7,410 research outputs found
Orbital ordering promotes weakly-interacting S=1/2 dimers in the triangular lattice compound Sr3Cr2O8
The weakly interacting S=1/2 dimers system Sr3Cr2O8 has been investigated by
powder neutron diffraction and inelastic neutron scattering. Our data reveal a
structural phase transition below room temperature corresponding to an
antiferro-orbital ordering with nearly 90 degrees arrangement of the occupied
3z^2-r^2 d-orbital. This configuration leads to a drastic reduction of the
inter-dimer exchange energies with respect to the high temperature
orbital-disorder state, as shown by a spin-dimer analysis of the
super-superexchange interactions performed using the Extended Huckel Tight
Binding method. Inelastic neutron scattering reveals the presence of a quasi
non-dispersive magnetic excitation at 5.4 meV, in agreement with the picture of
weakly-interacting dimers
A probabilistic approach to composite micromechanics
Probabilistic composite micromechanics methods are developed that simulate expected uncertainties in unidirectional fiber composite properties. These methods are in the form of computational procedures using Monte Carlo simulation. A graphite/epoxy unidirectional composite (ply) is studied to demonstrate fiber composite material properties at the micro level. Regression results are presented to show the relative correlation between predicted and response variables in the study
From soft harmonic phonons to fast relaxational dynamics in CHNHPbBr
The lead-halide perovskites, including CHNHPbBr, are
components in cost effective, highly efficient photovoltaics, where the
interactions of the molecular cations with the inorganic framework are
suggested to influence the electronic and ferroelectric properties.
CHNHPbBr undergoes a series of structural transitions
associated with orientational order of the CHNH (MA) molecular
cation and tilting of the PbBr host framework. We apply high-resolution
neutron scattering to study the soft harmonic phonons associated with these
transitions, and find a strong coupling between the PbBr framework and
the quasistatic CHNH dynamics at low energy transfers. At higher
energy transfers, we observe a PbBr octahedra soft mode driving a
transition at 150 K from bound molecular excitations at low temperatures to
relatively fast relaxational excitations that extend up to 50-100 meV.
We suggest that these temporally overdamped dynamics enables possible indirect
band gap processes in these materials that are related to the enhanced
photovoltaic properties.Comment: (main text - 5 pages, 4 figures; supplementary information - 3 pages,
3 figures
N2-associated surface warming on early Mars
Early Mars may have had a warmer and denser atmosphere allowing for the
presence of liquid water on the surface. However, climate model studies have
not been able to reproduce these conditions even with a CO2 atmosphere of
several bars. Recent 3D simulations of the early Mars climate show that mean
surface temperatures only slightly below 273K could be reached locally.
We want to investigate the effect of increased partial pressures of N2 on
early Mars' surface temperature by including pressure broadening of absorption
lines and collision-induced N2-N2 absorption.
A 1D radiative-convective cloud-free atmospheric model was used to calculate
temperature profiles and surface conditions. We performed a parameter study
varying the N2 partial pressures from 0 to 0.5bar at CO2 partial pressures
between 0.02bar and 3bar. These values are consistent with existing estimates
of the initial, pre-Noachian reservoir. Solar insolation was set to be
consistent with the late Noachian.
Our 1D global mean simulations clearly show that enhanced N2 content in the
Martian atmosphere could have increased surface temperatures. An additional
greenhouse warming of up to 13K was found at a high N2 partial pressure of
0.5bar. Still, even at this N2 partial pressure, global mean surface
temperatures remained below 273K, i.e. the freezing point of water. However,
given the magnitude of the N2-induced surface warming and the results of recent
3D studies which show that local mean surface temperatures are not much lower
than 273K, our results imply that the presence of atmospheric N2 could have led
to almost continously habitable mean surface conditions in some regions. In
addition, atmospheric water column amounts increased by up to a factor of 6 in
response to the surface warming, indicating that precipitation might also
increase upon increasing N2 partial pressure.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Planetary and Space
Scienc
Understanding ratio distribution in the mixed events
The event mixing method is analyzed for the study of the event-by-event
ratio distribution. It is shown that there exists some correlation
between the kaon and pion multiplicities in the mixed events. The ratio
distributions in the mixed events for different sets of real events are shown.
The dependence of the distributions on the mean ratio, mean and
variance of multiplicity distribution in the real events is investigated
systematically. The effect of imperfect particle identification on the
ratio distribution in the mixed event is also considered.Comment: 11 pages in revtex, 8 eps figures include
Ozone exposure assessment in a southern California community.
An ozone exposure assessment study was conducted in a Southern California community. The Harvard ozone passive sampler was used to monitor cohorts of 22 and 18 subjects for 8 weeks during the spring and fall of 1994, respectively. Ozone exposure variables included 12-hr personal O3 measurements, stationary outdoor O3 measurements from a continuous UV photometer and from 12-hr Harvard active monitors, and time-activity information. Results showed that personal O3 exposure levels averaged one-fourth of outdoor stationary O3 levels, attributable to high percentages of time spent indoors. Personal O3 levels were not predicted well by outdoor measurements. A random-effect general linear model analysis indicated that variance in personal exposure measurements was largely accounted for by random error (59-82%), followed by inter-subject (9-18%) and between-day (9-23%) random effects. The microenvironmental model performs differently by season, with the regression model for spring cohorts exhibiting two times the R2 of the fall cohorts (R2 = 0.21 vs. 0.09). When distance from the stationary monitoring site, elevation, and traffic are taken into account in the microenvironmental models, the adjusted R2 increased almost twofold for the fall personal exposure data. The low predictive power is due primarily to the apparent spatial variation of outdoor O3 and errors in O3 measurements and in time-activity records (particularly in recording the use of air conditioning). This study highlights the magnitude of O3 exposure misclassification in epidemiological settings and proposes an approach to reduce exposure uncertainties in assessing air pollution health effects
Interplay between static and dynamic polar correlations in relaxor Pb(Mg_{1/3}Nb_{2/3})O_{3}
We have characterized the dynamics of the polar nanoregions in
Pb(MgNb)O (PMN) through high-resolution neutron
backscattering and spin-echo measurements of the diffuse scattering cross
section. We find that the diffuse scattering intensity consists of \emph{both}
static and dynamic components. The static component first appears at the Curie
temperature K, while the dynamic component freezes completely
at the temperature T K; together, these components account for
all of the observed spectral weight contributing to the diffuse scattering
cross section. The integrated intensity of the dynamic component peaks near the
temperature at which the frequency-dependent dielectric constant reaches a
maximum (T) when measured at 1 GHz, i. e. on a timescale of
ns. Our neutron scattering results can thus be directly related to dielectric
and infra-red measurements of the polar nanoregions. Finally, the global
temperature dependence of the diffuse scattering can be understood in terms of
just two temperature scales, which is consistent with random field models.Comment: (8 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. B
Group behavior among model bacteria influences particulate carbon remineralization depths
Organic particles sinking from the sunlit surface are oases of food for heterotrophic bacteria living in the deep ocean. Particle-attached bacteria need to solubilize particles, so they produce exoenzymes that cleave bonds to make molecules small enough to be transported through bacterial cell walls. Releasing exoenzymes, which have an energetic cost, to the external environment is risky because there is no guarantee that products of exoenzyme activity, called hydrolysate, will diffuse to the particle-attached bacterium that produced the exoenzymes. Strategies used by particle-attached bacteria to counteract diffusive losses of exoenzymes and hydrolysate are investigated in a water column model. We find that production of exoenzymes by particle-attached bacteria is only energetically worthwhile at high bacterial abundances. Quorum sensing provides the means to determine local abundances, and thus the model results support lab and field studies which found that particle-attached bacteria have the ability to use quorum sensing. Additional model results are that particle-attached bacterial production is sensitive to diffusion of hydrolysate from the particle and is enhanced by as much as 15 times when diffusion of exoenzymes and hydrolysate from particles is reduced by barriers of biofilms and particle-attached bacteria. Bacterial colonization rates and activities on particles in both the euphotic and mesopelagic zones impact remineralization length scales. Shoaling or deepening of the remineralization depth has been shown to exert significant influence on the residence time and concentration of carbon in the atmosphere and ocean. By linking variability in remineralization depths to mechanisms governing bacterial colonization of particles and group coordination of exoenzyme production using a model, we quantitatively connect microscale bacteria-particle interactions to the carbon cycle and provide new insights for future observations
Helical spin-waves, magnetic order, and fluctuations in the langasite compound Ba3NbFe3Si2O14
We have investigated the spin fluctuations in the langasite compound
Ba3NbFe3Si2O14 in both the ordered state and as a function of temperature. The
low temperature magnetic structure is defined by a spiral phase characterized
by magnetic Bragg peaks at q=(0,0,tau ~ 1/7) onset at TN=27 K as previously
reported by Marty et al. The nature of the fluctuations and temperature
dependence of the order parameter is consistent with a classical second order
phase transition for a two dimensional triangular antiferromagnet. We will show
that the physical properties and energy scales including the ordering
wavevector, Curie-Weiss temperature, and the spin-waves can be explained
through the use of only symmetric exchange constants without the need for the
Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction. This is accomplished through a set of
``helical" exchange pathways along the c direction imposed by the chiral
crystal structure and naturally explains the magnetic diffuse scattering which
displays a strong vector chirality up to high temperatures well above the
ordering temperature. This illustrates a strong coupling between magnetic and
crystalline chirality in this compound.Comment: 16 pages, 16 figures, submitted to Physical Review
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