First-Principles Calculation of Lattice Dynamics of bcc and hcp Iron Under High Pressures

Lattice dynamics and electron-phonon coupling are calculated for non-magnetic hcp iron at 100 GPa by a first-principles linear response full-potential LMTO method. Superconducting transition temperature is estimated to be less than 0.5 K. For ferromagnetic bcc iron lattice dynamical calculations are performed for 9.8 GPa as well as for ambient pressure. The results of calculation reproduce well the pressure dependence of phonon dispersion curves observed by neutron scattering measurements.     

Combined effects of high pressure and sodium hydrogen carbonate treatment on pork ham: improvement of texture and palatability

In this study, the combined effects of high pressure and sodium hydrogen carbonate (NaHCO₃) treatment on the physical and chemical properties, and palatability of pork ham, a tough and under-utilized meat, were investigated. Assessment of meat properties with heat treatment, after exposure to NaHCO₃ and high pressure treatment, revealed an increase in water content, and decreased weight reduction and rupture stress. The free amino acid content of meat samples increased with NaHCO₃ and high pressure treatment. The effect of high pressure processing was especially notable at a pressure of 300 MPa. Sensory evaluation showed that meat subjected to high pressure processing after NaHCO₃ treatment was tender and juicy. In addition, the sample produced minimal residue in the mouth and was characterized by a good taste.     

Lattice wave emission from moving cracks

Antiplane shear cracks moving in square lattices have been studied in a molecular dynamics simulation. They become unstable when a critical stress intensity at the tip is reached. Within picoseconds they accelerate to steady state velocity, which can be supersonic or not, depending on the interatomic potential. If the surface energy is low, they become supersonic; if the surface energy is high, they reach only subsonic speeds before the crystal reaches the theoretical shear strength. A simple modification of the interatomic potential switches the crystal behaviour from brittle to ductile, substituting dislocations to daughter cracks. The steady state velocities are the same, whether the model crystal is brittle or ductile. The steady state velocity is a function of the applied stress, not the stress intensity.     

Time operators for quantum walks

Letters in Mathematical Physics - We study time operators for discrete-time quantum systems. Quantum walks are typical examples. We construct time operators for one-dimensional homogeneous quantum...     

Acousto-induced structural change in amorphous As2S3

The acoustic flux injection method was applied to amorphous As₂S₃. The velocity and the attenuation constant for shear wave at ～ 100MHz were measured through the observation of the Brillouin scattering of the light beam from a He-Ne laser. The optical transmission around absorption edge was found to change after the injection of acoustic fluxes. It was also found that the sound velocity decreased with increasing injection time of acoustic fluxes and the amount of the change of the sound velocity reached ～ 20% after 10⁵ injections. The changes in the optical transmission and the sound velocity tended to be erased by annealing below the glass transition temperature. These phenomena are considered to be due to structural changes caused by the injection of strong acoustic fluxes.     

Quality factor of vibration of aluminum alloy disks

The quality factor Q of a quadrupole vibration at 20 kHz has been measured for circular disks of several aluminum alloys in the temperature range 4–300 K. Q = 4 × 10⁷ is obtained with disks of the 5056 alloy below 20 K.     

Short-range part of the NN interaction: Lowest-order relativistic corrections to equivalent local potentials from quark exchange kernels

The full Breit hamiltonian, including the Darwin term and relativistic kinetic-energy correction, has been used to construct resonating group kernels in analytic form for the six-quark NN system. The nonlocal kernels have been converted to equivalent local potentials using the WKB approximation based on their Wigner transforms. The equivalent local potentials have been confirmed to be rather insensitive to a choice of parameters and to be fairly accurate by comparing with the phase shifts and the wave functions obtained with the RGM equation. The results indicate the importance of the Darwin term. The term leads to a large reduction of the strong repulsive cores given by the color magnetic interaction and makes the resulting potentials less repulsive than those which neglect this term. The relative importance of the various components in the Breit interaction and of the quark-gluon exchange diagrams is made clear.     

Multiwalled carbon nanotubes mass-produced by dc arc discharge in He–H2 gas mixture

Uniform cathode deposits (longer than 15 mm), containing multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) inside, were produced by dc arc discharge evaporation with a computer-controlled feeder of a pure-carbon electrode without a metal catalyst in a He–H₂ gas mixture. The purification of MWNTs was carried out to remove amorphous carbon and carbon nanoparticles. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy observations and Raman scattering studies show that the MWNTs possess a high crystallinity and a mean outermost diameter of ∼ ∼10 nm. It has been confirmed that the current density in the electron field emission from a purified MWNT mat can reach 77.92 mA/cm², indicating that the purified MWNTs are a promising candidate electron source in a super high-luminance light-source tube or a miniature X-ray source.