Weiss oscillations in the electronic structure of modulated graphene

We present a theoretical study of the electronic structure of modulated graphene in the presence of a perpendicular magnetic field. The density of states and the bandwidth for the Dirac electrons in this system are determined. The appearance of unusual Weiss oscillations in the bandwidth and density of states is the main focus of this work.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, accepted in J. Phys.: Conden. mat

Potential landscapes and induced charges near metallic islands in three dimensions

We calculate electrostatic potential landscapes for an external probe charge in the presence of a set of metallic islands. Our numerical calculation in three dimensions (3D)uses an efficient grid relaxation technique. The well-known relaxation algorithm for solving the Poisson equation in two dimensions is generalized to 3D. In addition,all charges on the system, free as well as induced charges,are determined accurately and self-consistently to satisfy the desired boundary conditions. This allows the straightforward calculation of the potential on the outer boundary using the free space electrostatic Green's function,as well as the calculation of the entire capacitance matrix of the system. Physically interesting examples of nanoscale systems are presented and analyzed.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, submitted to PR

Thermal equilibrium of two quantum Brownian particles

The influence of the environment in the thermal equilibrium properties of a bipartite continuous variable quantum system is studied. The problem is treated within a system-plus-reservoir approach. The considered model reproduces the conventional Brownian motion when the two particles are far apart and induces an effective interaction between them, depending on the choice of the spectral function of the bath. The coupling between the system and the environment guarantees the translational invariance of the system in the absence of an external potential. The entanglement between the particles is measured by the logarithmic negativity, which is shown to monotonically decrease with the increase of the temperature. A range of finite temperatures is found in which entanglement is still induced by the reservoir.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figur

Optimized design of universal two-qubit gates

We construct optimized implementations of the CNOT and other universal two-qubit gates that, unlike many of the previously proposed protocols, are carried out in a single step. The new protocols require tunable inter-qubit couplings but, in return, show a significant improvements in the quality of gate operations. Our optimization procedure can be further extended to the combinations of elementary two-qubit as well as irreducible many-qubit gates.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure

Transport properties of a 3D topological insulator based on a strained high mobility HgTe film

We investigated the magnetotransport properties of strained, 80nm thick HgTe layers featuring a high mobility of mu =4x10^5 cm^2/Vs. By means of a top gate the Fermi-energy is tuned from the valence band through the Dirac type surface states into the conduction band. Magnetotransport measurements allow to disentangle the different contributions of conduction band electrons, holes and Dirac electrons to the conductivity. The results are are in line with previous claims that strained HgTe is a topological insulator with a bulk gap of ~15meV and gapless surface states.Comment: 11 pages (4 pages of main text, 6 pages of supplemental materials), 8 figure

Percolation transition and dissipation in quantum Ising magnets

We study the effects of dissipation on a randomly diluted transverse-field Ising magnet close to the percolation threshold. For weak transverse fields, a novel percolation quantum phase transition separates a superparamagnetic cluster phase from an inhomogeneously ordered ferromagnetic phase. The properties of this transition are dominated by large frozen and slowly fluctuating percolation clusters. This leads to a discontinuous magnetization-field curve and exotic hysteresis phenomena as well as highly singular behavior of magnetic susceptibility and specific heat. We compare our results to the smeared transition in generic dissipative random quantum Ising magnets. We also discuss the relation to metallic quantum magnets and other experimental realizations.Comment: 4 pages, 2 eps figures, final version as publishe

The Incentive Effects of No Fault Automobile Insurance

This paper presents a theoretical and empirical analysis of the effects of no fault automobile insurance on accident rates. As a mechanism for compensating the victims of automobile accidents, no fault has several important advantages over the tort system. However, by restricting access to tort, no fault may weaken incentives for careful driving, leading to higher accident rates. We conduct an empirical analysis of automobile accident fatality rates in all U.S. states over the period 1982-1994, controlling for the potential endogeneity of no fault laws. The results support the hypothesis that no fault is significantly associated with higher fatal accident rates than tort.

Ground state energy of a homogeneous Bose-Einstein condensate beyond Bogoliubov

The standard calculations of the ground-state energy of a homogeneous Bose gas rely on approximations which are physically reasonable but difficult to control. Lieb and Yngvason [Phys. Rev. Lett. 80, 2504 (1998)] have proved rigorously that the commonly accepted leading order term of the ground state energy is correct in the zero-density-limit. Here, strong indications are given that also the next to leading term is correct. It is shown that the first terms obtained in a perturbative treatment provide contributions which are lost in the Bogoliubov approach.Comment: 6 pages, accepted for publication in Europhys. Lett. http://www.epletters.ch