arXiv subjects

Rafael Araujo

Publications and source records attributed to Rafael Araujo.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Phonon-Mediated Chirality Transfer from Organic Cation to Inorganic lattice in Hybrid Perovskites

Two-dimensional hybrid metal halide perovskites combine spin-orbit coupling, soft lattice dynamics, and molecular tunability, making them promising platforms for chiral optoelectronics. While chiral organic spacers are known to induce optical activity in the inorganic framework, the microscopic mechanism by which molecular chirality couples to the inorganic lattice is actively studied. Here, we investigate coherent vibrational dynamics in chiral ($R$-MBA)$_2$PbI$_4$ and its racemic analogue using circular-polarized transient absorption spectroscopy. A vibrational mode at ~5.7 meV is present in the chiral material and not observed in the racemic counterpart, confirmed as a lattice phonon by agreement between time-domain and steady-state measurements. Ab-initio calculations reveal correlated libration of the organic spacer and bending displacement of the Pb-I framework analogous to a classical Wilberforce pendulum whose sense is locked to the structural handedness of the lattice. Polarization-resolved measurements reveal a transient circular dichroism whose exact sign reversal between ($R$-MBA)$_2$PbI$_4$ and ($S$-MBA)$_2$PbI$_4$ is consistent with a periodic modulation of the excitonic rotational strength driven by the coupled lattice displacement. These results establish dynamic chirality transfer through the coupled librational-bending mechanism, with direct implications for phonon-driven chiral optical responses and spin-selective transport.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2026

Potato Potahto in the FAO-GAEZ Productivity Measures? Nonclassical Measurement Error with Multiple Proxies

The FAO-GAEZ productivity data are widely used in Economics. However, the empirical literature rarely discusses measurement error. We use two proxies to derive analytical bounds around the effect of agricultural productivity in a setting with nonclassical measurement error. These bounds rely on assumptions weaker than those imposed in empirical studies and exhaust the information contained in the first two data moments. We reevaluate three influential studies, finding wide intervals around the effects of agricultural productivity. These results call for caution, highlighting the limits of our knowledge about these effects. Our methodology has broad applications in empirical research involving mismeasured variables.

econ.GN↗

arXiv2026

DETERring more than Deforestation: Environmental Enforcement Reduces Violence in the Amazon

We estimate the impact of environmental law enforcement on violence in the Brazilian Amazon. The introduction of the Real-Time Deforestation Detection System (DETER), which enabled the government to monitor deforestation in real time and issue fines for illegal clearing, significantly reduced homicides in the region. To identify causal effects, we exploit exogenous variation in satellite monitoring generated by cloud cover as an instrument for enforcement intensity. Our estimates imply that the expansion of state presence through DETER prevented approximately 1,477 homicides per year, a 15\% reduction in homicides. These results show that a replicable environmental enforcement policy produces social benefits.

econ.GN↗

arXiv2024

Coherent Phonons, Localization and Slow Polaron Formation in Lead-free Gold Perovskite

Lead-free metal halide perovskites are emerging as less-toxic alternatives to their lead-based counterparts. However, their applicability in optoelectronic devices is limited, and the charge transport dynamics remain poorly understood. Understanding photo-induced charge and structural dynamics is critical for unlocking the potential of these novel systems. In this work, we employ ultrafast optical and Raman spectroscopy combined with band structure calculations to investigate the coupled electronic and vibrational dynamics in Caesium gold bromide, a promising lead-free perovskite. We find that the band-edge charge transfer states are strongly coupled to Au-Br stretching phonon modes, leading to frequency modulation of absorption by impulsively excited coherent phonons. Early-stage relaxation is characterized by dynamics of delocalized charge transfer excitation and slowly decaying coherent phonons. The electronic and vibrational relaxation reveals a slow formation of a localized polaronic state in the 10-20 ps timescale. Using a displaced harmonic oscillator model, the polaronic binding energy is estimated to be ~80 meV following lattice relaxation along the phonon modes. Strong exciton-phonon coupling and slow polaron formation via coupling to lattice modes make this material a promising testbed for the control of coherent phonons and localized polaronic states using light.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2019

FPT algorithms to recognize well covered graphs

Given a graph $G$, let $vc(G)$ and $vc^+(G)$ be the sizes of a minimum and a maximum minimal vertex covers of $G$, respectively. We say that $G$ is well covered if $vc(G)=vc^+(G)$ (that is, all minimal vertex covers have the same size). Determining if a graph is well covered is a coNP-complete problem. In this paper, we obtain $O^*(2^{vc})$-time and $O^*(1.4656^{vc^+})$-time algorithms to decide well coveredness, improving results of Boria et. al. (2015). Moreover, using crown decomposition, we show that such problems admit kernels having linear number of vertices. In 2018, Alves et. al. (2018) proved that recognizing well covered graphs is coW[2]-hard when the independence number $α(G)=n-vc(G)$ is the parameter. Contrasting with such coW[2]-hardness, we present an FPT algorithm to decide well coveredness when $α(G)$ and the degeneracy of the input graph $G$ are aggregate parameters. Finally, we use the primeval decomposition technique to obtain a linear time algorithm for extended $P_4$-laden graphs and $(q,q-4)$-graphs, which is FPT parameterized by $q$, improving results of Klein et al (2013).

cs.DS↗