Breaking arches with vibrations: the role of defects

We present experimental results about the stability of arches against external vibrations. Two dimensional strings of mutually stabilizing grains are geometrically analyzed and subsequently submitted to a periodic forcing at fixed frequency and increasing amplitude. The main factor that determines the granular arch resistance against vibrations is the maximum angle among those formed between any particle of the arch and its two neighbors: the higher the maximum angle is, the easier to break the arch. Based in an analysis of the forces, a simple explanation is given for this dependence. From this, interesting information can be extracted about the expected magnitudes of normal forces and friction coefficients of the particles conforming the arches

High-throughput data mined prediction of inorganic compounds and computational discovery of new lithium-ion battery cathode materials

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, 2011.This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 117-129).The ability to computationally predict the properties of new materials, even prior to their synthesis, has been made possible due to the current accuracy of modern ab initio techniques. In some cases, high-throughput computations can be used to create large data sets of potential compounds and their computed properties. However, regardless of the field of application, such a computational high-throughput approach faces a major problem: to be relevant, the properties need to be computed on compounds (i.e., stoichiometries and crystal structures) that will be stable enough to be synthesized. In this thesis, we address this compound prediction problem through a combination of data mining and high-throughput Density Functional Theory. We first describe a method based on correlations between crystal structure prototypes that can be used with a limited computational budget to search for new ternary oxides. In addition, for the treatment of sparser data regions such as quaternaries, a new algorithm based on the data mining of ionic substitutions is proposed and analyzed. The second part of this thesis demonstrates the application of this highthroughput ab initio computing technique to the lithium-ion battery field. Here, we describe a large-scale computational search for novel cathode materials with specific battery properties, which enables experimentalists to focus on only the most promising chemistries. Finally, to illustrate the potential of new compound computational discovery using this approach, a novel chemical class of cathode materials, the carbonophosphates, is presented along with synthesis and electrochemical results.by Geoffroy Hautier.Ph.D

Resonant Metalenses for Breaking the Diffraction Barrier

We introduce the resonant metalens, a cluster of coupled subwavelength resonators. Dispersion allows the conversion of subwavelength wavefields into temporal signatures while the Purcell effect permits an efficient radiation of this information in the far-field. The study of an array of resonant wires using microwaves provides a physical understanding of the underlying mechanism. We experimentally demonstrate imaging and focusing from the far-field with resolutions far below the diffraction limit. This concept is realizable at any frequency where subwavelength resonators can be designed.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

CARACTERISATION D'UN LASER Nd : YAG CONTINU A MODES COUPLES

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Magnetoelastic modelling in soft nanocrystalline alloys

Magnetoelastic effects in ultra soft nanocrystalline alloys are investigated theoretically and experimentally. From Hc measurements, extraction of magnetoelastic contribution is carried out using a formalism obtained revisiting random anisotropy model (RAM) in the light of domain walls (DW) displacements, our approach based on theoretical investigations on the way of a reversal of a correlated volume (CV) located in the vicinity of a DW. Modelling of magnetoelastic effects shows that even in perfectly relaxed samples, a magnetoelastic contribution exists due to elastic frustration experienced by a CV during its magnetization reversal. Magnitude of this energy is large enough to drive coercivity of samples featuring grain diameter D around 10 nm, which are of major interest for applications

Accuracy of generalized gradient approximation functionals for density functional perturbation theory calculations

We assess the validity of various exchange-correlation functionals for computing the structural, vibrational, dielectric, and thermodynamical properties of materials in the framework of density-functional perturbation theory (DFPT). We consider five generalized-gradient approximation (GGA) functionals (PBE, PBEsol, WC, AM05, and HTBS) as well as the local density approximation (LDA) functional. We investigate a wide variety of materials including a semiconductor (silicon), a metal (copper), and various insulators (SiO$_2$ $\alpha$-quartz and stishovite, ZrSiO$_4$ zircon, and MgO periclase). For the structural properties, we find that PBEsol and WC are the closest to the experiments and AM05 performs only slightly worse. All three functionals actually improve over LDA and PBE in contrast with HTBS, which is shown to fail dramatically for $\alpha$-quartz. For the vibrational and thermodynamical properties, LDA performs surprisingly very good. In the majority of the test cases, it outperforms PBE significantly and also the WC, PBEsol and AM05 functionals though by a smaller margin (and to the detriment of structural parameters). On the other hand, HTBS performs also poorly for vibrational quantities. For the dielectric properties, none of the functionals can be put forward. They all (i) fail to reproduce the electronic dielectric constant due to the well-known band gap problem and (ii) tend to overestimate the oscillator strengths (and hence the static dielectric constant)

Pre-logarithmic and logarithmic fields in a sandpile model

We consider the unoriented two-dimensional Abelian sandpile model on the half-plane with open and closed boundary conditions, and relate it to the boundary logarithmic conformal field theory with central charge c=-2. Building on previous results, we first perform a complementary lattice analysis of the operator effecting the change of boundary condition between open and closed, which confirms that this operator is a weight -1/8 boundary primary field, whose fusion agrees with lattice calculations. We then consider the operators corresponding to the unit height variable and to a mass insertion at an isolated site of the upper half plane and compute their one-point functions in presence of a boundary containing the two kinds of boundary conditions. We show that the scaling limit of the mass insertion operator is a weight zero logarithmic field.Comment: 18 pages, 9 figures. v2: minor corrections + added appendi

Leucine Zipper-Bearing Kinase Is a Critical Regulator of Astrocyte Reactivity in the Adult Mammalian CNS.

Reactive astrocytes influence post-injury recovery, repair, and pathogenesis of the mammalian CNS. Much of the regulation of astrocyte reactivity, however, remains to be understood. Using genetic loss and gain-of-function analyses in vivo, we show that the conserved MAP3K13 (also known as leucine zipper-bearing kinase [LZK]) promotes astrocyte reactivity and glial scar formation after CNS injury. Inducible LZK gene deletion in astrocytes of adult mice reduced astrogliosis and impaired glial scar formation, resulting in increased lesion size after spinal cord injury. Conversely, LZK overexpression in astrocytes enhanced astrogliosis and reduced lesion size. Remarkably, in the absence of injury, LZK overexpression alone induced widespread astrogliosis in the CNS and upregulated astrogliosis activators pSTAT3 and SOX9. The identification of LZK as a critical cell-intrinsic regulator of astrocyte reactivity expands our understanding of the multicellular response to CNS injury and disease, with broad translational implications for neural repair

SUMO chain-induced dimerization activates RNF4

Dimeric RING E3 ligases interact with protein substrates and conformationally restrain the ubiquitin-E2-conjugating enzyme thioester complex such that it is primed for catalysis. RNF4 is an E3 ligase containing an N-terminal domain that binds its polySUMO substrates and a C-terminal RING domain responsible for dimerization. To investigate how RNF4 activity is controlled, we increased polySUMO substrate concentration by ablating expression of SUMO protease SENP6. Accumulation of SUMO chains in vivo leads to ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis of RNF4. In vitro we demonstrate that at concentrations equivalent to those found in vivo RNF4 is predominantly monomeric and inactive as an ubiquitin E3 ligase. However, in the presence of SUMO chains, RNF4 is activated by dimerization, leading to both substrate ubiquitylation and autoubiquitylation, responsible for degradation of RNF4. Thus the ubiquitin E3 ligase activity of RNF4 is directly linked to the availability of its polySUMO substrates

Thinning mechanisms of heterogeneous continental lithosphere

The mechanisms responsible for the formation of extremely thinned continental crust (<10 km thick) and lithosphere during rifting remains debated. Observations from present-day and fossil passive margins highlight the role of deep-seated deformation, likely controlled by heterogeneities within the continental lithosphere, such as changing lithologies, mechanical anisotropies and inherited structures. We investigate the mechanisms of lithospheric thinning by exploring the role of pre-existing heterogeneities on the architecture and evolution of rifted margins. We estimate pre-rift pressure conditions (P0) vs. depth diagrams of crustal to lithospheric sections, to quantify rift-related modifications on inherited lithostatic pressure gradients. Two field examples from the Alpine Tethys margins in the Eastern and Southern Alps (SE Switzerland and N Italy) were selected to characterize: (1) the pre-rift architecture of the continental lithosphere; (2) the localization of rift-related deformation in distinct portions of the lithosphere; and (3) the interaction between pre-existing heterogeneities of the lithosphere and rift-related structures. These observations are compared with high-resolution, two-dimensional thermo-mechanical numerical models. The design of the models takes into account pre-existing mechanical heterogeneities representing the initial pre-rift architecture of the continental lithosphere. Extensional structures consist of high-angle and low-angle normal faults, anastomosing shear-zones and decoupling horizons. Such structures accommodate the lateral extraction of mechanically stronger levels derived from the middle to lower crust. As a result, the extremely thinned continental crust in Tethyan passive margins represents the juxtaposition and amalgamation of distinct strong levels of the crust separated by major extensional structures identified by sharp pressure gradients. Future work should determine the applicability of these results to other present-day and fossil rifted margins