51,771 research outputs found
Evolution of the Fermi surface of BiTeCl with pressure
We report measurements of Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations in the giant Rashba
semiconductor BiTeCl under applied pressures up to ~2.5 GPa. We observe two
distinct oscillation frequencies, corresponding to the Rashba-split inner and
outer Fermi surfaces. BiTeCl has a conduction band bottom that is split into
two sub-bands due to the strong Rashba coupling, resulting in two
spin-polarized conduction bands as well as a Dirac point. Our results suggest
that the chemical potential lies above this Dirac point, giving rise to two
Fermi surfaces. We use a simple two-band model to understand the pressure
dependence of our sample parameters. Comparing our results on BiTeCl to
previous results on BiTeI, we observe similar trends in both the chemical
potential and the Rashba splitting with pressure.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure
Cities in fiction: Perambulations with John Berger
This paper explores selected novels by John Berger in which cities play a central role. These cities are places, partially real and partially imagined, where memory, hope, and despair intersect. My reading of the novels enables me to trace important themes in recent discourses on the nature of contemporary capitalism, including notions of resistance and universality. I also show how Berger?s work points to a writing that can break free from the curious capacity of capitalism to absorb and feed of its critique
The Prompt Gamma-Ray and Afterglow Energies of Short-Duration Gamma-Ray Bursts
I present an analysis of the gamma-ray and afterglow energies of the complete
sample of 17 short duration GRBs with prompt X-ray follow-up. I find that 80%
of the bursts exhibit a linear correlation between their gamma-ray fluence and
the afterglow X-ray flux normalized to t=1 d, a proxy for the kinetic energy of
the blast wave ($F_{X,1}~F_{gamma}^1.01). An even tighter correlation is
evident between E_{gamma,iso} and L_{X,1} for the subset of 13 bursts with
measured or constrained redshifts. The remaining 20% of the bursts have values
of F_{X,1}/F_{gamma} that are suppressed by about three orders of magnitude,
likely because of low circumburst densities (Nakar 2007). These results have
several important implications: (i) The X-ray luminosity is generally a robust
proxy for the blast wave kinetic energy, indicating nu_X>nu_c and hence a
circumburst density n>0.05 cm^{-3}; (ii) most short GRBs have a narrow range of
gamma-ray efficiency, with ~0.85 and a spread of 0.14 dex; and
(iii) the isotropic-equivalent energies span 10^{48}-10^{52} erg. Furthermore,
I find tentative evidence for jet collimation in the two bursts with the
highest E_{gamma,iso}, perhaps indicative of the same inverse correlation that
leads to a narrow distribution of true energies in long GRBs. I find no clear
evidence for a relation between the overall energy release and host galaxy
type, but a positive correlation with duration may be present, albeit with a
large scatter. Finally, I note that the outlier fraction of 20% is similar to
the proposed fraction of short GRBs from dynamically-formed neutron star
binaries in globular clusters. This scenario may naturally explain the
bimodality of the F_{X,1}/F_{gamma} distribution and the low circumburst
densities without invoking speculative kick velocities of several hundred km/s.Comment: Submitted to ApJ; 9 pages, 2 figures, 1 tabl
The Singularity in Generic Gravitational Collapse Is Spacelike, Local, and Oscillatory
A longstanding conjecture by Belinskii, Khalatnikov, and Lifshitz that the
singularity in generic gravitational collapse is spacelike, local, and
oscillatory is explored analytically and numerically in spatially inhomogeneous
cosmological spacetimes. With a convenient choice of variables, it can be seen
analytically how nonlinear terms in Einstein's equations control the approach
to the singularity and cause oscillatory behavior. The analytic picture
requires the drastic assumption that each spatial point evolves toward the
singularity as an independent spatially homogeneous universe. In every case,
detailed numerical simulations of the full Einstein evolution equations support
this assumption.Comment: 7 pages includes 4 figures. Uses Revtex and psfig. Received
"honorable mention" in 1998 Gravity Research Foundation essay contest.
Submitted to Mod. Phys. Lett.
Coulomb interacting Dirac fermions in disordered graphene
We study interacting Dirac quasiparticles in disordered graphene and find
that an interplay between the unscreened Coulomb interactions and
pseudo-relativistic quasiparticle kinematics can be best revealed in the
ballistic regime, whereas in the diffusive limit the behavior is qualitatively
(albeit, not quantitatively) similar to that of the ordinary 2DEG with
parabolic dispersion. We calculate the quasiparticle width and density of
states that can be probed by photoemission, tunneling, and magnetization
measurements.Comment: Latex, 4 page
Description of nuclear systems with a self-consistent configuration-mixing approach. I: Theory, algorithm, and application to the C test nucleus
Although self-consistent multi-configuration methods have been used for
decades to address the description of atomic and molecular many-body systems,
only a few trials have been made in the context of nuclear structure. This work
aims at the development of such an approach to describe in a unified way
various types of correlations in nuclei, in a self-consistent manner where the
mean-field is improved as correlations are introduced. The goal is to reconcile
the usually set apart Shell-Model and Self-Consistent Mean-Field methods. This
approach is referred as "variational multiparticle-multihole configuration
mixing method". It is based on a double variational principle which yields a
set of two coupled equations that determine at the same time the expansion
coefficients of the many-body wave function and the single particle states. The
formalism is derived and discussed in a general context, starting from a
three-body Hamiltonian. Links to existing many-body techniques such as the
formalism of Green's functions are established. First applications are done
using the two-body D1S Gogny effective force. The numerical procedure is tested
on the C nucleus in order to study the convergence features of the
algorithm in different contexts. Ground state properties as well as
single-particle quantities are analyzed, and the description of the first
state is examined. This study allows to validate our numerical algorithm and
leads to encouraging results. In order to test the method further, we will
realize in the second article of this series, a systematic description of more
nuclei and observables obtained by applying the newly-developed numerical
procedure with the same Gogny force. As raised in the present work,
applications of the variational multiparticle-multihole configuration mixing
method will however ultimately require the use of an extended and more
constrained Gogny force.Comment: 22 pages, 18 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. C. v2:
minor corrections and references adde
The 'gated-diode' configuration in MOSFET's, a sensitive tool for characterizing hot-carrier degradation
This paper describes a new measurement technique, the forward gated-diode current characterized at low drain voltages to be applied in MOSFET's for investigating hot-carrier stress-induced defects at high spatial resolution. The generation/recombination current in the drain-to-substrate diode as a function of gate voltage, combined with two-dimensional numerical simulation, provides a sensitive tool for detecting the spatial distribution and density of interface defects. In the case of strong accumulation, additional information is obtained from interband tunneling processes occurring via interface defects. The various mechanisms for generating interface defects and fixed charges at variable stress conditions are discussed, showing that information complementary to that available from other methods is obtaine
Femtosecond data storage, processing and search using collective excitations of a macroscopic quantum state
An ultrafast paralell data processor is described in which amplitude mode
excitations of a charge density wave (CDW) are used to encode data on the
surface of a 1-T TaS_2 crystal. The data are written, manipulated and read
using parallel femtosecond laser pulse beams, and the operation of a database
search algorithm is demonstrated on a 2-element array.Comment: To be published in App. Phys. Let
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