533 research outputs found
Fermi surface of the colossal magnetoresistance perovskite La_{0.7}Sr_{0.3}MnO_{3}
Materials that exhibit colossal magnetoresistance (CMR) are currently the
focus of an intense research effort, driven by the technological applications
that their sensitivity lends them to. Using the angular correlation of photons
from electron-positron annihilation, we present a first glimpse of the Fermi
surface of a material that exhibits CMR, supported by ``virtual crystal''
electronic structure calculations. The Fermi surface is shown to be
sufficiently cubic in nature that it is likely to support nesting.Comment: 5 pages, 5 PS figure
Dispersive Gap Mode of Phonons in Anisotropic Superconductors
We estimate the effect of the superconducting gap anisotropy in the
dispersive gap mode of phonons, which is observed by the neutron scattering on
borocarbide superconductors. We numerically analyze the phonon spectrum
considering the electron-phonon coupling, and examine contributions coming from
the gap suppression and the sign change of the pairing function on the Fermi
surface. When the sign of the pairing function is changed by the nesting
translation, the gap mode does not appear. We also discuss the suppression of
the phonon softening of the Kohn anomaly due to the onset of superconductivity.
We demonstrate that observation of the gap dispersive mode is useful for
sorting out the underlying superconducting pairing function.Comment: 7 pages, 12 figures, to be published in J. Phys. Soc. Jp
Superconductivity Near Ferromagnetism in MgCNi3
An unusual quasi-two-dimensional heavy band mass van Hove singularity (vHs)
lies very near the Fermi energy in MgCNi3, recently reported to superconduct at
8.5 K. This compound is strongly exchange enhanced and is unstable to
ferromagnetism upon hole doping with 12% Mg --> Na or Li. The 1/4-depleted fcc
(frustrated) Ni sublattice and lack of Fermi surface nesting argues against
competing antiferromagnetic and charge density wave instabilities. We identify
an essentially infinite mass along the M-Gamma line, leading to
quasi-two-dimensionality of this vHs may promote unconventional p-wave pairing
that could coexist with superconductivity.Comment: 4 two-column pages, 4 figure
Colossal Positive Magnetoresistance in a Doped Nearly Magnetic Semiconductor
We report on a positive colossal magnetoresistance (MR) induced by
metallization of FeSb, a nearly magnetic or "Kondo" semiconductor with 3d
ions. We discuss contribution of orbital MR and quantum interference to
enhanced magnetic field response of electrical resistivity.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure
Nesting properties and anisotropy of the Fermi surface of LuNiBC
The rare earth nickel borocarbides, with the generic formula
NiBC, have recently been shown to display a rich variety of
phenomena. Most striking has been the competition between, and even coexistence
of, antiferromagnetism and superconductivity. We have measured the Fermi
surface (FS) of LuNiBC, and shown that it possesses nesting
features capable of explaining some of the phenomena experimentally observed.
In particular, it had previously been conjectured that a particular sheet of FS
is responsible for the modulated magnetic structures manifest in some of the
series. We report the first direct experimental observation of this sheet.Comment: 4 pages, 4 PS figure
Morphospecies and Taxonomic Species Comparison for Hymenoptera
The use of morphospecies as surrogates for taxonomic species has been proposed as an alternative to overcome the identification difficulties associated with many invertebrate studies, such as biodiversity surveys. Hymenoptera specimens were collected by beating and pitfall traps, and were separated into morphospecies by a non-specialist with no prior training, and later identified by an expert taxonomist. The number of Hymenoptera morphospecies and taxonomic species was 37 and 42, respectively, representing an underestimation error of 12%. Different families presented varying levels of difficulty, and although the species estimation provided by the use of morphospecies initially appeared to have a relatively minor error rate, this was actually an artefact. Splitting and lumping errors balanced each other out, wrongly suggesting that morphospecies were reasonable surrogates for taxonomic species in the Hymenoptera. The use of morphospecies should be adopted only for selected target groups, which have been assessed as reliable surrogates for taxonomic species beforehand, and some prior training to the non-specialist is likely to be of primary importance
Quantum Monte Carlo calculation of Compton profiles of solid lithium
Recent high resolution Compton scattering experiments in lithium have shown
significant discrepancies with conventional band theoretical results. We
present a pseudopotential quantum Monte Carlo study of electron-electron and
electron-ion correlation effects on the momentum distribution of lithium. We
compute the correlation correction to the valence Compton profiles obtained
within Kohn-Sham density functional theory in the local density approximation
and determine that electronic correlation does not account for the discrepancy
with the experimental results. Our calculations lead do different conclusions
than recent GW studies and indicate that other effects (thermal disorder,
core-valence separation etc.) must be invoked to explain the discrepancy with
experiments.Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev.
Social effects on age-related and sex-specific immune cell profiles in a wild mammal
Evidence for age-related changes in innate and adaptive immune responses is increasing in wild populations. Such changes have been linked to fitness, and knowledge of the factors driving immune response variation is important for understanding the evolution of immunity. Age-related changes in immune profiles may be owing to factors such as immune system development, sex-specific behaviour and responses to environmental conditions. Social environments may also contribute to variation in immunological responses, for example, through transmission of pathogens and stress arising from resource and mate competition. Yet, the impact of the social environment on age-related changes in immune cell profiles is currently understudied in the wild. Here, we tested the relationship between leukocyte cell composition (proportion of neutrophils and lymphocytes [innate and adaptive immunity, respectively] that were lymphocytes) and age, sex and group size in a wild population of European badgers (Meles meles). We found that the proportion of lymphocytes in early life was greater in males in smaller groups compared to larger groups, but with a faster age-related decline in smaller groups. By contrast, the proportion of lymphocytes in females was not significantly related to age or group size. Our results provide evidence of sex-specific age-related changes in immune cell profiles in a wild mammal, which are influenced by the social environment
Unusual behaviors in the transport properties of REFeP (RE: La, Ce, Pr, and Nd)
We have investigated the resistivity (), thermoelectric power (TEP) and
Hall coefficient () on high quality single crystals of
REFeP. TEP in CeFeP is extremely large (
0.5mV/K at 290K) with a peak of 0.75mV/K at around 65K. The Hall
mobility also shows a peak at 65K, suggesting carriers with heavy masses
developed at lower temperatures related with the f-hybridized band. Both Pr-
and Nd- systems exhibit an apparent increase of with decreasing
temperature far above their magnetic transition temperatures. In the same
temperature ranges, TEP exhibits unusually large absolute values of -50V/K
for PrFeP and -15V/K for NdFeP, respectively.
For PrFeP, such anomalous transport properties suggest an unusual
ground state, possibly related with the Quadrupolar Kondo effect.Comment: 5 pages, 8 figure
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