Effect of a Normal-State Pseudogap on Optical Conductivity in Underdoped Cuprate Superconductors

We calculate the c-axis infrared conductivity $\sigma_c(\omega)$ in underdoped cuprate superconductors for spinfluctuation exchange scattering within the CuO$_2$-planes including a phenomenological d-wave pseudogap of amplitude $E_g$. For temperatures decreasing below a temperature $T^* \sim E_g/2$, a gap for $\omega < 2E_g$ develops in $\sigma_c(\omega)$ in the incoherent (diffuse) transmission limit. The resistivity shows 'semiconducting' behavior, i.e. it increases for low temperatures above the constant behavior for $E_g=0$. We find that the pseudogap structure in the in-plane optical conductivity is about twice as big as in the interplane conductivity $\sigma_c(\omega)$, in qualitative agreement with experiment. This is a consequence of the fact that the spinfluctuation exchange interaction is suppressed at low frequencies as a result of the opening of the pseudogap. While the c-axis conductivity in the underdoped regime is described best by incoherent transmission, in the overdoped regime coherent conductance gives a better description.Comment: to be published in Phys. Rev. B (November 1, 1999

Spectrum of low energy excitations in the vortex state: comparison of Doppler shift method to quasiclassical approach

We present a detailed comparison of numerical solutions of the quasiclassical Eilenberger equations with several approximation schemes for the density of states of s- and d-wave superconductors in the vortex state, which have been used recently. In particular, we critically examine the use of the Doppler shift method, which has been claimed to give good results for d-wave superconductors. Studying the single vortex case we show that there are important contributions coming from core states, which extend far from the vortex cores into the nodal directions and are not present in the Doppler shift method, but significantly affect the density of states at low energies. This leads to sizeable corrections to Volovik's law, which we expect to be sensitive to impurity scattering. For a vortex lattice we also show comparisons with the method due to Brandt, Pesch, and Tewordt and an approximate analytical method, generalizing a method due to Pesch. These are high field approximations strictly valid close to the upper critical field Bc2. At low energies the approximate analytical method turns out to give impressively good results over a broad field range and we recommend the use of this method for studies of the vortex state at not too low magnetic fields.Comment: 11 pages, 11 figures; revised version, error in Fig. 6b remove

The Renoprotective Actions of Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptors Agonists in Diabetes

Pharmaceutical agonists of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are widely used in the management of type 2 diabetes, chiefly as lipid-lowering agents and oral hypoglycaemic agents. Although most of the focus has been placed on their cardiovascular effects, both positive and negative, these agents also have significant renoprotective actions in the diabetic kidney. Over and above action on metabolic control and effects on blood pressure, PPAR agonists also appear to have independent effects on a number of critical pathways that are implicated in the development and progression of diabetic kidney disease, including oxidative stress, inflammation, hypertrophy, and podocyte function. This review will examine these direct and indirect actions of PPAR agonists in the diabetic kidney and explore recent findings of clinical trials of PPAR agonists in patients with diabetes

Observation of Andreev bound states in bicrystal grain-boundary Josephson junctions of the electron doped superconductor LaCeCuO

We observe a zero-bias conductance peak (ZBCP) in the ab-plane quasiparticle tunneling spectra of thin film grain-boundary Josephson junctions made of the electron doped cuprate superconductor LaCeCuO. An applied magnetic field reduces the spectral weight around zero energy and shifts it non-linearly to higher energies consistent with a Doppler shift of the Andreev bound states (ABS) energy. For all magnetic fields the ZBCP appears simultaneously with the onset of superconductivity. These observations strongly suggest that the ZBCP results from the formation of ABS at the junction interfaces, and, consequently, that there is a sign change in the symmetry of the superconducting order parameter of this compound consistent with a d-wave symmetry.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures; December 2004, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Groundstate and Collective Modes of a Spin-Polarized Dipolar Bose-Einstein Condensate in a Harmonic Trap

We report new results for the Thomas-Fermi groundstate and the quadrupolar modes of density oscillations of a spin- polarized dipolar interacting Bose-Einstein condensate for the case when the external magnetic field is not orientated parallel to a principal axis of a harmonic anisotropic trap.Comment: Final version, published in Physical Review

Effect of Impurity Scattering on the Nonlinear Microwave Response in High-Tc Superconductors

We theoretically investigate intermodulation distortion in high-Tc superconductors. We study the effect of nonmagnetic impurities on the real and imaginary parts of nonlinear conductivity. The nonlinear conductivity is proportional to the inverse of temperature owing to the dependence of the damping effect on energy, which arises from the phase shift deviating from the unitary limit. It is shown that the final-states interaction makes the real part predominant over the imaginary part. These effects have not been included in previous theories based on the two-fluid model, enabling a consistent explanation for the experiments with the rf and dc fields

Effect of Surface Andreev Bound States on the Bean-Livingston Barrier in d-Wave Superconductors

We study the influence of surface Andreev bound states in d-wave superconductors on the Bean-Livingston surface barrier for entry of a vortex line into a strongly type-II superconductor. Starting from Eilenberger theory we derive a generalization of London theory to incorporate the anomalous surface currents arising from the Andreev bound states. This allows us to find an analytical expression for the modification of the Bean-Livingston barrier in terms of a single parameter describing the influence of the Andreev bound states. We find that the field of first vortex entry is significantly enhanced. Also, the depinning field for vortices near the surface is renormalized. Both effects are temperature dependent and depend on the orientation of the surface relative to the d-wave gap function.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures; minor changes; accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Lett

Multifractal subgrid-scale modeling for large-eddy simulation. I. Model development and a priori testing

Results are presented from a new approach to modeling the subgrid-scale stresses in large-eddy simulation of turbulent flows, based on explicit evaluation of the subgrid velocity components from a multifractal representation of the subgrid vorticity field. The approach is motivated by prior studies showing that the enstrophy field exhibits multifractal scale-similarity on inertial-range scales in high Reynolds number turbulence. A scale-invariant multiplicative cascade thus gives the spatial distribution of subgrid vorticity magnitudes within each resolved-scale cell, and an additive cascade gives the progressively isotropic decorrelation of subgrid vorticity orientations from the resolved scale ΔΔ to the viscous scale λνλν. The subgrid velocities are then obtained from Biot–Savart integrals over this subgrid vorticity field. The resulting subgrid velocity components become simple algebraic expressions in terms of resolved-scale quantities, which then allow explicit evaluation of the subgrid stresses τij*τij*. This new multifractal subgrid-scale model is shown in a priori tests to give good agreement for the filtered subgrid velocities, the subgrid stress components, and the subgrid energy production at both low (ReΔ ≈ 160)(ReΔ≈160) and high (ReΔ ≈ 2550)(ReΔ≈2550) resolved-scale Reynolds numbers. Implementing the model is no more computationally burdensome than traditional eddy-viscosity models. Moreover, evaluation of the subgrid stresses requires no explicit differentiation of the resolved velocity field and is therefore comparatively unaffected by discretization errors.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/87721/2/075111_1.pd

Multifractal subgrid-scale modeling for large-eddy simulation. II. Backscatter limiting and a posteriori evaluation

Results are presented from a posteriori evaluations of momentum and energy transfer between the resolved and subgrid scales when the multifractal subgrid-scale model from Part I is implemented in a flow solver for large-eddy simulations of turbulent flows. The multifractal subgrid-stress model is used to evaluate the subgrid part τij*τij* of the stress tensor, with the resolved part u¯iu¯j¯ evaluated by an explicit filter. It is shown that the corresponding subgrid and resolved contributions P*P* and PRPR to the resolved-scale energetics produce extremely accurate results for the combined subgrid energy production field P(x,t)P(x,t). A separate backscatter limiter is developed here that removes spurious energy introduced in the resolved scales by including physical backscatter, without sacrificing the high fidelity in the stress and energy production fields produced by the multifractal subgrid-scale model. This limiter makes small reductions only to those components of the stress that contribute to backscatter, and principally in locations where the gradients are large and thus the energy introduced by numerical errors is also largest. Control of the energy introduced by numerical error is thus accomplished in a manner that leaves the modeling of the subgrid-scale turbulence largely unchanged. The multifractal subgrid-scale model and the backscatter limiter are then implemented in a flow solver and shown to provide stable and accurate results in a posteriori tests based on large-eddy simulations of forced homogeneous isotropic turbulence at cell Reynolds numbers ranging from 160 ⩽ ReΔ ⩽ 106160⩽ReΔ⩽106, as well as in simulations of decaying turbulence where the model and the limiter must adjust to the changing subgrid conditions.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/87610/2/075112_1.pd

Wind measurement system

A system for remotely measuring vertical and horizontal winds present in discrete volumes of air at selected locations above the ground is described. A laser beam is optically focused in range by a telescope, and the output beam is conically scanned at an angle about a vertical axis. The backscatter, or reflected light, from the ambient particulates in a volume of air, the focal volume, is detected for shifts in wavelength, and from these, horizontal and vertical wind components are computed