Hall quantization and optical conductivity evolution with variable Berry phase in α\alpha-T3T_3 model

The $\alpha$-$T_3$ model is characterized by a variable Berry phase that changes continuously from $\pi$ to $0$. We take advantage of this property to highlight the effects of this underlying geometrical phase on a number of physical quantities. The Hall quantization of the two limiting cases is dramatically different - a relativistic series is associated with a Berry phase of $\pi$ and a non-relativistic series is associated with the other limit. We study the quantization of the Hall plateaux as they continuously evolve from a relativistic to a non-relativistic regime. Additionally, we describe two physical quantities that retain knowledge of the Berry phase, in the absence of a motion-inducing magnetic field. The variable Berry phase of the $\alpha$-$T_3$ model allows us to explicitly describe the Berry phase dependence of the dynamical longitudinal optical conductivity and of the angular scattering probability

Formation of the Large Nearby Galaxies

Observations of the nearby large galaxies that can be examined in particularly close detail suggest that many have small stellar luminosity fractions in bulges and haloes. Simulations of galaxy formation tend to produce considerably larger fractions of the star particles in model bulges, stellar haloes, and more generally in orbits seriously different from circular. The situation might be improved by a prescription for non-Gaussian initial conditions on the scale of galaxies.Comment: additions and revisions inspired by comments received. v3 has more additions and revision

Orbit of the Large Magellanic Cloud in a Dynamical Model for the Local Group

A mass model that includes galaxies in and near the Local Group and an external mass in the direction of the Maffei system, with the condition from cosmology that protogalaxies have small peculiar velocities at high redshifts, allows a plausible picture for the past motion of the Large Magellanic Cloud relative to the Milky Way. The model also fits the proper motions of M33 and IC10.Comment: 22 pages, 4 figure

Dark Matter

The evidence for the dark matter of the hot big bang cosmology is about as good as it gets in natural science. The exploration of its nature is now led by direct and indirect detection experiments, to be complemented by advances in the full range of cosmological tests, including judicious consideration of the rich phenomenology of galaxies. The results may confirm ideas about DM already under discussion. If we are lucky we also will be surprised once again.Comment: Essay for the Dark Matter Sackler Colloquium, October 2012, Irvine C

Tracing the Magellanic Clouds Back in Time

A solution is presented for the past motions of the Magellanic Clouds, the Milky Way galaxy, and M31, fitted to the measured velocities of the Clouds and M31, under some simplifying assumptions. The galaxies are modeled as isolated bodies back to redshift about 10, when their velocities relative to the general expansion of the universe were small, consistent with the gravitational instability picture for the growth of structure. Mass outside the Local Group is modeled as a third massive dynamical actor that is responsible for the angular momentum of the Clouds. A plausible solution under these assumptions requires that the circular velocity v_c of the Milky Way is in the range 200 to 230 km/s. The solution seems to be unique up to the modest variations allowed by the choices of v_c and the position of the exterior mass. In this solution the proto-Magellanic Clouds at high redshift were near the South pole of the Milky Way (in its present orientation), at physical distance about 200 kpc from the Milky Way and moving away at about 200 km/s.Comment: 21 pages, 5 figure

Emergence of Plasmaronic Structure in the Near Field Optical Response of Graphene

The finite momentum optical response $\sigma({\boldsymbol{q}},\omega)$ of graphene can be probed with the innovative technique of infrared nanoscopy where mid-infrared radiation is confined by an atomic force microscope cantilever tip. In contrast to conventional $q\sim 0$ optical absorption which primarily involves Dirac fermions with momentum near the Fermi momentum, $k\sim k_F$, for finite $q$, $\sigma({\boldsymbol{q}},\omega)$ has the potential to provide information on many body renormalizations and collective phenomena which have been found at small $k< k_F$ near the Dirac point in electron-doped graphene. For electron-electron interactions, the low energy excitation spectrum characterizing the incoherent part of the quasiparticle spectral function of Dirac electrons with $k\sim k_F$ consists of a flat, small amplitude background which scales with chemical potential and Fermi momentum. However, probing of the states with $k$ near $k=0$ will reveal plasmarons, a collective state of a charge carrier and a plasmon. These collective modes in graphene have recently been seen in angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and here we describe how they manifest in near field optics.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Specific heat of underdoped cuprates: RVB versus Fermi arcs

A recent microscopic model of the pseudogap state, based on the resonating valence bond (RVB) spin liquid, has provided a simple ansatz for the electronic self energy in which a gap forms on the antiferromagnetic Brillouin zone as the limit of a Mott insulator is approached in the underdoped regime. Here, the ansatz is employed to calculate the electronic specific heat when a superconducting gap is also included. We find qualitative agreement with all experimental observations in the underdoped regime of the cuprates. We explore the relationship of the theory to two other purely phenomenological approaches, the nodal liquid and the Fermi arc model, and provide justification for their use on experimental data in light of this microscopic RVB theory

When did the Large Elliptical Galaxies Form?

The simple reading of the evidence is that the large elliptical galaxies existed at about the present star mass and comoving number density at redshift z=2. This is subject to the usual uncertainties of measurement and interpretation in astronomy, but should be taken seriously because it is indicated by quite a few lines of evidence. And it might be a guide to a more perfect theory of galaxy formation.Comment: 10 pages, conference proceeding

The Galaxy and Mass N-Point Correlation Functions: a Blast from the Past

Correlation functions and related statistics have been favorite measures of the distributions of extragalactic objects ever since people started analyzing the clustering of the galaxies in the 1930s. I review the evolving reasons for this choice, and comment on some of the present issues in the application and interpretation of these statistics, with particular attention to the question of how closely galaxies trace mass.Comment: 18 pages, conference contributio

Effects of a particle-hole asymmetric pseudogap on Bogoliubov quasiparticles

We show that in the presence of a pseudogap, the spectral function in the superconducting state of the underdoped cuprates exhibits additional Bogoliubov quasiparticle peaks at both positive and negative energy which are revealed by the particle-hole asymmetry of the pseudogapped energy bands. This provides direct information on the unoccupied band via measurement of the occupied states. When sufficiently close, these Bogoliubov peaks will appear to merge with existing peaks leading to the anomalous observation, seen in experiment, that the carrier spectral density broadens with reduced temperature in the superconducting state. Using the resonating valence bond (RVB) spin liquid model in conjunction with recent angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) data allows for an empirical determination of the temperature dependence of the pseudogap suggesting that it opens only very gradually below the pseudogap onset temperature $T^*$.Comment: 4 pages - 4 figures - Submitted to PR