8,311 research outputs found
The reason why doping causes superconductivity in LaFeAsO
The experimental observation of superconductivity in LaFeAsO appearing on
doping is analyzed with the group-theoretical approach that evidently led in a
foregoing paper (J. Supercond 24:2103, 2011) to an understanding of the cause
of both the antiferromagnetic state and the accompanying structural distortion
in this material. Doping, like the structural distortions, means also a
reduction of the symmetry of the pure perfect crystal. In the present paper we
show that this reduction modifies the correlated motion of the electrons in a
special narrow half-filled band of LaFeAsO in such a way that these electrons
produce a stable superconducting state
The structural distortion in antiferromagnetic LaFeAsO investigated by a group-theoretical approach
As experimentally well established, undoped LaFeAsO is antiferromagnetic
below 137K with the magnetic moments lying on the Fe sites. We determine the
orthorhombic body-centered group Imma (74) as the space group of the
experimentally observed magnetic structure in the undistorted lattice, i.e., in
a lattice possessing no structural distortions in addition to the
magnetostriction. We show that LaFeAsO possesses a partly filled "magnetic
band" with Bloch functions that can be unitarily transformed into optimally
localized Wannier functions adapted to the space group Imma. This finding is
interpreted in the framework of a nonadiabatic extension of the Heisenberg
model of magnetism, the nonadiabatic Heisenberg model. Within this model,
however, the magnetic structure with the space group Imma is not stable but can
be stabilized by a (slight) distortion of the crystal turning the space group
Imma into the space group Pnn2 (34). This group-theoretical result is in
accordance with the experimentally observed displacements of the Fe and O atoms
in LaFeAsO as reported by Clarina de la Cruz et al. [nature 453, 899 (2008)]
Galileo dust data from the jovian system: 2000 to 2003
The Galileo spacecraft was orbiting Jupiter between Dec 1995 and Sep 2003.
The Galileo dust detector monitored the jovian dust environment between about 2
and 370 R_J (jovian radius R_J = 71492 km). We present data from the Galileo
dust instrument for the period January 2000 to September 2003. We report on the
data of 5389 particles measured between 2000 and the end of the mission in
2003. The majority of the 21250 particles for which the full set of measured
impact parameters (impact time, impact direction, charge rise times, charge
amplitudes, etc.) was transmitted to Earth were tiny grains (about 10 nm in
radius), most of them originating from Jupiter's innermost Galilean moon Io.
Their impact rates frequently exceeded 10 min^-1. Surprisingly large impact
rates up to 100 min^-1 occurred in Aug/Sep 2000 when Galileo was at about 280
R_J from Jupiter. This peak in dust emission appears to coincide with strong
changes in the release of neutral gas from the Io torus. Strong variability in
the Io dust flux was measured on timescales of days to weeks, indicating large
variations in the dust release from Io or the Io torus or both on such short
timescales. Galileo has detected a large number of bigger micron-sized
particles mostly in the region between the Galilean moons. A surprisingly large
number of such bigger grains was measured in March 2003 within a 4-day interval
when Galileo was outside Jupiter's magnetosphere at approximately 350 R_J
jovicentric distance. Two passages of Jupiter's gossamer rings in 2002 and 2003
provided the first actual comparison of in-situ dust data from a planetary ring
with the results inferred from inverting optical images.Comment: 59 pages, 13 figures, 6 tables, submitted to Planetary and Space
Scienc
Quantum Phase Transitions in Spin Systems
We discuss the influence of strong quantum fluctuations on zero-temperature
phase transitions in a two-dimensional spin-half Heisenberg system. Using a
high-order coupled cluster treatment, we study competition of magnetic bonds
with and without frustration. We find that the coupled cluster treatment is
able to describe the zero-temperature transitions in a qualitatively correct
way, even if frustration is present and other methods such as quantum Monte
Carlo fail.Comment: 8 pages, 12 Postscipt figures; Accepted for publication in World
Scientifi
Contrast Interferometry Using Bose-Einstein Condensates to Measure h/m and the Fine Structure Constant
The kinetic energy of an atom recoiling due to absorption of a photon was
measured as a frequency using an interferometric technique called ``contrast
interferometry''. Optical standing wave pulses were used as atom-optical
elements to create a symmetric three-path interferometer with a Bose-Einstein
condensate. The recoil phase accumulated in different paths was measured using
a single-shot detection technique. The scheme allows for additional photon
recoils within the interferometer and its symmetry suppresses several random
and systematic errors including those from vibrations and ac Stark shifts. We
have measured the photon recoil frequency of sodium to ppm precision, using
a simple realization of this scheme. Plausible extensions should yield a
sufficient precision to bring within reach a ppb-level determination of
and the fine structure constant
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