On the instability in non-abelian gauge theories with constant magnetic flux

We discuss the stability of Yang-Mills fields in the framework of a sourceless scheme introduced by 't Hooft. We find that abelian magnetic field configurations in Yang-Mills theories are always unstable. A classification for the unstable modes is given.     

Disorder and optical characterization of evaporation deposited a-Si: H films

Summary We have found, from optical transmission and photoconductivity measurements, that the width of the Urbach's tail and the optical-band gap value depend on the amount of disorder present in the network ofa-Si: H films. The nature of the disorder, being it thermal or structural, affects in the same way the behaviour of the absorption coefficient and supports the hypothesis that the value of the optical-band gap depends only indirectly on the overall hydrogen content. Work partially supported by CNR ?Progetto Finalizzato Energetica? and by the Energy Committee of Sicilian Region.     

A.c. Conductivity of reactive-evaporation-depositeda-Si:H films

Summary The electrical-conductivity frequency dependence of reactive-evaporation-depositeda-Si:H films has been measured in the temperature range (100÷450)K. The influence of the substrate temperature, of the hydrogen ions energy and of post-deposition thermal treatments has also been investigated. The results show that, depending on the material quality, three different conduction mechanisms associated with gap states, band or band tail states and to hopping processes near the Fermi level are observed.     

Nanostructured silver thin films deposited by pulsed laser ablation

Nanostructured thin films were deposited by excimer laser ablation of silver targets in controlled atmospheres of He and Ar. The film structural properties were investigated by means of scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscope imaging. The film growth mechanism was identified as the result of coalescence of nanometric clusters formed during plume flight. Cluster formation involves plume confinement as a consequence of the increased collisional rate among plasma species. Fast photography imaging of the laser-generated silver plasma allowed to identify plasma confinement, shock wave formation and plasma stopping.     

A Family of Maximum Entropy Densities Matching Call Option Prices

Abstract

We investigate the position of the Buchen–Kelly density (Peter W. Buchen and Michael Kelly. The maximum entropy distribution of an asset inferred from option prices. Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 31(1), 143–159, March 1996.) in the family of entropy maximizing densities from Neri and Schneider (Maximum entropy distributions inferred from option portfolios on an asset. Finance and Stochastics, 16(2), 293–318, April 2012.), which all match European call option prices for a given maturity observed in the market. Using the Legendre transform, which links the entropy function and the cumulant generating function, we show that it is both the unique continuous density in this family and the one with the greatest entropy. We present a fast root-finding algorithm that can be used to calculate the Buchen–Kelly density and give upper boundaries for three different discrepancies that can be used as convergence criteria. Given the call prices, arbitrage-free digital prices at the same strikes can only move within upper and lower boundaries given by left and right call spreads. As the number of call prices increases, these bounds become tighter, and we give two examples where the densities converge to the Buchen–Kelly density in the sense of relative entropy. The method presented here can also be used to interpolate between call option prices, and we compare it to a method proposed by Kahalé (An arbitrage-free interpolation of volatilities. Risk, 17(5), 102–106, May 2004). Orozco Rodriguez and Santosa (Estimation of asset distributions from option prices: Analysis and regularization. SIAM Journal on Financial Mathematics, 3(1), 374–401, 2012.) have produced examples in which the Buchen–Kelly algorithm becomes numerically unstable, and we use these as test cases to show that the algorithm given here remains stable and leads to good results.     

Structural and optical properties of pulsed laser deposited ZnO thin films

Nanocrystalline ZnO thin films were grown by means of pulsed laser deposition. The ablation process was carried out at relatively low background oxygen gas pressure (10 Pa) and by varying the substrate temperature up to 600 °C. Information on the structural and morphological properties of the deposited thin films have been obtained by means of X-ray photoelectron, Raman spectroscopies, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The results showed that all the deposited films are sub-stoichiometric in oxygen and with a hexagonal wurtzite crystalline structure, characterized by features of some tens of nanometers in size. An improvement of the films' crystalline quality was observed for the deposition temperature of 300 °C while the further increase of the deposition temperature up to 600 °C induces a worsening of the material's structural properties with the development of a large amount of nanoparticle's clusters. The analysis of the XRD patterns shows a growth crystallographic preferential direction as a function of the deposition temperature, in agreement with the appearance of the only E₂ optical phonon mode in the Raman spectra. Such findings are compatible with the changes observed in the photoluminescent (PL) optical response and was related to the modification of the ZnO thin film structural quality.     

Correlation between carbon nanotube microstructure and their catalytic efficiency towards the p-coumaric acid degradation

Pristine and annealed multi-walled C nanotubes are preliminarily tested as catalysts towards the degradation of p-coumaric acid with better performances than the widely used activated carbon. In order to clarify the origin of their different catalytic efficiency, the samples are analysed by means of high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoemission, reflection electron energy loss and micro-Raman spectroscopy. Chemical composition, mass density, bonding configurations and threefold- to fourfold-coordinated carbon bonding ratios are determined. The comparative discussion of the results obtained leads to attribute the higher catalytic activity of the pristine nanotubes to their larger sp²/sp³ carbon bonding fraction and greater amount of oxygen containing functional groups.     

Antimicrobial Effect and Cytotoxic Evaluation of Mg-Doped Hydroxyapatite Functionalized with Au-Nano Rods

Hydroxyapatite (HA) is the main inorganic mineral that constitutes bone matrix and represents the most used biomaterial for bone regeneration. Over the years, it has been demonstrated that HA exhibits good biocompatibility, osteoconductivity, and osteoinductivity both in vitro and in vivo, and can be prepared by synthetic and natural sources via easy fabrication strategies. However, its low antibacterial property and its fragile nature restricts its usage for bone graft applications. In this study we functionalized a MgHA scaffold with gold nanorods (AuNRs) and evaluated its antibacterial effect against S. aureus and E. coli in both suspension and adhesion and its cytotoxicity over time (1 to 24 days). Results show that the AuNRs nano-functionalization improves the antibacterial activity with 100% bacterial reduction after 24 h. The toxicity study, however, indicates a 4.38-fold cell number decrease at 24 days. Although further optimization on nano-functionalization process are needed for cytotoxicity, these data indicated that Au-NRs nano-functionalization is a very promising method for improving the antibacterial properties of HA.     

Some Useful Integral Representations for Information-Theoretic Analyses

This work is an extension of our earlier article, where a well-known integral representation of the logarithmic function was explored and was accompanied with demonstrations of its usefulness in obtaining compact, easily-calculable, exact formulas for quantities that involve expectations of the logarithm of a positive random variable. Here, in the same spirit, we derive an exact integral representation (in one or two dimensions) of the moment of a nonnegative random variable, or the sum of such independent random variables, where the moment order is a general positive non-integer real (also known as fractional moments). The proposed formula is applied to a variety of examples with an information-theoretic motivation, and it is shown how it facilitates their numerical evaluations. In particular, when applied to the calculation of a moment of the sum of a large number, n, of nonnegative random variables, it is clear that integration over one or two dimensions, as suggested by our proposed integral representation, is significantly easier than the alternative of integrating over n dimensions, as needed in the direct calculation of the desired moment.