Search results for " symmetry"
showing 10 items of 701 documents
Electronic Shell Structure in Icosahedral Metal Clusters
1992
The shell structure of valence electrons in icosahedral and cuboctahedral simple metal clusters is studied using the free electron model and the Huckel model. The shell structure in a 1415 atom icosahedral cluster has still similarities with that of a spherical cluster. The effect of the finite temperature on the shell structure in liquid clusters is discussed.
Oligothienoacenes versus oligothiophenes: Impact of ring fusion on the optical properties
2010
The impact of backbone rigidity on the optical properties of thiophene-based compounds is studied by analyzing in detail the geometrical, electronic, optical and vibronic features of a family of oligothienoacenes (nnTAs) in comparison to non-fused α-oligothiophenes (nnTs) by means of quantum-chemical calculations. Ring fusion in nnTAs provokes a greater conjugation in the ground state. However, the change in the bond length alternation upon electronic excitation is very similar in both systems, which is also reflected in a similar evolution of the first optical transition energy with increasing oligomer size. Larger transition energies in nnTAsvs.nnTs arise from an electronic effect rather …
Structural transitions and melting of copper clusters
1993
Molecular dynamics is used to study the melting and structural transitions of small copper clusters. The melting temperature is found to be proportional to the average coordination number. Small icosahedral clusters melt at slightly higher temperatures than the cubic structures. Small cuboctahedral clusters are not stable but transform via a nondiffusive transition to icosahedral structure.
55-Atom clusters of silver and gold: Symmetry breaking by relativistic effects
2006
Abstract Anionic 55-atom clusters of gold and silver are studied using density functional theory, scalar relativistic ab initio pseudopotentials and self-consistent generalized gradient corrections. An almost perfect icosahedron is found to be the clear ground state of Ag 55 - , and its electronic density of states agrees almost perfectly with recently measured high-resolution photoelectron spectra, up to the magnitude of the splitting of the highest free-electron shells by the Ih crystal field. A comparison between theory and a recent experiment allows one to assign icosahedral-based structures also for the Ag 57 - cluster. On the other hand, the Au 55 - cluster has several close-lying low…
Direct experimental observation of mesoscopic fluorous domains in fluorinated room temperature ionic liquids
2017
Fluorinated room temperature ionic liquids (FRTILs) represent a class of solvent media that are attracting great attention due to their IL-specific properties as well as features stemming from their fluorous nature. Medium-to-long fluorous tails constitute a well-defined apolar moiety in the otherwise polar environment. Similarly to the case of alkyl tails, such chains are expected to result in the formation of self-assembled fluorous domains. So far, however, no direct experimental observation has been made of the existence of such structural heterogeneities on the nm scale. We report here the first experimental evidence of the existence of mesoscopic spatial segregation of fluorinated dom…
(K)over-bar* mesons in dense matter
2010
We study the properties of (K) over bar* mesons in nuclear matter using a unitary approach in coupled channels within the framework of the local hidden gauge formalism and incorporating the (K) over bar pi decay channel in matter. The in-medium (K) over bar *N interaction accounts for Pauli blocking effects and incorporates the (K) over bar* self-energy in a self-consistent manner. We also obtain the (K) over bar* (off-shell) spectral function and analyze its behavior at finite density and momentum. At a normal nuclear matter density, the (K) over bar* meson feels a moderately attractive potential, while the (K) over bar* width becomes five times larger than in free space. We estimate the t…
The unique pseudanthium of Actinodium (Myrtaceae) - morphological reinvestigation and possible regulation by CYCLOIDEA-like genes
2013
Background Genes encoding TCP transcription factors, such as CYCLOIDEA-like (CYC-like) genes, are well known actors in the control of plant morphological development, particularly regarding the control of floral symmetry. Despite recent understanding that these genes play a role in establishing the architecture of inflorescences in the sunflower family (Asteraceae), where hundreds of finely organized flowers are arranged to mimic an individual flower, little is known about their function in the development of flower-like inflorescences across diverse phylogenetic groups. Here, we studied the head-like pseudanthium of the Australian swamp daisy Actinodium cunninghamii Schau. (Myrtaceae, the …
A topological isomer of the Au25(SR)18−nanocluster
2020
Energetically low-lying structural isomers of the much-studied thiolate-protected gold cluster Au25(SR)18− are discovered from extensive (80 ns) molecular dynamics (MD) simulations using the reactive molecular force field ReaxFF and confirmed by density functional theory (DFT). A particularly interesting isomer is found, which is topologically connected to the known crystal structure by a low-barrier collective rotation of the icosahedral Au13 core. The isomerization takes place without breaking of any Au–S bonds. The predicted isomer is essentially iso-energetic with the known Au25(SR)18− structure, but has a distinctly different optical spectrum. It has a significantly larger collision cr…
Ab Initio Simulation of Clusters: Relativistic Effects in Structure and Bonding of Noble Metal Nanoparticles
2005
Resolving the atomic and electronic structures of nanoclusters represents an important preliminary for their controlled use in future nanotechnologies. Here we show through the comparison of density-functional calculations with high-resolution photoelectron spectroscopy that 1.4 nm nanoparticles of silver (negatively charged clusters of 53 to 58 atoms) are icosahedral-based structures displaying a perfect icosahedral-induced electronic shell structure for Ag 55 − and slightly perturbed shell structures for the neighboring cluster sizes. At variance, 55-atom gold clusters exhibit several isomeric structures of low symmetry, with a largely diminished electronic shell structure. This surprisin…
On CPT Symmetry: Cosmological, Quantum-Gravitational and Other Possible Violations and Their Phenomenology
2004
I discuss various ways in which CPT symmetry may be violated, and their phenomenology in current or immediate future experimental facilities, both terrestrial and astrophysical. Specifically, I discuss first violations of CPT symmetry due to the impossibility of defining a scattering matrix as a consequence of the existence of microscopic or macroscopic space-time boundaries, such as Planck-scale Black-Hole (event) horizons, or cosmological horizons due to the presence of a (positive) cosmological constant in the Universe. Second, I discuss CPT violation due to breaking of Lorentz symmetry, which may characterize certain approaches to quantum gravity, and third, I describe models of CPT non…