Perfect-absorber metamaterial based on flower-shaped structure

We theoretically and experimetally investigated the narrow-band peak of perfect absorber (PA), which was realized with a metal–dielectric–metal scheme based on a flower-shaped structure (FSS). The PA slabs were designed and fabricated to work in the GHz range of electromagnetic radiation. The absorption is due to the magnetic influence and therefore, the resonance frequency can be easily controlled without affecting the efficiency of the absorption peak by changing the dimensional parameters of the FSS. In addition, the FSS also results in polarization independence of electromagnetic waves, as expected due to its geometry.     

Incommensurate cooperative tilting modes of MnF6 octahedra relatedto the structural phasetransitions in BaMnF4

The structural phase transitions of the layer compound BaMnF₄ were studied by high-resolution X-ray diffraction using synchrotron radiation. The intensities and profiles of two kinds of superlattice reflections having incommensurate reduced wave vectors q ₁= (～ ± 1/5,0,0) _p and q ₂ =(～ ± 2/5,1/2,1/2)_p, respectively, were measured as a function of temperature from 25 K to 280 K. These temperature dependencies show that incommensurate structural phase transitions of second order occur at 234 K and 244 K. These structural phase transitions are interpreted as successive condensations of a folding-screen-like incommensurate plane-distortion mode and a commensurate anti-ferro-distortive tilting mode of the MnF₆ octahedra around the primitive a₀ - and b₀ -axes, when cooled down. It is also found that there is another structural phase transition at about 45 K related to a precursor structural distortion for the antiferromagnetic transition occurring at about 26 K.     

The N = 16 Spherical Shell Closure in 24O

The unbound excited states of the most neutron-rich dripline oxygen isotope, ²⁴O, have been investigated by using the ²⁴O(p,p′)²⁴O^* reaction at the beam energy of 62 MeV/nucleon in inverse kinematics. The first and second unbound excited states of ²⁴O have been observed at ${E_{\rm x}= 4.63_{-0.14}^{+0.30}}$  MeV and ${E_{\rm x}= 5.13_{-0.24}^{+0.19}}$  MeV (preliminary) along with the evidence for another higher lying state at around 7.3 MeV. The quadrupole deformation parameter ${\beta_{2^+}}$ was deduced to be ${0.15_{-0.03}^{+0.08}}$ (preliminary) for the first time. The systematics of the ${\beta_{2^+}}$ and the ${E_{\rm x}(2_1^+)}$ in the Z = 8 isotopes shows the N = 16 spherical shell closure in ²⁴O.     

Spin Structure of the Nucleon at Low Q 2 Region

The spin structure of the nucleon can play a key testing ground for the Quantum Chromo-Dynamics(QCD) at wide kinematic ranges from smaller to large four momentum transfer Q ². It is far more challenging to understand the QCD at small Q ² region due to the non-perturbative nature. Jefferson Lab has been one of the major experimental facilities for the spin structure with its polarized electron beams and various polarized targets. A few QCD sum rules have been compared with the measured spin structure functions g ₁ and g ₂ at low Q ² and the most surprising results have been obtained for the spin polarizabilities, γ ₀ and δ _LT .     

Scalar and Pseudo-Scalar Form Factors in Electro- and Weak-Production of Pion Near Threshold

We investigated pion production near threshold by the weak current in terms of multipole amplitudes. By exploiting the chiral Ward identity based on the QCD Lagrangian, we derived relevant multipole amplitudes in closed forms and presented their numerical results. In the amplitudes, scalar and pseudo scalar (PS) form factors, which represent the scalar and the PS quark density distributions, manifest by themselves. We applied these amplitudes to the cross sections for the weak- and electro-production near threshold. Both pion and PS form factor contributions are shown to account for the t-channel contribution in the charged pion electro-production near threshold. The asymmetry on the pion production by the neutrino and anti-neutrino is also discussed with their longitudinal and transverse cross sections.     

Price competition and store competition: Store brands vs. national brand

This paper studies pricing strategies in a market channel composed of one national brand manufacturer and two retailers who, each, carry their own store brand and a national brand products. The model accounts for product competition between store brands and the national brand products, as well as for store competition between retailers.     

Outsourcing and scheduling for two-machine ordered flow shop scheduling problems

This paper considers a two-machine ordered flow shop problem, where each job is processed through the in-house system or outsourced to a subcontractor. For in-house jobs, a schedule is constructed and its performance is measured by the makespan. Jobs processed by subcontractors require paying an outsourcing cost. The objective is to minimize the sum of the makespan and the total outsourcing cost. Since this problem is NP-hard, we present an approximation algorithm. Furthermore, we consider three special cases in which job j has a processing time requirement p_j, and machine i a characteristic q_i. The first case assumes the time job j occupies machine i is equal to the processing requirement divided by a characteristic value of machine i, that is, p_j/q_i. The second (third) case assumes that the time job j occupies machine i is equal to the maximum (minimum) of its processing requirement and a characteristic value of the machine, that is, max{p_j, q_i} (min{p_j, q_i}). We show that the first and the second cases are NP-hard and the third case is polynomially solvable.     

Dynamical Invariant and Exact Mechanical Analyses for the Caldirola–Kanai Model of Dissipative Three Coupled Oscillators

We study the dynamical invariant for dissipative three coupled oscillators mainly from the quantum mechanical point of view. It is known that there are many advantages of the invariant quantity in elucidating mechanical properties of the system. We use such a property of the invariant operator in quantizing the system in this work. To this end, we first transform the invariant operator to a simple one by using a unitary operator in order that we can easily manage it. The invariant operator is further simplified through its diagonalization via three-dimensional rotations parameterized by three Euler angles. The coupling terms in the quantum invariant are eventually eliminated thanks to such a diagonalization. As a consequence, transformed quantum invariant is represented in terms of three independent simple harmonic oscillators which have unit masses. Starting from the wave functions in the transformed system, we have derived the full wave functions in the original system with the help of the unitary operators.     

The evolution of bond structure in Ge33As12Se55 films upon thermal annealing

The evolution of bond structure of laser deposited Ge₃₃As₁₂Se₅₅ films under various processing conditions has been investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. It was found that a large number of Se-rich structures in the as-grown film may coalesce with As and Ge after annealing at high temperatures. In addition, both Ge and As 3d spectra show the presence of oxides. The oxygen distribution exponentially decays along the normal direction of the films regardless of different processing conditions. The critical thickness of the oxidized layer was extracted for the film annealed at various pressures and temperatures.     

Investigation on shape variation of Au nanocrystals

A variety of shapes, such as rod, tripod, -shape and cube, of Au nanocrystals were synthesized by employing different reaction conditions. The nanocrystals and their shape variation were characterized by transmission electron microscopy and UV–vis spectrophotometry. The evolution of shape was accomplished by controlling the parameters used in their synthesis, the concentration of reducing agent and surface capping agent. The effect of synthetic parameters on shape was explored, to determine suitable conditions for producing each shape of nanocrystals. Nanocrystals with different shapes have different plasmon bands in the visible region of the spectrum, which is a valuable property for sensor applications.