Commensurate Fluctuations in the Pseudogap and Incommensurate spin-Peierls Phases of TiOCl

X-ray scattering measurements on single crystals of TiOCl reveal the presence of commensurate dimerization peaks within both the incommensurate spin-Peierls phase and the so-called pseudogap phase above T_c2. This scattering is relatively narrow in Q-space indicating long correlation lengths exceeding ~ 100 A below T* ~ 130 K. It is also slightly shifted in Q relative to that of the commensurate long range ordered state at the lowest temperatures, and it coexists with the incommensurate Bragg peaks below T_c2. The integrated scattering over both commensurate and incommensurate positions evolves continuously with decreasing temperature for all temperatures below T* ~ 130 K.Comment: To appear in Physical Review B: Rapid Communications. 5 page

Suppression of the commensurate spin-Peierls state in Sc-doped TiOCl

We have performed x-ray scattering measurements on single crystals of the doped spin-Peierls compound Ti(1-x)Sc(x)OCl (x = 0, 0.01, 0.03). These measurements reveal that the presence of non-magnetic dopants has a profound effect on the unconventional spin-Peierls behavior of this system, even at concentrations as low as 1%. Sc-doping suppresses commensurate fluctuations in the pseudogap and incommensurate spin-Peierls phases of TiOCl, and prevents the formation of a long-range ordered spin-Peierls state. Broad incommensurate scattering develops in the doped compounds near Tc2 ~ 93 K, and persists down to base temperature (~ 7 K) with no evidence of a lock-in transition. The width of the incommensurate dimerization peaks indicates short correlation lengths on the order of ~ 12 angstroms below Tc2. The intensity of the incommensurate scattering is significantly reduced at higher Sc concentrations, indicating that the size of the associated lattice displacement decreases rapidly as a function of doping.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure

Structural Fluctuations in the Spin Liquid State of Tb2Ti2O7

High resolution X-ray scattering measurements on single crystal Tb2Ti2O7 reveal finite structural correlations at low temperatures. This geometrically frustrated pyrochlore is known to exhibit a spin liquid, or cooperative paramagnetic state, at temperatures below ~ 20 K. Parametric studies of structural Bragg peaks appropriate to the Fd$\bar{3}$m space group of Tb2Ti2O7 reveal substantial broadening and peak intensity reduction in the temperature regime 20 K to 300 mK. We also observe a small, anomalous lattice expansion on cooling below a density maximum at ~ 18 K. These measurements are consistent with the development of fluctuations above a cooperative Jahn-Teller, cubic-tetragonal phase transition at very low temperatures.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, submitted for publicatio

Asymptotic Behaviour of Inhomogeneous String Cosmologies

The asymptotic behaviour at late times of inhomogeneous axion-dilaton cosmologies is investigated. The space-times considered here admit two abelian space-like Killing vectors. These space-times evolve towards an anisotropic universe containing gravitational radiation. Furthermore, a peeling-off behaviour of the Weyl tensor and the antisymmetric tensor field strength is found. The relation to the pre-big-bang scenario is briefly discussed.Comment: 15 pages, Late