9,290 research outputs found
Critical point for the strong field magnetoresistance of a normal conductor/perfect insulator/perfect conductor composite with a random columnar microstructure
A recently developed self-consistent effective medium approximation, for
composites with a columnar microstructure, is applied to such a
three-constituent mixture of isotropic normal conductor, perfect insulator, and
perfect conductor, where a strong magnetic field {\bf B} is present in the
plane perpendicular to the columnar axis. When the insulating and perfectly
conducting constituents do not percolate in that plane, the
microstructure-induced in-plane magnetoresistance is found to saturate for
large {\bf B}, if the volume fraction of the perfect conductor is greater
than that of the perfect insulator . By contrast, if , that
magnetoresistance keeps increasing as without ever saturating. This
abrupt change in the macroscopic response, which occurs when , is a
critical point, with the associated critical exponents and scaling behavior
that are characteristic of such points. The physical reasons for the singular
behavior of the macroscopic response are discussed. A new type of percolation
process is apparently involved in this phenomenon.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur
Negative Magnetoresistance Produced by Hall Fluctuations in a Ferromagnetic Domain Structure
We present a model for a negative magnetoresistance (MR) that would develop
in a material with many ferromagnetic domains even if the individual domains
have no magnetoresistance and even if there is no boundary resistance. The
negative MR is due to a classical current-distortion effect arising from
spatial variations in the Hall conductivity, combined with a change in domain
structure due to an applied magnetic field. The negative MR can exceed 1000% if
the product of the carrier relaxation time and the internal magnetic field due
to spontaneous magnetization is sufficiently large.Comment: 3 pages, submitted to Appl. Phys. Let
New Method to Calculate Electrical Forces Acting on a Sphere in an Electrorheological Fluid
We describe a method to calculate the electrical force acting on a sphere in
a suspension of dielectric spheres in a host with a different dielectric
constant, under the assumption that a spatially uniform electric field is
applied. The method uses a spectral representation for the total electrostatic
energy of the composite. The force is expressed as a certain gradient of this
energy, which can be expressed in a closed analytic form rather than evaluated
as a numerical derivative. The method is applicable even when both the spheres
and the host have frequency-dependent dielectric functions and nonzero
conductivities, provided the system is in the quasistatic regime. In principle,
it includes all multipolar contributions to the force, and it can be used to
calculate multi-body as well as pairwise forces. We also present several
numerical examples, including host fluids with finite conductivities. The force
between spheres approaches the dipole-dipole limit, as expected, at large
separations, but departs drastically from that limit when the spheres are
nearly in contact. The force may also change sign as a function of frequency
when the host is a slightly conducting fluid.Comment: 29 pages, 8 figures, Accepted for Publication in Physical Review
Magnetoresistance of Three-Constituent Composites: Percolation Near a Critical Line
Scaling theory, duality symmetry, and numerical simulations of a random
network model are used to study the magnetoresistance of a
metal/insulator/perfect conductor composite with a disordered columnar
microstructure. The phase diagram is found to have a critical line which
separates regions of saturating and non-saturating magnetoresistance. The
percolation problem which describes this line is a generalization of
anisotropic percolation. We locate the percolation threshold and determine the
t = s = 1.30 +- 0.02, nu = 4/3 +- 0.02, which are the same as in
two-constituent 2D isotropic percolation. We also determine the exponents which
characterize the critical dependence on magnetic field, and confirm numerically
that nu is independent of anisotropy. We propose and test a complete scaling
description of the magnetoresistance in the vicinity of the critical line.Comment: Substantially revised version; description of behavior in finite
magnetic fields added. 7 pages, 7 figures, submitted to PR
Comment on "Optical Response of Strongly Coupled Nanopraticles in Dimer Arrays" (Phys. Rev. B 71(4), 045404, 2005)
I have re-calculated the extinction spectra of aggregates of two silver
nanospheres shown in Figs.~2 and 3 of Ref.~8. I have used the approximate
method of images according to Ref.~8 and an exact numerical technique. I have
found that the three sets of data (those I have obtained by the method of
images, the numerical results, and the results published in Ref.~8) do not
coincide. In this Comment, I discuss the reasons for these discrepancies and
the general applicability of the method of images to the quasi-static
electromagnetic problem of two interacting nanospheres.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Theory of Optical Transmission through Elliptical Nanohole Arrays
We present a theory which explains (in the quasistatic limit) the
experimentally observed [R. Gordon, {\it et al}, Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 92},
037401 (2004)] squared dependence of the depolarization ratio on the aspect
ratio of the holes, as well as other features of extraordinary light
transition. We calculated the effective dielectric tensor of a metal film
penetrated by elliptical cylindrical holes and found the extraordinarily light
transmission at special frequencies related to the surface plasmon resonances
of the composite film. We also propose to use the magnetic field for getting a
strong polarization effect, which depends on the ratio of the cyclotron to
plasmon frequencies.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Ordering in a frustrated pyrochlore antiferromagnet proximate to a spin liquid
We perform a general study of spin ordering on the pyrochlore lattice with a
3:1 proportionality of two spin polarizations. Equivalently, this describes
valence bond solid conformations of a quantum dimer model on the diamond
lattice. We determine the set of likely low temperature ordered phases, on the
assumption that the ordering is weak, i.e the system is close to a ``U(1)''
quantum spin liquid in which the 3:1 proportionality is maintained but the
spins are strongly fluctuating. The nature of the 9 ordered states we find is
determined by a ``projective symmetry'' analysis. All the phases exhibit
translational and rotational symmetry breaking, with an enlarged unit cell
containing 4 to 64 primitive cells of the underlying pyrochlore. The simplest
of the 9 phases is the same ``R'' state found earlier in a theoretical study of
the ordering on the magnetization plateau in the materials \cdaf and
\hgaf. We suggest that the spin/dimer model proposed therein undergoes a direct
transition from the spin liquid to the R state, and describe a field theory for
the universal properties of this critical point, at zero and non-zero
temperatures
Possible Observational Criteria for Distinguishing Brown Dwarfs from Planets
The difference in formation process between binary stars and planetary
systems is reflected in their composition as well as their orbital
architecture, particularly orbital eccentricity as a function of orbital
period. It is suggested here that this difference can be used as an
observational criterion to distinguish between brown dwarfs and planets.
Application of the orbital criterion suggests that with three possible
exceptions, all of the recently-discovered substellar companions discovered to
date may be brown dwarfs and not planets. These criterion may be used as a
guide for interpretation of the nature of sub-stellar mass companions to stars
in the future.Comment: LaTeX, 11 pages including 2 figures, accepted for publication in the
Astrophysical Journal Letter
Techniques for measuring atmospheric aerosols at the High Resolution Fly's Eye experiment
We describe several techniques developed by the High Resolution Fly's Eye
experiment for measuring aerosol vertical optical depth, aerosol horizontal
attenuation length, and aerosol phase function. The techniques are based on
measurements of side-scattered light generated by a steerable ultraviolet laser
and collected by an optical detector designed to measure fluorescence light
from cosmic-ray air showers. We also present a technique to cross-check the
aerosol optical depth measurement using air showers observed in stereo. These
methods can be used by future air fluorescence experiments.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astroparticle Physics Journal 16 pages, 9
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