The Isotope Effect in d-Wave Superconductors

Based on recently proposed anti-ferromagnetic spin fluctuation exchange models for $d_{x^2-y^2}$-superconductors, we show that coupling to harmonic phonons {\it{cannot}} account for the observed isotope effect in the cuprate high-$T_c$ materials, whereas coupling to strongly anharmonic multiple-well lattice tunneling modes {\it{can}}. Our results thus point towards a strongly enhanced {\it{effective}} electron-phonon coupling and a possible break-down of Migdal-Eliashberg theory in the cuprates.Comment: 12 pages + 2 figures, Postscript files, all uuencoded Phys. Rev. Lett. (1995, to be published

Superconducting instability in the Holstein-Hubbard model: A numerical renormalization group study

We have studied the d-wave pairing-instability in the two-dimensional Holstein-Hubbard model at the level of a full fluctuation exchange approximation which treats both Coulomb and electron-phonon (EP) interaction diagrammatically on an equal footing. A generalized numerical renormalization group technique has been developed to solve the resulting self-consistent field equations. The $d$-wave superconducting phase diagram shows an optimal T_c at electron concentration ~ 0.9 for the purely electronic Hubbard system. The EP interaction suppresses the d-wave T_c which drops to zero when the phonon-mediated on-site attraction $U_p$ becomes comparable to the on-site Coulomb repulsion $U$. The isotope exponent $\alpha$ is negative in this model and small compared to the classical BCS value $\alpha_{BCS} = 1/2$ or compared to typical observed values in non-optimally doped cuprate superconductors.Comment: 4 pages RevTeX + 3 PS figures include

Childhood IQ and cardiovascular disease in adulthood: prospective observational study linking the Scottish Mental Survey 1932 and the Midspan studies

This study investigated the influence of childhood IQ on the relationships between risk factors and cardiovascular disease (CVD), coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke in adulthood. Participants were from the Midspan prospective cohort studies which were conducted on adults in Scotland in the 1970s. Data on risk factors were collected from a questionnaire and at a screening examination, and participants were followed up for 25 years for hospital admissions and mortality. 938 Midspan participants were successfully matched with their age 11 IQ from the Scottish Mental Survey 1932, in which 1921-born children attending schools in Scotland took a cognitive ability test. Childhood IQ was negatively correlated with diastolic and systolic blood pressure, and positively correlated with height and respiratory function in adulthood. For each of CVD, CHD and stroke, defined as either a hospital admission or death, there was an increased relative rate per standard deviation decrease (15 points) in childhood IQ of 1.11 (95% confidence interval 1.01-1.23), 1.16 (1.03-1.32) and 1.10 (0.88-1.36) respectively. With events divided into those first occurring before and those first occurring after the age of 65, the relationships between childhood IQ and CVD, CHD and stroke were only seen before age 65 and not after age 65. Blood pressure, height, respiratory function and smoking were associated with CVD events. Relationships were stronger in the early compared to the later period for smoking and FEV1, and stronger in the later compared to the earlier period for blood pressure. Adjustment for childhood IQ had small attenuating effects on the risk factor-CVD relationship before age 65 and no effects after age 65. Adjustment for risk factors attenuated the childhood IQ-CVD relationship by a small amount before age 65. Childhood IQ was associated with CVD risk factors and events and can be considered an important new risk factor

Nuclear Structure Calculations with Coupled Cluster Methods from Quantum Chemistry

We present several coupled-cluster calculations of ground and excited states of 4He and 16O employing methods from quantum chemistry. A comparison of coupled cluster results with the results of exact diagonalization of the hamiltonian in the same model space and other truncated shell-model calculations shows that the quantum chemistry inspired coupled cluster approximations provide an excellent description of ground and excited states of nuclei, with much less computational effort than traditional large-scale shell-model approaches. Unless truncations are made, for nuclei like 16O, full-fledged shell-model calculations with four or more major shells are not possible. However, these and even larger systems can be studied with the coupled cluster methods due to the polynomial rather than factorial scaling inherent in standard shell-model studies. This makes the coupled cluster approaches, developed in quantum chemistry, viable methods for describing weakly bound systems of interest for future nuclear facilities.Comment: 10 pages, Elsevier latex style, Invited contribution to INPC04 proceedings, to appear in Nuclear Physics

Effect of Ordering on Spinodal Decomposition of Liquid-Crystal/Polymer Mixtures

Partially phase-separated liquid-crystal/polymer dispersions display highly fibrillar domain morphologies that are dramatically different from the typical structures found in isotropic mixtures. To explain this, we numerically explore the coupling between phase ordering and phase separation kinetics in model two-dimensional fluid mixtures phase separating into a nematic phase, rich in liquid crystal, coexisting with an isotropic phase, rich in polymer. We find that phase ordering can lead to fibrillar networks of the minority polymer-rich phase

Effect of an Electron-phonon Interaction on the One-electron Spectral Weight of a d-wave Superconductor

We analyze the effects of an electron-phonon interaction on the one-electron spectral weight A(k,omega) of a d_{x^2-y^2} superconductor. We study the case of an Einstein phonon mode with various momentum-dependent electron-phonon couplings and compare the structure produced in A(k,omega) with that obtained from coupling to the magnetic pi-resonant mode. We find that if the strength of the interactions are adjusted to give the same renormalization at the nodal point, the differences in A(k,omega) are generally small but possibly observable near k=(pi,0).Comment: 10 pages, 14 figures (color versions of Figs. 2,4,10,11,12 available upon request

The Magnetic Field of the Solar Corona from Pulsar Observations

We present a novel experiment with the capacity to independently measure both the electron density and the magnetic field of the solar corona. We achieve this through measurement of the excess Faraday rotation due to propagation of the polarised emission from a number of pulsars through the magnetic field of the solar corona. This method yields independent measures of the integrated electron density, via dispersion of the pulsed signal and the magnetic field, via the amount of Faraday rotation. In principle this allows the determination of the integrated magnetic field through the solar corona along many lines of sight without any assumptions regarding the electron density distribution. We present a detection of an increase in the rotation measure of the pulsar J1801$-$2304 of approximately 160 \rad at an elongation of 0.95$^\circ$ from the centre of the solar disk. This corresponds to a lower limit of the magnetic field strength along this line of sight of $> 393\mu\mathrm{G}$. The lack of precision in the integrated electron density measurement restricts this result to a limit, but application of coronal plasma models can further constrain this to approximately 20mG, along a path passing 2.5 solar radii from the solar limb. Which is consistent with predictions obtained using extensions to the Source Surface models published by Wilcox Solar ObservatoryComment: 16 pages, 4 figures (1 colour): Submitted to Solar Physic

An Experimental Investigation of Colonel Blotto Games

"This article examines behavior in the two-player, constant-sum Colonel Blotto game with asymmetric resources in which players maximize the expected number of battlefields won. The experimental results support all major theoretical predictions. In the auction treatment, where winning a battlefield is deterministic, disadvantaged players use a 'guerilla warfare' strategy which stochastically allocates zero resources to a subset of battlefields. Advantaged players employ a 'stochastic complete coverage' strategy, allocating random, but positive, resource levels across the battlefields. In the lottery treatment, where winning a battlefield is probabilistic, both players divide their resources equally across all battlefields." (author's abstract)"Dieser Artikel untersucht das Verhalten von Individuen in einem 'constant-sum Colonel Blotto'-Spiel zwischen zwei Spielern, bei dem die Spieler mit unterschiedlichen Ressourcen ausgestattet sind und die erwartete Anzahl gewonnener Schlachtfelder maximieren. Die experimentellen Ergebnisse bestätigen alle wichtigen theoretischen Vorhersagen. Im Durchgang, in dem wie in einer Auktion der Sieg in einem Schlachtfeld deterministisch ist, wenden die Spieler, die sich im Nachteil befinden, eine 'Guerillataktik' an, und verteilen ihre Ressourcen stochastisch auf eine Teilmenge der Schlachtfelder. Spieler mit einem Vorteil verwenden eine Strategie der 'stochastischen vollständigen Abdeckung', indem sie zufällig eine positive Ressourcenmenge auf allen Schlachtfeldern positionieren. Im Durchgang, in dem sich der Gewinn eines Schlachtfeldes probabilistisch wie in einer Lotterie bestimmt, teilen beide Spieler ihre Ressourcen gleichmäßig auf alle Schlachtfelder auf." (Autorenreferat

Landau Damping and Coherent Structures in Narrow-Banded 1+1 Deep Water Gravity Waves

We study the nonlinear energy transfer around the peak of the spectrum of surface gravity waves by taking into account nonhomogeneous effects. In the narrow-banded approximation the kinetic equation resulting from a nonhomogeneous wave field is a Vlasov-Poisson type equation which includes at the same time the random version of the Benjamin-Feir instability and the Landau damping phenomenon. We analytically derive the values of the Phillips' constant $\alpha$ and the enhancement factor $\gamma$ for which the narrow-banded approximation of the JONSWAP spectrum is unstable. By performing numerical simulations of the nonlinear Schr\"{o}dinger equation we check the validity of the prediction of the related kinetic equation. We find that the effect of Landau damping is to suppress the formation of coherent structures. The problem of predicting freak waves is briefly discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure