is shown that
this method can be adapted to solve eigenequations written in momentum space,
keeping the convenience and the accuracy of the original technique. In
particular, the kinetic operator is a diagonal matrix. Observables in both
configuration space and momentum space can also be easily computed with a good
accuracy using only eigenfunctions computed in the momentum space. The method
is tested with Gaussian and Yukawa potentials, requiring respectively a small
or a great mesh to reach convergence.Comment: Extended versio
Computation of outflow rates from accretion disks around black holes
We self-consistently estimate the outflow rate from the accretion rates of an
accretion disk around a black hole in which both the Keplerian and the
sub-Keplerian matter flows simultaneously. While Keplerian matter supplies
soft-photons, hot sub-Keplerian matter supplies thermal electrons. The
temperature of the hot electrons is decided by the degree of inverse
Comptonization of the soft photons. If we consider only thermally-driven flows
from the centrifugal pressure-supported boundary layer around a black hole, we
find that when the thermal electrons are cooled down, either because of the
absence of the boundary layer (low compression ratio), or when the surface of
the boundary layer is formed very far away, the outflow rate is negligible. For
an intermediate size of this boundary layer the outflow rate is maximal. Since
the temperature of the thermal electrons also decides the spectral state of a
black hole, we predict that the outflow rate should be directly related to the
spectral state.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure
A High-Resolution Compton Scattering Study of the Electron Momentum Density in Al
We report high-resolution Compton profiles (CP's) of Al along the three
principal symmetry directions at a photon energy of 59.38 keV, together with
corresponding highly accurate theoretical profiles obtained within the
local-density approximation (LDA) based band-theory framework. A good accord
between theory and experiment is found with respect to the overall shapes of
the CP's, their first and second derivatives, as well as the anisotropies in
the CP's defined as differences between pairs of various CP's. There are
however discrepancies in that, in comparison to the LDA predictions, the
measured profiles are lower at low momenta, show a Fermi cutoff which is
broader, and display a tail which is higher at momenta above the Fermi
momentum. A number of simple model calculations are carried out in order to
gain insight into the nature of the underlying 3D momentum density in Al, and
the role of the Fermi surface in inducing fine structure in the CP's. The
present results when compared with those on Li show clearly that the size of
discrepancies between theoretical and experimental CP's is markedly smaller in
Al than in Li. This indicates that, with increasing electron density, the
conventional picture of the electron gas becomes more representative of the
momentum density and that shortcomings of the LDA framework in describing the
electron correlation effects become less important.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, regular articl
Spin-filter tunnel junction with matched Fermi surfaces
Efficient injection of spin-polarized current into a semiconductor is a basic
prerequisite for building semiconductor-based spintronic devices. Here, we use
inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy to show that the efficiency of
spin-filter-type spin injectors is limited by spin scattering of the tunneling
electrons. By matching the Fermi-surface shapes of the current injection source
and target electrode material, spin injection efficiency can be significantly
increased in epitaxial ferromagnetic insulator tunnel junctions. Our results
demonstrate that not only structural but also Fermi-surface matching is
important to suppress scattering processes in spintronic devices.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Coiling Instabilities in Multilamellar Tubes
Myelin figures are densely packed stacks of coaxial cylindrical bilayers that
are unstable to the formation of coils or double helices. These myelin figures
appear to have no intrinsic chirality. We show that such cylindrical membrane
stacks can develop an instability when they acquire a spontaneous curvature or
when the equilibrium distance between membranes is decreased. This instability
breaks the chiral symmetry of the stack and may result in coiling. A
unilamellar cylindrical vesicle, on the other hand, will develop an
axisymmetric instability, possibly related to the pearling instability.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure
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