1,498 research outputs found

    First-principles study of multiferroic RbFe(MoO4_4)2_2

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    We have investigated the magnetic structure and ferroelectricity in RbFe(MoO4_4)2_2 via first-principles calculations. Phenomenological analyses have shown that ferroelectricity may arise due to both the triangular chirality of the magnetic structure, and through coupling between the magnetic helicity and the ferroaxial structural distortion. Indeed, it was recently proposed that the structural distortion plays a key role in stabilising the chiral magnetic structure itself. We have determined the relative contribution of the two mechanisms via \emph{ab-initio} calculations. Whilst the structural axiality does induce the magnetic helix by modulating the symmetric exchange interactions, the electric polarization is largely due to the in-plane spin triangular chirality, with both electronic and ionic contributions being of relativistic origin. At the microscopic level, we interpret the polarization as a secondary steric consequence of the inverse Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya mechanism and accordingly explain why the ferroaxial component of the electric polarization must be small

    Portuguese adaptation of the academic time management questionnaire : new elements

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    This paper presents the adaptation of the “Time Management Questionnaire” (TMQ) – drawn up by Britton and Tesser (1991), the final version of which has become known as the “Academic Time Management Questionnaire” (ATMQ). The sample comprised 705 Primary School and Secondary School pupils of both sexes. The factorial analysis of the results followed by varimax rotation led to three factors that explain 40.06% of the variance; the reliability coefficients were also ascertained. For the external validity study, the relationship between the ATMQ results and other school variables were considered, in which significant relations were observed, as expected. The data presented highlights the qualities of the ATMQ, as well as its usefulness in research. New data confirmed these qualities.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

    The lobster fishery of Puerto Rico

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    Measuring Active-to-Sterile Neutrino Oscillations with Neutral Current Coherent Neutrino-Nucleus Scattering

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    Light sterile neutrinos have been introduced as an explanation for a number of oscillation signals at Δm21\Delta m^2 \sim 1 eV2^2. Neutrino oscillations at relatively short baselines provide a probe of these possible new states. This paper describes an accelerator-based experiment using neutral current coherent neutrino-nucleus scattering to strictly search for active-to-sterile neutrino oscillations. This experiment could, thus, definitively establish the existence of sterile neutrinos and provide constraints on their mixing parameters. A cyclotron-based proton beam can be directed to multiple targets, producing a low energy pion and muon decay-at-rest neutrino source with variable distance to a single detector. Two types of detectors are considered: a germanium-based detector inspired by the CDMS design and a liquid argon detector inspired by the proposed CLEAR experiment.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure

    Equilibrium properties of the mixed state in superconducting niobium in a transverse magnetic field: Experiment and theoretical model

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    Equilibrium magnetic properties of the mixed state in type-II superconductors were measured with high purity bulk and film niobium samples in parallel and perpendicular magnetic fields using dc magnetometry and scanning Hall-probe microscopy. Equilibrium magnetization data for the perpendicular geometry were obtained for the first time. It was found that none of the existing theories is consistent with these new data. To address this problem, a theoretical model is developed and experimentally validated. The new model describes the mixed state in an averaged limit, i.e. %without detailing the samples' magnetic structure and therefore ignoring interactions between vortices. It is quantitatively consistent with the data obtained in a perpendicular field and provides new insights on properties of vortices. % and the entire mixed state. At low values of the Ginzburg-Landau parameter, the model converts to that of Peierls and London for the intermediate state in type-I superconductors. It is shown that description of the vortex matter in superconductors in terms of a 2D gas is more appropriate than the frequently used crystal- and glass-like scenarios.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figure

    GW method with the self-consistent Sternheimer equation

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    We propose a novel approach to quasiparticle GW calculations which does not require the computation of unoccupied electronic states. In our approach the screened Coulomb interaction is evaluated by solving self-consistent linear-response Sternheimer equations, and the noninteracting Green's function is evaluated by solving inhomogeneous linear systems. The frequency-dependence of the screened Coulomb interaction is explicitly taken into account. In order to avoid the singularities of the screened Coulomb interaction the calculations are performed along the imaginary axis, and the results are analytically continued to the real axis through Pade' approximants. As a proof of concept we implemented the proposed methodology within the empirical pseudopotential formalism and we validated our implementation using silicon as a test case. We examine the advantages and limitations of our method and describe promising future directions.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figure

    Intranasal endoscopy diagnosing skull base pathology: A case of clivus chordoma

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    A técnica endoscópica endonasal, universalmente implementada no diagnóstico e tratamento de múltiplas patologias nasossinusais, surge como uma alternativa válida aos métodos tradicionais de biópsia da base do crânio. De acordo com a literatura disponível, apresenta taxas de sucesso comparáveis ou mesmo superiores às abordagens neurocirúrgicas, com menor morbilidade, desde que efectuada por equipas cirúrgicas experientes e após um estudo pré-operatório cuidadoso. O objectivo deste artigo é a apresentação de um caso clínico de lesão tumoral do clivus, cuja biópsia realizada por via endoscópica demonstrou tratar-se de um cordoma, a mais frequente das neoplasias intrínsecas desta região da base do crânio.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

    First Astronomical Application of a Cryogenic TES Spectrophotometer

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    We report on the first astronomical observations with a photon counting pixel detector that provides arrival time- (delta t = 100ns) and energy- (delta E_gamma < 0.15eV) resolved measurements from the near IR through the near UV. Our test observations were performed by coupling this Transition Edge Sensor (TES) device to a 0.6m telescope; we have obtained the first simultaneous optical near-IR phase-resolved spectra of the Crab pulsar. A varying infrared turnover gives evidence of self-absorption in the pulsar plasma. The potential of such detectors in imaging arrays from a space platform are briefly described.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
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