247 research outputs found
The role of traction in membrane curvature generation.
Curvature of biological membranes can be generated by a variety of molecular mechanisms including protein scaffolding, compositional heterogeneity, and cytoskeletal forces. These mechanisms have the net effect of generating tractions (force per unit length) on the bilayer that are translated into distinct shapes of the membrane. Here, we demonstrate how the local shape of the membrane can be used to infer the traction acting locally on the membrane. We show that buds and tubes, two common membrane deformations studied in trafficking processes, have different traction distributions along the membrane and that these tractions are specific to the molecular mechanism used to generate these shapes. Furthermore, we show that the magnitude of an axial force applied to the membrane as well as that of an effective line tension can be calculated from these tractions. Finally, we consider the sensitivity of these quantities with respect to uncertainties in material properties and follow with a discussion on sources of uncertainty in membrane shape
Angular Dependence of the High-Magnetic-Field Phase Diagram of URu2Si2
We present measurements of the magnetoresistivity RHOxx of URu2Si2 single
crystals in high magnetic fields up to 60 T and at temperatures from 1.4 K to
40 K. Different orientations of the magnetic field have been investigated
permitting to follow the dependence on Q of all magnetic phase transitions and
crossovers, where Q is the angle between the magnetic field and the easy-axis
c. We find out that all magnetic transitions and crossovers follow a simple
1/cos(Q) -law, indicating that they are controlled by the projection of the
field on the c-axis
Similarity of Fermi Surface in the Hidden Order State and in the Antiferromagnetic State of URu2Si2
Shubnikov-de Haas measurements of high quality URu2Si2 single crystals reveal
two previously unobserved Fermi surface branches in the so-called hidden order
phase. Therefore about 55% of the enhanced mass is now detected. Under pressure
in the antiferromagnetic state, the Shubnikov-de Haas frequencies for magnetic
fields applied along the crystalline c axis show little change compared with
the zero pressure data. This implies a similar Fermi surface in both the hidden
order and antiferromagnetic states, which strongly suggests that the lattice
doubling in the antiferromagnetic phase due to the ordering vector QAF = (0 0
1) already occurs in the hidden order. These measurements provide a good test
for existing or future theories of the hidden order parameter.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Suppression of hidden order in URu2Si2 under pressure and restoration in magnetic field
We describe here recent inelastic neutron scattering experiments on the heavy
fermion compound URu2Si2 realized in order to clarify the nature of the hidden
order (HO) phase which occurs below T_0 = 17.5 K at ambient pressure. The
choice was to measure at a given pressure P where the system will go, by
lowering the temperature, successively from paramagnetic (PM) to HO and then to
antiferromagnetic phase (AF). Furthermore, in order to verify the selection of
the pressure, a macroscopic detection of the phase transitions was also
achieved in situ via its thermal expansion response detected by a strain gauge
glued on the crystal. Just above P_x = 0.5 GPa, where the ground state switches
from HO to AF, the Q_0 = (1, 0, 0) excitation disappears while the excitation
at the incommensurate wavevector Q_1 = (1.4, 0, 0) remains. Thus, the Q_0 = (1,
0, 0) excitation is intrinsic only in the HO phase. This result is reinforced
by studies where now pressure and magnetic field can be used as tuning
variable. Above P_x, the AF phase at low temperature is destroyed by a magnetic
field larger than H_AF (collapse of the AF Q_0 = (1, 0, 0) Bragg reflection).
The field reentrance of the HO phase is demonstrated by the reappearance of its
characteristic Q_0 = (1, 0, 0) excitation. The recovery of a PM phase will only
be achieved far above H_AF at H_M approx 35 T. To determine the P-H-T phase
diagram of URu2Si2, macroscopic measurements of the thermal expansion were
realized with a strain gauge. The reentrant magnetic field increases strongly
with pressure. Finally, to investigate the interplay between superconductivity
(SC) and spin dynamics, new inelastic neutron scattering experiments are
reported down to 0.4 K, far below the superconducting critical temperature T_SC
approx 1.3 K as measured on our crystal by diamagnetic shielding.Comment: 5 pages, 7 figures, ICN 2009 conference proceeding
Inelastic contribution of the resistivity in the hidden order in URu2Si2
In the hidden order of URu2Si2 the resistivity at very low temperature shows
no T^2 behavior above the transition to superconductivity. However, when
entering the antiferromagnetic phase, the Fermi liquid behavior is recovered.
We discuss the change of the inelastic term when entering the AF phase with
pressure considering the temperature dependence of the Grueneisen parameter at
ambient pressure and the influence of superconductivity by an extrapolation of
high field data.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, SCES conference proceedin
Colloquium: Hidden Order, Superconductivity, and Magnetism -- The Unsolved Case of URu2Si2
This Colloquium reviews the 25 year quest for understanding the continuous
(second-order) mean-field-like phase transition occurring at 17.5 K in URu2Si2.
About ten years ago, the term hidden order (HO) was coined and has since been
utilized to describe the unknown ordered state, whose origin cannot be
disclosed by conventional solid-state probes, such as x rays, neutrons, or
muons. HO is able to support superconductivity at lower temperatures (Tc ~ 1.5
K), and when magnetism is developed with increasing pressure both the HO and
the superconductivity are destroyed. Other ways of probing the HO are via
Rh-doping and very large magnetic fields. During the last few years a variety
of advanced techniques have been tested to probe the HO state and their
attempts will be summarized. A digest of recent theoretical developments is
also included. It is the objective of this Colloquium to shed additional light
on the HO state and its associated phases in other materials.Comment: 25 pages, 16 figures, published in Reviews of Modern Physic
First Observation of Quantum Oscillations in the Ferromagnetic Superconductor UCoGe
We succeeded in growing high quality single crystals of the ferromagnetic
superconductor UCoGe and measured the magnetoresistance at fields up to 34T.
The Shubnikov-de Haas signal was observed for the first time in a U-111 system
(UTGe, UTSi, T: transition metal). A small pocket Fermi surface (F~1kT) with
large cyclotron effective mass 25m0 was detected at high fields above 22T,
implying that UCoGe is a low carrier system accompanyed with heavy
quasi-particles. The observed frequency decreases with increasing fields,
indicating that the volume of detected Fermi surface changes nonlinearly with
field. The cyclotron mass also decreases, which is consistent with the decrease
of the A coefficient of resistivity.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in J. Phys. Soc. Jp
Field Reentrance of the Hidden Order State of URu2Si2 under Pressure
Combination of neutron scattering and thermal expansion measurements under
pressure shows that the so-called hidden order phase of URu2Si2 reenters in
magnetic field when antiferromagnetism (AF) collapses at H_AF (T). Macroscopic
pressure studies of the HO-AF boundaries were realized at different pressures
via thermal expansion measurements under magnetic field using a strain gauge.
Microscopic proof at a given pressure is the reappearance of the resonance at
Q_0=(1,0,0) under field which is correlated with the collapse of the AF Bragg
reflections at Q_0.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in J. Phys. Soc. Jp
New Phase Induced by Pressure in the Iron-Arsenide Superconductor K-Ba122
The electrical resistivity rho of the iron-arsenide superconductor
Ba1-xKxFe2As2 was measured in applied pressures up to 2.6 GPa for four
underdoped samples, with x = 0.16, 0.18, 0.19 and 0.21. The antiferromagnetic
ordering temperature T_N, detected as a sharp anomaly in rho(T), decreases
linearly with pressure. At pressures above around 1.0 GPa, a second sharp
anomaly is detected at a lower temperature T_0, which rises with pressure. We
attribute this second anomaly to the onset of a phase that causes a
reconstruction of the Fermi surface. This new phase expands with increasing x
and it competes with superconductivity. We discuss the possibility that a
second spin-density wave orders at T_0, with a Q vector distinct from that of
the spin-density wave that sets in at T_N.Comment: Two higher K concentrations were added, revealing a steady expansion
of the new phase in the T-P phase diagra
- …