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At least 1,261 records · Page 70

Temperature-dependent kinetic measurements and quasi-classical trajectory studies for the OH{sup +} + H{sub 2}/D{sub 2} → H{sub 2}O{sup +}/HDO{sup +} + H/D reactions

We have measured the temperature-dependent kinetics for the reactions of OH{sup +} with H{sub 2} and D{sub 2} using a selected ion flow tube apparatus. Reaction occurs via atom abstraction to result in H{sub 2}O{sup +}/HDO{sup +} + H/D. Room temperature rate coefficients are in agreement with prior measurements and resulting temperature dependences are T{sup 0.11} for the hydrogen and T{sup 0.25} for the deuterated reactions. This work is prompted in part by recent theoretical work that mapped a full-dimensional global potential energy surface of H{sub 3}O{sup +} for the OH{sup +} + H{sub 2} → H + H{sub 2}O{sup +} reaction [A. Li and H. Guo, J. Phys. Chem. A 118, 11168 (2014)], and reported results of quasi-classical trajectory calculations, which are extended to a wider temperature range and initial rotational state specification here. Our experimental results are in excellent agreement with these calculations which accurately predict the isotope effect in addition to an enhancement of the reaction rate constant due to the molecular rotation of OH{sup +}. The title reaction is of high importance to astrophysical models, and the temperature dependence of the rate coefficients determined here should now allow for better understanding of this reaction at temperatures more relevant to the interstellar medium.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Gate length and temperature dependence of negative differential transconductance in silicon quantum well metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors

Introducing quantum transport into silicon transistors in a manner compatible with industrial fabrication has the potential to transform the performance horizons of large scale integrated silicon devices and circuits. Explicit quantum transport as evidenced by negative differential transconductances (NDTCs) has been observed in a set of quantum well (QW) transistors fabricated using industrial silicon complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor processing. Detailed gate length and temperature dependence characteristics of the NDTCs in these devices have been measured. The QW potential was formed via lateral ion implantation doping on a commercial 45 nm technology node process line, and measurements of the transfer characteristics show NDTCs up to room temperature. Gate length dependence of NDTCs shows a correlation of the interface channel length with the number of NDTCs formed as well as with the gate voltage (V{sub G}) spacing between NDTCs. The V{sub G} spacing between multiple NDTCs suggests a quasi-parabolic QW potential profile. The temperature dependence is consistent with partial freeze-out of carrier concentration against a degenerately doped background.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Admittance–voltage profiling of Al{sub x}Ga{sub 1−x}N/GaN heterostructures: Frequency dependence of capacitance and conductance

Admittance–voltage profiling of Al{sub x}Ga{sub 1−x}N/GaN heterostructures was used to determine the frequency dependent capacitance and conductance of FET devices in the frequency range from 50 Hz to 1 MHz. The nominally undoped low pressure metal-organic vapor-phase epitaxy structures were grown with an Al-content of 30%. An additional 1 nm thick AlN interlayer was placed in one structure before the Al{sub 0.3}Ga{sub 0.7}N layer growth. For frequencies below 10{sup 8} Hz it is convenient to use equivalent circuits to represent electric or dielectric properties of a material, a method widely used, for example, in impedance spectroscopy. We want to emphasize the relation between frequency dependent admittance–voltage profiling and the corresponding equivalent circuits to the complex dielectric function. Debye and Drude models are used for the description of the frequency dependent admittance profiles in a range of depletion onset of the two-dimensional electron gas. Capacitance- and conductance-frequency profiles are fitted in the entire measured range by combining both models. Based on our results, we see contributions to the two-dimensional electron gas for our samples from surface states (80%) as well as from background doping in the Al{sub 0.3}Ga{sub 0.7}N barriers (20%). The specific resistance of the layers below the gate is above 10{sup 5} Ω cm for both samples and increases with increasing negative bias, i.e., the layers below the gate are essentially depleted. We propose that the resistance due to free charge carriers, determined by the Drude model, is located between gate and drain and, because of the AlN interlayer, the resistance is lowered by a factor of about 30 if compared to the sample without an AlN layer.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Deformation microstructure and positive temperature dependence of flow stress in Ni{sub 3}Ge

Single crystalline specimens of Ni{sub 3}Ge were compressed along [0 0 1] at different temperatures. Temperature dependence of the critical resolved shear stress (τ{sub 0}(T)) has been obtained. Detailed measurements at cryogen temperatures (4.2-77 K temperature interval) showed that the increase of the yield stress with temperature starts at liquid helium temperature. The values of the apparent activation volume (V*) have been obtained as a result of stress relaxation tests repeated along the stress-strain curve at different stress levels at seven temperatures (77, 293, 373, 473, 573, 673, 773 K). Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) methods were used to analyze the evolution of dislocation structure with temperature and strain. The measurements of the straight dislocations fraction determined as δ = ρ{sub sd} / ρ, (ρ{sub sd} is the straight dislocation density, ρ is a total dislocation density) have been performed. The experimental data obtained in different tests in Ni{sub 3}Ge confirm two-stage nature of the positive temperature dependence of the flow stress of alloys with the L1{sub 2} structure. The model of thermal strengthening considering two different types of mechanisms, first acting at low temperatures and second at high has been proposed. Using this model the temperature dependence of the critical resolved shear stress has been approximated and the activation parameters of thermal strengthening of Ni{sub 3}Ge have been obtained.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Molecular wave function and effective adiabatic potentials calculated by extended multi-configuration time-dependent Hartree-Fock method

We first calculate the ground-state molecular wave function of 1D model H{sub 2} molecule by solving the coupled equations of motion formulated in the extended multi-configuration time-dependent Hartree-Fock (MCTDHF) method by the imaginary time propagation. From the comparisons with the results obtained by the Born-Huang (BH) expansion method as well as with the exact wave function, we observe that the memory size required in the extended MCTDHF method is about two orders of magnitude smaller than in the BH expansion method to achieve the same accuracy for the total energy. Second, in order to provide a theoretical means to understand dynamical behavior of the wave function, we propose to define effective adiabatic potential functions and compare them with the conventional adiabatic electronic potentials, although the notion of the adiabatic potentials is not used in the extended MCTDHF approach. From the comparison, we conclude that by calculating the effective potentials we may be able to predict the energy differences among electronic states even for a time-dependent system, e.g., time-dependent excitation energies, which would be difficult to be estimated within the BH expansion approach.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Decomposition of the configuration-interaction coefficients in the multiconfiguration time-dependent Hartree-Fock method

An approximate implementation of the multiconfiguration time-dependent Hartree-Fock method is proposed, in which the matrix of configuration-interaction coefficients is decomposed into a product of matrices of smaller dimension. The applicability of this method in which all the configurations are kept in the expansion of the wave function, while the configuration-interaction coefficients are approximately calculated, is discussed by showing the results on three model systems: a one-dimensional model of a beryllium atom, a one-dimensional model of a carbon atom, and a one-dimensional model of a chain of four hydrogen atoms. The time-dependent electronic dynamics induced by a few-cycle, long-wavelength laser pulse is found to be well described at a lower computational cost compared to the standard multiconfiguration time-dependent Hartree-Fock treatment. Drawbacks of the method are also discussed.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Importance of imposing gauge invariance in time-dependent density functional theory calculations with meta-generalized gradient approximations

It has been known for more than a decade that the gauge variance of the kinetic energy density τ leads to additional terms in the magnetic orbital rotation Hessian used in linear-response time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT), affecting excitation energies obtained with τ-dependent exchange–correlation functionals. While previous investigations found that a correction scheme based on the paramagnetic current density has a small effect on benchmark results, we report more pronounced effects here, in particular, for the popular M06-2X functional and for some other meta-generalized gradient approximations (mGGAs). In the first part of this communication, this is shown by a reassessment of a set of five Ni(II) complexes for which a previous benchmark study that did not impose gauge invariance has found surprisingly large errors for excitation energies obtained with M06-2X. These errors are more than halved by restoring gauge invariance. The variable importance of imposing gauge invariance for different mGGA-based functionals can be rationalized by the derivative of the mGGA exchange energy integrand with respect to τ. In the second part, a large set of valence excitations in small main-group molecules is analyzed. For M06-2X, several selected n → π* and π→π$^{*}_{⊥}$ excitations are heavily gauge-dependent with average changes of –0.17 and –0.28 eV, respectively, while π→π$^{*}_{∥}$ excitations are marginally affected (–0.04 eV). Similar patterns, but of the opposite signs, are found for SCAN0. Here, the results suggest that reevaluation of previous gauge variant TDDFT results based on M06-2X and other mGGA functionals is warranted.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Allosteric activation of apicomplexan calcium-dependent protein kinases

Calcium-dependent protein kinases (CDPKs) comprise the major group of Ca 2+ -regulated kinases in plants and protists. It has long been assumed that CDPKs are activated, like other Ca 2+ -regulated kinases, by derepression of the kinase domain (KD). However, we found that removal of the autoinhibitory domain from Toxoplasma gondii CDPK1 is not sufficient for kinase activation. From a library of heavy chain-only antibody fragments (VHHs), we isolated an antibody (1B7) that binds TgCDPK1 in a conformation-dependent manner and potently inhibits it. We uncovered the molecular basis for this inhibition by solving the crystal structure of the complex and simulating, through molecular dynamics, the effects of 1B7–kinase interactions. In contrast to other Ca 2+ -regulated kinases, the regulatory domain of TgCDPK1 plays a dual role, inhibiting or activating the kinase in response to changes in Ca 2+ concentrations. We propose that the regulatory domain of TgCDPK1 acts as a molecular splint to stabilize the otherwise inactive KD. This dependence on allosteric stabilization reveals a novel susceptibility in this important class of parasite enzymes.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

TIME-DEPENDENT MODELS OF FLARES FROM SAGITTARIUS A*

The emission from Sgr A*, the supermassive black hole in the Galactic Center, shows order of magnitude variability ('flares') a few times a day that is particularly prominent in the near-infrared (NIR) and X-rays. We present a time-dependent model for these flares motivated by the hypothesis that dissipation of magnetic energy powers the flares. We show that episodic magnetic reconnection can occur near the last stable circular orbit in time-dependent magnetohydrodynamic simulations of black hole accretion-the timescales and energetics of these events are broadly consistent with the flares from Sgr A*. Motivated by these results, we present a spatially one-zone time-dependent model for the electron distribution function in flares, including energy loss due to synchrotron cooling and adiabatic expansion. Synchrotron emission from transiently accelerated particles can explain the NIR/X-ray light curves and spectra of a luminous flare observed on 2007 April 4. A significant decrease in the magnetic field strength during the flare (coincident with the electron acceleration) is required to explain the simultaneity and symmetry of the simultaneous light curves. Our models predict that the NIR and X-ray spectral indices are related by {Delta}{alpha} {approx_equal} 0.5 (where {nu}F{sub {nu}} {proportional_to} {nu}{sup {alpha}}) and that there is only modest variation in the spectral index during flares. We also explore implications of this model for longer wavelength (radio-submillimeter) emission seemingly associated with X-ray and NIR flares; we argue that a few hour decrease in the submillimeter emission is a more generic consequence of large-scale magnetic reconnection than delayed radio emission from adiabatic expansion.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

ONE-DIMENSIONAL MODELING FOR TEMPERATURE-DEPENDENT UPFLOW IN THE DIMMING REGION OBSERVED BY HINODE/EUV IMAGING SPECTROMETER

We previously found a temperature-dependent upflow in the dimming region following a coronal mass ejection observed by the Hinode EUV Imaging Spectrometer (EIS). In this paper, we reanalyzed the observations along with previous work on this event and provided boundary conditions for modeling. We found that the intensity in the dimming region dramatically drops within 30 minutes from the flare onset, and the dimming region reaches the equilibrium stage after {approx}1 hr. The temperature-dependent upflows were observed during the equilibrium stage by EIS. The cross-sectional area of the flux tube in the dimming region does not appear to expand significantly. From the observational constraints, we reconstructed the temperature-dependent upflow by using a new method that considers the mass and momentum conservation law and demonstrated the height variation of plasma conditions in the dimming region. We found that a super-radial expansion of the cross-sectional area is required to satisfy the mass conservation and momentum equations. There is a steep temperature and velocity gradient of around 7 Mm from the solar surface. This result may suggest that the strong heating occurred above 7 Mm from the solar surface in the dimming region. We also showed that the ionization equilibrium assumption in the dimming region is violated, especially in the higher temperature range.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

ENERGY-DEPENDENT GAMMA-RAY BURST PULSE WIDTH DUE TO THE CURVATURE EFFECT AND INTRINSIC BAND SPECTRUM

Previous studies have found that the width of the gamma-ray burst (GRB) pulse is energy dependent and that it decreases as a power-law function with increasing photon energy. In this work we have investigated the relation between the energy dependence of the pulse and the so-called Band spectrum by using a sample including 51 well-separated fast rise and exponential decay long-duration GRB pulses observed by BATSE (Burst and Transient Source Experiment on the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory). We first decompose these pulses into rise and decay phases and find that the rise widths and the decay widths also behave as a power-law function with photon energy. Then we investigate statistically the relations between the three power-law indices of the rise, decay, and total width of the pulse (denoted as {delta}{sub r}, {delta}{sub d}, and {delta}{sub w}, respectively) and the three Band spectral parameters, high-energy index ({alpha}), low-energy index ({beta}), and peak energy (E{sub p} ). It is found that (1) {alpha} is strongly correlated with {delta}{sub w} and {delta}{sub d} but seems uncorrelated with {delta}{sub r}; (2) {beta} is weakly correlated with the three power-law indices, and (3) E{sub p} does not show evident correlations with the three power-law indices. We further investigate the origin of {delta}{sub d}-{alpha} and {delta}{sub w}-{alpha}. We show that the curvature effect and the intrinsic Band spectrum could naturally lead to the energy dependence of the GRB pulse width and also the {delta}{sub d}-{alpha} and {delta}{sub w}-{alpha} correlations. Our results hold so long as the shell emitting gamma rays has a curved surface and the intrinsic spectrum is a Band spectrum or broken power law. The strong {delta}{sub d}-{alpha} correlation and inapparent correlations between {delta}{sub r} and the three Band spectral parameters also suggest that the rise and decay phases of the GRB pulses have different origins.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

A NEW MONTE CARLO METHOD FOR TIME-DEPENDENT NEUTRINO RADIATION TRANSPORT

Monte Carlo approaches to radiation transport have several attractive properties such as simplicity of implementation, high accuracy, and good parallel scaling. Moreover, Monte Carlo methods can handle complicated geometries and are relatively easy to extend to multiple spatial dimensions, which makes them potentially interesting in modeling complex multi-dimensional astrophysical phenomena such as core-collapse supernovae. The aim of this paper is to explore Monte Carlo methods for modeling neutrino transport in core-collapse supernovae. We generalize the Implicit Monte Carlo photon transport scheme of Fleck and Cummings and gray discrete-diffusion scheme of Densmore et al. to energy-, time-, and velocity-dependent neutrino transport. Using our 1D spherically-symmetric implementation, we show that, similar to the photon transport case, the implicit scheme enables significantly larger timesteps compared with explicit time discretization, without sacrificing accuracy, while the discrete-diffusion method leads to significant speed-ups at high optical depth. Our results suggest that a combination of spectral, velocity-dependent, Implicit Monte Carlo and discrete-diffusion Monte Carlo methods represents a robust approach for use in neutrino transport calculations in core-collapse supernovae. Our velocity-dependent scheme can easily be adapted to photon transport.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

IMPACT OF TEMPERATURE-DEPENDENT RESISTIVITY AND THERMAL CONDUCTION ON PLASMOID INSTABILITIES IN CURRENT SHEETS IN THE SOLAR CORONA

In this paper, we investigate, by means of two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations, the impact of temperature-dependent resistivity and thermal conduction on the development of plasmoid instabilities in reconnecting current sheets in the solar corona. We find that the plasma temperature in the current-sheet region increases with time and it becomes greater than that in the inflow region. As secondary magnetic islands appear, the highest temperature is not always found at the reconnection X-points, but also inside the secondary islands. One of the effects of anisotropic thermal conduction is to decrease the temperature of the reconnecting X-points and transfer the heat into the O-points, the plasmoids, where it gets trapped. In the cases with temperature-dependent magnetic diffusivity, {eta} {approx} T {sup -3/2}, the decrease in plasma temperature at the X-points leads to (1) an increase in the magnetic diffusivity until the characteristic time for magnetic diffusion becomes comparable to that of thermal conduction, (2) an increase in the reconnection rate, and (3) more efficient conversion of magnetic energy into thermal energy and kinetic energy of bulk motions. These results provide further explanation of the rapid release of magnetic energy into heat and kinetic energy seen during flares and coronal mass ejections. In this work, we demonstrate that the consideration of anisotropic thermal conduction and Spitzer-type, temperature-dependent magnetic diffusivity, as in the real solar corona, are crucially important for explaining the occurrence of fast reconnection during solar eruptions.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

LONGITUDINAL AND RADIAL DEPENDENCE OF SOLAR ENERGETIC PARTICLE PEAK INTENSITIES: STEREO, ACE, SOHO, GOES, AND MESSENGER OBSERVATIONS

Simultaneous measurements of solar energetic particle (SEP) events by two or more of the spacecraft located near 1 AU during the rising phase of solar cycle 24 (i.e., STEREO-A, STEREO-B, and near-Earth spacecraft such as ACE, SOHO, and GOES) are used to determine the longitudinal dependence of 71-112 keV electron, 0.7-3 MeV electron, 15-40 MeV proton, and 25-53 MeV proton peak intensities measured in the prompt component of SEP events. Distributions of the peak intensities for the selected 35 events with identifiable solar origin are approximated by the form exp [ - ({phi} - {phi}{sub 0}){sup 2}/2{sigma}{sup 2}], where {phi} is the longitudinal separation between the parent active region and the footpoint of the nominal interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) line connecting each spacecraft with the Sun, {phi}{sub 0} is the distribution centroid, and {sigma} determines the longitudinal gradient. The MESSENGER spacecraft, at helioradii R < 1 AU, allows us to determine a lower limit to the radial dependence of the 71-112 keV electron peak intensities measured along IMF lines. We find five events for which the nominal magnetic footpoint of MESSENGER was less than 20 Degree-Sign apart from the nominal footpoint of a spacecraft near 1 AU. Although the expected theoretical radial dependence for the peak intensity of the events observed along the same field line can be approximated by a functional form R {sup -{alpha}} with {alpha} < 3, we find two events for which {alpha} > 3. These two cases correspond to SEP events occurring in a complex interplanetary medium that favored the enhancement of peak intensities near Mercury but hindered the SEP transport to 1 AU.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

TIME-DEPENDENT DIFFUSIVE SHOCK ACCELERATION IN SLOW SUPERNOVA REMNANT SHOCKS

Recent gamma-ray observations show that middle-aged supernova remnants (SNRs) interacting with molecular clouds can be sources of both GeV and TeV emission. Models involving reacceleration of preexisting cosmic rays (CRs) in the ambient medium and direct interaction between SNR and molecular clouds have been proposed to explain the observed gamma-ray emission. For the reacceleration process, standard diffusive shock acceleration (DSA) theory in the test particle limit produces a steady-state particle spectrum that is too flat compared to observations, which suggests that the high-energy part of the observed spectrum has not yet reached a steady state. We derive a time-dependent DSA solution in the test particle limit for situations involving reacceleration of preexisting CRs in the preshock medium. Simple estimates with our time-dependent DSA solution plus a molecular cloud interaction model can reproduce the overall shape of the spectra of IC 443 and W44 from GeV to TeV energies through pure π{sup 0}-decay emission. We allow for a power-law momentum dependence of the diffusion coefficient, finding that a power-law index of 0.5 is favored.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

SEARCHES FOR TIME-DEPENDENT NEUTRINO SOURCES WITH ICECUBE DATA FROM 2008 TO 2012

In this paper searches for flaring astrophysical neutrino sources and sources with periodic emission with the IceCube neutrino telescope are presented. In contrast to time-integrated searches, where steady emission is assumed, the analyses presented here look for a time-dependent signal of neutrinos using the information from the neutrino arrival times to enhance the discovery potential. A search was performed for correlations between neutrino arrival times and directions, as well as neutrino emission following time-dependent light curves, sporadic emission, or periodicities of candidate sources. These include active galactic nuclei, soft γ-ray repeaters, supernova remnants hosting pulsars, microquasars, and X-ray binaries. The work presented here updates and extends previously published results to a longer period that covers 4 years of data from 2008 April 5 to 2012 May 16, including the first year of operation of the completed 86 string detector. The analyses did not find any significant time-dependent point sources of neutrinos, and the results were used to set upper limits on the neutrino flux from source candidates.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

On the soft limit of the large scale structure power spectrum: UV dependence

We derive a non-perturbative equation for the large scale structure power spectrum of long-wavelength modes. Thereby, we use an operator product expansion together with relations between the three-point function and power spectrum in the soft limit. The resulting equation encodes the coupling to ultraviolet (UV) modes in two time-dependent coefficients, which may be obtained from response functions to (anisotropic) parameters, such as spatial curvature, in a modified cosmology. We argue that both depend weakly on fluctuations deep in the UV. As a byproduct, this implies that the renormalized leading order coefficient(s) in the effective field theory (EFT) of large scale structures receive most of their contribution from modes close to the non-linear scale. Consequently, the UV dependence found in explicit computations within standard perturbation theory stems mostly from counter-term(s). We confront a simplified version of our non-perturbative equation against existent numerical simulations, and find good agreement within the expected uncertainties. Our approach can in principle be used to precisely infer the relevance of the leading order EFT coefficient(s) using small volume simulations in an 'anisotropic separate universe' framework. Our results suggest that the importance of these coefficient(s) is a ∼ 10% effect, and plausibly smaller.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Direction dependence of cosmological parameters due to cosmic hemispherical asymmetry

Persistent evidence for a cosmic hemispherical asymmetry in the temperature field of cosmic microwave background (CMB) as observed by both WMAP as well as PLANCK increases the possibility of its cosmological origin. Presence of this signal may lead to different values for the standard model cosmological parameters in different directions, and that can have significant implications for other studies where they are used. We investigate the effect of this cosmic hemispherical asymmetry on cosmological parameters using non-isotropic Gaussian random simulations injected with both scale dependent and scale independent modulation strengths. Our analysis shows that A {sub s} and n {sub s} are the most susceptible parameters to acquire position dependence across the sky for the kind of isotropy breaking phenomena under study. As expected, we find maximum variation arises for the case of scale independent modulation of CMB anisotropies. We find that scale dependent modulation profile as seen in PLANCK data could lead to only 1.25σ deviation in A {sub s} in comparison to its estimate from isotropic CMB sky.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗