3,376 research outputs found
Phase diagram of H2 adsorbed on graphene
The phase diagram of the first layer of H adsorbed on top of a single
graphene sheet has been calculated by means of a series of diffusion Monte
Carlo (DMC) simulations. We have found that, as in the case of He, the
ground state of molecular hydrogen is a commensurate
structure, followed, upon a pressure increase, by an incommensurate triangular
solid. A striped phase of intermediate density was also considered, and found
lying on top of the equilibrium curve separating both commensurate and
incommensurate solids.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Signatures of the Milky Way's Dark Disk in Current and Future Experiments
In hierarchical structure formation models of disk galaxies, a dark matter
disk forms as massive satellites are preferentially dragged into the disk-plane
where they dissolve. Here, we quantify the importance of this dark disk for
direct and indirect dark matter detection. The low velocity of the dark disk
with respect to the Earth enhances detection rates in direct detection
experiments at low recoil energy. For WIMP masses M_{WIMP} >~ 50 GeV, the
detection rate increases by up to a factor of 3 in the 5 - 20 keV recoil energy
range. Comparing this with rates at higher energy is sensitive to M_{WIMP},
providing stronger mass constraints particularly for M_{WIMP}>~100 GeV. The
annual modulation signal is significantly boosted by the dark disk and the
modulation phase is shifted by ~3 weeks relative to the dark halo. The
variation of the observed phase with recoil energy determines M_{WIMP}, once
the dark disk properties are fixed by future astronomical surveys. The low
velocity of the particles in the dark disk with respect to the solar system
significantly enhances the capture rate of WIMPs in the Sun, leading to an
increased flux of neutrinos from the Sun which could be detected in current and
future neutrino telescopes. The dark disk contribution to the muon flux from
neutrino back conversion at the Earth is increased by a factor of ~5 compared
to the SHM, for rho_d/rho_h=0.5.Comment: 5 pages, 7 figures, To appear in the proceedings of Identification of
Dark Matter 2008 (IDM2008), Stockholm, 18-22 August 2008; corrected one
referenc
Quantized vortices around wavefront nodes, 2
Quantized vortices can occur around nodal points in wavefunctions. The derivation depends only on the wavefunction being single valued, continuous, and having continuous first derivatives. Since the derivation does not depend upon the dynamical equations, the quantized vortices are expected to occur for many types of waves such as electromagnetic and acoustic. Such vortices have appeared in the calculations of the H + H2 molecular collisions and play a role in the chemical kinetics. In a companion paper, it is shown that quantized vortices occur when optical waves are internally reflected from the face of a prism or particle beams are reflected from potential energy barriers
Many-body dispersion effects in the binding of adsorbates on metal surfaces
A correct description of electronic exchange and correlation effects for
molecules in contact with extended (metal) surfaces is a challenging task for
first-principles modeling. In this work we demonstrate the importance of
collective van der Waals dispersion effects beyond the pairwise approximation
for organic--inorganic systems on the example of atoms, molecules, and
nanostructures adsorbed on metals. We use the recently developed many-body
dispersion (MBD) approach in the context of density-functional theory [Phys.
Rev. Lett. 108, 236402 (2012); J. Chem. Phys. 140, 18A508 (2014)] and assess
its ability to correctly describe the binding of adsorbates on metal surfaces.
We briefly review the MBD method and highlight its similarities to
quantum-chemical approaches to electron correlation in a quasiparticle picture.
In particular, we study the binding properties of xenon,
3,4,9,10-perylene-tetracarboxylic acid (PTCDA), and a graphene sheet adsorbed
on the Ag(111) surface. Accounting for MBD effects we are able to describe
changes in the anisotropic polarizability tensor, improve the description of
adsorbate vibrations, and correctly capture the adsorbate--surface interaction
screening. Comparison to other methods and experiment reveals that inclusion of
MBD effects improves adsorption energies and geometries, by reducing the
overbinding typically found in pairwise additive dispersion-correction
approaches
Supersolidity in quantum films adsorbed on graphene and graphite
Using quantum Monte Carlo we have studied the superfluid density of the first
layer of He and H adsorbed on graphene and graphite. Our main focus has
been on the equilibrium ground state of the system, which corresponds to a
registered phase. The perfect solid phase of H shows
no superfluid signal whereas He has a finite but small superfluid fraction
(0.67%). The introduction of vacancies in the crystal makes the superfluidity
increase, showing values as large as 14% in He without destroying the
spatial solid order.Comment: 5 pages, accepted for publication in PR
Spectroscopy of Nine Cataclysmic Variable Stars
We present optical spectroscopy of nine cataclysmic binary stars, mostly
dwarf novae, obtained primarily to determine orbital periods Porb. The stars
and their periods are LX And, 0.1509743(5) d; CZ Aql, 0.2005(6) d; LU Cam,
0.1499686(4) d; GZ Cnc, 0.0881(4) d; V632 Cyg, 0.06377(8) d; V1006 Cyg,
0.09903(9) d; BF Eri, 0.2708804(4) d; BI Ori, 0.1915(5) d; and FO Per, for
which Porb is either 0.1467(4) or 0.1719(5) d.
Several of the stars proved to be especially interesting. In BF Eri, we
detect the absorption spectrum of a secondary star of spectral type K3 +- 1
subclass, which leads to a distance estimate of approximately 1 kpc. However,
BF Eri has a large proper motion (100 mas/yr), and we have a preliminary
parallax measurement that confirms the large proper motion and yields only an
upper limit for the parallax. BF Eri's space velocity is evidently large, and
it appears to belong to the halo population. In CZ Aql, the emission lines have
strong wings that move with large velocity amplitude, suggesting a
magnetically-channeled accretion flow. The orbital period of V1006 Cyg places
it squarely within the 2- to 3-hour "gap" in the distribution of cataclysmic
binary orbital periods.Comment: 31 pages, 5 postscript and one PNG figure. Accepted for PAS
Insight into the description of van der Waals forces for benzene adsorption on transition metal (111) surfaces
Exploring the role of van der Waals (vdW) forces on the adsorption of
molecules on extended metal surfaces has become possible in recent years thanks
to exciting developments in density functional theory (DFT). Among these newly
developed vdW-inclusive methods, interatomic vdW approaches that account for
the nonlocal screening within the bulk [V. G. Ruiz, W. Liu, E. Zojer, M.
Scheffler, and A. Tkatchenko, Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 146103 (2012)] and improved
nonlocal functionals [J. Klimes, D. R. Bowler, and A. Michaelides, J. Phys.:
Condens. Matter 22, 022201(2010)] have emerged as promising candidates to
account efficiently and accurately for the lack of long-range vdW forces in
most popular DFT exchange-correlation functionals. Here we have used these two
approaches to compute benzene adsorption on a range of close-packed (111)
surfaces upon which it either physisorbs (Cu, Ag, and Au) or chemisorbs (Rh,
Pd, Ir, and Pt). We have thoroughly compared the performance between the two
classes of vdW-inclusive methods and when available compared the results
obtained with experimental data. By examining the computed adsorption energies,
equilibrium distances, and binding curves we conclude that both methods allow
for an accurate treatment of adsorption at equilibrium adsorbate-substrate
distances. To this end, explicit inclusion of electrodynamic screening in the
interatomic vdW scheme and optimized exchange functionals in the case of
nonlocal vdW density functionals is mandatory. Nevertheless, some discrepancies
are found between these two classes of methods at large adsorbate-substrate
separations
Xe films on a decagonal Al-Ni-Co quasicrystal surface
The grand canonical Monte Carlo method is employed to study the adsorption of
Xe on a quasicrystalline Al-Ni-Co surface. The calculation uses a semiempirical
gas-surface interaction, based on conventional combining rules and the usual
Lennard-Jones Xe-Xe interaction. The resulting adsorption isotherms and
calculated structures are consistent with the results of LEED experimental
data. In this paper we focus on five features not discussed earlier (Phys. Rev.
Lett. 95, 136104 (2005)): the range of the average density of the adsorbate,
the order of the transition, the orientational degeneracy of the ground state,
the isosteric heat of adsorption of the system, and the effect of the vertical
cell dimension.Comment: 6 pages, 5 pic
Melting of a p-H2 monolayer on a lithium substrate
Adsorption of para-hydrogen films on Alkali metals substrates at low
temperature is studied theoretically by means of Path Integral Monte Carlo
simulations. Realistic potentials are utilized to model the interaction between
two para-hydrogen molecules, as well as between a para-hydrogenmolecule and the
substrate, assumed smooth. Results show that adsorption of para-hydrogen on a
Lithium substrate, the most attractive among the Alkali, occurs through
completion of successive solid adlayers. Each layer has a two-dimensional
density approximatley equal 0.070 inverse square Angstroms. A solid
para-hydrogen monolayer displays a higher degree of confinement, in the
direction perpendicular to the substrate, than a monolayer Helium film, and has
a melting temperature of about 6.5 K. The other Alkali substrates are not
attractive enough to be wetted by molecular hydrogen at low temperature. No
evidence of a possible superfluid phase of para-hydrogen is seen in these
systems.Comment: Scales on the y-axis in Figs. 4,5 and 7 are off by a factor 2 in
published version; corrected her
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