220 research outputs found
New Electronic Phase Transitions in \alpha-(BEDT-TTF)2KHg(SCN)4
\alpha-(BEDT-TTF)2KHg(SCN)4 is considered to be in the charge-density-wave
(CDW) state below 8 K. We present new magnetoresistance data suggesting that
the material undergoes a series of field-induced CDW (FICDW) transitions at
pressures slightly exceeding the critical pressure Pc at which the zero-field
CDW state is destroyed. Further, we argue that a novel kind of FICDW
transitions, entirely determined by a superposition of the strong Pauli and
quantizing orbital effects of magnetic field on the CDW wavevector, arises when
the field is strongly tilted towards the conducting layers. These new
transitions can take place even in the case of a relatively well nested Fermi
surface. Finally we report on the superconducting (SC) state and its
coexistence with the CDW in the title compound under quasi-hydrostatic
pressure. Below Pc the material is most likely a heterogeneous SC/CDW mixture,
with the SC phase persisting down to ambient pressure. The SC onset temperature
appears to drastically increase upon entering the SC/CDW coexistence region.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures; invited talk at ISCOM'2003, 21-26.09.2003, Port
Bourgenay, France to be published in J. Phys. IV Franc
Interplay between unconventional superconductivity and heavy-fermion quantum criticality: CeCuSi versus YbRhSi
In this paper the low-temperature properties of two isostructural canonical
heavy-fermion compounds are contrasted with regards to the interplay between
antiferromagnetic (AF) quantum criticality and superconductivity. For
CeCuSi, fully-gapped d-wave superconductivity forms in the vicinity of
an itinerant three-dimensional heavy-fermion spin-density-wave (SDW) quantum
critical point (QCP). Inelastic neutron scattering results highlight that both
quantum critical SDW fluctuations as well as Mott-type fluctuations of local
magnetic moments contribute to the formation of Cooper pairs in CeCuSi.
In YbRhSi, superconductivity appears to be suppressed at
mK by AF order ( = 70 mK). Ultra-low temperature measurements reveal a
hybrid order between nuclear and 4f-electronic spins, which is dominated by the
Yb-derived nuclear spins, to develop at slightly above 2 mK. The hybrid
order turns out to strongly compete with the primary 4f-electronic order and to
push the material towards its QCP. Apparently, this paves the way for
heavy-fermion superconductivity to form at = 2 mK. Like the pressure -
induced QCP in CeRhIn, the magnetic field - induced one in YbRhSi
is of the local Kondo-destroying variety which corresponds to a Mott-type
transition at zero temperature. Therefore, these materials form the link
between the large family of about fifty low- unconventional heavy - fermion
superconductors and other families of unconventional superconductors with
higher s, notably the doped Mott insulators of the cuprates, organic
charge-transfer salts and some of the Fe-based superconductors. Our study
suggests that heavy-fermion superconductivity near an AF QCP is a robust
phenomenon.Comment: 30 pages, 7 Figures, Accepted for publication in Philosophical
Magazin
A Covariant OBE Model for Production in NN Collisions
A relativistic covariant one boson exchange model, previously applied to
describe elastic nucleon-nucleon scattering, is extended to study
production in NN collisions. The transition amplitude for the elementary
BN->N process with B being the meson exchanged (B=, ,,
, and ) are taken to be the sum of four terms
corresponding to s and u-channels with a nucleon or a nucleon isobar
N*(1535MeV) in the intermediate states. Taking the relative phases of the
various exchange amplitudes to be +1, the model reproduces the cross sections
for the reactions in a consistent manner. In the limit where all
's are produced via N^* excitations, interference terms between the
overall contributions from the exchange of pseudoscalart and scalar mesons with
that of vector mesons cancel out. Consequently, much of the ambiguities in the
model predictions due to unknown relative phases of different vector
pseudoscalar exchanges are strongly reduced.Comment: 40 pages, 15 figure
Effect of Pressure on Tiny Antiferromagnetic Moment in the Heavy-Electron Compound URu_2Si_2
We have performed elastic neutron-scattering experiments on the
heavy-electron compound URu_2Si_2 for pressure P up to 2.8 GPa. We have found
that the antiferrmagnetic (100) Bragg reflection below T_m ~ 17.5 K is strongly
enhanced by applying pressure. For P < 1.1 GPa, the staggered moment mu_o at
1.4 K increases linearly from ~ 0.017(3) mu_B to ~ 0.25(2) mu_B, while T_m
increases slightly at a rate ~ 1 K/GPa, roughly following the transition
temperature T_o determined from macroscopic anomalies. We have also observed a
sharp phase transition at P_c ~ 1.5 GPa, above which a 3D-Ising type of
antiferromagnetic phase (mu_o ~ 0.4 mu_B) appears with a slightly reduced
lattice constant.Comment: RevTeX, 4 pages, 4 eps figures, accepted for publication in Phys.
Rev. Let
Low Temperature Properties of Anisotropic Superconductors with Kondo Impurities
We present a self-consistent theory of superconductors in the presence of
Kondo impurities, using large- slave-boson methods to treat the impurity
dynamics. The technique is tested on the s-wave case and shown to give good
results compared to other methods for . We calculate low temperature
thermodynamic and transport properties for various superconducting states,
including isotropic s-wave and representative anisotropic model states with
line and point nodes on the Fermi surface.Comment: 21 pages, RevTeX 3.0, 12 figures available upon request, UF preprin
Compact Stellar Systems around NGC 1399
We have obtained spectroscopic redshifts of colour-selected point sources in
four wide area VLT-FLAMES fields around the Fornax Cluster giant elliptical
galaxy NGC 1399, identifying as cluster members 30 previously unknown faint
(-10.5<M_g'<-8.8) compact stellar systems (CSS), and improving redshift
accuracy for 23 previously catalogued CSS.
By amalgamating our results with CSS from previous 2dF observations and
excluding CSS dynamically associated with prominent (non-dwarf) galaxies
surrounding NGC 1399, we have isolated 80 `unbound' systems that are either
part of NGC 1399's globular cluster (GC) system or intracluster GCs. For these
unbound systems, we find (i) they are mostly located off the main stellar locus
in colour-colour space; (ii) their projected distribution about NGC 1399 is
anisotropic, following the Fornax Cluster galaxy distribution, and there is
weak evidence for group rotation about NGC 1399; (iii) their
completeness-adjusted radial surface density profile has a slope similar to
that of NGC 1399's inner GC system; (iv) their mean heliocentric recessional
velocity is between that of NGC 1399's inner GCs and that of the surrounding
dwarf galaxies, but their velocity dispersion is significantly lower; (v)
bright CSS (M_V<-11) are slightly redder than the fainter systems, suggesting
they have higher metallicity; (vi) CSS show no significant trend in
colour index with radial distance from NGC 1399.Comment: 13 pages (including supplementary table), 13 figures, 5 tables.
Accepted for publication in MNRA
On The pp->pp\eta (eta') Reactions Near Threshold
The production rate for \eta' in pp ->pp \eta' at rest is calculated in a
covariant one boson exchange model, previously applied to study pi^0 and \eta
production in NN collisions. The transition amplitudes for the elementary BN ->
eta' N processes with B being the meson exchanged (B = pi, sigma, eta, rho,
omega and delta) are taken to be the sum of s and u channels with a nucleon in
the intermediate states, and a delta meson pole in a t-channel. The couplings
of the eta' to hadrons are a factor 0.437 weaker than the respective eta-hadron
couplings, as suggested by a quark model and a singlet-octetmixing angle theta
= -23 degree. The model reproduces near threshold cross sections for the
quasielastic processes pi- p ->n eta (eta') and pp -> pp eta (eta') reactions.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figure
Superconductivity in heavy-fermion U(Pt,Pd)3 and its interplay with magnetism
The effect of Pd doping on the superconducting phase diagram of the
unconventional superconductor UPt3 has been measured by (magneto)resistance,
specific heat, thermal expansion and magnetostriction. Experiments on single-
and polycrystalline U(Pt1-xPdx)3 for x<= 0.006 show that the superconducting
transition temperatures of the A phase, Tc+, and of the B phase, Tc-, both
decrease, while the splitting DTc increases at a rate of 0.30(2)K/at.%Pd. We
find that DTc(x) correlates with an increase of the weak magnetic moment m(x)
upon Pd doping. This provides further evidence for Ginzburg-Landau scenarios
with magnetism as the symmetry breaking field, i.e. the 2D E representation and
the 1D odd parity model. Only for small splittings DTc is proportional to
m^2(Tc+) (DTc<= 0.05 K) as predicted. The results at larger splittings call for
Ginzburg-Landau expansions beyond 4th order. The tetracritical point in the B-T
plane persists till at least x= 0.002 for B perpendicular to c, while it is
rapidly suppressed for B||c. Upon alloying the A and B phases gain stability at
the expense of the C phase.Comment: 25 pages text (PS), 8 pages with 14 figures (PS), submitted to
Phys.Rev.
Superconductivity in the charge-density-wave state of the organic metal \alpha-(BEDT-TTF)2KHg(SCN)4
The superconducting transition in the layered organic compound
\alpha-(BEDT-TTF)_2KHg(SCN)_4 has been studied in the two hydrostatic pressure
regimes where a charge-density wave is either present or completely suppressed.
Within the charge-density-wave state the experimental results reveal a network
of weakly coupled superconducting regions. This is especially seen in a strong
enhancement of the measured critical field and the corresponding positive
curvature of its temperature dependence. Further, it is shown that on lowering
the pressure into the density-wave state traces of a superconducting phase
already start to appear at a much higher temperature.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures, Phys. Rev. B, in pres
A Conditional Yeast E1 Mutant Blocks the Ubiquitin–Proteasome Pathway and Reveals a Role for Ubiquitin Conjugates in Targeting Rad23 to the Proteasome
E1 ubiquitin activating enzyme catalyzes the initial step in all ubiquitin-dependent processes. We report the isolation of uba1-204, a temperature-sensitive allele of the essential Saccharomyces cerevisiae E1 gene, UBA1. Uba1-204 cells exhibit dramatic inhibition of the ubiquitin–proteasome system, resulting in rapid depletion of cellular ubiquitin conjugates and stabilization of multiple substrates. We have employed the tight phenotype of this mutant to investigate the role ubiquitin conjugates play in the dynamic interaction of the UbL/UBA adaptor proteins Rad23 and Dsk2 with the proteasome. Although proteasomes purified from mutant cells are intact and proteolytically active, they are depleted of ubiquitin conjugates, Rad23, and Dsk2. Binding of Rad23 to these proteasomes in vitro is enhanced by addition of either free or substrate-linked ubiquitin chains. Moreover, association of Rad23 with proteasomes in mutant and wild-type cells is improved upon stabilizing ubiquitin conjugates with proteasome inhibitor. We propose that recognition of polyubiquitin chains by Rad23 promotes its shuttling to the proteasome in vivo
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