413 research outputs found
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Geovisualization of dynamics, movement and change: key issues and developing approaches in visualization research
Positronium collisions with rare-gas atoms
We calculate elastic scattering of positronium (Ps) by the Xe atom using the
recently developed pseudopotential method [I. I. Fabrikant and G. F. Gribakin,
Phys. Rev. A 90, 052717 (2014)] and review general features of Ps scattering
from heavier rare-gas atoms: Ar, Kr, and Xe. The total scattering cross section
is dominated by two contributions: elastic scattering and Ps ionization
(breakup). To calculate the Ps ionization cross sections we use the
binary-encounter method for Ps collisions with an atomic target. Our results
for the ionization cross section agree well with previous calculations carried
out in the impulse approximation. Our total Ps-Xe cross section, when plotted
as a function of the projectile velocity, exhibits similarity with the
electron-Xe cross section for the collision velocities higher than 0.8 a.u.,
and agrees very well with the measurements at Ps velocities above 0.5 a.u.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures, submitted to J. Phys.
Positronium collisions with rare-gas atoms: Free-electron gas plus orthogonalizing pseudopotential model
Positronium collisions with rare-gas atoms are treated using the free-electron-gas approximation for exchange and correlation potential. The results confirm the absence of the Ramsauer-Townsend minimum in elastic scattering cross sections, but show lower cross sections in the lower-energy region when compared to previous pseudopotential calculations. This is explained by a more attractive ab initio correlation potential as compared to the previously used empirical potential. The results in the thermal-energy region agree very well with most swarm measurements for all rare-gas atoms. At higher energies, the results are compared with beam experiments and agreement for heavier rare-gas atoms Ar, Kr, and Xe is found to be very good. For He and Ne, some discrepancies with beam measurements are observed. This is explained by a poorer performance of the free-electron-gas potentials, based on the statistical Thomas-Fermi model, for systems with fewer electrons
Empirical study of cartograms
We report on an empirical study investigating the effectiveness and efficiency of spatial inference making with contiguous (value-by-area) cartograms, compared to informational equivalent choropleth maps, combined with graduated circles. We find significant differences in people's inference-making performance dependent on the map type. Overall, results suggest that the choropleth map with graduated circles is more effective and more efficient than the cartogram for the analysis of population census data. However, map effectiveness and efficiency also significantly depends on the inference task complexity, and more surprisingly, on the shape characteristics of the depicted enumeration units. For simple tasks, cartograms seem as effective and efficient as the more traditional mapping method. For complex inference questions, inference performance with cartograms is significantly dependent on whether regular or irregular zones are distorted. As we know still very little about the perception and cognition of cartograms, we hope to shed new light for this intriguing mapping method with this empirical study
Nanoelectromechanics of Piezoresponse Force Microscopy
To achieve quantitative interpretation of Piezoresponse Force Microscopy
(PFM), including resolution limits, tip bias- and strain-induced phenomena and
spectroscopy, analytical representations for tip-induced electroelastic fields
inside the material are derived for the cases of weak and strong indentation.
In the weak indentation case, electrostatic field distribution is calculated
using image charge model. In the strong indentation case, the solution of the
coupled electroelastic problem for piezoelectric indentation is used to obtain
the electric field and strain distribution in the ferroelectric material. This
establishes a complete continuum mechanics description of the PFM contact
mechanics and imaging mechanism. The electroelastic field distribution allows
signal generation volume in PFM to be determined. These rigorous solutions are
compared with the electrostatic point charge and sphere-plane models, and the
applicability limits for asymptotic point charge and point force models are
established. The implications of these results for ferroelectric polarization
switching processes are analyzed.Comment: 81 pages, 19 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev.
Scale Invariance in Road Networks
We study the topological and geographic structure of the national road
networks of the United States, England and Denmark. By transforming these
networks into their dual representation, where roads are vertices and an edge
connects two vertices if the corresponding roads ever intersect, we show that
they exhibit both topological and geographic scale invariance. That is, we show
that for sufficiently large geographic areas, the dual degree distribution
follows a power law with exponent 2.2 < alpha < 2.4, and that journeys,
regardless of their length, have a largely identical structure. To explain
these properties, we introduce and analyze a simple fractal model of road
placement that reproduces the observed structure, and suggests a testable
connection between the scaling exponent alpha and the fractal dimensions
governing the placement of roads and intersections.Comment: 6 pages, 10 figures; revision incorporates more rigorous statistical
analyses; matches journal versio
Semiempirical \u3ci\u3eR\u3c/i\u3e-matrix theory of low energy electronâCF\u3csub\u3e3\u3c/sub\u3eCl inelastic scattering
We apply a semiempirical R-matrix theory to calculations of vibrational excitation and dissociative attachment in the CF3Cl molecule for electron energies below about 3 eV. We employ two sets of model parameters corresponding to two different forms of the CF3Clâ potential curve. We find that our present, ab initio calculated anion curve gives vibrational excitation and dissociative attachment cross sections in good agreement with experimental measurements. We also compare the results of our theory with those of a recently published classical theory
Positronium collisions with polar molecules
We calculate elastic and positronium (Ps) break-up cross sections for collisions of Ps with the polar molecules CO, HCl, and LiF in the fixed-nuclei approximation. We incorporate electron exchange and correlation for these processes by using the free-electron-gas model developed earlier for Ps scattering by rare-gas atoms, N2, O2, and CO2 molecules. The present target molecules provide a range of dipole moments from the weakly polar CO to the strongly polar LiF. We find that Ps scattering is similar to electron scattering when the cross sections are plotted as a function of projectile velocity for the targets with smaller dipole moments (CO, HCl). However, we do not see such a similarity for LiF which has a large dipole moment. Below the Ps break-up threshold we observe resonance structures similar to those obtained earlier for the other molecular targets that we have studied
Near-threshold behavior of positronium-antiproton scattering
Using the convergent close-coupling theory we study the threshold behavior of cross sections for positronium (Ps) of energy E scattering on antiprotons. In the case of Ps(1s) elastic scattering, simple power laws are observed for all partial waves studied. The partial-wave summed cross section is nearly constant, and dominates the antihydrogen formation cross section at all considered energies, even though the latter is exothermic and behaves as 1/E1/2. For Ps(2s), oscillations spanning orders of magnitude on top of the 1/E behavior are found in the elastic and quasielastic cross sections. The antihydrogen formation is influenced by dipole-supported resonances below the threshold of inelastic processes. Resonance energies form a geometric progression relative to the threshold. The exothermic antihydrogen formation cross sections behave as 1/E at low energies, but are oscillation free. We demonstrate that all these rich features are reproduced by the threshold theory developed by Gailiti
Greedy Selfish Network Creation
We introduce and analyze greedy equilibria (GE) for the well-known model of
selfish network creation by Fabrikant et al.[PODC'03]. GE are interesting for
two reasons: (1) they model outcomes found by agents which prefer smooth
adaptations over radical strategy-changes, (2) GE are outcomes found by agents
which do not have enough computational resources to play optimally. In the
model of Fabrikant et al. agents correspond to Internet Service Providers which
buy network links to improve their quality of network usage. It is known that
computing a best response in this model is NP-hard. Hence, poly-time agents are
likely not to play optimally. But how good are networks created by such agents?
We answer this question for very simple agents. Quite surprisingly, naive
greedy play suffices to create remarkably stable networks. Specifically, we
show that in the SUM version, where agents attempt to minimize their average
distance to all other agents, GE capture Nash equilibria (NE) on trees and that
any GE is in 3-approximate NE on general networks. For the latter we also
provide a lower bound of 3/2 on the approximation ratio. For the MAX version,
where agents attempt to minimize their maximum distance, we show that any
GE-star is in 2-approximate NE and any GE-tree having larger diameter is in
6/5-approximate NE. Both bounds are tight. We contrast these positive results
by providing a linear lower bound on the approximation ratio for the MAX
version on general networks in GE. This result implies a locality gap of
for the metric min-max facility location problem, where n is the
number of clients.Comment: 28 pages, 8 figures. An extended abstract of this work was accepted
at WINE'1
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