Anomalous thermal conductivity and local temperature distribution on harmonic Fibonacci chains

The harmonic Fibonacci chain, which is one of a quasiperiodic chain constructed with a recursion relation, has a singular continuous frequency-spectrum and critical eigenstates. The validity of the Fourier law is examined for the harmonic Fibonacci chain with stochastic heat baths at both ends by investigating the system size N dependence of the heat current J and the local temperature distribution. It is shown that J asymptotically behaves as (ln N)^{-1} and the local temperature strongly oscillates along the chain. These results indicate that the Fourier law does not hold on the harmonic Fibonacci chain. Furthermore the local temperature exhibits two different distribution according to the generation of the Fibonacci chain, i.e., the local temperature distribution does not have a definite form in the thermodynamic limit. The relations between N-dependence of J and the frequency-spectrum, and between the local temperature and critical eigenstates are discussed.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, submitted to J. Phys.: Cond. Ma

Preliminary Study of H₂O Adsorption on Cr₂O₃ and Al₂O₃ Surfaces by Ab Initio Cluster Calculations

Adsorption and desorption of water over Cr-oxide and alumina are of great concern with the contamination of stainless steel and gas chromatographic isotope separation. However,the mechanisms of those phenomena have not been fully clarified. A preliminary ab inito study on the behavior of water molecules on the (001) surfaces of α-Cr₂O₃ and α-Al₂O₃ was carried out for small clusters of Me4O4 (Me=Cr or Al) by use of the Gaussian 03 package. It was found that water molecules can be adsorbed molecularly and dissociatively on these surfaces. Molecular adsorption of a H₂O molecule takes place on a metal atom of the cluster as Me-OH₂, with the bond length of about 2.0 Å. Dissociative adsorption occurs by forming Me-OH (on-top site) or Me2-OH (bridge site) and O-H bonds. There appeared a feature that the bond length of Me2-OH is greater than that of Me-OH. Calculated adsorption energies were examined by comparing with the values estimated from the thermal desorption spectra of water for α-Cr₂O₃ and γ-alumina. The ab initio calculations coincided quite well with the observed thermal desorption spectrum for α-Cr₂O₃, whereas they did not for γ-alumina. Further studies are required to clarify the structures of adsorbed species, adsorptiron energies and kinetic processes

Influence of Homeotropic Anchoring Walls upon Nematic and Smectic Phases

McMillan liquid crystal model sandwiched between strong homeotropic anchoring walls is studied. Phase transitions between isotropic, nematic, and smectic A phases are investigated for wide ranges of an interaction parameter and of the system thickness. It is confirmed that the anchoring walls induce an increase in transition temperatures, dissappearance of phase transitions, and an appearance of non-spontaneous nematic phase. The similarity between influence of anchoring walls and that of external fields is discussed.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figure