Current-induced vortex dynamics in Josephson-junction arrays: Imaging experiments and model simulations

We study the dynamics of current-biased Josephson-junction arrays with a magnetic penetration depth smaller than the lattice spacing. We compare the dynamics imaged by low-temperature scanning electron microscopy to the vortex dynamics obtained from model calculations based on the resistively-shunted junction model, in combination with Maxwell's equations. We find three bias current regions with fundamentally different array dynamics. The first region is the subcritical region, i.e. below the array critical current I_c. The second, for currents I above I_c, is a "vortex region", in which the response is determined by the vortex degrees of freedom. In this region, the dynamics is characterized by spatial domains where vortices and antivortices move across the array in opposite directions in adjacent rows and by transverse voltage fluctuations. In the third, for still higher currents, the dynamics is dominated by coherent-phase motion, and the current-voltage characteristics are linear.Comment: 10 pages, with eps figures. To appear in Phys. Rev.

Single-vortex-induced voltage steps in Josephson-junction arrays

We have numerically and analytically studied ac+dc driven Josephson-junction arrays with a single vortex or with a single vortex-antivortex pair present. We find single-vortex steps in the voltage versus current characteristics (I-V) of the array. They correspond microscopically to a single vortex phase-locked to move a fixed number of plaquettes per period of the ac driving current. In underdamped arrays we find vortex motion period doubling on the steps. We observe subharmonic steps in both underdamped and overdamped arrays. We successfully compare these results with a phenomenological model of vortex motion with a nonlinear viscosity. The I-V of an array with a vortex-antivortex pair displays fractional voltage steps. A possible connection of these results to present day experiments is also discussed.Comment: 10 pages double sided with figures included in the text. To appear in Journal of Physics, Condensed Matte

The time to extinction for an SIS-household-epidemic model

We analyse a stochastic SIS epidemic amongst a finite population partitioned into households. Since the population is finite, the epidemic will eventually go extinct, i.e., have no more infectives in the population. We study the effects of population size and within household transmission upon the time to extinction. This is done through two approximations. The first approximation is suitable for all levels of within household transmission and is based upon an Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process approximation for the diseases fluctuations about an endemic level relying on a large population. The second approximation is suitable for high levels of within household transmission and approximates the number of infectious households by a simple homogeneously mixing SIS model with the households replaced by individuals. The analysis, supported by a simulation study, shows that the mean time to extinction is minimized by moderate levels of within household transmission

Effects of Electronic Correlations on the Thermoelectric Power of the Cuprates

We show that important anomalous features of the normal-state thermoelectric power S of high-Tc materials can be understood as being caused by doping dependent short-range antiferromagnetic correlations. The theory is based on the fluctuation-exchange approximation applied to Hubbard model in the framework of the Kubo formalism. Firstly, the characteristic maximum of S as function of temperature can be explained by the anomalous momentum dependence of the single-particle scattering rate. Secondly, we discuss the role of the actual Fermi surface shape for the occurrence of a sign change of S as a function of temperature and doping.Comment: 4 pages, with eps figure

Transverse depinning and melting of a moving vortex lattice in driven periodic Josephson junction arrays

We study the effect of thermal fluctuations in a vortex lattice driven in the periodic pinning of a Josephson junction array. The phase diagram current ($I$) vs. temperature ($T$) is studied. Above the critical current $I_c(T)$ we find a moving vortex lattice (MVL) with anisotropic Bragg peaks. For large currents $I\gg I_c(T)$, there is a melting transition of the MVL at $T_M(I)$. When applying a small transverse current to the MVL, there is no dissipation at low $T$. We find an onset of transverse vortex motion at a transverse depinning temperature $T_{tr}(I)<T_M(I)$.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, Figure 2 changed, added new reference

Genetic variants linked to education predict longevity

Educational attainment is associated with many health outcomes, including longevity. It is also known to be substantially heritable. Here, we used data from three large genetic epidemiology cohort studies (Generation Scotland, n = ∼17,000; UK Biobank, n = ∼115,000; and the Estonian Biobank, n = ∼6,000) to test whether education-linked genetic variants can predict lifespan length. We did so by using cohort members' polygenic profile score for education to predict their parents' longevity. Across the three cohorts, meta-analysis showed that a 1 SD higher polygenic education score was associated with ∼2.7% lower mortality risk for both mothers (total ndeaths= 79,702) and ∼2.4% lower risk for fathers (total ndeaths= 97,630). On average, the parents of offspring in the upper third of the polygenic score distribution lived 0.55 y longer compared with those of offspring in the lower third. Overall, these results indicate that the genetic contributions to educational attainment are useful in the prediction of human longevity

Orientational pinning and transverse voltage: Simulations and experiments in square Josephson junction arrays

We study the dependence of the transport properties of square Josephson Junctions arrays with the direction of the applied dc current, both experimentally and numerically. We present computational simulations of current-voltage curves at finite temperatures for a single vortex in the array ($Ha^2/\Phi_0=f=1/L^2$), and experimental measurements in $100\times1000$ arrays under a low magnetic field corresponding to $f\approx0.02$. We find that the transverse voltage vanishes only in the directions of maximum symmetry of the square lattice: the [10] and [01] direction (parallel bias) and the [11] direction (diagonal bias). For orientations different than the symmetry directions, we find a finite transverse voltage which depends strongly on the angle $\phi$ of the current. We find that vortex motion is pinned in the [10] direction ($\phi=0$), meaning that the voltage response is insensitive to small changes in the orientation of the current near $\phi=0$. We call this phenomenon orientational pinning. This leads to a finite transverse critical current for a bias at $\phi=0$ and to a transverse voltage for a bias at $\phi\not=0$. On the other hand, for diagonal bias in the [11] direction the behavior is highly unstable against small variations of $\phi$, leading to a rapid change from zero transverse voltage to a large transverse voltage within a few degrees. This last behavior is in good agreement with our measurements in arrays with a quasi-diagonal current drive.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figure

Superconducting Coherence and the Helicity Modulus in Vortex Line Models

We show how commonly used models for vortex lines in three dimensional superconductors can be modified to include k=0 excitations. We construct a formula for the k=0 helicity modulus in terms of fluctuations in the projected area of vortex loops. This gives a convenient criterion for the presence of superconducting coherence. We also present Monte Carlo simulations of a continuum vortex line model for the melting of the Abrikosov vortex lattice in pure YBCO.Comment: 4 pages RevTeX, 2 eps figures included using eps

Preparative fractionation of a random copolymer (SAN) with respect to either chain length or chemical composition

The possibilities to fractionate copolymers with respect to their chemical composition on a preparative scale by means of the establishment of liquid/liquid phase equilibria were studied for random copolymers of styrene and acrylonitrile (san). Experiments with solutions of san in toluene have shown that fractionation does in this quasi-binary system, where demixing results from marginal solvent quality, take place with respect to the chain length of the polymer only. On the other hand, if phase separation is induced by a second, chemically different polymer one can find conditions under which fractionation with respect to composition becomes dominant. This opportunity is documented for the quasi-ternary system dmac/san/polystyrene, where the solvent dimethyl acetamide is completely miscible with both polymers. The theoretical reasons for the different fractionation mechanisms are discussed

Numerical studies of the phase diagram of layered type II superconductors in a magnetic field

We report on simulations of layered superconductors using the Lawrence-Doniach model in the framework of the lowest Landau level approximation. We find a first order phase transition with a $B(T)$ dependence which agrees very well with the experimental ``melting'' line in YBaCuO. The transition is not associated with vortex lattice melting, but separates two vortex liquid states characterised by different degrees of short-range crystalline order and different length scales of correlations between vortices in different layers. The transition line ends at a critical end-point at low fields. We find the magnetization discontinuity and the location of the lower critical magnetic field to be in good agreement with experiments in YBaCuO. Length scales of order parameter correlations parallel and perpendicular to the magnetic field increase exponentially as 1/T at low temperatures. The dominant relaxation time scales grow roughly exponentially with these correlation lengths. We find that the first order phase transition persists in the presence of weak random point disorder but can be suppressed entirely by strong disorder. No vortex glass or Bragg glass state is found in the presence of disorder. The consistency of our numerical results with various experimental features in YBaCuO, including the dependence on anisotropy, and the temperature dependence of the structure factor at the Bragg peaks in neutron scattering experiments is demonstrated.Comment: 25 pages (revtex), 19 figures included, submitted to PR