Evaluation of decay times in coupled spaces: Bayesian decay model selection

This paper applies Bayesian probability theory to determination of the decay times in coupled spaces. A previous paper [N. Xiang and P. M. Goggans, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 110, 1415-1424 (2001)] discussed determination of the decay times in coupled spaces from Schroeder's decay functions using Bayesian parameter estimation. To this end, the previous paper described the extension of an existing decay model [N. Xiang, I. Acoust. Soc. Am. 98, 2112-2121 (1995)] to incorporate one or more decay modes for use with Bayesian inference. Bayesian decay time estimation will obtain reasonable results only when it employs an appropriate decay model with the correct number of decay modes. However, in architectural acoustics practice, the number of decay modes may not be known when evaluating Schroeder's decay functions. The present paper continues the endeavor of the previous paper to apply Bayesian probability inference for comparison and selection of an appropriate decay model based upon measured data. Following a summary of Bayesian model comparison and selection, it discusses selection of a decay model in terms of experimentally measured Schroeder's decay functions. The present paper, along with the Bayesian decay time estimation described previously, suggests that Bayesian probability inference presents a suitable approach to the evaluation of decay times in coupled spaces.     

Geometrical perturbation of an inclined wall on decay times of acoustic modes in a trapezoidal cavity with an impedance surface

Decay times of acoustic modes of a trapezoidal cavity (TC modes) with an inclined wall are studied. Each cavity wall is successively assigned an impedance surface and the other five walls are rigid. The decay times are obtained from the coupling between rigid-walled modes of the rectangular cavity (RC modes) that bounds the trapezoidal cavity. Two coupling mechanisms are identified, namely, the damping coupling and the geometrical coupling. The former is related to the coupling of RC modes at the impedance surface, while the latter is related to the coupling of RC modes at the inclined wall. Both mechanisms include the same volume coupling where RC modes couple throughout the trapezoidal cavity. When the impedance surface is at either of the two trapezoidal walls, the grouping of TC modes with same decay times and the decay time variation with the wall inclination are determined only by the damping coupling. When the surface is at any of the other rectangular walls, both the damping and geometrical couplings are at work. This paper provides an understanding of how the inclined wall and the impedance surface location affect the TC-mode grouping, and what determines the decay time variation with the inclination.     

Softening behavior of acoustic phonon mode in ZnO nanoparticles: the effect of impurities and particle size variation with temperature

Decay dynamics of the acoustic phonon mode in ZnO nanoparticles, synthesized using the wet chemical technique, is investigated. It is well established that optic phonon modes in a semiconductor favor an anharmonic decay dynamics; in contrast, acoustic modes evidence a rather complex decay behavior, manifesting their dependence on other parameters such as particle size, impurity species, etc. At lower temperatures (T < 500 K), the anharmonic decay process, caused by the weakening of the bond strength, is responsible for the observed decrease in the acoustic mode wavenumbers. However, particle growth due to the coalescence sintering process is prominent at higher temperatures (>600 K) and governs the softening behavior of the acoustic phonon mode towards the Rayleigh line. On the other hand, the precursor species and reaction byproducts on the surface of ZnO nanoparticles induce an anomalous softening behavior in the decay dynamics at specific temperatures by damping the acoustic phonon mode. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Single-molecule pump-probe detection resolves ultrafast pathways in individual and coupled quantum systems

We report the first experimental study of individual molecules with femtosecond time resolution using a novel ultrafast single-molecule pump-probe method. A wide range of relaxation times from below 100 up to 400 fs is found, revealing energy redistribution over different vibrational modes and phonon coupling to the nanoenvironment. Addressing quantum-coupled molecules we find longer decay times, pointing towards inhibited intramolecular decay due to delocalized excitation. Interestingly, each individual system shows discrete jumps in femtosecond response, reflecting sudden breakup of the coupled superradiant state.     

Effect of the structurally damaged surface layer of an isotropic solid on Rayleigh wave dispersion and damping

The effect of the structurally damaged isotropic surface layer on the free surface of an isotropic solid on the Rayleigh wave propagation has been considered. The phase velocity dispersion and inverse Rayleigh wave decay length in the second order of vanishing with respect to the ratio of the structurally damaged layer thickness to the wavelength have been obtained in an analytical form. For the dispersion and the inverse wave decay length, the long-wave limit has been studied when the wavelength is much larger than the characteristic size of layer inhomogeneity. The inverse decay length has been calculated numerically.     

The study of guided waves in surfaces and thin supported films using surface Brillouin scattering and acoustic microscopy

This paper reviews the use of surface Brillouin scattering (SBS) and acoustic microscopy (AM) in studying the surface dynamics of solids in order to obtain information about the near-surface elastic properties of solids and thin supported films. The vibrational modes that are probed by these means include Rayleigh surface and pseudo-surface acoustic waves, longitudinal lateral waves (surface skimming bulk longitudinal waves) and various thin film guided modes, such as Sezawa and Love waves. SBS is the inelastic scattering of light, mediated by thermodynamic fluctuations in the surface elevation and near surface elastic strains. The scattering cross-section is conveniently expressed in terms of Fourier domain elastodynamic Green's functions. AM depends on the insonification of a surface through a coupling fluid, and the resulting excitation and subsequent decay of the various surface modes. The complex reflectivity of the fluid-loaded surface, and the line and point force surface Green's functions are invoked in the interpretation of different modalities of AM, yielding much the same information about the surface dynamics. The focus in this paper is on the Green's function approach. A number of illustrative examples, drawn from the authors' research, are provided.     

Selective optical generation of coherent acoustic nanocavity modes

Femtosecond pump-probe experiments on a Ga0.85In0.15As nanocavity enclosed by two Ga(0.85)In(0.15)As/AlAs phonon Bragg mirrors reveal selective generation of terahertz confined acoustic modes and regular folded phonons. Selective generation of the confined modes alone is achievable for laser excitation at certain energies below the mirror absorption edges, corresponding to electronic transitions within the cavity layer only. Calculations based on the photoelastic effect explain the experimental results. Decay times of cavity and regular modes evidence longer decay times and anharmonic effects for the cavity mode.     

Rayleigh wave and detection of low-velocity layers in a stratified half-space

The excitation and propagation of the guided waves in a stratified half-space and a Rayleigh wave exploration method in shallow engineering seismic exploration are studied in this paper. All the modes of the guided waves are calculated by the bisection method in the case where the low velocity layers are contained in a stratified half-space. Cases when the formation shear wave velocity gradually decreases from the top to the bottom layers are also studied. The dispersion curves obtained in actual Rayleigh wave exploration are usually noncontinual zigzag curves, but the dispersion curves given by the elastic theory for given modes of the guided waves are smooth and continual curves. In this paper, the mechanism of zigzag dispersion curves in Rayleigh wave exploration is investigated and analyzed thoroughly. The zigzag dispersion curves can give not only the possible positions of the low-velocity layers but also the other information on the formation structure (fractures, oil, gas, etc.). It is found that the zigzag dispersion curves of the Rayleigh wave are the result of the leap of the modes and the existence of low velocity layers in a stratified half-space. The effects of the compressional wave velocity, shear wave velocity, and density of each layer on zigzag dispersion curves and the relationship of the low velocity layers to zigzag dispersion curves are also investigated in detail. Finally, the exploration depth of the Rayleigh wave is discussed. The exploration depth of the Rayleigh wave is equal to the wavelength multiplied by a coefficient that is variable and usually given by the work experience and the formation properties of the local work area.     

Conformational fluctuations of a tethered polymer in uniform flow

The decay of correlations in the conformational fluctuations of a tethered polymer subjected to a uniform flow is analyzed in terms of relaxation times and associated normal modes. These quantities are calculated numerically from Brownian dynamics simulations of several bead spring polymer models. In this way, the influence of different effects like a finite extensibility of the springs and excluded-volume as well as hydrodynamic interactions between the beads on the decay of fluctuations is identified. Moreover, by comparison of the simulation results to analytically tractable blob models with corresponding assumptions, the capability of the tensile-blob picture to predict relaxation times and modes is assessed. For excluded-volume and hydrodynamic interactions a crossover to Rouse-like behavior occurs when the flow velocity and hence the polymer deformation exceeds a certain value. For finitely extensible springs, in contrast, the relaxation times decrease monotonically with increasing polymer deformation. This latter behavior differs from assumptions often used in rheological modeling by dumbbells and is not captured by the blob model.Received: 4 April 2003, Published online: 12 August 2003PACS: 83.80.Rs Polymer solutions - 83.10.Mj Molecular dynamics, Brownian dynamics - 36.20.Ey Conformation (statistics and dynamics) - 47.50. + d Non-Newtonian fluid flows     

4\pi-decays of scalar and vector mesons

Two different annihilation modes, and , are used to study the 4–decays of scalar and vector mesons. The data are dominated by 4 scalar isoscalar interactions. At least two states are needed, the and the . The 4–decay width of the is more than 6 times larger than the sum of all observed partial decay widths to two pseudoscalar mesons. The state has important couplings to and to . The 4-decays of the (1500) represent about half of its total width. The and the are observed in several 4 decay modes. The ratio of the relative to the decay of the is in contradiction to its proposed interpretation as a pure hybrid state but it suggests that it is not a pure –state either. Our results favour the assignment of the as state, its interpretation as -state is less plausible. Received: 7 December 2000 / Published online: 19 July 2001     

Hydrodynamic modes,soft modes and fluctuation spectra near the threshold of a current instability

We give a full threedimensional treatment of the stability and the fluctuations of the uniform stationary current state in a voltage-controlled current instability. We consider a model which exhibits bulk negative differential conductivity due to Bragg scattering of hot electrons. The model consists of Langevin equations for the mean momentum and the mean energy of the charged carriers, coupled to Maxwell's equations. We investigate the normal modes and the fluctuation spectra of this system, in particular the occurrence of soft modes and of critical fluctuations at the stability limit of the uniform current state. It is shown that the nature of the normal modes is strongly determined by the electromagnetic interactions between the carriers, giving rise to hydrodynamic flux modes and to dielectric relaxation modes. As the threshold field is approached, the dielectric relaxation modes soften and couple strongly to the flux modes. It is shown that as a consequence of this coupling the exponential decay of the correlation functions due to ordinary dielectric relaxation is followed at very long times by a power law decay due to the hydrodynamic modes.Work supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation     

Femtosecond dynamics of secondary radiation formation from quantum well excitons

The time-resolved secondary emission of resonantly created excitons in GaAs quantum wells is studied using femtosecond up-conversion spectroscopy. The behaviour of the rise and decay of the secondary emission and reflectivity in quantum wells is strongly dependent upon the disorder at the interfaces, the exciton density and the temperature. In the case of low densities and temperatures the emission is independent of the exciton density and rises quadratically in time, in excellent agreement with recent theory for Rayleigh scattering from two-dimensional excitons subjected to disorder. These rise times are compared directly with times measured by time-integrated four-wave mixing (FWM). The comparison of the dynamics displayed in time-resolved secondary radiation and time-integrated FWM provide a clear understanding of the coherence properties of QW excitons in the first few picoseconds after excitation. High-contrast oscillations that are due to quantum beats between the heavy- and light-hole 1s-states are seen. The visibility decay at very low densities is long ps and is related to the action of potential fluctuations on the scattering of heavy-hole and light-hole excitons.     

分层半空间表面非线性瑞利波的激发*

针对非线性瑞利波在均匀分层半空间结构中的激发和传播规律进行研究。根据摄动理论和模态分解将分层半空间结构中瑞利波的二次谐波声场表示为二倍频瑞利波模式的线性组合,经由互易关系得到各模式的展开系数表达式。对不同分层半空间结构中瑞利波二次谐波的激发和传播特性进行讨论,结果表明相速度匹配的瑞利波模式其二次谐波分量随传播距离线性增长,非匹配模式的二次谐波分量则沿传播方向周期震荡传播。此外,文中定义非线性参数表征瑞利波模式产生的非线性程度,这有利于选择出具有明显非线性效应的匹配点,为后续检测工作提供理论依据,具有指导意义。     

Q value and half-lives for the double-β-decay nuclide 110Pd

The 110Pd double-β decay Q value was measured with the Penning-trap mass spectrometer ISOLTRAP to be Q=2017.85(64) keV. This value shifted by 14 keV compared with the literature value and is 17 times more precise, resulting in new phase-space factors for the two-neutrino and neutrinoless decay modes. In addition a new set of the relevant matrix elements has been calculated. The expected half-life of the two-neutrino mode was reevaluated as 1.5(6)×10(20) yr. With its high natural abundance, the new results reveal 110Pd to be an excellent candidate for double-β decay studies.     

Constraints on nucleon decay via invisible modes from the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory

Data from the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory have been used to constrain the lifetime for nucleon decay to "invisible" modes, such as n-->3nu. The analysis was based on a search for gamma rays from the deexcitation of the residual nucleus that would result from the disappearance of either a proton or neutron from 16O. A limit of tau(inv)>2 x 10(29) yr is obtained at 90% confidence for either neutron- or proton-decay modes. This is about an order of magnitude more stringent than previous constraints on invisible proton-decay modes and 400 times more stringent than similar neutron modes.     

Numerical solutionsfor acoustic Rayleigh wave problems in anisotropic and layered media

A finite difference iterative formulation which has already been applied successfully to acoustic surface wave scattering problems in homogeneous and layered isotropic as well as non-linear media, is extended to cover Rayleigh type mode propagation in anisotropic materials. The transmission, reflection and conversion into bulk modes of Rayleigh waves are studied as a function of relative step height. The waves are incident normally at upward and downward step discontinuities formed by the sudden termination of an uniform aluminium layer on a semi-infinite fused quartz substrate. In terms of the severity of Rayleigh wave scattering, the layered upward step has the most drastic effects, followed by the layered downward and the homogeneous downward steps respectively. Rayleigh wave scattering at a break in a layered waveguide is discussed.     

Experimental analysis of mode-hopping in bulk semiconductor lasers

In this work we experimentally study mode-hopping in bulk semiconductor lasers. This stochastic process is ruled by Kramers statistics with a decay rate depending on the laser parameters of the temperature of the substrate and the pumping current. For a general combination of these parameters the average residence times in the two active modes are not equal, resulting in an asymmetric probability distribution for the modal intensities. We show that, by choosing an appropriate path in the parameter space, we can vary the residence times of the two modes while holding their ratio constant. Along this path, the shape of modal intensities distributions are constant up to a scaling factor which is a function of the laser parameters. Then, the system can be described by a single Langevin equation. The effect of adding noise to the pumping current is also investigated. PACS 42.65.Sf; 42.55.Sa; 42.50.-p     

Guided entropy mode Rayleigh scattering in optical fibers

Rayleigh scattering in optical fibers has the potential to degrade the performance of low-noise opto-electronic systems. In this Letter, we measure the Rayleigh gain spectrum of optical fibers. Our data show the gain bandwidth and the offset frequency of the Rayleigh gain peak. Both the gain bandwidth and the peak frequency are 3 orders of magnitude lower than the corresponding values for bulk silica. Our data suggest that the narrower gain bandwidth and frequency shift that we observe are due to guided entropy modes in the fiber. This effect is fundamental and will be present in any medium in which light is guided so that transverse intensity gradients exist.     

Nuclear Liquid-Gas Phase Transition Shown in Multifragment ation

The Incomplete-Fusion-nagmentation Model has been used to reproduce nicely the experimental evidence of liquid-gas phase transition probed in the reaction of Au + Au at 600A MeV. The analysis of the relative yields of decay modes for the projectile remnant as a function of bound> shows clearly the competition and transformation processes of various decay modes of projectile remnant with decreasing of bound>. The agreement between theoretical and experimental results for the anaJysis of relative yield of decay modes indicates that the experimental evidence of liquid-gas phase transition is composed of the decay mode transformations.     

Intensity,correlations, and linewidths of two mode lasers with intensity coupling near threshold

Two mode lasers with intensity coupling are treated by simple fluctuation theory. The intensities of the two modes as functions of pump power are calculated together with the correlation matrix. Equations of motion for the intensities are derived from which the decay times of correlations are found by a method of quasilinearization as well as by decoupling the hierarchy of correlation functions. Details of photon fluctuation linewidths are reported together with the time dependent correlations between different modes.