Closure of the Monte Carlo dynamical equation in the spherical Sherrington-Kirkpatrick model

We study the analytical solution of the Monte Carlo dynamics in the spherical Sherrington-Kirkpatrick model using the technique of the generating function. Explicit solutions for one-time observables (like the energy) and two-time observables (like the correlation and response function) are obtained. We show that the crucial quantity which governs the dynamics is the acceptance rate. At zero temperature, an adiabatic approximation reveals that the relaxational behavior of the model corresponds to that of a single harmonic oscillator with an effective renormalized mass.

Two and three nucleon induced photon absorption

We have investigated the mechanisms leading to two and three body photon absorption in nuclei. At photon energies around the pion production threshold we obtain a fraction of three body absorption of less than 10% of the total, contradicting previous theoretical claims that it dominates the absorption process. The strength of the three body channel grows smoothly with the photon energy reaching a maximum of about 60% of the total direct absorption at energies of the photon around 400 MeV.

Two-photon ionization of atomic inner-shells

Die Summation ueber des vollstaendige Spektrum des Atoms, die in der Stoehrungstheorie zweiter Ordnung vorkommt, wurde mit Hilfe der Greenschen Funktion Methode berechnet. Die Methode der Greenschen Funktion verlangt die Berechnung der unterschiedlichen Greenschen Funktionen: eine Coulomb-Greensche-Funktion im Fall von wasserstoffaehnlichen Ionen und eine Zentral-feld-Greensche-Funktion im Fall des Vielelektronen-Atoms. Die entwickelte Greensche Funktion erlaubte uns die folgenden atomaren Systeme in die Zweiphotonenionisierung der folgenden atomaren Systeme zu untersuchen: - wasserstoffaehnliche Ionen, um relativistische und Multipol-Effekte aufzudecken, - die aeussere Schale des Lithium; Helium und Helium-aehnliches Neon im Grundzustand, um taugliche Modelle des atomaren Feldes zu erhalten, - K- und L-Schalen des Argon, um die Vielelektronen-Effekte abzuschaetzen. Zusammenfassend, die relativistische Effekte ergeben sich in einer allgemeinen Reduzierung der Zweiphotonen Wirkungsquerschnitte. Zum Beispiel, betraegt das Verhaeltnis zwischen den nichtrelativistischen und relativistischen Wirkungsquerschnitten einen Faktor zwei fuer wasserstoffaehnliches Uran. Ausser dieser relativistischen Kontraktion, ist auch die relativistische Aufspaltung der Zwischenzustaende fuer mittelschwere Ionen sichtbar. Im Gegensatz zu den relativistischen Effekten, beeinflussen die Multipol-Effekte die totalen Wirkungsquerschnitte sehr wenig, so dass die Langwellennaeherung mit der exakten Naeherung fuer schwere Ionen sogar innerhalb von 5 Prozent uebereinstimmt. Die winkelaufgeloesten Wirkungsquerschnitte werden durch die relativistischen Effekte auf eine beeindruckende Weise beeinflusst: die Form der differentiellen Wirkungsquerschnitte aendert sich (qualitativ) abhaengig von der Photonenenergie. Ausserdem kann die Beruecksichtigung der hoeheren Multipole die elektronische Ausbeute um einen Faktor drei aendern. Die Vielelektronen-Effekte in der Zweiphotonenionisierung wurden am Beispiel der K- und L-Schalen des Argon analysiert. Hiermit wurden die totalen Wirkungsquerschnitte in einer Ein-aktives-Elektron-Naeherung (single-active-electron approximation) berechnet. Es hat sich herausgestellt, dass die Elektron--Elektron-Wechselwirkung sehr wichtig fuer die L-Schale und vernachlaessigbar fuer die K-Schale ist. Das bedeutet, dass man die totalen Wirkungsquerschnitte mit wasserstoffaehnlichen Modellen im Fall der K-Schale beschreiben kann, aber fuer die L-Schale fortgeschrittene Modelle erforderlich sind. Die Ergebnisse fuer Vielelektronen-Atome wurden mittels einer Dirac-Zentral-feld-Greenschen Funktion erlangt. Ein numerischer Algorithmus wurde urspruenglich von McGuire (1981) fuer der Schroedinger-Zentral-feld-Greensche Funktion eingefuehrt. Der Algorithmus wurde in dieser Arbeit zum ersten Mal fuer die Dirac-Gleichung angewandt. Unser Algorithmus benutzt die Kummer- und Tricomi-Funktionen, die mit Hilfe eines zuverlaessigen, aber noch immer langsamen Programmes berechnet wurden. Die Langsamkeit des Programms begrenzt den Bereich der Aufgaben, die effizient geloest werden koennen. Die Zentral-feld-Greensche Funktion konnte bei den folgenden Problemen benutzt werden: - Berechnung der Zweiphotonen-Zerfallsraten, - Berechnung der Zweiphotonenanregung und -ionisierungs-Wirkungsquerschnitte, - Berechnung die Multiphotonenanregung und -ionisierungs-Wirkungsquerschnitte, - Berechnung einer atomaren Vielelektronen-Green-Funktion. Von diesen Aufgaben koennen nur die ersten beiden in angemessener Zeit geloest werden. Fuer die letzten beiden Aufgaben ist unsere Implementierung zu langsam und muss weiter verbessert werden.

Relativistische vier und zwei Spinor Finite Elemente Berechnungen zweiatomiger Moleküle

Der Vielelektronen Aspekt wird in einteilchenartigen Formulierungen berücksichtigt, entweder in Hartree-Fock Näherung oder unter dem Einschluß der Elektron-Elektron Korrelationen durch die Dichtefunktional Theorie. Da die Physik elektronischer Systeme (Atome, Moleküle, Cluster, Kondensierte Materie, Plasmen) relativistisch ist, habe ich von Anfang an die relativistische 4 Spinor Dirac Theorie eingesetzt, in jüngster Zeit aber, und das wird der hauptfortschritt in den relativistischen Beschreibung durch meine Promotionsarbeit werden, eine ebenfalls voll relativistische, auf dem sogenannten Minimax Prinzip beruhende 2-Spinor Theorie umgesetzt. Im folgenden ist eine kurze Beschreibung meiner Dissertation: Ein wesentlicher Effizienzgewinn in der relativistischen 4-Spinor Dirac Rechnungen konnte durch neuartige singuläre Koordinatentransformationen erreicht werden, so daß sich auch noch für das superschwere Th2 179+ hächste Lösungsgenauigkeiten mit moderatem Computer Aufwand ergaben, und zu zwei weiteren interessanten Veröffentlichungen führten (Publikationsliste). Trotz der damit bereits ermöglichten sehr viel effizienteren relativistischen Berechnung von Molekülen und Clustern blieben diese Rechnungen Größenordnungen aufwendiger als entsprechende nicht-relativistische. Diese behandeln das tatsächliche (relativitische) Verhalten elektronischer Systeme nur näherungsweise richtig, um so besser jedoch, je leichter die beteiligten Atome sind (kleine Kernladungszahl Z). Deshalb habe ich nach einem neuen Formalismus gesucht, der dem möglichst gut Rechnung trägt und trotzdem die Physik richtig relativistisch beschreibt. Dies gelingt durch ein 2-Spinor basierendes Minimax Prinzip: Systeme mit leichten Atomen sind voll relativistisch nunmehr nahezu ähnlich effizient beschrieben wie nicht-relativistisch, was natürlich große Hoffnungen für genaue (d.h. relativistische) Berechnungen weckt. Es ergab sich eine erste grundlegende Veröffentlichung (Publikationsliste). Die Genauigkeit in stark relativistischen Systemen wie Th2 179+ ist ähnlich oder leicht besser als in 4-Spinor Dirac-Formulierung. Die Vorteile der neuen Formulierung gehen aber entscheidend weiter: A. Die neue Minimax Formulierung der Dirac-Gl. ist frei von spuriosen Zuständen und hat keine positronischen Kontaminationen. B. Der Aufwand ist weit reduziert, da nur ein 1/3 der Matrix Elemente gegenüber 4-Spinor noch zu berechnen ist, und alle Matrixdimensionen Faktor 2 kleiner sind. C. Numerisch verhält sich die neue Formulierung ähnlilch gut wie die nichtrelativistische Schrödinger Gleichung (Obwohl es eine exakte Formulierung und keine Näherung der Dirac-Gl. ist), und hat damit bessere Konvergenzeigenschaften als 4-Spinor. Insbesondere die Fehlerwichtung (singulärer und glatter Anteil) ist in 2-Spinor anders, und diese zeigt die guten Extrapolationseigenschaften wie bei der nichtrelativistischen Schrödinger Gleichung. Die Ausweitung des Anwendungsbereichs von (relativistischen) 2-Spinor ist bereits in FEM Dirac-Fock-Slater, mit zwei Beispielen CO und N2, erfolgreich gemacht. Weitere Erweiterungen sind nahezu möglich. Siehe Minmax LCAO Nährung.

Dirac-Fock-Slater calculations for the elements Z = 100, fermium, to Z = 173

Listed here for the elements Z = 100, fermium, to Z = 173 are energy eigenvalues and total energies found from relativistic Dirac-Fock-Slater calculations. The effect of high ionization on the energy eigenvalues is presented for two exarnples. The use of these tables in connection with the energy levels of superheavy elements and molecular orbital (MO) x-ray transitions in superheavy quasiatoms, is discussed. In addition, abrief comparison between the results of the Dirac-Fock-Slater and Dirac-Fock calculations is given.

Relativistic Dirac-Fock-Slater program to calculate potential-energy curves for diatomic molecules

A LCAO-MO (linear combination of atomic orbitals - molecular orbitals) relativistic Dirac-Fock-Slater program is presented, which allows one to calculate accurate total energies for diatomic molecules. Numerical atomic Dirac-Fock-Slater wave functions are used as basis functions. All integrations as well as the solution of the Poisson equation are done fully numerical, with a relative accuracy of 10{^-5} - 10{^-6}. The details of the method as well as first results are presented here.

On the total energy of two-electron atoms

Using the Multi-Configuration Dirac-Fock (MCDF) method we calculate with 9 configuration state functions the correlation energy as well as the total energy of the lowest J = 0 ground state of all two-electron systems from H- to Thorium (Z = 90). A comparison with experimental data, which are available only in the low Z region, shows a very good agreement.

Hyperfine structure and isotopic shift of the n^2 P_J levels (n = 7-10) of ^203,205 TI measured by Doppler-free two-photon spectroscopy

Using Doppler-free two-photon absorption spectroscopy, we have measured hyperfine splitting constants as well as isotopic level shifts of the 6s^2 np ^2 P_l/2,3/2 states in (n=7-10) in ^203 TI and ^205 TI. Calculations for hyperfine constants and electron density at the nucleus have been performed by the Dirac-Fock method. The experimental results are compared with these calculations as well as with the predictions of the semiempirical theory.

Test for basis-set errors in relativistic Dirac-Fock-Slater calculations with a numerical AO-DFS-basis

A fully relativistic four-component Dirac-Fock-Slater program for diatomics, with numerically given AO's as basis functions is presented. We discuss the problem of the errors due to the finite basis-set, and due to the influence of the negative energy solutions of the Dirac Hamiltonian. The negative continuum contributions are found to be very small.

Ionization potentials and radii of atoms and ions of element 105 (unnilpentium) and ions of tantalum derived from multiconfiguration Dirac-Fock calculations

Multiconfiguration relativistic Dirac-Fock (MCDF) values were calculated for the first five ionization potentials of element 105 (unnilpentium) and of the other group 5b elements (V, Nb, and Ta). Some of these ionization potentials in electron volts (eV) with uncertainties are: 105(0), 7.4±0.4; 105(1 +), 16.3 ±0.2; 105(2 +), 24.3 ± 0.2; 105(3 + ), 34.9 ± 0.5; and 105(4 + ), 44.9 ± 0.1. Ionization potentials for Ta(1+), Ta(2 +), and Ta(3 + ) were also calculated. Accurate experimental values for these ionization potentials are not available. Ionic radii are presented for the 2+, 3+, 4 +, and 5+ ions of element 105 and for the + 2 ions of vanadium and niobium. These radii for vanadium and niobium are not available elsewhere. The ionization potentials and ionic radii obtained are used to determine some standard electrode potentials for element 105. Born-Haber cycles and a form of the Born equation for the Gibbs free energy of hydration of ions were used to calculate the standard electrode potentials.

Electron-Nuclear Correlation in Laser-Driven Diatomic Molecules

The interaction of short intense laser pulses with atoms/molecules produces a multitude of highly nonlinear processes requiring a non-perturbative treatment. Detailed study of these highly nonlinear processes by numerically solving the time-dependent Schrodinger equation becomes a daunting task when the number of degrees of freedom is large. Also the coupling between the electronic and nuclear degrees of freedom further aggravates the computational problems. In the present work we show that the time-dependent Hartree (TDH) approximation, which neglects the correlation effects, gives unreliable description of the system dynamics both in the absence and presence of an external field. A theoretical framework is required that treats the electrons and nuclei on equal footing and fully quantum mechanically. To address this issue we discuss two approaches, namely the multicomponent density functional theory (MCDFT) and the multiconfiguration time-dependent Hartree (MCTDH) method, that go beyond the TDH approximation and describe the correlated electron-nuclear dynamics accurately. In the MCDFT framework, where the time-dependent electronic and nuclear densities are the basic variables, we discuss an algorithm to calculate the exact Kohn-Sham (KS) potentials for small model systems. By simulating the photodissociation process in a model hydrogen molecular ion, we show that the exact KS potentials contain all the many-body effects and give an insight into the system dynamics. In the MCTDH approach, the wave function is expanded as a sum of products of single-particle functions (SPFs). The MCTDH method is able to describe the electron-nuclear correlation effects as the SPFs and the expansion coefficients evolve in time and give an accurate description of the system dynamics. We show that the MCTDH method is suitable to study a variety of processes such as the fragmentation of molecules, high-order harmonic generation, the two-center interference effect, and the lochfrass effect. We discuss these phenomena in a model hydrogen molecular ion and a model hydrogen molecule. Inclusion of absorbing boundaries in the mean-field approximation and its consequences are discussed using the model hydrogen molecular ion. To this end, two types of calculations are considered: (i) a variational approach with a complex absorbing potential included in the full many-particle Hamiltonian and (ii) an approach in the spirit of time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT), including complex absorbing potentials in the single-particle equations. It is elucidated that for small grids the TDDFT approach is superior to the variational approach.

Many-body theory of laser-induced ultrafast demagnetization and angular momentum transfer in ferromagnetic transition metals

An electronic theory is developed, which describes the ultrafast demagnetization in itinerant ferromagnets following the absorption of a femtosecond laser pulse. The present work intends to elucidate the microscopic physics of this ultrafast phenomenon by identifying its fundamental mechanisms. In particular, it aims to reveal the nature of the involved spin excitations and angular-momentum transfer between spin and lattice, which are still subjects of intensive debate. In the first preliminary part of the thesis the initial stage of the laser-induced demagnetization process is considered. In this stage the electronic system is highly excited by spin-conserving elementary excitations involved in the laser-pulse absorption, while the spin or magnon degrees of freedom remain very weakly excited. The role of electron-hole excitations on the stability of the magnetic order of one- and two-dimensional 3d transition metals (TMs) is investigated by using ab initio density-functional theory. The results show that the local magnetic moments are remarkably stable even at very high levels of local energy density and, therefore, indicate that these moments preserve their identity throughout the entire demagnetization process. In the second main part of the thesis a many-body theory is proposed, which takes into account these local magnetic moments and the local character of the involved spin excitations such as spin fluctuations from the very beginning. In this approach the relevant valence 3d and 4p electrons are described in terms of a multiband model Hamiltonian which includes Coulomb interactions, interatomic hybridizations, spin-orbit interactions, as well as the coupling to the time-dependent laser field on the same footing. An exact numerical time evolution is performed for small ferromagnetic TM clusters. The dynamical simulations show that after ultra-short laser pulse absorption the magnetization of these clusters decreases on a time scale of hundred femtoseconds. In particular, the results reproduce the experimentally observed laser-induced demagnetization in ferromagnets and demonstrate that this effect can be explained in terms of the following purely electronic non-adiabatic mechanism: First, on a time scale of 10–100 fs after laser excitation the spin-orbit coupling yields local angular-momentum transfer between the spins and the electron orbits, while subsequently the orbital angular momentum is very rapidly quenched in the lattice on the time scale of one femtosecond due to interatomic electron hoppings. In combination, these two processes result in a demagnetization within hundred or a few hundred femtoseconds after laser-pulse absorption.

2D-3D Rigid-Body Registration of X-Ray Fluoroscopy and CT Images

The registration of pre-operative volumetric datasets to intra- operative two-dimensional images provides an improved way of verifying patient position and medical instrument loca- tion. In applications from orthopedics to neurosurgery, it has a great value in maintaining up-to-date information about changes due to intervention. We propose a mutual information- based registration algorithm to establish the proper align- ment. For optimization purposes, we compare the perfor- mance of the non-gradient Powell method and two slightly di erent versions of a stochastic gradient ascent strategy: one using a sparsely sampled histogramming approach and the other Parzen windowing to carry out probability density approximation. Our main contribution lies in adopting the stochastic ap- proximation scheme successfully applied in 3D-3D registra- tion problems to the 2D-3D scenario, which obviates the need for the generation of full DRRs at each iteration of pose op- timization. This facilitates a considerable savings in compu- tation expense. We also introduce a new probability density estimator for image intensities via sparse histogramming, de- rive gradient estimates for the density measures required by the maximization procedure and introduce the framework for a multiresolution strategy to the problem. Registration results are presented on uoroscopy and CT datasets of a plastic pelvis and a real skull, and on a high-resolution CT- derived simulated dataset of a real skull, a plastic skull, a plastic pelvis and a plastic lumbar spine segment.

Predicting random level and seasonality of hotel prices. A structural equation growth curve approach

This article examines the effect on price of different characteristics of holiday hotels in the sun-and-beach segment, under the hedonic function perspective. Monthly prices of the majority of hotels in the Spanish continental Mediterranean coast are gathered from May to October 1999 from the tour operator catalogues. Hedonic functions are specified as random-effect models and parametrized as structural equation models with two latent variables, a random peak season price and a random width of seasonal fluctuations. Characteristics of the hotel and the region where they are located are used as predictors of both latent variables. Besides hotel category, region, distance to the beach, availability of parking place and room equipment have an effect on peak price and also on seasonality. 3- star hotels have the highest seasonality and hotels located in the southern regions the lowest, which could be explained by a warmer climate in autumn

Predicting overall service quality: a structural equation modelling approach

In this article, the results of a modified SERVQUAL questionnaire (Parasuraman et al., 1991) are reported. The modifications consisted in substituting questionnaire items particularly suited to a specific service (banking) and context (county of Girona, Spain) for the original rather general and abstract items. These modifications led to more interpretable factors which accounted for a higher percentage of item variance. The data were submitted to various structural equation models which made it possible to conclude that the questionnaire contains items with a high measurement quality with respect to five identified dimensions of service quality which differ from those specified by Parasuraman et al. And are specific to the banking service. The two dimensions relating to the behaviour of employees have the greatest predictive power on overall quality and satisfaction ratings, which enables managers to use a low-cost reduced version of the questionnaire to monitor quality on a regular basis. It was also found that satisfaction and overall quality were perfectly correlated thus showing that customers do not perceive these concepts as being distinct