Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Jesse A. Vaitkus, Cong Son Ho, Jared H. Cole
Summary: Charge transport in topological insulators is mainly influenced by helical edge states, which can carry dissipationless current as long as time-reversal symmetry is preserved. However, the presence of magnetic impurities can lead to backscattering and break the time-reversal symmetry. We studied the effects of magnetic impurities on transport properties and observed secondary effects caused by defect-defect interactions.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Maciej Baradyn, Artur Ratkiewicz
Summary: In this study, a Reaction Class Transition State Theory (RC-TST) is used to calculate thermal rate constants for hydrogen abstraction by OOH radical from alkanes in the temperature range of 300-2500 K. The rate constants for a reference reaction are obtained with the Canonical Variational Transition State Theory (CVT) augmented with the Small Curvature Tunneling (SCT) correction. The method provides reliable rate constants with a smaller systematic error compared to high level computations.
FRONTIERS IN CHEMISTRY
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Junxue Li, Mina Rashetnia, Mark Lohmann, Jahyun Koo, Youming Xu, Xiao Zhang, Kenji Watanabe, Takashi Taniguchi, Shuang Jia, Xi Chen, Binghai Yan, Yong-Tao Cui, Jing Shi
Summary: Van der Waals heterostructures allow for integration of different materials with distinct properties, leading to novel physical phenomena. In this study, Li et al combine a quantum spin hall insulator, WTe2, with an insulating ferromagnet, Cr2Ge2Te6, resulting in induced magnetism in the WTe2 layer and anomalous Hall and Nernst effects. The proximity-induced ferromagnetic order in WTe2 manifests in various transport phenomena, and spin-polarized edge states are revealed in the magnetized quantum spin hall insulator.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Alexander R. Epstein, Jeremy Demarteau, Brett A. Helms, Kristin A. Persson
Summary: The design of circular polymers is necessary due to the lack of efficient recycling methods for many commodity plastics. Polydiketoenamines (PDKs) stand out for their ability to undergo selective depolymerization in strong acid, allowing monomers to be recovered. The chemistry of the cross-linker, far from the reaction center, has been found to affect the depolymerization rate of PDKs, with a proximal amine in the cross-linker significantly accelerating the process.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
(2023)
Article
Mathematics
Fernando Albiac, Jose L. Ansorena, Przemyslaw Wojtaszczyk
Summary: The goal of this paper is to advance the current state of research on uniqueness of unconditional basis. The authors establish general conditions on a pair (X,Y) consisting of a quasi-Banach space X and a Banach space Y, ensuring that every unconditional basis of their direct sum X circle plus Y can be split into unconditional bases of each summand. The authors apply their methods to obtain unique unconditional bases for certain spaces.
JOURNAL OF FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS
(2022)
Article
Physics, Fluids & Plasmas
F. Revuelta, R. M. Benito, F. Borondo
Summary: In this paper, Lagrangian descriptors are used to study invariant manifolds in the LiCN isomerization reaction, with a focus on the top of two barriers. It is demonstrated that integration times must be sufficiently large, and an equivalent potential energy surface with 2 degrees of freedom is developed. This surface allows for an adiabatic approximation to create a simplified potential energy with 1 degree of freedom, which can qualitatively describe results observed with the original 2 degrees of freedom potential energy landscape and study the influence of bifurcation on Lagrangian descriptors.
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Yuji Sato, Thomas Swinburne, Shigenobu Ogata, David Rodney
Summary: The research demonstrates that anharmonic vibrational effects can impact the kinetics of thermally activated processes, leading to an unexpected decrease in the nucleation rate even at low temperatures.
MATERIALS RESEARCH LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Ruisi Huang, Hongyu Cao, Ting Huang, Hongjiang Li, Qian Tang, Lihao Wang, Xuefang Zheng
Summary: The abuse of fluoroquinolones antibiotics causes resistance and pollution. This study investigates the photodegradation mechanisms and environmental factors affecting the degradation of fleroxacin. Six possible photodegradation reaction paths were proposed and simulated. The main reactions involve the departure of the piperazine ring and the substitution of fluorine atom. Factors such as pH and substances like NaN3 and Ca2+ were found to influence the photodegradation process.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
V Saez-Rabanos, J. E. Verdasco, F. J. Aoiz, V. J. Herrero
Summary: The study investigates the excitation functions and resonances in the F + HD system, highlighting the impacts of vibrational and rotational excitation on resonance intensities. The results also demonstrate directional preferences in the F + HD reactions based on the polarization of rotational angular momentum.
PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY CHEMICAL PHYSICS
(2021)
Article
Physics, Particles & Fields
Dongshan He, Qing-yu Cai
Summary: This paper investigates the relationship between the operator ordering factor and the massless scalar field in order to study the role of quantum effects in the evolution of the universe. The de Broglie-Bohm quantum trajectory approach is applied to the Wheeler-DeWitt equation to explore this relationship. The study shows that the functions determining the phase part of the wavefunction of the universe satisfy the same differential equation for both the operator ordering factor and the massless scalar field, indicating their equivalence in studying the evolution of the universe. Moreover, if the current universe is homogeneous and isotropic, the equivalence rules out the possibility of a massless scalar field as the candidate for dark energy.
EUROPEAN PHYSICAL JOURNAL C
(2022)
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Andrzej Z. Chlebicki, Pawel M. Jakubczyk
Summary: In this study, the functional renormalization group framework was used to investigate critical exponents behavior in O(N) models with varying field components and spatial dimensions. A particular line in the (d, N) plane predicted by Cardy-Hamber was observed, but no evidence of expected critical behavior was found under certain conditions.
Article
Optics
Eli Pollak, Jianshu Cao
Summary: This paper extends Wigner's quantum rate theory to asymmetric barriers and introduces a second-order correction. The derived analytical expression is calibrated with numerical calculations and shows excellent agreement. It is shown that semiclassical transition state theory fails to reproduce correct terms and further analysis reveals suppressed transmission due to quantum reflection.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Giacomo Mandelli, Luca Corneo, Chiara Aieta
Summary: In this study, the full-dimensional semiclassical transition state theory was applied to estimate the rate constant of glycine interconversion between different conformers. The results showed that the theoretical method used in this study improved upon previous methods and aligned well with experimental measurements. The study confirmed the accuracy and applicability of the theory, especially in cryogenic temperatures where deep tunneling regime is usually not considered.
JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Binghao Guo, Alexander C. C. Lygo, Xi Dai, Susanne Stemmer
Summary: In this study, the observation of a quantum Hall state with a filling factor of zero in a thin film cadmium arsenide sample tuned by a gate voltage is reported, and possible mechanisms underlying this phenomenon are discussed.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Luis P. Viegas
Summary: Experimental work shows that the rate coefficients of OH-initiated oxidation reactions of FTALs are independent of the size of the CxF2x+1 fluoroalkyl chain. This poses a challenge to the MC-TST/CTSR protocol, as the calculated rate coefficients should not vary significantly with increasing values of x. In this study, the MC-TST/CTSR protocol is applied to the x=2,3 cases and the calculated rate coefficients at 298.15 K are found to be k=(2.4 +/- 1.4) x 10(-12) cm(3) molecule(-1) s(-1), practically coincident with the recommended experimental value of k(exp)= (2.8 +/- 1.4)x10(-12) cm(3) molecule(-1) s(-1). Additionally, we demonstrate that tunneling corrections based on improved semiclassical TST are crucial in obtaining Arrhenius-Kooij curves with correct behavior at lower temperatures.