How do we conceptualise and design mixed reality environments (MREs)? Here we describe a first pass at a conceptual framework and use it to inform the design of different kinds of activities for children to experiment with. Our aim was to investigate how different MRE set-ups affected children’s exploratory behaviour and their understanding of them. The familiar activity of colour mixing was us...

The standard tunneling model describes quite satisfactorily the properties of amorphous solids at temperatures T < 1K in terms of an ensemble of two-level systems including the logarithmic temperature dependence of the dielectric constant. Yet, experiments have shown that at ultralow temperatures T< 5 mK such a temperature behavior breaks down and the dielectric constant becomes temperature ind...

Some fundamental issues in ground-state density functional theory are discussed without equations: (1) The standard Hohenberg-Kohn and Kohn-Sham theorems were proven for a Hamiltonian that is not quite exact for real atoms, molecules, and solids. (2) The density functional for the exchange-correlation energy, which must be approximated, arises from the tendency of electrons to avoid one another...

A new NMR technique for determining long-range 1H-19F distances in solids is demonstrated. Using a modified rotational-echo double resonance (REDOR) sequence involving 1H homonuclear decoupling and composite 19F pulses, we show that it is possible to determine 1H-19F distances to approximately 8 A. The detrimental effect of the large 19F chemical shift to REDOR dephasing is partially compensate...

This topical review provides a brief overview of recent developments in NMR crystallography and related NMR approaches to studying the properties of molecular and ionic solids. Areas of complementarity with diffraction-based methods are underscored. These include the study of disordered systems, of dynamic systems, and other selected examples where NMR can provide unique insights. Highlights fr...

We examine the effects of the magnetic field created by the Tayler–Spruit dynamo in differentially rotating stars. Magnetic fields of the order of a few 10 G are present through most of the stellar envelope, with the exception of the outer layers. The diffusion coefficient for the transport of angular momentum is very large and it imposes nearly solid body rotation during the MS phase. In turn,...

High-resolution NMR of samples in the solid state is typically performed under mechanical sample spinning around an axis that makes an angle, called the magic angle, of 54.7 degrees with the static magnetic field. There are many cases in which geometrical and engineering constraints prevent spinning at this specific angle. Implementations of in-situ and ex-situ magic angle field spinning might ...

A new approach for high-resolution solid-state heteronuclear multiple-quantum MAS NMR spectroscopy of dipolar-coupled spin-12 nuclei is introduced. The method is a heteronuclear chemical shift correlation technique of abundant spins, like 1H with rare spins, like 13C in natural abundance. High resolution is provided by ultra-fast MAS and high magnetic fields, high sensitivity being ensured by a...

A theory of the static electron polarizability of crystals whose energy spectrum is modified by quantizing magnetic fields is presented. The polarizability is strongly affected by nondissipative Hall currents induced by the presence of crossed electric and magnetic fields: these can even change its sign. Results are illustrated in detail for a two-dimensional square lattice. The polarizability ...