Ab-initio calculation of all-optical time-resolved calorimetry of nanosized systems: Evidence of nanosecond-decoupling of electron and phonon temperatures

The thermal dynamics induced by ultrashort laser pulses in nanoscale systems, i.e. all-optical time-resolved nanocalorimetry is theoretically investigated from 300 to 1.5 K. We report ab-initio calculations describing the temperature dependence of the electron-phonon interactions for Cu nanodisks supported on Si. The electrons and phonons temperatures are found to decouple on the ns time scale at 10 K, which is two orders of magnitude in excess with respect to that found for standard low-temperature transport experiments. By accounting for the physics behind our results we suggest an alternative route for overhauling the present knowledge of the electron-phonon decoupling mechanism in nanoscale systems by replacing the mK temperature requirements of conventional experiments with experiments in the time-domain.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures. Accepted on Physical Review B

Heterosis is prevalent among domesticated but not wild strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Crosses between inbred but unrelated individuals often result in an increased fitness of the progeny. This phenomenon is known as heterosis and has been reported for wild and domesticated populations of plants and animals. Analysis of heterosis is often hindered by the fact that the genetic relatedness between analyzed organisms is only approximately known. We studied a collection of Saccharomyces cerevisiae isolates from wild and human-created habitats whose genomes were sequenced and thus their relatedness was fully known. We reasoned that if these strains accumulated different deleterious mutations at an approximately constant rate, then heterosis should be most visible in F1 heterozygotes from the least related parents. We found that heterosis was substantial and positively correlated with sequence divergence, but only in domesticated strains. More than 80% of the heterozygous hybrids were more fit than expected from the mean of their homozygous parents, and approximately three-quarters of those exceeded even the fittest parent. Our results support the notion that domestication brings about relaxation of selection and accumulation of deleterious mutations. However, other factors may have contributed as well. In particular, the observed build-up of genetic load might be facilitated by a decrease, and not increase, in the rate of inbreedin

Power provides protection : genetic robustness in yeast depends on the capacity to generate energy

The functional basis of genetic robustness, the ability of organisms to suppress the effects of mutations, remains incompletely understood. We exposed a set of 15 strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae form diverse environments to increasing doses of the chemical mutagen EMS. The number of the resulting random mutations was similar for all tested strains. However, there were differences in immediate mortality after the mutagenic treatment and in defective growth of survivors. An analysis of gene expression revealed that immediate mortality was lowest in strains with lowest expression of transmembrane proteins, which are rich in thiol groups and thus vulnerable to EMS. A signal of genuine genetic robustness was detected for the other trait, the ability to grow well despite bearing non-lethal mutations. Increased tolerance of such mutations correlated with high expression of genes responsible for the oxidative energy metabolism, suggesting that the negative effect of mutations can be buffered if enough energy is available. We confirmed this finding in three additional tests of the ability to grow on (i) fermentable or non-fermentable sources of carbon, (ii) under chemical inhibition of the electron transport chain and (iii) during overexpression of its key component, cytochrome c. Our results add the capacity to generate energy as a general mechanism of genetic robustness

Singular and regular solutions of a non-linear parabolic system

We study a dissipative nonlinear equation modelling certain features of the Navier-Stokes equations. We prove that the evolution of radially symmetric compactly supported initial data does not lead to singularities in dimensions $n\leq 4$. For dimensions $n>4$ we present strong numerical evidence supporting existence of blow-up solutions. Moreover, using the same techniques we numerically confirm a conjecture of Lepin regarding existence of self-similar singular solutions to a semi-linear heat equation.Comment: 16 page

Wetting of a symmetrical binary fluid mixture on a wall

We study the wetting behaviour of a symmetrical binary fluid below the demixing temperature at a non-selective attractive wall. Although it demixes in the bulk, a sufficiently thin liquid film remains mixed. On approaching liquid/vapour coexistence, however, the thickness of the liquid film increases and it may demix and then wet the substrate. We show that the wetting properties are determined by an interplay of the two length scales related to the density and the composition fluctuations. The problem is analysed within the framework of a generic two component Ginzburg-Landau functional (appropriate for systems with short-ranged interactions). This functional is minimized both numerically and analytically within a piecewise parabolic potential approximation. A number of novel surface transitions are found, including first order demixing and prewetting, continuous demixing, a tricritical point connecting the two regimes, or a critical end point beyond which the prewetting line separates a strongly and a weakly demixed film. Our results are supported by detailed Monte Carlo simulations of a symmetrical binary Lennard-Jones fluid at an attractive wall.Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev.

Microscopic View on Short-Range Wetting at the Free Surface of the Binary Metallic Liquid Gallium-Bismuth: An X-ray Reflectivity and Square Gradient Theory Study

We present an x-ray reflectivity study of wetting at the free surface of the binary liquid metal gallium-bismuth (Ga-Bi) in the region where the bulk phase separates into Bi-rich and Ga-rich liquid phases. The measurements reveal the evolution of the microscopic structure of wetting films of the Bi-rich, low-surface-tension phase along different paths in the bulk phase diagram. A balance between the surface potential preferring the Bi-rich phase and the gravitational potential which favors the Ga-rich phase at the surface pins the interface of the two demixed liquid metallic phases close to the free surface. This enables us to resolve it on an Angstrom level and to apply a mean-field, square gradient model extended by thermally activated capillary waves as dominant thermal fluctuations. The sole free parameter of the gradient model, i.e. the so-called influence parameter, $\kappa$, is determined from our measurements. Relying on a calculation of the liquid/liquid interfacial tension that makes it possible to distinguish between intrinsic and capillary wave contributions to the interfacial structure we estimate that fluctuations affect the observed short-range, complete wetting phenomena only marginally. A critical wetting transition that should be sensitive to thermal fluctuations seems to be absent in this binary metallic alloy.Comment: RevTex4, twocolumn, 15 pages, 10 figure

FLUTE, a linac based THz source

We propose a versatile THz source named FLUTE (Ferninfrarot Linac- Und Test-Experiment) based on a 30 - 50 MeV S-band linac with bunch compressor, that aimsat not only producing high field THz pulses but also at serving as a test facility to study accelerator physics issues. This source is an important step towards the planned ultra-broadband THz to mid infrared user facility TBONE. Special emphasis is put on studies of bunch compression as a function of bunch charge (0.1-5 nC) and of different generation mechanisms of coherent radiation (CSR, CER, CTR). This paper describes the design and layout of the proposed FLUTE machine and presents results of beam dynamic calculations with the tracking programs ASTRA and CSRtrack. In addition, calculations for the achievable peak electrical field and spectral characteristics for one version of the FLUTE layout are shown

The toroidal mirror for single-pulse experiments on ID09B

Abstract ID09 is a dual-purpose beamline dedicated to time-resolved and high-pressure experiments. The time-resolved experiments use a high-speed chopper to isolate single pulses of x-rays. The chopper is installed near the sample (focal spot) and the shortest usable opening time depends on the sharpness of the vertical focusing. In the 16-bunch mode, the opening window of the chopper has to be reduced to 0.300 µs to select single pulses of x-rays. This can only be achieved by lowering the height in the chopper tunnel to 0.143 mm. To ensure a reasonable transmission though the tunnel, we have built a very precise toroidal mirror that focuses the beam 22.4 m downstream in M= 0.677 geometry. The 1.0-m long silicon mirror is curved by gravity into a near perfect toroid with a meridional radius of 9.9 km. The curvature is fine-tuned by a push stepper motor that works from below. The figure error from the gravity sag and the correcting force is less than 0.3 µrad and the polishing error is 0.7 µrad (rms) over the central 450-mm part of the mirror. The measured size of the polychromatic focus is 0.100 x 0.070 mmh x mmv in agreement with the prediction from the long-trace-profiler at the ESRF. The small focus, which integrates the entire central cone of the U17 undulator, is the result of superb optical quality, fine-control of curvature, a strain-free mount, a vibration free cooling system and careful alignment

Electro-thermal modelling for plasmonic structures in the TLM Method

This paper presents a coupled electromagnetic-thermal model for modelling temperature evolution in nano-size plasmonic heat sources. Both electromagnetic and thermal models are based on the Transmission Line Modelling (TLM) method and are coupled through a nonlinear and dispersive plasma material model. The stability and accuracy of the coupled EM-thermal model is analysed in the context of a nano-tip plasmonic heat source example