694 research outputs found
Trans-disciplinary research approaches: integration of fluid mechanics with cell biology
At the level of the individual molecule, outstanding discoveries leading the the 2012 Nobel Prize in Chemistry clarified G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) crystallographic structures and functions. Nevertheless, a large number of such receptors cooperate to ultimately determine the cell response. Henceforth, understanding their group effects becomes crucial to predict the activity of the GPCRs populating the various cell aggregates
Low-Frequency Optical Conductivity in Inhomogeneous d-wave Superconductors
Motivated by the recent optical conductivity experiments on
Bi_2Sr_2CaCu_2O_{8+delta} films, we examine the possible origin of
low-frequency dissipation in the superconducting state. In the presence of
spatial inhomogeneity of the local phase stiffness rho_s, it is shown that some
spectral weight is removed from omega=0 to finite frequencies and contribute to
dissipation. A case where both rho_s and the local normal fluid density are
inhomogeneous is also considered. We find an enhanced dissipation at low
frequency if the two variations are anti-correlated.Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev.
Imaging of Low Compressibility Strips in the Quantum Hall Liquid
Using Subsurface Charge Accumulation scanning microscopy we image strips of
low compressibility corresponding to several integer Quantum Hall filling
factors. We study in detail the strips at Landau level filling factors
2 and 4. The observed strips appear significantly wider than predicted by
theory. We present a model accounting for the discrepancy by considering a
disorder-induced nonzero density of states in the cyclotron gap.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Temperature dependence of Vortex Charges in High Temperature Superconductors
Using a model Hamiltonian with d-wave superconductivity and competing
antiferromagnetic (AF) interactions, the temperature (T) dependence of the
vortex charge in high T_c superconductors is investigated by numerically
solving the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations. The strength of the induced AF
order inside the vortex core is T dependent. The vortex charge could be
negative when the AF order with sufficient strength is present at low
temperatures. At higher temperatures, the AF order may be completely suppressed
and the vortex charge becomes positive. A first order like transition in the T
dependent vortex charge is seen near the critical temperature T_{AF}. For
underdoped sample, the spatial profiles of the induced spin-density wave and
charge-density wave orders could have stripe like structures at T < T_s, and
change to two-dimensional isotropic ones at T > T_s. As a result, a vortex
charge discontinuity occurs at T_s.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure
Power spectrum of many impurities in a d-wave superconductor
Recently the structure of the measured local density of states power spectrum
of a small area of the \BSCCO (BSCCO) surface has been interpreted in terms of
peaks at an "octet" of scattering wave vectors determined assuming weak,
noninterfering scattering centers. Using analytical arguments and numerical
solutions of the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations, we discuss how the
interference between many impurities in a d-wave superconductor alters this
scenario. We propose that the peaks observed in the power spectrum are not the
features identified in the simpler analyses, but rather "background" structures
which disperse along with the octet vectors. We further consider how our
results constrain the form of the actual disorder potential found in this
material.Comment: 5 pages.2 figure
A Compact Beam Stop for a Rare Kaon Decay Experiment
We describe the development and testing of a novel beam stop for use in a
rare kaon decay experiment at the Brookhaven AGS. The beam stop is located
inside a dipole spectrometer magnet in close proximity to straw drift chambers
and intercepts a high-intensity neutral hadron beam. The design process,
involving both Monte Carlo simulations and beam tests of alternative beam-stop
shielding arrangements, had the goal of minimizing the leakage of particles
from the beam stop and the resulting hit rates in detectors, while preserving
maximum acceptance for events of interest. The beam tests consisted of
measurements of rates in drift chambers, scintilation counter hodoscopes, a gas
threshold Cherenkov counter, and a lead glass array. Measurements were also
made with a set of specialized detectors which were sensitive to low-energy
neutrons, photons, and charged particles. Comparisons are made between these
measurements and a detailed Monte Carlo simulation.Comment: 39 pages, 14 figures, submitted to Nuclear Instruments and Method
Effects of domain walls on hole motion in the two-dimensional t-J model at finite temperature
The t-J model on the square lattice, close to the t-J_z limit, is studied by
quantum Monte Carlo techniques at finite temperature and in the underdoped
regime. A variant of the Hoshen-Koppelman algorithm was implemented to identify
the antiferromagnetic domains on each Trotter slice. The results show that the
model presents at high enough temperature finite antiferromagnetic (AF) domains
which collapse at lower temperatures into a single ordered AF state. While
there are domains, holes would tend to preferentially move along the domain
walls. In this case, there are indications of hole pairing starting at a
relatively high temperature. At lower temperatures, when the whole system
becomes essentially fully AF ordered, at least in finite clusters, holes would
likely tend to move within phase separated regions. The crossover between both
states moves down in temperature as doping increases and/or as the off-diagonal
exchange increases. The possibility of hole motion along AF domain walls at
zero temperature in the fully isotropic t-J is discussed.Comment: final version, to appear in Physical Review
Theory of the Diamagnetism Above the Critical Temperature for Cuprates
Recently experiments on high critical temperature superconductors has shown
that the doping levels and the superconducting gap are usually not uniform
properties but strongly dependent on their positions inside a given sample.
Local superconducting regions develop at the pseudogap temperature () and
upon cooling, grow continuously. As one of the consequences a large diamagnetic
signal above the critical temperature () has been measured by different
groups. Here we apply a critical-state model for the magnetic response to the
local superconducting domains between and and show that the
resulting diamagnetic signal is in agreement with the experimental results.Comment: published versio
The types of Mott insulator
There are two classes of Mott insulators in nature, distinguished by their
responses to weak doping. With increasing chemical potential, Type I Mott
insulators undergo a first order phase transition from the undoped to the doped
phase. In the presence of long-range Coulomb interactions, this leads to an
inhomogeneous state exhibiting ``micro-phase separation.'' In contrast, in Type
II Mott insulators charges go in continuously above a critical chemical
potential. We show that if the insulating state has a broken symmetry, this
increases the likelihood that it will be Type I. There exists a close analogy
between these two types of Mott insulators and the familiar Type I and Type II
superconductors
Upper critical field calculations for the high critical temperature superconductors considering inhomogeneities
We perform calculations to obtain the curve of high temperature
superconductors (HTSC). We consider explicitly the fact that the HTSC possess
intrinsic inhomogeneities by taking into account a non uniform charge density
. The transition to a coherent superconducting phase at a critical
temperature corresponds to a percolation threshold among different
superconducting regions, each one characterized by a given .
Within this model we calculate the upper critical field by means of an
average linearized Ginzburg-Landau (GL) equation to take into account the
distribution of local superconducting temperatures . This
approach explains some of the anomalies associated with and why
several properties like the Meissner and Nernst effects are detected at
temperatures much higher than .Comment: Latex text, add reference
- …