First principles investigations of hydrazine adsorption conformations on Ni(111) surface

Theoretical investigation on hydrazine (N₂H₄) adsorption on Ni(111) was done by using density functional theory. Stability and mechanism of hydrazine adsorption in anti, gauche and cis conformation on nickel surface were studied. Charge transfer between lone-pair orbital and d-band was found to stabilize the anti-conformation as the most stable conformation, in contrast with hydrazine in the gas-phase where gauche conformation is more favored. However, the derived anti-bonding state between adsorbate and substrate is partially occupied due to the spin-polarization in the local states near the Fermi level and thus contributes in weakening the bonding. The stable adsorption structure was further verified by comparing the calculated vibrational frequencies with HREELS measurement results. The results were found to be in agreement with experimental results. It was also found that the adsorption in cis-conformation is a transition state as evident from the existence of imaginary frequency on its lowest vibrational mode which belongs to NH₂ torsional movement around N–N axis.     

Stability of symmetry breaking states in finite-size Dicke model with photon leakage

We investigate the finite-size Dicke model with photon leakage. It is shown that the symmetry breaking states, which are characterized by non-vanishing $〈\stackrel{?}{a}〉\ne 0$ and correspond to the ground states in the superradiant phase in the thermodynamic limit, are stable, while the eigenstates of the isolated finite-size Dicke Hamiltonian conserve parity symmetry. We introduce and analyze an effective master equation that describes the dynamics of a pair of the symmetry breaking states that are the degenerate lowest energy eigenstates in the superradiant region with photon leakage. It becomes clear that photon leakage is essential to stabilize the symmetry breaking states and to realize the superradiant phase without the thermodynamic limit. Our theoretical analysis provides an alternative interpretation using the finite-size model to explain results from cold atomic experiments showing superradiance with the symmetry breaking in an optical cavity.     

Relaxation Behavior of Laser-Polarized Xe Gas: Size Dependency and Wall Effect of the T1 Relaxation Time in Glass and Gelatin Bulbs

Size dependency of the relaxation time T₁ was measured for laser-polarized ¹²⁹Xe gas encapsulated in different sized cavities made by glass bulbs or gelatin capsules. The use of laser-polarized gas enhances the sensitivity a great deal, making it possible to measure the longer ¹²⁹Xe relaxation time in quite a short time. The size dependency is analyzed on the basis of the kinetic theory of gases and a relationship is derived in which the relaxation rate is connected with the square inverse of the diameter of the cavity. Such an analysis provides a novel parameter which denotes the wall effect on the relaxation rate when a gas molecule collides with the surface once in a second. The relaxation time of ¹²⁹Xe gas is also dependent on the material which forms the cavity. This dependency is large and the relaxation study using polarized ¹²⁹Xe gas is expected to offer important information about the state of the matter of the cavity wall.     

Fourier domain optical coherence tomography using optical demultiplexers imaging at 60,000,000 lines/s

We describe high-speed Fourier domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) using optical demultiplexers (ODs) for spectral dispersion. The OD enables separation of a narrow spectral band of 14 GHz (0.11 nm) from a broadband incident light at 256 different frequencies in 25.0 GHz intervals centered at 192.2 THz (1559.8 nm). OCT imaging of 60,000,000 axial scans per second was achieved through parallel signal acquisition using 256 balanced photoreceivers to simultaneously detect all the output signals from the ODs in a Fourier domain OCT system. OCT imaging at a 16 kHz frame rate, 1100 A-lines per frame, 3 mm depth range, and 23 microm resolution was demonstrated using a resonant scanner for lateral scanning.     

Extended Hydrodynamics from Enskog’s Equation for a Two-Dimensional System General Formalism

Balance equations are derived from Enskog’s kinetic equation for a two-dimensional system of hard disks using Grad’s moment expansion method. This set of equations constitute an extended hydrodynamics for moderately dense bi-dimensional fluids. The set of independent hydrodynamic fields in the present formulations are: density, velocity, temperature and also—following Grad’s original idea—the symmetric and traceless pressure tensor p _ij and the heat flux vector q ^k . An approximation scheme similar in spirit to one made by Grad in his original work is made. Once the hydrodynamics is derived it is used to discuss the nature of a simple one-dimensional heat conduction problem. It is shown that, not too far from equilibrium, the nonequilibrium pressure in this case only depends on the density, temperature and heat flux vector. PACS: 51.10.+y, 05.20.Jj, 44.10.+i, 05.70.Ln