DOUBLESLICING: a non-iterative single profile multi-exponential curve resolution procedure. Application to time-domain NMR transverse relaxation data

A new non-iterative curve resolution technique for resolving single decay profiles is proposed. The new technique, called DoubleSlicing, is based on the Decra (Direct Exponential Curve Resolution Algorithm) principle. While the original Decra was designed to resolve several decay curves simultaneously and thus fitting common pure exponentials, DoubleSlicing can resolve single decay profiles by a simple double data transformation followed by an analytical and unique three-way decomposition. The new approach is successfully demonstrated on experimental NMR CPMG relaxation data, measured on combinations of unmixed paramagnetic CuSO(4) solutions. Decay signals of the water component were acquired following an innovative experimental design that ensured no interaction between the components present in each sample under observation. DoubleSlicing proved to be accurate in estimating relaxation times differing in one order of magnitude (range: 19.6-159.4ms). Its performance was comparable to discrete exponential fitting with the advantage of being much faster - in terms of computation time, DoubleSlicing outperformed exponential fitting by a factor of four.     

Highly charged ions in a new era of high resolution X-ray astrophysics

X-ray astronomy and ground-based atomic physics have a long history of fruitful collaboration: Sound understanding of the underlying atomic physics is the key to reliable interpretation of the spectra from celestial sources; conversely, astronomical spectra have been used to benchmark and advance atomic physics. This interplay is about to become even more important as we enter a new era of high-resolution X-ray astrophysics with large effective collection area. Although high-resolution observations with the gratings on the Chandra and XMM-Newton observatories continue to drive new science, upcoming planned and proposed missions will open up new discovery space in the near future that is currently challenging to access: high-resolution spectroscopy on extended sources, in the Fe K band, and on short time scales. This review summarizes open questions in these areas and the design parameters for the Hitomi, XRISM, Athena, and Arcus observatories. The expected high quality of spectra taken with these observatories puts new constraints on the accuracy of atomic reference data required to take full advantage of the diagnostic potential of these spectra.     

A discontinuous Galerkin immersed boundary solver for compressible flows: Adaptive local time stepping for artificial viscosity–based shock-capturing on cut cells

We present a higher-order cut cell immersed boundary method (IBM) for the simulation of high Mach number flows. As a novelty on a cut cell grid, we evaluate an adaptive local time stepping (LTS) scheme in combination with an artificial viscosity–based shock-capturing approach. The cut cell grid is optimized by a nonintrusive cell agglomeration strategy in order to avoid problems with small or ill-shaped cut cells. Our approach is based on a discontinuous Galerkin discretization of the compressible Euler equations, where the immersed boundary is implicitly defined by the zero isocontour of a level set function. In flow configurations with high Mach numbers, a numerical shock-capturing mechanism is crucial in order to prevent unphysical oscillations of the polynomial approximation in the vicinity of shocks. We achieve this by means of a viscous smoothing where the artificial viscosity follows from a modal decay sensor that has been adapted to the IBM. The problem of the severe time step restriction caused by the additional second-order diffusive term and small nonagglomerated cut cells is addressed by using an adaptive LTS algorithm. The robustness, stability, and accuracy of our approach are verified for several common test cases. Moreover, the results show that our approach lowers the computational costs drastically, especially for unsteady IBM problems with complex geometries.     

An ODE Model of the Motion of Pelagic Fish

A system of ordinary differential equations (ODEs) is derived from a discrete system of Vicsek, Czirók et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 75(6):1226–1229, 1995], describing the motion of a school of fish. Classes of linear and stationary solutions of the ODEs are found and their stability explored using equivariant bifurcation theory. The existence of periodic and toroidal solutions is also proven under deterministic perturbations and structurally stable heteroclinic connections are found. Applications of the model to the migration of the capelin, a pelagic fish that undertakes an extensive migration in the North Atlantic, are discussed and simulation of the ODEs presented.     

Runge–Kutta Lawson schemes for stochastic differential equations

In this paper, we present a framework to construct general stochastic Runge–Kutta Lawson schemes. We prove that the schemes inherit the consistency and convergence properties of the underlying Runge–Kutta scheme, and confirm this in some numerical experiments. We also investigate the stability properties of the methods and show for some examples, that the new schemes have improved stability properties compared to the underlying schemes.

     

Increased and balanced light emission of transparent organic light-emitting diodes by enhanced microcavity effects

We report on improved and controlled light outcoupling of transparent organic light-emitting diodes (TOLEDs) by inserting thin silver layers between the indium tin oxide anode and the hole transporting layer. The introduction of Ag layers influences both the bottom and top emission of the TOLEDs, and it results in dramatic changes in the electroluminescence spectra and angular distribution. We find that the overall external quantum efficiency can be increased up to 18.8%, and the ratio of bottom and top emission can be almost identical.     

High temperature stability of maghemite in partially oxidized basalt lava

Mössbauer spectroscopy of basalt lava samples, exhibiting reversible thermal magnetization (J_S-T) curves with Curie temperatures of about 580°C, has revealed considerable amounts of maghemite (γ-Fe₂O₃) in many samples. In view of the expected instability, of maghemite at temperatures above 350°C, this reversibility is rather surprising. Here we report Mössbauer studies on heated lava samples, showing high content of maghemite. The samples were kept at 600°C in oxidizing, reducing, and inactive atmospheres, respectively, for different lengths of time, and then analyzed with Mössbauer spectroscopy at room temperature. The Mössbauer spectra showed that maghemite is stable in the oxidizing atmosphere for at least several hours. In the inactive atmosphere a considerable amount of maghemite still exists after two hours heating. In the reducing atmosphere maghemite had transformed to magnetite after only 30 minutes.