Non-Adiabatic Spin Transfer Torque in Real Materials

The motion of simple domain walls and of more complex magnetic textures in the presence of a transport current is described by the Landau-Lifshitz-Slonczewski (LLS) equations. Predictions of the LLS equations depend sensitively on the ratio between the dimensionless material parameter $\beta$ which characterizes non-adiabatic spin-transfer torques and the Gilbert damping parameter $\alpha$. This ratio has been variously estimated to be close to 0, close to 1, and large compared to 1. By identifying $\beta$ as the influence of a transport current on $\alpha$, we derive a concise, explicit and relatively simple expression which relates $\beta$ to the band structure and Bloch state lifetimes of a magnetic metal. Using this expression we demonstrate that intrinsic spin-orbit interactions lead to intra-band contributions to $\beta$ which are often dominant and can be (i) estimated with some confidence and (ii) interpreted using the "breathing Fermi surface" model.Comment: 18 pages, 9 figures; submitted to Phys. Rev.

How SN Ia host-galaxy properties affect cosmological parameters

We present a systematic study of the relationship between Type Ia Supernova (SN Ia) properties, and the characteristics of their host galaxies, using a sample of 581 SNe Ia from the full Sloan Digital Sky Survey II (SDSS-II) SN Survey. We also investigate the effects of this on the cosmological constraints derived from SNe~Ia. Compared to previous studies, our sample is larger by a factor of $>4$, and covers a substantially larger redshift range (up to z~0.5), which is directly applicable to the volume of cosmological interest. We measure a significant correlation (>5\sigma) between the host-galaxy stellar-mass and the SN~Ia Hubble Residuals (HR). We find a weak correlation (1.4\sigma) between the host-galaxy metallicity as measured from emission lines in the spectra, and the SN~Ia HR. We also find evidence that the slope of the correlation between host-galaxy mass and HR is -0.11 $\mathrm{mag}/\mathrm{log}(\mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{host}}/\mathrm{M}_{\odot})$ steeper in lower metallicity galaxies. We test the effects on a cosmological analysis using both the derived best-fitting correlations between host parameters and HR, and by allowing an additional free parameter in the fit to account for host properties which we then marginalize over when determining cosmological parameters. We see a shift towards more negative values of the equation of state parameter $w$, along with a shift to lower values of $\Omega_\mathrm{m}$ after applying mass or metallicity corrections. The shift in cosmological parameters with host-galaxy stellar-mass correction is consistent with previous studies. We find a best-fitting cosmology of $\Omega_{\mathrm{m}} =0.266_{-0.016}^{+0.016}$, $\Omega_{\Lambda}=0.740_{-0.018}^{+0.018}$ and $w=-1.151_{-0.121}^{+0.123}$ (statistical errors only).This work was partly supported by the European Union FP7 programme through ERC grant number 320360. Funding for SDSS-III has been provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Participating Institutions, the National Science Foundation, and the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Oxford University Press via http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stw11

Deep Luminosity Functions of Old and Intermediate-Age Globular Clusters in NGC 1316: Evidence for Dynamical Evolution of Second-Generation Globular Clusters

The Advanced Camera for Surveys on board the Hubble Space Telescope has been used to obtain deep high-resolution images of the giant early-type galaxy NGC 1316 which is an obvious merger remnant. These observations supersede previous, shallower observations which revealed the presence of a population of metal-rich globular clusters of intermediate age (~ 3 Gyr). We detect a total of 1496 cluster candidates, almost 4 times as many as from the previous WFPC2 images. We confirm the bimodality of the color distribution of clusters, even in V-I, with peak colors 0.93 and 1.06. The large number of detected clusters allows us to evaluate the globular cluster luminosity functions as a function of galactocentric radius. We find that the luminosity function of the inner 50% of the intermediate-age, metal-rich (`red') population of clusters differs markedly from that of the outer 50%. In particular, the luminosity function of the inner 50% of the red clusters shows a clear flattening consistent with a turnover that is about 1.0 mag fainter than the turnover of the blue clusters. This constitutes the first direct evidence that metal-rich cluster populations formed during major mergers of gas-rich galaxies can evolve dynamically (through disruption processes) into the red, metal-rich cluster populations that are ubiquitous in `normal' giant ellipticals.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ Letters; 4 pages in emulateapj style. 3 figure

Quantum-to-Classical Correspondence and Hubbard-Stratonovich Dynamical Systems, a Lie-Algebraic Approach

We propose a Lie-algebraic duality approach to analyze non-equilibrium evolution of closed dynamical systems and thermodynamics of interacting quantum lattice models (formulated in terms of Hubbard-Stratonovich dynamical systems). The first part of the paper utilizes a geometric Hilbert-space-invariant formulation of unitary time-evolution, where a quantum Hamiltonian is viewed as a trajectory in an abstract Lie algebra, while the sought-after evolution operator is a trajectory in a dynamic group, generated by the algebra via exponentiation. The evolution operator is uniquely determined by the time-dependent dual generators that satisfy a system of differential equations, dubbed here dual Schrodinger-Bloch equations, which represent a viable alternative to the conventional Schrodinger formulation. These dual Schrodinger-Bloch equations are derived and analyzed on a number of specific examples. It is shown that deterministic dynamics of a closed classical dynamical system occurs as action of a symmetry group on a classical manifold and is driven by the same dual generators as in the corresponding quantum problem. This represents quantum-to-classical correspondence. In the second part of the paper, we further extend the Lie algebraic approach to a wide class of interacting many-particle lattice models. A generalized Hubbard-Stratonovich transform is proposed and it is used to show that the thermodynamic partition function of a generic many-body quantum lattice model can be expressed in terms of traces of single-particle evolution operators governed by the dynamic Hubbard-Stratonovich fields. Finally, we derive Hubbard-Stratonovich dynamical systems for the Bose-Hubbard model and a quantum spin model and use the Lie-algebraic approach to obtain new non-perturbative dual descriptions of these theories.Comment: 25 pages, 1 figure; v2: citations adde

Kinematics of Nearby Subdwarf Stars

We present an analysis of the space motions of 742 subdwarf stars based on the sample of Carney et al. (1994, CLLA). Hipparcos parallaxes, TYC2+HIP proper motions and Tycho2 proper motions were combined with radial velocities and metallicities from CLLA. The kinematical behavior is discussed in particular in relation to their metallicities. The majority of these sample stars have metal abundances of [Fe/H] >-1 and represent the thick disk population. The halo component, with [Fe/H] <-1.6, is characterized by a low mean rotation velocity and a radially elongated velocity ellipsoid. In the intermediate metallicity range (-1.6 < [Fe/H] <-1), we find a significant number of subdwarfs with disklike kinematics. We interpret this population of stars as a metal-weak thick disk population.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures, accepted by Astronomy & Astrophysic

Topological phase for entangled two-qubit states and the representation of the SO(3)group

We discuss the representation of the $SO(3)$ group by two-qubit maximally entangled states (MES). We analyze the correspondence between $SO(3)$ and the set of two-qubit MES which are experimentally realizable. As a result, we offer a new interpretation of some recently proposed experiments based on MES. Employing the tools of quantum optics we treat in terms of two-qubit MES some classical experiments in neutron interferometry, which showed the $\pi$-phase accrued by a spin-$1/2$ particle precessing in a magnetic field. By so doing, we can analyze the extent to which the recently proposed experiments - and future ones of the same sort - would involve essentially new physical aspects as compared with those performed in the past. We argue that the proposed experiments do extend the possibilities for displaying the double connectedness of $SO(3)$, although for that to be the case it results necessary to map elements of $SU(2)$ onto physical operations acting on two-level systems.Comment: 25 pages, 9 figure

Neonatal White Matter Maturation Is Associated With Infant Language Development

Background: While neonates have no sophisticated language skills, the neural basis for acquiring this function is assumed to already be present at birth. Receptive language is measurable by 6 months of age and meaningful speech production by 10-18 months of age. Fiber tracts supporting language processing include the corpus callosum (CC), which plays a key role in the hemispheric lateralization of language; the left arcuate fasciculus (AF), which is associated with syntactic processing; and the right AF, which plays a role in prosody and semantics. We examined if neonatal maturation of these fiber tracts is associated with receptive language development at 12 months of age. Methods: Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) was performed in 86 infants at 26.6 ± 12.2 days post-birth. Receptive language was assessed via the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory at 12 months of age. Tract-based fractional anisotropy (FA) was determined using the NA-MIC atlas-based fiber analysis toolkit. Associations between neonatal regional FA, adjusted for gestational age at birth and age at scan, and language development at 12 months of age were tested using ANOVA models. Results: After multiple comparisons correction, higher neonatal FA was positively associated with receptive language at 12 months of age within the genu (p < 0.001), rostrum (p < 0.001), and tapetum (p < 0.001) of the CC and the left fronto-parietal AF (p = 0.008). No significant clusters were found in the right AF. Conclusion: Microstructural development of the CC and the AF in the newborn is associated with receptive language at 12 months of age, demonstrating that interindividual variation in white matter microstructure is relevant for later language development, and indicating that the neural foundation for language processing is laid well ahead of the majority of language acquisition. This suggests that some origins of impaired language development may lie in the intrauterine and potentially neonatal period of life. Understanding how interindividual differences in neonatal brain maturity relate to the acquisition of function, particularly during early development when the brain is in an unparalleled window of plasticity, is key to identifying opportunities for harnessing neuroplasticity in health and disease

Calculation of the unitary part of the Bures measure for N-level quantum systems

We use the canonical coset parameterization and provide a formula with the unitary part of the Bures measure for non-degenerate systems in terms of the product of even Euclidean balls. This formula is shown to be consistent with the sampling of random states through the generation of random unitary matrices

Development of diamond tracking detectors for high luminosity experiments at the LHC

Tracking detectors have become an important ingredient in high energy physics experiments. In order to survive the harsh detection environment of the LHC, trackers need to have special properties. They must be radiation hard, provide fast collection of charge, be as thin as possible and remove heat from readout electronics. The unique properties of diamond allow it to fulfil these requirements. Further, recent progress in the production of chemical vapour deposited diamond makes large surface area detectors now realistic. We propose a development programme which improves the charge collection properties of diamond, studies the radiation hardness of the material, designs various tracking devices, develops low noise, radiation hard electronics to read out the detectors and applies diamond as a thermal management tool for the LHC

Non-Hermitian oscillator Hamiltonian and su(1,1): a way towards generalizations

The family of metric operators, constructed by Musumbu {\sl et al} (2007 {\sl J. Phys. A: Math. Theor.} {\bf 40} F75), for a harmonic oscillator Hamiltonian augmented by a non-Hermitian $\cal PT$-symmetric part, is re-examined in the light of an su(1,1) approach. An alternative derivation, only relying on properties of su(1,1) generators, is proposed. Being independent of the realization considered for the latter, it opens the way towards the construction of generalized non-Hermitian (not necessarily $\cal PT$-symmetric) oscillator Hamiltonians related by similarity to Hermitian ones. Some examples of them are reviewed.Comment: 11 pages, no figure; changes in title and in paragraphs 3 and 5; final published versio