DC field induced enhancement and inhibition of spontaneous emission in a cavity

We demonstrate how spontaneous emission in a cavity can be controlled by the application of a dc field. The method is specially suitable for Rydberg atoms. We present a simple argument for the control of emission.Comment: 3-pages, 2figure. accepted in Phys. Rev.

Spatial-temporal evolution of the current filamentation instability

The spatial-temporal evolution of the purely transverse current filamentation instability is analyzed by deriving a single partial differential equation for the instability and obtaining the analytical solutions for the spatially and temporally growing current filament mode. When the beam front always encounters fresh plasma, our analysis shows that the instability grows spatially from the beam front to the back up to a certain critical beam length; then the instability acquires a purely temporal growth. This critical beam length increases linearly with time and in the non-relativistic regime it is proportional to the beam velocity. In the relativistic regime the critical length is inversely proportional to the cube of the beam Lorentz factor $\gamma_{0b}$. Thus, in the ultra-relativistic regime the instability immediately acquires a purely temporal growth all over the beam. The analytical results are in good agreement with multidimensional particle-in-cell simulations performed with OSIRIS. Relevance of current study to recent and future experiments on fireball beams is also addressed

Enhanced grain surface effect on magnetic properties of nanometric La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 manganite : Evidence of surface spin freezing of manganite nanoparticles

We have investigated the effect of nanometric grain size on magnetic properties of single phase, nanocrystalline, granular La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 (LCMO) sample. We have considered core-shell structure of our LCMO nanoparticles, which can explain its magnetic properties. From the temperature dependence of field cooled (FC) and zero-field cooled (ZFC) dc magnetization (DCM), the magnetic properties could be distinguished into two regimes: a relatively high temperature regime T > 40 K where the broad maximum of ZFC curve (at T = Tmax) is associated with the blocking of core particle moments, whereas the sharp maximum (at T = TS) is related to the freezing of surface (shell) spins. The unusual shape of M (H) loop at T = 1.5 K, temperature dependent feature of coercive field and remanent magnetization give a strong support of surface spin freezing that are occurring at lower temperature regime (T < 40 K) in this LCMO nanoparticles. Additionally, waiting time (tw) dependence of ZFC relaxation measurements at T = 50 K show weak dependence of relaxation rate [S(t)] on tw and dM/dln(t) following a logarithmic variation on time. Both of these features strongly support the high temperature regime to be associated with the blocking of core moments. At T = 20 K, ZFC relaxation measurements indicates the existence of two different types of relaxation processes in the sample with S(t) attaining a maximum at the elapsed time very close to the wait time tw = 1000 sec, which is an unequivocal sign of glassy behavior. This age-dependent effect convincingly establish the surface spin freezing of our LCMO nanoparticles associated with a background of superparamagnetic (SPM) phase of core moments.Comment: 41 pages, 10 figure

A community health support system for the planning of healthy cities

Communities are at the centre of concern for sustainable development, and they are entitled to a healthy and productive life, in harmony with the natural environment. Therefore, assuring equitable and effective health services through community and environmental health planning is an important factor for promoting sustainable development and constructing harmonious societies. Environmental and community health is crucial for the development of sustainable and healthy cities. One of the important pre-requisites of developing a sustainable and healthy city is a sound planning and development mechanism. This paper aims to investigate the challenges and opportunities of planning for healthy cities, and examine the effectiveness of participatory decision making systems in the development of healthy communities. It also introduces a recently developed methodology based on a web-based decision support system. This system contributes to solving environmental and community health problems, supports planning of healthy cities, and provides a powerful and effective platform for stakeholders and interested members of the community to confer with technicians, experts and decision makers. The primary focus is on the prospects and constraints of such a decision support system in improving community health behaviours, health planning, surveillance in urban communities, and environmental planning. The effectiveness of the web-based decision support system is measured by using the following yardsticks: increasing cooperation between stakeholders and the general public; improving the accuracy and quality of the decision-making process; and enhancing healthcare services of the locality. The paper tables the preliminary findings of the initial implementation of the decision support system in a pilot case study of the city of Logan, Australia, and concludes with future research directions

Quantum-Geometric Origin of Stacking Ferroelectricity

Stacking ferroelectricity has been discovered in a wide range of van der Waals materials and holds promise for applications, including photovoltaics and high-density memory devices. We show that the microscopic origin of stacking ferroelectric polarization can be generally understood as a consequence of nontrivial Berry phase borne out of an effective Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model description with broken sublattice symmetry, thus uniting novel two-dimensional ferroelectricity with the modern theory of polarization. Our theory applies to known stacking ferroelectrics such as bilayer transition-metal dichalcogenides in 3R and T$_{\rm d}$ phases, as well as general AB-stacked bilayers with honeycomb lattice and staggered sublattice potential. In addition to establishing a unifying microscopic framework for stacking ferroelectrics the quantum-geometric perspective provides key guiding principles for the design of new van der Waals materials with robust ferroelectric polarization.Comment: 4 + 13 pages, 2 + 1 figures. Comments are welcom

Opportunities for integrated pest management to control the poultry red mite, Dermanyssus gallinae

Dermanyssus gallinae is the most economically important ectoparasite of laying hens in Europe. Control of D. gallinae is already hampered by issues of pesticide resistance and product withdrawal and, with the prohibition of conventional cages in 2012 and the resulting switch to more structurally complex housing which favours red mite, the importance of managing this pest will increase. Integrated Pest Management (IPM), as often employed in agricultural pest control, may be a way to address these issues where a combination of different novel control methods could be used with/without conventional management techniques to provide a synergistic and more efficacious effect. Work at in our laboratory has shown that essential oils including thyme and garlic may act as effective D. gallinae repellents and acaricides, whilst preliminary vaccine studies have demonstrated a significant increase in mite mortality in vitro using concealed antigens. Work elsewhere 27 has considered predators and fungi for D. gallinae control and other husbandry techniques such as manipulating temperature and lighting regimes in poultry units. This paper will review the available and emerging techniques for D. gallinae control and discuss which techniques might be suitable for inclusion in an integrated management programme (e.g. synthetic acaricides and diatomaceous earths)

Charged Particle Identification Using Calorimetry and Tracking at the Belle II Experiment

Particle identification (PID) is a critical procedure carried out in high energy physics experiments in search of new physics. When particles of matter (i.e., an electron) and antimatter (i.e., a positron) collide, new types of particles may form given certain conditions. Such particles may be classified as hadrons--which feel the strong nuclear force--and leptons--which do not. Identifying particles at the Belle II experiment is done by combining the measurement of energy deposited in the calorimeter with the measurement of track momentum in the tracker. In a tau lepton ($\tau$) decay sample, particles such as electrons, muons, and pions may be separated and identified using such measurements.https://ir.library.louisville.edu/uars/1031/thumbnail.jp

A uniform geometrical theory of diffraction for predicting fields of sources near or on thin planar positive/negative material discontinuities

[1] Relatively simple and accurate closed form Uniform Geometrical Theory of Diffraction (UTD) solutions are obtained for describing the radiated and surface wave fields, respectively, which are excited by sources near or on thin, planar, canonical two-dimensional (2-D) double positive/double negative (DPS/DNG) material discontinuities. Unlike most previous works, which analyze the plane wave scattering by such DPS structures via the Wiener-Hopf (W-H) or Maliuzhinets methods, the present development can also treat problems of the radiation by and coupling between antennas near or on finite material coatings on large metallic platforms. The latter is made possible mainly through the introduction of important higher-order UTD slope diffraction terms which are developed here in addition to first-order UTD. The present solutions are simpler to use because, in part, they do not contain the complicated split functions of the W-H solutions nor the complex Maliuzhinets functions. Unlike the latter methods based on approximate boundary conditions, the present solutions, which are developed via a heuristic spectral synthesis approach, recover the proper local plane wave Fresnel reflection and transmission coefficients and surface wave constants of the DPS/DNG material. They also include the presence of backward surface waves in DNG media. Besides being asymptotic solutions of the wave equation, the present UTD diffracted fields satisfy reciprocity, the radiation condition, boundary conditions on the conductor, and the Karp-Karal lemma which dictates that the first-order UTD space waves vanish on a material interface