7,264 research outputs found
Aggregates of rod-coil diblock copolymers adsorbed at a surface
The behaviour of rod-coil diblock copolymers close to a surface is discussed
by using extended scaling methods. The copolymers are immersed in selective
solvent such that the rods are likely to aggregate to gain energy. The rods are
assumed to align only parallel to each other, such that they gain a maximum
energy by forming liquid crystalline structures. If an aggregate of these
copolymers adsorbs with the rods parallel to the surface the rods shift with
respect to each other to allow for the chains to gain entropy. It is shown that
this shift decays with increasing distance from the surface. The profile of
this decay away from the surface is calculated by minimisation of the total
free energy of the system. The stability of such an adsorbed aggregate and
other possible configurations are discussed as well.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figure
Engineering physics of superconducting hot-electron bolometer mixers
Superconducting hot-electron bolometers are presently the best performing
mixing devices for the frequency range beyond 1.2 THz, where good quality
superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) devices do not exist. Their
physical appearance is very simple: an antenna consisting of a normal metal,
sometimes a normal metal-superconductor bilayer, connected to a thin film of a
narrow, short superconductor with a high resistivity in the normal state. The
device is brought into an optimal operating regime by applying a dc current and
a certain amount of local- oscillator power. Despite this technological
simplicity its operation has been found to be controlled by many different
aspects of superconductivity, all occurring simultaneously. A core ingredient
is the understanding that there are two sources of resistance in a
superconductor: a charge conversion resistance occurring at an
normal-metal-superconductor interface and a resistance due to time- dependent
changes of the superconducting phase. The latter is responsible for the actual
mixing process in a non-uniform superconducting environment set up by the
bias-conditions and the geometry. The present understanding indicates that
further improvement needs to be found in the use of other materials with a
faster energy-relaxation rate. Meanwhile several empirical parameters have
become physically meaningful indicators of the devices, which will facilitate
the technological developments.Comment: This is an author-processed copy of an Invited contribution to the
Special Issue of the IEEE Transactions on Terahertz Science and Technology
dedicated to the 28th IEEE International Symposium on Space Terahertz
Technology (ISSTT2017
Time-delayed feedback control of coherence resonance near subcritical Hopf bifurcation: theory versus experiment
Using the model of a generalized Van der Pol oscillator in the regime of
subcritical Hopf bifurcation we investigate the influence of time delay on
noise-induced oscillations. It is shown that for appropriate choices of time
delay either suppression or enhancement of coherence resonance can de achieved.
Analytical calculations are combined with numerical simulations and experiments
on an electronic circuit
Symmetric Diblock Copolymers in Thin Films (I): Phase stability in Self-Consistent Field Calculations and Monte Carlo Simulations
We investigate the phase behavior of symmetric AB diblock copolymers confined
into a thin film. The film boundaries are parallel, impenetrable and attract
the A component of the diblock copolymer. Using a self-consistent field
technique [M.W. Matsen, J.Chem.Phys. {\bf 106}, 7781 (1997)], we study the
ordered phases as a function of incompatibility and film thickness in
the framework of the Gaussian chain model. For large film thickness and small
incompatibility, we find first order transitions between phases with different
number of lamellae which are parallel oriented to the film boundaries. At high
incompatibility or small film thickness, transitions between parallel oriented
and perpendicular oriented lamellae occur. We compare the self-consistent field
calculations to Monte Carlo simulations of the bond fluctuation model for chain
length N=32. In the simulations we quench several systems from to
and monitor the morphology into which the diblock copolymers
assemble. Three film thicknesses are investigated, corresponding to parallel
oriented lamellae with 2 and 4 interfaces and a perpendicular oriented
morphology. Good agreement between self-consistent field calculations and Monte
Carlo simulations is found.Comment: to appear in J.Chem.Phy
Mixed Quantum/Classical Approach for Description of Molecular Collisions in Astrophysical Environments
An efficient and accurate mixed quantum/classical theory approach for computational treatment of inelastic scattering is extended to describe collision of an atom with a general asymmetric-top rotor polyatomic molecule. Quantum mechanics, employed to describe transitions between the internal states of the molecule, and classical mechanics, employed for description of scattering of the atom, are used in a self-consistent manner. Such calculations for rotational excitation of HCOOCH3 in collisions with He produce accurate results at scattering energies above 15 cm–1, although resonances near threshold, below 5 cm–1, cannot be reproduced. Importantly, the method remains computationally affordable at high scattering energies (here up to 1000 cm–1), which enables calculations for larger molecules and at higher collision energies than was possible previously with the standard full-quantum approach. Theoretical prediction of inelastic cross sections for a number of complex organic molecules observed in space becomes feasible using this new computational tool
The enhancement of ferromagnetism in uniaxially stressed diluted magnetic semiconductors
We predict a new mechanism of enhancement of ferromagnetic phase transition
temperature in uniaxially stressed diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMS)
of p-type. Our prediction is based on comparative studies of both Heisenberg
(inherent to undistorted DMS with cubic lattice) and Ising (which can be
applied to strongly enough stressed DMS) models in a random field approximation
permitting to take into account the spatial inhomogeneity of spin-spin
interaction. Our calculations of phase diagrams show that area of parameters
for existence of DMS-ferromagnetism in Ising model is much larger than that in
Heisenberg model.Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
First Time-dependent Study of H2 and H3+ Ortho-Para Chemistry in the Diffuse Interstellar Medium: Observations Meet Theoretical Predictions
The chemistry in the diffuse interstellar medium initiates the gradual
increase of molecular complexity during the life cycle of matter. A key
molecule that enables build-up of new molecular bonds and new molecules via
proton-donation is H3+. Its evolution is tightly related to molecular hydrogen
and thought to be well understood. However, recent observations of ortho and
para lines of H2 and H3+ in the diffuse ISM showed a puzzling discrepancy in
nuclear spin excitation temperatures and populations between these two key
species. H3+, unlike H2, seems to be out of thermal equilibrium, contrary to
the predictions of modern astrochemical models. We conduct the first
time-dependent modeling of the para-fractions of H2 and H3+ in the diffuse ISM
and compare our results to a set of line-of-sight observations, including new
measurements presented in this study. We isolate a set of key reactions for H3+
and find that the destruction of the lowest rotational states of H3+ by
dissociative recombination largely control its ortho/para ratio. A plausible
agreement with observations cannot be achieved unless a ratio larger than 1:5
for the destruction of (1,1)- and (1,0)-states of H3+ is assumed. Additionally,
an increased CR ionization rate to 10(-15) 1/s further improves the fit whereas
variations of other individual physical parameters, such as density and
chemical age, have only a minor effect on the predicted ortho/para ratios. Thus
our study calls for new laboratory measurements of the dissociative
recombination rate and branching ratio of the key ion H3+ under interstellar
conditions.Comment: 27 pages, 6 figures, 3 table
Mass gap without vacuum energy
We consider soft nonlocal deformations of massless theories that introduce a
mass gap. By use of a renormalization scheme that preserves the ultraviolet
softness of the deformation, renormalized quantities of low mass dimension,
such as normal mass terms, vanish via finite counterterms. The same applies to
the renormalized cosmological constant. We connect this discussion to gauge
theories, since they are also subject to a soft nonlocal deformation due to the
effects of Gribov copies. These effects are softer than usually portrayed.Comment: 7 page
Chemical evolution in the early phases of massive star formation. I
Understanding the chemical evolution of young (high-mass) star-forming
regions is a central topic in star formation research. Chemistry is employed as
a unique tool 1) to investigate the underlying physical processes and 2) to
characterize the evolution of the chemical composition. We observed a sample of
59 high-mass star-forming regions at different evolutionary stages varying from
the early starless phase of infrared dark clouds to high-mass protostellar
objects to hot molecular cores and, finally, ultra-compact HII regions at 1mm
and 3mm with the IRAM 30m telescope. We determined their large-scale chemical
abundances and found that the chemical composition evolves along with the
evolutionary stages. On average, the molecular abundances increase with time.
We modeled the chemical evolution, using a 1D physical model where density and
temperature vary from stage to stage coupled with an advanced gas-grain
chemical model and derived the best-fit chi^2 values of all relevant
parameters. A satisfying overall agreement between observed and modeled column
densities for most of the molecules was obtained. With the best-fit model we
also derived a chemical age for each stage, which gives the timescales for the
transformation between two consecutive stages. The best-fit chemical ages are
~10,000 years for the IRDC stage, ~60,000 years for the HMPO stage, ~40,000
years for the HMC stage, and ~10,000 years for the UCHII stage. The total
chemical timescale for the entire evolutionary sequence of the high-mass star
formation process is on the order of 10^5 years, which is consistent with
theoretical estimates. Furthermore, based on the approach of a multiple-line
survey of unresolved data, we were able to constrain an intuitive and
reasonable physical and chemical model. The results of this study can be used
as chemical templates for the different evolutionary stages in high-mass star
formation.Comment: 31 pages, 11 figures, 21 tables, accepted by A&A; typos adde
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