Electron reflectivity measurements of Ag adatom concentrations on W(110)

The density of two-dimensional Ag adatom gases on W(110) is determined by monitoring local electron reflectivity using low energy electron microscopy (LEEM). This method of adatom concentration measurement can detect changes in adatom density at least as small as 10$^{-3}$ ML for a $\mu$m size region of the surface. Using this technique at high temperatures, we measure the sublimation rates of Ag adatoms on W(110). At lower temperatures, where Ag adatoms condense into monolayer islands, we determine the temperature dependence of the density of adatoms coexisting with this condensed phase and compare it with previous estimates.Comment: Presented at the ECOSS 23 Conference (Berlin 2005

Nanoscale periodicity in stripe-forming systems at high temperature: Au/W(110)

We observe using low-energy electron microscopy the self-assembly of monolayer-thick stripes of Au on W(110) near the transition temperature between stripes and the non-patterned (homogeneous) phase. We demonstrate that the amplitude of this Au stripe phase decreases with increasing temperature and vanishes at the order-disorder transition (ODT). The wavelength varies much more slowly with temperature and coverage than theories of stress-domain patterns with sharp phase boundaries would predict, and maintains a finite value of about 100 nm at the ODT. We argue that such nanometer-scale stripes should often appear near the ODT.Comment: 5 page

Metallic Ferromagnetism in the Kondo Lattice

Metallic magnetism is both ancient and modern, occurring in such familiar settings as the lodestone in compass needles and the hard drive in computers. Surprisingly, a rigorous theoretical basis for metallic ferromagnetism is still largely missing. The Stoner approach perturbatively treates Coulomb interactions when the latter need to be large, while the Nagaoka approach incorporates thermodynamically negligible electrons into a half-filled band. Here, we show that the ferromagnetic order of the Kondo lattice is amenable to an asymptotically exact analysis over a range of interaction parameters. In this ferromagnetic phase, the conduction electrons and local moments are strongly coupled but the Fermi surface does not enclose the latter (i.e. it is small). Moreover, non-Fermi liquid behavior appears over a range of frequencies and temperatures. Our results provide the basis to understand some long-standing puzzles in the ferromagnetic heavy fermion metals, and raises the prospect for a new class of ferromagnetic quantum phase transitions.Comment: 21 pages, 9 figures, including Supporting Informatio

Determining the structure of Ru(0001) from low-energy electron diffraction of a single terrace

While a perfect hcp (0001) surface has three-fold symmetry, the diffraction patterns commonly obtained are six-fold symmetric. This apparent change in symmetry occurs because on a stepped surface, the atomic layers on adjacent terraces are rotated by 180 degrees. Here we use a Low-Energy Electron Microscope to acquire the three-fold diffraction pattern from a single hcp Ru terrace and measure the intensity-vs-energy curves for several diffracted beams. By means of multiple scattering calculations fitted to the experimental data with a Pendry R-factor of 0.077, we find that the surface is contracted by 3.5(+-0.9) at 456 K.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures. Corrected some typos, added more details. Accepted for publication in Surface Science (Letters

Algebras of Toeplitz operators on the n-dimensional unit ball

We study $C^*$-algebras generated by Toeplitz operators acting on the standard weighted Bergman space $\mathcal{A}_{\lambda}^2(\mathbb{B}^n)$ over the unit ball $\mathbb{B}^n$ in $\mathbb{C}^n$. The symbols $f_{ac}$ of generating operators are assumed to be of a certain product type, see (\ref{Introduction_form_of_the_symbol}). By choosing $a$ and $c$ in different function algebras $\mathcal{S}_a$ and $\mathcal{S}_c$ over lower dimensional unit balls $\mathbb{B}^{\ell}$ and $\mathbb{B}^{n-\ell}$, respectively, and by assuming the invariance of $a\in \mathcal{S}_a$ under some torus action we obtain $C^*$-algebras $\boldsymbol{\mathcal{T}}_{\lambda}(\mathcal{S}_a, \mathcal{S}_c)$ whose structural properties can be described. In the case of $k$-quasi-radial functions $\mathcal{S}_a$ and bounded uniformly continuous or vanishing oscillation symbols $\mathcal{S}_c$ we describe the structure of elements from the algebra $\boldsymbol{\mathcal{T}}_{\lambda}(\mathcal{S}_a, \mathcal{S}_c)$, derive a list of irreducible representations of $\boldsymbol{\mathcal{T}}_{\lambda}(\mathcal{S}_a, \mathcal{S}_c)$, and prove completeness of this list in some cases. Some of these representations originate from a ``quantization effect'', induced by the representation of $\mathcal{A}_{\lambda}^2(\mathbb{B}^n)$ as the direct sum of Bergman spaces over a lower dimensional unit ball with growing weight parameter. As an application we derive the essential spectrum and index formulas for matrix-valued operators

Safety and tolerability of seasonal ultra-rush, high-dose sublingual-swallow immunotherapy in allergic rhinitis to grass and tree pollens: an observational study in 193 children and adolescents

We conducted a large observational study in 193 children and adolescents with allergic rhinitis due to grass or tree pollens to evaluate the safety and tolerability of an ultrarush high-dose sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) regimen reaching a maintenance dose of 300 index of reactivity within 90 minutes

Sequentializing Parameterized Programs

We exhibit assertion-preserving (reachability preserving) transformations from parameterized concurrent shared-memory programs, under a k-round scheduling of processes, to sequential programs. The salient feature of the sequential program is that it tracks the local variables of only one thread at any point, and uses only O(k) copies of shared variables (it does not use extra counters, not even one counter to keep track of the number of threads). Sequentialization is achieved using the concept of a linear interface that captures the effect an unbounded block of processes have on the shared state in a k-round schedule. Our transformation utilizes linear interfaces to sequentialize the program, and to ensure the sequential program explores only reachable states and preserves local invariants.Comment: In Proceedings FIT 2012, arXiv:1207.348

Fluctuation-induced first-order phase transition in Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya helimagnets

Two centuries of research on phase transitions have repeatedly highlighted the importance of critical fluctuations that abound in the vicinity of a critical point. They are at the origin of scaling laws obeyed by thermodynamic observables close to second-order phase transitions resulting in the concept of universality classes, that is of paramount importance for the study of organizational principles of matter. Strikingly, in case such soft fluctuations are too abundant they may alter the nature of the phase transition profoundly; the system might evade the critical state altogether by undergoing a discontinuous first-order transition into the ordered phase. Fluctuation-induced first-order transitions have been discussed broadly and are germane for superconductors, liquid crystals, or phase transitions in the early universe, but clear experimental confirmations remain scarce. Our results from neutron scattering and thermodynamics on the model Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya (DM) helimagnet (HM) MnSi show that such a fluctuation-induced first-order transition is realized between its paramagnetic and HM state with remarkable agreement between experiment and a theory put forward by Brazovskii. While our study clarifies the nature of the HM phase transition in MnSi that has puzzled scientists for several decades, more importantly, our conclusions entirely based on symmetry arguments are also relevant for other DM-HMs with only weak cubic magnetic anisotropies. This is in particular noteworthy in light of a wide range of recent discoveries that show that DM helimagnetism is at the heart of problems such as topological magnetic order, multiferroics, and spintronics.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figures, 2 table