805 research outputs found
Excessive noise as a test for many-body localization
Recent experimental reports suggested the existence of a finite-temperature insulator in the vicinity of the superconductor-insulator transition. The rapid decay of conductivity over a narrow temperature range was theoretically linked to both a finite-temperature transition to a many-body-localized state, and to a charge-Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition. Here we report of low-frequency noise measurements of such insulators to test for many-body localization. We observed a huge enhancement of the low-temperatures noise when exceeding a threshold voltage for nonlinear conductivity and discuss our results in light of the theoretical models
Evidence for a Finite Temperature Insulator
In superconductors the zero-resistance current-flow is protected from
dissipation at finite temperatures (T) by virtue of the short-circuit condition
maintained by the electrons that remain in the condensed state. The recently
suggested finite-T insulator and the "superinsulating" phase are different
because any residual mechanism of conduction will eventually become dominant as
the finite-T insulator sets-in. If the residual conduction is small it may be
possible to observe the transition to these intriguing states. We show that the
conductivity of the high magnetic-field insulator terminating superconductivity
in amorphous indium-oxide exhibits an abrupt drop, and seem to approach a zero
conductance at T<0.04 K. We discuss our results in the light of theories that
lead to a finite-T insulator
Universality in an integer Quantum Hall transition
An integer Quantum Hall effect transition is studied in a modulation doped
p-SiGe sample. In contrast to most examples of such transitions the
longitudinal and Hall conductivities at the critical point are close to 0.5 and
1.5 (e^2/h), the theoretically expected values. This allows the extraction of a
scattering parameter, describing both conductivity components, which depends
exponentially on filling factor. The strong similarity of this functional form
to those observed for transitions into the Hall insulating state and for the
B=0 metal- insulator transition implies a universal quantum critical behaviour
for the transitions. The observation of this behaviour in the integer Quantum
Hall effect, for this particular sample, is attributed to the short-ranged
character of the potential associated with the dominant scatterers
A different view of the quantum Hall plateau-to-plateau transitions
We demonstrate experimentally that the transitions between adjacent integer
quantum Hall (QH) states are equivalent to a QH-to-insulator transition
occurring in the top Landau level, in the presence of an inert background of
the other completely filled Landau levels, each contributing a single unit of
quantum conductance, , to the total Hall conductance of the system.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, Revtex 3.
Universality in the Crossover between Edge Channel and Bulk Transport in the Quantum Hall Regime
We present a new theoretical approach for the integer quantum Hall effect,
which is able to describe the inter-plateau transitions as well as the
transition to the Hall insulator. We find two regimes (metallic and insulator
like) of the top Landau level, in which the dissipative bulk current appears in
different directions. The regimes are separated by a temperature invariant
point.Comment: 4 page, 2 eps figures included, submitte
Angular dependence of the magnetic-field driven superconductor-insulator transition in thin films of amorphous indium-oxide
A significant anisotropy of the magnetic-field driven
superconductor-insulator transition is observed in thin films of amorphous
indium-oxide. The anisotropy is largest for more disordered films which have a
lower transition field. At higher magnetic field the anisotropy reduces and
even changes sign beyond a sample specific and temperature independent magnetic
field value. The data are consistent with the existence of more that one
mechanism affecting transport at high magnetic fields.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
Grover's Quantum Search Algorithm and Diophantine Approximation
In a fundamental paper [Phys. Rev. Lett. 78, 325 (1997)] Grover showed how a
quantum computer can find a single marked object in a database of size N by
using only O(N^{1/2}) queries of the oracle that identifies the object. His
result was generalized to the case of finding one object in a subset of marked
elements. We consider the following computational problem: A subset of marked
elements is given whose number of elements is either M or K, M<K, our task is
to determine which is the case. We show how to solve this problem with a high
probability of success using only iterations of Grover's basic step (and no
other algorithm). Let m be the required number of iterations; we prove that
under certain restrictions on the sizes of M and K the estimation m <
(2N^{1/2})/(K^{1/2}-M^{1/2}) obtains. This bound sharpens previous results and
is known to be optimal up to a constant factor. Our method involves
simultaneous Diophantine approximations, so that Grover's algorithm is
conceptualized as an orbit of an ergodic automorphism of the torus. We comment
on situations where the algorithm may be slow, and note the similarity between
these cases and the problem of small divisors in classical mechanics.Comment: 8 pages, revtex, Title change
Weak Cosmic Censorship: As Strong as Ever
Spacetime singularities that arise in gravitational collapse are always
hidden inside of black holes. This is the essence of the weak cosmic censorship
conjecture. The hypothesis, put forward by Penrose 40 years ago, is still one
of the most important open questions in general relativity. In this Letter, we
reanalyze extreme situations which have been considered as counterexamples to
the weak cosmic censorship conjecture. In particular, we consider the
absorption of scalar particles with large angular momentum by a black hole.
Ignoring back reaction effects may lead one to conclude that the incident wave
may overspin the black hole, thereby exposing its inner singularity to distant
observers. However, we show that when back reaction effects are properly taken
into account, the stability of the black-hole event horizon is irrefutable. We
therefore conclude that cosmic censorship is actually respected in this type of
gedanken experiments.Comment: 4 page
Phase Diagram of Integer Quantum Hall Effect
The phase diagram of integer quantum Hall effect is numerically determined in
the tight-binding model, which can account for overall features of recently
obtained experimental phase diagram. In particular, the quantum Hall plateaus
are terminated by two distinct insulating phases, characterized by the Hall
resistance with classic and quantized values, respectively, which is also in
good agreement with experiments.Comment: 4 pages, RevTex, 4 PostScript figures; one new figure is added; minor
modifications in the tex
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