Diagrammatic theory of the Anderson impurity model with finite Coulomb interaction

We have developed a self-consistent conserving pseudo particle approximation for the Anderson impurity model with finite Coulomb interaction, derivable from a Luttinger Ward functional. It contains an infinite series of skeleton diagrams built out of fully renormalized Green's functions. The choice of diagrams is motivated by the Schrieffer Wolff transformation which shows that singly and doubly occupied states should appear in all bare diagrams symmetrically. Our numerical results for $T_K$ are in excellent agreement with the exact values known from the Bethe ansatz solution. The low energy physics of non-Fermi liquid Anderson impurity systems is correctly described while the present approximation fails to describe Fermi liquid systems, since some important coherent spin flip and charge transfer processes are not yet included. It is believed that CTMA (Conserving T-matrix approximation) diagrams will recover also Fermi liquid behavior for Anderson models with finite Coulomb interaction as they do for infinite Coulomb interaction.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, presented at the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on "Size Dependent MAgnetic Scattering", Pecs, Hungary, May 28 - June 1, 200

Disorder and quasiparticle interference in heavy-fermion materials

Using a large-N approach, we study the effect of disorder in the Kondo-screened phase of heavy-fermion materials. We demonstrate that the strong feedback between the hybridization and the conduction electron charge density magnifies the effect of disorder, such that already small concentrations of defects strongly disorder the materials' local electronic structure, while only weakly affecting their spatially averaged, thermodynamic properties. Finally, we show that the microscopic nature of defects can be identified through their characteristic signatures in the hybridization and quasiparticle interference spectrum.Comment: 5 pages; v2: published versio

An assessment of key model parametric uncertainties in projections of Greenland Ice Sheet behavior

Lack of knowledge about the values of ice sheet model input parameters introduces substantial uncertainty into projections of Greenland Ice Sheet contributions to future sea level rise. Computer models of ice sheet behavior provide one of several means of estimating future sea level rise due to mass loss from ice sheets. Such models have many input parameters whose values are not well known. Recent studies have investigated the effects of these parameters on model output, but the range of potential future sea level increases due to model parametric uncertainty has not been characterized. Here, we demonstrate that this range is large, using a 100-member perturbed-physics ensemble with the SICOPOLIS ice sheet model. Each model run is spun up over 125 000 yr using geological forcings and subsequently driven into the future using an asymptotically increasing air temperature anomaly curve. All modeled ice sheets lose mass after 2005 AD. Parameters controlling surface melt dominate the model response to temperature change. After culling the ensemble to include only members that give reasonable ice volumes in 2005 AD, the range of projected sea level rise values in 2100 AD is ~40 % or more of the median. Data on past ice sheet behavior can help reduce this uncertainty, but none of our ensemble members produces a reasonable ice volume change during the mid-Holocene, relative to the present. This problem suggests that the model's exponential relation between temperature and precipitation does not hold during the Holocene, or that the central-Greenland temperature forcing curve used to drive the model is not representative of conditions around the ice margin at this time (among other possibilities). Our simulations also lack certain observed physical processes that may tend to enhance the real ice sheet's response. Regardless, this work has implications for other studies that use ice sheet models to project or hindcast the behavior of the Greenland Ice Sheet

Communicating Mental Illness in the Black American Community

Human-human interactions are of central relevance for the success in professional and occupational environments, which also substantially influence quality of life. This is especially true in the case of individuals with high-functioning autism (HFA), who experience deficits in social cognition that often lead to social exclusion and unemployment. Despite good education and high motivation, individuals with HFA do not reach employment rates that are substantially higher than 50 %. This is an alarmingly high rate of unemployment considering that the United Nations have recently emphasized the inclusion of handicapped persons as a mandatory human right. To date, the specific needs of autistic persons with respect to their working environment are largely unexplored. It remains moreover an open question how support systems and activities, including newly developed communication devices for professional environments of individuals with HFA, should look like. The German health and social care systems are not adequately prepared for the proper support of this population. This leads us to suggest that supported employment programs should be developed for adults with HFA that specifically address their needs and requirements. Such programs should comprise (1) the adequate assessment of HFA, including a neuropsychological profile and an individual matching of persons' preferences with requirements of the working place, (2) on-the-job coaching activities that include systematic communication and interaction training, and (3) instruction of non-autistic peers, including colleagues and supervisors, about weaknesses and strengths of HFA

Objective identification of residue ranges for the superposition of protein structures

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The automation of objectively selecting amino acid residue ranges for structure superpositions is important for meaningful and consistent protein structure analyses. So far there is no widely-used standard for choosing these residue ranges for experimentally determined protein structures, where the manual selection of residue ranges or the use of suboptimal criteria remain commonplace.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We present an automated and objective method for finding amino acid residue ranges for the superposition and analysis of protein structures, in particular for structure bundles resulting from NMR structure calculations. The method is implemented in an algorithm, CYRANGE, that yields, without protein-specific parameter adjustment, appropriate residue ranges in most commonly occurring situations, including low-precision structure bundles, multi-domain proteins, symmetric multimers, and protein complexes. Residue ranges are chosen to comprise as many residues of a protein domain that increasing their number would lead to a steep rise in the RMSD value. Residue ranges are determined by first clustering residues into domains based on the distance variance matrix, and then refining for each domain the initial choice of residues by excluding residues one by one until the relative decrease of the RMSD value becomes insignificant. A penalty for the opening of gaps favours contiguous residue ranges in order to obtain a result that is as simple as possible, but not simpler. Results are given for a set of 37 proteins and compared with those of commonly used protein structure validation packages. We also provide residue ranges for 6351 NMR structures in the Protein Data Bank.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The CYRANGE method is capable of automatically determining residue ranges for the superposition of protein structure bundles for a large variety of protein structures. The method correctly identifies ordered regions. Global structure superpositions based on the CYRANGE residue ranges allow a clear presentation of the structure, and unnecessary small gaps within the selected ranges are absent. In the majority of cases, the residue ranges from CYRANGE contain fewer gaps and cover considerably larger parts of the sequence than those from other methods without significantly increasing the RMSD values. CYRANGE thus provides an objective and automatic method for standardizing the choice of residue ranges for the superposition of protein structures.</p

Proton impact on ground and excited states of atomic hydrogen

The processes of electron excitation, capture, and ionization were investigated in proton collisions with atomic hydrogen in the initial $n=1$ and $n=2$ states at impact energies from 1 to 300 keV. The theoretical analysis is based on the close-coupling two-center basis generator method in the semiclassical approximation. Calculated cross sections are compared with previous results which include data obtained from classical-trajectory Monte Carlo, convergent close-coupling, and other two-center atomic orbital expansion approaches. There is an overall good agreement in the capture and excitation cross sections while there are some discrepancies in the ionization results at certain impact energies. These discrepancies in the present results can be partially understood through the use of a $1/n^{3}$ scaling model.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, Eur. Phys. J. D. Final Accepted Versio

Towards a reliable bridge joint between REBCO coated conductors

REBa2Cu3O7-x (REBCO; RE = Y, Gd) coated conductor wires are commercially available up to a length of about 1 km. However, for large-scale devices like superconducting coils for high-field magnets several kilometres of a coated conductors are required. Therefore, it is desirable to use joints, which exhibit similar superconducting properties as the coated conductor itself. In this study, we jointed commercial REBCO coated conductors by a two-step procedure. At first, a superconducting soldering solution was developed and deposited on unstabilized coated conductors via chemical solution deposition. The soldering precursor is based on a Cu-rich solution with a metal cation ratio Y:Ba:Cu of 1:2:4. Secondly, a piece of the coated conductor was delaminated between the superconducting and the buffer layer and used as bridge between two other conductors covered with the soldering layer. Annealing the resulting bridge joint under pressure results in a mechanical stable configuration. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd