Raman scattering from sodium and silver in β-alumina

Raman scattering is observed from the vibrations of the mobile sodium and silver ions in β-alumina between 4.2 and 900°K. The frequency response is Lorentzian at all temperatures above 300°K with little change in frequencies and damping rates. It is concluded that diffusive conduction with a well-defined attempt frequency predominates up to 900°K.     

A discrete element model for simulating saturated granular soil

A numerical model is developed to simulate saturated granular soil, based on the discrete element method. Soil particles are represented by Lagrangian discrete elements, and pore fluid, by appropriate discrete elements which represent alternately Lagrangian mass of water and Eulerian volume of space. Macro-scale behavior of the model is verified by simulating undrained biaxial compression tests. Micro-scale behavior is compared to previous literature through pore pressure pattern visualization during shear tests. It is demonstrated that dynamic pore pressure patterns are generated by superposed stress waves. These pore-pressure patterns travel much faster than average drainage rate of the pore fluid and may initiate soil fabric change, ultimately leading to liquefaction in loose sands. Thus, this work demonstrates a tool to roughly link dynamic stress wave patterns to initiation of liquefaction phenomena.     

Relative hyperbolicity,trees of spaces and Cannon-Thurston maps

We prove the existence of continuous boundary extensions (Cannon-Thurston maps) for the inclusion of a vertex space into a tree of (strongly) relatively hyperbolic spaces satisfying the qi-embedded condition. This implies the same result for inclusion of vertex (or edge) subgroups in finite graphs of (strongly) relatively hyperbolic groups. This generalizes a result of Bowditch for punctured surfaces in 3 manifolds and a result of Mitra for trees of hyperbolic metric spaces.     

Limits of limit sets I

We show that for a strongly convergent sequence of geometrically finite Kleinian groups with geometrically finite limit, the Cannon–Thurston maps of limit sets converge uniformly. If however the algebraic and geometric limits differ, as in the well known examples due to Kerckhoff and Thurston, then provided the geometric limit is geometrically finite, the maps on limit sets converge pointwise but not uniformly.     

External forces outside of a layered electron gas

We calculate the external forces outside of the surface of a layered electron gas (LEG). The LEG is a model of a metal where the electrical current is carried in parallel layers, and there is no current between layers. It describes the high-temperature cuprate superconductors and many other layered solids. We calculate the image potential from an external charge, the van der Waals potential from a neutral atom and the Casimir force between the parallel surfaces of two LEGs. Our theory does not use dielectric functions. We write down the quantum mechanical Hamiltonian, calculate the exact ground state energy and deduce the forces from the energy. We also show that the LEG has no surface plasmon.     

Sasakian and Parabolic Higgs Bundles

Let M be a quasi-regular compact connected Sasakian manifold, and let N = M/S ¹ be the base projective variety. We establish an equivalence between the class of Sasakian G–Higgs bundles over M and the class of parabolic (or equivalently, ramified) G–Higgs bundles over the base N.     

Asymmetric three-link passive walker

Passive walkers are dynamically stable robots with a gait that resembles the human locomotion. These walkers can be studied to better understand the dynamic behavior of the human gait and design efficient active walkers and assistive devices. In this paper, we study the walking dynamics of a three-link passive walker with an asymmetrical structure where one leg has a knee while the other is knee-less. After finding a 2-periodic steady gait for the three-link walker with humanlike inertial parameters for both legs, the possibility of a gait with symmetrical step lengths is discussed where the half inter-leg angles at the beginning of every step are made equal by altering the physical parameters of the knee-less leg. We further study the gaits with symmetrical step lengths and show that by replacing one leg of a four-link symmetric walker with the knee-less leg of the three-link walker with the symmetrical half inter-leg angles, the dynamic behavior of the kneed leg remains unchanged. This approach can be adapted in the field of gait rehabilitation and prosthesis design to obtain a more symmetrical gait and preserve the motion of the healthy leg.

     

The field effect in amorphous chalcogenides: An investigation of localized states and electronic transport

The temperature dependence of the field effect response permits an unambiguous determination of the identity of those states responsible for electrostatic screening in the amorphous chalcogenides. We observe (1) in As₂Te₃, field effect screening by localized states at the Fermi level at low temperatures (～ 10¹⁹ cm^?3 eV^?1) and by mobile charge carriers (～ 10¹⁸ cm^?3 at 300 K) at high temperatures, and a transition from p-type to two-carrier (primarily n-type) conductivity as the temperature is raised above ～320 K; (2) in As₂SeTe₂, screening by mobile charge carriers (～ 10¹⁸ cm^?3 at 300 K) with strongly type conductivity; (3) in As₂Se₂Te, screening by localized states at the Fermi level (～ 10¹⁹ cm^?3 eV^?1) with strongly p-type conductivity; and (4) in Sb₂Te₃, a very high density of localized states at the Fermi level (～ 2 × 10²⁰ cm^?3 eV^?1) with both electron and hole contributions to the conductivity. Correlation with thermoelectric power results suggests that the p-type conductivity in As₂Te₃ is due to near-equal contributions from two processes: hopping in localized states plus extended state conduction. Aging and annealing behavior is described with the aid of a “chaotic potential model” that appears to be able to account for large changes in mobile carrier density that leave the conductivity unaltered.     

Field emission of monoenergetic spin-polarized electrons

Field emission from a tungsten tip, covered by a layer of crystallized ferromagnetic europium sulfide, leads to an electron beam with a current of 10⁻⁸ A, an energy width of less than 100 meV, and a spin polarization of about 0.85 at a tip temperature of 9 K. Proper annealing of the EuS layer is crucial.     

Ionic polarons in solid electrolytes

Small polaron theory is used to calculate the activation energy of cationic hopping in solid electrolytes. The numerical results show a small activation energy for materials which have forms which are good super ionic conductors, and large for those which have not.