456 research outputs found
Spectroscopy of Superfluid Pairing in Atomic Fermi Gases
We study the dynamic structure factor for density and spin within the
crossover from BCS superfluidity of atomic fermions to the Bose-Einstein
condensation of molecules. Both structure factors are experimentally accessible
via Bragg spectroscopy, and allow for the identification of the pairing
mechanism: the spin structure factor allows for the determination of the two
particle gap, while the collective sound mode in the density structure reveals
the superfluid state.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Liquid 4He near the superfluid transition in the presence of a heat current and gravity
The effects of a heat current and gravity in liquid 4He near the superfluid
transition are investigated for temperatures above and below T_lambda. We
present a renormalization-group calculation based on model F for the Green's
function in a self-consistent approximation which in quantum many-particle
theory is known as the Hartree approximation. The approach can handle a zero
average order parameter above and below T_lambda and includes effects of
vortices. We calculate the thermal conductivity and the specific heat for all
temperatures T and heat currents Q in the critical regime. Furthermore, we
calculate the temperature profile. Below T_lambda we find a second correlation
length which describes the dephasing of the order parameter field due to
vortices. We find dissipation and mutual friction of the superfluid-normal
fluid counterflow and calculate the Gorter-Mellink coefficient A. We compare
our theoretical results with recent experiments.Comment: 26 pages, 9 figure
Criticality and Superfluidity in liquid He-4 under Nonequilibrium Conditions
We review a striking array of recent experiments, and their theoretical
interpretations, on the superfluid transition in He in the presence of a
heat flux, . We define and evaluate a new set of critical point exponents.
The statics and dynamics of the superfluid-normal interface are discussed, with
special attention to the role of gravity. If is in the same direction as
gravity, a self-organized state can arise, in which the entire sample has a
uniform reduced temperature, on either the normal or superfluid side of the
transition. Finally, we review recent theory and experiment regarding the heat
capacity at constant . The excitement that surrounds this field arises from
the fact that advanced thermometry and the future availability of a
microgravity experimental platform aboard the International Space Station will
soon open to experimental exploration decades of reduced temperature that were
previously inaccessible.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures, plus harvard.sty style file for references
Accepted for publication in Colloquia section of Reviews of Modern Physic
Model-based comparison of organ at risk protection between VMAT and robustly optimised IMPT plans
The comparison between intensity-modulated proton therapy (IMPT) and volume-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) plans, based on models of normal tissue complication probabilities (NTCP), can support the choice of radiation modality. IMPT irradiation plans for 50 patients with head and neck tumours originally treated with photon therapy have been robustly optimised against density and setup uncertainties. The dose distribution has been calculated with a Monte Carlo (MC) algorithm. The comparison of the plans was based on dose-volume parameters in organs at risk (OARs) and NTCP-calculations for xerostomia, sticky saliva, dysphagia and tube feeding using Langendijk's model-based approach. While the dose distribution in the target volumes is similar, the IMPT plans show better protection of OARs. Therefore, it is not the high dose confirmation that constitutes the advantage of protons, but it is the reduction of the mid-to-low dose levels compared to photons. This work investigates to what extent the advantages of proton radiation are beneficial for the patient's post-therapeutic quality of life (QoL). As a result, approximately one third of the patients examined benefit significantly from proton therapy with regard to possible late side effects. Clinical data is needed to confirm the model-based calculations
BCS-BEC crossover at finite temperature in the broken-symmetry phase
The BCS-BEC crossover is studied in a systematic way in the broken-symmetry
phase between zero temperature and the critical temperature. This study bridges
two regimes where quantum and thermal fluctuations are, respectively,
important. The theory is implemented on physical grounds, by adopting a
fermionic self-energy in the broken-symmetry phase that represents fermions
coupled to superconducting fluctuations in weak coupling and to bosons
described by the Bogoliubov theory in strong coupling. This extension of the
theory beyond mean field proves important at finite temperature, to connect
with the results in the normal phase. The order parameter, the chemical
potential, and the single-particle spectral function are calculated numerically
for a wide range of coupling and temperature. This enables us to assess the
quantitative importance of superconducting fluctuations in the broken-symmetry
phase over the whole BCS-BEC crossover. Our results are relevant to the
possible realizations of this crossover with high-temperature cuprate
superconductors and with ultracold fermionic atoms in a trap.Comment: 21 pages, 15 figure
Probing superconductivity in MgB2 confined to magnetic field tuned cylinders by means of critical fluctuations
We report and analyze reversible magnetization measurements on a high quality
MgB2 single crystal in the vicinity of the zero field transition temperature,
T_c=38.83 K, at several magnetic fields up to 300 Oe, applied along the c-axis.
Though MgB2 is a two gap superconductor our scaling analysis uncovers
remarkable consistency with 3D-xy critical behavior, revealing that close to
criticality the order parameter is a single complex scalar as in 4He. This
opens up the window onto the exploration of the magnetic field induced finite
size effect, whereupon the correlation length transverse to the applied
magnetic field H_i applied along the i-axis cannot grow beyond the limiting
magnetic length L_Hi, related to the average distance between vortex lines. We
find unambiguous evidence for this finite size effect. It implies that in type
II superconductors, such as MgB2, there is the 3D to 1D crossover line H_pi and
xi denotes the critical amplitudes of the correlation lengths above and below
T_c along the respective axis. Consequently, above H_pi(T) and T<T_c
superconductivity is confined to cylinders with diameter L_Hi (1D). In
contrast, above T_c the uncondensed pairs are confined to cylinders.
Accordingly, there is no continuous phase transition in the (H,T)-plane along
the H_c2-lines as predicted by the mean-field treatment
Itinerant Electron Ferromagnetism in the Quantum Hall Regime
We report on a study of the temperature and Zeeman-coupling-strength
dependence of the one-particle Green's function of a two-dimensional (2D)
electron gas at Landau level filling factor where the ground state is
a strong ferromagnet. Our work places emphasis on the role played by the
itinerancy of the electrons, which carry the spin magnetization and on
analogies between this system and conventional itinerant electron ferromagnets.
We discuss the application to this system of the self-consistent Hartree-Fock
approximation, which is analogous to the band theory description of metallic
ferromagnetism and fails badly at finite temperatures because it does not
account for spin-wave excitations. We go beyond this level by evaluating the
one-particle Green's function using a self-energy, which accounts for
quasiparticle spin-wave interactions. We report results for the temperature
dependence of the spin magnetization, the nuclear spin relaxation rate, and
2D-2D tunneling conductances. Our calculations predict a sharp peak in the
tunneling conductance at large bias voltages with strength proportional to
temperature. We compare with experiment, where available, and with predictions
based on numerical exact diagonalization and other theoretical approaches.Comment: 29 pages, 20 figure
Hidden symmetry and knot solitons in a charged two-condensate Bose system
We show that a charged two-condensate Ginzburg-Landau model or equivalently a
Gross-Pitaevskii functional for two charged Bose condensates, can be mapped
onto a version of the nonlinear O(3) -model. This implies in particular
that such a system possesses a hidden O(3) symmetry and allows for the
formation of stable knotted solitons. The results, in particular, should be
relevant to the superconducting MgB_2.Comment: This version will appear in Phys. Rev. B, added a comment on the case
when condensates in two bands do not independently conserve, also added a
figure and references to experimental papers on MgB_2 (for which our study is
relevant). Miscellaneous links on knot solitons are also available at the
homepage of one of the authors http://www.teorfys.uu.se/PEOPLE/egor/ .
Animations of knot solitons are available at
http://users.utu.fi/h/hietarin/knots/c45_p2.mp
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