Dynamic compressibility and aging in Wigner crystals and quantum glasses

We study the nonequilibrium linear response of quantum elastic systems pinned by quenched disorder with Schwinger-Keldysh real-time techniques complemented by a mean-field variational approach. We find (i) a quasiequilibrium regime in which the analytic continuation from the imaginary-time replica results holds provided the marginality condition is enforced, and (ii) an aging regime. The conductivity and compressibility are computed. The latter is found to cross over from its dynamic to static value on a scale set by the waiting time after a quench, an effect which can be probed in experiments in, e.g., Wigner glasses.     

SIMS as a subnanometer probe: A new tool for chemical profile analysis of grafted molecules

The complexity of modern engineered surfaces requires the development of very powerful methods to analyze and characterize them. We demonstrate that it is possible to obtain chemical information about the skeleton of organic molecules constituting SAMs grafted on a silicon surface by using a new type of SIMS method. A profile can be achieved by the investigation of the temporal variation of secondary ion intensities that correspond to the fractional parts of the molecule constituting the SAMs. The equivalent ablation rate is less than 0.5 nm/min.     

Antibody immobilization on gold nanoparticles coated layer-by-layer with polyelectrolytes

Nanoscale materials are used in the biomedical field for magnetic resonance imaging, protein detection and drug/gene delivery. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are particularly investigated in cancer treatment and imaging. In this study, we described a simple and reliable liquid method to coat AuNPs (diameter: 21 nm) layer-by-layer with alternative cationic polyallylamine and anionic polystyrenesulfonate. The C-terminal amino acid of the antibody directed against anti-bovine serum albumin was activated by EDC/NHS, and then condensed with the amino functions of the external polyallylamine layer. An ELISA test confirmed that the antigen recognition of the bioconjugate antibody was conserved. This AuNP coating and the covalently coupling could be used as a generic process for binding other specific antibodies, particularly those overexpressed in cancer cells and angiogenesis.     

Contact angle hysteresis at the nanometer scale

Using atomic force microscopy with nonconventional carbon tips, the pinning of a liquid contact line on individual nanometric defects was studied. This mechanism is responsible for the occurrence of the contact angle hysteresis. The presence of weak defects which do not contribute to the hysteresis is evidenced for the first time. The dissipated energy associated with strong defects is also measured down to values in the range of kT, which correspond to defect sizes in the order of 1 nm.     

Optimized IR synchrotron beamline design

Synchrotron infrared beamlines are powerful tools on which to perform spectroscopy on microscopic length scales but require working with large bending‐magnet source apertures in order to provide intense photon beams to the experiments. Many infrared beamlines use a single toroidal‐shaped mirror to focus the source emission which generates, for large apertures, beams with significant geometrical aberrations resulting from the shape of the source and the beamline optics. In this paper, an optical layout optimized for synchrotron infrared beamlines, that removes almost totally the geometrical aberrations of the source, is presented and analyzed. This layout is already operational on the IR beamline of the Brazilian synchrotron. An infrared beamline design based on a SOLEIL bending‐magnet source is given as an example, which could be useful for future IR beamline improvements at this facility.     

Finite Volume schemes on unstructured grids for non-local models: Application to the simulation of heat transport in plasmas

In the so-called Spitzer–Härm regime, equations of plasma physics reduce to a nonlinear parabolic equation for the electronic temperature. Coming back to the derivation of this limiting equation through hydrodynamic regime arguments, one is led to construct a hierarchy of models where the heat fluxes are defined through a non-local relation which can be reinterpreted as well by introducing coupled diffusion equations. We address the question of designing numerical methods to simulate these equations. The basic requirement for the scheme is to be asymptotically consistent with the Spitzer–Härm regime. Furthermore, the constraints of physically realistic simulations make the use of unstructured meshes unavoidable. We develop a Finite Volume scheme, based on Vertex-Based discretization, which reaches these objectives. We discuss on numerical grounds the efficiency of the method, and the ability of the generalized models in capturing relevant phenomena missed by the asymptotic problem.     

Electron irradiation-enhanced core/shell organization of Al(Cr,Fe, Mn)Si dispersoids in Al–Mg–Si alloys

The age hardening 6061-T6 aluminium alloy has been chosen as structural material for the core vessel of the material testing Jules Horowitz nuclear reactor. The alloy contains incoherent Al(Cr, Fe, Mn)Si dispersoids whose characterization by energy-filtered transmission electron microscopy (EFTEM) analysis shows a core/shell organization tendency where the core is (Mn, Fe) rich, and the shell is Cr rich. The present work studies the stability of this organization under irradiation. TEM characterization on the same particles, before and after 1 MeV electron irradiation, reveals that the core/shell organization is enhanced after irradiation. It is proposed that the high level of point defects, created by irradiation, ensures a radiation-enhanced diffusion process favourable to the unmixing forces between (Fe, Mn) and Cr. Shell formation may result in the low-energy interface segregation of Cr atoms within the (Fe, Mn) system combined with the unmixing of Cr, Fe and Mn components.     

Mode-coupling-induced dissipative and thermal effects at long times after a quantum quench

An interaction quench in a Luttinger liquid can drive it into an athermal steady state. We analyze the effects on such an out of equilibrium state of a mode coupling term due to a periodic potential. Employing a perturbative renormalization group approach we show that even when the periodic potential is an irrelevant perturbation in equilibrium, it has important consequences on the athermal steady state as it generates a temperature as well as a dissipation and hence a finite lifetime for the bosonic modes.     

Scaling Features of Two Special Markov Chains Involving Total Disasters

Journal of Statistical Physics - Catastrophe Markov chain population models have received a lot of attention in the recent past. We herewith consider two special cases of such models involving...