321 research outputs found
Emergence of pseudogap from short-range spin-correlations in electron doped cuprates
Electron interactions are pivotal for defining the electronic structure of
quantum materials. In particular, the strong electron Coulomb repulsion is
considered the keystone for describing the emergence of exotic and/or ordered
phases of quantum matter as disparate as high-temperature superconductivity and
charge- or magnetic-order. However, a comprehensive understanding of
fundamental electronic properties of quantum materials is often complicated by
the appearance of an enigmatic partial suppression of low-energy electronic
states, known as the pseudogap. Here we take advantage of ultrafast
angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy to unveil the temperature evolution
of the low-energy density of states in the electron-doped cuprate
NdCeCuO, an emblematic system where
the pseudogap intertwines with magnetic degrees of freedom. By photoexciting
the electronic system across the pseudogap onset temperature T*, we report the
direct relation between the momentum-resolved pseudogap spectral features and
the spin-correlation length with an unprecedented sensitivity. This transient
approach, corroborated by mean field model calculations, allows us to establish
the pseudogap in electron-doped cuprates as a precursor to the incipient
antiferromagnetic order even when long-range antiferromagnetic correlations are
not established, as in the case of optimal doping.Comment: 17 pages, 3 figure
Collapse of superconductivity in cuprates via ultrafast quenching of phase coherence
The possibility of driving phase transitions in low-density condensates
through the loss of phase coherence alone has far-reaching implications for the
study of quantum phases of matter. This has inspired the development of tools
to control and explore the collective properties of condensate phases via phase
fluctuations. Electrically-gated oxide interfaces, ultracold Fermi atoms, and
cuprate superconductors, which are characterized by an intrinsically small
phase-stiffness, are paradigmatic examples where these tools are having a
dramatic impact. Here we use light pulses shorter than the internal
thermalization time to drive and probe the phase fragility of the
BiSrCaCuO cuprate superconductor, completely melting
the superconducting condensate without affecting the pairing strength. The
resulting ultrafast dynamics of phase fluctuations and charge excitations are
captured and disentangled by time-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. This
work demonstrates the dominant role of phase coherence in the
superconductor-to-normal state phase transition and offers a benchmark for
non-equilibrium spectroscopic investigations of the cuprate phase diagram.Comment: 24 pages, 9 figures, Main Text and Supplementary Informatio
Schild's Null Strings in Flat and Curved Backgrounds
Schild's null (tensionless) strings are discussed in certain flat and curved
backgrounds. We find closed, stationary, null strings as natural configurations
existing on the horizons of spacetimes which possess such null hypersurfaces.
Examples of these are obtained in Schwarzschild and Rindler spacetimes. A
dynamic null string is also identified in Rindler spacetime. Furthermore, a
general prescription (with explicit examples) is outlined by means of which
null string configurations can be obtained in a large class of cosmological
backgrounds.Comment: RevTex 3.0, 14 Pages, no figure
18 F-MK-6240 tau-PET in genetic frontotemporal dementia
Tau is one of several proteins associated with frontotemporal dementia. While knowing which protein is causing a patient\u27s disease is crucial, no biomarker currently exists for identifying tau in vivo in frontotemporal dementia. The objective of this study was to investigate the potential for the promising 18F-MK-6240 PET tracer to bind to tau in vivo in genetic frontotemporal dementia. We enrolled subjects with genetic frontotemporal dementia, who constitute an ideal population for testing because their pathology is already known based on their mutation. Ten participants (three with symptomatic P301L and R406W MAPT mutations expected to show tau binding, three with presymptomatic MAPT mutations and four with non-tau mutations who acted as disease controls) underwent clinical characterization, tau-PET scanning with 18F-MK-6240, amyloid-PET imaging with 18F-NAV-4694 to rule out confounding Alzheimer\u27s pathology, and high-resolution structural MRI. Tau-PET scans of all three symptomatic MAPT carriers demonstrated at least mild 18F-MK-6240 binding in expected regions, with particularly strong binding in a subject with an R406W MAPT mutation (known to be associated with Alzheimer\u27s like neurofibrillary tangles). Two asymptomatic MAPT carriers estimated to be 5 years from disease onset both showed modest 18F-MK-6240 binding, while one ∼30 years from disease onset did not exhibit any binding. Additionally, four individuals with symptomatic frontotemporal dementia caused by a non-tau mutation were scanned (two C9orf72; one GRN; one VCP): 18F-MK-6240 scans were negative for three subjects, while one advanced C9orf72 case showed minimal regionally non-specific binding. All 10 amyloid-PET scans were negative. Furthermore, a general linear model contrasting genetic frontotemporal dementia subjects to a set of 83 age-matched controls showed significant binding only in the MAPT carriers in selected frontal, temporal and subcortical regions. In summary, our findings demonstrate mild but significant binding of MK-6240 in amyloid-negative P301L and R406W MAPT mutation subjects, with higher standardized uptake value ratio in the R406W mutation associated with the presence of NFTs, and little non-specific binding. These results highlight that a positive 18F-MK-6240 tau-PET does not necessarily imply a diagnosis of Alzheimer\u27s disease and point towards a potential use for 18F-MK-6240 as a biomarker in certain tauopathies beyond Alzheimer\u27s, although further patient recruitment and autopsy studies will be necessary to determine clinical applicability
Graphene as a quantum surface with curvature-strain preserving dynamics
We discuss how the curvature and the strain density of the atomic lattice
generate the quantization of graphene sheets as well as the dynamics of
geometric quasiparticles propagating along the constant curvature/strain
levels. The internal kinetic momentum of Riemannian oriented surface (a vector
field preserving the Gaussian curvature and the area) is determined.Comment: 13p, minor correction
Strain-induced Evolution of Electronic Band Structures in a Twisted Graphene Bilayer
Here we study the evolution of local electronic properties of a twisted
graphene bilayer induced by a strain and a high curvature. The strain and
curvature strongly affect the local band structures of the twisted graphene
bilayer; the energy difference of the two low-energy van Hove singularities
decreases with increasing the lattice deformations and the states condensed
into well-defined pseudo-Landau levels, which mimic the quantization of massive
Dirac fermions in a magnetic field of about 100 T, along a graphene wrinkle.
The joint effect of strain and out-of-plane distortion in the graphene wrinkle
also results in a valley polarization with a significant gap, i.e., the
eight-fold degenerate Landau level at the charge neutrality point is splitted
into two four-fold degenerate quartets polarized on each layer. These results
suggest that strained graphene bilayer could be an ideal platform to realize
the high-temperature zero-field quantum valley Hall effect.Comment: 4 figure
Photometric redshifts and clustering of emission line galaxies selected jointly by DES and eBOSS
We present the results of the first test plates of the extended Baryon
Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey. This paper focuses on the emission line
galaxies (ELG) population targetted from the Dark Energy Survey (DES)
photometry. We analyse the success rate, efficiency, redshift distribution, and
clustering properties of the targets. From the 9000 spectroscopic redshifts
targetted, 4600 have been selected from the DES photometry. The total success
rate for redshifts between 0.6 and 1.2 is 71\% and 68\% respectively for a
bright and faint, on average more distant, samples including redshifts measured
from a single strong emission line. We find a mean redshift of 0.8 and 0.87,
with 15 and 13\% of unknown redshifts respectively for the bright and faint
samples. In the redshift range 0.6<z<1.2, for the most secure spectroscopic
redshifts, the mean redshift for the bright and faint sample is 0.85 and 0.9
respectively. Star contamination is lower than 2\%. We measure a galaxy bias
averaged on scales of 1 and 10~Mpc/h of 1.72 \pm 0.1 for the bright sample and
of 1.78 \pm 0.12 for the faint sample. The error on the galaxy bias have been
obtained propagating the errors in the correlation function to the fitted
parameters. This redshift evolution for the galaxy bias is in agreement with
theoretical expectations for a galaxy population with MB-5\log h < -21.0. We
note that biasing is derived from the galaxy clustering relative to a model for
the mass fluctuations. We investigate the quality of the DES photometric
redshifts and find that the outlier fraction can be reduced using a comparison
between template fitting and neural network, or using a random forest
algorithm
Semliki Forest virus induced, immune mediated demyelination: the effect of irradiation
International audienceThe Dark Energy Camera has captured a large set of images as part of Science Verification (SV) for the Dark Energy Survey (DES). The SV footprint covers a large portion of the outer Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), providing photometry 1.5 mag fainter than the main sequence turn-off of the oldest LMC stellar population. We derive geometrical and structural parameters for various stellar populations in the LMC disc. For the distribution of all LMC stars, we find an inclination of i = -38.14° ± 0.08° (near side in the north) and a position angle for the line of nodes of θ0 = 129.51° ± 0.17°. We find that stars younger than ∼4 Gyr are more centrally concentrated than older stars. Fitting a projected exponential disc shows that the scale radius of the old populations is R>4 Gyr = 1.41 ± 0.01 kpc, while the younger population has R = 0.72 ± 0.01 kpc. However, the spatial distribution of the younger population deviates significantly from the projected exponential disc model. The distribution of old stars suggests a large truncation radius of Rt = 13.5 ± 0.8 kpc. If this truncation is dominated by the tidal field of the Galaxy, we find that the LMC is {∼eq } 24^{+9}_{-6} times less massive than the encircled Galactic mass. By measuring the Red Clump peak magnitude and comparing with the best-fitting LMC disc model, we find that the LMC disc is warped and thicker in the outer regions north of the LMC centre. Our findings may either be interpreted as a warped and flared disc in the LMC outskirts, or as evidence of a spheroidal halo component
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