Pareto's 80/20 rule and the Gaussian distribution

The statistical state for the empirical Pareto’s 80/20 rule has been found to correspond to a normal or Gaussian distribution with a standard deviation that is twice the mean. This finding represents large characteristic variations in our society and nature. In this distribution, the rule can be also referred to as, for example, the 25/5, 45/10, 60/15, or 90/25 rule. In addition, our result suggests the existence of implicit negative contributors

Coupled-Double-Quantum-Dot Environmental Information Engines: A Numerical Analysis

We conduct numerical simulations for an autonomous information engine comprising a set of coupled double quantum dots using a simple model. The steady-state entropy production rate in each component, heat and electron transfer rates are calculated via the probability distribution of the four electronic states from the master transition-rate equations. We define an information-engine efficiency based on the entropy change of the reservoir, implicating power generators that employ the environmental order as a new energy resource. We acquire device-design principles, toward the realization of corresponding practical energy converters, including that (1) higher energy levels of the detector-side reservoir than those of the detector dot provide significantly higher work production rates by faster states' circulation, (2) the efficiency is strongly dependent on the relative temperatures of the detector and system sides and becomes high in a particular Coulomb-interaction strength region between the quantum dots, and (3) the efficiency depends little on the system dot's energy level relative to its reservoir but largely on the antisymmetric relative amplitudes of the electronic tunneling rates

Nanostructured Materials for Solar Cell Applications

The use of nanomaterials in technologies for photovoltaic applications continues to represent an important area of research [...

An explicit derivation of the time–information uncertainty relation in thermodynamics

A direct, explicit derivation of the recently discovered time–information uncertainty relation in thermodynamics [S. B. Nicholson et al (2020), Nat. Phys. 16, 1211] is presented

Plasmonic energy nanofocusing for high-efficiency laser fusion ignition

We propose an efficient laser fusion ignition system consisting of metal nanoparticles or nanoshells embedded in conventional deuterated polystyrene fuel targets. The incident optical energy of the heating laser is highly concentrated around the metallic particulates randomly dispersed inside imploded targets due to the electromagnetic-field-enhancement effect by surface plasmon resonance, and thus effectively triggers nuclear-fusion chain reactions. Our preliminary calculations exhibit field enhancement factors of around 50 and 1100 for spherical Ag nanoparticles and Ag/SiO2 nanoshells, respectively, in the 1-µm band

Mutual Information in Coupled Double Quantum Dots: A Simple Analytic Model for Potential Artificial Consciousness

The integrated information theory is thought to be a key clue towards the theoretical understanding of consciousness. In this study, we propose a simple numerical model comprising a set of coupled double quantum dots, where the disconnection of the elements is represented by the removal of Coulomb interaction between the quantum dots, for the quantitative investigation of integrated information. As a measure of integrated information, we calculate the mutual information in the model system, as the Kullback-Leibler divergence between the connected and disconnected status, through the probability distribution of the electronic states from the master transition-rate equations. We reasonably demonstrate that the increase in the strength of interaction between the quantum dots leads to higher mutual information, owing to the larger divergence in the probability distributions of the electronic states. Our model setup could be a useful basic tool for numerical analyses in the field of integrated information theory.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure

A time–energy uncertainty relation in chemical thermodynamics

An analogy between the thermodynamic inequalities presented by Nicholson et al. [Nat. Phys. 16, 1211 (2020)] and by Yoshimura and Ito [Phys. Rev. Res. 3, 013175 (2021)] is discussed. As a result, a time–energy uncertainty relation in chemical thermodynamics in terms of Gibbs free energy and chemical potential is derived. It is numerically demonstrated that the uncertainly relation holds in a model system of oscillatory Brusselator reactions. Our result bridges the thermodynamic time–information uncertainty relation and free energy evolution in chemical reactions

Plasmonic nanoparticle enhanced light absorption in GaAs solar cells

We demonstrate an improvement in efficiency of optically thin GaAs solar cells decorated with size-controlled Ag nanoparticles fabricated by masked deposition through anodic aluminum oxide templates. The strong scattering by the interacting surface plasmons in densely formed high aspect-ratio nanoparticles effectively increases the optical path of the incident light in the absorber layers resulting in an 8% increase in the short circuit current density of the cell. The nanoparticle array sheet conductivity also reduces the cell surface sheet resistance evidenced by an improved fill factor. This dual function of plasmonic nanoparticles has potential to enable thinner photovoltaic layers in solar cells