Carrier diffusion in InGaAs/GaAs quantum wells grown on vicinal GaAs(0 0 1) substrates

We have investigated the influence of vicinal GaAs substrates on the optical and electronic properties of InGaAs/GaAs quantum wells (QWs). A single In_0.10Ga_0.90As QW was grown by molecular-beam epitaxy on a vicinal GaAs(0 0 1) substrate with a miscut angle of 0° (nominal), 2°, 4° and 6° towards [1 1 0]. The carrier diffusion was obtained by a micro-photoluminescence scan technique that permits to observe the effective diffusion length characterized by the lateral spread of carriers in the QW followed by radiative recombination. The carrier diffusion length was obtained parallel (L_||) and perpendicular (L) to the atomic steps. The diffusion length decreases as the temperature increases up to 100 K. Above this temperature we found different behaviours that depend on the sample miscut angle.     

On the Definition of Temperature in FPU Systems

It is usually assumed, in classical statistical mechanics, that the temperature should coincide, apart from a suitable constant factor, with the mean kinetic energy of the particles. We show that this is not the case for Fermi–Pasta–Ulam systems, in conditions in which energy equipartition between the modes is not attained. We find that the temperature should be rather identified with the mean value of the energy of the low frequency modes.     

Back Reaction in Static Einstein Spaces—Change of Entropy

Using the thermodynamical approach and the method of York, the back-reaction of anti-de Sitter Schwarzschild black hole in thermal equilibrium with conformal spin-2 field is studied. It is found that both approaches give identical results.     

Quantum Lax Operators and Discrete 2+1-Dimensional Integrable Models

A specific quantum Lax operator, forming a quantum U _q (sl n) chain, is suggested. The intertwining R L L relation is proved. The invariant local 2+1-dimensional reformulation of the auxiliary linear problem for the L-operator is discussed.     

Lax Pairs for Equations Describing Compatible Nonlocal Poisson Brackets of Hydrodynamic Type and Integrable Reductions of the Lamé Equations

We solve the problem of describing compatible nonlocal Poisson brackets of hydrodynamic type. We prove that for nonsingular pairs of compatible nonlocal Poisson brackets of hydrodynamic type, there exist special local coordinates such that the metrics and the Weingarten operators of both brackets are diagonal. The nonlinear evolution equations describing all nonsingular pairs of compatible nonlocal Poisson brackets of hydrodynamic type are derived in these special coordinates, and the integrability of these equations is proved using the inverse scattering transform. The Lax pairs with a spectral parameter for these equations are found. We construct various classes of integrable reductions of the derived equations. These classes of reductions are of an independent differential-geometric and applied interest. In particular, if one of the compatible Poisson brackets is local, we obtain integrable reductions of the classical Lamé equations describing all orthogonal curvilinear coordinate systems in a flat space; if one of the compatible brackets is generated by a constant-curvature metric, the corresponding equations describe integrable reductions of the equations for orthogonal curvilinear coordinate systems in a space of constant curvature.     

Analysis of a Duopoly Supply Chain and its Application in Electricity Spot Markets

This paper studies a supply chain consisting of two suppliers and one retailer in a spot market, where the retailer uses the newsvendor solution as its purchase policy, and suppliers compete for the retailer’s purchase. Since each supplier’s bidding strategy affects the other’s profit, a game theory approach is used to identify optimal bidding strategies. We prove the existence and uniqueness of a Nash solution. It is also shown that the competition between the supplier leads to a lower market clearing price, and as a result, the retailer benefits from it. Finally, we demonstrate the applicability of the obtained results by deriving optimal bidding strategies for power generator plants in the deregulated California energy market. Supported in part by RGC (Hong Kong) Competitive Earmarked Research Grants (CUHK4167/04E and CUHK4239/03E), a Distinguished Young Investigator Grant from the National Natural Sciences Foundation of China, and a grant from Hundred Talents Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.     

Formation of metallic NbSe2 nanotubes and nanofibers

We succeed in synthesizing NbSe₂ nanotubes along with nanofibers by chemical vapor transportation. They are stable crystalline systems and can be synthesized reproducibly in a nearly equilibrium reacting process. We have investigated these nanosize structures of NbSe₂ by transmission electron microscopy and electron diffraction. Both of the structures have a similar size of 100–200 nm in diameter. While nanotubes consist of rolled-up NbSe₂ layers, nanofibers are a pile of thin flat layers. We propose a mechanism of the formation of NbSe₂ nanotubes and nanofibers on the basis of deseleniditive transition from a NbSe₃ fiber-shaped crystal. We also measured electrical resistance of the nanofibers with conductive atomic force microscopy and demonstrated that the material show metallic behavior at room temperature.     

The effect of simultaneous temperature, pressure and stress on the experimental annealing of spontaneous fission tracks in apatite: a brief overview

Tracks made in minerals by the electronic stopping of uranium fission fragments provide a modern geological dating tool, and are believed also to yield specific information on the low-temperature thermal history of rocks. Experimental work showing that the damaged crystal lattice along a fission track recovers primarily as a function of temperature ignored the fact that the basic theory of atomic diffusion requires an exponential decrease in the intrinsic diffusion coefficient with increasing pressure. Here, fission track recovery was experimentally investigated in basic apatite under the simultaneous influences of temperature, pressure and stress. We show that track fading is a complex recovery mechanism responding to several environmental physical parameters simultaneously. In particular a strong decrease in the track recovery rate was observed as a function of increasing pressure. And a nearly temperature-independent recovery was observed in samples under stress.     

First-principles calculations of the hyperfine fields on ligands in fluorides

In solid-state physics, a crystal lattice is frequently approximated by an array of interacting ions. In this case, the wave functions of individual ions are assumed to be a fairly good zeroth approximation in calculating the matrix elements of the interaction Hamiltonian of electrons and nuclei of the lattice from first principles. Use of the second-quantization method is proposed for such calculations in the basis of these functions. As an example, the electron transition amplitude from a ligand to the central ion is estimated. The results agree well with the experimental data.