589 research outputs found
Ophiolites in the Xing’an-Inner Mongolia accretionary belt of the CAOB: Implications for two cycles of seafloor spreading and accretionary orogenic events
The Xing'an-Inner Mongolia accretionary belt in the southeastern segment of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB) was produced by the long-lived subduction and eventual closure of the Paleo-Asian Ocean and by the convergence between the North China Craton and the Mongolian microcontinent. Two ophiolite belts have been recognized: the northern Erenhot-Hegenshan-Xi-Ujimqin ophiolite belt and the southern Solonker-Linxi ophiolite belt. Most basalts in the northern ophiolite belt exhibit characteristics of normal-type to enriched-type mid-ocean ridge basalt affinities with depleted Nd isotopic composition (εNd(t) > +5), comparable to modern Eastern Pacific mid-ocean ridge basalts. Most basaltic rocks in the southern belt show clear geochemical features of suprasubduction zone-type oceanic crust, probably formed in an arc/back-arc environment. The inferred back-arc extension along the Solonker-Linxi belt started at circa 280 Ma. Statistics of all the available age data for the ophiolites indicates two cycles of seafloor spreading/subduction, which gave rise to two main epochs of magmatic activity at 500–410 Ma and 360–220 Ma, respectively, with a gap of ~50 million years (Myr). The spatial and temporal distribution of the ophiolites and concurrent igneous rocks favor bilateral subduction toward the two continental margins in the convergence history, with final collision at ~230–220 Ma. In the whole belt, signals of continental collision and Himalayan-style mountain building are lacking. We thus conclude that the Xing'an-Inner Mongolia segment of the CAOB experienced two cycles of seafloor subduction, back-arc extension, and final “Appalachian-type” soft collision
Electronic properties of metal induced gap states at insulator/metal interfaces -- dependence on the alkali halide and the possibility of excitonic mechanism of superconductivity
Motivated from the experimental observation of metal induced gap states
(MIGS) at insulator/metal interfaces by Kiguchi {\it et al.} [Phys. Rev. Lett.
{\bf 90}, 196803 (2003)], we have theoretically investigated the electronic
properties of MIGS at interfaces between various alkali halides and a metal
represented by a jellium with the first-principles density functional method.
We have found that, on top of the usual evanescent state, MIGS generally have a
long tail on halogen sites with a -like character, whose penetration depth
() is as large as half the lattice constant of bulk alkali halides.
This implies that , while little dependent on the carrier density in
the jellium, is dominated by the lattice constant (hence by energy gap) of the
alkali halide, where . We also propose a possibility of the MIGS working favorably for the
exciton-mediated superconductivity.Comment: 7 pages, 9 figure
Quantum Phase Fluctuations Responsible for Pseudogap
The effect of ordering field phase fluctuations on the normal and
superconducting properties of a simple 2D model with a local four-fermion
attraction is studied. Neglecting the coupling between the spin and charge
degrees of freedom an analytical expression has been obtained for the fermion
spectral function as a single integral over a simple function. From this we
show that, as the temperature increases through the 2D critical temperature and
a nontrivial damping for a phase correlator develops, quantum fluctuations fill
the gap in the quasiparticle spectrum. Simultaneously the quasiparticle peaks
broaden significantly above the critical temperature, resembling the observed
pseudogap behavior in high-T_c superconductors.Comment: 5 pages, ReVTeX, 1 EPS figure; final version to appear in Physica
Polaronic Signatures in Mid-Infrared Spectra: Prediction for LaMnO3 and CaMnO3
Hole-doped LaMnO3 and electron-doped CaMnO3 form self-trapped electronic
states. The spectra of these states have been calculated using a two orbital
(Mn eg Jahn-Teller) model, from which the non-adiabatic optical conductivity
spectra are obtained. In both cases the optical spectrum contains weight in the
gap region, whose observation will indicate the self-trapped nature of the
carrier states. The predicted spectra are proportional to the concentration of
the doped carriers in the dilute regime, with coefficients calculated with no
further model parameters.Comment: 6 pages with 3 figures imbedde
The Puzzle of the Flyby Anomaly
Close planetary flybys are frequently employed as a technique to place
spacecraft on extreme solar system trajectories that would otherwise require
much larger booster vehicles or may not even be feasible when relying solely on
chemical propulsion. The theoretical description of the flybys, referred to as
gravity assists, is well established. However, there seems to be a lack of
understanding of the physical processes occurring during these dynamical
events. Radio-metric tracking data received from a number of spacecraft that
experienced an Earth gravity assist indicate the presence of an unexpected
energy change that happened during the flyby and cannot be explained by the
standard methods of modern astrodynamics. This puzzling behavior of several
spacecraft has become known as the flyby anomaly. We present the summary of the
recent anomalous observations and discuss possible ways to resolve this puzzle.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figure. Accepted for publication by Space Science Review
Non-perturbative effective field theory for two-leg antiferromagnetic spin ladders
We study the long wavelength limit of a spin 1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnetic
two-leg ladder, treating the interchain coupling in a non-perturbative way. We
perform a mean field analysis and then include exactly the fluctuations. This
allows for a discussion of the phase diagram of the system and provides an
effective field theory for the low energy excitations. The coset fermionic
Lagrangian obtained corresponds to a perturbed SU(4)_1/U(1) Conformal Field
Theory (CFT). This effective theory is naturally embedded in a SU(2)_2 x Z_2
CFT, where perturbations are easily identified in terms of conformal operators
in the two sectors. Crossed and zig-zag ladders are also discussed using the
same approach.Comment: 14 pages LaTeX, 5 PostScript figures included using epsfig.sty; minor
corrections and a few references adde
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