3,747 research outputs found
Absence of magnetically-induced fractional quantization in atomic contacts
Using the mechanically controlled break junction technique at low
temperatures and under cryogenic vacuum conditions we have studied atomic
contacts of several magnetic (Fe, Co and Ni) and non-magnetic (Pt) metals,
which recently were claimed to show fractional conductance quantization. In the
case of pure metals we see no quantization of the conductance nor
half-quantization, even when high magnetic fields are applied. On the other
hand, features in the conductance similar to (fractional) quantization are
observed when the contact is exposed to gas molecules. Furthermore, the absence
of fractional quantization when the contact is bridged by H_2 indicates the
current is never fully polarized for the metals studied here. Our results are
in agreement with recent model calculations.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
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Hubbard ladders in a magnetic field
The behavior of a two leg Hubbard ladder in the presence of a magnetic field is studied by means of Abelian bosonization. We predict the appearance of a new (doping dependent) plateau in the magnetization curve of a doped 2-leg spin ladder in a wide range of couplings. We also discuss the extension to N-leg Hubbard ladders
Effects of Self-field and Low Magnetic Fields on the Normal-Superconducting Phase Transition
Researchers have studied the normal-superconducting phase transition in the
high- cuprates in a magnetic field (the vortex-glass or Bose-glass
transition) and in zero field. Often, transport measurements in "zero field"
are taken in the Earth's ambient field or in the remnant field of a magnet. We
show that fields as small as the Earth's field will alter the shape of the
current vs. voltage curves and will result in inaccurate values for the
critical temperature and the critical exponents and , and can
even destroy the phase transition. This indicates that without proper screening
of the magnetic field it is impossible to determine the true zero-field
critical parameters, making correct scaling and other data analysis impossible.
We also show, theoretically and experimentally, that the self-field generated
by the current flowing in the sample has no effect on the current vs. voltage
isotherms.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Normal-Superconducting Phase Transition Mimicked by Current Noise
As a superconductor goes from the normal state into the superconducting
state, the voltage vs. current characteristics at low currents change from
linear to non-linear. We show theoretically and experimentally that the
addition of current noise to non-linear voltage vs. current curves will create
ohmic behavior. Ohmic response at low currents for temperatures below the
critical temperature mimics the phase transition and leads to incorrect
values for and the critical exponents and . The ohmic response
occurs at low currents, when the applied current is smaller than the
width of the probability distribution , and will occur in both the
zero-field transition and the vortex-glass transition. Our results indicate
that the transition temperature and critical exponents extracted from the
conventional scaling analysis are inaccurate if current noise is not filtered
out. This is a possible explanation for the wide range of critical exponents
found in the literature.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
Symmetry of boundary conditions of the Dirac equation for electrons in carbon nanotubes.
We consider the effective mass model of spinless electrons in single wall carbon nanotubes that is equivalent to the Dirac equation for massless fermions. Within this framework we derive all possible energy independent hard wall boundary conditions that are applicable to metallic tubes. The boundary conditions are classified in terms of their symmetry properties and we demonstrate that the use of different boundary conditions will result in varying degrees of valley degeneracy breaking of the single particle energy spectrum
LINER/H II "Transition" Nuclei and the Nature of NGC 4569
Motivated by the discovery of young, massive stars in the nuclei of some
LINER/H II ``transition'' nuclei such as NGC 4569, we have computed
photoionization models to determine whether some of these objects may be
powered solely by young star clusters rather than by accretion-powered active
nuclei. The models were calculated with the photoionization code CLOUDY, using
evolving starburst continua generated by the the STARBURST99 code of Leitherer
et al. (1999). We find that the models are able to reproduce the emission-line
spectra of transition nuclei, but only for instantaneous bursts of solar or
higher metallicity, and only for ages of ~3-5 Myr, the period when the
extreme-ultraviolet continuum is dominated by emission from Wolf-Rayet stars.
For clusters younger than 3 Myr or older than 6 Myr, and for models with a
constant star-formation rate, the softer ionizing continuum results in an
emission spectrum more typical of H II regions. This model predicts that
Wolf-Rayet emission features should appear in the spectra of transition nuclei.
While such features have not generally been detected to date, they could be
revealed in observations having higher spatial resolution. Demographic
arguments suggest that this starburst model may not apply to the majority of
transition nuclei, particularly those in early-type host galaxies, but it could
account for some members of the transition class in hosts of type Sa and later.
The starburst models during the Wolf-Rayet-dominated phase can also reproduce
the narrow-line spectra of some LINERs, but only under conditions of
above-solar metallicity and only if high-density gas is present (n_e >~ 10^5
cm^{-3}). This scenario could be applicable to some ``Type 2'' LINERs which do
not show any clear signs of nonstellar activity.Comment: To appear in PASP. 22 pages, includes 9 figures, uses AASTeX v5.
High-Field Electrical Transport in Single-Wall Carbon Nanotubes
Using low-resistance electrical contacts, we have measured the intrinsic
high-field transport properties of metallic single-wall carbon nanotubes.
Individual nanotubes appear to be able to carry currents with a density
exceeding 10^9 A/cm^2. As the bias voltage is increased, the conductance drops
dramatically due to scattering of electrons. We show that the current-voltage
characteristics can be explained by considering optical or zone-boundary phonon
emission as the dominant scattering mechanism at high field.Comment: 4 pages, 3 eps figure
A Storage Ring for Neutral Atoms
We have demonstrated a storage ring for ultra-cold neutral atoms. Atoms with
mean velocities of 1 m/s corresponding to kinetic energies of ~100 neV are
confined to a 2 cm diameter ring by magnetic forces produced by two
current-carrying wires. Up to 10^6 atoms are loaded at a time in the ring, and
7 revolutions are clearly observed. Additionally, we have demonstrated multiple
loading of the ring and deterministic manipulation of the longitudinal velocity
distribution of the atoms using applied laser pulses. Applications of this ring
include large area atom interferometers and cw monochromatic atomic beam
generation.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
Kinematics of the ring-like nebula SuWt 2
We present the first detailed spatio-kinematical analysis and modelling of
the Southern planetary nebula SuWt 2. This object presents a problem for
current theories of planetary nebula formation and evolution, as it is not
known to contain a central post-main sequence star.
Deep narrowband [NII]6584 images reveal the presence of faint bipolar lobes
emanating fromthe edges of the nebular ring. Longslit observations of the
H-alpha and [NII]6584 emission lines were obtained using EMMI on the 3.6-m
ESO-NTT. The spectra reveal the nebular morphology as a bright torus encircling
the waist of an extended bipolar structure. By deprojection, the inclination of
the ring is found to be 68\degr 2\degr (c.f. ~90\degr for the
double A-type binary believed to lie at the centre of the nebula), and the ring
expansion velocity is found to be 28 km/s.
Our findings are discussed with relation to possible formation scenarios for
SuWt 2. Through comparison of the nebular heliocentric systemic velocity, found
here to be -25 5 km/s, and the heliocentric systemic velocity of the
double A-type binary, we conclude that neither component of the binary could
have been the nebular progenitor. However, we are unable to rule out the
presence of a third component to the system, which would have been the nebula
progenitor.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA
Is there a vortex-glass transition in high-temperature superconductors?
We show that DC voltage versus current measurements of a YBCO micro-bridge in
a magnetic field can be collapsed onto scaling functions proposed by Fisher,
Fisher, and Huse, as is widely reported in the literature. We find, however,
that good data collapse is achieved for a wide range of critical exponents and
temperatures. These results strongly suggest that agreement with scaling alone
does not prove the existence of a phase transition. We propose a criterion to
determine if the data collapse is valid, and thus if a phase transition occurs.
To our knowledge, none of the data reported in the literature meet our
criterion.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
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