Optical imaging of the effect of in-plane fields on cholesteric liquid crystals

Sharon A. Jewell and J. Roy Sambles, Physical Review E, Vol. 78, article 012701 (2008). Copyright © 2008 by the American Physical Society.The effects of in-plane electric fields on the director structure of cholesteric liquid crystals has been imaged in three dimensions using fluorescence confocal polarizing microscopy. The results show that a liquid crystal lying outside the electrode gap can be significantly affected by stray fields occurring above the electrode surface, resulting in a 90° rotation of the cholesteric helix. Distinct differences between the behavior of cholesterics with positive and negative dielectric anisotropies are observed

Helium irradiation effects in polycrystalline Si, silica, and single crystal Si

Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) has been used to investigate the effects of room temperature 6 keV helium ion irradiation of a thin (≈55 nm thick) tri-layer consisting of polycrystalline Si, silica, and single-crystal Si. The ion irradiation was carried out in situ within the TEM under conditions where approximately 24% of the incident ions came to rest in the specimen. This paper reports on the comparative development of irradiation-induced defects (primarily helium bubbles) in the polycrystalline Si and single-crystal Si under ion irradiation and provides direct measurement of a radiation-induced increase in the width of the polycrystalline layer and shrinkage of the silica layer. Analysis using TEM and electron energy-loss spectroscopy has led to the hypothesis that these result from helium-bubble-induced swelling of the silicon and radiation-induced viscoelastic flow processes in the silica under the influence of stresses applied by the swollen Si layers. The silicon and silica layers are sputtered as a result of the helium ion irradiation; however, this is estimated to be a relatively minor effect with swelling and stress-related viscoelastic flow being the dominant mechanisms of dimensional change

Multi-interaction mean-field renormalization group

We present an extension of the previously proposed mean-field renormalization method to model Hamiltonians which are characterized by more than just one type of interaction. The method rests on scaling assumptions about the magnetization of different sublattices of the given lattice and it generates as many flow equations as coupling constants without arbitrary truncations on the renormalized Hamiltonian. We obtain good results for the test case of Ising systems with an additional second-neighbor coupling in two and three dimensions. An application of the method is also done to a morphological model of interacting surfaces introduced recenlty by Likos, Mecke and Wagner [J. Chem. Phys. {\bf{102}}, 9350 (1995)]. PACS: 64.60.Ak, 64.60.Fr, 05.70.JkComment: Tex file and three macros appended at the end. Five figures available upon request to: [email protected], Fax: [+]39-40-224-60

The Block Spin Renormalization Group Approach and Two-Dimensional Quantum Gravity

A block spin renormalization group approach is proposed for the dynamical triangulation formulation of two-dimensional quantum gravity. The idea is to update link flips on the block lattice in response to link flips on the original lattice. Just as the connectivity of the original lattice is meant to be a lattice representation of the metric, the block links are determined in such a way that the connectivity of the block lattice represents a block metric. As an illustration, this approach is applied to the Ising model coupled to two-dimensional quantum gravity. The correct critical coupling is reproduced, but the critical exponent is obscured by unusually large finite size effects.Comment: 10 page

Monte Carlo Renormalization of the 3-D Ising model: Analyticity and Convergence

We review the assumptions on which the Monte Carlo renormalization technique is based, in particular the analyticity of the block spin transformations. On this basis, we select an optimized Kadanoff blocking rule in combination with the simulation of a d=3 Ising model with reduced corrections to scaling. This is achieved by including interactions with second and third neighbors. As a consequence of the improved analyticity properties, this Monte Carlo renormalization method yields a fast convergence and a high accuracy. The results for the critical exponents are y_H=2.481(1) and y_T=1.585(3).Comment: RevTeX, 4 PostScript file

Stability of High Voltage Modulators for Nonlinear Loads

OAK-B135 Gyrotrons have a nonlinear voltage--current characteristic such that the small signal or ac impedance changes as operational voltage and currents are reached. The ac impedance determines the stability of a voltage or current control system. this can become particularly challenging when several gyrotron are connected in parallel to a single modulator. With all gyrotrons hooked to a common ground, large current loops can be generated as well as non-canceling currents in individual coaxial lines. These inequalities can provide the required feedback impulse to start an oscillation condition in the power system for the tubes. Recent operation of two CPI 110 GHz gyrotrons in the MN class from a single modulator on DIII-D has shown instability in the power system. An oscillation in the drive current occurs at various points in the ramp up and flat top portions of the 80 kV voltage pulse with each tube drawing 40 A at full voltage. Efforts to stabilize these instabilities are presented along with some modeling and examination of the issues for gyrotron modulators

Ice XII in its second regime of metastability

We present neutron powder diffraction results which give unambiguous evidence for the formation of the recently identified new crystalline ice phase[Lobban et al.,Nature, 391, 268, (1998)], labeled ice XII, at completely different conditions. Ice XII is produced here by compressing hexagonal ice I_h at T = 77, 100, 140 and 160 K up to 1.8 GPa. It can be maintained at ambient pressure in the temperature range 1.5 < T < 135 K. High resolution diffraction is carried out at T = 1.5 K and ambient pressure on ice XII and accurate structural properties are obtained from Rietveld refinement. At T = 140 and 160 K additionally ice III/IX is formed. The increasing amount of ice III/IX with increasing temperature gives an upper limit of T ~ 150 K for the successful formation of ice XII with the presented procedure.Comment: 3 Pages of RevTeX, 3 tables, 3 figures (submitted to Physical Review Letters

The Iteratively Regularized Gau{\ss}-Newton Method with Convex Constraints and Applications in 4Pi-Microscopy

This paper is concerned with the numerical solution of nonlinear ill-posed operator equations involving convex constraints. We study a Newton-type method which consists in applying linear Tikhonov regularization with convex constraints to the Newton equations in each iteration step. Convergence of this iterative regularization method is analyzed if both the operator and the right hand side are given with errors and all error levels tend to zero. Our study has been motivated by the joint estimation of object and phase in 4Pi microscopy, which leads to a semi-blind deconvolution problem with nonnegativity constraints. The performance of the proposed algorithm is illustrated both for simulated and for three-dimensional experimental data

Ab-o'th-yate at the Isle of Man

Literatura dialectal. -- Lancashire. -- Pertenece a la colección 1800-1950 del Salamanca Corpus. -- Prosa. -- Benjamin Brierley. -- Ab-o'th-yate at the Isle of Man. -- 1869. -- Primera edición.[EN] Fiction letters written in the Lancashire dialect. [ES] Cartas escritas en el dialecto de Lancashire