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It is commonly adopted that X-rays from O stars are produced deep inside the stellar wind, and transported outwards through the bulk of the expanding matter which attenuates the radiation and affects the shape of emission line profiles. The ability of the X-ray observatories Chandra and XMM-Newton to resolve these lines spectroscopically provided a stringent test for the theory of the X-ray production. It turned out that none of the existing models was able to fit the observations consistently. The possible caveat of these models was the underlying assumption of a smooth stellar wind. Motivated by the evidence that the stellar winds are in fact structured, we present a 2-D numerical model of a stochastic, inhomogeneous wind. Small parcels of hot, X-ray emitting gas are permeated by cool, absorbing wind material which is compressed into thin shell fragments. Wind fragmentation alters the radiative transfer drastically, compared to homogeneous models of the same mass-loss rate. X-rays produced deep inside the wind, which would be totally absorbed in a homogeneous flow, can effectively escape from a fragmented wind. The wind absorption becomes wavelength independent if the individual fragments are optically thick. The X-ray line profiles are flat-topped in the blue part and decline steeply in the red part for the winds with a short acceleration zone. For the winds where the acceleration extends over significant distances, the lines can appear nearly symmetric and only slightly blueshifted, in contrast to the skewed, triangular line profiles typically obtained from homogeneous wind models of high optical depth. We show that profiles from a fragmented wind model can reproduce the observed line profiles from zeta Orionis. The present numerical modeling confirms the results from a previous study, where we derived analytical formulae from a statistical treatment
Sinusoidally shaped surface relief gratings made of polymer films containing, azobenzene moieties can be created by holographic illumination with laser light of about lambda approximate to 500 nm. The remarkable material transport takes place at temperatures far (100 K) below the glass transition temperature of the material. As probed by visible light scattering the efficiency of grating formation crucially depends on the polarization state of the laser light and is maximal when circular polarization is used. In contrast to VIS light scattering X-ray diffraction is most sensitive for periodic surface undulations with amplitudes below 10 nm. Thus, combined in-situ X-ray and visible light scattering at CHESS were used to investigate the dynamics of surface relief grating formations upon laser illumination. The time development of grating peaks up to 9th order at laser power of P = 20 mW/cm(2) could be investigated, even the onset of grating formation as a function of light polarization. A linear growth of grating amplitude was observed for all polarizations. The growth velocity is maximal using circularly polarized light but very small for s-polarized light
We report a white beam x-ray waveguide (WG) experiment. A resonant beam coupler x-ray waveguide (RBC) is used simultaneously as a broad bandpass (or multibandpass) monochromator and as a beam compressor. We show that, depending on the geometrical properties of the WG, the exiting beam consists of a defined number of wavelengths which can be shifted by changing the angle of incidence of the white x-ray synchrotron beam. The characteristic far-field pattern is recorded as a function of exit angle and energy. This x-ray optical setup may be used to enhance the intensity of coherent x-ray WG beams since the full energetic acceptance of the WG mode is transmitted. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics
Voided space-charge electrets : piezoelectric transducer materials for electro-acoustic applications
(2004)
Unstable dimension variability is a mechanism whereby an invariant set of a dynamical system, like a chaotic attractor or a strange saddle, loses hyperbolicity in a severe way, with serious consequences on the shadowability properties of numerically generated trajectories. In dynamical systems possessing a variable parameter, this phenomenon can be triggered by the bifurcation of an unstable periodic orbit. This Letter aims at discussing the possible types of codimension-one bifurcations leading to unstable dimension variability in a two-dimensional map, presenting illustrative examples and displaying numerical evidences of this fact by computing finite-time Lyapunov exponents. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
The thermal-wave technique or laser-intensity modulation method is an important tool for the non-destructive probing of space-charge and polarization profiles in electrets. Analysing the experimental data requires solving a Fredholm integral equation which is known to be an ill-conditioned problem. This paper presents an iterative approach that is capable of reconstructing inherently unsmooth distributions. The deviations from the true profiles are slightly smaller than those obtained with Tikhonov regularization, while the computational burden is not a limiting factor on modem personal computers. The optimum number of iterations is estimated using the randomized generalized cross- validation technique. Results are shown for a number of model distributions, as well as for experimental data from a layered polyvinylidene fluoride film sandwich
We have performed Hubble Space Telescope imaging of a sample of 23 high-redshift (1.8<z<2.75) active galactic nuclei (AGNs), drawn from the COMBO-17 survey. The sample contains moderately luminous quasars (M(B)similar to-23). The data are part of the Galaxy Evolution from Morphologies and SEDs imaging survey that provides high-resolution optical images obtained with the Advanced Camera for Surveys in two bands (F606W and F850LP), sampling the rest-frame UV flux of the targets. To deblend the AGN images into nuclear and resolved (host galaxy) components, we use a point-spread function subtraction technique that is strictly conservative with respect to the flux of the host galaxy. We resolve the host galaxies in both filter bands in nine of the 23 AGNs, whereas the remaining 14 objects are considered nondetections, with upper limits of less than 5% of the nuclear flux. However, when we co-add the unresolved AGN images into a single high signal-to-noise ratio composite image, we find again an unambiguously resolved host galaxy. The recovered host galaxies have apparent magnitudes of 23.0<F606W<26.0 and 22.5<F850LP<24.5, with rest-frame UV colors in the range -0.2<(F606W-F850LP)(obs)<2.3. The rest-frame absolute magnitudes at 200 nm are -20.0<M-200 nm<-22.2. The photometric properties of the composite host are consistent with the individual resolved host galaxies. We find that the UV colors of all host galaxies are substantially bluer than expected from an old population of stars with formation redshift z<=5, independent of the assumed metallicities. These UV colors and luminosities range up to the values found for Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) at z=3. Our results suggest either a recent starburst of, e. g., a few percent of the total stellar mass at 100 Myr before observation, with mass fraction and age strongly degenerate, or the possibility that the detected UV emission may be due to young stars forming continuously. For the latter case we estimate star formation rates of typically &SIM;6 M&ODOT; yr(-1) (uncorrected for internal dust attenuation), which again lies in the range of rates implied from the UV flux of LBGs. Our results agree with the recent discovery of enhanced blue stellar light in AGN hosts at lower redshifts
We present a detailed numerical study of the dynamics and evolution of ultrarelativistic magnetohydrodynamic jets in the black hole-disk system under extreme magnetization conditions. We find that Lorentz factors of up to 3000 are achieved and derived a modified Michel scaling (Gamma similar to sigma) that allows for a wide variation in the flow Lorentz factor. Pending contamination induced by mass entrainment, the linear Michel scaling links modulations in the ultrarelativistic wind to variations in mass accretion in the disk for a given magnetization. The jet is asymptotically dominated by the toroidal magnetic field allowing for efficient collimation. We discuss our solutions ( jets) in the context of gamma-ray bursts and describe the relevant features such as the high variability in the Lorentz factor and how high collimation angles (similar to0degrees-5degrees), or cylindrical jets, can be achieved. We isolate a jet instability mechanism we refer to as the "bottleneck'' instability, which essentially relies on a high magnetization and a recollimation of the magnetic flux surfaces. The instability occurs at large radii where any dissipation of the magnetic energy into radiation would in principle result in an optically thin emission
In cellular, electromechanically active polymer films, the so-called ferroelectrets, the cell size and shape distributions can be varied through a controlled inflation process. Up to now, high-pressure treatments were usually performed at elevated temperatures. There are, however, significant experimental limitations and complications if the pressure and temperature treatments are performed at the same time. Here, we demonstrate the controlled inflation of cellular polypropylene films by means of sepal-ate pressure and temperature treatments. Separate procedures are Much easier to implement. Excellent electromechanical properties were achieved with Such a two-step inflation process. The technique has significant potential for inflating large-area transducer films for electromechanical and electroacoustical applications
Results of energy-dispersive x-ray reflectivity and grazing incidence diffraction studies of Langmuir-Blodgett films exhibited evolution of conventional three-dimensional melting from continuous melting, characteristic of two- dimensional systems, as a function of deposited monolayers. Continuous expansion followed by a sharp phase transition of the in-plane lattice was observed before the melting point and found to be independent of number of deposited layers. Evolution of conventional melting with an increase in the number of monolayers could be quantified by measuring stiffness against tilting of the vertical stack of molecules, which are kept together by an internal field. The internal field as defined in this model reduces as the in-plane lattice expands and the sample temperature approaches melting point. The sharpness of the melting transition, which has been approximated by a Langevin function, increases with the number of deposited monolayers
The recent radar detection by Baggaley (2000) of a collimated stream of interstellar meteoroids postulated to be sourced at beta Pictoris, a nearby star with a prominent dust disk. presents a challenge to theoreticians. Two mechanisms of possible dust ejection from beta Pic have been proposed: ejection of dust by radiation pressure from comets in eccentric orbits and by gravity of a hypothetical planet in the disk. Here we re-examine observational data and reconsider theoretical scenarios, substantiating them with detailed modeling to test whether they can explain quantitatively and simultaneously the masses, speeds, and fluxes. Our analysis of the stream geometry and kinematics confirms that beta Pic is the most likely source of the stream and suggests that an intensive dust ejection phase took place similar to0.7 Myr ago. Our dynamical simulations show that high ejection speeds retrieved from the observations can be explained by both planetary ejection and radiation pressure mechanisms, providing, however, several important constraints. In the planetary ejection scenario, only a "hot Jupiter"-type planet with a semimajor axis of less than 1 AU can be responsible for the stream, and only if the disk was dynamically "heated" by a more distant massive planet. The radiation pressure scenario also requires the presence of a relatively massive planet at several AU or more, that had heated the cometesimal disk before the ejection occurred. Finally, the dust flux measured at Earth can be brought into reasonable agreement with both scenarios, provided that beta Pic's protoplanetary disk recently passed through an intensive short-lasting (similar to0.1 Myr) clearance stage by nascent giant planets, similar to what took place in the early solar system
We study arrays of mechanical oscillators in the quantum domain and demonstrate how the motions of distant oscillators can be entangled without the need for control of individual oscillators and without a direct interaction between them. These oscillators are thought of as being members of an array of nanoelectromechanical resonators with a voltage being applicable between neighboring resonators. Sudden nonadiabatic switching of the interaction results in a squeezing of the states of the mechanical oscillators, leading to an entanglement transport in chains of mechanical oscillators. We discuss spatial dimensions, Q factors, temperatures and decoherence sources in some detail, and find a distinct robustness of the entanglement in the canonical coordinates in such a scheme. We also briefly discuss the challenging aspect of detection of the generated entanglement
Time-resolved photoluminescence analysis of distribution and migration of terbium ions in zeolites X
(2004)
The photoluminescence (PL) dynamics of terbium-exchanged zeolites X was investigated upon laser excitation at 355 nm. The results evidenced the presence of at least two terbium main environments with PL lifetimes varying between 391-411 and 753-770 mus. The two-site nature of terbium distribution in zeolites X permitted a quantitative analysis of the migration process of terbium ions inside the pores and cavities upon dehydration in air at 200 degreesC. Besides the increase of the PL lifetimes with about 30% and 80% compared to those of the hydrated zeolite, a fraction of almost 30% of terbium ions was estimated to migrate from the supercages to the neighboring sodalites or hexagonal prisms. Our results evidenced for the first time the capability of time-resolved luminescence spectroscopy in quantitatively tracking for the intrazeolitic migration of lanthanides. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
The science case of the PEPSI high-resolution echelle spectrograph and polarimeter for the LBT
(2004)
We lay out the scientific rationale for and present the instrumental requirements of a high-resolution adaptive- optics Echelle spectrograph with two full-Stokes polarimeters for the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) in Arizona. Magnetic processes just like those seen on the Sun and in the space environment of the Earth are now well recognized in many astrophysical areas. The application to other stars opened up a new field of research that became widely known as the solar-stellar connection. Late-type stars with convective envelopes are all affected by magnetic processes which give rise to a rich variety of phenomena on their surface and are largely responsible for the heating of their outer atmospheres. Magnetic fields are likely to play a crucial role in the accretion process of T-Tauri stars as well as in the acceleration and collimation of jet-like flows in young stellar objects (YSOs). Another area is the physics of active galactic nucleii (AGNs), where the magnetic activity of the accreting black hole is now believed to be responsible for most of the behavior of these objects, including their X-ray spectrum, their notoriously dramatic variability, and the powerful relativistic jets they produce. Another is the physics of the central engines of cosmic gamma-ray bursts, the most powerful explosions in the universe, for which the extreme apparent energy release are explained through the collimation of the released energy by magnetic fields. Virtually all the physics of magnetic fields exploited in astrophysics is somehow linked to our understanding of the Sun's and the star's magnetic fields
Morphology of the planetary nebula LMC-N66 (ionized by a [WN] star) indicates that the nebula is a multipolar object with a very narrow waist. It shows several jets, knots and filaments in opposite directions from the central star. A couple of twisted long filaments could be interpreted as due to point-symmetric type ejection. If such is the case, the progenitor would be a binary precessing system. High resolution spectroscopy shows that most of the material is approaching or receding from the star. However the line profiles are very complex, showing several components at different velocities. Our high resolution spectroscopic data show that the different structures (knots, filaments, ...) present different radial velocities spreading from 240 to more than 400 km/s. The system velocity is 300 km/s. There are high velocity knots located to the north of the central star, moving at more than 100 km/s relative to the system velocity.
Ab initio calculations have been carried out using the FP-APW+lo method in order to understand the atomic origin of the inverse piezoelectric effect in x-quartz. The external electric field was modelled by a saw-like potential V-ext in order to achieve translational symmetry within a supercell (SC) containing 72 atoms. The original trigonal quartz structure was repeated along the [110] direction, which corresponds to the direction of the external field. An electric field with 550 kV/mm was applied and the atomic positions of the SC were relaxed until the forces acting on the atoms vanished. In parts of the SC, V-ext changes almost linearly and thus the relaxed atomic positions can be used to determine the structural response due to the external electric field. The calculations provide the piezoelectric modulus of the correct order of magnitude. In contrast to previous models and in agreement with recent experimental results, the atomic origin of the piezoelectric effect can be described by a rotation of slightly deformed SiO4 tetrahedra against each other. The change of the Si-O bond lengths and the tetrahedral O-Si-O angles is one order of magnitude smaller than that of the Si-O-Si angles between neighbouring tetrahedra. The calculated changes of X-ray structure factors are in agreement with experiment when the theoretical data are extrapolated down to the much smaller field strength that is applied in the experiment (E < 10 kV/mm). (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved
We present different tests for phase synchronization which improve the procedures currently used in the literature. This is accomplished by using a two-sample test setup and by utilizing insights and methods from directional statistics and bootstrap theory. The tests differ in the generality of the situation in which they can be applied as well as in their complexity, including computational cost. A modification of the resampling technique of the bootstrap is introduced, making it possible to fully utilize data from time series
We study the inference of long-range correlations by means of Detrended Fluctuation Analysis (DFA) and argue that power-law scaling of the fluctuation function and thus long-memory may not be assumed a priori but have to be established. This requires the investigation of the local slopes. We account for the variability characteristic for stochastic processes by calculating empirical confidence regions. Comparing a long-memory with a short-memory model shows that the inference of long-range correlations from a finite amount of data by means of DFA is not specific. We remark that scaling cannot be concluded from a straight line fit to the fluctuation function in a log-log representation. Furthermore, we show that a local slope larger than alpha=0.5 for large scales does not necessarily imply long memory. We also demonstrate, that it is not valid to conclude from a finite scaling region of the fluctuation function to an equivalent scaling region of the autocoffelation function. Finally, we review DFA results for the Prague temperature data set and show that long-range correlations cannot not be concluded unambiguously
We develop a theory describing the transition to a spatially homogeneous regime in a mixing flow with a chaotic in time reaction. The transverse Lyapunov exponent governing the stability of the homogeneous state can be represented as a combination of Lyapunov exponents for spatial mixing and temporal chaos. This representation, being exact for time- independent flows and equal Peclet numbers of different components, is demonstrated to work accurately for time- dependent flows and different Peclet numbers
Alkoxy-substituted CN-containing phenylene-vinylene-alt-phenylene-ethynylene hybrid polymers (CN-PPV-PPE), 3a, 3b, and 7a, were obtained from luminophoric dialdehydes 1 by step growth polymerization via Knoevenagel reaction as high molecular-weight materials. Corresponding CN-free polymers 3c and 7b and an ethynylene-free polymer 5 with similar side chains were synthesized for the purpose of comparison. The chemical structures of the polymers were confirmed by IR, H-1 and C-13 NMR, and elemental analysis. Thermal characterization was conducted by means of thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry. Morphology was investigated by means of optical microscopy and small-angle light scattering. The final morphologies are determined by the molecular characteristics (side chains volume fraction, backbone stiffness) of the studied polymers. All the CN-containing polymers 3b, 5, and 7a exhibit higher fluorescence quantum yield in solid state (50 to 60%), but lower quantum yields (12-40%) in dilute chloroform solution, in total contrast to CN-free polymers 3c, 3d, and 7b. Identical optical, E-g(opt), and electrochemical band gap energies, E- g(ec), were obtained for 3b, 3c and 3d with intrinsic self-assembly ability, whereas a discrepancy, DeltaE(g), was observed in the cases of the fully substituted polymers 5, 7a, and 7b, whose values are dependent on the level of backbone stiffness and length of the side groups combined with the presence or absence of CN units. The incorporation of CN units in 3b and 7a lowers their respective LUMO level by 220 and 350 meV compared to their corresponding CN-free counterparts 3c and 7b, suggesting an improvement of the electron-accepting strength. Polymers 3b and 7a are efficient electron acceptors suitable for photovoltaic application. The experiments indicate that 3b is a better electron acceptor when used together with M3EH-PPV, but transport properties seem to be better for 7a. With 3b, high external quantum efficiencies of up to 23%, an open circuit voltage of up to 1.52 V, and a white light energy efficiency of 0.65% could be realized in bilayer solar cell devices. LED-devices of configuration ITO/PEDOT:PSS/polymer/Ca/Al from 3b, 3c, 7a, and 7b showed low turn-on voltages between 2 and 2.5 V. The CN-free polymers 3c and 7b exhibit far better EL parameters than their corresponding CN containing counterparts 3b and 7a
Being one of the fundamental phenomena in nonlinear science, synchronization of oscillations has permanently remained an object of intensive research. Development of many asymptotic methods and numerical simulations has allowed an understanding and explanation of various phenomena of self-synchronization. But even in the classical case of coupled van der Pol oscillators a full description of all possible dynamical regimes, their mutual transitions and characteristics is still lacking. We present here a study of the phenomenon of mutual synchronization for two non-scalar- coupled non-identical limit-cycle oscillators and analyze phase, frequency and amplitude characteristics of synchronization regimes. A series of bifurcation diagrams that we obtain exhibit various regions of qualitatively different behavior. Among them we find mono-, bi- and multistability regions, beating and "oscillation death" ones; also a region, where one of the oscillators dominates the other one is observed. The frequency characteristics that we obtain reveal three qualitatively different types of synchronization: (i) on the mean frequency (the in-phase synchronization), (ii) with a shift from the mean frequency caused by a conservative coupling term (the anti-phase synchronization), and (iii) on the frequency of one of the oscillators (when one oscillator dominates the other). (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
We analyze synchronization between two interacting populations of different phase oscillators. For the important case of asymmetric coupling functions, we find a much richer dynamical behavior compared to that of symmetrically coupled populations of identical oscillators. It includes three types of bistabilities, higher order entrainment and the existence of states with unusual stability properties. All possible routes to synchronization of the populations are presented and some stability boundaries are obtained analytically. The impact of these findings for neuroscience is discussed.
In this article we review the application of the synchronization theory to the analysis of multivariate biological signals. We address the problem of phase estimation from data and detection and quantification of weak interaction, as well as quantification of the direction of coupling. We discuss the potentials as well as limitations and misinterpretations of the approach
Fourier surrogate data are artificially generated time series, that - based on a resampling scheme - share the linear properties with an observed time series. In this paper we study a statistical surrogate hypothesis test to detect deviations from a linear Gaussian process with respect to asymmetry in time (Q-statistic). We apply this test to a Fourier representable function and obtain a representation of the asymmetry in time of the sample data, a characteristic for nonlinear processes, and the significance in terms of the Fourier coefficients. The main outcome is that we calculate the expected value of the mean and the standard deviation of the asymmetries of the surrogate data analytically and hence, no surrogates have to be generated. To illustrate the results we apply our method to the saw tooth function, the Lorenz system and to measured X-ray data of Cygnus X-1
Suppression of the keto-emission in polyfluorene light-emitting diodes : Experiments and models
(2004)
The spectral characteristics of polyfluorene (PF)-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs) containing a defined low concentration of either keto-defects or of the polymer poly(9.9-octylfuorene-co-benzothiadiazole) (F8BT) are preseneted. Both types of blend layers were tested in different device configurations with respect to the relative and absolute intensities of green blue emission components. It is shown that blending hole-transporting molecules into the emission layer at low concentration or incorporation of a suitable hole-transport layer reduces the green emission contribution in the electroluminescence (EL) spectrum of the PF:F8BT blend, which is similar to what is observed for the keto- containing PF layer. We conclude that the keto-defects in PF homopolymer layers mainly constitute weakly emissive electron traps, in agreement with the results of quantum-mechanical calculations
The interface structure of epitaxial Fe/Cr multilayers was studied using anomalous X-ray and neutron reflectivity. The analysis of X-ray reflectivity at three different energies provided a reliable information about the interface roughnesses. It is found that the Cr-on-Fc interface is more diffused as compared to the Fe-on-Cr interface and that the roughness exhibits a significant increase with increasing depth. The magnetic roughness, as determined from neutron reflectivity, is lower than the geometrical roughness, in conformity with the behavior of a number of magnetic thin films and multilayers. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
We have undertaken a thorough dynamical investigation of five extrasolar planetary systems using extensive numerical experiments. The systems Gl 777 A, HD 72659, Gl 614, 47 Uma and HD 4208 were examined concerning the question of whether they could host terrestrial-like planets in their habitable zones (HZ). First we investigated the mean motion resonances between fictitious terrestrial planets and the existing gas giants in these five extrasolar systems. Then a fine grid of initial conditions for a potential terrestrial planet within the HZ was chosen for each system, from which the stability of orbits was then assessed by direct integrations over a time interval of 1 million years. For each of the five systems the 2-dimensional grid of initial conditions contained 80 eccentricity points for the Jovian planet and up to 160 semimajor axis points for the fictitious planet. The computations were carried out using a Lie-series integration method with an adaptive step size control. This integration method achieves machine precision accuracy in a highly efficient and robust way, requiring no special adjustments when the orbits have large eccentricities. The stability of orbits was examined with a determination of the Renyi entropy, estimated from recurrence plots, and with a more straightforward method based on the maximum eccentricity achieved by the planet over the 1 million year integration. Additionally, the eccentricity is an indication of the habitability of a terrestrial planet in the HZ; any value of e > 0.2 produces a significant temperature difference on a planet's surface between apoapse and periapse. The results for possible stable orbits for terrestrial planets in habitable zones for the five systems are: for Gl 777 A nearly the entire HZ is stable, for 47 Uma, HD 72659 and HD 4208 terrestrial planets can survive for a sufficiently long time, while for Gl 614 our results exclude terrestrial planets moving in stable orbits within the HZ. Studies such as this one are of primary interest to future space missions dedicated to finding habitable terrestrial planets in other stellar systems. Assessing the likelihood of other habitable planets, and more generally the possibility of other life, is the central question of astrobiology today. Our investigation indicates that, from the dynamical point of view, habitable terrestrial planets seem to be compatible with many of the currently discovered extrasolar systems
Spontaneous emission in a subwavelength environment characterized by boundary integral equations
(2004)
We discuss the impact of a dielectric nanoparticle on the fluorescence light from an emitter embedded in the particle. Numerical and analytical calculations predict a slower radiative decay compared to a bulk dielectric due to electrostatic screening. We assess the relevance of the nanoparticle shape and size and the position and orientation of the molecule. The numerical results are obtained from a rigorous solution of the Maxwell equations, formulated as boundary integral equations
It has been found in recent measurements that the singlet-to-triplet exciton ratio in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) is larger than expected from spin degeneracy, and that singlet excitons form at a larger rate than triplets. We employed the technique of optically detected magnetic resonance to measure the spin-dependent exciton formation rates in films of a polymer and corresponding monomer, and explore the relation between the formation rates and the actual singlet-to-triplet ratio measured previously in OLEDs. We found that the spin-dependent exciton formation rates can indeed quantitatively explain the observed exciton yields, and that singlet formation rates and yields are significantly enhanced only in polymer OLEDs, but not in OLEDs made from the corresponding monomer
A statistical model describing the propensity for protein aggregation is presented. Only amino-acid hydrophobicity values and calculated net charge are used for the model. The combined effects of hydrophobic patterns as computed by the signal analysis technique, recurrence quantification, plus calculated net charge were included in a function emphasizing the effect of singular hydrophobic patches which were found to be statistically significant for predicting aggregation propensity as quantified by fluorescence studies obtained from the literature. These results suggest preliminary evidence for a mesoscopic principle for protein folding/aggregation. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
Dielectric relaxation in disordered dielectric mixtures is presented by emphasizing the interfacial polarization. The obtained results coincide with and cause confusion with those of the low frequency dispersion behaviour. The considered systems are composed of two phases on two-dimensional square and triangular topological networks. We use the finite element method to calculate the effective dielectric permittivities of randomly generated structures. The dielectric relaxation phenomena together with the dielectric permittivity values at constant frequencies are investigated, and significant differences of the square and triangular topologies are observed. The frequency dependent properties of some of the generated structures are examined. We conclude that the topological disorder may lead to the normal or anomalous low frequency dispersion if the electrical properties of the phases are chosen properly, such that for 'slightly' reciprocal mixture-when sigma(1) >> sigma(2), and epsilon(1) < epsilon(2)-normal, and while for 'extreme' reciprocal mixture-when sigma(1) >> sigma(2), and epsilon(1) << epsilon(2)-anomalous low frequency dispersions are obtained. Finally, comparison with experimental data indicates that one can obtain valuable information from simulations when the material properties of the constituents are not available and of importance
The anisotropic effect of a proximally introduced ethynyl group on the chemical shifts of H-4 and C-4 of the phenanthrene skeleton was calculated using GIAO-HF/NICS methodology. The anisotropic effect, long considered to be the source of the considerable downfield shift of H-4 in 11-ethynylphenanthrene in comparison to the chemical shift value of the corresponding proton in phenanthrene, was determined to be only negligible in magnitude on the basis of these calculations. Partitioning of the natural chemical shieldings of H-4 and C-4 by the NCS-NBO method into various contributions from the C-C and C-H bonds present in each molecule revealed that steric compression was able to account for the large downfield shifts of both H-4 and C-4 in 11-ethynylphenanthrene relative to phenanthrene. Thus, the substituent effect is almost totally permeated by this latter interaction and not by the aforementioned process, which was previously presumed to be the sole underlying cause
The delayed luminescence and phosphorescence of ladder-type methyl-poly(para-phenylene) (MeLPPP) doped with benzil at a concentration of 20% by weight has been measured. The introduction of benzil leads to a dramatic reduction of the polymer singlet emission. At the same time, a new band with maximum at 611 nm appears, corresponding to the phosphorescence of MeLPPP. The phosphorescence decay on the short time scale is close to an exponential law with a time decay of 15 ms. This indicates that benzil can efficiently sensitize the phosphorescence of the polymer. In addition, a broad and featureless emission is observed in the delayed luminescence spectra of benzil-doped MeLPPP, which is attributed to an exciplex formed between the polymer host and the dopant. We further observe that the delayed fluorescence is enhanced by the addition of benzil. It is concluded that the delayed fluorescence of benzil-doped MeLPPP is mainly due to the annihilation of triplet excitons on the polymer. Finally, efficient triplet-triplet energy transfer from the benzil-doped polymer to the red-emitting phosphorescent dye Pt(II)octaethylporphyrin is established. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics
Ion-beam-induced ripple formation in Si wafers was studied by two complementary surface sensitive techniques, namely atomic force microscopy (AFM) and depth-resolved x-ray grazing incidence diffraction (GID). The formation of ripple structure at high doses (similar to7x10(17) ions/cm(2)), starting from initiation at low doses (similar to1x10(17) ions/cm(2)) of ion beam, is evident from AFM, while that in the buried crystalline region below a partially crystalline top layer is evident from GID study. Such ripple structure of crystalline layers in a large area formed in the subsurface region of Si wafers is probed through a nondestructive technique. The GID technique reveals that these periodically modulated wavelike buried crystalline features become highly regular and strongly correlated as one increases the Ar ion-beam energy from 60 to 100 keV. The vertical density profile obtained from the analysis of a Vineyard profile shows that the density in the upper top part of ripples is decreased to about 15% of the crystalline density. The partially crystalline top layer at low dose transforms to a completely amorphous layer for high doses, and the top morphology was found to be conformal with the underlying crystalline ripple
Ga1-xMnxAs, x=0.043, has been grown ex situ on GaAs(100) by low-temperature molecular-beam epitaxy. On the reprepared p(1x1) surface, resonant photoemission of the valence band shows a 20-fold enhancement of the Mn 3d contribution at the L-3 edge. The difference spectrum is similar to our previously obtained resonant photoemission at the Mn M edge, in particular a strong satellite appears and no clear Fermi edge ruling out strong Mn 3d weight at the valence-band maximum. The x-ray absorption lineshape differs from previous publications. Our calculation based on a configuration-interaction cluster model reproduces the x-ray absorption and the L-3 on-resonance photoemission spectrum for model parameters Delta, U-dd, and (pdsigma) consistent with our previous work and shows the same spectral shape on and off resonance thus rendering resonant photoemission measured at the L-3 edge representative of the Mn 3d contribution. At the same time, the results are more bulk sensitive due to a probing depth about twice as large as for photoemission at the Mn M edge. The confirmation of our previous results obtained at the M edge calls recent photoemission results into question which report the absence of the satellite and good agreement with local-density theory
We investigate noise-controlled resonant response of active media to weak periodic forcing, both in excitable and oscillatory regimes. In the excitable regime, we find that noise-induced irregular wave structures can be reorganized into frequency-locked resonant patterns by weak signals with suitable frequencies. The resonance occurs due to a matching condition between the signal frequency and the noise-induced inherent time scale of the media. m:1 resonant regions similar to the Arnold tongues in frequency locking of self-sustained oscillatory media are observed. In the self-sustained oscillatory regime, noise also controls the oscillation frequency and reshapes significantly the Arnold tongues. The combination of noise and weak signal thus could provide an efficient tool to manipulate active extended systems in experiments
We analyze the resilience under photon loss of the bipartite entanglement present in multiphoton states produced by parametric down-conversion. The quantification of the entanglement is made possible by a symmetry of the states that persists even under polarization-independent losses. We examine the approach of the states to the set of positive partial transpose states as losses increase, and calculate the relative entropy of entanglement. We find that some bipartite distillable entanglement persists for arbitrarily high losses
Persistent and transient hole-burning (HB) at 4.2 K have been applied to study the intrinsic properties of electronic excitations of a ladder type pi-conjugated poly(para-phenylene) in solutions. A narrow spectral hole less than I meV wide has been detected. The dependencies of the HB efficiency on the burn dose and wavelength, on doping the samples by electron scavenger are interpreted in terms of a photo reaction related to the two-level systems - specific low energy excitations in amorphous materials. In transient HB an additional hole broadening was observed which stems from the triplet energy transfer under conditions of lack of correlation of site energies of the singlet and triplet states of chromophores. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
We study the dynamics of chemically or biologically active particles advected by open flows of chaotic time dependence, which can be modeled by a random time dependence of the parameters on a stroboscopic map. We develop a general theory for reactions in such random flows, and derive the reaction equation for this case. We show that there is a singular enhancement of the reaction in random flows, and this enhancement is increased as compared to the nonrandom case. We verify our theory in a model flow generated by four point vortices moving chaotically
Lead island films were obtained via vacuum vapor deposition on glass and ceramic substrates at 80 K. Electrical conductance was measured during vapor condensation and further annealing of the film up to room temperature. The resistance behavior during film formation and atomic force microscopy of annealed films were used as information sources about their structure. A model for the quenched growth, based on ballistic aggregation theory, was proposed. The nanostructure, responsible for chemiresistive properties of thin lead films and the mechanism of sensor response are discussed. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
We investigate multicolour imaging data of a complete sample of 19 low-redshift (z < 0.2) quasar host galaxies. The sample was imaged in four optical (BVRi) and three near-infrared bands (JHK(s)). Galaxy types, structural parameters and robust host galaxy luminosities are extracted for all bands by means of two-dimensional deblending of galaxy and nucleus. For the disc-dominated fraction of host galaxies (Sa and later) the optical and optical-to-near-infrared colours agree well with the average colours of inactive galaxies of the same type. The bulge-dominated galaxies (E/S0), on the other hand, appear a significant 0.3 mag bluer in (V-K) than their inactive counterparts, being as blue as the discs in the sample. This trend is confirmed by fitting population synthesis models to the extracted broad-band spectral energy distributions: the stellar population age of the bulge-dominated hosts lies around a few Gyr, much younger than expected for old evolved ellipticals. Comparison to other studies suggests a strong trend for stellar age in elliptical host galaxies with luminosity. Intermediately luminous elliptical hosts have comparably young populations, either intrinsically or from an enhanced star formation rate potentially due to interaction; the most luminous and massive ellipticals on the contrary show old populations. The correspondence between the nuclear activity and the blue colours suggests a connection between galaxy interaction, induced star formation and the triggering of nuclear activity. However, the existence of very symmetric and undisturbed discs and elliptical host galaxies emphasized that other mechanisms like minor merging or gas accretion must exist
It has been conjectured that the distribution of magnifications of a point source microlensed by a randomly distributed population of intervening point masses is independent of its mass spectrum. We present gedanken experiments that cast doubt on this conjecture and numerical simulations that show it to be false
We discuss high-resolution, time-resolved spectra of the caustic exit of the binary microlensing event OGLE 2002-BLG-069 obtained with UVES on the VLT. The source star is a G5III giant in the Galactic Bulge. During such events, the source star is highly magnified, and a strong differential magnification around the caustic resolves its surface. Using an appropriate model stellar atmosphere generated by the PHOENIX v2.6 code we obtain a model light curve for the caustic exit and compare it with a dense set of photometric observations obtained by the PLANET microlensing follow up network. We further compare predicted variations in the Halpha equivalent width with those measured from our spectra. While the model and observations agree in the gross features, there are discrepancies suggesting shortcomings in the model, particularly for the Halpha line core, where we have detected amplified emission from the stellar chromosphere after the source star's trailing limb exited the caustic. This achievement became possible by the provision of the very efficient OGLE-III Early Warning System, a network of small telescopes capable of nearly-continuous round-the-clock photometric monitoring, on-line data reduction, daily near-real-time modelling in order to predict caustic crossing parameters, and a fast and efficient response of a 8 m class telescope to a "Target-of-Opportunity" observation request
An approach is presented for the reconstruction of phase synchronization phenomena in a chaotic CO2 laser from experimental data. We analyze this laser system in a regime able to phase synchronize with a weak sinusoidal forcing. Our technique recovers the synchronization diagram of the experimental system from only few measurement data sets, thus allowing the prediction of the regime of phase synchronization as well as nonsynchronization in a broad parameter space of forcing frequency and amplitude without further experiments
We analyze the light curve of the microlensing event OGLE-2003-BLG-175/MOA-2003-BLG-45 and show that it has two properties that, when combined with future high-resolution astrometry, could lead to a direct, accurate measurement of the lens mass. First, the light curve shows clear signs of distortion due to the Earth's accelerated motion, which yields a measurement of the projected Einstein radius (r) over tilde (E). Second, from precise astrometric measurements, we show that the blended light in the event is coincident with the microlensed source to within about 15 mas. This argues strongly that this blended light is the lens and hence opens the possibility of directly measuring the lens- source relative proper motion mu(rel) and so the mass M=(c(2)/4G)mu(rel)t(E)(r) over tilde (E), where t(E) is the measured Einstein timescale. While the light-curve-based measurement of (r) over tildeE is, by itself, severely degenerate, we show that this degeneracy can be completely resolved by measuring the direction of proper motion mu(rel)
We demonstrate efficient single-layer polymer phosphorescent light-emitting devices based on a green-emitting iridium complex and a polymer host co-doped with electron-transporting and hole-transporting molecules. These devices can be operated at relatively low voltages, resulting in a power conversion efficiency of up to 24 lm/W at luminous efficiencies exceeding 30 cd/A. The overall performances of these devices suggest that efficient electrophosphorescent devices with acceptable operating voltages can be achieved in very simple device structures fabricated by spin coating. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics
The photoalignment ability of poly[methyl(phenyl)silylene] (PMPSi) films makes it possible to use them as hole- transporting substrates for the preparation of organic oriented films. A PMPSi layer prepared by spin coating was irradiated, after drying, with linearly polarized UV light. Then, water-soluble hydroxyaluminium phthalocyaninesulfonate [Al(OH)Pc(SO3Na)(1-2)] was deposited by casting. The cell ITO/PMPSi/AI(OH)Pc(SO3Na)(1-2)/Al showed non-linear current- voltage characteristics. For applied voltages higher than 10 V, polarized electroluminescence was observed. Its spectral characteristic consisted of two peaks with maxima at about 320 and 700 nm; their polarized anisotropies R-EL = Phi(parallel to) / Phi(perpendicular to) were ca. 15 and 0.5, respectively
This paper discusses the experimental realisation of two types of X-ray interferometer based on pinhole diffraction. In both interferometers the beam splitter was a thin metal foil containing micrometer pinholes to divide the incident X-ray wave into two coherent waves. The interference pattern was studied using an energy-dispersive detector to simultaneously investigate in a large spectral range the diffraction properties of the white synchrotron radiation. For a highly absorbing pinhole mask the interference fringes from the classical Young's double-pinhole experiment were recorded and the degree of coherence of X-rays could be determined. In the case of low absorption of the metal foil at higher X-ray energies (> 15 keV) the interference pattern of a point diffraction interferometer was observed using the same set-up. The spectral refraction index of the metal foil was determined
Piezo-, pyro- and ferroelectricity in poly (vinylidene fluoride-hexafluoropropylene) copolymer films
(2004)
Thin films of poly(vinylidene fluoride-hexafluoropropylene) P(VDF-HFP) show significant electroactive properties, such as piezoelectricity, pyroelectricity and electrostriction. Suitable polar P(VDF-HFP) copolymer films can be prepared by melt-pressing or solution-casting. Dipolar orientation causes the macroscopic polarization and thus also the symmetry breaking necessary for electroactive properties. We discuss the polarization build-up in thin, stretched and non-stretched, films of P(VDF-HFP) copolymer with a HFP content of 15%. Poling currents measured in-situ during electric poling are analyzed and the polarization is calculated. Suitable electric poling leads to hysteresis phenomena of the polarization as a function of the electric field as well as to significant polarization during switching experiments. Our results indicate dipolar orientation also in non-stretched P(VDF-HFP) films
The stability of space charge in electrets such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), polyethylene terephthalate (PETP) and polypropylene (PP) under ultraviolet irradiation has been investigated using photostimulated discharge spectroscopy. While only weak discharge currents were observed in PTFE coated with semitransparent gold electrodes, up to 15 pA/cm(2) were found in PETP around the UV absorption edge near 310 nm. Space charge profiles obtained with the piezoelectrically generated pressure step method indicate that near-surface charges were almost completely removed. In PP foam, recent findings of a UV-reduced d(33) coefficient were confirmed for exposure times of up to 3.5 h, and a discharge peak at 200 urn could be assigned to the charges stored on the surfaces of the voids. The unique morphology and the (quasi-) piezoelectric properties of cellular PP make it a role model for the future investigation of charge storage in electrets
The electronic structure of the (110)-oriented terraces of stepped W(331) and W(551) is compared to the one of flat W(110) using angle-resolved photoemission. We identify a surface-localized state which develops perpendicular to the steps into a repeated band structure with the periodicity of the step superlattices. It is shown that a final-state diffraction process rather than an initial-state superlattice effect is the origin of the observed behavior and why it does not affect the entire band structure
All parameters describing the charge carrier dynamics in a poly(phenylene vinylene)-based photorefractive (PR) composite relevant to PR grating dynamics were determined using photoconductivity studies under various illumination conditions. In particular, the values of the coefficients for trap filling and recombination of charges with ionized sensitizer molecules could be extracted independently. It is concluded that the PR growth time without preillumination is mostly determined by the competition between deep trap filling and recombination with ionized sensitizer molecules. Further, the pronounced increase in PR speed upon homogeneous preillumination (gating) as reported recently is quantitatively explained by deep trap filling
We study phase synchronization effects of chaotic oscillators with a type-I intermittency behavior. The external and mutual locking of the average length of the laminar stage for coupled discrete and continuous in time systems is shown and the mechanism of this synchronization is explained. We demonstrate that this phenomenon can be described by using results of the parametric resonance theory and that this correspondence enables one to predict and derive all zones of synchronization
We study the effects of mutual and external chaotic phase synchronization in ensembles of bursting oscillators. These oscillators (used for modeling neuronal dynamics) are essentially multiple time scale systems. We show that a transition to mutual phase synchronization takes place on the bursting time scale of globally coupled oscillators, while on the spiking time scale, they behave asynchronously. We also demonstrate the effect of the onset of external chaotic phase synchronization of the bursting behavior in the studied ensemble by a periodic driving applied to one arbitrarily taken neuron. We also propose an explanation of the mechanism behind this effect. We infer that the demonstrated phenomenon can be used efficiently for controlling bursting activity in neural ensembles
Optically induced mass transport studied by scanning near-field optical- and atomic force microscopy
(2004)
Some functionalised thin organic films show a very unusual property, namely the light induced material transport. This effect enables to generate three-dimensional structures on surfaces of azobenzene containing films only caused by special optical excitation. The physical mechanisms underlying this phenomenon have not yet been fully understood, and in addition, the dimensions of structures created in that way are macroscopic because of the optical techniques and the wavelength of the used light. In order to gain deeper insight into the physical fundamentals of this phenomenon and to open possibilities for applications it is necessary to create and study structures not only in a macroscopic but also in nanometer range. We first report about experiments to generate optically induced nano structures even down to 100 nm size. The optical stimulation was therefore made by a Scanning Near-field Optical Microscope (SNOM). Secondly, physical conditions inside optically generated surface relief gratings were studied by measuring mechanical properties with high lateral resolution via pulse force mode and force distance curves of an AFM
We propose an optical ring interferometer to observe environment-induced spatial decoherence of massive objects. The object is held in a harmonic trap and scatters light between degenerate modes of a ring cavity. The output signal of the interferometer permits to monitor the spatial width of the object's wave function. It shows oscillations that arise from coherences between energy eigenstates and that reveal the difference between pure spatial decoherence and that coinciding with energy transfer and heating. Our method is designed to work with a wide variety of masses, ranging from the atomic scale to nanofabricated structures. We give a thorough discussion of its experimental feasibility
We study the behavior of time-periodic three-dimensional incompressible flows modelled by three-dimensional volume-preserving maps in the presence of a leakage. The distribution of residence times, and the chaotic saddle together with its stable and unstable invariant manifolds are described and characterized. They shed light. on typical filamentation of chaotic flows whose local stable and unstable manifolds are always of different, character (plane or line). We point out that leaking is a useful method which sheds light on typical filamentation of chaotic flows. In particular; the topology depends on the number of local expanding directions, and is the same in the leaked system as in the closed flow
Microlensing is the only known direct method to measure the masses of stars that lack visible companions. In terms of microlensing observables, the mass is given by M (c(2)/4G)(r) over tilde (E)theta(E) and so requires the measurement of both the angular Einstein radius theta(E) and the projected Einstein radius (r) over tilde (E). Simultaneous measurement of these two parameters is extremely rare. Here we analyze OGLE-2003-BLG-238, a spectacularly bright (I-min 10.3), high-magnification (A(max) 170) microlensing event. Pronounced finite-source effects permit a measurement of theta(E) = 650 muas. Although the timescale of the event is only t(E) 38 days, one can still obtain weak constraints on the microlens parallax: 4.4 AU < <(r)over tilde>(E) < 18 AU at the 1 σ level. Together these two parameter measurements yield a range for the lens mass of 0.36 M-&ODOT; < M < 1.48 M-&ODOT;. As was the case for MACHO- LMC-5, the only other single star (apart from the Sun) whose mass has been determined from its gravitational effects, this estimate is rather crude. It does, however, demonstrate the viability of the technique. We also discuss future prospects for single-lens mass measurements
In this paper, we demonstrate that it is possible to control the hyperchaos into the Rossler hyperchaotic system (RHS) by linear feedback of own signals. After introducing of the parameter "b" in the z-equation (b --> b + b(1)x(t) + b(2)y(t) + b(3)z(t) + b(4)w(t)), we study how the global dynamics can be altered in a desired direction (b(n) are considered as free parameters). We make a detailed bifurcation investigation of the modified Rossler hyperchaotic systems by varying the parameters b,. Finally, we calculate the Lyapunov exponents and the information dimension, where the regular, chaotic and hyperchaotic motion of modified RHS exist. (C) 2004 Published by Elsevier Ltd
A series of polystyrene-block-poly(1,2-butadiene)-block-poly(2-vinyl-pyridine) (SBV) triblock terpolymers were used to prepare blends with symmetric polystyrene-block-poly(2-vinylpyridine) (SV) and poly(2-vinylpyridine)-block-poly- (cyclohexyl methacrylate) (VC) diblock copolymers. Morphological characterization was carried out by transmission electron microscopy. These triblock terpolymers self-assemble into various core-shell type or lamellar morphologies. In the SBV/SV blends, macrophase separation between the two block copolymers, continuous centrosymmetric lamellae and stacks of non-centrosymmetric lamellae with anti-parallel orientation were found. In the blends of SBV/VC, macrophase separation was never observed, what is due to the specific interactions between S and C domains. These systems showed among other morphologies also a cylindrical morphology in which rings surround the cylinders
This article describes how to use statistical data analysis to obtain models directly from data. The focus is put on finding nonlinearities within a generalized additive model. These models are found by means of backfitting or more general algorithms, like the alternating conditional expectation value one. The method is illustrated by numerically generated data. As an application, the example of vortex ripple dynamics, a highly complex fluid-granular system, is treated
Surface relief gratings were inscribed on azobenzene polymer films using a pulselike exposure of an Ar+ laser. The inscription process was initiated by a sequence of short pulses followed by much longer relaxation pauses. The development of the surface relief grating was probed by a He-Ne laser measuring the scattering intensity of the first- order grating peak. The growth time of the surface relief grating was found to be larger than the length of the pulses used. This unusual behavior can be considered as a nonlinear material response associated with the trans-cis isomerization of azobenzene moieties. In this study the polymer stress was assumed to be proportional to the number of cis-isomers. One-dimensional viscoelastic analysis was used to derive the polymer deformation. The rate of trans-cis isomerization increases with the intensity of the inscribing light; in the dark it is equal to the rate of thermal cis- trans isomerization. The respective relaxation times were estimated by fitting theoretical deformation curves to experimental data
We review the problem of estimating parameters and unobserved trajectory components from noisy time series measurements of continuous nonlinear dynamical systems. It is first shown that in parameter estimation techniques that do not take the measurement errors explicitly into account, like regression approaches, noisy measurements can produce inaccurate parameter estimates. Another problem is that for chaotic systems the cost functions that have to be minimized to estimate states and parameters are so complex that common optimization routines may fail. We show that the inclusion of information about the time-continuous nature of the underlying trajectories can improve parameter estimation considerably. Two approaches, which take into account both the errors-in-variables problem and the problem of complex cost functions, are described in detail: shooting approaches and recursive estimation techniques. Both are demonstrated on numerical examples
Linear methods of dimensionality reduction are useful tools for handling and interpreting high dimensional data. However, the cumulative variance explained by each of the subspaces in which the data space is decomposed may show a slow convergence that makes the selection of a proper minimum number of subspaces for successfully representing the variability of the process ambiguous. The use of nonlinear methods can improve the embedding of multivariate data into lower dimensional manifolds. In this article, a nonlinear method for dimensionality reduction, Isomap, is applied to the sea surface temperature and thermocline data in the tropical Pacific Ocean, where the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon and the annual cycle phenomena interact. Isomap gives a more accurate description of the manifold dimensionality of the physical system. The knowledge of the minimum number of dimensions is expected to improve the development of low dimensional models for understanding and predicting ENSO
Dual beam electronic speckle interferometers provide raw data in the form of maps of wrapped relative phase or fringe patterns. Interpretation of such fringe patterns is complicated by aliased and random speckle noise. This noise can result in misidentification of the phase at a given point in the image. Automated determination of the loci of fringe extrema, useful for quantitative evaluation, are particularly affected. A nonlinear image filtering technique referred to as mean curvature diffusion is applied to overcome this difficulty. This technique essentially smooths the image without a substantial reduction in the magnitude of the underlying trends that here represent the fringes. Mean curvature diffusion uses calculations analogous to those for the diffusion of heat with the difference that the diffusion coefficient, reminiscent of thermal diffusivity, varies spatially within the Image with a value given by the reciprocal of the local surface gradient. At a given point in the image, the rate of surface diffusion depends only on the average value of the normal curvature in any two orthogonal directions and not on its magnitude; this allows the lower frequency underlying components of the image structure to be retained. The method is tested on both calculated and real speckle interferograms to highlight the effectiveness of this smoothing technique relative to more standard smoothing algorithms. (C) 2004 SPIE and IST
We have developed a method to design a lateral band-gap modulation in a quantum well heterostructure. The lateral strain variation is induced by patterning of a stressor layer grown on top of a single quantum well which itself is not patterned. The three-dimensional (3D) strain distribution within the lateral nanostructure is calculated using linear elasticity theory applying a finite element technique. Based on the deformation potential approach the calculated strain distribution is translated into a local variation of the band-gap energy. Using a given vertical layer structure we are able to optimize the geometrical parameters to provide a nanostructure with maximum lateral band-gap variation. Experimentally such a structure was realized by etching a surface grating into a tensile-strained InGaP stressor layer grown on top of a compressively strained InGaAs-single quantum well. The achieved 3D strain distribution and the induced band-gap variation are successfully probed by x-ray grazing incidence diffraction and low-temperature photoluminescence measurements, respectively
We propose a new approach to calculate recurrence plots of multivariate time series, based on joint recurrences in phase space. This new method allows to estimate dynamical invariants of the whole system, like the joint Renyi entropy of second order. We use this entropy measure to quantitatively study in detail the phase synchronization of two bidirectionally coupled chaotic systems and identify different types of transitions to chaotic phase synchronization in dependence on the coupling strength and the frequency mismatch. By means of this analysis we find several new phenomena, such a chaos-period-chaos transition to phase synchronization for rather large coupling strengths. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
Graph states are multiparticle entangled states that correspond to mathematical graphs, where the vertices of the graph take the role of quantum spin systems and edges represent Ising interactions. They are many-body spin states of distributed quantum systems that play a significant role in quantum error correction, multiparty quantum communication, and quantum computation within the framework of the one-way quantum computer. We characterize and quantify the genuine multiparticle entanglement of such graph states in terms of the Schmidt measure, to which we provide upper and lower bounds in graph theoretical terms. Several examples and classes of graphs will be discussed, where these bounds coincide. These examples include trees, cluster states of different dimensions, graphs that occur in quantum error correction, such as the concatenated [7,1,3]-CSS code, and a graph associated with the quantum Fourier transform in the one-way computer. We also present general transformation rules for graphs when local Pauli measurements are applied, and give criteria for the equivalence of two graphs up to local unitary transformations, employing the stabilizer formalism. For graphs of up to seven vertices we provide complete characterization modulo local unitary transformations and graph isomorphisms
The mechanism for signal transduction from the LOV-domains toward the kinase region of phototropin is still not well understood. We have performed molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and CONCOORD calculations on the LOV2 domain of Adiantum capillus-veneris, with the goal to detect possible differences between the two forms of the LOV domain which may not show up in the static crystal structures. Since no such clear differences are found in the MD simulations also, we suggest that the real, biologically active conformation of the LOV domain within the whole phototropin is different from the crystal structure of the isolated LOV domains. The MD simulations do offer, however, insight into details of the dynamics of the dark and illuminated LOV domains, which are discussed in the light of recent experiments
B0218 + 357 is one of the most promising systems to determine the Hubble constant from time-delays in gravitational lenses. Consisting of two bright images, which are well resolved in very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations, plus one of the most richly structured Einstein rings, it potentially provides better constraints for the mass model than most other systems. The main problem left until now was the very poorly determined position of the lensing galaxy. After presenting detailed results from classical lens modelling, we apply our improved version of the LENSCLEAN algorithm which for the first time utilizes the beautiful Einstein ring for lens modelling purposes. The primary result using isothermal lens models is a now very well defined lens position of (255 +/- 6, 119 +/- 4) mas relative to the A image, which allows the first reliable measurement of the Hubble constant from the time-delay of this system. The result of H-0 = (78 +/- 6) km s(-1) Mpc(-1) (2sigma) is very high compared with other lenses. It is, however, compatible with local estimates from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) key project and with WMAP results, but less prone to systematic errors. We furthermore discuss possible changes of these results for different radial mass profiles and find that the final values cannot be very different from the isothermal expectations. The power-law exponent of the potential is constrained by VLBI data of the compact images and the inner jet to be beta = 1.04 +/- 0.02, which confirms that the mass distribution is approximately isothermal (corresponding to beta = 1), but slightly shallower. The effect on H-0 is reduced from the expected 4 per cent decrease by an estimated shift of the best galaxy position of circa 4 mas to at most 2 per cent. Maps of the unlensed source plane produced from the best LENSCLEAN brightness model show a typical jet structure and allow us to identify the parts which are distorted by the lens to produce the radio ring. We also present a composite map which for the first time shows the rich structure of B0218 + 357 on scales ranging from mas to arcsec, both in the image plane and in the reconstructed source plane. Finally, we use a comparison of observations at different frequencies to investigate the question of possible weakening of one of the images by propagation effects and/or source shifts with frequency. The data clearly favour the model of significant 'extinction' without noticeable source position shifts. The technical details of our variant of the LENSCLEAN method are presented in the accompanying Paper I.
Metrological Applications
(2004)
Increasing amounts of large climate data require new analysis techniques. The area of data mining investigates new paradigms and methods including factors like scalability, flexibility and problem abstraction for large data sets. The field of visual data mining in particular offers valuable methods for analyzing large amounts of data intuitively. In this paper we describe our approach of integrating cluster analysis and visualization methods for the exploration of climate data. We integrated cluster algorithms, appropriate visualization techniques and sophisticated interaction paradigms into a general framework
The vibrating reed technique with electro "static" excitation and optical detection has been applied to investigate thin layers of poly-phenylene-vinylene, deposited by spin coating onto microfabricated Si cantilevers, during temperature cycling programs between 90 and 540 K at a rate of 1 K/min. From the vibration frequencies the Young's modulus of the film can be estimated to be about 10 MPa at room temperature in the precursor phase (if prepared from a solution in toluene), which increases by conversion to the conjugate bonded polymer to about 50 MPa. The temperature dependence of internal friction reveals the processes of gamma relaxations (crankshaft motion of side branches in the precursor) and P-relaxation (movements of a few monomer blocks in the polymer chain), as well as peaks indicating the structural transformations during conversion, and possibly a glass transition in the amorphous precursor phase. After conversion only the P-relaxation persists. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
Materials for polymer electronics applications semiconducting polymer thin films and nanoparticles
(2004)
The paper presents two different approaches to nanostructured semiconducting polymer materials: (i) the generation of aqueous semiconducting polymer dispersions (semiconducting polymer nanospheres SPNs) and their processing into dense films and layers, and (ii) the synthesis of novel semiconducting polyfluorene-block-polyaniline (PF-b-PANI) block copolymers composed of conjugated blocks of different redox potentials which form nanosized morphologies in the solid state
We report further results from a 191-ks Chandra observation of the core of the Perseus cluster, Abell 426. The emission-weighted temperature and abundance structures are mapped in detail. There are temperature variations down to similar to1 kpc in the brightest regions. Globally, the strongest X-ray surface brightness features appear to be caused by temperature changes. Density and temperature changes conspire to give approximate azimuthal balance in pressure showing that the gas is in hydrostatic equilibrium. Si, S, Ar, Ca, Fe and Ni abundance profiles rise inwards from abo
Surface relief gratings on azobenzene containing polymer films were prepared under irradiation by actinic light. Finite element modeling of the inscription process was carried out using linear viscoelastic analysis. It was assumed that under illumination the polymer film undergoes considerable plastification, which reduces its original Young's modulus by at least three orders of magnitude. Force densities of about 10(11) N/m(3) were necessary to reproduce the growth of the surface relief grating. It was shown that at large deformations the force of surface tension becomes comparable to the inscription force and therefore plays an essential role in the retardation of the inscription process. In addition to surface profiling the gradual development of an accompanying density grating was predicted for the regime of continuous exposure. Surface grating development under pulselike exposure cannot be explained in the frame of an incompressible fluid model. However, it was easily reproduced using the viscoelastic model with finite compressibility. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics
LensClean revisited
(2004)
We discuss the LENSCLEAN algorithm which for a given gravitational lens model fits a source brightness distribution to interferometric radio data in a similar way as standard CLEAN does in the unlensed case. The lens model parameters can then be varied in order to minimize the residuals and determine the best model for the lens mass distribution. Our variant of this method is improved in order to be useful and stable even for high dynamic range systems with nearly degenerated lens model parameters. Our test case B0218 + 357 is dominated by two bright images but the information needed to constrain the unknown parameters is provided only by the relatively smooth and weak Einstein ring. The new variant of LENSCLEAN is able to fit lens models even in this difficult case. In order to allow the use of general mass models with LENSCLEAN, we develop the new method LENTIL which inverts the lens equation much more reliably than any other method. This high reliability is essential for the use as part of LENSCLEAN. Finally a new method is developed to produce source plane maps of the unlensed source from the best LENSCLEAN brightness models. This method is based on the new concept of 'dirty beams' in the source plane. The application to the lens B0218 + 357 leads to the first useful constraints for the lens position and thus to a result for the Hubble constant. These results are presented in the accompanying Paper II, together with a discussion of classical lens modelling for this system
Optical, structural and morphological properties of thin films of polyparaphenylenevinylene (PPV) formed by an alkyl sulfinyl precursor route have been studied. Thin films were fabricated on an optical glass and on quartz glass either by spin-coating of the precursor solution or by layer-by-layer deposition using Langmuir-Blodgett technique. PPV precursor films were also spin-coated on gold-coated glass in order to study thin-film optical parameters by surface plasmon spectroscopy. We have been successful in forming about 40 precursor mono layers on quartz glass by Langmuir- Blodgett technique using optimized surface pressure and dipping conditions. After thermal conversion of the precursor layers good quality fluorescent PPV films of yellow colour have been obtained. Optical characterization of the films was carried out by linear absorption and emission spectroscopy, ellipsometry, and surface plasmon spectroscopy. Structural and morphological studies on the thin films were carried out by using X-ray scattering and atomic force microscopy. Wave- guided travelling-wave laser action has been achieved in a PPV film on quartz glass. The sample was transversally pumped with picosecond laser pulses (wavelength 347.15 nm, duration 35 ps). Laser emission occurred at 550 nm for pump pulse energy densities above 1 x 10(-4) J cm(-2). (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
We derive kinetic equations covering coagulation and fragmentation of granular gases including a combined dynamics of the mass spectrum and the velocity distribution. We will focus on coagulation; that can only occur at low impact velocities where attractive forces and dissipation prevent a post-collisional separation. We calculate an impact speed-dependent threshold velocity g(c) for coagulation to occur based on binary collision dynamics of viscoelastic Iranular particles including adhesive forces and determined by the masses, and the material of the colliding particles. Growth processes are immensely slowed down due to g(c) and the resulting restriction in phase space, and do furthermore depend on the ratio of threshold and thermal velocity of a considered particle ensemble. The Smoluchowski equation emerges from the general kinetic approach as a special case
Thin films of amorphous Fe85Zr15 alloy were deposited by ion-beam sputtering of a composite target. Analogous to the melt-spun amorphous alloys of similar composition, the crystallization of the amorphous film occurs in two steps, however, with a substantially reduced thermal stability. After completion of the first crystallization step which starts at 473 K, the microstructure consists of 12 nm nanocrystals of bcc-Fe embedded in a grain boundary region of the remaining amorphous phase. At 673 K, the remaining amorphous phase transforms into the Fe2Zr alloy. The self-diffusion measurements of iron in the nanocrystalline state and in the parent amorphous state has been carried out using secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) depth profiling and neutron reflectivity techniques. In contrast to the case of finemet Fe73.5Si13.5B9Nb3Cu1 alloy, where a significant enhancement of diffusivity takes place in the nanocrystalline state, in the present case the diffusivity in the nanocrystalline state is similar to that in the parent amorphous state. It is suggested that in this system the atomic diffusion occurs mainly via the grain boundary regions. The calculated values of the pre-exponential factor and the activation energy for the diffusion are D-0 = 1 x 10(-14+/-1) m(2)/s and E = (0.7 +/- 0.1) eV respectively. (C) 2004 Published by Elsevier B.V.
The molecular orientation of azobenzene side groups in polymer films before (nonpatterned) and after (patterned) development of a surface relief grating has been investigated by photoelectron spectroscopy using synchrotron radiation. The photoemission spectra obtained for 60-100 eV photons of a patterned and a nonpatterned surface are similar when the polarization vector of the synchrotron light is parallel to the grating vector. However, for perpendicular excitation, considerable spectral intensity differences can be observed for 9-14 eV electron binding energy. The observed changes are attributed to the formation of well-oriented azobenzenes at the surface. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics
The molecular structures of four bis-ligated high-spin Ni(II) complexes of the sterically crowded, nonplanar 2,3,7,8,12,13,17,18-octaethyl-5,10,15,20-tetranitroporphytin (NiOETNP) are reported. The ligands are imidazole (Im), imidazole plus 2-methylimidazole (2-MeIm) in the crystal lattice, 1-methylimidazole (1-MeIm), and 2,1,3- benzoselenadiazole (BSeD). Extensive intermolecular hydrogen bonding is observed in the three imidazole-ligated structures consisting of NH...O and CH...O bonding from the imidazoles to neighboring nitro groups and of NH...N interactions to a nearby 2-MeIm. The different modes of hydrogen bonding, typical of those frequently observed in proteins, mediate the self-assembly of discrete porphyrin dimers as well as more extensive two- and three-dimensional arrays. Only the bis-BSeD complex remains monomeric. The presence or absence of the different types of hydrogen bonds controls the orientations of the axial ligands and also modulates the conformations of the porphyrin skeletons. This interplay of axial ligation, hydrogen bonding, and self-assembly further illustrates the multi conformational landscapes that porphyrins can access as a function of their microenvironment. Such nonplanar deformations have been shown to significantly affect the optical, redox, magnetic, radical, and excited state properties of porphyrin derivatives. That hydrogen bonding can influence ligand interactions with neighboring functional groups as well as macrocycle conformations with their concomitant consequences on physical and chemical properties may thus be particularly relevant to the bioenergetic roles of porphyrin in vivo. These results also raise the question whether point mutations near porphyrins in vivo are structurally, and consequently functionally, innocent
We describe a project to study the state of the ISM in similar to20 low redshift (z < 0.3) QSO host galaxies observed with the PMAS integral field spectrograph. We describe the development of the method to access the stellar and gas components of the spectrum without the strong nuclear emission, in order to access the host galaxy properties in the central region. It shows that integral field spectroscopy promises to be very efficient in studying the gas distribution and its velocity field, and also the spatially resolved stellar population in the host galaxies of luminous AGN
This paper presents observations of an extended Lyman-alpha emission nebula surrounding the galaxy responsible for the Damped Lyman-alpha Absorption (DLA) line in the spectrum of the quasar Q2233+131. With the Potsdam Multi Aperture Spectrophotometer (PMAS) we measure the properties of the extended Lyalpha emission in an area of 3" x 5" having a total line flux of (2.8 +/- 0.3) x 10(-16) erg cm(-2) s(-1), which at redshift z = 3.15 corresponds to a luminosity of (2.4(-0.2)(+0.3)) x 10(43) erg s(-1) and a size of 23 x 38 kpc. The location of the emission is spatially coincident with the previously detected DLA galaxy, but extends significantly beyond its limb. We argue that the Lya emission is likely to be caused by an outflow from the DLA galaxy, presumably powered by star formation. In the case of negligible dust extinction, the Lya luminosity indicates a star-formation rate of 19 +/- 10 M-. yr(-1) consistent with that derived from the UV continuum flux from the parent galaxy. The wind velocity indicated by the integral field spectra is of the order of several hundred km s(-1). We find no indication of emission originating in a rotating disk
We present spatially resolved spectrophotometric observations of multiply imaged QSOs, using the Potsdam Multi- Aperture Spectrophotometer (PMAS), with the intention to search for spectral differences between components indicative of either microlensing or dust extinction. For the quadruple QSO HE 0435-1223 we find that the continuum shapes are indistinguishable, therefore differential extinction is negligible. The equivalent widths of the broad emission lines are however significantly different, and we argue that this is most likely due to microlensing. Contrariwise, the two components of the well-known object UM 673 have virtually identical emission line properties, but the continuum slopes differ significantly and indicate different dust extinction along both lines of sight