65 research outputs found
Possible mechanism of superconductivity in PuCoGa5 probed by self-irradiation damage
Measurements of the electrical resistivity of a polycrystalline PuCoGa5 sample reveal significant modifications
of the superconducting properties as a function of time, due to the increase of defects and impurities
resulting from self-irradiation damage. More than four years of aging were necessary to detect a deviation from
linearity in the time dependence of the critical temperature. The observed behavior is understood in the
framework of the Eliashberg theory, confirming the ¿dirty¿ d-wave character which was already suggested by
nuclear magnetic resonance. We show that experimental data accumulated so far can be well reproduced by
assuming a phononic mechanism for superconductivity, with reasonable values of the electron-phonon coupling
and Coulomb pseudopotential. Further experiments are then required to assess the role of spin fluctuations
in stabilizing the superconducting state in this compound.JRC.E.6-Actinides researc
Quantifying structural damage from self-irradiation in a plutonium superconductor
The 18.5 K superconductor PuCoGa5 has many unusual properties, including
those due to damage induced by self-irradiation. The superconducting transition
temperature decreases sharply with time, suggesting a radiation-induced Frenkel
defect concentration much larger than predicted by current radiation damage
theories. Extended x-ray absorption fine-structure measurements demonstrate
that while the local crystal structure in fresh material is well ordered, aged
material is disordered much more strongly than expected from simple defects,
consistent with strong disorder throughout the damage cascade region. These
data highlight the potential impact of local lattice distortions relative to
defects on the properties of irradiated materials and underscore the need for
more atomic-resolution structural comparisons between radiation damage
experiments and theory.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, to be published in PR
Muon spin rotation measurements of the superfluid density in fresh and aged superconducting PuCoGa
We have measured the temperature dependence and magnitude of the superfluid
density via the magnetic field penetration depth
in PuCoGa (nominal critical temperature K) using the muon
spin rotation technique in order to investigate the symmetry of the order
parameter, and to study the effects of aging on the superconducting properties
of a radioactive material. The same single crystals were measured after 25 days
( K) and 400 days ( K) of aging at room temperature.
The temperature dependence of the superfluid density is well described in both
materials by a model using d-wave gap symmetry. The magnitude of the muon spin
relaxation rate in the aged sample, , where is the effective mass, is reduced by
about 70% compared to fresh sample. This indicates that the scattering from
self-irradiation induced defects is not in the limit of the conventional
Abrikosov-Gor'kov pair-breaking theory, but rather in the limit of short
coherence length (about 2 nm in PuCoGa) superconductivity.Comment: 11 page
Unitarity Bounds in AdS_3 Higher Spin Gravity
We study SL(N,R) Chern-Simons gauge theories in three dimensions. The choice
of the embedding of SL(2,R) in SL(N,R), together with asymptotic boundary
conditions, defines a theory of higher spin gravity. Each inequivalent
embedding leads to a different asymptotic symmetry group, which we map to an
OPE structure at the boundary. A simple inspection of these algebras indicates
that only the W_N algebra constructed using the principal embedding could admit
a unitary representation for large values of the central charge.Comment: 1+23 pages, Version 3 Appendix B revise
New Measurement of Parity Violation in Elastic Electron-Proton Scattering and Implications for Strange Form Factors
We have measured the parity-violating electroweak asymmetry in the elastic
scattering of polarized electrons from the proton. The result is A = -15.05 +-
0.98(stat) +- 0.56(syst) ppm at the kinematic point theta_lab = 12.3 degrees
and Q^2 = 0.477 (GeV/c)^2. The measurement implies that the value for the
strange form factor (G_E^s + 0.392 G_M^s) = 0.025 +- 0.020 +- 0.014, where the
first error is experimental and the second arises from the uncertainties in
electromagnetic form factors. This measurement is the first fixed-target parity
violation experiment that used either a `strained' GaAs photocathode to produce
highly polarized electrons or a Compton polarimeter to continuously monitor the
electron beam polarization.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, Tex, elsart.cls; revised version as accepted for
Phys. Lett.
Measurement of the Generalized Forward Spin Polarizabilities of the Neutron
The generalized forward spin polarizabilities and of
the neutron have been extracted for the first time in a range from 0.1 to
0.9 GeV. Since is sensitive to nucleon resonances and
is insensitive to the resonance, it is expected that the
pair of forward spin polarizabilities should provide benchmark tests of the
current understanding of the chiral dynamics of QCD. The new results on
show significant disagreement with Chiral Perturbation Theory
calculations, while the data for at low are in good agreement
with a next-to-lead order Relativistic Baryon Chiral Perturbation theory
calculation. The data show good agreement with the phenomenological MAID model.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, corrected typo in author name, published in PR
The Q^2 evolution of the generalized Gerasimov-Drell-Hearn integral for the neutron using a He-3 target
We present data on the inclusive scattering of polarized electrons from a
polarized He-3 target at energies from 0.862 to 5.06 GeV, obtained at a
scattering angle of 15.5 degrees. Our data include measurements from the
quasielastic peak, through the resonance region, to the beginning of the deep
inelastic regime, and were used to determine the spin difference in the virtual
photoabsorption cross section. We extract the extended Gerasimov-Drell-Hearn
integral for the neutron in the range of 4-momentum transfer squared Q^2 of
0.1-0.9 GeV.Comment: 14 pages of text when TeXed in preprint format with figures embedded.
RevTeX format. Three eps figure
Q^2 Evolution of the Neutron Spin Structure Moments using a He-3 Target
We have measured the spin structure functions and of He in a
double-spin experiment by inclusively scattering polarized electrons at
energies ranging from 0.862 to 5.07 GeV off a polarized He target at a
15.5 scattering angle. Excitation energies covered the resonance and
the onset of the deep inelastic regions. We have determined for the first time
the evolution of ,
and for the neutron in the range 0.1 GeV 0.9 GeV with good precision. displays a smooth
variation from high to low . The Burkhardt-Cottingham sum rule holds
within uncertainties and is non-zero over the measured range.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett.. Updated Hermes
data in Fig. 2 (top panel) and their corresponding reference. Updated the low
x extrapolation error Fig. 2 (middle panel). Corrected references to ChiPT
calculation
Virtual Compton Scattering and the Generalized Polarizabilities of the Proton at Q^2=0.92 and 1.76 GeV^2
Virtual Compton Scattering (VCS) on the proton has been studied at Jefferson
Lab using the exclusive photon electroproduction reaction (e p --> e p gamma).
This paper gives a detailed account of the analysis which has led to the
determination of the structure functions P_LL-P_TT/epsilon and P_LT, and the
electric and magnetic generalized polarizabilities (GPs) alpha_E(Q^2) and
beta_M(Q^2) at values of the four-momentum transfer squared Q^2= 0.92 and 1.76
GeV^2. These data, together with the results of VCS experiments at lower
momenta, help building a coherent picture of the electric and magnetic GPs of
the proton over the full measured Q^2-range, and point to their non-trivial
behavior.Comment: version 2: modified according to PRC Editor's and Referee's
recommendations. Archival paper for the E93-050 experiment at JLab Hall A. 28
pages, 23 figures, 5 cross-section tables. To be submitted to Phys.Rev.
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