Coherent gigahertz-frequency surface acoustic waves (SAWs) traveling on the surface of a piezoelectric crystal can, via the magnetoelastic interaction, resonantly excite traveling surface spin waves in an adjacent thin-film ferromagnet. These excited surface spin waves, traveling with a definite in-plane wave-vector q∥ enforced by the SAW, can be detected by measuring changes in the electro-acoustical transmission of a SAW delay line.

Smectic liquid crystals vividly illustrate the subtle interplay of broken translational and orientational symmetries, by exhibiting defect structures forming geometrically perfect confocal ellipses and hyperbolas. Here, we develop and numerically implement an effective theory to study the dynamics of focal conic domains in smectic-A liquid crystals. We use the information about the smectic's structure and energy density provided by our simulations to develop several novel visualization tools for the focal conics.

Cells and viruses possess several known 'restart' pathways to overcome lesions during DNA replication. However, these 'bypass' pathways leave a gap in replicated DNA or require recruitment of accessory proteins, resulting in significant delays to fork movement or even cell division arrest. Using single-molecule and ensemble methods, we demonstrate that the bacteriophage T7 replisome is able to directly replicate through a leading-strand cyclobutane pyrimidine dimer (CPD) lesion.

The electronic correlation strength is a basic quantity that characterizes the physical properties of materials such as transition metal oxides. Determining correlation strengths requires both precise definitions and a careful comparison between experiment and theory. In this paper, we define the correlation strength via the magnitude of the electron self-energy near the Fermi level.

We fabricated 8-in. Si nanocone (NC) arrays using a nanoimprint technique and investigated their optical characteristics. The NC arrays exhibited remarkable antireflection effects; the optical reflectance was less than 10% in the visible wavelength range. The photoluminescence intensity of the NC arrays was an order of magnitude larger than that of a planar wafer. Optical simulations and analyses suggested that the Mie resonance reduced effective refractive index, and multiple scattering in the NCs enabled the drastic decrease in reflection.

We present the results from recent experiments to create a flowing plasma sheet. Two groups of three laser beams with nominally 1.5 kJ of energy per group were focused to separate pointing locations, driving a shock into a wedge target. As the shock breaks out of the wedge, the plasma is focused on center, creating a sheet of plasma. Measurements at 60 ns indicate the plasma sheet has propagated 2825 microns with an average velocity of 49 microns/ns. These experiments follow previous experiments [Krauland et al.

Shear thickening is a widespread phenomenon in suspension flow that, despite sustained study, is still the subject of much debate. The longstanding view that shear thickening is due to hydrodynamic clusters has been challenged by recent theory and simulations suggesting that contact forces dominate, not only in discontinuous, but also in continuous shear thickening. Here, we settle this dispute using shear reversal experiments on micron-sized silica and latex particles to measure directly the hydrodynamic and contact force contributions to shear thickening.

When lubricated by synovial fluid, articular cartilage provides some of the lowest friction coefficients found in nature. While it is known that macromolecular constituents of synovial fluid provide it with its lubricating ability, it is not fully understood how two of the main molecules, lubricin and hyaluronic acid, lubricate and interact with one another. Here, we develop a novel framework for cartilage lubrication based on the elastoviscous transition to show that lubricin and hyaluronic acid lubricate by distinct mechanisms.

Torque magnetization measurements on YBa2Cu3Oy (YBCO) at doping y=6.67 (p=0.12), in dc fields (B) up to 33 T and temperatures down to 4.5 K, show that weak diamagnetism persists above the extrapolated irreversibility field Hirr(T=0)≈24 T. The differential susceptibility dM/dB, however, is more rapidly suppressed for B16 T than expected from the properties of the low field superconducting state, and saturates at a low value for fields B24 T.

All known circadian clocks have an endogenous period that is remarkably insensitive to temperature, a property known as temperature compensation, while at the same time being readily entrained by a diurnal temperature oscillation. Although temperature compensation and entrainment are defining features of circadian clocks, their mechanisms remain poorly understood.