Large Broadening of the Superconducting Transition by Fluctuations in a 3D Metal at High Magnetic Fields: The MgB2_{2} case

It is shown that the transition to the low temperature superconducting state in a 3D metal at high magnetic field is smeared dramatically by thermal fluctuation of the superconducting order parameter. The resulting superconducting-to-normal crossover occurs in a vortex liquid state which is extended well below the mean-field $H_{c2}$. Application to MgB$_{2}$ yields good quantitative agreement with recently reported data of dHvA oscillation in the superconducting state

Influence of the heterointerface sharpness on exciton recombination dynamics in an ensemble of (In,Al)As/AlAs quantum dots with indirect band-gap

The dynamics of exciton recombination in an ensemble of indirect band-gap (In,Al)As/AlAs quantum dots with type-I band alignment is studied. The lifetime of confined excitons which are indirect in momentum-space is mainly influenced by the sharpness of the heterointerface between the (In,Al)As quantum dot and the AlAs barrier matrix. Time-resolved photoluminescence experiments and theoretical model calculations reveal a strong dependence of the exciton lifetime on the thickness of the interface diffusion layer. The lifetime of excitons with a particular optical transition energy varies because this energy is obtained for quantum dots differing in size, shape and composition. The different exciton lifetimes, which result in photoluminescence with non-exponential decay obeying a power-law function, can be described by a phenomenological distribution function, which allows one to explain the photoluminescence decay with one fitting parameter only.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure

Vortex states in 2D superconductor at high magnetic field in a periodic pinning potential

The effect of a periodic pinning array on the vortex state in a 2D superconductor at low temperatures is studied within the framework of the Ginzburg-Landau approach. It is shown that attractive interaction of vortex cores to a commensurate pin lattice stabilizes vortex solid phases with long range positional order against violent shear fluctuations. Exploiting a simple analytical method, based on the Landau orbitals description, we derive a rather detailed picture of the low temperatures vortex state phase diagram. It is predicted that for sufficiently clean samples application of an artificial periodic pinning array would enable one to directly detect the intrinsic shear stiffness anisotropy characterizing the ideal vortex lattice.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure

Green's Matrix for a Second Order Self-Adjoint Matrix Differential Operator

A systematic construction of the Green's matrix for a second order, self-adjoint matrix differential operator from the linearly independent solutions of the corresponding homogeneous differential equation set is carried out. We follow the general approach of extracting the Green's matrix from the Green's matrix of the corresponding first order system. This construction is required in the cases where the differential equation set cannot be turned to an algebraic equation set via transform techniques.Comment: 19 page

Anomalous behaviors of the charge and spin degrees of freedom in the CuO double chains of PrBa2_2Cu4_4O8_8

The density-matrix renormalization-group method is used to study the electronic states of a two-chain Hubbard model for CuO double chains of PrBa$_2$Cu$_4$O$_8$. We show that the model at quarter filling has the charge ordered phases with stripe-type and in-line--type patterns in the parameter space, and in-between, there appears a wide region of vanishing charge gap; the latter phase is characteristic of either Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid or a metallic state with a spin gap. We argue that the low-energy electronic state of the CuO double chains of PrBa$_2$Cu$_4$O$_8$ should be in the metallic state with a possibly small spin gap.Comment: REVTEX 4, 10 pages, 9 figures; submitted to PR

Single-crystal elasticity of majoritic garnets: stagnant slabs and thermal anomalies at the base of the transition zone

The elastic properties of two single crystals of majoritic garnet (Mg3.24Al1.53Si3.23O12 and Mg3.01Fe0.17Al1.68Si3.15O12), have been measured using simultaneously single-crystal X-ray diffraction and Brillouin spectroscopy in an externally heated diamond anvil cell with Ne as pressure transmitting medium at conditions up to 3c30 GPa and 3c600 K. This combination of techniques makes it possible to use the bulk modulus and unit-cell volume at each condition to calculate the absolute pressure, independently of secondary pressure calibrants. Substitution of the majorite component into pyrope garnet lowers both the bulk (Ks) and shear modulus (G). The substitution of Fe was found to cause a small but resolvable increase in Ks that was accompanied by a decrease in 02Ks/ 02P, the first pressure derivative of the bulk modulus. Fe substitution had no influence on either the shear modulus or its pressure derivative. The obtained elasticity data were used to derive a thermo-elastic model to describe Vs and Vp of complex garnet solid solutions. Using further elasticity data from the literature and thermodynamic models for mantle phase relations, velocities for mafic, harzburgitic and lherzolitic bulk compositions at the base of Earth's transition zone were calculated. The results show that Vs predicted by seismic reference models are faster than those calculated for all three types of lithologies along a typical mantle adiabat within the bottom 150 km of the transition zone. The anomalously fast seismic shear velocities might be explained if laterally extensive sections of subducted harzburgite-rich slabs pile up at the base of the transition zone and lower average mantle temperatures within this depth range

Interaction induced collapse of a section of the Fermi sea in in the zig-zag Hubbard ladder

Using the next-nearest neighbor (zig-zag) Hubbard chain as an one dimemensional model, we investigate the influence of interactions on the position of the Fermi wavevectors with the density-matrix renormalization-group technique (DMRG). For suitable choices of the hopping parameters we observe that electron-electron correlations induce very different renormalizations for the two different Fermi wavevectors, which ultimately lead to a complete destruction of one section of the Fermi sea in a quantum critical point

Kinetics of exciton photoluminescence in type-II semiconductor superlattices

The exciton decay rate at a rough interface in type-II semiconductor superlattices is investigated. It is shown that the possibility of recombination of indirect excitons at a plane interface essentially affects kinetics of the exciton photoluminescence at a rough interface. This happens because of strong correlation between the exciton recombination at the plane interface and at the roughness. Expressions that relate the parameters of the luminescence kinetics with statistical characteristics of the rough interface are obtained. The mean height and length of roughnesses in GaAs/AlAs superlattices are estimated from the experimental data.Comment: 3 PostScript figure

Top-down assessment of the Asian carbon budget since the mid 1990s

Increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) is the principal driver of anthropogenic climate change. Asia is an important region for the global carbon budget, with 4 of the world’s 10 largest national emitters of CO2. Using an ensemble of seven atmospheric inverse systems, we estimated land biosphere fluxes (natural, land-use change and fires) based on atmospheric observations of CO2 concentration. The Asian land biosphere was a net sink of −0.46 (−0.70–0.24) PgC per year (median and range) for 1996–2012 and was mostly located in East Asia, while in South and Southeast Asia the land biosphere was close to carbon neutral. In East Asia, the annual CO2 sink increased between 1996–2001 and 2008–2012 by 0.56 (0.30–0.81) PgC, accounting for ∼35% of the increase in the global land biosphere sink. Uncertainty in the fossil fuel emissions contributes significantly (32%) to the uncertainty in land biosphere sink change