80 research outputs found
The Intrinsic Spin Hall Conductivity in a Generalized Rashba Model
We calculate the intrinsic spin Hall conductivity \sigma^{\mathrm{sH}} of a
two-dimensional electron system within a generalized Rashba model, showing that
it is, in general, finite and model-dependent. Considering arbitrary band
dispersion, we find that \sigma^{\mathrm{sH}} in the presence of the
linear-in-momentum spin-orbit coupling of the Rashba form does not vanish in
the presence of impurities except for the precisely parabolic spectrum. We
show, using the linear response Kubo formalism, how the exact cancellation
happens for the quadratic dispersion, and why it does not occur in general. We
derive a simple quasiclassical formula for \sigma^{\mathrm{sH}} in terms of the
Fermi momenta for the two electron chiralities, and find that
\sigma^{\mathrm{sH}} is in general of the order of the squared strength of the
Rashba term
Spin relaxation and antisymmetric exchange in n-doped III-V semiconductor
Recently K. Kavokin [Phys. Rev. B 64, 075305 (2001)] suggested that the
Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction between localized electrons governs slow spin
relaxation in -doped GaAs in the regime close to the metal-insulator
transition. We derive the correct spin Hamiltonian and apply it to the
determination of spin dephasing time using the method of moments expansion. We
argue that the proposed mechanism is insufficient to explain the observed
values of the spin relaxation time.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure
Spin susceptibility of the superfluid He-B in aerogel
The temperature dependence of paramagnetic susceptibility of the superfluid
^{3}He-B in aerogel is found. Calculations have been performed for an arbitrary
phase shift of s-wave scattering in the framework of BCS weak coupling theory
and the simplest model of aerogel as an aggregate of homogeneously distributed
ordinary impurities. Both limiting cases of the Born and unitary scattering can
be easily obtained from the general result. The existence of gapless
superfluidity starting at the critical impurity concentration depending on the
value of the scattering phase has been demonstrated. While larger than in the
bulk liquid the calculated susceptibility of the B-phase in aerogel proves to
be conspicuously smaller than that determined experimentally in the high
pressure region.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, REVTe
Evaluation of GEOS-5 Sulfur Dioxide Simulations During the Frostburg, MD 2010 Field Campaign.
Sulfur dioxide (SO2) is a major atmospheric pollutant with a strong anthropogenic component mostly produced by the combustion of fossil fuel and other industrial activities. As a precursor of sulfate aerosols that affect climate, air quality, and human health, this gas needs to be monitored on a global scale. Global climate and chemistry models including aerosol processes along with their radiative effects are important tools for climate and air quality research. Validation of these models against in-situ and satellite measurements is essential to ascertain the credibility of these models and to guide model improvements. In this study the Goddard Chemistry, Aerosol, Radiation, and Transport (GOCART) module running on-line inside the Goddard Earth Observing System version 5 (GEOS-5) model is used to simulate aerosol and SO2 concentrations. Data taken in November 2010 over Frostburg, Maryland during an SO2 field campaign involving ground instrumentation and aircraft are used to evaluate GEOS-5 simulated SO2 concentrations. Preliminary data analysis indicated the model overestimated surface SO2 concentration, which motivated the examination of mixing processes in the model and the specification of SO2 anthropogenic emission rates. As a result of this analysis, a revision of anthropogenic emission inventories in GEOS-5 was implemented, and the vertical placement of SO2 sources was updated. Results show that these revisions improve the model agreement with observations locally and in regions outside the area of this field campaign. In particular, we use the ground-based measurements collected by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) for the year 2010 to evaluate the revised model simulations over North America
Improved Satellite Retrievals of NO2 and SO2 over the Canadian Oil Sands and Comparisons with Surface Measurements
Satellite remote sensing is increasingly being used to monitor air quality over localized sources such as the Canadian oil sands. Following an initial study, significantly low biases have been identified in current NO2 and SO2 retrieval products from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) satellite sensor over this location resulting from a combination of its rapid development and small spatial scale. Air mass factors (AMFs) used to convert line-of-sight "slant" columns to vertical columns were re-calculated for this region based on updated and higher resolution input information including absorber profiles from a regional-scale (15 km 15 km resolution) air quality model, higher spatial and temporal resolution surface reflectivity, and an improved treatment of snow. The overall impact of these new Environment Canada (EC) AMFs led to substantial increases in the peak NO2 and SO2 average vertical column density (VCD), occurring over an area of intensive surface mining, by factors of 2 and 1.4, respectively, relative to estimates made with previous AMFs. Comparisons are made with long-term averages of NO2 and SO2 (2005-2011) from in situ surface monitors by using the air quality model to map the OMI VCDs to surface concentrations. This new OMI-EC product is able to capture the spatial distribution of the in situ instruments (slopes of 0.65 to 1.0, correlation coefficients of greater than 0.9). The concentration absolute values from surface network observations were in reasonable agreement, with OMI-EC NO2 and SO2 biased low by roughly 30%. Several complications were addressed including correction for the interference effect in the surface NO2 instruments and smoothing and clear-sky biases in the OMI measurements. Overall these results highlight the importance of using input information that accounts for the spatial and temporal variability of the location of interest when performing retrievals
Hit from both sides: tracking industrial and volcanic plumes in Mexico City with surface measurements and OMI SO2 retrievals during the MILAGRO field campaign
Large sulfur dioxide plumes were measured in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area (MCMA) during the MILAGRO field campaign. This paper seeks to identify the sources of these plumes and the meteorological processes that affect their dispersion in a complex mountain basin. Surface measurements of SO2 and winds are analysed in combination with radar wind profiler data to identify transport directions. Satellite retrievals of vertical SO2 columns from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) reveal the dispersion from both the Tula industrial complex and the Popocatepetl volcano. Oversampling the OMI swath data to a fine grid (3 by 3 km) and averaging over the field campaign yielded a high resolution image of the average plume transport. Numerical simulations are used to identify possible transport scenarios. The analysis suggests that both Tula and Popocatepetl contribute to SO2 levels in the MCMA, sometimes on the same day due to strong vertical wind shear. During the field campaign, model estimates suggest that the volcano accounts for about one tenth of the SO2 in the MCMA, with a roughly equal split for the rest between urban sources and the Tula industrial complex. The evaluation of simulations with known sources and pollutants suggests that the combination of observations and meteorological models will be useful in identifying sources and transport processes of other plumes observed during MILAGRO.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (award ATM-0810931)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (ATM-0810950)Molina Center for Energy and the Environmen
Use of Hyper-Spectral Visible and Near-Infrared Satellite Data for Timely Estimates of the Earth’s Surface Reflectance in Cloudy and Aerosol Loaded Conditions: Part 1–Application to RGB Image Restoration Over Land With GOME-2
Space-based quantitative passive optical remote sensing of the Earth’s surface typically involves the detection and elimination of cloud-contaminated pixels as an initial processing step. We explore a fundamentally different approach; we use machine learning with cloud contaminated satellite hyper-spectral data to estimate underlying terrestrial surface reflectances at red, green, and blue (RGB) wavelengths. An artificial neural network (NN) reproduces land RGB reflectances with high fidelity, even in scenes with moderate to high cloud optical thicknesses. This implies that spectral features of the Earth’s surface can be detected and distinguished in the presence of clouds, even when they are partially and visibly obscured by clouds; the NN is able to separate the spectral fingerprint of the Earth’s surface from that of the clouds, aerosols, gaseous absorption, and Rayleigh scattering, provided that there are adequately different spectral features and that the clouds are not completely opaque. Once trained, the NN enables rapid estimates of RGB reflectances with little computational cost. Aside from the training data, there is no requirement of prior information regarding the land surface spectral reflectance, nor is there need for radiative transfer calculations. We test different wavelength windows and instrument configurations for reconstruction of surface reflectances. This work provides an initial example of a general approach that has many potential applications in land and ocean remote sensing as well as other practical uses such as in search and rescue, precision agriculture, and change detection
Transverse spin dynamics in a spin-polarized Fermi liquid
The linear equations for transverse spin dynamics in weakly polarised
degenerate Fermi liquid with arbitrary relationship between temperature and
polarization are derived from Landau-Silin phenomenological kinetic equation
with general form of two-particle collision integral. The temperature and
polarization dependence of the spin current relaxation time is established. It
is found in particular that at finite polarization transverse spin wave damping
has a finite value at T=0. The analogy between temperature dependences of spin
waves attenuation and ultrasound absorption in degenerate Fermi liquid at
arbitrary temperature is presented. We also discuss spin-polarized Fermi liquid
in the general context of the Fermi-liquid theory and compare it with "Fermi
liquid" with spontaneous magnetization.Comment: 10 page
Exact asymptotic form of the exchange interactions between shallow centers in doped semiconductors
The method developed in [L. P. Gor'kov and L. P. Pitaevskii, Sov. Phys. Dokl.
8, 788 (1964); C. Herring and M. Flicker, Phys. Rev. 134, A362 (1964)] to
calculate the asymptotic form of exchange interactions between hydrogen atoms
in the ground state is extended to excited states. The approach is then applied
to shallow centers in semiconductors. The problem of the asymptotic dependence
of the exchange interactions in semiconductors is complicated by the multiple
degeneracy of the ground state of an impurity (donor or acceptor) center in
valley or band indices, crystalline anisotropy and strong spin-orbital
interactions, especially for acceptor centers in III-V and II-VI groups
semiconductors. Properties of two coupled centers in the dilute limit can be
accessed experimentally, and the knowledge of the exact asymptotic expressions,
in addition to being of fundamental interest, must be very helpful for
numerical calculations and for interpolation of exchange forces in the case of
intermediate concentrations. Our main conclusion concerns the sign of the
magnetic interaction -- the ground state of a pair is always non-magnetic.
Behavior of the exchange interactions in applied magnetic fields is also
discussed
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