Superconducting gap of overdoped Tl2Ba2CuO6+d observed by Raman scattering

We report Raman scattering spectra for single crystals of overdoped Tl2Ba2CuO6+d (Tl-2201) at low temperatures. It was observed that the pair-breaking peaks in A1g and B1g spectra radically shift to lower energy with carrier doping. We interpret it as s-wave component mixing into d-wave, although the crystal structure is tetragonal. Since similar phenomena were observed also in YBa2Cu3Oy and Bi2Sr2CaCu2Oz, we conclude that s-wave mixing is a common property for overdoped high-Tc superconductors.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, proceedings of SNS200

Near term measurements with 21 cm intensity mapping: neutral hydrogen fraction and BAO at z<2

It is shown that 21 cm intensity mapping could be used in the near term to make cosmologically useful measurements. Large scale structure could be detected using existing radio telescopes, or using prototypes for dedicated redshift survey telescopes. This would provide a measure of the mean neutral hydrogen density, using redshift space distortions to break the degeneracy with the linear bias. We find that with only 200 hours of observing time on the Green Bank Telescope, the neutral hydrogen density could be measured to 25% precision at redshift 0.54<z<1.09. This compares favourably to current measurements, uses independent techniques, and would settle the controversy over an important parameter which impacts galaxy formation studies. In addition, a 4000 hour survey would allow for the detection of baryon acoustic oscillations, giving a cosmological distance measure at 3.5% precision. These observation time requirements could be greatly reduced with the construction of multiple pixel receivers. Similar results are possible using prototypes for dedicated cylindrical telescopes on month time scales, or SKA pathfinder aperture arrays on day time scales. Such measurements promise to improve our understanding of these quantities while beating a path for future generations of hydrogen surveys.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev. D. Addressed reviewer comments. Changed figure format, added more detailed technical discussion, and added forecasts for aperture arrays. Added references

Universal observation of multiple order parameters in cuprate superconductors

The temperature dependence of the London penetration depth \lambda was measured for an untwined single crystal of YBa_2Cu_3O_{7-\delta} along the three principal crystallographic directions (a, b, and c). Both in-plane components (\lambda_a and \lambda_b) show an inflection point in their temperature dependence which is absent in the component along the c-direction (\lambda_c). The data provide convincing evidence that the in-plane superconducting order parameter is a mixture of s+d-wave symmetry whereas it is exclusively s-wave along the c-direction. In conjunction with previous results it is concluded that coupled s+d-order parameters are universal and intrinsic to cuprate superconductors.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Dispersion of Magnetic Excitations in Superconducting Optimally Doped YBa_2Cu_3O_6.95

Detailed neutron scattering measurements of YBa_2Cu_3O_6.95 found that the resonance peak and incommensurate magnetic scattering induced by superconductivity represent the same physical phenomenon: two dispersive branches that converge near 41 meV and the in-plane wave-vector q_af=(pi/a, pi/a) to form the resonance peak. One branch has a circular symmetry around q_af and quadratic downward dispersion from ~41 meV to the spin gap of 33+-1meV. The other, of lower intensity, disperses from ~41 meV to at least 55 meV. Our results exclude a quartet of vertical incommensurate rods in q-w space expected from spin waves produced by dynamical charge stripes as an origin of the observed incommensurate scattering in optimally-doped YBCO.Comment: Version 3: Author change. Changes made throughout the text and minor changes in figures, Model parameters slightly changed after a small error in the calculation was discovere

The centrality dependence of v2/epsilon: the ideal hydro limit and eta/s

The large elliptic flow observed at RHIC is considered to be evidence for almost perfect liquid behavior of the strongly coupled quark-gluon plasma produced in the collisions. In these proceedings we present a two parameter fit for the centrality dependence of the elliptic flow scaled by the spatial eccentricity. We show by comparing to viscous hydrodynamical calculations that these two parameters are in good approximation proportional to the shear viscosity over entropy ratio and the ideal hydro limit of the ratio v2/epsilon.Comment: 4 pages, 8 figures - To appear in the conference proceedings for Quark Matter 2009, March 30 - April 4, Knoxville, Tennessee - final version without line number

Quenching and Tomography from RHIC to LHC

We compare fully perturbative and fully nonperturbative pictures of high-pT energy loss calculations to the first results from LHC. While over-suppressed compared to published ALICE data, parameter-free pQCD predictions based on the WHDG energy loss model constrained to RHIC data simultaneously describe well the preliminary CMS hadron suppression, ATLAS charged hadron v2, and ALICE D meson suppression; we also provide for future reference WHDG predictions for B meson RAA. However, energy loss calculations based on AdS/CFT also qualitatively describe well the RHIC pion and non-photonic electron suppression and LHC charged hadron suppression. We propose the double ratio of charm to bottom quark RAA will qualitatively distinguish between these two energy loss pictures.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures. Proceedings for Quark Matter 201

Superconducting electronic state in optimally doped YBa2Cu3O7-d observed with laser-excited angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy

Low energy electronic structure of optimally doped YBa2Cu3O7-d is investigated using laser-excited angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. The surface state and the CuO chain band that usually overlap the CuO2 plane derived bands are not detected, thus enabling a clear observation of the bulk superconducting state. The observed bilayer splitting of the Fermi surface is ~0.08 angstrom^{-1} along the (0,0)-(pi,pi) direction, significantly larger than Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+d. The kink structure of the band dispersion reflecting the renormalization effect at ~60 meV shows up similarly as in other hole-doped cuprates. The momentum-dependence of the superconducting gap shows d_{x^2-y^2}-wave like amplitude, but exhibits a nonzero minimum of ~12 meV along the (0,0)-(pi,pi) direction. Possible origins of such an unexpected "nodeless" gap behavior are discussed.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figures; revised version accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Pressure dependence of the upper critical field of MgB2 and of YNi2B2C

We present measurements of H$_{c2}(T)$ under pressure in MgB$_2$ and in YNi$_2$B$_2$C. The changes in the shape of H$_{c2}(T)$ are interpreted within current models and show the evolution of the main Fermi surface velocities $v_F$ and electron-phonon coupling parameters $\lambda$ with pressure. In MgB$_2$ the electron-phonon coupling strength of the nearly two dimensional $\sigma$ band, responsible for the high critical temperature, is more affected by pressure than the $\pi$ band coupling, and the hole doping of the $\sigma$ band decreases. In YNi$_2$B$_2$C, the peculiar positive curvature of H$_{c2}(T)$ is weakened by pressure.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure