Complex scale-free networks with tunable power-law exponent and clustering

We introduce a network evolution process motivated by the network of citations in the scientific literature. In each iteration of the process a node is born and directed links are created from the new node to a set of target nodes already in the network. This set includes m$m$ “ambassador” nodes and l$l$ of each ambassador’s descendants where m$m$ and l$l$ are random variables selected from any choice of distributions _pl$p_l$ and _qm$q_m$. The process mimics the tendency of authors to cite varying numbers of papers included in the bibliographies of the other papers they cite. We show that the degree distributions of the networks generated after a large number of iterations are scale-free and derive an expression for the power-law exponent. In a particular case of the model where the number of ambassadors is always the constant m$m$ and the number of selected descendants from each ambassador is the constant l$l$, the power-law exponent is (2l+1)/l$(2l+1)/l$. For this example we derive expressions for the degree distribution and clustering coefficient in terms of l$l$ and m$m$. We conclude that the proposed model can be tuned to have the same power law exponent and clustering coefficient of a broad range of the scale-free distributions that have been studied empirically.     

Is space-time symmetry a suitable generalization of parity-time symmetry?

We discuss space-time symmetric Hamiltonian operators of the form H=H₀+igH^′$H=H_0+ig{H}^{\prime }$, where H₀$H_0$ is Hermitian and g$g$ real. H₀$H_0$ is invariant under the unitary operations of a point group G$G$ while H^′$H^{\prime }$ is invariant under transformation by elements of a subgroup G^′$G^{\prime }$ of G$G$. If G$G$ exhibits irreducible representations of dimension greater than unity, then it is possible that H$H$ has complex eigenvalues for sufficiently small nonzero values of g$g$. In the particular case that H$H$ is parity-time symmetric then it appears to exhibit real eigenvalues for all 0<g<g_c$0<g<g_c$, where g_c$g_c$ is the exceptional point closest to the origin. Point-group symmetry and perturbation theory enable one to predict whether H$H$ may exhibit real or complex eigenvalues for g>0$g>0$. We illustrate the main theoretical results and conclusions of this paper by means of two- and three-dimensional Hamiltonians exhibiting a variety of different point-group symmetries.     

Influence of interface states on the temperature dependence and current–voltage characteristics of Ni/p-InP Schottky diodes

The ideality factor n$n$ and the barrier height _Φap${\Phi }_{ap}$ of the sputtered Ni/p-InP Schottky diodes have been calculated from their experimental Current–voltage (I–V)$\left(I\text{–}V\right)$ characteristics in the temperature range of 60–400 K with steps of 10 K. The n$n$ and _Φap${\Phi }_{ap}$ values for the device have been obtained as 1.27 and 0.87 eV at 300 K and 1.13 and 0.91 eV at 400 K, respectively. The n$n$ values larger than unity at high temperatures indicate the presence of a thin native oxide layer at the semiconductor/metal interface. The barrier height (BH) has been assumed to be bias dependent due to the presence of an interfacial layer and interface states located at the interfacial layer-semiconductor interface. Interfacial layer-thermionic emission current mechanism has been fitted to experimental I–V$I\text{–}V$ data by considering the bias-dependence of the BH at each temperature. The best fitting values of the series resistance _Rs$R_s$ and interface state density _Ns$N_s$ together with the bias-dependence of the BH have been used at each temperature, and the _Rs$R_s$ and _Ns$N_s$ versus temperature plots have been drawn. It has been seen that the experimental and theoretical forward bias I–V$I\text{–}V$ data are in excellent agreement with each other in the temperature range of 60–400 K. It has been seen that the _Rs$R_s$ and _Ns$N_s$ values increase with a decrease in temperature, confirming the results in the literature.