Thermodynamics as an alternative foundation for zero-temperature density functional theory and spin density functional theory

Thermodynamics provides a transparent definition of the free energy of density functional theory (DFT), and of its derivatives - the potentials, at finite temperatures T. By taking the T to 0 limit, it is shown here that both DFT and spin-dependent DFT (for ground states) suffer from precisely the same benign ambiguities: (a) charge and spin quantization lead to "up to a constant" indeterminacies in the potential and the magnetic field respectively, and (b) the potential in empty subspaces is undetermined but irrelevant. Surprisingly, these simple facts were inaccessible within the standard formulation, leading to recent discussions of apparent difficulties within spin-DFT.Comment: RevTeX, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Intersubband spin-density excitations in quantum wells with Rashba spin splitting

In inversion-asymmetric semiconductors, spin-orbit coupling induces a k-dependent spin splitting of valence and conduction bands, which is a well-known cause for spin decoherence in bulk and heterostructures. Manipulating nonequilibrium spin coherence in device applications thus requires understanding how valence and conduction band spin splitting affects carrier spin dynamics. This paper studies the relevance of this decoherence mechanism for collective intersubband spin-density excitations (SDEs) in quantum wells. A density-functional formalism for the linear spin-density matrix response is presented that describes SDEs in the conduction band of quantum wells with subbands that may be non-parabolic and spin-split due to bulk or structural inversion asymmetry (Rashba effect). As an example, we consider a 40 nm GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well, including Rashba spin splitting of the conduction subbands. We find a coupling and wavevector-dependent splitting of the longitudinal and transverse SDEs. However, decoherence of the SDEs is not determined by subband spin splitting, due to collective effects arising from dynamical exchange and correlation.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure

Self-consistent Overhauser model for the pair distribution function of an electron gas in dimensionalities D=3 and D=2

We present self-consistent calculations of the spin-averaged pair distribution function $g(r)$ for a homogeneous electron gas in the paramagnetic state in both three and two dimensions, based on an extension of a model that was originally proposed by A. W. Overhauser [Can. J. Phys. {\bf 73}, 683 (1995)] and further evaluated by P. Gori-Giorgi and J. P. Perdew [Phys. Rev. B {\bf 64}, 155102 (2001)]. The model involves the solution of a two-electron scattering problem via an effective Coulombic potential, that we determine within a self-consistent Hartree approximation. We find numerical results for $g(r)$ that are in excellent agreement with Quantum Monte Carlo data at low and intermediate coupling strength $r_s$, extending up to $r_s\approx 10$ in dimensionality D=3. However, the Hartree approximation does not properly account for the emergence of a first-neighbor peak at stronger coupling, such as at $r_s=5$ in D=2, and has limited accuracy in regard to the spin-resolved components $g_{\uparrow\uparrow}(r)$ and $g_{\uparrow\downarrow}(r)$. We also report calculations of the electron-electron s-wave scattering length, to test an analytical expression proposed by Overhauser in D=3 and to present new results in D=2 at moderate coupling strength. Finally, we indicate how this approach can be extended to evaluate the pair distribution functions in inhomogeneous electron systems and hence to obtain improved exchange-correlation energy functionals.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figuers, to apear in Physical Review

Antiflow of kaons in relativistic heavy ion collisions

We compare relativistic transport model calculations to recent data on the sideward flow of neutral strange K^0_s mesons for Au+Au collisions at 6 AGeV. A soft nuclear equation of state is found to describe very well the positive proton flow data measured in the same experiment. In the absence of kaon potential, the K^0 flow pattern is similar to that of protons. The kaon flow becomes negative if a repulsive kaon potential determined from the impulse approximation is introduced. However, this potential underestimates the data which exhibits larger antiflow. An excellent agreement with the data is obtained when a relativistic scalar-vector kaon potential, that has stronger density dependence, is used. We further find that the transverse momentum dependence of directed and elliptic flow is quite sensitive to the kaon potential in dense matter.Comment: 5 pages, Revtex, 4 figure

Quasars and their host galaxies

This review attempts to describe developments in the fields of quasar and quasar host galaxies in the past five. In this time period, the Sloan and 2dF quasar surveys have added several tens of thousands of quasars, with Sloan quasars being found to z>6. Obscured, or partially obscured quasars have begun to be found in significant numbers. Black hole mass estimates for quasars, and our confidence in them, have improved significantly, allowing a start on relating quasar properties such as radio jet power to fundamental parameters of the quasar such as black hole mass and accretion rate. Quasar host galaxy studies have allowed us to find and characterize the host galaxies of quasars to z>2. Despite these developments, many questions remain unresolved, in particular the origin of the close relationship between black hole mass and galaxy bulge mass/velocity dispersion seen in local galaxies.Comment: Review article, to appear in Astrophysics Update

Be our guest/worker: reciprocal dependency and expressions of hospitality in Ni-Vanuatu overseas labour migration

Whilst there has been renewed interest in the development potential of temporary migration programmes, such schemes have long been criticized for creating conditions for exploitation and fostering dependence. In this article, which is based on a case study of Ni-Vanuatu seasonal workers employed in New Zealand’s horticultural industry, I show how workers and employers alike actively cultivate and maintain relations of reciprocal dependence and often describe their relation in familial terms of kinship and hospitality. Nevertheless, workers often feel estranged both in the Marxian sense of being subordinated to a regime of time-discipline, and in the intersubjective sense of feeling disrespected or treated unkindly. I show how attention to the ‘non-contractual element’ in the work contract, including expressions of hospitality, can contribute to anthropological debates surrounding work, migration, and dependence, and to interdisciplinary understandings of the justice of labour migration.ESRC scholarship (project reference ES/H034943/1

Divided communities and contested landscapes: Mobility, development and shifting identities in migrant destination sites in Papua New Guinea

Internal conflicts at the local and national levels in several South Pacific countries have revealed the fragility of national unity and the difficulties nations face in governing and managing their own economic development. In Papua New Guinea, the focus of this paper, an uncertain economic future for many rural and urban communities, and rising inequalities in income opportunities and access to resources, have coincided with greater intolerance of migrants at sites of high in-migration by customary landowners and provincial and local authorities. This paper draws on fieldwork undertaken in the major oil palm growing regions of Papua New Guinea where migrants from densely populated regions of the country have settled on state land alienated from customary landowners. We examine how struggles over land, resource control and development are polarising migrant and landowner identities resulting in increasing tensions and episodic communal violence. A settler identity is emerging based on a narrative of nation building and national development, while an ethno-regional identity amongst customary landowners is undermining the citizen rights of migrants and challenging the role and authority of the state in land matters

Search for a W' boson decaying to a bottom quark and a top quark in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

Results are presented from a search for a W' boson using a dataset corresponding to 5.0 inverse femtobarns of integrated luminosity collected during 2011 by the CMS experiment at the LHC in pp collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV. The W' boson is modeled as a heavy W boson, but different scenarios for the couplings to fermions are considered, involving both left-handed and right-handed chiral projections of the fermions, as well as an arbitrary mixture of the two. The search is performed in the decay channel W' to t b, leading to a final state signature with a single lepton (e, mu), missing transverse energy, and jets, at least one of which is tagged as a b-jet. A W' boson that couples to fermions with the same coupling constant as the W, but to the right-handed rather than left-handed chiral projections, is excluded for masses below 1.85 TeV at the 95% confidence level. For the first time using LHC data, constraints on the W' gauge coupling for a set of left- and right-handed coupling combinations have been placed. These results represent a significant improvement over previously published limits.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters B. Replaced with version publishe

Search for the standard model Higgs boson decaying into two photons in pp collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV

A search for a Higgs boson decaying into two photons is described. The analysis is performed using a dataset recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC from pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, which corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 4.8 inverse femtobarns. Limits are set on the cross section of the standard model Higgs boson decaying to two photons. The expected exclusion limit at 95% confidence level is between 1.4 and 2.4 times the standard model cross section in the mass range between 110 and 150 GeV. The analysis of the data excludes, at 95% confidence level, the standard model Higgs boson decaying into two photons in the mass range 128 to 132 GeV. The largest excess of events above the expected standard model background is observed for a Higgs boson mass hypothesis of 124 GeV with a local significance of 3.1 sigma. The global significance of observing an excess with a local significance greater than 3.1 sigma anywhere in the search range 110-150 GeV is estimated to be 1.8 sigma. More data are required to ascertain the origin of this excess.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters