Ullmann-like reactions for the synthesis of complex two-dimensional materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Quardokus, Rebecca C.; Tewary, V. K.; DelRio, Frank W.

2016-11-01

Engineering two-dimensional materials through surface-confined synthetic techniques is a promising avenue for designing new materials with tailored properties. Developing and understanding reaction mechanisms for surface-confined synthesis of two-dimensional materials requires atomic-level characterization and chemical analysis. Beggan et al (2015 Nanotechnology 26 365602) used scanning tunneling microscopy and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to elucidate the formation mechanism of surface-confined Ullmann-like coupling of thiophene substituted porphyrins on Ag(111). Upon surface deposition, bromine is dissociated and the porphyrins couple with surface adatoms to create linear strands and hexagonally packed molecules. Annealing the sample results in covalently-bonded networks of thienylporphyrin derivatives. A deeper understanding of surface-confined Ullmann-like coupling has the potential to lead to precision-engineered nano-structures through synthetic techniques. Contribution of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, not subject to copyright in the United States of America.

Electroosmosis of viscoelastic fluids over charge modulated surfaces in narrow confinements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghosh, Uddipta; Chakraborty, Suman

2015-06-01

In the present work, we attempt to analyze the electroosmotic flow of a viscoelastic fluid, following quasi-linear constitutive behavior, over charge modulated surfaces in narrow confinements. We obtain analytical solutions for the flow field for thin electrical double layer (EDL) limit through asymptotic analysis for small Deborah numbers. We show that a combination of matched and regular asymptotic expansion is needed for the thin EDL limit. We subsequently determine the modified Smoluchowski slip velocity for viscoelastic fluids and show that the quasi-linear nature of the constitutive behavior adds to the periodicity of the flow. We also obtain the net throughput in the channel and demonstrate its relative decrement as compared to that of a Newtonian fluid. Our results may have potential implications towards augmenting microfluidic mixing by exploiting electrokinetic transport of viscoelastic fluids over charge modulated surfaces.

Confining potential in momentum space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Norbury, John W.; Kahana, David E.; Maung, Khin Maung

1992-01-01

A method is presented for the solution in momentum space of the bound state problem with a linear potential in r space. The potential is unbounded at large r leading to a singularity at small q. The singularity is integrable, when regulated by exponentially screening the r-space potential, and is removed by a subtraction technique. The limit of zero screening is taken analytically, and the numerical solution of the subtracted integral equation gives eigenvalues and wave functions in good agreement with position space calculations.

Microfabricated linear Paul-Straubel ion trap

DOEpatents

Mangan, Michael A [Albuquerque, NM; Blain, Matthew G [Albuquerque, NM; Tigges, Chris P [Albuquerque, NM; Linker, Kevin L [Albuquerque, NM

2011-04-19

An array of microfabricated linear Paul-Straubel ion traps can be used for mass spectrometric applications. Each ion trap comprises two parallel inner RF electrodes and two parallel outer DC control electrodes symmetric about a central trap axis and suspended over an opening in a substrate. Neighboring ion traps in the array can share a common outer DC control electrode. The ions confined transversely by an RF quadrupole electric field potential well on the ion trap axis. The array can trap a wide array of ions.

Evidence for the confinement of magnetic monopoles in quantum spin ice.

PubMed

Sarte, P M; Aczel, A A; Ehlers, G; Stock, C; Gaulin, B D; Mauws, C; Stone, M B; Calder, S; Nagler, S E; Hollett, J W; Zhou, H D; Gardner, J S; Attfield, J P; Wiebe, C R

2017-10-19

Magnetic monopoles are hypothesised elementary particles connected by Dirac strings that behave like infinitely thin solenoids (Dirac 1931 Proc. R. Soc. A 133 60). Despite decades of searching, free magnetic monopoles and their Dirac strings have eluded experimental detection, although there is substantial evidence for deconfined magnetic monopole quasiparticles in spin ice materials (Castelnovo et al 2008 Nature 326 411). Here we report the detection of a hierarchy of unequally-spaced magnetic excitations via high resolution inelastic neutron spectroscopic measurements on the quantum spin ice candidate [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text]. These excitations are well-described by a simple model of monopole pairs bound by a linear potential (Coldea et al Science 327 177) with an effective tension of 0.642(8) K [Formula: see text] at 1.65 K. The success of the linear potential model suggests that these low energy magnetic excitations are direct spectroscopic evidence for the confinement of magnetic monopole quasiparticles in the quantum spin ice candidate [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text].

Stability of Electrons in the Virtual Cathode Region of an IEC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Hyng-Jin; Miley, George; Momota, Hiromu

2003-04-01

In the Inertial Electrostatic Confinement (IEC) device, electrons are confined inside a virtual anode that in turn confines ions. Prior stability studies [1, 2] have considered systems in which one species is electrostatically confined by the other, and either or both species are out of local thermal equilibrium. In the present research, electron stability in the virtual cathode region of an ion injected IEC is being studied. The ion density in an IEC is non-uniform due to the radial electrostatic potential, and increases toward the center region. The potential near the virtual cathode is assumed to have a parabolic shape and is determined assuming that the net space charge density is constant in that region. The corresponding ion distribution function is assumed to have the form f = C [sigma] (H W) /L^0.5 and the electron response is taken to be diabatic. Then using a variational principle after linearizing the hydrodynamic equations, stability properties of the electron layer are determined. Results will be presented as a function of injected ion/electron current ratios. 1. L. Chacon and D. C. Barnes, Phys. Plasma 7, 4774 (2000). 2. D. C. Barnes, L. Chacon, and J. M. Finn, Phys. Plasmas 9, 4448 (2002).

Linear complexions: Confined chemical and structural states at dislocations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuzmina, M.; Herbig, M.; Ponge, D.; Sandlöbes, S.; Raabe, D.

2015-09-01

For 5000 years, metals have been mankind’s most essential materials owing to their ductility and strength. Linear defects called dislocations carry atomic shear steps, enabling their formability. We report chemical and structural states confined at dislocations. In a body-centered cubic Fe-9 atomic percent Mn alloy, we found Mn segregation at dislocation cores during heating, followed by formation of face-centered cubic regions but no further growth. The regions are in equilibrium with the matrix and remain confined to the dislocation cores with coherent interfaces. The phenomenon resembles interface-stabilized structural states called complexions. A cubic meter of strained alloy contains up to a light year of dislocation length, suggesting that linear complexions could provide opportunities to nanostructure alloys via segregation and confined structural states.

Photonic engineering of highly linearly polarized quantum dot emission at telecommunication wavelengths

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mrowiński, P.; Emmerling, M.; Schneider, C.; Reithmaier, J. P.; Misiewicz, J.; Höfling, S.; Sek, G.

2018-04-01

In this work, we discuss a method to control the polarization anisotropy of spontaneous emission from neutral excitons confined in quantum-dot-like nanostructures, namely single epitaxial InAs quantum dashes emitting at telecom wavelengths. The nanostructures are embedded inside lithographically defined, in-plane asymmetric photonic mesa structures, which generate polarization-dependent photonic confinement. First, we study the influence of the photonic confinement on the polarization anisotropy of the emission by photoluminescence spectroscopy, and we find evidence of different contributions to a degree of linear polarization (DOLP), i.e., from the quantum dash and the photonic mesa, in total giving rise to DOLP =0.85 . Then, we perform finite-difference time-domain simulations of photonic confinement, and we calculate the DOLP in a dipole approximation showing well-matched results for the established model. Furthermore, by using numerical calculations, we demonstrate several types of photonic confinements where highly linearly polarized emission with DOLP of about 0.9 is possible by controlling the position of a quantum emitter inside the photonic structure. Then, we elaborate on anisotropic quantum emitters allowing for exceeding DOLP =0.95 in an optimized case, and we discuss the ways towards efficient linearly polarized single photon source at telecom bands.

A study of an advanced confined linear energy source

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Anderson, M. C.; Heidemann, W. B.

1971-01-01

A literature survey and a test program to develop and evaluate an advanced confined linear energy source were conducted. The advanced confined linear energy source is an explosive or pyrotechnic X-Cord (mild detonating fuse) supported inside a confining tube capable of being hermetically sealed and retaining all products of combustion. The energy released by initiation of the X-Cord is transmitted through the support material to the walls of the confining tube causing an appreciable change in cross sectional configuration and expansion of the tube. When located in an assembly that can accept and use the energy of the tube expansion, useful work is accomplished through fracture of a structure, movement of a load, reposition of a pin, release of a restraint, or similar action. The tube assembly imparts that energy without release of debris or gases from the device itself. This facet of the function is important to the protection of men or equipment located in close proximity to the system during the time of function.

Linear complexions: Confined chemical and structural states at dislocations.

PubMed

Kuzmina, M; Herbig, M; Ponge, D; Sandlöbes, S; Raabe, D

2015-09-04

For 5000 years, metals have been mankind's most essential materials owing to their ductility and strength. Linear defects called dislocations carry atomic shear steps, enabling their formability. We report chemical and structural states confined at dislocations. In a body-centered cubic Fe-9 atomic percent Mn alloy, we found Mn segregation at dislocation cores during heating, followed by formation of face-centered cubic regions but no further growth. The regions are in equilibrium with the matrix and remain confined to the dislocation cores with coherent interfaces. The phenomenon resembles interface-stabilized structural states called complexions. A cubic meter of strained alloy contains up to a light year of dislocation length, suggesting that linear complexions could provide opportunities to nanostructure alloys via segregation and confined structural states. Copyright © 2015, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

FLORA

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

1985-04-01

FLORA solves, in a 2D domain for the linearized stability of a long-thin (paraxial)axisymmetric equilibrium. This is of interest for determining the magnetohydrodynamic stability of a magnetic mirror plasma confinement system including finite-Larmor radius and rotation effects. An axisymmetric plasma equilibrium is specified by providing pressure profiles, the plasma mass density, the vacuum magnetic fields, and plasma electric potential as functions of (?).

Evidence for the Confinement of Magnetic Monopoles in Quantum Spin Ice.

PubMed

Sarte, Paul Maximo; Aczel, Adam; Ehlers, Georg; Stock, Christopher; Gaulin, Bruce D; Mauws, Cole; Stone, Matthew B; Calder, Stuart; Nagler, Stephen; Hollett, Joshua; Zhou, Haidong; Gardner, Jason S; Attfield, J Paul; Wiebe, Christopher R

2017-09-25

Magnetic monopoles are hypothesised elementary particles connected by Dirac strings that behave like infinitely thin solenoids [Dirac 1931 Proc. Roy. Soc. A 133 60]. Despite decades of searches, free magnetic monopoles and their Dirac strings have eluded experimental detection, although there is substantial evidence for deconfined magnetic monopole quasiparticles in spin ice materials [Castelnovo, Moessner & Sondhi 2008 Nature 326 411]. Here we report the detection of a hierarchy of unequally-spaced magnetic excitations via high resolution inelastic neutron spectroscopic measurements on the quantum spin ice candidate Pr₂Sn₂O₇. These excitations are well-described by a simple model of monopole pairs bound by a linear potential [Coldea et al. Science 327 177] with an effective tension of 0.7(1) K/Angstrom. The success of the linear potential model suggests that these low energy magnetic excitations are direct spectroscopic evidence for the confinement of magnetic monopole quasiparticles in the quantum spin ice candidate Pr₂Sn₂O₇. © 2017 IOP Publishing Ltd.

Confined dynamics of grafted polymer chains in solutions of linear polymer

DOE PAGES

Poling-Skutvik, Ryan D.; Olafson, Katy N.; Narayanan, Suresh; ...

2017-09-11

Here, we measure the dynamics of high molecular weight polystyrene grafted to silica nanoparticles dispersed in semidilute solutions of linear polymer. Structurally, the linear free chains do not penetrate the grafted corona but increase the osmotic pressure of the solution, collapsing the grafted polymer and leading to eventual aggregation of the grafted particles at high matrix concentrations. Dynamically, the relaxations of the grafted polymer are controlled by the solvent viscosity according to the Zimm model on short time scales. On longer time scales, the grafted chains are confined by neighboring grafted chains, preventing full relaxation over the experimental time scale.more » Adding free linear polymer to the solution does not affect the initial Zimm relaxations of the grafted polymer but does increase the confinement of the grafted chains. Finally, our results elucidate the physics underlying the slow relaxations of grafted polymer.« less

Confined dynamics of grafted polymer chains in solutions of linear polymer

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Poling-Skutvik, Ryan D.; Olafson, Katy N.; Narayanan, Suresh

Here, we measure the dynamics of high molecular weight polystyrene grafted to silica nanoparticles dispersed in semidilute solutions of linear polymer. Structurally, the linear free chains do not penetrate the grafted corona but increase the osmotic pressure of the solution, collapsing the grafted polymer and leading to eventual aggregation of the grafted particles at high matrix concentrations. Dynamically, the relaxations of the grafted polymer are controlled by the solvent viscosity according to the Zimm model on short time scales. On longer time scales, the grafted chains are confined by neighboring grafted chains, preventing full relaxation over the experimental time scale.more » Adding free linear polymer to the solution does not affect the initial Zimm relaxations of the grafted polymer but does increase the confinement of the grafted chains. Finally, our results elucidate the physics underlying the slow relaxations of grafted polymer.« less

Giant enhancement of reflectance due to the interplay between surface confined wave modes and nonlinear gain in dielectric media.

PubMed

Kim, Sangbum; Kim, Kihong

2017-12-11

We study theoretically the interplay between the surface confined wave modes and the linear and nonlinear gain of the dielectric layer in the Otto configuration. The surface confined wave modes, such as surface plasmons or waveguide modes, are excited in the dielectric-metal bilayer by obliquely incident p waves. In the purely linear case, we find that the interplay between linear gain and surface confined wave modes can generate a large reflectance peak with its value much greater than 1. As the linear gain parameter increases, the peak appears at smaller incident angles, and the associated modes also change from surface plasmons to waveguide modes. When the nonlinear gain is turned on, the reflectance shows very strong multistability near the incident angles associated with surface confined wave modes. As the nonlinear gain parameter is varied, the reflectance curve undergoes complicated topological changes and sometimes displays separated closed curves. When the nonlinear gain parameter takes an optimally small value, a giant amplification of the reflectance by three orders of magnitude occurs near the incident angle associated with a waveguide mode. We also find that there exists a range of the incident angle where the wave is dissipated rather than amplified even in the presence of gain. We suggest that this can provide the basis for a possible new technology for thermal control in the subwavelength scale.

Full-Scale Linear Cutting Tests in Chongqing Sandstone to Study the Influence of Confining Stress on Rock Cutting Forces by TBM Disc Cutter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pan, Yucong; Liu, Quansheng; Liu, Jianping; Peng, Xingxin; Kong, Xiaoxuan

2018-06-01

In order to study the influence of confining stress on rock cutting forces by tunnel boring machine (TBM) disc cutter, full-scale linear cutting tests are conducted in Chongqing Sandstone (uniaxial compressive strength 60.76 MPa) using five equal biaxial confining stressed conditions, i.e. 0-0, 5-5, 10-10, 15-15 and 20-20 MPa; disc cutter normal force, rolling force, cutting coefficient and normalized resultant force are analysed. It is found that confining stress can greatly affect disc cutter resultant force, its proportion in normal and rolling directions and its acting point for the hard Chongqing Sandstone and the confining stress range used in this study. For every confining stressed condition, as cutter penetration depth increases, disc cutter normal force increases with decreasing speed, rolling force and cutting coefficient both increase linearly, and acting point of the disc cutter resultant force moves downward at some extent firstly and then upward back to its initial position. For same cutter penetration depth, as confining stress increases, disc cutter normal force, rolling force, cutting coefficient and normalized resultant force all increase at some extent firstly and then decrease rapidly to very small values (quite smaller than those obtained under the non-stressed condition) after some certain confining stress thresholds. The influence of confining stress on rock cutting by TBM disc cutter can be generally divided into three stages as confining stress increases, i.e. strengthening effect stage, damaging effect stage and rupturing effect stage. In the former two stages (under low confining stress), rock remains intact and rock cutting forces are higher than those obtained under the non-stressed condition, and thus rock cutting by TBM disc cutter is restrained; in the last stage (under high confining stress), rock becomes non-intact and rock slabbing failure is induced by confining stress before disc cutting, and thus rock cutting by TBM disc cutter is facilitated. Meanwhile, some critical values of confining stress and cutter penetration depth are identified to represent the changes of rock cutting state. This study provides better understanding of the influence of confining stress on disc cutter performance and can guide to optimize the TBM operation under stressed condition.

Numerical modelling of electromagnetic loads on fusion device structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bettini, Paolo; Furno Palumbo, Maurizio; Specogna, Ruben

2014-03-01

In magnetic confinement fusion devices, during abnormal operations (disruptions) the plasma begins to move rapidly towards the vessel wall in a vertical displacement event (VDE), producing plasma current asymmetries, vessel eddy currents and open field line halo currents, each of which can exert potentially damaging forces upon the vessel and in-vessel components. This paper presents a methodology to estimate electromagnetic loads, on three-dimensional conductive structures surrounding the plasma, which arise from the interaction of halo-currents associated to VDEs with a magnetic field of the order of some Tesla needed for plasma confinement. Lorentz forces, calculated by complementary formulations, are used as constraining loads in a linear static structural analysis carried out on a detailed model of the mechanical structures of a representative machine.

Many-body excitations and deexcitations in trapped ultracold bosonic clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Theisen, Marcus; Streltsov, Alexej I.

2016-11-01

We employ the multiconfigurational time-dependent Hartree for bosons (MCTDHB) method to study excited states of interacting Bose-Einstein condensates confined by harmonic and double-well trap potentials. Two approaches to access excitations, one static and the other dynamic, are investigated and contrasted. In static simulations the low-lying excitations are computed by utilizing a linear-response theory constructed on top of a static MCTDHB solution (LR-MCTDHB). Complimentarily, we propose two dynamic protocols that address excitations by propagating the MCTDHB wave function. In particular, we investigate dipolelike oscillations induced by shifting the origin of the confining potential and breathinglike excitations by quenching the frequency of a parabolic part of the trap. To contrast static predictions and dynamic results we compute the time evolution and regard the respective Fourier transform of several local and nonlocal observables. Namely, we study the expectation value of the position operator , its variance Var [x (t )] , and a local density computed at selected positions. We find that the variance is the most sensitive and informative quantity: Along with excitations it contains information about deexcitations even in a linear regime of the induced dynamics. The dynamic protocols are found to access the many-body excitations predicted by the static LR-MCTDHB approach.

Structural and lithologic study of northern coast ranges and Sacramento Valley, California

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rich, E. I. (Principal Investigator)

1973-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. Analysis of ERTS-1 imagery of the Northern California Coast Ranges has disclosed a potential relation between a heretofore unrecognized fracture system and known deposits of mercury and geothermally active areas in the Coast Range and between oil and gas fields in the Sacramento Valley. Three potentially important systems of linear elements within the Coast Ranges, detected on ERTS-1 imagery, may represent fault systems or zones of shearing because topographic offset and stratigraph disruption can be seen along one or two of the lineations. One of the systems in subparallel to the San Andreas fault and is confined to the Pacific Coastal Belt. Another set is confined to the central core of the Coast Ranges. The third set of linear features (Valley System) has not heretofore been recognized. Some of the known mercury deposits and geothermally active areas near Clear Lake, in the Coast Ranges, are along the Valley System or at the intersection of the Central and Valley Systems. The plotted locations of some of the oil and gas fields in the Sacramento Valley are associated with the Valley and/or Central Systems. If these relations prove reliable, the ERTS-1 imagery may prove to be an extremely useful exploration tool.

A simple derivation for amplitude and time period of charged particles in an electrostatic bathtub potential

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prathap Reddy, K.

2016-11-01

An ‘electrostatic bathtub potential’ is defined and analytical expressions for the time period and amplitude of charged particles in this potential are obtained and compared with simulations. These kinds of potentials are encountered in linear electrostatic ion traps, where the potential along the axis appears like a bathtub. Ion traps are used in basic physics research and mass spectrometry to store ions; these stored ions make oscillatory motion within the confined volume of the trap. Usually these traps are designed and studied using ion optical software, but in this work the bathtub potential is reproduced by making two simple modifications to the harmonic oscillator potential. The addition of a linear ‘k 1|x|’ potential makes the simple harmonic potential curve steeper with a sharper turn at the origin, while the introduction of a finite-length zero potential region at the centre reproduces the flat region of the bathtub curve. This whole exercise of modelling a practical experimental situation in terms of a well-known simple physics problem may generate interest among readers.

Long-distance Lienard-Wiechert potentials and qq-bar spin dependence

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Childers, R.W.

1987-12-15

The long-range spin dependence of the qq interaction is considered in a model in which the confining potential is required to be the static limit of retarded scalar and vector potentials analogous to the Lienard-Wiechert potentials of classical electrodynamics. A generalization of Darwin's method is used to obtain the corresponding Hamiltonian. The long-distance spin-dependent interaction is found to be determined completely by only two potentials: namely, the static scalar and vector potentials. This is to be compared with the four potentials required in Eichten and Feinberg's general formulation. Two different solutions are allowed by Gromes's theorem. In one, the scalarmore » potential can be linear; in the other, it must be logarithmic.« less

Some problems in applications of the linear variational method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pupyshev, Vladimir I.; Montgomery, H. E.

2015-09-01

The linear variational method is a standard computational method in quantum mechanics and quantum chemistry. As taught in most classes, the general guidance is to include as many basis functions as practical in the variational wave function. However, if it is desired to study the patterns of energy change accompanying the change of system parameters such as the shape and strength of the potential energy, the problem becomes more complicated. We use one-dimensional systems with a particle in a rectangular or in a harmonic potential confined in an infinite rectangular box to illustrate situations where a variational calculation can give incorrect results. These situations result when the energy of the lowest eigenvalue is strongly dependent on the parameters that describe the shape and strength of the potential. The numerical examples described in this work are provided as cautionary notes for practitioners of numerical variational calculations.

Influence of image charge effect on impurity-related optical absorption coefficients and refractive index changes in a spherical quantum dot

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vartanian, A. L.; Asatryan, A. L.; Vardanyan, L. A.

2017-03-01

We have investigated the influence of an image charge effect (ICE) on the energies of the ground and first few excited states of a hydrogen-like impurity in a spherical quantum dot (QD) in the presence of an external electric field. The oscillator strengths of transitions from the 1 s -like state to excited states of 2px and 2pz symmetries are calculated as the functions of the strengths of the confinement potential and the electric field. Also, we have studied the effect of image charges on linear and third-order nonlinear optical absorption coefficients and refractive index changes (RICs). The results show that image charges lead to the decrease of energies for all the hydrogen-like states, to the significant enhancement of the oscillator strengths of transitions between the impurity states, and to comparatively large blue shifts in linear, nonlinear, and total absorption coefficients and refractive index changes. Our results indicate that the total optical characteristics can be controlled by the strength of the confinement and the electric field.

Numerical simulation of rock fragmentation during cutting by conical picks under confining pressure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Xuefeng; Wang, Shibo; Ge, Shirong; Malekian, Reza; Li, Zhixiong

2017-12-01

In this article, the effect of confining pressure on rock fragmentation process during cutting was investigated by numerical simulation with a discrete element method (DEM). Four kinds of sandstones with different physical properties were simulated in the rock cutting models under different confining pressures. The rock fragmentation process, the cutting force, and the specific energy under different confining pressures were analyzed. With the increase in confining pressure and rock strength, the vertical propagation of cracks was restrained. Rock samples were compacted and strengthened by confining pressure resulting in the increase of the cutting force. The specific energy of rock cutting linearly increased with the increase of the confining pressure ratio.

Crystallization of soft matter under confinement at interfaces and in wedges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Archer, Andrew J.; Malijevský, Alexandr

2016-06-01

The surface freezing and surface melting transitions that are exhibited by a model two-dimensional soft matter system are studied. The behaviour when confined within a wedge is also considered. The system consists of particles interacting via a soft purely repulsive pair potential. Density functional theory (DFT) is used to calculate density profiles and thermodynamic quantities. The external potential due to the confining walls is modelled via a hard wall with an additional repulsive Yukawa potential. The surface phase behaviour depends on the range and strength of this repulsion: when the repulsion is weak, the wall promotes freezing at the surface of the wall. The thickness of this frozen layer grows logarithmically as the bulk liquid-solid phase coexistence is approached. Our mean-field DFT predicts that this crystalline layer at the wall must be nucleated (i.e. there is a free energy barrier) and its formation is necessarily a first-order transition, referred to as ‘prefreezing’, by analogy with the prewetting transition. However, in contrast to the latter, prefreezing cannot terminate in a critical point, since the phase transition involves a change in symmetry. If the wall-fluid interaction is sufficiently long ranged and the repulsion is strong enough, surface melting can occur instead. Then the interface between the wall and the bulk crystalline solid is wetted by the liquid phase as the chemical potential is decreased towards the value at liquid-solid coexistence. It is observed that the finite thickness fluid film at the wall has a broken translational symmetry due to its proximity to the bulk crystal, and so the nucleation of the wetting film can be either first order or continuous. Our mean-field theory predicts that for certain wall potentials there is a premelting critical point analogous to the surface critical point for the prewetting transition. When the fluid is confined within a linear wedge, this can strongly promote freezing when the opening angle of the wedge is commensurate with the crystal lattice.

Confinement with Perturbation Theory, After All?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoyer, Paul

2015-09-01

I call attention to the possibility that QCD bound states (hadrons) could be derived using rigorous Hamiltonian, perturbative methods. Solving Gauss' law for A 0 with a non-vanishing boundary condition at spatial infinity gives an linear potential for color singlet and qqq states. These states are Poincaré and gauge covariant and thus can serve as initial states of a perturbative expansion, replacing the conventional free in and out states. The coupling freezes at , allowing reasonable convergence. The bound states have a sea of pairs, while transverse gluons contribute only at . Pair creation in the linear A 0 potential leads to string breaking and hadron loop corrections. These corrections give finite widths to excited states, as required by unitarity. Several of these features have been verified analytically in D = 1 + 1 dimensions, and some in D = 3 + 1.

Lenard-Balescu calculations and classical molecular dynamics simulations of electrical and thermal conductivities of hydrogen plasmas

DOE PAGES

Whitley, Heather D.; Scullard, Christian R.; Benedict, Lorin X.; ...

2014-12-04

Here, we present a discussion of kinetic theory treatments of linear electrical and thermal transport in hydrogen plasmas, for a regime of interest to inertial confinement fusion applications. In order to assess the accuracy of one of the more involved of these approaches, classical Lenard-Balescu theory, we perform classical molecular dynamics simulations of hydrogen plasmas using 2-body quantum statistical potentials and compute both electrical and thermal conductivity from out particle trajectories using the Kubo approach. Our classical Lenard-Balescu results employing the identical statistical potentials agree well with the simulations.

Wall charging of a helicon antenna wrapped plasma filled dielectric tube

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Barada, Kshitish K., E-mail: kbarada@physics.ucla.edu; Chattopadhyay, P. K., E-mail: pkchatto@ipr.res.in; Ghosh, J.

2015-01-15

Dielectric wall charging of a cylindrical glass wall surrounded by a helicon antenna of 18 cm length is measured in a linear helicon plasma device with a diverging magnetic field. The ions because of their lesser mobility do not respond to the high frequency electric field and the electrons charge the wall to a negative DC potential also known as the DC self-bias. The wall potential in this device is characterized for different neutral pressure, magnetic field, and radio frequency (RF) power. Axial variation of wall potential shows higher self-bias potentials near the antenna rings. Ion magnetization in the source chambermore » increases both wall charging and plasma potential of the source due to confinement.« less

Nanoscale Trapping and Squeeze-Out of Confined Alkane Monolayers.

PubMed

Gosvami, N N; O'Shea, S J

2015-12-01

We present combined force curve and conduction atomic force microscopy (AFM) data for the linear alkanes CnH2n+2 (n = 10, 12, 14, 16) confined between a gold-coated AFM tip and a graphite surface. Solvation layering is observed in the force curves for all liquids, and conduction AFM is used to study in detail the removal of the confined (mono)layer closest to the graphite surface. The squeeze-out behavior of the monolayer can be very different depending upon the temperature. Below the monolayer melting transition temperatures the molecules are in an ordered state on the graphite surface, and fast and complete removal of the confined molecules is observed. However, above the melting transition temperature the molecules are in a disordered state, and even at large applied pressure a few liquid molecules are trapped within the tip-sample contact zone. These findings are similar to a previous study for branched alkanes [ Gosvami Phys. Rev. Lett. 2008, 100, 076101 ], but the observation for the linear alkane homologue series demonstrates clearly the dependence of the squeeze-out and trapping on the state of the confined material.

Estimating the effect of selected predictors on agricultural confined-space hazard perceptions of Utah farm owner/operators.

PubMed

Pate, M L; Dai, X

2014-04-01

The purpose of this study was to assess how selected variables affect the confined-space hazard perceptions of farmers in Utah. A confined space was defined as "any space found in an agricultural workplace that was not designed or intended as a regular workstation, has limited or restricted means of entry or exit, and contains potential physical and toxic hazards to workers who intentionally or unintentionally enter the space" (proposed by NCERA-197, 18 May 2011, draft copy). A total of 303 out of 327 farm owner/operators provided complete surveys that were used in the analysis. The state of Utah was grouped into five regions in this study: central, east, northeast, northwest, and southwest. Grain and dairy production comprised 48.7% of the operations responding to the survey. The general linear modeling (GLM) procedure in SAS 9.3 was used to select the models on hazard perception scores for the five studied regions. Interested predictors included response type, production type, safety planning, and injury concerns. Animal production operations had the highest average number of confined spaces (micro = 4, SD = 2.7). Regionally, the northwest region had the highest average number of confined spaces (micro = 4, SD = 2.5). The variables contributing most to confined-space hazard perceptions were injury and death concerns while working alone in confined spaces. Three factors were generated using principle factor analysis (PFA) with orthogonal varimax rotation. Results suggested that factors affect hazard perceptions differently by region. We conclude that outreach and educational efforts to change safety behaviors regarding confined-space hazards should be strategically targeted for each region based on predicting factors. The result can assist agricultural safety and health professionals in targeting agricultural producers' social networks to address human factors such as worker attitudes and/or lack of skills or knowledge that effect hazard perceptions of confined spaces in agriculture.

Spectra of confined positronium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Munjal, D.; Silotia, P.; Prasad, V.

2017-12-01

Positronium is studied under the effect of spherically confined plasma environment. Exponentially Cosine Screened Coulomb potential (ECSC) has been used to include the dense plasma screening effect on positronium. Time independent Schrodinger equation is solved numerically. Various physical parameters such as energy eigenvalues, radial matrix elements, oscillator strengths, and polarizability are well explored as a function of confinement parameters. Oscillator strength gets drastically modified under confinement. We have also obtained the results for Ps confined under spherically confined Debye potential and compared with results of ECSC potential. Also incidental degeneracy for different values of confinement parameters has been reported for the first time for positronium.

A molecular scale perspective: Monte Carlo simulation for rupturing of ultra thin polymer film melts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, Satya Pal

2017-04-01

Monte Carlo simulation has been performed to study the rupturing process of thin polymer film under strong confinement. The change in mean square displacement; pair correlation function; density distribution; average bond length and microscopic viscosity are sampled by varying the molecular interaction parameters such as the strength and the equilibrium positions of the bonding, non-bonding potentials and the sizes of the beads. The variation in mean square angular displacement χθ = [ < Δθ2 > - < Δθ>2 ] fits very well to a function of type y (t) = A + B *e-t/τ. This may help to study the viscous properties of the films and its dependence on different parameters. The ultra thin film annealed at high temperature gets ruptured and holes are created in the film mimicking spinodal dewetting. The pair correlation function and density profile reveal rich information about the equilibrium structure of the film. The strength and equilibrium bond length of finite extensible non-linear elastic potential (FENE) and non-bonding Morse potential have clear impact on microscopic rupturing of the film. The beads show Rouse or repetition motion forming rim like structures near the holes created inside the film. The higher order interaction as dipole-quadrupole may get prominence under strong confinement. The enhanced excluded volume interaction under strong confinement may overlap with the molecular dispersion forces. It can work to reorganize the molecules at the bottom of the scale and can imprint its signature in complex patterns evolved.

Stability analysis of confined V-shaped flames in high-velocity streams.

PubMed

El-Rabii, Hazem; Joulin, Guy; Kazakov, Kirill A

2010-06-01

The problem of linear stability of confined V-shaped flames with arbitrary gas expansion is addressed. Using the on-shell description of flame dynamics, a general equation governing propagation of disturbances of an anchored flame is obtained. This equation is solved analytically for V-flames anchored in high-velocity channel streams. It is demonstrated that dynamics of the flame disturbances in this case is controlled by the memory effects associated with vorticity generated by the perturbed flame. The perturbation growth rate spectrum is determined, and explicit analytical expressions for the eigenfunctions are given. It is found that the piecewise linear V structure is unstable for all values of the gas expansion coefficient. Despite the linearity of the basic pattern, however, evolutions of the V-flame disturbances are completely different from those found for freely propagating planar flames or open anchored flames. The obtained results reveal strong influence of the basic flow and the channel walls on the stability properties of confined V-flames.

Temperature dependence of Coulomb oscillations in a few-layer two-dimensional WS2 quantum dot.

PubMed

Song, Xiang-Xiang; Zhang, Zhuo-Zhi; You, Jie; Liu, Di; Li, Hai-Ou; Cao, Gang; Xiao, Ming; Guo, Guo-Ping

2015-11-05

Standard semiconductor fabrication techniques are used to fabricate a quantum dot (QD) made of WS2, where Coulomb oscillations were found. The full-width-at-half-maximum of the Coulomb peaks increases linearly with temperature while the height of the peaks remains almost independent of temperature, which is consistent with standard semiconductor QD theory. Unlike graphene etched QDs, where Coulomb peaks belonging to the same QD can have different temperature dependences, these results indicate the absence of the disordered confining potential. This difference in the potential-forming mechanism between graphene etched QDs and WS2 QDs may be the reason for the larger potential fluctuation found in graphene QDs.

Temperature dependence of Coulomb oscillations in a few-layer two-dimensional WS2 quantum dot

PubMed Central

Song, Xiang-Xiang; Zhang, Zhuo-Zhi; You, Jie; Liu, Di; Li, Hai-Ou; Cao, Gang; Xiao, Ming; Guo, Guo-Ping

2015-01-01

Standard semiconductor fabrication techniques are used to fabricate a quantum dot (QD) made of WS2, where Coulomb oscillations were found. The full-width-at-half-maximum of the Coulomb peaks increases linearly with temperature while the height of the peaks remains almost independent of temperature, which is consistent with standard semiconductor QD theory. Unlike graphene etched QDs, where Coulomb peaks belonging to the same QD can have different temperature dependences, these results indicate the absence of the disordered confining potential. This difference in the potential-forming mechanism between graphene etched QDs and WS2 QDs may be the reason for the larger potential fluctuation found in graphene QDs. PMID:26538164

Non-linear wave-particle interactions and fast ion loss induced by multiple Alfvén eigenmodes in the DIII-D tokamak

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chen, Xi; Kramer, Gerrit J.; Heidbrink, William W.

2014-05-21

A new non-linear feature has been observed in fast-ion loss from tokamak plasmas in the form of oscillations at the sum, difference and second harmonic frequencies of two independent Alfvén eigenmodes (AEs). Full orbit calculations and analytic theory indicate this non-linearity is due to coupling of fast-ion orbital response as it passes through each AE — a change in wave-particle phase k • r by one mode alters the force exerted by the next. Furthermore, the loss measurement is of barely confined, non-resonant particles, while similar non-linear interactions can occur between well-confined particles and multiple AEs leading to enhanced fast-ionmore » transport.« less

Control of the conformations of ion Coulomb crystals in a Penning trap

PubMed Central

Mavadia, Sandeep; Goodwin, Joseph F.; Stutter, Graham; Bharadia, Shailen; Crick, Daniel R.; Segal, Daniel M.; Thompson, Richard C.

2013-01-01

Laser-cooled atomic ions form ordered structures in radiofrequency ion traps and in Penning traps. Here we demonstrate in a Penning trap the creation and manipulation of a wide variety of ion Coulomb crystals formed from small numbers of ions. The configuration can be changed from a linear string, through intermediate geometries, to a planar structure. The transition from a linear string to a zigzag geometry is observed for the first time in a Penning trap. The conformations of the crystals are set by the applied trap potential and the laser parameters, and agree with simulations. These simulations indicate that the rotation frequency of a small crystal is mainly determined by the laser parameters, independent of the number of ions and the axial confinement strength. This system has potential applications for quantum simulation, quantum information processing and tests of fundamental physics models from quantum field theory to cosmology. PMID:24096901

Influence of damping on the frequency-dependent polarizabilities of doped quantum dot

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pal, Suvajit; Ghosh, Manas

2014-09-01

We investigate the profiles of diagonal components of frequency-dependent linear (αxx and αyy), and first nonlinear (βxxx and βyyy) optical response of repulsive impurity doped quantum dots. The dopant impurity potential chosen assumes Gaussian form. The study principally focuses on investigating the role of damping on the polarizability components. In view of this the dopant is considered to be propagating under damped condition which is otherwise linear inherently. The frequency-dependent polarizabilities are then analyzed by placing the doped dot to a periodically oscillating external electric field of given intensity. The damping strength, in conjunction with external oscillation frequency and confinement potentials, fabricate the polarizability components in a fascinating manner which is adorned with emergence of maximization, minimization, and saturation. The discrimination in the values of the polarizability components in x and y-directions has also been addressed in the present context.

Bimetallic Microswimmers Speed Up in Confining Channels.

PubMed

Liu, Chang; Zhou, Chao; Wang, Wei; Zhang, H P

2016-11-04

Synthetic microswimmers are envisioned to be useful in numerous applications, many of which occur in tightly confined spaces. It is therefore important to understand how confinement influences swimmer dynamics. Here we study the motility of bimetallic microswimmers in linear and curved channels. Our experiments show swimmer velocities increase, up to 5 times, with the degree of confinement, and the relative velocity increase depends weakly on the fuel concentration and ionic strength in solution. Experimental results are reproduced in a numerical model which attributes the swimmer velocity increase to electrostatic and electrohydrodynamic boundary effects. Our work not only helps to elucidate the confinement effect of phoretic swimmers, but also suggests that spatial confinement may be used as an effective control method for them.

Effect of chain topology on crystallization within nanoporous alumina

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yao, Yang; Suzuki, Yasuhito; Sakai, Takamasa; Seiwert, Jan; Frey, Holger; Steinhart, Martin; Butt, Hans-Juergen; Floudas, George

Polymer topology has inevitable influence on the structure, packing, and dynamic of chains. Herein, we investigate for the first time the impact of polymer architecture on crystallization under 2D confinement, the latter provided by nanoporous alumina (AAO). We employ two poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) star polymers to study the effect of (i) end groups and (ii) molecular weight on polymer crystallization in the bulk and under confinement. Bulk end groups reduce the crystallization/melting temperatures and the corresponding equilibrium melting point. Under confinement, in the absence of catalyst, homogeneous nucleation prevails as with linear PEOs. The homogeneous nucleation temperatures for the star polymers agree with that of linear ones provided that the arm molecular weight is used instead. Long-range dynamics pertinent to star relaxation are affecting the homogeneous nucleation temperature. On the other hand, the segmental dynamics speed up on confinement. In addition to star PEO, we study the effect of another topology, i.e. hyperbranched PEO, on the nucleation mechanism.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sanchez-Monroy, J.A., E-mail: antosan@gmail.com; Quimbay, C.J., E-mail: cjquimbayh@unal.edu.co; Centro Internacional de Fisica, Bogota D.C.

In the context of a semiclassical approach where vectorial gauge fields can be considered as classical fields, we obtain exact static solutions of the SU(N) Yang-Mills equations in an (n+1)-dimensional curved space-time, for the cases n=1,2,3. As an application of the results obtained for the case n=3, we consider the solutions for the anti-de Sitter and Schwarzschild metrics. We show that these solutions have a confining behavior and can be considered as a first step in the study of the corrections of the spectra of quarkonia in a curved background. Since the solutions that we find in this work aremore » valid also for the group U(1), the case n=2 is a description of the (2+1) electrodynamics in the presence of a point charge. For this case, the solution has a confining behavior and can be considered as an application of the planar electrodynamics in a curved space-time. Finally we find that the solution for the case n=1 is invariant under a parity transformation and has the form of a linear confining solution. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer We study exact static confining solutions of the SU(N) Yang-Mills equations in an (n+1)-dimensional curved space-time. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The solutions found are a first step in the study of the corrections on the spectra of quarkonia in a curved background. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer A expression for the confinement potential in low dimensionality is found.« less

Separation of Arylenevinylene Macrocycles with a Surface-Confined Two-Dimensional Covalent Organic Framework.

PubMed

Liu, Chunhua; Park, Eunsol; Jin, Yinghua; Liu, Jie; Yu, Yanxia; Zhang, Wei; Lei, Shengbin; Hu, Wenping

2018-05-31

A two-dimensional surface covalent organic framework, prepared by a surface-confined synthesis using 4,4'-azodianiline and benzene-1,3,5-tricarbaldehyde as the precursors, was used as a host network to effectively immobilize arylenevinylene macrocycles (AVMs). Thus AVMs could be separated from their linear polymer analogues, which are the common side-products in the cyclooligomerization process. Scanning tunneling microscopy investigations revealed efficient removal of linear polymers by a simple surface binding and solvent washing process. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Discriminating between two reformulations of SU(3) Yang-Mills theory on a lattice

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shibata, Akihiro; Kondo, Kei-Ichi; Shinohara, Toru

2016-01-22

In order to investigate quark confinement, we give a new reformulation of the SU (N) Yang-Mills theory on a lattice and present the results of the numerical simulations of the SU (3) Yang-Mills theory on a lattice. The numerical simulations include the derivation of the linear potential for static interquark potential, i.e., non-vanishing string tension, in which the “Abelian” dominance and magnetic monopole dominance are established, confirmation of the dual Meissner effect by measuring the chromoelectric flux tube between quark-antiquark pair, the induced magnetic-monopole current, and the type of dual superconductivity, etc.

Energetics and optimum motion of oscillating lifting surfaces of finite span

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ahmadi, A. R.; Widnall, S. E.

1986-01-01

In certain modes of animal propulsion in nature, such as bird flight and fish swimming, the efficiency compared to man-made vehicles is very high. In such cases, wing and tail motions are typically associated with relatively high Reynolds numbers, where viscous effects are confined to a thin boundary layer at the surface and a thin trailing wake. The propulsive forces, which are generated primarily by the inertial forces, can be calculated from potential-flow theory using linearized unsteady-wing theory (for small-amplitude oscillations). In the present study, a recently developed linearized, low-frequency, unsteady lifting-line theory is employed to calculate the (sectional and total) energetic quantities and optimum motion of an oscillating wing of finite span.

Wave excited motion of a body floating on water confined between two semi-infinite ice sheets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ren, K.; Wu, G. X.; Thomas, G. A.

2016-12-01

The wave excited motion of a body floating on water confined between two semi-infinite ice sheets is investigated. The ice sheet is treated as an elastic thin plate and water is treated as an ideal and incompressible fluid. The linearized velocity potential theory is adopted in the frequency domain and problems are solved by the method of matched eigenfunctions expansion. The fluid domain is divided into sub-regions and in each sub-region the velocity potential is expanded into a series of eigenfunctions satisfying the governing equation and the boundary conditions on horizontal planes including the free surface and ice sheets. Matching is conducted at the interfaces of two neighbouring regions to ensure the continuity of the pressure and velocity, and the unknown coefficients in the expressions are obtained as a result. The behaviour of the added mass and damping coefficients of the floating body with the effect of the ice sheets and the excitation force are analysed. They are found to vary oscillatorily with the wave number, which is different from that for a floating body in the open sea. The motion of the body confined between ice sheets is investigated, in particular its resonant behaviour with extremely large motion found to be possible under certain conditions. Standing waves within the polynya are also observed.

Flow characteristics of bounded self-organized dust vortex in a complex plasma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laishram, Modhuchandra; Sharma, D.; Chattopdhyay, P. K.; Kaw, P. K.

2018-01-01

Dust clouds are often formed in many dusty plasma experiments, when micron size dust particles introduced in the plasma are confined by spatial non-uniformities of the potential. These formations show self-organized patterns like vortex or circulation flows. Steady-state equilibrium dynamics of such dust clouds is analyzed by 2D hydrodynamics for varying Reynolds number, Re, when the cloud is confined in an azimuthally symmetric cylindrical setup by an effective potential and is in a dynamic equilibrium with an unbounded sheared plasma flow. The nonconservative forcing due to ion flow shear generates finite vorticity in the confined dust clouds. In the linear limit (Re ≪ 1), the collective flow is characterized by a single symmetric and elongated vortex with scales correlating with the driving field and those generated by friction with the boundaries. However in the high Re limit, (Re ≥ 1), the nonlinear inertial transport (u . ∇u) is effective and the vortex structure is characterized by an asymmetric equilibrium and emergence of a circular core region with uniform vorticity, over which the viscous stress is negligible. The core domain is surrounded by a virtual boundary of highly convective flow followed by thin shear layers filled with low-velocity co- and counter-rotating vortices, enabling the smooth matching with external boundary conditions. In linear regime, the effective boundary layer thickness is recovered to scale with the dust kinematic viscosity as Δr ≈ μ1/3 and is modified as Δr ≈ (μL∥/u)1/2 in the nonlinear regime through a critical kinematic viscosity μ∗ that signifies a structural bifurcation of the flow field solutions. The flow characteristics recovered are relevant to many microscopic biological processes at lower Re, as well as gigantic vortex flows such as Jovian great red spot and white ovals at higher Re.

The effects of own fetal growth on reported hypertension in parous women aged 33.

PubMed

Hennessy, E; Alberman, E

1997-06-01

Data from the study of the British 1958 birth cohort, National Child Development Study (NCDS), has allowed wider investigation of the relationship between retarded fetal growth and risk of adult hypertension. A history of self-reported hypertension was related to fetal growth in 3308 parous cohort members. Fetal growth, the measure used, is the difference in actual birthweight from that expected for the gestational age and subsequent adult height. The relationships were investigated both linearly and non-linearly adjusting for potential confounders. After adjustment for confounding factors, including adult weight for height, retarded fetal growth was associated with reported hypertension particularly when not confined to pregnancy. The latter was also associated with accelerated fetal growth, moderate or severe hypertension in the mother when pregnant with the cohort member, being relatively taller than your mother, and lack of educational qualifications. Hypertension confined to pregnancy was more likely among women who were themselves firstborn or older at childbirth. Neither maternal smoking during cohort's gestation nor cohort member's gestational age had a significant effect. The results are consistent with previous reports that fetal growth effects are less marked if gestation is short. The relationships between fetal growth and subsequent hypertension are extremely complex and variable, and need to be studied allowing for deviations from growth potential. Adult weight for height remains the strongest predictor of hypertension. The results suggest that losing weight is likely to have the same proportional benefit in women with and without a history of retarded fetal growth.

Hydrodynamics of suspensions of passive and active rigid particles: a rigid multiblob approach

DOE PAGES

Usabiaga, Florencio Balboa; Kallemov, Bakytzhan; Delmotte, Blaise; ...

2016-01-12

We develop a rigid multiblob method for numerically solving the mobility problem for suspensions of passive and active rigid particles of complex shape in Stokes flow in unconfined, partially confined, and fully confined geometries. As in a number of existing methods, we discretize rigid bodies using a collection of minimally resolved spherical blobs constrained to move as a rigid body, to arrive at a potentially large linear system of equations for the unknown Lagrange multipliers and rigid-body motions. Here we develop a block-diagonal preconditioner for this linear system and show that a standard Krylov solver converges in a modest numbermore » of iterations that is essentially independent of the number of particles. Key to the efficiency of the method is a technique for fast computation of the product of the blob-blob mobility matrix and a vector. For unbounded suspensions, we rely on existing analytical expressions for the Rotne-Prager-Yamakawa tensor combined with a fast multipole method (FMM) to obtain linear scaling in the number of particles. For suspensions sedimented against a single no-slip boundary, we use a direct summation on a graphical processing unit (GPU), which gives quadratic asymptotic scaling with the number of particles. For fully confined domains, such as periodic suspensions or suspensions confined in slit and square channels, we extend a recently developed rigid-body immersed boundary method by B. Kallemov, A. P. S. Bhalla, B. E. Griffith, and A. Donev (Commun. Appl. Math. Comput. Sci. 11 (2016), no. 1, 79-141) to suspensions of freely moving passive or active rigid particles at zero Reynolds number. We demonstrate that the iterative solver for the coupled fluid and rigid-body equations converges in a bounded number of iterations regardless of the system size. In our approach, each iteration only requires a few cycles of a geometric multigrid solver for the Poisson equation, and an application of the block-diagonal preconditioner, leading to linear scaling with the number of particles. We optimize a number of parameters in the iterative solvers and apply our method to a variety of benchmark problems to carefully assess the accuracy of the rigid multiblob approach as a function of the resolution. We also model the dynamics of colloidal particles studied in recent experiments, such as passive boomerangs in a slit channel, as well as a pair of non-Brownian active nanorods sedimented against a wall.« less

Elmo bumpy square plasma confinement device

DOEpatents

Owen, L.W.

1985-01-01

The invention is an Elmo bumpy type plasma confinement device having a polygonal configuration of closed magnet field lines for improved plasma confinement. In the preferred embodiment, the device is of a square configuration which is referred to as an Elmo bumpy square (EBS). The EBS is formed by four linear magnetic mirror sections each comprising a plurality of axisymmetric assemblies connected in series and linked by 90/sup 0/ sections of a high magnetic field toroidal solenoid type field generating coils. These coils provide corner confinement with a minimum of radial dispersion of the confined plasma to minimize the detrimental effects of the toroidal curvature of the magnetic field. Each corner is formed by a plurality of circular or elliptical coils aligned about the corner radius to provide maximum continuity in the closing of the magnetic field lines about the square configuration confining the plasma within a vacuum vessel located within the various coils forming the square configuration confinement geometry.

Confinement properties of tokamak plasmas with extended regions of low magnetic shear

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Graves, J. P.; Cooper, W. A.; Kleiner, A.; Raghunathan, M.; Neto, E.; Nicolas, T.; Lanthaler, S.; Patten, H.; Pfefferle, D.; Brunetti, D.; Lutjens, H.

2017-10-01

Extended regions of low magnetic shear can be advantageous to tokamak plasmas. But the core and edge can be susceptible to non-resonant ideal fluctuations due to the weakened restoring force associated with magnetic field line bending. This contribution shows how saturated non-linear phenomenology, such as 1 / 1 Long Lived Modes, and Edge Harmonic Oscillations associated with QH-modes, can be modelled accurately using the non-linear stability code XTOR, the free boundary 3D equilibrium code VMEC, and non-linear analytic theory. That the equilibrium approach is valid is particularly valuable because it enables advanced particle confinement studies to be undertaken in the ordinarily difficult environment of strongly 3D magnetic fields. The VENUS-LEVIS code exploits the Fourier description of the VMEC equilibrium fields, such that full Lorenzian and guiding centre approximated differential operators in curvilinear angular coordinates can be evaluated analytically. Consequently, the confinement properties of minority ions such as energetic particles and high Z impurities can be calculated accurately over slowing down timescales in experimentally relevant 3D plasmas.

Adsorbed molecules in external fields: Effect of confining potential

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tyagi, Ashish; Silotia, Poonam; Maan, Anjali; Prasad, Vinod

2016-12-01

We study the rotational excitation of a molecule adsorbed on a surface. As is well known the interaction potential between the surface and the molecule can be modeled in number of ways, depending on the molecular structure and the geometry under which the molecule is being adsorbed by the surface. We explore the effect of change of confining potential on the excitation, which is largely controlled by the static electric fields and continuous wave laser fields. We focus on dipolar molecules and hence we restrict ourselves to the first order interaction in field-molecule interaction potential either through permanent dipole moment or/and the molecular polarizability parameter. It is shown that confining potential shapes, strength of the confinement, strongly affect the excitation. We compare our results for different confining potentials.

Electromagnetic Coupling of Negative Parity Nucleon Resonances N (1535) Based on Nonrelativistic Constituent Quark Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parsaei, Sara; Rajabi, Ali Akbar

2018-01-01

The electromagnetic transition between the nucleon and excited baryons has long been recognized as an important source of information for understanding strong interactions in the domain of quark confinement. We study the electromagnetic properties of the excitation of the negative parity the N*(1535) resonances in the nonrelativistic constituent quark model at large momentum transfers and have performed a calculation the longitudinal and transverse helicity amplitudes. Since the helicity amplitudes depend strongly on the quark wave function in this paper, we consider the baryon as a simple, non-relativistically three-body quark model and also consider a hypercentral potential scheme for the internal baryon structure, which makes three-body forces among three quarks. Since the hyper central potential depends only on the hyper radius, therefore, the Cornell potential which is a combination of the Coulombic-like term plus a linear confining term is considered as the potential for interaction between quarks. In our work, in solving the Schrodinger equation with the Cornell potential, the Nikiforov-Uvarov method employed, and the analytic eigen-energies and eigen-functions obtained. By using the obtained eigen-functions, the transition amplitudes calculated. We show that our results in the range {{{Q}}}2> 2 {{GeV}}2 lead to an overall better agreement with the experimental data in comparison with the other three non-relativistic quark models.

The Light-Front Schrödinger Equation and Determination of the Perturbative QCD Scale from Color Confinement

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Brodsky, Stanley J.; de Teramond, Guy F.; Deur, Alexandre P.

2015-09-01

The valence Fock-state wavefunctions of the light-front QCD Hamiltonian satisfy a relativistic equation of motion with an effective confining potential U which systematically incorporates the effects of higher quark and gluon Fock states. If one requires that the effective action which underlies the QCD Lagrangian remains conformally invariant and extends the formalism of de Alfaro, Fubini and Furlan to light front Hamiltonian theory, the potential U has a unique form of a harmonic oscillator potential, and a mass gap arises. The result is a nonperturbative relativistic light-front quantum mechanical wave equation which incorporates color confinement and other essential spectroscopic andmore » dynamical features of hadron physics, including a massless pion for zero quark mass and linear Regge trajectories with the same slope in the radial quantum number n and orbital angular momentum L. Only one mass parameter κ appears. Light-front holography thus provides a precise relation between the bound-state amplitudes in the fifth dimension of AdS space and the boost-invariant light-front wavefunctions describing the internal structure of hadrons in physical space-time. We also show how the mass scale κ underlying confinement and hadron masses determines the scale Λ {ovr MS} controlling the evolution of the perturbative QCD coupling. The relation between scales is obtained by matching the nonperturbative dynamics, as described by an effective conformal theory mapped to the light-front and its embedding in AdS space, to the perturbative QCD regime computed to four-loop order. The result is an effective coupling defined at all momenta. The predicted value Λ {ovr MS}=0.328±0.034 GeV is in agreement with the world average 0.339±0.010 GeV. The analysis applies to any renormalization scheme.« less

Linearly polarized emission from an embedded quantum dot using nanowire morphology control.

PubMed

Foster, Andrew P; Bradley, John P; Gardner, Kirsty; Krysa, Andrey B; Royall, Ben; Skolnick, Maurice S; Wilson, Luke R

2015-03-11

GaAs nanowires with elongated cross sections are formed using a catalyst-free growth technique. This is achieved by patterning elongated nanoscale openings within a silicon dioxide growth mask on a (111)B GaAs substrate. It is observed that MOVPE-grown vertical nanowires with cross section elongated in the [21̅1̅] and [1̅12] directions remain faithful to the geometry of the openings. An InGaAs quantum dot with weak radial confinement is realized within each nanowire by briefly introducing indium into the reactor during nanowire growth. Photoluminescence emission from an embedded nanowire quantum dot is strongly linearly polarized (typically >90%) with the polarization direction coincident with the axis of elongation. Linearly polarized PL emission is a result of embedding the quantum dot in an anisotropic nanowire structure that supports a single strongly confined, linearly polarized optical mode. This research provides a route to the bottom-up growth of linearly polarized single photon sources of interest for quantum information applications.

Gravity and the Spin-2 Planar Schrödinger Equation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bergshoeff, Eric A.; Rosseel, Jan; Townsend, Paul K.

2018-04-01

A Schrödinger equation proposed for the Girvin-MacDonald-Platzman gapped spin-2 mode of fractional quantum Hall states is found from a novel nonrelativistic limit, applicable only in 2 +1 dimensions, of the massive spin-2 Fierz-Pauli field equations. It is also found from a novel null reduction of the linearized Einstein field equations in 3 +1 dimensions, and in this context a uniform distribution of spin-2 particles implies, via a Brinkmann-wave solution of the nonlinear Einstein equations, a confining harmonic oscillator potential for the individual particles.

Study of confinement and sliding friction of fluids using sum frequency generation spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nanjundiah, Kumar

2007-12-01

Friction and wear are important technologically. Tires on wet roads, windshield wipers and human joints are examples where nanometer-thick liquids are confined between flexible-rigid contact interfaces. Fundamental understanding of the structure of these liquids can assist in the design of products such as artificial joints and lubricants for Micro-electromechanical systems [MEMS]. Prior force measurements have suggested an increase in apparent viscosity of confined liquid and sometimes solid-like responses. But, these have not given the state of molecules under confinement. In the present study, we have used a surface sensitive, non-linear optical technique (infrared-visible sum frequency generation spectroscopy [SFG]) to investigate molecular structure at hidden interfaces. SFG can identify chemical groups, concentration and orientation of molecules at an interface. A friction cell was developed to study sliding of a smooth elastomeric lens against a sapphire surface. Experiments were done with dry sliding as well as lubricated sliding in the presence of linear alkane liquids. SFG spectra at the alkane/sapphire interface revealed ordering of the confined alkane molecules. These were more ordered than alkane liquid, but less ordered than alkane crystal. Cooling of the confined alkane below its melting temperature [TM] led to molecular orientation that was different from that of bulk crystal next to a sapphire surface. Molecules were oriented with their symmetry axis parallel to the surface normal. In addition, the melting temperature [Tconf] under confinement for a series of linear alkanes (n =15--27) showed a surprising trend. Intermediate molecular weights showed melting point depression. The T conf values suggested that melting started at the alkane/sapphire interface. In another investigation, confinement of water between an elastomeric PDMS lens and sapphire was studied. SFG spectra at the sapphire/water/PDMS interface revealed a heterogeneous morphology. The presence of peaks related to PDMS, as well as water, suggested water puddles in the contact area and the sapphire surface had a layer of bound water. This heterogeneity picture provides insight into high friction and stick-slip behavior found in boundary lubrication. For the first time, a broadband SFG system has been coupled with a friction cell to study dynamics and molecular changes at an interface during sliding; sliding of confined alkane between sapphire and PDMS was investigated. A series of SFG spectra were taken while the confined alkane contact spot moved in and out of the laser beam. Even though the experiments were done 15°C above melting temperature, the spectra showed ordering of alkane molecules, similar to that of the confined crystal at the leading and trailing edge. The results suggest that a large portion of the resistance to sliding may come from ordering of molecules at the lens front.

Adsorbed molecules in external fields: Effect of confining potential.

PubMed

Tyagi, Ashish; Silotia, Poonam; Maan, Anjali; Prasad, Vinod

2016-12-05

We study the rotational excitation of a molecule adsorbed on a surface. As is well known the interaction potential between the surface and the molecule can be modeled in number of ways, depending on the molecular structure and the geometry under which the molecule is being adsorbed by the surface. We explore the effect of change of confining potential on the excitation, which is largely controlled by the static electric fields and continuous wave laser fields. We focus on dipolar molecules and hence we restrict ourselves to the first order interaction in field-molecule interaction potential either through permanent dipole moment or/and the molecular polarizability parameter. It is shown that confining potential shapes, strength of the confinement, strongly affect the excitation. We compare our results for different confining potentials. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Stable confinement of electron plasma and initial results on positron injection in RT-1

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saitoh, H.; Yoshida, Z.; Morikawa, J.; Yano, Y.; Kasaoka, N.; Sakamoto, W.; Nogami, T.

2013-03-01

The Ring Trap 1 (RT-1) device is a dipole field configuration generated by a levitated superconducting magnet. It offers very interesting opportunities for research on the fundamental properties on non-neutral plasmas, such as self-organization of charged particles in the strongly positive and negative charged particles on magnetic surfaces. When strong positron sources will be available in the future, the dipole field configuration will be potentially applicable to the formation of an electron-positron plasma. We have realized stable, long trap of toroidal pure electron plasma in RT-1; Magnetic levitation of the superconducting magnet resulted in more than 300s of confinement for electron plasma of ˜ 1011 m-3. Aiming for the confinement of positrons as a next step, we started a positron injection experiment. For the formation of positron plasma in the closed magnetic surfaces, one of the key issues to be solved is the efficient injection method of positron across closed magnetic surfaces. In contrast to linear configurations, toroidal configurations have the advantage that they are capable of trapping high energy positrons in the dipole field configuration and consider the possibility of direct trapping of positrons emitted from a 22Na source.

Linear excitation and detection in Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grosshans, Peter B.; Chen, Ruidan; Limbach, Patrick A.; Marshall, Alan G.

1994-11-01

We present the first Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FT-ICR) ion trap designed to produce both a linear spatial variation of the excitation electric potential field and a linear response of the detection circuit to the motion of the confined ions. With this trap, the magnitude of the detected signal at a given ion cyclotron frequency varies linearly with both the number of ions of given mass-to-charge ratio and also with the magnitude-mode excitation signal at the ion cyclotron orbital frequency; the proportionality constant is mass independent. Interestingly, this linearization may be achieved with any ion trap geometry. The excitation/detection design consists of an array of capacitively coupled electrodes which provide a voltage-divider network that produces a nearly spatially homogeneous excitation electric field throughout the linearized trap; resistive coupling to the electrodes isolates the a.c. excitation (or detection) circuit from the d.c. (trapping) potential. The design is based on analytical expressions for the potential associated with each electrode, from which we are able to compute the deviation from linearity for a trap with a finite number of elements. Based on direct experimental comparisons to an unmodified cubic trap, the linearized trap demonstrates the following performance advantages at the cost of some additional mechanical complexity: (a) signal response linearly proportional to excitation electric field amplitude; (b) vastly reduced axial excitation/ejection for significantly improved ion relative abundance accuracy; (c) elimination of harmonics and sidebands of the fundamental frequencies of ion motion. As a result, FT-ICR mass spectra are now more reproducible. Moreover, the linearized trap should facilitate the characterization of other fundamental aspects of ion behavior in an ICR ion trap, e.g. effects of space charge, non-quadrupolar electrostatic trapping field, etc. Furthermore, this novel design should improve significantly the precision of ion relative abundance and mass accuracy measurements, while removing spectral artifacts of the detection process. We discuss future modifications that linearize the spatial variation of the electrostatic trapping electric field as well, thereby completing the linearization of the entire FT-ICR mass spectrometric techniques. Suggested FT-ICR mass spectrometric applications for the linearized trap are discussed.

An EQT-cDFT approach to determine thermodynamic properties of confined fluids.

PubMed

Mashayak, S Y; Motevaselian, M H; Aluru, N R

2015-06-28

We present a continuum-based approach to predict the structure and thermodynamic properties of confined fluids at multiple length-scales, ranging from a few angstroms to macro-meters. The continuum approach is based on the empirical potential-based quasi-continuum theory (EQT) and classical density functional theory (cDFT). EQT is a simple and fast approach to predict inhomogeneous density and potential profiles of confined fluids. We use EQT potentials to construct a grand potential functional for cDFT. The EQT-cDFT-based grand potential can be used to predict various thermodynamic properties of confined fluids. In this work, we demonstrate the EQT-cDFT approach by simulating Lennard-Jones fluids, namely, methane and argon, confined inside slit-like channels of graphene. We show that the EQT-cDFT can accurately predict the structure and thermodynamic properties, such as density profiles, adsorption, local pressure tensor, surface tension, and solvation force, of confined fluids as compared to the molecular dynamics simulation results.

Masonry Columns Confined by Steel Fiber Composite Wraps

PubMed Central

Borri, Antonio; Castori, Giulio; Corradi, Marco

2011-01-01

The application of steel fiber reinforced polymer (SRP) as a means of increasing the capacity of masonry columns is investigated in this study. The behavior of 23 solid-brick specimens that are externally wrapped by SRP sheets in low volumetric ratios is presented. The specimens are subjected to axial monotonic load until failure occurs. Two widely used types of masonry columns of differing square cross-sections were tested in compression (square and octagonal cross-sections). It is concluded that SRP-confined masonry behaves very much like fiber reinforced polymers (FRP)-confined masonry. Confinement increases both the load-carrying capacity and the deformability of masonry almost linearly with average confining stress. A comparative analysis between experimental and theoretical values computed in compliance with the Italian Council of Research (CNR) was also developed. PMID:28879991

Masonry Columns Confined by Steel Fiber Composite Wraps.

PubMed

Borri, Antonio; Castori, Giulio; Corradi, Marco

2011-01-21

The application of steel fiber reinforced polymer (SRP) as a means of increasing the capacity of masonry columns is investigated in this study. The behavior of 23 solid-brick specimens that are externally wrapped by SRP sheets in low volumetric ratios is presented. The specimens are subjected to axial monotonic load until failure occurs. Two widely used types of masonry columns of differing square cross-sections were tested in compression (square and octagonal cross-sections). It is concluded that SRP-confined masonry behaves very much like fiber reinforced polymers (FRP)-confined masonry. Confinement increases both the load-carrying capacity and the deformability of masonry almost linearly with average confining stress. A comparative analysis between experimental and theoretical values computed in compliance with the Italian Council of Research (CNR) was also developed.

Quantifying Fusion Born Ion Populations in Magnetically Confined Plasmas using Ion Cyclotron Emission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carbajal, L.; Dendy, R. O.; Chapman, S. C.; Cook, J. W. S.

2017-03-01

Ion cyclotron emission (ICE) offers a unique promise as a diagnostic of the fusion born alpha-particle population in magnetically confined plasmas. Pioneering observations from JET and TFTR found that ICE intensity PICE scales approximately linearly with the measured neutron flux from fusion reactions, and with the inferred concentration, nα/ni, of fusion born alpha particles confined within the plasma. We present fully nonlinear self-consistent kinetic simulations that reproduce this scaling for the first time. This resolves a long-standing question in the physics of fusion alpha-particle confinement and stability in magnetic confinement fusion plasmas. It confirms the magnetoacoustic cyclotron instability as the likely emission mechanism and greatly strengthens the basis for diagnostic exploitation of ICE in future burning plasmas.

Quantifying Fusion Born Ion Populations in Magnetically Confined Plasmas using Ion Cyclotron Emission.

PubMed

Carbajal, L; Dendy, R O; Chapman, S C; Cook, J W S

2017-03-10

Ion cyclotron emission (ICE) offers a unique promise as a diagnostic of the fusion born alpha-particle population in magnetically confined plasmas. Pioneering observations from JET and TFTR found that ICE intensity P_{ICE} scales approximately linearly with the measured neutron flux from fusion reactions, and with the inferred concentration, n_{α}/n_{i}, of fusion born alpha particles confined within the plasma. We present fully nonlinear self-consistent kinetic simulations that reproduce this scaling for the first time. This resolves a long-standing question in the physics of fusion alpha-particle confinement and stability in magnetic confinement fusion plasmas. It confirms the magnetoacoustic cyclotron instability as the likely emission mechanism and greatly strengthens the basis for diagnostic exploitation of ICE in future burning plasmas.

Effect of confining wall potential on charged collimated dust beam in low-pressure plasma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kausik, S. S.; Kakati, B.; Saikia, B. K.

2013-05-01

The effect of confining wall potential on charged collimated dust beam in low-pressure plasma has been studied in a dusty plasma experimental setup by applying electrostatic field to each channel of a multicusp magnetic cage. Argon plasma is produced by hot cathode discharge method at a pressure of 5×10-4 millibars and is confined by a full line cusped magnetic field confinement system. Silver dust grains are produced by gas-evaporation technique and move upward in the form of a collimated dust beam due to differential pressure maintained between the dust and plasma chambers. The charged grains in the beam after coming out from the plasma column enter into the diagnostic chamber and are deflected by a dc field applied across a pair of deflector plates at different confining potentials. Both from the amount of deflection and the floating potential, the number of charges collected by the dust grains is calculated. Furthermore, the collimated dust beam strikes the Faraday cup, which is placed above the deflector plates, and the current (˜pA) so produced is measured by an electrometer at different confining potentials. The experimental results demonstrate the significant effect of confining wall potential on charging of dust grains.

Sheared-flow induced confinement transition in a linear magnetized plasma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, S.; Heidbrink, W. W.; Boehmer, H.; McWilliams, R.; Carter, T. A.; Vincena, S.; Friedman, B.; Schaffner, D.

2012-01-01

A magnetized plasma cylinder (12 cm in diameter) is induced by an annular shape obstacle at the Large Plasma Device [W. Gekelman, H. Pfister, Z. Lucky, J. Bamber, D. Leneman, and J. Maggs, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 62, 2875 (1991)]. Sheared azimuthal flow is driven at the edge of the plasma cylinder through edge biasing. Strong fluctuations of density and potential (δn /n~eδφ/kTe~0.5) are observed at the plasma edge, accompanied by a large density gradient (Ln=|∇lnn |-1~2cm) and shearing rate (γ ~300kHz). Edge turbulence and cross-field transport are modified by changing the bias voltage (Vbias) on the obstacle and the axial magnetic field (Bz) strength. In cases with low Vbias and large Bz, improved plasma confinement is observed, along with steeper edge density gradients. The radially sheared flow induced by E ×B drift dramatically changes the cross-phase between density and potential fluctuations, which causes the wave-induced particle flux to reverse its direction across the shear layer. In cases with higher bias voltage or smaller Bz, large radial transport and rapid depletion of the central plasma density are observed. Two-dimensional cross-correlation measurement shows that a mode with azimuthal mode number m =1 and large radial correlation length dominates the outward transport in these cases. Linear analysis based on a two-fluid Braginskii model suggests that the fluctuations are driven by both density gradient (drift wave like) and flow shear (Kelvin-Helmholtz like) at the plasma edge.

Correlation energy, correlated electron density, and exchange-correlation potential in some spherically confined atoms.

PubMed

Vyboishchikov, Sergei F

2016-12-05

We report correlation energies, electron densities, and exchange-correlation potentials obtained from configuration interaction and density functional calculations on spherically confined He, Be, Be 2+ , and Ne atoms. The variation of the correlation energy with the confinement radius R c is relatively small for the He, Be 2+ , and Ne systems. Curiously, the Lee-Yang-Parr (LYP) functional works well for weak confinements but fails completely for small R c . However, in the neutral beryllium atom the CI correlation energy increases markedly with decreasing R c . This effect is less pronounced at the density-functional theory level. The LYP functional performs very well for the unconfined Be atom, but fails badly for small R c . The standard exchange-correlation potentials exhibit significant deviation from the "exact" potential obtained by inversion of Kohn-Sham equation. The LYP correlation potential behaves erratically at strong confinements. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

An efficient method for the creation of tunable optical line traps via control of gradient and scattering forces.

PubMed

Tietjen, Gregory T; Kong, Yupeng; Parthasarathy, Raghuveer

2008-07-07

Interparticle interaction energies and other useful physical characteristics can be extracted from the statistical properties of the motion of particles confined by an optical line trap. In practice, however, the potential energy landscape, U(x), imposed by the line provides an extra, and in general unknown, influence on particle dynamics. We describe a new class of line traps in which both the optical gradient and scattering forces acting on a trapped particle are designed to be linear functions of the line coordinate and in which their magnitude can be counterbalanced to yield a flat U(x). These traps are formed using approximate solutions to general relations concerning non-conservative optical forces that have been the subject of recent investigations [Y. Roichman, B. Sun, Y. Roichman, J. Amato-Grill, and D. G. Grier, Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 013602-4 (2008).]. We implement the lines using holographic optical trapping and measure the forces acting on silica microspheres, demonstrating the tunability of the confining potential energy landscape. Furthermore, we show that our approach efficiently directs available laser power to the trap, in contrast to other methods.

Electrochemistry of Cytochrome P450 BM3 in Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate Films

PubMed Central

Udit, Andrew K.; Hill, Michael G.; Gray, Harry B.

2008-01-01

Direct electrochemistry of the cytochrome P450 BM3 heme domain (BM3) was achieved by confining the protein within sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) films on the surface of basal-plane graphite (BPG) electrodes. Cyclic voltammetry revealed the heme FeIII/II redox couple at −330 mV (vs. Ag/AgCl, pH 7.4). Up to 10 V/s, the peak current was linear with scan rate, allowing us to treat the system as surface-confined within this regime. The standard heterogeneous rate constant determined at 10 V/s was estimated to be 10 s−1. Voltammograms obtained for the BM3-SDS-BPG system in the presence of dioxygen exhibited catalytic waves at the onset of FeIII reduction. The altered heme reduction potential of the BM3-SDS-graphite system indicates that SDS is likely bound in the enzyme active-site region. Compared to other P450-surfactant systems, we find redox potentials and electron transfer rates that differ by ~ 100 mV and > 10-fold, respectively, indicating that the nature of the surfactant environment has a significant effect on the observed heme redox properties. PMID:17129070

Pressure sensitivity of low permeability sandstones

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kilmer, N.H.; Morrow, N.R.; Pitman, Janet K.

1987-01-01

Detailed core analysis has been carried out on 32 tight sandstones with permeabilities ranging over four orders of magnitude (0.0002 to 4.8 mD at 5000 psi confining pressure). Relationships between gas permeability and net confining pressure were measured for cycles of loading and unloading. For some samples, permeabilities were measured both along and across bedding planes. Large variations in stress sensitivity of permeability were observed from one sample to another. The ratio of permeability at a nominal confining pressure of 500 psi to that at 5000 psi was used to define a stress sensitivity ratio. For a given sample, confining pressure vs permeability followed a linear log-log relationship, the slope of which provided an index of pressure sensitivity. This index, as obtained for first unloading data, was used in testing relationships between stress sensitivity and other measured rock properties. Pressure sensitivity tended to increase with increase in carbonate content and depth, and with decrease in porosity, permeability and sodium feldspar. However, scatter in these relationships increased as permeability decreased. Tests for correlations between pressure sensitivity and various linear combinations of variables are reported. Details of pore structure related to diagenetic changes appears to be of much greater significance to pressure sensitivity than mineral composition. ?? 1987.

Investigation on the fiber based approach to estimate the axial load carrying capacity of the circular concrete filled steel tube (CFST)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Piscesa, B.; Attard, M. M.; Suprobo, P.; Samani, A. K.

2017-11-01

External confining devices are often used to enhance the strength and ductility of reinforced concrete columns. Among the available external confining devices, steel tube is one of the most widely used in construction. However, steel tube has some drawbacks such as local buckling which needs to be considered when estimating the axial load carrying capacity of the concrete-filled-steel-tube (CFST) column. To tackle this problem in design, Eurocode 4 provided guidelines to estimate the effective yield strength of the steel tube material. To study the behavior of CFST column, in this paper, a non-linear analysis using a fiber-based approach was conducted. The use of the fiber-based approach allows the engineers to predict not only the axial load carrying capacity but also the complete load-deformation curve of the CFST columns for a known confining pressure. In the proposed fiber-based approach, an inverse analysis is used to estimate the constant confining pressure similar to design-oriented models. This paper also presents comparisons between the fiber-based approach model with the experimental results and the 3D non-linear finite element analysis.

Ordering of two-dimensional crystals confined in strips of finite width

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ricci, A.; Nielaba, P.; Sengupta, S.; Binder, K.

2007-01-01

Monte Carlo simulations are used to study the effect of confinement on a crystal of point particles interacting with an inverse power law potential ∝r-12 in d=2 dimensions. This system can describe colloidal particles at the air-water interface, a model system for experimental study of two-dimensional melting. It is shown that the state of the system (a strip of width D ) depends very sensitively on the precise boundary conditions at the two “walls” providing the confinement. If one uses a corrugated boundary commensurate with the order of the bulk triangular crystalline structure, both orientational order and positional order is enhanced, and such surface-induced order persists near the boundaries also at temperatures where the system in the bulk is in its fluid state. However, using smooth repulsive boundaries as walls providing the confinement, only the orientational order is enhanced, but positional (quasi-)long range order is destroyed: The mean-square displacement of two particles n lattice parameters apart in the y direction along the walls then crosses over from the logarithmic increase (characteristic for d=2 ) to a linear increase with n (characteristic for d=1 ). The strip then exhibits a vanishing shear modulus. These results are interpreted in terms of a phenomenological harmonic theory. Also the effect of incommensurability of the strip width D with the triangular lattice structure is discussed, and a comparison with surface effects on phase transitions in simple Ising and XY models is made.

Single-polymer dynamics under constraints: scaling theory and computer experiment.

PubMed

Milchev, Andrey

2011-03-16

The relaxation, diffusion and translocation dynamics of single linear polymer chains in confinement is briefly reviewed with emphasis on the comparison between theoretical scaling predictions and observations from experiment or, most frequently, from computer simulations. Besides cylindrical, spherical and slit-like constraints, related problems such as the chain dynamics in a random medium and the translocation dynamics through a nanopore are also considered. Another particular kind of confinement is imposed by polymer adsorption on attractive surfaces or selective interfaces--a short overview of single-chain dynamics is also contained in this survey. While both theory and numerical experiments consider predominantly coarse-grained models of self-avoiding linear chain molecules with typically Rouse dynamics, we also note some recent studies which examine the impact of hydrodynamic interactions on polymer dynamics in confinement. In all of the aforementioned cases we focus mainly on the consequences of imposed geometric restrictions on single-chain dynamics and try to check our degree of understanding by assessing the agreement between theoretical predictions and observations.

Highly non-linear solid core photonic crystal fiber with one nano hole

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gangwar, Rahul Kumar, E-mail: rahul0889@gmail.com; Bhardwaj, Vanita, E-mail: bhardwajphy12@gmail.com; Singh, Vinod Kumar, E-mail: singh.vk.ap@ismdhanbad.co.in

2015-08-28

The numerical study of newly designed solid core photonic crystal fiber (SCPCF) having three hexagonal air hole rings in cladding region and one small nano hole at the center are presented. By using full vectorial finite element method (FV-FEM), we analyses the optical properties like effective area, nonlinearity and confinement loss of the proposed PCF. Results show that the change in core diameter controls the effective area, nonlinearity and confinement loss. A low effective area (3.34 µm{sup 2}), high nonlinearity (36.34 W{sup −1}km{sup −1}) and low confinement loss (0.00106 dB/km) are achieved at the communication wavelength 1.55 µm for themore » SCPCF having core air hole diameter 0.10 µm, cladding air holes diameter 1.00 µm and pitch 2.50 µm. This type of PCF is very useful in non-linear applications such as supercontinuum generation, four wave mixing, second harmonic generation etc.« less

Longitudinal wave function control in single quantum dots with an applied magnetic field

PubMed Central

Cao, Shuo; Tang, Jing; Gao, Yunan; Sun, Yue; Qiu, Kangsheng; Zhao, Yanhui; He, Min; Shi, Jin-An; Gu, Lin; Williams, David A.; Sheng, Weidong; Jin, Kuijuan; Xu, Xiulai

2015-01-01

Controlling single-particle wave functions in single semiconductor quantum dots is in demand to implement solid-state quantum information processing and spintronics. Normally, particle wave functions can be tuned transversely by an perpendicular magnetic field. We report a longitudinal wave function control in single quantum dots with a magnetic field. For a pure InAs quantum dot with a shape of pyramid or truncated pyramid, the hole wave function always occupies the base because of the less confinement at base, which induces a permanent dipole oriented from base to apex. With applying magnetic field along the base-apex direction, the hole wave function shrinks in the base plane. Because of the linear changing of the confinement for hole wave function from base to apex, the center of effective mass moves up during shrinking process. Due to the uniform confine potential for electrons, the center of effective mass of electrons does not move much, which results in a permanent dipole moment change and an inverted electron-hole alignment along the magnetic field direction. Manipulating the wave function longitudinally not only provides an alternative way to control the charge distribution with magnetic field but also a new method to tune electron-hole interaction in single quantum dots. PMID:25624018

Longitudinal wave function control in single quantum dots with an applied magnetic field.

PubMed

Cao, Shuo; Tang, Jing; Gao, Yunan; Sun, Yue; Qiu, Kangsheng; Zhao, Yanhui; He, Min; Shi, Jin-An; Gu, Lin; Williams, David A; Sheng, Weidong; Jin, Kuijuan; Xu, Xiulai

2015-01-27

Controlling single-particle wave functions in single semiconductor quantum dots is in demand to implement solid-state quantum information processing and spintronics. Normally, particle wave functions can be tuned transversely by an perpendicular magnetic field. We report a longitudinal wave function control in single quantum dots with a magnetic field. For a pure InAs quantum dot with a shape of pyramid or truncated pyramid, the hole wave function always occupies the base because of the less confinement at base, which induces a permanent dipole oriented from base to apex. With applying magnetic field along the base-apex direction, the hole wave function shrinks in the base plane. Because of the linear changing of the confinement for hole wave function from base to apex, the center of effective mass moves up during shrinking process. Due to the uniform confine potential for electrons, the center of effective mass of electrons does not move much, which results in a permanent dipole moment change and an inverted electron-hole alignment along the magnetic field direction. Manipulating the wave function longitudinally not only provides an alternative way to control the charge distribution with magnetic field but also a new method to tune electron-hole interaction in single quantum dots.

Nonlocal response in plasmonic waveguiding with extreme light confinement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Toscano, Giuseppe; Raza, Søren; Yan, Wei; Jeppesen, Claus; Xiao, Sanshui; Wubs, Martijn; Jauho, Antti-Pekka; Bozhevolnyi, Sergey I.; Mortensen, N. Asger

2013-07-01

We present a novel wave equation for linearized plasmonic response, obtained by combining the coupled real-space differential equations for the electric field and current density. Nonlocal dynamics are fully accounted for, and the formulation is very well suited for numerical implementation, allowing us to study waveguides with subnanometer cross-sections exhibiting extreme light confinement. We show that groove and wedge waveguides have a fundamental lower limit in their mode confinement, only captured by the nonlocal theory. The limitation translates into an upper limit for the corresponding Purcell factors, and thus has important implications for quantum plasmonics.

Mott glass from localization and confinement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chou, Yang-Zhi; Nandkishore, Rahul M.; Radzihovsky, Leo

2018-05-01

We study a system of fermions in one spatial dimension with linearly confining interactions and short-range disorder. We focus on the zero-temperature properties of this system, which we characterize using bosonization and the Gaussian variational method. We compute the static compressibility and ac conductivity, and thereby demonstrate that the system is incompressible, but exhibits gapless optical conductivity. This corresponds to a "Mott glass" state, distinct from an Anderson and a fully gapped Mott insulator, arising due to the interplay of disorder and charge confinement. We argue that this Mott glass phenomenology should persist to nonzero temperatures.

Globally aligned states and hydrodynamic traffic jams in confined suspensions of active asymmetric particles.

PubMed

Lefauve, Adrien; Saintillan, David

2014-02-01

Strongly confined active liquids are subject to unique hydrodynamic interactions due to momentum screening and lubricated friction by the confining walls. Using numerical simulations, we demonstrate that two-dimensional dilute suspensions of fore-aft asymmetric polar swimmers in a Hele-Shaw geometry can exhibit a rich variety of novel phase behaviors depending on particle shape, including coherent polarized density waves with global alignment, persistent counterrotating vortices, density shocks and rarefaction waves. We also explain these phenomena using a linear stability analysis and a nonlinear traffic flow model, both derived from a mean-field kinetic theory.

Turbulent particle transport as a function of toroidal rotation in DIII-D H-mode plasmas

DOE PAGES

Wang, Xin; Mordijck, Saskia; Zeng, Lei; ...

2016-03-01

In this paper we show how changes in toroidal rotation, by controlling the injected torque, affect particle transport and confinement. The toroidal rotation is altered using the co- and counter neutral beam injection (NBI) in low collisionality H-mode plasmas on DIII-D with dominant electron cyclotron heating (ECH). We find that there is no correlation between the toroidal rotation shear and the inverse density gradient, which is observed on AUG whenmore » $${{T}_{\\text{e}}}/{{T}_{\\text{i}}}$$ is varied using ECH (Angioni et al 2011 Phys. Rev. Lett. 107 215003). In DIII-D, we find that in a discharge with balanced torque injection, the $$E\\times B$$ shear is smaller than the linear gyrokinetic growth rate for small $${{k}_{\\theta}}{{\\rho}_{s}}$$ for $$\\rho =0.6$$ –0.85. This results in lower particle confinement. In the co- and counter- injected discharges the $$E\\times B$$ shear is larger or close to the linear growth rate at the plasma edge and both configurations have higher particle confinement. In order to measure particle transport, we use a small periodic perturbative gas puff. This gas puff perturbs the density profiles and allows us to extract the perturbed diffusion and inward pinch coefficients. We observe a strong increase in the inward particle pinch in the counter-torque injected plasma. Lastly, the calculated quasi-linear particle flux, nor the linear growth rates using TGLF agree with experimental observations.« less

Effect of non-parabolicity and confinement potential on exciton binding energy in a quantum well

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vignesh, G.; Nithiananthi, P.

2018-04-01

The effect of non-parabolicity(NP) (both conduction and valance band) on the binding energy(EB) of a ground state exciton in GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs single Quantum Well(QW) has been calculated using variational method. Confinement of a light hole(LH-CB1-X) and heavy hole(HH-CB1-X) exciton have been numerically evaluated as a function of well width and barrier heights by imposing three different confinement potentials such as square(SQW), parabolic(PQW) and triangular(TQW). Due to NP effects, EB of exciton is increasedin the narrow well region irrespective of the type of exciton, barrier height and nature of the confinement potentials applied. Non-parabolicity effect is prominent in abrupt(SQW) and linearlyvarying(TQW) confinement potentials. All these effects are attributed to be an inter-play between the Coulombic interaction and NP effects among the subband structures.

The study of the transition regime between slab and mixed slab-toroidal electron temperature gradient modes in a basic experiment

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Balbaky, Abed; Sokolov, Vladimir; Sen, Amiya K.

2015-05-15

Electron temperature gradient (ETG) modes are suspected sources of anomalous electron thermal transport in magnetically confined plasmas as in tokamaks. Prior work in the Columbia Linear Machine (CLM) has been able to produce and identify slab ETG modes in a slab geometry [Wei et al., Phys. Plasmas 17, 042108 (2010)]. Now by modifying CLM to introduce curvature to the confining axial magnetic field, we have excited mixed slab-toroidal modes. Linear theory predicts a transition between slab and toroidal ETG modes when (k{sub ∥}R{sub c})/(k{sub y}ρ) ∼1 [J. Kim and W. Horton, Phys. Fluids B 3, 1167 (1991)]. We observe changesmore » in the mode amplitude for levels of curvature R{sub c}{sup −1}≪(k{sub ∥,slab})/(k{sub ⊥}ρ) , which may be explained by reductions in k{sub ∥} in the transition from slab to mixed slab-toroidal modes, as also predicted by theory. We present mode amplitude scaling as a function of magnetic field curvature. Over the range of curvature available in CLM experimentally we find a modest increase in saturated ETG potential fluctuations (∼1.5×), and a substantial increase in the power density of individual mode peaks (∼4–5×)« less

Pressure signature and evaluation of hammer pulses during underwater implosion in confining environments.

PubMed

Gupta, Sachin; Matos, Helio; Shukla, Arun; LeBlanc, James M

2016-08-01

The fluid structure interaction phenomenon occurring in confined implosions is investigated using high-speed three-dimensional digital image correlation (DIC) experiments. Aluminum tubular specimens are placed inside a confining cylindrical structure that is partially open to a pressurized environment. These specimens are hydrostatically loaded until they naturally implode. The implosion event is viewed, and recorded, through an acrylic window on the confining structure. The velocities captured through DIC are synchronized with the pressure histories to understand the effects of confining environment on the implosion process. Experiments show that collapse of the implodable volume inside the confining tube leads to strong oscillating water hammer waves. The study also reveals that the increasing collapse pressure leads to faster implosions. Both peak and average structural velocities increase linearly with increasing collapse pressure. The effects of the confining environment are better seen in relatively lower collapse pressure implosion experiments in which a long deceleration phase is observed following the peak velocity until wall contact initiates. Additionally, the behavior of the confining environment can be viewed and understood through classical water hammer theory. A one-degree-of-freedom theoretical model was created to predict the impulse pressure history for the particular problem studied.

The acoustic and instability waves of jets confined inside an acoustically lined rectangular duct

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hu, Fang Q.

1993-01-01

An analysis of linear wave modes associated with supersonic jets confined inside an acoustically lined rectangular duct is presented. Mathematical formulations are given for the vortex-sheet model and continuous mean flow model of the jet flow profiles. Detailed dispersion relations of these waves in a two-dimensional confined jet as well as an unconfined free jet are computed. Effects of the confining duct and the liners on the jet instability and acoustic waves are studied numerically. It is found that the effect of the liners is to attenuate waves that have supersonic phase velocities relative to the ambient flow. Numerical results also show that the growth rates of the instability waves could be reduced significantly by the use of liners. In addition, it is found that the upstream propagating neutral waves of an unconfined jet could become attenuated when the jet is confined.

Potential Role of Inorganic Confined Environments in Prebiotic Phosphorylation.

PubMed

Dass, Avinash Vicholous; Jaber, Maguy; Brack, André; Foucher, Frédéric; Kee, Terence P; Georgelin, Thomas; Westall, Frances

2018-03-05

A concise outlook on the potential role of confinement in phosphorylation and phosphate condensation pertaining to prebiotic chemistry is presented. Inorganic confinement is a relatively uncharted domain in studies concerning prebiotic chemistry, and even more so in terms of experimentation. However, molecular crowding within confined dimensions is central to the functioning of contemporary biology. There are numerous advantages to confined environments and an attempt to highlight this fact, within this article, has been undertaken, keeping in context the limitations of aqueous phase chemistry in phosphorylation and, to a certain extent, traditional approaches in prebiotic chemistry.

Potential Role of Inorganic Confined Environments in Prebiotic Phosphorylation

PubMed Central

Jaber, Maguy; Brack, André; Foucher, Frédéric; Kee, Terence P.; Westall, Frances

2018-01-01

A concise outlook on the potential role of confinement in phosphorylation and phosphate condensation pertaining to prebiotic chemistry is presented. Inorganic confinement is a relatively uncharted domain in studies concerning prebiotic chemistry, and even more so in terms of experimentation. However, molecular crowding within confined dimensions is central to the functioning of contemporary biology. There are numerous advantages to confined environments and an attempt to highlight this fact, within this article, has been undertaken, keeping in context the limitations of aqueous phase chemistry in phosphorylation and, to a certain extent, traditional approaches in prebiotic chemistry. PMID:29510574

Two-temperature Brownian dynamics of a particle in a confining potential

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mancois, Vincent; Marcos, Bruno; Viot, Pascal; Wilkowski, David

2018-05-01

We consider the two-dimensional motion of a particle in a confining potential, subject to Brownian orthogonal forces associated with two different temperatures. Exact solutions are obtained for an asymmetric harmonic potential in the overdamped and underdamped regimes. For more general confining potentials, a perturbative approach shows that the stationary state exhibits some universal properties. The nonequilibrium stationary state is characterized with a nonzero orthoradial mean current, corresponding to a global rotation of the particle around the center. The rotation is due to two broken symmetries: two different temperatures and a mismatch between the principal axes of the confining asymmetric potential and the temperature axes. We confirm our predictions by performing a Brownian dynamics simulation. Finally, we propose to observe this effect on a laser-cooled atomic gas.

Gyroscopic analogy of a rotating stratified flow confined in a tilted spheroid and its implication to stability of a heavy symmetrical top

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fukumoto, Yasuhide; Miyachi, Yuki

2017-11-01

We address the suppression of the gravitational instability of rotating stratified flows in a confined geometry in two ways, continuous and discontinuous stratification. A rotating flow of a stratified fluid confined in an ellipsoid, subject to gravity force, whose velocity and density fields are linear in coordinates, bears an analogy with a mechanical system of finite degrees of freedom, that is, a heavy rigid body. An insight is gained into the mechanism of system rotation for the ability of a lighter fluid of sustaining, on top of it, a heavier fluid when the angular velocity is greater than a critical value. The sleeping top corresponds to such a state. First we show that a rotating stratified flow confined in a tilted spheroid is equivalent to a heavy symmetrical top with the symmetric axis tilted from the top axis. This tilting effect of the symmetric axis on the linear stability of the sleeping top and its bifurcation is investigated in some detail. Second, we explore the incompressible two-layer RTI of a discontinuously stratified fluid confined in the lower-half of an upright spheroid rotating about the axis of symmetry oriented parallel to the vertical direction. The gyroscopic analogy accounts for decrease of the critical rotation rate with oblateness. This work was supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (Grant No. 16K05476).

Laser-driven two-electron quantum dot in plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bahar, M. K.; Soylu, A.

2018-06-01

We have investigated the energies of two-electron parabolic quantum dots (TEPQdots) embedded in plasmas characterized by more general exponential cosine screened Coulomb (MGECSC) potential under the action of a monochromatic, linearly polarized laser field by solving the corresponding Schrödinger equation numerically via the asymptotic iteration method. The four different cases of the MGECSC potential constituted by various sets of the potential parameters are reckoned in modeling of the interactions in the plasma environments which are Debye and quantum plasmas. The plasma environment is a remarkable experimental argument for the quantum dots and the interactions in plasma environments are different compared to the interactions in an environment without plasma and the screening specifications of the plasmas can be controlled through the plasma parameters. These findings constitute our major motivation in consideration of the plasma environments. An appreciable confinement effect is made up by implementing the laser field on the TEPQdot. The influences of the laser field on the system are included by using the Ehlotzky approximation, and then Kramers-Henneberger transformation is carried out for the corresponding Schrödinger equation. The influences of the ponderomotive force on two-electron quantum dots embedded in plasmas are investigated. The behaviours, the similarities and the functionalities of the laser field, the plasma environment, and the quantum dot confinement are also scrutinized. In addition, the role of the plasma environments in the mentioned analysis is also discussed in detail.

DNA confinement in nanochannels: physics and biological applications.

PubMed

Reisner, Walter; Pedersen, Jonas N; Austin, Robert H

2012-10-01

DNA is the central storage molecule of genetic information in the cell, and reading that information is a central problem in biology. While sequencing technology has made enormous advances over the past decade, there is growing interest in platforms that can readout genetic information directly from long single DNA molecules, with the ultimate goal of single-cell, single-genome analysis. Such a capability would obviate the need for ensemble averaging over heterogeneous cellular populations and eliminate uncertainties introduced by cloning and molecular amplification steps (thus enabling direct assessment of the genome in its native state). In this review, we will discuss how the information contained in genomic-length single DNA molecules can be accessed via physical confinement in nanochannels. Due to self-avoidance interactions, DNA molecules will stretch out when confined in nanochannels, creating a linear unscrolling of the genome along the channel for analysis. We will first review the fundamental physics of DNA nanochannel confinement--including the effect of varying ionic strength--and then discuss recent applications of these systems to genomic mapping. Apart from the intense biological interest in extracting linear sequence information from elongated DNA molecules, from a physics view these systems are fascinating as they enable probing of single-molecule conformation in environments with dimensions that intersect key physical length-scales in the 1 nm to 100 µm range.

Exciton States in a Gaussian Confining Potential Well

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xie, Wen-Fang; Gu, Juan

2003-11-01

We consider the problem of an electron-hole pair in a Gaussian confining potential well. This problem is treated within the effective-mass approximation framework using the method of numerical matrix diagonalization. The energy levels of the low-lying states are calculated as a function of the electron-hole effective mass ratio and the size of the confining potential. The project supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No. 10275014

Critical quench dynamics in confined systems.

PubMed

Collura, Mario; Karevski, Dragi

2010-05-21

We analyze the coherent quantum evolution of a many-particle system after slowly sweeping a power-law confining potential. The amplitude of the confining potential is varied in time along a power-law ramp such that the many-particle system finally reaches or crosses a critical point. Under this protocol we derive general scaling laws for the density of excitations created during the nonadiabatic sweep of the confining potential. It is found that the mean excitation density follows an algebraic law as a function of the sweeping rate with an exponent that depends on the space-time properties of the potential. We confirm our scaling laws by first order adiabatic calculation and exact results on the Ising quantum chain with a varying transverse field.

Quantifying Fusion Born Ion Populations in Magnetically Confined Plasmas using Ion Cyclotron Emission

DOE PAGES

Carbajal, L.; Warwick Univ., Coventry; Dendy, R. O.; ...

2017-03-07

Ion cyclotron emission (ICE) offers unique promise as a diagnostic of the fusion born alpha-particle population in magnetically confined plasmas. Pioneering observations from JET and TFTR found that ICE intensity P ICE scales approximately linearly with the measured neutron flux from fusion reactions, and with the inferred concentration, n /n i , of fusion-born alpha-particles confined within the plasma. We present fully nonlinear self-consistent kinetic simulations that reproduce this scaling for the first time. This resolves a longstanding question in the physics of fusion alpha particle confinement and stability in MCF plasmas. It confirms the MCI as the likely emissionmore » mechanism and greatly strengthens the basis for diagnostic exploitation of ICE in future burning plasmas.« less

Multipole electrodynamic ion trap geometries for microparticle confinement under standard ambient temperature and pressure conditions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mihalcea, Bogdan M., E-mail: bogdan.mihalcea@inflpr.ro; Vişan, Gina T.; Ganciu, Mihai

2016-03-21

Trapping of microparticles and aerosols is of great interest for physics and chemistry. We report microparticle trapping in case of multipole linear Paul trap geometries, operating under standard ambient temperature and pressure conditions. An 8- and 12-electrode linear trap geometries have been designed and tested with an aim to achieve trapping for larger number of particles and to study microparticle dynamical stability in electrodynamic fields. We report emergence of planar and volume ordered structures of microparticles, depending on the a.c. trapping frequency and particle specific charge ratio. The electric potential within the trap is mapped using the electrolytic tank method.more » Particle dynamics is simulated using a stochastic Langevin equation. We emphasize extended regions of stable trapping with respect to quadrupole traps, as well as good agreement between experiment and numerical simulations.« less

Resistive MHD Simulation of Quasi-Single-Helicity State on KTX

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luo, Bing; Zhu, Ping; Li, Hong; Liu, Wandong

2016-10-01

The potential formation of quasi-single-helicity (QSH) state on Keda Torus eXperiment (KTX) is evaluated in resistive MHD simulations using the NIMROD code. In this work, we focus on the effects of finite resistivity on the mode structure and characteristics of the dominant linear and nonlinear resistive tearing-mode instability in a finite β, cylindrical reversed field pinch model configuration for KTX. In the typical resistivity regimes of KTX where Lundquist number S =105 , the plasma reaches a steady QSH state after the initial transient phase of multiple helicities. The dominat mode of the QSH state is developed from the dominat linear tearing mode instability. The conditions for and the variations of the formation of QSH states in different resistivity regimes of KTX will be reported and discussed. Supported by National Magnetic Confinement Fusion Science Program of China Grant Nos. 2014GB124002, 2015GB101004, 2011GB106000, and 2011GB106003.

Semi-crystalline morphologies of linear and cyclic poly(ɛ-caprolactones) in the diffusion-limited film thickness regime

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kelly, Giovanni; Bergeson, Amelia; Haque, Farihah; Grayson, Scott; Albert, Julie

Thin and ultrathin films of semi-crystalline polymers have been studied for decades due to their far-reaching applications including opto-electronic materials and biological studies of drug delivery and cell adhesion. This body of work has focused on every aspect of crystallization, from the fundamental thermodynamics and kinetics of crystal growth to methods for affecting crystalline morphologies via blending with other polymers. Due to significant synthetic challenges, one area where progress has lagged behind is the study of non-linear architectures, especially ring polymers. However, pioneering work by polymer chemists around the world has closed that gap, and we are beginning to observe important differences between ring and linear polymers in bulk materials. As a complement to those advances, this work aims to compare the morphologies of linear and cyclic poly(ɛ-caprolactones) (PCL) observed in heavily-confined ultrathin films where crystal growth is diffusion-limited. Understanding how confinement effects alter morphology will provide invaluable insight into differences in crystal growth as a function of molecular architecture.

Simulations of the infrared, Raman, and 2D-IR photon echo spectra of water in nanoscale silica pores

DOE PAGES

Burris, Paul C.; Laage, Damien; Thompson, Ward H.

2016-05-20

Vibrational spectroscopy is frequently used to characterize nanoconfined liquids and probe the effect of the confining framework on the liquid structure and dynamics relative to the corresponding bulk fluid. However, it is still unclear what molecular-level information can be obtained from such measurements. In this Paper, we address this question by using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to reproduce the linear infrared (IR), Raman, and two-dimensional IR (2D-IR) photon echo spectra for water confined within hydrophilic (hydroxyl-terminated) silica mesopores. To simplify the spectra the OH stretching region of isotopically dilute HOD in D 2O is considered. An empirical mapping approach ismore » used to obtain the OH vibrational frequencies, transition dipoles, and transition polarizabilities from the MD simulations. The simulated linear IR and Raman spectra are in good general agreement with measured spectra of water in mesoporous silica reported in the literature. The key effect of confinement on the water spectrum is a vibrational blueshift for OH groups that are closest to the pore interface. The blueshift can be attributed to the weaker hydrogen bonds (H-bonds) formed between the OH groups and silica oxygen acceptors. Non-Condon effects greatly diminish the contribution of these OH moieties to the linear IR spectrum, but these weaker H-bonds are readily apparent in the Raman spectrum. The 2D-IR spectra have not yet been measured and thus the present results represent a prediction. Lastly, the simulated spectra indicate that it should be possible to probe the slower spectral diffusion of confined water compared to the bulk liquid by analysis of the 2D-IR spectra.« less

Simulations of the infrared, Raman, and 2D-IR photon echo spectra of water in nanoscale silica pores.

PubMed

Burris, Paul C; Laage, Damien; Thompson, Ward H

2016-05-21

Vibrational spectroscopy is frequently used to characterize nanoconfined liquids and probe the effect of the confining framework on the liquid structure and dynamics relative to the corresponding bulk fluid. However, it is still unclear what molecular-level information can be obtained from such measurements. In this paper, we address this question by using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to reproduce the linear infrared (IR), Raman, and two-dimensional IR (2D-IR) photon echo spectra for water confined within hydrophilic (hydroxyl-terminated) silica mesopores. To simplify the spectra the OH stretching region of isotopically dilute HOD in D2O is considered. An empirical mapping approach is used to obtain the OH vibrational frequencies, transition dipoles, and transition polarizabilities from the MD simulations. The simulated linear IR and Raman spectra are in good general agreement with measured spectra of water in mesoporous silica reported in the literature. The key effect of confinement on the water spectrum is a vibrational blueshift for OH groups that are closest to the pore interface. The blueshift can be attributed to the weaker hydrogen bonds (H-bonds) formed between the OH groups and silica oxygen acceptors. Non-Condon effects greatly diminish the contribution of these OH moieties to the linear IR spectrum, but these weaker H-bonds are readily apparent in the Raman spectrum. The 2D-IR spectra have not yet been measured and thus the present results represent a prediction. The simulated spectra indicates that it should be possible to probe the slower spectral diffusion of confined water compared to the bulk liquid by analysis of the 2D-IR spectra.

Simulations of the infrared, Raman, and 2D-IR photon echo spectra of water in nanoscale silica pores

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Burris, Paul C.; Thompson, Ward H., E-mail: wthompson@ku.edu; Laage, Damien, E-mail: damien.laage@ens.fr

2016-05-21

Vibrational spectroscopy is frequently used to characterize nanoconfined liquids and probe the effect of the confining framework on the liquid structure and dynamics relative to the corresponding bulk fluid. However, it is still unclear what molecular-level information can be obtained from such measurements. In this paper, we address this question by using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to reproduce the linear infrared (IR), Raman, and two-dimensional IR (2D-IR) photon echo spectra for water confined within hydrophilic (hydroxyl-terminated) silica mesopores. To simplify the spectra the OH stretching region of isotopically dilute HOD in D{sub 2}O is considered. An empirical mapping approach ismore » used to obtain the OH vibrational frequencies, transition dipoles, and transition polarizabilities from the MD simulations. The simulated linear IR and Raman spectra are in good general agreement with measured spectra of water in mesoporous silica reported in the literature. The key effect of confinement on the water spectrum is a vibrational blueshift for OH groups that are closest to the pore interface. The blueshift can be attributed to the weaker hydrogen bonds (H-bonds) formed between the OH groups and silica oxygen acceptors. Non-Condon effects greatly diminish the contribution of these OH moieties to the linear IR spectrum, but these weaker H-bonds are readily apparent in the Raman spectrum. The 2D-IR spectra have not yet been measured and thus the present results represent a prediction. The simulated spectra indicates that it should be possible to probe the slower spectral diffusion of confined water compared to the bulk liquid by analysis of the 2D-IR spectra.« less

Glucose biosensing using glassy carbon electrode modified with polyhydroxy-C60, glucose oxidase and ionic-liquid.

PubMed

Yang, Tian; Yang, Xiao-Lu; Zhang, Yu-Shuai; Xiao, BaoLin; Hong, Jun

2014-01-01

Direct electrochemistry of glucose oxidase (GOD) was achieved when an ionic liquid/GOD-Polyhydroxy-C60 functional membrane was confined on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE). The cyclic voltammograms (CVs) of the modified GCE showed a pair of redox peaks with a formal potential (E°') of - 329 ± 2 mV. The heterogeneous electron transfer constant (k(s)) was 1.43 s-1. The modified GCE response to glucose was linear in the range from 0.02 to 2.0 mM. The detection limit was 1 μM. The apparent Michaelis-Menten constant (K(m)(app)) was 1.45 mM.

Generating equilateral random polygons in confinement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Diao, Y.; Ernst, C.; Montemayor, A.; Ziegler, U.

2011-10-01

One challenging problem in biology is to understand the mechanism of DNA packing in a confined volume such as a cell. It is known that confined circular DNA is often knotted and hence the topology of the extracted (and relaxed) circular DNA can be used as a probe of the DNA packing mechanism. However, in order to properly estimate the topological properties of the confined circular DNA structures using mathematical models, it is necessary to generate large ensembles of simulated closed chains (i.e. polygons) of equal edge lengths that are confined in a volume such as a sphere of certain fixed radius. Finding efficient algorithms that properly sample the space of such confined equilateral random polygons is a difficult problem. In this paper, we propose a method that generates confined equilateral random polygons based on their probability distribution. This method requires the creation of a large database initially. However, once the database has been created, a confined equilateral random polygon of length n can be generated in linear time in terms of n. The errors introduced by the method can be controlled and reduced by the refinement of the database. Furthermore, our numerical simulations indicate that these errors are unbiased and tend to cancel each other in a long polygon.

Determination of shift in energy of band edges and band gap of ZnSe spherical quantum dot

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Siboh, Dutem; Kalita, Pradip Kumar; Sarma, Jayanta Kumar; Nath, Nayan Mani

2018-04-01

We have determined the quantum confinement induced shifts in energy of band edges and band gap with respect to size of ZnSe spherical quantum dot employing an effective confinement potential model developed in our earlier communication "arXiv:1705.10343". We have also performed phenomenological analysis of our theoretical results in comparison with available experimental data and observe a very good agreement in this regard. Phenomenological success achieved in this regard confirms validity of the confining potential model as well as signifies the capability and applicability of the ansatz for the effective confining potential to have reasonable information in the study of real nano-structured spherical systems.

Linear and nonlinear optical properties in an asymmetric double quantum well under intense laser field: Effects of applied electric and magnetic fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yesilgul, U.; Al, E. B.; Martínez-Orozco, J. C.; Restrepo, R. L.; Mora-Ramos, M. E.; Duque, C. A.; Ungan, F.; Kasapoglu, E.

2016-08-01

In the present study, the effects of electric and magnetic fields on the linear and third-order nonlinear optical absorption coefficients and relative change of the refractive index in asymmetric GaAs/GaAlAs double quantum wells under intense laser fields are theoretically investigated. The electric field is oriented along the growth direction of the heterostructure while the magnetic field is taken in-plane. The intense laser field is linear polarization along the growth direction. Our calculations are made using the effective-mass approximation and the compact density-matrix approach. Intense laser effects on the system are investigated with the use of the Floquet method with the consequent change in the confinement potential of heterostructures. Our results show that the increase of the electric and magnetic fields blue-shifts the peak positions of the total absorption coefficient and of the total refractive index while the increase of the intense laser field firstly blue-shifts the peak positions and later results in their red-shifting.

Confinement time of electron plasma approaching magnetic pumping transport limit in small aspect ratio C-shaped torus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lachhvani, Lavkesh; Pahari, Sambaran; Goswami, Rajiv; Bajpai, Manu; Yeole, Yogesh; Chattopadhyay, P. K.

2016-06-01

A long confinement time of electron plasma, approaching magnetic pumping transport limit, has been observed in SMARTEX-C (a small aspect ratio partial torus with R o / a ˜ 1.59 ). Investigations of the growth rate reveal that they are governed by instabilities like resistive wall destabilization, ion driven instabilities, and electron-neutral collisions. Successful confinement of electron plasmas exceeding > 1 × 10 5 poloidal E → × B → rotations lasting for nearly 2.1 ± 0.1 s is achieved by suppressing these instabilities. The confinement time has been estimated in two ways: (a) from the frequency scaling of the linear diocotron mode launched from sections of the wall that are also used as capacitive probes and (b) by dumping the plasma onto a charge collector at different hold times.

Extended linear ion trap frequency standard apparatus

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Prestage, John D. (Inventor)

1995-01-01

A linear ion trap for frequency standard applications is provided with a plurality of trapping rods equally spaced and applied quadruple rf voltages for radial confinement of atomic ions and biased level pins at each end for axial confinement of the ions. The trapping rods are divided into two linear ion trap regions by a gap in each rod in a common radial plane to provide dc discontinuity, thus dc isolating one region from the other. A first region for ion-loading and preparation fluorescence is biased with a dc voltage to transport ions into a second region for resonance frequency comparison with a local oscillator derived frequency while the second region is held at zero voltage. The dc bias voltage of the regions is reversed for transporting the ions back into the first region for fluorescence measurement. The dual mode cycle is repeated continuously for comparison and feedback control of the local oscillator derived frequency. Only the second region requires magnetic shielding for the resonance function which is sensitive to any ambient magnetic fields.

Diffusive dynamics of nanoparticles in ultra-confined media

DOE PAGES

Jacob, Jack Deodato; Conrad, Jacinta; Krishnamoorti, Ramanan; ...

2015-08-10

Differential dynamic microscopy (DDM) was used to investigate the diffusive dynamics of nanoparticles of diameter 200 400 nm that were strongly confined in a periodic square array of cylindrical nanoposts. The minimum distance between posts was 1.3 5 times the diameter of the nanoparticles. The image structure functions obtained from the DDM analysis were isotropic and could be fit by a stretched exponential function. The relaxation time scaled diffusively across the range of wave vectors studied, and the corresponding scalar diffusivities decreased monotonically with increased confinement. The decrease in diffusivity could be described by models for hindered diffusion that accountedmore » for steric restrictions and hydrodynamic interactions. The stretching exponent decreased linearly as the nanoparticles were increasingly confined by the posts. Altogether, these results are consistent with a picture in which strongly confined nanoparticles experience a heterogeneous spatial environment arising from hydrodynamics and volume exclusion on time scales comparable to cage escape, leading to multiple relaxation processes and Fickian but non-Gaussian diffusive dynamics.« less

On the calculation of the absolute grand potential of confined smectic-A phases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Chien-Cheng; Baus, Marc; Ryckaert, Jean-Paul

2015-09-01

We determine the absolute grand potential Λ along a confined smectic-A branch of a calamitic liquid crystal system enclosed in a slit pore of transverse area A and width L, using the rod-rod Gay-Berne potential and a rod-wall potential favouring perpendicular orientation at the walls. For a confined phase with an integer number of smectic layers sandwiched between the opposite walls, we obtain the excess properties (excess grand potential Λexc, solvation force fs and adsorption Γ) with respect to the bulk phase at the same μ (chemical potential) and T (temperature) state point. While usual thermodynamic integration methods are used along the confined smectic branch to estimate the grand potential difference as μ is varied at fixed L, T, the absolute grand potential at one reference state point is obtained via the evaluation of the absolute Helmholtz free energy in the (N, L, A, T) canonical ensemble. It proceeds via a sequence of free energy difference estimations involving successively the cost of localising rods on layers and the switching on of a one-dimensional harmonic field to keep layers integrity coupled to the elimination of inter-layers and wall interactions. The absolute free energy of the resulting set of fully independent layers of interacting rods is finally estimated via the existing procedures. This work opens the way to the computer simulation study of phase transitions implying confined layered phases.

Status of quarkonia-like negative and positive parity states in a relativistic confinement scheme

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bhavsar, Tanvi; Shah, Manan; Vinodkumar, P. C.

2018-03-01

Properties of quarkonia-like states in the charm and bottom sector have been studied in the frame work of relativistic Dirac formalism with a linear confinement potential. We have computed the mass spectroscopy and decay properties (vector decay constant and leptonic decay width) of several quarkonia-like states. The present study is also intended to identify some of the unexplained states as mixed P-wave and mixed S-D-wave states of charmonia and bottomonia. The results indicate that the X(4140) state can be an admixture of two P states of charmonium. And the charmonium-like states X(4630) and X(4660) are the admixed state of S-D-waves. Similarly, the X(10610) state recently reported by Belle II can be mixed P-states of bottomonium. In the relativistic framework we have computed the vector decay constant and the leptonic decay width for S wave charmonium and bottomonium. The leptonic decay widths for the J^{PC} = 1^{-} mixed states are also predicted. Further, both the masses and the leptonic decay width are considered for the identification of the quarkonia-like states.

Confined surface plasmon sensors based on strongly coupled disk-in-volcano arrays.

PubMed

Ai, Bin; Wang, Limin; Möhwald, Helmuth; Yu, Ye; Zhang, Gang

2015-02-14

Disk-in-volcano arrays are reported to greatly enhance the sensing performance due to strong coupling in the nanogaps between the nanovolcanos and nanodisks. The designed structure, which is composed of a nanovolcano array film and a disk in each cavity, is fabricated by a simple and efficient colloidal lithography method. By tuning structural parameters, the disk-in-volcano arrays show greatly enhanced resonances in the nanogaps formed by the disks and the inner wall of the volcanos. Therefore they respond to the surrounding environment with a sensitivity as high as 977 nm per RIU and with excellent linear dependence on the refraction index. Moreover, through mastering the fabrication process, biological sensing can be easily confined to the cavities of the nanovolcanos. The local responsivity has the advantages of maximum surface plasmon energy density in the nanogaps, reducing the sensing background and saving expensive reagents. The disk-in-volcano arrays also possess great potential in applications of optical and electrical trapping and single-molecule analysis, because they enable establishment of electric fields across the gaps.

Resonant tunneling of 1-dimensional electrons across an array of 3-dimensionally confined potential wells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Allee, D. R.; Chou, S. Y.; Harris, J. S.; Pease, R. F. W.

A lateral resonant tunneling field effect transistor has been fabricated with a gate electrode in the form of a railway such that the two rails form a lateral double barrier potential at the GaAs/AlGaAs interface. The ties confine the electrons in the third dimension forming an array of potential boxes or three dimensionally confined potential wells. The width of the ties and rails is 50nm; the spacings between the ties and between the two rails are 230nm and 150nm respectively. The ties are 750nm long and extend beyond the the two rails forming one dimensional wires on either side. Conductance oscillations are observed in the drain current at 4.2K as the gate voltage is scanned. Comparison with devices with a solid gate, and with a monorail gate with ties fabricated on the same wafer suggest that these conductance oscillations are electron resonant tunneling from one dimensional wires through the quasi-bound states of the three dimensionally confined potential wells. Comparison with a device with a two rail gate without ties (previously published) indicates that additional confinement due to the ties enhances the strength of the conductance oscillations.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Carbajal, L.; Warwick Univ., Coventry; Dendy, R. O.

Ion cyclotron emission (ICE) offers unique promise as a diagnostic of the fusion born alpha-particle population in magnetically confined plasmas. Pioneering observations from JET and TFTR found that ICE intensity P ICE scales approximately linearly with the measured neutron flux from fusion reactions, and with the inferred concentration, n /n i , of fusion-born alpha-particles confined within the plasma. We present fully nonlinear self-consistent kinetic simulations that reproduce this scaling for the first time. This resolves a longstanding question in the physics of fusion alpha particle confinement and stability in MCF plasmas. It confirms the MCI as the likely emissionmore » mechanism and greatly strengthens the basis for diagnostic exploitation of ICE in future burning plasmas.« less

Magnetically confined electron beam system for high resolution electron transmission-beam experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lozano, A. I.; Oller, J. C.; Krupa, K.; Ferreira da Silva, F.; Limão-Vieira, P.; Blanco, F.; Muñoz, A.; Colmenares, R.; García, G.

2018-06-01

A novel experimental setup has been implemented to provide accurate electron scattering cross sections from molecules at low and intermediate impact energies (1-300 eV) by measuring the attenuation of a magnetically confined linear electron beam from a molecular target. High-resolution electron energy is achieved through confinement in a magnetic gas trap where electrons are cooled by successive collisions with N2. Additionally, we developed and present a method to correct systematic errors arising from energy and angular resolution limitations. The accuracy of the entire measurement procedure is validated by comparing the N2 total scattering cross section in the considered energy range with benchmark values available in the literature.

Ground state atoms confined in a real Rydberg and complex Rydberg-Scarf II potential

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mansoori Kermani, Maryam

2017-12-01

In this work, a system of two ground state atoms confined in a one-dimensional real Rydberg potential was modeled. The atom-atom interaction was considered as a nonlocal separable potential (NLSP) of rank one. This potential was assumed because it leads to an analytical solution of the Lippmann-Schwinger equation. The NLSPs are useful in the few body problems that the many-body potential at each point is replaced by a projective two-body nonlocal potential operator. Analytical expressions for the confined particle resolvent were calculated as a key function in this study. The contributions of the bound and virtual states in the complex energy plane were obtained via the derived transition matrix. Since the low energy quantum scattering problems scattering length is an important quantity, the behavior of this parameter was described versus the reduced energy considering various values of potential parameters. In a one-dimensional model, the total cross section in units of the area is not a meaningful property; however, the reflectance coefficient has a similar role. Therefore the reflectance probability and its behavior were investigated. Then a new confined potential via combining the complex absorbing Scarf II potential with the real Rydberg potential, called the Rydberg-Scarf II potential, was introduced to construct a non-Hermitian Hamiltonian. In order to investigate the effect of the complex potential, the scattering length and reflectance coefficient were calculated. It was concluded that in addition to the competition between the repulsive and attractive parts of both potentials, the imaginary part of the complex potential has an important effect on the properties of the system. The complex potential also reduces the reflectance probability via increasing the absorption probability. For all numerical computations, the parameters of a system including argon gas confined in graphite were considered.

Compact strange stars with a medium dependence in gluons at finite temperature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bagchi, M.; Ray, S.; Dey, M.; Dey, J.

2006-05-01

Aims.The possible existence of strange stars in the universe will help in the understanding of various properties of quantum chromodynamics, like asymptotic freedom and chiral symmetry restoration, which is otherwise very difficult to prove in laboratory experiments. Methods: .Strange star properties were calculated using large color approximation with built-in chiral symmetry restoration. A relativistic Hartree Fock calculation was performed using the Richardson potential as an interquark interaction. This potential has the asymptotic freedom and a confinement-deconfinement mechanism built into it and the present calculation employs an application of this potential with modified two scale parameters Λ and Λ', to find a new set of equations of state for strange quark matter. The linear confinement string tension from lattice calculations is 350 MeV and the Coulomb -like part has the parameter 100 MeV from deep inelastic scattering experiments. We also consider the effect of temperature, on gluon mass in a simple way, in addition to the usual density dependence, Results: .We obtained a set of new equation of states for strange quark matter and also found that the transition temperature from hadronic matter to strange matter is at 80 MeV, close to the 100 MeV estimated in literature. Conclusions: .Formation of strange stars may be the only signal for formation of quark-gluon plasma with asymptotic freedom and chiral symmetry restoration and this may be observable through many processes - such as for example through delayed γ ray afterglow.

Cathodic detection of H2O2 based on nanopyramidal gold surface with enhanced electron transfer of myoglobin.

PubMed

Xia, Peipei; Liu, Haiqing; Tian, Yang

2009-04-15

Direct and reversible electron transfer of myoglobin (Mb), for the first time, is achieved at nanopyramidal gold surface, which was fabricated by one-step electrodeposition, with redox formal potential of 0.21+/-0.01 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) and an apparent heterogeneous electron-transfer rate constant (k(s)) of 1.6+/-0.2 s(-1). Electrochemical investigation indicates that Mb is stably confined on the nanopyramidal gold surface and maintains electrocatalytic activity toward hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)). The facilitated electron transfer combined with the intrinsic catalytical activity of Mb substantially construct the third-generation biosensor for H(2)O(2). The positive redox potential of Mb at the nanostructured gold electrode gives a strong basis for determination of H(2)O(2) with high selectivity. Besides this advantage, the present biosensor also exhibits quick response time, broad linear range, and good sensitivity. The dynamic detection linear range is from 1 microM to 1.4 mM with a detection limit of 0.5 microM at 3sigma. The striking analytical performance of the present biosensor, as well as the biocompatibility of gold nanostructures provided a potential for continuous, on-line detection of H(2)O(2) in the biological system.

A double-layer based model of ion confinement in electron cyclotron resonance ion source.

PubMed

Mascali, D; Neri, L; Celona, L; Castro, G; Torrisi, G; Gammino, S; Sorbello, G; Ciavola, G

2014-02-01

The paper proposes a new model of ion confinement in ECRIS, which can be easily generalized to any magnetic configuration characterized by closed magnetic surfaces. Traditionally, ion confinement in B-min configurations is ascribed to a negative potential dip due to superhot electrons, adiabatically confined by the magneto-static field. However, kinetic simulations including RF heating affected by cavity modes structures indicate that high energy electrons populate just a thin slab overlapping the ECR layer, while their density drops down of more than one order of magnitude outside. Ions, instead, diffuse across the electron layer due to their high collisionality. This is the proper physical condition to establish a double-layer (DL) configuration which self-consistently originates a potential barrier; this "barrier" confines the ions inside the plasma core surrounded by the ECR surface. The paper will describe a simplified ion confinement model based on plasma density non-homogeneity and DL formation.

Simulations of water nano-confined between corrugated planes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zubeltzu, Jon; Artacho, Emilio

2017-11-01

Water confined to nanoscale widths in two dimensions between ideal planar walls has been the subject of ample study, aiming at understanding the intrinsic response of water to confinement, avoiding the consideration of the chemistry of actual confining materials. In this work, we study the response of such nanoconfined water to the imposition of a periodicity in the confinement by means of computer simulations, both using empirical potentials and from first-principles. For that we propose a periodic confining potential emulating the atomistic oscillation of the confining walls, which allows varying the lattice parameter and amplitude of the oscillation. We do it for a triangular lattice, with several values of the lattice parameter: one which is ideal for commensuration with layers of Ih ice and other values that would correspond to more realistic substrates. For the former, the phase diagram shows an overall rise of the melting temperature. The liquid maintains a bi-layer triangular structure, however, despite the fact that it is not favoured by the external periodicity. The first-principles liquid is significantly affected by the modulation in its layering and stacking even at relatively small amplitudes of the confinement modulation. Beyond some critical modulation amplitude, the hexatic phase present in flat confinement is replaced by a trilayer crystalline phase unlike any of the phases encountered for flat confinement. For more realistic lattice parameters, the liquid does not display higher tendency to freeze, but it clearly shows inhomogeneous behaviour as the strength of the rugosity increases. In spite of this expected inhomogeneity, the structural and dynamical response of the liquid is surprisingly insensitive to the external modulation. Although the first-principles calculations give a more triangular liquid than the one observed with empirical potentials (TIP4P/2005), both agree remarkably well for the main conclusions of the study.

Semiflexible macromolecules in quasi-one-dimensional confinement: Discrete versus continuous bond angles.

PubMed

Huang, Aiqun; Hsu, Hsiao-Ping; Bhattacharya, Aniket; Binder, Kurt

2015-12-28

The conformations of semiflexible polymers in two dimensions confined in a strip of width D are studied by computer simulations, investigating two different models for the mechanism by which chain stiffness is realized. One model (studied by molecular dynamics) is a bead-spring model in the continuum, where stiffness is controlled by a bond angle potential allowing for arbitrary bond angles. The other model (studied by Monte Carlo) is a self-avoiding walk chain on the square lattice, where only discrete bond angles (0° and ±90°) are possible, and the bond angle potential then controls the density of kinks along the chain contour. The first model is a crude description of DNA-like biopolymers, while the second model (roughly) describes synthetic polymers like alkane chains. It is first demonstrated that in the bulk the crossover from rods to self-avoiding walks for both models is very similar, when one studies average chain linear dimensions, transverse fluctuations, etc., despite their differences in local conformations. However, in quasi-one-dimensional confinement two significant differences between both models occur: (i) The persistence length (extracted from the average cosine of the bond angle) gets renormalized for the lattice model when D gets less than the bulk persistence length, while in the continuum model it stays unchanged. (ii) The monomer density near the repulsive walls for semiflexible polymers is compatible with a power law predicted for the Kratky-Porod model in the case of the bead-spring model, while for the lattice case it tends to a nonzero constant across the strip. However, for the density of chain ends, such a constant behavior seems to occur for both models, unlike the power law observed for flexible polymers. In the regime where the bulk persistence length ℓp is comparable to D, hairpin conformations are detected, and the chain linear dimensions are discussed in terms of a crossover from the Daoud/De Gennes "string of blobs"-picture to the flexible rod picture when D decreases and/or the chain stiffness increases. Introducing a suitable further coarse-graining of the chain contours of the continuum model, direct estimates for the deflection length and its distribution could be obtained.

20007: Quantum particle displacement by a moving localized potential trap

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Granot, E.; Marchewka, A.

2009-04-01

We describe the dynamics of a bound state of an attractive δ-well under displacement of the potential. Exact analytical results are presented for the suddenly moved potential. Since this is a quantum system, only a fraction of the initially confined wave function remains confined to the moving potential. However, it is shown that besides the probability to remain confined to the moving barrier and the probability to remain in the initial position, there is also a certain probability for the particle to move at double speed. A quasi-classical interpretation for this effect is suggested. The temporal and spectral dynamics of each one of the scenarios is investigated.

On the buckling of elastic rings by external confinement.

PubMed

Hazel, Andrew L; Mullin, Tom

2017-05-13

We report the results of an experimental and numerical investigation into the buckling of thin elastic rings confined within containers of circular or regular polygonal cross section. The rings float on the surface of water held in the container and controlled removal of the fluid increases the confinement of the ring. The increased compressive forces can cause the ring to buckle into a variety of shapes. For the circular container, finite perturbations are required to induce buckling, whereas in polygonal containers the buckling occurs through a linear instability that is closely related to the canonical Euler column buckling. A model based on Kirchhoff-Love beam theory is developed and solved numerically, showing good agreement with the experiments and revealing that in polygons increasing the number of sides means that buckling occurs at reduced levels of confinement.This article is part of the themed issue 'Patterning through instabilities in complex media: theory and applications.' © 2017 The Author(s).

On the buckling of elastic rings by external confinement

PubMed Central

Hazel, Andrew L.

2017-01-01

We report the results of an experimental and numerical investigation into the buckling of thin elastic rings confined within containers of circular or regular polygonal cross section. The rings float on the surface of water held in the container and controlled removal of the fluid increases the confinement of the ring. The increased compressive forces can cause the ring to buckle into a variety of shapes. For the circular container, finite perturbations are required to induce buckling, whereas in polygonal containers the buckling occurs through a linear instability that is closely related to the canonical Euler column buckling. A model based on Kirchhoff–Love beam theory is developed and solved numerically, showing good agreement with the experiments and revealing that in polygons increasing the number of sides means that buckling occurs at reduced levels of confinement. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Patterning through instabilities in complex media: theory and applications.’ PMID:28373386

Oscillator strength and quantum-confined Stark effect of excitons in a thin PbS quantum disk

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oukerroum, A.; El-Yadri, M.; El Aouami, A.; Feddi, E.; Dujardin, F.; Duque, C. A.; Sadoqi, M.; Long, G.

2018-01-01

In this paper, we report a study of the effect of a lateral electric field on a quantum-confined exciton in a thin PbS quantum disk. Our approach was performed in the framework of the effective mass theory and adiabatic approximation. The ground state energy and the stark shift were determined by using a variational method with an adequate trial wavefunction, by investigating a 2D oscillator strength under simultaneous consideration of the geometrical confinement and the electric field strength. Our results showed a strong dependence of the exciton binding and the Stark shift on the disk dimensions in both axial and longitudinal directions. On the other hand, our results also showed that the Stark shift’s dependence on the electric field is not purely quadratic but the linear contribution is also important and cannot be neglected, especially when the confinement gets weaker.

Mobility restrictions and glass transition behaviour of an epoxy resin under confinement.

PubMed

Djemour, A; Sanctuary, R; Baller, J

2015-04-07

Confinement can have a big influence on the dynamics of glass formers in the vicinity of the glass transition. Already 40 to 50 K above the glass transition temperature, thermal equilibration of glass formers can be strongly influenced by the confining substrate. We investigate the linear thermal expansion and the specific heat capacity cp of an epoxy resin (diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A, DGEBA) in a temperature interval of 120 K around the glass transition temperature. The epoxy resin is filled into controlled pore glasses with pore diameters between 4 and 111 nm. Since DGEBA can form H-bonds with silica surfaces, we also investigate the influence of surface silanization of the porous substrates. In untreated substrates a core/shell structure of the epoxy resin can be identified. The glass transition behaviours of the bulk phase and that of the shell phase are different. In silanized substrates, the shell phase disappears. At a temperature well above the glass transition, a second transition is found for the bulk phase - both in the linear expansion data as well as in the specific heat capacity. The cp data do not allow excluding the glass transition of a third phase as being the cause for this transition, whereas the linear expansion data do so. The additional transition temperature is interpreted as a separation between two regimes: above this temperature, macroscopic flow of the bulk phase inside the porous structure is possible to balance the mismatch of thermal expansion coefficients between DGEBA and the substrate. Below the transition temperature, this degree of freedom is hindered by geometrical constraints of the porous substrates. Moreover, this second transition could also be found in the linear expansion data of the shell phase.

Energies and densities of electrons confined in elliptical and ellipsoidal quantum dots

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Halder, Avik; Kresin, Vitaly V.

Here, we consider a droplet of electrons confined within an external harmonic potential well of elliptical or ellipsoidal shape, a geometry commonly encountered in work with semiconductor quantum dots and other nanoscale or mesoscale structures. For droplet sizes exceeding the effective Bohr radius, the dominant contribution to average system parameters in the Thomas– Fermi approximation comes from the potential energy terms, which allows us to derive expressions describing the electron droplet’s shape and dimensions, its density, total and capacitive energy, and chemical potential. Our analytical results are in very good agreement with experimental data and numerical calculations, and make itmore » possible to follow the dependence of the properties of the system on its parameters (the total number of electrons, the axial ratios and curvatures of the confinement potential, and the dielectric constant of the material). One interesting feature is that the eccentricity of the electron droplet is not the same as that of its confining potential well.« less

Energies and densities of electrons confined in elliptical and ellipsoidal quantum dots

DOE PAGES

Halder, Avik; Kresin, Vitaly V.

2016-08-09

Here, we consider a droplet of electrons confined within an external harmonic potential well of elliptical or ellipsoidal shape, a geometry commonly encountered in work with semiconductor quantum dots and other nanoscale or mesoscale structures. For droplet sizes exceeding the effective Bohr radius, the dominant contribution to average system parameters in the Thomas– Fermi approximation comes from the potential energy terms, which allows us to derive expressions describing the electron droplet’s shape and dimensions, its density, total and capacitive energy, and chemical potential. Our analytical results are in very good agreement with experimental data and numerical calculations, and make itmore » possible to follow the dependence of the properties of the system on its parameters (the total number of electrons, the axial ratios and curvatures of the confinement potential, and the dielectric constant of the material). One interesting feature is that the eccentricity of the electron droplet is not the same as that of its confining potential well.« less

Electronic quantum confinement in cylindrical potential well

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baltenkov, Arkadiy S.; Msezane, Alfred Z.

2016-04-01

The effects of quantum confinement on the momentum distribution of electrons confined within a cylindrical potential well have been analyzed. The motivation is to understand specific features of the momentum distribution of electrons when the electron behavior is completely controlled by the parameters of a non-isotropic potential cavity. It is shown that studying the solutions of the wave equation for an electron confined in a cylindrical potential well offers the possibility to analyze the confinement behavior of an electron executing one- or two-dimensional motion in the three-dimensional space within the framework of the same mathematical model. Some low-lying electronic states with different symmetries have been considered and the corresponding wave functions have been calculated; the behavior of their nodes and their peak positions with respect to the parameters of the cylindrical well has been analyzed. Additionally, the momentum distributions of electrons in these states have been calculated. The limiting cases of the ratio of the cylinder length H and its radius R0 have been considered; when the cylinder length H significantly exceeds its radius R0 and when the cylinder radius is much greater than its length. The cylindrical quantum confinement effects on the momentum distribution of electrons in these potential wells have been analyzed. The possible application of the results obtained here for the description of the general features in the behavior of electrons in nanowires with metallic type of conductivity (or nanotubes) and ultrathin epitaxial films (or graphene sheets) are discussed. Possible experiments are suggested where the quantum confinement can be manifested. Contribution to the Topical Issue "Atomic Cluster Collisions (7th International Symposium)", edited by Gerardo Delgado Barrio, Andrey Solov'Yov, Pablo Villarreal, Rita Prosmiti.

How to Recharge a Confined Aquifer: An Exploration of Geologic Controls on Groundwater Storage.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maples, S.; Fogg, G. E.; Maxwell, R. M.; Liu, Y.

2017-12-01

Decreased snowpack storage and groundwater overdraft in California has increased interest in managed aquifer recharge (MAR) of excess winter runoff to the Central Valley aquifer system, which has unused storage capacity that far exceeds the state's surface reservoirs. Recharge to the productive, confined aquifer system remains a challenge due to the presence of nearly-ubiquitous, multiple silt and clay confining units that limit recharge pathways. However, previous studies have identified interconnected networks of sand and gravel deposits that bypass the confining units and accommodate rapid, high-volume recharge to the confined aquifer system in select locations. We use the variably-saturated, fully-integrated groundwater/surface-water flow code, ParFlow, in combination with a high-resolution, transition probability Markov-chain geostatistical model of the subsurface geologic heterogeneity of the east side of the Sacramento Valley, CA, to characterize recharge potential across a landscape that includes these geologic features. Multiple 180-day MAR simulations show that recharge potential is highly dependent on subsurface geologic structure, with a several order-of-magnitude range of recharge rates and volumes across the landscape. Where there are recharge pathways to the productive confined-aquifer system, pressure propagation in the confined system is widespread and rapid, with multi-kilometer lateral pressure propagation. Although widespread pressure propagation occurs in the confined system, only a small fraction of recharge volume is accommodated there. Instead, the majority of recharge occurs by filling unsaturated pore spaces. Where they outcrop at land surface, high-K recharge pathways fill rapidly, accommodating the majority of recharge during early time. However, these features become saturated quickly, and somewhat counterintuitively, the low-K silt and clay facies accommodate the majority of recharge volume during most of the simulation. These findings (1) highlight the large variability of MAR potential across the landscape, wherein the recharge capacity in select areas far exceeds recharge potential over most of the landscape, and (2) elucidate important physical processes that control MAR potential in alluvial aquifer systems.

Rovibrational states of Wigner molecules in spherically symmetric confining potentials

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cioslowski, Jerzy

2016-08-07

The strong-localization limit of three-dimensional Wigner molecules, in which repulsively interacting particles are confined by a weak spherically symmetric potential, is investigated. An explicit prescription for computation of rovibrational wavefunctions and energies that are asymptotically exact at this limit is presented. The prescription is valid for systems with arbitrary angularly-independent interparticle and confining potentials, including those involving Coulombic and screened (i.e., Yukawa/Debye) interactions. The necessary derivations are greatly simplified by explicit constructions of the Eckart frame and the parity-adapted primitive wavefunctions. The performance of the new formalism is illustrated with the three- and four-electron harmonium atoms at their strong-correlation limits.more » In particular, the involvement of vibrational modes with the E symmetry is readily pinpointed as the origin of the “anomalous” weak-confinement behavior of the {sup 1}S{sub +} state of the four-electron species that is absent in its {sup 1}D{sub +} companion of the strong-confinement regime.« less

Geometric effects resulting from square and circular confinements for a particle constrained to a space curve

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Yong-Long; Lai, Meng-Yun; Wang, Fan; Zong, Hong-Shi; Chen, Yan-Feng

2018-04-01

Investigating the geometric effects resulting from the detailed behaviors of the confining potential, we consider square and circular confinements to constrain a particle to a space curve. We find a torsion-induced geometric potential and a curvature-induced geometric momentum just in the square case, while a geometric gauge potential solely in the circular case. In the presence of electromagnetic field, a geometrically induced magnetic moment couples with magnetic field as an induced Zeeman coupling only for the circular confinement also. As spin-orbit interaction is considered, we find some additional terms for the spin-orbit coupling, which are induced not only by torsion, but also curvature. Moreover, in the circular case, the spin also couples with an intrinsic angular momentum, which describes the azimuthal motions mapped on the space curve. As an important conclusion for the thin-layer quantization approach, some substantial geometric effects result from the confinement boundaries. Finally, these results are proved on a helical wire.

Adiabatic Field-Free Alignment of Asymmetric Top Molecules with an Optical Centrifuge.

PubMed

Korobenko, A; Milner, V

2016-05-06

We use an optical centrifuge to align asymmetric top SO_{2} molecules by adiabatically spinning their most polarizable O-O axis. The effective centrifugal potential in the rotating frame confines the sulfur atoms to the plane of the laser-induced rotation, leading to the planar molecular alignment that persists after the molecules are released from the centrifuge. The periodic appearance of the full three-dimensional alignment, typically observed only with linear and symmetric top molecules, is also detected. Together with strong in-plane centrifugal forces, which bend the molecules by up to 10 deg, permanent field-free alignment offers new ways of controlling molecules with laser light.

The surface-induced spatial-temporal structures in confined binary alloys

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krasnyuk, Igor B.; Taranets, Roman M.; Chugunova, Marina

2014-12-01

This paper examines surface-induced ordering in confined binary alloys. The hyperbolic initial boundary value problem (IBVP) is used to describe a scenario of spatiotemporal ordering in a disordered phase for concentration of one component of binary alloy and order parameter with non-linear dynamic boundary conditions. This hyperbolic model consists of two coupled second order differential equations for order parameter and concentration. It also takes into account effects of the “memory” on the ordering of atoms and their densities in the alloy. The boundary conditions characterize surface velocities of order parameter and concentration changing which is due to surface (super)cooling on walls confining the binary alloy. It is shown that for large times there are three classes of dynamic non-linear boundary conditions which lead to three different types of attractor’s elements for the IBVP. Namely, the elements of attractor are the limit periodic simple shock waves with fronts of “discontinuities” Γ. If Γ is finite, then the attractor contains spatiotemporal functions of relaxation type. If Γ is infinite and countable then we observe the functions of pre-turbulent type. If Γ is infinite and uncountable then we obtain the functions of turbulent type.

Stable structures of microparticles in the electrodynamic trap created by the corona discharge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vladimirov, V. I.; Deputatova, L. V.; Filinov, V. S.; Lapitsky, D. S.; Pecherkin, V. Ya; Syrovatka, R. A.; Vasilyak, L. M.; Petrov, O. F.

2018-01-01

For the first time the stable structures of microparticles in a dynamic linear trap with corona electrodes have been obtained. The possibility for capturing and confining of microparticles in a linear electrodynamic trap with corona electrodes at atmospheric pressure has been studied experimentally. The corona discharge on the electrodes of the trap was generated by an alternating electric field.

Creating and Probing Graphene Electron Optics with Local Scanning Probes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stroscio, Joseph

Ballistic propagation and the light-like dispersion of graphene charge carriers make graphene an attractive platform for optics-inspired graphene electronics where gate tunable potentials can control electron refraction and transmission. In analogy to optical wave propagation in lenses, mirrors and metamaterials, gate potentials can be used to create a negative index of refraction for Veselago lensing and Fabry-Pérot interferometers. In circular geometries, gate potentials can induce whispering gallery modes (WGM), similar to optical and acoustic whispering galleries albeit on a much smaller length scale. Klein scattering of Dirac carriers plays a central role in determining the coherent propagation of electron waves in these resonators. In this talk, I examine the probing of electron resonators in graphene confined by linear and circular gate potentials with the scanning tunneling microscope (STM). The tip in the STM tunnel junction serves both as a tunable local gate potential, and as a probe of the graphene states through tunneling spectroscopy. A combination of a back gate potential, Vg, and tip potential, Vb, creates and controls a circular pn junction that confines the WGM graphene states. The resonances are observed in two separate channels in the tunneling spectroscopy experiment: first, by directly tunneling into the state at the bias energy eVb, and, second, by tunneling from the resonance at the Fermi level as the state is gated by the tip potential. The second channel produces a fan-like set of WGM peaks, reminiscent of the fringes seen in planar geometries by transport measurements. The WGM resonances split in a small applied magnetic field, with a large energy splitting approaching the WGM spacing at 0.5 T. These results agree well with recent theory on Klein scattering in graphene electron resonators. This work is done in collaboration with Y. Zhao, J. Wyrick, F.D. Natterer, J. F. Rodriquez-Nieva, C. Lewandoswski, K. Watanabe, T. Taniguchi, N. B. Zhitenev, and L. S. Levitov.

A multiscale quasi-continuum theory to determine thermodynamic properties of fluid mixtures in nanochannels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Motevaselian, Mohammad Hossein; Mashayak, Sikandar Y.; Aluru, Narayana R.

2015-11-01

We present an empirical potential-based quasi-continuum theory (EQT) that seamlessly integrates the interatomic potentials into a continuum framework such as the Nernst-Planck equation. EQT is a simple and fast approach, which provides accurate predictions of potential of mean force (PMF) and density distribution of confined fluids at multiple length-scales, ranging from few Angstroms to macro meters. The EQT potentials can be used to construct the excess free energy functional in the classical density functional theory (cDFT). The combination of EQT and cDFT (EQT-cDFT), allows one to predict the thermodynamic properties of confined fluids. Recently, the EQT-cDFT framework was developed for single component LJ fluids confined in slit-like graphene channels. In this work, we extend the framework to confined LJ fluid mixtures and demonstrate it by simulating a mixture of methane and hydrogen molecules inside slit-like graphene channels. We show that the EQT-cDFT predictions for the structure of the confined fluid mixture compare well with the MD simulations. In addition, our results show that graphene nanochannels exhibit a selective adsorption of methane over hydrogen.

Experimental investigation and constitutive model for lime mudstone.

PubMed

Wang, Junbao; Liu, Xinrong; Zhao, Baoyun; Song, Zhanping; Lai, Jinxing

2016-01-01

In order to investigate the mechanical properties of lime mudstone, conventional triaxial compression tests under different confining pressures (0, 5, 15 and 20 MPa) are performed on lime mudstone samples. The test results show that, from the overall perspective of variation law, the axial peak stress, axial peak strain and elastic modulus of lime mudstone tend to gradually increase with increasing confining pressure. In the range of tested confining pressure, the variations in axial peak stress and elastic modulus with confining pressure can be described with linear functions; while the variation in axial peak strain with confining pressure can be reflected with a power function. To describe the axial stress-strain behavior in failure process of lime mudstone, a new constitutive model is proposed, with the model characteristics analyzed and the parameter determination method put forward. Compared with Wang' model, only one parameter n is added to the new model. The comparison of predicted curves from the model and test data indicates that the new model can preferably simulate the strain softening property of lime mudstone and the axial stress-strain response in rock failure process.

Molecular dynamics study of the isotropic-nematic quench.

PubMed

Bradac, Z; Kralj, S; Zumer, S

2002-02-01

Effects of cylindrical and spherical confinement on the kinetics of the isotropic-nematic quench is studied numerically. The nematic liquid crystal structure was modeled by a modified induced-dipole--induced-dipole interaction. Molecules were allowed to wander around points of a hexagonal lattice. Brownian molecular dynamics was used in order to access macroscopic time scales. In the bulk we distinguish between the early, domain, and late stage regime. The early regime is characterized by the exponential growth of the nematic uniaxial order parameter. In the domain regime domains are clearly visible and the average nematic domain size xi(d) obeys the dynamical scaling law xi(d)-t(gamma). The late stage evolution is dominated by dynamics of individual defects. In a confined system the qualitative change of the scaling behavior appears when xi(d) becomes comparable to a typical linear dimension R of the confinement. In the confining regime (xi(d)>or=R) the scaling coefficient gamma depends on the details of the confinement and also the final equilibrium nematic structure. The domain growth is well described with the Kibble-Zurek mechanism.

A Semianalytical Model for Pumping Tests in Finite Heterogeneous Confined Aquifers With Arbitrarily Shaped Boundary

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Lei; Dai, Cheng; Xue, Liang

2018-04-01

This study presents a Laplace-transform-based boundary element method to model the groundwater flow in a heterogeneous confined finite aquifer with arbitrarily shaped boundaries. The boundary condition can be Dirichlet, Neumann or Robin-type. The derived solution is analytical since it is obtained through the Green's function method within the domain. However, the numerical approximation is required on the boundaries, which essentially renders it a semi-analytical solution. The proposed method can provide a general framework to derive solutions for zoned heterogeneous confined aquifers with arbitrarily shaped boundary. The requirement of the boundary element method presented here is that the Green function must exist for a specific PDE equation. In this study, the linear equations for the two-zone and three-zone confined aquifers with arbitrarily shaped boundary is established in Laplace space, and the solution can be obtained by using any linear solver. Stehfest inversion algorithm can be used to transform it back into time domain to obtain the transient solution. The presented solution is validated in the two-zone cases by reducing the arbitrarily shaped boundaries to circular ones and comparing it with the solution in Lin et al. (2016, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2016.07.028). The effect of boundary shape and well location on dimensionless drawdown in two-zone aquifers is investigated. Finally the drawdown distribution in three-zone aquifers with arbitrarily shaped boundary for constant-rate tests (CRT) and flow rate distribution for constant-head tests (CHT) are analyzed.

Effect of confinement potential on exciton diamagnetism in the perspective of constituent carriers in a Quantum Well

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vignesh, G.; Nithiananthi, P.

2018-03-01

Diamagnetic susceptibility of excitons is investigated in the perspective of the electron and hole separation along the lateral (ρ) and normal direction (z) of a GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs quantum well. Using a variational technique, the spatial extensions of these carriers has been observed. The coulomb interaction of the carriers is investigated by subjecting the carriers to three confinement potentials, Square (SQW), Parabolic (PQW) and Triangular Quantum Wells (TQW). The stability of the exciton has been estimated by observing the diamagnetic susceptibility. The hole is very sensitive to confinement potential and has tremendous variations in spatial extension. Among the three confinements, TQW offers more localization and high stability to excitons. The anisotropy of band parameters and the dielectric constants of the well and barrier materials are taken into consideration.

Multiple eigenmodes of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability observed for a fluid interface with smoothly varying density

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, C. X.; Xue, C.; Liu, J.; Hu, X. Y.; Liu, Y. Y.; Ye, W. H.; Wang, L. F.; Wu, J. F.; Fan, Z. F.

2018-01-01

In this article, multiple eigen-systems including linear growth rates and eigen-functions have been discovered for the Rayleigh-Taylor instability (RTI) by numerically solving the Sturm-Liouville eigen-value problem in the case of two-dimensional plane geometry. The system called the first mode has the maximal linear growth rate and is just extensively studied in literature. Higher modes have smaller eigen-values, but possess multi-peak eigen-functions which bring on multiple pairs of vortices in the vorticity field. A general fitting expression for the first four eigen-modes is presented. Direct numerical simulations show that high modes lead to appearances of multi-layered spike-bubble pairs, and lots of secondary spikes and bubbles are also generated due to the interactions between internal spikes and bubbles. The present work has potential applications in many research and engineering areas, e.g., in reducing the RTI growth during capsule implosions in inertial confinement fusion.

Stationary solutions for the nonlinear Schrödinger equation modeling three-dimensional spherical Bose-Einstein condensates in general potentials.

PubMed

Mallory, Kristina; Van Gorder, Robert A

2015-07-01

Stationary solutions for the cubic nonlinear Schrödinger equation modeling Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) confined in three spatial dimensions by general forms of a potential are studied through a perturbation method and also numerically. Note that we study both repulsive and attractive BECs under similar frameworks in order to deduce the effects of the potentials in each case. After outlining the general framework, solutions for a collection of specific confining potentials of physical relevance to experiments on BECs are provided in order to demonstrate the approach. We make several observations regarding the influence of the particular potentials on the behavior of the BECs in these cases, comparing and contrasting the qualitative behavior of the attractive and repulsive BECs for potentials of various strengths and forms. Finally, we consider the nonperturbative where the potential or the amplitude of the solutions is large, obtaining various qualitative results. When the kinetic energy term is small (relative to the nonlinearity and the confining potential), we recover the expected Thomas-Fermi approximation for the stationary solutions. Naturally, this also occurs in the large mass limit. Through all of these results, we are able to understand the qualitative behavior of spherical three-dimensional BECs in weak, intermediate, or strong confining potentials.

Viscous properties of isotropic fluids composed of linear molecules: departure from the classical Navier-Stokes theory in nano-confined geometries.

PubMed

Hansen, J S; Daivis, Peter J; Todd, B D

2009-10-01

In this paper we present equilibrium molecular-dynamics results for the shear, rotational, and spin viscosities for fluids composed of linear molecules. The density dependence of the shear viscosity follows a stretched exponential function, whereas the rotational viscosity and the spin viscosities show approximately power-law dependencies. The frequency-dependent shear and spin viscosities are also studied. It is found that viscoelastic behavior is first manifested in the shear viscosity and that the real part of the spin viscosities features a maximum for nonzero frequency. The calculated transport coefficients are used together with the extended Navier-Stokes equations to investigate the effect of the coupling between the intrinsic angular momentum and linear momentum for highly confined fluids. Both steady and oscillatory flows are studied. It is shown, for example, that the fluid flow rate for Poiseuille flow is reduced by up to 10% in a 2 nm channel for a buta-triene fluid at density 236 kg m(-3) and temperature 306 K. The coupling effect may, therefore, become very important for nanofluidic applications.

Global Surrogates for the Upshift of the Critical Threshold in the Gradient for ITG Driven Turbulence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Michoski, Craig; Janhunen, Salomon; Faghihi, Danial; Carey, Varis; Moser, Robert

2017-10-01

The suppression of micro-turbulence and ultimately the inhibition of large-scale instabilities observed in tokamak plasmas is partially characterized by the onset of a global stationary state. This stationary attractor corresponds experimentally to a state of ``marginal stability'' in the plasma. The critical threshold that characterizes the onset in the nonlinear regime is observed both experimentally and numerically to exhibit an upshift relative to the linear theory. That is, the onset in the stationary state is up-shifted from those predicted by the linear theory as a function of the ion temperature gradient R0 /LT . Because the transition to this state with enhanced transport and therefore reduced confinement times is inaccessible to the linear theory, strategies for developing nonlinear reduced physics models to predict the upshift have been ongoing. As a complement to these effort, the principle aim of this work is to establish low-fidelity surrogate models that can be used to predict instability driven loss of confinement using training data from high-fidelity models. DE-SC0008454 and DE-AC02-09CH11466.

DEVELOPMENT OF A METHODOLOGY FOR REGIONAL EVALUATION OF CONFINING BED INTEGRITY

EPA Science Inventory

For safe underground injection of liquid waste, confining formations must be thick, extensive, and have low permeability. Recognition of faults that extend from the potential injection zone to underground sources of drinking water is critical for evaluation of confining-bed integ...

Taboo search by successive confinement: Surveying a potential energy surface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chekmarev, Sergei F.

2001-09-01

A taboo search for minima on a potential energy surface (PES) is performed by means of confinement molecular dynamics: the molecular dynamics trajectory of the system is successively confined to various basins on the PES that have not been sampled yet. The approach is illustrated for a 13-atom Lennard-Jones cluster. It is shown that the taboo search radically accelerates the process of surveying the PES, with the probability of finding a new minimum defined by a propagating Fermi-like distribution.

Random walk on a leash: a simple single-molecule diffusion model for surface-tethered redox molecules with flexible linkers.

PubMed

Huang, Kuan-Chun; White, Ryan J

2013-08-28

We develop a random walk model to simulate the Brownian motion and the electrochemical response of a single molecule confined to an electrode surface via a flexible molecular tether. We use our simple model, which requires no prior knowledge of the physics of the molecular tether, to predict and better understand the voltammetric response of surface-confined redox molecules when motion of the redox molecule becomes important. The single molecule is confined to a hemispherical volume with a maximum radius determined by the flexible molecular tether (5-20 nm) and is allowed to undergo true three-dimensional diffusion. Distance- and potential-dependent electron transfer probabilities are evaluated throughout the simulations to generate cyclic voltammograms of the model system. We find that at sufficiently slow cyclic voltammetric scan rates the electrochemical reaction behaves like an adsorbed redox molecule with no mass transfer limitation; thus, the peak current is proportional to the scan rate. Conversely, at faster scan rates the diffusional motion of the molecule limits the simulated peak current, which exhibits a linear dependence on the square root of the scan rate. The switch between these two limiting regimes occurs when the diffusion layer thickness, (2Dt)(1/2), is ~10 times the tether length. Finally, we find that our model predicts the voltammetric behavior of a redox-active methylene blue tethered to an electrode surface via short flexible single-stranded, polythymine DNAs, allowing the estimation of diffusion coefficients for the end-tethered molecule.

Enhancement of Brownian motion for a chain of particles in a periodic potential

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dessup, Tommy; Coste, Christophe; Saint Jean, Michel

2018-02-01

The transport of particles in very confined channels in which single file diffusion occurs has been largely studied in systems where the transverse confining potential is smooth. However, in actual physical systems, this potential may exhibit both static corrugations and time fluctuations. Some recent results suggest the important role played by this nonsmoothness of the confining potential. In particular, quite surprisingly, an enhancement of the Brownian motion of the particles has been evidenced in these kinds of systems. We show that this enhancement results from the commensurate effects induced by the underlying potential on the vibrational spectra of the chain of particles, and from the effective temperature associated with its time fluctuations. We will restrict our derivation to the case of low temperatures for which the mean squared displacement of the particles remains smaller than the potential period.

Dynamical and Microrheological Analysis of Amyloplasts in the Plant Root Gravity-Sensing Cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, Zhongyu; Zou, Junjie; Li, Hanhai; Xue, Shan; Le, Jie; Wang, Yuren

2015-11-01

Gravitropism in plants is one of the most controversial issues. In the most wildly accepted starch-statolith hypothesis the sedimentation movement of amyloplasts in the gravisensing columella cells primarily triggers the asymmetric distribution of auxin which leads to the differential growth of the plant root. It has been gradually recognized that the inhomogeneous structures in statocytes arising from intracellular components such as cytoskeletons significantly affect the complex movements of amyloplasts and the final gravimorphogenesis. In this letter, we implement a diffusive dynamics measurement and inplanta microrheological analysis of amyloplasts in the wild-type plants and actin cytoskeleton mutants for the first time. We found that the intracellular environment of columella cells exhibits the spatial heterogeneity and the cage-confinement on amyloplasts which is the typically characteristics in colloidal suspensions. By comparing the distinct diffusive dynamics of amyloplasts in different types of plants with the behaviors of colloidal systems in different states, we quantitatively characterized the influence of the actin organization dominated intracellular envoronments on the amyloplast movements. Furthermore, the cage-confinement strength was measured by calculating the spatial fluctuation of local apparent viscosity within the columella cells. Finally, a linear association between the initial mechanical stimulation in the columella cells the subsequent intercellular signal transduction and the final gravity response was observed and a possible gravity sensing mechanism was suggested. It suggests the existence of a potential gravity-sensing mechanism that dictates a linear frustration effect of the actin cytoskeleton on the conversion of the mechanical stimulation of amyloplasts into gravitropic signals.

Pulsed focused ultrasound-induced displacements in confined in vitro blood clots.

PubMed

Wright, Cameron C; Hynynen, Kullervo; Goertz, David E

2012-03-01

Ultrasound has been shown to potentiate the effects of tissue plasminogen activator to improve clot lysis in a range of in vitro and in vivo studies as well as in clinical trials. One possible mechanism of action is acoustic radiation force-induced clot displacements. In this study, we investigate the temporal and spatial dynamics of clot displacements and strain initiated by focused ultrasound pulses. Displacements were produced by a 1.51 MHz f-number 1 transducer over a range of acoustic powers (1-85 W) in clots constrained within an agar vessel phantom channel. Displacements were tracked during and after a 5.45 ms therapy pulse using a 20 MHz high-frequency ultrasound imaging probe. Peak thrombus displacements were found to be linear as a function of acoustic power up to 60 W before leveling off near 128 μm for the highest transmit powers. The time to peak displacement and recovery time of blood clots was largely independent of acoustic powers with measured values near 2 ms. A linear relationship between peak axial strain and transmit power was observed, reaching a peak value of 11% at 35 W. The peak strain occurred ~0.75 mm from the focal zone for all powers investigated in both lateral and axial directions. These results indicate that substantial displacements can be induced by focused ultrasound in confined blood clots, and that the spatial and temporal displacement patterns are complex and highly dependent on exposure conditions, which has implications for future work investigating their link to clot lysis and for developing approaches to exploit these effects.

Energy evolution mechanism in process of Sandstone failure and energy strength criterion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Yunfei; Cui, Fang

2018-07-01

To reveal the inherent relation between energy change and confining pressure during the process of sandstone damage, and its characteristics of energy storage and energy dissipation in different deformation stage. Obtaining the mechanical parameters by testing the Sandstone of two1 coal seam roof under uniaxial compression in Zhaogu coalmine, using Particle Flow Code (PFC) and fish program to get the meso-mechanical parameters, studying Sandstone energy evolution mechanism under different confining pressures, and deducing energy strength criterion based on energy principle of rock failure, some main researching results are reached as follows: with the increasing of confining pressure, the Sandstone yield stage and ductility increases, but brittleness decreases; Under higher confining pressure, the elastic strain energy of Sandstone before peak approximately keeps constant in a certain strain range, and rock absorbs all the energy which converts into surface energy required for internal damage development; Under lower confining pressure, Sandstone no longer absorbs energy with increasing strain after peak under lower confining pressure, while it sequentially absorbs energy under higher confining pressure; Under lower confining pressure, the energy Sandstone before peak absorbed mainly converts into elastic strain energy, while under higher confining pressure, dissipation energy significantly increases before peak, which indicates that the degree rock strength loss is higher under higher confining pressure; with the increasing of confining pressure, the limit of elastic strain energy increases and there exists a favourable linear variation relationship; At the peak point, the ratio of elastic strain energy to total energy of Sandstone nonlinearly decreases, while the ratio of dissipation energy to total energy nonlinearly increases with the increasing of confining pressure; According to energy evolution mechanism of rock failure, an energy strength criterion is derived. The criterion equation includes lithology constants and three principal stresses, and its physical meaning is clear. This criterion has an evident advantage than Hoek-Brown and Drucker-Prager criterion in calculation accuracy and can commendably describe rock failure characteristics.

DFT study of Al doped armchair SWCNTs

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dhiman, Shobhna, E-mail: s-dhiman@hotmail.com; Rani, Anita; Kumar, Ranjan

2016-05-23

Electronic properties of endohedrally doped armchair single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) with a chain of six Al atoms have been studied using ab-initio density functional theory. We investigate the binding energy/atom, ionization potential, electron Affinity and Homo-Lumo gap of doped armchair SWNTs from (4,4) to (6,6) with two ends open. BE/dopant atom and ionization potential is maximum for (6, 6) doped armchair carbon nanotube; suggest that it is more stable than (4, 4) and (5, 5) doped tubes. HOMO - LUMO gap of Al doped arm chair carbon nanotubes decreases linearly with the increase in diameter of the tube. This showsmore » that confinement induce a strong effect on electronic properties of doped tubes. These combined systems can be used for future nano electronics. The ab–initio calculations were performed with SIESTA code using generalized gradient approximation (GGA).« less

Performance analysis and optimization for generalized quantum Stirling refrigeration cycle with working substance of a particle confined in a general 1D potential

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yin, Yong; Chen, Lingen; Wu, Feng

2018-03-01

A generalized irreversible quantum Stirling refrigeration cycle (GIQSRC) is proposed. The working substance of the GIQSRC is a particle confined in a general 1D potential which energy spectrum can be expressed as εn = ℏωnσ . Heat leakage and non-ideal regeneration loss are taken into account. The expressions of coefficient of performance (COP) and dimensionless cooling load are obtained. The different practical cases of the energy spectrum are analyzed. The results of this paper are meaningful to understand the quantum thermodynamics cycles with a particle confined in different potential as working substance.

Wave function for time-dependent harmonically confined electrons in a time-dependent electric field.

PubMed

Li, Yu-Qi; Pan, Xiao-Yin; Sahni, Viraht

2013-09-21

The many-body wave function of a system of interacting particles confined by a time-dependent harmonic potential and perturbed by a time-dependent spatially homogeneous electric field is derived via the Feynman path-integral method. The wave function is comprised of a phase factor times the solution to the unperturbed time-dependent Schrödinger equation with the latter being translated by a time-dependent value that satisfies the classical driven equation of motion. The wave function reduces to that of the Harmonic Potential Theorem wave function for the case of the time-independent harmonic confining potential.

Electric-field-induced association of colloidal particles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fraden, Seth; Hurd, Alan J.; Meyer, Robert B.

1989-11-01

Dilute suspensions of micron diameter dielectric spheres confined to two dimensions are induced to aggregate linearly by application of an electric field. The growth of the average cluster size agrees well with the Smoluchowski equation, but the evolution of the measured cluster size distribution exhibits significant departures from theory at large times due to the formation of long linear clusters which effectively partition space into isolated one-dimensional strips.

Mechanical confinement triggers glioma linear migration dependent on formin FHOD3

PubMed Central

Monzo, Pascale; Chong, Yuk Kien; Guetta-Terrier, Charlotte; Krishnasamy, Anitha; Sathe, Sharvari R.; Yim, Evelyn K. F.; Ng, Wai Hoe; Ang, Beng Ti; Tang, Carol; Ladoux, Benoit; Gauthier, Nils C.; Sheetz, Michael P.

2016-01-01

Glioblastomas are extremely aggressive brain tumors with highly invasive properties. Brain linear tracks such as blood vessel walls constitute their main invasive routes. Here we analyze rat C6 and patient-derived glioma cell motility in vitro using micropatterned linear tracks to mimic blood vessels. On laminin-coated tracks (3–10 μm), these cells used an efficient saltatory mode of migration similar to their in vivo migration. This saltatory migration was also observed on larger tracks (50–400 μm in width) at high cell densities. In these cases, the mechanical constraints imposed by neighboring cells triggered this efficient mode of migration, resulting in the formation of remarkable antiparallel streams of cells along the tracks. This motility involved microtubule-dependent polarization, contractile actin bundles and dynamic paxillin-containing adhesions in the leading process and in the tail. Glioma linear migration was dramatically reduced by inhibiting formins but, surprisingly, accelerated by inhibiting Arp2/3. Protein expression and phenotypic analysis indicated that the formin FHOD3 played a role in this motility but not mDia1 or mDia2. We propose that glioma migration under confinement on laminin relies on formins, including FHOD3, but not Arp2/3 and that the low level of adhesion allows rapid antiparallel migration. PMID:26912794

New ion trap for atomic frequency standard applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Prestage, J. D.; Dick, G. J.; Maleki, L.

1989-01-01

A novel linear ion trap that permits storage of a large number of ions with reduced susceptibility to the second-order Doppler effect caused by the radio frequency (RF) confining fields has been designed and built. This new trap should store about 20 times the number of ions a conventional RF trap stores with no corresponding increase in second-order Doppler shift from the confining field. In addition, the sensitivity of this shift to trapping parameters, i.e., RF voltage, RF frequency, and trap size, is greatly reduced.

Temperature and excitation power influence on the velocity-selective optical pumping resonances of 133Cs atoms confined in an extremely thin cell

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vartanyan, T.; Polishchuk, V.; Sargsyan, A.; Krasteva, A.; Cartaleva, St.; Todorov, G.

2018-03-01

Linear and nonlinear absorption spectra of 133Cs vapor confined in an extremely thin cell were computed via iterations with respect to the resonance radiation intensity. When the incident radiation intensity is low, the transient polarization of the atoms that undergo frequent collisions with the cell walls leads to sub-Doppler features in the absorption spectra. Higher incident radiation intensities result in the appearance of velocity-selective optical pumping resonances. The theory developed agrees quantitatively with the experimental findings.

Numerical Studies into Flow Profiles in Confined Lubricant

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

di Mare, Luca; Ponjavic, Aleks; Wong, Janet

2013-03-01

This paper documents a computational study of flow profiles in confined fluids. The study is motivated by experimental evidence for deviation from Couette flow found by one of the authors (JSW). The computational study examines several possible stress-strain relations. Since a linear profile is the only possible solution for a constant stress layer even in presence of a power law, the study introduces a functional dependence of the fluid viscosity on the distance from the wall. Based on this dependence, a family of scaling laws for the velocity profile near the wall is derived which matches the measured profiles. The existence of this scaling law requires the viscosity of the fluid to increase at least linearly away from the wall. This behaviour is explained at a microscopic level by considerations on the mobility of long molecules near a wall. This behaviour is reminiscent of the variation of eddy length scales in near-wall turbulence.

Microfluidic breakups of confined droplets against a linear obstacle: The importance of the viscosity contrast

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salkin, Louis; Courbin, Laurent; Panizza, Pascal

2012-09-01

Combining experiments and theory, we investigate the break-up dynamics of deformable objects, such as drops and bubbles, against a linear micro-obstacle. Our experiments bring the role of the viscosity contrast Δη between dispersed and continuous phases to light: the evolution of the critical capillary number to break a drop as a function of its size is either nonmonotonic (Δη>0) or monotonic (Δη≤0). In the case of positive viscosity contrasts, experiments and modeling reveal the existence of an unexpected critical object size for which the critical capillary number for breakup is minimum. Using simple physical arguments, we derive a model that well describes observations, provides diagrams mapping the four hydrodynamic regimes identified experimentally, and demonstrates that the critical size originating from confinement solely depends on geometrical parameters of the obstacle.

Self-assembly of an amphiphilic macromolecule under spherical confinement: An efficient route to generate hollow nanospheres

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Glagoleva, A. A.; Vasilevskaya, V. V.; Yoshikawa, K.; Khokhlov, A. R.

2013-12-01

In general, bio-macromolecules are composed of hydrophilic and hydrophobic moieties and are confined within small cavities, such as cell membranes and intracellular organelles. Here, we studied the self-organization of macromolecules having groups with different affinities to solvents under spherical nano-scale confinement by means of computer modeling. It is shown that depending on the interaction parameters of monomer units composed of side- and main-chain monomer groups along a single linear macromolecule and on cavity size, such amphiphilic polymers undergo the conformational transitions between hollow nanospheres, rod-like and folded cylindrical structures, and a necklace conformation with and without a particular ordering of beads. The diagram of the conformations in the variables the incompatibility parameter of monomer units and the cavity radius is constructed.

Study of Evaporation Rate of Water in Hydrophobic Confinement using Forward Flux Sampling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sharma, Sumit; Debenedetti, Pablo G.

2012-02-01

Drying of hydrophobic cavities is of interest in understanding biological self assembly, protein stability and opening and closing of ion channels. Liquid-to-vapor transition of water in confinement is associated with large kinetic barriers which preclude its study using conventional simulation techniques. Using forward flux sampling to study the kinetics of the transition between two hydrophobic surfaces, we show that a) the free energy barriers to evaporation scale linearly with the distance between the two surfaces, d; b) the evaporation rates increase as the lateral size of the surfaces, L increases, and c) the transition state to evaporation for sufficiently large L is a cylindrical vapor cavity connecting the two hydrophobic surfaces. Finally, we decouple the effects of confinement geometry and surface chemistry on the evaporation rates.

Phase transitions and kinetic properties of gold nanoparticles confined between two-layer graphene nanosheets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Gang; Wu, Nanhua; Chen, Jionghua; Wang, Jinjian; Shao, Jingling; Zhu, Xiaolei; Lu, Xiaohua; Guo, Lucun

2016-11-01

The thermodynamic and kinetic behaviors of gold nanoparticles confined between two-layer graphene nanosheets (two-layer-GNSs) are examined and investigated during heating and cooling processes via molecular dynamics (MD) simulation technique. An EAM potential is applied to represent the gold-gold interactions while a Lennard-Jones (L-J) potential is used to describe the gold-GNS interactions. The MD melting temperature of 1345 K for bulk gold is close to the experimental value (1337 K), confirming that the EAM potential used to describe gold-gold interactions is reliable. On the other hand, the melting temperatures of gold clusters supported on graphite bilayer are corrected to the corresponding experimental values by adjusting the εAu-C value. Therefore, the subsequent results from current work are reliable. The gold nanoparticles confined within two-layer GNSs exhibit face center cubic structures, which is similar to those of free gold clusters and bulk gold. The melting points, heats of fusion, and heat capacities of the confined gold nanoparticles are predicted based on the plots of total energies against temperature. The density distribution perpendicular to GNS suggests that the freezing of confined gold nanoparticles starts from outermost layers. The confined gold clusters exhibit layering phenomenon even in liquid state. The transition of order-disorder in each layer is an essential characteristic in structure for the freezing phase transition of the confined gold clusters. Additionally, some vital kinetic data are obtained in terms of classical nucleation theory.

Angle-resolved Wigner time delay in atomic photoionization: The 4 d subshell of free and confined Xe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mandal, A.; Deshmukh, P. C.; Kheifets, A. S.; Dolmatov, V. K.; Manson, S. T.

2017-11-01

The angular dependence of photoemission time delay for the inner n d3 /2 and n d5 /2 subshells of free and confined Xe is studied in the dipole relativistic random phase approximation. A finite spherical annular well potential is used to model the confinement due to fullerene C60 cage. Near cancellations in a variety of the dipole amplitudes, Cooper-like minima, are found. The effects of confinement on the angular dependence, primarily confinement resonances, are demonstrated and detailed.

Microscopic modeling of confined crystal growth and dissolution.

PubMed

Høgberget, Jørgen; Røyne, Anja; Dysthe, Dag K; Jettestuen, Espen

2016-08-01

We extend the (1+1)-dimensional fluid solid-on-solid (SOS) model to include a confining flat surface opposite to the SOS surface subject to a constant load. This load is balanced by a repulsive surface-surface interaction given by an ansatz which agrees with known analytical solutions in the limit of two separated flat surfaces. Mechanical equilibrium is imposed at all times by repositioning the confining surface. By the use of kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) we calculate how the equilibrium concentration (deposition rate) depends on the applied load, and find it to reproduce analytical thermodynamics independent of the parameters of the interaction ansatz. We also study the dependency between the surface roughness and the saturation level as we vary the surface tension, and expand on previous analyses of the asymmetry between growth and dissolution by parametrizing the linear growth rate constant for growth and dissolution separately. We find the presence of a confining surface to affect the speed of growth and dissolution equally.

Self-Assembly of Diblock Molecular Polymer Brushes in the Spherical Confinement of Nanoemulsion Droplets.

PubMed

Steinhaus, Andrea; Pelras, Théophile; Chakroun, Ramzi; Gröschel, André H; Müllner, Markus

2018-05-02

Understanding the self-assembly behavior of polymers of various topologies is key to a reliable design of functional polymer materials. Self-assembly under confinement conditions emerges as a versatile avenue to design polymer particles with complex internal morphologies while simultaneously facilitating scale-up. However, only linear block copolymers have been studied to date, despite the increasing control over macromolecule composition and architecture available. This study extends the investigation of polymer self-assembly in confinement from regular diblock copolymers to diblock molecular polymer brushes (MPBs). Block-type MPBs with polystyrene (PS) and polylactide (PLA) compartments of different sizes are incorporated into surfactant-stabilized oil-in-water (chloroform/water) emulsions. The increasing confinement in the nanoemulsion droplets during solvent evaporation directs the MPBs to form solid nano/microparticles. Microscopy studies reveal an intricate internal particle structure, including interpenetrating networks and axially stacked lamellae of PS and PLA, depending on the PS/PLA ratio of the brushes. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Microscopic modeling of confined crystal growth and dissolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Høgberget, Jørgen; Røyne, Anja; Dysthe, Dag K.; Jettestuen, Espen

2016-08-01

We extend the (1+1)-dimensional fluid solid-on-solid (SOS) model to include a confining flat surface opposite to the SOS surface subject to a constant load. This load is balanced by a repulsive surface-surface interaction given by an ansatz which agrees with known analytical solutions in the limit of two separated flat surfaces. Mechanical equilibrium is imposed at all times by repositioning the confining surface. By the use of kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) we calculate how the equilibrium concentration (deposition rate) depends on the applied load, and find it to reproduce analytical thermodynamics independent of the parameters of the interaction ansatz. We also study the dependency between the surface roughness and the saturation level as we vary the surface tension, and expand on previous analyses of the asymmetry between growth and dissolution by parametrizing the linear growth rate constant for growth and dissolution separately. We find the presence of a confining surface to affect the speed of growth and dissolution equally.

Hollow screw-like drill in plasma using an intense Laguerre-Gaussian laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Wenpeng; Shen, Baifei; Zhang, Xiaomei; Zhang, Lingang; Shi, Yin; Xu, Zhizhan

2015-02-01

With the development of ultra-intense laser technology, MeV ions can be obtained from laser-foil interactions in the laboratory. These energetic ion beams can be applied in fast ignition for inertial confinement fusion, medical therapy, and proton imaging. However, these ions are mainly accelerated in the laser propagation direction. Ion acceleration in an azimuthal orientation was scarcely studied. In this research, a doughnut Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) laser is used for the first time to examine laser-plasma interaction in the relativistic intensity regime in three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. Studies have shown that a novel rotation of the plasma is produced from the hollow screw-like drill of an mode laser. The angular momentum of particles in the longitudinal direction produced by the LG laser is enhanced compared with that produced by the usual laser pulses, such as linearly and circularly polarized Gaussian pulses. Moreover, the particles (including electrons and ions) can be trapped and uniformly compressed in the dark central minimum of the doughnut LG pulse. The hollow-structured LG laser has potential applications in the generation of x-rays with orbital angular momentum, plasma accelerators, fast ignition for inertial confinement fusion, and pulsars in the astrophysical environment.

Hollow screw-like drill in plasma using an intense Laguerre-Gaussian laser.

PubMed

Wang, Wenpeng; Shen, Baifei; Zhang, Xiaomei; Zhang, Lingang; Shi, Yin; Xu, Zhizhan

2015-02-05

With the development of ultra-intense laser technology, MeV ions can be obtained from laser-foil interactions in the laboratory. These energetic ion beams can be applied in fast ignition for inertial confinement fusion, medical therapy, and proton imaging. However, these ions are mainly accelerated in the laser propagation direction. Ion acceleration in an azimuthal orientation was scarcely studied. In this research, a doughnut Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) laser is used for the first time to examine laser-plasma interaction in the relativistic intensity regime in three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. Studies have shown that a novel rotation of the plasma is produced from the hollow screw-like drill of an mode laser. The angular momentum of particles in the longitudinal direction produced by the LG laser is enhanced compared with that produced by the usual laser pulses, such as linearly and circularly polarized Gaussian pulses. Moreover, the particles (including electrons and ions) can be trapped and uniformly compressed in the dark central minimum of the doughnut LG pulse. The hollow-structured LG laser has potential applications in the generation of x-rays with orbital angular momentum, plasma accelerators, fast ignition for inertial confinement fusion, and pulsars in the astrophysical environment.

4th Generation ECR Ion Sources

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lyneis, Claude M.; Leitner, D.; Todd, D.S.

2008-12-01

The concepts and technical challenges related to developing a 4th generation ECR ion source with an RF frequency greater than 40 GHz and magnetic confinement fields greater than twice Becr will be explored in this paper. Based on the semi-empirical frequency scaling of ECR plasma density with the square of operating frequency, there should be significant gains in performance over current 3rd generation ECR ion sources, which operate at RF frequencies between 20 and 30 GHz. While the 3rd generation ECR ion sources use NbTi superconducting solenoid and sextupole coils, the new sources will need to use different superconducting materialsmore » such as Nb3Sn to reach the required magnetic confinement, which scales linearly with RF frequency. Additional technical challenges include increased bremsstrahlung production, which may increase faster than the plasma density, bremsstrahlung heating of the cold mass and the availability of high power continuous wave microwave sources at these frequencies. With each generation of ECR ion sources, there are new challenges to be mastered, but the potential for higher performance and reduced cost of the associated accelerator continue to make this a promising avenue for development.« less

Scattering of particles in the presence of harmonic confinement perturbed by a complex absorbing potential

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maghari, A.; Kermani, M. M.

2018-04-01

A system of two interacting atoms confined in 1D harmonic trap and perturbed by an absorbing boundary potential is studied using the Lippmann-Schwinger formalism. The atom-atom interaction potential was considered as a nonlocal separable model. The perturbed absorbing boundary potential was also assumed in the form of Scarf II complex absorbing potential. The model is used for the study of 1D optical lattices that support the trapping of a pair atom within a unit cell. Moreover, it allows to describe the scattering particles in a tight smooth trapping surface and to analyze the bound and resonance states. The analytical expressions for wavefunctions and transition matrix as well as the absorption probabilities are calculated. A demonstration of how the complex absorbing potential affecting the bound states and resonances of particles confined in a harmonic trap is described.

Plasma theory and simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Birdsall, Charles K.

1986-12-01

The Pierce diode linear behavior with external R, C, or L was verified very accurately by particle simulation. The Pierce diode non-linear equilibria with R, C, or L are described theoretically and explored via computer simulation. A simple model of the sheath outside the separatrix of an FRC was modeled electrostatically in 2d and large potentials due to the magnetic well and peak which were found. These may explain the anomalously high ion confinement in the FRC edge layer. A planar plasma source with cold ions and warm electrons produces a source sheath with sufficient potential drop to accelerate ions to sound velocity, which obviates the need for a Bohm pre-collector-sheath electric field. Final reports were prepared for collector sheath, presheath, and source sheath in a collisionless, finite ion temperature plasma; potential drop and transport in a bounded plasma with ion reflection at the collector; potential drop and transport in a bounded plasma with secondary electron emission at the collector. A movie has been made displaying the long-lived vortices resulting from the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability in a magnetized sheath. A relativistic Monte Carlo binary (Coulomb) collision model has been developed and tested for inclusion into the electrostatic particle simulation code TESS. Two direct implicit time integration schemes are tested for self-heating and self-cooling and regions of neither are found as a function of delta t and delta x for the model of a freely expanding plasma slab.

Influence of the shear flow on electron cyclotron resonance plasma confinement in an axisymmetric magnetic mirror trap of the electron cyclotron resonance ion source.

PubMed

Izotov, I V; Razin, S V; Sidorov, A V; Skalyga, V A; Zorin, V G; Bagryansky, P A; Beklemishev, A D; Prikhodko, V V

2012-02-01

Influence of shear flows of the dense plasma created under conditions of the electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) gas breakdown on the plasma confinement in the axisymmetric mirror trap ("vortex" confinement) was studied experimentally and theoretically. A limiter with bias potential was set inside the mirror trap for plasma rotation. The limiter construction and the optimal value of the potential were chosen according to the results of the preliminary theoretical analysis. This method of "vortex" confinement realization in an axisymmetric mirror trap for non-equilibrium heavy-ion plasmas seems to be promising for creation of ECR multicharged ion sources with high magnetic fields, more than 1 T.

Applications of spectral methods to turbulent magnetofluids in space and fusion research

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Montgomery, D.; Voigt, R. G. (Editor); Gottlieb, D. (Editor); Hussaini, M. Y. (Editor)

1984-01-01

Recent and potential applications of spectral method computation to incompressible, dissipative magnetohydrodynamics are surveyed. Linear stability problems for one dimensional, quasi-equilibria are approachable through a close analogue of the Orr-Sommerfeld equation. It is likely that for Reynolds-like numbers above certain as-yet-undetermined thresholds, all magnetofluids are turbulent. Four recent effects in MHD turbulence are remarked upon, as they have displayed themselves in spectral method computations: (1) inverse cascades; (2) small-scale intermittent dissipative structures; (3) selective decays of ideal global invariants relative to each other; and (4) anisotropy induced by a mean dc magnetic field. Two more conjectured applications are suggested. All the turbulent processes discussed are sometimes involved in current carrying confined fusion magnetoplasmas and in space plasmas.

DNA confinement in nanochannels: physics and biological applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reisner, Walter; Pedersen, Jonas N.; Austin, Robert H.

2012-10-01

DNA is the central storage molecule of genetic information in the cell, and reading that information is a central problem in biology. While sequencing technology has made enormous advances over the past decade, there is growing interest in platforms that can readout genetic information directly from long single DNA molecules, with the ultimate goal of single-cell, single-genome analysis. Such a capability would obviate the need for ensemble averaging over heterogeneous cellular populations and eliminate uncertainties introduced by cloning and molecular amplification steps (thus enabling direct assessment of the genome in its native state). In this review, we will discuss how the information contained in genomic-length single DNA molecules can be accessed via physical confinement in nanochannels. Due to self-avoidance interactions, DNA molecules will stretch out when confined in nanochannels, creating a linear unscrolling of the genome along the channel for analysis. We will first review the fundamental physics of DNA nanochannel confinement—including the effect of varying ionic strength—and then discuss recent applications of these systems to genomic mapping. Apart from the intense biological interest in extracting linear sequence information from elongated DNA molecules, from a physics view these systems are fascinating as they enable probing of single-molecule conformation in environments with dimensions that intersect key physical length-scales in the 1 nm to 100 µm range.

Absolute/convective secondary instabilities and the role of confinement in free shear layers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arratia, Cristóbal; Mowlavi, Saviz; Gallaire, François

2018-05-01

We study the linear spatiotemporal stability of an infinite row of equal point vortices under symmetric confinement between parallel walls. These rows of vortices serve to model the secondary instability leading to the merging of consecutive (Kelvin-Helmholtz) vortices in free shear layers, allowing us to study how confinement limits the growth of shear layers through vortex pairings. Using a geometric construction akin to a Legendre transform on the dispersion relation, we compute the growth rate of the instability in different reference frames as a function of the frame velocity with respect to the vortices. This approach is verified and complemented with numerical computations of the linear impulse response, fully characterizing the absolute/convective nature of the instability. Similar to results by Healey on the primary instability of parallel tanh profiles [J. Fluid Mech. 623, 241 (2009), 10.1017/S0022112008005284], we observe a range of confinement in which absolute instability is promoted. For a parallel shear layer with prescribed confinement and mixing length, the threshold for absolute/convective instability of the secondary pairing instability depends on the separation distance between consecutive vortices, which is physically determined by the wavelength selected by the previous (primary or pairing) instability. In the presence of counterflow and moderate to weak confinement, small (large) wavelength of the vortex row leads to absolute (convective) instability. While absolute secondary instabilities in spatially developing flows have been previously related to an abrupt transition to a complex behavior, this secondary pairing instability regenerates the flow with an increased wavelength, eventually leading to a convectively unstable row of vortices. We argue that since the primary instability remains active for large wavelengths, a spatially developing shear layer can directly saturate on the wavelength of such a convectively unstable row, by-passing the smaller wavelengths of absolute secondary instability. This provides a wavelength selection mechanism, according to which the distance between consecutive vortices should be sufficiently large in comparison with the channel width in order for the row of vortices to persist. We argue that the proposed wavelength selection criteria can serve as a guideline for experimentally obtaining plane shear layers with counterflow, which has remained an experimental challenge.

An EQT-based cDFT approach for thermodynamic properties of confined fluid mixtures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Motevaselian, M. H.; Aluru, N. R.

2017-04-01

We present an empirical potential-based quasi-continuum theory (EQT) to predict the structure and thermodynamic properties of confined fluid mixtures. The central idea in the EQT is to construct potential energies that integrate important atomistic details into a continuum-based model such as the Nernst-Planck equation. The EQT potentials can be also used to construct the excess free energy functional, which is required for the grand potential in the classical density functional theory (cDFT). In this work, we use the EQT-based grand potential to predict various thermodynamic properties of a confined binary mixture of hydrogen and methane molecules inside graphene slit channels of different widths. We show that the EQT-cDFT predictions for the structure, surface tension, solvation force, and local pressure tensor profiles are in good agreement with the molecular dynamics simulations. Moreover, we study the effect of different bulk compositions and channel widths on the thermodynamic properties. Our results reveal that the composition of methane in the mixture can significantly affect the ordering of molecules and thermodynamic properties under confinement. In addition, we find that graphene is selective to methane molecules.

Confinement Driven by Scalar Field in 4d Non Abelian Gauge Theories

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chabab, Mohamed

2007-01-12

We review some of the most recent work on confinement in 4d gauge theories with a massive scalar field (dilaton). Emphasis is put on the derivation of confining analytical solutions to the Coulomb problem versus dilaton effective couplings to gauge terms. It is shown that these effective theories can be relevant to model quark confinement and may shed some light on confinement mechanism. Moreover, the study of interquark potential, derived from Dick Model, in the heavy meson sector proves that phenomenological investigation of tmechanism is more than justified and deserves more efforts.

Detection of confinement and jumps in single-molecule membrane trajectories

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meilhac, N.; Le Guyader, L.; Salomé, L.; Destainville, N.

2006-01-01

We propose a variant of the algorithm by [R. Simson, E. D. Sheets, and K. Jacobson, Biophys. 69, 989 (1995)]. Their algorithm was developed to detect transient confinement zones in experimental single-particle tracking trajectories of diffusing membrane proteins or lipids. We show that our algorithm is able to detect confinement in a wider class of confining potential shapes than that of Simson Furthermore, it enables to detect not only temporary confinement but also jumps between confinement zones. Jumps are predicted by membrane skeleton fence and picket models. In the case of experimental trajectories of μ -opioid receptors, which belong to the family of G-protein-coupled receptors involved in a signal transduction pathway, this algorithm confirms that confinement cannot be explained solely by rigid fences.

Water confined in carbon nanotubes: Magnetic response and proton chemical shieldings

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Huang, P; Schwegler, E; Galli, G

2008-11-14

We study the proton nuclear magnetic resonance ({sup 1}H-NMR) of a model system consisting of liquid water in infinite carbon nanotubes (CNT). Chemical shieldings are evaluated from linear response theory, where the electronic structure is derived from density functional theory (DFT) with plane-wave basis sets and periodic boundary conditions. The shieldings are sampled from trajectories generated via first-principles molecular dynamics simulations at ambient conditions, for water confined in (14,0) and (19,0) CNTs with diameters d = 11 {angstrom} and 14.9 {angstrom}, respectively. We find that confinement within the CNT leads to a large ({approx} -23 ppm) upfield shift relative tomore » bulk liquid water. This shift is a consequence of strongly anisotropic magnetic fields induced in the CNT by an applied magnetic field.« less

Local regulation of interchange turbulence in a dipole-confined plasma torus using current-collection feedback

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Roberts, T. M., E-mail: tmr2122@columbia.edu; Mauel, M. E., E-mail: mauel@columbia.edu; Worstell, M. W.

2015-05-15

Turbulence in plasma confined by a magnetic dipole is dominated by interchange fluctuations with complex dynamics and short spatial coherence. We report the first use of local current-collection feedback to modify, amplify, and suppress these fluctuations. The spatial extent of turbulence regulation is limited to a correlation length near the collector. Changing the gain and phase of collection results in power either extracted from or injected into the turbulence. The measured plasma response shows some agreement with calculations of the linear response of global interchange-like MHD and entropy modes to current-collection feedback.

Current density characteristics in the studies of electromagnetically induced transparency in a GaAs/GaAlAs quantum well

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jayarubi, J.; Peter, A. John

2017-05-01

Confinement potential profiles due to conduction and valence bands are obtained in a Ga0.7Al0.3As/ GaAs/ Ga0.7Al0.3As using variation formulism. The free electron distribution is carried out. The confined energy eigenvalue and its corresponding wavefunctions of charge carriers are found using self-consistent method. The confined energies with the geometrical confinement are computed. The potentials due to charges are done by Poisson equation. The effects of dielectric mismatch between the GaAs and GaAlAs semiconductors are introduced in the effective potential expressions. Transfer matrix method is employed to obtain the respective energies. The transmission probability is obtained for a constant well size. The high current density characteristics as a function of applied voltage is investigated. This investigation on the electromagnetically induced transparency in the photonic material will exploit in fabricating novel nonlinear optical devices in future.

Superhydrophobic hybrid membranes by grafting arc-like macromolecular bridges on graphene sheets: Synthesis, characterization and properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mo, Zhao-Hua; Luo, Zheng; Huang, Qiang; Deng, Jian-Ping; Wu, Yi-Xian

2018-05-01

Grafting single end-tethered polymer chains on the surface of graphene is a conventional way to modify the surface properties of graphene oxide. However, grafting arc-like macromolecular bridges on graphene surfaces has been barely reported. Herein, a novel arc-like polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) macromolecular bridges grafted graphene sheets (GO-g-Arc PDMS) was successfully synthesized via a confined interface reaction at 90 °C. Both the hydrophilic α- and ω-amino groups of linear hydrophobic NH2-PDMS-NH2 macromolecular chains rapidly reacted with epoxy and carboxyl groups on the surfaces of graphene oxide in water suspension to form arc-like PDMS macromolecular bridges on graphene sheets. The grafting density of arc-like PDMS bridges on graphene sheets can reach up to 0.80 mmol g-1 or 1.32 arc-like bridges per nm2 by this confined interface reaction. The water contact angle (WCA) of the hybrid membrane could be increased with increasing both the grafting density and content of covalent arc-like bridges architecture. The superhydrophobic hybrid membrane with a WCA of 153.4° was prepared by grinding of the above arc-like PDMS bridges grafted graphene hybrid, dispersing in ethanol and filtrating by organic filter membrane. This superhydrophobic hybrid membrane shows good self-cleaning and complete oil-water separation properties, which provides potential applications in anticontamination coating and oil-water separation. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the synthesis of functional hybrid membranes by grafting arc-like PDMS macromolecular bridges on graphene sheets via a confined interface reaction.

Mechanisms of chain adsorption on porous substrates and critical conditions of polymer chromatography.

PubMed

Cimino, Richard T; Rasmussen, Christopher J; Brun, Yefim; Neimark, Alexander V

2016-11-01

Polymer adsorption is a ubiquitous phenomenon with numerous technological and healthcare applications. The mechanisms of polymer adsorption on surfaces and in pores are complex owing to a competition between various entropic and enthalpic factors. Due to adsorption of monomers to the surface, the chain gains in enthalpy yet loses in entropy because of confining effects. This competition leads to the existence of critical conditions of adsorption when enthalpy gain and entropy loss are in balance. The critical conditions are controlled by the confining geometry and effective adsorption energy, which depends on the solvent composition and temperature. This phenomenon has important implications in polymer chromatography, since the retention at the critical point of adsorption (CPA) is chain length independent. However, the mechanisms of polymer adsorption in pores are poorly understood and there is an ongoing discussion in the theoretical literature about the very existence of CPA for polymer adsorption on porous substrates. In this work, we examine the mechanisms of chain adsorption on a model porous substrate using Monte Carlo (MC) simulations. We distinguish three adsorption mechanisms depending on the chain location: on external surface, completely confined in pores, and also partially confined in pores in so-called "flower" conformations. The free energies of different conformations of adsorbed chains are calculated by the incremental gauge cell MC method that allows one to determine the partition coefficient as a function of the adsorption potential, pore size, and chain length. We confirm the existence of the CPA for chain length independent separation on porous substrates, which is explained by the dominant contributions of the chain adsorption at the external surface, in particular in flower conformations. Moreover, we show that the critical conditions for porous and nonporous substrates are identical and depend only on the surface chemistry. The theoretical results are confirmed by comparison with experimental data on chromatographic separation of a series of linear polystyrenes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Hydrodynamic mobility of confined polymeric particles, vesicles, and cancer cells in a square microchannel.

PubMed

Ahmmed, Shamim M; Suteria, Naureen S; Garbin, Valeria; Vanapalli, Siva A

2018-01-01

The transport of deformable objects, including polymer particles, vesicles, and cells, has been a subject of interest for several decades where the majority of experimental and theoretical studies have been focused on circular tubes. Due to advances in microfluidics, there is a need to study the transport of individual deformable particles in rectangular microchannels where corner flows can be important. In this study, we report measurements of hydrodynamic mobility of confined polymeric particles, vesicles, and cancer cells in a linear microchannel with a square cross-section. Our operating conditions are such that the mobility is measured as a function of geometric confinement over the range 0.3 <  λ  < 1.5 and at specified particle Reynolds numbers that are within 0.1 < Re p  < 2.5. The experimental mobility data of each of these systems is compared with the circular-tube theory of Hestroni, Haber, and Wacholder [J. Fluid Mech. 41 , 689-705 (1970)] with modifications made for a square cross-section. For polymeric particles, we find that the mobility data agrees well over a large confinement range with the theory but under predicts for vesicles. The mobility of vesicles is higher in a square channel than in a circular tube, and does not depend significantly on membrane mechanical properties. The mobility of cancer cells is in good agreement with the theory up to λ ≈ 0.8, after which it deviates. Comparison of the mobility data of the three systems reveals that cancer cells have higher mobility than rigid particles but lower than vesicles, suggesting that the cell membrane frictional properties are in between a solid-like interface and a fluid bilayer. We explain further the differences in the mobility of the three systems by considering their shape deformation and surface flow on the interface. The results of this study may find potential applications in drug delivery and biomedical diagnostics.

Working Safety in Confined Spaces. Module SH-32. Safety and Health.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Center for Occupational Research and Development, Inc., Waco, TX.

This student module on working safely in confined spaces in one of 50 modules concerned with job safety and health. This module explains how to recognize potential hazards in confined spaces, how to deal with these hazards, and how planning can prevent accidents. Following the introduction, 17 objectives (each keyed to a page in the text) the…

Monitoring airborne biotic contaminants in the indoor environment of pig and poultry confinement buildings.

PubMed

Hong, Pei-Ying; Li, Xiangzhen; Yang, Xufei; Shinkai, Takumi; Zhang, Yuanhui; Wang, Xinlei; Mackie, Roderick I

2012-06-01

Given the growing concerns over human and animal health issues related to confined animal feeding operations, an in-depth examination is required to monitor for airborne bacteria and associated antibiotic resistance genes. Our 16S rRNA-based pyrosequencing revealed that the airborne microbial community skewed towards a higher abundance of Firmicutes (> 59.2%) and Bacteroidetes (4.2-31.4%) within the confinement buildings, while the office environment was predominated by Proteobacteria (55.2%). Furthermore, bioaerosols in the confinement buildings were sporadically associated with genera of potential pathogens, and these genera were more frequently observed in the bioaerosols of pig and layer hen confinement than the turkey confinement buildings and office environment. High abundances of tetracycline resistance genes (9.55 × 10(2) to 1.69 × 10(6) copies ng(-1) DNA) were also detected in the bioaerosols sampled from confinement buildings. Bacterial lineages present in the poultry bioaerosols clustered apart from those present in the pig bioaerosols and among the different phases of pig production, suggesting that different livestock as well as production phase were associated with a distinct airborne microbial community. By understanding the diversity of biotic contaminants associated with the different confinement buildings, this study facilitates the implementation of better management strategies to minimize potential health impacts on both livestock and humans working in this environment. © 2012 Society for Applied Microbiology and Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Model for multi-filamentary conduction in graphene/hexagonal-boron-nitride/graphene based resistive switching devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pan, Chengbin; Miranda, Enrique; Villena, Marco A.; Xiao, Na; Jing, Xu; Xie, Xiaoming; Wu, Tianru; Hui, Fei; Shi, Yuanyuan; Lanza, Mario

2017-06-01

Despite the enormous interest raised by graphene and related materials, recent global concern about their real usefulness in industry has raised, as there is a preoccupying lack of 2D materials based electronic devices in the market. Moreover, analytical tools capable of describing and predicting the behavior of the devices (which are necessary before facing mass production) are very scarce. In this work we synthesize a resistive random access memory (RRAM) using graphene/hexagonal-boron-nitride/graphene (G/h-BN/G) van der Waals structures, and we develop a compact model that accurately describes its functioning. The devices were fabricated using scalable methods (i.e. CVD for material growth and shadow mask for electrode patterning), and they show reproducible resistive switching (RS). The measured characteristics during the forming, set and reset processes were fitted using the model developed. The model is based on the nonlinear Landauer approach for mesoscopic conductors, in this case atomic-sized filaments formed within the 2D materials system. Besides providing excellent overall fitting results (which have been corroborated in log-log, log-linear and linear-linear plots), the model is able to explain the dispersion of the data obtained from cycle-to-cycle in terms of the particular features of the filamentary paths, mainly their confinement potential barrier height.

Study of the nature of the confinement in the GlueX experiment

DOE PAGES

Somov, S.; Berdnikov, Vladmir; Tolstukhin, Ivan; ...

2015-11-03

Confinement is a fundamental property of quantum chromodynamics (QCD) associated with the unique role of the gluonic field responsible for binding quarks in hadrons. Understanding the role of gluons in the confinement of quarks is one of the most tantalizing topics in modern particle physics to be explored. The new experiment GlueX has been recently constructed at Jefferson Lab. The experiment was designed to search for hybrid mesons with exotic quantum numbers using a beam of linearly polarized photons incident on a liquid hydrogen target. The spectrum of these states and their mass splitting from normal mesons may yield informationmore » on confinement. In addition, these observations in combination with detailed chromodynamics calculations such as on the Lattice can provide important tests for our understanding of the role of gluons. The production of exotic mesons is expected to be enhanced in p interactions, where the experimental data is very limited. We present the description of the GlueX detector, beam line, and first results of the commissioning with photon beam.« less

Corrosion Performance of Friction Stir Linear Lap Welded AM60B Joints

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kish, J. R.; Birbilis, N.; McNally, E. M.; Glover, C. F.; Zhang, X.; McDermid, J. R.; Williams, G.

2017-11-01

A corrosion investigation of friction stir linear lap welded AM60B joints used to fabricate an Mg alloy-intensive automotive front end sub-assembly was performed. The stir zone exhibited a slightly refined grain size and significant break-up and re-distribution of the divorced Mg17Al12 (β-phase) relative to the base material. Exposures in NaCl (aq) environments revealed that the stir zone was more susceptible to localized corrosion than the base material. Scanning vibrating electrode technique measurements revealed differential galvanic activity across the joint. Anodic activity was confined to the stir zone surface and involved initiation and lateral propagation of localized filaments. Cathodic activity was initially confined to the base material surface, but was rapidly modified to include the cathodically-activated corrosion products in the filament wake. Site-specific surface analyses revealed that the corrosion observed across the welded joint was likely linked to variations in Al distribution across the surface film/metal interface.

Heavy ion beam probe operation in time varying equilibria of improved confinement reversed field pinch discharges.

PubMed

Demers, D R; Chen, X; Schoch, P M; Fimognari, P J

2010-10-01

Operation of a heavy ion beam probe (HIBP) on a reversed field pinch is unique from other toroidal applications because the magnetic field is more temporal and largely produced by plasma current. Improved confinement, produced through the transient application of a poloidal electric field which leads to a reduction of dynamo activity, exhibits gradual changes in equilibrium plasma quantities. A consequence of this is sweeping of the HIBP trajectories by the dynamic magnetic field, resulting in motion of the sample volume. In addition, the plasma potential evolves with the magnetic equilibrium. Measurement of the potential as a function of time is thus a combination of temporal changes of the equilibrium and motion of the sample volume. A frequent additional complication is a nonideal balance of ion current on the detectors resulting from changes in the beam trajectory (magnetic field) and energy (plasma potential). This necessitates use of data selection criteria. Nevertheless, the HIBP on the Madison Symmetric Torus has acquired measurements as a function of time throughout improved confinement. A technique developed to infer the potential in the improved confinement reversed field pinch from HIBP data in light of the time varying plasma equilibrium will be discussed.

A Gaussian theory for fluctuations in simple liquids.

PubMed

Krüger, Matthias; Dean, David S

2017-04-07

Assuming an effective quadratic Hamiltonian, we derive an approximate, linear stochastic equation of motion for the density-fluctuations in liquids, composed of overdamped Brownian particles. From this approach, time dependent two point correlation functions (such as the intermediate scattering function) are derived. We show that this correlation function is exact at short times, for any interaction and, in particular, for arbitrary external potentials so that it applies to confined systems. Furthermore, we discuss the relation of this approach to previous ones, such as dynamical density functional theory as well as the formally exact treatment. This approach, inspired by the well known Landau-Ginzburg Hamiltonians, and the corresponding "Model B" equation of motion, may be seen as its microscopic version, containing information about the details on the particle level.

A Gaussian theory for fluctuations in simple liquids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krüger, Matthias; Dean, David S.

2017-04-01

Assuming an effective quadratic Hamiltonian, we derive an approximate, linear stochastic equation of motion for the density-fluctuations in liquids, composed of overdamped Brownian particles. From this approach, time dependent two point correlation functions (such as the intermediate scattering function) are derived. We show that this correlation function is exact at short times, for any interaction and, in particular, for arbitrary external potentials so that it applies to confined systems. Furthermore, we discuss the relation of this approach to previous ones, such as dynamical density functional theory as well as the formally exact treatment. This approach, inspired by the well known Landau-Ginzburg Hamiltonians, and the corresponding "Model B" equation of motion, may be seen as its microscopic version, containing information about the details on the particle level.

Zonal flow dynamics and control of turbulent transport in stellarators.

PubMed

Xanthopoulos, P; Mischchenko, A; Helander, P; Sugama, H; Watanabe, T-H

2011-12-09

The relation between magnetic geometry and the level of ion-temperature-gradient (ITG) driven turbulence in stellarators is explored through gyrokinetic theory and direct linear and nonlinear simulations. It is found that the ITG radial heat flux is sensitive to details of the magnetic configuration that can be understood in terms of the linear behavior of zonal flows. The results throw light on the question of how the optimization of neoclassical confinement is related to the reduction of turbulence.

Scaling of Linking and Writhing Numbers for Spherically Confined and Topologically Equilibrated Flexible Polymers

PubMed Central

Marko, John F.

2011-01-01

Scaling laws for Gauss linking number Ca and writhing number Wr for spherically confined flexible polymers with thermally fluctuating topology are analyzed. For ideal (phantom) polymers each of N segments of length unity confined to a spherical pore of radius R there are two scaling regimes: for sufficiently weak confinement (R ⪢ N1/3) each chain has |Wr| ≈ N1/2, and each pair of chains has average |Ca| ≈ N/R3/2; alternately for sufficiently tight confinement (N1/3 ⪢ R), |Wr| ≈ |CA| ≈ N/R3/2. Adding segment-segment avoidance modifies this result: for n chains with excluded volume interactions |Ca| ≈ (N/n)1/2f(ϕ) where f is a scaling function that depends approximately linearly on the segment concentration ϕ = nN/R3. Scaling results for writhe are used to estimate the maximum writhe of a polymer; this is demonstrated to be realizable through a writhing instability that occurs for a polymer which is able to change knotting topology and which is subject to an applied torque. Finally, scaling results for linking are used to estimate bounds on the entanglement complexity of long chromosomal DNA molecules inside cells, and to show how “lengthwise” chromosome condensation can suppress DNA entanglement. PMID:21686050

Temperature dependence of the evaporation lengthscale for water confined between two hydrophobic plates.

PubMed

Djikaev, Yuri S; Ruckenstein, Eli

2015-07-01

Liquid water in a hydrophobic confinement is the object of high interest in physicochemical sciences. Confined between two macroscopic hydrophobic surfaces, liquid water transforms into vapor if the distance between surfaces is smaller than a critical separation, referred to as the evaporation lengthscale. To investigate the temperature dependence of the evaporation lengthscale of water confined between two hydrophobic parallel plates, we use the combination of the density functional theory (DFT) with the probabilistic hydrogen bond (PHB) model for water-water hydrogen bonding. The PHB model provides an analytic expression for the average number of hydrogen bonds per water molecule as a function of its distance to a hydrophobic surface and its curvature. Knowing this expression, one can implement the effect of hydrogen bonding between water molecules on their interaction with the hydrophobe into DFT, which is then employed to determine the distribution of water molecules between two macroscopic hydrophobic plates at various interplate distances and various temperatures. For water confined between hydrophobic plates, our results suggest the evaporation lengthscale to be of the order of several nanometers and a linearly increasing function of temperature from T=293 K to T=333 K, qualitatively consistent with previous results. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Quantum confinement of exciton-polaritons in a structured (Al,Ga)As microcavity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuznetsov, Alexander S.; Helgers, Paul L. J.; Biermann, Klaus; Santos, Paulo V.

2018-05-01

The realization of quantum functionalities with polaritons in an all-semiconductor platform requires the control of the energy and spatial overlap of the wave functions of single polaritons trapped in potentials with precisely controlled shape and size. In this study we reach the confinement of microcavity polaritons in traps with an effective potential width down to 1 µm, produced by patterning the active region of the (Al,Ga)As microcavity between two molecular beam epitaxy growth runs. We correlate spectroscopic and structural data to show that the smooth surface relief of the patterned traps translates into a graded confinement potential characterized by lateral interfaces with a finite lateral width. We show that the structuring method is suitable for the fabrication of arrays of proximal traps, supporting hybridization between adjacent lattice sites.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Motevaselian, M. H.; Mashayak, S. Y.; Aluru, N. R., E-mail: aluru@illinois.edu

Empirical potential-based quasi-continuum theory (EQT) provides a route to incorporate atomistic detail into continuum framework such as the Nernst-Planck equation. EQT can also be used to construct a grand potential functional for classical density functional theory (cDFT). The combination of EQT and cDFT provides a simple and fast approach to predict the inhomogeneous density, potential profiles, and thermodynamic properties of confined fluids. We extend the EQT-cDFT approach to confined fluid mixtures and demonstrate it by simulating a mixture of methane and hydrogen inside slit-like channels of graphene. We show that the EQT-cDFT predictions for the structure of the confined fluidmore » mixture compare well with the molecular dynamics simulation results. In addition, our results show that graphene slit nanopores exhibit a selective adsorption of methane over hydrogen.« less

Anomalous current diffusion and improved confinement in the HT-6M tohamak

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, X.; Li, J. G.; Wan, Y. X.; Huo, Y. P.; Guo, W. K.; Fan, S. P.; Yu, C. X.; Luo, J. R.; Yin, F. X.; Meng, Y. D.; Zheng, L.; Yin, F.; Lin, B. L.; Zhang, S. Y.; Wang, S. Y.; Lu, H. J.; Liu, S. X.; Tong, X. D.; Ding, L. C.; Wu, Z. Y.; Yin, X. J.; Guo, Q. L.; Gong, X. Z.; Wu, X. C.; Zhao, J. Y.; Xi, J. S.

1994-10-01

Current diffusion was studied during edge ohmic heating (EOH) experiments in the HT-6M tokamak. The EOH power system makes the plasma current linearly ramp up from an initial steady state ( Ip=55kA) to a second steady state ( Ip=60kA) at a fast ramp rate of 12 MA/s. A stable discharge of an improved confinement was observed experimentally in the HT-6M tokamak after the plasma current was ramped to rise rapidly to a second steady state. The plasma current is ramped up much faster than both the classical skin time and neoclassical skin time. Fast current ramp up increases the anomalous current diffusion. The measured values of {β P+l i}/{2} and the soft X-ray sawtooth inversion radius imply the anomalous current penetration. The mechanism of anomalous penetration and improved confinement is discussed.

High-field penning-malmberg trap: confinement properties and use in positron accumulation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hartley, J.H.

1997-09-01

This dissertation reports on the development of the 60 kG cryogenic positron trap at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and compares the trap`s confinement properties with other nonneutral plasma devices. The device is designed for the accumulation of up to 2{times}10{sup 9} positrons from a linear-accelerator source. This positron plasma could then be used in Bhabha scattering experiments. Initial efforts at time-of-flight accumulation of positrons from the accelerator show rapid ({approximately}100 ms) deconfinement, inconsistent with the long electron lifetimes. Several possible deconfinement mechanisms have been explored, including annihilation on residual gas, injection heating, rf noise from the accelerator, magnet field curvature,more » and stray fields. Detailed studies of electron confinement demonstrate that the empirical scaling law used to design the trap cannot be extrapolated into the parameter regime of this device. Several possible methods for overcoming these limitations are presented.« less

Three-dimensional spatiotemporal focusing of holographic patterns

PubMed Central

Hernandez, Oscar; Papagiakoumou, Eirini; Tanese, Dimitrii; Fidelin, Kevin; Wyart, Claire; Emiliani, Valentina

2016-01-01

Two-photon excitation with temporally focused pulses can be combined with phase-modulation approaches, such as computer-generated holography and generalized phase contrast, to efficiently distribute light into two-dimensional, axially confined, user-defined shapes. Adding lens-phase modulations to 2D-phase holograms enables remote axial pattern displacement as well as simultaneous pattern generation in multiple distinct planes. However, the axial confinement linearly degrades with lateral shape area in previous reports where axially shifted holographic shapes were not temporally focused. Here we report an optical system using two spatial light modulators to independently control transverse- and axial-target light distribution. This approach enables simultaneous axial translation of single or multiple spatiotemporally focused patterns across the sample volume while achieving the axial confinement of temporal focusing. We use the system's capability to photoconvert tens of Kaede-expressing neurons with single-cell resolution in live zebrafish larvae. PMID:27306044

Shear viscosity in an anisotropic unitary Fermi gas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Samanta, Rickmoy; Sharma, Rishi; Trivedi, Sandip P.

2017-11-01

We consider a system consisting of a strongly interacting, ultracold unitary Fermi gas under harmonic confinement. Our analysis suggests the possibility of experimentally studying, in this system, an anisotropic shear viscosity tensor driven by the anisotropy in the trapping potential. In particular, we suggest that this experimental setup could mimic some features of anisotropic geometries that have recently been studied for strongly coupled field theories which have a dual gravitational description. Results using the AdS/CFT (anti-de Sitter/conformal field theory correspondence) in these theories show that in systems with a background linear potential, certain viscosity components can be made much smaller than the entropy density, parametrically violating the bound proposed by Kovtun, Son, and Starinets (KSS). This intuition, along with results from a Boltzmann analysis that we perform, suggests that a violation of the KSS bound can perhaps occur in the unitary Fermi gas system when it is subjected to a suitable anisotropic trapping potential which may be approximated to be linear in a suitable range of parameters. We give a concrete proposal for an experimental setup where an anisotropic shear viscosity tensor may arise. In such situations, it may also be possible to observe a reduction in the spin-1 component of the shear viscosity from its lowest value observed so far in ultracold Fermi gases. In extreme anisotropic situations, the reduction may be enough to reduce the shear viscosity to entropy ratio below the proposed KSS bound, although this regime is difficult to analyze in a theoretically controlled manner.

Smooth interface effects on the confinement properties of GaSb/Al xGa 1- xSb quantum wells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adib, Artur B.; de Sousa, Jeanlex S.; Farias, Gil A.; Freire, Valder N.

2000-10-01

A theoretical investigation on the confinement properties of GaSb/Al xGa 1- xSb single quantum wells (QWs) with smooth interfaces is performed. Error function ( erf)-like interfacial aluminum molar fraction variations in the QWs, from which it is possible to obtain the carriers effective masses and confinement potential profiles, are assumed. It is shown that the existence of smooth interfaces blue shifts considerably the confined carriers and exciton energies, an effect which is stronger in thin QWs.

Alternative approaches to plasma confinement

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Roth, J. R.

1977-01-01

The potential applications of fusion reactors, the desirable properties of reactors intended for various applications, and the limitations of the Tokamak concept are discussed. The principles and characteristics of 20 distinct alternative confinement concepts are described, each of which may be an alternative to the Tokamak. The devices are classed as Tokamak-like, stellarator-like, mirror machines, bumpy tori, electrostatically assisted, migma concept, and wall-confined plasma.

Dynamics and Melting of Finite Plasma Crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ludwig, Patrick; K"Ahlert, Hanno; Baumgartner, Henning; Thomsen, Hauke; Bonitz, Michael

2009-11-01

Interacting few-particle systems in external trapping potentials are of strong current interest since they allow to realize and control strong correlation and quantum effects [1]. Here, we present our recent results on the structural and thermodynamic properties of the crystal-like Wigner phase of complex plasma confined in a 3D harmonic potential. We discuss the linear response of the strongly correlated system to external excitations, which can be described in terms of normal modes [2]. By means of first-principle simulations the details of the melting phase transitions of these mesoscopic systems are systematically analysed with the melting temperatures being determined by a modified Lindemann parameter for the pair distance fluctuations [3]. The critical temperatures turn out to be utmost sensitive to finite size effects (i.e., the exact particle number), and form of the (screened) interaction potential.[4pt] [1] PhD Thesis, P. Ludwig, U Rostock (2008)[0pt] [2] C. Henning et al., J. Phys. A 42, 214023 (2009)[0pt] [3] B"oning et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 113401 (2008)

Electron-phonon interactions in semiconductor nanostructures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Segi

In this dissertation, electron-phonon interactions are studied theoretically in semiconductor nanoscale heterostructures. Interactions of electrons with interface optical phonons dominate over other electron-phonon interactions in narrow width heterostructures. Hence, a transfer matrix method is used to establish a formalism for determining the dispersion relations and electrostatic potentials of the interface phonons for multiple-interface heterostructure within the macroscopic dielectric continuum model. This method facilitates systematic calculations for complex structures where the conventional method is difficult to implement. Several specific cases are treated to illustrate advantages of the formalism. Electrophonon resonance (EPR) is studied in cylindrical quantum wires using the confined/interface optical phonons representation and bulk phonon representation. It has been found that interface phonon contribution to EPR is small compared with confined phonon. Different selection rules for bulk phonons and confined phonons result in different EPR behaviors as the radius of cylindrical wire changes. Experiment is suggested to test which phonon representation is appropriate for EPR. The effects of phonon confinement on elect ron-acoustic-phonon scattering is studied in cylindrical and rectangular quantum wires. In the macroscopic elastic continuum model, the confined-phonon dispersion relations are obtained for several crystallographic directions with free-surface and clamped-surface boundary conditions in cylindrical wires. The scattering rates due to the deformation potential are obtained for these confined phonons and are compared with those of bulk-like phonons. The results show that the inclusion of acoustic phonon confinement may be crucial for calculating accurate low-energy electron scattering rates. Furthermore, it has been found that there is a scaling rule governing the directional dependence of the scattering rates. The Hamiltonian describing the deformation-potential of confined acoustic phonons is derived by quantizing the appropriate, experimentally verified approximate compressional acoustic-phonon modes in a free-standing rectangular quantum wire. The scattering rate is obtained for GaAs quantum wires with a range of cross-sectional dimensions. The results demonstrate that a proper treatment of confined acoustic phonons may be essential to correctly model electron scattering rates at low energies in nanoscale structures.

Probing deconfinement in a chiral effective model with Polyakov loop at imaginary chemical potential

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Morita, Kenji; Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502; Skokov, Vladimir

2011-10-01

The phase structure of the two-flavor Polyakov-loop extended Nambu-Jona-Lashinio model is explored at finite temperature and imaginary chemical potential with a particular emphasis on the confinement-deconfinement transition. We point out that the confined phase is characterized by a cos3{mu}{sub I}/T dependence of the chiral condensate on the imaginary chemical potential while in the deconfined phase this dependence is given by cos{mu}{sub I}/T and accompanied by a cusp structure induced by the Z(3) transition. We demonstrate that the phase structure of the model strongly depends on the choice of the Polyakov loop potential U. Furthermore, we find that by changing themore » four fermion coupling constant G{sub s}, the location of the critical end point of the deconfinement transition can be moved into the real chemical potential region. We propose a new parameter characterizing the confinement-deconfinement transition.« less

Nonequilibrium molecular dynamics study of ring polymer melts under shear and elongation flows: A comparison with their linear analogs

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yoon, Jeongha; Kim, Jinseong; Baig, Chunggi, E-mail: cbaig@unist.ac.kr

We present detailed results for the structural and rheological properties of unknotted and unconcatenated ring polyethylene (PE) melts under shear and elongation flows via direct atomistic nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulations. Short (C{sub 78}H{sub 156}) and long (C{sub 400}H{sub 800}) ring PE melts were subjected to planar Couette flow (PCF) and planar elongational flow (PEF) across a wide range of strain rates from linear to highly nonlinear flow regimes. The results are analyzed in detail through a direct comparison with those of the corresponding linear polymers. We found that, in comparison to their linear analogs, ring melts possess rather compact chainmore » structures at or near the equilibrium state and exhibit a considerably lesser degree of structural deformation with respect to the applied flow strength under both PCF and PEF. The large structural resistance of ring polymers against an external flow field is attributed to the intrinsic closed-loop configuration of the ring and the topological constraint of nonconcatenation between ring chains in the melt. As a result, there appears to be a substantial discrepancy between ring and linear systems in terms of their structural and rheological properties such as chain orientation, the distribution of chain dimensions, viscosity, flow birefringence, hydrostatic pressure, the pair correlation function, and potential interaction energies. The findings and conclusions drawn in this work would be a useful guide in future exploration of the characteristic dynamical and relaxation mechanisms of ring polymers in bulk or confined systems under flowing conditions.« less

Chiral-selective nonlinear optical generation and emission control with plasmonic metamaterials (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cai, Wenshan

2016-09-01

Metamaterials can be designed to exhibit extraordinarily strong chiral responses. Here we present a chiral metamaterial that produces both distinguishable linear and nonlinear features in the visible to near-infrared range. In additional to the gigantic chiral effects in the linear regime, the metamaterial demonstrates a pronounced contrast between second harmonic responses from the two circular polarizations. Linear and nonlinear images probed with circularly polarized lights show strongly defined contrast. Moreover, the chiral centers of the nanometallic structures with enhanced hotspots can be purposely opened for direct access, where emitters occupying the light-confining regions produce chiral-selective enhancement of two-photon luminescence.

Breaking the glass ceiling: hollow OmniGuide fibers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, Steven G.; Ibanescu, Mihai; Skorobogatiy, Maksim A.; Weisberg, Ori; Engeness, Torkel D.; Soljacic, Marin; Jacobs, Steven A.; Joannopoulos, John D.; Fink, Yoel

2002-04-01

We argue that OmniGuide fibers, which guide light within a hollow core by concentric multilayer films having the property of omnidirectional reflection, have the potential to lift several physical limitations of silica fibers. We show how the strong confinement in OmniGuide fibers greatly suppresses the properties of the cladding materials: even if highly lossy and nonlinear materials are employed, both the intrinsic losses and nonlinearities of silica fibers can be surpassed by orders of magnitude. This feat, impossible to duplicate in an index-guided fiber with existing materials, would open up new regimes for long-distance propagation and dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM). The OmniGuide-fiber modes bear a strong analogy to those of hollow metallic waveguides; from this analogy, we are able to derive several general scaling laws with core radius. Moreover, there is strong loss discrimination between guided modes, depending upon their degree of confinement in the hollow core: this allows large, ostensibly multi-mode cores to be used, with the lowest-loss TE01 mode propagating in an effectively single-mode fashion. Finally, because this TE01 mode is a cylindrically symmetrical ('azimuthally' polarized) singlet state, it is immune to polarization-mode dispersion (PMD), unlike the doubly-degenerate linearly-polarized modes in silica fibers that are vulnerable to birefringence.

Hollow screw-like drill in plasma using an intense Laguerre–Gaussian laser

PubMed Central

Wang, Wenpeng; Shen, Baifei; Zhang, Xiaomei; Zhang, Lingang; Shi, Yin; Xu, Zhizhan

2015-01-01

With the development of ultra-intense laser technology, MeV ions can be obtained from laser–foil interactions in the laboratory. These energetic ion beams can be applied in fast ignition for inertial confinement fusion, medical therapy, and proton imaging. However, these ions are mainly accelerated in the laser propagation direction. Ion acceleration in an azimuthal orientation was scarcely studied. In this research, a doughnut Laguerre–Gaussian (LG) laser is used for the first time to examine laser–plasma interaction in the relativistic intensity regime in three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. Studies have shown that a novel rotation of the plasma is produced from the hollow screw-like drill of an mode laser. The angular momentum of particles in the longitudinal direction produced by the LG laser is enhanced compared with that produced by the usual laser pulses, such as linearly and circularly polarized Gaussian pulses. Moreover, the particles (including electrons and ions) can be trapped and uniformly compressed in the dark central minimum of the doughnut LG pulse. The hollow-structured LG laser has potential applications in the generation of x-rays with orbital angular momentum, plasma accelerators, fast ignition for inertial confinement fusion, and pulsars in the astrophysical environment. PMID:25651780

On the validity of microscopic calculations of double-quantum-dot spin qubits based on Fock-Darwin states

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chan, GuoXuan; Wang, Xin

2018-04-01

We consider two typical approximations that are used in the microscopic calculations of double-quantum dot spin qubits, namely, the Heitler-London (HL) and the Hund-Mulliken (HM) approximations, which use linear combinations of Fock-Darwin states to approximate the two-electron states under the double-well confinement potential. We compared these results to a case in which the solution to a one-dimensional Schr¨odinger equation was exactly known and found that typical microscopic calculations based on Fock-Darwin states substantially underestimate the value of the exchange interaction, which is the key parameter that controls the quantum dot spin qubits. This underestimation originates from the lack of tunneling of Fock-Darwin states, which is accurate only in the case with a single potential well. Our results suggest that the accuracies of the current two-dimensional molecular- orbit-theoretical calculations based on Fock-Darwin states should be revisited since underestimation could only deteriorate in dimensions that are higher than one.

Exciton confinement in organic dendrimer quantum wells for opto-electronic applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lupton, J. M.; Samuel, I. D. W.; Burn, P. L.; Mukamel, S.

2002-01-01

Organic dendrimers are a fascinating new class of materials for opto-electronic applications. We present coupled electronic oscillator calculations on novel nanoscale conjugated dendrimers for use in organic light-emitting diodes. Strong confinement of excitations at the center of the dendrimers is observed, which accounts for the dependence of intermolecular interactions and charge transport on the degree of branching of the dendrimer. The calculated absorption spectra are in excellent agreement with the measured data and show that benzene rings are shared between excitations on the linear segments of the hyperbranched molecules. The coupled electronic oscillator approach is ideally suited to treat large dendritic molecules.

Stability of a jet in confined pressure-driven biphasic flows at low reynolds numbers.

PubMed

Guillot, Pierre; Colin, Annie; Utada, Andrew S; Ajdari, Armand

2007-09-07

Motivated by its importance for microfluidic applications, we study the stability of jets formed by pressure-driven concentric biphasic flows in cylindrical capillaries. The specificity of this variant of the classical Rayleigh-Plateau instability is the role of the geometry which imposes confinement and Poiseuille flow profiles. We experimentally evidence a transition between situations where the flow takes the form of a jet and regimes where drops are produced. We describe this as the transition from convective to absolute instability, within a simple linear analysis using lubrication theory for flows at low Reynolds number, and reach remarkable agreement with the data.

Microturbulence in HT-6M Tokamak

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zeng, Lei; Yu, Changxuan; Cao, Jinxiang; Zhu, Guoliang; Zhang, Daqing; Li, Youyi

1993-08-01

The small scale density fluctuations in the interior of HT-6M Ohmic plasma have been studied by CO2 laser collective scattering system in deuterium discharges covering a range of bar neqa (chord-average density times safety factor at the limiter) and energy confinement time. The relative density fluctuation level in the interior is inversely proportional to the toroidal magnetic field and average density, and the energy confinement time τE decreases with the fluctuation level increasing in the region where τE linearly increases with bar neqa and statisfies the Goldston scaling law. It is suggested that the microturbulence in the interior zone is responsible for anomalous transport in tokamaks.

Polymer chain dynamics under nanoscopic confinements.

PubMed

Kimmich, Rainer; Fatkullin, Nail; Mattea, Carlos; Fischer, Elmar

2005-02-01

It is shown that the confinement of polymer melts in nanopores leads to chain dynamics dramatically different from bulk behavior. This so-called corset effect occurs both above and below the critical molecular mass and induces the dynamic features predicted for reptation. A spinodal demixing technique was employed for the preparation of linear poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) confined to nanoscopic strands that are in turn embedded in a quasi-solid and impenetrable methacrylate matrix. Both the molecular weight of the PEO and the mean diameter of the strands were varied to a certain degree. The chain dynamics of the PEO in the molten state was examined with the aid of field-gradient NMR diffusometry (time scale, 10(-2)-10(0) s) and field-cycling NMR relaxometry (time scale, 10(-9)-10(-4) s). The dominating mechanism for translational displacements probed in the nanoscopic strands by either technique is shown to be reptation. On the time scale of spin-lattice relaxation time measurements, the frequency dependence signature of reptation (i.e., T1 approximately nu(3/4)) showed up in all samples. A "tube" diameter of only 0.6 nm was concluded to be effective on this time scale even when the strand diameter was larger than the radius of gyration of the PEO random coils. This corset effect is traced back to the lack of the local fluctuation capacity of the free volume in nanoscopic confinements. The confinement dimension is estimated at which the crossover from confined to bulk chain dynamics is expected.

Self-confinement of finite dust clusters in isotropic plasmas.

PubMed

Miloshevsky, G V; Hassanein, A

2012-05-01

Finite two-dimensional dust clusters are systems of a small number of charged grains. The self-confinement of dust clusters in isotropic plasmas is studied using the particle-in-cell method. The energetically favorable configurations of grains in plasma are found that are due to the kinetic effects of plasma ions and electrons. The self-confinement phenomenon is attributed to the change in the plasma composition within a dust cluster resulting in grain attraction mediated by plasma ions. This is a self-consistent state of a dust cluster in which grain's repulsion is compensated by the reduced charge and floating potential on grains, overlapped ion clouds, and depleted electrons within a cluster. The common potential well is formed trapping dust clusters in the confined state. These results provide both valuable insights and a different perspective to the classical view on the formation of boundary-free dust clusters in isotropic plasmas.

Surface thermodynamic analysis of fluid confined in a cone and comparison with the sphere-plate and plate-plate geometries.

PubMed

Zargarzadeh, Leila; Elliott, Janet A W

2013-10-22

The behavior of pure fluid confined in a cone is investigated using thermodynamic stability analysis. Four situations are explained on the basis of the initial confined phase (liquid/vapor) and its pressure (above/below the saturation pressure). Thermodynamic stability analysis (a plot of the free energy of the system versus the size of the new potential phase) reveals whether the phase transition is possible and, if so, the number and type (unstable/metastable/stable) of equilibrium states in each of these situations. Moreover we investigated the effect of the equilibrium contact angle and the cone angle (equivalent to the confinement's surface separation distance) on the free energy (potential equilibrium states). The results are then compared to our previous study of pure fluid confined in the gap between a sphere and a flat plate and the gap between two flat plates.1 Confined fluid behavior of the four possible situations (for these three geometries) can be explained in a unified framework under two categories based on only the meniscus shape (concave/convex). For systems with bulk-phase pressure imposed by a reservoir, the stable coexistence of pure liquid and vapor is possible only when the meniscus is concave.

Donor impurity binding energies of coaxial GaAs / Alx Ga1 - x As cylindrical quantum wires in a parallel applied magnetic field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tshipa, M.; Winkoun, D. P.; Nijegorodov, N.; Masale, M.

2018-04-01

Theoretical investigations are carried out of binding energies of a donor charge assumed to be located exactly at the center of symmetry of two concentric cylindrical quantum wires. The intrinsic confinement potential in the region of the inner cylinder is modeled in any one of the three profiles: simple parabolic, shifted parabolic or the polynomial potential. The potential inside the shell is taken to be a potential step or potential barrier of a finite height. Additional confinement of the charge carriers is due to the vector potential of the axial applied magnetic field. It is found that the binding energies attain maxima in their variations with the radius of the inner cylinder irrespective of the particular intrinsic confinement of the inner cylinder. As the radius of the inner cylinder is increased further, the binding energies corresponding to either the parabolic or the polynomial potentials attain minima at some critical core-radius. Finally, as anticipated, the binding energies increase with the increase of the parallel applied magnetic field. This behaviour of the binding energies is irrespective of the particular electric potential of the nanostructure or its specific dimensions.

Integrated optical dipole trap for cold neutral atoms with an optical waveguide coupler

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, J.; Park, D. H.; Mittal, S.; Dagenais, M.; Rolston, S. L.

2013-04-01

An integrated optical dipole trap uses two-color (red and blue-detuned) traveling evanescent wave fields for trapping cold neutral atoms. To achieve longitudinal confinement, we propose using an integrated optical waveguide coupler, which provides a potential gradient along the beam propagation direction sufficient to confine atoms. This integrated optical dipole trap can support an atomic ensemble with a large optical depth due to its small mode area. Its quasi-TE0 waveguide mode has an advantage over the HE11 mode of a nanofiber, with little inhomogeneous Zeeman broadening at the trapping region. The longitudinal confinement eliminates the need for a one dimensional optical lattice, reducing collisional blockaded atomic loading, potentially producing larger ensembles. The waveguide trap allows for scalability and integrability with nano-fabrication technology. We analyze the potential performance of such integrated atom traps.

Butyrophenone on O-TiO2(110): one-dimensional motion in a weakly confined potential well.

PubMed

Jensen, Stephen C; Shank, Alex; Madix, Robert J; Friend, Cynthia M

2012-04-24

We demonstrate the one-dimensional confinement of weakly bound butyrophenone molecules between strongly bound complexes formed via reaction with oxygen on TiO(2)(110). Butyrophenone weakly bound to Ti rows through the carbonyl oxygen diffuses freely in one dimension along the rows even at 55 K, persisting for many minutes before hopping out of the 1-D well. Quantitative analysis yields an estimate of the migration barrier of 0.11 eV and a frequency factor of 6.5 × 10(9) Hz. These studies demonstrate that weakly bound organic molecules can be confined on a surface by creating molecular barriers, potentially altering their assembly.

Exploiting broad-area surface emitting lasers to manifest the path-length distributions of finite-potential quantum billiards.

PubMed

Yu, Y T; Tuan, P H; Chang, K C; Hsieh, Y H; Huang, K F; Chen, Y F

2016-01-11

Broad-area vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) with different cavity sizes are experimentally exploited to manifest the influence of the finite confinement strength on the path-length distribution of quantum billiards. The subthreshold emission spectra of VCSELs are measured to obtain the path-length distributions by using the Fourier transform. It is verified that the number of the resonant peaks in the path-length distribution decreases with decreasing the confinement strength. Theoretical analyses for finite-potential quantum billiards are numerically performed to confirm that the mesoscopic phenomena of quantum billiards with finite confinement strength can be analogously revealed by using broad-area VCSELs.

Synthesis and characterization of cyclic polystyrene using copper-catalyzed alkyne-azide cycloaddition coupling - evaluation of physical properties and optimization of cyclization conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Elupula, Ravinder

Polymers with a cyclic topology exhibit a range of unique and potentially useful physical properties, including reduced rates of degradation and increased rates of diffusion in bulk relative to linear analogs. However the synthesis of high purity cyclic polymers, and verification of their structural purity remains challenging. The copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne "click" cyclization route toward cyclic polymers has been used widely, due to its synthetic ease and its compatibility with diverse polymer backbones. Yet unoptimized click cyclization conditions have been observed to generate oligomeric byproducts. In order to optimize these cyclization conditions, and to better understand the structure of the higher molecular weight oligomers, these impurities have been isolated by size exclusion chromatography (SEC) and characterized by mass spectrometry (MS). Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-ToF) MS is a particularly valuable characterization tool and was used to determine that the high molecular weight impurities are predominantly cyclic oligomers. It should also be noted that the rapid analysis and small analyte requirements of this MS technique make it particularly attractive as a general tool for elucidating polymer architecture. Ability to tailor the physical properties of polymers by changing the architecture alone has garnered a lot of attention over the past few decades. Compared to their linear analogues, these novel polymer architectures behave completely different in nanoscale regime. Cyclic polymers are especially intriguing since we can compare the differences in the physical properties with that of the linear chains. One of the major physical property changes are T g-confinement effect. Using ATRP and "click chemistry" we have produced highly pure cyclic PS (c-PS) with number-average molecular weight (MW) of 3.4 kg/mol and 9.1 kg/mol. Bulk glass transition temperatures for c-PS were weakly depended on MWs. Whereas, anionically prepared A-PS had much higher reliance on the molecular weight changes for its glass transition temperature. However, in thin films, c-PS films have, within error, no confinement effect. In contrast, A-PS has seen large T g reduction with confinement. Ellipsometry analysis suggests that this invariance of the Tg-confinement effect in c-PS is a result of the weak perturbation to Tg near the free surface (i.e. the polymer-air interface). These weak perturbations are the result of the high packing efficiency of cyclic PS segments. The copper-catalyzed alkyne/azide cycloaddition (CuAAC) click reaction has been used to cyclize many linear polymers with complementary azide and alkyne end groups via unimolecular heterodifunctional approach. Cyclic polymers exhibit unique and potentially useful physical properties compared to their linear analogs, hence increasing interest in techniques for preparing this class of polymers. However, a general route for producing high purity cyclic polymers remained elusive. Prior to the discovery of "click" chemistry, it was difficult to produce highly pure cyclic polymers via the ring-closure approach, requiring extensive post-cyclization purification. However, even minor amounts of linear impurities can influence the physical properties of cyclic polymers. Thermal gradient interaction chromatography (TGIC) coupled with Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-ToF MS) allows the fractionation of cyclic polymer samples and produce valuable data for determining both the quantity and identity of linear impurities. This understanding further enables us to optimize cyclization conditions towards the goal of and efficient, general methodology for producing highly pure cyclic polymers. To solve the ever-growing energy needs of the world and capture the renewable energy that is generated sporadically, we need to create devices that can store high amounts of energy and discharge power at faster rates. While batteries do a great job in storing smaller amounts of energy, they fail in storing higher amounts of energy and cannot discharge energy at faster rates. Capacitors can provide an attractive energy storage alternative to address the problems associated with batteries. Recent advances in nanostructured capacitors have focused on perovskite ceramic nanoparticles. However, dielectric capacitors made from ceramic nanoparticles breakdown after modest loading energies. Polymers, on the other hand have high breakdown field strength. The combination of ceramic nanoparticles and the polymer materials with an appropriate nanostructure is expected to enhance the performance of the capacitors. Four different approaches were investigated to arrive at the optimal performance of a capacitor. The first one involves, a simple solvent of mixing high molecular weight polystyrene with narrow polydispersity barium titanate nanoparticles. The second one consists of creating polymer networks that can store charge. The third approach involves growing polymer chains off of the ceramic nanoparticles to ensure the polymer covers the nanoparticle surface hermetically. And the fourth approach immobilizes and embeds the nanoparticles in to polymer network.

Composite Nature of Layered Hybrid Perovskites: Assessment on Quantum and Dielectric Confinements and Band Alignment.

PubMed

Traore, Boubacar; Pedesseau, Laurent; Assam, Linda; Che, Xiaoyang; Blancon, Jean-Christophe; Tsai, Hsinhan; Nie, Wanyi; Stoumpos, Constantinos C; Kanatzidis, Mercouri G; Tretiak, Sergei; Mohite, Aditya D; Even, Jacky; Kepenekian, Mikaël; Katan, Claudine

2018-04-24

Layered hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites (HOPs) have re-emerged as potential technological solutions for next-generation photovoltaic and optoelectronic applications. Their two-dimensional (2D) nature confers them a significant flexibility and results in the appearance of quantum and dielectric confinements. Such confinements are at the origin of their fascinating properties, and understanding them from a fundamental level is of paramount importance for optimization. Here, we provide an in-depth investigation of band alignments of 2D HOP allowing access to carriers' confinement potentials. 2D HOPs are conceptualized as composite materials in which pseudoinorganic and -organic components are defined. In this way, computational modeling of band alignments becomes affordable using first-principles methods. First, we show that the composite approach is suitable to study the position-dependent dielectric profiles and enables clear differentiation of the respective contributions of inorganic and organic components. Then we apply the composite approach to a variety of 2D HOPs, assessing the impact on the confinement potentials of well and barrier thickness, of the nature of the inorganic well, and of structural transitions. Using the deduced potentials, we further discuss the limitations of the effective mass approximation, scrutinizing the electronic properties of this family of composite materials. Our simulations demonstrate type-I dominant band alignment in 2D HOPs. Finally, we outline design principles on band alignment toward achieving specific optoelectronic properties. Thus, we present alternative theoretical methods to inspect the properties of 2D hybrid perovskites and expect that the composite approach will be applicable to other classes of layered materials.

Composite Nature of Layered Hybrid Perovskites: Assessment on Quantum and Dielectric Confinements and Band Alignment

DOE PAGES

Traore, Boubacar; Pedesseau, Laurent; Assam, Linda; ...

2018-02-26

Layered hybrid organic–inorganic perovskites (HOPs) have re-emerged as potential technological solutions for next-generation photovoltaic and optoelectronic applications. Their two-dimensional (2D) nature confers them a significant flexibility and results in the appearance of quantum and dielectric confinements. Such confinements are at the origin of their fascinating properties, and understanding them from a fundamental level is of paramount importance for optimization. Here, we provide an in-depth investigation of band alignments of 2D HOP allowing access to carriers’ confinement potentials. 2D HOPs are conceptualized as composite materials in which pseudoinorganic and -organic components are defined. In this way, computational modeling of band alignmentsmore » becomes affordable using first-principles methods. First, we show that the composite approach is suitable to study the position-dependent dielectric profiles and enables clear differentiation of the respective contributions of inorganic and organic components. Then we apply the composite approach to a variety of 2D HOPs, assessing the impact on the confinement potentials of well and barrier thickness, of the nature of the inorganic well, and of structural transitions. Using the deduced potentials, we further discuss the limitations of the effective mass approximation, scrutinizing the electronic properties of this family of composite materials. Our simulations demonstrate type-I dominant band alignment in 2D HOPs. Finally, we outline design principles on band alignment toward achieving specific optoelectronic properties. Furthermore, we present alternative theoretical methods to inspect the properties of 2D hybrid perovskites and expect that the composite approach will be applicable to other classes of layered materials.« less

Composite Nature of Layered Hybrid Perovskites: Assessment on Quantum and Dielectric Confinements and Band Alignment

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Traore, Boubacar; Pedesseau, Laurent; Assam, Linda

Layered hybrid organic–inorganic perovskites (HOPs) have re-emerged as potential technological solutions for next-generation photovoltaic and optoelectronic applications. Their two-dimensional (2D) nature confers them a significant flexibility and results in the appearance of quantum and dielectric confinements. Such confinements are at the origin of their fascinating properties, and understanding them from a fundamental level is of paramount importance for optimization. Here, we provide an in-depth investigation of band alignments of 2D HOP allowing access to carriers’ confinement potentials. 2D HOPs are conceptualized as composite materials in which pseudoinorganic and -organic components are defined. In this way, computational modeling of band alignmentsmore » becomes affordable using first-principles methods. First, we show that the composite approach is suitable to study the position-dependent dielectric profiles and enables clear differentiation of the respective contributions of inorganic and organic components. Then we apply the composite approach to a variety of 2D HOPs, assessing the impact on the confinement potentials of well and barrier thickness, of the nature of the inorganic well, and of structural transitions. Using the deduced potentials, we further discuss the limitations of the effective mass approximation, scrutinizing the electronic properties of this family of composite materials. Our simulations demonstrate type-I dominant band alignment in 2D HOPs. Finally, we outline design principles on band alignment toward achieving specific optoelectronic properties. Furthermore, we present alternative theoretical methods to inspect the properties of 2D hybrid perovskites and expect that the composite approach will be applicable to other classes of layered materials.« less

Programmed environment management of confined microsocieties

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Emurian, Henry H.

1988-01-01

A programmed environment is described that assists the implementation and management of schedules governing access to all resources and information potentially available to members of a confined microsociety. Living and work schedules are presented that were designed to build individual and group performance repertoires in support of study objectives and sustained adaptation by participants. A variety of measurement requirements can be programmed and standardized to assure continuous assessment of the status and health of a confined microsociety.

Antiferromagnetism, confinement and spin response in the QED(3) effective theory of high-temperature superconductivity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seradjeh, Babak Hosseyni

In this thesis, we study the effective theory of a phase-fluctuating d-wave superconductor at zero temperature, formulated by quantum electrodynamics in three space-time dimensions (QED3). This theory describes the quantum critical behaviour in underdoped high-temperature superconductors in terms of an emergent gauge field. The gauge field couples minimally to nodal spin degrees of freedom (spinons) at low energies. It is massive in the superconductor but exhibits Maxwell dynamics when superconductivity is destroyed by strong phase fluctuations of the Cooper pairs. We show that, when dynamical chiral symmetry breaking in QED3 is supplemented by residual interactions, namely, the velocity anisotropy around the nodes, short-range repulsion between electrons, and nonlinear effects of dispersion (all irrelevant for the critical behaviour itself), the loss of superconductivity gives rise to an antiferromagnetic state, in accord with observation. Then, we turn to the problem of confinement of spinons outside the superconducting phase. We assume that the gauge group is a compact U(1) and, thus, allows for monopole configurations. In the absence of fermions, the interaction between monopoles is Coulombic, monopoles form a free plasma, and static fermionic charge is confined for all values of the gauge coupling by a linear potential mediated by free monopoles. We show that this permanent confinement survives in the presence of dynamical fermionic matter. This work comprises three separate studies. We first support our claim, for relativistic fermions, by an electrostatic study of the monopole gas. This is backed up by a controlled renormalization group analysis on the equivalent sine-Gordon theory. In the second study, we extend these findings to the non-relativistic case, with a spinon Fermi surface. In the last study, we provide a variational approach to the problem, in agreement with our other works. Finally, we focus our attention on the more practical application of the QED3 theory to spin response in the superconductor, relevant for neutron scattering measurements. We show that the theory explains the observed spin gap numerically and the evolution of the response in energy and momenta qualitatively. We study the issue of resonance in these measurements by developing a formalism for exciton bound states. Keywords. High-temperature superconductivity; Antiferromagnetism; Spinons; Spin response; Three-dimensional quantum electrodynamics; Chiral symmetry breaking; Confinement; Duality transformation; renormalization group; Variational methods;

Spherical ion oscillations in a positive polarity gridded inertial-electrostatic confinement device

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bandara, R.; Khachan, J.

2013-07-01

A pulsed, positive polarity gridded inertial electrostatic confinement device has been investigated experimentally, using a differential emissive probe and potential traces as primary diagnostics. Large amplitude oscillations in the plasma current and plasma potential were observed within a microsecond of the discharge onset, which are indicative of coherent ion oscillations about a temporarily confined excess of recirculating electron space charge. The magnitude of the depth of the potential well in the established virtual cathode was determined using a differential emissive Langmuir probe, which correlated well to the potential well inferred from the ion oscillation frequency for both hydrogen and argon experiments. It was found that the timescale for ion oscillation dispersion is strongly dependent on the neutral gas density, and weakly dependent on the peak anode voltage. The cessation of the oscillations was found to be due to charge exchange processes converting ions to high velocity neutrals, causing the abrupt de-coherence of the oscillations through an avalanche dispersion in phase space.

Analysis of performance degradation in an electron heating dominant H-mode plasma after ECRH termination in EAST

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Du, Hongfei; Ding, Siye; Chen, Jiale; Wang, Yifeng; Lian, Hui; Xu, Guosheng; Zhai, Xuemei; Liu, Haiqing; Zang, Qing; Lyu, Bo; Duan, Yanmin; Qian, Jinping; Gong, Xianzu

2018-06-01

In recent EAST experiments, significant performance degradation accompanied by a decrease of internal inductance is observed in an electron heating dominant H-mode plasma after the electron cyclotron resonance heating termination. The lower hybrid wave (LHW) deposition and effective electron heat diffusivity are calculated to explain this phenomenon. Analysis shows that the changes of LHW heating deposition rather than the increase of transport are responsible for the significant decrease in energy confinement (). The reason why the confinement degradation occurred on a long time scale could be attributed to both good local energy confinement in the core and also the dependence of LHW deposition on the magnetic shear. The electron temperature profile shows weaker stiffness in near axis region where electron heating is dominant, compared to that in large radius region. Unstable electron modes from low to high k in the core plasma have been calculated in the linear GYRO simulations, which qualitatively agree with the experimental observation. This understanding of the plasma performance degradation mechanism will help to find ways of improving the global confinement in the radio-frequency dominant scenario in EAST.

The Role of Structural Enthalpy in Spherical Nucleic Acid Hybridization.

PubMed

Fong, Lam-Kiu; Wang, Ziwei; Schatz, George C; Luijten, Erik; Mirkin, Chad A

2018-05-23

DNA hybridization onto DNA-functionalized nanoparticle surfaces (e.g., in the form of a spherical nucleic acid (SNA)) is known to be enhanced relative to hybridization free in solution. Surprisingly, via isothermal titration calorimetry, we reveal that this enhancement is enthalpically, as opposed to entropically, dominated by ∼20 kcal/mol. Coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations suggest that the observed enthalpic enhancement results from structurally confining the DNA on the nanoparticle surface and preventing it from adopting enthalpically unfavorable conformations like those observed in the solution case. The idea that structural confinement leads to the formation of energetically more stable duplexes is evaluated by decreasing the degree of confinement a duplex experiences on the nanoparticle surface. Both experiment and simulation confirm that when the surface-bound duplex is less confined, i.e., at lower DNA surface density or at greater distance from the nanoparticle surface, its enthalpy of formation approaches the less favorable enthalpy of duplex formation for the linear strand in solution. This work provides insight into one of the most important and enabling properties of SNAs and will inform the design of materials that rely on the thermodynamics of hybridization onto DNA-functionalized surfaces, including diagnostic probes and therapeutic agents.

Topological and metric properties of linear and circular DNA chains in nano-slits and nano-channels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Orlandini, Enzo; Micheletti, Cristian

2014-03-01

Motivated by recent advancements in single DNA molecule experiments, based on nanofluidic devices, we investigate numerically the metric and topological properties of a modelof open and circular DNA chains confined inside nano-slits and nano-channles. The results reveal an interesting characterization of the metric crossover behaviour in terms of the abundance, type and length of occuring knots. In particular we find that the knotting probability is nonmonotonic for increasing confinement and can be largely enhanced or suppressed, compared to the bulk case, by simply varying the slit or channel trasversal dimension. The observed knot population consists of knots that are far simpler than for DNA chains in spherical (i.e. cavities or capsids) confinement. These results suggest that nanoslits and nanochannels can be properly designed to produce open DNA chains hosting simple knots or to sieve DNA rings according to their knotted state. Finally we discuss the implications that the presence of knots may have on the dynamical properties of confined DNA chains such as chain elongation, injection/ejection processes and entanglement relaxation. We acknowledge financial support from the Italian ministry of education, grant PRIN 2010HXAW77.

Collective oscillations and coupled modes in confined microfluidic droplet arrays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schiller, Ulf D.; Fleury, Jean-Baptiste; Seemann, Ralf; Gompper, Gerhard

Microfluidic droplets have a wide range of applications ranging from analytic assays in cellular biology to controlled mixing in chemical engineering. Ensembles of microfluidic droplets are interesting model systems for non-equilibrium many-body phenomena. When flowing in a microchannel, trains of droplets can form microfluidic crystals whose dynamics are governed by long-range hydrodynamic interactions and boundary effects. In this contribution, excitation mechanisms for collective waves in dense and confined microfluidic droplet arrays are investigated by experiments and computer simulations. We demonstrate that distinct modes can be excited by creating specific `defect' patterns in flowing droplet trains. While longitudinal modes exhibit a short-lived cascade of pairs of laterally displacing droplets, transversely excited modes form propagating waves that behave like microfluidic phonons. We show that the confinement induces a coupling between longitudinal and transverse modes. We also investigate the life time of the collective oscillations and discuss possible mechanisms for the onset of instabilities. Our results demonstrate that microfluidic phonons can exhibit effects beyond the linear theory, which can be studied particularly well in dense and confined systems. This work was supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft under Grant No. SE 1118/4.

A Discrete Element Method Approach to Progressive Localization of Damage in Granular Rocks and Associated Seismicity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vora, H.; Morgan, J.

2017-12-01

Brittle failure in rock under confined biaxial conditions is accompanied by release of seismic energy, known as acoustic emissions (AE). The objective our study is to understand the influence of elastic properties of rock and its stress state on deformation patterns, and associated seismicity in granular rocks. Discrete Element Modeling is used to simulate biaxial tests on granular rocks of defined grain size distribution. Acoustic Energy and seismic moments are calculated from microfracture events as rock is taken to conditions of failure under different confining pressure states. Dimensionless parameters such as seismic b-value and fractal parameter for deformation, D-value, are used to quantify seismic character and distribution of damage in rock. Initial results suggest that confining pressure has the largest control on distribution of induced microfracturing, while fracture energy and seismic magnitudes are highly sensitive to elastic properties of rock. At low confining pressures, localized deformation (low D-values) and high seismic b-values are observed. Deformation at high confining pressures is distributed in nature (high D-values) and exhibit low seismic b-values as shearing becomes the dominant mode of microfracturing. Seismic b-values and fractal D-values obtained from microfracturing exhibit a linear inverse relationship, similar to trends observed in earthquakes. Mode of microfracturing in our simulations of biaxial compression tests show mechanistic similarities to propagation of fractures and faults in nature.

The Laughlin liquid in an external potential

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rougerie, Nicolas; Yngvason, Jakob

2018-04-01

We study natural perturbations of the Laughlin state arising from the effects of trapping and disorder. These are N-particle wave functions that have the form of a product of Laughlin states and analytic functions of the N variables. We derive an upper bound to the ground state energy in a confining external potential, matching exactly a recently derived lower bound in the large N limit. Irrespective of the shape of the confining potential, this sharp upper bound can be achieved through a modification of the Laughlin function by suitably arranged quasi-holes.

Dielectric response properties of parabolically-confined nanostructures in a quantizing magnetic field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sabeeh, Kashif

This thesis presents theoretical studies of dielectric response properties of parabolically-confined nanostructures in a magnetic field. We have determined the retarded Schrodinger Green's function for an electron in such a parabolically confined system in the presence of a time dependent electric field and an ambient magnetic field. Following an operator equation of motion approach developed by Schwinger, we calculate the result in closed form in terms of elementary functions in direct-time representation. From the retarded Schrodinger Green's function we construct the closed-form thermodynamic Green's function for a parabolically confined quantum-dot in a magnetic field to determine its plasmon spectrum. Due to confinement and Landau quantization this system is fully quantized, with an infinite number of collective modes. The RPA integral equation for the inverse dielectric function is solved using Fredholm theory in the nondegenerate and quantum limit to determine the frequencies with which the plasmons participate in response to excitation by an external potential. We exhibit results for the variation of plasmon frequency as a function of magnetic field strength and of confinement frequency. A calculation of the van der Waals interaction energy between two harmonically confined quantum dots is discussed in terms of the dipole-dipole correlation function. The results are presented as a function of confinement strength and distance between the dots. We also rederive a result of Fertig & Halperin [32] for the tunneling-scattering of an electron through a saddle potential which is also known as a quantum point contact (QPC), in the presence of a magnetic field. Using the retarded Green's function we confirm the result for the transmission coefficient and analyze it.

Nonlinear Stability and Saturation of Ballooning Modes in Tokamaks*

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ham, C. J.; Cowley, S. C.; Brochard, G.; Wilson, H. R.

2016-06-01

The theory of tokamak stability to nonlinear "ballooning" displacements of elliptical magnetic flux tubes is presented. Above a critical pressure profile the energy stored in the plasma may be lowered by finite (but not infinitesimal) displacements of such tubes (metastability). Above a higher pressure profile, the linear stability boundary, such tubes are linearly and nonlinearly unstable. The predicted saturated flux tube displacement can be of the order of the pressure gradient scale length. Plasma transport from these displaced flux tubes may explain the rapid loss of confinement in some experiments.

Electrostatic charge on a dust size distribution in a plasma. [in interplanetary space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Houpis, Harry L. F.; Whipple, Elden C., Jr.

1987-01-01

The capacitance of a grain immersed in a steady state plasma containing a size distribution of dust particles is studied. The grain charge is determined by assuming the equilibrium potential has been obtained by a simple balance of electron and ion collection currents. It is shown that the validity of the analytical treatment given here for the linearized Poisson equation is confined to a certain region of space. Within this region and starting at very small plasma Debye length lambda(D), the capacitance at first exhibits a monotonic increase with increasing lambda(D). The capacitance eventually reaches a maximum, followed by a monotonic decrease. The charge density of the dust in the plasma is found to be only a function of the lambda(D); there is no significant dependence on the interparticle spacing.

Application of the exact exchange potential method for half metallic intermediate band alloy semiconductor.

PubMed

Fernández, J J; Tablero, C; Wahnón, P

2004-06-08

In this paper we present an analysis of the convergence of the band structure properties, particularly the influence on the modification of the bandgap and bandwidth values in half metallic compounds by the use of the exact exchange formalism. This formalism for general solids has been implemented using a localized basis set of numerical functions to represent the exchange density. The implementation has been carried out using a code which uses a linear combination of confined numerical pseudoatomic functions to represent the Kohn-Sham orbitals. The application of this exact exchange scheme to a half-metallic semiconductor compound, in particular to Ga(4)P(3)Ti, a promising material in the field of high efficiency solar cells, confirms the existence of the isolated intermediate band in this compound. (c) 2004 American Institute of Physics.

Theory of plasma confinement in non-axisymmetric magnetic fields.

PubMed

Helander, Per

2014-08-01

The theory of plasma confinement by non-axisymmetric magnetic fields is reviewed. Such fields are used to confine fusion plasmas in stellarators, where in contrast to tokamaks and reversed-field pinches the magnetic field generally does not possess any continuous symmetry. The discussion is focussed on magnetohydrodynamic equilibrium conditions, collisionless particle orbits, and the kinetic theory of equilbrium and transport. Each of these topics is fundamentally affected by the absence of symmetry in the magnetic field: the field lines need not trace out nested flux surfaces, the particle orbits may not be confined, and the cross-field transport can be very large. Nevertheless, by tailoring the magnetic field appropriately, well-behaved equilibria with good confinement can be constructed, potentially offering an attractive route to magnetic fusion. In this article, the mathematical apparatus to describe stellarator plasmas is developed from first principles and basic elements underlying confinement optimization are introduced.

Growth of delta-doped layers on silicon CCD/S for enhanced ultraviolet response

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hoenk, Michael E. (Inventor); Grunthaner, Paula J. (Inventor); Grunthaner, Frank J. (Inventor); Terhune, Robert W. (Inventor); Hecht, Michael H. (Inventor)

1994-01-01

The backside surface potential well of a backside-illuminated CCD is confined to within about half a nanometer of the surface by using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) to grow a delta-doped silicon layer on the back surface. Delta-doping in an MBE process is achieved by temporarily interrupting the evaporated silicon source during MBE growth without interrupting the evaporated p+ dopant source (e.g., boron). This produces an extremely sharp dopant profile in which the dopant is confined to only a few atomic layers, creating an electric field high enough to confine the backside surface potential well to within half a nanometer of the surface. Because the probability of UV-generated electrons being trapped by such a narrow potential well is low, the internal quantum efficiency of the CCD is nearly 100% throughout the UV wavelength range. Furthermore, the quantum efficiency is quite stable.

Generating end plug potentials in tandem mirror plasma confinement by heating thermal particles so as to escape low density end stoppering plasmas

DOEpatents

Baldwin, David E.; Logan, B. Grant

1981-01-01

The invention provides a method and apparatus for raising the potential of a magnetic mirror cell by pumping charged particles of the opposite sign of the potential desired out of the mirror cell through excitation, with the pumping being done by an externally imposed field at the bounce frequency of the above charged particles. These pumped simple mirror cells then provide end stoppering for a center mirror cell for the tandem mirror plasma confinement apparatus. For the substantially complete pumping case, the end plugs of a tandem mirror can be up to two orders of magnitude lower in density for confining a given center mirror cell plasma than in the case of end plugs without pumping. As a result the decrease in recirculating power required to keep the system going, the technological state of the art required, and the capital cost are all greatly lowered.

Generating end plug potentials in tandem mirror plasma confinement by heating thermal particles so as to escape low density end stoppering plasmas

DOEpatents

Baldwin, D.E.; Logan, B.G.

The invention provides a method and apparatus for raising the potential of a magnetic mirror cell by pumping charged particles of the opposite sign of the potential desired out of the mirror cell through excitation, with the pumping being done by an externally imposed field at the bounce frequence of the above charged particles. These pumped simple mirror cells then provide end stoppering for a center mirror cell for the tandem mirror plasma confinement apparatus. For the substantially complete pumping case, the end plugs of a tandem mirror can be up to two orders of magnitude lower in density for confining a given center mirror cell plasma than in the case of end plugs without pumping. As a result the decrease in recirculating power required to keep the system going, the technical state of the art required, and the capital cost are all greatly lowered.

Gas solubility in hydrophobic confinement.

PubMed

Luzar, Alenka; Bratko, Dusan

2005-12-01

Measured forces between apolar surfaces in water have often been found to be sensitive to exposure to atmospheric gases despite low gas solubilities in bulk water. This raises questions as to how significant gas adsorption is in hydrophobic confinement, whether it is conducive to water depletion at such surfaces, and ultimately if it can facilitate the liquid-to-gas phase transition in the confinement. Open Ensemble molecular simulations have been used here to determine saturated concentrations of atmospheric gases in water-filled apolar confinements as a function of pore width at varied gas fugacities. For paraffin-like confinements of widths barely exceeding the mechanical instability threshold (spinodal) of the liquid-to-vapor transition of confined water (aqueous film thickness between three and four molecular diameters), mean gas concentrations in the pore were found to exceed the bulk values by a factor of approximately 30 or approximately 15 in cases of N2 and CO2, respectively. At ambient conditions, this does not result in visible changes in the water density profile next to the surfaces. Whereas the barrier to capillary evaporation has been found to decrease in the presence of dissolved gas (Leung, K.; Luzar, A.; and Bratko, D. Phys. Rev. Lett. 2003, 90, 065502), gas concentrations much higher than those observed at normal atmospheric conditions would be needed to produce noticeable changes in the kinetics of capillary evaporation. In simulations, dissolved gas concentrations corresponding to fugacities above approximately 40 bar for N2, or approximately 2 bar for CO2, were required to trigger expulsion of water from a hydrocarbon slit as narrow as 1.4 nm. For nanosized pore widths corresponding to the mechanical instability threshold or above, no significant coupling between adsorption layers at opposing confinement walls was observed. This finding explains the approximately linear increase in gas solubility with inverse confinement width and the apparent validity of Henry's law in the pores over a broad fugacity range.

A modular finite-element model (MODFE) for areal and axisymmetric ground-water-flow problems, Part 1: Model Description and User's Manual

USGS Publications Warehouse

Torak, L.J.

1993-01-01

A MODular, Finite-Element digital-computer program (MODFE) was developed to simulate steady or unsteady-state, two-dimensional or axisymmetric ground-water flow. Geometric- and hydrologic-aquifer characteristics in two spatial dimensions are represented by triangular finite elements and linear basis functions; one-dimensional finite elements and linear basis functions represent time. Finite-element matrix equations are solved by the direct symmetric-Doolittle method or the iterative modified, incomplete-Cholesky, conjugate-gradient method. Physical processes that can be represented by the model include (1) confined flow, unconfined flow (using the Dupuit approximation), or a combination of both; (2) leakage through either rigid or elastic confining beds; (3) specified recharge or discharge at points, along lines, and over areas; (4) flow across specified-flow, specified-head, or bead-dependent boundaries; (5) decrease of aquifer thickness to zero under extreme water-table decline and increase of aquifer thickness from zero as the water table rises; and (6) head-dependent fluxes from springs, drainage wells, leakage across riverbeds or confining beds combined with aquifer dewatering, and evapotranspiration. The report describes procedures for applying MODFE to ground-water-flow problems, simulation capabilities, and data preparation. Guidelines for designing the finite-element mesh and for node numbering and determining band widths are given. Tables are given that reference simulation capabilities to specific versions of MODFE. Examples of data input and model output for different versions of MODFE are provided.

Pressure Dependence of the Liquid-Liquid Phase Transition of Nanopore Water Doped Slightly with Hydroxylamine, and a Phase Behavior Predicted for Pure Water

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nagoe, Atsushi; Iwaki, Shinji; Oguni, Masaharu; Tôzaki, Ken-ichi

2014-09-01

Phase transition behaviors of confined pure water and confined water doped with a small amount of hydroxylamine (HA) with a mole fraction of xHA = 0.03 were examined by high-pressure differential thermal analyses at 0.1, 50, 100, and 150 MPa; the average diameters of silica pores used were 2.0 and 2.5 nm. A liquid-liquid phase transition (LLPT) of the confined HA-doped water was clearly observed and its pressurization effect could be evaluated, unlike in the experiments on undoped water. It was found that pressurization causes the transition temperature (Ttrs) to linearly decrease, indicating that the low-temperature phase has a lower density than the high-temperature one. Transition enthalpy (ΔtrsH) decreased steeply with increasing pressure. Considering the linear decrease in Ttrs with increasing pressure, the steep decrease in ΔtrsH indicates that the LLPT effect of the HA-doped water attenuates with pressure. We present a new scenario of the phase behavior concerning the LLPT of pure water based on the analogy from the behavior of slightly HA-doped water, where a liquid-liquid critical point (LLCP) and a coexistence line are located in a negative-pressure regime but not in a positive-pressure one. It is reasonably understood that doping a small amount of HA into water results in negative chemical pressurization and causes the LLPT to occur even at ambient pressure.

A modular finite-element model (MODFE) for areal and axisymmetric ground-water-flow problems; Part 1, Model description and user's manual

USGS Publications Warehouse

Torak, Lynn J.

1992-01-01

A MODular, Finite-Element digital-computer program (MODFE) was developed to simulate steady or unsteady-state, two-dimensional or axisymmetric ground-water flow. Geometric- and hydrologic-aquifer characteristics in two spatial dimensions are represented by triangular finite elements and linear basis functions; one-dimensional finite elements and linear basis functions represent time. Finite-element matrix equations are solved by the direct symmetric-Doolittle method or the iterative modified, incomplete-Cholesky, conjugate-gradient method. Physical processes that can be represented by the model include (1) confined flow, unconfined flow (using the Dupuit approximation), or a combination of both; (2) leakage through either rigid or elastic confining beds; (3) specified recharge or discharge at points, along lines, and over areas; (4) flow across specified-flow, specified-head, or head-dependent boundaries; (5) decrease of aquifer thickness to zero under extreme water-table decline and increase of aquifer thickness from zero as the water table rises; and (6) head-dependent fluxes from springs, drainage wells, leakage across riverbeds or confining beds combined with aquifer dewatering, and evapotranspiration.The report describes procedures for applying MODFE to ground-water-flow problems, simulation capabilities, and data preparation. Guidelines for designing the finite-element mesh and for node numbering and determining band widths are given. Tables are given that reference simulation capabilities to specific versions of MODFE. Examples of data input and model output for different versions of MODFE are provided.

Efficient Voronoi volume estimation for DEM simulations of granular materials under confined conditions

PubMed Central

Frenning, Göran

2015-01-01

When the discrete element method (DEM) is used to simulate confined compression of granular materials, the need arises to estimate the void space surrounding each particle with Voronoi polyhedra. This entails recurring Voronoi tessellation with small changes in the geometry, resulting in a considerable computational overhead. To overcome this limitation, we propose a method with the following features:•A local determination of the polyhedron volume is used, which considerably simplifies implementation of the method.•A linear approximation of the polyhedron volume is utilised, with intermittent exact volume calculations when needed.•The method allows highly accurate volume estimates to be obtained at a considerably reduced computational cost. PMID:26150975

Density fluctuation in HT-6M tokamak by CO2 laser scattering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zeng, Lei; Cao, Jinxiang; Zhu, Guoliang; Ding, Weixing; Yu, Chang-Xuan; Zhang, Daqing; Li, Youyi

1993-09-01

The small scale density fluctuations in the interior of HT-6M Ohmic plasma have been studied by CO2 laser collective scattering system in deuterium discharges covering a wide range of nqa (chord-average density times safety factor at the limiter) and energy confinement time. The relative density fluctuation level in the interior is inversely proportional to the toroidal magnetic field and average density, and the energy confinement time (tau) E decreases with the fluctuation level increasing in the region where (tau) E linearly increases with nq0.5a and satisfies the Goldston scaling law. It is suggested that the microturbulence in the interior zone is responsible for anomalous transport in tokamaks.

Turbulent shear layers in confining channels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benham, Graham P.; Castrejon-Pita, Alfonso A.; Hewitt, Ian J.; Please, Colin P.; Style, Rob W.; Bird, Paul A. D.

2018-06-01

We present a simple model for the development of shear layers between parallel flows in confining channels. Such flows are important across a wide range of topics from diffusers, nozzles and ducts to urban air flow and geophysical fluid dynamics. The model approximates the flow in the shear layer as a linear profile separating uniform-velocity streams. Both the channel geometry and wall drag affect the development of the flow. The model shows good agreement with both particle image velocimetry experiments and computational turbulence modelling. The simplicity and low computational cost of the model allows it to be used for benchmark predictions and design purposes, which we demonstrate by investigating optimal pressure recovery in diffusers with non-uniform inflow.

Power loss of a single electron charge distribution confined in a quantum plasma

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mehramiz, A.; Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, I. K. Int'l University, Qazvin 34149-16818; Mahmoodi, J.

2011-05-15

The dielectric tensor for a quantum plasma is derived by using a linearized quantum hydrodynamic theory. The wave functions for a nanostructure bound system have been investigated. Finally, the power loss for an oscillating charge distribution of a mixed state will be calculated, using the dielectric function formalism.

First report of xanthomonas vasicola causing bacterial leaf streak on corn in the United States

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

In 2014 and 2015, Zea mays samples (field, seed, and popcorn) were submitted to the Plant and Pest Diagnostic Clinic at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln displaying long, dark, yellow to brown, water-soaked, linear lesions confined to the interveinal spaces of the leaves. Initial symptoms appeare...

Linear analysis of active-medium two-beam accelerator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Voin, Miron; Schächter, Levi

2015-07-01

We present detailed development of the linear theory of wakefield amplification by active medium and its possible application to a two-beam accelerator (TBA) is discussed. A relativistic train of triggering microbunches traveling along a vacuum channel in an active medium confined by a cylindrical waveguide excites Cherenkov wake in the medium. The wake is a superposition of azimuthally symmetric transverse magnetic modes propagating along a confining waveguide, with a phase velocity equal to the velocity of the triggering bunches. The structure may be designed in such a way that the frequency of one of the modes is close to active-medium resonant frequency, resulting in amplification of the former and domination of a single mode far behind the trigger bunches. Another electron bunch placed in proper phase with the amplified wakefield may be accelerated by the latter. Importantly, the energy for acceleration is provided by the active medium and not the drive bunch as in a traditional TBA. Based on a simplified model, we analyze extensively the impact of various parameters on the wakefield amplification process.

Design of a TW-SLIM Module for Dual Polarity Confinement, Transport, and Reactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garimella, Sandilya V. B.; Webb, Ian K.; Prabhakaran, Aneesh; Attah, Isaac K.; Ibrahim, Yehia M.; Smith, Richard D.

2017-07-01

Here we describe instrumental approaches for performing dual polarity ion confinement, transport, ion mobility separations, and reactions in structures for lossless ion manipulations (SLIM). Previous means of ion confinement in SLIM, based upon rf-generated pseudopotentials and DC fields for lateral confinement, cannot trap ions of opposite polarity simultaneously. Here we explore alternative approaches to provide simultaneous lateral confinement of both ion polarities. Traveling wave ion mobility (IM) separations experienced in such SLIM cause ions of both polarities to migrate in the same directions and exhibit similar separations. The ion motion (and relative motion of the two polarities) under both surfing and IM separation conditions are discussed. In surfing conditions the two polarities are transported losslessly and non-reactively in their respective potential minima (higher absolute voltage regions confine negative polarities, and lower absolute potential regions are populated by positive polarities). In separation mode, where ions roll over an overtaking traveling wave, the two polarities can interact during the rollovers. Strategies to minimize overlap of the two ion populations to prevent reactive losses during separations are presented. A theoretical treatment of the time scales over which two populations (injected into a DC field-free region of the dual polarity SLIM device) interact is considered, and SLIM designs for allowing ion/ion interactions and other manipulations with dual polarities at 4 Torr are presented.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ramírez-Morales, A.; Martínez-Orozco, J. C.; Rodríguez-Vargas, I.

The main characteristics of the quantum confined Stark effect (QCSE) are studied theoretically in quantum wells of Gaussian profile. The semi-empirical tight-binding model and the Green function formalism are applied in the numerical calculations. A comparison of the QCSE in quantum wells with different kinds of confining potential is presented.

Turbulent edge transport in the Princeton Beta Experiment-Modified high confinement mode

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tynan, G. R.; Schmitz, L.; Blush, L.; Boedo, J. A.; Conn, R. W.; Doerner, R.; Lehmer, R.; Moyer, R.; Kugel, H.; Bell, R.; Kaye, S.; Okabayashi, M.; Sesnic, S.; Sun, Y.

1994-10-01

The first probe measurements of edge turbulence and transport in a neutral beam induced high confinement mode (H-mode) are reported. A strong negative radial electric field is directly observed in H-mode. A transient suppression of normalized ion saturation and floating potential fluctuation levels occurs at the low confinement mode to high confinement mode (L-H) transition, followed by a recovery to near low mode (L-mode) levels. The average poloidal wave number and the poloidal wave-number spectral width are decreased, and the correlation between fluctuating density and potential is reduced. A large-amplitude coherent oscillation, localized to the strong radial electric field region, is observed in H-mode but does not cause transport. In H-mode the effective turbulent diffusion coefficient is reduced by an order of magnitude inside the last closed flux surface and in the scrape-off layer. The results are compared with a heuristic model of turbulence suppression by velocity-shear stabilization.

Pauli structures arising from confined particles interacting via a statistical potential

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Batle, Josep; Ciftja, Orion; Farouk, Ahmed; Alkhambashi, Majid; Abdalla, Soliman

2017-09-01

There have been suggestions that the Pauli exclusion principle alone can lead a non-interacting (free) system of identical fermions to form crystalline structures dubbed Pauli crystals. Single-shot imaging experiments for the case of ultra-cold systems of free spin-polarized fermionic atoms in a two-dimensional harmonic trap appear to show geometric arrangements that cannot be characterized as Wigner crystals. This work explores this idea and considers a well-known approach that enables one to treat a quantum system of free fermions as a system of classical particles interacting with a statistical interaction potential. The model under consideration, though classical in nature, incorporates the quantum statistics by endowing the classical particles with an effective interaction potential. The reasonable expectation is that possible Pauli crystal features seen in experiments may manifest in this model that captures the correct quantum statistics as a first order correction. We use the Monte Carlo simulated annealing method to obtain the most stable configurations of finite two-dimensional systems of confined particles that interact with an appropriate statistical repulsion potential. We consider both an isotropic harmonic and a hard-wall confinement potential. Despite minor differences, the most stable configurations observed in our model correspond to the reported Pauli crystals in single-shot imaging experiments of free spin-polarized fermions in a harmonic trap. The crystalline configurations observed appear to be different from the expected classical Wigner crystal structures that would emerge should the confined classical particles had interacted with a pair-wise Coulomb repulsion.

Analytical model for screening potential CO2 repositories

USGS Publications Warehouse

Okwen, R.T.; Stewart, M.T.; Cunningham, J.A.

2011-01-01

Assessing potential repositories for geologic sequestration of carbon dioxide using numerical models can be complicated, costly, and time-consuming, especially when faced with the challenge of selecting a repository from a multitude of potential repositories. This paper presents a set of simple analytical equations (model), based on the work of previous researchers, that could be used to evaluate the suitability of candidate repositories for subsurface sequestration of carbon dioxide. We considered the injection of carbon dioxide at a constant rate into a confined saline aquifer via a fully perforated vertical injection well. The validity of the analytical model was assessed via comparison with the TOUGH2 numerical model. The metrics used in comparing the two models include (1) spatial variations in formation pressure and (2) vertically integrated brine saturation profile. The analytical model and TOUGH2 show excellent agreement in their results when similar input conditions and assumptions are applied in both. The analytical model neglects capillary pressure and the pressure dependence of fluid properties. However, simulations in TOUGH2 indicate that little error is introduced by these simplifications. Sensitivity studies indicate that the agreement between the analytical model and TOUGH2 depends strongly on (1) the residual brine saturation, (2) the difference in density between carbon dioxide and resident brine (buoyancy), and (3) the relationship between relative permeability and brine saturation. The results achieved suggest that the analytical model is valid when the relationship between relative permeability and brine saturation is linear or quasi-linear and when the irreducible saturation of brine is zero or very small. ?? 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

Binary mixtures of condensates in generic confining potentials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Facchi, P.; Florio, G.; Pascazio, S.; Pepe, F. V.

2011-12-01

We study a binary mixture of Bose-Einstein condensates, confined in a generic potential, in the Thomas-Fermi approximation. We search for the zero-temperature ground state of the system, both in the case of fixed numbers of particles and fixed chemical potentials. For generic potentials, we analyze the transition from mixed to separated ground-state configurations as the inter-species interaction increases. We derive a simple formula that enables one to determine the location of the domain walls. Finally, we find criteria for the energetic stability of separated configurations, depending on the number and the position of the domain walls separating the two species.

Effects of hydrogen-like impurity and electromagnetic field on quantum transition of an electron in a Gaussian potential with QD thickness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xin, Wei; Zhao, Yu-Wei; Sudu; Eerdunchaolu

2018-05-01

Considering Hydrogen-like impurity and the thickness effect, the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of the electronic ground and first exited states in a quantum dot (QD) are derived by using the Lee-Low-Pins-Pekar variational method with the harmonic and Gaussian potentials as the transverse and longitudinal confinement potentials, respectively. A two-level system is constructed on the basis of those two states, and the electronic quantum transition affected by an electromagnetic field is discussed in terms of the two-level system theory. The results indicate the Gaussian potential reflects the real confinement potential more accurately than the parabolic one; the influence of the thickness of the QD on the electronic transition probability is interesting and significant, and cannot be ignored; the electronic transition probability Γ is influenced significantly by some physical quantities, such as the strength of the electron-phonon coupling α, the electric-field strength F, the magnetic-field cyclotron frequency ωc , the barrier height V0 and confinement range L of the asymmetric Gaussian potential, suggesting the transport and optical properties of the QD can be manipulated further though those physical quantities.

Probing entropic repulsion through mesoscopic simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vaiwala, Rakesh; Thaokar, Rochish

2017-11-01

Following the publication of Freund's work on entropic pressure (Freund L., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 110 (2013) 2047), which states that the undulation pressure for a biomembrane confined between two parallel rigid walls decays linearly with wall separation (d), different contradictory views on the pressure law evolved; some supporting Helfrich's prediction that the entropic pressure scales as 1/d3 . Attempts were made to resolve this stark contradiction by distinct groups of researchers. In this work, using dissipative particle dynamics simulations it has been shown for the first time that the height fluctuations are suppressed by wall confinement. An analysis of the fluctuation spectrum reveals that the entropic loss manifests as a membrane tension for a membrane that conserves its local area, and this fact is confirmed by the rise in stresses with an increase in wall confinement. Furthermore, we theorize a pressure law, which interestingly is congruous with Freund's prediction that the entropic pressure scales as 1/d .

Tuning and Switching a Plasmonic Quantum Dot "Sandwich" in a Nematic Line Defect.

PubMed

Mundoor, Haridas; Sheetah, Ghadah H; Park, Sungoh; Ackerman, Paul J; Smalyukh, Ivan I; van de Lagemaat, Jao

2018-03-27

We study the quantum-mechanical effects arising in a single semiconductor core/shell quantum dot (QD) controllably sandwiched between two plasmonic nanorods. Control over the position and the "sandwich" confinement structure is achieved by the use of a linear-trap liquid crystal (LC) line defect and laser tweezers that "push" the sandwich together. This arrangement allows for the study of exciton-plasmon interactions in a single structure, unaltered by ensemble effects or the complexity of dielectric interfaces. We demonstrate the effect of plasmonic confinement on the photon antibunching behavior of the QD and its luminescence lifetime. The QD behaves as a single emitter when nanorods are far away from the QD but shows possible multiexciton emission and a significantly decreased lifetime when tightly confined in a plasmonic "sandwich". These findings demonstrate that LC defects, combined with laser tweezers, enable a versatile platform to study plasmonic coupling phenomena in a nanoscale laboratory, where all elements can be arranged almost at will.

Strength and deformation behaviors of veined marble specimens after vacuum heat treatment under conventional triaxial compression

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Su, Haijian; Jing, Hongwen; Yin, Qian; Yu, Liyuan; Wang, Yingchao; Wu, Xingjie

2017-10-01

The mechanical behaviors of rocks affected by high temperature and stress are generally believed to be significant for the stability of certain projects involving rocks, such as nuclear waste storage and geothermal resource exploitation. In this paper, veined marble specimens were treated to high temperature treatment and then used in conventional triaxial compression tests to investigate the effect of temperature, confining pressure, and vein angle on strength and deformation behaviors. The results show that the strength and deformation parameters of the veined marble specimens changed with the temperature, presenting a critical temperature of 600 °C. The triaxial compression strength of a horizontal vein (β = 90°) is obviously larger than that of a vertical vein (β = 0°). The triaxial compression strength, elasticity modulus, and secant modulus have an approximately linear relation to the confining pressure. Finally, Mohr-Coulomb and Hoek-Brown criteria were respectively used to analyze the effect of confining pressure on triaxial compression strength.

Thermalization and confinement in strongly coupled gauge theories

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ishii, Takaaki; Kiritsis, Elias; Rosen, Christopher

2016-11-01

Quantum field theories of strongly interacting matter sometimes have a useful holographic description in terms of the variables of a gravitational theory in higher dimensions. This duality maps time dependent physics in the gauge theory to time dependent solutions of the Einstein equations in the gravity theory. In order to better understand the process by which "real world" theories such as QCD behave out of thermodynamic equilibrium, we study time dependent perturbations to states in a model of a confining, strongly coupled gauge theory via holography. Operationally, this involves solving a set of non-linear Einstein equations supplemented with specific time dependent boundary conditions. The resulting solutions allow one to comment on the timescale by which the perturbed states thermalize, as well as to quantify the properties of the final state as a function of the perturbation parameters. We comment on the influence of the dual gauge theory's confinement scale on these results, as well as the appearance of a previously anticipated universal scaling regime in the "abrupt quench" limit.

Congestion and communication in confined ant traffic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gravish, Nick; Gold, Gregory; Zangwill, Andrew; Goodisman, Michael A. D.; Goldman, Daniel I.

2014-03-01

Many social animals move and communicate within confined spaces. In subterranean fire ants Solenopsis invicta, mobility within crowded nest tunnels is important for resource and information transport. Within confined tunnels, communication and traffic flow are at odds: trafficking ants communicate through tactile interactions while stopped, yet ants that stop to communicate impose physical obstacles on the traffic. We monitor the bi-directional flow of fire ant workers in laboratory tunnels of varied diameter D. The persistence time of communicating ant aggregations, τ, increases approximately linearly with the number of participating ants, n. The sensitivity of traffic flow increases as D decreases and diverges at a minimum diameter, Dc. A cellular automata model incorporating minimal traffic features--excluded volume and communication duration--reproduces features of the experiment. From the model we identify a competition between information transfer and the need to maintain jam-free traffic flow. We show that by balancing information transfer and traffic flow demands, an optimum group strategy exists which maximizes information throughput. We acknowledge funding from NSF PoLS #0957659 and #PHY-1205878.

Tuning and Switching a Plasmonic Quantum Dot “Sandwich” in a Nematic Line Defect

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mundoor, Haridas; Sheetah, Ghadah H.; Park, Sungoh

We study the quantum-mechanical effects arising in a single semiconductor core/shell quantum dot (QD) controllably sandwiched between two plasmonic nanorods. Control over the position and the 'sandwich' confinement structure is achieved by the use of a linear-trap liquid crystal (LC) line defect and laser tweezers that 'push' the sandwich together. This arrangement allows for the study of exciton-plasmon interactions in a single structure, unaltered by ensemble effects or the complexity of dielectric interfaces. We demonstrate the effect of plasmonic confinement on the photon antibunching behavior of the QD and its luminescence lifetime. The QD behaves as a single emitter whenmore » nanorods are far away from the QD but shows possible multiexciton emission and a significantly decreased lifetime when tightly confined in a plasmonic 'sandwich'. These findings demonstrate that LC defects, combined with laser tweezers, enable a versatile platform to study plasmonic coupling phenomena in a nanoscale laboratory, where all elements can be arranged almost at will.« less

Tuning and Switching a Plasmonic Quantum Dot “Sandwich” in a Nematic Line Defect

DOE PAGES

Mundoor, Haridas; Sheetah, Ghadah H.; Park, Sungoh; ...

2018-02-28

We study the quantum-mechanical effects arising in a single semiconductor core/shell quantum dot (QD) controllably sandwiched between two plasmonic nanorods. Control over the position and the 'sandwich' confinement structure is achieved by the use of a linear-trap liquid crystal (LC) line defect and laser tweezers that 'push' the sandwich together. This arrangement allows for the study of exciton-plasmon interactions in a single structure, unaltered by ensemble effects or the complexity of dielectric interfaces. We demonstrate the effect of plasmonic confinement on the photon antibunching behavior of the QD and its luminescence lifetime. The QD behaves as a single emitter whenmore » nanorods are far away from the QD but shows possible multiexciton emission and a significantly decreased lifetime when tightly confined in a plasmonic 'sandwich'. These findings demonstrate that LC defects, combined with laser tweezers, enable a versatile platform to study plasmonic coupling phenomena in a nanoscale laboratory, where all elements can be arranged almost at will.« less

Two-dimensional lattice gauge theories with superconducting quantum circuits

PubMed Central

Marcos, D.; Widmer, P.; Rico, E.; Hafezi, M.; Rabl, P.; Wiese, U.-J.; Zoller, P.

2014-01-01

A quantum simulator of U(1) lattice gauge theories can be implemented with superconducting circuits. This allows the investigation of confined and deconfined phases in quantum link models, and of valence bond solid and spin liquid phases in quantum dimer models. Fractionalized confining strings and the real-time dynamics of quantum phase transitions are accessible as well. Here we show how state-of-the-art superconducting technology allows us to simulate these phenomena in relatively small circuit lattices. By exploiting the strong non-linear couplings between quantized excitations emerging when superconducting qubits are coupled, we show how to engineer gauge invariant Hamiltonians, including ring-exchange and four-body Ising interactions. We demonstrate that, despite decoherence and disorder effects, minimal circuit instances allow us to investigate properties such as the dynamics of electric flux strings, signaling confinement in gauge invariant field theories. The experimental realization of these models in larger superconducting circuits could address open questions beyond current computational capability. PMID:25512676

Correlation Between Chain Architecture and Hydration Water Structure in Polysaccharides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grossutti, Michael; Dutcher, John

The physical properties of confined water can differ dramatically from those of bulk water. Hydration water associated with polysaccharides provides a particularly important example of confined water, with differences in polysaccharide structure providing different spatially confined environments for water adsorption. We have used attenuated total reflection infrared (ATR-IR) spectroscopy to investigate the structure of hydration water in films of three different polysaccharides under controlled relative humidity (RH) conditions. We compare the results obtained for films of highly branched, monodisperse phytoglycogen nanoparticles to those obtained for two unbranched polysaccharides, hyaluronic acid (HA) and chitosan. We find similarities between water structuring in the two linear polysaccharides, and significant differences for phytoglycogen. In particular, the phytoglycogen nanoparticles exhibited high network water connectivity, and a large increase in the fraction of multimer water clusters with increasing RH, whereas the water structure for HA and chitosan was found to be insensitive to changes in RH. These measurements provide unique insight into the relationship between the chain architecture and hydration of polysaccharides.

Maser Emission from Gravitational States on Isolated Neutron Stars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tepliakov, Nikita V.; Vovk, Tatiana A.; Rukhlenko, Ivan D.; Rozhdestvensky, Yuri V.

2018-04-01

Despite years of research on neutron stars, the source of their radio emission is still under debate. Here we propose a new coherent mechanism of pulsar radio emission based on transitions between gravitational states of electrons confined above the pulsar atmosphere. Our mechanism assumes that the coherent radiation is generated upon the electric and magnetic dipole transitions of electrons falling onto the polar caps of the pulsar, and predicts that this radiation occurs at radio frequencies—in full agreement with the observed emission spectra. We show that while the linearly polarized electric dipole radiation propagates parallel to the neutron star surface and has a fan-shape angular spectrum, the magnetic dipole emission comes from the magnetic poles of the pulsar in the form of two narrow beams and is elliptically polarized due to the spin–orbit coupling of electrons confined by the magnetic field. By explaining the main observables of the pulsar radio emission, the proposed mechanism indicates that gravitational quantum confinement plays an essential role in the physics of neutron stars.

Electric Field Controlled Spin Interference in a System with Rashba Spin-Orbit Coupling

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-08-29

conducting semi-circular channels. The strength of the confinement energy on the quantum dots is tuned by gate potentials that allow “ leakage ” of electrons...interesting applications. A detectable SO effect requires a strong electric field (as well as a semiconductor host for the electrons that satisfies a...quantum dots (which may be considered identical) are confined by an electrostatically created potential that can be tuned to allow “ leakage ” of

Influence of the confining pressure on precursory and rupture processes of Westerly granite.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Passelegue, Francois; Nicolas, Aurelien; Madonna, Claudio; Schubnel, Alexandre

2016-04-01

In the shallow crust, brittle deformation mechanisms lead to damage and rupture of rocks. These mechanisms are generally described by non-linear stress relations and decrease of the elastic moduli due to microcrak opening and sliding. However, failure mode depends on confining pressure and ranges from axial splitting to shear localization. Here we report experiments on Westerly granite samples deformed under controlled upper crustal stress conditions in the laboratory. Experiments were conducted under triaxial loading (σ1>σ2=σ3) at confining pressures (σ3) ranging from 2 to 50 MPa (similar to upper crustal stress conditions) and at constant axial strain rate 10-5/s. Usual a dual gain system, a high frequency acoustic monitoring array recorded particles acceleration during macroscopic rupture of the intact specimen and premonitory background microseismicity. Secondly, acoustic sensors were used in an active way to measure the evolution of elastic wave velocities. In addition, we used an amplified strain gage to record the dynamic stress change during the dynamic rupture. Our preliminary results show that increasing confining pressure leads to the transition between axial cracks opening to shear localization. This result is supported by the moment tensor solutions of acoustic emissions and CT scan imaging of the post mortem sample. In addition, we systematically observe an exponential increase of the premonitory activity up to the shear failure of the sample. While the intensity of this precursory activity increase with the confining pressure in term of energy, the crack density leading to the failure of the sample is independent of the confinement. We show that the dynamic rupture occurs in only few microseconds, suggesting a rupture speed close to the shear wave velocity. In addition, the ratio between the stress drop and the peak of stress increases with the confinement. This result suggest that the weakening of faulting increases with the confinement. Finally, using both dynamic stress drop and axial displacement measurement, we show that the fracture energy increases with both confining pressure and seismic slip.

Urban Mining of E-Waste is Becoming More Cost-Effective Than Virgin Mining.

PubMed

Zeng, Xianlai; Mathews, John A; Li, Jinhui

2018-04-17

Stocks of virgin-mined materials utilized in linear economic flows continue to present enormous challenges. E-waste is one of the fastest growing waste streams, and threatens to grow into a global problem of unmanageable proportions. An effective form of management of resource recycling and environmental improvement is available, in the form of extraction and purification of precious metals taken from waste streams, in a process known as urban mining. In this work, we demonstrate utilizing real cost data from e-waste processors in China that ingots of pure copper and gold could be recovered from e-waste streams at costs that are comparable to those encountered in virgin mining of ores. Our results are confined to the cases of copper and gold extracted and processed from e-waste streams made up of recycled TV sets, but these results indicate a trend and potential if applied across a broader range of e-waste sources and metals extracted. If these results can be extended to other metals and countries, they promise to have positive impact on waste disposal and mining activities globally, as the circular economy comes to displace linear economic pathways.

Design of Nano Screw Pump for Water Transport and its Mechanisms

PubMed Central

Wang, LiYa; Wu, HengAn; Wang, FengChao

2017-01-01

Nanopumps conducting fluids through nanochannels have attracted considerable interest for their potential applications in nanofiltration, water desalination and drug delivery. Here, we demonstrate by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations that a nano screw pump is designed with helical nanowires embedded in a nanochannel, which can be used to drive unidirectional water flow. Such helical nanowires have been successfully synthesized in many experiments. By investigating the water transport mechanism through nano screw pumps with different configuration parameters, three transport modes were observed: cluster-by-cluster, pseudo-continuous, and linear-continuous, in which the water flux increases linearly with the rotating speed. The influences of the nanowires’ surface energy and the screw’s diameter on water transport were also investigated. Results showed that the water flux rate increases as the decreasing wettability of helical nanowires. The deviation in water flux in screw pumps with smaller radius is attributed to the weak hydrogen bonding due to space confinement and the hydrophobic blade. Moreover, we also proposed that such screw pumps with appropriate diameter and screw pitch can be used for water desalination. The study provides an insight into the design of multifunctional nanodevices for not only water transport but water desalination in practical applications. PMID:28155898

Nonlinear spectral singularities for confined nonlinearities.

PubMed

Mostafazadeh, Ali

2013-06-28

We introduce a notion of spectral singularity that applies for a general class of nonlinear Schrödinger operators involving a confined nonlinearity. The presence of the nonlinearity does not break the parity-reflection symmetry of spectral singularities but makes them amplitude dependent. Nonlinear spectral singularities are, therefore, associated with a resonance effect that produces amplified waves with a specific amplitude-wavelength profile. We explore the consequences of this phenomenon for a complex δ-function potential that is subject to a general confined nonlinearity.

Oxide nanoelectronics on demand.

PubMed

Cen, Cheng; Thiel, Stefan; Mannhart, Jochen; Levy, Jeremy

2009-02-20

Electronic confinement at nanoscale dimensions remains a central means of science and technology. We demonstrate nanoscale lateral confinement of a quasi-two-dimensional electron gas at a lanthanum aluminate-strontium titanate interface. Control of this confinement using an atomic force microscope lithography technique enabled us to create tunnel junctions and field-effect transistors with characteristic dimensions as small as 2 nanometers. These electronic devices can be modified or erased without the need for complex lithographic procedures. Our on-demand nanoelectronics fabrication platform has the potential for widespread technological application.

Relating quark confinement and chiral symmetry breaking in QCD

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suganuma, Hideo; Doi, Takahiro M.; Redlich, Krzysztof; Sasaki, Chihiro

2017-12-01

We study the relation between quark confinement and chiral symmetry breaking in QCD. Using lattice QCD formalism, we analytically express the various ‘confinement indicators’, such as the Polyakov loop, its fluctuations, the Wilson loop, the inter-quark potential and the string tension, in terms of the Dirac eigenmodes. In the Dirac spectral representation, there appears a power of the Dirac eigenvalue {λ }n such as {λ }n{Nt-1}, which behaves as a reduction factor for small {λ }n. Consequently, since this reduction factor cannot be cancelled, the low-lying Dirac eigenmodes give negligibly small contribution to the confinement quantities, while they are essential for chiral symmetry breaking. These relations indicate that there is no direct one-to-one correspondence between confinement and chiral symmetry breaking in QCD. In other words, there is some independence of quark confinement from chiral symmetry breaking, which can generally lead to different transition temperatures/densities for deconfinement and chiral restoration. We also investigate the Polyakov loop in terms of the eigenmodes of the Wilson, the clover and the domain-wall fermion kernels, and find similar results. The independence of quark confinement from chiral symmetry breaking seems to be natural, because confinement is realized independently of quark masses and heavy quarks are also confined even without the chiral symmetry.

Laboratory determination of effective stress laws for deformation and permeability of chalk

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Teufel, L W; Warpinski, N R

1990-01-01

Laboratory deformation and permeability measurements have been made on chalk samples from Ekofisk area fields as a function of confining stress and pore pressure to determine the effective stress laws for chalk. An understanding of the effective stress law is essential to obtain correct reservoir-property data from core analysis and is critical for reservoir management studies and reservoir compaction models. A powerful statistical technique known as the response surface method has been used to analyze our laboratory data determine the form of the effective stress law for deformation and permeability. Experiments were conducted on chalk samples that had a rangemore » of porosities from 15% to 36%, because porosity is the dominant intrinsic property that effects deformation and permeability behavior of chalk. Deformation of a 36% porosity chalk was highly nonlinear, but the effective stress law was linear, with {alpha} equal to about unity. Lower-porosity samples showed linear strain behavior and a linear effective stress law with {alpha} as low as 0.74. Analysis of the effective stress law for permeability is presented only for the lowest porosity chalk sample because changes in permeability in the higher-porosity chalk samples due to increasing confining stress or pore pressure were not were large enough, to deduce meaningful effective stress relationships. 15 refs., 8 figs., 2 tabs.« less

O (6 ) algebraic theory of three nonrelativistic quarks bound by spin-independent interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dmitrašinović, V.; Salom, Igor

2018-05-01

We apply the newly developed theory of permutation-symmetric O (6 ) hyperspherical harmonics to the quantum-mechanical problem of three nonrelativistic quarks confined by a spin-independent three-quark potential. We use our previously derived results to reduce the three-body Schrödinger equation to a set of coupled ordinary differential equations in the hyper-radius R with coupling coefficients expressed entirely in terms of (i) a few interaction-dependent O (6 ) expansion coefficients and (ii) O (6 ) hyperspherical harmonics matrix elements that have been evaluated in our previous paper. This system of equations allows a solution to the eigenvalue problem with homogeneous three-quark potentials, the class of which includes a number of standard Ansätze for the confining potentials, such as the Y- and Δ -string ones. We present analytic formulas for the K =2 , 3, 4, 5 shell states' eigenenergies in homogeneous three-body potentials, which we then apply to the Y and Δ strings as well as the logarithmic confining potentials. We also present numerical results for power-law pairwise potentials with the exponent ranging between -1 and +2 . In the process, we resolve the 25-year-old Taxil and Richard vs Bowler et al. controversy regarding the ordering of states in the K =3 shell, in favor of the former. Finally, we show the first clear difference between the spectra of Δ - and Y-string potentials, which appears in K ≥3 shells. Our results are generally valid, not just for confining potentials but also for many momentum-independent permutation-symmetric homogenous potentials that need not be pairwise sums of two-body terms. The potentials that can be treated in this way must be square integrable under the O (6 ) hyperangular integral, the class of which, however, does not include the Dirac δ function.

Dimensional Transmutation by Monopole Condensation in QCD

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cho, Y. M.

2015-01-01

The dimensional transmutation by the monopole condensation in QCD is reviewed. Using Abelian projection of the gauge potential which projects out the monopole potential gauge independently, we we show that there are two types of gluons: the color neutral binding gluons which plays the role of the confining agent and the colored valence gluons which become confined prisoners. With this we calculate the one-loop QCD effective potential and show the monopole condensation becomes the true vacuum of QCD. We propose to test the existence of two types of gluons experimentally by re-analyzing the existing gluon jets data.

Confined Space Evaluation Student Manual, #19613

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chochoms, Michael

Many workplaces contain spaces that are considered to be “confined” because their configuration hinders the activities of employees who must enter into, work in, and exit from them. In general, the permit-required confined spaces (PRCSs) Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standard requires that Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) evaluate the workplace to determine if any spaces are PRCSs. The standard specifies strict procedures for the evaluation and atmospheric testing of a space before and during an entry by workers. The OSHA PRCS standard provides for alternative (less stringent than full-permit) entry procedures in cases where the only hazard inmore » a space is atmospheric and the hazard can be controlled by forced air. At LANL, all confined spaces or potential confined spaces on LANL-owned or -operated property must be identified and evaluated by a confined space evaluator accompanied by a knowledgeable person. This course provides the information needed by confined space evaluators to make judgements about whether a space is a confined space, and if so, whether the space will require a permit for entry.« less

Preparing for the crewed Mars journey: microbiota dynamics in the confined Mars500 habitat during simulated Mars flight and landing.

PubMed

Schwendner, Petra; Mahnert, Alexander; Koskinen, Kaisa; Moissl-Eichinger, Christine; Barczyk, Simon; Wirth, Reinhard; Berg, Gabriele; Rettberg, Petra

2017-10-04

The Mars500 project was conceived as the first full duration simulation of a crewed return flight to Mars. For 520 days, six crew members lived confined in a specifically designed spacecraft mock-up. The herein described "MIcrobial ecology of Confined Habitats and humAn health" (MICHA) experiment was implemented to acquire comprehensive microbiota data from this unique, confined manned habitat, to retrieve important information on the occurring microbiota dynamics, the microbial load and diversity in the air and on various surfaces. In total, 360 samples from 20 (9 air, 11 surface) locations were taken at 18 time-points and processed by extensive cultivation, PhyloChip and next generation sequencing (NGS) of 16S rRNA gene amplicons. Cultivation assays revealed a Staphylococcus and Bacillus-dominated microbial community on various surfaces, with an average microbial load that did not exceed the allowed limits for ISS in-flight requirements indicating adequate maintenance of the facility. Areas with high human activity were identified as hotspots for microbial accumulation. Despite substantial fluctuation with respect to microbial diversity and abundance throughout the experiment, the location within the facility and the confinement duration were identified as factors significantly shaping the microbial diversity and composition, with the crew representing the main source for microbial dispersal. Opportunistic pathogens, stress-tolerant or potentially mobile element-bearing microorganisms were predicted to be prevalent throughout the confinement, while the overall microbial diversity dropped significantly over time. Our findings clearly indicate that under confined conditions, the community structure remains a highly dynamic system which adapts to the prevailing habitat and micro-conditions. Since a sterile environment is not achievable, these dynamics need to be monitored to avoid spreading of highly resistant or potentially pathogenic microorganisms and a potentially harmful decrease of microbial diversity. If necessary, countermeasures are required, to maintain a healthy, diverse balance of beneficial, neutral and opportunistic pathogenic microorganisms. Our results serve as an important data collection for (i) future risk estimations of crewed space flight, (ii) an optimized design and planning of a spacecraft mission and (iii) for the selection of appropriate microbial monitoring approaches and potential countermeasures, to ensure a microbiologically safe space-flight environment.

Magneto-optical absorption in semiconducting spherical quantum dots: Influence of the dot-size, confining potential, and magnetic field

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kushwaha, Manvir S.

2014-12-15

Semiconducting quantum dots – more fancifully dubbed artificial atoms – are quasi-zero dimensional, tiny, man-made systems with charge carriers completely confined in all three dimensions. The scientific quest behind the synthesis of quantum dots is to create and control future electronic and optical nanostructures engineered through tailoring size, shape, and composition. The complete confinement – or the lack of any degree of freedom for the electrons (and/or holes) – in quantum dots limits the exploration of spatially localized elementary excitations such as plasmons to direct rather than reciprocal space. Here we embark on a thorough investigation of the magneto-optical absorptionmore » in semiconducting spherical quantum dots characterized by a confining harmonic potential and an applied magnetic field in the symmetric gauge. This is done within the framework of Bohm-Pines’ random-phase approximation that enables us to derive and discuss the full Dyson equation that takes proper account of the Coulomb interactions. As an application of our theoretical strategy, we compute various single-particle and many-particle phenomena such as the Fock-Darwin spectrum; Fermi energy; magneto-optical transitions; probability distribution; and the magneto-optical absorption in the quantum dots. It is observed that the role of an applied magnetic field on the absorption spectrum is comparable to that of a confining potential. Increasing (decreasing) the strength of the magnetic field or the confining potential is found to be analogous to shrinking (expanding) the size of the quantum dots: resulting into a blue (red) shift in the absorption spectrum. The Fermi energy diminishes with both increasing magnetic-field and dot-size; and exhibits saw-tooth-like oscillations at large values of field or dot-size. Unlike laterally confined quantum dots, both (upper and lower) magneto-optical transitions survive even in the extreme instances. However, the intra-Landau level transitions are seen to be forbidden. The spherical quantum dots have an edge over the strictly two-dimensional quantum dots in that the additional (magnetic) quantum number makes the physics richer (but complex). A deeper grasp of the Coulomb blockade, quantum coherence, and entanglement can lead to a better insight into promising applications involving lasers, detectors, storage devices, and quantum computing.« less

STABILIZED PINCH MACHINE

DOEpatents

Anderson, O.A.

1962-04-24

A device for heating and confining a high temperature gas or plasma utilizing the linear pinch effect is described. The pinch discharge produced is the form of an elongated cylinder. The electrical discharge current is returned in parallel along an axial and a concentric conductor whereby the magnetic field of the conductors compresses and stabilizes the pinch discharge against lateral instability. (AEC)

Inertial-Electrostatic Confinement (IEC) Fusion for Space Propulsion

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nadler, Jon

1999-01-01

An Inertial-Electrostatic Confinement (IEC) device was assembled at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Propulsion Research Center (PRC) to study the possibility of using EEC technology for deep space propulsion and power. Inertial-Electrostatic Confinement is capable of containing a nuclear fusion plasma in a series of virtual potential wells. These wells would substantially increase plasma confinement, possibly leading towards a high-gain, breakthrough fusion device. A one-foot in diameter IEC vessel was borrowed from the Fusion Studies Laboratory at the University of Illinois@Urbana-Champaign for the summer. This device was used in initial parameterization studies in order to design a larger, actively cooled device for permanent use at the PRC.

Inertial-Electrostatic Confinement (IEC) Fusion For Space Propulsion

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nadler, Jon

1999-01-01

An Inertial-Electrostatic Confinement (IEC) device was assembled at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Propulsion Research Center (PRC) to study the possibility of using IEC technology for deep space propulsion and power. Inertial-Electrostatic Confinement is capable of containing a nuclear fusion plasma in a series of virtual potential wells. These wells would substantially increase plasma confinement, possibly leading towards a high-gain, breakthrough fusion device. A one-foot in diameter IEC vessel was borrowed from the Fusion Studies Laboratory at the University of Illinois @ Urbana-Champaign for the summer. This device was used in initial parameterization studies in order to design a larger, actively cooled device for permanent use at the PRC.

Holographic repulsion and confinement in gauge theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Husain, Viqar; Kothawala, Dawood

2013-02-01

We show that for asymptotically anti-de Sitter (AdS) backgrounds with negative energy, such as the AdS soliton and regulated negative-mass AdS-Schwarzshild metrics, the Wilson loop expectation value in the AdS/CFT conjecture exhibits a Coulomb to confinement transition. We also show that the quark-antiquark (q \\bar{q}) potential can be interpreted as affine time along null geodesics on the minimal string worldsheet and that its intrinsic curvature provides a signature of transition to confinement phase. Our results suggest a generic (holographic) relationship between confinement in gauge theory and repulsive gravity, which in turn is connected with singularity avoidance in quantum gravity. Communicated by P R L V Moniz

Vibrational nonlinear optical properties of spatially confined weakly bound complexes.

PubMed

Zaleśny, Robert; Chołuj, Marta; Kozłowska, Justyna; Bartkowiak, Wojciech; Luis, Josep M

2017-09-13

This study focuses on the theoretical description of the influence of spatial confinement on the electronic and vibrational contributions to (hyper)polarizabilities of two dimeric hydrogen bonded systems, namely HCNHCN and HCNHNC. A two-dimensional analytical potential is employed to render the confining environment (e.g. carbon nanotube). Based on the results of the state-of-the-art calculations, performed at the CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVTZ level of theory, we established that: (i) the influence of spatial confinement increases with increasing order of the electrical properties, (ii) the effect of spatial confinement is much larger in the case of the electronic than vibrational contribution (this holds for each order of the electrical properties) and (iii) the decrease in the static nuclear relaxation first hyperpolarizability upon the increase of confinement strength is mainly due to changes in the harmonic term, however, in the case of nuclear relaxation second hyperpolarizability the anharmonic terms contribute more to the drop of this property.

Inelastic off-fault response and three-dimensional dynamics of earthquake rupture on a strike-slip fault

USGS Publications Warehouse

Andrews, D.J.; Ma, Shuo

2010-01-01

Large dynamic stress off the fault incurs an inelastic response and energy loss, which contributes to the fracture energy, limiting the rupture and slip velocity. Using an explicit finite element method, we model three-dimensional dynamic ruptures on a vertical strike-slip fault in a homogeneous half-space. The material is subjected to a pressure-dependent Drucker-Prager yield criterion. Initial stresses in the medium increase linearly with depth. Our simulations show that the inelastic response is confined narrowly to the fault at depth. There the inelastic strain is induced by large dynamic stresses associated with the rupture front that overcome the effect of the high confining pressure. The inelastic zone increases in size as it nears the surface. For material with low cohesion (~5 MPa) the inelastic zone broadens dramatically near the surface, forming a "flowerlike" structure. The near-surface inelastic strain occurs in both the extensional and the compressional regimes of the fault, induced by seismic waves ahead of the rupture front under a low confining pressure. When cohesion is large (~10 MPa), the inelastic strain is significantly reduced near the surface and confined mostly to depth. Cohesion, however, affects the inelastic zone at depth less significantly. The induced shear microcracks show diverse orientations near the surface, owing to the low confining pressure, but exhibit mostly horizontal slip at depth. The inferred rupture-induced anisotropy at depth has the fast wave direction along the direction of the maximum compressive stress.

A high-performance Hg(+) trapped ion frequency standard

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Prestage, J. D.; Tjoelker, R. L.; Dick, G. J.; Maleki, L.

1992-01-01

A high-performance frequency standard based on (199)Hg(+) ions confined in a hybrid radio frequency (RF)/dc linear ion trap is demonstrated. This trap permits storage of large numbers of ions with reduced susceptibility to the second-order Doppler effect caused by the RF confining fields. A 160-mHz-wide atomic resonance line for the 40.5-GHz clock transition is used to steer the output of a 5-mHz crystal oscillator to obtain a stability of 2 x 10(exp -15) for 24,000-second averaging times. Measurements with a 37-mHz line width for the Hg(+) clock transition demonstrate that the inherent stability for this frequency standard is better than 1 x 10(exp -15) at 10,000-second averaging times.

Error analysis for fast scintillator-based inertial confinement fusion burn history measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lerche, R. A.; Ognibene, T. J.

1999-01-01

Plastic scintillator material acts as a neutron-to-light converter in instruments that make inertial confinement fusion burn history measurements. Light output for a detected neutron in current instruments has a fast rise time (<20 ps) and a relatively long decay constant (1.2 ns). For a burst of neutrons whose duration is much shorter than the decay constant, instantaneous light output is approximately proportional to the integral of the neutron interaction rate with the scintillator material. Burn history is obtained by deconvolving the exponential decay from the recorded signal. The error in estimating signal amplitude for these integral measurements is calculated and compared with a direct measurement in which light output is linearly proportional to the interaction rate.

Slow quench dynamics of a one-dimensional Bose gas confined to an optical lattice.

PubMed

Bernier, Jean-Sébastien; Roux, Guillaume; Kollath, Corinna

2011-05-20

We analyze the effect of a linear time variation of the interaction strength on a trapped one-dimensional Bose gas confined to an optical lattice. The evolution of different observables such as the experimentally accessible on site particle distribution are studied as a function of the ramp time by using time-dependent numerical techniques. We find that the dynamics of a trapped system typically displays two regimes: For long ramp times, the dynamics is governed by density redistribution, while at short ramp times, local dynamics dominates as the evolution is identical to that of an homogeneous system. In the homogeneous limit, we also discuss the nontrivial scaling of the energy absorbed with the ramp time.

Controlling the state of polarization via optical nanoantenna feeding with surface plasmon polaritons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xie, Yu-Bo; Liu, Zheng-Yang; Wang, Qian-Jin; Sun, Guang-Hou; Zhang, Xue-Jin; Zhu, Yong-Yuan

2016-03-01

Optical nanoantennas, usually referring to metal structures with localized surface plasmon resonance, could efficiently convert confined optical energy to free-space light, and vice versa. But it is difficult to manipulate the confined visible light energy for its nanoscale spatial extent. Here, a simple method is proposed to solve this problem by controlling surface plasmon polaritons to indirectly manipulate the localized plasmons. As a proof of principle, we demonstrate an optical rotation device which is a grating with central circular polarization optical nanoantenna. It realized the arbitrary optical rotation of linear polarized light by controlling the retard of dual surface plasmon polaritons sources from both side grating structures. Furthermore, we use a two-parameter theoretical model to explain the experimental results.

Experimental Observation of Temperature Variation of Surface Magnetization on a Nanostructured Co/Pt Thin Film

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nwokoye, Chidubem; Della Torre, Edward; Bennett, Lawrence; Siddique, Abid; Narducci, Frank A.

2015-04-01

Magneto-optic Kerr effect, MOKE, is used to observe the complex rotation of the polarization plane of linearly polarized incident light reflected from the surface of a magnetic material. The rotation is directly related to the surface magnetization of the material. We report work that extends the experiments in that studied Bose-Einstein Condensation (BEC) of magnons in confined nanostructures. We report the MOKE experimental results of an investigation of surface magnetic remanence and coercivity on a Co/Pt ferromagnetic thin film at low-temperatures. Our findings are explained and are attributed to the BEC of confined magnons in the Co/Pt thin film. We recognize financial support from the Naval Air Systems Command Section 219 grant.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gruenwald, J., E-mail: johannes.gruenwald@inp-greifswald.de; Fröhlich, M.

A model of the behavior of transit time instabilities in an electrostatic confinement fusion reactor is presented in this letter. It is demonstrated that different modes are excited within the spherical cathode of a Farnsworth fusor. Each of these modes is dependent on the fusion products as well as the acceleration voltage applied between the two electrodes and they couple to a resulting oscillation showing non-linear beat phenomena. This type of instability is similar to the transit time instability of electrons between two resonant surfaces but the presence of ions and the occurring fusion reactions alter the physics of thismore » instability considerably. The physics of this plasma instability is examined in detail for typical physical parameter ranges of electrostatic confinement fusion devices.« less

Classical and quantum simulations of warm dense carbon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Whitley, Heather; Sanchez, David; Hamel, Sebastien; Correa, Alfredo; Benedict, Lorin

We have applied classical and DFT-based molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to study the equation of state of carbon in the warm dense matter regime (ρ = 3.7 g/cc, 0.86 eV

Design and validation of the ball-pen probe for measurements in a low-temperature magnetized plasma

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bousselin, G.; Cavalier, J.; Pautex, J. F.

Ball-pen probes have been used in fusion devices for direct measurements of the plasma potential. Their application in low-temperature magnetized plasma devices is still subject to studies. In this context, a ball-pen probe has been recently implemented on the linear plasma device Mirabelle. Produced by a thermionic discharge, the plasma is characterized by a low electron temperature and a low density. Plasma confinement is provided by an axial magnetic field that goes up to 100 mT. The principle of the ball-pen probe is to adjust the saturation current ratio to 1 by reducing the electron current contribution. In that case,more » the floating potential of the probe is close to the plasma potential. A thorough study of the ball-pen probe operation is performed for different designs of the probe over a large set of plasma conditions. Comparisons between ball-pen, Langmuir, and emissive probes are conducted in the same plasma conditions. The ball-pen probe is successfully measuring the plasma potential in these specific plasma conditions only if an adapted electronics and an adapted probe size to the plasma characteristic lengths ({lambda}{sub D}, {rho}{sub ce}) are used.« less

Deep-Reaching Hydrodynamic Flow Confinement: Micrometer-Scale Liquid Localization for Open Substrates With Topographical Variations.

PubMed

Oskooei, Ali; Kaigala, Govind V

2017-06-01

We present a method for nonintrusive localization and reagent delivery on immersed biological samples with topographical variation on the order of hundreds of micrometers. Our technique, which we refer to as the deep-reaching hydrodynamic flow confinement (DR-HFC), is simple and passive: it relies on a deep-reaching hydrodynamic confinement delivered through a simple microfluidic probe design to perform localized microscale alterations on substrates as deep as 600 μm. Designed to scan centimeter-scale areas of biological substrates, our method passively prevents sample intrusion by maintaining a large gap between the probe and the substrate. The gap prevents collision of the probe and the substrate and reduces the shear stress experienced by the sample. We present two probe designs: linear and annular DR-HFC. Both designs comprise a reagent-injection aperture and aspiration apertures that serve to confine the reagent. We identify the design parameters affecting reagent localization and depth by DR-HFC and study their individual influence on the operation of DR-HFC numerically. Using DR-HFC, we demonstrate localized binding of antihuman immunoglobulin G (IgG) onto an activated substrate at various depths from 50 to 600 μm. DR-HFC provides a readily implementable approach for noninvasive processing of biological samples applicable to the next generation of diagnostic and bioanalytical devices.

Nanocontainers made of Various Materials with Tunable Shape and Size

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Xianglong; Meng, Guowen; Han, Fangming; Li, Xiangdong; Chen, Bensong; Xu, Qiaoling; Zhu, Xiaoguang; Chu, Zhaoqin; Kong, Mingguang; Huang, Qing

2013-07-01

Nanocontainers have great potentials in targeted drug delivery and nanospace-confined reactions. However, the previous synthetic approaches exhibited limited control over the morphology, size and materials of the nanocontainers, which are crucial in practical applications. Here, we present a synthetic approach to multi-segment linear-shaped nanopores with pre-designed morphologies inside anodic aluminium oxide (AAO), by tailoring the anodizing duration after a rational increase of the applied anodizing voltage and the number of voltage increase during Al foil anodization. Then, we achieve nanocontainers with designed morphologies, such as nanofunnels, nanobottles, nano-separating-funnels and nanodroppers, with tunable sizes and diverse materials of carbon, silicon, germanium, hafnium oxide, silica and nickel/carbon magnetic composite, by depositing a thin layer of materials on the inner walls of the pre-designed AAO nanopores. The strategy has far-reaching implications in the designing and large-scale fabrication of nanocontainers, opening up new opportunities in nanotechnology applications.

Nanocontainers made of Various Materials with Tunable Shape and Size

PubMed Central

Zhao, Xianglong; Meng, Guowen; Han, Fangming; Li, Xiangdong; Chen, Bensong; Xu, Qiaoling; Zhu, Xiaoguang; Chu, Zhaoqin; Kong, Mingguang; Huang, Qing

2013-01-01

Nanocontainers have great potentials in targeted drug delivery and nanospace-confined reactions. However, the previous synthetic approaches exhibited limited control over the morphology, size and materials of the nanocontainers, which are crucial in practical applications. Here, we present a synthetic approach to multi-segment linear-shaped nanopores with pre-designed morphologies inside anodic aluminium oxide (AAO), by tailoring the anodizing duration after a rational increase of the applied anodizing voltage and the number of voltage increase during Al foil anodization. Then, we achieve nanocontainers with designed morphologies, such as nanofunnels, nanobottles, nano-separating-funnels and nanodroppers, with tunable sizes and diverse materials of carbon, silicon, germanium, hafnium oxide, silica and nickel/carbon magnetic composite, by depositing a thin layer of materials on the inner walls of the pre-designed AAO nanopores. The strategy has far-reaching implications in the designing and large-scale fabrication of nanocontainers, opening up new opportunities in nanotechnology applications. PMID:23867836

Optimal design of nanoplasmonic materials using genetic algorithms as a multiparameter optimization tool.

PubMed

Yelk, Joseph; Sukharev, Maxim; Seideman, Tamar

2008-08-14

An optimal control approach based on multiple parameter genetic algorithms is applied to the design of plasmonic nanoconstructs with predetermined optical properties and functionalities. We first develop nanoscale metallic lenses that focus an incident plane wave onto a prespecified, spatially confined spot. Our results illustrate the mechanism of energy flow through wires and cavities. Next we design a periodic array of silver particles to modify the polarization of an incident, linearly polarized plane wave in a desired fashion while localizing the light in space. The results provide insight into the structural features that determine the birefringence properties of metal nanoparticles and their arrays. Of the variety of potential applications that may be envisioned, we note the design of nanoscale light sources with controllable coherence and polarization properties that could serve for coherent control of molecular, electronic, or electromechanical dynamics in the nanoscale.

Dynamics in multiple-well Bose-Einstein condensates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nigro, M.; Capuzzi, P.; Cataldo, H. M.; Jezek, D. M.

2018-01-01

We study the dynamics of three-dimensional weakly linked Bose-Einstein condensates using a multimode model with an effective interaction parameter. The system is confined by a ring-shaped four-well trapping potential. By constructing a two-mode Hamiltonian in a reduced highly symmetric phase space, we examine the periodic orbits and calculate their time periods both in the self-trapping and Josephson regimes. The dynamics in the vicinity of the reduced phase space is investigated by means of a Floquet multiplier analysis, finding regions of different linear stability and analyzing their implications on the exact dynamics. The numerical exploration in an extended region of the phase space demonstrates that two-mode tools can also be useful for performing a partition of the space in different regimes. Comparisons with Gross-Pitaevskii simulations confirm these findings and emphasize the importance of properly determining the effective on-site interaction parameter governing the multimode dynamics.

Experimental and Numerical Investigations on Strength and Deformation Behavior of Cataclastic Sandstone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Y.; Shao, J. F.; Xu, W. Y.; Zhao, H. B.; Wang, W.

2015-05-01

This work is devoted to characterization of the deformation and strength properties of cataclastic sandstones. Before conducting mechanical tests, the physical properties were first examined. These sandstones are characterized by a loose damaged microstructure and poorly cemented contacts. Then, a series of mechanical tests including hydrostatic, uniaxial, and triaxial compression tests were performed to study the mechanical strength and deformation of the sandstones. The results obtained show nonlinear stress-strain responses. The initial microcracks are closed at hydrostatic stress of 2.6 MPa, and the uniaxial compressive strength is about 0.98 MPa. Under triaxial compression, there is a clear transition from volumetric compressibility to dilatancy and a strong dependency on confining pressure. Based on the experimental evidence, an elastoplastic model is proposed using a linear yield function and a nonassociated plastic potential. There is good agreement between numerical results and experimental data.

Nonreciprocal quantum Hall devices with driven edge magnetoplasmons in two-dimensional materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bosco, S.; DiVincenzo, D. P.

2017-05-01

We develop a theory that describes the response of nonreciprocal devices employing two-dimensional materials in the quantum Hall regime capacitively coupled to external electrodes. As the conduction in these devices is understood to be associated to the edge magnetoplasmons (EMPs), we first investigate the EMP problem by using the linear response theory in the random phase approximation. Our model can incorporate several cases that were often treated on different grounds in literature. In particular, we analyze plasmonic excitations supported by a smooth and sharp confining potential in a two-dimensional electron gas, and in monolayer graphene, and we point out the similarities and differences in these materials. We also account for a general time-dependent external drive applied to the system. Finally, we describe the behavior of a nonreciprocal quantum Hall device: the response contains additional resonant features, which were not foreseen from previous models.

ISCFD Nagoya 1989 - International Symposium on Computational Fluid Dynamics, 3rd, Nagoya, Japan, Aug. 28-31, 1989, Technical Papers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Recent advances in computational fluid dynamics are discussed in reviews and reports. Topics addressed include large-scale LESs for turbulent pipe and channel flows, numerical solutions of the Euler and Navier-Stokes equations on parallel computers, multigrid methods for steady high-Reynolds-number flow past sudden expansions, finite-volume methods on unstructured grids, supersonic wake flow on a blunt body, a grid-characteristic method for multidimensional gas dynamics, and CIC numerical simulation of a wave boundary layer. Consideration is given to vortex simulations of confined two-dimensional jets, supersonic viscous shear layers, spectral methods for compressible flows, shock-wave refraction at air/water interfaces, oscillatory flow in a two-dimensional collapsible channel, the growth of randomness in a spatially developing wake, and an efficient simplex algorithm for the finite-difference and dynamic linear-programming method in optimal potential control.

Threshold singularities in a Fermi gas with attractive potential in one dimension

DOE PAGES

Schlottmann, P.; Zvyagin, A. A.

2015-01-15

We consider the one-dimensional gas of fermions with spin S interacting via an attractive δ-function potential using the Bethe Ansatz solution. In zero magnetic field the atoms form bound states of N=2S + 1 fermions, i.e. generalized Cooper states with each atom having a different spin component. For low energy excitations the system is a Luttinger liquid and is properly described by a conformal field theory with conformal charge c=1. The linear dispersion of a Luttinger liquid is asymptotically exact in the low-energy limit where the band curvature terms in the dispersion are irrelevant. For higher energy excitations, however, themore » spectral function displays deviations in the neighborhood of the single-particle (hole) energy, which can be described by an effective X-ray edge type model. Using the Bethe Ansatz solution we obtain expressions for the critical exponents for the single-particle (hole) Green’s function. This model can be relevant in the context of ultracold atoms with effective total spin S confined to an elongated optical trap.« less

Functionalized graphene oxide for clinical glucose biosensing in urine and serum samples

PubMed Central

Veerapandian, Murugan; Seo, Yeong-Tai; Shin, Hyunkyung; Yun, Kyusik; Lee, Min-Ho

2012-01-01

A novel clinical glucose biosensor fabricated using functionalized metalloid-polymer (silver-silica coated with polyethylene glycol) hybrid nanoparticles on the surface of a graphene oxide nanosheet is reported. The cyclic voltammetric response of glucose oxidase modification on the surface of a functionalized graphene oxide electrode showed a surface-confined reaction and an effective redox potential near zero volts, with a wide linearity of 0.1–20 mM and a sensitivity of 7.66 μA mM−1 cm−2. The functionalized graphene oxide electrode showed a better electrocatalytic response toward oxidation of H2O2 and reduction of oxygen. The practical applicability of the functionalized graphene oxide electrode was demonstrated by measuring the peak current against multiple urine and serum samples from diabetic patients. This new hybrid nanoarchitecture combining a three-dimensional metalloid-polymer hybrid and two-dimensional graphene oxide provided a thin solid laminate on the electrode surface. The easy fabrication process and retention of bioactive immobilized enzymes on the functionalized graphene oxide electrode could potentially be extended to detection of other biomolecules, and have broad applications in electrochemical biosensing. PMID:23269871

Functionalized graphene oxide for clinical glucose biosensing in urine and serum samples.

PubMed

Veerapandian, Murugan; Seo, Yeong-Tai; Shin, Hyunkyung; Yun, Kyusik; Lee, Min-Ho

2012-01-01

A novel clinical glucose biosensor fabricated using functionalized metalloid-polymer (silver-silica coated with polyethylene glycol) hybrid nanoparticles on the surface of a graphene oxide nanosheet is reported. The cyclic voltammetric response of glucose oxidase modification on the surface of a functionalized graphene oxide electrode showed a surface-confined reaction and an effective redox potential near zero volts, with a wide linearity of 0.1-20 mM and a sensitivity of 7.66 μA mM(-1) cm(-2). The functionalized graphene oxide electrode showed a better electrocatalytic response toward oxidation of H(2)O(2) and reduction of oxygen. The practical applicability of the functionalized graphene oxide electrode was demonstrated by measuring the peak current against multiple urine and serum samples from diabetic patients. This new hybrid nanoarchitecture combining a three-dimensional metalloid-polymer hybrid and two-dimensional graphene oxide provided a thin solid laminate on the electrode surface. The easy fabrication process and retention of bioactive immobilized enzymes on the functionalized graphene oxide electrode could potentially be extended to detection of other biomolecules, and have broad applications in electrochemical biosensing.

On the universality of power laws for tokamak plasma predictions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garcia, J.; Cambon, D.; Contributors, JET

2018-02-01

Significant deviations from well established power laws for the thermal energy confinement time, obtained from extensive databases analysis as the IPB98(y,2), have been recently reported in dedicated power scans. In order to illuminate the adequacy, validity and universality of power laws as tools for predicting plasma performance, a simplified analysis has been carried out in the framework of a minimal modeling for heat transport which is, however, able to account for the interplay between turbulence and collinear effects with the input power known to play a role in experiments with significant deviations from such power laws. Whereas at low powers, the usual scaling laws are recovered with little influence of other plasma parameters, resulting in a robust power low exponent, at high power it is shown how the exponents obtained are extremely sensitive to the heating deposition, the q-profile or even the sampling or the number of points considered due to highly non-linear behavior of the heat transport. In particular circumstances, even a minimum of the thermal energy confinement time with the input power can be obtained, which means that the approach of the energy confinement time as a power law might be intrinsically invalid. Therefore plasma predictions with a power law approximation with a constant exponent obtained from a regression of a broad range of powers and other plasma parameters which can non-linearly affect and suppress heat transport, can lead to misleading results suggesting that this approach should be taken cautiously and its results continuously compared with modeling which can properly capture the underline physics, as gyrokinetic simulations.

Influence of the confinement potential on the size-dependent optical response of metallic nanometric particles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zapata-Herrera, Mario; Camacho, Ángela S.; Ramírez, Hanz Y.

2018-06-01

In this paper, different confinement potential approaches are considered in the simulation of size effects on the optical response of silver spheres with radii at the few nanometer scale. By numerically obtaining dielectric functions from different sets of eigenenergies and eigenstates, we simulate the absorption spectrum and the field enhancement factor for nanoparticles of various sizes, within a quantum framework for both infinite and finite potentials. The simulations show significant dependence on the sphere radius of the dipolar surface plasmon resonance, as a direct consequence of energy discretization associated to the strong confinement experienced by conduction electrons in small nanospheres. Considerable reliance of the calculated optical features on the chosen wave functions and transition energies is evidenced, so that discrepancies in the plasmon resonance frequencies obtained with the three studied models reach up to above 30%. Our results are in agreement with reported measurements and shade light on the puzzling shift of the plasmon resonance in metallic nanospheres.

Influence of confining layers' heterogeneity on the barometric response functions in semi-confined aquifers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Redaelli, Marco; Perulero Serrano, Raul

2017-04-01

It has been shown that Barometric Response Functions (BRFs) can provide a useful tool for detecting the occurrence of highly conducive bodies which span across aquifer confining layers and can potentially give rise to pathways for pollutant migration (Hussein et al 2013, Odling et al 2015). Analytical models employed to estimate BRFs from geological system properties assume homogeneity within the aquifer and its confining layer. These assumptions are rarely satisfied in practice. Our study focusses on the impact on predicted BRFs of heterogeneous distribution of high conductivity geomaterials within the confining layer. The work is grounded on a suite of three-dimensional, transient numerical computations of groundwater flow in a confining layer-aquifer system for i) a perfectly homogeneous two-layer setting where a single highly conducive block is fully penetrating the confining layer and ii) a heterogeneous two-layer system where hydraulic conductivity in the confining layer is modelled as a stochastic process. Our numerical results are interpreted through a comparison against those associated with an analytical model which assumes system homogeneity. Monitoring points located in the middle of the modelled aquifer domain, mimicking screened boreholes in field conditions, are used to extract water level records. The output is used to obtain the corresponding BRFs (in terms of gain and phase components) and compared vis-a-vis the selected analytical solution. The results show a wide variety of BRF responses, especially in the gain component, which vary from almost confined to unconfined scenarios. Our simulations show that the BRFs are a viable tool to improve understanding of the degree of spatial continuity within low permeability heterogeneous geological materials such as glacial till which is frequently found overlying water bearing units across the UK and other localities worldwide. As such, it has the potential to improve groundwater vulnerability assessment protocols. The results are promising and support the merit of additional developments through, e.g., numerical Monte Carlo simulations which can be performed to extract meaningful statistical information on the nature of BRFs as a function of randomly heterogeneous confining layers. Keywords: groundwater vulnerability, numerical modeling, barometric response functions, semi-confined aquifers References Hussein M.E.A., Odling N.E. & Clark R.A. (2013). Borehole water level response to barometric pressure as an indicator of aquifer vulnerability, Water Resources Research, 49: 7102-7119. Odling N.E, Perulero Serrano R., Hussein M.E.A, Riva M. & Guadagnini A. (2015). Detecting the vulnerability of groundwater in semi-confined aquifers using barometric response functions, Journal of Hydrology, 520: 143-156.

Exciton-polariton trapping and potential landscape engineering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schneider, C.; Winkler, K.; Fraser, M. D.; Kamp, M.; Yamamoto, Y.; Ostrovskaya, E. A.; Höfling, S.

2017-01-01

Exciton-polaritons in semiconductor microcavities have become a model system for the studies of dynamical Bose-Einstein condensation, macroscopic coherence, many-body effects, nonclassical states of light and matter, and possibly quantum phase transitions in a solid state. These low-mass bosonic quasiparticles can condense at comparatively high temperatures up to 300 K, and preserve the fundamental properties of the condensate, such as coherence in space and time domain, even when they are out of equilibrium with the environment. Although the presence of a confining potential is not strictly necessary in order to observe Bose-Einstein condensation, engineering of the polariton confinement is a key to controlling, shaping, and directing the flow of polaritons. Prototype polariton-based optoelectronic devices rely on ultrafast photon-like velocities and strong nonlinearities exhibited by polaritons, as well as on their tailored confinement. Nanotechnology provides several pathways to achieving polariton confinement, and the specific features and advantages of different methods are discussed in this review. Being hybrid exciton-photon quasiparticles, polaritons can be trapped via their excitonic as well as photonic component, which leads to a wide choice of highly complementary trapping techniques. Here, we highlight the almost free choice of the confinement strengths and trapping geometries that provide powerful means for control and manipulation of the polariton systems both in the semi-classical and quantum regimes. Furthermore, the possibilities to observe effects of the polariton blockade, Mott insulator physics, and population of higher-order energy bands in sophisticated lattice potentials are discussed. Observation of such effects could lead to realization of novel polaritonic non-classical light sources and quantum simulators.

Tailoring the charged particle fluxes across the target surface of Magnum-PSI

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Costin, C.; Anita, V.; Popa, G.; Scholten, J.; De Temmerman, G.

2016-04-01

Linear plasma generators are plasma devices designed to study fusion-relevant plasma-surface interactions. The first requirement for such devices is to operate with adjustable and well characterized plasma parameters. In the linear plasma device Magnum-PSI, the distribution of the charged particle flux across the target surface can be tailored by the target bias. The process is based on the radial inhomogeneity of the plasma column and it is evidenced by electrical measurements via a 2D multi-probe system installed as target. Typical results are reported for a hydrogen discharge operated at 125 A and confined by a magnetic field strength of 0.95 T in the middle of the coils. The probes were biased in the range of  -80 to  -25 V, while the floating potential of the target was about  -35 V. The results were obtained in steady-state regime of Magnum-PSI, being time-averaged over any type of fluctuations. Depending on the relative value of the target bias voltage with respect to the local floating potential in the plasma column, the entire target surface can be exposed to ion or electron dominated flux, respectively, or it can be divided into two adjacent zones: one exposed to electron flux and the other to ion flux. As a consequence of this effect, a floating conductive surface that interacts with an inhomogeneous plasma is exposed to non-zero local currents despite its overall null current and it is subjected to internal current flows.

Influence of vorticity distribution on singularities in linearized supersonic flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gopal, Vijay; Maddalena, Luca

2018-05-01

The linearized steady three-dimensional supersonic flow can be analyzed using a vector potential approach which transforms the governing equation to a standard form of two-dimensional wave equation. Of particular interest are the canonical horseshoe line-vortex distribution and the resulting induced velocity field in supersonic flow. In this case, the singularities are present at the vortex line itself and also at the surface of the cone of influence originating from the vertices of the horseshoe structure. This is a characteristic of the hyperbolic nature of the flow which renders the study of supersonic vortex dynamics a challenging task. It is conjectured in this work that the presence of the singularity at the cone of influence is associated with the step-function nature of the vorticity distribution specified in the canonical case. At the phenomenological level, if one considers the three-dimensional steady supersonic flow, then a sudden appearance of a line-vortex will generate a ripple of singularities in the induced velocity field which convect downstream and laterally spread, at the most, to the surface of the cone of influence. Based on these findings, this work includes an exploration of potential candidates for vorticity distributions that eliminate the singularities at the cone of influence. The analysis of the resulting induced velocity field is then compared with the canonical case, and it is observed that the singularities were successfully eliminated. The manuscript includes an application of the proposed method to study the induced velocity field in a confined supersonic flow.

WASTE HANDLING BUILDING VENTILATION SYSTEM DESCRIPTION DOCUMENT

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

P.A. Kumar

2000-06-21

The Waste Handling Building Ventilation System provides heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) for the contaminated, potentially contaminated, and uncontaminated areas of the Monitored Geologic Repository's (MGR) Waste Handling Building (WHB). In the uncontaminated areas, the non-confinement area ventilation system maintains the proper environmental conditions for equipment operation and personnel comfort. In the contaminated and potentially contaminated areas, in addition to maintaining the proper environmental conditions for equipment operation and personnel comfort, the contamination confinement area ventilation system directs potentially contaminated air away from personnel in the WHB and confines the contamination within high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filtration units. Themore » contamination confinement areas ventilation system creates airflow paths and pressure zones to minimize the potential for spreading contamination within the building. The contamination confinement ventilation system also protects the environment and the public by limiting airborne releases of radioactive or other hazardous contaminants from the WHB. The Waste Handling Building Ventilation System is designed to perform its safety functions under accident conditions and other Design Basis Events (DBEs) (such as earthquakes, tornadoes, fires, and loss of the primary electric power). Additional system design features (such as compartmentalization with independent subsystems) limit the potential for cross-contamination within the WHB. The system provides status of important system parameters and equipment operation, and provides audible and/or visual indication of off-normal conditions and equipment failures. The Waste Handling Building Ventilation System confines the radioactive and hazardous material within the building such that the release rates comply with regulatory limits. The system design, operations, and maintenance activities incorporate ALARA (as low as is reasonably achievable) principles to maintain personnel radiation doses to all occupational workers below regulatory limits and as low as is reasonably achievable. The Waste Handling Building Ventilation System interfaces with the Waste Handling Building System by being located within the WHB and by maintaining specific pressures, temperatures, and humidity within the building. The system also depends on the WHB for water supply. The system interfaces with the Site Radiological Monitoring System for continuous monitoring of the exhaust air; the Waste Handling Building Fire Protection System for detection of fire and smoke; the Waste Handling Building Electrical System for normal, emergency, and standby power; and the Monitored Geologic Repository Operations Monitoring and Control System for monitoring and control of the system.« less

Detection of the liquid-liquid transition in the deeply cooled water confined in MCM-41 with elastic neutron scattering technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Zhe; Ito, Kanae; Chen, Sow-Hsin

2016-05-01

In this paper we present a review on our recent experimental investigations into the phase behavior of the deeply cooled water confined in a nanoporous silica material, MCM-41, with elastic neutron scattering technique. Under such strong confinement, the homogeneous nucleation process of water is avoided, which allows the confined water to keep its liquid state at temperatures and pressures that are inaccessible to the bulk water. By measuring the average density of the confined heavy water, we observe a likely first-order low-density liquid (LDL) to high-density liquid (HDL) transition in the deeply cooled region of the confined heavy water. The phase separation starts from 1.12±0.17{ kbar} and 215±1{ K} and extends to higher pressures and lower temperatures in the phase diagram. This starting point could be the liquid-liquid critical point of the confined water. The locus of the Widom line is also estimated. The observation of the liquid-liquid transition in the confined water has potential to explain the mysterious behaviors of water at low temperatures. In addition, it may also have impacts on other disciplines, because the confined water system represents many biological and geological systems in which water resides in nanoscopic pores or in the vicinity of hydrophilic or hydrophobic surfaces.

Effect of wetting on nucleation and growth of D2 in confinement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zepeda-Ruiz, L. A.; Sadigh, B.; Shin, S. J.; Kozioziemski, B. J.; Chernov, A. A.

2018-04-01

We have performed a computational study to determine how the wetting of liquid deuterium to the walls of the material influences nucleation. We present the development of a pair-wise interatomic potential that includes zero-point motion of molecular deuterium. Deuterium is used in this study because of its importance to inertial confinement fusion and the potential to generate a superfluid state if the solidification can be suppressed. Our simulations show that wetting dominates undercooling compared to the pore geometries. We observe a transition from heterogeneous nucleation at the confining wall to homogeneous nucleation at the bulk of the liquid (and intermediate cases) as the interaction with the confining wall changes from perfect wetting to non-wetting. When nucleation is heterogeneous, the temperature needed for solidification changes by 4 K with decreasing deuterium-wall interaction, but it remains independent (and equal to the one from bulk samples) when homogeneous nucleation dominates. We find that growth and quality of the resulting microstructure also depends on the magnitude of liquid deuterium-wall interaction strength.

Analytical results for the time-dependent current density distribution of expanding ultracold gases after a sudden change of the confining potential

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boumaza, R.; Bencheikh, K.

2017-12-01

Using the so-called operator product expansion to lowest order, we extend the work in Campbell et al (2015 Phys. Rev. Lett 114 125302) by deriving a simple analytical expression for the long-time asymptotic one-body reduced density matrix during free expansion for a one-dimensional system of bosons with large atom number interacting through a repulsive delta potential initially confined by a potential well. This density matrix allows direct access to the momentum distribution and also to the mass current density. For initially confining power-law potentials we give explicit expressions, in the limits of very weak and very strong interaction, for the current density distributions during the free expansion. In the second part of the work we consider the expansion of ultracold gas from a confining harmonic trap to another harmonic trap with a different frequency. For the case of a quantum impenetrable gas of bosons (a Tonks-Girardeau gas) with a given atom number, we present an exact analytical expression for the mass current distribution (mass transport) after release from one harmonic trap to another harmonic trap. It is shown that, for a harmonically quenched Tonks-Girardeau gas, the current distribution is a suitable collective observable and under the weak quench regime, it exhibits oscillations at the same frequencies as those recently predicted for the peak momentum distribution in the breathing mode. The analysis is extended to other possible quenched systems.

E-H mode transition of a high-power inductively coupled plasma torch at atmospheric pressure with a metallic confinement tube

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Altenberend, Jochen; Chichignoud, Guy; Delannoy, Yves

2012-08-01

Inductively coupled plasma torches need high ignition voltages for the E-H mode transition and are therefore difficult to operate. In order to reduce the ignition voltage of an RF plasma torch with a metallic confinement tube the E-H mode transition was studied. A Tesla coil was used to create a spark discharge and the E-H mode transition of the plasma was then filmed using a high-speed camera. The electrical potential of the metallic confinement tube was measured using a high-voltage probe. It was found that an arc between the grounded injector and the metallic confinement tube is maintained by the electric field (E-mode). The transition to H-mode occurred at high magnetic fields when the arc formed a loop. The ignition voltage could be reduced by connecting the metallic confinement tube with a capacitor to the RF generator.

Non-equilibrium phase behavior and friction of confined molecular films under shear: A non-equilibrium molecular dynamics study.

PubMed

Maćkowiak, Sz; Heyes, D M; Dini, D; Brańka, A C

2016-10-28

The phase behavior of a confined liquid at high pressure and shear rate, such as is found in elastohydrodynamic lubrication, can influence the traction characteristics in machine operation. Generic aspects of this behavior are investigated here using Non-equilibrium Molecular Dynamics (NEMD) simulations of confined Lennard-Jones (LJ) films under load with a recently proposed wall-driven shearing method without wall atom tethering [C. Gattinoni et al., Phys. Rev. E 90, 043302 (2014)]. The focus is on thick films in which the nonequilibrium phases formed in the confined region impact on the traction properties. The nonequilibrium phase and tribological diagrams are mapped out in detail as a function of load, wall sliding speed, and atomic scale surface roughness, which is shown can have a significant effect. The transition between these phases is typically not sharp as the external conditions are varied. The magnitude of the friction coefficient depends strongly on the nonequilibrium phase adopted by the confined region of molecules, and in general does not follow the classical friction relations between macroscopic bodies, e.g., the frictional force can decrease with increasing load in the Plug-Slip (PS) region of the phase diagram owing to structural changes induced in the confined film. The friction coefficient can be extremely low (∼0.01) in the PS region as a result of incommensurate alignment between a (100) face-centered cubic wall plane and reconstructed (111) layers of the confined region near the wall. It is possible to exploit hysteresis to retain low friction PS states well into the central localization high wall speed region of the phase diagram. Stick-slip behavior due to periodic in-plane melting of layers in the confined region and subsequent annealing is observed at low wall speeds and moderate external loads. At intermediate wall speeds and pressure values (at least) the friction coefficient decreases with increasing well depth of the LJ potential between the wall atoms, but increases when the attractive part of the potential between wall atoms and confined molecules is made larger.

Observation of Oscillatory Radial Electric Field Relaxation in a Helical Plasma.

PubMed

Alonso, J A; Sánchez, E; Calvo, I; Velasco, J L; McCarthy, K J; Chmyga, A; Eliseev, L G; Estrada, T; Kleiber, R; Krupnik, L I; Melnikov, A V; Monreal, P; Parra, F I; Perfilov, S; Zhezhera, A I

2017-05-05

Measurements of the relaxation of a zonal electrostatic potential perturbation in a nonaxisymmetric magnetically confined plasma are presented. A sudden perturbation of the plasma equilibrium is induced by the injection of a cryogenic hydrogen pellet in the TJ-II stellarator, which is observed to be followed by a damped oscillation in the electrostatic potential. The waveform of the relaxation is consistent with theoretical calculations of zonal potential relaxation in a nonaxisymmetric magnetic geometry. The turbulent transport properties of a magnetic confinement configuration are expected to depend on the features of the collisionless damping of zonal flows, of which the present Letter is the first direct observation.

Hydrogeology and water quality of the shallow aquifer system at the Explosive Experimental Area, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Site, Dahlgren, Virginia

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bell, C.F.

1996-01-01

In October 1993, the U.S. Geological Survey began a study to characterize the hydrogeology of the shallow aquifer system at the Explosive Experimental Area, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Site, Dahlgren, Virginia, which is located on the Potomac River in the Coastal Plain Physiographic Province. The study provides a description of the hydrogeologic units, directions of ground-water flow, and back-ground water quality in the study area to a depth of about 100 feet. Lithologic, geophysical, and hydrologic data were collected from 28 wells drilled for this study, from 3 existing wells, and from outcrops. The shallow aquifer system at the Explosive Experimental Area consists of two fining-upward sequences of Pleistocene fluvial-estuarine deposits that overlie Paleocene-Eocene marine deposits of the Nanjemoy-Marlboro confining unit. The surficial hydrogeologic unit is the Columbia aquifer. Horizontal linear flow of water in this aquifer generally responds to the surface topography, discharging to tidal creeks, marshes, and the Potomac River, and rates of flow in this aquifer range from 0.003 to 0.70 foot per day. The Columbia aquifer unconformably overlies the upper confining unit 12-an organic-rich clay that is 0 to 55 feet thick. The upper confining unit conformably overlies the upper confined aquifer, a 0- to 35-feet thick unit that consists of interbedded fine-grained to medium-grained sands and clay. The upper confined aquifer probably receives most of its recharge from the adjacent and underlying Nanjemoy-Marlboro confining unit. Water in the upper confined aquifer generally flows eastward, northward, and northeastward at about 0.03 foot per day toward the Potomac River and Machodoc Creek. The Nanjemoy-Marlboro confining unit consists of glauconitic, fossiliferous silty fine-grained sands of the Nanjemoy Formation. Where the upper confined system is absent, the Nanjemoy-Marlboro confining unit is directly overlain by the Columbia aquifer. In some parts of the Explosive Experimental Area, horizontal hydraulic conductivities of the Nanjemoy-Marlboro confining unit and the Columbia aquifer are similar (from 10-4 to 10-2 foot per day), and these units effectively combine to form a thick (greater than 50 feet) aquifer. The background water quality of the shallow aquifer system is characteristic of ground waters in the Virginia Coastal Plain Physiographic Province. Water in the Columbia aquifer is a mixed ionic type, has a median pH of 5.9, and a median total dissolved solids of 106 milligrams per liter. Water in the upper confined aquifer and Nanjemoy-Marlboro confining unit is a sodium- calcium-bicarbonate type, and generally has higher pH, dissolved solids, and alkalinity than water in the Columbia aquifer. Water in the upper confined aquifer and some parts of the Columbia aquifer is anoxic, and it has high concentrations of dissolved iron, manganese, and sulfide.

[Total laryngectomy using a linear stapler for laryngeal cancer].

PubMed

Tomifuji, Masayuki; Araki, Koji; Kamide, Daisuke; Tanaka, Shingo; Tanaka, Yuya; Fukumori, Takayuki; Shiotani, Akihiro

2014-06-01

Total laryngectomy is a well established method for the treatment of laryngeal cancer. In some cases such as elderly patients or patients with severe complications, a shorter surgical time is preferred. Total laryngectomy using a linear stapler is reportedly advantageous for shortening of the surgical time and for lowering the rate of pharyngeal fistula formation. We applied this surgical technique in three laryngeal cancer cases. After skeletonization of the larynx, the linear stapler is inserted between the larynx and the pharyngeal mucosa. Excision of the larynx and suturing of the pharyngeal mucosa are performed simultaneously. Although the number of cases is small for statistical analysis, the surgical time was shortened by about 30 minutes compared to laryngectomy with manual suturing. Total laryngectomy by linear stapler cannot be applied in all cases of advanced laryngeal cancer. However, if the tumor is confined to the endolarynx, it is a useful tool for some cases that require a shorter surgical time.

Bayesian Decision Tree for the Classification of the Mode of Motion in Single-Molecule Trajectories

PubMed Central

Türkcan, Silvan; Masson, Jean-Baptiste

2013-01-01

Membrane proteins move in heterogeneous environments with spatially (sometimes temporally) varying friction and with biochemical interactions with various partners. It is important to reliably distinguish different modes of motion to improve our knowledge of the membrane architecture and to understand the nature of interactions between membrane proteins and their environments. Here, we present an analysis technique for single molecule tracking (SMT) trajectories that can determine the preferred model of motion that best matches observed trajectories. The method is based on Bayesian inference to calculate the posteriori probability of an observed trajectory according to a certain model. Information theory criteria, such as the Bayesian information criterion (BIC), the Akaike information criterion (AIC), and modified AIC (AICc), are used to select the preferred model. The considered group of models includes free Brownian motion, and confined motion in 2nd or 4th order potentials. We determine the best information criteria for classifying trajectories. We tested its limits through simulations matching large sets of experimental conditions and we built a decision tree. This decision tree first uses the BIC to distinguish between free Brownian motion and confined motion. In a second step, it classifies the confining potential further using the AIC. We apply the method to experimental Clostridium Perfingens -toxin (CPT) receptor trajectories to show that these receptors are confined by a spring-like potential. An adaptation of this technique was applied on a sliding window in the temporal dimension along the trajectory. We applied this adaptation to experimental CPT trajectories that lose confinement due to disaggregation of confining domains. This new technique adds another dimension to the discussion of SMT data. The mode of motion of a receptor might hold more biologically relevant information than the diffusion coefficient or domain size and may be a better tool to classify and compare different SMT experiments. PMID:24376584

Two-phase mixed media dielectric with macro dielectric beads for enhancing resistivity and breakdown strength

DOEpatents

Falabella, Steven; Meyer, Glenn A; Tang, Vincent; Guethlein, Gary

2014-06-10

A two-phase mixed media insulator having a dielectric fluid filling the interstices between macro-sized dielectric beads packed into a confined volume, so that the packed dielectric beads inhibit electro-hydrodynamically driven current flows of the dielectric liquid and thereby increase the resistivity and breakdown strength of the two-phase insulator over the dielectric liquid alone. In addition, an electrical apparatus incorporates the two-phase mixed media insulator to insulate between electrical components of different electrical potentials. And a method of electrically insulating between electrical components of different electrical potentials fills a confined volume between the electrical components with the two-phase dielectric composite, so that the macro dielectric beads are packed in the confined volume and interstices formed between the macro dielectric beads are filled with the dielectric liquid.

Relativistic Confinement Resonances

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keating, David; Manson, Steven; Deshmukh, Pranawa

2017-04-01

Photoionization of confined atoms in a C60 fullerene have been under intense investigation in the recent years, in particular the confinement induced resonances, termed confinement resonances. The effects of the C60 potential are modeled by a static spherical well, with (in atomic units) inner radius r0 = 5.8, width Δ = 1.9, and depth U0 = -0.302, which is reasonable in the energy region well above the C60 plasmons. At very high Z, relativistic interactions become important contributors to even the qualitative nature of atomic properties; this is true for confined atomic properties as well. To explore the extent of these interactions, a theoretical study of several heavy atoms has been performed using the relativistic random phase approximation (RRPA) methodology. In order to determine which features in the photoionization cross section are due to relativity, calculations using the (nonrelativistic) random phase approximation with exchange method (RPAE) are performed for comparison. The existence of the second subshell of the spin-orbit-split doublets can induce new confinement resonances in the total cross section, which is the sum of the spin-orbit-split doublets, due to the shift in the doublet's threshold. Several examples for confined high-Z atoms are presented. Work supported by DOE and NSF.

The utility of gravity and water-level monitoring at alluvial aquifer wells in southern Arizona

USGS Publications Warehouse

Pool, D.R.

2008-01-01

Coincident monitoring of gravity and water levels at 39 wells in southern Arizona indicate that water-level change might not be a reliable indicator of aquifer-storage change for alluvial aquifer systems. One reason is that water levels in wells that are screened across single or multiple aquifers might not represent the hydraulic head and storage change in a local unconfined aquifer. Gravity estimates of aquifer-storage change can be approximated as a one-dimensional feature except near some withdrawal wells and recharge sources. The aquifer storage coefficient is estimated by the linear regression slope of storage change (estimated using gravity methods) and water-level change. Nonaquifer storage change that does not percolate to the aquifer can be significant, greater than 3 ??Gal, when water is held in the root zone during brief periods following extreme rates of precipitation. Monitor-ing of storage change using gravity methods at wells also can improve understanding of local hydrogeologic conditions. In the study area, confined aquifer conditions are likely at three wells where large water-level variations were accompanied by little gravity change. Unconfined conditions were indicated at 15 wells where significant water-level and gravity change were positively linearly correlated. Good positive linear correlations resulted in extremely large specific-yield values, greater than 0.35, at seven wells where it is likely that significant ephemeral streamflow infiltration resulted in unsaturated storage change. Poor or negative linear correlations indicate the occurrence of confined, multiple, or perched aquifers. Monitoring of a multiple compressible aquifer system at one well resulted in negative correlation of rising water levels and subsidence-corrected gravity change, which suggests that water-level trends at the well are not a good indicatior of overall storage change. ?? 2008 Society of Exploration Geophysicists. All rights reserved.

Control of Nanoscale Friction on Gold in an Ionic Liquid by a Potential-Dependent Ionic Lubricant Layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sweeney, James; Hausen, Florian; Hayes, Robert; Webber, Grant B.; Endres, Frank; Rutland, Mark W.; Bennewitz, Roland; Atkin, Rob

2012-10-01

The lubricating properties of an ionic liquid on gold surfaces can be controlled through application of an electric potential to the sliding contact. A nanotribology approach has been used to study the frictional behavior of 1-butyl-1-methylpyrrolidinium tris(pentafluoroethyl) trifluorophosphate ([Py1,4]FAP) confined between silica colloid probes or sharp silica tips and a Au(111) substrate using atomic force microscopy. Friction forces vary with potential because the composition of a confined ion layer between the two surfaces changes from cation-enriched (at negative potentials) to anion-enriched (at positive potentials). This offers a new approach to tuning frictional forces reversibly at the molecular level without changing the substrates, employing a self-replenishing boundary lubricant of low vapor pressure.

Optical nonlinearity of CdSe-PMMA hybrid nanocomposite investigated via Z-scan technique and semi-empirical relations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaur, Ramneek; Tripathi, S. K.

2016-04-01

CdSe-PMMA nanocomposite has been synthesized by ex-situ technique. The effect of different Ag doping concentrations on its structural and optical properties has been studied. X-ray diffraction reveals the hexagonal wurtzite structure of the polymer nanocomposites with preferential growth of the nanocrystals along (1 0 0) direction. Transmission electron micrograph shows the spherical CdSe nanoparticles embedded in polymer matrix. The nonlinear refractive index of the nanocomposites has been calculated using Tichy & Ticha semi-empirical relations and Z-scan technique. Z-scan results disclose the two photon absorption process in the hybrid nanocomposites with self focussing behaviour. With Ag doping, the nonlinearity is found to be increased up to 0.2% Ag doping concentration due to the confined effect of Surface Plasmon, Quantum confinement and thermal lensing. Above 0.2% Ag concentration, its value decreases due to the declined linear refractive index of the nanocomposites. Maximum two photon figure of merit is 76 for 0.2% Ag doped CdSe-PMMA hybrid nanocomposite. The present results accentuate the possibility of tuning the optical non-linearity of CdSe-PMMA hybrid nanocomposite by adjusting the doping concentration.

Thermal effects on shearing resistance of fractures in Tak granite

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khamrat, S.; Thongprapha, T.; Fuenkajorn, K.

2018-06-01

Triaxial shear tests have been performed on tension-induced fractures and smooth saw-cut surfaces in Tak granite under temperatures up to 773 K. The objective is to gain an understanding of the movement of shallow faults that cause seismic activities in the Tak batholith in the north of Thailand. The results indicate that the peak and residual shear strengths and fracture dilations notably decrease as the temperatures increase. The thermal effect is enhanced under higher confining pressures. The areas of the sheared-off asperities increase with temperature and confining pressure. A power equation can describe the increase of shear strengths with normal stress where the normal stress exponent is a linear function of the temperature. The strain energy principle is applied to incorporate the principal stresses and strains into a strength criterion. A linear relation between the distortional strain energy (Wd) and the mean strain energy (Wm) of the fractures is obtained. The Wd-Wm slope depends on the fracture roughness and strength of the asperities, which can be defined as a function of shear and mean strains and dilation of the fractures. This may allow predicting the peak strength of the shallow faults in the Tak batholith.

Simultaneous PIV and PLIF measurement of passive scalar mixing in a confined planar jet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, Hua

2005-11-01

Simultaneous velocity and concentration fields in a confined liquid-phase planar jet with a Reynolds number based on hydraulic diameter of 50,000 were obtained using combined particle image velocimetry (PIV) and planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF). Data at six downstream locations were analyzed for flow statistics such as mean velocity, Reynolds stresses, turbulent kinetic energy, concentration mean and variance, turbulent fluxes, turbulent viscosity and diffusivity, and turbulent Schmidt number. Spatial correlation fields of turbulent fluxes and concentration were then determined. The Ru'φ' correlation was elliptical in shape with a major axis tilted downward with respect to the streamwise axis, whereas the Rv'φ' correlation was a horizontally oriented ellipse. The Rφ'φ' correlation field was found to be an ellipse with the major axis inclined at about 45-degrees with respect to the streamwise direction. Linear stochastic estimation was used to determine conditional flow structures. Large-scale structures were observed in the conditional velocity fields that are elliptical in shape with a streamwise major axis. The size of the structure initially increased linearly with respect to downstream distance, but then grew more slowly as the flow evolved towards channel flow.

Stabilization of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability in quantum magnetized plasmas

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wang, L. F.; Ye, W. H.; He, X. T.

2012-07-15

In this research, stabilization of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability (RTI) due to density gradients, magnetic fields, and quantum effects, in an ideal incompressible plasma, is studied analytically and numerically. A second-order ordinary differential equation (ODE) for the RTI including quantum corrections, with a continuous density profile, in a uniform external magnetic field, is obtained. Analytic expressions of the linear growth rate of the RTI, considering modifications of density gradients, magnetic fields, and quantum effects, are presented. Numerical approaches are performed to solve the second-order ODE. The analytical model proposed here agrees with the numerical calculation. It is found that the densitymore » gradients, the magnetic fields, and the quantum effects, respectively, have a stabilizing effect on the RTI (reduce the linear growth of the RTI). The RTI can be completely quenched by the magnetic field stabilization and/or the quantum effect stabilization in proper circumstances leading to a cutoff wavelength. The quantum effect stabilization plays a central role in systems with large Atwood number and small normalized density gradient scale length. The presence of external transverse magnetic fields beside the quantum effects will bring about more stability on the RTI. The stabilization of the linear growth of the RTI, for parameters closely related to inertial confinement fusion and white dwarfs, is discussed. Results could potentially be valuable for the RTI treatment to analyze the mixing in supernovas and other RTI-driven objects.« less

Magnetic properties of confined holographic QCD

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bergman, Oren; Lifschytz, Gilad; Lippert, Matthew

2013-12-01

We investigate the Sakai-Sugimoto model at nonzero baryon chemical potential in a background magnetic field in the confined phase where chiral symmetry is broken. The D8-brane Chern-Simons term holographically encodes the axial anomaly and generates a gradient of the η' meson, which carries a non-vanishing baryon charge. Above a critical value of the chemical potential, there is a second-order phase transition to a mixed phase which includes also ordinary baryonic matter. However, at fixed baryon charge density, the matter is purely η'-gradient above a critical magnetic field.

Controlling drug efficiency by encapsulation into carbon nanotubes: A theoretical study of the antitumor Cisplatin and the anti-HIV TIBO molecules

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bessrour, R.; Belmiloud, Y.; Hosni, Z.; Tangour, B.

2012-06-01

From the beginning of last century, Paul Ehrlich, a specialist in the immune system and the Nobel Prize (1908) had raised the possibility of "magic bullets" can directly address, in an organism, drugs in a particular area of the body, sparing all other parts of side effects. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have particular property to cross cell membranes easily. In an effort to optimize the use of CNT as drug nanocarriers, we divided our study into two parts. In the first, our concern was to find the minimum diameter of a single wall CNT can encapsulate an anticancer drug that iscisplatin without altering its geometry in order conserve its therapeutic power. Behavior of one and two Cisplatin(Cp) molecules confined in capped and opened single-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) is studied by means of ab-initio calculations. Single molecule binding energies clearly exhibit encapsulation dependence on tube diameters that range from 6.26 Å to 12.04 Å. A weak stabilization energy of the Cp@(11,0) equal to -70 kcal.mol-1 has been obtained corresponding to a CNT's diameter of 8.5Å. We noticed that Cisplatin molecule changes shape when encapsulated into CNTs' whose diameters are less than 7.6 Å. In the presence of a second Cisplatin molecule in the (10,0) CNT, preferred position stays parallel to CNT's axis leading to a linear density of roughly 1588 molecules/μm of CNT's length corresponding to a linear density of 7.9 10-19 g/μm. The 195Pt chemical shift tensors are calculated using GIAO method. NMR calculations reveal that Platinum chemical shift is sensitive to CNT's diameter and is linearly correlated to confinement energy. 195Pt chemical shift measurement may be a direct method to access to the diameter of the encapsulating CNT's and to control the amount of drug molecule transported by this CNT. In the second part, the opposite has been sought is to say how the use of nanotubes with different diameters can control the change in a geometry of an anti-HIV drug that is TIBO molecule to bypass the mutation of the virus which wiped out its therapeutic effect. This work deals with the butterfly conformation control of the anti-HIV TIBO molecule confined into carbon nanotubes (CNT). This theoretical study concerns the variation of some pertinent conformation descriptors such as butterfly angle, wingspan, volume, dipole moment, solvation energy and confinement energy versus carbon nanotube diameters. Obtained results show that it is possible to describe the configurations of actual drugs as 8-Cl or 9-Cl TIBO as the parent molecule TIBO encapsulated in an adequate CNT. Our approach indicates that drug confinement inside CNTs may be a promising way to use a same drug in order to fellow HIV virus mutations.

Mechanically induced intercellular calcium communication in confined endothelial structures.

PubMed

Junkin, Michael; Lu, Yi; Long, Juexuan; Deymier, Pierre A; Hoying, James B; Wong, Pak Kin

2013-03-01

Calcium signaling in the diverse vascular structures is regulated by a wide range of mechanical and biochemical factors to maintain essential physiological functions of the vasculature. To properly transmit information, the intercellular calcium communication mechanism must be robust against various conditions in the cellular microenvironment. Using plasma lithography geometric confinement, we investigate mechanically induced calcium wave propagation in networks of human umbilical vein endothelial cells organized. Endothelial cell networks with confined architectures were stimulated at the single cell level, including using capacitive force probes. Calcium wave propagation in the network was observed using fluorescence calcium imaging. We show that mechanically induced calcium signaling in the endothelial networks is dynamically regulated against a wide range of probing forces and repeated stimulations. The calcium wave is able to propagate consistently in various dimensions from monolayers to individual cell chains, and in different topologies from linear patterns to cell junctions. Our results reveal that calcium signaling provides a robust mechanism for cell-cell communication in networks of endothelial cells despite the diversity of the microenvironmental inputs and complexity of vascular structures. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Correlation Between Chain Architecture and Hydration Water Structure in Polysaccharides.

PubMed

Grossutti, Michael; Dutcher, John R

2016-03-14

The physical properties of confined water can differ dramatically from those of bulk water. Hydration water associated with polysaccharides provides a particularly interesting example of confined water, because differences in polysaccharide structure provide different spatially confined environments for water sorption. We have used attenuated total reflection infrared (ATR-IR) spectroscopy to investigate the structure of hydration water in films of three different polysaccharides under controlled relative humidity (RH) conditions. We compare the results obtained for films of highly branched, dendrimer-like phytoglycogen nanoparticles to those obtained for two unbranched polysaccharides, hyaluronic acid (HA), and chitosan. We find similarities between the water structuring in the two linear polysaccharides and significant differences for phytoglycogen. In particular, the results suggest that the high degree of branching in phytoglycogen leads to a much more well-ordered water structure (low density, high connectivity network water), indicating the strong influence of chain architecture on the structuring of water. These measurements provide unique insight into the relationship between the structure and hydration of polysaccharides, which is important for understanding and exploiting these sustainable nanomaterials in a wide range of applications.

Diffuse gamma-ray emission from self-confined cosmic rays around Galactic sources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

D'Angelo, Marta; Morlino, Giovanni; Amato, Elena; Blasi, Pasquale

2018-02-01

The propagation of particles accelerated at supernova remnant shocks and escaping the parent remnants is likely to proceed in a strongly non-linear regime, due to the efficient self-generation of Alfvén waves excited through streaming instability near the sources. Depending on the amount of neutral hydrogen present in the regions around the sites of supernova explosions, cosmic rays may accumulate an appreciable grammage in the same regions and get self-confined for non-negligible times, which in turn results in an enhanced rate of production of secondaries. Here we calculate the contribution to the diffuse gamma-ray background due to the overlap along lines of sight of several of these extended haloes as due to pion production induced by self-confined cosmic rays. We find that if the density of neutrals is low, the haloes can account for a substantial fraction of the diffuse emission observed by Fermi-Large Area Telescope (LAT), depending on the orientation of the line of sight with respect to the direction of the Galactic Centre.

Numerical conversion of transient to harmonic response functions for linear viscoelastic materials.

PubMed

Buschmann, M D

1997-02-01

Viscoelastic material behavior is often characterized using one of the three measurements: creep, stress-relaxation or dynamic sinusoidal tests. A two-stage numerical method was developed to allow representation of data from creep and stress-relaxation tests on the Fourier axis in the Laplace domain. The method assumes linear behavior and is theoretically applicable to any transient test which attains an equilibrium state. The first stage numerically resolves the Laplace integral to convert temporal stress and strain data, from creep or stress-relaxation, to the stiffness function, G(s), evaluated on the positive real axis in the Laplace domain. This numerical integration alone allows the direct comparison of data from transient experiments which attain a final equilibrium state, such as creep and stress relaxation, and allows such data to be fitted to models expressed in the Laplace domain. The second stage of this numerical procedure maps the stiffness function, G(s), from the positive real axis to the positive imaginary axis to reveal the harmonic response function, or dynamic stiffness, G(j omega). The mapping for each angular frequency, s, is accomplished by fitting a polynomial to a subset of G(s) centered around a particular value of s, substituting js for s and thereby evaluating G(j omega). This two-stage transformation circumvents previous numerical difficulties associated with obtaining Fourier transforms of the stress and strain time domain signals. The accuracy of these transforms is verified using model functions from poroelasticity, corresponding to uniaxial confined compression of an isotropic material and uniaxial unconfined compression of a transversely isotropic material. The addition of noise to the model data does not significantly deteriorate the transformed results and data points need not be equally spaced in time. To exemplify its potential utility, this two-stage transform is applied to experimental stress relaxation data to obtain the dynamic stiffness which is then compared to direct measurements of dynamic stiffness using steady-state sinusoidal tests of the same cartilage disk in confined compression. In addition to allowing calculation of the dynamic stiffness from transient tests and the direct comparison of experimental data from different tests, these numerical methods should aid in the experimental analysis of linear and nonlinear material behavior, and increase the speed of curve-fitting routines by fitting creep or stress relaxation data to models expressed in the Laplace domain.

Derived properties from the dipole and generalized oscillator strength distributions of an endohedral confined hydrogen atom

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martínez-Flores, C.; Cabrera-Trujillo, R.

2018-03-01

We report the electronic properties of a hydrogen atom confined by a fullerene molecule by obtaining the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of the time-independent Schrödinger equation by means of a finite-differences approach. The hydrogen atom confinement by a C60 fullerene cavity is accounted for by two model potentials: a square-well and a Woods-Saxon. The Woods-Saxon potential is implemented to study the role of a smooth cavity on the hydrogen atom generalized oscillator strength distribution. Both models characterize the cavity by an inner radius R 0, thickness Δ, and well depth V 0. We use two different values for R 0 and Δ, found in the literature, that characterize H@C60 to analyze the role of the fullerene cage size and width. The electronic properties of the confined hydrogen atom are reported as a function of the well depth V 0, emulating different electronic configurations of the endohedral cavity. We report results for the hyper-fine splitting, nuclear magnetic screening, dipole oscillator strength, the static and dynamic polarizability, mean excitation energy, photo-ionization, and stopping cross section for the confined hydrogen atom. We find that there is a critical potential well depth value around V 0 = 0.7 a.u. for the first set of parameters and around V 0 = 0.9 a.u. for the second set of parameters, which produce a drastic change in the electronic properties of the endohedral hydrogen system. These values correspond to the first avoided crossing on the energy levels. Furthermore, a clear discrepancy is found between the square-well and Woods-Saxon model potential results on the hydrogen atom generalized oscillator strength due to the square-well discontinuity. These differences are reflected in the stopping cross section for protons colliding with H@C60.

How to Recharge a Confined Alluvial Aquifer System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maples, S.; Fogg, G. E.; Liu, Y.

2016-12-01

Greater water storage capacity is needed to offset future decreases in snowpack-water storage in California. Managed aquifer recharge (MAR) in California's Central Valley aquifer system is a promising alternative to new surface reservoir storage because it has the potential to both reduce overdraft conditions observed in many Central Valley groundwater basins and offset continued decreases in snowpack storage. MAR to the Central Valley's productive confined-aquifer system remains a challenge because, like most alluvial aquifer systems, it is composed mostly of silt and clay sediments that form nearly ubiquitous, multiple confining layers that inhibit direct recharge of the interconnected sand and gravel body networks. Several studies have mapped surficial soil types in the Central Valley that are conducive to MAR, but few studies have evaluated how subsurface geologic heterogeneity controls recharge to the confined aquifer system. Here, we use a transition probability Markov-chain geostatistical model conditioned with 1200 well logs to create a physically-realistic representation of the subsurface geologic heterogeneity in the American and Cosumnes River watersheds on the east side of the Sacramento Valley, CA, where studies have shown the presence of massive, interconnected, highly-permeable gravel deposits that are potentially conducive to considerably higher rates of regional recharge than would be possible over the rest of the landscape. Such localized stratigraphic features to support accelerated recharge occur throughout the Central Valley, but are mostly still undiscovered. A variably-saturated, fully-integrated, groundwater/surface-water code, ParFlow, was used to simulate MAR dynamics in this system. Results show the potential for (1) accelerated, high-volume recharge through interconnected gravels where they outcrop at land surface, and (2) regional repressurization of the deeper confined aquifer system. These findings provide insight into the critical role of subsurface heterogeneity on MAR dynamics in alluvial aquifer systems and highlight the potential for MAR in California and elsewhere.

Ultra-confined surface phonon polaritons in molecular layers of van der Waals dielectrics.

PubMed

Dubrovkin, Alexander M; Qiang, Bo; Krishnamoorthy, Harish N S; Zheludev, Nikolay I; Wang, Qi Jie

2018-05-02

Improvements in device density in photonic circuits can only be achieved with interconnects exploiting highly confined states of light. Recently this has brought interest to highly confined plasmon and phonon polaritons. While plasmonic structures have been extensively studied, the ultimate limits of phonon polariton squeezing, in particular enabling the confinement (the ratio between the excitation and polariton wavelengths) exceeding 10 2 , is yet to be explored. Here, exploiting unique structure of 2D materials, we report for the first time that atomically thin van der Waals dielectrics (e.g., transition-metal dichalcogenides) on silicon carbide substrate demonstrate experimentally record-breaking propagating phonon polaritons confinement resulting in 190-times squeezed surface waves. The strongly dispersive confinement can be potentially tuned to greater than 10 3 near the phonon resonance of the substrate, and it scales with number of van der Waals layers. We argue that our findings are a substantial step towards infrared ultra-compact phonon polaritonic circuits and resonators, and would stimulate further investigations on nanophotonics in non-plasmonic atomically thin interface platforms.

Near-optimal alternative generation using modified hit-and-run sampling for non-linear, non-convex problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rosenberg, D. E.; Alafifi, A.

2016-12-01

Water resources systems analysis often focuses on finding optimal solutions. Yet an optimal solution is optimal only for the modelled issues and managers often seek near-optimal alternatives that address un-modelled objectives, preferences, limits, uncertainties, and other issues. Early on, Modelling to Generate Alternatives (MGA) formalized near-optimal as the region comprising the original problem constraints plus a new constraint that allowed performance within a specified tolerance of the optimal objective function value. MGA identified a few maximally-different alternatives from the near-optimal region. Subsequent work applied Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling to generate a larger number of alternatives that span the near-optimal region of linear problems or select portions for non-linear problems. We extend the MCMC Hit-And-Run method to generate alternatives that span the full extent of the near-optimal region for non-linear, non-convex problems. First, start at a feasible hit point within the near-optimal region, then run a random distance in a random direction to a new hit point. Next, repeat until generating the desired number of alternatives. The key step at each iterate is to run a random distance along the line in the specified direction to a new hit point. If linear equity constraints exist, we construct an orthogonal basis and use a null space transformation to confine hits and runs to a lower-dimensional space. Linear inequity constraints define the convex bounds on the line that runs through the current hit point in the specified direction. We then use slice sampling to identify a new hit point along the line within bounds defined by the non-linear inequity constraints. This technique is computationally efficient compared to prior near-optimal alternative generation techniques such MGA, MCMC Metropolis-Hastings, evolutionary, or firefly algorithms because search at each iteration is confined to the hit line, the algorithm can move in one step to any point in the near-optimal region, and each iterate generates a new, feasible alternative. We use the method to generate alternatives that span the near-optimal regions of simple and more complicated water management problems and may be preferred to optimal solutions. We also discuss extensions to handle non-linear equity constraints.

Alizarin Red S-Confined Layer-By-Layer Films as Redox-Active Coatings on Electrodes for the Voltammetric Determination of L-Dopa

PubMed Central

Takahashi, Shigehiro; Suzuki, Iwao; Sugawara, Tatsuro; Seno, Masaru; Minaki, Daichi; Anzai, Jun-Ichi

2017-01-01

The preparation of redox-active coatings is a key step in fabricating electrochemical biosensors. To this goal, a variety of coating materials have been used in combination with redox-active compounds. In this study, alizarin red S (ARS) was confined in layer-by-layer (LbL) films composed of poly(ethyleneimine) (PEI) and carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) to study the redox properties. A gold (Au) disc electrode coated with PEI/CMC LbL film was immersed in an ARS solution to uptake ARS into the film. ARS was successfully confined in the LbL film through electrostatic interactions. The cyclic voltammogram (CV) of ARS-confined PEI/CMC film-coated electrodes thus prepared exhibited redox waves in the potential range from −0.5 to −0.7 V originating from 9,10-anthraquinone moiety in ARS, demonstrating that ARS preserves its redox activity in the LbL film. An additional oxidation peak appeared around −0.4 V in the CV recorded in the solution containing phenylboronic acid (PBA), due to the formation of a boronate ester of ARS (ARS-PBA) in the film. The oxidation peak current at −0.4 V decreased upon addition of 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-dopa) to the solution. Thus, the results suggest a potential use of the ARS-confined PEI/CMC films for constructing voltammetric sensors for L-dopa. PMID:28772942

ELMO Bumpy Square proposal

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dory, R.A.; Uckan, N.A.; Ard, W.B.

The ELMO Bumpy Square (EBS) concept consists of four straight magnetic mirror arrays linked by four high-field corner coils. Extensive calculations show that this configuration offers major improvements over the ELMO Bumpy Torus (EBT) in particle confinement, heating, transport, ring production, and stability. The components of the EBT device at Oak Ridge National Laboratory can be reconfigured into a square arrangement having straight sides composed of EBT coils, with new microwave cavities and high-field corners designed and built for this application. The elimination of neoclassical convection, identified as the dominant mechanism for the limited confinement in EBT, will give themore » EBS device substantially improved confinement and the flexibility to explore the concepts that produce this improvement. The primary goals of the EBS program are twofold: first, to improve the physics of confinement in toroidal systems by developing the concepts of plasma stabilization using the effects of energetic electrons and confinement optimization using magnetic field shaping and electrostatic potential control to limit particle drift, and second, to develop bumpy toroid devices as attractive candidates for fusion reactors. This report presents a brief review of the physics analyses that support the EBS concept, discussions of the design and expected performance of the EBS device, a description of the EBS experimental program, and a review of the reactor potential of bumpy toroid configurations. Detailed information is presented in the appendices.« less

Laboratory Investigation of Coal Deformation Behavior and Its Influence on Permeability Evolution During Methane Displacement by CO2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fan, Jingjing; Feng, Ruimin; Wang, Jin; Wang, Yanbin

2017-07-01

Geological sequestration of CO2 in coal seams is of significant interest to both academia and industry. A thorough laboratory investigation of mechanical and flow behaviors is crucial for understanding the complex response of coalbeds to CO2 injection-enhanced coalbed methane recovery (CO2-ECBM) operation. In this work, systematic experiments were carried out on cylindrical coal core specimens under different uniform confining stresses. The coal deformation caused by variations in effective stress as well as the sorption-induced matrix swelling/shrinkage was monitored. The competitive gas sorption characteristics and permeability evolution during the process of methane displacement by CO2 were also investigated. The measured volumetric strain results indicate that sorption-induced strain is the dominant factor in the coal deformation. The relationship between the volumetric strain and the adsorbed gas volume has been revealed to be a linear function. Experimental results obtained under different stress conditions suggest that higher confining stress suppresses the increase in both volumetric strain and the adsorbed gas volume. Furthermore, both methane displacement and CO2 injection are reduced when applying higher confining stresses. In addition, the permeability enhancement is heavily suppressed at higher confining stress. At a certain confining stress, a characteristic "U-shaped" trend of permeability is presented as a function of decreasing pore pressure. This study contributes to the understanding of coal deformation and its impact on permeability evolution under uniformly stressed condition, which has practical significance for CO2 sequestration and CO2-ECBM operation in the Qinshui basin.

Abelianization and sequential confinement in 2 + 1 dimensions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benvenuti, Sergio; Giacomelli, Simone

2017-10-01

We consider the lagrangian description of Argyres-Douglas theories of type A 2 N -1, which is a SU( N) gauge theory with an adjoint and one fundamental flavor. An appropriate reformulation allows us to map the moduli space of vacua across the duality, and to dimensionally reduce. Going down to three dimensions, we find that the adjoint SQCD "abelianizes": in the infrared it is equivalent to a N=4 linear quiver theory. Moreover, we study the mirror dual: using a monopole duality to "sequentially confine" quivers tails with balanced nodes, we show that the mirror RG flow lands on N=4 SQED with N flavors. These results make the supersymmetry enhancement explicit and provide a physical derivation of previous proposals for the three dimensional mirror of AD theories.

Linear and nonlinear magneto-optical properties of an off-center single dopant in a spherical core/shell quantum dot

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feddi, E.; Talbi, A.; Mora-Ramos, M. E.; El Haouari, M.; Dujardin, F.; Duque, C. A.

2017-11-01

Using the effective mass approximation and a variational procedure, we have investigated the nonlinear optical absorption coefficient and the relative refractive index changes associated to a single dopant confined in core/shell quantum dots considering the influences of the core/shell dimensions, externally applied magnetic field, and dielectric mismatch. The results show that the optical absorption coefficient and the coefficients of relative refractive index change depend strongly on the core/shell sizes and they are blue shifted when the spatial confinement increases so this effect is magnified by higher structural dimensions. Additionally, it is obtained that both studied optical properties are sensitive to the dielectric environment in such a way that their amplitudes are very affected by the local field corrections.

Comparison of hybrid and baseline ELMy H-mode confinement in JET with the carbon wall

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beurskens, M. N. A.; Frassinetti, L.; Challis, C.; Osborne, T.; Snyder, P. B.; Alper, B.; Angioni, C.; Bourdelle, C.; Buratti, P.; Crisanti, F.; Giovannozzi, E.; Giroud, C.; Groebner, R.; Hobirk, J.; Jenkins, I.; Joffrin, E.; Leyland, M. J.; Lomas, P.; Mantica, P.; McDonald, D.; Nunes, I.; Rimini, F.; Saarelma, S.; Voitsekhovitch, I.; de Vries, P.; Zarzoso, D.; Contributors, JET-EFDA

2013-01-01

The confinement in JET baseline type I ELMy H-mode plasmas is compared to that in so-called hybrid H-modes in a database study of 112 plasmas in JET with the carbon fibre composite (CFC) wall. The baseline plasmas typically have βN ˜ 1.5-2, H98 ˜ 1, whereas the hybrid plasmas have βN ˜ 2.5-3, H98 < 1.5. The database study contains both low- (δ ˜ 0.2-0.25) and high-triangularity (δ ˜ 0.4) hybrid and baseline H-mode plasmas from the last JET operational campaigns in the CFC wall from the period 2008-2009. Based on a detailed confinement study of the global as well as the pedestal and core confinement, there is no evidence that the hybrid and baseline plasmas form separate confinement groups; it emerges that the transition between the two scenarios is of a gradual kind rather than demonstrating a bifurcation in the confinement. The elevated confinement enhancement factor H98 in the hybrid plasmas may possibly be explained by the density dependence in the τ98 scaling as n0.41 and the fact that the hybrid plasmas operate at low plasma density compared to the baseline ELMy H-mode plasmas. A separate regression on the confinement data in this study shows a reduction in the density dependence as n0.09±0.08. Furthermore, inclusion of the plasma toroidal rotation in the confinement regression provides a scaling with the toroidal Alfvén Mach number as Mach_A^{0.41+/- 0.07} and again a reduced density dependence as n0.15±0.08. The differences in pedestal confinement can be explained on the basis of linear MHD stability through a coupling of the total and pedestal poloidal pressure and the pedestal performance can be improved through plasma shaping as well as high β operation. This has been confirmed in a comparison with the EPED1 predictive pedestal code which shows a good agreement between the predicted and measured pedestal pressure within 20-30% for a wide range of βN ˜ 1.5-3.5. The core profiles show a strong degree of pressure profile consistency. No beneficial effect of core density peaking on confinement could be identified for the majority of the plasmas presented here as the density peaking is compensated by a temperature de-peaking resulting in no or only a weak variation in the pressure peaking. The core confinement could only be optimized in case the ions and electrons are decoupled, in which case the ion temperature profile peaking can be enhanced, which benefits confinement. In this study, the latter has only been achieved in the low-triangularity hybrid plasmas, and can be attributed to low-density operation. Plasma rotation has been found to reduce core profile stiffness, and can explain an increase in profile peaking at small radius ρtor = 0.3.

Linear Transformation of Electromagnetic Wave Beams of the Electron-Cyclotron Range in Toroidal Magnetic Configurations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khusainov, T. A.; Shalashov, A. G.; Gospodchikov, E. D.

2018-05-01

The field structure of quasi-optical wave beams tunneled through the evanescence region in the vicinity of the plasma cutoff in a nonuniform magnetoactive plasma is analyzed. This problem is traditionally associated with the process of linear transformation of ordinary and extraordinary waves. An approximate analytical solution is constructed for a rather general magnetic configuration applicable to spherical tokamaks, optimized stellarators, and other magnetic confinement systems with a constant plasma density on magnetic surfaces. A general technique for calculating the transformation coefficient of a finite-aperture wave beam is proposed, and the physical conditions required for the most efficient transformation are analyzed.

Nonlinear graphene plasmonics

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

The rapid development of graphene has opened up exciting new fields in graphene plasmonics and nonlinear optics. Graphene's unique two-dimensional band structure provides extraordinary linear and nonlinear optical properties, which have led to extreme optical confinement in graphene plasmonics and ultrahigh nonlinear optical coefficients, respectively. The synergy between graphene's linear and nonlinear optical properties gave rise to nonlinear graphene plasmonics, which greatly augments graphene-based nonlinear device performance beyond a billion-fold. This nascent field of research will eventually find far-reaching revolutionary technological applications that require device miniaturization, low power consumption and a broad range of operating wavelengths approaching the far-infrared, such as optical computing, medical instrumentation and security applications. PMID:29118665

Nonlinear graphene plasmonics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ooi, Kelvin J. A.; Tan, Dawn T. H.

2017-10-01

The rapid development of graphene has opened up exciting new fields in graphene plasmonics and nonlinear optics. Graphene's unique two-dimensional band structure provides extraordinary linear and nonlinear optical properties, which have led to extreme optical confinement in graphene plasmonics and ultrahigh nonlinear optical coefficients, respectively. The synergy between graphene's linear and nonlinear optical properties gave rise to nonlinear graphene plasmonics, which greatly augments graphene-based nonlinear device performance beyond a billion-fold. This nascent field of research will eventually find far-reaching revolutionary technological applications that require device miniaturization, low power consumption and a broad range of operating wavelengths approaching the far-infrared, such as optical computing, medical instrumentation and security applications.

Light-front holographic QCD and emerging confinement

DOE PAGES

Brodsky, Stanley J.; de Téramond, Guy F.; Dosch, Hans Günter; ...

2015-05-21

In this study we explore the remarkable connections between light-front dynamics, its holographic mapping to gravity in a higher-dimensional anti-de Sitter (AdS) space, and conformal quantum mechanics. This approach provides new insights into the origin of a fundamental mass scale and the physics underlying confinement dynamics in QCD in the limit of massless quarks. The result is a relativistic light-front wave equation for arbitrary spin with an effective confinement potential derived from a conformal action and its embedding in AdS space. This equation allows for the computation of essential features of hadron spectra in terms of a single scale. Themore » light-front holographic methods described here give a precise interpretation of holographic variables and quantities in AdS space in terms of light-front variables and quantum numbers. This leads to a relation between the AdS wave functions and the boost-invariant light-front wave functions describing the internal structure of hadronic bound-states in physical spacetime. The pion is massless in the chiral limit and the excitation spectra of relativistic light-quark meson and baryon bound states lie on linear Regge trajectories with identical slopes in the radial and orbital quantum numbers. In the light-front holographic approach described here currents are expressed as an infinite sum of poles, and form factors as a product of poles. At large q 2 the form factor incorporates the correct power-law fall-off for hard scattering independent of the specific dynamics and is dictated by the twist. At low q 2 the form factor leads to vector dominance. The approach is also extended to include small quark masses. We briefly review in this report other holographic approaches to QCD, in particular top-down and bottom-up models based on chiral symmetry breaking. We also include a discussion of open problems and future applications.« less

Effective bichromatic potential for ultra-high Q-factor photonic crystal slab cavities

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Alpeggiani, Filippo, E-mail: filippo.alpeggiani01@ateneopv.it; Andreani, Lucio Claudio; Gerace, Dario

2015-12-28

We introduce a confinement mechanism in photonic crystal slab cavities, which relies on the superposition of two incommensurate one-dimensional lattices in a line-defect waveguide. It is shown that the resulting photonic profile realizes an effective quasi-periodic bichromatic potential for the electromagnetic field confinement yielding extremely high quality (Q) factor nanocavities, while simultaneously keeping the mode volume close to the diffraction limit. We apply these concepts to pillar- and hole-based photonic crystal slab cavities, respectively, and a Q-factor improvement by over an order of magnitude is shown over existing designs, especially in pillar-based structures. Thanks to the generality and easy adaptationmore » of such confinement mechanism to a broad class of cavity designs and photonic lattices, this work opens interesting routes for applications where enhanced light–matter interaction in photonic crystal structures is required.« less

From the nonlinear Fokker-Planck equation to the Vlasov description and back: Confined interacting particles with drag

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Plastino, A. R.; Curado, E. M. F.; Nobre, F. D.; Tsallis, C.

2018-02-01

Nonlinear Fokker-Planck equations endowed with power-law diffusion terms have proven to be valuable tools for the study of diverse complex systems in physics, biology, and other fields. The nonlinearity appearing in these evolution equations can be interpreted as providing an effective description of a system of particles interacting via short-range forces while performing overdamped motion under the effect of an external confining potential. This point of view has been recently applied to the study of thermodynamical features of interacting vortices in type II superconductors. In the present work we explore an embedding of the nonlinear Fokker-Planck equation within a Vlasov equation, thus incorporating inertial effects to the concomitant particle dynamics. Exact time-dependent solutions of the q -Gaussian form (with compact support) are obtained for the Vlasov equation in the case of quadratic confining potentials.

Hydrogeologic framework and geologic structure of the Floridan aquifer system and intermediate confining unit in the Lake Okeechobee area, Florida

USGS Publications Warehouse

Reese, Ronald S.

2014-01-01

The successful implementation of aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) as a water-management tool requires detailed information on the hydrologic and hydraulic properties of the potential water storage zones. This report presents stratigraphic and hydrogeologic sections of the upper part of the Floridan aquifer system and the overlying confining unit or aquifer system in the Lake Okeechobee area, and contour maps of the upper contacts of the Ocala Limestone and the Arcadia Formation, which are represented in the sections. The sections and maps illustrate hydrogeologic factors such as confinement of potential storage zones, the distribution of permeability within the zones, and geologic features that may control the efficiency of injection, storage, and recovery of water, and thus may influence decisions on ASR activities in areas of interest to the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan.

Brownian Dynamics simulations of model colloids in channel geometries and external fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Siems, Ullrich; Nielaba, Peter

2018-04-01

We review the results of Brownian Dynamics simulations of colloidal particles in external fields confined in channels. Super-paramagnetic Brownian particles are well suited two- dimensional model systems for a variety of problems on different length scales, ranging from pedestrian walking through a bottleneck to ions passing ion-channels in living cells. In such systems confinement into channels can have a great influence on the diffusion and transport properties. Especially we will discuss the crossover from single file diffusion in a narrow channel to the diffusion in the extended two-dimensional system. Therefore a new algorithm for computing the mean square displacement (MSD) on logarithmic time scales is presented. In a different study interacting colloidal particles were dragged over a washboard potential and are additionally confined in a two-dimensional micro-channel. In this system kink and anti-kink solitons determine the depinning process of the particles from the periodic potential.

Methane Hydrate in Confined Spaces: An Alternative Storage System.

PubMed

Borchardt, Lars; Casco, Mirian Elizabeth; Silvestre-Albero, Joaquin

2018-06-05

Methane hydrate inheres the great potential to be a nature-inspired alternative for chemical energy storage, as it allows to store large amounts of methane in a dense solid phase. The embedment of methane hydrate in the confined environment of porous materials can be capitalized for potential applications as its physicochemical properties, such as the formation kinetics or pressure and temperature stability, are significantly changed compared to the bulk system. We review this topic from a materials scientific perspective by considering porous carbons, silica, clays, zeolites, and polymers as host structures for methane hydrate formation. We discuss the contribution of advanced characterization techniques and theoretical simulations towards the elucidation of the methane hydrate formation and dissociation process within the confined space. We outline the scientific challenges this system is currently facing and look on possible future applications for this technology. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Partial breaking of the Coulombic ordering of ionic liquids confined in carbon nanopores

PubMed Central

Futamura, Ryusuke; Iiyama, Taku; Takasaki, Yuma; Gogotsi, Yury; Biggs, Mark J.; Salanne, Mathieu; Ségalini, Julie; Simon, Patrice; Kaneko, Katsumi

2017-01-01

Ionic liquids are composed of equal quantities of positive and negative ions. In the bulk, electrical neutrality occurs in these liquids due to Coulombic ordering, in which ion shells of alternating charge form around a central ion. Their structure under confinement is far less well understood. This hinders the widespread application of ionic liquids in technological applications. Here we use scattering experiments to resolve the structure of the widely used ionic liquid (EMI-TFSI) when it is confined inside nanoporous carbons. We show that Coulombic ordering reduces when the pores can only accommodate a single layer of ions. Instead, equally-charged ion pairs are formed due to the induction of an electric potential of opposite sign in the carbon pore walls. This non-Coulombic ordering is further enhanced in the presence of an applied external electric potential. This finding opens the door for the design of better materials for electrochemical applications. PMID:28920938

How mesoscopic staircases condense to macroscopic barriers in confined plasma turbulence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ashourvan, Arash; Diamond, P. H.

2016-11-01

This Rapid Communication sets forth the mechanism by which mesoscale staircase structures condense to form macroscopic states of enhanced confinement. Density, vorticity, and turbulent potential enstrophy are the variables for this model. Formation of the staircase structures is due to inhomogeneous mixing of (generalized) potential vorticity (PV). Such mixing results in the local sharpening of density and vorticity gradients. When PV gradients steepen, the density staircase structure develops into a lattice of mesoscale "jumps" and "steps," which are, respectively, regions of local gradient steepening and flattening. The jumps then merge and migrate in radius, leading to the emergence of a new macroscale profile structure, so indicating that profile self-organization is a global process, which may be described by a local, but nonlinear model. This work predicts and demonstrates how mesoscale condensation of staircases leads to global states of enhanced confinement.

Inward transport of a toroidally confined plasma subject to strong radial electric fields

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Roth, J. R.; Krawczonek, W. M.; Powers, E. J.; Hong, J.; Kim, Y.

1977-01-01

The paper aims at showing that the density and confinement time of a toroidal plasma can be enhanced by radial electric fields far stronger than the ambipolar values, and that, if such electric fields point into the plasma, radially inward transport can result. The investigation deals with low-frequency fluctuation-induced transport using digitally implemented spectral analysis techniques and with the role of strong applied radial electric fields and weak vertical magnetic fields on plasma density and particle confinement times in a Bumpy Torus geometry. Results indicate that application of sufficiently strong radially inward electric fields results in radially inward fluctuation-induced transport into the toroidal electrostatic potential well; this inward transport gives rise to higher average electron densities and longer particle confinement times in the toroidal plasma.

Self-potential response to periodic pumping test: a numerical study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Konosavsky, Pavel; Maineult, Alexis; Narbut, Mikhail; Titov, Konstantin

2017-09-01

We numerically model self-potential responses associated with periodic pumping test experiments by sequential calculation of the hydraulic response and the coupled electrical potential. We assume the pumping test experiments with a fully saturated confined aquifer. Application of different excitation functions leads to quasi-linear trends in electrical records whose direction and intensity depend on the form of the excitation function. The hydraulic response is phase shifted compared to the excitation function; the phase shift increases quasi-linearly with the distance from the pumping well. For the electrical signals, we investigated separately the cases of conducting and insulating casings of the pumping well. For the conducting casing the electrical signals are larger in magnitude than that for the insulating casing; they reproduce the drawdown signals in the pumping well at any distance from the well and exhibit any phase shift with the increased distance. For the insulating casing, the electrical signals are phase shifted and their shape depends on the distance from the pumping well. Three characteristic regimes were found for the phase shift, φ, with the increased distance and for various hydraulic diffusivity values. At small distances φ increases quasi-linearly; at intermediate distances φ attends the value of π/2 and stay about this value (for relatively small diffusivity values); and at large distances φ attends the value of π and, stay about this value at larger distances. This behaviour of the electrical signals can be explained by two electrical sources of reverse polarity. They are (i) linear, time independent, and located at the pumping interval of the well; and (ii) volumetric, time dependent, with maximum value located in the aquifer at the distance corresponding to maximum variation of the hydraulic head magnitude with time. We also model the variation of the amplitude and phase of the hydraulic and electrical signals with increased excitation function period, and we show the characteristic periods corresponding to transition of the periodic pumping test regime to the classical pumping test regime, when the excitation function is considered as the step-function. This transition depends on the distance from the pumping well and the hydraulic diffusivity value of aquifer. Finally, with this modelling of saturated flow we reproduced in sufficient details the field data previously obtained by Maineult et al.

Stability of matter-wave solitons in optical lattices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ali, Sk. Golam; Roy, S. K.; Talukdar, B.

2010-08-01

We consider localized states of both single- and two-component Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) confined in a potential resulting from the superposition of linear and nonlinear optical lattices and make use of Vakhitov-Kolokolov criterion to investigate the effect of nonlinear lattice on the stability of the soliton solutions in the linear optical lattice (LOL). For the single-component case we show that a weak nonlinear lattice has very little effect on the stability of such solitons while sufficiently strong nonlinear optical lattice (NOL) squeezes them to produce narrow bound states. For two-component condensates we find that when the strength of the NOL (γ1) is less than that of the LOL (V0) a relatively weak intra-atomic interaction (IAI) has little effect on the stability of the component solitons. This is true for both attractive and repulsive IAI. A strong attractive IAI, however, squeezes the BEC solitons while a similar repulsive IAI makes the component solitons wider. For γ1 > V0, only a strong attractive IAI squeezes the BEC solitons but the squeezing effect is less prominent than that found for γ1 < V0. We make useful checks on the results of our semianalytical stability analysis by solving the appropriate Gross-Pitaevskii equations numerically.

Electrocatalytic reaction of hydrogen peroxide and NADH based on poly(neutral red) and FAD hybrid film.

PubMed

Lin, Kuo Chiang; Lin, Yu Ching; Chen, Shen Ming

2012-01-07

A simple method to immobilize poly(neutral red) (PNR) and flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) hybrid film (PNR/FAD) by cyclic voltammetry is proposed. The PNR/FAD hybrid film can be easily prepared on an electrode surface involving electropolymerization of neutral red (NR) monomers and the electrostatic interaction between the positively charged PNR and the negatively charged FAD. It exhibits electroactive, stable, surface-confined, pH-dependent, nano-sized, and compatible properties. It provides good electrocatalytic properties to various species. It shows a sensitivity of 5.4 μA mM(-1) cm(-2) and 21.5 μA mM(-1) cm(-2) for hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) with the linear range of 0.1 μM-39 mM and 5 × 10(-5) to 2.5 × 10(-4) M, respectively. It shows another linear range of 48.8-355.5 mM with the sensitivity of 12.3 μA mM(-1) cm(-2) for H(2)O(2). In particular, the PNR/FAD hybrid film has potential to replace some hemoproteins to be a cathode of biofuel cells and provide the biosensing system for glucose and ethanol. This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2012

Investigation of physical processes limiting plasma density in H-mode on DIII-D

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Maingi, R.; Mahdavi, M.A.; Jernigan, T.C.

1996-12-01

A series of experiments was conducted on the DIII-D tokamak to investigate the physical processes which limit density in high confinement mode (H-mode) discharges. The typical H-mode to low confinement mode (L-mode) transition limit at high density near the empirical Greenwald density limit was avoided by divertor pumping, which reduced divertor neutral pressure and prevented formation of a high density, intense radiation zone (MARFE) near the X-point. It was determined that the density decay time after pellet injection was independent of density relative to the Greenwald limit and increased non-linearly with the plasma current. Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) activity in pellet-fueled plasmasmore » was observed at all power levels, and often caused unacceptable confinement degradation, except when the neutral beam injected (NBI) power was {le} 3 MW. Formation of MARFEs on closed field lines was avoided with low safety factor (q) operation but was observed at high q, qualitatively consistent with theory. By using pellet fueling and optimizing discharge parameters to avoid each of these limits, an operational space was accessed in which density {approximately} 1.5 {times} Greenwald limit was achieved for 600 ms, and good H-mode confinement was maintained for 300 ms of the density flattop. More significantly, the density was successfully increased to the limit where a central radiative collapse was observed, the most fundamental density limit in tokamaks.« less

A modular finite-element model (MODFE) for areal and axisymmetric ground-water-flow problems, Part 2: Derivation of finite-element equations and comparisons with analytical solutions

USGS Publications Warehouse

Cooley, Richard L.

1992-01-01

MODFE, a modular finite-element model for simulating steady- or unsteady-state, area1 or axisymmetric flow of ground water in a heterogeneous anisotropic aquifer is documented in a three-part series of reports. In this report, part 2, the finite-element equations are derived by minimizing a functional of the difference between the true and approximate hydraulic head, which produces equations that are equivalent to those obtained by either classical variational or Galerkin techniques. Spatial finite elements are triangular with linear basis functions, and temporal finite elements are one dimensional with linear basis functions. Physical processes that can be represented by the model include (1) confined flow, unconfined flow (using the Dupuit approximation), or a combination of both; (2) leakage through either rigid or elastic confining units; (3) specified recharge or discharge at points, along lines, or areally; (4) flow across specified-flow, specified-head, or head-dependent boundaries; (5) decrease of aquifer thickness to zero under extreme water-table decline and increase of aquifer thickness from zero as the water table rises; and (6) head-dependent fluxes from springs, drainage wells, leakage across riverbeds or confining units combined with aquifer dewatering, and evapotranspiration. The matrix equations produced by the finite-element method are solved by the direct symmetric-Doolittle method or the iterative modified incomplete-Cholesky conjugate-gradient method. The direct method can be efficient for small- to medium-sized problems (less than about 500 nodes), and the iterative method is generally more efficient for larger-sized problems. Comparison of finite-element solutions with analytical solutions for five example problems demonstrates that the finite-element model can yield accurate solutions to ground-water flow problems.

Quantitative comparison of electron temperature fluctuations to nonlinear gyrokinetic simulations in C-Mod Ohmic L-mode discharges

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sung, C., E-mail: csung@physics.ucla.edu; White, A. E.; Greenwald, M.

2016-04-15

Long wavelength turbulent electron temperature fluctuations (k{sub y}ρ{sub s} < 0.3) are measured in the outer core region (r/a > 0.8) of Ohmic L-mode plasmas at Alcator C-Mod [E. S. Marmar et al., Nucl. Fusion 49, 104014 (2009)] with a correlation electron cyclotron emission diagnostic. The relative amplitude and frequency spectrum of the fluctuations are compared quantitatively with nonlinear gyrokinetic simulations using the GYRO code [J. Candy and R. E. Waltz, J. Comput. Phys. 186, 545 (2003)] in two different confinement regimes: linear Ohmic confinement (LOC) regime and saturated Ohmic confinement (SOC) regime. When comparing experiment with nonlinear simulations, it is found that local,more » electrostatic ion-scale simulations (k{sub y}ρ{sub s} ≲ 1.7) performed at r/a ∼ 0.85 reproduce the experimental ion heat flux levels, electron temperature fluctuation levels, and frequency spectra within experimental error bars. In contrast, the electron heat flux is robustly under-predicted and cannot be recovered by using scans of the simulation inputs within error bars or by using global simulations. If both the ion heat flux and the measured temperature fluctuations are attributed predominantly to long-wavelength turbulence, then under-prediction of electron heat flux strongly suggests that electron scale turbulence is important for transport in C-Mod Ohmic L-mode discharges. In addition, no evidence is found from linear or nonlinear simulations for a clear transition from trapped electron mode to ion temperature gradient turbulence across the LOC/SOC transition, and also there is no evidence in these Ohmic L-mode plasmas of the “Transport Shortfall” [C. Holland et al., Phys. Plasmas 16, 052301 (2009)].« less

Integrated Optical Dipole Trap for Cold Neutral Atoms with an Optical Waveguide Coupler

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, J.; Park, D. H.; Mittal, S.; Meng, Y.; Dagenais, M.; Rolston, S. L.

2013-05-01

Using an optical waveguide, an integrated optical dipole trap uses two-color (red and blue-detuned) traveling evanescent wave fields for trapping cold neutral atoms. To achieve longitudinal confinement, we propose using an integrated optical waveguide coupler, which provides a potential gradient along the beam propagation direction sufficient to confine atoms. This integrated optical dipole trap can support an atomic ensemble with a large optical depth due to its small mode area. Its quasi-TE0 waveguide mode has an advantage over the HE11 mode of a nanofiber, with little inhomogeneous Zeeman broadening at the trapping region. The longitudinal confinement eliminates the need for a 1D optical lattice, reducing collisional blockaded atomic loading, potentially producing larger ensembles. The waveguide trap allows for scalability and integrability with nano-fabrication technology. We analyze the potential performance of such integrated atom traps and present current research progress towards a fiber-coupled silicon nitride optical waveguide integrable with atom chips. Work is supported by the ARO Atomtronics MURI. Work is supported by the ARO Atomtronics MURI.

Near-Infrared Intersubband Photodetection in GaN/AlN Nanowires.

PubMed

Lähnemann, Jonas; Ajay, Akhil; Den Hertog, Martien I; Monroy, Eva

2017-11-08

Intersubband optoelectronic devices rely on transitions between quantum-confined electron levels in semiconductor heterostructures, which enables infrared (IR) photodetection in the 1-30 μm wavelength window with picosecond response times. Incorporating nanowires as active media could enable an independent control over the electrical cross-section of the device and the optical absorption cross-section. Furthermore, the three-dimensional carrier confinement in nanowire heterostructures opens new possibilities to tune the carrier relaxation time. However, the generation of structural defects and the surface sensitivity of GaAs nanowires have so far hindered the fabrication of nanowire intersubband devices. Here, we report the first demonstration of intersubband photodetection in a nanowire, using GaN nanowires containing a GaN/AlN superlattice absorbing at 1.55 μm. The combination of spectral photocurrent measurements with 8-band k·p calculations of the electronic structure supports the interpretation of the result as intersubband photodetection in these extremely short-period superlattices. We observe a linear dependence of the photocurrent with the incident illumination power, which confirms the insensitivity of the intersubband process to surface states and highlights how architectures featuring large surface-to-volume ratios are suitable as intersubband photodetectors. Our analysis of the photocurrent characteristics points out routes for an improvement of the device performance. This first nanowire based intersubband photodetector represents a technological breakthrough that paves the way to a powerful device platform with potential for ultrafast, ultrasensitive photodetectors and highly efficient quantum cascade emitters with improved thermal stability.

Detecting alkali-silica reaction in thick concrete structures using linear array ultrasound

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bull Ezell, N. Dianne; Albright, Austin; Clayton, Dwight; Santos-Villalobos, Hector

2018-03-01

Commercial nuclear power plants (NPPs) depend heavily on concrete structures, making the long-term performance of these structures crucial for safe operation, especially with license period extensions to 60 years and possibly beyond. Alkali-silica reaction (ASR) is a reaction that occurs over time in concrete between alkaline cement paste and reactive, noncrystalline silica (aggregates). In the presence of water, an expansive gel is formed within the aggregates, which results in microcracks in aggregates and adjacent cement paste. ASR can potentially affect concrete properties and performance characteristics such as compressive strength, modulus of elasticity, flexural stiffness, shear strength, and tensile strength. Currently, no nondestructive evaluation methods have proven effective in identifying ASR before surface cracks form. ASR is identified visibly or by petrographic analysis. Although ASR definitely impacts concrete material properties, the performance of concrete structures exhibiting ASR depends on whether or not the concrete is unconfined or confined with reinforcing bars. Confinement by reinforcing bars restrainsthe expansion of ASR-affected concrete, similar to prestressing, thus improving the performance of a structure. Additionally, there is no direct correlation between the mechanical properties of concrete sample cores and the in-situ properties of the concrete. The University of Tennessee-Knoxville, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and a consortium of universities have developed an accelerated ASR experiment. Three large concrete specimens, representative of NPP infrastructure, were constructed containing both embedded and surface instruments. This paper presents preliminary analysis of these specimens using a frequency-banded synthetic aperture focusing technique.

Relativistic transport theory for a two-temperature magnetized plasma

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Metens, T.; Balescu, R.

1990-09-01

The relativistic kinetic theory of linear transport is worked out within the framework of a new moment method. A complete analytical study of the transport in a two-temperature inhomogeneous magnetized fusion plasma is given. The transport relations and coefficients are derived from the kinetic equation with the full relativistic Beliaev--Budker collision operator and the impact of relativistic effects on the confinement are investigated.

Software For Integer Programming

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fogle, F. R.

1992-01-01

Improved Exploratory Search Technique for Pure Integer Linear Programming Problems (IESIP) program optimizes objective function of variables subject to confining functions or constraints, using discrete optimization or integer programming. Enables rapid solution of problems up to 10 variables in size. Integer programming required for accuracy in modeling systems containing small number of components, distribution of goods, scheduling operations on machine tools, and scheduling production in general. Written in Borland's TURBO Pascal.

Confinement of Radioactive Materials at Defense Nuclear Facilities

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-10-01

The design of defense nuclear facilities includes systems whose reliable operation is vital to the protection of the public, workers, and the...final safety-class barrier to the release of hazardous materials with potentially serious public consequences. The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety...the public at certain defense nuclear facilities . This change has resulted in downgrading of the functional safety classification of confinement

Quantum Confined Semiconductors for High Efficiency Photovoltaics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beard, Matthew

2014-03-01

Semiconductor nanostructures, where at least one dimension is small enough to produce quantum confinement effects, provide new pathways for controlling energy flow and therefore have the potential to increase the efficiency of the primary photon-to-free energy conversion step. In this discussion, I will present the current status of research efforts towards utilizing the unique properties of colloidal quantum dots (NCs confined in three dimensions) in prototype solar cells and demonstrate that these unique systems have the potential to bypass the Shockley-Queisser single-junction limit for solar photon conversion. The solar cells are constructed using a low temperature solution based deposition of PbS or PbSe QDs as the absorber layer. Different chemical treatments of the QD layer are employed in order to obtain good electrical communication while maintaining the quantum-confined properties of the QDs. We have characterized the transport and carrier dynamics using a transient absorption, time-resolved THz, and temperature-dependent photoluminescence. I will discuss the interplay between carrier generation, recombination, and mobility within the QD layers. A unique aspect of our devices is that the QDs exhibit multiple exciton generation with an efficiency that is ~ 2 to 3 times greater than the parental bulk semiconductor.

Interacting potential between spinons in the compact QED3 description of the Heisenberg model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dillenschneider, R.; Richert, J.

2008-02-01

We implement a Chern-Simons (CS) contribution into the compact QED3 description of the antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model in two dimensions at zero temperature. The CS term allows for the conservation of the SU(2) symmetry of the quantum spin system and fixes the flux through a plaquette to be a multiple of π as was shown by Marston. We work out the string tension of the confining potential which acts between the spinons and show that the CS term induces a screening effect on the magnetic field only. The confining potential between spinons is not affected by the CS flux. The strict site-occupation by a single spin 1/2 is enforced by the introduction of an imaginary chemical potential constraint.

Metallic tin quantum sheets confined in graphene toward high-efficiency carbon dioxide electroreduction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lei, Fengcai; Liu, Wei; Sun, Yongfu; Xu, Jiaqi; Liu, Katong; Liang, Liang; Yao, Tao; Pan, Bicai; Wei, Shiqiang; Xie, Yi

2016-09-01

Ultrathin metal layers can be highly active carbon dioxide electroreduction catalysts, but may also be prone to oxidation. Here we construct a model of graphene confined ultrathin layers of highly reactive metals, taking the synthetic highly reactive tin quantum sheets confined in graphene as an example. The higher electrochemical active area ensures 9 times larger carbon dioxide adsorption capacity relative to bulk tin, while the highly-conductive graphene favours rate-determining electron transfer from carbon dioxide to its radical anion. The lowered tin-tin coordination numbers, revealed by X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy, enable tin quantum sheets confined in graphene to efficiently stabilize the carbon dioxide radical anion, verified by 0.13 volts lowered potential of hydroxyl ion adsorption compared with bulk tin. Hence, the tin quantum sheets confined in graphene show enhanced electrocatalytic activity and stability. This work may provide a promising lead for designing efficient and robust catalysts for electrolytic fuel synthesis.

Quark confinement: Dual superconductor picture based on a non-Abelian Stokes theorem and reformulations of Yang-Mills theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kondo, Kei-Ichi; Kato, Seikou; Shibata, Akihiro; Shinohara, Toru

2015-05-01

The purpose of this paper is to review the recent progress in understanding quark confinement. The emphasis of this review is placed on how to obtain a manifestly gauge-independent picture for quark confinement supporting the dual superconductivity in the Yang-Mills theory, which should be compared with the Abelian projection proposed by 't Hooft. The basic tools are novel reformulations of the Yang-Mills theory based on change of variables extending the decomposition of the SU(N) Yang-Mills field due to Cho, Duan-Ge and Faddeev-Niemi, together with the combined use of extended versions of the Diakonov-Petrov version of the non-Abelian Stokes theorem for the SU(N) Wilson loop operator. Moreover, we give the lattice gauge theoretical versions of the reformulation of the Yang-Mills theory which enables us to perform the numerical simulations on the lattice. In fact, we present some numerical evidences for supporting the dual superconductivity for quark confinement. The numerical simulations include the derivation of the linear potential for static interquark potential, i.e., non-vanishing string tension, in which the "Abelian" dominance and magnetic monopole dominance are established, confirmation of the dual Meissner effect by measuring the chromoelectric flux tube between quark-antiquark pair, the induced magnetic-monopole current, and the type of dual superconductivity, etc. In addition, we give a direct connection between the topological configuration of the Yang-Mills field such as instantons/merons and the magnetic monopole. We show especially that magnetic monopoles in the Yang-Mills theory can be constructed in a manifestly gauge-invariant way starting from the gauge-invariant Wilson loop operator and thereby the contribution from the magnetic monopoles can be extracted from the Wilson loop in a gauge-invariant way through the non-Abelian Stokes theorem for the Wilson loop operator, which is a prerequisite for exhibiting magnetic monopole dominance for quark confinement. The Wilson loop average is calculated according to the new reformulation written in terms of new field variables obtained from the original Yang-Mills field based on change of variables. The Maximally Abelian gauge in the original Yang-Mills theory is also reproduced by taking a specific gauge fixing in the reformulated Yang-Mills theory. This observation justifies the preceding results obtained in the maximal Abelian gauge at least for gauge-invariant quantities for SU(2) gauge group, which eliminates the criticism of gauge artifact raised for the Abelian projection. The claim has been confirmed based on the numerical simulations. However, for SU(N) (N ≥ 3), such a gauge-invariant reformulation is not unique, although the extension along the line proposed by Cho, Faddeev and Niemi is possible. In fact, we have found that there are a number of possible options of the reformulations, which are discriminated by the maximal stability group H ˜ of G, while there is a unique option of H ˜ = U(1) for G = SU(2) . The maximal stability group depends on the representation of the gauge group, to that the quark source belongs. For the fundamental quark for SU(3) , the maximal stability group is U(2) , which is different from the maximal torus group U(1) × U(1) suggested from the Abelian projection. Therefore, the chromomagnetic monopole inherent in the Wilson loop operator responsible for confinement of quarks in the fundamental representation for SU(3) is the non-Abelian magnetic monopole, which is distinct from the Abelian magnetic monopole for the SU(2) case. Therefore, we claim that the mechanism for quark confinement for SU(N) (N ≥ 3) is the non-Abelian dual superconductivity caused by condensation of non-Abelian magnetic monopoles. We give some theoretical considerations and numerical results supporting this picture. Finally, we discuss some issues to be investigated in future studies.

Interplay of explosive thermal reaction dynamics and structural confinement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perry, W. Lee; Zucker, Jonathan; Dickson, Peter M.; Parker, Gary R.; Asay, Blaine W.

2007-04-01

Explosives play a significant role in human affairs; however, their behavior in circumstances other than intentional detonation is poorly understood. Accidents may have catastrophic consequences, especially if additional hazardous materials are involved. Abnormal ignition stimuli, such as impact, spark, friction, and heat may lead to a very violent outcome, potentially including detonation. An important factor influencing the behavior subsequent to abnormal ignition is the strength and inertia of the vessel confining the explosive, i.e., the near-field structural/mechanical environment, also known as confinement (inertial or mechanical). However, a comprehensive and quantified understanding of how confinement affects reaction violence does not yet exist. In the research discussed here, we have investigated a wide range of confinement conditions and related the explosive response to the fundamentals of the combustion process in the explosive. In our experiments, a charge of an octahydrotetranitrotetrazine-based plastic bonded explosive (PBX 9501) was loaded into a gun assembly having variable confinement conditions and subjected to a heating profile. The exploding charge breached the confinement and accelerated a projectile down the gun barrel. High bandwidth pressure and volume measurements were made and a first-law analysis was used to obtain enthalpy and power from the raw data. These results were then used to quantify reaction violence. Enthalpy change and power ranged from 0-1.8 kJ and 0-12 MW for 300 mg charges, respectively. Below a confinement strength of 20 MPa, violence was found to decline precipitously with decreasing confinement, while the violence for the heaviest confinement experiments was found to be relatively constant. Both pressure and pressurization rate were found to have critical values to induce and sustain violent reaction.

Multiple patterns of diblock copolymer confined in irregular geometries with soft surface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Ying; Sun, Min-Na; Zhang, Jin-Jun; Pan, Jun-Xing; Guo, Yu-Qi; Wang, Bao-Feng; Wu, Hai-Shun

2015-12-01

The different confinement shapes can induce the formation of various interesting and novel morphologies, which might inspire potential applications of materials. In this paper, we study the directed self-assembly of diblock copolymer confined in irregular geometries with a soft surface by using self-consistent field theory. Two types of confinement geometries are considered, namely, one is the concave pore with one groove and the other is the concave pore with two grooves. We obtain more novel and different structures which could not be produced in other two-dimensional (2D) confinements. Comparing these new structures with those obtained in regular square confinement, we find that the range of ordered lamellae is enlarged and the range of disordered structure is narrowed down under the concave pore confinement. We also compare the different structures obtained under the two types of confinement geometries, the results show that the effect of confinement would increase, which might induce the diblock copolymer to form novel structures. We construct the phase diagram as a function of the fraction of B block and the ratio of h/L of the groove. The simulation reveals that the wetting effect of brushes and the shape of confinement geometries play important roles in determining the morphologies of the system. Our results improve the applications in the directed self-assembly of diblock copolymer for fabricating the irregular structures. Project supported by the Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China (Grant No. 20121404110004), the Research Foundation for Excellent Talents of Shanxi Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security, China, and the Scientific and Technological Innovation Programs of Higher Education Institutions in Shanxi Province, China.

Direct measurements of protein-stabilized gold nanoparticle interactions.

PubMed

Eichmann, Shannon L; Bevan, Michael A

2010-09-21

We report integrated video and total internal reflection microscopy measurements of protein stabilized 110 nm Au nanoparticles confined in 280 nm gaps in physiological media. Measured potential energy profiles display quantitative agreement with Brownian dynamic simulations that include hydrodynamic interactions and camera exposure time and noise effects. Our results demonstrate agreement between measured nonspecific van der Waals and adsorbed protein interactions with theoretical potentials. Confined, lateral nanoparticle diffusivity measurements also display excellent agreement with predictions. These findings provide a basis to interrogate specific biomacromolecular interactions in similar experimental configurations and to design future improved measurement methods.

Effect of temperature degeneracy and Landau quantization on drift solitary waves and double layers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shan, Shaukat Ali; Haque, Q.

2018-01-01

The linear and nonlinear drift ion acoustic waves have been investigated in an inhomogeneous, magnetized, dense degenerate, and quantized magnetic field plasma. The linear drift ion acoustic wave propagation along with the nonlinear structures like double layers and solitary waves has been found to be strongly dependent on the drift speed, magnetic field quantization parameter β, and the temperature degeneracy. The graphical illustrations show that the frequency of linear waves and the amplitude of the solitary waves increase with the increase in temperature degeneracy and Landau quantization effect, while the amplitude of the double layers decreases with the increase in η and T. The relevance of the present study is pointed out in the plasma environment of fast ignition inertial confinement fusion, the white dwarf stars, and short pulsed petawatt laser technology.

Confined disordered strictly jammed binary sphere packings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, D.; Torquato, S.

2015-12-01

Disordered jammed packings under confinement have received considerably less attention than their bulk counterparts and yet arise in a variety of practical situations. In this work, we study binary sphere packings that are confined between two parallel hard planes and generalize the Torquato-Jiao (TJ) sequential linear programming algorithm [Phys. Rev. E 82, 061302 (2010), 10.1103/PhysRevE.82.061302] to obtain putative maximally random jammed (MRJ) packings that are exactly isostatic with high fidelity over a large range of plane separation distances H , small to large sphere radius ratio α , and small sphere relative concentration x . We find that packing characteristics can be substantially different from their bulk analogs, which is due to what we term "confinement frustration." Rattlers in confined packings are generally more prevalent than those in their bulk counterparts. We observe that packing fraction, rattler fraction, and degree of disorder of MRJ packings generally increase with H , though exceptions exist. Discontinuities in the packing characteristics as H varies in the vicinity of certain values of H are due to associated discontinuous transitions between different jammed states. When the plane separation distance is on the order of two large-sphere diameters or less, the packings exhibit salient two-dimensional features; when the plane separation distance exceeds about 30 large-sphere diameters, the packings approach three-dimensional bulk packings. As the size contrast increases (as α decreases), the rattler fraction dramatically increases due to what we call "size-disparity" frustration. We find that at intermediate α and when x is about 0.5 (50-50 mixture), the disorder of packings is maximized, as measured by an order metric ψ that is based on the number density fluctuations in the direction perpendicular to the hard walls. We also apply the local volume-fraction variance στ2(R ) to characterize confined packings and find that these packings possess essentially the same level of hyperuniformity as their bulk counterparts. Our findings are generally relevant to confined packings that arise in biology (e.g., structural color in birds and insects) and may have implications for the creation of high-density powders and improved battery designs.

Thermodynamics of confined gallium clusters.

PubMed

Chandrachud, Prachi

2015-11-11

We report the results of ab initio molecular dynamics simulations of Ga13 and Ga17 clusters confined inside carbon nanotubes with different diameters. The cluster-tube interaction is simulated by the Lennard-Jones (LJ) potential. We discuss the geometries, the nature of the bonding and the thermodynamics under confinement. The geometries as well as the isomer spectra of both the clusters are significantly affected. The degree of confinement decides the dimensionality of the clusters. We observe that a number of low-energy isomers appear under moderate confinement while some isomers seen in the free space disappear. Our finite-temperature simulations bring out interesting aspects, namely that the heat capacity curve is flat, even though the ground state is symmetric. Such a flat nature indicates that the phase change is continuous. This effect is due to the restricted phase space available to the system. These observations are supported by the mean square displacement of individual atoms, which are significantly smaller than in free space. The nature of the bonding is found to be approximately jellium-like. Finally we note the relevance of the work to the problem of single file diffusion for the case of the highest confinement.

Ion confinement and transport in a toroidal plasma with externally imposed radial electric fields

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Roth, J. R.; Krawczonek, W. M.; Powers, E. J.; Kim, Y. C.; Hong, H. Y.

1979-01-01

Strong electric fields were imposed along the minor radius of the toroidal plasma by biasing it with electrodes maintained at kilovolt potentials. Coherent, low-frequency disturbances characteristic of various magnetohydrodynamic instabilities were absent in the high-density, well-confined regime. High, direct-current radial electric fields with magnitudes up to 135 volts per centimeter penetrated inward to at least one-half the plasma radius. When the electric field pointed radially toward, the ion transport was inward against a strong local density gradient; and the plasma density and confinement time were significantly enhanced. The radial transport along the electric field appeared to be consistent with fluctuation-induced transport. With negative electrode polarity the particle confinement was consistent with a balance of two processes: a radial infusion of ions, in those sectors of the plasma not containing electrodes, that resulted from the radially inward fields; and ion losses to the electrodes, each of the which acted as a sink and drew ions out of the plasma. A simple model of particle confinement was proposed in which the particle confinement time is proportional to the plasma volume. The scaling predicted by this model was consistent with experimental measurements.

The Conformations of Confined Polymers in an External Potential

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morrison, Greg

The confinement of biomolecules is ubiquitous in nature, such as the spatial constraints of viral encapsulation, histone binding, and chromosomal packing. Advances in microfluidics and nanopore fabrication have permitted powerful new tools in single molecule manipulation and gene sequencing through molecular confinement as well. In order to fully understand and exploit these systems, the ability to predict the structure of spatially confined molecules is essential. In this talk, I describe a mean field approach to determine the properties of stiff polymers confined to cylinders and slits, which is relevant for a variety of biological and experimental conditions. I show that this approach is able to not only reproduce known scaling laws for confined wormlike chains, but also provides an improvement over existing weakly bending rod approximations in determining the detailed chain properties (such as correlation functions). Using this approach, we also show that it is possible to study the effect of an externally applied tension or static electric field in a natural and analytically tractable way. These external perturbations can alter the scaling laws and introduce important new length scales into the system, relevant for histone unbinding and single-molecule analysis of DNA.

Least squares reconstruction of non-linear RF phase encoded MR data.

PubMed

Salajeghe, Somaie; Babyn, Paul; Sharp, Jonathan C; Sarty, Gordon E

2016-09-01

The numerical feasibility of reconstructing MRI signals generated by RF coils that produce B1 fields with a non-linearly varying spatial phase is explored. A global linear spatial phase variation of B1 is difficult to produce from current confined to RF coils. Here we use regularized least squares inversion, in place of the usual Fourier transform, to reconstruct signals generated in B1 fields with non-linear phase variation. RF encoded signals were simulated for three RF coil configurations: ideal linear, parallel conductors and, circular coil pairs. The simulated signals were reconstructed by Fourier transform and by regularized least squares. The Fourier reconstruction of simulated RF encoded signals from the parallel conductor coil set showed minor distortions over the reconstruction of signals from the ideal linear coil set but the Fourier reconstruction of signals from the circular coil set produced severe geometric distortion. Least squares inversion in all cases produced reconstruction errors comparable to the Fourier reconstruction of the simulated signal from the ideal linear coil set. MRI signals encoded in B1 fields with non-linearly varying spatial phase may be accurately reconstructed using regularized least squares thus pointing the way to the use of simple RF coil designs for RF encoded MRI. Crown Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Transport induced by large scale convective structures in a dipole-confined plasma.

PubMed

Grierson, B A; Mauel, M E; Worstell, M W; Klassen, M

2010-11-12

Convective structures characterized by E×B motion are observed in a dipole-confined plasma. Particle transport rates are calculated from density dynamics obtained from multipoint measurements and the reconstructed electrostatic potential. The calculated transport rates determined from the large-scale dynamics and local probe measurements agree in magnitude, show intermittency, and indicate that the particle transport is dominated by large-scale convective structures.

Mean Field Limits for Interacting Diffusions in a Two-Scale Potential

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gomes, S. N.; Pavliotis, G. A.

2018-06-01

In this paper, we study the combined mean field and homogenization limits for a system of weakly interacting diffusions moving in a two-scale, locally periodic confining potential, of the form considered in Duncan et al. (Brownian motion in an N-scale periodic potential, arXiv:1605.05854, 2016b). We show that, although the mean field and homogenization limits commute for finite times, they do not, in general, commute in the long time limit. In particular, the bifurcation diagrams for the stationary states can be different depending on the order with which we take the two limits. Furthermore, we construct the bifurcation diagram for the stationary McKean-Vlasov equation in a two-scale potential, before passing to the homogenization limit, and we analyze the effect of the multiple local minima in the confining potential on the number and the stability of stationary solutions.

Quantum confined stark effect on the binding energy of exciton in type II quantum heterostructure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suseel, Rahul K.; Mathew, Vincent

2018-05-01

In this work, we have investigated the effect of external electric field on the strongly confined excitonic properties of CdTe/CdSe/CdTe/CdSe type-II quantum dot heterostructures. Within the effective mass approximation, we solved the Poisson-Schrodinger equations of the exciton in nanostructure using relaxation method in a self-consistent iterative manner. We changed both the external electric field and core radius of the quantum dot, to study the behavior of binding energy of exciton. Our studies show that the external electric field destroys the positional flipped state of exciton by modifying the confining potentials of electron and hole.

Visualization and quantification of two-phase flow in transparent miniature packed beds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Peixi; Papadopoulos, Kyriakos D.

2012-10-01

Optical microscopy was used to visualize the flow of two phases [British Petroleum (BP) oil and an aqueous surfactant phase] in confined space, three-dimensional, transparent, natural porous media. The porous media consisted of water-wet cryolite grains packed inside cylindrical, glass microchannels, thus producing microscopic packed beds. Primary drainage of BP oil displacing an aqueous surfactant phase was studied at capillary numbers that varied between 10-6 and 10-2. The confinement space had a significant effect on the flow behavior. Phenomena of burst motion and capillary fingering were observed for low capillary numbers due to the domination of capillary forces. It was discovered that breakthrough time and capillary number bear a log-log scale linear relationship, based on which a generalized correlation between oil travel distance x and time t was found empirically.

Overview of the Lockheed Martin Compact Fusion Reactor (CFR) Project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McGuire, Thomas

2017-10-01

The Lockheed Martin Compact Fusion Reactor (CFR) Program endeavors to quickly develop a compact fusion power plant with favorable commercial economics and military utility. The CFR uses a diamagnetic, high beta, magnetically encapsulated, linear ring cusp plasma confinement scheme. Major project activities will be reviewed, including the T4B and T5 plasma heating experiments. The goal of the experiments is to demonstrate a suitable plasma target for heating experiments, to characterize the behavior of plasma sources in the CFR configuration and to then heat the plasma with neutral beams, with the plasma transitioning into the high Beta confinement regime. The design and preliminary results of the experiments will be presented, including discussion of predicted behavior, plasma sources, heating mechanisms, diagnostics suite and relevant numerical modeling. ©2017 Lockheed Martin Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

Spatially resolved dielectric constant of confined water and its connection to the non-local nature of bulk water

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schaaf, Christian; Gekle, Stephan

2016-08-01

We use molecular dynamics simulations to compute the spatially resolved static dielectric constant of water in cylindrical and spherical nanopores as occurring, e.g., in protein water pockets or carbon nanotubes. For this, we derive a linear-response formalism which correctly takes into account the dielectric boundary conditions in the considered geometries. We find that in cylindrical confinement, the axial component behaves similar as the local density akin to what is known near planar interfaces. The radial dielectric constant shows some oscillatory features when approaching the surface if their radius is larger than about 2 nm. Most importantly, however, the radial component exhibits pronounced oscillations at the center of the cavity. These surprising features are traced back quantitatively to the non-local dielectric nature of bulk water.

Thermoelectricity in Heterogeneous Nanofluidic Channels.

PubMed

Li, Long; Wang, Qinggong

2018-05-01

Ionic fluids are essential to energy conversion, water desalination, drug delivery, and lab-on-a-chip devices. Ionic transport in nanoscale confinements and complex physical fields still remain elusive. Here, a nanofluidic system is developed using nanochannels of heterogeneous surface properties to investigate transport properties of ions under different temperatures. Steady ionic currents are observed under symmetric temperature gradients, which is equivalent to generating electricity using waste heat (e.g., electronic chips and solar panels). The currents increase linearly with temperature gradient and nonlinearly with channel size. Contributions to ion motion from temperatures and channel properties are evaluated for this phenomenon. The findings provide insights into the study of confined ionic fluids in multiphysical fields, and suggest applications in thermal energy conversion, temperature sensors, and chip-level thermal management. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Visualization and quantification of two-phase flow in transparent miniature packed beds.

PubMed

Zhu, Peixi; Papadopoulos, Kyriakos D

2012-10-01

Optical microscopy was used to visualize the flow of two phases [British Petroleum (BP) oil and an aqueous surfactant phase] in confined space, three-dimensional, transparent, natural porous media. The porous media consisted of water-wet cryolite grains packed inside cylindrical, glass microchannels, thus producing microscopic packed beds. Primary drainage of BP oil displacing an aqueous surfactant phase was studied at capillary numbers that varied between 10(-6) and 10(-2). The confinement space had a significant effect on the flow behavior. Phenomena of burst motion and capillary fingering were observed for low capillary numbers due to the domination of capillary forces. It was discovered that breakthrough time and capillary number bear a log-log scale linear relationship, based on which a generalized correlation between oil travel distance x and time t was found empirically.

Radio frequency discharge with control of plasma potential distribution.

PubMed

Dudnikov, Vadim; Dudnikov, A

2012-02-01

A RF discharge plasma generator with additional electrodes for independent control of plasma potential distribution is proposed. With positive biasing of this ring electrode relative end flanges and longitudinal magnetic field a confinement of fast electrons in the discharge will be improved for reliable triggering of pulsed RF discharge at low gas density and rate of ion generation will be enhanced. In the proposed discharge combination, the electron energy is enhanced by RF field and the fast electron confinement is improved by enhanced positive plasma potential which improves the efficiency of plasma generation significantly. This combination creates a synergetic effect with a significantly improving the plasma generation performance at low gas density. The discharge parameters can be optimized for enhance plasma generation with acceptable electrode sputtering.

Field quantization and squeezed states generation in resonators with time-dependent parameters

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dodonov, V. V.; Klimov, A. B.; Nikonov, D. E.

1992-01-01

The problem of electromagnetic field quantization is usually considered in textbooks under the assumption that the field occupies some empty box. The case when a nonuniform time-dependent dielectric medium is confined in some space region with time-dependent boundaries is studied. The basis of the subsequent consideration is the system of Maxwell's equations in linear passive time-dependent dielectric and magnetic medium without sources.

On stress-state optimization in steel-concrete composite structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brauns, J.; Skadins, U.

2017-10-01

The plastic resistance of a concrete-filled column commonly is given as a sum of the components and taking into account the effect of confinement. The stress state in a composite column is determined by taking into account the non-linear relationship of modulus of elasticity and Poisson’s ratio on the stress level in the concrete core. The effect of confinement occurs at a high stress level when structural steel acts in tension and concrete in lateral compression. The stress state of a composite beam is determined taking into account non-linear dependence on the position of neutral axis. In order to improve the stress state of a composite element and increase the safety of the construction the appropriate strength of steel and concrete has to be applied. The safety of high-stressed composite structures can be achieved by using high-performance concrete (HPC). In this study stress analysis of the composite column and beam is performed with the purpose of obtaining the maximum load-bearing capacity and enhance the safety of the structure by using components with the appropriate strength and by taking into account the composite action. The effect of HPC on the stress state and load carrying capacity of composite elements is analysed.

Nanoimaging of resonating hyperbolic polaritons in linear boron nitride antennas

PubMed Central

Alfaro-Mozaz, F. J.; Alonso-González, P.; Vélez, S.; Dolado, I.; Autore, M.; Mastel, S.; Casanova, F.; Hueso, L. E.; Li, P.; Nikitin, A. Y.; Hillenbrand, R.

2017-01-01

Polaritons in layered materials—including van der Waals materials—exhibit hyperbolic dispersion and strong field confinement, which makes them highly attractive for applications including optical nanofocusing, sensing and control of spontaneous emission. Here we report a near-field study of polaritonic Fabry–Perot resonances in linear antennas made of a hyperbolic material. Specifically, we study hyperbolic phonon–polaritons in rectangular waveguide antennas made of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN, a prototypical van der Waals crystal). Infrared nanospectroscopy and nanoimaging experiments reveal sharp resonances with large quality factors around 100, exhibiting atypical modal near-field patterns that have no analogue in conventional linear antennas. By performing a detailed mode analysis, we can assign the antenna resonances to a single waveguide mode originating from the hybridization of hyperbolic surface phonon–polaritons (Dyakonov polaritons) that propagate along the edges of the h-BN waveguide. Our work establishes the basis for the understanding and design of linear waveguides, resonators, sensors and metasurface elements based on hyperbolic materials and metamaterials. PMID:28589941

Magnetic lineations in the ancient crust of mars

PubMed

Connerney; Acuna; Wasilewski; Ness; Reme; Mazelle; Vignes; Lin; Mitchell; Cloutier

1999-04-30

The Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft, in a highly elliptical polar orbit, obtained vector magnetic field measurements above the surface of Mars (altitudes >100 kilometers). Crustal magnetization, mainly confined to the most ancient, heavily cratered martian highlands, is frequently organized in east-west-trending linear features, the longest extending over 2000 kilometers. Crustal remanent magnetization exceeds that of terrestrial crust by more than an order of magnitude. Groups of quasi-parallel linear features of alternating magnetic polarity were found. They are reminiscent of similar magnetic features associated with sea floor spreading and crustal genesis on Earth but with a much larger spatial scale. They may be a relic of an era of plate tectonics on Mars.

PARVMEC: An Efficient, Scalable Implementation of the Variational Moments Equilibrium Code

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Seal, Sudip K; Hirshman, Steven Paul; Wingen, Andreas

The ability to sustain magnetically confined plasma in a state of stable equilibrium is crucial for optimal and cost-effective operations of fusion devices like tokamaks and stellarators. The Variational Moments Equilibrium Code (VMEC) is the de-facto serial application used by fusion scientists to compute magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) equilibria and study the physics of three dimensional plasmas in confined configurations. Modern fusion energy experiments have larger system scales with more interactive experimental workflows, both demanding faster analysis turnaround times on computational workloads that are stressing the capabilities of sequential VMEC. In this paper, we present PARVMEC, an efficient, parallel version of itsmore » sequential counterpart, capable of scaling to thousands of processors on distributed memory machines. PARVMEC is a non-linear code, with multiple numerical physics modules, each with its own computational complexity. A detailed speedup analysis supported by scaling results on 1,024 cores of a Cray XC30 supercomputer is presented. Depending on the mode of PARVMEC execution, speedup improvements of one to two orders of magnitude are reported. PARVMEC equips fusion scientists for the first time with a state-of-theart capability for rapid, high fidelity analyses of magnetically confined plasmas at unprecedented scales.« less

Theoretical Issues for Plasma Regimes to be Explored by the Ignitor Experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cardinali, A.; Coppi, B.; Sonnino, G.

2014-10-01

At present, the Ignitor experiment is the only one designed and planned to approach and explore ignition regimes under controlled DT burning conditions. The machine parameters have been established on the basis of existing knowledge of the confinement properties of high density plasmas. A variety of improved confinement regimes are expected to be accessible by means of the available ICRH heating power in addition to the prevalent programmable Ohmic heating power and relying on the injection of high velocity pellets for density profile control. The relevance of the various known confinement regimes to the objectives of Ignitor is discussed. Among other theoretical efforts, a non-linear thermal energy balance equation is investigated to study the onset of thermonuclear instability in the plasmas expected to be produced in Ignitor. The equation for the temperature profile in the equilibrium state is solved with the resulting profiles in agreement with those obtained by a full transport code and commonly adopted scalings for them. The evolution of the thermonuclear instability that relies on the solution of the time dependent energy balance equation is obtained. Sponsored in part by the U.S. DOE.

Quantized Self-Assembly of Discotic Rings in a Liquid Crystal Confined in Nanopores

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sentker, Kathrin; Zantop, Arne W.; Lippmann, Milena; Hofmann, Tommy; Seeck, Oliver H.; Kityk, Andriy V.; Yildirim, Arda; Schönhals, Andreas; Mazza, Marco G.; Huber, Patrick

2018-02-01

Disklike molecules with aromatic cores spontaneously stack up in linear columns with high, one-dimensional charge carrier mobilities along the columnar axes, making them prominent model systems for functional, self-organized matter. We show by high-resolution optical birefringence and synchrotron-based x-ray diffraction that confining a thermotropic discotic liquid crystal in cylindrical nanopores induces a quantized formation of annular layers consisting of concentric circular bent columns, unknown in the bulk state. Starting from the walls this ring self-assembly propagates layer by layer towards the pore center in the supercooled domain of the bulk isotropic-columnar transition and thus allows one to switch on and off reversibly single, nanosized rings through small temperature variations. By establishing a Gibbs free energy phase diagram we trace the phase transition quantization to the discreteness of the layers' excess bend deformation energies in comparison to the thermal energy, even for this near room-temperature system. Monte Carlo simulations yielding spatially resolved nematic order parameters, density maps, and bond-orientational order parameters corroborate the universality and robustness of the confinement-induced columnar ring formation as well as its quantized nature.

In situ nano- to microscopic imaging and growth mechanism of electrochemical dissolution (e.g., corrosion) of a confined metal surface

PubMed Central

Merola, C.; Cheng, H.-W.; Schwenzfeier, K.; Kristiansen, K.; Chen, Y.-J.; Dobbs, H. A.; Valtiner, M.

2017-01-01

Reactivity in confinement is central to a wide range of applications and systems, yet it is notoriously difficult to probe reactions in confined spaces in real time. Using a modified electrochemical surface forces apparatus (EC-SFA) on confined metallic surfaces, we observe in situ nano- to microscale dissolution and pit formation (qualitatively similar to previous observation on nonmetallic surfaces, e.g., silica) in well-defined geometries in environments relevant to corrosion processes. We follow “crevice corrosion” processes in real time in different pH-neutral NaCl solutions and applied surface potentials of nickel (vs. Ag|AgCl electrode in solution) for the mica–nickel confined interface of total area ∼0.03 mm2. The initial corrosion proceeds as self-catalyzed pitting, visualized by the sudden appearance of circular pits with uniform diameters of 6–7 μm and depth ∼2–3 nm. At concentrations above 10 mM NaCl, pitting is initiated at the outer rim of the confined zone, while below 10 mM NaCl, pitting is initiated inside the confined zone. We compare statistical analysis of growth kinetics and shape evolution of individual nanoscale deep pits with estimates from macroscopic experiments to study initial pit growth and propagation. Our data and experimental techniques reveal a mechanism that suggests initial corrosion results in formation of an aggressive interfacial electrolyte that rapidly accelerates pitting, similar to crack initiation and propagation within the confined area. These results support a general mechanism for nanoscale material degradation and dissolution (e.g., crevice corrosion) of polycrystalline nonnoble metals, alloys, and inorganic materials within confined interfaces. PMID:28827338

Effect of Short-Circuit Pathways on Water Quality in Selected Confined Aquifers (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McMahon, P. B.

2010-12-01

Confined aquifers in the United States generally contain fewer anthropogenic contaminants than unconfined aquifers because confined aquifers often contain water recharged prior to substantial human development and redox conditions are more reducing, which favors degradation of common contaminants like nitrate and chlorinated solvents. Groundwater in a confined part of the High Plains aquifer near York, Nebraska had an adjusted radiocarbon age of about 2,000 years, and groundwater in a confined part of the Floridan aquifer near Tampa, Florida had apparent ages greater than 60 years on the basis of tritium measurements. Yet compounds introduced more recently into the environment (anthropogenic nitrate and volatile organic compounds) were detected in selected public-supply wells completed in both aquifers. Depth-dependent measurements of flow and chemistry in the pumping supply wells, groundwater age dating, numerical modeling of groundwater flow, and other monitoring data indicated that the confined aquifers sampled by the supply wells were connected to contaminated unconfined aquifers by short-circuit pathways. In the High Plains aquifer, the primary pathways appeared to be inactive irrigation wells screened in both the unconfined and confined aquifers. In the Floridan aquifer, the primary pathways were karst sinkholes and conduits. Heavy pumping in both confined systems exacerbated the problem by reducing the potentiometric surface and increasing groundwater velocities, thus enhancing downward gradients and reducing reaction times for processes like denitrification. From a broader perspective, several confined aquifers in the U.S. have experienced large declines in their potentiometric surfaces because of groundwater pumping and this could increase the potential for contamination in those aquifers, particularly where short-circuit pathways connect them to shallower, contaminated sources of water, such as was observed in York and Tampa.

Quantum Chromodynamics and Color Confinement (confinement 2000) - Proceedings of the International Symposium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suganuma, H.; Fukushima, M.; Toki, H.

The Table of Contents for the book is as follows: * Preface * Opening Address * Monopole Condensation and Quark Confinement * Dual QCD, Effective String Theory, and Regge Trajectories * Abelian Dominance and Monopole Condensation * Non-Abelian Stokes Theorem and Quark Confinement in QCD * Infrared Region of QCD and Confining Configurations * BRS Quartet Mechanism for Color Confinement * Color Confinement and Quartet Mechanism * Numerical Tests of the Kugo-Ojima Color Confinement Criterion * Monopoles and Confinement in Lattice QCD * SU(2) Lattice Gauge Theory at T > 0 in a Finite Box with Fixed Holonomy * Confining and Dirac Strings in Gluodynamics * Cooling, Monopoles, and Vortices in SU(2) Lattice Gauge Theory * Quark Confinement Physics from Lattice QCD * An (Almost) Perfect Lattice Action for SU(2) and SU(3) Gluodynamics * Vortices and Confinement in Lattice QCD * P-Vortices, Nexuses and Effects of Gribov Copies in the Center Gauges * Laplacian Center Vortices * Center Vortices at Strong Couplings and All Couplings * Simulations in SO(3) × Z(2) Lattice Gauge Theory * Exciting a Vortex - the Cost of Confinement * Instantons in QCD * Deformation of Instanton in External Color Fields * Field Strength Correlators in the Instanton Liquid * Instanton and Meron Physics in Lattice QCD * The Dual Ginzburg-Landau Theory for Confinement and the Role of Instantons * Lattice QCD for Quarks, Gluons and Hadrons * Hadronic Spectral Functions in QCD * Universality and Chaos in Quantum Field Theories * Lattice QCD Study of Three Quark Potential * Probing the QCD Vacuum with Flavour Singlet Objects : η' on the Lattice * Lattice Studies of Quarks and Gluons * Quarks and Hadrons in QCD * Supersymmetric Nonlinear Sigma Models * Chiral Transition and Baryon-number Susceptibility * Light Quark Masses in QCD * Chiral Symmetry of Baryons and Baryon Resonances * Confinement and Bound States in QCD * Parallel Session * Off-diagonal Gluon Mass Generation and Strong Randomness of Off-diagonal Gluon Phase in the Maximally Abelian Gauge * On the Colour Confinement and the Minimal Surface * Glueball Mass and String Tension of SU(2) Gluodynamics from Abelian Monopoles and Strings * Application of the Non-Perturbative Renormalization Group to the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio Model at Finite Temperature and Density * Confining Flux-Tube and Hadrons in QCD * Gauge Symmetry Breakdown due to Dynamical Higgs Scalar * Spatial Structure of Quark Cooper Pairs * New Approach to Axial Coupling Constants in the QCD Sum Rule and Instanton Effects * String Breaking on a Lattice * Bethe-Salpeter Approach for Mesons within the Dual Ginzburg-Landau Theory * Gauge Dependence and Matching Procedure of a Nonrelativistic QCD Boundstate Formalism * A Mathematical Approach to the SU(2)-Quark Confinement * Simulations of Odd Flavors QCD by Hybrid Monte Carlo * Non-Perturbative Renormalization Group Analysis of Dynamical Chiral Symmetry Breaking with Beyond Ladder Contributions * Charmonium Physics in Finite Temperature Lattice QCD * From Meson-Nucleon Scattering to Vector Mesons in Nuclear Matter * Symposium Program * List of Participants

Characterization of Bacilli Isolated from the Confined Environments of the Antarctic Concordia Station and the International Space Station

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Timmery, Sophie; Hu, Xiaomin; Mahillon, Jacques

2011-05-01

Bacillus and related genera comprise opportunist and pathogen species that can threaten the health of a crew in confined stations required for long-term missions. In this study, 43 Bacilli from confined environments, that is, the Antarctic Concordia station and the International Space Station, were characterized in terms of virulence and plasmid exchange potentials. No specific virulence feature, such as the production of toxins or unusual antibiotic resistance, was detected. Most of the strains exhibited small or large plasmids, or both, some of which were related to the replicons of the Bacillus anthracis pXO1 and pXO2 virulence elements. One conjugative element, the capacity to mobilize and retromobilize small plasmids, was detected in a Bacillus cereus sensu lato isolate. Six out of 25 tested strains acquired foreign DNA by conjugation. Extremophilic bacteria were identified and exhibited the ability to grow at high pH and salt concentrations or at low temperatures. Finally, the clonal dispersion of an opportunist isolate was demonstrated in the Concordia station. Taken together, these results suggest that the virulence potential of the Bacillus isolates in confined environments tends to be low but genetic transfers could contribute to its capacity to spread.

Low density mesostructures of confined dipolar particles in an external field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Richardi, J.; Weis, J.-J.

2011-09-01

Mesostructures formed by dipolar particles confined between two parallel walls and subjected to an external field are studied by Monte Carlo simulations. The main focus of the work is the structural behavior of the Stockmayer fluid in the low density regime. The dependence of cluster thickness and ordering is estimated as a function of density and wall separation, the two most influential parameters, for large dipole moments and high field strengths. The great sensitivity of the structure to details of the short-range part of the interactions is pointed out. In particular, the attractive part of the Lennard-Jones potential is shown to play a major role in driving chain aggregation. The effect of confinement, evaluated by comparison with results for a bulk system, is most pronounced for a short range hard sphere potential. No evidence is found for a novel "gel-like" phase recently uncovered in low density dipolar colloidal suspensions [A. K. Agarwal and A. Yethiraj, Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 198301 (2009), 10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.198301].

Magnetic charge and photon mass: Physical string singularities, Dirac condition, and magnetic confinement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Evans, Timothy J.; Singleton, Douglas

2018-04-01

We find exact, simple solutions to the Proca version of Maxwell’s equations with magnetic sources. Several properties of these solutions differ from the usual case of magnetic charge with a massless photon: (i) the string singularities of the usual 3-vector potentials become real singularities in the magnetic fields; (ii) the different 3-vector potentials become gauge inequivalent and physically distinct solutions; (iii) the magnetic field depends on r and 𝜃 and thus is no longer rotationally symmetric; (iv) a combined system of electric and magnetic charge carries a field angular momentum even when the electric and magnetic charges are located at the same place (i.e. for dyons); (v) for these dyons, one recovers the standard Dirac condition despite the photon being massive. We discuss the reason for this. We conclude by proposing that the string singularity in the magnetic field of an isolated magnetic charge suggests a confinement mechanism for magnetic charge, similar to the flux tube confinement of quarks in QCD.

Confinement and Mayer cluster expansions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bourgine, Jean-Emile

2014-05-01

In this paper, we study a class of grand-canonical partition functions with a kernel depending on a small parameter ɛ. This class is directly relevant to Nekrasov partition functions of 𝒩 = 2 SUSY gauge theories on the 4d Ω-background, for which ɛ is identified with one of the equivariant deformation parameter. In the Nekrasov-Shatashvili limit ɛ→0, we show that the free energy is given by an on-shell effective action. The equations of motion take the form of a TBA equation. The free energy is identified with the Yang-Yang functional of the corresponding system of Bethe roots. We further study the associated canonical model that takes the form of a generalized matrix model. Confinement of the eigenvalues by the short-range potential is observed. In the limit where this confining potential becomes weak, the collective field theory formulation is recovered. Finally, we discuss the connection with the alternative expression of instanton partition functions as sums over Young tableaux.

Effects of laser radiation field on energies of hydrogen atom in plasmas

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bahar, M. K., E-mail: mussiv58@gmail.com

2015-09-15

In this study, for the first time, the Schrödinger equation with more general exponential cosine screened Coulomb (MGECSC) potential is solved numerically in the presence of laser radiation field within the Ehlotzky approximation using the asymptotic iteration method. The MGECSC potential includes four different potential forms in consideration of different sets of the parameters in the potential. By applying laser field, the total interaction potential of hydrogen atom embedded in plasmas converts to double well-type potential. The plasma screening effects under the influence of laser field as well as confinement effects of laser field on hydrogen atom in Debye andmore » quantum plasmas are investigated by solving the Schrödinger equation with the laser-dressed MGECSC potential. It is resulted that since applying a monochromatic laser field on hydrogen atom embedded in a Debye and quantum plasma causes to shift in the profile of the total interaction potential, the confinement effects of laser field on hydrogen atom in plasmas modeled by the MGECSC potential change localizations of energy states.« less

Monolithically integrated Si gate-controlled light-emitting device: science and properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Kaikai

2018-02-01

The motivation of this study is to develop a p-n junction based light emitting device, in which the light emission is conventionally realized using reverse current driving, by voltage driving. By introducing an additional terminal of insulated gate for voltage driving, a novel three-terminal Si light emitting device is described where both the light intensity and spatial light pattern of the device are controlled by the gate voltage. The proposed light emitting device employs injection-enhanced Si in avalanche mode where electric field confinement occurs in the corner of a reverse-biased p+n junction. It is found that, depending on the bias conditions, the light intensity is either a linear or a quadratic function of the applied gate voltage or the reverse-bias. Since the light emission is based on the avalanching mode, the Si light emitting device offers the potential for very large scale integration-compatible light emitters for inter- or intra-chip signal transmission and contactless functional testing of wafers.

Fabrication and Characterization of Thin Film Ion Implanted Composite Materials for Integrated Nonlinear Optical Devices

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sarkisov, S.; Curley, M.; Williams, E. K.; Wilkosz, A.; Ila, D.; Poker, D. B.; Hensley, D. K.; Smith, C.; Banks, C.; Penn, B.;

Bound states for an induced electric dipole in the presence of an azimuthal magnetic field and a disclination

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bakke, K.

2010-09-15

Based on the Wei-Han-Wei setup [H. Wei, R. Han, and X. Wei, Phys. Rev. Lett. 75, 2071 (1995)], where a neutral particle with an induced electric dipole moment interacts with a configuration of crossed electric and magnetic fields, in this paper we study the bound states that arise when we change the Wei-Han-Wei field configuration and consider a field configuration of crossed azimuthal magnetic field and a radial electric field. Moreover, we consider here a spin-half neutral particle and the presence of a linear topological defect called disclination. We obtain the bound states in two distinct cases: in the firstmore » case, we consider that the wave function of the neutral particle is well-behaved at the origin and vanishes at the asymptotic limit; in the second case, we consider the neutral particle confined to a parabolic potential like a quantum dot.« less

Confining jackets for concrete cylinders using NiTiNb and NiTi shape memory alloy wires

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Choi, Eunsoo; Nam, Tae-Hyun; Yoon, Soon-Jong; Cho, Sun-Kyu; Park, Joonam

2010-05-01

This study used prestrained NiTiNb and NiTi shape memory alloy (SMA) wires to confine concrete cylinders. The recovery stress of the wires was measured with respect to the maximal prestrain of the wires. SMA wires were preelongated during the manufacturing process and then wrapped around concrete cylinders of 150 mm×300 mm (phi×L). Unconfined concrete cylinders were tested for compressive strength and the results were compared to those of cylinders confined by SMA wires. NiTiNb SMA wires increased the compressive strength and ductility of the cylinders due to the confining effect. NiTiNb wires were found to be more effective in increasing the peak strength of the cylinders and dissipating energy than NiTi wires. This study showed the potential of the proposed method to retrofit reinforced concrete columns using SMA wires to protect them from earthquakes.

Anomalous cation diffusion in salt-doped confined bilayer ice.

PubMed

Qiu, Hu; Xue, Minmin; Shen, Chun; Guo, Wanlin

2018-05-17

The diffusive dynamics of aqueous electrolyte solutions in nanoconfined spaces has attracted considerable attention due to their potential applications in desalination, biosensors and supercapacitors. Here we show by molecular dynamics simulations that lithium and sodium ions diffuse at a rate at least an order of magnitude higher than that of water molecules when the ions are trapped in an ice bilayer confined between two parallel plates. This novel picture is in sharp contrast to the prevailing view that the diffusion rate of ions is comparable to or even lower than that of water in both bulk and confined solutions. The predicted high ion mobility stems from frequent lateral hopping of ions along the coordination sites inside the hydrogen-bonding network connecting the two water layers of the ice bilayer. This anomalous diffusion should provide new insights into the physics of confined aqueous electrolytes.

Suppressed ion-scale turbulence in a hot high-β plasma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schmitz, L.; Fulton, D. P.; Ruskov, E.; Lau, C.; Deng, B. H.; Tajima, T.; Binderbauer, M. W.; Holod, I.; Lin, Z.; Gota, H.; Tuszewski, M.; Dettrick, S. A.; Steinhauer, L. C.

2016-12-01

An economic magnetic fusion reactor favours a high ratio of plasma kinetic pressure to magnetic pressure in a well-confined, hot plasma with low thermal losses across the confining magnetic field. Field-reversed configuration (FRC) plasmas are potentially attractive as a reactor concept, achieving high plasma pressure in a simple axisymmetric geometry. Here, we show that FRC plasmas have unique, beneficial microstability properties that differ from typical regimes in toroidal confinement devices. Ion-scale fluctuations are found to be absent or strongly suppressed in the plasma core, mainly due to the large FRC ion orbits, resulting in near-classical thermal ion confinement. In the surrounding boundary layer plasma, ion- and electron-scale turbulence is observed once a critical pressure gradient is exceeded. The critical gradient increases in the presence of sheared plasma flow induced via electrostatic biasing, opening the prospect of active boundary and transport control in view of reactor requirements.

Plasmonic waveguide with folded stubs for highly confined terahertz propagation and concentration.

PubMed

Ye, Longfang; Xiao, Yifan; Liu, Na; Song, Zhengyong; Zhang, Wei; Liu, Qing Huo

2017-01-23

We proposed a novel planar terahertz (THz) plasmonic waveguide with folded stub arrays to achieve excellent terahertz propagation performance with tight field confinement and compact size based on the concept of spoof surface plasmon polaritons (spoof SPPs). It is found that the waveguide propagation characteristics can be directly manipulated by increasing the length of the folded stubs without increasing its lateral dimension, which exhibits much lower asymptotic frequency of the dispersion relation and even tighter terahertz field confinement than conventional plasmonic waveguides with rectangular stub arrays. Based on this waveguiding scheme, a terahertz concentrator with gradual step-length folded stubs is proposed to achieve high terahertz field enhancement, and an enhancement factor greater than 20 is demonstrated. This work offers a new perspective on very confined terahertz propagation and concentration, which may have promising potential applications in various integrated terahertz plasmonic circuits and devices, terahertz sensing and terahertz nonlinear optics.

Study of quantum confinement effects in ZnO nanostructures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Movlarooy, Tayebeh

2018-03-01

Motivation to fact that zinc oxide nanowires and nanotubes with successful synthesis and the mechanism of formation, stability and electronic properties have been investigated; in this study the structural, electronic properties and quantum confinement effects of zinc oxide nanotubes and nanowires with different diameters are discussed. The calculations within density functional theory and the pseudo potential approximation are done. The electronic structure and energy gap for Armchair and zigzag ZnO nanotubes with a diameter of about 4 to 55 Angstrom and ZnO nanowires with a diameter range of 4 to 23 Å is calculated. The results revealed that due to the quantum confinement effects, by reducing the diameter of nanowires and nanotubes, the energy gap increases. Zinc oxide semiconductor nanostructures since having direct band gap with size-dependent and quantum confinement effect are recommended as an appropriate candidate for making nanoscale optoelectronic devices.

Suppressed ion-scale turbulence in a hot high-β plasma

PubMed Central

Schmitz, L.; Fulton, D. P.; Ruskov, E.; Lau, C.; Deng, B. H.; Tajima, T.; Binderbauer, M. W.; Holod, I.; Lin, Z.; Gota, H.; Tuszewski, M.; Dettrick, S. A.; Steinhauer, L. C.

2016-01-01

An economic magnetic fusion reactor favours a high ratio of plasma kinetic pressure to magnetic pressure in a well-confined, hot plasma with low thermal losses across the confining magnetic field. Field-reversed configuration (FRC) plasmas are potentially attractive as a reactor concept, achieving high plasma pressure in a simple axisymmetric geometry. Here, we show that FRC plasmas have unique, beneficial microstability properties that differ from typical regimes in toroidal confinement devices. Ion-scale fluctuations are found to be absent or strongly suppressed in the plasma core, mainly due to the large FRC ion orbits, resulting in near-classical thermal ion confinement. In the surrounding boundary layer plasma, ion- and electron-scale turbulence is observed once a critical pressure gradient is exceeded. The critical gradient increases in the presence of sheared plasma flow induced via electrostatic biasing, opening the prospect of active boundary and transport control in view of reactor requirements. PMID:28000675

Cauchy flights in confining potentials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garbaczewski, Piotr

2010-03-01

We analyze confining mechanisms for Lévy flights evolving under an influence of external potentials. Given a stationary probability density function (pdf), we address the reverse engineering problem: design a jump-type stochastic process whose target pdf (eventually asymptotic) equals the preselected one. To this end, dynamically distinct jump-type processes can be employed. We demonstrate that one “targeted stochasticity” scenario involves Langevin systems with a symmetric stable noise. Another derives from the Lévy-Schrödinger semigroup dynamics (closely linked with topologically induced super-diffusions), which has no standard Langevin representation. For computational and visualization purposes, the Cauchy driver is employed to exemplify our considerations.

Fracture patterns at lava-ice contacts on Kokostick Butte, OR, and Mazama Ridge, Mount Rainier, WA: Implications for flow emplacement and cooling histories

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lodge, Robert W. D.; Lescinsky, David T.

2009-09-01

Cooling lava commonly develop polygonal joints that form equant hexagonal columns. Such fractures are formed by thermal contraction resulting in an isotropic tensional stress regime. However, certain linear cooling fracture patterns observed at some lava-ice contacts do not appear to fit the model for formation of cooling fractures and columns because of their preferred orientations. These fracture types include sheet-like (ladder-like rectangular fracture pattern), intermediate (pseudo-aligned individual column-bounding fractures), and pseudopillow (straight to arcuate fractures with perpendicular secondary fractures caused by water infiltration) fractures that form the edges of multiple columns along a single linear fracture. Despite the relatively common occurrence of these types of fractures at lava-ice contacts, their significance and mode of formation have not been fully explored. This study investigates the stress regimes responsible for producing these unique fractures and their significance for interpreting cooling histories at lava-ice contacts. Data was collected at Kokostick Butte dacite flow at South Sister, OR, and Mazama Ridge andesite flow at Mount Rainier, WA. Both of these lava flows have been interpreted as being emplaced into contact with ice and linear fracture types have been observed on their ice-contacted margins. Two different mechanisms are proposed for the formation of linear fracture networks. One possible mechanism for the formation of linear fracture patterns is marginal bulging. Melting of confining ice walls will create voids into which flowing lava can deform resulting in margin-parallel tension causing margin-perpendicular fractures. If viewed from the ice-wall, these fractures would be steeply dipping, linear fractures. Another possible mechanism for the formation of linear fracture types is gravitational settling. Pure shear during compression and settling can result in a tensional environment with similar consequences as marginal inflation. In addition to this, horizontally propagating cooling fractures will be directly influenced by viscous strain caused by the settling of the flow. This would cause preferential opening of fractures horizontally, resulting in vertically oriented fractures. It is important to note that the proposed model for the formation of linear fractures is dependent on contact with and confinement by glacial ice. The influence of flow or movement on cooling fracture patterns has not been extensively discussed in previous modeling of cooling fractures. Rapid cooling of lava by the interaction with water and ice will increase the ability to the capture and preserve perturbations in the stress regime.

Evaporation rate of water in hydrophobic confinement.

PubMed

Sharma, Sumit; Debenedetti, Pablo G

2012-03-20

The drying of hydrophobic cavities is believed to play an important role in biophysical phenomena such as the folding of globular proteins, the opening and closing of ligand-gated ion channels, and ligand binding to hydrophobic pockets. We use forward flux sampling, a molecular simulation technique, to compute the rate of capillary evaporation of water confined between two hydrophobic surfaces separated by nanoscopic gaps, as a function of gap, surface size, and temperature. Over the range of conditions investigated (gaps between 9 and 14 Å and surface areas between 1 and 9 nm(2)), the free energy barrier to evaporation scales linearly with the gap between hydrophobic surfaces, suggesting that line tension makes the predominant contribution to the free energy barrier. The exponential dependence of the evaporation rate on the gap between confining surfaces causes a 10 order-of-magnitude decrease in the rate when the gap increases from 9 to 14 Å. The computed free energy barriers are of the order of 50 kT and are predominantly enthalpic. Evaporation rates per unit area are found to be two orders of magnitude faster in confinement by the larger (9 nm(2)) than by the smaller (1 nm(2)) surfaces considered here, at otherwise identical conditions. We show that this rate enhancement is a consequence of the dependence of hydrophobic hydration on the size of solvated objects. For sufficiently large surfaces, the critical nucleus for the evaporation process is a gap-spanning vapor tube.

Energy Evolution Mechanism and Confining Pressure Effect of Granite under Triaxial Loading-Unloading Cycles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Hao; Miao, Sheng-jun

2018-05-01

Rock mass undergoes some deformational failure under the action of external loads, a process known to be associated with energy dissipation and release. A triaxial loading-unloading cycle test was conducted on granite in order to investigate the energy evolution pattern of rock mass under the action of external loads. The study results demonstrated: (1) The stress peaks increased by 50% and 22% respectively and the pre-peak weakening became more apparent in the ascending process of the confining pressure from 10MPa to 30MPa; the area enclosed by the hysteresis loop corresponding to 30MPa diminished by nearly 60% than that corresponding to 10MPa, indicating a higher confining pressure prohibits rock mass from plastic deformation and shifts strain toward elastic deformation. (2) In the vicinity of the strength limit, the slope of dissipation energy increased to 1.6 from the original 0.7 and the dissipation energy grew at an accelerating rate, demonstrating stronger propagation and convergence of internal cracks. (3) At a pressure of 70% of the stress peak, the elastic energy of the granite accounted for 88% of its peak value, suggesting the rock mechanical energy from the outside mostly changes into the elastic energy inside the rock, with little energy loss.(4) Prior to test specimen failure, the axial bearing capacity dropped with a decreasing confining pressure in an essentially linear way, and the existence of confirming pressure played a role in stabilizing the axial bearing capacity.

Synthesis of C4 and C8 Chemicals from Ethanol on MgO-Incorporated Faujasite Catalysts with Balanced Confinement Effects and Basicity.

PubMed

Zhang, Lu; Pham, Tu N; Faria, Jimmy; Santhanaraj, Daniel; Sooknoi, Tawan; Tan, Qiaohua; Zhao, Zheng; Resasco, Daniel E

2016-04-07

A new type of catalyst has been designed to adjust the basicity and level of molecular confinement of KNaX faujasites by controlled incorporation of Mg through ion exchange and precipitation of extraframework MgO clusters at varying loadings. The catalytic performance of these catalysts was compared in the conversion of C2 and C4 aldehydes to value-added products. The product distribution depends on both the level of acetaldehyde conversion and the fraction of magnesium as extraframework species. These species form rather uniform and highly dispersed nanostructures that resemble nanopetals. Specifically, the sample containing Mg only in the form of exchangeable Mg(2+) ions has much lower activity than those in which a significant fraction of Mg exists as extraframework MgO. Both the (C6+C8)/C4 and C8/C6 ratios increase with additional extraframework Mg at high acetaldehyde conversion levels. These differences in product distribution can be attributed to 1) higher basicity density on the samples with extraframework species, and 2) enhanced confinement inside the zeolite cages in the presence of these species. Additionally, the formation of linear or aromatic C8 aldehyde compounds depends on the position on the crotonaldehyde molecule from which abstraction of a proton occurs. In addition, catalysts with different confinement effects result in different C8 products. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Subsystem functional and the missing ingredient of confinement physics in density functionals.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Armiento, Rickard Roberto; Mattsson, Ann Elisabet; Hao, Feng

2010-08-01

The subsystem functional scheme is a promising approach recently proposed for constructing exchange-correlation density functionals. In this scheme, the physics in each part of real materials is described by mapping to a characteristic model system. The 'confinement physics,' an essential physical ingredient that has been left out in present functionals, is studied by employing the harmonic-oscillator (HO) gas model. By performing the potential {yields} density and the density {yields} exchange energy per particle mappings based on two model systems characterizing the physics in the interior (uniform electron-gas model) and surface regions (Airy gas model) of materials for the HO gases,more » we show that the confinement physics emerges when only the lowest subband of the HO gas is occupied by electrons. We examine the approximations of the exchange energy by several state-of-the-art functionals for the HO gas, and none of them produces adequate accuracy in the confinement dominated cases. A generic functional that incorporates the description of the confinement physics is needed.« less

The development of a laterally confined laboratory fan delta under sediment supply reduction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Xiaofeng; Wang, Siqiang; Wu, Xi; Xu, Shun; Li, Zhangyong

2016-03-01

In previous fan delta experiments, the effect of lateral confinement was generally ignored as these fans were usually unconfined with semiconical geometries. However, in gorge areas, fan development is usually laterally confined by valley walls. This study investigates autogenic processes of fan deltas in a laterally confined experimental tank. The experiment is divided into three phases. The sediment supply is held constant within each phase, so the autogenic processes of the fan are separated from the allogenic forcings. Results indicate that laterally confined fan deltas have higher progradation and aggradation potential, more regular channel braiding, and more even transverse sedimentation than unconfined fans. Besides, responses of fan deltas to sediment supply reduction are investigated in this research. At the initiation of the second and third phases, sediment feed rates are instantaneously reduced so that the allogenic forcings are predominant. Observations show that under sediment supply reduction, channelization on fan deltas are more pronounced and durations of the fluvial cycles are longer. The adjustment of fan morphology becomes slower as the self-regulation capacity of the fan decreases with reduced sediment supply.

Cassava dreg as replacement of corn in goat kid diets.

PubMed

Ferraz, Lucíola Vilarim; Guim, Adriana; Véras, Robson Magno Liberal; de Carvalho, Francisco Fernando Ramos; de Freitas, Marciela Thais Dino

2018-02-01

The effects of corn replacement by cassava dreg in diets of crossbred goat kids were evaluated. We tested the impacts of 0, 33, 66 and 100% replacement on intake, digestibility, feeding behaviour, performance and carcass characteristics. Thirty-six goat kids, aged between 4 and 5 months and with initial body weights of 17.61 ± 1.98 kg, were used in a completely randomised design. Analysis of regression revealed a negative linear effect on neutral detergent fibre (NDF) intake and a positive linear effect on non-fibrous carbohydrates (NFC) and hydrocyanic acids (HCN) intake. Cassava dreg use had a positive linear effect on organic matter digestibility and non-fibrous carbohydrates. Based on our results, cassava dreg use did not negatively impact animal performance, feeding behaviour and carcass characteristics, suggesting that it may replace corn up to 100% in the diets of confined goat kids.

H∞ control for uncertain linear system over networks with Bernoulli data dropout and actuator saturation.

PubMed

Yu, Jimin; Yang, Chenchen; Tang, Xiaoming; Wang, Ping

2018-03-01

This paper investigates the H ∞ control problems for uncertain linear system over networks with random communication data dropout and actuator saturation. The random data dropout process is modeled by a Bernoulli distributed white sequence with a known conditional probability distribution and the actuator saturation is confined in a convex hull by introducing a group of auxiliary matrices. By constructing a quadratic Lyapunov function, effective conditions for the state feedback-based H ∞ controller and the observer-based H ∞ controller are proposed in the form of non-convex matrix inequalities to take the random data dropout and actuator saturation into consideration simultaneously, and the problem of non-convex feasibility is solved by applying cone complementarity linearization (CCL) procedure. Finally, two simulation examples are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed new design techniques. Copyright © 2018 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Analytical Modeling of Groundwater Seepages to St. Lucie Estuary

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, J.; Yeh, G.; Hu, G.

2008-12-01

In this paper, six analytical models describing hydraulic interaction of stream-aquifer systems were applied to St Lucie Estuary (SLE) River Estuaries. These are analytical solutions for: (1) flow from a finite aquifer to a canal, (2) flow from an infinite aquifer to a canal, (3) the linearized Laplace system in a seepage surface, (4) wave propagation in the aquifer, (5) potential flow through stratified unconfined aquifers, and (6) flow through stratified confined aquifers. Input data for analytical solutions were obtained from monitoring wells and river stages at seepage-meter sites. Four transects in the study area are available: Club Med, Harbour Ridge, Lutz/MacMillan, and Pendarvis Cove located in the St. Lucie River. The analytical models were first calibrated with seepage meter measurements and then used to estimate of groundwater discharges into St. Lucie River. From this process, analytical relationships between the seepage rate and river stages and/or groundwater tables were established to predict the seasonal and monthly variation in groundwater seepage into SLE. It was found the seepage rate estimations by analytical models agreed well with measured data for some cases but only fair for some other cases. This is not unexpected because analytical solutions have some inherently simplified assumptions, which may be more valid for some cases than the others. From analytical calculations, it is possible to predict approximate seepage rates in the study domain when the assumptions underlying these analytical models are valid. The finite and infinite aquifer models and the linearized Laplace method are good for sites Pendarvis Cove and Lutz/MacMillian, but fair for the other two sites. The wave propagation model gave very good agreement in phase but only fairly agreement in magnitude for all four sites. The stratified unconfined and confined aquifer models gave similarly good agreements with measurements at three sites but poorly at the Club Med site. None of the analytical models presented here can fit the data at this site. To give better estimates at all sites numerical modeling that couple river hydraulics and groundwater flow involving less simplifications of and assumptions for the system may have to be adapted.

A Comparison of Classical Force-Fields for Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Lubricants

PubMed Central

Ewen, James P.; Gattinoni, Chiara; Thakkar, Foram M.; Morgan, Neal; Spikes, Hugh A.; Dini, Daniele

2016-01-01

For the successful development and application of lubricants, a full understanding of their complex nanoscale behavior under a wide range of external conditions is required, but this is difficult to obtain experimentally. Nonequilibrium molecular dynamics (NEMD) simulations can be used to yield unique insights into the atomic-scale structure and friction of lubricants and additives; however, the accuracy of the results depend on the chosen force-field. In this study, we demonstrate that the use of an accurate, all-atom force-field is critical in order to; (i) accurately predict important properties of long-chain, linear molecules; and (ii) reproduce experimental friction behavior of multi-component tribological systems. In particular, we focus on n-hexadecane, an important model lubricant with a wide range of industrial applications. Moreover, simulating conditions common in tribological systems, i.e., high temperatures and pressures (HTHP), allows the limits of the selected force-fields to be tested. In the first section, a large number of united-atom and all-atom force-fields are benchmarked in terms of their density and viscosity prediction accuracy of n-hexadecane using equilibrium molecular dynamics (EMD) simulations at ambient and HTHP conditions. Whilst united-atom force-fields accurately reproduce experimental density, the viscosity is significantly under-predicted compared to all-atom force-fields and experiments. Moreover, some all-atom force-fields yield elevated melting points, leading to significant overestimation of both the density and viscosity. In the second section, the most accurate united-atom and all-atom force-field are compared in confined NEMD simulations which probe the structure and friction of stearic acid adsorbed on iron oxide and separated by a thin layer of n-hexadecane. The united-atom force-field provides an accurate representation of the structure of the confined stearic acid film; however, friction coefficients are consistently under-predicted and the friction-coverage and friction-velocity behavior deviates from that observed using all-atom force-fields and experimentally. This has important implications regarding force-field selection for NEMD simulations of systems containing long-chain, linear molecules; specifically, it is recommended that accurate all-atom potentials, such as L-OPLS-AA, are employed. PMID:28773773

A Comparison of Classical Force-Fields for Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Lubricants.

PubMed

Ewen, James P; Gattinoni, Chiara; Thakkar, Foram M; Morgan, Neal; Spikes, Hugh A; Dini, Daniele

2016-08-02

For the successful development and application of lubricants, a full understanding of their complex nanoscale behavior under a wide range of external conditions is required, but this is difficult to obtain experimentally. Nonequilibrium molecular dynamics (NEMD) simulations can be used to yield unique insights into the atomic-scale structure and friction of lubricants and additives; however, the accuracy of the results depend on the chosen force-field. In this study, we demonstrate that the use of an accurate, all-atom force-field is critical in order to; (i) accurately predict important properties of long-chain, linear molecules; and (ii) reproduce experimental friction behavior of multi-component tribological systems. In particular, we focus on n -hexadecane, an important model lubricant with a wide range of industrial applications. Moreover, simulating conditions common in tribological systems, i.e., high temperatures and pressures (HTHP), allows the limits of the selected force-fields to be tested. In the first section, a large number of united-atom and all-atom force-fields are benchmarked in terms of their density and viscosity prediction accuracy of n -hexadecane using equilibrium molecular dynamics (EMD) simulations at ambient and HTHP conditions. Whilst united-atom force-fields accurately reproduce experimental density, the viscosity is significantly under-predicted compared to all-atom force-fields and experiments. Moreover, some all-atom force-fields yield elevated melting points, leading to significant overestimation of both the density and viscosity. In the second section, the most accurate united-atom and all-atom force-field are compared in confined NEMD simulations which probe the structure and friction of stearic acid adsorbed on iron oxide and separated by a thin layer of n -hexadecane. The united-atom force-field provides an accurate representation of the structure of the confined stearic acid film; however, friction coefficients are consistently under-predicted and the friction-coverage and friction-velocity behavior deviates from that observed using all-atom force-fields and experimentally. This has important implications regarding force-field selection for NEMD simulations of systems containing long-chain, linear molecules; specifically, it is recommended that accurate all-atom potentials, such as L-OPLS-AA, are employed.

Monte Carlo study of one-dimensional confined fluids with Gay-Berne intermolecular potential

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moradi, M.; Hashemi, S.

2011-11-01

The thermodynamic quantities of a one dimensional system of particles with Gay-Berne model potential confined between walls have been obtained by means of Monte Carlo computer simulations. For a number of temperatures, the systems were considered and their density profiles, order parameter, pressure, configurational temperature and average potential energy per particle are reported. The results show that by decreasing the temperature, the soft particles become more ordered and they align to the walls and also they don't show any tendency to be near the walls at very low temperatures. We have also changed the structure of the walls by embedding soft ellipses in them, this change increases the total density near the wall whereas, increasing or decreasing the order parameter depend on the angle of embedded ellipses.

Brane-world black hole solutions via a confining potential

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Heydari-Fard, M.; Sepangi, H. R.; Razmi, H.

2007-09-15

Using a confining potential, we consider spherically symmetric vacuum (static black hole) solutions in a brane-world scenario. Working with a constant curvature bulk, two interesting cases/solutions are studied. A Schwarzschild-de Sitter black hole solution similar to the standard solution in the presence of a cosmological constant is obtained which confirms the idea that an extra term in the field equations on the brane can play the role of a positive cosmological constant and may be used to account for the accelerated expansion of the universe. The other solution is one in which we can have a proper potential to explainmore » the galaxy rotation curves without assuming the existence of dark matter and without working with new modified theories (modified Newtonian dynamics)« less

Initial experimental test of a helicon plasma based mass filter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gueroult, R.; Evans, E. S.; Zweben, S. J.; Fisch, N. J.; Levinton, F.

2016-06-01

High throughput plasma mass separation requires rotation control in a high density multi-species plasmas. A preliminary mass separation device based on a helicon plasma operating in gas mixtures and featuring concentric biasable ring electrodes is introduced. Plasma profile shows strong response to electrode biasing. In light of floating potential measurements, the density response is interpreted as the consequence of a reshaping of the radial electric field in the plasma. This field can be made confining or de-confining depending on the imposed potential at the electrodes, in a way which is consistent with single particle orbit radial stability. Concurrent spatially resolved spectroscopic measurements suggest ion separation, with heavy to light ion emission line ratio increasing with radius when a specific potential gradient is applied to the electrodes.

Phase Separation from Electron Confinement at Oxide Interfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scopigno, N.; Bucheli, D.; Caprara, S.; Biscaras, J.; Bergeal, N.; Lesueur, J.; Grilli, M.

2016-01-01

Oxide heterostructures are of great interest for both fundamental and applicative reasons. In particular, the two-dimensional electron gas at the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 or LaTiO3/SrTiO3 interfaces displays many different properties and functionalities. However, there are clear experimental indications that the interface electronic state is strongly inhomogeneous and therefore it is crucial to investigate possible intrinsic mechanisms underlying this inhomogeneity. Here, the electrostatic potential confining the electron gas at the interface is calculated self-consistently, finding that such confinement may induce phase separation, to avoid a thermodynamically unstable state with a negative compressibility. This provides a robust mechanism for the inhomogeneous character of these interfaces.

Improved Confinement by Edge Multi-pulse Turbulent Heating on HT-6M Tokamak

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mao, Jian-shan; Luo, Jia-rong; Li, Jian-gang; Pan, Yuan; Wang, Mao-quan; Liu, Bao-hua; Wan, Yuan-xi; Li, Qiang; Wu, Xin-chao; Liang, Yun-feng; Xu, Yu-hong; Yu, Chang-xuan

1997-10-01

In the recent experiment on HT-6M tokamak, an improved ohmic confinement phase has been observed after application of the edge multi-pulse turbulent heating, and variance of plasma current ΔIp/Ip is about 14-20%. The improved edge plasma confinement phase is characterized by (a) increased average electron density bar Ne and electron temperature Te; (b) reduced Hα radiation from the edge; (c) steeper density and temperature profiles at the edge; (d) a more negative radial electric field over a region of ~ 5 mm deep inside the limiter; (e) a deeper electrostatic potential well at the edge; (f) reduced magnetic fluctuations at the edge.

Signal quality improvement using cylindrical confinement for laser induced breakdown spectroscopy.

PubMed

Hou, Zongyu; Wang, Zhe; Liu, Jianmin; Ni, Weidou; Li, Zheng

2013-07-01

In our previous work, we found that there was great potential to improve the pulse-to-pulse signal repeatability using a moderate cylindrical cavity confinement. However, the improvement was achieved only with certain experimental parameters; while under other conditions, there was no improvement or even worse repeatability. In the present work, the experimental configuration was redesigned and unexpected uncertainty from the variation of the laser and cavity alignment and the laser ablated aerosols were avoided. With these two improvements, we demonstrated that the cavity can always increase the signal repeatability. In addition, image taken by ICCD verified that the confinement improved the stability of the plasma morphology as expected.

Wave function for harmonically confined electrons in time-dependent electric and magnetostatic fields.

PubMed

Zhu, Hong-Ming; Chen, Jin-Wang; Pan, Xiao-Yin; Sahni, Viraht

2014-01-14

We derive via the interaction "representation" the many-body wave function for harmonically confined electrons in the presence of a magnetostatic field and perturbed by a spatially homogeneous time-dependent electric field-the Generalized Kohn Theorem (GKT) wave function. In the absence of the harmonic confinement - the uniform electron gas - the GKT wave function reduces to the Kohn Theorem wave function. Without the magnetostatic field, the GKT wave function is the Harmonic Potential Theorem wave function. We further prove the validity of the connection between the GKT wave function derived and the system in an accelerated frame of reference. Finally, we provide examples of the application of the GKT wave function.

Exciton and core-level electron confinement effects in transparent ZnO thin films

PubMed Central

Mosquera, Adolfo A.; Horwat, David; Rashkovskiy, Alexandr; Kovalev, Anatoly; Miska, Patrice; Wainstein, Dmitry; Albella, Jose M.; Endrino, Jose L.

2013-01-01

The excitonic light emission of ZnO films have been investigated by means of photoluminescence measurements in ultraviolet-visible region. Exciton confinement effects have been observed in thin ZnO coatings with thickness below 20 nm. This is enhanced by a rise of the intensity and a blue shift of the photoluminescence peak after extraction of the adsorbed species upon annealing in air. It is found experimentally that the free exciton energy (determined by the photoluminescence peak) is inversely proportional to the square of the thickness while core-level binding energy is inversely proportional to the thickness. These findings correlate very well with the theory of kinetic and potential confinements.

Quantum Dot Photonics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kinnischtzke, Laura A.

We report on several experiments using single excitons confined to single semiconductor quantum dots (QDs). Electric and magnetic fields have previously been used as experimental knobs to understand and control individual excitons in single quantum dots. We realize new ways of electric field control by changing materials and device geometry in the first two experiments with strain-based InAs QDs. A standard Schottky diode heterostructure is demonstrated with graphene as the Schottky gate material, and its performance is bench-marked against a diode with a standard gate material, semi-transparent nickel-chromium (NiCr). This change of materials increases the photon collection rate by eliminating absorption in the metallic NiCr layer. A second set of experiments investigates the electric field response of QDs as a possible metrology source. A linear voltage potential drop in a plane near the QDs is used to describe how the spatially varying voltage profile is also imparted on the QDs. We demonstrate a procedure to map this voltage profile as a preliminary route towards a full quantum sensor array. Lastly, InAs QDs are explored as potential spin-photon interfaces. We describe how a magnetic field is used to realize a reversible exchange of information between light and matter, including a discussion of the polarization-dependence of the photoluminesence, and how that can be linked to the spin of a resident electron or hole. We present evidence of this in two wavelength regimes for InAs quantum dots, and discuss how an external magnetic field informs the spin physics of these 2-level systems. This thesis concludes with the discovery of a new class of quantum dots. As-yet unidentified defect states in single layer tungsten diselenide (WSe 2 ) are shown to host quantum light emission. We explore the spatial extent of electron confinement and tentatively identify a radiative lifetime of 1 ns for these single photon emitters.

Structure, thermodynamic properties, and phase diagrams of few colloids confined in a spherical pore.

PubMed

Paganini, Iván E; Pastorino, Claudio; Urrutia, Ignacio

2015-06-28

We study a system of few colloids confined in a small spherical cavity with event driven molecular dynamics simulations in the canonical ensemble. The colloidal particles interact through a short range square-well potential that takes into account the basic elements of attraction and excluded-volume repulsion of the interaction among colloids. We analyze the structural and thermodynamic properties of this few-body confined system in the framework of inhomogeneous fluids theory. Pair correlation function and density profile are used to determine the structure and the spatial characteristics of the system. Pressure on the walls, internal energy, and surface quantities such as surface tension and adsorption are also analyzed for a wide range of densities and temperatures. We have characterized systems from 2 to 6 confined particles, identifying distinctive qualitative behavior over the thermodynamic plane T - ρ, in a few-particle equivalent to phase diagrams of macroscopic systems. Applying the extended law of corresponding states, the square well interaction is mapped to the Asakura-Oosawa model for colloid-polymer mixtures. We link explicitly the temperature of the confined square-well fluid to the equivalent packing fraction of polymers in the Asakura-Oosawa model. Using this approach, we study the confined system of few colloids in a colloid-polymer mixture.

Electrical control of charged carriers and excitons in atomically thin materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Ke; De Greve, Kristiaan; Jauregui, Luis A.; Sushko, Andrey; High, Alexander; Zhou, You; Scuri, Giovanni; Taniguchi, Takashi; Watanabe, Kenji; Lukin, Mikhail D.; Park, Hongkun; Kim, Philip

2018-02-01

Electrical confinement and manipulation of charge carriers in semiconducting nanostructures are essential for realizing functional quantum electronic devices1-3. The unique band structure4-7 of atomically thin transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) offers a new route towards realizing novel 2D quantum electronic devices, such as valleytronic devices and valley-spin qubits8. 2D TMDs also provide a platform for novel quantum optoelectronic devices9-11 due to their large exciton binding energy12,13. However, controlled confinement and manipulation of electronic and excitonic excitations in TMD nanostructures have been technically challenging due to the prevailing disorder in the material, preventing accurate experimental control of local confinement and tunnel couplings14-16. Here we demonstrate a novel method for creating high-quality heterostructures composed of atomically thin materials that allows for efficient electrical control of excitations. Specifically, we demonstrate quantum transport in the gate-defined, quantum-confined region, observing spin-valley locked quantized conductance in quantum point contacts. We also realize gate-controlled Coulomb blockade associated with confinement of electrons and demonstrate electrical control over charged excitons with tunable local confinement potentials and tunnel couplings. Our work provides a basis for novel quantum opto-electronic devices based on manipulation of charged carriers and excitons.

The confining effectiveness of NiTiNb and NiTi SMA wire jackets for concrete

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Choi, Eunsoo; Chung, Young-Soo; Choi, Jun-Hyeok; Kim, Hong-Taek; Lee, Hacksoo

2010-03-01

The purpose of this study is to assess the confining effectiveness of shape memory alloy (SMA) wire jackets for concrete. The performance of SMA wire jackets was compared to that of steel jackets. A prestrained martensitic SMA wire was wrapped around a concrete cylinder and then heated by a heating jacket. In the process, a confining stress around the cylinder was developed in the SMA wire due to the shape memory effect; this jacketing method can increase the strength and ductility of the cylinder under an axial compressive load. In this study, NiTi and NiTiNb SMA wires of 1.0 mm in diameter were used for the confinement. Recovery tests were conducted on the wires to assess their recovery and residual stress. The confinement by SMA wire jackets increased the strength slightly and greatly increased the ductility compared to the strength and ductility of plain concrete cylinders. The NiTiNb SMA wire jacket showed better performance than that of the NiTi SMA wire jacket. The confining effectiveness of the SMA wire jackets of this study was estimated to be similar to that of the steel jackets. This study showed the potential of the SMA wire jacketing method to retrofit reinforced concrete columns and protect them from seismic risks.

Structure, thermodynamic properties, and phase diagrams of few colloids confined in a spherical pore

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Paganini, Iván E.; Pastorino, Claudio, E-mail: pastor@cnea.gov.ar; Urrutia, Ignacio, E-mail: iurrutia@cnea.gov.ar

2015-06-28

We study a system of few colloids confined in a small spherical cavity with event driven molecular dynamics simulations in the canonical ensemble. The colloidal particles interact through a short range square-well potential that takes into account the basic elements of attraction and excluded-volume repulsion of the interaction among colloids. We analyze the structural and thermodynamic properties of this few-body confined system in the framework of inhomogeneous fluids theory. Pair correlation function and density profile are used to determine the structure and the spatial characteristics of the system. Pressure on the walls, internal energy, and surface quantities such as surfacemore » tension and adsorption are also analyzed for a wide range of densities and temperatures. We have characterized systems from 2 to 6 confined particles, identifying distinctive qualitative behavior over the thermodynamic plane T − ρ, in a few-particle equivalent to phase diagrams of macroscopic systems. Applying the extended law of corresponding states, the square well interaction is mapped to the Asakura-Oosawa model for colloid-polymer mixtures. We link explicitly the temperature of the confined square-well fluid to the equivalent packing fraction of polymers in the Asakura-Oosawa model. Using this approach, we study the confined system of few colloids in a colloid-polymer mixture.« less

Role of density modulation in the spatially resolved dynamics of strongly confined liquids

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Saw, Shibu, E-mail: shibu.saw@sydney.edu.au; Dasgupta, Chandan, E-mail: cdgupta@physics.iisc.ernet.in

Confinement by walls usually produces a strong modulation in the density of dense liquids near the walls. Using molecular dynamics simulations, we examine the effects of the density modulation on the spatially resolved dynamics of a liquid confined between two parallel walls, using a resolution of a fraction of the interparticle distance in the liquid. The local dynamics is quantified by the relaxation time associated with the temporal autocorrelation function of the local density. We find that this local relaxation time varies in phase with the density modulation. The amplitude of the spatial modulation of the relaxation time can bemore » quite large, depending on the characteristics of the wall and thermodynamic parameters of the liquid. To disentangle the effects of confinement and density modulation on the spatially resolved dynamics, we compare the dynamics of a confined liquid with that of an unconfined one in which a similar density modulation is induced by an external potential. We find several differences indicating that density modulation alone cannot account for all the features seen in the spatially resolved dynamics of confined liquids. We also examine how the dynamics near a wall depends on the separation between the two walls and show that the features seen in our simulations persist in the limit of large wall separation.« less

Structure and dynamics of water confined in a graphene nanochannel under gigapascal high pressure: dependence of friction on pressure and confinement.

PubMed

Yang, Lei; Guo, Yanjie; Diao, Dongfeng

2017-05-31

Recently, water flow confined in nanochannels has become an interesting topic due to its unique properties and potential applications in nanofluidic devices. The trapped water is predicted to experience high pressure in the gigapascal regime. Theoretical and experimental studies have reported various novel structures of the confined water under high pressure. However, the role of this high pressure on the dynamic properties of water has not been elucidated to date. In the present study, the structure evolution and interfacial friction behavior of water constrained in a graphene nanochannel were investigated via molecular dynamics simulations. Transitions of the confined water to different ice phases at room temperature were observed in the presence of lateral pressure at the gigapascal level. The friction coefficient at the water/graphene interface was found to be dependent on the lateral pressure and nanochannel height. Further theoretical analyses indicate that the pressure dependence of friction is related to the pressure-induced change in the structure of water and the confinement dependence results from the variation in the water/graphene interaction energy barrier. These findings provide a basic understanding of the dynamics of the nanoconfined water, which is crucial in both fundamental and applied science.

Barometric response functions from borehole water level records and quantification of aquifer vulnerability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Odling, N. E.; Serrano, R. P.; Hussein, M.; Guadagnini, A.; Riva, M.

2013-12-01

In confined and semi-confined aquifers, borehole water levels respond to fluctuations in barometric pressure and this response can be used to estimate the properties of aquifer confining layers. We use this response as indicator of groundwater vulnerability for the semi-confined Chalk aquifer in East Yorkshire, UK. Time series data of borehole water levels are corrected for Earth tides and recharge, and barometric response functions (BRFs) estimated using cross-spectral deconvolution-averaging techniques. The resulting BRFs are fitted using a theoretical model of the BRF gain and phase for a semi-confined aquifer (Rojstaczer, 1988) to obtain confining layer properties. For all of the boreholes, non-zero hydraulic diffusivities for the confining layer were found indicating that the aquifer is semi-confined. A ';characteristic time scale' based on the hydraulic and pneumatic diffusivities of the confining layer is introduced as a measure of the degree of aquifer confinement and therefore groundwater vulnerability. The analytical model assumes that the confining layer and aquifer are homogeneous. However, in nature, confining layers are heterogeneous and groundwater vulnerability dominated by the presence of high diffusivity, high flow pathways through the confining layer to the aquifer. A transient numerical model (MODFLOW) was constructed to test the impact of such heterogeneities on the BRF. In the model, an observed barometric pressure time series is used as a boundary condition applied to the upper surface of the top unit of the model (representing the confining layer) and BRFs determined from the time series of model heads in the bottom unit (representing the aquifer). The results from a numerical model with a homogeneous confining layer were found to accurately reproduce the BRFs from a modified version of the analytical model. The introduction of a localized, high diffusive block in the confining layer was found to modify the BRF, reducing the gain amplitude while having limited impact on the phase. It was found that the BRF reflects the presence of a fully penetrating, high diffusivity heterogeneity up to several hundred meters distant from the observation borehole, and shows little sensitivity to the heterogeneity's horizontal dimension. Heterogeneities that are 50% partially penetrating do not significantly impact on the BRF and 90% penetrating heterogeneities can only be detected when large and close to the observation borehole. These results show that BRF gain may be particularly useful in detecting the presence of fully penetrating heterogeneities of high diffusivity within confining layers that potentially enhance groundwater vulnerability. This research has been funded in part through the EU ITN ';IMVUL' (PITN-GA-2008-212298). Reference: Rojstaczer, S. (1988) Determination of fluid-flow properties from the response of water levels in wells to atmospheric loading, Water Resources Research, 24(11), 1927-1938.

Real-tiem Adaptive Control Scheme for Superior Plasma Confinement

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Alexander Trunov, Ph.D.

2001-06-01

During this Phase I project, IOS, in collaboration with our subcontractors at General Atomics, Inc., acquired and analyzed measurement data on various plasma equilibrium modes. We developed a Matlab-based toolbox consisting of linear and neural network approximators that are capable of learning and predicting, with accuracy, the behavior of plasma parameters. We also began development of the control algorithm capable of using the model of the plasma obtained by the neural network approximator.

["Anxiety glistens on our brows". Dream reports in literary works on the horrors of ghettos and concentration camps].

PubMed

Klein, J

1991-06-01

Dream reports occupy a special place in literature about confinement in concentration camps and ghettos (Robert Antelme, Charlotte Delbo, Anna Langfus, André Schwarz-Bart). They are central elements in the narrative that relate the anxiety of those threatened with destruction more faithfully than any realistic account could. They disrupt the chronological linearity and rationality and represent in images horror beyond memory or description.

Shape dependent resonant modes of skyrmions in magnetic nanodisks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Yizhou; Lake, Roger K.; Zang, Jiadong

2018-06-01

Resonant modes of a single Néel type skyrmion in confined nanodisks with varying aspect ratios (AR) are investigated using micromagnetic simulations. The AR of the skyrmion has a non-linear dependence on that of the nanodisk. The power spectra of skyrmions in nanodisks with AR ranging from 1.0 to 2.0 are calculated. With the increase of disk AR, multiple new modes emerge in the power spectrum, which originate from the broken rotational symmetry of both the nanodisk and the skyrmion. All of the spin wave modes are resolved by spatial maps of the real time magnetization fluctuations. New mixed modes such as rotation modes and oscillation modes with different azimuthal and radial components are identified in the elliptical nanodisk with AR = 1.8. The new emergent modes may provide new approaches to skyrmion-based oscillators and spin wave sources in confined structures.

A Micromechanics-Based Elastoplastic Damage Model for Rocks with a Brittle-Ductile Transition in Mechanical Response

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Kun; Zhu, Qi-zhi; Chen, Liang; Shao, Jian-fu; Liu, Jian

2018-06-01

As confining pressure increases, crystalline rocks of moderate porosity usually undergo a transition in failure mode from localized brittle fracture to diffused damage and ductile failure. This transition has been widely reported experimentally for several decades; however, satisfactory modeling is still lacking. The present paper aims at modeling the brittle-ductile transition process of rocks under conventional triaxial compression. Based on quantitative analyses of experimental results, it is found that there is a quite satisfactory linearity between the axial inelastic strain at failure and the confining pressure prescribed. A micromechanics-based frictional damage model is then formulated using an associated plastic flow rule and a strain energy release rate-based damage criterion. The analytical solution to the strong plasticity-damage coupling problem is provided and applied to simulate the nonlinear mechanical behaviors of Tennessee marble, Indiana limestone and Jinping marble, each presenting a brittle-ductile transition in stress-strain curves.

Superconducting magnets for the RAON electron cyclotron resonance ion source.

PubMed

Choi, S; Kim, Y; Hong, I S; Jeon, D

2014-02-01

The RAON linear accelerator of Rare Isotope Science Project has been developed since 2011, and the superconducting magnet for ECRIS was designed. The RAON ECR ion source was considered as a 3rd generation source. The fully superconducting magnet has been designed for operating using 28 GHz radio frequency. The RAON ECRIS operates in a minimum B field configuration which means that a magnetic sextupole field for radial confinement is superimposed with a magnetic mirror field for axial confinement. The highest field strength reaches 3.5 T on axis and 2 T at the plasma chamber wall for operating frequency up to 28 GHz. In this paper, the design results are presented of optimized superconducting magnet consisting of four solenoids and sextupole. The prototype magnet for ECRIS was fabricated and tested to verify the feasibility of the design. On the basis of test results, a fully superconducting magnet will be fabricated and tested.

Scaling behaviour for the water transport in nanoconfined geometries

PubMed Central

Chiavazzo, Eliodoro; Fasano, Matteo; Asinari, Pietro; Decuzzi, Paolo

2014-01-01

The transport of water in nanoconfined geometries is different from bulk phase and has tremendous implications in nanotechnology and biotechnology. Here molecular dynamics is used to compute the self-diffusion coefficient D of water within nanopores, around nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes and proteins. For almost 60 different cases, D is found to scale linearly with the sole parameter θ as D(θ)=DB[1+(DC/DB−1)θ], with DB and DC the bulk and totally confined diffusion of water, respectively. The parameter θ is primarily influenced by geometry and represents the ratio between the confined and total water volumes. The D(θ) relationship is interpreted within the thermodynamics of supercooled water. As an example, such relationship is shown to accurately predict the relaxometric response of contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging. The D(θ) relationship can help in interpreting the transport of water molecules under nanoconfined conditions and tailoring nanostructures with precise modulation of water mobility. PMID:24699509

Stability properties and fast ion confinement of hybrid tokamak plasma configurations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Graves, J. P.; Brunetti, D.; Pfefferle, D.; Faustin, J. M. P.; Cooper, W. A.; Kleiner, A.; Lanthaler, S.; Patten, H. W.; Raghunathan, M.

2015-11-01

In hybrid scenarios with flat q just above unity, extremely fast growing tearing modes are born from toroidal sidebands of the near resonant ideal internal kink mode. New scalings of the growth rate with the magnetic Reynolds number arise from two fluid effects and sheared toroidal flow. Non-linear saturated 1/1 dominant modes obtained from initial value stability calculation agree with the amplitude of the 1/1 component of a 3D VMEC equilibrium calculation. Viable and realistic equilibrium representation of such internal kink modes allow fast ion studies to be accurately established. Calculations of MAST neutral beam ion distributions using the VENUS-LEVIS code show very good agreement of observed impaired core fast ion confinement when long lived modes occur. The 3D ICRH code SCENIC also enables the establishment of minority RF distributions in hybrid plasmas susceptible to saturated near resonant internal kink modes.

Overview of the Helicity Injected Torus (HIT) Program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Redd, A. J.; Jarboe, T. R.; Hamp, W. T.; Nelson, B. A.; O'Neill, R. G.; Sieck, P. E.; Smith, R. J.; Sutphin, G. L.; Wrobel, J. S.

2007-06-01

The Helicity Injected Torus with Steady Inductive Helicity Injection (HIT-SI) consists of a "bowtie"-shaped axisymmetric confinement region, with two half-torus helicity injectors mounted on each side of the axisymmetric flux conserver [Sieck et al, IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci., v.33, p.723 (2005); Jarboe, Fusion Technology, v.36, p.85 (1999)]. Current and flux are driven sinusoidally with time in each injector, with the goal of generating and sustaining an axisymmetric spheromak in the main confinement region. Improvements in machine conditioning have enabled systematic study of HIT-SI discharges with significant toroidal current ITOR, including cases in which this current ITOR switches sign one or more times during the discharge. Statistical studies of all HIT-SI discharges to date demonstrate a minimum injected power to form significant ITOR, and that the maximum ITOR scales approximately linearly with the total injected power.

Hydraulic fracturing and permeability enhancement in granite from subcritical/brittle to supercritical/ductile conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Watanabe, Noriaki; Egawa, Motoki; Sakaguchi, Kiyotoshi; Ishibashi, Takuya; Tsuchiya, Noriyoshi

2017-06-01

Hydraulic fracturing experiments were conducted at 200-450°C by injecting water into cylindrical granite samples containing a borehole at an initial effective confining pressure of 40 MPa. Intensive fracturing was observed at all temperatures, but the fracturing characteristics varied with temperature, perhaps due to differences in the water viscosity. At the lowest considered temperature (200°C), fewer fractures propagated linearly from the borehole, and the breakdown pressure was twice the confining pressure. However, these characteristics disappeared with increasing temperature; the fracture pattern shifted toward the formation of a greater number of shorter fractures over the entire body of the sample, and the breakdown pressure decreased greatly. Hydraulic fracturing significantly increased the permeability at all temperatures, and this permeability enhancement was likely to form a productive geothermal reservoir even at the highest considered temperature, which exceeded both the brittle-ductile transition temperature of granite and the critical temperature of water.

The Drift Chamber for the Experiment to Study the Nature of the Confinement

DOE PAGES

Berdnikov, Vladimir V.; Somov, S. V.; Pentchev, Lubomir; ...

2015-01-01

The GlueX experiment was designed to search for hybrid mesons with exotic quantum numbers using a beam of linearly polarized photons incident on a liquid hydrogen target. The spectrum of these states and their mass splitting from normal mesons may yield information on confinement. The description of the GlueX spectrometer and Forward Drift Chambers (FDC) as a part of track reconstruction system is presented in the text. FDC‘s are multiwire chambers with cathode and anode read-out. The system allows reconstructing tracks of charged particles with ~200mkm accuracy with angles from 20° up to 1°. One of the detector features ismore » 1.64% X 0 material amount in the active area. The cathode gain calibration procedure is presented. The results of such calibration using cosmic data and beam data are presented as well.« less

Nonmonotonic magnetoresistance of a two-dimensional viscous electron-hole fluid in a confined geometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alekseev, P. S.; Dmitriev, A. P.; Gornyi, I. V.; Kachorovskii, V. Yu.; Narozhny, B. N.; Titov, M.

2018-02-01

Ultrapure conductors may exhibit hydrodynamic transport where the collective motion of charge carriers resembles the flow of a viscous fluid. In a confined geometry (e.g., in ultra-high-quality nanostructures), the electronic fluid assumes a Poiseuille-type flow. Applying an external magnetic field tends to diminish viscous effects leading to large negative magnetoresistance. In two-component systems near charge neutrality, the hydrodynamic flow of charge carriers is strongly affected by the mutual friction between the two constituents. At low fields, the magnetoresistance is negative, however, at high fields the interplay between electron-hole scattering, recombination, and viscosity results in a dramatic change of the flow profile: the magnetoresistance changes its sign and eventually becomes linear in very high fields. This nonmonotonic magnetoresistance can be used as a fingerprint to detect viscous flow in two-component conducting systems.

Novel Biomarker Discovery for Diagnostic and Therapeutic Strategies in Prostate Cancer

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-06-01

PURPOSE: to identify high affinity aptamers that distinguish between prostate cancers that are likely to remain organ- confined and those with potential to...metastasize. SCOPE: This was a pilot project to generate RNA aptamers that selectively react with a prostate cancer cell line that remains confined... Aptamer -Facilitated Biomarker Discovery (AptaBiD) technology. TASKS AND PROGRESS: (1) Non-metastatic LNCaP-Pro-5 cells, metastasis-prone LNCaP-LN3

Novel Biomarker Discovery for Diagnostic and Therapeutic Strategies in Prostate Cancer

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-03-01

aptamers that distinguish between prostate cancers that are likely to remain organ-confined and those with potential to metastasize, The scope of this...pilot is to generate DNA aptamers that selectively react with a prostate cancer cell line that remains confined to the prostate (LNCaP) vs. a...subpopulation of this cell line that has acquired the ability to metastasize aggressively, employing Cell-Selex and Aptamer -Facilitated Biomarker Discovery

Localized excitations at the Mott insulator-superfluid interfaces for confined Bose-Einstein condensates.

PubMed

Mariani, Eros; Stern, Ady

2005-12-31

In this Letter, we derive the dispersion relation of the surface waves at the interfaces between Mott-insulating and superfluid domains for a two-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensate in an optical lattice subjected to a confining potential. We then calculate their contribution to the heat capacity of the system and show how its low-temperature scaling allows an experimental test of the existence and properties of Mott insulator-superfluid domains.

High Thermal Rectifications Using Liquid Crystals Confined into a Conical Frustum

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Silva, José Guilherme; Fumeron, Sébastien; Moraes, Fernando; Pereira, Erms

2018-05-01

In recent years, phononics, that studies thermal analogs of electronic devices, has become an important subject due to the need for better use of energy resources influenced by growing demand. On developing of these analogs, for example, thermal diodes, a successful route is the design of nanostructured materials (e.g., carbon nanotubes). However, these materials entail increased costs due to the use of complex techniques/equipments, while alternative cheaper materials present nearly comparable efficiency. In this work, we investigate how a thermal diode made by an alternative material (nematic liquid crystal), confined in a conical frustum capillary, can be optimized to achieve high rectifications. In such capillary tube, the thermotropic nematic liquid crystal 5CB produces an axially anisotropic defect called escaped radial disclination. With the molecular director field of such structure, we obtain the thermal conductivity tensor of the diode and solve the steady-state regime of Laplace and Fourier equations using the finite element method. We observed the anisotropy of the system with the non-linear temperature dependences of the molecular thermal conductivities that rectify the heat flux at rates up to 1266% at room temperature. Studying the sensitivity of the system with respect to shape and molecular and thermal aspects, we found that the improved thermal diode is suitable to be miniaturized and applied on well-determined areas, and it is robust against variations of the inward pumped heat flux. This work contributes to the usage of liquid crystals in non-display devices, having potential applications on controlling the heat flux through surfaces.

Silicon Photonics: All-Optical Devices for Linear and Nonlinear Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Driscoll, Jeffrey B.

Silicon photonics has grown rapidly since the first Si electro-optic switch was demonstrated in 1987, and the field has never grown more quickly than it has over the past decade, fueled by milestone achievements in semiconductor processing technologies for low loss waveguides, high-speed Si modulators, Si lasers, Si detectors, and an enormous toolbox of passive and active integrated devices. Silicon photonics is now on the verge of major commercialization breakthroughs, and optical communication links remain the force driving integrated and Si photonics towards the first commercial telecom and datacom transceivers; however other potential and future applications are becoming uncovered and refined as researchers reveal the benefits of manipulating photons on the nanoscale. This thesis documents an exploration into the unique guided-wave and nonlinear properties of deeply-scaled high-index-contrast sub-wavelength Si waveguides. It is found that the tight confinement inherent to single-mode channel waveguides on the silicon-on-insulator platform lead to a rich physics, which can be leveraged for new devices extending well beyond simple passive interconnects and electro-optic devices. The following chapters will concentrate, in detail, on a number of unique physical features of Si waveguides and extend these attributes towards new and interesting devices. Linear optical properties and nonlinear optical properties are investigated, both of which are strongly affected by tight optical confinement of the guided waveguide modes. As will be shown, tight optical confinement directly results in strongly vectoral modal components, where the electric and magnetic fields of the guided modes extend into all spatial dimensions, even along the axis of propagation. In fact, the longitudinal electric and magnetic field components can be just as strong as the transverse fields, directly affecting the modal group velocity and energy transport properties since the longitudinal fields are shown to contribute no time-averaged momentum. Furthermore, the vectoral modal components, in conjunction with the tensoral nature of the third-order susceptibility of Si, lead to nonlinear properties which are dependent on waveguide orientation with respect to the Si parent crystal and the construction of the modal electric field components. This consideration is used to maximize effective nonlinearity and realize nonlinear Kerr gratings along specific waveguide trajectories. Tight optical confinement leads to a natural enhancement of the intrinsically large effective nonlinearty of Si waveguides, and in fact, the effective nonlinearty can be made to be almost 106 times greater in Si waveguides than that of standard single-mode fiber. Such a large nonlinearity motivates chip-scale all-optical signal processing techniques. Wavelength conversion by both four-wave-mixing (FWM) and cross-phase-modulation (XPM) will be discussed, including a technique that allows for enhanced broadband discrete FWM over arbitrary spectral spans by modulating both the linear and nonlinear waveguide properties through periodic changes in waveguide geometry. This quasi-phase-matching approach has very real applications towards connecting mature telecom sources detectors and components to other spectral regimes, including the mid-IR. Other signal processing techniques such as all-optical modulation format conversion via XPM will also be discussed. This thesis will conclude by looking at ways to extend the bandwidth capacity of Si waveguide interconnects on chip. As the number of processing cores continues to scale as a means for computational performance gains, on-chip link capacity will become an increasingly important issue. Metallic traces have severe limitations and are envisioned to eventually bow to integrated photonic links. The aggregate bandwidth supported by a single waveguide link will therefore become a crucial consideration as integrated photonics approaches the CPU. One way to increase aggregate bandwidth is to utilize different eigen-modes of a multimode waveguide, and integrated waveguide mode-muxes and demuxes for achieving simultaneous mode-division-multiplexing and wavelength-division-multiplexing will be demonstrated.

Overview of Recent Alcator C-Mod Highlights

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marmar, Earl; C-Mod Team

2013-10-01

Analysis and modeling of recent C-Mod experiments has yielded significant results across multiple research topics. I-mode provides routine access to high confinement plasma (H98 up to 1.2) in quasi-steady state, without large ELMs; pedestal pressure and impurity transport are regulated by short-wavelength EM waves, and core turbulence is reduced. Multi-channel transport is being investigated in Ohmic and RF-heated plasmas, using advanced diagnostics to validate non-linear gyrokinetic simulations. Results from the new field-aligned ICRF antenna, including significantly reduced high-Z metal impurity contamination, and greatly improved load-tolerance, are being understood through antenna-plasma modeling. Reduced LHCD efficiency at high density correlates with parametric decay and enhanced edge absorption. Strong flow drive and edge turbulence suppression are seen from LHRF, providing new approaches for plasma control. Plasma density profiles directly in front of the LH coupler show non-linear modifications, with important consequences for wave coupling. Disruption-mitigation experiments using massive gas injection at multiple toroidal locations show unexpected results, with potentially significant implications for ITER. First results from a novel accelerator-based PMI diagnostic are presented. What would be the world's first actively-heated high-temperature advanced tungsten divertor is designed and ready for construction. Conceptual designs are being developed for an ultra-advanced divertor facility, Alcator DX, to attack key FNSF and DEMO heat-flux challenges integrated with a high-performance core. Supported by USDOE.

Observing the Confinement Potential of Bacterial Pore-Forming Toxin Receptors Inside Rafts with Nonblinking Eu3+-Doped Oxide Nanoparticles

PubMed Central

Türkcan, Silvan; Masson, Jean-Baptiste; Casanova, Didier; Mialon, Geneviève; Gacoin, Thierry; Boilot, Jean-Pierre; Popoff, Michel R.; Alexandrou, Antigoni

2012-01-01

We track single toxin receptors on the apical cell membrane of MDCK cells with Eu-doped oxide nanoparticles coupled to two toxins of the pore-forming toxin family: α-toxin of Clostridium septicum and ε-toxin of Clostridium perfringens. These nonblinking and photostable labels do not perturb the motion of the toxin receptors and yield long uninterrupted trajectories with mean localization precision of 30 nm for acquisition times of 51.3 ms. We were thus able to study the toxin-cell interaction at the single-molecule level. Toxins bind to receptors that are confined within zones of mean area 0.40 ± 0.05 μm2. Assuming that the receptors move according to the Langevin equation of motion and using Bayesian inference, we determined mean diffusion coefficients of 0.16 ± 0.01 μm2/s for both toxin receptors. Moreover, application of this approach revealed a force field within the domain generated by a springlike confining potential. Both toxin receptors were found to experience forces characterized by a mean spring constant of 0.30 ± 0.03 pN/μm at 37°C. Furthermore, both toxin receptors showed similar distributions of diffusion coefficient, domain area, and spring constant. Control experiments before and after incubation with cholesterol oxidase and sphingomyelinase show that these two enzymes disrupt the confinement domains and lead to quasi-free motion of the toxin receptors. Our control data showing cholesterol and sphingomyelin dependence as well as independence of actin depolymerization and microtubule disruption lead us to attribute the confinement of both receptors to lipid rafts. These toxins require oligomerization to develop their toxic activity. The confined nature of the toxin receptors leads to a local enhancement of the toxin monomer concentration and may thus explain the virulence of this toxin family. PMID:22677383

Thickness of the Mississippi River Valley confining unit, eastern Arkansas

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gonthier, Gerard; Mahon, Gary L.

1993-01-01

Concern arose in the late 1980s over the vulnerability of the Mississippi Valley alluvial aquifer to contamination from potential surface sources related to pesticide or fertilizer use, industrial activity, landfills, or livestock operations. In 1990 a study was begun to locate areas in Arkansas where the groundwater flow system is susceptible to contamination by surface contaminants. As a part of that effort, the thickness of the clay confining unit overlying the alluvial aquifer in eastern Arkansas was mapped. The study area included all or parts of 27 counties in eastern Arkansas that are underlain by the alluvial aquifer and its overlying confining unit. A database of well attributes was compiled based on data from driller's logs and from published data and stored in computer files. A confining-unit thickness map was created from the driller's-log database using geographic information systems technology. A computer program was then used to contour the data. Where the confining unit is present, it ranges in thickness from 0 feet in many locations in the study area to 140 feet in northeastern Greene County and can vary substantially over short distances. Although general trends in the thickness of the confining unit are apparent, the thickness has great spatial variability. An apparent relation exists between thickness of the confining unit and spatial variability in thickness. In areas where the thickness of the confining unit is 40 feet or less, such as in Clay, eastern Craighead, northwestern Mississippi, and Woodruff Counties, thickness of the unit tends robe more uniform than in areas where the thickness of the unit generally exceeds 40 feet, such as in Arkansas, Lonoke, and Prairie Counties. At some sites the confining unit is very thick compared to its thickness in the immediate surrounding area. Locations of abandoned Mississippi River meander channels generally coincide with location of locally thick confining unit. Deposition of the confining unit onto the coarser alluvial aquifer deposits has reduced the relief of the land surface. Hence, the altitude of the top of the alluvial aquifer varies more than the altitude of the land surface and is indicative of a depositional setting.

Enhanced gas absorption in the ionic liquid 1-n-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)amide ([hmim][Tf2N]) confined in silica slit pores: a molecular simulation study.

PubMed

Shi, Wei; Luebke, David R

2013-05-07

Two-dimensional NPxyT and isostress-osmotic (N2PxyTf1) Monte Carlo simulations were used to compute the density and gas absorption properties of the ionic liquid (IL) 1-n-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)amide ([hmim][Tf2N]) confined in silica slit pores (25-45 Å). Self-diffusivity values for both gas and IL were calculated from NVE molecular dynamics simulations using both smooth and atomistic potential models for silica. The simulations showed that the molar volume of [hmim][Tf2N] confined in 25-45-Å silica slit pores is 12-31% larger than that of the bulk IL at 313-573 K and 1 bar. The amounts of CO2, H2, and N2 absorbed in the confined IL are 1.1-3 times larger than those in the bulk IL because of the larger molar volume of the confined IL compared to the bulk IL. The CO2, N2, and H2 molecules are generally absorbed close to the silica wall where the IL density is very low. This arrangement causes the self-diffusivities of these gases in the confined IL to be 2-8 times larger than those in the bulk IL at 298-573 K. The solubilities of water in the confined and bulk ILs are similar, which is likely due to strong water interactions with [hmim][Tf2N] through hydrogen bonding, so that the molar volume of the confined IL plays a less important role in determining the H2O solubility. Water molecules are largely absorbed in the IL-rich region rather than close to the silica wall. The self-diffusivities of water correlate with those of the confined IL. The confined IL exhibits self-diffusivities larger than those of the bulk IL at lower temperatures, but smaller than those of the bulk IL at higher temperatures. The findings from our simulations are consistent with available experimental data for similar confined IL systems.

The Inverse Problem for Confined Aquifer Flow: Identification and Estimation With Extensions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Loaiciga, Hugo A.; MariñO, Miguel A.

1987-01-01

The contributions of this work are twofold. First, a methodology for estimating the elements of parameter matrices in the governing equation of flow in a confined aquifer is developed. The estimation techniques for the distributed-parameter inverse problem pertain to linear least squares and generalized least squares methods. The linear relationship among the known heads and unknown parameters of the flow equation provides the background for developing criteria for determining the identifiability status of unknown parameters. Under conditions of exact or overidentification it is possible to develop statistically consistent parameter estimators and their asymptotic distributions. The estimation techniques, namely, two-stage least squares and three stage least squares, are applied to a specific groundwater inverse problem and compared between themselves and with an ordinary least squares estimator. The three-stage estimator provides the closer approximation to the actual parameter values, but it also shows relatively large standard errors as compared to the ordinary and two-stage estimators. The estimation techniques provide the parameter matrices required to simulate the unsteady groundwater flow equation. Second, a nonlinear maximum likelihood estimation approach to the inverse problem is presented. The statistical properties of maximum likelihood estimators are derived, and a procedure to construct confidence intervals and do hypothesis testing is given. The relative merits of the linear and maximum likelihood estimators are analyzed. Other topics relevant to the identification and estimation methodologies, i.e., a continuous-time solution to the flow equation, coping with noise-corrupted head measurements, and extension of the developed theory to nonlinear cases are also discussed. A simulation study is used to evaluate the methods developed in this study.

Interfacial patterns in magnetorheological fluids: Azimuthal field-induced structures.

PubMed

Dias, Eduardo O; Lira, Sérgio A; Miranda, José A

2015-08-01

Despite their practical and academic relevance, studies of interfacial pattern formation in confined magnetorheological (MR) fluids have been largely overlooked in the literature. In this work, we present a contribution to this soft matter research topic and investigate the emergence of interfacial instabilities when an inviscid, initially circular bubble of a Newtonian fluid is surrounded by a MR fluid in a Hele-Shaw cell apparatus. An externally applied, in-plane azimuthal magnetic field produced by a current-carrying wire induces interfacial disturbances at the two-fluid interface, and pattern-forming structures arise. Linear stability analysis, weakly nonlinear theory, and a vortex sheet approach are used to access early linear and intermediate nonlinear time regimes, as well as to determine stationary interfacial shapes at fully nonlinear stages.

Robust Control of Uncertain Systems via Dissipative LQG-Type Controllers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Joshi, Suresh M.

2000-01-01

Optimal controller design is addressed for a class of linear, time-invariant systems which are dissipative with respect to a quadratic power function. The system matrices are assumed to be affine functions of uncertain parameters confined to a convex polytopic region in the parameter space. For such systems, a method is developed for designing a controller which is dissipative with respect to a given power function, and is simultaneously optimal in the linear-quadratic-Gaussian (LQG) sense. The resulting controller provides robust stability as well as optimal performance. Three important special cases, namely, passive, norm-bounded, and sector-bounded controllers, which are also LQG-optimal, are presented. The results give new methods for robust controller design in the presence of parametric uncertainties.

Breaking the acoustic diffraction limit via nonlinear effect and thermal confinement for potential deep-tissue high-resolution imaging

PubMed Central

Yuan, Baohong; Pei, Yanbo; Kandukuri, Jayanth

2013-01-01

Our recently developed ultrasound-switchable fluorescence (USF) imaging technique showed that it was feasible to conduct high-resolution fluorescence imaging in a centimeter-deep turbid medium. Because the spatial resolution of this technique highly depends on the ultrasound-induced temperature focal size (UTFS), minimization of UTFS becomes important for further improving the spatial resolution USF technique. In this study, we found that UTFS can be significantly reduced below the diffraction-limited acoustic intensity focal size via nonlinear acoustic effects and thermal confinement by appropriately controlling ultrasound power and exposure time, which can be potentially used for deep-tissue high-resolution imaging. PMID:23479498

Coulomb double helical structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kamimura, Tetsuo; Ishihara, Osamu

2012-01-01

Structures of Coulomb clusters formed by dust particles in a plasma are studied by numerical simulation. Our study reveals the presence of various types of self-organized structures of a cluster confined in a prolate spheroidal electrostatic potential. The stable configurations depend on a prolateness parameter for the confining potential as well as on the number of dust particles in a cluster. One-dimensional string, two-dimensional zigzag structure and three-dimensional double helical structure are found as a result of the transition controlled by the prolateness parameter. The formation of stable double helical structures resulted from the transition associated with the instability of angular perturbations on double strings. Analytical perturbation study supports the findings of numerical simulations.

Summary and evaluation of hydraulic property data available for the Hanford Site upper basalt confined aquifer system

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Spane, F.A. Jr.; Vermeul, V.R.

Pacific Northwest Laboratory, as part of the Hanford Site Ground-Water Surveillance Project, examines the potential for offsite migration of contamination within the upper basalt confined aquifer system. For the past 40 years, hydrologic testing of the upper basalt confined aquifer has been conducted by a number of Hanford Site programs. Hydraulic property estimates are important for evaluating aquifer flow characteristics (i.e., ground-water flow patterns, flow velocity, transport travel time). Presented are the first comprehensive Hanford Site-wide summary of hydraulic properties for the upper basalt confined aquifer system (i.e., the upper Saddle Mountains Basalt). Available hydrologic test data were reevaluated usingmore » recently developed diagnostic test analysis methods. A comparison of calculated transmissivity estimates indicates that, for most test results, a general correspondence within a factor of two between reanalysis and previously reported test values was obtained. For a majority of the tests, previously reported values are greater than reanalysis estimates. This overestimation is attributed to a number of factors, including, in many cases, a misapplication of nonleaky confined aquifer analysis methods in previous analysis reports to tests that exhibit leaky confined aquifer response behavior. Results of the test analyses indicate a similar range for transmissivity values for the various hydro-geologic units making up the upper basalt confined aquifer. Approximately 90% of the calculated transmissivity values for upper basalt confined aquifer hydrogeologic units occur within the range of 10{sup 0} to 10{sup 2} m{sup 2}/d, with 65% of the calculated estimate values occurring between 10{sup 1} to 10{sup 2} m{sup 2}d. These summary findings are consistent with the general range of values previously reported for basalt interflow contact zones and sedimentary interbeds within the Saddle Mountains Basalt.« less

Alternative model of space-charge-limited thermionic current flow through a plasma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Campanell, M. D.

2018-04-01

It is widely assumed that thermionic current flow through a plasma is limited by a "space-charge-limited" (SCL) cathode sheath that consumes the hot cathode's negative bias and accelerates upstream ions into the cathode. Here, we formulate a fundamentally different current-limited mode. In the "inverse" mode, the potentials of both electrodes are above the plasma potential, so that the plasma ions are confined. The bias is consumed by the anode sheath. There is no potential gradient in the neutral plasma region from resistivity or presheath. The inverse cathode sheath pulls some thermoelectrons back to the cathode, thereby limiting the circuit current. Thermoelectrons entering the zero-field plasma region that undergo collisions may also be sent back to the cathode, further attenuating the circuit current. In planar geometry, the plasma density is shown to vary linearly across the electrode gap. A continuum kinetic planar plasma diode simulation model is set up to compare the properties of current modes with classical, conventional SCL, and inverse cathode sheaths. SCL modes can exist only if charge-exchange collisions are turned off in the potential well of the virtual cathode to prevent ion trapping. With the collisions, the current-limited equilibrium must be inverse. Inverse operating modes should therefore be present or possible in many plasma devices that rely on hot cathodes. Evidence from past experiments is discussed. The inverse mode may offer opportunities to minimize sputtering and power consumption that were not previously explored due to the common assumption of SCL sheaths.

The Bayesian reconstruction of the in-medium heavy quark potential from lattice QCD and its stability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burnier, Yannis; Kaczmarek, Olaf; Rothkopf, Alexander

2016-01-01

We report recent results of a non-perturbative determination of the static heavy-quark potential in quenched and dynamical lattice QCD at finite temperature. The real and imaginary part of this complex quantity are extracted from the spectral function of Wilson line correlators in Coulomb gauge. To obtain spectral information from Euclidean time numerical data, our study relies on a novel Bayesian prescription that differs from the Maximum Entropy Method. We perform simulations on quenched 323 × Nτ (β = 7.0, ξ = 3.5) lattices with Nτ = 24, …, 96, which cover 839MeV ≥ T ≥ 210MeV. To investigate the potential in a quark-gluon plasma with light u,d and s quarks we utilize Nf = 2 + 1 ASQTAD lattices with ml = ms/20 by the HotQCD collaboration, giving access to temperatures between 286MeV ≥ T ≥ 148MeV. The real part of the potential exhibits a clean transition from a linear, confining behavior in the hadronic phase to a Debye screened form above deconfinement. Interestingly its values lie close to the color singlet free energies in Coulomb gauge at all temperatures. We estimate the imaginary part on quenched lattices and find that it is of the same order of magnitude as in hard-thermal loop perturbation theory. From among all the systematic checks carried out in our study, we discuss explicitly the dependence of the result on the default model and the number of datapoints.

Ground-state energy of an exciton-(LO) phonon system in a parabolic quantum well

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gerlach, B.; Wüsthoff, J.; Smondyrev, M. A.

1999-12-01

This paper presents a variational study of the ground-state energy of an exciton-(LO) phonon system, which is spatially confined to a quantum well. The exciton-phonon interaction is of Fröhlich type, the confinement potentials are assumed to be parabolic functions of the coordinates. Making use of functional integral techniques, the phonon part of the problem can be eliminated exactly, leading us to an effective two-particle system, which has the same spectral properties as the original one. Subsequently, Jensen's inequality is applied to obtain an upper bound on the ground-state energy. The main intention of this paper is to analyze the influence of the quantum-well-induced localization of the exciton on its ground-state energy (or its binding energy, respectively). To do so, we neglect any mismatch of the masses or the dielectric constants, but admit an arbitrary strength of the confinement potentials. Our approach allows for a smooth interpolation of the ultimate limits of vanishing and infinite confinement, corresponding to the cases of a free three-dimensional and a free two-dimensional exciton-phonon system. The interpolation formula for the ground-state energy bound corresponds to similar formulas for the free polaron or the free exciton-phonon system. These bounds in turn are known to compare favorably with all previous ones, which we are aware of.

A Pearson Effective Potential for Monte Carlo Simulation of Quantum Confinement Effects in nMOSFETs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jaud, Marie-Anne; Barraud, Sylvain; Saint-Martin, Jérôme; Bournel, Arnaud; Dollfus, Philippe; Jaouen, Hervé

2008-12-01

A Pearson Effective Potential model for including quantization effects in the simulation of nanoscale nMOSFETs has been developed. This model, based on a realistic description of the function representing the non zero-size of the electron wave packet, has been used in a Monte-Carlo simulator for bulk, single gate SOI and double-gate SOI devices. In the case of SOI capacitors, the electron density has been computed for a large range of effective field (between 0.1 MV/cm and 1 MV/cm) and for various silicon film thicknesses (between 5 nm and 20 nm). A good agreement with the Schroedinger-Poisson results is obtained both on the total inversion charge and on the electron density profiles. The ability of an Effective Potential approach to accurately reproduce electrostatic quantum confinement effects is clearly demonstrated.

Initial experimental test of a helicon plasma based mass filter

DOE PAGES

Gueroult, R.; Evans, E. S.; Zweben, S. J.; ...

2016-05-12

High throughput plasma mass separation requires rotation control in a high density multi-species plasmas. A preliminary mass separation device based on a helicon plasma operating in gas mixtures and featuring concentric biasable ring electrodes is introduced. Plasma profile shows strong response to electrode biasing. In light of floating potential measurements, the density response is interpreted as the consequence of a reshaping of the radial electric field in the plasma. This field can be made confining or de-confining depending on the imposed potential at the electrodes, in a way which is consistent with single particle orbit radial stability. In conclusion, concurrentmore » spatially resolved spectroscopic measurements suggest ion separation, with heavy to light ion emission line ratio increasing with radius when a specific potential gradient is applied to the electrodes.« less

Optically controlled resonant tunneling in a double-barrier diode

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kan, S. C.; Wu, S.; Sanders, S.; Griffel, G.; Yariv, A.

1991-03-01

The resonant tunneling effect is optically enhanced in a GaAs/GaAlAs double-barrier structure that has partial lateral current confinement. The peak current increases and the valley current decreases simultaneously when the device surface is illuminated, due to the increased conductivity of the top layer of the structure. The effect of the lateral current confinement on the current-voltage characteristic of a double-barrier resonant tunneling structure was also studied. With increased lateral current confinement, the peak and valley current decrease at a different rate such that the current peak-to-valley ratio increases up to three times. The experimental results are explained by solving the electrostatic potential distribution in the structure using a simple three-layer model.

Percolation transition in Yang-Mills matter at a finite number of colors.

PubMed

Lottini, Stefano; Torrieri, Giorgio

2011-10-07

We examine baryonic matter at a quark chemical potential of the order of the confinement scale μ(q)∼Λ(QCD). In this regime, quarks are supposed to be confined but baryons are close to the "tightly packed limit" where they nearly overlap in configuration space. We show that this system will exhibit a percolation phase transition when varied in the number of colors N(c): at high N(c), large distance correlations at the quark level are possible even if the quarks are essentially confined. At low N(c), this does not happen. We discuss the relevance of this for dense nuclear matter, and argue that our results suggest a new "phase transition," varying N(c) at constant μ(q).

Edge Plasma behavior during Improved Confinement by Lower Hybrid Wave Heating in HT-6M Tokamak

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Jian-gang; Bao, Yi; Luo, Jia-rong; Wan, Bao-nian; Liu, Yue-xiu; Gong, Xian-zu; Chen, Jun-ling; Liang, Yun-feng

2002-10-01

Lower hybrid heating (LHH) has been successfully carried out in the HT-6M tokamak. The H-mode has been obtained with a power threshold of 50 kW under a boronized wall condition. Both energy and particle confinements have been improved along with a dropped edge plasma density and an increase electron temperature during the LHH phase. A negative Er well plays a key role of triggering and sustaining the good confinement. Both electrostatic fluctuation of the plasma potential and the density fluctuations dropped to an ultra-low level. The observation of an enhanced Er shear before the reduction in turbulence level is consistent with an increased Er shear as the cause of turbulence suppression.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Suganuma, Hideo; Sakumichi, Naoyuki

In the context of the dual superconductor picture for the confinement mechanism, we study maximally Abelian (MA) projection of quark confinement in SU(3) quenched lattice QCD with 32{sup 4} at β=6.4 (i.e., a ≃ 0.058 fm). We investigate the static quark-antiquark potential V(r), its Abelian part V{sub Abel}(r) and its off-diagonal part V{sub off}(r), respectively, from the on-axis lattice data. As a remarkable fact, we find almost perfect Abelian dominance for quark confinement, i.e., σ{sub Abel} ≃ σ for the string tension, on the fine and large-volume lattice. We find also a nontrivial summation relation of V (r) ≃ V{submore » Abel}(r)+V{sub off}(r)« less

Viscosity of confined two-dimensional Yukawa liquids: A nonequilibrium method

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Landmann, S.; Kählert, H.; Thomsen, H.

2015-09-15

We present a nonequilibrium method that allows one to determine the viscosity of two-dimensional dust clusters in an isotropic confinement. By applying a tangential external force to the outer parts of the cluster (e.g., with lasers), a sheared velocity profile is created. The decay of the angular velocity towards the center of the confinement potential is determined by a balance between internal (viscosity) and external friction (neutral gas damping). The viscosity can then be calculated from a fit of the measured velocity profile to a solution of the Navier-Stokes equation. Langevin dynamics simulations are used to demonstrate the feasibility ofmore » the method. We find good agreement of the measured viscosity with previous results for macroscopic Yukawa plasmas.« less