Phosphorene analogues: isoelectronic two-dimensional group-IV monochalcogenides with orthorhombic structure

The group-IV monochalcogenides SnS, GeS, SnSe and GeSe form a family within the wider group of semiconductor `phosphorene analogues'. Here, we used first principles calculations to investigate systematically their structural, electronic and optical properties, analysing the changes associated with the reduction of dimensionality, from bulk to monolayer or bilayer form. We show that all those binary phosphorene analogues are semiconducting, with bandgap energies covering part of the infra-red and visible range, and in most cases higher than phosphorene. Further, we found that they have multiple valleys in the valence and conduction band, with spin-orbit splitting of the order of 19-86 meV

Scattering of spin 1/2 particles by the 2+1 dimensional noncommutative Aharonov-Bohm potential

In this work we study modifications in the Aharonov-Bohm effect for relativistic spin 1/2 particles due to the noncommutativity of spacetime in $2 + 1$ dimensions. The noncommutativity gives rise to a correction to the Aharonov-Bohm potential which is highly singular at the origin, producing divergences in a perturbative expansion around the usual solution of the free Dirac equation. This problem is surmounted by using a perturbative expansion around the exact solution of the \textit{commutative} Aharonov-Bohm problem. We calculate, in this setting, the scattering amplitude and the corrections to the differential and total cross sections for a spin 1/2 particle, in the small-flux limit.Comment: 11 pages, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Mott Insulator to Superfluid Phase Transition in Bravais Lattices via the Jaynes-Cummings-Hubbard Model

The Properties of the Mott insulator to superfluid phase transition are obtained through the fermionic approximation in the Jaynes-Cummings-Hubbard model on linear, square, SC, FCC, and BCC Bravais lattices. For varying excitation number and atom-cavity frequency detuning. We find that the Mott lobes and the critical hopping are not scalable only for the FCC lattice. At the large excitation number regime, the critical hopping is scalable for all the lattices and it does not depend on the detuning.Comment: Submitted to European Physical Journal B, Section:Solid State and Materials. 7 pages and 8 figure

Enhanced piezoelectricity and modified dielectric screening of 2-D group-IV monochalcogenides

We use first principles calculations to investigate the lattice properties of group-IV monochalcogenides. These include static dielectric permittivity, elastic and piezoelectric tensors. For the monolayer, it is found that the static permittivity, besides acquiring a dependence on the interlayer distance, is comparatively higher than in the 3D system. In contrast, it is found that elastic properties are little changed by the lower dimensionality. Poisson ratio relating in-plane deformations are close to zero, and the existence of a negative Poisson ratio is also predicted for the GeS compound. Finally, the monolayers shows piezoelectricity, with piezoelectric constants higher than that recently predicted to occur in other 2D-systems, as hexagonal BN and transition metal dichalcogenide monolayers

Vacancies and oxidation of 2D group-IV monochalcogenides

Point defects in the binary group-IV monochalcogenide monolayers of SnS, SnSe, GeS, GeSe are investigated using density-functional-theory calculations. Several stable configurations are found for oxygen defects, however we give evidence that these materials are less prone to oxidation than phosphorene, with which monochalcogenides are isoelectronic and share the same orthorhombic structure. Concurrent oxygen defects are expected to be vacancies and substitutional oxygen. We show that it is energetically favorable oxygen be incorporated into the layers substituting for a chalcogen (O S/Se defects), and different from most of the other defects investigated, this defect preserves the electronic structure of the material. Thus, we suggest that annealing treatments can be useful for the treatment of functional materials where loss mechanisms due to the presence of defects are undesirable

The influence of the Kerr effect in Mott insulator to superfluid transition from the point of view of the Jaynes-Cummings-Hubbard model

We have studied the Jaynes-Cummings-Hubbard model for a chain with the Kerr effect (nonlinear optical effect) through fermionic approximation. We have observed that the Kerr effec does not cause major changes in the energy spectrum. However, the phase transition properties from Mott insulator to superfluid undergoes significant changes due to the Kerr effect.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figure

Continuously transforming kinks into compactons in the O(3)-sigma model

In this work, we investigate the solutions of vortices in the O(3)-sigma model with the gauge field governed by the Chern-Simons term and subject to a hyperbolic self-dual potential. We show that this model admits both topological and nontopological solitons solutions. By means of numerical analysis, we realize that the topological solutions of the model can be transformed into compacton-like solutions. On the other hand, after modifying the model by the introduction of a dielectric constant, an interesting feature appears; namely, the nontopological solutions can be transformed into kink-like solutions through the numerical variation of the dielectric constant. Finally, we discuss the degeneracy for the topological solitons in a given sector and present the numerical solutions of the first model.Comment: 17 pages, 9 figure

A New Optical Polarization Catalog for the Small Magellanic Cloud: The Magnetic Field Structure

We present a new optical polarimetric catalog for the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). It contains a total of 7207 stars, located in the Northeast (NE) and Wing sections of the SMC and part of the Magellanic Bridge. This new catalog is a significant improvement compared to previous polarimetric catalogs for the SMC. We used it to study the sky-projected interstellar magnetic field structure of the SMC. Three trends were observed for the ordered magnetic field direction at position angles of $(65 \pm 10)$ deg, $(115 \pm 10)$ deg, and $(150 \pm 10)$ deg. Our results suggest the existence of an ordered magnetic field aligned with the Magellanic Bridge direction and SMC's Bar in the NE region, which have position angles roughly at $115.4$ deg and $45$ deg, respectively. However, the overall magnetic field structure is fairly complex. The trends at $115$ deg and $150$ deg may be correlated with the SMC's bimodal structure, observed in Cepheids' distances and HI velocities. We derived a value of $B_{sky} = (0.947 \pm 0.079)~\mu G$ for the ordered sky-projected magnetic field, and $\delta B = (1.465 \pm 0.069)~\mu G$ for the turbulent magnetic field. This estimate of $B_{sky}$ is significantly larger (by a factor of $\sim10$) than the line-of-sight field derived from Faraday rotation observations, suggesting that most of the ordered field component is on the plane of the sky. A turbulent magnetic field stronger than the ordered field agrees with observed estimates for other irregular and spiral galaxies. For the SMC the $B_{sky}/\delta B$ ratio is closer to what is observed for our Galaxy than other irregular dwarf galaxies.Comment: Updated to match published version (includes extra online figures

Resonances on deformed thick branes

In this work we investigate the issue of gravity and fermion localization and resonances in $(4,1)$-branes constructed with one scalar field coupled with gravity in deformed models. Such models give solutions for the scalar field that is the usual kink solution in the extra dimension for a parameter $p=1$ and deformations with a two-kink profile for odd $p>1$. Gravity is localized and resonant modes are found for small values of $p$. The coupling between the scalar field and spinors is a necessary condition for fermions to be localized on such branes. After performing a chiral decomposition of the five-dimensional spinor we found resonances with both chiralities for all odd $p$'s. The correspondence between the spectra for left and right chirality is guaranteed and Dirac fermions are realized on the brane. The increasing of $p$ characterizes the formation of branes with internal structure that turns the gravitational interaction more effective for fermions aside the brane, increasing their lifetime. The influence of the internal structure of the branes and the presence of resonances for gravity and fermionic modes is addressed.Comment: 23 pages, 13 figure

Thermodynamics of Schwarzschild-like black holes in modified gravity models

Over the last decades, many methods were developed to prove Hawking radiation. Recently, a semiclassical method known as the tunneling method has been proposed as a more straightforward way of derivating black hole thermodynamical properties. This method has been widely applied to a vast sort of spacetimes with satisfactory results. In this work, we obtain the black hole thermodynamics in the presence of a Lorentz symmetry breaking (LSB). We apply the Hamilton-Jacobi method to Schwarzschild-like black holes, and we investigate whether the LSB affects their thermodynamics. The results found show that the LSB not only changes the black hole thermodynamic quantities but also makes it necessary to modify the standard first law of thermodynamics.Comment: Title changed, section VI suppressed. Other slight modifications in order to match the accepted version to appears in Annals of Physics. 17 pages, no figure