26,785 research outputs found
Broken time-reversal symmetry in Josephson junction involving two-band superconductors
A novel time-reversal symmetry breaking state is found theoretically in the
Josephson junction between the two-gap superconductor and the conventional
s-wave superconductor. This occurs due to the frustration between the three
order parameters analogous to the two antiferromagnetically coupled XY-spins
put under a magnetic field. This leads to the interface states with the
energies inside the superconducting gap. Possible experimental observations of
this state with broken time-reversal symmetry are discussed.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figur
Collective magnetism at multiferroic vortex domain walls
Topological defects have been playgrounds for many emergent phenomena in
complex matter such as superfluids, liquid crystals, and early universe.
Recently, vortex-like topological defects with six interlocked structural
antiphase and ferroelectric domains merging into a vortex core were revealed in
multiferroic hexagonal manganites. Numerous vortices are found to form an
intriguing self-organized network. Thus, it is imperative to find out the
magnetic nature of these vortices. Using cryogenic magnetic force microscopy,
we discovered unprecedented alternating net moments at domain walls around
vortices that can correlate over the entire vortex network in hexagonal ErMnO3
The collective nature of domain wall magnetism originates from the
uncompensated Er3+ moments and the correlated organization of the vortex
network. Furthermore, our proposed model indicates a fascinating phenomenon of
field-controllable spin chirality. Our results demonstrate a new route to
achieving magnetoelectric coupling at domain walls in single-phase
multiferroics, which may be harnessed for nanoscale multifunctional devices.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figure
Effect of anisotropy on universal transport in unconventional superconductors
We investigate the universal electronic transport for a mixed
+s-wave superconductor in the presence of an anisotropic
elliptical Fermi surface. Similar to the universal low-temperature transport
predicted in a -wave superconductor with a circular Fermi surface,
anisotropic universal features are found in the low-temperature microwave
conductivity, and thermal conductivity in the anisotropic system. The effects
of anisotropy on the penetration depth, impurity induced suppression, and
the zero-frequency density of states are also considered. While a small amount
of anisotropy can lead to a strong suppression of the effective scattering rate
and hence the density of states at zero frequency, experimental data suggests
that large effects are restored by a negative -component gap admixture.Comment: 8 page
Two Higgs Bi-doublet Left-Right Model With Spontaneous P and CP Violation
A left-right symmetric model with two Higgs bi-doublet is shown to be a
consistent model for both spontaneous P and CP violation. The flavor changing
neutral currents can be suppressed by the mechanism of approximate global U(1)
family symmetry. We calculate the constraints from neural meson mass
difference and demonstrate that a right-handed gauge boson
contribution in box-diagrams with mass well below 1 TeV is allowed due to a
cancellation caused by a light charged Higgs boson with a mass range GeV. The contribution to can be suppressed from
appropriate choice of additional CP phases appearing in the right-handed
Cabbibo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix. The model is also found to be fully
consistent with mass difference , and the mixing-induced CP
violation quantity , which is usually difficult for the
model with only one Higgs bi-doublet. The new physics beyond the standard model
can be directly searched at the colliders LHC and ILC.Comment: 25 pages, 6 figures, typos corrected, 1 figure added, published
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Processing real-world waste plastics by pyrolysis-reforming for hydrogen and high-value carbon nanotubes
Producing both hydrogen and high-value carbon nanotubes (CNTs) derived from waste plastics is reported here using a pyrolysis-reforming technology comprising a two-stage reaction system, in the presence of steam and a Ni-Mn-Al catalyst. The waste plastics consisted of plastics from a motor oil container (MOC), commercial waste high density polyethylene (HDPE) and regranulated HDPE waste containing polyvinyl chloride (PVC). The results show that hydrogen can be produced from the pyrolysis-reforming process, but also carbon nanotubes are formed on the catalyst. However, the content of 0.3 wt.% polyvinyl chloride in the waste HDPE (HDPE/PVC) has been shown to poison the catalyst and significantly reduce the quantity and purity of CNTs. The presence of sulfur has shown less influence on the production of CNTs in terms of quantity and CNT morphologies. Around 94.4 mmol H g plastic was obtained for the pyrolysis-reforming of HDPE waste in the presence of the Ni-Mn-Al catalyst and steam at a reforming temperature of 800 C. The addition of steam in the process results in an increase of hydrogen production and reduction of carbon yield; in addition, the defects of CNTs, for example, edge dislocations were found to be increased with the introduction of steam (from Raman analysis)
Multiomics profiling of primary lung cancers and distant metastases reveals immunosuppression as a common characteristic of tumor cells with metastatic plasticity
BACKGROUND: Metastasis is the primary cause of cancer mortality accounting for 90% of cancer deaths. Our understanding of the molecular mechanisms driving metastasis is rudimentary. RESULTS: We perform whole exome sequencing (WES), RNA sequencing, methylation microarray, and immunohistochemistry (IHC) on 8 pairs of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) primary tumors and matched distant metastases. Furthermore, we analyze published WES data from 35 primary NSCLC and metastasis pairs, and transcriptomic data from 4 autopsy cases with metastatic NSCLC and one metastatic lung cancer mouse model. The majority of somatic mutations are shared between primary tumors and paired distant metastases although mutational signatures suggest different mutagenesis processes in play before and after metastatic spread. Subclonal analysis reveals evidence of monoclonal seeding in 41 of 42 patients. Pathway analysis of transcriptomic data reveals that downregulated pathways in metastases are mainly immune-related. Further deconvolution analysis reveals significantly lower infiltration of various immune cell types in metastases with the exception of CD4+ T cells and M2 macrophages. These results are in line with lower densities of immune cells and higher CD4/CD8 ratios in metastases shown by IHC. Analysis of transcriptomic data from autopsy cases and animal models confirms that immunosuppression is also present in extracranial metastases. Significantly higher somatic copy number aberration and allelic imbalance burdens are identified in metastases. CONCLUSIONS: Metastasis is a molecularly late event, and immunosuppression driven by different molecular events, including somatic copy number aberration, may be a common characteristic of tumors with metastatic plasticity
Mott physics, sign structure, ground state wavefunction, and high-Tc superconductivity
In this article I give a pedagogical illustration of why the essential
problem of high-Tc superconductivity in the cuprates is about how an
antiferromagnetically ordered state can be turned into a short-range state by
doping. I will start with half-filling where the antiferromagnetic ground state
is accurately described by the Liang-Doucot-Anderson (LDA) wavefunction. Here
the effect of the Fermi statistics becomes completely irrelevant due to the no
double occupancy constraint. Upon doping, the statistical signs reemerge,
albeit much reduced as compared to the original Fermi statistical signs. By
precisely incorporating this altered statistical sign structure at finite
doping, the LDA ground state can be recast into a short-range antiferromagnetic
state. Superconducting phase coherence arises after the spin correlations
become short-ranged, and the superconducting phase transition is controlled by
spin excitations. I will stress that the pseudogap phenomenon naturally emerges
as a crossover between the antiferromagnetic and superconducting phases. As a
characteristic of non Fermi liquid, the mutual statistical interaction between
the spin and charge degrees of freedom will reach a maximum in a
high-temperature "strange metal phase" of the doped Mott insulator.Comment: 12 pages, 12 figure
Evolution of the Reactor Antineutrino Flux and Spectrum at Daya Bay
The Daya Bay experiment has observed correlations between reactor core fuel
evolution and changes in the reactor antineutrino flux and energy spectrum.
Four antineutrino detectors in two experimental halls were used to identify 2.2
million inverse beta decays (IBDs) over 1230 days spanning multiple fuel cycles
for each of six 2.9 GW reactor cores at the Daya Bay and Ling
Ao nuclear power plants. Using detector data spanning effective Pu
fission fractions, , from 0.25 to 0.35, Daya Bay measures an average
IBD yield, , of
cm/fission and a fuel-dependent variation in the IBD yield,
, of cm/fission.
This observation rejects the hypothesis of a constant antineutrino flux as a
function of the Pu fission fraction at 10 standard deviations. The
variation in IBD yield was found to be energy-dependent, rejecting the
hypothesis of a constant antineutrino energy spectrum at 5.1 standard
deviations. While measurements of the evolution in the IBD spectrum show
general agreement with predictions from recent reactor models, the measured
evolution in total IBD yield disagrees with recent predictions at 3.1.
This discrepancy indicates that an overall deficit in measured flux with
respect to predictions does not result from equal fractional deficits from the
primary fission isotopes U, Pu, U, and Pu.
Based on measured IBD yield variations, yields of and cm/fission have been determined for the two
dominant fission parent isotopes U and Pu. A 7.8% discrepancy
between the observed and predicted U yield suggests that this isotope
may be the primary contributor to the reactor antineutrino anomaly.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure
New measurement of via neutron capture on hydrogen at Daya Bay
This article reports an improved independent measurement of neutrino mixing
angle at the Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment. Electron
antineutrinos were identified by inverse -decays with the emitted
neutron captured by hydrogen, yielding a data-set with principally distinct
uncertainties from that with neutrons captured by gadolinium. With the final
two of eight antineutrino detectors installed, this study used 621 days of data
including the previously reported 217-day data set with six detectors. The
dominant statistical uncertainty was reduced by 49%. Intensive studies of the
cosmogenic muon-induced Li and fast neutron backgrounds and the
neutron-capture energy selection efficiency, resulted in a reduction of the
systematic uncertainty by 26%. The deficit in the detected number of
antineutrinos at the far detectors relative to the expected number based on the
near detectors yielded in the
three-neutrino-oscillation framework. The combination of this result with the
gadolinium-capture result is also reported.Comment: 26 pages, 23 figure
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