Measurement of the complex Faraday angle in thin-film metals and high temperature superconductors

A sensitive polarization modulation technique uses photoelastic modulation and hetrodyne detection to simultaneously measure the Faraday rotation and induced ellipticity in light transmitted by semiconducting and metallic samples. The frequencies measured are in the mid-infrared and correspond to the spectral lines of a CO2 laser. The measured temperature range is continuous and extends from 35 to 330K. Measured samples include GaAs and Si substrates, gold and copper films, and YBCO and BSCCO high temperature superconductors.Comment: 12 pages of text, 6 figures, fixed typos in formulas, added figur

Equilibrium topology of the intermediate state in type-I superconductors of different shapes

High-resolution magneto-optical technique was used to analyze flux patterns in the intermediate state of bulk Pb samples of various shapes - cones, hemispheres and discs. Combined with the measurements of macroscopic magnetization these results allowed studying the effect of bulk pinning and geometric barrier on the equilibrium structure of the intermediate state. Zero-bulk pinning discs and slabs show hysteretic behavior due to geometric barrier that results in a topological hysteresis -- flux tubes on penetration and lamellae on flux exit. (Hemi)spheres and cones do not have geometric barrier and show no hysteresis with flux tubes dominating the intermediate field region. It is concluded that flux tubes represent the equilibrium topology of the intermediate state in reversible samples, whereas laminar structure appears in samples with magnetic hysteresis (either bulk or geometric). Real-time video is available in http://www.cmpgroup.ameslab.gov/supermaglab/video/Pb.html NOTE: the submitted images were severely downsampled due to Arxiv's limitations of 1 Mb total size

Coupled mode effects on energy transfer in weakly coupled, two-temperature plasmas

The effects of collective modes on the temperature relaxation in fully ionized, weakly coupled plasmas are investigated. A coupled mode (CM) formula for the electron-ion energy transfer is derived within the random phase approximation and it is shown how it can be evaluated using standard methods. The CM rates are considerably smaller than rates based on Fermi's golden rule for some parameters and identical for others. It is shown how the CM effects are connected to the occurrence of ion acoustic modes and when they occur. Interestingly, CM effects occur also for plasmas with very high electron temperatures; a regime, where the Landau–Spitzer approach is believed to be accurate

Towards a bulk theory of flexoelectricity

Flexoelectricity is the linear response of polarization to a strain gradient. Here we address the simplest class of dielectrics, namely elemental cubic crystals, and we prove that therein there is no extrinsic (i.e. surface) contribution to flexoelectricity in the thermodynamic limit. The flexoelectric tensor is expressed as a bulk response of the solid, manifestly independent of surface configurations. Furthermore, we prove that the flexoelectric responses induced by a long-wavelength phonon and by a uniform strain gradient are identical.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure (2 panels

A theoretical approach to thermal noise caused by an inhomogeneously distributed loss -- Physical insight by the advanced modal expansion

We modified the modal expansion, which is the traditional method used to calculate thermal noise. This advanced modal expansion provides physical insight about the discrepancy between the actual thermal noise caused by inhomogeneously distributed loss and the traditional modal expansion. This discrepancy comes from correlations between the thermal fluctuations of the resonant modes. The thermal noise spectra estimated by the advanced modal expansion are consistent with the results of measurements of thermal fluctuations caused by inhomogeneous losses.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure

The total nucleon-nucleon cross section at large N_c

It is shown that at sufficiently large $N_c$ for incident momenta which are much larger than the QCD, the total nucleon-nucleon cross section is independent of incident momentum and given by $\sigma^{\rm total}=2 \pi \log^2(N_c) / (m^2_{\pi})$. This result is valid in the extreme large $N_c$ regime of $\log(N_c) \gg 1$ and has corrections of relative order $\log (\log(N_c))/\log(N_c)$. A possible connection of this result to the Froissart-Martin bound is discussed.Comment: 4 page

High temperature expansion applied to fermions near Feshbach resonance

We show that, apart from a difference in scale, all of the surprising recently observed properties of a degenerate Fermi gas near a Feshbach resonance persist in the high temperature Boltzmann regime. In this regime, the Feshbach resonance is unshifted. By sweeping across the resonance, a thermal distribution of bound states (molecules) can be reversibly generated. Throughout this process, the interaction energy is negative and continuous. We also show that this behavior must persist at lower temperatures unless there is a phase transition as the temperature is lowered. We rigorously demonstrate universal behavior near the resonance.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures (3 color, 1 BW), RevTeX4; ver4 -- updated references, changed title -- version accepted for publication in Physical Review Letter

Spin Response and Neutrino Emissivity of Dense Neutron Matter

We study the spin response of cold dense neutron matter in the limit of zero momentum transfer, and show that the frequency dependence of the long-wavelength spin response is well constrained by sum-rules and the asymptotic behavior of the two-particle response at high frequency. The sum-rules are calculated using Auxiliary Field Diffusion Monte Carlo technique and the high frequency two-particle response is calculated for several nucleon-nucleon potentials. At nuclear saturation density, the sum-rules suggest that the strength of the spin response peaks at $\omega \simeq$ 40--60 MeV, decays rapidly for $\omega \geq$100 MeV, and has a sizable strength below 40 MeV. This strength at relatively low energy may lead to enhanced neutrino production rates in dense neutron-rich matter at temperatures of relevance to core-collapse supernova.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures. Minor change. Published versio

Classical Trajectory Perspective on Double Ionization Dynamics of Diatomic Molecules Irradiated by Ultrashort Intense Laser Pulses

In the present paper, we develop a semiclassical quasi-static model accounting for molecular double ionization in an intense laser pulse. With this model, we achieve insight into the dynamics of two highly-correlated valence electrons under the combined influence of a two-center Coulomb potential and an intense laser field, and reveal the significant influence of molecular alignment on the ratio of double over single ion yield. Analysis on the classical trajectories unveils sub-cycle dynamics of the molecular double ionization. Many interesting features, such as the accumulation of emitted electrons in the first and third quadrants of parallel momentum plane, the regular pattern of correlated momentum with respect to the time delay between closest collision and ionization moment, are revealed and successfully explained by back analyzing the classical trajectories. Quantitative agreement with experimental data over a wide range of laser intensities from tunneling to over-the-barrier regime is presented.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figure

Exchange induced charge inhomogeneities in rippled neutral graphene

A new mechanism that induces charge density variations in corrugated graphene is proposed. Here it is shown how the interplay between lattice deformations and exchange interactions can induce charge separation, i.e., puddles of electrons and holes, for realistic deformation values of the graphene sheet. The induced charge density lies in the range of $10^{11}-10^{12}$ cm$^{-2}$, which is compatible with recent measurements.Comment: 4 pages, two figures include