TY - JOUR A1 - Zhirov, O. V. A1 - Pikovskij, Arkadij A1 - Shepelyansky, Dima L. T1 - Quantum vacuum of strongly nonlinear lattices JF - Physical review : E, Statistical, nonlinear and soft matter physics N2 - We study the properties of classical and quantum strongly nonlinear chains by means of extensive numerical simulations. Due to strong nonlinearity, the classical dynamics of such chains remains chaotic at arbitrarily low energies. We show that the collective excitations of classical chains are described by sound waves whose decay rate scales algebraically with the wave number with a generic exponent value. The properties of the quantum chains are studied by the quantum Monte Carlo method and it is found that the low-energy excitations are well described by effective phonon modes with the sound velocity dependent on an effective Planck constant. Our results show that at low energies the quantum effects lead to a suppression of chaos and drive the system to a quasi-integrable regime of effective phonon modes. Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.83.016202 SN - 1539-3755 VL - 83 IS - 1 PB - American Physical Society CY - College Park ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Turukina, L. V. A1 - Pikovskij, Arkadij T1 - Hyperbolic chaos in a system of resonantly coupled weakly nonlinear oscillators JF - Modern physics letters : A, Particles and fields, gravitation, cosmology, nuclear physics N2 - We show that a hyperbolic chaos can be observed in resonantly coupled oscillators near a Hopf bifurcation, described by normal-form-type equations for complex amplitudes. The simplest example consists of four oscillators, comprising two alternatively activated, due to an external periodic modulation, pairs. In terms of the stroboscopic Poincare map, the phase differences change according to an expanding Bernoulli map that depends on the coupling type. Several examples of hyperbolic chaos for different types of coupling are illustrated numerically. KW - Coupled oscillators KW - Hyperbolic chaos Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physleta.2011.02.017 SN - 0375-9601 VL - 375 IS - 11 SP - 1407 EP - 1411 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Pikovskij, Arkadij A1 - Fishman, Shmuel T1 - Scaling properties of weak chaos in nonlinear disordered lattices JF - Physical review : E, Statistical, nonlinear and soft matter physics N2 - We study the discrete nonlinear Schrodinger equation with a random potential in one dimension. It is characterized by the length, the strength of the random potential, and the field density that determines the effect of nonlinearity. Following the time evolution of the field and calculating the largest Lyapunov exponent, the probability of the system to be regular is established numerically and found to be a scaling function of the parameters. This property is used to calculate the asymptotic properties of the system in regimes beyond our computational power. Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.83.025201 SN - 1539-3755 SN - 1550-2376 VL - 83 IS - 2 PB - American Physical Society CY - College Park ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mulansky, Mario A1 - Ahnert, Karsten A1 - Pikovskij, Arkadij T1 - Scaling of energy spreading in strongly nonlinear disordered lattices JF - Physical review : E, Statistical, nonlinear and soft matter physics N2 - To characterize a destruction of Anderson localization by nonlinearity, we study the spreading behavior of initially localized states in disordered, strongly nonlinear lattices. Due to chaotic nonlinear interaction of localized linear or nonlinear modes, energy spreads nearly subdiffusively. Based on a phenomenological description by virtue of a nonlinear diffusion equation, we establish a one-parameter scaling relation between the velocity of spreading and the density, which is confirmed numerically. From this scaling it follows that for very low densities the spreading slows down compared to the pure power law. Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.83.026205 SN - 1539-3755 VL - 83 IS - 2 PB - American Physical Society CY - College Park ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sun, Y. -P. A1 - Hennies, Franz A1 - Pietzsch, Annette A1 - Kennedy, B. A1 - Schmitt, Thorsten A1 - Strocov, Vladimir N. A1 - Andersson, Joakim A1 - Berglund, Martin A1 - Rubensson, Jan-Erik A1 - Aidas, K. A1 - Gel'mukhanov, F. A1 - Odelius, Michael A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander T1 - Intramolecular soft modes and intermolecular interactions in liquid acetone JF - Physical review : B, Condensed matter and materials physics N2 - Resonant inelastic x-ray scattering spectra excited at the O1s(-1)pi* resonance of liquid acetone are presented. Scattering to the electronic ground state shows a resolved vibrational progression where the dominant contribution is due to the C-O stretching mode, thus demonstrating a unique sensitivity of the method to the local potential energy surface in complex molecular systems. For scattering to electronically excited states, soft vibrational modes and, to a smaller extent, intermolecular interactions give a broadening, which blurs the vibrational fine structure. It is predicted that environmental broadening is dominant in aqueous acetone. Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.84.132202 SN - 1098-0121 VL - 84 IS - 13 PB - American Physical Society CY - College Park ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Pietzsch, Annette A1 - Sun, Y. -P. A1 - Hennies, Franz A1 - Rinkevicius, Z. A1 - Karlsson, Hans O. A1 - Schmitt, Thorsten A1 - Strocov, Vladimir N. A1 - Andersson, Joakim A1 - Kennedy, B. A1 - Schlappa, J. A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander A1 - Rubensson, Jan-Erik A1 - Gel'mukhanov, F. T1 - Spatial quantum beats in vibrational resonant inelastic soft X-ray scattering at dissociating states in oxygen JF - Physical review letters N2 - Resonant inelastic soft x-ray scattering (RIXS) spectra excited at the 1 sigma(g) -> 3 sigma(u) resonance in gas-phase O-2 show excitations due to the nuclear degrees of freedom with up to 35 well-resolved discrete vibronic states and a continuum due to the kinetic energy distribution of the separated atoms. The RIXS profile demonstrates spatial quantum beats caused by two interfering wave packets with different momenta as the atoms separate. Thomson scattering strongly affects both the spectral profile and the scattering anisotropy. Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.153004 SN - 0031-9007 VL - 106 IS - 15 PB - American Physical Society CY - College Park ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Arhammar, C. A1 - Pietzsch, Annette A1 - Bock, Nicolas A1 - Holmstroem, Erik A1 - Araujo, C. Moyses A1 - Grasjo, Johan A1 - Zhao, Shuxi A1 - Green, Sara A1 - Peery, T. A1 - Hennies, Franz A1 - Amerioun, Shahrad A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander A1 - Schlappa, Justine A1 - Schmitt, Thorsten A1 - Strocov, Vladimir N. A1 - Niklasson, Gunnar A. A1 - Wallace, Duane C. A1 - Rubensson, Jan-Erik A1 - Johansson, Borje A1 - Ahuja, Rajeev C. T1 - Unveiling the complex electronic structure of amorphous metal oxides JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America N2 - Amorphous materials represent a large and important emerging area of material's science. Amorphous oxides are key technological oxides in applications such as a gate dielectric in Complementary metal-oxide semiconductor devices and in Silicon-Oxide-Nitride-Oxide-Silicon and TANOS (TaN-Al2O3-Si3N4-SiO2-Silicon) flash memories. These technologies are required for the high packing density of today's integrated circuits. Therefore the investigation of defect states in these structures is crucial. In this work we present X-ray synchrotron measurements, with an energy resolution which is about 5-10 times higher than is attainable with standard spectrometers, of amorphous alumina. We demonstrate that our experimental results are in agreement with calculated spectra of amorphous alumina which we have generated by stochastic quenching. This first principles method, which we have recently developed, is found to be superior to molecular dynamics in simulating the rapid gas to solid transition that takes place as this material is deposited for thin film applications. We detect and analyze in detail states in the band gap that originate from oxygen pairs. Similar states were previously found in amorphous alumina by other spectroscopic methods and were assigned to oxygen vacancies claimed to act mutually as electron and hole traps. The oxygen pairs which we probe in this work act as hole traps only and will influence the information retention in electronic devices. In amorphous silica oxygen pairs have already been found, thus they may be a feature which is characteristic also of other amorphous metal oxides. KW - stochastic quench KW - X-ray absorption spectroscopy KW - ab initio KW - coating Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1019698108 SN - 0027-8424 VL - 108 IS - 16 SP - 6355 EP - 6360 PB - National Acad. of Sciences CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sun, Y-P A1 - Pietzsch, Annette A1 - Hennies, Franz A1 - Rinkevicius, Z. A1 - Karlsson, Hans O. A1 - Schmitt, Thorsten A1 - Strocov, Vladimir N. A1 - Andersson, Joakim A1 - Kennedy, B. A1 - Schlappa, J. A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander A1 - Gel'mukhanov, F. A1 - Rubensson, Jan-Erik T1 - Internal symmetry and selection rules in resonant inelastic soft x-ray scattering JF - Journal of physics : B, Atomic, molecular and optical physics N2 - Resonant inelastic soft x-ray scattering spectra excited at the dissociative 1 sigma(g) -> 3 sigma(u) resonance in gas-phase O(2) are presented and discussed in terms of state-of-the-art molecular theory. A new selection rule due to internal spin coupling is established, facilitating a deep analysis of the valence excited final states. Furthermore, it is found that a commonly accepted symmetry selection rule due to orbital parity breaks down, as the core hole and excited electron swap parity, thereby opening the symmetry forbidden 3 sigma(g) decay channel. Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1088/0953-4075/44/16/161002 SN - 0953-4075 VL - 44 IS - 16 PB - IOP Publ. Ltd. CY - Bristol ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Douce, Laurent A1 - Suisse, Jean-Moise A1 - Guillon, Daniel A1 - Taubert, Andreas T1 - Imidazolium-based liquid crystals a modular platform for versatile new materials with finely tuneable properties and behaviour JF - Liquid crystals : an international journal of science and technology N2 - Ionic liquid Crystals constitute highly versatile materials that have drawn much interest these past few years in the fields of academic research and industrial development. In this respect, the present article is intended as an update of K. Binnemans review published in 2005, but focusing exclusively on the imidazolium cation - the most widely studied. Herein, imidazolium-containing thermotropic liquid crystalline materials will be sorted by molecular structure (mono-, bis-, poly-imidazolium compounds, with symmetrical and non-symmetrical structures) and discussed. Their physico-chemical properties will be exposed in order to adduce the relevancy and potential of the imidazolium platform in various fields of research. KW - imidazolium KW - liquid crystal KW - ionic liquid Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/02678292.2011.610474 SN - 0267-8292 VL - 38 IS - 11-12 SP - 1653 EP - 1661 PB - Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group CY - Abingdon ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zakrevskyy, Yuriy A1 - Kopyshev, Alexey A1 - Lomadze, Nino A1 - Morozova, Elena A1 - Lysyakova, Liudmila A1 - Kasyanenko, Nina A1 - Santer, Svetlana T1 - DNA compaction by azobenzene-containing surfactant JF - Physical review : E, Statistical, nonlinear and soft matter physics N2 - We report on the interaction of cationic azobenzene-containing surfactant with DNA investigated by absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering, and atomic force microscopy. The properties of the surfactant can be controlled with light by reversible switching of the azobenzene unit, incorporated into the surfactant tail, between a hydrophobic trans (visible irradiation) and a hydrophilic cis (UV irradiation) configuration. The influence of the trans-cis isomerization of the azobenzene on the compaction process of DNA molecules and the role of both isomers in the formation and colloidal stability of DNA-surfactant complexes is discussed. It is shown that the trans isomer plays a major role in the DNA compaction process. The influence of the cis isomer on the DNA coil configuration is rather small. The construction of a phase diagram of the DNA concentration versus surfactant/DNA charge ratio allows distancing between three major phases: colloidally stable and unstable compacted globules, and extended coil conformation. There is a critical concentration of DNA above which the compacted globules can be hindered from aggregation and precipitation by adding an appropriate amount of the surfactant in the trans configuration. This is because of the compensation of hydrophobicity of the globules with an increasing amount of the surfactant. Below the critical DNA concentration, the compacted globules are colloidally stable and can be reversibly transferred with light to an extended coil state. Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.84.021909 SN - 1539-3755 VL - 84 IS - 2 PB - American Physical Society CY - College Park ER -