Heat transport of La2−y_{2-y}Euy_yCuO4_4 and La1.88−y_{1.88-y}Euy_ySr0.12_{0.12}CuO4_4 single crystals

To study the rare-earth doping effect on the phonon heat transport of La-based cuprates and shed light on the mechanism of phonon scattering, both $ab$-plane and c-axis thermal conductivities ($\kappa_{ab}$ and $\kappa_c$) are measured for La$_{2-y}$Eu$_y$CuO$_4$ ($y$ = 0, 0.02 and 0.2) and La$_{1.88-y}$Eu$_y$Sr$_{0.12}$CuO$_4$ ($y$ = 0 and 0.2) single crystals. It is found that the phonon peak (at 20 -- 25 K) in $\kappa_{ab}(T)$ of La$_{2-y}$Eu$_y$CuO$_4$ shows an anomalous Eu-doping dependence: it completely disappears for $y$ = 0.02, which is discussed to be due to the local lattice distortions around Eu dopants, and reappears for $y$ = 0.2 with much smaller peak magnitude compared to $y$ = 0 sample. In contrast to the strong suppression of the phonon peak in Eu-doped La$_2$CuO$_4$, Eu-doping to La$_{1.88}$Sr$_{0.12}$CuO$_4$ enhances the low-$T$ phonon heat transport that results in the reappearance of the phonon peak in this charge-carrier-doped system. The data clearly show that the establishment of static stripe phase rather than the structural change is responsible for the reappearance of phonon peak.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, final version published in Phys. Rev.

Consequences of 't Hooft's Equivalence Class Theory and Symmetry by Large Coarse Graining

According to 't Hooft (Class.Quantum.Grav. 16 (1999), 3263), quantum gravity can be postulated as a dissipative deterministic system, where quantum states at the ``atomic scale''can be understood as equivalence classes of primordial states governed by a dissipative deterministic dynamics law at the ``Planck scale''. In this paper, it is shown that for a quantum system to have an underlying deterministic dissipative dynamics, the time variable should be discrete if the continuity of its temporal evolution is required. Besides, the underlying deterministic theory also imposes restrictions on the energy spectrum of the quantum system. It is also found that quantum symmetry at the ``atomic scale'' can be induced from 't Hooft's Coarse Graining classification of primordial states at the "Planck scale".Comment: 12 papge, Late

Low-temperature nodal-quasiparticle transport in lightly doped YBa_{2}Cu_{3}O_{y} near the edge of the superconducting doping regime

In-plane transport properties of nonsuperconducting YBa_{2}Cu_{3}O_{y} (y = 6.35) are measured using high-quality untwinned single crystals. We find that both the a- and b-axis resistivities show log(1/T) divergence down to 80 mK, and accordingly the thermal conductivity data indicate that the nodal quasiparticles are progressively localized with lowering temperature. Hence, both the charge and heat transport data do not support the existence of a "thermal metal" in nonsuperconducting YBa_{2}Cu_{3}O_{y}, as opposed to a recent report by Sutherland {\it et al.} [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 94}, 147004 (2005)]. Besides, the present data demonstrate that the peculiar log(1/T) resistivity divergence of cuprate is {\it not} a property associated with high-magnetic fields.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures. Our previous main claim that the pseudogap state of cuprates is inherently insulating was found to be erroneous and has been retracted; the paper now focuses on the log(1/T) resistivity divergence and its implication

Metal-to-Insulator Crossover in YBa_{2}Cu_{3}O_{y} Probed by Low-Temperature Quasiparticle Heat Transport

It was recently demonstrated that in La_{2-x}Sr_{x}CuO_{4} the magnetic-field (H) dependence of the low-temperature thermal conductivity \kappa up to 16 T reflects whether the normal state is a metal or an insulator. We measure the H dependence of \kappa in YBa_{2}Cu_{3}O_{y} (YBCO) at subkelvin temperatures for a wide doping range, and find that at low doping the \kappa(H) behavior signifies the change in the ground state in this system as well. Surprisingly, the critical doping is found to be located deeply inside the underdoped region, about the hole doping of 0.07 hole/Cu; this critical doping is apparently related to the stripe correlations as revealed by the in-plane resistivity anisotropy.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures; minor revision, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Let

Large magnetothermal conductivity in GdBaCo_{2}O_{5+x} single crystals

To study the effects of paramagnetic spins on phonons, both the in-plane and the c-axis heat transport of GdBaCo_{2}O_{5+x} (GBCO) single crystals are measured at low temperature down to 0.36 K and in magnetic field up to 16 T. It is found that the phonon heat transport is very strongly affected by the magnetic field and nearly 5 times increase of the thermal conductivity in several Tesla field is observed at 0.36 K. It appears that phonons are resonantly scattered by paramagnetic spins in zero field and the application of magnetic field removes such strong scattering, but the detailed mechanism is to be elucidated.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.