Strongly Dependent Research Articles

NLO friction in symmetry restoring phase transitions

Interactions between bubbles/domain walls and the surrounding medium are a topic of active research, particularly as they apply to friction effects on accelerated expansion during first-order phase transitions. In this paper, we analyse for the first time friction pressure on relativistic walls in phase transitions where gauge symmetry is restored, particularly motivated by the observation that this pressure can, in principle, be negative at leading order, since some particles lose mass by definition as they cross into the new phase. We find, however, that at NLO, the soft emission of vectors from a charged current leads to positive pressure scaling as the wall’s Lorentz boost factor γw, similar to the case of gauge symmetry breaking. Contrary to the latter case, we find that the dominant contribution in single emission is safe from IR divergences and exhibits a much stronger dependence on the wall shape. Finally, we argue that in any phase transition, no multi-particle process on the wall can impart negative pressure greater than the leading order result, in the asymptotic limit of large γw.

How Do the Velocity Anisotropies of Halo Stars, Dark Matter, and Satellite Galaxies Depend on Host Halo Properties?

We investigate the mass (M 200) and concentration (c 200) dependencies of the velocity anisotropy (β) profiles for different components in the dark matter halo—including halo stars, dark matter, and subhalos—using systems from the IllustrisTNG simulations. Beyond a critical radius, β becomes more radial with the increase of M 200, reflecting more prominent radial accretion around massive halos. The critical radius is r ∼ r s , 0.3 r s , and r s for halo stars, dark matter, and subhalos, with r s being the scale radius of the host halos. This dependence on M 200 is the strongest for subhalos and the weakest for halo stars. In central regions, the β of halo stars and dark matter particles get more isotropic with the increase of M 200 in TNG300 due to baryons. By contrast, the β of dark matter from the dark-matter-only TNG300-Dark run shows much weaker dependence on M 200 within r s . Dark matter in TNG300 is slightly more isotropic than in TNG300-Dark at 0.2 r s < r < 10 r s and log10M200/M⊙<13.8 . Halo stars and dark matter also become more radial with the increase in c 200, at fixed M 200. Halo stars are more radial than the β profile of dark matter by approximately a constant beyond r s . Dark matter particles are more radial than subhalos. The differences can be understood, as subhalos on more radial orbits are more easily stripped, contributing more stars and dark matter to the diffuse components. We provide the fitting formula for the differences between the β of halo stars and dark matter at r s < r < 3 r s as βstar−βDM=(−0.034±0.012)log10M200/M⊙+(0.772±0.163) for log10M200/M⊙≥13 and as β star − β DM = 0.328 for log10M200/M⊙<13 .

High Azimuthal Mode Selectivity of a Cavity with Mode-Joining Corrugations for High-Harmonic Gyrotrons

Mode-joining longitudinal corrugations are studied as a means of high azimuthal mode selectivity for cavities of high-harmonic terahertz gyrotrons. Their number dictates the choice of the jointed operating mode, which has a form of strongly coupled co- and counter-rotating azimuthal harmonics. It is found that the distinctive feature of this mode is a weak dependence of eigenvalue and ohmic losses on corrugation size. First, this favors the use of mode-joining corrugations with variable depth for efficient suppression of all competing modes by both diffractive and ohmic losses in the gyrotron cavity. Second, this provides a good robustness of gyrotron performance against manufacturing errors in the size of corrugations and only a minor conversion of the operating mode to spurious modes at junctions of the corrugated cavity with smooth-walled waveguides. The beneficial properties of mode-joining corrugations are demonstrated by a cavity design for a gyrotron operated in the second-harmonic TE±9,4 and third-harmonic TE±18,4 modes at 398 GHz and 593 GHz, respectively.

Magnetic structure and magnetic properties of Fe3BO5 and Mn3BO5 ludwigites

The magnetic ground state of transition metal ludwigites Fe3BO5and Mn3BO5was studied via the combination of representations analysis and the following DFT total energy calculations of possible magnetic configurations. The distinct in the magnetic properties of ludwigites was analyzed through estimation of exchange constants. The pressure evolution of manganese magnetic moments in Mn3BO5reveals the site-dependent behavior of magnetic moments. The manganese magnetic moments in 4-2-4 triads experience the sharp decrease above the pressure of 50 GPa, whereas magnetic moments in 3-1-3 triads have the weak dependence on pressure. The pressure-induced transition from half-metal state to metal state is also being found in Mn3BO5.

Anomalous Oscillation Modes of Superfluid Pendant Droplets.

Droplets should exhibit various dynamical phenomena when adhered to a surface; not all of them are realized in classical fluids. Visualization of superfluid ^{4}He pendant droplets revealed that the droplets were horizontally translated on a flat surface, bouncing off at the corner, known as the Noether mode that reflects the translation symmetry. The droplets exhibited another mode in vertical oscillations with high amplitude that included oscillation of the droplet edge. The oscillation period remained constant even as the droplets grew, exhibiting an anomalously weak size dependence. The high mobility of the droplet edges owing to the superfluidity was a crucial factor for the appearance of these anomalous modes.

Effects of Thickness and Grain Size on Harmonic Generation in Thin AlN Films

High-harmonic generation from solid films is an attractive method for converting infrared laser pulses to ultraviolet and vacuum ultraviolet wavelengths and for examining the films using the generation process. In this work, AlN thin films grown on a sapphire substrate are studied. Below-band-gap third harmonics and above-band-gap fifth harmonics were generated using a Ti:sapphire oscillator running at 800 nm. A strong enhancement of the fifth-harmonic signal in the forward direction was observed from thicker 39 nm and 100 nm films compared to thinner 8 nm and 17 nm films. For the fifth harmonic generated in the backward direction, and also for the third harmonic in both the forward and backward directions, only a weak dependence of the harmonic signal on the film thickness was measured. Using both X-ray diffraction and dependence of the fifth harmonic on the laser polarization measurements, these behaviors are attributed to the crystallization and the grain size of the films, promising fifth-harmonic generation as a suitable tool to study AlN film properties.

Coagulation Equations for Non-spherical Clusters

In this work, we study the long time asymptotics of a coagulation model which describes the evolution of a system of particles characterized by their volume and surface area. The aggregation mechanism takes place in two stages: collision and fusion of particles. During the collision stage, the two particles merge at a contact point. The newly formed particle has volume and area equal to the sum of the respective quantities of the two colliding particles. After collision, the fusion phase begins and during it the geometry of the interacting particles is modified in such a way that the volume of the total system is preserved and the surface area is reduced. During their evolution, the particles must satisfy the isoperimetric inequality. Therefore, the distribution of particles in the volume and area space is supported in the region where {a≥(36π)13v23}\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\{a\\ge (36\\pi )^{\\frac{1}{3}}v^{\\frac{2}{3}}\\}$$\\end{document}. We assume the coagulation kernel has a weak dependence on the area variable. We prove existence of self-similar profiles for some choices of the functions describing the fusion rate for which the particles have a shape that is close to spherical. On the other hand, for other fusion mechanisms and suitable choices of initial data, we show that the particle distribution describes a system of ramified-like particles.

First-principles study on thermal and electrical transport properties of NbGe2 and NbSi2: the role of electron-phonon coupling

Abstract We study coupled electron and phonon transport in NbX2 with X=Ge, Si, in which experimental evidence of strong electron-phonon coupling and hydrodynamic transport has been reported. Based on first-principles calculations at the density functional theory level, we report their thermal and electrical transport properties. We find that phonon-electron scattering strongly affects their phonon thermal conductivity (κ ph) and leads to weak temperature dependence of κ ph, instead of normal inverse temperature dependence when anharmonic three phonon scattering dominates. Moreover, κ ph contributes to quarter of the total thermal conductivity, which differs from typical metals where total thermal conductivity is predominantly from electron part. Different from previous numerical study, our results of electrical resistivity agree well with experimental measurement. The anisotropic property of the transport coeffcients is attributed to the electron and phonon dispersion relation. Moreover, we find negligible effect of electron-phonon drag on the transport property, contrary to expectation from a strongly coupled electron-phonon fluid.

Viscous heating and instabilities in the partially ionized solar atmosphere

Abstract In weak magnetic fields (≲ 50 G), parallel and perpendicular viscosities, mainly from neutrals, may exceed magnetic diffusivities (Ohm, Hall, ambipolar) in the middle and upper chromosphere. Ion-driven gyroviscosity may dominate in the upper chromosphere and transition region. In strong fields (≳ 100 G), viscosities primarily exceed diffusivities in the upper chromosphere and transition region. Parallel and perpendicular viscosities, being similar in magnitude, dampen waves and potentially compete with ambipolar diffusion in plasma heating, potentially inhibiting Hall and ambipolar instabilities when equal. The perpendicular viscosity tensor has two components, ν1 and ν2, which differ slightly and show weak dependence on ion magnetization. Their differences, combined with shear, may destabilize waves, though magnetic diffusion introduces a cutoff for this instability. In configurations with a magnetic field B having vertical (bz = Bz/|B|) and azimuthal (by = By/|B|) components, and a wavevector k with radial ($\hat{k}_x=k_x/|{\bf k}|$) and vertical ($\hat{k}_z=k_z/|{\bf k}|$) components, parallel viscosity and Hall diffusion can generate the viscous-Hall instability. Gyroviscosity further destabilizes waves in the upper regions. These findings indicate that the solar atmosphere may experience various viscous instabilities, revealing complex interactions between viscosity, magnetic fields, and plasma dynamics across different atmospheric regions.

Expanded graphite encapsulation of nitrates for enhanced thermal transport: Mechanism insight and component screening

The efficient improvement of the heat transfer capability of high-temperature molten salts and the accurate measurement within the operating temperature range is vital for improving the efficiency of concentrating solar power devices. Through theoretical investigation, this paper explores different thermal properties including thermal conductivity, phase transition properties and interfacial interactions using a range of expanded graphite/nitrates (EG/nitrates). Molecular dynamics simulations reveal that the EG/eutectic salt (ES) exhibits optimal comprehensive properties. Experimentally prepared EG/ES composite phase change materials (PCMs), coupled with theoretical predictions, demonstrate exceptional thermal conductivity (2.2 W m−1 K−1) and a significant latent heat of phase change (>80 J g−1). The calculation results of the interaction energy between the host-guest indicate that the strong interaction of the EG to ES restricts the molecule movement, leading to a weak temperature dependence of the thermal conductivity of the EG/ES composite PCM. This contrasts with the conventional understanding of PCM thermal conductivity, which typically exhibits a sharp change during the phase transition from solid state to liquid state. Additionally, the thermal response of 15 wt% EG/ES is increased by 27.2 % compared to pure ES, which effectively helps alleviate local overheating in practical applications. The progress made so far sheds light on the mechanism behind the improved heat transfer and storage performance of nitrate from a microscopic view, offering valuable theoretical insight for developing high-efficient nitrate PCMs in solar thermal power generation systems.

“Halfway to Rayleigh” and Other Insights into the Rossby Wave Instability

The Rossby wave instability (RWI) is the fundamental nonaxisymmetric radial shear instability in disks. The RWI can facilitate disk accretion, set the shape of planetary gaps, and produce large vortices. It arises from density and/or temperature features, such as radial gaps, bumps, or steps. A general, sufficient condition to trigger the RWI is lacking, which we address by studying the linear RWI in a suite of simplified models, including incompressible and compressible shearing sheets and global, cylindrical disks. We focus on enthalpy amplitude and width as the fundamental properties of disk features with various shapes. We find analytic results for the RWI boundary and growth rates across a wide parameter space, in some cases with exact derivations and in others as a description of numerical results. Features wider than a scale height generally become unstable about halfway to Rayleigh instability, i.e., when the squared epicyclic frequency is about half the Keplerian value, reinforcing our previous finding. RWI growth rates approximately scale as enthalpy amplitude to the 1/3 power, with a weak dependence on width, across much of the parameter space. Global disk curvature affects wide planetary gaps, making the outer gap edge more susceptible to the RWI. Our simplified models are barotropic and height integrated, but the main results should carry over to more complex and realistic scenarios.

Unveiling Extreme Dependencies between Oil Price Shocks and Inflation in Tunisia: Insights from a Copula Approach

We follow a non-linear dynamic correlation approach using a combination of a DCC-GARCH model and a copula model to capture the dependence between oil price changes and inflation in Tunisia. The case of Tunisia is particularly instructive since after having been an exporter and a major producer, it became a net oil importer in the 2000s. The study, based on monthly data spanning decades, selects a Gumbel copula and shows that beyond weak average dependencies, there is a strong correlation between extreme values, suggesting that inflation in Tunisia is more sensitive to extreme (positive) variations in oil prices than to average variations. The implications of these empirical results for economic policy are crucial for the Tunisian economy.Copyright© 2024 The Author(s). This article is distributed under the terms of the license CC-BY 4.0., which permits any further distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Drivers of short-term essential air service operations: Load factor, pricing, and subsidy policies in China's domestic air market

This study analyzes the impact of the temporary flight subsidy policy on the operational performance of China's domestic air transport market. Using panel data from 42 days between May 7 and June 17, 2022, and applying a dynamic panel model with time-invariant variables, the study explores the factors influencing average load factor and average ticket price under short-term basic air service conditions. The results reveal that, during the pandemic, load factors exhibited weak dependence on historical data, with airlines adjusting to real-time demand fluctuations. Additionally, the flight subsidy policy failed to meet its intended goals, leading to a reduction in overall load factors, particularly for China Southern, China Eastern, and Hainan Airlines, while Air China demonstrated more flexibility in adapting to the policy. The study also identifies the significant influence of route distance and airport size on both load factors and ticket prices, with longer routes and major hub airports commanding higher prices. These findings suggest that future subsidy policies should be more flexible and tailored to specific market conditions to effectively support the recovery and long-term sustainability of the aviation industry.

Electrodynamic analysis of a sinusoidal antenna for small wave sizes

Background. The work is aimed at developing and researching rigorous methods for calculating thin-wire structures with a complex generatrix shape, having small wave sizes, as well as studying the physical processes occurring in them. A special case of such structures is a sinusoidal antenna operating in a standing current wave mode. Aim. In progress the solution of internal and external problems of electrodynamics is carried out for a sinusoidal antenna of small wave sizes located above an infinitely extended ideal reflector. The currents on the elements of the structure are calculated, its input resistance and radiation characteristics are determined. Methods. The research is based on a strict electrodynamic approach, within the framework of which, for the specified structure in the thin-wire approximation, an integral representation of the electromagnetic field is formed, which, when considered on the surface of conductors together with boundary conditions, is reduced to a system of Fredholm integral equations of the second kind, written relative to unknown current distributions on conductors (internal task). Results. A mathematical model of the radiating structure is proposed, determined: the input resistance of the structure and the basic characteristics of its radiation. It is shown that the operating range of a sinusoidal antenna in the standing wave mode is determined by the quality factor of the input impedance resonances; An increase in the width of the sinusoidal conductor leads to a decrease in the resonant frequencies of the input resistance with a simultaneous increase in the quality factor of the resonances. Conclusion. From a practical point of view, the use of the considered structure allows significantly reduce the dimensions in comparison with a thin electric vibrator, however in this case, the operating range will be correspondingly narrowed, which is determined, due to the weak dependence of the radiation characteristics on frequency, by the quality factor of the resonances. The current distribution on the generatrix of the structure can be considered as a «projection» standing surface wave localized in the plane of a sinusoidal conductor, and resulting from the superposition of forward and backward surface (slow) waves propagating at a speed significantly lower than the speed of light. To further clarify the physics of the processes occurring in the structure, one should use spectral analysis of current functions and study the distributions of the electromagnetic field in the near zone of the structure.

Strong Enhancement of Magnetic Coercivity Induced by Uniaxial Stress.

The performance of permanent magnets is intricately tied to their magnetic hysteresis loop. In this study, we investigate the heavy-fermion ferromagnet CeAgSb_{2} through magnetization measurements under uniaxial stress. We observe a 2400% increase in magnetic coercivity with just a modest stress of approximately 1kbar. This effect persists even after pressure release, attributable to stress-induced defects that efficiently pin domain walls. Other magnetic properties such as ordering temperature and saturation moment exhibit only weak pressure dependencies and display full reversibility. Our findings offer a promising route for increasing coercive field strength and enhancing the energy product in ferromagnetic materials and are potentially applicable to a broad spectrum of commercial or emerging magnetic applications.

Bright and Stable Cyan Fluorescent RNA Enables Multicolor RNA Imaging in Live Escherichia coli.

Fluorescent RNAs (FRs), which are RNA aptamers that bind and activate their cognate small fluorogenic dyes, have provided a particularly useful approach for imaging RNAs in live cells. Although the color palette of FRs is greatly expanded, a bright and stable cyan FR with good biocompatibility and biorthogonality with currently available FRs remains desirable but is not yet developed. Herein, the development of Myosotis is described, an RNA aptamer that emits bright cyan fluorescence upon binding a novel GFP chromophore-like fluorophore called DBT. Myosotis has a nanomolar affinity for DBT and shows a weak dependence on magnesium for folding. Further studies reveal that the Myosotis-DBT complex has a long fluorescence lifetime, good photostability, and enhance cellular brightness. It is further shown that Myosotis-DBT is biorthogonal to Pepper and Clivia FRs, allowing multiplex fluorescence imaging of RNA in live bacteria. Myosotis can also use to image mRNA in live bacteria, revealing potential coupling between mRNA translation and stability. It is believed that this cyan FR will be a useful tool for studying the functionality and mechanism of RNA underlying diverse biological processes.

Preparation of monolithic silica HPLC columns with truss-structured skeletons and embedded surfactant-templated mesopores

AbstractMonolithic macro/mesoporous silica gels have been prepared via a sol-gel process using triblock copolymer Pluronic P123 (EO20PO70EO20) as a structure-directing agent. In this synthesis, P123 not only induces phase separation to form macroporous structure but also acts as a supramolecular template to form mesopores with precisely controlled shape and size. Obtained was a monolithic silica composed of continuous truss-like columnar skeletons in which cylindrical mesopores are arranged in a 2D-hexagonal symmetry. These monolithic silica gels have extremely high porosity approaching 90% and exhibited high specific surface area and sharp pore size distribution as revealed by N2 sorption measurements. Combinations of the initial composition and the post-gelation treatment on wet gels allowed the control of physical properties of meso- and macropore structures. The monolithic HPLC columns prepared using these silica gels surface-modified by ODS (octadecylsilyl) ligands gave as many as 140,000 theoretical plates/m for the separation of alkylbenzenes in a reversed-phase mode. Very weak dependence of height equivalent to theoretical plate, H, on the mobile phase velocity was also recognized in comparison with conventional particle-packed columns. Graphical Abstract

Cosmic Ray Diffusion in Magnetic Fields Amplified by Nonlinear Turbulent Dynamo

The diffusion of cosmic rays (CRs) in turbulent magnetic fields is fundamental to understanding various astrophysical processes. We explore the CR diffusion in the magnetic fluctuations amplified by the nonlinear turbulent dynamo in the absence of a strong mean magnetic field. Using test particle simulations, we identify three distinct CR diffusion regimes: mirroring, wandering, and magnetic moment scattering (MMS). With highly inhomogeneous distribution of the dynamo-amplified magnetic fields, we find that the diffusion of CRs is also spatially inhomogeneous. Our results reveal that lower-energy CRs preferentially undergo the mirror and wandering diffusion in the strong-field regions, and the MMS diffusion in the weak-field regions. The former two diffusion mechanisms play a more important role toward lower CR energies, resulting in a relatively weak energy dependence of the overall CR mean free path (MFP). In contrast, higher-energy CRs predominantly undergo the MMS diffusion, for which the incomplete particle gyration, i.e., the limit case of mirroring, in strong fields has a more significant effect than the scattering by small-scale field tangling/reversal. Compared with lower-energy CRs, they are more poorly confined in space and their MFPs have a stronger energy dependence. We stress the fundamental role of magnetic field inhomogeneity of nonlinear turbulent dynamo in causing the different diffusion behavior of CRs compared to that in sub-Alfvénic magnetohydrodynamic turbulence.

Reaction of F Atoms with Carbonyl Sulfide: Experimental and Theoretical Study.

The gas phase reaction of fluorine atoms with carbonyl sulfide, F + OCS → SF + CO (1), has been investigated over a wide temperature range, T = 220-960 K, in a discharge-flow system combined with mass spectrometry for the analysis of the reactive mixture. The reaction rate coefficient was determined as a function of temperature using both absolute (under pseudo-first-order conditions using an excess of F atoms) and relative rate methods: k1 = (8.95 ± 0.52) × 10-11 exp((102 ± 20)/T) cm3 molecule-1 s-1 (with an estimated total uncertainty of 15% independent of temperature). The SF radical was observed as the main primary reaction product. The experimental results are supported by theoretical calculations, which evidence that the reaction is exothermic with a weak negative temperature dependence.

Using generalized estimating equations to estimate nonlinear models with spatial data

. We study the estimation of nonlinear models with cross-sectional data using two-step generalized estimating equations within the quasi-maximum likelihood estimation framework. To improve efficiency, we propose a grouped estimator that accounts for potential spatial correlation in the underlying innovations of nonlinear models. Under mild weak dependence assumptions, we provide results on estimation consistency and asymptotic normality. Monte Carlo simulations demonstrate the efficiency gain of our approach compared to various estimation methods. Finally, we apply the proposed approach to examine the role of cultural distance in an extended gravity equation using international trade data from China. Compared to existing methods, our approach yields estimates with smaller standard errors and reinforces the hypothesis that both cultural and geographical distances significantly negatively influence international trade.