A new experiment can create small scale barchan dunes under water: some sand is put on a tray moving periodically and asymmetrically in a water tank, and barchans rapidly form. We measure basic morphological and dynamical properties of these dunes and compare them to field data. These favorable results demonstrate experimentally the relevance of the so-called “saturation length” for the control of the dunes physics.

Composite materials are ideally suited to achieve multifunctionality since the best features of different materials can be combined to form a new material that has a broad spectrum of desired properties. Nature’s ultimate multifunctional composites are biological materials. There are presently no simple examples that rigorously demonstrate the effect of competing property demands on composite microstructures. To illustrate the fascinating types of microstructures that can arise in multifunctional optimization, we maximize the simultaneous transport of heat and electricity in three-dimensional, two-phase composites using rigorous optimization techniques. Interestingly, we discover that the optimal three-dimensional structures are bicontinuous triply periodic minimal surfaces.

There is controversy as to whether a one-dimensional (1D) electron gas can spin polarize in the absence of a magnetic field. Together with a simple model, we present conductance measurements on ultra-low-disorder quantum wires supportive of a spin polarization at $B=0$. A spin energy gap is indicated by the presence of a feature in the range $(0.5–0.7)\times 2e^2/h$ in conductance data. Importantly, it appears that the spin gap is not constant but a function of the electron density. Data obtained using a bias spectroscopy technique are consistent with the spin gap widening further as the Fermi level is increased.

We have fabricated electron Y-branch switches (YBS) on modulation doped $\mathrm{G}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{A}\mathrm{s}/\mathrm{A}\mathrm{l}\mathrm{G}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{A}\mathrm{s}$ heterostructures. The Y branch consists of a one-dimensional source, which is split along the branching section into two one-dimensional drains. In addition to source drain voltages, external electric fields can be applied via gates along the branches.In the nonlinear transport regime sweeps of the side-gate voltages lead to a voltage difference between the drain reservoirs with gain. This switching gain increases superlinearly with the bias voltage applied between the source and the drains of the YBS. We explain the bias voltage enhanced switching by a capacitive coupling of the branches.

In this paper we present the first results on emission in metamaterial. We show how the specific properties of metallic composite material can modify the emission of an embedded source. We show that under proper conditions the energy radiated by a source embedded in a slab of metamaterial will be concentrated in a narrow cone in the surrounding media. An experimental demonstration of this effect is given in the microwave domain, and the constructed antenna has a directivity equivalent to the best reported results with photonic-crystal-based antennas but using a completely different physical principle [B. Temelkuaran et al., J. Appl. Phys. 87, 603 (2000)].

We propose that cold dark matter is made of Kaluza-Klein particles and explore avenues for its detection. The lightest Kaluza-Klein state is an excellent dark matter candidate if standard model particles propagate in extra dimensions and Kaluza-Klein parity is conserved. We consider Kaluza-Klein gauge bosons. In sharp contrast to the case of supersymmetric dark matter, these annihilate to hard positrons, neutrinos, and photons with unsuppressed rates. Direct detection signals are also promising. These conclusions are generic to bosonic dark matter candidates.

We report the observation of depression solitary surface waves on a layer of mercury when its depth is thin enough compared to the capillary length. These waves, as well as the well known elevation solitary waves, are studied with a new measurement technique using inductive sensors. The shape of the solitary waves, their amplitude-dependent velocity, and their damping rates by viscosity are found in good agreement with theoretical predictions.

We present a synthetic nanodevice, which transports potassium ions against their concentration gradient if stimulated with external field fluctuations. It consists of a single, conical pore, created in a thin polyethylene terephthalate film. The pumping mechanism is similar to one of longitudinally oscillating deterministic ratchets.

We first define a series of $NN$ interaction models ranging from very simple to fully realistic. We then present Green’s function Monte Carlo calculations of light nuclei to show how nuclear spectra evolve as the nuclear forces are made increasingly sophisticated. We find that the absence of stable five- and eight-body nuclei depends crucially on the spin, isospin, and tensor components of the nuclear force.

Using a combination of laboratory experiments and computer simulation we show that microwaves reflected from and transmitted through soil have a fractal dimension correlated to that of the soil’s hierarchic permittivity network. The mathematical model relating the ground-penetrating radar record to the mass fractal dimension of soil structure is also developed. The fractal signature of the scattered microwaves correlates well with some physical and mechanical properties of soils.

By switching between linear and circular polarization in the irradiation of supersaturated solutions of the amino acid glycine in water with intense nanosecond pulses of near-infrared laser light, we have obtained the $\gamma$ and $\alpha$ phases, respectively, through nonphotochemical light-induced nucleation (NPLIN). This is the first report of light polarization controlling crystal structure. The intensity dependence of NPLIN in aqueous urea is also reported.

Electrically induced phosphorescence from a poly(para-phenylene) ladder-type polymer is observed for the first time and characterized using time resolved spectroscopy. Short-lived phosphorescence is also observed in gated fluorescence spectra and is found to be quenched reversibly by oxygen. Thermally activated triplet diffusion to covalently bound palladium sites, which are formed at a concentration of about 80 ppm in a side reaction during polymer synthesis, is believed to be the cause of this novel effect, which suggests a new approach to the design of efficient electroluminescent materials.

We study numerically the cooling of a young bare strange star and show that its thermal luminosity, mostly due to $e^{+}{e}^{-}$ pair production from the quark surface, may be much higher than the Eddington limit. The mean energy of photons far from the strange star is $\sim {10}^2\mathrm{k}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{V}$ or even more. This differs both qualitatively and quantitatively from the thermal emission from neutron stars and provides a definite observational signature for bare strange stars. It is shown that the energy gap of superconducting quark matter may be estimated from the light curves if it is in the range from $\sim 0.5\mathrm{M}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{V}$ to a few MeV.

We describe measurements of colloidal transport through arrays of micrometer-scale potential wells created with holographic optical tweezers. Varying the orientation of the trap array relative to the external driving force results in a hierarchy of lock-in transitions analogous to symmetry-selecting processes in a wide variety of systems. Focusing on colloid as a model system provides the first opportunity to observe the microscopic mechanisms of kinetic lock-in transitions and reveals a new class of statistically locked-in states. This particular realization also has immediate applications for continuously fractionating particles, biological cells, and macromolecules.

A new physical effect is reported. In single crystals of lithium niobate ($\mathrm{L}\mathrm{i}\mathrm{N}\mathrm{b}{\mathrm{O}}_{\mathrm{3}}$), we have observed an acoustical memory effect. An acoustical tone burst is stored inside the crystal and reemitted at a later time. This memory signal is related to the acousto-electrical properties of the ferroelectric medium. Futhermore, it is shown to be sensitive to both temperature and frequency.

We present a simple yet effective mechanism promoting cooperation under full anonymity by allowing for voluntary participation in public goods games. This natural extension leads to “rock-scissors-paper”–type cyclic dominance of the three strategies, cooperate, defect, and loner. In spatial settings with players arranged on a regular lattice, this results in interesting dynamical properties and intriguing spatiotemporal patterns. In particular, variations of the value of the public good leads to transitions between one-, two-, and three-strategy states which either are in the class of directed percolation or show interesting analogies to Ising-type models. Although volunteering is incapable of stabilizing cooperation, it efficiently prevents successful spreading of selfish behavior.

We consider vacuum polarization from massless scalar electrodynamics in de Sitter inflation. The theory exhibits a $3+1$ dimensional analog of the Schwinger mechanism in which a photon mass is dynamically generated. The mechanism is generic for light scalar fields that couple minimally to gravity. The nonvanishing of the photon mass during inflation may result in magnetic fields on cosmological scales.

We study the possible formation of large (mesoscopic) molecular ions in an ultracold degenerate bosonic gas doped with charged particles (ions). We show that the polarization potentials produced by the ionic impurities are capable of capturing hundreds of atoms into loosely bound states. We describe the spontaneous formation of these hollow molecular ions via phonon emission and suggest an optical technique for coherent stimulated transitions of condensate atoms into a specific bound state. These results open up new possibilities for manipulating tightly confined ensembles.

We have imaged a 2D buried Ni nanostructure at 8 nm resolution using coherent x-ray diffraction and the oversampling phasing method. By employing a 3D imaging reconstruction algorithm, for the first time we have experimentally determined the 3D structure of a noncrystalline nanostructured material at 50 nm resolution. The 2D and 3D imaging resolution is currently limited by the exposure time and the computing power, while the ultimate resolution is limited by the x-ray wavelengths. We believe these results pave the way for the development of atomic resolution 3D x-ray diffraction microscopy.

Gravitational holography is argued to render the cosmological constant stable against divergent quantum corrections, thus providing a technically natural solution to the cosmological constant problem. Evidence for quantum stability of the cosmological constant is illustrated in a number of examples including bulk descriptions in terms of delocalized degrees of freedom, boundary screen descriptions on stretched horizons, and nonsupersymmetric conformal field theories as dual descriptions of anti–de Sitter space. In an expanding universe, holographic quantum contributions to the stress-energy tensor are argued to be at most of order the energy density of the dominant matter component.