5,870 research outputs found
Fractal Substructure of a Nanopowder
The structural evolution of a nano-powder by repeated dispersion and settling
can lead to characteristic fractal substructures. This is shown by numerical
simulations of a two-dimensional model agglomerate of adhesive rigid particles.
The agglomerate is cut into fragments of a characteristic size l, which then
are settling under gravity. Repeating this procedure converges to a loosely
packed structure, the properties of which are investigated: a) The final
packing density is independent of the initialization, b) the short-range
correlation function is independent of the fragment size, c) the structure is
fractal up to the fragmentation scale l with a fractal dimension close to 1.7,
and d) the relaxation time increases linearly with l.Comment: 4 pages, 8 figure
Study of an Alternate Mechanism for the Origin of Fermion Generations
In usual extended technicolor (ETC) theories based on the group
, the quarks of charge 2/3 and -1/3 and the charged
leptons of all generations arise from ETC fermion multiplets transforming
according to the fundamental representation. Here we investigate a different
idea for the origin of SM fermion generations, in which quarks and charged
leptons of different generations arise from ETC fermions transforming according
to different representations of . Although this
mechanism would have the potential, {\it a priori}, to allow a reduction in the
value of relative to conventional ETC models, we show that, at least
in simple models, it is excluded by the fact that the technicolor sector is not
asymptotically free or by the appearance of fermions with exotic quantum
numbers which are not observed.Comment: 6 pages, late
Depletion forces near a soft surface
We investigate excluded-volume effects in a bidisperse colloidal suspension
near a flexible interface. Inspired by a recent experiment by Dinsmore et al.
(Phys. Rev, Lett. 80, 409 (1998)), we study the adsorption of a mesoscopic bead
on the surface and show that depletion forces could in principle lead to
particle encapsulation. We then consider the effect of surface fluctuations on
the depletion potential itself and construct the density profile of a polymer
solution near a soft interface. Surprisingly we find that the chains accumulate
at the wall, whereas the density displays a deficit of particles at distances
larger than the surface roughness. This non-monotonic behavior demonstrates
that surface fluctuations can have major repercusions on the properties of a
colloidal solution. On average, the additional contribution to the Gibbs
adsorbance is negative. The amplitude of the depletion potential between a
mesoscopic bead and the surface increases accordingly.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure
Nonequilibrium wetting of finite samples
As a canonical model for wetting far from thermal equilibrium we study a
Kardar-Parisi-Zhang interface growing on top of a hard-core substrate.
Depending on the average growth velocity the model exhibits a non-equilibrium
wetting transition which is characterized by an additional surface critical
exponent theta. Simulating the single-step model in one spatial dimension we
provide accurate numerical estimates for theta and investigate the distribution
of contact points between the substrate and the interface as a function of
time. Moreover, we study the influence of finite-size effects, in particular
the time needed until a finite substrate is completely covered by the wetting
layer for the first time.Comment: 17 pages, 8 figures, revisio
Growth of Nanocrystalline MoSe2 Monolayers on Epitaxial Graphene from Amorphous Precursors
A new approach to the growth of MoSe2 thin films on epitaxial graphene on SiC(0001) by the use of modulated elemental reactants (MER) precursors has been reported. The synthesis applies a two-step process, where first an amorphous precursor is deposited on the substrate which self-assembles upon annealing. Films with a nominal thickness of about 1ML are successfully grown on epitaxial graphene monolayer as well as buffer layer samples. Characterization of the films is performed using XPS, LEED, AFM, and Raman spectroscopy. The films are nanocrystalline and show randomly rotated domains. This approach opens up an avenue to synthesize a number of new van-der-Waals systems on epitaxial graphene and other substrates
Genes in the postgenomic era
We outline three very different concepts of the gene - 'instrumental', 'nominal', and 'postgenomic'. The instrumental gene has a critical role in the construction and interpretation of experiments in which the relationship between genotype and phenotype is explored via hybridization between organisms or directly between nucleic acid molecules. It also plays an important theoretical role in the foundations of disciplines such as quantitative genetics and population genetics. The nominal gene is a critical practical tool, allowing stable communication between bioscientists in a wide range of fields grounded in well-defined sequences of nucleotides, but this concept does not embody major theoretical insights into genome structure or function. The post-genomic gene embodies the continuing project of understanding how genome structure supports genome function, but with a deflationary picture of the gene as a structural unit. This final concept of the gene poses a significant challenge to conventional assumptions about the relationship between genome structure and function, and between genotype and phenotype
Delineating the conformal window
We identify and characterise the conformal window in gauge theories relevant
for beyond the standard model building, e.g. Technicolour, using the criteria
of metric confinement and causal analytic couplings, which are known to be
consistent with the phase diagram of supersymmetric QCD from Seiberg duality.
Using these criteria we find perturbation theory to be consistent throughout
the predicted conformal window for several of these gauge theories and we
discuss recent lattice results in the light of our findings.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure
Implementing an electronic sideband offset lock for precision spectroscopy in radium
We demonstrate laser frequency stabilization with at least 6 GHz of offset
tunability using an in-phase/quadrature (IQ) modulator to generate electronic
sidebands (ESB) on a titanium sapphire laser at 714 nm and we apply this
technique to the precision spectroscopy of Ra, and Ra. By
locking the laser to a single resonance of a high finesse optical cavity and
adjusting the lock offset, we determine the frequency difference between the
magneto-optical trap (MOT) transitions in the two isotopes to be
MHz, a factor of 29 more precise than the previously available data. Using the
known value of the hyperfine splitting of the level, we calculate
the isotope shift for the to transition to be
MHz, which is a factor of 8 more precise than the best available
value. Our technique could be applied to countless other atomic systems to
provide unprecedented precision in isotope shift spectroscopy and other
relative frequency comparisons
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