Threshold photoionization and density functional theory studies of bimetallic-carbide nanocrystals and fragments: Ta3ZrCy (y=0-4)

Gas-phase bimetallic tantalum-zirconium-carbide clusters are generated using a constructed double ablation cluster source. The Ta(3)ZrC(y) (y = 0-4) clusters are examined by photoionization efficiency spectroscopy to extract experimental ionization energies (IEs). The IE trend for the Ta(3)ZrC(y) cluster series is reasonably similar to that of the Ta(4)C(y) cluster series [V. Dryza et al., J. Phys. Chem. A 109, 11180 (2005)], although the IE reductions upon carbon addition are greater for the former. Complementary density functional theory calculations are performed for the various isomers constructed by attaching carbon atoms to the different faces of the tetrahedral Ta(3)Zr cluster. The good agreement between the experimental IE trend and that calculated for these isomers support a 2x2x2 face centered cubic nanocrystal structure for Ta(4)ZrC(4) and nanocrystal fragment structures for the smaller clusters.Viktoras Dryza and Gregory F. Meth

Modelling gravity on a hyper-cubic lattice

We present an elegant and simple dynamical model of symmetric, non-degenerate (n x n) matrices of fixed signature defined on a n-dimensional hyper-cubic lattice with nearest-neighbor interactions. We show how this model is related to General Relativity, and discuss multiple ways in which it can be useful for studying gravity, both classical and quantum. In particular, we show that the dynamics of the model when all matrices are close to the identity corresponds exactly to a finite-difference discretization of weak-field gravity in harmonic gauge. We also show that the action which defines the full dynamics of the model corresponds to the Einstein-Hilbert action to leading order in the lattice spacing, and use this observation to define a lattice analogue of the Ricci scalar and Einstein tensor. Finally, we perform a mean-field analysis of the statistical mechanics of this model.Comment: 5 page

Topographic plasticity in primary visual cortex is mediated by local corticocortical connections

The placement of monocular laser lesions in the adult cat retina produces a lesion projection zone (LPZ) in primary visual cortex (V1) in which the majority of neurons have a normally located receptive field (RF) for stimulation of the intact eye and an ectopically located RF ( displaced to intact retina at the edge of the lesion) for stimulation of the lesioned eye. Animals that had such lesions for 14 - 85 d were studied under halothane and nitrous oxide anesthesia with conventional neurophysiological recording techniques and stimulation of moving light bars. Previous work suggested that a candidate source of input, which could account for the development of the ectopic RFs, was long-range horizontal connections within V1. The critical contribution of such input was examined by placing a pipette containing the neurotoxin kainic acid at a site in the normal V1 visual representation that overlapped with the ectopic RF recorded at a site within the LPZ. Continuation of well defined responses to stimulation of the intact eye served as a control against direct effects of the kainic acid at the LPZ recording site. In six of seven cases examined, kainic acid deactivation of neurons at the injection site blocked responsiveness to lesioned-eye stimulation at the ectopic RF for the LPZ recording site. We therefore conclude that long-range horizontal projections contribute to the dominant input underlying the capacity for retinal lesion-induced plasticity in V1

Hidden Breit-Wigner distribution and other properties of random matrices with preferential basis

We study statistical properties of a class of band random matrices which naturally appears in systems of interacting particles. The local spectral density is shown to follow the Breit-Wigner distribution in both localized and delocalized regimes with width independent on the band/system size. We analyse the implications of this distribution to the inverse participation ratio, level spacing statistics and the problem of two interacting particles in a random potential.Comment: 4 pages, 4 postscript figures appended, new version with minor change

Marginal States in Mean Field Glasses

We study mean field systems whose free energy landscape is dominated by marginally stable states. We review and develop various techniques to describe such states, elucidating their physical meaning and the interrelation between them. In particular, we give a physical interpretation of the two-group replica symmetry breaking scheme and confirm it by establishing the relation to the cavity method and to the counting of solutions of the Thouless-Anderson-Palmer equations. We show how these methods all incorporate the presence of a soft mode in the free energy landscape and interpret the occurring order parameter functions in terms of correlations between the soft mode and the local magnetizations. The general formalism is applied to the prototypical case of the Sherrington-Kirkpatrick-model where we re-examine the physical properties of marginal states under a new perspective.Comment: 27 pages, 8 figure

Factors influencing the catalytic oxidation of benzyl alcohol using supported phosphine-capped gold nanoparticles

Open Access Article. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence.Two phosphine-stabilised gold clusters, Au101(PPh3)21Cl5 and Au9(PPh3)8(NO3)3, were deposited and activated on anatase TiO2 and fumed SiO2. These catalysts showed an almost complete oxidation of benzyl alcohol (>90%) within 3 hours at 80 °C and 3 bar O2 in methanol with a high substrate-to-metal molar ratio of 5800 and turn-over frequency of 0.65 s−1. Factors influencing catalytic activity were investigated, including metal–support interaction, effects of heat treatments, chemical composition of gold clusters, the size of gold nanoparticles and catalytic conditions. It was found that the anions present in gold clusters play a role in determining the catalytic activity in this reaction, with NO3− diminishing the catalytic activity. High catalytic activity was attributed to the formation of large gold nanoparticles (>2 nm) that coincides with partial removal of ligands which occurs during heat treatment and catalysis. Selectivity towards the formation of methyl benzoate can be tuned by selection of the reaction temperature. The catalysts were characterised using transmission electron microscopy, UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

Statistical Properties of Cross-Correlation in the Korean Stock Market

We investigate the statistical properties of the correlation matrix between individual stocks traded in the Korean stock market using the random matrix theory (RMT) and observe how these affect the portfolio weights in the Markowitz portfolio theory. We find that the distribution of the correlation matrix is positively skewed and changes over time. We find that the eigenvalue distribution of original correlation matrix deviates from the eigenvalues predicted by the RMT, and the largest eigenvalue is 52 times larger than the maximum value among the eigenvalues predicted by the RMT. The $\beta_{473}$ coefficient, which reflect the largest eigenvalue property, is 0.8, while one of the eigenvalues in the RMT is approximately zero. Notably, we show that the entropy function $E(\sigma)$ with the portfolio risk $\sigma$ for the original and filtered correlation matrices are consistent with a power-law function, $E(\sigma) \sim \sigma^{-\gamma}$, with the exponent $\gamma \sim 2.92$ and those for Asian currency crisis decreases significantly

Methanol Tolerant Oxygen Reduction Reaction electrocatalysis using Size-Specific Triphenylphosphine-Ligated Gold Nanoclusters

Version of record online: June 7, 2022The development of a stable and efficient Oxygen Reduction Reaction (ORR) electrocatalysts with high methanol tolerance is crucial for Direct Methanol Fuel Cells (DMFCs). Herein, triphenylphosphine (PPh3)-ligated gold nanoclusters and complexes (AuNCs), Au101(PPh3)21Cl5, Au9(PPh3)8(NO3)3, and Au1(PPh3)Cl supported on reduced graphene oxide (rGO) have been explored as methanol tolerant ORR electrocatalysts. Electrocatalytic performance of each AuNCs-rGO was determined through linear sweep voltammograms (LSV) and cyclic voltammetry (CV) and compared with Pt/C. Size-dependent ORR activity was observed which followed the size trend of Au101NC-rGO>Au9NC-rGO>Au1NC-rGO. Repeated LSV and chronoamperometry measurements revealed that the long-term stability over 24 hours followed the trend Au101NC-rGO>Au9NC-rGO∼Au1NC-rGO and all were more stable than Pt/C. The methanol tolerance of each AuNCs-rGO was also evaluated via LSV and CV. Size-independent methanol tolerance with no noticeable change in ORR performance of AuNCs-rGO was observed in the presence of methanol. AuNCs-rGO nanocomposites are promising cathode electrocatalysts for DMFCs.Hanieh Mousavi, Shailendra K. Sharma, Vladimir Golovko, Cameron J. Shearer, and Gregory F. Meth

novel geopolymeric material cured at room temperature

[EN] Alkali activated binders are a new class of binding material with comparable or enhanced performance to Portland cement. These binding materials are obtained by a chemical reaction between an aluminosilicate material and a highly alkaline solution. In most cases, the setting hardening process of this binder is performed at high curing temperatures. In this paper, alkali activated mortars based on vitreous calcium aluminosilicate (VCAS) cured at room temperature are evaluated. Mechanical strength development and microstructural analysis (scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray diffraction and mercury intrusion porosimetry) of these materials are performed. Mortars yielded compressive strength ¡-89 MPa after 360 days. This is the first time that VCAS is used as aluminosilicate source material in the production of alkali activated mortars cured at room temperature.The authors acknowledge the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacio´ n of the Spanish Government (projecto. BIA2011-26947) and the Vitrominerals company for supplying VCAS samples.Mitsuuchi Tashima, M.; Soriano Martínez, L.; Monzó Balbuena, JM.; Borrachero Rosado, MV.; Paya Bernabeu, JJ. (2013). novel geopolymeric material cured at room temperature. Advances in Applied Ceramics. 112:179-183. https://doi.org/10.1179/1743676112Y.0000000056S17918311

The complexity of energy eigenstates as a mechanism for equilibration

Understanding the mechanisms responsible for the equilibration of isolated quantum many-body systems is a long-standing open problem. In this work we obtain a statistical relationship between the equilibration properties of Hamiltonians and the complexity of their eigenvectors, provided that a conjecture about the incompressibility of quantum circuits holds. We quantify the complexity by the size of the smallest quantum circuit mapping the local basis onto the energy eigenbasis. Specifically, we consider the set of all Hamiltonians having complexity C, and show that almost all such Hamiltonians equilibrate if C is super-quadratic with the system size, which includes the fully random Hamiltonian case in the limit C to infinity, and do not equilibrate if C is sub-linear. We also provide a simple formula for the equilibration time-scale in terms of the Fourier transform of the level density. Our results are statistical and, therefore, do not apply to specific Hamiltonians. Yet, they establish a fundamental link between equilibration and complexity theory.Comment: improved version (6 pages + appendix