The interaction-strength interpolation method for main-group chemistry: benchmarking, limitations, and perspectives

We have tested the original interaction-strength-interpolation (ISI) exchange-correlation functional for main group chemistry. The ISI functional is based on an interpolation between the weak and strong coupling limits and includes exact-exchange as well as the G\"orling-Levy second-order energy. We have analyzed in detail the basis-set dependence of the ISI functional, its dependence on the ground-state orbitals, and the influence of the size-consistency problem. We show and explain some of the expected limitations of the ISI functional (i.e. for atomization energies), but also unexpected results, such as the good performance for the interaction energy of dispersion-bonded complexes when the ISI correlation is used as a correction to Hartree-Fock.Comment: 20 pages, 20 figure

Strictly correlated uniform electron droplets

We study the energetic properties of finite but internally homogeneous D-dimensional electron droplets in the strict-correlation limit. The indirect Coulomb interaction is found to increase as a function of the electron number, approaching the tighter forms of the Lieb-Oxford bound recently proposed by Rasanen et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 206406 (2009)]. The bound is satisfied in three-, two-, and one-dimensional droplets, and in the latter case it is reached exactly - regardless of the type of interaction considered. Our results provide useful reference data for delocalized strongly correlated systems, and they can be used in the development and testing of exchange-correlation density functionals in the framework of density-functional theory

Irradiation of Materials with Short, Intense Ion pulses at NDCX-II

We present an overview of the performance of the Neutralized Drift Compression Experiment-II (NDCX-II) accelerator at Berkeley Lab, and report on recent target experiments on beam driven melting and transmission ion energy loss measurements with nanosecond and millimeter-scale ion beam pulses and thin tin foils. Bunches with around 10^11 ions, 1-mm radius, and 2-30 ns FWHM duration have been created with corresponding fluences in the range of 0.1 to 0.7 J/cm^2. To achieve these short pulse durations and mm-scale focal spot radii, the 1.1 MeV He+ ion beam is neutralized in a drift compression section, which removes the space charge defocusing effect during final compression and focusing. The beam space charge and drift compression techniques resemble necessary beam conditions and manipulations in heavy ion inertial fusion accelerators. Quantitative comparison of detailed particle-in-cell simulations with the experiment play an important role in optimizing accelerator performance.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures. revised manuscript submitted to Laser and Particle Beam

Unpaired and spin-singlet paired states of a two-dimensional electron gas in a perpendicular magnetic field

We present a variational study of both unpaired and spin-singlet paired states induced in a two-dimensional electron gas at low density by a perpendicular magnetic field. It is based on an improved circular-cell approximation which leads to a number of closed analytical results. The ground-state energy of the Wigner crystal containing a single electron per cell in the lowest Landau level is obtained as a function of the filling factor $\nu$: the results are in good agreement with those of earlier approaches and predict $\nu_{c} \approx 0.25$ for the upper filling factor at which the solid-liquid transition occurs. A novel localized state of spin-singlet electron pairs is examined and found to be a competitor of the unpaired state for filling factor $\nu >1$. The corresponding phase boundary is quantitatively displayed in the magnetic field-electron density plane.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. B on 7th April 2001. to appear in Phys. Rev.

Electron Cloud Effects in Intense, Ion Beam Linacs: Theory and Experimental Planning for Heavy-Ion Fusion

Heavy-ion accelerators for HIF will operate at high aperture-fill factors with high beam current and long pulses. This will lead to beam ions impacting walls: liberating gas molecules and secondary electrons. Without special preparation a large fractional electron population ({approx}>1%) is predicted in the High-Current Experiment (HCX), but wall conditioning and other mitigation techniques should result in substantial reduction. Theory and particle-in-cell simulations suggest that electrons, from ionization of residual and desorbed gas and secondary electrons from vacuum walls, will be radially trapped in the {approx}4 kV ion beam potential. Trapped electrons can modify the beam space charge, vacuum pressure, ion transport dynamics, and halo generation, and can potentially cause ion-electron instabilities. Within quadrupole (and dipole) magnets, the longitudinal electron flow is limited to drift velocities (E x B and {del}B) and the electron density can vary azimuthally, radially, and longitudinally. These variations can cause centroid misalignment, emittance growth and halo growth. Diagnostics are being developed to measure the energy and flux of electrons and gas evolved from walls, and the net charge and gas density within magnetic quadrupoles, as well as the their effect on the ion beam

Measurement of Strange Quark Contributions to the Nucleon's Form Factors at Q^2=0.230 (GeV/c)^2

We report on a measurement of the parity-violating asymmetry in the scattering of longitudinally polarized electrons on unpolarized protons at a $Q^2$ of 0.230 (GeV/c)^2 and a scattering angle of \theta_e = 30^o - 40^o. Using a large acceptance fast PbF_2 calorimeter with a solid angle of \Delta\Omega = 0.62 sr the A4 experiment is the first parity violation experiment to count individual scattering events. The measured asymmetry is A_{phys} =(-5.44 +- 0.54_{stat} +- 0.27_{\rm sys}) 10^{-6}. The Standard Model expectation assuming no strangeness contributions to the vector form factors is $A_0=(-6.30 +- 0.43) 10^{-6}$. The difference is a direct measurement of the strangeness contribution to the vector form factors of the proton. The extracted value is G^s_E + 0.225 G^s_M = 0.039 +- 0.034 or F^s_1 + 0.130 F^s_2 = 0.032 +- 0.028.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Letters on Dec 11, 200