1,324 research outputs found
Field angle dependence of the zero-energy density of states in unconventional superconductors: analysis of the borocarbide superconductor YNi2B2C
We investigate the field-angle-dependent zero-energy density of states for
YNi2B2C with using realistic Fermi surfaces obtained by band calculations. Both
the 17th and 18th bands are taken into account. For calculating the oscillating
density of states, we adopt the Kramer-Pesch approximation, which is found to
improve accuracy in the oscillation amplitude. We show that superconducting gap
structure determined by analyzing STM experiments is consistent with thermal
transport and heat capacity measurements.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, 25th international conference on Low Temperature
Physics (Amsterdam, The Netherlands, August 6-13 2008) LT1597, to be
published in Journal of Physics: Conference Series 200
Quantum limiting behaviors of a vortex core in an anisotropic gap superconductor
Quantized bound states at a vortex core are discretized in YNiBC. By
using scanning tunneling spectroscopy with an unprecedented 0.1 nm spatial
resolution, we find and identify the localized spectral structure, where in
addition to the first main peak with a positive low energy, a second subpeak
coming from the fourfold symmetric gap structure is seen inside the energy gap.
Those spectral features are understood by solving the Bogoliubov-de Gennes
equation for a fully three-dimensional gap structure. A particle-hole
asymmetric spectrum at the core site and quantum oscillation in the spectra are
clearly observed.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Analytical Formulation of the Local Density of States around a Vortex Core in Unconventional Superconductors
On the basis of the quasiclassical theory of superconductivity, we obtain a
formula for the local density of states (LDOS) around a vortex core of
superconductors with anisotropic pair-potential and Fermi surface in arbitrary
directions of magnetic fields. Earlier results on the LDOS of d-wave
superconductors and NbSe are naturally interpreted within our theory
geometrically; the region with high intensity of the LDOS observed in numerical
calculations turns out to the enveloping curve of the trajectory of Andreev
bound states. We discuss experimental results on YNiBC within the
quasiclassical theory of superconductivity.Comment: 13 pages, 16 figure
Experimental Study of Photonuclear Reactions of ^4He below Pion Threshold(I. Nuclear Physics)
An experimental method for the precise measurement of the photonuclear reactions of ^4He below the pion threshold has been tested. We used a tagged photon beam and a time projection chamber containing helium gas, which served as an active target. It was proved that the chamber could successfully detect the tracks of the charged particles from the photonuclear reactions in a high radiation level due to the irradiation of a high-intensity photon beam. It was found that the background was mainly due to the noise of the chamber, and could be suppressed by taking coincidence of the signals from the chamber and the tagging counter
Validity of self-reported diagnoses of gynaecological and breast cancers in a prospective cohort study: the Japan Nurses' Health Study
Objectives To validate the self-reported diagnoses of gynaecological and breast cancers in a nationwide prospective cohort study of nursing professionals: the Japan Nurses’ Health Study (JNHS).Design and setting Retrospective analysis of the JNHS.Participants and measures Data were reviewed for 15 717 subjects. The mean age at baseline was 41.6±8.3 years (median: 41), and the mean follow-up period was 10.5±3.8 years (median: 12). Participants are regularly mailed a follow-up questionnaire once every 2 years. Respondents who self-reported a positive cancer diagnosis were sent an additional confirmation questionnaire and contacted the diagnosing facility to confirm the diagnosis based on medical records. A review panel of experts verified the disease status. Regular follow-up, confirmation questionnaires and expert review were validated for their positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV).Results New incidences were verified in 37, 47, 26 and 300 cervical, endometrial, ovarian and breast cancer cases, respectively. The estimated incidence rates were 22.0, 25.4, 13.8 and 160.4 per 100 000 person-years. These were comparable with those of national data from regional cancer registries in Japan. For regular follow-up, the corresponding PPVs for cervical, endometrial, ovarian and breast cancer were 16.9%, 54.2%, 45.1% and 81.4%, and the NPVs were 100%, 99.9%, 99.9% and 99.9%, respectively. Adding the confirmation questionnaire improved the PPVs to 31.5%, 88.9%, 76.7% and 99.9%; the NPVs were uniformly 99.9%. Expert review yielded PPVs and NPVs that were all ~100%.Conclusions Gynaecological cancer cannot be accurately assessed by self-reporting alone. Additionally, the external validity of cancer incidence in this cohort was confirmed
Spin Waves in Disordered III-V Diluted Magnetic Semiconductors
We propose a new scheme for numerically computing collective-mode spectra for
large-size systems, using a reformulation of the Random Phase Approximation. In
this study, we apply this method to investigate the spectrum and nature of the
spin-waves of a (III,Mn)V Diluted Magnetic Semiconductor. We use an impurity
band picture to describe the interaction of the charge carriers with the local
Mn spins. The spin-wave spectrum is shown to depend sensitively on the
positional disorder of the Mn atoms inside the host semiconductor. Both
localized and extended spin-wave modes are found. Unusual spin and charge
transport is implied.Comment: 14 pages, including 11 figure
Symmetry and Topology in Superconductors - Odd-frequency pairing and edge states -
Superconductivity is a phenomenon where the macroscopic quantum coherence
appears due to the pairing of electrons. This offers a fascinating arena to
study the physics of broken gauge symmetry. However, the important symmetries
in superconductors are not only the gauge invariance. Especially, the symmetry
properties of the pairing, i.e., the parity and spin-singlet/spin-triplet,
determine the physical properties of the superconducting state. Recently it has
been recognized that there is the important third symmetry of the pair
amplitude, i.e., even or odd parity with respect to the frequency. The
conventional uniform superconducting states correspond to the even-frequency
pairing, but the recent finding is that the odd-frequency pair amplitude arises
in the spatially non-uniform situation quite ubiquitously. Especially, this is
the case in the Andreev bound state (ABS) appearing at the surface/interface of
the sample. The other important recent development is on the nontrivial
topological aspects of superconductors. As the band insulators are classified
by topological indices into (i) conventional insulator, (ii) quantum Hall
insulator, and (iii) topological insulator, also are the gapped
superconductors. The influence of the nontrivial topology of the bulk states
appears as the edge or surface of the sample. In the superconductors, this
leads to the formation of zero energy ABS (ZEABS). Therefore, the ABSs of the
superconductors are the place where the symmetry and topology meet each other
which offer the stage of rich physics. In this review, we discuss the physics
of ABS from the viewpoint of the odd-frequency pairing, the topological
bulk-edge correspondence, and the interplay of these two issues. It is
described how the symmetry of the pairing and topological indices determines
the absence/presence of the ZEABS, its energy dispersion, and properties as the
Majorana fermions.Comment: 91 pages, 38 figures, Review article, references adde
Magnetic Properties in Non-centrosymmetric Superconductors with and without Antiferromagnetic Order
The paramagnetic properties in non-centrosymmetric superconductors with and
without antiferromagnetic (AFM) order are investigated with focus on the heavy
Fermion superconductors, CePt_3Si, CeRhSi_3 and CeIrSi_3. First, we investigate
the spin susceptibility in the linear response regime and elucidate the role of
AFM order. The spin susceptibility at T=0 is independent of the pairing
symmetry and increases in the AFM state. Second, the non-linear response to the
magnetic field are investigated on the basis of an effective model for CePt_3Si
which may be also applicable to CeRhSi_3 and CeIrSi_3. The role of
antisymmetric spin-orbit coupling (ASOC), helical superconductivity,
anisotropic Fermi surfaces and AFM order are examined in the dominantly s-, p-
and d-wave states. We emphasize the qualitatively important role of the mixing
of superconducting (SC) order parameters in the p-wave state which enhances the
spin susceptibility and suppresses paramagnetic depairing effect in a
significant way. Therefore, the dominantly p-wave superconductivity admixed
with the s-wave order parameter is consistent with the paramagnetic properties
of CePt_3Si at ambient pressure. We propose some experiments which can
elucidate the novel pairing states in CePt_3Si as well as CeRhSi_3 and
CeIrSi_3.Comment: To appear in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. (2007) No.1
Abnormally High Levels of Virus-Infected IFN-γ+CCR4+CD4+CD25+ T Cells in a Retrovirus-Associated Neuroinflammatory Disorder
BACKGROUND:Human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) is a human retrovirus associated with both HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP), which is a chronic neuroinflammatory disease, and adult T-cell leukemia (ATL). The pathogenesis of HAM/TSP is known to be as follows: HTLV-1-infected T cells trigger a hyperimmune response leading to neuroinflammation. However, the HTLV-1-infected T cell subset that plays a major role in the accelerated immune response has not yet been identified. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:Here, we demonstrate that CD4(+)CD25(+)CCR4(+) T cells are the predominant viral reservoir, and their levels are increased in HAM/TSP patients. While CCR4 is known to be selectively expressed on T helper type 2 (Th2), Th17, and regulatory T (Treg) cells in healthy individuals, we demonstrate that IFN-gamma production is extraordinarily increased and IL-4, IL-10, IL-17, and Foxp3 expression is decreased in the CD4(+)CD25(+)CCR4(+) T cells of HAM/TSP patients as compared to those in healthy individuals, and the alteration in function is specific to this cell subtype. Notably, the frequency of IFN-gamma-producing CD4(+)CD25(+)CCR4(+)Foxp3(-) T cells is dramatically increased in HAM/TSP patients, and this was found to be correlated with disease activity and severity. CONCLUSIONS:We have defined a unique T cell subset--IFN-gamma(+)CCR4(+)CD4(+)CD25(+) T cells--that is abnormally increased and functionally altered in this retrovirus-associated inflammatory disorder of the central nervous system
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