A Real Space Description of Magnetic Field Induced Melting in the Charge Ordered Manganites: I. The Clean Limit

We study the melting of charge order in the half doped manganites using a model that incorporates double exchange, antiferromagnetic superexchange, and Jahn-Teller coupling between electrons and phonons. We primarily use a real space Monte Carlo technique to study the phase diagram in terms of applied field $(h)$ and temperature $(T)$, exploring the melting of charge order with increasing $h$ and its recovery on decreasing $h$. We observe hysteresis in this response, and discover that the `field melted' high conductance state can be spatially inhomogeneous even without extrinsic disorder. The hysteretic response plays out in the background of field driven equilibrium phase separation. Our results, exploring $h$, $T$, and the electronic parameter space, are backed up by analysis of simpler limiting cases and a Landau framework for the field response. This paper focuses on our results in the `clean' systems, a companion paper studies the effect of cation disorder on the melting phenomena.Comment: 16 pages, pdflatex, 11 png fig

A Real Space Description of Field Induced Melting in the Charge Ordered Manganites: II. the Disordered Case

We study the effect of A site disorder on magnetic field induced melting of charge order (CO) in half doped manganites using a Monte-Carlo technique. Strong A-site disorder destroys CO even without an applied field. At moderate disorder, the zero field CO state survives but has several intriguing features in its field response. Our spatially resolved results track the broadening of the field melting transition due to disorder and explain the unusual dependence of the melting scales on bandwidth and disorder. In combination with our companion paper on field melting of charge order in clean systems we provide an unified understanding of CO melting across all half doped manganites.Comment: 9 pages, pdflatex, 10 embedded png fig

Pairing symmetry and properties of iron-based high temperature superconductors

Pairing symmetry is important to indentify the pairing mechanism. The analysis becomes particularly timely and important for the newly discovered iron-based multi-orbital superconductors. From group theory point of view we classified all pairing matrices (in the orbital space) that carry irreducible representations of the system. The quasiparticle gap falls into three categories: full, nodal and gapless. The nodal-gap states show conventional Volovik effect even for on-site pairing. The gapless states are odd in orbital space, have a negative superfluid density and are therefore unstable. In connection to experiments we proposed possible pairing states and implications for the pairing mechanism.Comment: 4 pages, 1 table, 2 figures, polished versio

Electron-hole Asymmetry and Quantum Critical Point in Hole-doped BaFe2_2As2_2

We show, from first-principles calculations, that the hole-doped side of FeAs-based compounds is different from its electron-doped counterparts. The electron side is characterized as Fermi surface nesting, and SDW-to-NM quantum critical point (QCP) is realized by doping. For the hole-doped side, on the other hand, orbital-selective partial orbital ordering develops together with checkboard antiferromagnetic (AF) ordering without lattice distortion. A unique SDW-to-AF QCP is achieved, and $J_2$=$J_1/2$ criteria (in the approximate J_1&J_2 model) is satisfied. The observed superconductivity is located in the vicinity of QCP for both sides.Comment: 4 page

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (3rd edition)

In 2008 we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, research on this topic has continued to accelerate, and many new scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Accordingly, it is important to update these guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Various reviews have described the range of assays that have been used for this purpose. Nevertheless, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to measure autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. For example, a key point that needs to be emphasized is that there is a difference between measurements that monitor the numbers or volume of autophagic elements (e.g., autophagosomes or autolysosomes) at any stage of the autophagic process versus those that measure fl ux through the autophagy pathway (i.e., the complete process including the amount and rate of cargo sequestered and degraded). In particular, a block in macroautophagy that results in autophagosome accumulation must be differentiated from stimuli that increase autophagic activity, defi ned as increased autophagy induction coupled with increased delivery to, and degradation within, lysosomes (inmost higher eukaryotes and some protists such as Dictyostelium ) or the vacuole (in plants and fungi). In other words, it is especially important that investigators new to the fi eld understand that the appearance of more autophagosomes does not necessarily equate with more autophagy. In fact, in many cases, autophagosomes accumulate because of a block in trafficking to lysosomes without a concomitant change in autophagosome biogenesis, whereas an increase in autolysosomes may reflect a reduction in degradative activity. It is worth emphasizing here that lysosomal digestion is a stage of autophagy and evaluating its competence is a crucial part of the evaluation of autophagic flux, or complete autophagy. Here, we present a set of guidelines for the selection and interpretation of methods for use by investigators who aim to examine macroautophagy and related processes, as well as for reviewers who need to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of papers that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a formulaic set of rules, because the appropriate assays depend in part on the question being asked and the system being used. In addition, we emphasize that no individual assay is guaranteed to be the most appropriate one in every situation, and we strongly recommend the use of multiple assays to monitor autophagy. Along these lines, because of the potential for pleiotropic effects due to blocking autophagy through genetic manipulation it is imperative to delete or knock down more than one autophagy-related gene. In addition, some individual Atg proteins, or groups of proteins, are involved in other cellular pathways so not all Atg proteins can be used as a specific marker for an autophagic process. In these guidelines, we consider these various methods of assessing autophagy and what information can, or cannot, be obtained from them. Finally, by discussing the merits and limits of particular autophagy assays, we hope to encourage technical innovation in the field

Microscopic Origin of Large Negative Magnetoelectric Coupling in Sr1/2Ba1/2MnO3

With a combined ab initio density functional and model Hamiltonian approach we establish that in the recently discovered multiferroic phase of the manganite Sr1/2Ba1/2MnO3 the polar distortion of Mn and O ions is stabilized via enhanced in-plane Mn-O hybridizations. The magnetic superexchange interaction is very sensitive to the polar bond-bending distortion, and we find that this dependence directly causes a strong magnetoelectric coupling. This novel mechanism for multiferroicity is consistent with the experimentally observed reduced ferroelectric polarization upon the onset of magnetic ordering

Erratum to: Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (3rd edition) (Autophagy, 12, 1, 1-222, 10.1080/15548627.2015.1100356

No abstract available