19,862 research outputs found
Polarization Switching Dynamics Governed by Thermodynamic Nucleation Process in Ultrathin Ferroelectric Films
A long standing problem of domain switching process - how domains nucleate -
is examined in ultrathin ferroelectric films. We demonstrate that the large
depolarization fields in ultrathin films could significantly lower the
nucleation energy barrier (U*) to a level comparable to thermal energy (kBT),
resulting in power-law like polarization decay behaviors. The "Landauer's
paradox": U* is thermally insurmountable is not a critical issue in the
polarization switching of ultrathin ferroelectric films. We empirically find a
universal relation between the polarization decay behavior and U*/kBT.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Observation of inhomogeneous domain nucleation in epitaxial Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 capacitors
We investigated domain nucleation process in epitaxial Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 capacitors
under a modified piezoresponse force microscope. We obtained domain evolution
images during polarization switching process and observed that domain
nucleation occurs at particular sites. This inhomogeneous nucleation process
should play an important role in an early stage of switching and under a high
electric field. We found that the number of nuclei is linearly proportional to
log(switching time), suggesting a broad distribution of activation energies for
nucleation. The nucleation sites for a positive bias differ from those for a
negative bias, indicating that most nucleation sites are located at
ferroelectric/electrode interfaces
Gas-Rich Dwarf Galaxies from the PSS-II --- II. Optical Properties
We describe the optical properties of a sample of 101 gas-rich field dwarf
galaxies found on PSS-II (Second Palomar Sky Survey) plates, most newly
discovered as part of a survey to investigate the clustering properties of
dwarf galaxies relative to giants. These galaxies have low surface brightnesses
and are relatively distant, with recession velocities ranging up to 10,000
km/s. They have bluer V-I colors (median value of 0.75) than either actively
star-forming giant galaxies or low metallicity globular clusters, implying that
these dwarfs have both low metallicities and little past star formation. These
galaxies are also extremely gas rich, with a median HI mass to V luminosity
ratio of approximately 2 in solar units. We divide the sample into two groups:
true dwarfs with diameters (at 25 I mag arcsec^-2) less than 7.5 kpc and
Magellanic dwarfs with diameters greater than that value. The true dwarfs have
greater HI mass to V luminosity ratios and slightly bluer V-I colors than the
Magellanic dwarfs. Overall, the optical properties of our sample of dwarf
galaxies point towards their being quiescent objects that have undergone little
star formation over the age of the universe. They are not faded objects, but
instead may be going through one of their first periods of weak star formation.Comment: 27 pages, to appear in 20 May 1997 ApJ, paper also available at
http://www.astro.nwu.edu/astro/pildis/dwarfphot.html and
http://zebu.uoregon.edu/~js/dwarf.htm
Three-loop HTL gluon thermodynamics at intermediate coupling
We calculate the thermodynamic functions of pure-glue QCD to three-loop order
using the hard-thermal-loop perturbation theory (HTLpt) reorganization of
finite temperature quantum field theory. We show that at three-loop order
hard-thermal-loop perturbation theory is compatible with lattice results for
the pressure, energy density, and entropy down to temperatures .
Our results suggest that HTLpt provides a systematic framework that can used to
calculate static and dynamic quantities for temperatures relevant at LHC.Comment: 24 pages, 13 figs. 2nd version: improved discussion and fixing typos.
Published in JHE
Time-Varying Priority Queuing Models for Human Dynamics
Queuing models provide insight into the temporal inhomogeneity of human
dynamics, characterized by the broad distribution of waiting times of
individuals performing tasks. We study the queuing model of an agent trying to
execute a task of interest, the priority of which may vary with time due to the
agent's "state of mind." However, its execution is disrupted by other tasks of
random priorities. By considering the priority of the task of interest either
decreasing or increasing algebraically in time, we analytically obtain and
numerically confirm the bimodal and unimodal waiting time distributions with
power-law decaying tails, respectively. These results are also compared to the
updating time distribution of papers in the arXiv.org and the processing time
distribution of papers in Physical Review journals. Our analysis helps to
understand human task execution in a more realistic scenario.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure
Rates of attendance at a smoking cessation clinic within a cardiac rehabilitation service
Objectives: Smoking cessation has been shown to be an important intervention for preventing cardiovascular events and improving the health of patients with heart disease. However, unaided quit attempts in these patients often leads to high rates of failure and a return to smoking. Outpatient smoking cessation clinics using face-to-face counseling, ongoing behavioral support, advice on smoking pharmacotherapy and objective monitoring, have been found to be one of the most effective interventions for improving quit smoking rates. An outpatient smoking cessation clinic was trialed within a cardiac rehabilitation service in order to explore its effects on smoking rates for patients with or at risk of heart disease. Attendance rates to the clinic were also monitored. Methods: A descriptive exploratory design was used for this newly developed clinic. Patients who currently smoked tobacco and who had a history of either coronary artery disease, heart failure, atrial fibrillation or those seen under a chest pain assessment service were invited to an outpatient ‘Cardiac Patients Smokers Clinic’. Initially patients were offered up to 10 clinic visits over a 3 month period. Follow-up clinic visits were conducted at 3, 6 and 12 months. A portable carbon monoxide meter was used to objectively measure levels of smoking and validate smoking abstinence. Primary outcomes included rates of attendance. Results: Preliminary findings showed 24 per cent of participants (N = 6) completed all their clinic visits and remained smoke free as measured by their ongoing expired carbon monoxide readings. Clinic attendance rates appeared lowest for those with significant mental health issues such as schizophrenia or substance abuse. However, rates of attendance were improved by having an administration officer make reminder telephone calls prior to clinic visits. Conclusions: Early findings indicate the feasibility of providing a specialist smoking cessation clinic within a cardiac rehabilitation service. Further, that reminder telephone calls prior to appointments improved attendance rates in patients with heart disease to this type of clinic. However, future investigations are warranted
Three-loop HTL QCD thermodynamics
The hard-thermal-loop perturbation theory (HTLpt) framework is used to
calculate the thermodynamic functions of a quark-gluon plasma to three-loop
order. This is the highest order accessible by finite temperature perturbation
theory applied to a non-Abelian gauge theory before the high-temperature
infrared catastrophe. All ultraviolet divergences are eliminated by
renormalization of the vacuum, the HTL mass parameters, and the strong coupling
constant. After choosing a prescription for the mass parameters, the three-loop
results for the pressure and trace anomaly are found to be in very good
agreement with recent lattice data down to , which are
temperatures accessible by current and forthcoming heavy-ion collision
experiments.Comment: 27 pages, 11 figures; corresponds with published version in JHE
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