Direct Measurement of the W Production Charge Asymmetry in pp̅ Collisions at √s=1.96 TeV

We present the first direct measurement of the $W$ production charge asymmetry as a function of the $W$ boson rapidity $\yW$ in $\ppbar$ collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 1.96$ $\TeV$. We use a sample of $\wenu$ events in data from 1 $\ifb$ of integrated luminosity collected using the CDF II detector. In the region $|\yW|

Space-charge limited conduction in doped polypyrrole devices

Doping dependent current-voltage (I-V) and capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurements were carried out on polypyrrole devices in metal-polymer-metal sandwich structure. Temperature dependent I-V measurements infer that space-charge limited conduction (SCLC) with exponential trap distribution is appropriate for the moderately doped samples, whereas trap-free SCLC is observed in lightly doped samples. Trap densities and energies are estimated, the effective mobility is calculated using the Poole-Frenkel model, and the mobility exhibits thermally activated behavior. Frequency dependent capacitance-voltage characteristics show a peak near zero bias voltage, which implies that these devices are symmetric with a negligible barrier height at the metal-polymer interface. Low frequency capacitance measurements have revealed a negative capacitance at higher voltages due to the processes associated with the injection and redistribution of space-charges. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics.

Global processes, local strategies : migration of educated Dominicans.

The aim of this thesis is to examine migration of educated Dominicans in light of global processes. Current global developments have resulted in increasingly global movements of people, yet people tend to come from certain places in large numbers rather than others. At the same time, international migration is increasingly selective, which shows in the disproportional number of educated migrants. This study discovers individual and societal motivations that explain why young educated Dominicans decide to migrate and return. The theoretical framework of this thesis underlines that migration is a dynamic process rooted in other global developments. Migratory movements should be seen as a result of interacting macro- and microstructures, which are linked by a number of intermediate mechanisms, meso-structures. The way individuals perceive opportunity structures concretises the way global developments mediate to the micro-level. The case of the Dominican Republic shows that there is a diversity of local responses to the world system, as Dominicans have produced their own unique historical responses to global changes. The thesis explains that Dominican migration is importantly conditioned by socioeconomic and educational background. Migration is more accessible for the educated middle class, because of the availability of better resources. Educated migrants also seem less likely to rely on networks to organize their migrations. The role of networks in migration differs by socioeconomic background on the one hand, and by the specific connections each individual has to current and previous migrants on the other hand. The personal and cultural values of the migrant are also pivotal. The central argument of this thesis is that a veritable culture of migration has evolved in the Dominican Republic. The actual economic, political and social circumstances have led many Dominicans to believe that there are better opportunities elsewhere. The globalisation of certain expectations on the one hand, and the development of the specifically Dominican feeling of ‘externalism’ on the other, have for their part given rise to the Dominican culture of migration. The study also suggests that the current Dominican development model encourages migration. Besides global structures, local structures are found to ve pivotal in determining how global processes are materialised in a specific place. The research for this thesis was conducted by using qualitative methodology. The focus of this thesis was on thematic interviews that reveal the subject’s point of view and give a fuller understanding of migration and mobility of the educated. The data was mainly collected during a field research phase in Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic in December 2009 and January 2010. The principal material consists of ten thematic interviews held with educated Dominican current or former migrants. Four expert interviews, relevant empirical data, theoretical literature and newspaper articles were also comprehensively used.

Charge transport properties of water dispersible multiwall carbon nanotube-polyaniline composites

The transmission electron microscopy images of in situ prepared multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWNTs)and polyaniline (PANI) composites show that nanotubes are well dispersed in aqueous medium, and the nanofibers of PANI facilitate intertube transport. Although low temperature transport indicates variable range hopping (VRH) mechanism, the dc and ac conductivity become temperature independent as the MWNT content increases. The onset frequency for the increase in conductivity is observed to be strongly dependent on the MWNT weight percent, and the ac conductivity can be scaled onto a master curve. The negative magnetoresistance is attributed to the forward interference scattering mechanism in VRH transport. (C) 2010 American.

Crystalline ethane-1,2-diol does not have intra-molecular hydrogen bonding: Experimental and theoretical charge density studies

The X-ray structure and electron density distribution of ethane-1,2-diol (ethylene glycol), obtained at a resolution extending to 1.00 Å−1 in sin θ/λ (data completion = 100% at 100 K) by in situ cryocrystallization technique is reported. The diol is in the gauche (g′Gt) conformation with the crystal structure stabilised by a network of inter-molecular hydrogen bonds. In addition to the well-recognized O–H···O hydrogen bonds there is topological evidence for C–H···O inter-molecular interactions. There is no experimental electron density based topological evidence for the occurrence of an intra-molecular hydrogen bond. The O···H spacing is not, vert, similar0.45 Å greater than in the gas-phase with an O–H···O angle close to 90°, calling into question the general assumption that the gauche conformation of ethane-1,2-diol is stabilised by the intra-molecular oxygen–hydrogen interaction.

Folding a Polymer via Two-Point Interaction with an External Folding Agent: Use of H-Bonding and Charge-Transfer Interactions

A polymer containing electron-rich aromatic donors (1,5-dialkoxynaphthalene (DAN)) was coerced into a folded state by an external folding agent that contained an electron-deficient aromatic acceptor (pyromellitic diimide (PM)) unit. The donor-containing polymer was designed to carry a tertiary amine moiety in the linking segment, which served as an H-bonding site for reinforcing the interaction with the acceptor containing folding agent that also bore a carboxylic acid group. The H-bonding interaction of the carboxylic acid and the tertiary amine brings the PDI unit between two adjacent DAN units along the polymer backbone to induce charge-transfer (C-T) interactions, and this in turn causes the polymer chain to form a pleated structure. Evidence for the formation of such a pleated structure was obtained from NMR titration studies and also by monitoring the C-T band in their UV-visible spectra. By varying the length of the segment that links the PDI acceptor to the carboxylic acid group, we showed that the most effective folding agent was the one that had a single carbon spacer, as evident from the highest value of the association constant. Control experiments with propionic acid clearly demonstrated the importance of the additional C-T interactions for venerating the folded structures. Further, solution viscosity measurements in the presence of varying amounts of the folding agent revealed a gradual stiffening of the chain in the case of the PDI carrying carboxylic acid, whereas no such affect was seen in the case of simple propionic acid. These observations were supported by D FT calculations of the interactions of a dimeric model of the polymer with the various folding agents; here too the stability of the complex was seen to be highest in the case of the single carbon spacer.

Charge Ordering Induced Ferromagnetic Insulator: K2Cr8O16

Usually metallicity accompanies ferromagnetism. K2Cr8O16 is one of the less common examples of magnetic materials, exhibiting ferromagnetism in the insulating state. Analyzing the electronic and magnetic properties within first principles electronic structure calculations, we find that the doped electrons due to K induce a charge-ordered and insulating ground state and interestingly also introduce a ferromagnetic coupling between the Cr ions. The primary considerations driving the charge ordering are found to be electrostatic ones with the charge being localized on two Cr atoms that minimize the electrostatic energy. The structural distortion that accompanies the ordering gives rise to a rare example of a charge-order driven ferromagnetic insulator.

Charge-order driven multiferroic and magneto-dielectric properties of rare earth manganates

Charge-order driven magnetic ferroelectricity is shown to occur in several rare earth manganates of the general formula, Ln(1-x)A(x)MnO(3) (In = rare earth, A = alkaline earth). Charge-ordered manganates exhibit dielectric constant anomalies around the charge-ordering or the antiferromagnetic transition temperature. Magnetic fields have a marked effect on the dielectric properties of these compounds, indicating the presence of coupling between the magnetic and electrical order parameters. Magneto-dielectric properties are retained in small particles of the manganates. The observation of magneto-ferroelectricity in these manganates is in accordance with theoretical predictions.

Charge-order driven multiferroic and magneto-dielectric properties of rare earth manganates

Charge-order driven magnetic ferroelectricity is shown to occur in several rare earth manganates of the general formula, Ln(1-x)A(x)MnO(3) (In = rare earth, A = alkaline earth). Charge-ordered manganates exhibit dielectric constant anomalies around the charge-ordering or the antiferromagnetic transition temperature. Magnetic fields have a marked effect on the dielectric properties of these compounds, indicating the presence of coupling between the magnetic and electrical order parameters. Magneto-dielectric properties are retained in small particles of the manganates. The observation of magneto-ferroelectricity in these manganates is in accordance with theoretical predictions.

State of Charge of Lead Acid Battery

Lead acid batteries are used in hybrid vehicles and telecommunications power supply. For reliable operation of these systems, an indication of state of charge of battery is essential. To determine the state of charge of battery, current integration method combined with open circuit voltage, is being implemented. To reduce the error in the current integration method the dependence of available capacity as a function of discharge current is determined. The current integration method is modified to incorporate this factor. The experimental setup built to obtain the discharge characterstics of the battery is presented.

Suppression of charge order, disappearance of antiferromagnetism, and emergence of ferromagnetism in Nd0.5Ca0.5MnO3 nanoparticles

Nd0.5Ca0.5MnO3 nanoparticles (average diameter similar to 20 and 40 nm) are synthesized by the polymeric precursor sol-gel method and characterized by various physico-chemical techniques. Quite strikingly, in the 20 nm particles, the charge-ordered (CO) and the antiferromagnetic phases observed in the bulk below 250 K and 160 K, respectively, are completely absent. Instead, a ferromagnetic (FM) transition is observed at 95 K followed by an insulator-to-metal transition at 75 K. The 40 nm particles show a residual CO phase but a transition to the FM state also occurs, at a slightly higher temperature of 110 K.

Magnetization and magnetoresistive response of LiMn2O4 near the charge ordering transition

We report magnetization and magnetoresistance studies of the geometrically frustrated spinel compound LiMn2O4 near its charge ordering temperature. The effect of a 7 T magnetic field is to very slightly shift the transition in the resistivity to lower temperatures resulting in large negative magnetoresistance with significant hysteresis. This hysteresis is not reflected in the magnetization. These observations are compared with what is found in the colossal magnetoresistance and charge ordering perovskite manganese oxides. The manner in which geometric frustration influences the coupling of charge and spin degrees of freedom is examined.

Photophysics of conjugated polymers: interplay between Forster energy migration and defect concentration in shaping a photochemical funnel in PPV

Recent single molecule experiments have suggested the existence of a photochemical funnel in the photophysics of conjugated polymers, like poly[2-methoxy-5-(2'-ethylhexyl)oxy-1,4-phenylenevinylene] (MEH-PPV). The funnel is believed to be a consequence of the presence of conformational or chemical defects along the polymer chain and efficient non-radiative energy transfer among different chromophore segments. Here we address the effect of the excitation energy dynamics on the photophysics of PPV. The PPV chain is modeled as a polymer with the length distribution of chromophores given either by a Gaussian or by a Poisson distribution. We observe that the Poisson distribution of the segment lengths explains the photophysics of PPV better than the Gaussian distribution. A recently proposed version of an extended particle-in-a-box' model is used to calculate the exciton energies and the transition dipole moments of the chromophores, and a master equation to describe the excitation energy transfer among different chromophores. The rate of energy transfer is assumed to be given here, as a first approximation, by the well-known Forster expression. The observed excitation population dynamics confirms the photochemical funneling of excitation energy from shorter to longer chromophores of the polymer chain. The time scale of spectral shift and energy transfer for our model polymer, with realistic values of optical parameters, is in the range of 200-300 ps. We find that the excitation energy may not always migrate towards the longest chromophore segments in the polymer chain as the efficiency of energy transfer between chromophores depends on the separation distance between the two and their relative orientation.