83 research outputs found
Heavy fermion superconductivity in the filled skutterudite compound PrOsSb
The filled skutterudite compound \PrOsSb{} has been found to exhibit
superconductivity with a critical temperature K that
develops out of a heavy Fermi liquid with an effective mass . The current experimental situation regarding the heavy fermion
state, the superconducting state, and a high field, low temperature phase that
is apparently associated with magnetic or quadrupolar order in \PrOsSb{} is
briefly reviewed herein.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, presented at the LT23 23rd International
Conference on Low Temperature Physics, Hiroshima, Japa
Improved superconducting properties of MgB2
We present electrical transport, magnetization, and specific heat
measurements on bulk MgB2 samples (T_{c} = 38.5 K) synthesized under 200 MPa
pressure using a process based on hot isostatic pressing with cooling under
pressure. The samples are fully dense and display excellent superconducting
properties, including a narrow superconducting transition width (\Delta T_{c} =
0.75 K), a high upper critical field H_{c2} (H_{c2}(0) ~ 155 kOe), and a
critical current density J_{c} that is the largest yet measured for bulk
samples of MgB2 (J_{c}(0) ~ 1.4 MA/cm^{2}). Specific heat measurements yielded
a jump \Delta C at T_{c} of 92 mJ/mol K. These superconducting properties are
comparable to those obtained with techniques that are not so well suited to
industrial scale fabrication.Comment: 7 text pages, 5 figures, submitted to Physica
Direct experimental verification of applicability of single-site model for angle integrated photoemission of small concentrated Ce compounds
Bulk-sensitive high-resolution Ce 4f spectra have been obtained from 3d
4f resonance photoemission measurements on LaCeAl and
LaCeRu for . The 4f spectra of
low-Kondo-temperature () (La,Ce)Al are essentially identical except
for a slight increase of the Kondo peak with , which is consistent with a
known increase of with . In contrast, the 4f spectra of high-
(La,Ce)Ru show a Kondo-like peak and also a 0.5 eV structure which
increases strongly with . The resonance photon-energy dependences of the two
contributions are different and the origin of the 0.5 eV structure is still
uncertain.Comment: submitted to SCES 2001, two-columnn format, modified tex
Mixed-parity superconductivity in centrosymmetric crystals
A weak-coupling formalism for superconducting states possessing both singlet
(even parity) and triplet (odd parity) components of the order parameter in
centrosymmetric crystals is developed. It is shown that the quasiparticle
energy spectrum may be non-degenerate even if the triplet component is unitary.
The superconducting gap of a mixed-parity state may have line nodes in the
strong spin-orbit coupling limit. The pseudospin carried by the superconducting
electrons is calculated, from which follows a prediction of a kink anomaly in
the temperature dependence of muon spin relaxation rate. The anomaly occurs at
the phase boundary between the bare triplet and mixed-parity states. The
stability of mixed-parity states is discussed within Ginzburg-Landau theory.
The results may have immediate application to the superconducting series
Pr(Os,Ru)4Sb12.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures. Final version accepted to PR
Superconductivity and crystalline electric field effects in the filled skutterudite series Pr(OsRu)Sb
X-ray powder diffraction, magnetic susceptibility , and electrical
resistivity measurements were made on single crystals of the filled
skutterudite series Pr(OsRu)Sb. One end of the series
() is a heavy fermion superconductor with a superconducting critical
temperature K, while the other end () is a conventional
superconductor with K. The lattice constant decreases
approximately linearly with increasing Ru concentration . As Ru (Os) is
substituted for Os (Ru), decreases nearly linearly with substituent
concentration and exhibits a minimum with a value of K at , suggesting that the two types of superconductivity compete with one
another. Crystalline electric field (CEF) effects in and
due to the splitting of the Pr nine-fold degenerate Hund's
rule multiplet are observed throughout the series, with the splitting
between the ground state and the first excited state increasing monotonically
as increases. The fits to the and data are
consistent with a doublet ground state for all values of x,
although reasonable fits can be obtained for a ground state for
values near the end member compounds ( or ).Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Probing the superconducting gap symmetry of PrRuSb: A comparison with PrOsSb
We report measurements of the magnetic penetration depth in single
crystals of PrRuSb down to 0.1 K. Both and superfluid
density exhibit an exponential behavior for 0.5, with
parameters (0)/\textit{k}\textit{T} = 1.9 and
= 2900 \AA. The value of (0) is consistent with the specific-heat jump
value of = 1.87 measured elsewhere, while the value of
is consistent with the measured value of the electronic
heat-capacity coefficient . Our data are consistent with
PrRuSb being a moderate-coupling, fully-gapped superconductor. We
suggest experiments to study how the nature of the superconducting state
evolves with increasing Ru substitution for Os
Towards a long-term record of solar total and spectral irradiance
The variation of total solar irradiance (TSI) has been measured since 1978
and that of the spectral irradiance for an even shorter amount of time.
Semi-empirical models are now available that reproduce over 80% of the measured
irradiance variations. An extension of these models into the more distant past
is needed in order to serve as input to climate simulations. Here we review our
most recent efforts to model solar total and spectral irradiance on time scales
from days to centuries and even longer. Solar spectral irradiance has been
reconstructed since 1947. Reconstruction of solar total irradiance goes back to
1610 and suggests a value of about 1-1.5 Wm for the increase in the
cycle-averaged TSI since the end of the Maunder minimum, which is significantly
lower than previously assumed but agrees with other modern models. First steps
have also been made towards reconstructions of solar total and spectral
irradiance on time scales of millennia
Ventricular pacing or dual-chamber pacing for sinus-node dysfunction
BACKGROUND
Dual-chamber (atrioventricular) and single-chamber (ventricular) pacing are alternative treatment approaches for sinus-node dysfunction that causes clinically significant bradycardia. However, it is unknown which type of pacing results in the better outcome. METHODS
We randomly assigned a total of 2010 patients with sinus-node dysfunction to dual-chamber pacing (1014 patients) or ventricular pacing (996 patients) and followed them for a median of 33.1 months. The primary end point was death from any cause or nonfatal stroke. Secondary end points included the composite of death, stroke, or hospitalization for heart failure; atrial fibrillation; heart-failure score; the pacemaker syndrome; and the quality of life. RESULTS
The incidence of the primary end point did not differ significantly between the dual-chamber group (21.5 percent) and the ventricular-paced group (23.0 percent, P=0.48). In patients assigned to dual-chamber pacing, the risk of atrial fibrillation was lower (hazard ratio, 0.79; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.66 to 0.94; P=0.008), and heart-failure scores were better (P CONCLUSIONS
In sinus-node dysfunction, dual-chamber pacing does not improve stroke-free survival, as compared with ventricular pacing. However, dual-chamber pacing reduces the risk of atrial fibrillation, reduces signs and symptoms of heart failure, and slightly improves the quality of life. Overall, dual-chamber pacing offers significant improvement as compared with ventricular pacing
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