Electronic structure of YbB6_{6}: Is it a Topological Insulator or not?

To resolve the controversial issue of the topological nature of the electronic structure of YbB$_{6}$, we have made a combined study using density functional theory (DFT) and angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES). Accurate determination of the low energy band topology in DFT requires the use of modified Becke-Johnson exchange potential incorporating the spin-orbit coupling and the on-site Coulomb interaction $U$ of Yb $4f$ electrons as large as 7 eV. We have double-checked the DFT result with the more precise GW band calculation. ARPES is done with the non-polar (110) surface termination to avoid band bending and quantum well confinement that have confused ARPES spectra taken on the polar (001) surface termination. Thereby we show definitively that YbB$_{6}$ has a topologically trivial B 2$p$-Yb 5$d$ semiconductor band gap, and hence is a non-Kondo non-topological insulator (TI). In agreement with theory, ARPES shows pure divalency for Yb and a $p$-$d$ band gap of 0.3 eV, which clearly rules out both of the previous scenarios of $f$-$d$ band inversion Kondo TI and $p$-$d$ band inversion non-Kondo TI. We have also examined the pressure-dependent electronic structure of YbB$_{6}$, and found that the high pressure phase is not a Kondo TI but a \emph{p}-\emph{d} overlap semimetal.Comment: The main text is 6 pages with 4 figures, and the supplementary information contains 6 figures. 11 pages, 10 figures in total To be appeared in Phys. Rev. Lett. (Online publication is around March 16 if no delays.

Spin-Driven Nematic Instability of the Multi-Orbital Hubbard Model: Application to Iron-Based Superconductors

Nematic order resulting from the partial melting of density-waves has been proposed as the mechanism to explain nematicity in iron-based superconductors. An outstanding question, however, is whether the microscopic electronic model for these systems -- the multi-orbital Hubbard model -- displays such an ordered state as its leading instability. In contrast to usual electronic instabilities, such as magnetic and charge order, this fluctuation-driven phenomenon cannot be captured by the standard RPA method. Here, by including fluctuations beyond RPA in the multi-orbital Hubbard model, we derive its nematic susceptibility and contrast it with its ferro-orbital order susceptibility, showing that its leading instability is the spin-driven nematic phase. Our results also demonstrate the primary role played by the $d_{xy}$ orbital in driving the nematic transition, and reveal that high-energy magnetic fluctuations are essential to stabilize nematic order in the absence of magnetic order.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure

An alternative formulation of classical electromagnetic duality

By introducing a doublet of electromagnetic four dimensional vector potentials, we set up a manifestly Lorentz covariant and SO(2) duality invariant classical field theory of electric and magnetic charges. In our formulation one does not need to introduce the concept of Dirac string.Comment: 14 pages, no figures, Latex, minor corrections, references and acknowledgements adde

Efficiency of Nonlinear Particle Acceleration at Cosmic Structure Shocks

We have calculated the evolution of cosmic ray (CR) modified astrophysical shocks for a wide range of shock Mach numbers and shock speeds through numerical simulations of diffusive shock acceleration (DSA) in 1D quasi- parallel plane shocks. The simulations include thermal leakage injection of seed CRs, as well as pre-existing, upstream CR populations. Bohm-like diffusion is assumed. We model shocks similar to those expected around cosmic structure pancakes as well as other accretion shocks driven by flows with upstream gas temperatures in the range $T_0=10^4-10^{7.6}$K and shock Mach numbers spanning $M_s=2.4-133$. We show that CR modified shocks evolve to time-asymptotic states by the time injected particles are accelerated to moderately relativistic energies (p/mc \gsim 1), and that two shocks with the same Mach number, but with different shock speeds, evolve qualitatively similarly when the results are presented in terms of a characteristic diffusion length and diffusion time. For these models the time asymptotic value for the CR acceleration efficiency is controlled mainly by shock Mach number. The modeled high Mach number shocks all evolve towards efficiencies $\sim 50$%, regardless of the upstream CR pressure. On the other hand, the upstream CR pressure increases the overall CR energy in moderate strength shocks ($M_s \sim {\rm a few}$). (abridged)Comment: 23 pages, 12 ps figures, accepted for Astrophysical Journal (Feb. 10, 2005

Extracting CP violation and strong phase in D decays by using quantum correlations in psi(3770)-> D0\bar{D}0 -> (V1V2)(V3V4) and psi(3770)->D0\bar{D}0 -> (V1V2)(K pi)

The charm quark offers interesting opportunities to cross-check the mechanism of CP violation precisely tested in the strange and beauty sectors. In this paper, we exploit the angular and quantum correlations in the D\bar{D} pairs produced through the decay of the psi(3770) resonance in a charm factory to investigate CP-violation in two different ways. We build CP-violating observables in psi(3770) -> D\bar{D} -> (V_1V_2)(V_3 V_4) to isolate specific New Physics effects in the charm sector. We also consider the case of psi(3770) -> D\bar{D} -> (V_1V_2)(K\pi) decays, which provide a new way to measure the strong phase difference delta between Cabibbo-favored and doubly-Cabibbo suppressed D decays required in the determination of the CKM angle gamma. Neglecting the systematics, we give a first rough estimate of the sensitivities of these measurements at BES-III with an integrated luminosity of 20 fb^-1 at psi(3770) peak and at a future Super tau-charm factory with a luminosity of 10^35 cm^-2.s^-1.Comment: 13 pages