Wilson chains are not thermal reservoirs

Wilson chains, based on a logarithmic discretization of a continuous spectrum, are widely used to model an electronic (or bosonic) bath for Kondo spins and other quantum impurities within the numerical renormalization group method and other numerical approaches. In this short note we point out that Wilson chains can not serve as thermal reservoirs as their temperature changes by a number of order Delta E when a finite amount of energy Delta E is added. This proves that for a large class of non-equilibrium problems they cannot be used to predict the long-time behavior.Comment: 2 page

Towards a Microscopic Theory for Metallic Heavy-Fermion Point Contacts

The bias-dependent resistance R(V) of NS-junctions is calculated using the Keldysh formalism in all orders of the transfer matrix element. We present a compact and simple formula for the Andreev current, that results from the coupling of electrons and holes on the normal side via the anomalous Green's function on the superconducting side. Using simple BCS Nambu-Green's functions the well known Blonder-Tinkam-Klapwijk theory can be recovered. Incorporating the energy-dependent quasi-particle lifetime of the heavy fermions strongly reduces the Andreev-reflection signal.Comment: 3 pages, TeX type, 1 eps figure include, SCES96 Z\"uric

Break junctions of the heavy-fermion superconductors

Mechanical-controllable break junctions of the heavy-fermion superconductors can show Josephson-like superconducting anomalies. But a systematic study on the contact size demonstrates that these anomalies are mainly due to Maxwell's resistance being suppressed in the superconducting heavy-fermion phase. Up to day, we could not find any superconducting features by vacuum-tunnelling spectroscopy, providing further evidence for the pair-breaking effect of the heavy-fermion interfaces.Comment: 5 pages, EPS figures included, REVTeX, to be published in Physica B 9

Self-consistent Treatment of Crystal-Electric-Field-Levels in the Anderson Lattice

We consider an Anderson lattice model with a spin 1/2 degenerated conduction electron band and localized ionic CEF-levels, classified according to the irreducible representation of the point group of the lattice. We present the self-consistency equations for local approximations ("$d\rightarrow\infty"$ approximation) for the periodic Anderson model. It leads to a matrix formulation of the effective local density of states and the lattice $f$-Green's function. We derive the quasi-particle life-time which enters the Boltzmann transport equations. The impact of a $k$-dependent hybridization is discussed. We prove that vertex corrections will vanish, as long as all states of an irreducible representation couple to the conduction electron band with a hybridization matrix element of the same parity.Comment: 3 pages, REVTeX type, proceedings of SCES96 Z\"uric

Spectral properties of the one-dimensional two-channel Kondo lattice model

We have studied the energy spectrum of a one-dimensional Kondo lattice, where the localized magnetic moments have SU(N) symmetry and two channels of conduction electrons are present. At half filling, the system is shown to exist in two phases: one dominated by RKKY-exchange interaction effects, and the other by Kondo screening. A quantum phase transition point separates these two regimes at temperature $T = 0$. The Kondo-dominated phase is shown to possess soft modes, with spectral gaps much smaller than the Kondo temperature.Comment: 4 pages + 2 figures. Submitted for publicatio

Superconductivity in the SU(N) Anderson Lattice at U=\infty

We present a mean-field study of superconductivity in a generalized N-channel cubic Anderson lattice at U=\infty taking into account the effect of a nearest-neighbor attraction J. The condition U=\infty is implemented within the slave-boson formalism considering the slave bosons to be condensed. We consider the $f$-level occupancy ranging from the mixed valence regime to the Kondo limit and study the dependence of the critical temperature on the various model parameters for each of three possible Cooper pairing symmetries (extended s, d-wave and p-wave pairing) and find interesting crossovers. It is found that the d- and p- wave order parameters have, in general, very similar critical temperatures. The extended s-wave pairing seems to be relatively more stable for electronic densities per channel close to one and for large values of the superconducting interaction J.Comment: Seven Figures; one appendix. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Physical activity attenuates the influence of FTO variants on obesity risk: A meta-analysis of 218,166 adults and 19,268 children

Background: The FTO gene harbors the strongest known susceptibility locus for obesity. While many individual studies have suggested that physical activity (PA) may attenuate the effect of FTO on obesity risk, other studies have not been able to confirm this interaction. To confirm or refute unambiguously whether PA attenuates the association of FTO with obesity risk, we meta-analyzed data from 45 studies of adults (n = 218,166) and nine studies of children and adolescents (n = 19,268). Methods and Findings: All studies identified to have data on the FTO rs9939609 variant (or any proxy [r2>0.8]) and PA were invited to participate, regardless of ethnicity or age of the participants. PA was standardized by categorizing it into a dichotomous variable (physically inactive versus active) in each study. Overall, 25% of adults and 13% of children were categorized as inactive. Interaction analyses were performed within each study by including the FTO×PA interaction term in an additive model, adjusting for age and sex. Subsequently, random effects meta-analysis was used to pool the interaction terms. In adults, the minor (A-) allele of rs9939609 increased the odds of obesity by 1.23-fold/allele (95% CI 1.20-1.26), but PA attenuated this effect (pinteraction= 0.001). More specifically, the minor allele of rs9939609 increased the odds of obesity less in the physically active group (odds ratio = 1.22/allele, 95% CI 1.19-1.25) than in the inactive group (odds ratio = 1.30/allele, 95% CI 1.24-1.36). No such interaction was found in children and adolescents. Concl