1,127 research outputs found
Aharonov-Bohm oscillations in the local density of states
The scattering of electrons with inhomogeneities produces modulations in the
local density of states of a metal. We show that electron interference
contributions to these modulations are affected by the magnetic field via the
Aharonov-Bohm effect. This can be exploited in a simple STM setup that serves
as an Aharonov-Bohm interferometer at the nanometer scale.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures. v2 added reference
Quantum Critical Behavior in Kondo Systems
This article briefly reviews three topics related to the quantum critical
behavior of certain heavy-fermion systems. First, we summarize an extended
dynamical mean-field theory for the Kondo lattice, which treats on an equal
footing the quantum fluctuations associated with the Kondo and RKKY couplings.
The dynamical mean-field equations describe an effective Kondo impurity model
with an additional coupling to vector bosons. Two types of quantum phase
transition appear to be possible within this approach---the first a
conventional spin-density-wave transition, the second driven by local physics.
For the second type of transition to be realized, the effective impurity model
must have a quantum critical point exhibiting an anomalous local spin
susceptibility. In the second part of the paper, such a critical point is shown
to occur in two variants of the Kondo impurity problem. Finally, we propose an
operational test for the existence of quantum critical behavior driven by local
physics. Neutron scattering results suggest that CeCuAu passes this
test.Comment: 6 pages, 4 eps figures, REVTeX (epsf style
Pressure-tuned First-order Phase Transition and Accompanying Resistivity Anomaly in CeZn_{1-\delta}Sb_{2}
The Kondo lattice system CeZn_{0.66}Sb_{2} is studied by the electrical
resistivity and ac magnetic susceptibility measurements at several pressures.
At P=0 kbar, ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic transitions appear at 3.6 and
0.8 K, respectively. The electrical resistivity at T_N dramatically changes
from the Fisher-Langer type (ferromagnetic like) to the Suzaki-Mori type near
17 kbar, i.e., from a positive divergence to a negative divergence in the
temperature derivative of the resistivity. The pressure-induced SM type
anomaly, which shows thermal hysteresis, is easily suppressed by small magnetic
field (1.9 kOe for 19.8 kbar), indicating a weakly first-order nature of the
transition. By subtracting a low-pressure data set, we directly compare the
resistivity anomaly with the SM theory without any assumption on backgrounds,
where the negative divergence in d\rho/dT is ascribed to enhanced critical
fluctuations in the presence of superzone gaps.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures; journal-ref adde
The Kondo-Hubbard model at half-filling
We have analyzed the antiferromagnetic (J>0) Kondo-Hubbard lattice with the
band at half-filling by means of a perturbative approach in the strong coupling
limit, the small parameter is an arbitrary tight-binding band. The results are
valid for any band shape and any dimension. We have obtained the energies of
elementary charge and spin excitations as well as the magnetic correlations in
order to elucidate the magnetic and charge behavior of the Kondo lattice at
half-filling. Finally, we have briefly analyzed the ferromagnetic case (J<0),
which is shown to be equivalent to an effective antiferromagnetic Heisenberg
model.Comment: 4 pages, Proceedings of SCES98/Pari
Ferromagnetic transition in a double-exchange system containing impurities in the Dynamical Mean Field Approximation
We formulate the Dynamical Mean Field Approximation equations for the
double-exchange system with quenched disorder for arbitrary relation between
Hund exchange coupling and electron band width. Close to the
ferromagnetic-paramagnetic transition point the DMFA equations can be reduced
to the ordinary mean field equation of Curie-Weiss type. We solve the equation
to find the transition temperature and present the magnetic phase diagram of
the system.Comment: 5 pages, latex, 2 eps figures. We explicitely present the magnetic
phase diagram of the syste
High-pressure study of non-Fermi liquid and spin-glass-like behavior in CeRhSn
We present measurements of the temperature dependence of electrical
resistivity of CeRhSn up to ~ 27 kbar. At low temperatures, the electrical
resistivity varies linearly with temperature for all pressures, indicating
non-Fermi liquid behavior. Below a temperature Tf ~ 6 K, the electrical
resistivity deviates from a linear dependence. We found that the
low-temperature feature centered at T = Tf shows a pressure dependence dTf/dP ~
30 mK/kbar which is typical of canonical spin glasses. This interplay between
spin-glass-like and non-Fermi liquid behavior was observed in both CeRhSn and a
Ce0.9La0.1RhSn alloy.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication to Journal of Physics:
Condensed Matte
Nonequilibrium steady states of driven magnetic flux lines in disordered type-II superconductors
We investigate driven magnetic flux lines in layered type-II superconductors
subject to various configurations of strong point or columnar pinning centers
by means of a three-dimensional elastic line model and Metropolis Monte Carlo
simulations. We characterize the resulting nonequilibrium steady states by
means of the force-velocity / current-voltage curve, static structure factor,
mean vortex radius of gyration, number of double-kink and half-loop
excitations, and velocity / voltage noise spectrum. We compare the results for
the above observables for randomly distributed point and columnar defects, and
demonstrate that the three-dimensional flux line structures and their
fluctuations lead to a remarkable variety of complex phenomena in the
steady-state transport properties of bulk superconductors.Comment: 23 pages, IOP style, 18 figures include
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