Spin-Orbit mediated spin relaxation in monolayer MoS2

We study the intra-valley spin-orbit mediated spin relaxation in monolayers of MoS2 within a two bands effective Hamiltonian. The intrinsic spin splitting of the valence band as well as a Rashba-like coupling due to the breaking of the out-of-plane inversion symmetry are considered. We show that, in the hole doped regime, the out-of-plane spin relaxation is not very efficient since the spin splitting of the valence band tends to stabilize the spin polarization in this direction. We obtain spin lifetimes larger than nanoseconds, in agreement with recent valley polarization experiments.Comment: final version, 9 pages, 5 figure

Spin relaxation in corrugated graphene

In graphene, out-of-plane (flexural) vibrations and static ripples imposed by the substrate relax the electron spin, intrinsically protected by mirror symmetry. We calculate the relaxation times in different scenarios, accounting for all the possible spin-phonon couplings allowed by the hexagonal symmetry of the lattice. Scattering by flexural phonons imposes the ultimate bound to the spin lifetimes, in the ballpark of hundreds of nano-seconds at room temperature. This estimate and the behavior as a function of the carrier concentration are substantially altered by the presence of tensions or the pinning with the substrate. Static ripples also influence the spin transport in the diffusive regime, dominated by motional narrowing. We find that the D'yakonov-Perel' mechanism saturates when the mean free path is comparable to the correlation length of the heights profile. In this regime, the spin-relaxation times are exclusively determined by the geometry of the corrugations. Simple models for typical corrugations lead to lifetimes of the order of tens of micro-seconds.Comment: 4 + epsilon pages; 3 figure

Elliot-Yafet mechanism in graphene

The differences between spin relaxation in graphene and in other materials are discussed. For relaxation by scattering processes, the Elliot-Yafet mechanism, the relation between the spin and the momentum scattering times acquires a dependence on the carrier density, which is independent of the scattering mechanism and the relation between mobility and carrier concentration. This dependence puts severe restrictions on the origin of the spin relaxation in graphene. The density dependence of the spin relaxation allows us to distinguish between ordinary impurities and defects which modify locally the spin-orbit interaction.Comment: 4 pages + \epsilon + S

Quark mass hierarchy in 3-3-1 models

We study the mass spectrum of the quark sector in an special type I-like model with gauge symmetry $SU(3)_c \otimes SU(3)_L \otimes U(1)_X$. By considering couplings with scalar triplets at large ($\sim TeV$) and small ($\sim GeV$) scales, we obtain specific zero-texture mass matrices for the quarks which predict three massless quarks ($u,d,s$) and three massive quarks ($c,b,t$) at the electroweak scale ($\sim$ GeV). Taking into account mixing couplings with three heavy quarks at large scales predicted by the model, the three massless quarks obtain masses at small order that depends on the inverse of the large scale. Thus, masses of the form $m_u \lesssim m_d < m_s \sim MeV$ and $m_{c,b,t} \sim GeV$ can be obtained naturally from the gauge structure of the model

Interactions and magnetic moments near vacancies and resonant impurities in graphene

The effect of electronic interactions in graphene with vacancies or resonant scatterers is investigated. We apply dynamical mean-field theory in combination with quantum Monte Carlo simulations, which allow us to treat non-perturbatively quantum fluctuations beyond Hartree-Fock approximations. The interactions narrow the width of the resonance and induce a Curie magnetic susceptibility, signaling the formation of local moments. The absence of saturation of the susceptibility at low temperatures suggests that the coupling between the local moment and the conduction electrons is ferromagnetic

Seeking Quantum Speedup Through Spin Glasses: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

There has been considerable progress in the design and construction of quantum annealing devices. However, a conclusive detection of quantum speedup over traditional silicon-based machines remains elusive, despite multiple careful studies. In this work we outline strategies to design hard tunable benchmark instances based on insights from the study of spin glasses - the archetypal random benchmark problem for novel algorithms and optimization devices. We propose to complement head-to-head scaling studies that compare quantum annealing machines to state-of-the-art classical codes with an approach that compares the performance of different algorithms and/or computing architectures on different classes of computationally hard tunable spin-glass instances. The advantage of such an approach lies in having to only compare the performance hit felt by a given algorithm and/or architecture when the instance complexity is increased. Furthermore, we propose a methodology that might not directly translate into the detection of quantum speedup, but might elucidate whether quantum annealing has a "`quantum advantage" over corresponding classical algorithms like simulated annealing. Our results on a 496 qubit D-Wave Two quantum annealing device are compared to recently-used state-of-the-art thermal simulated annealing codes.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures, 3 tables, way too many reference

Constraining the Noncommutative Spectral Action via Astrophysical Observations

The noncommutative spectral action extends our familiar notion of commutative spaces, using the data encoded in a spectral triple on an almost commutative space. Varying a rather simple action, one can derive all of the standard model of particle physics in this setting, in addition to a modified version of Einstein-Hilbert gravity. Thus, noncommutative geometry provides a geometric interpretation of particle physics coupled to curvature. In this letter we use observations of pulsar timings, assuming that no deviation from General Relativity has been observed, to constrain the gravitational sector of this theory. Thus, we directly constrain noncommutative geometry, a potential grand unified theory of physics, via astrophysical observations. Whilst the bounds on the coupling constants remain rather weak, they are comparable to existing bounds on deviations from General Relativity in other settings and are likely to be further constrained by future observations.Comment: 5 pages; slightly shorter version to match the one will appear in Phys. Rev. Let