7,821 research outputs found
Inverse Scattering and Acousto-Optic Imaging
We propose a tomographic method to reconstruct the optical properties of a
highly-scattering medium from incoherent acousto-optic measurements. The method
is based on the solution to an inverse problem for the diffusion equation and
makes use of the principle of interior control of boundary measurements by an
external wave field.Comment: 10 page
Energy Conversion Using New Thermoelectric Generator
During recent years, microelectronics helped to develop complex and varied
technologies. It appears that many of these technologies can be applied
successfully to realize Seebeck micro generators: photolithography and
deposition methods allow to elaborate thin thermoelectric structures at the
micro-scale level. Our goal is to scavenge energy by developing a miniature
power source for operating electronic components. First Bi and Sb micro-devices
on silicon glass substrate have been manufactured with an area of 1cm2
including more than one hundred junctions. Each step of process fabrication has
been optimized: photolithography, deposition process, anneals conditions and
metallic connections. Different device structures have been realized with
different micro-line dimensions. Each devices performance will be reviewed and
discussed in function of their design structure.Comment: Submitted on behalf of TIMA Editions
(http://irevues.inist.fr/tima-editions
Yield stress and shear-banding in granular suspensions
We study the emergence of a yield stress in dense suspensions of non-Brownian
particles, by combining local velocity and concentration measurements using
Magnetic Resonance Imaging with macroscopic rheometric experiments. We show
that the competition between gravity and viscous stresses is at the origin of
the development of a yield stress in these systems at relatively low volume
fractions. Moreover, it is accompanied by a shear banding phenomenon that is
the signature of this competition. However, if the system is carefully density
matched, no yield stress is encountered until a volume fraction of 62.7 0.3%
Quantum interference effects in resonant Raman spectroscopy of single- and triple-layer MoTe from first principles
We present a combined experimental and theoretical study of resonant Raman
spectroscopy in single- and triple-layer MoTe. Raman intensities are
computed entirely from first principles by calculating finite differences of
the dielectric susceptibility. In our analysis, we investigate the role of
quantum interference effects and the electron-phonon coupling. With this
method, we explain the experimentally observed intensity inversion of the
vibrational modes in triple-layer MoTe2 with increasing laser
photon energy. Finally, we show that a quantitative comparison with
experimental data requires the proper inclusion of excitonic effects.Comment: Main Text (5 Figures, 1 Tables) + Supporting Information (6 Figures
Angular momentum evolution in laser-plasma accelerators
The transverse properties of an electron beam are characterized by two
quantities, the emittance which indicates the electron beam extend in the phase
space and the angular momentum which allows for non-planar electron
trajectories. Whereas the emittance of electron beams produced in laser- plasma
accelerator has been measured in several experiments, their angular momentum
has been scarcely studied. It was demonstrated that electrons in laser-plasma
accelerator carry some angular momentum, but its origin was not established.
Here we identify one source of angular momentum growth and we present
experimental results showing that the angular momentum content evolves during
the acceleration
Shortcuts to adiabaticity for trapped ultracold gases
We study, experimentally and theoretically, the controlled transfer of
harmonically trapped ultracold gases between different quantum states. In
particular we experimentally demonstrate a fast decompression and displacement
of both a non-interacting gas and an interacting Bose-Einstein condensate which
are initially at equilibrium. The decompression parameters are engineered such
that the final state is identical to that obtained after a perfectly adiabatic
transformation despite the fact that the fast decompression is performed in the
strongly non-adiabatic regime. During the transfer the atomic sample goes
through strongly out-of-equilibrium states while the external confinement is
modified until the system reaches the desired stationary state. The scheme is
theoretically based on the invariants of motion and scaling equations
techniques and can be generalized to decompression trajectories including an
arbitrary deformation of the trap. It is also directly applicable to arbitrary
initial non-equilibrium states.Comment: 36 pages, 14 figure
Genomic plasticity and rapid host switching can promote the evolution of generalism : a case study in the zoonotic pathogen Campylobacter
This work was supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) grant BB/I02464X/1, the Medical Research Council (MRC) grants MR/M501608/1 and MR/L015080/1, and the Wellcome Trust grant 088786/C/09/Z. GM was supported by a NISCHR Health Research Fellowship (HF-14–13).Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Lifetime of the first and second collective excitations in metallic nanoparticles
We determine the lifetime of the surface plasmon in metallic nanoparticles
under various conditions, concentrating on the Landau damping, which is the
dominant mechanism for intermediate-size particles. Besides the main
contribution to the lifetime, which smoothly increases with the size of the
particle, our semiclassical evaluation yields an additional oscillating
component. For the case of noble metal particles embedded in a dielectric
medium, it is crucial to consider the details of the electronic confinement; we
show that in this case the lifetime is determined by the shape of the
self-consistent potential near the surface. Strong enough perturbations may
lead to the second collective excitation of the electronic system. We study its
lifetime, which is limited by two decay channels: Landau damping and
ionization. We determine the size dependence of both contributions and show
that the second collective excitation remains as a well defined resonance.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures; few minor change
Onset of collective and cohesive motion
We study the onset of collective motion, with and without cohesion, of groups
of noisy self-propelled particles interacting locally. We find that this phase
transition, in two space dimensions, is always discontinuous, including for the
minimal model of Vicsek et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 75},1226 (1995)] for
which a non-trivial critical point was previously advocated. We also show that
cohesion is always lost near onset, as a result of the interplay of density,
velocity, and shape fluctuations.Comment: accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Let
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