Swimming in external fields

Microswimmers move autonomously but are subject to external fields, which influence their swimming path and their collective dynamics. With three concrete examples we illustrate swimming in external fields and explain the methodology to treat it. First, an active Brownian particle shows a conventional sedimentation profile in a gravitational field but with increased sedimentation length and some polar order along the vertical. Bottom-heavy swimmers are able to invert the sedimentation profile.Second, active Brownian particles interacting by hydrodynamic flow fields in a three-dimensional harmonic trap can spontaneously break the isotropic symmetry. They develop polar order, which one can describe by mean-field theory reminiscent to Weiss theory of ferromagnetism, and thereby pump fluid.Third, a single microswimmer shows interesting non-linear dynamics in Poiseuille flow including swinging and tumbling trajectories. For pushers, hydrodynamic interactions with bounding surfaces stabilize either straight swimming against the flow or tumbling close to the channel wall, while pushers always move on a swinging trajectory with a specific amplitude as limit cycle.     

Magnetization processes in magnetotactic bacteria systems

In low fields, the magnetization of magnetotactic bacteria (MTB) culture is affected by chemotaxis and can be described by the Langevin function which depends on magnetic field strength and chemotaxis energy. In moderate fields, bacteria magnetization switching occurs as the second-order phase transition induced by increasing the field applied opposite the MTB magnetic moments. For bacteria containing one or two chains of magnetosomes we calculated the switching field as a function of the gap between magnetic particles.     

Field-induced self-assembly: does size matter?

ABSTRACT

Simulated external electric fields are applied to polarisable species containing either a monodisperse of bidisperse distribution of polarisabilities. The magnitude of the external field and the polarisabilities are systematically varied. The application of an external field (of sufficient magnitude) is found to induce chain formation (as expected). The monodisperse systems are found to ‘self-assemble’ with larger induced dipole moments effectively clustering in chains as a result of significant dipole-induced dipole effects. The distribution of the chain lengths is characterised as a function of the applied field and the atom polarisability. For the bidisperse systems, the external field induces chain formation and a partial segregation, in which the more polarisable species preferentially form chains. The chain lengths are again determined as a function of field strength and the atom polarisabilities. Scaling behaviour is analysed.     

Magnetization transport and quantized spin conductance

We analyze transport of magnetization in insulating systems described by a spin Hamiltonian. The magnetization current through a quasi-one-dimensional magnetic wire of finite length suspended between two bulk magnets is determined by the spin conductance which remains finite in the ballistic limit due to contact resistance. For ferromagnetic systems, magnetization transport can be viewed as transmission of magnons, and the spin conductance depends on the temperature T. For antiferromagnetic isotropic spin-1/2 chains, the spin conductance is quantized in units of order (gmu(B))(2)/h at T=0. Magnetization currents produce an electric field and, hence, can be measured directly. For magnetization transport in electric fields, phenomena analogous to the Hall effect emerge.     

Size and average density spectra of macromolecules obtained from hydrodynamic data

It is proposed to normalize the Mark-Kuhn-Houwink-Sakurada type of equation relating the hydrodynamic characteristics, such as intrinsic viscosity, velocity sedimentation coefficient and translational diffusion coefficient of linear macromolecules to their molecular masses for the values of linear density M_L and the statistical segment length A. When the set of data covering virtually all known experimental information is normalized for M_L, it is presented as a size spectrum of linear polymer molecules. Further normalization for the A value reduces all data to two regions: namely the region exhibiting volume interactions and that showing hydrodynamic draining. For chains without intachain excluded volume effects these results may be reproduced using the Yamakawa-Fujii theory of wormlike cylinders. Data analyzed here cover a range of contour lengths of linear chains varying by three orders of magnitude, with the range of statistical segment lengths varying approximately 500 times. The plot of the dependence of [η]M on M represents the spectrum of average specific volumes occupied by linear and branched macromolecules. Dendrimers and globular proteins for which the volume occupied by the molecule in solution is directly proportional to M have the lowest specific volume. The homologous series of macromolecules in these plots are arranged following their fractal dimensionality.     

高品质因子和高传输效率的二维光子晶体耦合腔波导研究

基于时域有限差分方法,通过仿真计算设计了一种具有较高品质因子和传输效率的二维光子晶体耦合腔波导结构。通过改变二维光子晶体波导微腔结构中隔绝波导与微腔的空气孔的半径和数量,在获得近似90%的传输效率的同时,使得品质因子达到了8.20×104。为了使品质因子在大幅度提高的同时,传输效率只有小幅度的降低,在波导微腔结构中引入了链式微腔。将链式微腔结构与传统的波导微腔结构相结合,使这种新形式的耦合腔结构的品质因子提高了1个数量级,传输效率仅下降了约40%。     

A natural one-form for the Schouten concomitant

The Poisson bracket in classical mechanics arises from the existence of a natural one-form on a cotangent bundle. The Schouten concomitant of two symmetric contravariant tensor fields is closely related to the Poisson bracket. We show that it arises in an analogous way from a natural onecochain, where the chains are chains of derivations from the module of symmetric contravariant tensor fields into itself.     

Molecular fields in chainlike metamagnets

A two-sublattice metamagnet is formed of ferromagnetic Ising chains which interact ferromagnetically and antiferromagnetically. The intrachain coupling is strong compared to the interchain ones, as is observed in CoTAC. We treat the chains exactly and describe interchain interactions with molecular fields. The Neel temperature and tricritical point differ qualitatively from conventional molecular field results.     

Entanglement in One-Dimensional Random XY Spin Chain with Dzyaloshinskii--Moriya Interaction

The impurities of exchange couplings, external magnetic fields and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya （DM） interaction considered as Gaussian distribution, and the entanglement in one-dimensional random XY spin systems is investigated by the method of solving the different spin-spin correlation functions and the average magnetization per spin. The entanglement dynamics at central locations of ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic chains have been studied by varying the three impurities and the strength of DM interaction. （i） For the ferromagnetic spin chain, the weak DM interaction can improve the amount of entanglement to a large value, and the impurities have the opposite effect on the entanglement below and above critical DM interaction. （ii） For the antiferromagnetic spin chain, DM interaction can enhance the entanglement to a steady value. Our results imply that DM interaction strength, the impurity and exchange couplings （or magnetic field） play competing roles in enhancing quantum entanglement.     

Branching of colloidal chains in capillary-confined nematics

We report on the observation of colloidal chain assembly and branching inside capillaries filled with a nematic liquid crystal. Because of the homeotropic anchoring of liquid crystalline molecules on the capillary and colloidal droplet surfaces, the assembly of droplets along the capillary axis is expected, producing a transformation of the nematic director field from an escape-radial to quasiradial configuration. However, the subsequent over time branching of the straight colloidal chains is counterintuitive. By numerical simulations, we demonstrate that chain branching can occur by overcoming an energy barrier and can at least dwell as a metastable configuration. Moreover, manipulation of colloidal chains by electric fields and their gradients demonstrates various regimes of chain behavior in electric fields.     

Hybrid techniques of pre and assisted processing modify structural,physicochemical and functional characteristics of okra pectin: Controlled-temperature ultrasonic-assisted extraction from preparative dry powders and its field monitoring

Diversiform okra dry powders were prepared and controlled-temperature ultrasonic-assisted extraction (CTUAE) was then utilized to obtain okra pectin (OP) from the preparative powders. During processing of hybrid techniques, 6 types of dry powders were prepared through different drying technologies (hot air drying, HD; freeze-drying, FD) and meshes (60, 80, 120 meshes) at first. Next, the extraction yield, physicochemical and function characteristics, and molecular structure of OP were analyzed with or without CTUAE technique. Meanwhile, the time–frequency domains of acoustic fields during extraction process of OP were monitored to analyze the effects of ultrasonic fields. Results showed that OP main chains with less cracking by FD than that by HD; the yield, GalA, esterification degree (DE), M_w and viscosity of OP increased, but its particle size decreased. Water holding capacity (WHC) and oil holding capacity (OHC) of OP by HD were more prominent. Secondly, HD OP had dendritic rigid chains, while FD OP had flexible chains with multiple branches. For HD OP, as meshes of okra dry powders decreased, GalA, viscosity and emulsification ability decreased; while gel strength and thermal stability increased. For FD OP, the reduction of meshes improved thermal stability. Above all, CTUAE technique increased the yield and GalA, and decreased DE, M_w and particle size of OP. In terms of functional characteristics, the technique also improved gel strength, resilience and viscoelasticity, enhanced emulsifying stability, WHC and thermal stability, and reduced viscosity. Finally, the correlation between functional and structural characteristics of OP was quantified, and some suggestions were made for its application in food areas.     

Random bond XXZ chains with modulated couplings

The magnetization behavior of q-periodic antiferromagnetic spin- 1/2 Heisenberg chains under uniform magnetic fields is investigated in a background of disorder exchange distributions. By means of both real space decimation procedures and numerical diagonalizations in XX chains, it is found that for binary disorder the magnetization exhibits wide plateaus at values of 1+2(p-1)/q, where p is the disorder strength. In contrast, no spin gaps are observed in the presence of continuous exchange distributions. We also study the magnetic susceptibility at low magnetic fields.     

Molecular dynamics simulation of the response of bi-disperse polyelectrolyte brushes to external electric fields

Langevin dynamics simulations have been performed to investigate the response of bi-disperse and strong polyacid chains grafted on an electrode to electric fields generated by opposite surface charges on the polyelectrolyte(PE)-grafted electrode and a second parallel electrode. Simulation results clearly show that, under a negative external electric field, the longer grafted PE chains are more strongly stretched than the shorter ones in terms of the relative change in their respective brush heights. Whereas under a positive external electric field, the grafted shorter chains collapse more significantly than the longer ones. It was found that, under a positive external electric field, the magnitude of the total electric force acting on one shorter PE chain is larger than that on one longer PE chain, or vice versa. The effects of smeared and discrete charge distributions of grafted PE chains on the response of PE brushes to external electric fields were also examined.     

Bitter decoration and magneto-optical observations of vortex chains in high temperature superconductors

In tilted magnetic fields, vortices in anisotropic superconductors form one-dimensional arrangements, called vortex chains. We have visualized vortex chains by Bitter decoration and magneto-optical technique. The fundamental energy scale for the attractive interaction between pancake and Josephson vortices is evaluated by observing vortex chains under various conditions. We also explore how the vortex chains evolve when the large in-plane field is applied or when the anisotropy parameter of the system is changed     

Crossover from normal to anomalous diffusion in systems of field-aligned dipolar particles

Using molecular dynamics simulations we investigate the translational dynamics of particles with dipolar interactions in homogenous external fields. For a broad range of concentrations, we find that the anisotropic, yet normal diffusive behavior characterizing weakly coupled systems becomes anomalous both parallel and perpendicular to the field at sufficiently high dipolar coupling and field strength. After the ballistic regime, chain formation first yields cagelike motion in all directions, followed by transient, mixed diffusive-superdiffusive behavior resulting from cooperative motion of the chains. The enhanced dynamics disappears only at higher densities close to crystallization.     

Correlated magnetic vortex chains in mesoscopic cobalt dot arrays

Nucleation and annihilation of vortex states have been studied in two-dimensional arrays of densely packed cobalt dots. A clear signature of dipolar interactions both between single-domain state dots and vortex state dots has been observed from the dependence of vortex nucleation and annihilation fields on interdot separation. A direct consequence of these interactions is the formation of vortex chains as well as dipole chains aligned along the direction of the external field. In addition, short range correlation of chiralities within vortex chains has been observed using magnetic force microscopy imaging and has been attributed to cross-talking between adjacent elements.     

Topological variants of lattice field models

The conventional Ising model is generalised so as to introduce a topological frustration for both ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic cases. This generalisation is extended to a broad class of lattice field models, including the conventional XY model and classical Heisenberg model as special cases. Twisted external fields are also introduced in a manner symmetrical with respect to the intrinsic fields. The partition function and the two-point correlation function are explicitly determined for several varieties of twisted 1-dimensional chains with zero external field. Cohomological and fibre bundle interpretations are discussed.     

Exchange narrowing in random-exchange Heisenberg antiferromagnetic chains

A phenomenological theory of exchange narrowing is developed for random-exchange Heisenberg antiferromagnetic chains at low temperature. The nearly logarithmic epr linewidth of quinolinium (tetracyanoquino-dimethane)₂ is regained as an inhomogeneous superposition of thermally decoupled domains with widely different renormalized exchange fields that also describe the static thermodynamics. The temperature dependence of internal dipolar fields and of interchain interactions are modeled in terms of spin dilution.     

Transverse conductivity behavior at threshold electric field for CDW sliding in NbSe3

We have measured the dynamical properties which occur in the transverse direction to the conducting chains in NbSe₃ single-crystals, when the CDW slides along the chains. A sharp decrease in transverse conductivity takes place above an electric field less than the longitudinal threshold one for CDW sliding; that may result from induced phase shifts between CDW chains. Under the joint application of dc and rf driving fields voltage Shapiro steps for longitudinal transport are observed as usual but also pronounced current Shapiro steps in transverse direction. The possible mechanisms of this effect as well as a tentative new view on the origin of the narrow band noise in CDW compounds are discussed.