Field-tuned quantum critical point of antiferromagnetic metals

A magnetic field applied to a three-dimensional antiferromagnetic metal can destroy the long-range order and thereby induce a quantum critical point. Such field-induced quantum critical behavior is the focus of many recent experiments. We investigate theoretically the quantum critical behavior of clean antiferromagnetic metals subject to a static, spatially uniform external magnetic field. The external field does not only suppress (or induce in some systems) antiferromagnetism but also influences the dynamics of the order parameter by inducing spin precession. This leads to an exactly marginal correction to spin-fluctuation theory. We investigate how the interplay of precession and damping determines the specific heat, magnetization, magnetocaloric effect, susceptibility and scattering rates. We point out that the precession can change the sign of the leading \sqrt{T} correction to the specific heat coefficient c(T)/T and can induce a characteristic maximum in c(T)/T for certain parameters. We argue that the susceptibility \chi =\partial M/\partial B is the thermodynamic quantity which shows the most significant change upon approaching the quantum critical point and which gives experimental access to the (dangerously irrelevant) spin-spin interactions.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figure

The C/EBPβ LIP isoform rescues loss of C/EBPβ function in the mouse

The transcription factor C/EBPβ regulates hematopoiesis, bone, liver, fat, and skin homeostasis, and female reproduction. C/EBPβ protein expression from its single transcript occurs by alternative in-frame translation initiation at consecutive start sites to generate three isoforms, two long (LAP*, LAP) and one truncated (LIP), with the same C-terminal bZip dimerization domain. The long C/EBPβ isoforms are considered gene activators, whereas the LIP isoform reportedly acts as a dominant-negative repressor. Here, we tested the putative repressor functions of the C/EBPβ LIP isoform in mice by comparing monoallelic WT or LIP knockin mice with Cebpb knockout mice, in combination with monoallelic Cebpa mice. The C/EBPβ LIP isoform was sufficient to function in coordination with C/EBPα in murine development, adipose tissue and sebocyte differentiation, and female fertility. Thus, the C/EBPβ LIP isoform likely has more physiological functions than its currently known role as a dominant-negative inhibitor, which are more complex than anticipated

Magnetic-Field Induced Quantum Critical Point in YbRh2_2Si2_2

We report low-temperature calorimetric, magnetic and resistivity measurements on the antiferromagnetic (AF) heavy-fermion metal YbRh$_2$Si$_2$ (${T_N =}$ 70 mK) as a function of magnetic field $B$. While for fields exceeding the critical value ${B_{c0}}$ at which ${T_N\to0}$ the low temperature resistivity shows an ${AT^2}$ dependence, a ${1/(B-B_{c0})}$ divergence of ${A(B)}$ upon reducing $B$ to ${B_{c0}}$ suggests singular scattering at the whole Fermi surface and a divergence of the heavy quasiparticle mass. The observations are interpreted in terms of a new type of quantum critical point separating a weakly AF ordered from a weakly polarized heavy Landau-Fermi liquid state.Comment: accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Let

PATAXÓ: A Framework to Allow Updates Through XML Views

XML has become an important medium for data exchange, and is frequently used as an interface to (i.e., a view of) a relational database. Although a lot of work has been done on querying relational databases through XML views, the problem of updating relational databases through XML views has not received much attention. In this work, we map XML views expressed using a subset of XQuery to a corresponding set of relational views. Thus, we transform the problem of updating relational databases through XML views into a classical problem of updating relational databases through relational views. We then show how updates on the XML view are mapped to updates on the corresponding relational views. Existing work on updating relational views can then be leveraged to determine whether or not the relational views are updatable with respect to the relational updates, and if so, to translate the updates to the underlying relational database

Specific heat of heavy fermion CePd2Si2 in high magnetic fields

We report specific heat measurements on the heavy fermion compound CePd2Si2 in magnetic fields up to 16 T and in the temperature range 1.4-16 K. A sharp peak in the specific heat signals the antiferromagnetic transition at T_N ~ 9.3 K in zero field. The transition is found to shift to lower temperatures when a magnetic field is applied along the crystallographic a-axis, while a field applied parallel to the tetragonal c-axis does not affect the transition. The magnetic contribution to the specific heat below T_N is well described by a sum of a linear electronic term and an antiferromagnetic spin wave contribution. Just below T_N, an additional positive curvature, especially at high fields, arises most probably due to thermal fluctuations. The field dependence of the coefficient of the low temperature linear term, gamma_0, extracted from the fits shows a maximum at about 6 T, at the point where an anomaly was detected in susceptibility measurements. The relative field dependence of both T_N and the magnetic entropy at T_N scales as [1-(B/B_0)^2] for B // a, suggesting the disappearance of antiferromagnetism at B_0 ~ 42 T. The expected suppression of the antiferromagnetic transition temperature to zero makes the existence of a magnetic quantum critical point possible.Comment: to be published in Journal of Physics: Condensed Matte

Avoided Antiferromagnetic Order and Quantum Critical Point in CeCoIn5_5

We measured specific heat and resistivity of heavy fermion CeCoIn5 between the superconducting critical field $H_{c2} = 5 T$ and 9 T, with field in the [001] direction, and at temperatures down to 50mK. At 5T the data show Non Fermi Liquid behavior down to the lowest temperatures. At field above 8T the data exhibit crossover from the Fermi liquid to a Non Fermi Liquid behavior. We analyzed the scaling properties of the specific heat, and compared both resistivity and the specific heat with the predictions of a spin-fluctuation theory. Our analysis leads us to suggest that the NFL behavior is due to incipient antiferromagnetism (AF) in CeCoIn5, with the quantum critical point in the vicinity of the $H_{c2}$. Below $H_{c2}$ the AF phase which competes with the paramagnetic ground state is superseded by the superconducting transition.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data processing

The available and optimal methods for generating SAR imagery for NASA applications were identified. The SAR image quality and data processing requirements associated with these applications were studied. Mathematical operations and algorithms required to process sensor data into SAR imagery were defined. The architecture of SAR image formation processors was discussed, and technology necessary to implement the SAR data processors used in both general purpose and dedicated imaging systems was addressed