Quantum Entanglement as a Diagnostic of Phase Transitions in Disordered Fractional Quantum Hall Liquids

We investigate the disorder-driven phase transition from a fractional quantum Hall state to an Anderson insulator using quantum entanglement methods. We find that the transition is signaled by a sharp increase in the sensitivity of a suitably averaged entanglement entropy with respect to disorder -- the magnitude of its disorder derivative appears to diverge in the thermodynamic limit. We also study the level statistics of the entanglement spectrum as a function of disorder. However, unlike the dramatic phase-transition signal in the entanglement entropy derivative, we find a gradual reduction of level repulsion only deep in the Anderson insulating phase.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures, including the supplemental material, published in PRL as an Editors' Suggestio

Coincidences of Dark Energy with Dark Matter -- Clues for a Simple Alternative?

A rare coincidence of scales in standard particle physics is needed to explain why $\Lambda$ or the negative pressure of cosmological dark energy (DE) coincides with the positive pressure $P_0$ of random motion of dark matter (DM) in bright galaxies. Recently Zlosnik et al. (2007) propose to modify the Einsteinian curvature by adding a non-linear pressure from a medium flowing with a four-velocity vector field $U^\mu$. We propose to check whether a smooth extension of GR with a simple kinetic Lagrangian of $U^\mu$ can be constructed, and whether the pressure can bend space-time sufficiently to replace the roles of a $w=-1$ DE, $w=0$ Cold DM and heavy neutrinos in explaining anomalous accelerations at all scales. As a specific proof of concept we find a Vector-for-$\Lambda$ model (${\mathbf V\Lambda}$-model) and its variants. With essentially {\it no free parameters}, these appear broadly consistent with the solar system, gravitational potentials in dwarf spiral galaxies and the bullet cluster of galaxies, early universe with inflation, structure formation and BBN, and late acceleration with a 1:3 ratio of DM:DE.Comment: to appear in ApJ Letters, 4 page

Column size effects of DER fluids

The static yield stress of dielectric electrorheological(DER) fluids of infinite column state and chain state are calculated from the first principle method. The results indicate that the column surface contributions to ER effects is very small and both states will give correct results to the real DER fluids.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure

Rigidity in bilateral trade with holdup

This paper studies bilateral trade in which the seller makes a hidden investment that influences the buyer's hidden valuation. In general it is impossible to implement both first-best efficient trade and efficient investment using budget-balanced trading mechanisms. The paper fully characterizes the constrained efficient contracts. It is shown that the optimal tradeoff between allocative efficiency and incentive provision results in rigidity in trade, the degree of which depends on the seriousness of the holdup problem. Sufficient conditions are also provided for full separation of buyer types to take place in optimal contracts when the holdup problem is not too severe. The seller may overinvest relative to the first best.Bilateral contracting, hidden action and hidden information, holdup problem, nonlinear pricing

How Well Do We Know the Beta-Decay of 16N and Oxygen Formation in Helium Burning

We review the status of the 12C(a,g)16O reaction rate, of importance for stellar processes in a progenitor star prior to a super-nova collapse. Several attempts to constrain the p-wave S-factor of the 12C(a,g)16O reaction at Helium burning temperatures (200 MK) using the beta-delayed alpha-particle emission of 16N have been made, and it is claimed that this S-factor is known, as quoted by the TRIUMF collaboration. In contrast reanalyses (by G.M. hale) of all thus far available data (including the 16N data) does not rule out a small S-factor solution. Furthermore, we improved our previous Yale-UConn study of the beta- delayed alpha-particle emission of \n16 by improving our statistical sample (by more than a factor of 5), improving the energy resolution of the experiment (by 20%), and in understanding our line shape, deduced from measured quantities. Our newly measured spectrum of the beta-delayed alpha-particle emission of 16N is not consistent with the TRIUMF('94) data, but is consistent with the Seattle('95) data, as well as the earlier (unaltered !) data of Mainz('71). The implication of this discrepancies for the extracted astrophysical p-wave s-factor is briefly discussed.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, Invited Talk, Physics With Radioactive Beams, Puri, India, Jan. 12-17, 1998, Work Supported by USDOE Grant No. DE-FG02-94ER4087

Cathode chemistries and electrode parameters affecting the fast charging performance of li-ion batteries

Li-ion battery fast-charging technology plays an important role in popularizing electric vehicles (EV), which critically need a charging process that is as simple and quick as pumping fuel for conventional internal combustion engine vehicles. To ensure stable and safe fast charging of Li-ion battery, understanding the electrochemical and thermal behaviors of battery electrodes under high rate charges is crucial, since it provides insight into the limiting factors that restrict the battery from acquiring energy at high rates. In this work, charging simulations are performed on Li-ion batteries that use the LiCoO2 (LCO), LiMn2O4 (LMO), and LiFePO4 (LFP) as the cathodes. An electrochemical-thermal coupling model is first developed and experimentally validated on a 2.6Ah LCO based Li-ion battery and is then adjusted to study the LMO and LFP based batteries. LCO, LMO, and LFP based Li-ion batteries exhibited different thermal responses during charges due to their different entropy profiles, and results show that the entropy change of the LCO battery plays a positive role in alleviating its temperature rise during charges. Among the batteries, the LFP battery is difficult to be charged at high rates due to the charge transfer limitation caused by the low electrical conductivity of the LFP cathode, which, however, can be improved through doping or adding conductive additives. A parametric study is also performed by considering different electrode thicknesses and secondary particle sizes. It reveals that the concentration polarization at the electrode and particle levels can be weaken by using thin electrodes and small solid particles, respectively. These changes are helpful to mitigate the diffusion limitation and improve the performance of Li-ion batteries during high rate charges, but careful consideration should be taken when applying these changes since they can reduce the energy density of the batteries