Nuclear β+\beta^+/EC decays in covariant density functional theory and the impact of isoscalar proton-neutron pairing

Self-consistent proton-neutron quasiparticle random phase approximation based on the spherical nonlinear point-coupling relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov theory is established and used to investigate the $\beta^+$/EC-decay half-lives of neutron-deficient Ar, Ca, Ti, Fe, Ni, Zn, Cd, and Sn isotopes. The isoscalar proton-neutron pairing is found to play an important role in reducing the decay half-lives, which is consistent with the same mechanism in the $\beta$ decays of neutron-rich nuclei. The experimental $\beta^+$/EC-decay half-lives can be well reproduced by a universal isoscalar proton-neutron pairing strength.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure

Numerical simulation of two-phase cross flow in the gas diffusion layer microstructure of proton exchange membrane fuel cells

The cross flow in the under-land gas diffusion layer (GDL) between 2 adjacent channels plays an important role on water transport in proton exchange membrane fuel cell. A 3-dimensional (3D) two-phase model that is based on volume of fluid is developed to study the liquid water-air cross flow within the GDL between 2 adjacent channels. By considering the detailed GDL microstructures, various types of air-water cross flows are investigated by 3D numerical simulation. Liquid water at 4 locations is studied, including droplets at the GDL surface and liquid at the GDL-catalyst layer interface. It is found that the water droplet at the higher-pressure channel corner is easier to be removed by cross flow compared with droplets at other locations. Large pressure difference Δp facilitates the faster water removal from the higher-pressure channel. The contact angle of the GDL fiber is the key parameter that determines the cross flow of the droplet in the higher-pressure channel. It is observed that the droplet in the higher-pressure channel is difficult to flow through the hydrophobic GDL. Numerical simulations are also performed to investigate the water emerging process from different pores of the GDL bottom. It is found that the amount of liquid water removed by cross flow mainly depends on the pore's location, and the water under the land is removed entirely into the lower-pressure channel by cross flow

Robust sliding mode design for uncertain stochastic systems based on H∞ control method

The official published version can be found at the link below.In this paper, the design problem of sliding mode control (SMC) is addressed for uncertain stochastic systems modeled by Itô differential equations. There exist the parameter uncertainties in both the state and input matrices, as well as the unmatched external disturbance. The key feature of this work is the integration of SMC method with H∞ technique such that the robust stochastic stability with a prescribed disturbance attenuation level can be achieved. A sufficient condition for the existence of the desired sliding mode controller is obtained via linear matrix inequalities. The reachability of the specified sliding surface is proven. Finally, a numerical simulation example is presented to illustrate the proposed method.This work was funded by The Royal Society of the U.K.;NNSF of China. Grant Numbers: 60674015, 60674089;The Technology Innovation Key Foundation of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission. Grant Number: 09ZZ60;Shanghai Leading Academic Discipline Project. Grant Number: B50

Quantifying GHG emission from paddy field in China under climate change: based on the coupling of DNDC, DSSAT and AEZ models

Climate change and food security are critical issues to the world, and have aroused the interest of scientists, policymakers, and ordinary people. Rice is the major food in the Chinese diet, the Chinese government and scientists had put great efforts on improving the rice production to guarantee the food security, but rice paddy field also emits great amount of greenhouse gases (GHGs) to the atmosphere. So it is necessary to study how to reduce the GHGs emission while enhance the food security. In this research, a process-based model, Denitrification-Decomposition model (DNDC), is used to simulate rice growing and GHG emission in rice fields in China. However, DNDC is a site-level agroecosystem model that lacks rice cultivar parameters to represent crop diversity in China. In order to update and up-scale the DNDC model to evaluate the GHG emission from paddy field in China, Decision Support System for Agro-technology Transfer (DSSAT) and Agro-Ecological Zones (AEZ) models are used to provide abundant and detailed cultivar parameters and a more reliable upscaling method. By using the Generalized Likelihood Uncertainty Estimation module in DSSAT and reclassification of cropping zone map, which is based on original cropping zone map in AEZ, rice cultivar parameters and input data of each grid are translated into DNDC successfully. Then the updated DNDC model is applied at both site and regional scale. The site-level simulation result shows that new cultivar parameters improves the performance of the DNDC model greatly in each station. Furthermore, the application of nitrogenous fertilizer is higher than actual crop requirement by 5% to 35%. If the application of nitrogenous fertilizer is reduced to a balanced level, the N2O emission will decrease significantly, the result shows an average reduction of 36% in nine stations. The regional-level result shows that the spatial distribution of rice yield loss and N2O emission reduction are consistent with the site-level result in most regions. In the northeast area of China, less fertilizer application will reduce N2O emission as well as rice yield. The balanced level of fertilizer application may decrease under A1B scenario in the future. The more advanced management practices should be considered and applied to find a scientific approach to mitigate CH4 emission. Furthermore, crop rotation and different climate scenario datasets should be studied in the future

Two-phase flow and oxygen transport in the perforated gas diffusion layer of proton exchange membrane fuel cell

Liquid water transport in perforated gas diffusion layers (GDLs)is numerically investigated using a three-dimensional (3D)two-phase volume of fluid (VOF)model and a stochastic reconstruction model of GDL microstructures. Different perforation depths and diameters are investigated, in comparison with the GDL without perforation. It is found that perforation can considerably reduce the liquid water level inside a GDL. The perforation diameter (D = 100 μm)and the depth (H = 100 μm)show pronounced effect. In addition, two different perforation locations, i.e. the GDL center and the liquid water break-through point, are investigated. Results show that the latter perforation location works more efficiently. Moreover, the perforation perimeter wettability is studied, and it is found that a hydrophilic region around the perforation further reduces the water saturation. Finally, the oxygen transport in the partially-saturated GDL is studied using an oxygen diffusion model. Results indicate that perforation reduces the oxygen diffusion resistance in GDLs and improves the oxygen concentration at the GDL bottom up to 101% (D = 100 μm and H = 100 μm)

Anomalous Nernst and Hall effects in magnetized platinum and palladium

We study the anomalous Nernst effect (ANE) and anomalous Hall effect (AHE) in proximity-induced ferromagnetic palladium and platinum which is widely used in spintronics, within the Berry phase formalism based on the relativistic band structure calculations. We find that both the anomalous Hall ($\sigma_{xy}^A$) and Nernst ($\alpha_{xy}^A$) conductivities can be related to the spin Hall conductivity ($\sigma_{xy}^S$) and band exchange-splitting ($\Delta_{ex}$) by relations $\sigma_{xy}^A =\Delta_{ex}\frac{e}{\hbar}\sigma_{xy}^S(E_F)'$ and $\alpha_{xy}^A = -\frac{\pi^2}{3}\frac{k_B^2T\Delta_{ex}}{\hbar}\sigma_{xy}^s(\mu)"$, respectively. In particular, these relations would predict that the $\sigma_{xy}^A$ in the magnetized Pt (Pd) would be positive (negative) since the $\sigma_{xy}^S(E_F)'$ is positive (negative). Furthermore, both $\sigma_{xy}^A$ and $\alpha_{xy}^A$ are approximately proportional to the induced spin magnetic moment ($m_s$) because the $\Delta_{ex}$ is a linear function of $m_s$. Using the reported $m_s$ in the magnetized Pt and Pd, we predict that the intrinsic anomalous Nernst conductivity (ANC) in the magnetic platinum and palladium would be gigantic, being up to ten times larger than, e.g., iron, while the intrinsic anomalous Hall conductivity (AHC) would also be significant.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Physical Review