387 research outputs found
Orbital Configurations and Magnetic Properties of Double-Layered Antiferromagnet CsCuClBr
We report the single-crystal X-ray analysis and magnetic properties of a new
double-layered perovskite antiferromagnet, CsCuClBr. This
structure is composed of CuClBr double layers with elongated
CuClBr octahedra and is closely related to the SrTiO
structure. An as-grown crystal has a singlet ground state with a large
excitation gap of K, due to the strong
antiferromagnetic interaction between the two layers. CsCuClBr
undergoes a structural phase transition at K accompanied
by changes in the orbital configurations of Cu ions. Once a
CsCuClBr crystal is heated above , its magnetic
susceptibility obeys the Curie-Weiss law with decreasing temperature even below
and does not exhibit anomalies at . This implies that in
the heated crystal, the orbital state of the high-temperature phase remains
unchanged below , and thus, this orbital state is the metastable
state. The structural phase transition at is characterized as an
order-disorder transition of Cu orbitals.Comment: 6pages. 6figures, to appear in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. Vol.76 No.
Spin Driven Jahn-Teller Distortion in a Pyrochlore system
The ground-state properties of the spin-1 antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model
on the corner-sharing tetrahedra, pyrochlore lattice, is investigated. By
breaking up each spin into a pair of 1/2-spins, the problem is reduced to the
equivalent one of the spin-1/2 tetrahedral network in analogy with the valence
bond solid state in one dimension. The twofold degeneracy of the spin-singlets
of a tetrahedron is lifted by a Jahn-Teller mechanism, leading to a cubic to
tetragonal structural transition. It is proposed that the present mechanism is
responsible for the phase transition observed in the spin-1 spinel compounds
ZnVO and MgVO.Comment: 4 pages, 3 eps figures, REVTeX, to appear in Phys. Rev. Let
Roche lobe effects on the atmospheric loss of "Hot Jupiters"
Observational evidence of a hydrodynamically evaporating upper atmosphere of
HD209458b (Vidal-Madjar et al. 2003; 2004) and recent theoretical studies on
evaporation scenarios of ``Hot Jupiters'' in orbits around solar-like stars
with the age of the Sun indicate that the upper atmospheres of short-periodic
exoplanets experience hydrodynamic blow-off conditions resulting in loss rates
of the order of about 10^10 - 10^12 g s^-1 (Lammer et al. 2003; Yelle 2004;
Baraffe et al. 2004; Lecavlier des Etangs et al. 2004; Jaritz et al. 2005, Tian
et al. 2005; Penz et al. 2007). By studying the effect of the Roche lobe on the
atmospheric loss from short-periodic gas giants we found, that the effect of
the Roche lobe can enhance the hydrodynamic evaporation from HD209458b by about
2 and from OGLE-TR-56b by about 2.5 times. For similar exoplanets which are
closer to their host star than OGLE-TR-56b, the enhancement of the mass loss
can be even larger. Moreover, we show that the effect of the Roche lobe raises
the possibility that ``Hot Jupiters'' can reach blow-off conditions at
temperatures which are less than expected (< 10000 K) due to the stellar X-ray
and EUV (XUV) heating.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, submitted to A&
Generalized "Quasi-classical" Ground State for an Interacting Two Level System
We treat a system (a molecule or a solid) in which electrons are coupled
linearly to any number and type of harmonic oscillators and which is further
subject to external forces of arbitrary symmetry. With the treatment restricted
to the lowest pair of electronic states, approximate "vibronic"
(vibration-electronic) ground state wave functions are constructed having the
form of simple, closed expressions. The basis of the method is to regard
electronic density operators as classical variables. It extends an earlier
"guessed solution", devised for the dynamical Jahn-Teller effect in cubic
symmetry, to situations having lower (e.g., dihedral) symmetry or without any
symmetry at all. While the proposed solution is expected to be quite close to
the exact one, its formal simplicity allows straightforward calculations of
several interesting quantities, like energies and vibronic reduction (or Ham)
factors. We calculate for dihedral symmetry two different -factors (""
and "") and a -factor. In simplified situations we obtain . The formalism enables quantitative estimates to be made for the dynamical
narrowing of hyperfine lines in the observed ESR spectrum of the dihedral
cyclobutane radical cation.Comment: 28 pages, 4 figure
Hot-Jupiters and hot-Neptunes: a common origin?
We compare evolutionary models for close-in exoplanets coupling irradiation
and evaporation due respectively to the thermal and high energy flux of the
parent star with observations of recently discovered new transiting planets.
The models provide an overall good agreement with observations, although at the
very limit of the quoted error bars of OGLE-TR-10, depending on its age. Using
the same general theory, we show that the three recently detected hot-Neptune
planets (GJ436, Cancri, Ara) may originate from more massive gas
giants which have undergone significant evaporation. We thus suggest that
hot-Neptunes and hot-Jupiters may share the same origin and evolution history.
Our scenario provides testable predictions in terms of the mass-radius
relationships of these hot-Neptunes.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, accepted in A&A Lette
Topological Phases near a Triple Degeneracy
We study the pattern of three state topological phases that appear in systems
with real Hamiltonians and wave functions. We give a simple geometric
construction for representing these phases. We then apply our results to
understand previous work on three state phases. We point out that the ``mirror
symmetry'' of wave functions noticed in microwave experiments can be simply
understood in our framework.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, to appear in Phys. Rev. Let
Origin and possible birthplace of the extreme runaway star HIP 60350
Using the recently determined spatial velocity components of the extreme
runaway star HIP 60350 and a gravitation potential model of the Galaxy, we
integrate the orbit of HIP 60350 back to the plane of the Galaxy. In this way,
a possible location of the formation of the star is determined. We estimate the
uncertainty of the result due to the uncertainties of the gravitational
potential model and the errors in the spatial velocity components. The place of
birth lies (within the errors) near the position of the open cluster NGC 3603.
However, the ejection event which occured about 20 Myr ago is in contradiction
with the cluster mean age of 3-4 Myr. We suggest that it occured at an earlier
phase in sequential star formation in that region. We discuss also ejection
mechanisms. Due to the rather high mass of the star (about 5 \Msol), the most
probable model is that of dynamical ejection.Comment: Astron. Astrophys. submitted, 7 pages, 5 eps figure
Dynamical Jahn-Teller Effect and Berry Phase in Positively Charged Fullerene I. Basic Considerations
We study the Jahn-Teller effect of positive fullerene ions C
and C. The aim is to discover if this case, in analogy with the
negative ion, possesses a Berry phase or not, and what are the consequences on
dynamical Jahn-Teller quantization. Working in the linear and spherical
approximation, we find no Berry phase in C, and
presence/absence of Berry phase for coupling of one hole to an
/ vibration. We study in particular the special equal-coupling case
(), which is reduced to the motion of a particle on a 5-dimensional
sphere. In the icosahedral molecule, the final outcome assesses the
presence/absence of a Berry phase of for the hole coupled to
/ vibrations. Some qualitative consequences on ground-state symmetry,
low-lying excitations, and electron emission from C are spelled out.Comment: 31 pages (RevTeX), 3 Postscript figures (uuencoded
Toward Understanding Massive Star Formation
Although fundamental for astrophysics, the processes that produce massive
stars are not well understood. Large distances, high extinction, and short
timescales of critical evolutionary phases make observations of these processes
challenging. Lacking good observational guidance, theoretical models have
remained controversial. This review offers a basic description of the collapse
of a massive molecular core and a critical discussion of the three competing
concepts of massive star formation:
- monolithic collapse in isolated cores
- competitive accretion in a protocluster environment
- stellar collisions and mergers in very dense systems
We also review the observed outflows, multiplicity, and clustering properties
of massive stars, the upper initial mass function and the upper mass limit. We
conclude that high-mass star formation is not merely a scaled-up version of
low-mass star formation with higher accretion rates, but partly a mechanism of
its own, primarily owing to the role of stellar mass and radiation pressure in
controlling the dynamics.Comment: 139 pages, 18 figures, 5 tables, glossar
The effects of supernovae on the dynamical evolution of binary stars and star clusters
In this chapter I review the effects of supernovae explosions on the
dynamical evolution of (1) binary stars and (2) star clusters.
(1) Supernovae in binaries can drastically alter the orbit of the system,
sometimes disrupting it entirely, and are thought to be partially responsible
for `runaway' massive stars - stars in the Galaxy with large peculiar
velocities. The ejection of the lower-mass secondary component of a binary
occurs often in the event of the more massive primary star exploding as a
supernova. The orbital properties of binaries that contain massive stars mean
that the observed velocities of runaway stars (10s - 100s km s) are
consistent with this scenario.
(2) Star formation is an inherently inefficient process, and much of the
potential in young star clusters remains in the form of gas. Supernovae can in
principle expel this gas, which would drastically alter the dynamics of the
cluster by unbinding the stars from the potential. However, recent numerical
simulations, and observational evidence that gas-free clusters are observed to
be bound, suggest that the effects of supernova explosions on the dynamics of
star clusters are likely to be minimal.Comment: 16 pages, to appear in the 'Handbook of Supernovae', eds. Paul Murdin
and Athem Alsabti. This version replaces an earlier version that contained
several typo
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