A Quantitative Model of Energy Release and Heating by Time-dependent, Localized Reconnection in a Flare with a Thermal Loop-top X-ray Source

We present a quantitative model of the magnetic energy stored and then released through magnetic reconnection for a flare on 26 Feb 2004. This flare, well observed by RHESSI and TRACE, shows evidence of non-thermal electrons only for a brief, early phase. Throughout the main period of energy release there is a super-hot (T>30 MK) plasma emitting thermal bremsstrahlung atop the flare loops. Our model describes the heating and compression of such a source by localized, transient magnetic reconnection. It is a three-dimensional generalization of the Petschek model whereby Alfven-speed retraction following reconnection drives supersonic inflows parallel to the field lines, which form shocks heating, compressing, and confining a loop-top plasma plug. The confining inflows provide longer life than a freely-expanding or conductively-cooling plasma of similar size and temperature. Superposition of successive transient episodes of localized reconnection across a current sheet produces an apparently persistent, localized source of high-temperature emission. The temperature of the source decreases smoothly on a time scale consistent with observations, far longer than the cooling time of a single plug. Built from a disordered collection of small plugs, the source need not have the coherent jet-like structure predicted by steady-state reconnection models. This new model predicts temperatures and emission measure consistent with the observations of 26 Feb 2004. Furthermore, the total energy released by the flare is found to be roughly consistent with that predicted by the model. Only a small fraction of the energy released appears in the super-hot source at any one time, but roughly a quarter of the flare energy is thermalized by the reconnection shocks over the course of the flare. All energy is presumed to ultimately appear in the lower-temperature T<20 MK, post-flare loops

Antimony germanium sulphide amorphous thin films fabricated by chemical vapour deposition

Antimony germanium sulphide (Sb-Ge-S) amorphous thin films have been directly fabricated on both silica on silicon and commercial glass substrates by means of chemical vapour deposition. These Sb-Ge-S films have been characterized by micro-Raman, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray analysis techniques. The analysis results for these amorphous films indicate the composition of Sb-Ge-S can be varied by changing the deposition temperatures. The quality of these Sb-Ge-S amorphous thin films gives them high potential for the chalcogenide optical waveguide and device applications

Reversible Pressure-Induced Amorphization in Solid C70 : Raman and Photoluminescence Study

We have studied single crystals of $C_{70}$ by Raman scattering and photoluminescence in the pressure range from 0 to 31.1 GPa. The Raman spectrum at 31.1 GPa shows only a broad band similar to that of the amorphous carbon without any trace of the Raman lines of $C_{70}$. After releasing the pressure from 31.1 GPa, the Raman and the photoluminescence spectra of the recovered sample are that of the starting $C_{70}$ crystal. These results indicate that the $C_{70}$ molecules are stable upto 31.1 GPa and the amorphous carbon high pressure phase is reversible, in sharp contrast to the results on solid $C_{60}$. A qualitative explaination is suggested in terms of inter- versus intra-molecular interactions.Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev. Lett., 12 pages, RevTeX (preprint format), 3 figures available upon reques

Electronic structure, charge transfer, and intrinsic luminescence of gadolinium oxide nanoparticles: Experiment and theory

The cubic (c) and monoclinic (m) polymorphs of Gd2O3 were studied using the combined analysis of several materials science techniques - X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. Density functional theory (DFT) based calculations for the samples under study were performed as well. The cubic phase of gadolinium oxide (c-Gd2O3) synthesized using a precipitation method exhibits spheroidal-like nanoclusters with well-defined edges assembled from primary nanoparticles with an average size of 50 nm, whereas the monoclinic phase of gadolinium oxide (m-Gd2O3) deposited using explosive pyrolysis has a denser structure compared with natural gadolinia. This phase also has a structure composed of three-dimensional complex agglomerates without clear-edged boundaries that are ~21 nm in size plus a cubic phase admixture of only 2 at. % composed of primary edge-boundary nanoparticles ~15 nm in size. These atomic features appear in the electronic structure as different defects ([Gd...O-OH] and [Gd...O-O]) and have dissimilar contributions to the charge-transfer processes among the appropriate electronic states with ambiguous contributions in the Gd 5p - O 2s core-like levels in the valence band structures. The origin of [Gd...O-OH] defects found by XPS was well-supported by PL analysis. The electronic and atomic structures of the synthesized gadolinias calculated using DFT were compared and discussed on the basis of the well-known joint OKT-van der Laan model, and good agreement was established.Comment: 27 pages, 10 figures, accepted in Appl. Surf. Sc

Thermal conductivity in harmonic lattices with random collisions

We review recent rigorous mathematical results about the macroscopic behaviour of harmonic chains with the dynamics perturbed by a random exchange of velocities between nearest neighbor particles. The random exchange models the effects of nonlinearities of anharmonic chains and the resulting dynamics have similar macroscopic behaviour. In particular there is a superdiffusion of energy for unpinned acoustic chains. The corresponding evolution of the temperature profile is governed by a fractional heat equation. In non-acoustic chains we have normal diffusivity, even if momentum is conserved.Comment: Review paper, to appear in the Springer Lecture Notes in Physics volume "Thermal transport in low dimensions: from statistical physics to nanoscale heat transfer" (S. Lepri ed.

Cross Section Measurements of Charged Pion Photoproduction in Hydrogen and Deuterium from 1.1 to 5.5 GeV

The differential cross section for the gamma +n --> pi- + p and the gamma + p --> pi+ n processes were measured at Jefferson Lab. The photon energies ranged from 1.1 to 5.5 GeV, corresponding to center-of-mass energies from 1.7 to 3.4 GeV. The pion center-of-mass angles varied from 50 degree to 110 degree. The pi- and pi+ photoproduction data both exhibit a global scaling behavior at high energies and high transverse momenta, consistent with the constituent counting rule prediction and the existing pi+ data. The data suggest possible substructure of the scaling behavior, which might be oscillations around the scaling value. The data show an enhancement in the scaled cross section at center-of-mass energy near 2.2 GeV. The differential cross section ratios at high energies and high transverse momenta can be described by calculations based on one-hard-gluon-exchange diagrams.Comment: 18 pages, 19 figure

Svestka's Research: Then and Now

Zdenek Svestka's research work influenced many fields of solar physics, especially in the area of flare research. In this article I take five of the areas that particularly interested him and assess them in a "then and now" style. His insights in each case were quite sound, although of course in the modern era we have learned things that he could not readily have envisioned. His own views about his research life have been published recently in this journal, to which he contributed so much, and his memoir contains much additional scientific and personal information (Svestka, 2010).Comment: Invited review for "Solar and Stellar Flares," a conference in honour of Prof. Zden\v{e}k \v{S}vestka, Prague, June 23-27, 2014. This is a contribution to a Topical Issue in Solar Physics, based on the presentations at this meeting (Editors Lyndsay Fletcher and Petr Heinzel

Doping-insensitive density-of-states suppression in polycrystalline iron-based superconductor SmO1−x_{1-x}Fx_{x}FeAs

We investigated the temperature dependence of the density-of-states in the iron-based superconductor SmO_1-xF_xFeAs (x=0, 0.12, 0.15, 0.2) with high resolution angle-integrated photoemission spectroscopy. The density-of-states suppression is observed with decreasing temperature in all samples, revealing two characteristic energy scales (10meV and 80meV). However, no obvious doping dependence is observed. We argue that the 10meV suppression is due to an anomalously doping-independent normal state pseudogap, which becomes the superconducting gap once in the superconducting state; and alert the possibility that the 80meV-scale suppression might be an artifact of the polycrystalline samples.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Memory effect in the deposition of C20 fullerenes on a diamond surface

In this paper, the deposition of C-20 fullerenes on a diamond (001)-(2x1) surface and the fabrication of C-20 thin film at 100 K were investigated by a molecular dynamics (MD) simulation using the many-body Brenner bond order potential. First, we found that the collision dynamic of a single C-20 fullerene on a diamond surface was strongly dependent on its impact energy. Within the energy range 10-45 eV, the C-20 fullerene chemisorbed on the surface retained its free cage structure. This is consistent with the experimental observation, where it was called the memory effect in "C-20-type" films [P. Melion , Int. J. Mod. B 9, 339 (1995); P. Milani , Cluster Beam Synthesis of Nanostructured Materials (Springer, Berlin, 1999)]. Next, more than one hundred C-20 (10-25 eV) were deposited one after the other onto the surface. The initial growth stage of C-20 thin film was observed to be in the three-dimensional island mode. The randomly deposited C-20 fullerenes stacked on diamond surface and acted as building blocks forming a polymerlike structure. The assembled film was also highly porous due to cluster-cluster interaction. The bond angle distribution and the neighbor-atom-number distribution of the film presented a well-defined local order, which is of sp(3) hybridization character, the same as that of a free C-20 cage. These simulation results are again in good agreement with the experimental observation. Finally, the deposited C-20 film showed high stability even when the temperature was raised up to 1500 K

Possible origins of macroscopic left-right asymmetry in organisms

I consider the microscopic mechanisms by which a particular left-right (L/R) asymmetry is generated at the organism level from the microscopic handedness of cytoskeletal molecules. In light of a fundamental symmetry principle, the typical pattern-formation mechanisms of diffusion plus regulation cannot implement the "right-hand rule"; at the microscopic level, the cell's cytoskeleton of chiral filaments seems always to be involved, usually in collective states driven by polymerization forces or molecular motors. It seems particularly easy for handedness to emerge in a shear or rotation in the background of an effectively two-dimensional system, such as the cell membrane or a layer of cells, as this requires no pre-existing axis apart from the layer normal. I detail a scenario involving actin/myosin layers in snails and in C. elegans, and also one about the microtubule layer in plant cells. I also survey the other examples that I am aware of, such as the emergence of handedness such as the emergence of handedness in neurons, in eukaryote cell motility, and in non-flagellated bacteria.Comment: 42 pages, 6 figures, resubmitted to J. Stat. Phys. special issue. Major rewrite, rearranged sections/subsections, new Fig 3 + 6, new physics in Sec 2.4 and 3.4.1, added Sec 5 and subsections of Sec