Single and Double Photoionization and Photodissociation of Toluene by Soft X-rays in Circumstellar Environment

The formation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their methyl derivatives occurs mainly in the dust shells of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars. The bands at 3.3 and 3.4 $\mu$m, observed in infrared emission spectra of several objects, are attributed C-H vibrational modes in aromatic and aliphatic structures, respectively. In general, the feature at 3.3 $\mu$m is more intense than the 3.4 $\mu$m. Photoionization and photodissociation processes of toluene, the precursor of methylated PAHs, were studied using synchrotron radiation at soft X-ray energies around the carbon K edge with time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Partial ion yields of a large number of ionic fragments were extracted from single and 2D-spectra, where electron-ion coincidences have revealed the doubly charged parent-molecule and several doubly charged fragments containing seven carbon atoms with considerable abundance. \textit{Ab initio} calculations based on density functional theory were performed to elucidate the chemical structure of these stable dicationic species. The survival of the dications subjected to hard inner shell ionization suggests that they could be observed in the interstellar medium, especially in regions where PAHs are detected. The ionization and destruction of toluene induced by X-rays were examined in the T Dra conditions, a carbon-rich AGB star. In this context, a minimum photodissociation radius and the half-life of toluene subjected to the incidence of the soft X-ray flux emitted from a companion white dwarf star were determined.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures, accept for publication in Ap

The Finite Field Kakeya Problem

A Besicovitch set in AG(n,q) is a set of points containing a line in every direction. The Kakeya problem is to determine the minimal size of such a set. We solve the Kakeya problem in the plane, and substantially improve the known bounds for n greater than 4.Comment: 13 page

The adsorption and desorption of ethanol ices from a model grain surface

Reflection absorption infrared spectroscopy (RAIRS) and temperature programed desorption (TPD) have been used to probe the adsorption and desorption of ethanol on highly ordered pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) at 98 K. RAIR spectra for ethanol show that it forms physisorbed multilayers on the surface at 98 K. Annealing multilayer ethanol ices (exposures > 50 L) beyond 120 K gives rise to a change in morphology before crystallization within the ice occurs. TPD shows that ethanol adsorbs and desorbs molecularly on the HOPG surface and shows four different species in desorption. At low coverage, desorption of monolayer ethanol is observed and is described by first-order kinetics. With increasing coverage, a second TPD peak is observed at a lower temperature, which is assigned to an ethanol bilayer. When the coverage is further increased, a second multilayer, less strongly bound to the underlying ethanol ice film, is observed. This peak dominates the TPD spectra with increasing coverage and is characterized by fractional-order kinetics and a desorption energy of 56.3 +/- 1.7 kJ mol(-1). At exposures exceeding 50 L, formation of crystalline ethanol is also observed as a high temperature shoulder on the TPD spectrum at 160 K. (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics

Ising spins coupled to a four-dimensional discrete Regge skeleton

Regge calculus is a powerful method to approximate a continuous manifold by a simplicial lattice, keeping the connectivities of the underlying lattice fixed and taking the edge lengths as degrees of freedom. The discrete Regge model employed in this work limits the choice of the link lengths to a finite number. To get more precise insight into the behavior of the four-dimensional discrete Regge model, we coupled spins to the fluctuating manifolds. We examined the phase transition of the spin system and the associated critical exponents. The results are obtained from finite-size scaling analyses of Monte Carlo simulations. We find consistency with the mean-field theory of the Ising model on a static four-dimensional lattice.Comment: 19 pages, 7 figure

The Length of an SLE - Monte Carlo Studies

The scaling limits of a variety of critical two-dimensional lattice models are equal to the Schramm-Loewner evolution (SLE) for a suitable value of the parameter kappa. These lattice models have a natural parametrization of their random curves given by the length of the curve. This parametrization (with suitable scaling) should provide a natural parametrization for the curves in the scaling limit. We conjecture that this parametrization is also given by a type of fractal variation along the curve, and present Monte Carlo simulations to support this conjecture. Then we show by simulations that if this fractal variation is used to parametrize the SLE, then the parametrized curves have the same distribution as the curves in the scaling limit of the lattice models with their natural parametrization.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figures. Version 2 replaced the use of "nu" for the "growth exponent" by 1/d_H, where d_H is the Hausdorff dimension. Various minor errors were also correcte

Critical Exponents of the Classical 3D Heisenberg Model: A Single-Cluster Monte Carlo Study

We have simulated the three-dimensional Heisenberg model on simple cubic lattices, using the single-cluster Monte Carlo update algorithm. The expected pronounced reduction of critical slowing down at the phase transition is verified. This allows simulations on significantly larger lattices than in previous studies and consequently a better control over systematic errors. In one set of simulations we employ the usual finite-size scaling methods to compute the critical exponents $\nu,\alpha,\beta,\gamma, \eta$ from a few measurements in the vicinity of the critical point, making extensive use of histogram reweighting and optimization techniques. In another set of simulations we report measurements of improved estimators for the spatial correlation length and the susceptibility in the high-temperature phase, obtained on lattices with up to $100^3$ spins. This enables us to compute independent estimates of $\nu$ and $\gamma$ from power-law fits of their critical divergencies.Comment: 33 pages, 12 figures (not included, available on request). Preprint FUB-HEP 19/92, HLRZ 77/92, September 199

Magnetic Breakdown in the electron-doped cuprate superconductor Nd2−x_{2-x}Cex_xCuO4_4: the reconstructed Fermi surface survives in the strongly overdoped regime

We report on semiclassical angle-dependent magnetoresistance oscillations (AMRO) and the Shubnikov-de Haas effect in the electron-overdoped cuprate superconductor Nd$_{2-x}$Ce$_x$CuO$_4$. Our data provide convincing evidence for magnetic breakdown in the system. This shows that a reconstructed multiply-connected Fermi surface persists, at least at strong magnetic fields, up to the highest doping level of the superconducting regime. Our results suggest an intimate relation between translational symmetry breaking and the superconducting pairing in the electron-doped cuprate superconductors.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, submitted to PR

The Role of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Ultraviolet Extinction. I. Probing small molecular PAHs

We have obtained new STIS/HST spectra to search for structure in the ultraviolet interstellar extinction curve, with particular emphasis on a search for absorption features produced by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The presence of these molecules in the interstellar medium has been postulated to explain the infrared emission features seen in the 3-13 $\mu$m spectra of numerous sources. UV spectra are uniquely capable of identifying specific PAH molecules. We obtained high S/N UV spectra of stars which are significantly more reddened than those observed in previous studies. These data put limits on the role of small (30-50 carbon atoms) PAHs in UV extinction and call for further observations to probe the role of larger PAHs. PAHs are of importance because of their ubiquity and high abundance inferred from the infrared data and also because they may link the molecular and dust phases of the interstellar medium. A presence or absence of ultraviolet absorption bands due to PAHs could be a definitive test of this hypothesis. We should be able to detect a 20 \AA wide feature down to a 3$\sigma$ limit of $\sim$0.02 A$_V$. No such absorption features are seen other than the well-known 2175 \AA bump.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figure, ApJ in pres

Influence of Complex Exciton-Phonon Coupling on Optical Absorption and Energy Transfer of Quantum Aggregates

We present a theory that efficiently describes the quantum dynamics of an electronic excitation that is coupled to a continuous, highly structured phonon environment. Based on a stochastic approach to non-Markovian open quantum systems, we develop a dynamical framework that allows us to handle realistic systems where a fully quantum treatment is desired yet the usual approximation schemes fail. The capability of the method is demonstrated by calculating spectra and energy transfer dynamics of mesoscopic molecular aggregates, elucidating the transition from fully coherent to incoherent transfer

Spin-stiffness and topological defects in two-dimensional frustrated spin systems

Using a {\it collective} Monte Carlo algorithm we study the low-temperature and long-distance properties of two systems of two-dimensional classical tops. Both systems have the same spin-wave dynamics (low-temperature behavior) as a large class of Heisenberg frustrated spin systems. They are constructed so that to differ only by their topological properties. The spin-stiffnesses for the two systems of tops are calculated for different temperatures and different sizes of the sample. This allows to investigate the role of topological defects in frustrated spin systems. Comparisons with Renormalization Group results based on a Non Linear Sigma model approach and with the predictions of some simple phenomenological model taking into account the topological excitations are done.Comment: RevTex, 25 pages, 14 figures, Minor changes, final version. To appear in Phys.Rev.