Beyond skyrmions: Review and perspectives of alternative magnetic quasiparticles

Magnetic skyrmions have attracted enormous research interest since their discovery a decade ago. The non-trivial real-space topology of these nano-whirls leads to fundamentally interesting and technologically relevant consequences — the skyrmion Hall effect of the texture and the topological Hall effect of the electrons. Furthermore, it grants skyrmions in a ferromagnetic surrounding great stability even at small sizes, making skyrmions aspirants to become the carriers of information in the future. Still, the utilization of skyrmions in spintronic devices has not been achieved yet, among other reasons, due to shortcomings in their current-driven motion. In this review, we present recent trends in the field of topological spin textures that go beyond skyrmions. The majority of these objects can be considered a combination of multiple subparticles, such as the bimeron, or the skyrmion analogues in different magnetic surroundings, such as antiferromagnetic skyrmions, as well as three-dimensional generalizations, such as hopfions. We classify the alternative magnetic quasiparticles – some of them observed experimentally, others theoretical predictions – and present the most relevant and auspicious advantages of this emerging field

Microscopic origin of the anomalous Hall effect in noncollinear kagome magnets

The anomalous Hall effect is commonly considered a signature of ferromagnetism. However, recently, an enormous anomalous Hall conductivity was measured in the compensated kagome magnets Mn3Sn and Mn3Ge. The occurrence of this effect is allowed by the magnetic point group of these materials; however, its emergence is still lacking a microscopic explanation. Herein we show that the spin-orbit coupling and an out-of-plane tilting of the texture are equivalent for several kagome magnets. Consequently, a coplanar system with spin-orbit coupling behaves as if it were virtually noncoplanar. We show via tight-binding model calculations that the Hall effect can mainly be interpreted as a topological Hall effect generated by the opening angle of the virtually tilted texture. Furthermore, upon tilting the fixed texture out of the kagome plane, we find a critical tilting angle for which the Hall conductivity vanishes for all energies. In this case, the Hamiltonian is invariant under a combined time-reversal and mirror symmetry, because the virtual texture is coplanar

To relate surface properties and surface elemental composition - Application of XPS in soil science

Soil particles always are coated by thin layers (nm to µm) of predominantly organic compounds that form the interface between particle and pore space and govern soil functioning (e.g. liquid transport, sorption, respiration). Chemical modification of the surface layer can change surface properties such as wettability (quantified in terms of contact angle CA) with implications for e.g. liquid distribution and sorption capacity. This points to the importance to specifically analyze the coating's chemical composition in order to better understand soil functioning. The shallow analysis depth (max. 10 nm) indicates X ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) as a suitable tool. Here, all elements with Z ≥ 3 will be identified by the binding energy of the photoelectrons emitted after irradiation of the surface by X rays. In sensu stricto only applicable to flat and smooth surfaces our results so far prove applicability of XPS as well to rough surfaces such as soil particles. For XPS no sample pre-treatment is needed, i.e. the surfaces analyzed are those governing e.g. CA and sorption. The relation between surface elemental composition and CA could be demonstrated within a soil chronosequence where the changes of surface element contents due to an increasing coating of the particles by organic compounds and microorganisms were correlated to increasing CA. The surface O/C ratio could be identified as a general parameter linking surface chemical composition and CA for a wide range of different materials including hydrophobized glass slides while the amount of non-polar C species was indicated to define CA. Artificially induced modifications of surface properties became visible by changes in the surface elemental composition. Gentle crushing of soil microaggregates (SMA) resulted in slightly increased N contents hinting on a preferred location of N compounds within SMA. Exposition to HCl gas to decrease soil pH or cleaning of quartz sand by HCl treatment resulted in addition of Cl and removal of Fe, respectively. However, due to its high surface sensitivity XPS measures the presence of C species on all surfaces exposed to the environment (adventitious carbon AC). AC was found to complicate the verification of sorption of small amounts of organic acids to montmorillonite, pointing on the necessity to estimate the influence of AC in certain cases. On the other hand, detection of AC indicates AC as a factor to be considered when discussing surface properties

Packing Returning Secretaries

We study online secretary problems with returns in combinatorial packing domains with $n$ candidates that arrive sequentially over time in random order. The goal is to accept a feasible packing of candidates of maximum total value. In the first variant, each candidate arrives exactly twice. All $2n$ arrivals occur in random order. We propose a simple 0.5-competitive algorithm that can be combined with arbitrary approximation algorithms for the packing domain, even when the total value of candidates is a subadditive function. For bipartite matching, we obtain an algorithm with competitive ratio at least $0.5721 - o(1)$ for growing $n$, and an algorithm with ratio at least $0.5459$ for all $n \ge 1$. We extend all algorithms and ratios to $k \ge 2$ arrivals per candidate. In the second variant, there is a pool of undecided candidates. In each round, a random candidate from the pool arrives. Upon arrival a candidate can be either decided (accept/reject) or postponed (returned into the pool). We mainly focus on minimizing the expected number of postponements when computing an optimal solution. An expected number of $\Theta(n \log n)$ is always sufficient. For matroids, we show that the expected number can be reduced to $O(r \log (n/r))$, where $r \le n/2$ is the minimum of the ranks of matroid and dual matroid. For bipartite matching, we show a bound of $O(r \log n)$, where $r$ is the size of the optimum matching. For general packing, we show a lower bound of $\Omega(n \log \log n)$, even when the size of the optimum is $r = \Theta(\log n)$.Comment: 23 pages, 5 figure

Анализ современных технологий заводнения при разработке нефтяных месторождений

Объектом исследования являются системы заводнения применяемые на месторождениях России Цель работы – анализ современных технологий заводнения при разработке нефтяных месторождений, а также обоснование применения технологий заводнения с целью увеличения темпов отбора, коэффициента нефтеизвлечения, технико-экономических показателей. В выпускной квалификационной работе приведены сведения о современных технологиях заводнения, применяемых на месторождениях России. Проведены расчеты экономической эффективности при внедрении нестационарного метода заводнения. Проанализирован процесс работы методов заводнения в условиях месторождений России. Бакалаврская работа выполнена в текстовом редакторе Microsoft Word, и Microsoft Excel.The object of the study are the waterflooding systems used in the fields of Russia The aim of the work is the analysis of modern flooding technologies in the development of oil fields, as well as the rationale for using flooding technologies to increase the rate of selection, the oil recovery factor, and the technical and economic indicators. In the final qualification work information on modern water flooding technologies used in the fields of Russia is given. Calculations of economic efficiency are implemented in the introduction of the non-stationary flooding method. The process of work of flooding methods in the conditions of Russian deposits is analyzed. Bachelor's work is executed in the text editor Microsoft Word, and Microsoft Excel

Which game narratives do adolescents of different gameplay and sociodemographic backgrounds prefer? a mixed-methods analysis

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate which narrative elements of digital game narratives are preferred by the general adolescent population, and to examine associations with gender, socioeconomic status (SES), and gameplay frequency. Further, the study aims to discuss how results can be translated to serious digital games. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Adolescents were recruited through school to complete a survey on narrative preferences in digital games. The survey included questions on sociodemographic information, frequency of gameplay, and an open-ended question on what could be an appealing narrative for them. Data were analyzed in a mixed-methods approach, using thematic analysis and chi-square analyses to determine narrative preferences and the associations between game narrative elements and player characteristics (gender, SES, and frequency of gameplay). RESULTS: The sample consisted of 446 adolescents (12-15 years old) who described 30 narrative subthemes. Preferences included human characters as protagonists; nonhuman characters only as antagonists; realistic settings, such as public places or cities; and a strong conflict surrounding crime, catastrophe, or war. Girls more often than boys defined characters by their age, included avatars, located the narrative in private places, developed profession-related skills, and included a positive atmosphere. Adolescents of nonacademic education more often than adolescents of academic education defined characters by criminal actions. Infrequent players more often included human characters defined by their age than frequent players. After performing a Bonferroni correction, narrative preferences for several gender differences remained. CONCLUSION: Different narrative elements related to subgroups of adolescents by gender, SES, and frequency of gameplay. Customization of narratives in serious digital health games should be warranted for boys and girls; yet, further research is needed to specify how to address girls in particular

Observation of Nonspreading Wave Packets in an Imaginary Potential

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a method to prepare a nonspreading atomic wave packet. Our technique relies on a spatially modulated absorption constantly chiseling away from an initially broad de Broglie wave. The resulting contraction is balanced by dispersion due to Heisenberg's uncertainty principle. This quantum evolution results in the formation of a nonspreading wave packet of Gaussian form with a spatially quadratic phase. Experimentally, we confirm these predictions by observing the evolution of the momentum distribution. Moreover, by employing interferometric techniques, we measure the predicted quadratic phase across the wave packet. Nonspreading wave packets of this kind also exist in two space dimensions and we can control their amplitude and phase using optical elements.Comment: 4 figure

Colossal topological Hall effect at the transition between isolated and lattice-phase interfacial skyrmions

The topological Hall effect is used extensively to study chiral spin textures in various materials. However, the factors controlling its magnitude in technologically-relevant thin films remain uncertain. Using variable-temperature magnetotransport and real-space magnetic imaging in a series of Ir/Fe/Co/Pt heterostructures, here we report that the chiral spin fluctuations at the phase boundary between isolated skyrmions and a disordered skyrmion lattice result in a power-law enhancement of the topological Hall resistivity by up to three orders of magnitude. Our work reveals the dominant role of skyrmion stability and configuration in determining the magnitude of the topological Hall effect