Geometry of random sequential adsorption

By sequentially adding line segments to a line or disks to a surface at random positions without overlaps, we obtain configurations of the one- and two-dimensional random sequential adsorption (RSA) problem. We have simulated the one- and two-dimensional problem with periodic boundary condition. The one-dimensional simulations are compared with the exact analytical solutions to give an estimate of the accuracy of the simulation. In two dimensions the geometrical properties of the RSA configuration are discussed and in addition known results of the RSA process are reproduced. Various statistical distributions of the Voronoi-Dirichlet (VD) network corresponding to the RSA disk configuration are analyzed. In order to characterize pores in the RSA configuration, we introduce circular holes. There is a direct correspondence between vertices of the VD network and these holes, and also between direct/indirect geometrical neighbors and these holes. The hole size distribution is found to be a parabola. We also find general relations that connect the asymptotic behavior of the surface coverage, the correlation function, and the hole size distribution.     

Effect of particle size on carburization of Fe-Co alloy catalysts

Bimetallic Fe-Co alloy catalysts supported on silica have been studied by use of combined Mössbauer absorption and emisson spectroscopy. Effects of carburization on samples with different particle size are discussed.     

Viscoelastic characterization of compacted pharmaceutical excipient materials by analysis of frequency-dependent mechanical relaxation processes

A newly developed method for determining the frequency-dependent complex Young's modulus was employed to analyze the mechanical response of compacted microcrystalline cellulose, sorbitol, ethyl cellulose and starch for frequencies up to 20 kHz. A Debye-like relaxation was observed in all the studied pharmaceutical excipient materials and a comparison with corresponding dielectric spectroscopy data was made. The location in frequency of the relaxation peak was shown to correlate to the measured tensile strength of the tablets, and the relaxation was interpreted as the vibrational response of the interparticle hydrogen and van der Waals bindings in the tablets. Further, the measured relaxation strength, holding information about the energy loss involved in the relaxation processes, showed that the weakest material in terms of tensile strength, starch, is the material among the four tested ones that is able to absorb the most energy within its structure when exposed to external perturbations inducing vibrations in the studied frequency range. The results indicate that mechanical relaxation analysis performed over relatively broad frequency ranges should be useful for predicting material properties of importance for the functionality of a material in applications such as, e.g., drug delivery, drug storage and handling, and also for clarifying the origin of hitherto unexplained molecular processes.     

Second-harmonic generation of 405-nm light using periodically poled KTiOPO4 pumped by external-cavity laser diode with double grating feedback

A frequency-doubled laser diode system for generation of blue–UV light is described. The system is based on an external-cavity high-power laser diode with double feedback from the zeroth and the first orders of a diffraction grating. Light at 405 nm is generated in a single-pass configuration using periodically poled KTiOPO₄. We show that the double grating feedback improves the second harmonic conversion efficiency by several orders of magnitude as compared to the freely running laser. The conversion efficiency may be improved further such that higher second-harmonic powers may be generated.     

Changes in intratumor heterogeneity in blood perfusion in intradermal human melanoma xenografts during tumor growth assessed by DCE-MRI

The purpose of this study was to use dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) to search for systematic intratumor heterogeneity in blood perfusion in human melanoma xenografts growing intradermally in BALB/c-nu/nu mice. Six xenografted tumors of an amelanotic human melanoma line (A-07) were included in the study. DCE-MRI was performed daily for 5 days by using spoiled-gradient recalled sequences. Tumor images of E.F (E is initial extraction fraction and F is perfusion) were produced by subjecting DCE-MRI data to Kety analysis. E.F was used as a measure of tumor blood perfusion, since comparative studies have shown that E.F is closely related to blood perfusion in A-07 tumors. The E.F images indicated that the intratumor heterogeneity in blood perfusion was similar in all investigated tumors. The blood perfusion was low in the center of the tumors and increased toward the tumor periphery in the dorsal and ventral direction by a factor of 3-4, but not in the lateral and medial direction. The magnitude of the heterogeneity increased by a factor of approximately 2 during tumor growth. In conclusion, intradermal human melanoma xenografts show significant systematic intratumor heterogeneity in blood perfusion.     

Slow-light enhanced optical detection in liquid-infiltrated photonic crystals

Slow-light enhanced optical detection in liquid-infiltrated photonic crystals is theoretically studied. Using a scattering-matrix approach and the Wigner–Smith delay time concept, we show that optical absorbance benefits both from slow-light phenomena as well as a high filling factor of the energy residing in the liquid. Utilizing strongly dispersive photonic crystal structures, we numerically demonstrate how liquid-infiltrated photonic crystals facilitate enhanced light–matter interactions, by potentially up to an order of magnitude. The proposed concept provides strong opportunities for improving existing miniaturized absorbance cells for optical detection in lab-on-a-chip systems.     

One-dimensional non-relativistic and relativistic Brownian motions: a microscopic collision model

We study a simple microscopic model for the one-dimensional stochastic motion of a (non-)relativistic Brownian particle, embedded into a heat bath consisting of (non-)relativistic particles. The stationary momentum distributions are identified self-consistently (for both Brownian and heat bath particles) by means of two coupled integral criteria. The latter follow directly from the kinematic conservation laws for the microscopic collision processes, provided one additionally assumes probabilistic independence of the initial momenta. It is shown that, in the non-relativistic case, the integral criteria do correctly identify the Maxwellian momentum distributions as stationary (invariant) solutions. Subsequently, we apply the same criteria to the relativistic case. Surprisingly, we find here that the stationary momentum distributions differ slightly from the standard Jüttner distribution by an additional prefactor proportional to the inverse relativistic kinetic energy.     

Index of refraction for cold lithium- and diatomic sodium waves traveling through cold noble gases

In the present paper we propose to measure the index of refraction for diatomic sodium molecules traveling through a cold helium gas. Theoretical calculations of the index of refraction for this system are presented as a function of the molecule velocity and atom gas temperature. Whereas previous theoretical efforts to compute the refractive index have been concerned with atomic systems and atomic matter waves, we extend the investigation to diatomic molecules in the present work. To enable such calculations the potential energy surface for the atom-molecule interaction is calculated ab initio, along with the long range dispersion coefficients for the atom-molecule system. The full close-coupled equations, describing the atom-molecule collisions, are solved numerically to work out the influence of the collisions on the matter waves. We investigate the sensitivity of the results upon changes and inaccuracies in the potential energy surface. Several molecular rotational levels are included in the present study, and the index of refraction is found to depend on the rotational state. In addition, the index of refraction for atomic lithium matter waves traveling through the cold noble gases helium and argon are computed, motivated by a recent experiment with atomic lithium matter waves. Different resonances (glory- and scattering resonances) are identified from the results. Such resonances offer an important opportunity for the comparison of experiment and theory.     

The invisible Majorana bound state at the helical edge

The presence of a Majorana bound state in condensed matter systems is often associated to a zero bias peak in conductance measurements. Here, we analyze a system were this paradigm is violated. A Majorana bound state is always present at the interface between a quantum spin Hall system that is magnetically gapped and a quantum spin Hall system gapped by proximity induced s-wave superconductivity. However, the linear conductance could be either zero or non-zero and quantized depending on the energy and length scales of the barriers. The transition between the two values is reminiscent of the topological phase transition in proximitized spin–orbit coupled quantum wires in the presence of an applied magnetic field. We interpret the behavior of the conductance in terms of scattering states at both zero and non-zero energy.     

Path integral formulation for quantized fermion and boson fluids

An isomorphism between fully quantized fermion and boson fluids and classical polymer mixtures is used as a point of departure to initiate an analytic treatment of quantum fluids.