Coupling effects of depletion interactions in a three-sphere colloidal system

In a three-sphere system, the middle sphere is acted upon by two opposite depletion forces from the other two spheres. It is found that, in this system, the two depletion forces are coupled with each other and result in a strengthened depletion force. So the difference of the depletion forces of the three-sphere system and its corresponding two two-sphere systems is introduced to describe the coupling effect of the depletion interactions. The numerical results obtained by Monte-Carlo simulations show that this coupling effect is affected by both the concentration of small spheres and the geometrical confinement. Meanwhile, it is also found that the mechanisms of the coupling effect and the effect on the depletion force from the geometry factor are the same.     

The variation of Mn-dopant distribution state with x and its effect on the magnetic coupling mechanism in Znl-xMnxO nanocrystals

Zn1-xMnxO （x = 0.0005, 0.001, 0.005, 0.01, 0.02） nanocrystals are synthesized by using a wet chemical process. The coordination environment of Mn is characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and its X-ray absorption fine structure. It is found that the solubility of substitutional Mn in a ZnO lattice is very low, which is less than 0.4%. Mn ions first dissolve into the substitutional sites in the ZnO lattice, thereby forming Mn2＋O4 tetrahedral coordination when x ≤ 0.001, then entering into the interstitial sites and forming Mn3＋O6 octahedral coordination when x ≥ 0.005. All the samples exhibit paramagnetic behaviors at room temperature, and antiferromagnetic coupling can be observed below 100 K.     

A numerical study of reignition induced by a diffusion flame

We present a numerical study of the reignition of a cold reactant mixture by the interaction with a nearby diffusion flame. This reignition mechanism may be an important process in turbulent non-premixed flames at high rates of strain where quenched sections of the stoichiometric surface are folded by the turbulent flow and come in close proximity with other burning flame sections. We consider an idealized one-dimensional setup containing the fundamental ingredients that are expected to contribute to this reignition mode. One- and two-step irreversible chemical mechanisms with heat release levels typical of practical hydrocarbon fuels are considered. It is observed that a slow moving reignition kernel originates on the high-temperature region of the burning flame in the one-step chemistry case owing to small leakage of oxidizer from the cold-mixture side. This kernel gradually moves, increasing the local temperature above that provided by diffusion and eventually leads to thermal runaway with the formation of a deflagration wave. The reignition time depends on the chemistry details, the Damköhler number, but in any case it cannot exceed the mixing time. This implies that the flame-induced reignition time is essentially bounded from above by mixing. Unless one of the free streams is hotter, in which case auto-ignition (as opposed to reignition) may proceed first, the reignition time is chemistry dependent. In the case of two-step chemistry, the reignition pathway is different initially owing to leakage of the radical species, but it approaches that of the one-step chemistry case shortly thereafter. It is observed that the only difference between the two cases is in the initial phase of the evolution of the reignition kernel. This phase appears to be very sensitive to the chemistry details, a general aspect of ignition. A parametric study is carried out to elucidate the effect of each non-dimensional quantity on the reignition time for the one-step chemistry case.     

Phase transitions driven by quasiparticle interactions

After a survey of the solid–liquid transition, driven by phonon–phonon interactions, attention is next focussed on two phase transitions caused by electron–phonon interactions. These are (i) the Barden–Cooper–Schrieffer pure metal superconducting transition and (ii) the original Peierls instability. These have closely similar forms for the respective transition temperatures, both being related to energy gaps. Spin–phonon interactions are then discussed in relation to spin-Peierls materials. Finally, magnon–magnon interactions are treated in the context of the ferromagnetic–paramagnetic transition in the itinerant electron systems Fe, Co and Ni. Heuristic and phenomenological arguments, plus of course experiment, provide the basis for the conclusions drawn here.     

Molecular alignment of biphenyl derivatives -a computational analysis

Molecular alignment of some biphenyl derivatives likes 4'-Nitro-2-biphenylamine (NBPA), 4-Acetyl-3'-chlorobiphenyl (ACBP) and 4-Acetyl-3'-florobiphenyl (AFBP) has been examined. The CNDO/2 method has been employed to compute the net atomic charge and atomic dipole-moment components at each atomic centre. Configurational energy has been computed using a modified Rayleigh- Schrodinger perturbation method at an interval of 0.1 A° in translation and 1° in rotation, and corresponding probabilities have been calculated using MB-statistics. A comparative study of molecular parameters like the total energy, the binding energy and the total dipole moment etc., has been made. On the basis of the stacking and the in-plane interaction energy calculations, all the possible geometrical arrangements between molecular pairing have been obtained. The investigation suggests that a strong intermolecular interaction energy between a pair of NBPA molecules, and the specific minimum energy configuration, determines the alignment of molecules with respect to one another. An attempt has been made to correlate the liquid crystalline properties exhibited by this class of molecules, and thereby develop a molecular model for the liquid crystallinity.     

Ultrasonic evidence for short-range charge-ordering state in the low-doping regime of La1– x Sr x FeO3 (1/3 ≤ x ≤ 0.45)

The longitudinal ultrasonic velocity (V) and attenuation at a frequency of 10?MHz, as well as magnetization and resistivity, have been measured in the single-phase polycrystalline La_{1– x} Sr _x FeO₃ (x?=?1/3, 0.4, 0.45). Upon cooling down from high temperature, a slight softening in V and dramatic stiffening are observed in all samples, and this stiffening is coincided with a big attenuation peak. The relative increase of V is proportional to the Sr concentration, which implies that this anomaly is strongly correlated with Fe⁴⁺. However, no obvious changes in magnetic and electric properties are found at this temperature range. The analysis suggests that this feature may be caused by the Jahn–Teller effect of Fe⁴⁺ and correspond to the formation of short-range charge-ordering state.     

Deuterium-deuterium nuclear cross-sections in insulator and metallic environments

The three-dimensional Thomas-Fermi (TF) model is used to simulate the variation of the d + d → t + p cross-section at low impact energies, when the target deuterium nucleus is embedded in metallic or insulator environments. The comparison of the computational results to recent experiments demonstrates that even though the TF model can explain some increase in the low-energy cross-section for metallic host, a full explanation of the experimental results is still lacking. Possible reasons for the disagreement are discussed.