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Although carbon nanotubes consist of honeycomb carbon, they have never been fabricated from graphene directly. Here, it is shown by quantum molecular-dynamics simulations and classical continuum-elasticity modeling, that graphene nanoribbons can, indeed, be transformed into carbon nanotubes by means of twisting. The chiralities of the tubes thus fabricated can be not only predicted but also externally controlled. This twisting route is an opportunity for nanofabrication, and is easily generalizable to ribbons made of other planar nanomaterials., Comment: 9 pages, 10 figures

Most conventional magnetic materials used in the electronic devices are ferrites, which are composed of micrometer-size grains. But ferrites have small saturation magnetization, therefore the performance at GHz frequencies is rather poor. That is why functionalized nanocomposites comprising magnetic nanoparticles (e.g. Fe, Co) with dimensions ranging from a few nm to 100 nm, and embedded in dielectric matrices (e.g. silicon oxide, aluminium oxide) have a significant potential for the electronics industry. When the size of the nanoparticles is smaller than the critical size for multidomain formation, these nanocomposites can be regarded as an ensemble of particles in single-domain states and the losses (due for example to eddy currents) are expected to be relatively small. Here we review the theory of magnetism in such materials, and we present a novel measurement method used for the characterization of the electromagnetic properties of composites with nanomagnetic insertions. We also present a few experimental results obtained on composites consisting of iron nanoparticles in a dielectric matrix., Comment: 20 pages, 10 figures, 5 tables

The two dimensional directed sandpile with dissipation is transformed into a (1+1) dimensional problem with discrete space and continuous `time'. The master equation for the conditional probability that K grains preserve their initial order during an avalanche can thereby be solved exactly, and an explicit expression is given for the asymptotic form of the solution for an infinite as well as for a semi-infinite lattice in the horizontal direction. Non-trivial scaling is found in both cases. This conditional probability of the sandpile model is shown to be equal to a K-spin correlation function of the Heisenberg XX spin chain, and the sandpile problem is also shown to be equivalent to the `random-turns' version of vicious walkers., Comment: 17 pages, no figures

Liquid droplets impacting a superhydrophobic surface decorated with micro-scale posts often bounce off the surface. However, by decreasing the impact velocity droplets may land on the surface in a fakir state, and by increasing it posts may impale droplets that are then stuck on the surface. We use a two-phase lattice-Boltzmann model to simulate droplet impact on superhydrophobic surfaces, and show that it may result in a fakir state also for reasonable high impact velocities. This happens more easily if the surface is made more hydrophobic or the post height is increased, thereby making the impaled state energetically less favourable., Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, to appear in Europhysics Letters

We analyze large sets of energy-release data created by stress-induced brittle fracture in a pure sapphire crystal at close to zero temperature where stochastic fluctuations are minimal. The waiting-time distribution follows that observed for fracture in rock and for earthquakes. Despite strong time correlations of the events and the presence of large-event precursors, simple prediction algorithms only succeed in a very weak probabilistic sense. We also discuss prospects for further cryogenic experiments reaching close to single-bond sensitivity and able to investigate the existence of a transition-stress regime., Comment: REVTeX, new figure added, minor modifications to text

We note the striking similarity between earthquake and CRESST microfracture data for waiting times., Comment: One page one figure

In the early stages of running of the CRESST dark matter search using sapphire detectors at very low temperature, an unexpectedly high rate of signal pulses appeared. Their origin was finally traced to fracture events in the sapphire due to the very tight clamping of the detectors. During extensive runs the energy and time of each event was recorded, providing large data sets for such phenomena. We believe this is the first time the energy release in fracture has been directly and accurately measured on a microscopic event-by-event basis. The energy threshold corresponds to the breaking of only a few hundred covalent bonds, a sensitivity some orders of magnitude greater than that of previous technique. We report some features of the data, including energy distributions, waiting time distributions, autocorrelations and the Hurst exponent. The energy distribution appear to follow a power law, $dN/dE\propto E^{-\beta}$, similar to the power law for earthquake magnitudes, and after appropriate translation, with a similar exponent. In the time domain,the waiting time $w$ or gap distribution between events has a power law behavior at small $w$ and an exponential fall-off at large $w,$ and can be fit $\propto w^{-\alpha}e^{-w/w_0}$. The autocorrelation function shows time correlations lasting for substantial parts of an hour. An asymmetry is found around large events, with higher count rates after, as opposed to before,the large event ., Comment: Fig 4 and surrounding discussion changed. References added, langauge clarified, with greater stress on sensitivity and total energy detection. Error in metadata fixed

first-principles numerical simulation model for crumpling of a stiff tethered membrane is introduced. In our model membranes, wrinkles, ridge formation, ridge collapse, as well as the initiation of stiffness divergence, are observed. The ratio of the amplitude and wave length of the wrinkles, and the scaling exponent of the stiffness divergence, are consistent with both theory and experiment. We observe that close to the stiffness divergence there appears a crossover beyond which the elastic behavior of a tethered membrane becomes similar to that of dry granular media. This suggests that ridge formation in membranes and force-chain network formation in granular packings are different manifestations of a single phenomenon., Comment: For full resolution figures, please send us an email

We report experimental results for the behavior of slow-combustion fronts in the presence of a columnar defect with excess or reduced driving, and compare them with those of mean-field theory. We also compare them with simulation results for an analogous problem of driven flow of particles with hard-core repulsion (ASEP) and a single defect bond with a different hopping probability. The difference in the shape of the front profiles for excess vs. reduced driving in the defect, clearly demonstrates the existence of a KPZ-type of nonlinear term in the effective evolution equation for the slow-combustion fronts. We also find that slow-combustion fronts display a faceted form for large enough excess driving, and that there is a corresponding increase then in the average front speed. This increase in the average front speed disappears at a non-zero excess driving in agreement with the simulated behavior of the ASEP model., Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures

We calculate the dynamic single-particle and many-particle correlation functions at non-zero temperature in one-dimensional trapped repulsive Bose gases. The decay for increasing distance between the points of these correlation functions is governed by a scaling exponent that has a universal expression in terms of observed quantities. This expression is valid in the weak-interaction Gross-Pitaevskii as well as in the strong-interaction Girardeau-Tonks limit, but the observed quantities involved depend on the interaction strength. The confining trap introduces a weak center-of-mass dependence in the scaling exponent. We also conjecture results for the density-density correlation function., Comment: 18 pages, Latex, Revtex4

We study a mechanism of collapse of the condensate wave function in the Gross-Pitaevskii theory with attractive interparticle interaction. We reformulate the Gross-Pitaevskii equation as Newton's equations for the particle flux and introduce a collapsing fraction of particles. We assume that the collapsing fraction is expelled from the condensate due to dissipation. Using this hypothesis we analyze the dependence of the condensate collapse on the initial conditions. We found that for a properly chosen negative scattering length the remnant fraction becomes larger when the initial aspect ratio is increased., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures; authors list corrected(GGV)

The spatial and temporal persistence, or first-return distributions are measured for slow combustion fronts in paper. The stationary temporal and (perhaps less convincingly) spatial persistence exponents agree with the predictions based on the front dynamics, which asymptotically belongs to the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) universality class. The stationary short-range and the transient behavior of the fronts is non-Markovian and the observed persistence properties thus do not agree with the theory. This deviation is a consequence of additional time and length scales, related to the crossovers to the asymptotic coarse-grained behavior., Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures

Numerical micropermeametry is performed on three dimensional porous samples having a linear size of approximately 3 mm and a resolution of 7.5 $\mu$m. One of the samples is a microtomographic image of Fontainebleau sandstone. Two of the samples are stochastic reconstructions with the same porosity, specific surface area, and two-point correlation function as the Fontainebleau sample. The fourth sample is a physical model which mimics the processes of sedimentation, compaction and diagenesis of Fontainebleau sandstone. The permeabilities of these samples are determined by numerically solving at low Reynolds numbers the appropriate Stokes equations in the pore spaces of the samples. The physical diagenesis model appears to reproduce the permeability of the real sandstone sample quite accurately, while the permeabilities of the stochastic reconstructions deviate from the latter by at least an order of magnitude. This finding confirms earlier qualitative predictions based on local porosity theory. Two numerical algorithms were used in these simulations. One is based on the lattice-Boltzmann method, and the other on conventional finite-difference techniques. The accuracy of these two methods is discussed and compared, also with experiment., Comment: to appear in: Phys.Rev.E (2002), 32 pages, Latex, 1 Figure

The dynamics of two traps with ultracold atoms and connected by Josephson type coupling, is shown to exhibit a transition from dispersive dynamics to localized coherent oscillations. This transition is controlled by coupling strength and energy offset between the traps. The dynamics is also shown to be exactly that of a Heisenberg chain with a linear magnetic field. Possible applications for ``quantum-state engineering'' are discussed., Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, ReVTeX

Results of experiments on the dynamics and kinetic roughening of one-dimensional slow-combustion fronts in three grades of paper are reported. Extensive averaging of the data allows a detailed analysis of the spatial and temporal development of the interface fluctuations. The asymptotic scaling properties, on long length and time scales, are well described by the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) equation with short-range, uncorrelated noise. To obtain a more detailed picture of the strong-coupling fixed point, characteristic of the KPZ universality class, universal amplitude ratios, and the universal coupling constant are computed from the data and found to be in good agreement with theory. Below the spatial and temporal scales at which a cross-over takes place to the standard KPZ behavior, the fronts display higher apparent exponents and apparent multiscaling. In this regime the interface velocities are spatially and temporally correlated, and the distribution of the magnitudes of the effective noise has a power-law tail. The relation of the observed short-range behavior and the noise as determined from the local velocity fluctuations is discussed., Comment: RevTeX v3.1, 13 pages, 12 Postscript figures (uses epsf.sty), 3 tables; submitted to Phys. Rev. E

A generic mechanism of collapse in the Gross-Pitaevskii equation with attractive interparticle interactions is gained by reformulating this equation as Newton's equation of motion for a system of particles with a constraint. 'Quantum pressure' effects give rise to formation of a potential barrier around the emerging singularity, which prevents a fraction of the particles from falling into the singularity. For reasonable initial widths of the condensate, the fraction of collapsing particles, which are thereby removed from the condensate, is found to be a 'universal' number $\simeq 0.7$., Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, v2. In this version of the paper we have improved the language and readability in a number of places. We also have emphasized our main conclusions

Previous functional integral methods for translationally invariant systems have been extended to the case of a confining trap potential. Essentially all finite-temperature properties of the repulsive Bose gas in a paraboloidal trap can be determined this way. New analytical results reported here are for the finite-temperature two-point correlation functions below the critical temperatures in d=3,2 and 1 dimensions. Only for d=3 are correlations both long range and coherent - at long range consistent with the existence of a coherent state of the condensate in the trap. The two-dimensional condensate is marginally stable in the sense that correlations decay by a power law., Comment: 5 pages, no figures

The structure of the Cu(110) surface is studied at high temperatures using a combination of lattice-gas Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics methods with identical many-atom interactions derived from the effective medium theory. The anisotropic six-vertex model is used in the interpretation of the lattice-gas results. We find a clear roughening transition around T_R=1000K and T_R/T_M=0.81. Molecular dynamics reveals the clustering of surface defects as the atomistic mechanism of the transition and allows us to estimate characteristic time scales. For the system of size 50x50, the time scale of the local roughening at 1150 K of an initially smooth surface is of the order of 100 ps., Comment: 24 pages (12 figs available upon request), REVTEX, to be published in PRB, JYFL Preprint 16/93