856 research outputs found
Simple models of the chemical field around swimming plankton
International audienceThe chemical field around swimming plankton depends on the swimming style and speed of the organism and the processes affecting uptake or exudation of chemicals by the organism. Here we present a simple model for the flow field around a neutrally buoyant self-propelled organism at low Reynolds number, and numerically calculate the chemical field around the organism. We show how the concentration field close to the organism and the mass transfer rates vary with swimming speed and style for Dirichlet (diffusion limited transport) boundary conditions. We calculate how the length of the chemical wake, defined as being the distance at which the chemical field drops to 10% of the surface concentration of the organism when stationary, varies with swimming speed and style for both Dirichlet and Neumann (production limited) boundary conditions. For Dirichlet boundary conditions, the length of the chemical wake increases with increasing swimming speed, and the self-propelled organism displays a significantly longer wake than the towed-body model. For the Neumann boundary conditions the converse is true; because swimming enhances the transport of the chemical away from the organism, the surface concentration of chemical is reduced and thus the wake length is reduced
Electrochemical control of quantum interference in anthraquinone-based molecular switches
Using first-principles calculations we analyze the electronic transport
properties of a recently proposed anthraquinone based electrochemical switch.
Robust conductance on/off ratios of several orders of magnitude are observed
due to destructive quantum interference present in the anthraquinone, but
absent in the hydroquinone molecular bridge. A simple explanation of the
interference effect is achieved by transforming the frontier molecular orbitals
into localized molecular orbitals thereby obtaining a minimal tight-binding
model describing the transport in the relevant energy range in terms of hopping
via the localized orbitals. The topology of the tight-binding model, which is
dictated by the symmetries of the molecular orbitals, determines the amount of
quantum interference.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure
Edge-dependent reflection and inherited fine structure of higher-order plasmons in graphene nanoribbons
We investigate higher-order plasmons in graphene nanoribbons, and present how
electronic edge states and wavefunction fine structure influence the graphene
plasmons. Based on nearest-neighbor tight-binding calculations, we find that a
standing-wave model based on nonlocal bulk plasmon dispersion is surprisingly
accurate for armchair ribbons of widths even down to a few nanometers, and we
determine the corresponding phase shift upon edge reflection and an effective
ribbon width. Wider zigzag ribbons exhibit a similar phase shift, whereas the
standing-wave model describes few-nanometer zigzag ribbons less satisfactorily,
to a large extent because of their edge states. We directly confirm that also
the larger broadening of plasmons for zigzag ribbons is due to their edge
states. Furthermore, we report a prominent fine structure in the induced
charges of the ribbon plasmons, which for armchair ribbons follows the
electronic wavefunction oscillations induced by inter-valley coupling.
Interestingly, the wavefunction fine structure is also found in our analogous
density-functional theory calculations, and both these and tight-binding
numerical calculations are explained quite well with analytical Dirac theory
for graphene ribbons
Emergent scale invariance of non-classical plasmons in graphene nanoribbons
Using a nearest-neighbor tight-binding model we investigate quantum effects
of plasmons on few-nanometer wide graphene nanoribbons, both for zigzag and
armchair edge terminations. With insight from the Dirac description we find an
emerging scale-invariant behavior that deviates from the classical model both
for zigzag and armchair structures. The onset of the deviation can be related
to the position of the lowest parabolic band in the band structure. Dirac
theory is only valid in the parameter subspace where the scale invariance holds
that relates narrow ribbons with high doping to wide ribbons with low doping.
We also find that the edge states present in zigzag ribbons give rise to a
blueshift of the plasmon, in contrast to earlier findings for graphene
nanodisks and nanotriangles
'Rapid fire' spectroscopy of Kepler solar-like oscillators
The NASA Kepler mission has been continuously monitoring the same field of
the sky since the successful launch in March 2009, providing high-quality
stellar lightcurves that are excellent data for asteroseismology, far superior
to any other observations available at the present. In order to make a
meaningful analysis and interpretation of the asteroseismic data, accurate
fundamental parameters for the observed stars are needed. The currently
available parameters are quite uncertain as illustrated by e.g. Thygesen et al.
(A&A 543, A160, 2012), who found deviations as extreme as 2.0 dex in [Fe/H] and
log g, compared to catalogue values. Thus, additional follow-up observations
for these targets are needed in order to put firm limits on the parameter space
investigated by the asteroseismic modellers. Here, we propose a metod for
deriving accurate metallicities of main sequence and subgiant solar-like
oscillators from medium resolution spectra with a moderate S/N. The method
takes advantage of the additional constraints on the fundamental parameters,
available from asteroseismology and multi-color photometry. The approach
enables us to reduce the analysis overhead significantly when doing spectral
synthesis, which in turn will increases the efficiency of follow-up
observations.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures. Proceedings from Asteroseismology of Stellar
Populations in the Milky Way 2013 to appear in 'Astrophysics and Space
Science Proceedings
Plasmonic eigenmodes in individual and bow-tie graphene nanotriangles
Serving as a new two-dimensional plasmonic material, graphene has stimulated
an intensive study of its optical properties which benefit from the unique
electronic band structure of the underlying honeycomb lattice of carbon atoms.
In classical electrodynamics, nanostructured graphene is commonly modeled by
the computationally demanding problem of a three-dimensional conducting film of
atomic-scale thickness. Here, we propose an efficient alternative
two-dimensional electrostatic approach where all the calculation procedures are
restricted to the plane of the graphene sheet. To explore possible quantum
effects, we perform tight-binding calculations, adopting a random-phase
approximation. We investigate the multiple plasmon modes in triangles of
graphene, treating the optical response classically as well as quantum
mechanically in the case of both armchair and zigzag edge termination of the
underlying atomic lattice. Compared to the classical plasmonic spectrum which
is "blind" to the edge termination, we find that the quantum plasmon
frequencies exhibit blueshifts in the case of armchair edge termination, while
redshifts are found for zigzag edges. Furthermore, we find spectral features in
the zigzag case which are associated with electronic edge states not present
for armchair termination. Merging pairs of such triangles into dimers, the
plasmon hybridization leads to energy splitting in accordance with
plasmon-hybridization theory, with a lower energy for the antisymmetric modes
and a smaller splitting for modes with less confinement to the gap region. The
hybridization appears strongest in classical calculations while the splitting
is lower for armchair edges and even more reduced for zigzag edges. Our various
results illustrate a surprising phenomenon: Even 20 nm large graphene
structures clearly exhibit quantum plasmonic features due to atomic-scale
details in the edge termination.Comment: 27 pages including 7 figures. Supplementary information available
upon request to author
Triangulum II: Not Especially Dense After All
Among the Milky Way satellites discovered in the past three years, Triangulum
II has presented the most difficulty in revealing its dynamical status. Kirby
et al. (2015a) identified it as the most dark matter-dominated galaxy known,
with a mass-to-light ratio within the half-light radius of 3600 +3500 -2100
M_sun/L_sun. On the other hand, Martin et al. (2016) measured an outer velocity
dispersion that is 3.5 +/- 2.1 times larger than the central velocity
dispersion, suggesting that the system might not be in equilibrium. From new
multi-epoch Keck/DEIMOS measurements of 13 member stars in Triangulum II, we
constrain the velocity dispersion to be sigma_v < 3.4 km/s (90% C.L.). Our
previous measurement of sigma_v, based on six stars, was inflated by the
presence of a binary star with variable radial velocity. We find no evidence
that the velocity dispersion increases with radius. The stars display a wide
range of metallicities, indicating that Triangulum II retained supernova ejecta
and therefore possesses or once possessed a massive dark matter halo. However,
the detection of a metallicity dispersion hinges on the membership of the two
most metal-rich stars. The stellar mass is lower than galaxies of similar mean
stellar metallicity, which might indicate that Triangulum II is either a star
cluster or a tidally stripped dwarf galaxy. Detailed abundances of one star
show heavily depressed neutron-capture abundances, similar to stars in most
other ultra-faint dwarf galaxies but unlike stars in globular clusters.Comment: accepted to ApJ, Table 5 available as a machine-readable table by
clicking on "Other formats" on the right. Proof corrections reflected in
version
Partly Occupied Wannier Functions
We introduce a scheme for constructing partly occupied, maximally localized
Wannier functions (WFs) for both molecular and periodic systems. Compared to
the traditional occupied WFs the partly occupied WFs posses improved symmetry
and localization properties achieved through a bonding-antibonding closing
procedure. We demonstrate the equivalence between bonding-antibonding closure
and the minimization of the average spread of the WFs in the case of a benzene
molecule and a linear chain of Pt atoms. The general applicability of the
method is demonstrated through the calculation of WFs for a metallic system
with an impurity: a Pt wire with a hydrogen molecular bridge.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
An investigation of the formation and line properties of MgH in 3D hydrodynamical model stellar atmospheres
Studies of the isotopic composition of magnesium in cool stars have so far
relied upon the use of one-dimensional (1D) model atmospheres. Since the
isotopic ratios derived are based on asymmetries of optical MgH lines, it is
important to test the impact from other effects affecting line asymmetries,
like stellar convection. Here, we present a theoretical investigation of the
effects of including self-consistent modeling of convection. Using spectral
syntheses based on 3D hydrodynamical COBOLD models of dwarfs
(4000K, log(g),
) and giants (K,
log(g), ), we perform a detailed
analysis comparing 3D and 1D syntheses.
We describe the impact on the formation and behavior of MgH lines from using
3D models, and perform a qualitative assessment of the systematics introduced
by the use of 1D syntheses.
Using 3D model atmospheres significantly affect the strength of the MgH
lines, especially in dwarfs, with 1D syntheses requiring an abundance
correction of up to +0.69 dex largest for our 5000K models. The corrections are
correlated with and are also affected by the metallicity. The
shape of the strong MgH component in the 3D syntheses is poorly
reproduced in 1D. This results in 1D syntheses underestimating MgH by up
to percentage points and overestimating MgH by a similar amount
for dwarfs. This discrepancy increases with decreasing metallicity. MgH
is recovered relatively well, with the largest difference being
percentage points. The use of 3D for giants has less impact, due to smaller
differences in the atmospheric structure and a better reproduction of the line
shape in 1D.Comment: 20 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
Strong plasmon-phonon splitting and hybridization in 2D materials revealed through a self-energy approach
We reveal new aspects of the interaction between plasmons and phonons in 2D
materials that go beyond a mere shift and increase in plasmon width due to
coupling to either intrinsic vibrational modes of the material or phonons in a
supporting substrate. More precisely, we predict strong plasmon splitting due
to this coupling, resulting in a characteristic avoided crossing scheme. We
base our results on a computationally efficient approach consisting in
including many-body interactions through the electron self-energy. We specify
this formalism for a description of plasmons based upon a tight-binding
electron Hamiltonian combined with the random-phase approximation. This
approach is accurate provided vertex corrections can be neglected, as is is the
case in conventional plasmon-supporting metals and Dirac-fermion systems. We
illustrate our method by evaluating plasmonic spectra of doped graphene
nanotriangles with varied size, where we predict remarkable peak splittings and
other radical modifications in the spectra due to plasmons interactions with
intrinsic optical phonons. Our method is equally applicable to other 2D
materials and provides a simple approach for investigating coupling of plasmons
to phonons, excitons, and other excitations in hybrid thin nanostructures
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