14,229 research outputs found
Constraints on the total coupling strength to bosons in iron based superconductors
At present, there is still no consistent interpretation of the normal and
superconducting properties of Fe-based superconductors (FeSCs). The strength of
the el-el interaction and the role of correlation effects are under debate.
Here, we examine several common materials and illustrate various problems and
concepts that are generic for all FeSCs. Based on empirical observations and
qualitative insight from density functional theory, we show that the
superconducting and low-energy thermodynamic properties of the FeSCs can be
described semi-quantitively within multiband Eliashberg theory. We account for
an important high-energy mass renormalization phenomenologically,and in
agreement with constraints provided by thermodynamic, optical, and
angle-resolved photoemission data. When seen in this way, all FeSCs with
40~K studied so far are found to belong to an {\it
intermediate} coupling regime. This finding is in contrast to the strong
coupling scenarios proposed in the early period of the FeSC history.We also
discuss several related issues, including the role of band shifts as measured
by the positions of van Hove singularities, and the nature of a recently
suggested quantum critical point in the strongly hole-doped systems
AFeAs (A = K, Rb, Cs). Using high-precision full relativistic GGA-band
structure calculations, we arrive at a somewhat milder mass renormalization in
comparison with previous studies. From the calculated mass anisotropies of all
Fermi surface sheets, only the -pocket near the corner of the BZ
is compatible with the experimentally observed anisotropy of the upper critical
field. pointing to its dominant role in the superconductivity of these three
compounds.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figure
Hydrodynamics of interaction of pulsar and stellar winds and its impact on the high energy radiation of binary pulsar systems
The hydrodynamics of the interaction of pulsar and stellar winds in binary
systems harboring a pulsar and its impact on the nonthermal radiation of the
binary pulsar PSR B1259-63/SS2883 is discussed. The collision of an
ultrarelativistic pulsar wind with a nonrelativistic stellar outflow results in
significant bulk acceleration of the shocked material from the pulsar wind.
Already at distances comparable to the size of the binary system, the Lorentz
factor of the shocked flow can be as large as ~4. This results in
significant anisotropy of the inverse Compton radiation of accelerated
electrons. Because of the Doppler boosting of the produced radiation, one
should expect a variable gamma-ray signal from the system. In particular, this
effect may naturally explain the reported tendency of a decrease of TeV
gamma-ray flux close to the periastron. The modeling of the interaction of
pulsar and stellar winds allows self-consistent calculations of adiabatic
losses. Our results show that adiabatic losses dominate over the radiative
losses. These results have direct impact on the orbital variability of radio,
X-ray and gamma-ray signals detected from the binary pulsar PSR 1259-63/SS2883.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures; based on poster presentation at "High Energy
Phenomena in Relativistic Outflows", Dublin, Sept. 2007; accepted for
publication in International Journal of Modern Physics
The Dominance of Metal-Rich Streams in Stellar Halos: A Comparison Between Substructure in M31 and Lambda-CDM Models
Extensive photometric and spectroscopic surveys of the Andromeda galaxy (M31)
have discovered tidal debris features throughout M31's stellar halo. We present
stellar kinematics and metallicities in fields with identified substructure
from our on-going SPLASH survey of M31 red giant branch stars with the DEIMOS
spectrograph on the Keck II 10-m telescope. Radial velocity criteria are used
to isolate members of the kinematically-cold substructures. The substructures
are shown to be metal-rich relative to the rest of the dynamically hot stellar
population in the fields in which they are found. We calculate the mean
metallicity and average surface brightness of the various kinematical
components in each field, and show that, on average, higher surface brightness
features tend to be more metal-rich than lower surface brightness features.
Simulations of stellar halo formation via accretion in a cosmological context
are used to illustrate that the observed trend can be explained as a natural
consequence of the observed dwarf galaxy mass-metallicity relation. A
significant spread in metallicity at a given surface brightness is seen in the
data; we show that this is due to time effects, namely the variation in the
time since accretion of the tidal streams' progenitor onto the host halo. We
show that in this theoretical framework a relationship between the
alpha-enhancement and surface brightness of tidal streams is expected, which
arises from the varying times of accretion of the progenitor satellites onto
the host halo. Thus, measurements of the alpha-enrichment, metallicity, and
surface brightness of tidal debris can be used to reconstruct the luminosity
and time of accretion onto the host halo of the progenitors of tidal streams.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, published in Ap
Giant Pulses -- the Main Component of the Radio Emission of the Crab Pulsar
The paper presents an analysis of dual-polarization observations of the Crab
pulsar obtained on the 64-m Kalyazin radio telescope at 600 MHz with a time
resolution of 250 ns. A lower limit for the intensities of giant pulses is
estimated by assuming that the pulsar radio emission in the main pulse and
interpulse consists entirely of giant radio pulses; this yields estimates of
100 Jy and 35 Jy for the peak flux densities of giant pulses arising in the
main pulse and interpulse, respectively. This assumes that the normal radio
emission of the pulse occurs in the precursor pulse. In this case, the
longitudes of the giant radio pulses relative to the profile of the normal
radio emission turn out to be the same for the Crab pulsar and the millisecond
pulsar B1937+21, namely, the giant pulses arise at the trailing edge of the
profile of the normal radio emission. Analysis of the distribution of the
degree of circular polarization for the giant pulses suggests that they can
consist of a random mixture of nanopulses with 100% circular polarization of
either sign, with, on average, hundreds of such nanopulses within a single
giant pulse.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures (originally published in Russian in
Astronomicheskii Zhurnal, 2006, vol. 83, No. 1, pp. 62-69) translated by
Denise Gabuzd
Second-line antiretroviral therapy in a workplace and community-based treatment programme in South Africa: determinants of virological outcome.
: Background: As antiretroviral treatment (ART) programmes in resource-limited settings mature, more patients are experiencing virological failure. Without resistance testing, deciding who should switch to second-line ART can be difficult. The consequences for second-line outcomes are unclear. In a workplace- and community-based multi-site programme, with 6-monthly virological monitoring, we describe outcomes and predictors of viral suppression on second-line, protease inhibitor-based ART.Methods: We used prospectively collected clinic data from patients commencing first-line ART between 1/1/03 and 31/12/08 to construct a study cohort of patients switched to second-line ART in the presence of a viral load (VL) ?400 copies/ml. Predictors of VL<400 copies/ml within 15 months of switch were assessed using modified Poisson regression to estimate risk ratios.Results: 205 workplace patients (91.7% male; median age 43 yrs) and 212 community patients (38.7% male; median age 36 yrs) switched regimens. At switch compared to community patients, workplace patients had a longer duration of viraemia, higher VL, lower CD4 count, and higher reported non-adherence on first-line ART. Non-adherence was the reported reason for switching in a higher proportion of workplace patients. Following switch, 48.3% (workplace) and 72.0% (community) achieved VL<400, with non-adherence (17.9% vs. 1.4%) and virological rebound (35.6% vs. 13.2% with available measures) reported more commonly in the workplace programme. In adjusted analysis of the workplace programme, lower switch VL and younger age were associated with VL<400. In the community programme, shorter duration of viraemia, higher CD4 count and transfers into programme on ART were associated with VL<400.Conclusion: High levels of viral suppression on second-line ART can be, but are not always, achieved in multi-site treatment programmes with both individual- and programme-level factors influencing outcomes. Strategies to support both healthcare workers and patients during this switch period need to be evaluated; sub-optimal adherence, particularly in the workplace programme must be addressed
Large Miscibility Gap in the Ba(Mn_xFe_{1-x})2As2 System
The compounds BaMn2As2 and BaFe2As2 both crystallize in the
body-centered-tetragonal ThCr2Si2-type (122-type) structure at room temperature
but exhibit quite different unit cell volumes and very different magnetic and
electronic transport properties. Evidently reflecting these disparities, we
have discovered a large miscibility gap in the system Ba(Mn_xFe_{1-x})2As2.
Rietveld refinements of powder x-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements on samples
slow-cooled from 1000 C to room temperature (RT) reveal a two-phase mixture of
BaMn2As2 and Ba(Mn_{0.12}Fe_{0.88})2As2 phases together with impurity phases
for x = 0.2, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6 and 0.8. We infer that there exists a miscibility
gap in this system at 300 K with composition limits 0.12 < x < 1. For samples
quenched from 1000 C to 77 K, the refinements of RT XRD data indicate that the
miscibility gap at RT narrows at 1000 C to 0.2 < x < 0.8. Samples with x=0.4,
0.5 and 0.6 quenched from 1100-1400 C to 77 K contain a single 122-type phase
together with significant amounts of Fe_{1-x}Mn_xAs and FeAs2 impurity phases.
These results indicate that the system is not a pseudo-binary system over the
whole composition range and that the 122-type phase has a significant
homogeneity range at these temperatures. Magnetic susceptibility, electrical
resistivity and heat capacity measurements versus temperature of the
single-phase quenched polycrystalline samples with x = 0.2 and 0.8 and for
lightly doped BaMn2As2 crystals are reported.Comment: 14 pages, 16 figures, 3 tables; published versio
Detection of Giant Pulses from the Pulsar PSR B0031-07
Giant pulses have been detected from the pulsar PSR B0031-07. A pulse with an
intensity higher than the intensity of the average pulse by a factor of 50 or
more is encountered approximately once per 300 observed periods. The peak flux
density of the strongest pulse is 530 Jy, which is a factor of 120 higher than
the peak flux density of the average pulse. The giant pulses are a factor of 20
narrower than the integrated profile and are clustered about its center.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, to appear in: Pis'ma v Astronomicheskii Zhurnal,
2004, v.30, No.4, and will be translated as: Astronomy Letters, v.30, No.
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