1,584 research outputs found
Full spin switch effect for the superconducting current in a superconductor/ferromagnet thin film heterostructure
Superconductor/ferromagnet (S/F) proximity effect theory predicts that the
superconducting critical temperature of the F1/F2/S or F1/S/F2 trilayers for
the parallel orientation of the F1 and F2 magnetizations is smaller than for
the antiparallel one. This suggests a possibility of a controlled switching
between the superconducting and normal states in the S layer. Here, using the
spin switch design F1/F2/S theoretically proposed by Oh et al. [Appl. Phys.
Lett. 71, 2376 (1997)], that comprises a ferromagnetic bilayer separated by a
non-magnetic metallic spacer layer as a ferromagnetic component, and an
ordinary superconductor as the second interface component, we have successfully
realized a full spin switch effect for the superconducting current.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Spin pseudogap in Ni-doped SrCuO2
The S=1/2 spin chain material SrCuO2 doped with 1% S=1 Ni-impurities is
studied by inelastic neutron scattering. At low temperatures, the spectrum
shows a pseudogap \Delta ~ 8 meV, absent in the parent compound, and not
related to any structural phase transition. The pseudogap is shown to be a
generic feature of quantum spin chains with dilute defects. A simple model
based on this idea quantitatively accounts for the exprimental data measured in
the temperature range 2-300 K, and allows to represent the momentum-integrated
dynamic structure factor in a universal scaling form.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
The Effect of Coherent Structures on Stochastic Acceleration in MHD Turbulence
We investigate the influence of coherent structures on particle acceleration
in the strongly turbulent solar corona. By randomizing the Fourier phases of a
pseudo-spectral simulation of isotropic MHD turbulence (Re ), and
tracing collisionless test protons in both the exact-MHD and phase-randomized
fields, it is found that the phase correlations enhance the acceleration
efficiency during the first adiabatic stage of the acceleration process. The
underlying physical mechanism is identified as the dynamical MHD alignment of
the magnetic field with the electric current, which favours parallel
(resistive) electric fields responsible for initial injection. Conversely, the
alignment of the magnetic field with the bulk velocity weakens the acceleration
by convective electric fields - \bfu \times \bfb at a non-adiabatic stage of
the acceleration process. We point out that non-physical parallel electric
fields in random-phase turbulence proxies lead to artificial acceleration, and
that the dynamical MHD alignment can be taken into account on the level of the
joint two-point function of the magnetic and electric fields, and is therefore
amenable to Fokker-Planck descriptions of stochastic acceleration.Comment: accepted for publication in Ap
X-ray constraints on the fraction of obscured AGN at high accretion luminosities
The wide-area XMM-XXL X-ray survey is used to explore the fraction of
obscured AGN at high accretion luminosities, , and out to redshift . The sample covers an area
of about and provides constraints on the space density of
powerful AGN over a wide range of neutral hydrogen column densities extending
beyond the Compton-thick limit, . The fraction
of obscured Compton-thin () AGN is estimated
to be for luminosities
independent of redshift. For less luminous sources the fraction of obscured
Compton-thin AGN increases from at to at
. Studies that select AGN in the infrared via template fits to the
observed Spectral Energy Distribution of extragalactic sources estimate space
densities at high accretion luminosities consistent with the XMM-XXL
constraints. There is no evidence for a large population of AGN (e.g. heavily
obscured) identified in the infrared and missed at X-ray wavelengths. We
further explore the mid-infrared colours of XMM-XXL AGN as a function of
accretion luminosity, column density and redshift. The fraction of XMM-XXL
sources that lie within the mid-infrared colour wedges defined in the
literature to select AGN is primarily a function of redshift. This fraction
increases from about 20-30% at z=0.25 to about 50-70% at .Comment: MNRAS accepte
The X-ray luminosity function of Active Galactic Nuclei in the redshift interval z=3-5
We combine deep X-ray survey data from the Chandra observatory and the
wide-area/shallow XMM-XXL field to estimate the AGN X-ray luminosity function
in the redshift range z=3-5. The sample consists of nearly 340 sources with
either photometric (212) or spectroscopic (128) redshift in the above range.
The combination of deep and shallow survey fields provides a luminosity
baseline of three orders of magnitude, Lx(2-10keV)~1e43-1e46erg/s at z>3. We
follow a Bayesian approach to determine the binned AGN space density and
explore their evolution in a model-independent way. Our methodology accounts
for Poisson errors in the determination of X-ray fluxes and uncertainties in
photometric redshift estimates. We demonstrate that the latter is essential for
unbiased measurement of space densities. We find that the AGN X-ray luminosity
function evolves strongly between the redshift intervals z=3-4 and z=4-5. There
is also suggestive evidence that the amplitude of this evolution is luminosity
dependent. The space density of AGN with Lx<1e45erg/s drops by a factor of 5
between the redshift intervals above, while the evolution of brighter AGN
appears to be milder. Comparison of our X-ray luminosity function with that of
UV/optical selected QSOs at similar redshifts shows broad agreement at bright
luminosities, Lx>1e45erg/s. The faint-end slope of UV/optical luminosity
functions however, is steeper than for X-ray selected AGN. This implies that
the type-I AGN fraction increases with decreasing luminosity at z>3, opposite
to trends established at lower redshift. We also assess the significance of AGN
in keeping the hydrogen ionised at high redshift. Our X-ray luminosity function
yields ionising photon rate densities that are insufficient to keep the
Universe ionised at redshift z>4. A source of uncertainty in this calculation
is the escape fraction of UV photons for X-ray selected AGN.Comment: MNRAS accepte
Charge and nematic orders in AFe2As2 (A = Rb, Cs) superconductors
We discuss the results of 75As nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) and muon spin relaxation measurements in AFe2As2 (A = Cs, Rb) iron-based superconductors. We point out that the crossover detected in the nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate 1/T1 (around 150 K in RbFe2As2 and around 75 K in CsFe2As2), from a high temperature nearly localized to a low temperature delocalized behavior, is associated with the onset of an inhomogeneous local charge distribution causing the broadening or even the splitting of the NQR spectra as well as an increase in the muon spin relaxation rate. We argue that this crossover, occurring at temperatures well above the phase transition to the nematic long-range order, is due to a charge disproportionation at the Fe sites induced by competing Hund’s and Coulomb couplings. In RbFe2As2 around 35 K, far below that crossover temperature, we observe a peak in the NQR 1/T1 which is possibly associated with the critical slowing down of electronic nematic fluctuations on approaching the transition to the nematic long-range order
Manifestation of New Interference Effects in Superconductor/Ferromagnet Spin Valve
Superconductor/ferromagnet (S/F) spin valve effect theories based on the S/F
proximity phenomenon assume that the superconducting transition temperature Tc
of F1/F2/S or F1/S/F2 trilayers for parallel magnetizations of the F1- and
F2-layers (TcP) are smaller than for the antiparallel orientations (TcAP).
Here, we report for CoOx/Fe1/Cu/Fe2/In multilayered systems with varying
Fe2-layer thickness the sign-changing oscillating behavior of the spin valve
effect \Delta Tc=TcAP-TcP. Our measurements revealed the full direct spin valve
effect with TcAP>TcP for Fe2-layer thickness dFe2<1 nm and the full inverse
(TcAP<TcAP) spin valve effect for dFe2>=1 nm. Interference of Cooper pair wave
functions reflected from both surfaces of the Fe2-layer appear as the most
probable reason for the observed behavior of \Delta Tc.Comment: Accepted for publication in PR
Inherent-Structure Dynamics and Diffusion in Liquids
The self-diffusion constant D is expressed in terms of transitions among the
local minima of the potential (inherent structure, IS) and their correlations.
The formulae are evaluated and tested against simulation in the supercooled,
unit-density Lennard-Jones liquid. The approximation of uncorrelated
IS-transition (IST) vectors, D_{0}, greatly exceeds D in the upper temperature
range, but merges with simulation at reduced T ~ 0.50. Since uncorrelated IST
are associated with a hopping mechanism, the condition D ~ D_{0} provides a new
way to identify the crossover to hopping. The results suggest that theories of
diffusion in deeply supercooled liquids may be based on weakly correlated IST.Comment: submitted to PR
"Driven to distraction?" Children's experiences of car travel
This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of an article published in volume, 4, issue 1, pages 59-76 in Mobilities 2009. Copyright @ 2009 Taylor & Francis, available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17450100802657962.Cars have become increasingly significant features in the lives of many children and adults in the UK and elsewhere. Whilst there is a growing body of research considering how adults experience automobility, that is the increasingly central role of cars within societies, there has been little equivalent research exploring children's perspectives. Drawing upon a variety of methods including personal diaries, photographs, in‐depth interviews and surveys amongst schools within Buckinghamshire and North London, the paper contributes to filling this gap in existing research through exploring how cars are not only journey spaces for children, but are also sites for play, relaxation, homework, companionship, technology and the consumption of commodities. Using a Foucauldian analysis of power, insights into wider familial processes relating to mobility are provided by exploring how cars are sites of conflicting power relations between parents and children. The paper also explores how children's everyday experiences of cars were framed by wider sets of power relations, including car corporations which design and manufacture these spaces, and the role of capital which commodifies everyday activities in cars. In doing so, the paper challenges existing research on automobility for only focusing upon adults' experiences of cars and begins to theorise a more inclusive account of automobility which incorporates children and young people
Non-adiabatic and time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy for molecular systems
We quantify the non-adiabatic contributions to the vibronic sidebands of
equilibrium and explicitly time-resolved non-equilibrium photoelectron spectra
for a vibronic model system of Trans-Polyacetylene. Using exact
diagonalization, we directly evaluate the sum-over-states expressions for the
linear-response photocurrent. We show that spurious peaks appear in the
Born-Oppenheimer approximation for the vibronic spectral function, which are
not present in the exact spectral function of the system. The effect can be
traced back to the factorized nature of the Born-Oppenheimer initial and final
photoemission states and also persists when either only initial, or final
states are replaced by correlated vibronic states. Only when correlated initial
and final vibronic states are taken into account, the spurious spectral weights
of the Born-Oppenheimer approximation are suppressed. In the non-equilibrium
case, we illustrate for an initial Franck-Condon excitation and an explicit
pump-pulse excitation how the vibronic wavepacket motion of the system can be
traced in the time-resolved photoelectron spectra as function of the pump-probe
delay
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