arXiv subjects

R. Adhikari

Publications and source records attributed to R. Adhikari.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2017

Isotropic finite-difference discretization of stochastic conservation laws preserving detailed balance

The dynamics of thermally fluctuating conserved order parameters are described by stochastic conservation laws. Thermal equilibrium in such systems requires the dissipative and stochastic components of the flux to be related by detailed balance. Preserving this relation in spatial and temporal discretization is necessary to obtain solutions that have fidelity to the continuum. Here, we propose a finite-difference discretization that preserves detailed balance on the lattice, has spatial error that is isotropic to leading order in lattice spacing, and can be integrated accurately in time using a delayed difference method. We benchmark the method for model B dynamics with a $ϕ^{4}$ Landau free energy and obtain excellent agreement with analytical results.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2017

A White Paper on keV Sterile Neutrino Dark Matter

We present a comprehensive review of keV-scale sterile neutrino Dark Matter, collecting views and insights from all disciplines involved - cosmology, astrophysics, nuclear, and particle physics - in each case viewed from both theoretical and experimental/observational perspectives. After reviewing the role of active neutrinos in particle physics, astrophysics, and cosmology, we focus on sterile neutrinos in the context of the Dark Matter puzzle. Here, we first review the physics motivation for sterile neutrino Dark Matter, based on challenges and tensions in purely cold Dark Matter scenarios. We then round out the discussion by critically summarizing all known constraints on sterile neutrino Dark Matter arising from astrophysical observations, laboratory experiments, and theoretical considerations. In this context, we provide a balanced discourse on the possibly positive signal from X-ray observations. Another focus of the paper concerns the construction of particle physics models, aiming to explain how sterile neutrinos of keV-scale masses could arise in concrete settings beyond the Standard Model of elementary particle physics. The paper ends with an extensive review of current and future astrophysical and laboratory searches, highlighting new ideas and their experimental challenges, as well as future perspectives for the discovery of sterile neutrinos.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2017

Fast Bayesian inference of optical trap stiffness and particle diffusion

Bayesian inference provides a principled way of estimating the parameters of a stochastic process that is observed discretely in time. The overdamped Brownian motion of a particle confined in an optical trap is generally modelled by the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process and can be observed directly in experiment. Here we present Bayesian methods for inferring the parameters of this process, the trap stiffness and the particle diffusion coefficient, that use exact likelihoods and sufficient statistics to arrive at simple expressions for the maximum a posteriori estimates. This obviates the need for Monte Carlo sampling and yields methods that are both fast and accurate. We apply these to experimental data and demonstrate their advantage over commonly used non-Bayesian fitting methods.

physics.data-an↗

arXiv2016

Colloidal transport by active filaments

Enhanced colloidal transport beyond the limit imposed by diffusion is usually achieved through external fields. Here, we demonstrate the ballistic transport of a colloidal sphere using internal sources of energy provided by an attached active filament. The latter is modeled as a chain of chemo-mechanically active beads connected by potentials that enforce semi-flexibility and self-avoidance. The fluid flow produced by the active beads and the forces they mediate are explicitly taken into account in the overdamped equations of motion describing the colloid-filament assembly. The speed and efficiency of transport depend on the dynamical conformational states of the filament. We characterize these states using filament writhe as an order parameter and identify ones yielding maxima in speed and efficiency of transport. The transport mechanism reported here has a remarkable resemblance to the flagellar propulsion of microorganisms which suggests its utility in biomimetic systems.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2016

Filament actuation by an active colloid at low Reynolds number

Active colloids and externally actuated semi-flexible filaments provide basic building blocks for designing autonomously motile micro-machines. Here, we show that a passive semi-flexible filament can be actuated and transported by attaching an active colloid to its terminus. We study the dynamics of this assembly when it is free, tethered, or clamped using overdamped equations of motion that explicitly account for active fluid flow and the forces it mediates. Linear states are destabilized by buckling instabilities to produce stable states of non-zero curvature and writhe. We demarcate boundaries of these states in the two-dimensional parameter space representing dimensionless measures of polar and apolar activity. Our proposed assembly can be used as a novel component in the design of micro-machines at low Reynolds number and to study elastic instabilities driven by "follower" forces.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2016

Universal hydrodynamic mechanisms for crystallization in active colloidal suspensions

The lack of detailed balance in active colloidal suspensions allows dissipation to determine stationary states. Here we show that slow viscous flow produced by polar or apolar active colloids near plane walls mediates attractive hydrodynamic forces that drive crystallization. Hydrodynamically mediated torques tend to destabilize the crystal but stability can be regained through critical amounts of bottom-heaviness or chiral activity. Numerical simulations show that crystallization is not nucleational, as in equilibrium, but is preceded by a spinodal-like instability. Harmonic excitations of the active crystal relax diffusively but the normal modes are distinct from an equilibrium colloidal crystal. The hydrodynamic mechanisms presented here are universal and rationalize recent experiments on the crystallization of active colloids.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2016

Stretching magnetism with an electric field in a nitride semiconductor

By direct magnetization measurements, performed employing a new detection scheme, we demonstrate an electrical control of magnetization in wurtzite (Ga,Mn)N. In this dilute magnetic insulator the Fermi energy is pinned by Mn ions in the mid-gap region, and the Mn3+ ions show strong single-ion anisotropy. We establish that (Ga,Mn)N sustains an electric field up to at least 5 MV/cm, indicating that Mn doping turns GaN into a worthwhile semi-insulating material. Under these conditions, the magnetoelectric coupling may be driven by the inverse piezoelectric effect that stretches the elementary cell along the c axis and, thus, affects the magnitude of magnetic anisotropy. We develop a corresponding theory and show that it describes the experimentally determined dependence of magnetization on the electric field quantitatively with no adjustable parameters as a function of the magnetic field and temperature. In this way, our work bridges two research domains developed so far independently: piezoelectricity of wurtzite semiconductors and electrical control of magnetization in hybrid and composite magnetic structures containing piezoelectric components.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2016

All-nitride and In-free Al$_x$Ga$_{1-x}$N:Mn/GaN distributed Bragg reflectors for the near-infrared

Since the technological breakthrough prompted by the inception of light emitting diodes based on III-nitrides, these material systems have emerged as strategic semiconductors not only for the lighting of the future, but also for the new generation of high-power electronic and spintronic devices. While III-nitride optoelectronics in the visible and ultraviolet spectral range is widely established, all-nitride and In-free efficient devices in the near-infrared (NIR) are still wanted. Here, through a comprehensive protocol of design, modeling, epitaxial growth and in-depth characterization, we develop Al$_x$Ga$_{1-x}$N:Mn/GaN NIR distributed Bragg reflectors and we show their efficiency in combination with GaN:(Mn,Mg) layers containing Mn-Mg$_{k}$ complexes optically active in the telecommunication range of wavelengths.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2016

Rashba semiconductor as spin Hall material: Experimental demonstration of spin pumping in wurtzite $n$-GaN:Si

Pure spin currents in semiconductors are essential for implementation in the next generation of spintronic elements. Heterostructures of III- nitride semiconductors are currently employed as central building-blocks for lighting and high-power devices. Moreover, the long relaxation times and the spin-orbit coupling (SOC) in these materials indicate them as privileged hosts for spin currents and related phenomena. Spin pumping is an efficient mechanism for the inception of spin current and its conversion into charge current in non-magnetic metals and semiconductors with Rashba SOC $via$ spin Hall effects. We report on the generation in $n$-GaN:Si\,--\,at room temperature and through spin pumping\,--\,of pure spin current, fundamental for the understanding of the spin dynamics in these non-centrosymmetric Rashba systems. We find for $n$-GaN:Si a spin Hall angle $θ_{\mathrm{SH}}$=$3.03\times10^{-3}$, exceeding by one order of magnitude those reported for other semiconductors, pointing at III-nitrides as particularly efficient spin current generators.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2015

Flow-induced nonequilibrium self-assembly in suspensions of stiff, apolar, active filaments

Active bodies in viscous fluids interact hydrodynamically through self-generated flows. Here we study spontaneous aggregation induced by hydrodynamic flow in a suspension of stiff, apolar, active filaments. Lateral hydrodynamic attractions in extensile filaments lead, independent of volume fraction, to anisotropic aggregates which translate and rotate ballistically. Lateral hydrodynamic repulsion in contractile filaments lead, with increasing volume fractions, to microstructured states of asters, clusters, and incipient gels where, in each case, filament motion is diffusive. Our results demonstrate that the interplay of active hydrodynamic flows and anisotropic excluded volume interactions provides a generic nonequilibrium mechanism for hierarchical self-assembly of active soft matter.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2015

Brownian microhydrodynamics of active filaments

Slender bodies capable of spontaneous motion in the absence of external actuation in an otherwise quiescent fluid are common in biological, physical and technological contexts. The interplay between the spontaneous fluid flow, Brownian motion, and the elasticity of the body presents a challenging fluid-structure interaction problem. Here, we model this problem by approximating the slender body as an elastic filament that can impose non-equilibrium velocities or stresses at the fluid-structure interface. We derive equations of motion for such an active filament by enforcing momentum conservation in the fluid-structure interaction and assuming slow viscous flow in the fluid. The fluid-structure interaction is obtained, to any desired degree of accuracy, through the solution of an integral equation. A simplified form of the equations of motion, that allows for efficient numerical solutions, is obtained by applying the Kirkwood-Riseman superposition approximation to the integral equation. We use this form of the equation of motion to study dynamical steady states in free and hinged minimally active filaments. Our model provides the foundation to study collective phenomena in momentum-conserving, Brownian, active filament suspensions.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2015

Many-body microhydrodynamics of colloidal particles with active boundary layers

Colloidal particles with active boundary layers - regions surrounding the particles where nonequilibrium processes produce large velocity gradients - are common in many physical, chemical and biological contexts. The velocity or stress at the edge of the boundary layer determines the exterior fluid flow and, hence, the many-body interparticle hydrodynamic interaction. Here, we present a method to compute the many-body hydrodynamic interaction between $N$ spherical active particles induced by their exterior microhydrodynamic flow. First, we use a boundary integral representation of the Stokes equation to eliminate bulk fluid degrees of freedom. Then, we expand the boundary velocities and tractions of the integral representation in an infinite-dimensional basis of tensorial spherical harmonics and, on enforcing boundary conditions in a weak sense on the surface of each particle, obtain a system of linear algebraic equations for the unknown expansion coefficients. The truncation of the infinite series, fixed by the degree of accuracy required, yields a finite linear system that can be solved accurately and efficiently by iterative methods. The solution linearly relates the unknown rigid body motion to the known values of the expansion coefficients, motivating the introduction of propulsion matrices. These matrices completely characterize hydrodynamic interactions in active suspensions just as mobility matrices completely characterize hydrodynamic interactions in passive suspensions. The reduction in the dimensionality of the problem, from a three-dimensional partial differential equation to a two-dimensional integral equation, allows for dynamic simulations of hundreds of thousands of active particles on multi-core computational architectures.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2015

Controlling a three dimensional electron slab of graded Al$_{x}$Ga$_{1-x}$N

Polarization induced degenerate $n$-type doping with electron concentrations up to $\sim$10$^{20}$\,cm$^{-3}$ is achieved in graded Al$_{x}$Ga$_{1-x}$N layers ($x$: 0\%$\rightarrow$37\%) grown on unintentionally doped and on $n$-doped GaN:Si buffer/reservoir layers by metal organic vapor phase epitaxy. High resolution x-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy confirm the gradient in the composition of the Al$_{x}$Ga$_{1-x}$N layers, while magnetotransport studies reveal the formation of a three dimensional electron slab, whose conductivity can be adjusted through the GaN(:Si) buffer/reservoir.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2014

Upper bound for the s-d exchange integral in n-(Ga,Mn)N:Si from magnetotransport studies

A series of recent magnetooptical studies pointed to contradicting values of the s-d exchange energy N0α in Mn-doped GaAs and GaN as well as in Fe-doped GaN. Here, a strong sensitivity of weak-localization phenomena to symmetry breaking perturbations (such as spin-splitting and spin-disorder scattering) is exploited to evaluate the magnitude of N0α for n-type wurtzite (Ga,Mn)N:Si films grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy. Millikelvin magnetoresistance studies and their quantitative interpretation point to N0α < 40 meV, a value at least 5 times smaller than the one found with similar measurements on, e.g., $n$-(Zn,Mn)O. It is shown that this striking difference in the values of the s-d coupling between $n$-type III-V and II-VI dilute magnetic semiconductors can be explained by a theory that takes into account the acceptor character of Mn in III-V compounds.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2014

Irreducible Representations Of Oscillatory And Swirling Flows In Active Soft Matter

Recent experiments imaging fluid flow around swimming microorganisms have revealed complex time-dependent velocity fields that differ qualitatively from the stresslet flow commonly employed in theoretical descriptions of active matter. Here we obtain the most general flow around a finite sized active particle by expanding the surface stress in irreducible Cartesian tensors. This expansion, whose first term is the stresslet, must include, respectively, third-rank polar and axial tensors to minimally capture crucial features of the active oscillatory flow around translating Chlamydomonas and the active swirling flow around rotating Volvox. The representation provides explicit expressions for the irreducible symmetric, antisymmetric and isotropic parts of the continuum active stress. Antisymmetric active stresses do not conserve orbital angular momentum and our work thus shows that spin angular momentum is necessary to restore angular momentum conservation in continuum hydrodynamic descriptions of active soft matter.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2014

Experimental determination of Rashba spin-orbit coupling in wurtzite $n$-GaN:Si

Millikelvin magnetotransport studies are carried out on heavily $n$-doped wurtzite GaN:Si films grown on semi-insulating GaN:Mn buffer layers by metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy. The dependency of the conductivity on magnetic field and temperature is interpreted in terms of theories that take into account disorder-induced quantum interference of one-electron and many-electron self-crossing trajectories. The Rashba parameter $α_{\text{R}}\,=\,(4.5 \pm 1)$ meV$Å$ is determined, and it is shown that in the previous studies of electrons adjacent to GaN/(Al,Ga)N interfaces, bulk inversion asymmetry was dominant over structural inversion asymmetry. The comparison of experimental and theoretical values of $α_{\text{R}}$ across a series of wurtzite semiconductors is presented as a test of current relativistic ab initio computation schemes. It is found that electron-electron scattering with small energy transfer accounts for low temperature decoherence in these systems.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2013

Parameter estimation for compact binary coalescence signals with the first generation gravitational-wave detector network

Compact binary systems with neutron stars or black holes are one of the most promising sources for ground-based gravitational wave detectors. Gravitational radiation encodes rich information about source physics; thus parameter estimation and model selection are crucial analysis steps for any detection candidate events. Detailed models of the anticipated waveforms enable inference on several parameters, such as component masses, spins, sky location and distance that are essential for new astrophysical studies of these sources. However, accurate measurements of these parameters and discrimination of models describing the underlying physics are complicated by artifacts in the data, uncertainties in the waveform models and in the calibration of the detectors. Here we report such measurements on a selection of simulated signals added either in hardware or software to the data collected by the two LIGO instruments and the Virgo detector during their most recent joint science run, including a "blind injection" where the signal was not initially revealed to the collaboration. We exemplify the ability to extract information about the source physics on signals that cover the neutron star and black hole parameter space over the individual mass range 1 Msun - 25 Msun and the full range of spin parameters. The cases reported in this study provide a snap-shot of the status of parameter estimation in preparation for the operation of advanced detectors.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2013

Hydrodynamic Instabilities Provide A Generic Route To Spontaneous Biomimetic Oscillations In Chemomechanically Active Filaments

Non-equilibrium processes which convert chemical energy into mechanical motion enable the motility of organisms. Bundles of inextensible filaments driven by energy transduction of molecular motors form essential components of micron-scale motility engines like cilia and flagella. The mimicry of cilia-like motion in recent experiments on synthetic active filaments supports the idea that generic physical mechanisms may be sufficient to generate such motion. Here we show, theoretically, that the competition between the destabilising effect of hydrodynamic interactions induced by force-free and torque-free chemomechanically active flows, and the stabilising effect of nonlinear elasticity, provides a generic route to spontaneous oscillations in active filaments. These oscillations, reminiscent of prokaryotic and eukaryotic flagellar motion, are obtained without having to invoke structural complexity or biochemical regulation. This minimality implies that biomimetic oscillations, previously observed only in complex bundles of active filaments, can be replicated in simple chains of generic chemomechanically active beads.

cond-mat.soft↗