11,941 research outputs found
InP and GaAs characterization with variable stoichiometry obtained by molecular spray
Both InP and GaAs surfaces were studied in parallel. A molecular spray technique was used to obtain two semiconductor surfaces with different superficial compositions. The structures of these surfaces were examined by electron diffraction. Electron energy loss was measured spectroscopically in order to determine surface electrical characteristics. The results are used to support conclusions relative to the role of surface composition in establishing a Schottky barrier effect in semiconductor devices
Factorization of finite temperature graphs in thermal QED
We extend our previous analysis of gauge and Dirac fields in the presence of
a chemical potential. We consider an alternate thermal operator which relates
in a simple way the Feynman graphs in QED at finite temperature and charge
density to those at zero temperature but non-zero chemical potential. Several
interesting features of such a factorization are discussed in the context of
the thermal photon and fermion self-energies.Comment: 4 page
High-fidelity Multidisciplinary Sensitivity Analysis and Design Optimization for Rotorcraft Applications
A multidisciplinary sensitivity analysis of rotorcraft simulations involving tightly coupled high-fidelity computational fluid dynamics and comprehensive analysis solvers is presented and evaluated. A sensitivity-enabled fluid dynamics solver and a nonlinear flexible multibody dynamics solver are coupled to predict aerodynamic loads and structural responses of helicopter rotor blades. A discretely consistent adjoint-based sensitivity analysis available in the fluid dynamics solver provides sensitivities arising from unsteady turbulent flows and unstructured dynamic overset meshes, while a complex-variable approach is used to compute structural sensitivities with respect to aerodynamic loads. The multidisciplinary sensitivity analysis is conducted through integrating the sensitivity components from each discipline of the coupled system. Accuracy of the coupled system is validated by conducting simulations for a benchmark rotorcraft model and comparing solutions with established analyses and experimental data. Sensitivities of lift computed by the multidisciplinary sensitivity analysis are verified by comparison with the sensitivities obtained by complex-variable simulations. Finally the multidisciplinary sensitivity analysis is applied to a constrained gradient-based design optimization for a HART-II rotorcraft configuration
Phenological and molecular studies on the introduced seaweed Dictyota cyanoloma (Dictyotales, Phaeophyceae) along the Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula
Dictyota cyanoloma, a distinctive brown algal species characterized by a blue-iridescent margin, was recently reported as an introduced species in the Mediterranean Sea but little is known about its distribution dynamics, morphological plasticity and genetic structure. In this integrative study, we evaluate its past and present occurrence along the Mediterranean Iberian coast, assess the species' phenology in Palamos (Girona, Spain) and analyze the haplotype diversity by sequencing 49 individuals from nine sampling sites for different chloroplast and mitochondrial DNA regions. Although D. cyanoloma currently occurs along all the Mediterranean Iberian coasts (in 19 of 36 localities sampled, mostly in marinas and harbour environments), we were not able to find any herbarium material of this species (at BCN-Phyc and MA) predating the year 1987. In Palamos, D. cyanoloma is present all through the year, with a maximum development in winter and a minimum in summer. Fertile specimens are absent during summer (July and August). Sporophytes are dominant from January to June and gametophytes were found only in February, March and June. Information about the antheridia, which has never been described before, is provided. Two chloroplast and three mitochondrial haplotypes were observed, indicating that multiple introductions of D. cyanoloma occurred in the study area. Additionally, the genetic structure suggests that spread did not occur through simple advancing wave fronts but by several longdistance dispersal events. Further studies employing microsatellite markers could potentially offer a better resolution to unravel expansion and colonisation dynamics of D. cyanoloma in the Mediterranean Sea
Thermal Operator and Cutting Rules at Finite Temperature and Chemical Potential
In the context of scalar field theories, both real and complex, we derive the
cutting description at finite temperature (with zero/finite chemical potential)
from the cutting rules at zero temperature through the action of a simple
thermal operator. We give an alternative algebraic proof of the largest time
equation which brings out the underlying physics of such a relation. As an
application of the cutting description, we calculate the imaginary part of the
one loop retarded self-energy at zero/finite temperature and finite chemical
potential and show how this description can be used to calculate the dispersion
relation as well as the full physical self-energy of thermal particles.Comment: 17 pages, 13 figures. Added references, version to appear in Physical
Review
Birth and growth of cavitation bubbles within water under tension confined in a simple synthetic tree
Water under tension, as can be found in several systems including tree
vessels, is metastable. Cavitation can spontaneously occur, nucleating a
bubble. We investigate the dynamics of spon- taneous or triggered cavitation
inside water filled microcavities of a hydrogel. Results show that a stable
bubble is created in only a microsecond timescale, after transient
oscillations. Then, a diffusion driven expansion leads to filling of the
cavity. Analysis reveals that the nucleation of a bubble releases a tension of
several tens of MPa, and a simple model captures the different time scales of
the expansion process
Malaria intervention scale-up in Africa : effectiveness predictions for health programme planning tools, based on dynamic transmission modelling
Scale-up of malaria prevention and treatment needs to continue to further important gains made in the past decade, but national strategies and budget allocations are not always evidence-based. Statistical models were developed summarizing dynamically simulated relations between increases in coverage and intervention impact, to inform a malaria module in the Spectrum health programme planning tool.; The dynamic Plasmodium falciparum transmission model OpenMalaria was used to simulate health effects of scale-up of insecticide-treated net (ITN) usage, indoor residual spraying (IRS), management of uncomplicated malaria cases (CM) and seasonal malaria chemoprophylaxis (SMC) over a 10-year horizon, over a range of settings with stable endemic malaria. Generalized linear regression models (GLMs) were used to summarize determinants of impact across a range of sub-Sahara African settings.; Selected (best) GLMs explained 94-97Â % of variation in simulated post-intervention parasite infection prevalence, 86-97Â % of variation in case incidence (three age groups, three 3-year horizons), and 74-95Â % of variation in malaria mortality. For any given effective population coverage, CM and ITNs were predicted to avert most prevalent infections, cases and deaths, with lower impacts for IRS, and impacts of SMC limited to young children reached. Proportional impacts were larger at lower endemicity, and (except for SMC) largest in low-endemic settings with little seasonality. Incremental health impacts for a given coverage increase started to diminish noticeably at above ~40Â % coverage, while in high-endemic settings, CM and ITNs acted in synergy by lowering endemicity. Vector control and CM, by reducing endemicity and acquired immunity, entail a partial rebound in malaria mortality among people above 5Â years of age from around 5-7Â years following scale-up. SMC does not reduce endemicity, but slightly shifts malaria to older ages by reducing immunity in child cohorts reached.; Health improvements following malaria intervention scale-up vary with endemicity, seasonality, age and time. Statistical models can emulate epidemiological dynamics and inform strategic planning and target setting for malaria control
Self healing slip pulses along a gel/glass interface
We present an experimental evidence of self-healing shear cracks at a
gel/glass interface. This system exhibits two dynamical regimes depending on
the driving velocity : steady sliding at high velocity (> Vc = 100-125 \mu
m/s), caracterized by a shear-thinning rheology, and periodic stick-slip
dynamics at low velocity. In this last regime, slip occurs by propagation of
pulses that restick via a ``healing instability'' occuring when the local
sliding velocity reaches the macroscopic transition velocity Vc. At driving
velocities close below Vc, the system exhibits complex spatio-temporal
behavior.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figure
Decoherence suppression via environment preparation
To protect a quantum system from decoherence due to interaction with its
environment, we investigate the existence of initial states of the environment
allowing for decoherence-free evolution of the system. For models in which a
two-state system interacts with a dynamical environment, we prove that such
states exist if and only if the interaction and self-evolution Hamiltonians
share an eigenstate. If decoherence by state preparation is not possible, we
show that initial states minimizing decoherence result from a delicate
compromise between the environment and interaction dynamics.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
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