Coherent quantum phase slip

A hundred years after discovery of superconductivity, one fundamental prediction of the theory, the coherent quantum phase slip (CQPS), has not been observed. CQPS is a phenomenon exactly dual to the Josephson effect: whilst the latter is a coherent transfer of charges between superconducting contacts, the former is a coherent transfer of vortices or fluxes across a superconducting wire. In contrast to previously reported observations of incoherent phase slip, the CQPS has been only a subject of theoretical study. Its experimental demonstration is made difficult by quasiparticle dissipation due to gapless excitations in nanowires or in vortex cores. This difficulty might be overcome by using certain strongly disordered superconductors in the vicinity of the superconductor-insulator transition (SIT). Here we report the first direct observation of the CQPS in a strongly disordered indium-oxide (InOx) superconducting wire inserted in a loop, which is manifested by the superposition of the quantum states with different number of fluxes. Similarly to the Josephson effect, our observation is expected to lead to novel applications in superconducting electronics and quantum metrology.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figure

Quantum suppression of superconductivity in ultrathin nanowires

We report measurements on ultrathin (<10 nm) nanowires produced by coating carbon nanotubes with a superconducting amorphous MoGe alloy. We find that nanowires can be superconducting or insulating depending on their normal state resistance $R_{N}$ compared to $R_{q}=h/(2e)^{2}$ -- the quantum resistance for Cooper pairs. If $R_{N}< R_{q}$ the tunneling of quantum phase slips (QPS) is prohibited due to strong damping, and so the wires stay superconducting. The insulating state, observed if $R_{N}> R_{q}$, is explained in terms of proliferation of quantum phase slips and corresponding localization of Cooper pairs. The observed superconductor-insulator transition is analogous to the dissipative phase transition which takes place in Josephson Junctions at $R_{N}= R_{q}$ (Penttila et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. Vol.82, p.1004, 1999)Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publication in Natur

Quantum phase slip phenomenon in ultra-narrow superconducting nanorings

The smaller the system, typically - the higher is the impact of fluctuations. In narrow superconducting wires sufficiently close to the critical temperature Tc thermal fluctuations are responsible for the experimentally observable finite resistance. Quite recently it became possible to fabricate sub-10 nm superconducting structures, where the finite resistivity was reported within the whole range of experimentally obtainable temperatures. The observation has been associated with quantum fluctuations capable to quench zero resistivity in superconducting nanowires even at temperatures T-->0. Here we demonstrate that in tiny superconducting nanorings the same phenomenon is responsible for suppression of another basic attribute of superconductivity - persistent currents - dramatically affecting their magnitude, the period and the shape of the current-phase relation. The effect is of fundamental importance demonstrating the impact of quantum fluctuations on the ground state of a macroscopically coherent system, and should be taken into consideration in various nanoelectronic applications.Comment: 20 pages, 4 figure

On the frequentist coverage of Bayesian credible intervals for lower bounded means

For estimating a lower bounded location or mean parameter for a symmetric and logconcave density, we investigate the frequentist performance of the $100(1-\alpha)$ Bayesian HPD credible set associated with priors which are truncations of flat priors onto the restricted parameter space. Various new properties are obtained. Namely, we identify precisely where the minimum coverage is obtained and we show that this minimum coverage is bounded between $1-\frac{3\alpha}{2}$ and $1-\frac{3\alpha}{2}+\frac{\alpha^2}{1+\alpha}$; with the lower bound $1-\frac{3\alpha}{2}$ improving (for $\alpha \leq 1/3$) on the previously established ([9]; [8]) lower bound $\frac{1-\alpha}{1+\alpha}$. Several illustrative examples are given.Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/08-EJS292 the Electronic Journal of Statistics (http://www.i-journals.org/ejs/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

Advances in structure elucidation of small molecules using mass spectrometry

The structural elucidation of small molecules using mass spectrometry plays an important role in modern life sciences and bioanalytical approaches. This review covers different soft and hard ionization techniques and figures of merit for modern mass spectrometers, such as mass resolving power, mass accuracy, isotopic abundance accuracy, accurate mass multiple-stage MS(n) capability, as well as hybrid mass spectrometric and orthogonal chromatographic approaches. The latter part discusses mass spectral data handling strategies, which includes background and noise subtraction, adduct formation and detection, charge state determination, accurate mass measurements, elemental composition determinations, and complex data-dependent setups with ion maps and ion trees. The importance of mass spectral library search algorithms for tandem mass spectra and multiple-stage MS(n) mass spectra as well as mass spectral tree libraries that combine multiple-stage mass spectra are outlined. The successive chapter discusses mass spectral fragmentation pathways, biotransformation reactions and drug metabolism studies, the mass spectral simulation and generation of in silico mass spectra, expert systems for mass spectral interpretation, and the use of computational chemistry to explain gas-phase phenomena. A single chapter discusses data handling for hyphenated approaches including mass spectral deconvolution for clean mass spectra, cheminformatics approaches and structure retention relationships, and retention index predictions for gas and liquid chromatography. The last section reviews the current state of electronic data sharing of mass spectra and discusses the importance of software development for the advancement of structure elucidation of small molecules