442 research outputs found
Monopole ordered phases in dipolar and nearest-neighbours Ising pyrochlore: from spin ice to the "all-in--all-out" antiferromagnet
We study Ising pyrochlores by means of Monte Carlo simulations. We cover a
set of exchange constants ranging from the frustrated ferromagnetic case
(spin-ice) to the fully-ordered "all-in--all-out" antiferromagnet in the
dipolar model, reinterpreting the results --as in an ionic system-- in terms of
a temperature vs. magnetic charge density phase diagram. In spite of its spin
nature and the presence of both double and single non-conserved magnetic
charges, the dipolar model gives place to a phase diagram which is quite
comparable with those previously obtained for on-lattice systems of electric
charges, and on spin ice models with conserved number of single magnetic
charges. The contrast between these systems, to which we add results from the
nearest-neighbours model, put forward other features of our phase diagram
--notably, a monopole fluid with charge order at high monopole densities that
persists up to arbitrarily high temperatures-- that can only be explained
taking into account construction constraints forced by the underlying spin
degrees of freedom.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figure
Scaling behavior of jamming fluctuations upon random sequential adsorption
It is shown that the fluctuations of the jamming coverage upon Random
Sequential Adsorption (), decay with the lattice size
according to the power-law , with
, where is the dimension of the substrate and
is the fractal dimension of the set of sites belonging to the
substrate where the RSA process actually takes place. This result is in
excellent agreement with the figure recently reported by Vandewalle {\it et al}
({\it Eur. Phys. J.} B. {\bf 14}, 407 (2000)), namely for the
RSA of needles with and , that gives . Furthermore,
our prediction is in excellent agreement with different previous numerical
results. The derived relationships are also confirmed by means of extensive
numerical simulations applied to the RSA of dimers on both stochastic and
deterministic fractal substrates.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures. To appear in Eur. Phys. J. B (Rapid note) (2003
Thermodynamics of the classical spin-ice model with nearest neighbour interactions using the Wang-Landau algorithm
In this article we study the classical nearest-neighbour spin-ice model
(nnSI) by means of Monte Carlo simulations, using the Wang-Landau algorithm.
The nnSI describes several of the salient features of the spin-ice materials.
Despite its simplicity it exhibits a remarkably rich behaviour. The model has
been studied using a variety of techniques, thus it serves as an ideal
benchmark to test the capabilities of the Wang Landau algorithm in magnetically
frustrated systems. We study in detail the residual entropy of the nnSI and, by
introducing an applied magnetic field in two different crystallographic
directions ([111] and [100],) we explore the physics of the kagome-ice phase,
the transition to full polarisation, and the three dimensional Kasteleyn
transition. In the latter case, we discuss how additional constraints can be
added to the Hamiltonian, by taking into account a selective choice of states
in the partition function and, then, show how this choice leads to the
realization of the ideal Kasteleyn transition in the system.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figure
Rigid-Band Shift of the Fermi Level in a Strongly Correlated Metal: Sr(2-y)La(y)RuO(4)
We report a systematic study of electron doping of Sr2RuO4 by non-isovalent
substitution of La^(3+) for Sr^(2+). Using a combination of de Haas-van Alphen
oscillations, specific heat, and resistivity measurements, we show that
electron doping leads to a rigid-band shift of the Fermi level corresponding to
one doped electron per La ion, with constant many-body quasiparticle mass
enhancement over the band mass. The susceptibility spectrum is substantially
altered and enhanced by the doping but this has surprisingly little effect on
the strength of the unconventional superconducting pairing.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
An intermediate state between the kagome-ice and the fully polarized state in DyTiO
DyTiO is at present the cleanest example of a spin-ice material.
Previous theoretical and experimental work on the first-order transition
between the kagome-ice and the fully polarized state has been taken as a
validation for the dipolar spin-ice model. Here we investigate in further depth
this phase transition using ac-susceptibility and dc-magnetization, and compare
this results with Monte-Carlo simulations and previous magnetization and
specific heat measurements. We find signatures of an intermediate state between
the kagome-ice and full polarization. This signatures are absent in current
theoretical models used to describe spin-ice materials.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure
The n-acetyl phenylalanine glucosamine derivative attenuates the inflammatory/catabolic environment in a chondrocyte-synoviocyte co-culture system
Osteoarthritis (OA), the most prevalent degenerative joint disease, still lacks a true disease-modifying therapy. The involvement of the NF-κB pathway and its upstream activating kinases in OA pathogenesis has been recognized for many years. The ability of the N-acetyl phenylalanine glucosamine derivative (NAPA) to increase anabolism and reduce catabolism via inhibition of IKKα kinase has been previously observed in vitro and in vivo. The present study aims to confirm the chondroprotective effects of NAPA in an in vitro model of joint OA established with primary cells, respecting both the crosstalk between chondrocytes and synoviocytes and their phenotypes. This model satisfactorily reproduces some features of the previously investigated DMM model, such as the prominent induction of ADAMTS-5 upon inflammatory stimulation. Both gene and protein expression analysis indicated the ability of NAPA to counteract key cartilage catabolic enzymes (ADAMTS-5) and effectors (MCP-1). Molecular analysis showed the ability of NAPA to reduce IKKα nuclear translocation and H3Ser10 phosphorylation, thus inhibiting IKKα transactivation of NF-κB signalling, a pivotal step in the NF-κB-dependent gene expression of some of its targets. In conclusion, our data confirm that NAPA could truly act as a disease-modifying drug in OA
Formation of a Nematic Fluid at High Fields in Sr3Ru2O7
In principle, a complex assembly of strongly interacting electrons can
self-organise into a wide variety of collective states, but relatively few such
states have been identified in practice. We report that, in the close vicinity
of a metamagnetic quantum critical point, high purity Sr3Ru2O7 possesses a
large magnetoresistive anisotropy, consistent with the existence of an
electronic nematic fluid. We discuss a striking phenomenological similarity
between our observations and those made in high purity two-dimensional electron
fluids in GaAs devices.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, 11 extra pages of supplementary informatio
Multiple first-order metamagnetic transitions and quantum oscillations in ultrapure
We present measurements on ultra clean single crystals of the bilayered
ruthenate metal Sr3Ru2O7, which has a magnetic-field-tuned quantum critical
point. Quantum oscillations of differing frequencies can be seen in the
resistivity both below and above its metamagnetic transition. This frequency
shift corresponds to a small change in the Fermi surface volume that is
qualitatively consistent with the small moment change in the magnetisation
across the metamagnetic transition. Very near the metamagnetic field, unusual
behaviour is seen. There is a strong enhancement of the resistivity in a narrow
field window, with a minimum in the resistivity as a function of temperature
below 1 K that becomes more pronounced as the disorder level decreases. The
region of anomalous behaviour is bounded at low temperatures by two first-order
phase transitions. The implications of the results are discussed. PACS:
68.35.Rh, 71.27.+a, 72.15.-v, 74.70.PqComment: 12 pages 4 figures, submitte
Correlation between wearable inertial sensor data and standardised Parkinson's disease axial impairment measures using machine learning
Wearable sensors represent a valuable means for monitoring motion signs and symptoms of Parkinson’s disease (PD). In this paper, we explore the potential of a single inertial sensor to yield information correlated to the patient’s subjective perception of axial motion impairment during daily activities. This latter is expressed using as a relevant metric the sum of MDS-UPDRS items 2.11-2.13. Methods: thirty-one patients with PD were enrolled in this study, and asked to perform a timed-up-and-go test while wearing an inertial sensor on their thigh. Several time- and frequency-domain features were extracted from the inertial signals. They were fed to a random forest regression model for the prediction of the axial impairment metric. The model was optimized using 10-fold cross-validation and performance were assessed using leave-one-subject-out test. Results: Pearson correlation coefficient with the addressed metric of 0.76 (0.86) and mean absolute error of 1.70 (1.52) were obtained in patients under (not under) dopaminergic therapy. Moreover, moderate to strong correlations were found between the predicted score and some important disease progression, axial impairment, and motor performance metrics. Conclusion: a single wearable inertial sensor may be used for assessing motor disabilities of patients with PD
The de Haas-van Alphen effect across the metamagnetic transition in SrRuO
We report a study of the de Haas-van Alphen (dHvA) effect on the itinerant
metamagnet SrRuO. Extremely high sample purity allows the
observation of dHvA oscillations both above and below the metamagnetic
transition field of 7.9 T. The quasiparticle masses are fairly large away from
the transition, and are enhanced by up to an extra factor of three as the
transition is approached, but the Fermi surface topography change is quite
small. The results are qualitatively consistent with a field-induced Stoner
transition in which the mass enhancement is the result of critical
fluctuations.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
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