Large exchange bias after zero-field cooling from an unmagnetized state

Exchange bias (EB) is usually observed in systems with interface between different magnetic phases after field cooling. Here we report an unusual phenomenon in which a large EB can be observed in Ni-Mn-In bulk alloys after zero-field cooling from an unmagnetized state. We propose this is related to the newly formed interface between different magnetic phases during the initial magnetization process. The magnetic unidirectional anisotropy, which is the origin of EB effect, can be created isothermally below the blocking temperature.Comment: including supplementary information, Accepted by Physical Review Letter

Hints of Standard Model Higgs Boson at the LHC and Light Dark Matter Searches

The most recent results of searches at the LHC for the Higgs boson h have turned up possible hints of such a particle with mass m_h about 125 GeV consistent with standard model (SM) expectations. This has many potential implications for the SM and beyond. We consider some of them in the contexts of a simple Higgs-portal dark matter (DM) model, the SM plus a real gauge-singlet scalar field D as the DM candidate, and a couple of its variations. In the simplest model with one Higgs doublet and three or four generations of fermions, for D mass m_D DD tends to have a substantial branching ratio. If future LHC data confirm the preliminary Higgs indications, m_D will have to exceed m_h/2. To keep the DM lighter than m_h/2, one will need to extend the model and also satisfy constraints from DM direct searches. The latter can be accommodated if the model provides sizable isospin violation in the DM-nucleon interactions. We explore this in a two-Higgs-doublet model combined with the scalar field D. This model can offer a 125-GeV SM-like Higgs and a light DM candidate having isospin-violating interactions with nucleons at roughly the required level, albeit with some degree of fine-tuning.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures, slightly revised, main conclusions unchanged, references added, matches published versio

A Higgs Quadruplet for Type III Seesaw and Implications for μ→eγ\mu \to e\gamma and μ−e\mu - e Conversion

In Type III seesaw model the heavy neutrinos are contained in leptonic triplet representations. The Yukawa couplings of the triplet fermion and the left-handed neutrinos with the doublet Higgs field produce the Dirac mass terms. Together with the Majorana masses for the leptonic triplets, the light neutrinos obtain non-zero seesaw masses. We point out that it is also possible to have a quadruplet Higgs field to produce the Dirac mass terms to facilitate the seesaw mechanism. The vacuum expectation value of the quadruplet Higgs is constrained to be small by electroweak precision data. Therefore the Yukawa couplings of a quadruplet can be much larger than those for a doublet. We also find that unlike the usual Type III seesaw model where at least two copies of leptonic triplets are needed, with both doublet and quadruplet Higgs representations, just one leptonic triplet is possible to have a phenomenologically acceptable model because light neutrino masses can receive sizable contributions at both tree and one loop levels. Large Yukawa couplings of the quadruplet can induce observable effects for lepton flavor violating processes $\mu \to e \gamma$ and $\mu - e$ conversion. Implications of the recent $\mu \to e\gamma$ limit from MEG and also limit on $\mu - e$ conversion on Au are also given. Some interesting collider signatures for the doubly charged Higgs boson in the quadruplet are discussed.Comment: Latex 11 pages, 1 figure. A few references adde

Entropy Driven Dimerization in a One-Dimensional Spin-Orbital Model

We study a new version of the one-dimensional spin-orbital model with spins S=1 relevant to cubic vanadates. At small Hund's coupling J_H we discover dimerization in a pure electronic system solely due to a dynamical spin-orbital coupling. Above a critical value J_H, a uniform ferromagnetic state is stabilized at zero temperature. More surprisingly, we observe a temperature driven dimerization of the ferrochain, which occurs due to a large entropy released by dimer states. This dynamical dimerization seems to be the mechanism driving the peculiar intermediate phase of YVO_3.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Theory of Interfacial Plasmon-Phonon Scattering in Supported Graphene

One of the factors limiting electron mobility in supported graphene is remote phonon scattering. We formulate the theory of the coupling between graphene plasmon and substrate surface polar phonon (SPP) modes, and find that it leads to the formation of interfacial plasmon-phonon (IPP) modes, from which the phenomena of dynamic anti-screening and screening of remote phonons emerge. The remote phonon-limited mobilities for SiO$_{2}$, HfO$_{2}$, h-BN and Al$_{2}$O$_{3}$ substrates are computed using our theory. We find that h-BN yields the highest peak mobility, but in the practically useful high-density range the mobility in HfO$_{2}$-supported graphene is high, despite the fact that HfO$_{2}$ is a high-$\kappa$ dielectric with low-frequency modes. Our theory predicts that the strong temperature dependence of the total mobility effectively vanishes at very high carrier concentrations. The effects of polycrystallinity on IPP scattering are also discussed.Comment: 33 pages, 7 figure