Dispelling the Anthropic Principle from the Dimensionality Arguments

It is shown that in d=11 supergravity, under a very reasonable ansatz, the nearly flat spacetime in which we are living must be 4-dimensional without appealing to the Anthropic Principle. Can we dispel the Anthropic Principle completely from cosmology?Comment: 7 pages, Essa

User Selection in Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface Assisted Communication Systems

This paper presents a detailed investigation on the performance of reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS)-assisted communication system with user scheduling. Depending on the availability of channel state information (CSI) at the RIS, two separate scenarios are considered, namely without CSI and with CSI. Closed-form expressions are derived for the ergodic capacity of the system in both scenarios. It is found that CSI has a significant impact on the performance of the system. Without CSI, the RIS provides an array gain of N, where N is the number of reflecting elements, and user scheduling provides an multi-user gain of log logM, where M is the number of users. With CSI, the RIS provides an array gain of N2, while no multi-user diversity gain can be obtained

The T2K Indication of Relatively Large theta_13 and a Natural Perturbation to the Democratic Neutrino Mixing Pattern

The T2K Collaboration has recently reported a remarkable indication of the \nu_\mu -> \nu_e oscillation which is consistent with a relatively large value of \theta_{13} in the three-flavor neutrino mixing scheme. We show that it is possible to account for such a result of \theta_{13} by introducing a natural perturbation to the democratic neutrino mixing pattern, without or with CP violation. A testable correlation between \theta_{13} and \theta_{23} is predicted in this ansatz. We also discuss the Wolfenstein-like parametrization of neutrino mixing, and comment on other possibilities of generating sufficiently large \theta_{13} at the electroweak scale.Comment: RevTeX 8 page

Electron dynamics in gold and gold–silver alloy nanoparticles: The influence of a nonequilibrium electron distribution and the size dependence of the electron–phonon relaxation

©1999 American Institute of Physics. The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://link.aip.org/link/?JCPSA6/111/1255/1DOI: 10.1063/1.479310Electron dynamics in gold nanoparticles with an average diameter between 9 and 48 nm have been studied by femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy. Following the plasmon bleach recovery after low power excitation indicates that a non-Fermi electron distribution thermalizes by electron–electron relaxation on a time scale of 500 fs to a Fermi distribution. This effect is only observed at low excitation power and when the electron distribution is perturbed by mixing with the intraband transitions within the conduction band (i.e., when the excitation wavelength is 630 or 800 nm). However, exciting the interband transitions at 400 nm does not allow following the early electron thermalization process. Electron thermalization with the lattice of the nanoparticle by electron–phonon interactions occurs within 1.7 ps under these conditions, independent of the excitation wavelength. In agreement with the experiments, simulations of the optical response arising from thermalized and nonthermalized electron distributions show that a non-Fermi electron distribution leads to a less intense bleach of the plasmon absorption. Furthermore, the difference between the response from the two electron distributions is greater for small temperature changes of the electron gas (low excitation powers). No size dependence of the electron thermalization dynamics is observed for gold nanoparticles with diameters between 9 and 48 nm. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) reveals that these gold nanoparticles possess defect structures. The effect of this on the electron–phonon relaxation processes is discussed. 18 nm gold–silver alloy nanoparticles with a gold mole fraction of 0.8 are compared to 15 nm gold nanoparticles. While mixing silver leads to a blue-shift of the plasmon absorption in the ground-state absorption spectrum, no difference is observed in the femtosecond dynamics of the system

An Anomalous Phase in the Relaxor Ferroelectric Pb(Zn1/3_{1/3}Nb2/3_{2/3})O3_3

X-ray diffraction studies on a Pb(Zn$_{1/3}$Nb$_{2/3}$)O$_3$ (PZN) single crystal sample show the presence of two different structures. An outer-layer exists in the outer most $\sim$ 10 to 50~$\mu$m of the crystal, and undergoes a structural phase transition at the Curie temperature $T_C\approx410$ K. The inside phase is however, very different. The lattice inside the crystal maintains a cubic unit cell, while ferroelectric polarization develops below $T_C$. The lattice parameter of the cubic unit cell remains virtually a constant, i.e., much less variations compared to that of a typical relaxor ferroelectric, in a wide temperature range of 15 K to 750 K. On the other hand, broadening of Bragg peaks and change of Bragg profile line-shapes in both longitudinal and transverse directions at $T_C$ clearly indicate a structural phase transition occurring.Comment: to be submitted for PR

The properties of kaonic nuclei in relativistic mean-field theory

The static properties of some possible light and moderate kaonic nuclei, from C to Ti, are studied in the relativistic mean-field theory. The 1s and 1p state binding energies of $K^-$ are in the range of $73\sim 96$ MeV and $22\sim 63$ MeV, respectively. The binding energies of 1p states increase monotonically with the nucleon number A. The upper limit of the widths are about $42\pm 14$ MeV for the 1s states, and about $71\pm 10$ MeV for the 1p states. The lower limit of the widths are about $12\pm 4$ MeV for the 1s states, and $21\pm 3$ MeV for the 1p states. If $V_{0}\leq 30$ MeV, the discrete $K^-$ bound states should be identified in experiment. The shrinkage effect is found in the possible kaonic nuclei. The interior nuclear density increases obviously, the densest center density is about $2.1\rho_{0}$.Comment: 9 pages, 2 tables and 1 figure, widths are considered, changes a lo

First-principles study of native point defects in Bi2Se3

Using first-principles method within the framework of the density functional theory, we study the influence of native point defect on the structural and electronic properties of Bi$_2$Se$_3$. Se vacancy in Bi$_2$Se$_3$ is a double donor, and Bi vacancy is a triple acceptor. Se antisite (Se$_{Bi}$) is always an active donor in the system because its donor level ($\varepsilon$(+1/0)) enters into the conduction band. Interestingly, Bi antisite(Bi$_{Se1}$) in Bi$_2$Se$_3$ is an amphoteric dopant, acting as a donor when $\mu$$_e$$<$0.119eV (the material is typical p-type) and as an acceptor when $\mu$$_e$$>$0.251eV (the material is typical n-type). The formation energies under different growth environments (such as Bi-rich or Se-rich) indicate that under Se-rich condition, Se$_{Bi}$ is the most stable native defect independent of electron chemical potential $\mu$$_e$. Under Bi-rich condition, Se vacancy is the most stable native defect except for under the growth window as $\mu$$_e$$>$0.262eV (the material is typical n-type) and $\Delta$$\mu$$_{Se}$$<$-0.459eV(Bi-rich), under such growth windows one negative charged Bi$_{Se1}$ is the most stable one.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure