610 research outputs found
Phonon-phonon interactions and phonon damping in carbon nanotubes
We formulate and study the effective low-energy quantum theory of interacting
long-wavelength acoustic phonons in carbon nanotubes within the framework of
continuum elasticity theory. A general and analytical derivation of all three-
and four-phonon processes is provided, and the relevant coupling constants are
determined in terms of few elastic coefficients. Due to the low dimensionality
and the parabolic dispersion, the finite-temperature density of noninteracting
flexural phonons diverges, and a nonperturbative approach to their interactions
is necessary. Within a mean-field description, we find that a dynamical gap
opens. In practice, this gap is thermally smeared, but still has important
consequences. Using our theory, we compute the decay rates of acoustic phonons
due to phonon-phonon and electron-phonon interactions, implying upper bounds
for their quality factor.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figures, published versio
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Destruction of long-range antiferromagnetic order by hole doping
We study the renormalization of the staggered magnetization of a
two-dimensional antiferromagnet as a function of hole doping, in the framework
of the t-J model. It is shown that the motion of holes generates decay of spin
waves into ''particle-hole'' pairs, which causes the destruction of the
long-range magnetic order at a small hole concentration. This effect is mainly
determined by the coherent motion of holes. The value obtained for the critical
hole concentration, of a few percent, is consistent with experimental data for
the doped copper oxide high-Tc superconductors.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figure
Experimental evidence of a fractal dissipative regime in high-T_c superconductors
We report on our experimental evidence of a substantial geometrical
ingredient characterizing the problem of incipient dissipation in high-T_c
superconductors(HTS): high-resolution studies of differential
resistance-current characteristics in absence of magnetic field enabled us to
identify and quantify the fractal dissipative regime inside which the actual
current-carrying medium is an object of fractal geometry. The discovery of a
fractal regime proves the reality and consistency of critical-phenomena
scenario as a model for dissipation in inhomogeneous and disordered HTS, gives
the experimentally-based value of the relevant finite-size scaling exponent and
offers some interesting new guidelines to the problem of pairing mechanisms in
HTS.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, RevTex; Accepted for publication in Physical
Review B; (figures enlarged
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Gut thinking: the gut microbiome and mental health beyond the head
Background: In recent decades, dominant models of mental illness have become increasingly focused on the head, with mental disorders being figured as brain disorders. However, research into the active role that the microbiome-gut-brain axis plays in affecting mood and behaviour may lead to the conclusion that mental health is more than an internalised problem of individual brains.
Objective: This article explores the implications of shifting understandings about mental health that have come about through research into links between the gut microbiome and mental health problems such as depression and anxiety. It aims to analyse the different ways that the lines between mind and body and mental and physical health are re-shaped by this research, which is starting to inform clinical and public understanding.
Design: As mental health has become a pressing issue of political and public concern it has become increasingly constructed in socio-cultural and personal terms beyond clinical spaces, requiring a conceptual response that exceeds biomedical inquiry. This article argues that an interdisciplinary critical medical humanities approach is well positioned to analyse the impact of microbiome-gut-brain research on conceptions of mind.
Results: The entanglement of mind and matter evinced by microbiome-gut-brain axis research potentially provides a different way to conceptualise the physical and social concomitants of mental distress.
Conclusion: Mental health is not narrowly located in the head but is assimilated by the physical body and intermingled with the natural world, requiring different methods of research to unfold the meanings and implications of gut thinking for conceptions of human selfhood
Low temperature spin fluctuations in geometrically frustrated Yb3Ga5O12
In the garnet structure compound Yb3Ga5O12, the Yb3+ ions (ground state
effective spin S' = 1/2) are situated on two interpenetrating corner sharing
triangular sublattices such that frustrated magnetic interactions are possible.
Previous specific heat measurements evidenced the development of short range
magnetic correlations below 0.5K and a lambda-transition at 54mK (Filippi et
al. J. Phys. C: Solid State Physics 13 (1980) 1277). From 170-Yb M"ossbauer
spectroscopy measurements down to 36mK, we find there is no static magnetic
order at temperatures below that of the lambda-transition. Below 0.3K, the
fluctuation frequency of the short range correlated Yb3+ moments progressively
slows down and as the temperature tends to 0, the frequency tends to a
quasi-saturated value of 3 x 10^9 s^-1. We also examined the Yb3+ paramagnetic
relaxation rates up to 300K using 172-Yb perturbed angular correlation
measurements: they evidence phonon driven processes.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure
Magnetic Properties of Weakly Doped Antiferromagnets
We study the spin excitations and the transverse susceptibility of a
two-dimensional antiferromagnet doped with a small concentration of holes in
the t-J model. The motion of holes generates a renormalization of the magnetic
properties. The Green's functions are calculated in the self-consistent Born
approximation. It is shown that the long-wavelength spin waves are
significantly softened and the shorter-wavelength spin waves become strongly
damped as the doping increases. The spin wave velocity is reduced by the
coherent motion of holes, and not increased as has been claimed elsewhere. The
transverse susceptibility is found to increase considerably with doping, also
as a result of coherent hole motion. Our results are in agreement with
experimental data for the doped copper oxide superconductors.Comment: 20 page
Elastic Spin Relaxation Processes in Semiconductor Quantum Dots
Electron spin decoherence caused by elastic spin-phonon processes is
investigated comprehensively in a zero-dimensional environment. Specifically, a
theoretical treatment is developed for the processes associated with the
fluctuations in the phonon potential as well as in the electron procession
frequency through the spin-orbit and hyperfine interactions in the
semiconductor quantum dots. The analysis identifies the conditions (magnetic
field, temperature, etc.) in which the elastic spin-phonon processes can
dominate over the inelastic counterparts with the electron spin-flip
transitions. Particularly, the calculation results illustrate the potential
significance of an elastic decoherence mechanism originating from the
intervalley transitions in semiconductor quantum dots with multiple equivalent
energy minima (e.g., the X valleys in SiGe). The role of lattice anharmonicity
and phonon decay in spin relaxation is also examined along with that of the
local effective field fluctuations caused by the stochastic electronic
transitions between the orbital states. Numerical estimations are provided for
typical GaAs and Si-based quantum dots.Comment: 57 pages, 14 figure
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