187 research outputs found
Quantum transport theory for nanostructures with Rashba spin-orbital interaction
We report on a general theory for analyzing quantum transport through devices
in the Metal-QD-Metal configuration where QD is a quantum dot or the device
scattering region which contains Rashba spin-orbital and electron-electron
interactions. The metal leads may or may not be ferromagnetic, they are assumed
to weakly couple to the QD region. Our theory is formulated by second
quantizing the Rashba spin-orbital interaction in spectral space (instead of
real space), and quantum transport is then analyzed within the Keldysh
nonequilibrium Green's function formalism. The Rashba interaction causes two
main effects to the Hamiltonian: (i) it gives rise to an extra spin-dependent
phase factor in the coupling matrix elements between the leads and the QD; (ii)
it gives rise to an inter-level spin-flip term but forbids any intra-level
spin-flips. Our formalism provides a starting point for analyzing many quantum
transport issues where spin-orbital effects are important. As an example, we
investigate transport properties of a Aharnov-Bohm ring in which a QD having
Rashba spin-orbital and e-e interactions is located in one arm of the ring. A
substantial spin-polarized conductance or current emerges in this device due to
a combined effect of a magnetic flux and the Rashba interaction. The direction
and strength of the spin-polarization are shown to be controllable by both the
magnetic flux and a gate voltage.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figure
Resonant spin Hall conductance in quantum Hall systems lacking bulk and structural inversion symmetry
Following a previous work [Shen, Ma, Xie and Zhang, Phys. Rev. Lett. 92,
256603 (2004)] on the resonant spin Hall effect, we present detailed
calculations of the spin Hall conductance in two-dimensional quantum wells in a
strong perpendicular magnetic field. The Rashba coupling, generated by
spin-orbit interaction in wells lacking bulk inversion symmetry, introduces a
degeneracy of Zeeman-split Landau levels at certain magnetic fields. This
degeneracy, if occuring at the Fermi energy, will induce a resonance in the
spin Hall conductance below a characteristic temperature of order of the Zeeman
energy. At very low temperatures, the spin Hall current is highly non-ohmic.
The Dresselhaus coupling due to the lack of structure inversion symmetry
partially or completely suppresses the spin Hall resonance. The condition for
the resonant spin Hall conductance in the presence of both Rashba and
Dresselhaus couplings is derived using a perturbation method. In the presence
of disorder, we argue that the resonant spin Hall conductance occurs when the
two Zeeman split extended states near the Fermi level becomes degenerate due to
the Rashba coupling and that the the quantized charge Hall conductance changes
by 2e^2/h instead of e^2/h as the magnetic field changes through the resonant
field.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures. This is a sequel to Physical Review Letters 90,
256603 (2004
Constraining the nature of the accreting binary in CXOGBS J174623.5-310550
We report optical and infrared observations of the X-ray source CXOGBS
J174623.5-310550. This Galactic object was identified as a potential quiescent
low-mass X-ray binary accreting from an M-type donor on the basis of optical
spectroscopy and the broad Halpha emission line. The analysis of X-shooter
spectroscopy covering 3 consecutive nights supports an M2/3-type spectral
classification. Neither radial velocity variations nor rotational broadening is
detected in the photospheric lines. No periodic variability is found in I- and
r'-band light curves. We derive r' = 20.8, I = 19.2 and Ks = 16.6 for the
optical and infrared counterparts with the M-type star contributing 90% to the
I-band light. We estimate its distance to be 1.3-1.8 kpc. The lack of radial
velocity variations implies that the M-type star is not the donor star in the
X-ray binary. This could be an interloper or the outer body in a hierarchical
triple. We constrain the accreting binary to be a < 2.2 hr orbital period
eclipsing cataclysmic variable or a low-mass X-ray binary lying in the
foreground of the Galactic Bulge.Comment: (9 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS
The Architect Who Lost the Ability to Imagine: The Cerebral Basis of Visual Imagery.
While the loss of mental imagery following brain lesions was first described more than a century ago, the key cerebral areas involved remain elusive. Here we report neuropsychological data from an architect (PL518) who lost his ability for visual imagery following a bilateral posterior cerebral artery (PCA) stroke. We compare his profile to three other patients with bilateral PCA stroke and another architect with a large PCA lesion confined to the right hemisphere. We also compare structural images of their lesions, aiming to delineate cerebral areas selectively lesioned in acquired aphantasia. When comparing the neuropsychological profile and structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for the aphantasic architect PL518 to patients with either a comparable background (an architect) or bilateral PCA lesions, we find: (1) there is a large overlap of cognitive deficits between patients, with the very notable exception of aphantasia which only occurs in PL518, and (2) there is large overlap of the patients' lesions. The only areas of selective lesion in PL518 is a small patch in the left fusiform gyrus as well as part of the right lingual gyrus. We suggest that these areas, and perhaps in particular the region in the left fusiform gyrus, play an important role in the cerebral network involved in visual imagery
Coherent current transport in wide ballistic Josephson junctions
We present an experimental and theoretical investigation of coherent current
transport in wide ballistic superconductor-two dimensional electron
gas-superconductor junctions. It is found experimentally that upon increasing
the junction length, the subharmonic gap structure in the current-voltage
characteristics is shifted to lower voltages, and the excess current at
voltages much larger than the superconducting gap decreases. Applying a theory
of coherent multiple Andreev reflection, we show that these observations can be
explained in terms of transport through Andreev resonances.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Zero-field spin splitting in InAs-AlSb quantum wells revisited
We present magnetotransport experiments on high-quality InAs-AlSb quantum
wells that show a perfectly clean single-period Shubnikov-de Haas oscillation
down to very low magnetic fields. In contrast to theoretical expectations based
on an asymmetry induced zero-field spin splitting, no beating effect is
observed. The carrier density has been changed by the persistent photo
conductivity effect as well as via the application of hydrostatic pressure in
order to influence the electric field at the interface of the electron gas.
Still no indication of spin splitting at zero magnetic field was observed in
spite of highly resolved Shubnikov- de Haas oscillations up to filling factors
of 200. This surprising and unexpected result is discussed in view of other
recently published data.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
The binary mass ratio in the black hole transient MAXI J1820+070
We present intermediate resolution spectroscopy of the optical counterpart to
the black hole X-ray transient MAXI J1820+070 (=ASASSN-18ey) obtained with the
OSIRIS spectrograph on the 10.4-m Gran Telescopio Canarias. The observations
were performed with the source close to the quiescent state and before the
onset of renewed activity in August 2019. We make use of these data and K-type
dwarf templates taken with the same instrumental configuration to measure the
projected rotational velocity of the donor star. We find km s (), which implies a donor to black-hole mass
ratio for the case of a tidally locked and
Roche-lobe filling donor star. The derived dynamical masses for the stellar
components are and . The use of , combined with estimates of the
accretion disk size at the time of the optical spectroscopy, allows us to
revise our previous orbital inclination constraints to . These values lead to 95% confidence level limits on the masses of
and . Adopting instead
the orientation angle of the radio jet as the binary
inclination leads to and ().Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ
Effect of Vasopressin on the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis in ADPKD Patients during V2 Receptor Antagonism
Background: Patients with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) are treated with a vasopressin V2 receptor antagonist (V2RA) to slow disease progression. This drug increases vasopressin considerably in these patients with already elevated baseline levels. Vasopressin is known to stimulate the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis through V1 and V3 receptor activation. It is unknown whether this increase in vasopressin during V2RA treatment affects glucocorticoid production. Methods: Twenty-seven ADPKD patients were studied on and off treatment with a V2RA and compared to age- and sex-matched healthy controls and IgA nephropathy patients, the latter also matched for kidney function. Vasopressin was measured by its surrogate copeptin. Twenty-four-hour urinary excretions of cortisol, cortisone, tetrahydrocortisone, tetrahydrocortisol, allotetrahydrocortisol, and the total glucocorticoid pool were measured. Results: At baseline, ADPKD patients demonstrated a higher copeptin concentration in comparison with healthy controls, while urinary excretion of cortisol and cortisone was lower (medians of 0.23 vs. 0.34 mu mol/24 h, p = 0.007, and 0.29 vs. 0.53 mu mol/24 h, p <0.001, respectively). There were no differences in cortisol and cortisone excretion compared to IgA nephropathy patients. Cortisol, cortisone, and total glucocorticoid excretions correlated with kidney function (R = 0.37, 0.58, and 0.19, respectively; all p <0.05). Despite that V2RA treatment resulted in a 3-fold increase in copeptin, only cortisone excretion increased (median of 0.44 vs. baseline 0.29 mu mol/24 h, p <0.001), whereas no changes in cortisol or total glucocorticoid excretion were observed. Conclusions: Increased concentration of vasopressin in ADPKD patients at baseline and during V2RA treatment does not result in activation of the HPA axis. The impaired glucocorticoid production in these patients is related to their degree of kidney function impairment
Ballistic spin-polarized transport and Rashba spin precession in semiconductor nanowires
We present numerical calculations of the ballistic spin-transport properties
of quasi-one-dimensional wires in the presence of the spin-orbit (Rashba)
interaction. A tight-binding analog of the Rashba Hamiltonian which models the
Rashba effect is used. By varying the robustness of the Rashba coupling and the
width of the wire, weak and strong coupling regimes are identified. Perfect
electron spin-modulation is found for the former regime, regardless of the
incident Fermi energy and mode number. In the latter however, the
spin-conductance has a strong energy dependence due to a nontrivial subband
intermixing induced by the strong Rashba coupling. This would imply a strong
suppression of the spin-modulation at higher temperatures and source-drain
voltages. The results may be of relevance for the implementation of
quasi-one-dimensional spin transistor devices.Comment: 19 pages (incl. 9 figures). To be published in PR
Astro 2020 Science White Paper: Time Domain Studies of Neutron Star and Black Hole Populations: X-ray Identification of Compact Object Types
What are the most important conditions and processes governing the growth of
stellar-origin compact objects? The identification of compact object type as
either black hole (BH) or neutron star (NS) is fundamental to understanding
their formation and evolution. To date, time-domain determination of compact
object type remains a relatively untapped tool. Measurement of orbital periods,
pulsations, and bursts will lead to a revolution in the study of the
demographics of NS and BH populations, linking source phenomena to accretion
and galaxy parameters (e.g., star formation, metallicity). To perform these
measurements over sufficient parameter space, a combination of a wide-field
(>5000 deg^2) transient X-ray monitor over a dynamic energy range (~1-100 keV)
and an X-ray telescope for deep surveys with <5 arcsec PSF half-energy width
(HEW) angular resolution are required. Synergy with multiwavelength data for
characterizing the underlying stellar population will transform our
understanding of the time domain properties of transient sources, helping to
explain details of supernova explosions and gravitational wave event rates.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures. Submitted to the Astro2020 Decadal Surve
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