Supersolid Order from Disorder: Hard-Core Bosons on the Triangular Lattice

We study the interplay of Mott localization, geometric frustration, and superfluidity for hard-core bosons with nearest-neighbor repulsion on the triangular lattice. For this model at half-filling, we demonstrate that superfluidity survives for arbitrarily large repulsion, and that diagonal solid order emerges in the strongly correlated regime from an order-by-disorder mechanism. This is thus an unusual example of a stable supersolid phase of hard-core lattice bosons at a commensurate filling.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures; finite-size scaling discussion adde

Prediction of rock strength parameters for an Iranian oil field using neuro-fuzzy method

Uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) and internal friction coefficient (µ) are the most important strength parameters of rock. They could be determined either by laboratory tests or from empirical correlations. The laboratory analysis sometimes is not possible for many reasons. On the other hand, Due to changes in rock compositions and properties, none of the correlations could be applied as an exact universal correlation. In such conditions, the artificial intelligence could be an appropriate candidate method for estimation of the strength parameters. In this study, the Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) which is one of the artificial intelligence techniques was used as dominant tool to predict the strength parameters in one of the Iranian southwest oil fields. A total of 655 data sets (including depth, compressional wave velocity and density data) were used. 436 and 219 data sets were randomly selected among the data for constructing and verification of the intelligent model, respectively. To evaluate the performance of the model, root mean square error (RMSE) and correlation coefficient (R2) between the reported values from the drilling site and estimated values was computed. A comparison between the RMSE of the proposed model and recently intelligent models shows that the proposed model is more accurate than others. Acceptable accuracy and using conventional well logging data are the highlight advantages of the proposed intelligent model

Modelling Clock Synchronization in the Chess gMAC WSN Protocol

We present a detailled timed automata model of the clock synchronization algorithm that is currently being used in a wireless sensor network (WSN) that has been developed by the Dutch company Chess. Using the Uppaal model checker, we establish that in certain cases a static, fully synchronized network may eventually become unsynchronized if the current algorithm is used, even in a setting with infinitesimal clock drifts

Evaluation of the radiosensitizing potency of bromelain for radiation therapy of 4T1 breast cancer cells

Breast cancer (BC) remains the leading cause of death in women worldwide, despite the improvements of cancer screening and treatment methods. Recently, development of novel anticancer drugs for the improved prevention and treatment of BC is in the center of research. The anticancer effects of bromelain, as enzyme extract derived from the pineapples, contains chemicals that interfere with the growth of tumor cells. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of radiosensitizing of bromelain in 4T1 BC cells. This investigation utilized the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-dimethyltetrazolium bromide assay to characterize the cytotoxicity of bromelain. Colony formation method was used to establish the truth of the capability of bromelain to make sensitive to radiation therapy. Flowcytometry performed to define the contribution the apoptosis effect to bromelain mediated radiosensitization of 4T1 cells. Bromelain reduced growth and proliferation of 4T1 cell as a concentration-dependence manner significantly. The survival of 4T1 cancer cells was decreased after combined treatment in a number and size-dependent manner with regard to the control group (P < 0.05). Combination of bromelain with radiation does not influence 4T1 cell apoptosis. The results suggested that bromelain can inhibit the growth and proliferation and reduce survival of 4T1 BC cells and might be used as a candidate radiosensitizer in BC patien

U–Pb zircon geochronology, petrochemical and Sr–Nd isotopic characteristic of Late Neoproterozoic granitoids of the Bornaward complex (Bardaskan-NE Iran)

The Bornaward granitoids in the Taknar zone are located in the northeast of the central Iranian block in northeast Iran (Khorasan Razavi province), about 280 km southwest of Mashhad city and 28 km northwest of Bardaskan city. Taknar zone is an exotic block, bordered by two major faults, the Great Kavir fault in the south and Rivash fault in the north. Intrusive rocks of the study area, called the Bornaward granitoid complex (BGC), include of granite, alkali granite, syenogranite, leucogranite, granophyre, monzogranite, granodiorite, tonalite, diorite and gabbro intruded into the center of Taknar zone. These intrusive rocks affected low grade metamorphism. The results of U-Pb zircon dating on two granite samples, one belonging to the Taknar mine west of the study area and the other the Bornaward granitoids in the eastern part of study area, and also one granodiorite the Taknar mine area and one diorite the Bornaward area, yield ages of the granites as 540.5±2.9 Ma (Taknar mine area) and 550.41 3.21,-4.54 Ma (Bornaward area), the granodiorite as 550±6.9 Ma and diorite as 551.96±4.32 Ma, all Late Neoproterozoic. The Bornaward intrusive bodies are classified as belonging to the ilmenite-series of reduced granitoids. Some small high magnetite-granite and tonalite outcrops in the study area are classified as belonging to the magnetite-series of oxidized granitoids. Chemically, most granitoids of the study area are S-type middle-high metaluminous to slightlymiddle peraluminous and belong to tholeiite, calc-alkaline to high-K calc-alkaline rock series with enrichments in LIL (Cs, Rb and Ba, U, K, Zr, Y, Th) elements and depletion in HIL (Sr and Nb, Ta, Ti) elements. Chondrite-normalized Rare Earth Elements (REEs) plots indicate minor enrichments of LREEs in comparison with HREEs, with (La/Yb)N between 1.04 -7.90 and total of REEs of the samples between 44.8 ppm (minimum) and 293.5 ppm (maximum) with strong negative anomaly of Eu compared to other Rare Earth elements. The Bornaward granitoid have an initial 87Sr/86Sr and 143Nd/144Nd ranging 0.703514 to 0.716888 and 0.511585 to 0.512061, respectively, when recalculated to an age of 550 to 538 Ma, consistent with the new radiometric age results. Initial εNd isotope values for granite, granodiorite and diorite range -6.73 to 2.52. TDM age of the BGC is 1.08-1.70 Ga. This indicates that the Bornaward granitoid complex (BGC) derived partial melting of distinct basement source regions with very high initial 87Sr/86Sr and underwent extensive crustal contamination

Correlated electrons in the presence of disorder

Several new aspects of the subtle interplay between electronic correlations and disorder are reviewed. First, the dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT)together with the geometrically averaged ("typical") local density of states is employed to compute the ground state phase diagram of the Anderson-Hubbard model at half-filling. This non-perturbative approach is sensitive to Anderson localization on the one-particle level and hence can detect correlated metallic, Mott insulating and Anderson insulating phases and can also describe the competition between Anderson localization and antiferromagnetism. Second, we investigate the effect of binary alloy disorder on ferromagnetism in materials with $f$-electrons described by the periodic Anderson model. A drastic enhancement of the Curie temperature $T_c$ caused by an increase of the local $f$-moments in the presence of disordered conduction electrons is discovered and explained.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures, final version, typos corrected, references updated, submitted to Eur. Phys. J. for publication in the Special Topics volume "Cooperative Phenomena in Solids: Metal-Insulator Transitions and Ordering of Microscopic Degrees of Freedom

Classification of a supersolid: Trial wavefunctions, Symmetry breakings and Excitation spectra

A state of matter is characterized by its symmetry breaking and elementary excitations. A supersolid is a state which breaks both translational symmetry and internal $U(1)$ symmetry. Here, we review some past and recent works in phenomenological Ginsburg-Landau theories, ground state trial wavefunctions and microscopic numerical calculations. We also write down a new effective supersolid Hamiltonian on a lattice. The eigenstates of the Hamiltonian contains both the ground state wavefunction and all the excited states (supersolidon) wavefunctions. We contrast various kinds of supersolids in both continuous systems and on lattices, both condensed matter and cold atom systems. We provide additional new insights in studying their order parameters, symmetry breaking patterns, the excitation spectra and detection methods.Comment: REVTEX4, 19 pages, 3 figure

Quantifying Non-Photosynthetic Vegetation in a Mixed Grassland Using Hyperspectral Data: A Case Study in Kenya

This study is a first attempt to quantify the non-photosynthetic vegetation (NPV) fraction at a semiarid grassland site located in Kenya. We have first applied a model already developed and calibrated for crop analysis to predict grassland NPV from field spectral reflectance data. The second step will be to refine the model and apply it to the PRISMA image to obtain a quantitative map

Solid 4He and the Supersolid Phase: from Theoretical Speculation to the Discovery of a New State of Matter? A Review of the Past and Present Status of Research

The possibility of a supersolid state of matter, i.e., a crystalline solid exhibiting superfluid properties, first appeared in theoretical studies about forty years ago. After a long period of little interest due to the lack of experimental evidence, it has attracted strong experimental and theoretical attention in the last few years since Kim and Chan (Penn State, USA) reported evidence for nonclassical rotational inertia effects, a typical signature of superfluidity, in samples of solid 4He. Since this "first observation", other experimental groups have observed such effects in the response to the rotation of samples of crystalline helium, and it has become clear that the response of the solid is extremely sensitive to growth conditions, annealing processes, and 3He impurities. A peak in the specific heat in the same range of temperatures has been reported as well as anomalies in the elastic behaviour of solid 4He with a strong resemblance to the phenomena revealed by torsional oscillator experiments. Very recently, the observation of unusual mass transport in hcp solid 4He has also been reported, suggesting superflow. From the theoretical point of view, powerful simulation methods have been used to study solid 4He, but the interpretation of the data is still rather difficult; dealing with the question of supersolidity means that one has to face not only the problem of the coexistence of quantum coherence phenomena and crystalline order, exploring the realm of spontaneous symmetry breaking and quantum field theory, but also the problem of the role of disorder, i.e., how defects, such as vacancies, impurities, dislocations, and grain boundaries, participate in the phase transition mechanism.Comment: Published on J. Phys. Soc. Jpn., Vol.77, No.11, p.11101