2,395 research outputs found
Spin melting and refreezing driven by uniaxial compression on a dipolar hexagonal plate
We investigate freezing characteristics of a finite dipolar hexagonal plate
by the Monte Carlo simulation. The hexagonal plate is cut out from a piled
triangular lattice of three layers with FCC-like (ABCABC) stacking structure.
In the present study an annealing simulation is performed for the dipolar plate
uniaxially compressed in the direction of layer-piling. We find spin melting
and refreezing driven by the uniaxial compression. Each of the melting and
refreezing corresponds one-to-one with a change of the ground states induced by
compression. The freezing temperatures of the ground-state orders differ
significantly from each other, which gives rise to the spin melting and
refreezing of the present interest. We argue that these phenomena are
originated by a finite size effect combined with peculiar anisotropic nature of
the dipole-dipole interaction.Comment: Proceedings of the Highly Frustrated Magnetism (HFM2006) conference.
To appear in a special issue of J. Phys. Condens. Matte
Star Formation Efficiency in the Central 1 kpc Region of Early-Type Spiral Galaxies
It has been reported recently that there are some early-type spiral (Sa--Sab)
galaxies having evident star-forming regions which concentrate in their own
central 1-kpc. In such central region, is the mechanism of the star formation
distinct from that in disks of spiral galaxies? To reveal this, we estimate the
star formation efficiency (SFE) in this central 1-kpc star-forming region of
some early-type spiral galaxies, taking account of the condition for this 1-kpc
region to be self-gravitating. Using two indicators of present star formation
rate (H and infrared luminosity), we estimate the SFE to be a few
percents. This is equivalent to the observational SFE in the disks of late-type
spiral (Sb--) galaxies. This coincidence may support the universality of the
mean SFE of spiral galaxies reported in the recent studies. That is, we find no
evidence of distinct mechanism of the star formation in the central 1-kpc
region of early-type galaxies. Also, we examine the structure of the central
star-forming region, and discuss a method for estimating the mass of
star-forming regions.Comment: accepted by A
Is the evidence for dark energy secure?
Several kinds of astronomical observations, interpreted in the framework of
the standard Friedmann-Robertson-Walker cosmology, have indicated that our
universe is dominated by a Cosmological Constant. The dimming of distant Type
Ia supernovae suggests that the expansion rate is accelerating, as if driven by
vacuum energy, and this has been indirectly substantiated through studies of
angular anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and of spatial
correlations in the large-scale structure (LSS) of galaxies. However there is
no compelling direct evidence yet for (the dynamical effects of) dark energy.
The precision CMB data can be equally well fitted without dark energy if the
spectrum of primordial density fluctuations is not quite scale-free and if the
Hubble constant is lower globally than its locally measured value. The LSS data
can also be satisfactorily fitted if there is a small component of hot dark
matter, as would be provided by neutrinos of mass 0.5 eV. Although such an
Einstein-de Sitter model cannot explain the SNe Ia Hubble diagram or the
position of the `baryon acoustic oscillation' peak in the autocorrelation
function of galaxies, it may be possible to do so e.g. in an inhomogeneous
Lemaitre-Tolman-Bondi cosmology where we are located in a void which is
expanding faster than the average. Such alternatives may seem contrived but
this must be weighed against our lack of any fundamental understanding of the
inferred tiny energy scale of the dark energy. It may well be an artifact of an
oversimplified cosmological model, rather than having physical reality.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures; to appear in a special issue of General
Relativity and Gravitation, eds. G.F.R. Ellis et al; Changes: references
reformatted in journal style - text unchange
Phase Diagram of Pressure-Induced Superconductivity in EuFe2As2 Probed by High-Pressure Resistivity up to 3.2 GPa
We have constructed a pressuretemperature () phase diagram of
-induced superconductivity in EuFeAs single crystals, via
resistivity () measurements up to 3.2 GPa. As hydrostatic pressure is
applied, an antiferromagnetic (AF) transition attributed to the FeAs layers at
shifts to lower temperatures, and the corresponding resistive
anomaly becomes undetectable for 2.5 GPa. This suggests that the
critical pressure where becomes zero is about 2.5
GPa. We have found that the AF order of the Eu moments survives up to
3.2 GPa without significant changes in the AF ordering temperature
. The superconducting (SC) ground state with a sharp transition
to zero resistivity at 30 K, indicative of bulk
superconductivity, emerges in a pressure range from 2.5
GPa to 3.0 GPa. At pressures close to but outside the SC phase, the
curve shows a partial SC transition (i.e., zero resistivity is not
attained) followed by a reentrant-like hump at approximately
with decreasing temperature. When nonhydrostatic pressure with a uniaxial-like
strain component is applied using a solid pressure medium, the partial
superconductivity is continuously observed in a wide pressure range from 1.1
GPa to 3.2 GPa.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in Physical Review B,
selected as "Editors' Suggestion
Long-wavelength approximation for string cosmology with barotropic perfect fluid
The field equations derived from the low energy string effective action with
a matter tensor describing a perfect fluid with a barotropic equation of state
are solved iteratively using the long-wavelength approximation, i.e. the field
equations are expanded by the number of spatial gradients. In the zero order, a
quasi-isotropic solution is presented and compared with the general solution of
the pure dilaton gravity. Possible cosmological models are analyzed from the
point of view of the pre-big bang scenario. The second order solutions are
found and their growing and decaying parts are studied.Comment: 19 pages, 1 figur
Lemaitre-Tolman-Bondi model and accelerating expansion
I discuss the spherically symmetric but inhomogeneous Lemaitre-Tolman- Bondi
(LTB) metric, which provides an exact toy model for an inhomogeneous universe.
Since we observe light rays from the past light cone, not the expansion of the
universe, spatial variation in matter density and Hubble rate can have the same
effect on redshift as acceleration in a perfectly homogeneous universe. As a
consequence, a simple spatial variation in the Hubble rate can account for the
distant supernova data in a dust universe without any dark energy. I also
review various attempts towards a semirealistic description of the universe
based on the LTB model.Comment: Invited Review for a special Gen. Rel. Grav. issue on Dark Energy. 17
pages, 3 figure
Kinematic Self-Similarity
Self-similarity in general relativity is briefly reviewed and the differences
between self-similarity of the first kind and generalized self-similarity are
discussed. The covariant notion of a kinematic self-similarity in the context
of relativistic fluid mechanics is defined. Various mathematical and physical
properties of spacetimes admitting a kinematic self-similarity are discussed.
The governing equations for perfect fluid cosmological models are introduced
and a set of integrability conditions for the existence of a proper kinematic
self-similarity in these models is derived. Exact solutions of the irrotational
perfect fluid Einstein field equations admitting a kinematic self-similarity
are then sought in a number of special cases, and it is found that; (1) in the
geodesic case the 3-spaces orthogonal to the fluid velocity vector are
necessarily Ricci-flat and (ii) in the further specialisation to dust the
differential equation governing the expansion can be completely integrated and
the asymptotic properties of these solutions can be determined, (iii) the
solutions in the case of zero-expansion consist of a class of shear-free and
static models and a class of stiff perfect fluid (and non-static) models, and
(iv) solutions in which the kinematic self-similar vector is parallel to the
fluid velocity vector are necessarily Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) models.Comment: 29 pages, AmsTe
Magnetic Properties of 2-Dimensional Dipolar Squares: Boundary Geometry Dependence
By means of the molecular dynamics simulation on gradual cooling processes,
we investigate magnetic properties of classical spin systems only with the
magnetic dipole-dipole interaction, which we call dipolar systems. Focusing on
their finite-size effect, particularly their boundary geometry dependence, we
study two finite dipolar squares cut out from a square lattice with
and , where is an angle between the direction of the lattice axis
and that of the square boundary. Distinctly different results are obtained in
the two dipolar squares. In the square, the ``from-edge-to-interior
freezing'' of spins is observed. Its ground state has a multi-domain structure
whose domains consist of the two among infinitely (continuously) degenerated
Luttinger-Tisza (LT) ground-state orders on a bulk square lattice, i.e., the
two antiferromagnetically aligned ferromagnetic chains (af-FMC) orders directed
in parallel to the two lattice axes. In the square, on the other
hand, the freezing starts from the interior of the square, and its ground state
is nearly in a single domain with one of the two af-FMC orders. These geometry
effects are argued to originate from the anisotropic nature of the
dipole-dipole interaction which depends on the relative direction of sites in a
real space of the interacting spins.Comment: 21 pages, 13 figures, submitted to Journal of Physical Society Japa
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