Gravitational wave imprint of new symmetry breaking

It is believed that there are more fundamental gauge symmetries beyond those described by the Standard Model of particle physics. The scales of these new gauge symmetries are usually too high to be reachable by particle colliders. Considering that the phase transition (PT) relating to the spontaneous breaking of new gauge symmetries to the electroweak symmetry might be strongly first order, we propose considering the stochastic gravitational waves (GW) arising from this phase transition as an indirect way of detecting these new fundamental gauge symmetries. As an illustration, we explore the possibility of detecting the stochastic GW generated from the PT of \begin{document}$ {\bf{B}}-{\bf{L}}$\end{document} in the space-based interferometer detectors. Our study demonstrates that the GW energy spectrum is reachable by the LISA, Tianqin, Taiji, BBO, and DECIGO experiments only for the case where the spontaneous breaking of \begin{document}$ {\bf{B}}-{\bf{L}}$\end{document} is triggered by at least two electroweak singlet scalars.     

Multicaloric and coupled-caloric effects

The multicaloric effect refers to the thermal response of a solid material driven by simultaneous or sequential application of more than one type of external field.For practical applications,the multicaloric effect is a potentially interesting strategy to improve the efficiency of refrigeration devices.Here,the state of the art in multi-field driven multicaloric effect is reviewed.The phenomenology and fundamental thermodynamics of the multicaloric effect are well established.A number of theoretical and experimental research approaches are covered.At present,the theoretical understanding of the multicaloric effect is thorough.However,due to the limitation of the current experimental technology,the experimental approach is still in progress.All these researches indicated that the thermal response and effective reversibility of multiferroic materials can be improved through multicaloric cycles to overcome the inherent limitations of the physical mechanisms behind single-field-induced caloric effects.Finally,the viewpoint of further developments is presented.     

On the definition of cavitation intensity

Cavitation intensity has already been used to character the activity or strength of cavitation, and several methods are developed to measure the cavitation intensity. However, the previous definitions of cavitation intensity are often either vague or biased. In this paper, from the point of view of energy, the authors proposed a generalized definition of cavitation intensity, derived an approximate formula to calculate the cavitation intensity and discussed its measure method.     

Magnetoelectric effects in multiferroic Y-type hexaferrites Ba(0.3)Sr(1.7)CoxMg(2-x)Fe(12)O(22)

Y-type hexaferrites with tunable conical magnetic structures are promising single-phase multiferroics that exhibit large magnetoelectric effects. We have investigated the influence of Co substitution on the magnetoelectric properties in the Y-type hexaferrites Ba(0.3)Sr(1.7)CoxMg(2-x)Fe(12)O(22)(x = 0.0, 0.4, 1.0, 1.6). The spin-induced electric polarization can be reversed by applying a low magnetic field for all the samples. The magnetoelectric phase diagrams of BaBa(0.3)Sr(1.7)CoxMg(2-x)Fe(12)O(22) are obtained based on the measurements of magnetic field dependence of dielectric constant at selected temperatures. It is found that the substitution of Co ions can preserve the ferroelectric phase up to a higher temperature, and thus is beneficial for achieving single-phase multiferroics at room temperature.     

Salt effect on molecular orientation at air/liquid methanol interface

The salt effects on molecular orientation at air/liquid methanol interface were investigated by the polarization-dependent sum frequency generation vibrational spectroscopy(SFG-VS). We clarified that the average tilting angle of the methyl group to be u = 308 58 at the air/pure methanol surface assuming a d-function orientational distribution. Upon the addition of 3 mol/L Na I, the methyl group tilts further away from the surface normal with a new u = 418 38. This orientational change does not explain the enhancement of the SFG-VS intensities when adding Na I, implying the number density of the methanol molecules with a net polar ordering in the surface region also changed with the Na I concentrations. These spectroscopic findings shed new light on the salt effects on the surfaces structures of the polar organic solutions. It was also shown that the accurate determination of the bulk refractive indices and Raman depolarization ratios for different salt concentrations is crucial to quantitatively interpret the SFG-VS data.     

Self-assembling metal–organic coordinated fractal crystals

<正>Fractals are essentially characterized by their self-similarity at different scales and non-integer Hausdorff dimensions[1],while crystals always show certain symmetries and discrete diffraction diagrams[2].Thus,a fractal crystal by definition must be identical at all scales with a compatible symmetry with crystals.Although fractals,e.g.snowflakes,trees,coastlines and blood-vascular systems,     

Recent developments of di-amide/imide-containing small molecular non-fullerene acceptors for organic solar cells

Non-fullerene organic solar cells have received increasing attentions in these years, and great progresses have been made since 2013. Among them, aromatic di-amide/imide-containing frameworks have shown promising applications. The outstanding properties of them are highly associated with their unique electronic and structural features, such as strong electron-withdrawing nature, broad absorption in UV-visible region, tunable HOMO/LUMO energy levels, easy modifications, and excellent chemical, thermal and photochemical stabilities. In this review, we give an overview of recent developments of aromatic diamide/imide-containing small molecules used as electron acceptors for organic solar cells.     

Influences of hyperbranched polyethylenimine on the reactive compatibilization of polycarbonate/polyamide blends

The influences of hyperbranched polyethylenimine(h PEI), which possesses many reactive amino end-groups, on the blending properties of bisphenol-A polycarbonate(PC) and amorphous polyamide(a PA) were systematically investigated. Scanning electron microscopy(SEM) and differential scanning calorimetry(DSC) were used to observe the effect of h PEI on morphologies of PC and a PA phases in bulk blends. While the interfacial fracture toughness between planar PC and a PA layers with and without h PEI was studied by using augmented double cantilever beam(ADCB) method. Results show that the compatibility in PC/a PA blends can be significantly improved by adding a small amount of h PEI, mainly due to the interchange reactions between the polymers leading to the formation of block copolymers, cross-linked polymers and molecules with other constitutions. The augmented double cantilever beam experiments showed that the reactive process drastically reinforced the interfacial adhesion between planar layers of PC and a PA. However, degradation takes place during annealing at 180 °C, which was responsible for the production of small molar mass species of PC.